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Halo 3 Pre-orders Top One Million, Merchandising Blitz Begins

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: Bungie, Corporate News, Culture, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Xbox 360,

Halo 3 won’t be out until September 25th, but the hype machine is already well in gear. Microsoft has just announced that pre-sale numbers for Bungie‘s upcoming behemoth have already exceeded one million copies. Chris Di Cesare, Microsoft’s director of creative marketing, says, “This September, Halo 3 will push video game entertainment into the forefront of mainstream culture.”

And he’s not kidding. Microsoft is backing up its big gun by way of some big merchandising deals with major brands. For starters, Pepsi is releasing a Halo-branded version of Mountain Dew, called Mountain Dew Game Fuel. 7-11 is getting in on the action with Halo-themed Slurpee cups, as well as a Doritos promotion. Not wanting to be left out in the cold, Burger King will be doing its own in-store promotions, Pontiac is launching a Halo 3- themed contest, and Comcast will offer its subscribers all kinds of downloadable Halo goodies. Phew! A marketing campaign of this depth and scope is truly unprecedented in the gaming industry.

New Killzone 2 Footage

Posted by Steve Van Neil Categories: First Person Shooters, PlayStation 3, Sony,

Are we approaching that infamous target video yet? Over at the BBC, Guerrilla developers showed off a little more of their flagship PS3 shooter, Killzone 2. The video, linked below, showcases the game’s impressive physics and lighting systems. Also on display is the complete lack of in-game HUD. All in all, it’s a nice little taste that makes the wait for the game, due sometime next year, that much harder to bear.

id Games Now Available On Steam; Super Pack Is A Super Deal

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Action, First Person Shooters, Hot Deals, PC, Retro,

It’s great enough to see the rumors come true of id’s games getting up on Steam – after all, id is the company that was behind Doom, Quake, Wolfenstein and Commander Keen(!), among others. Many of these classic games (from Doom and Wolfenstein on up to Doom 3 and Quake III) are now available for purchase on Steam. Or, if you’re into super-awesome-sweet deals, you can buy the id Super Pack and get all of the id games on Steam for $62.95 (for a limited time, then the price will bump up to $69.95). That includes a ton of content, to say the least, which would otherwise cost $213.90 to pick it all up on Steam individually.

The list of id content on Steam and in the Super Deal includes:

Commander Keen
DOOM 3
DOOM 3 Resurrection of Evil
DOOM II
Final DOOM
Heretic: Shadow of the Serpent Riders
HeXen
HeXen II
HeXen: Deathkings of the Dark Citadel
Master Levels for Doom II
QUAKE
QUAKE II
QUAKE II Mission Pack: Ground Zero
QUAKE II Mission Pack: The Reckoning
Quake III Arena
QUAKE III: Team Arena
QUAKE Mission Pack 1: Scourge of Armagon
QUAKE Mission Pack 2: Dissolution of Eternity
Return to Castle Wolfenstein
Spear of Destiny
Ultimate DOOM
Wolfenstein 3D

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Blacksite: Area 51 Gets Delayed Until November 5

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Release Dates, Xbox 360,

Originally scheduled for a September release, Blacksite: Area 51 has been pushed back until November 5. The announcement was made during a Midway conference call, where the European release date was revealed to be October 26.The game is set for release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

This is a smart move be Midway, as Blacksite would otherwise be competing more directly with Halo 3, and by releasing in November, they also manage to space the title away from heavy-hitter Grand Theft Auto IV.

Xbox Live Arcade 8/1: Marathon: Durandal And Spyglass Board Games

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Bungie, Casual, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Retro, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,

Marathon: Durandal and Spyglass Board Games are now available on the Xbox Live Arcade, as previously announced. Marathon is an old-school FPS originally developed by Bungie, the guys behind Halo. While you may not have had a chance to play it before – or even hear of it – it’s a game that introduced many mechanics into the FPS genre that have been taken for granted for years now, like dual wielding. The game will run you 800 Microsoft Points, or $10. If you liked Doom, be sure to give Marathon a shot.

Spyglass Board Games is a compilation of four very popular classic board games: chess, checkers, mancala, and reversi. Given its cheap price (400 points; $5) and Vision Camera support, it’s definitely something worth picking up if you enjoy any of the included games.

Check after the break for more details on both games.

Click to continue reading Xbox Live Arcade 8/1: Marathon: Durandal And Spyglass Board Games

Halo 3 WILL Include Online Co-Op Up To 4 Players [Update]

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Bungie, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live,

UPDATE: For all of you Negative Nancys out there, the news has been made official on Bungie.net. Head over there for details on the two Elites players three and four will take the role of (pictured above).

ORIGINAL STORY: While the news has yet to make it onto Bungie.net, a post made on the NeoGAF forums a short while ago posted a translation from Dutch website Inside Gamer stating that Halo 3 would support 4-player co-op. While the wording was difficult to understand (and initially looked like it might only be confirming 4-player split-screen co-op), Bungie’s Luke Smith has given this the thumbs up with a single word: “Believe.”

He later in the thread stated that news about this would make its way onto the official Bungie website later today, but this is huge news for Halo fans who were told that Halo 3 wouldn’t even be supporting online co-op.

As a huge Halo fan, I’m absolutely ecstatic over this. Online co-op in any form would have been fantastic. But FOUR players? That’s ridiculously awesome. I just wonder who the third and fourth players will play the role of.

This Week on Xbox Live Arcade: Marathon: Durandal And Spyglass Board Games

Posted by Chris Pereira Categories: Bungie, Casual, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Release Dates, Xbox 360, Xbox Live, Xbox Live Arcade,

Finally, Bungie’s Marathon. The game that was arguably better than Doom back in the day, but got little no attention because it was released only on Macs. (That’s what they get.) Marathon: Durandal, however, is actually the sequel to the original Marathon which saw a release on both Windows and Mac. The XBLA port was developed by Freeverse, and includes a variety of features that will make it worth its 800 Microsoft Point price tag – HD graphics, Xbox Live play, and co-op.

Spyglass Board Games has been heavily anticipated by many gamers, as for 400 Microsoft Points you get a sweet package of Chess, Checkers, Mancala and Reversi, all with Xbox Live Vision Camera support.

Both games will be available this Wednesday on Xbox Live Arcade.

The Darkness for Xbox 360 Demo Impressions

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Action, First Person Shooters, Xbox 360,

The Darkness tries to add something entirely new to the FPS genre, and in some ways, it succeeds. In other ways, it totally fails - at least from what we’ve seen so far. In much the same way that Overlord sought to re-invigorate the, well, the Pikmin genre, The Darkness seeks to bring something new to the FPS genre by making you the bad guy. In the game, you play as a mobster, Jackie Estacado, who’s been screwed-over one time too many by his associates. Jackie dies, and he’s re-incarnated as a dark-tentacle weilding “thing” (“The Darknes”), which he can use to exact revenge on the people who messed with him.

Click the jump for the rest of our preview…

Click to continue reading The Darkness for Xbox 360 Demo Impressions

Far Cry 2 Coming, Sayeth Ubisoft

Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Electronic Arts, First Person Shooters, PC, Ubisoft,

Ubisoft doesn’t think you should be getting too excited about Crysis. According to them, Far Cry 2 is going to be the new hawtness. In fact, they’re pretty confident that Far Cry 2 is going to be the game to raise the bar in the FPS arena:

“Far Cry marked the beginning of a new era for shooters. An era of gorgeous graphics and of advanced artificial intelligence,” declared John Parkes, EMEA marketing director at Ubisoft. “We are confident that Far Cry 2 will have the same impact again on the FPS genre landscape.”

Never mind the fact that Far Cry 2 isn’t being developed by Crytek, or that they don’t have shiny screenshots to show off. It’s just going to be awesome. Plus, you’ll be able to look forward to the ports! Far Cry 2: Instinctual Predation - Evolution of Vengeance coming soon to the the PS2, Wii, Gamecube, Xbox, GBA, and your cell phone.

Snarkiness aside, the game will be developed by Ubisoft’s Montreal Studios who also worked on Splinter Cell and the Prince of Persia series, so we can probably expect some pretty good things. From the look of the preview website, it looks like the game may take place in the African savannah, but we’ll have to wait for Ubi to give us any more tidbits of info (such as platforms, release dates, and all that other important stuff).

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