General gaming

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• Bungie Aerospace Reveal Coming Soon
• Call of Duty Elite Beta Attracts 2 Million Sign-Ups
• War of the Worlds Surprisingly References Classic 2D Adventure Games
• May NPDs: L.A. Noire and Brink Lead the Way
• Friend Codes "Refined" for Wii U, Things Closer to Xbox Live
• Playing as Frank West in Dead Rising 2 Will Cost You $40
• Homefront Developer Kaos Shut Down by THQ
• 1UP Live at Club Nokia
• E3 2011: Dead Island Multiplayer
• Hitman: Absolution Gameplay Footage Leaked

Bungie Aerospace Reveal Coming Soon Posted: 13 Jun 2011 08:15 PM PDT Halo and Marathon developer Bungie is celebrating its 20-year anniversary this year. As some point during the celebration, running from June 23 through Bungie Day on July 7, the developer will be revealing just what Bungie Aerospace is. In recent weeks, there have been quite a few tidbits hinting at what could be next for Bungie. Bungie Aerospace was incorporated at the end of April by two Bungie executives. It then filed for a trademark on "Crimson," which is listed as a "computer game software downloadable from a global computer network," "computer game software for use on mobile and cellular phones," or "downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices." There has also been additional evidence backing up the notion of the company's new title being called Destiny, which may be a steampunk game. Whatever all of this might be hinting at, we'll be learning more in the coming weeks. Among the reasons Bungie listed for people to celebrate with them is, "Because we're going to tell you, in explicit detail, exactly what Bungie Aerospace is all about." No hints were given, so we're left to speculate in the meantime. It may or may not be related, but the Bungie Mobile app for iOS has just been released.

Call of Duty Elite Beta Attracts 2 Million Sign-Ups Posted: 13 Jun 2011 05:11 PM PDT It's unclear how many people are going to be willing to pay for the subscription-based component of Call of Duty Elite, but there is no shortage of interest in the upcoming beta. Activision's Dan Amrich reports that more than two million people have signed up for the beta in less than two weeks. (You can do so here.) Elite was formally announced at the end of May following many rumors that an online subscription service of some sort was coming. It initially sparked a backlash when it was misconstrued that users would have to pay for things like stat tracking and social networking that are free elsewhere. Those concerns have since been addressed with Activision making it clear what's provided for free. It remains unclear how much the premium service will cost or all of the benefits it will provide. As of now, free access to downloadable content and a Call of Duty web series are among the perks we know of that Elite subscribers will be entitled to.

War of the Worlds Surprisingly References Classic 2D Adventure Games Posted: 13 Jun 2011 04:18 PM PDT Walking into my demo for War of the Worlds at E3 last week, I didn't know what to expect and I had plenty of questions. But my biggest was this: How can developer Other Ocean adapt a literature classic by H.G. Wells into a 2D adventure game? After a brief preface by Mike Mika, head of development for Other Ocean, I got to see War of the Worlds and better understand what the game actually is -- and why the creators of Dark Void Zero chose it as their latest project. Click the image above to check out all War of the Worlds screens.

May NPDs: L.A. Noire and Brink Lead the Way Posted: 13 Jun 2011 04:11 PM PDT Unsurprisingly, a new Rockstar game has been released and it's selling very well. L.A. Noire is a much different game than the likes of Grand Theft Auto and Red Dead with its lack of emphasis on action and guns, not to mention the fact that it was developed externally. None of that deterred gamers who made it the best-selling game in May, according to the NPD Group, which tells Giant Bomb it sold 899,000 copies during the month. Following L.A. Noire were Brink, Lego Pirates of the Caribbean, Portal 2, and Mortal Kombat. Call of Duty: Black Ops experienced its first month outside the top five, but it's already sold so ridiculously well that Activision likely isn't fretting over it. Rounding out the top ten were Zumba Fitness: Join the Party, NBA 2K11, Just Dance 2, and Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars. That 2K11 continues to sell so well is incredible; 2K10 had fallen off the top ten list far sooner than this. 2K11 does, however, have the benefit of being without competition.

Friend Codes "Refined" for Wii U, Things Closer to Xbox Live Posted: 13 Jun 2011 03:35 PM PDT One of Nintendo's biggest failings with its systems is the poor online experience. The company is well aware of that and admits things haven't been up to par in the past. It's also promising a much-improved system for Wii U, although it's declining to get into any specifics at this point. Nintendo marketing manager Rob Lowe spoke with Eurogamer and pointed to the 3DS' improved online functionality as an example of Nintendo taking that component more seriously. And while it's true that the 3DS' online features are significantly better than its previous handhelds, it's hardly perfect. Luckily, Lowe says it's being taken "even further" with Wii U. "We can't talk about the details yet as Mr. Iwata will announce those slightly later," Lowe said. "But with the online of 3DS it's obviously a massive leap on from where we were with DSi and DSi XL. It's smooth, robust, it doesn't drop in and out."

Playing as Frank West in Dead Rising 2 Will Cost You $40 Posted: 13 Jun 2011 01:57 PM PDT You'll be able to revisit the world of Dead Rising 2 with the series' first protagonist, Frank West, at a bargain price this fall. DR2 starred new character Chuck Greene, abandoning the star of the first game in the process. West made a return with downloadable title Case West before Capcom announced that a new DR2 spin-off, Off the Record, would star him. After the new game was shown off earlier this year, there was a good deal of concern that there wouldn't be enough new content to justify a full game release. Some wondered why it wasn't being released as downloadable content for DR2 or as a downloadable game. Whether or not either of those formats would have been better suited it, Capcom has announced that the game won't cost $60, backing up comments from April that it would be "appropriately priced." The price deemed to be appropriate is $39.99 in North America, Eurogamer reports.

Homefront Developer Kaos Shut Down by THQ Posted: 13 Jun 2011 12:27 PM PDT THQ has confirmed today that it's in the process of a "strategic realignment" that will see two studios closed, one of which, Kaos Studios, was responsible for this year's Homefront. The exact number of people who will be affected is unclear. Some will be given the opportunity to move to THQ Montreal (a studio that has allegedly been poaching talent from Ubisoft), while others will be laid off. This likely didn't come as a complete shock; there were concerns voiced back in January from Kaos staffers who thought they would be faced with a move to Montreal or a pink slip before long. Develop has gotten official word from THQ on the closure of not only Kaos, but U.K.-based developer THQ Digital Warrington. THQ said this is a "strategic realignment within its internal studio structure and [it] is in the process of closing two locations: the company's U.K. studio and Kaos studio in New York."

1UP Live at Club Nokia Posted: 13 Jun 2011 12:23 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet 1UP Live at Club Nokia Ken Levine on BioShock Infinite, David Jaffe on Twisted Metal Vita possibilities, and reaction videos from the 1UP staff. By: 1UP Staff June 13, 2011 E3 is chaotic. Through all the masses of presentations, conferences, demonstrations, events, and booth babes, the amount of news, coverage, and buzz flying around the Internet can be deafening, to say nothing of the energy on-site at the Los Angeles Convention Center. On the last day of E3, 1UP took respite at the nearby Club Nokia to have in-depth conversations with Ken Levine, David Jaffe, and Queasy Games away from the din of the convention halls. Then we sounded-off on the best games of E3, who had the best conference, and which games you should have on your radar that you might not yet. Developer Interview - David Jaffe David Jaffe, Co-Founder of Eat Sleep Play and the creator of the Twisted Metal and God of War franchises, sits down with 1UP to discuss how he isn't interested in seeing new consoles for awhile, a possible Twisted Metal for the PlayStation Vita, and other industry trends. Developer Interview - Ken Levine 1UP's Matt Leone has a bone to pick with Irrational Games' creative director and creator of BioShock, Ken Levine. Topics include the stages of development of his games, the insanity of the BioShock Infinite E3 demo, and more. Developer Interview - Jonathan Mak and Shaw-Han Liem

E3 2011: Dead Island Multiplayer Posted: 13 Jun 2011 11:50 AM PDT I got the chance to play a little bit of Dead Island's multiplayer at E3 this week. There were four of us taking on a task of plastering up some posters of a missing person around one part of the island. The first thing you do before starting up a mission is to buy and upgrade a variety of weapons. After-all, you wouldn't want to walk around a zombie-island empty handed. Most people picked machetes and knives, while I chose to go with a few bats, clubs and some brass knuckles. Guns and ammunition are scarce, so even if you do come across some at a shop, it won't be cheap.

Hitman: Absolution Gameplay Footage Leaked Posted: 13 Jun 2011 11:06 AM PDT Footage from a behind-closed-doors E3 demonstration of Hitman: Absolution has been leaked onto the Web, apparently by way of a news station in Denmark. It's sure to be pulled down before long, but for now people can get a few brief glimpses of what the first Hitman game in five years has in store for gamers. There are several different chunks of gameplay spliced together (each played twice, for some reason) so it's hard to get much of a feel for anything. We see Agent 47 pick up a statue's head and hit an enemy with it, hang from a ledge and pull a man down to his death, take cover from enemy gunfire, use a person as a human shield to prevent police from shooting him, and sneak up behind someone. A snake coiled up around a handgun is shown at the end, something that seems to be taken from previous teaser trailers for the game. Absolution is currently scheduled for a 2012 release on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

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