Gaming Today

Bejeweled 3! December! Trailer!
Buy Kinect In Times Square Tomorrow Night, Get Free Games
Here Is the Transcript from Today’s Video Game Supreme Court Proceedings
Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Gets Free PS3-Exclusive Launch-Day DLC
Super There Will Be Blood Will Drink Your Milkshake!
God of War: Ghosts of Sparta Cheats
New Militia Skins For Battle Grounds 2
God of War: Ghosts of Sparta Walkthrough
Borderlands Patch 1.41 Released
Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party Starring Metallica
Buy Two Games, Get One Free From Amazon
Valve Launches DotA 2 Site

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 09:50 PM PDT

Having somehow lived to the ripe old age of 23, I’ve learned that you’ve got to enjoy the little things. Yeah, it’s great to sit in front of the TV for 10 straight hours playing New Vegas, but when it’s time to decompress, to really decompress, it’ great to sit back on the porch with a cigarette and a beer and roll some s**t up into a Katamari on the PSP.

And I don’t think I’m exaggerating when I say we’ll all be doing a lot o decompressing on the porch with our laptops or in our cubes while we’re supposed to be working, because Bejeweled 3 is happening on December 7. Yeah. This is PC and Mac only for the time being, but you can expect that the PopCap folks are busting their asses to get it out on other platforms as quickly as they can.

Meanwhile, the game will have new stuff. A new customizable mode called Zen. Old game modes reworked. 11 new games in Quest mode. New f**king gems! AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH! Trailer below.

download

More here.

Buy Kinect In Times Square Tomorrow Night, Get Free Games

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 06:18 PM PDT

For one reason or another, big games-related releases often have an “official launch party” at some store in Time Square (that’s where all the people are?), and Microsoft is holding the Kinect “official launch party” at the Toys R Us in that there district. And they really would like you to go there to make your purchase.

If you go out there tomorrow night and you are one of the first 3,000 folks to buy a Kinect from the Toys R Us, you get a couple bonuses: Kinect Sports, Kinect Joy Ride and a free year of Live. Killa. So I guess if you’re in New York and are going to buy Kinect this week, you might as well wander down there. Or you could try for a free one.

Does it feel really strange that we really are so close to the release of this thing? The wild card in the console wars will see the light of day in 15 hours.

Here Is the Transcript from Today’s Video Game Supreme Court Proceedings

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 05:17 PM PDT

So today was the beginning of the United States Supreme Court hearings on California’s attempt to make a law that would make it illegal to sell some nebulously defined type of violent game to minors. And even though the Justices are old as f**k in relation to video games as a medium (I think they were all probably adults before anyone knew what Pong was), they seem to have a pretty good grasp of the situation, which is exactly what you would expect of Supreme Court Justices.

Below you can find the transcript of today’s deliberations. It’s 72 pages, but it’s good reading!

Schwarzenegger v EMA

Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood Gets Free PS3-Exclusive Launch-Day DLC

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 03:23 PM PDT

Today Ubisoft has told the world that there will be some free story DLC for Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood. This DLC will be released on launch day. And it will be available to PS3 owners only. You don’t have to pre-order at Gamestop or buy it new, because this DLC will not come to you via a bundled download code. Nope, this thing is just going to be there in the Playstation Store for you to grab without any hassle involved whatsoever.

The DLC is called The Copernicus Conspiracy. Ubisoft: “In this additional content, players will have access to several new missions. An exclusive mission giver, the famous Renaissance astronomer Copernicus, will provide the extra content for players, including courier, assassination and protection missions. Ezio will be tasked with foiling the conspiracy against Copernicus and defending his philosophy.”

Savvy move by Sony to secure this deal. And it’s a gimmick that should be pretty effective, considering that almost as many people have PS3s as have 360s now.

The game is out on PS3 and 360 on November 16, two weeks from today. PC version comes early next year.

Super There Will Be Blood Will Drink Your Milkshake!

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 01:59 PM PDT

Super There Will Be Blood from Tomfoolery Pictures on Vimeo.

In the tradition of Super Star Wars and Indiana Jones’ Greatest Adventures comes the best thing ever. The 16 bit game that never was, Super There Will Be Blood for SNES. Thing is, I actually would have played this all the way through and still complained about the ending, and having recently beaten Super Mario Crossover, I demand a playable version of this without delay.

Via our homies at Screen Junkies.

God of War: Ghosts of Sparta Cheats

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 01:54 PM PDT

One of the world’s most popular Sony-only franchises is back this week, allowing gamers to climb back inside Kratos’ loincloth and go brutalize some Gods. Having defeated Ares and taken his place on Olympus, the world’s most bloodthirsty Spartan is beset by dreams of his family, and the plot of the game will follow the antihero as he attempts to track down his mother and brother.

The gameplay hasn’t changed much since the original title, and players will relish the opportunity to unleash the God of War’s Bronze Age arsenal once again. Below, you’ll find a full walkthrough, as well as all the cheats and unlockables you’ll need to make your Ghosts of Sparta experience complete.

God of War: Ghosts of Sparta Walkthrough

God of War: Ghosts of Sparta Codes

God of War: Ghosts of Sparta Unlockables

New Militia Skins For Battle Grounds 2

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 01:28 PM PDT

In the spirit of the fantastically entertaining¹ election happening right now, here’s something especially Patriotic… ish. It’s some new skins for Battle Grounds 2, a Half-Life 2 mod released last fall (version 2.0 was released in April, 2010). Battle Grounds puts you smack in the middle of our little tiff with the King of England, as English forces and their Native American tribal allies battle the ragtag forces of the rebellious 13 colonies. (Presumably, La Belle France² will be showing up in a future update.)

Weapons are period – muskets, bayonets, gangrene, etc – and gameplay emphasizes co-op play and team tactics. Which makes sense, since the fractious 13 colonies were only able to defeat the Brits by ~~ignoring the fact that half the country had a slave economy~~ putting aside our differences and banding together for the common good. Kind of like when we vote! Yowza! Topical reference!

The latest update adds Militias – the local forces who engaged in “assymetrical” warfare against British forces but weren’t officially part of the Continental Army – into the mix. In real life, the Militias did a bang up job of suppressing Loyalist activities and generally being a bee in the British Army’s bonnet, while the Continental Army engaged in more traditional types of battle. The inclusion of Militia skins into the game won’t change the overall style of play – it’s a pretty wide open system – but it definitely gives players a greater frame of reference for crafting battle tactics, and we approve.

You can help our plucky minutemen throw off the oppressive yoke of Crumpets, Scones and superfluous letters u by downloading here.

1) note: whatever happens, the results of this election confirm everything you personally believe is wrong with the world, we promise.
2) Truly, the friendship between the US and France would last forever!

God of War: Ghosts of Sparta Walkthrough

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 01:12 PM PDT

Kratos is back on the PSP, chasing the Ghosts of Sparta like some sort of bloodthisty Hamlet. The game focuses around the bald badass’ quest to find his long-lost brother and mother, who are squirreled away in Sparta and Atlantis, respectively.

The gameplay will bring back all the elements you know and love, with lots of 3rd-person brawling, light-but-clever puzzling, and stunningly epic boss battles. Kratos will also wield an assortment of new mythologically-inspired weaponry, all crafted with an eye toward dismemberment.

Promising more content than Chains of Olympus, the franchise’s previous PSP title, God of War: Ghosts of Sparta should live up to the series’ extremely high standard of quality. Check back soon for our full walkthrough.

Table of Contents

Atlantis
Death Gate
City of Atlantis
Temple of Poseidon

Atlantis

Begin by destroying the group of underwater undead monsters by alternating between the X and triangle button. Quickly alternate between L and R to escape if one of them takes ahold of you.
Use your arsenal of combos to destroy this first wave, then do the same with the next. Hold L to block attacks and Hold down triangle to launch enemies into the air. These guys know how to use their tridents, so make sure to keep moving to avoid their strikes. While holding L and R, move your toggle switch to perform a roll.
Once they are destroyed, kick through the door to head under the ship. Destroy this next wave of enemies before opening the green chest on the right to regain some extra health.
Before heading out the door, open the chest to the left to gain extra power ups for weapons and magic. Head up the stairs and kick open the door.
These little spiders can be annoying, but watch out for the huge tentacle of this giant squid as you fend them off. Take a few shots at the tentacle to cause it to crawl back into the sea.
Perform several lengthy attacks against the wall of tentacles to create a pathway to cross. Unfortunately, you'll have to fend off more of those spiders as you do so. The best (and most entertaining) way to destroy them is to grab them and allow Kratos to team them in half.
Jump and perform a few arial combos against the other tentacle at this end of the boat. Once the monster is down, press the O button to initiate the mini game.
Scylla looks friendly! His mode of attack is simple: tentacle swipes and claw smashes. You'll know when these about to come because he rear his head back before he unleashes them.
When he is about to perform an attack, stay up close and in the center of his body and hold L to absorb most of the blow. As soon as he finishes his attack, he'll stick out his ugly head and when he does, get off as many arial combos as possible.
Once you cause Scylla to retreat into the sea, he'll pop up in a different area and greet you with more of those annoying spiders. As you fight them off, he'll attempt to take a bite out of you, so watch out!
When Scylla returns back to his original position, continue to get off arial combos in between his attacks. Once he falls, perform a double jump to get up to the crane wheel. Rapidly press the O button to activate it.
Carefully watch the screen and press O when necessary to complete the combo and send this beast back to the sea.
Jump back up to the area with the crane wheel. Double jump to grab onto the ledge above it and pull yourself up. Run around to the left and open the chest.
Run around to the right and jump up onto the next ledge. Open the chest to receive a Gorgon Eye, then jump up to grab onto and slide down the rope.
Hold R, then release it to do a dash and break through the underwater gate. Open the chest, then swim back out and come up to the surface. Walk over to the swirling light to save your progress.
Jump up the bricks, then jump up again and grab on onto the ledge. Move around to the right and around the turn. Drop down and jump up onto the next area. Take out the underwater sea monsters before getting the health orbs from the nearby chest.
Take a few whacks against the makeshift door to break it down, then head down the hallway. Look for the glowing point on the wooden plank above and use your blades to latch onto it and swing across.
The centaur is a pretty intelligent fighter and will constantly be blocking your attacks. Wait for him to make the first move, perform a dash or block, then hit him with a few combos.
If you get to close to the right wall you'll be paid an unexpected visit from Scylla. After you break his hold, finish off the centaur. Just like in previous GOW games, press O when the icon is over its head, then when Kratos has him pinned down, tap O repeatedly to finish the kill.
Walk over to the lever on the right. Use O to hold it and pull it back. Jump up the ledges on the North wall and climb to the right. Before jumping up through the entry way, continue climbing around the turn to find two hidden chests.
After you jump up through the entryway, head down the hallway to the left. Destroy all of the enemies in this next area. Once they are dead, perform a wall climb to get up the next area.
Open the chest, then wall climb up to the ledge. Climb around the turn to your left, then jump up between the break in the rail. Turn to your right and tap L to block the oncoming enemy blades before they hit you.
Destroy these three enemies before opening the chest in the back left corner. Come back around and open the gate. Hold circle to pull out the block to the main area. Push it over to the right wall and jump up it to get to the chest on the left.
After you open it, hop back down and begin pushing the block all the way back down the path you originally crossed while you were blocking those flying blade attacks. One the block is over the circular button, release it and a light should appear on the ceiling just behind the waterfalls to the left.
Before you cross over, you can drop down the ledge into the water and swim to the underwater alcove to get chest full of red orbs. Swim back to the near wall, jump up to grab the ledge, then jump again to get back to your original spot.
When you see the O icon, press it to latch on to the spot on the ceiling. Allow Kratos to swing around a couple of times before timing your release to jump to the other side.
Destroy the large post on the left for some extra red orbs. Open the chest for some extra health, then head around to the left and destroy the enemies coming up the stairs.
Head down the path and latch onto the wall at the end of the pathway. Wall jump once to the right, then perform a wall slide to get to the bottom. Run around to the left to find two hidden chests.
Run back and head through the open doorway to enter into the Temple of Thantos. Run towards the screen and turn left to find a chest of red orbs. Run down the center bridge and press O to learn of the Temple.

Death Gate

Walk around to the right, save your game, then head through the doorway. Kick in the door at the end of the hallway. Pull on the lever in the circular room to cause the platform to raise.
Destroy the falling enemies as the platform rises to the top. Head down the water-filled pathway and kill the attacking enemies.

City of Atlantis

Once you reach the drop, slide down and press X right before the edge to jump across. Open the chest, then head upstairs.
Who doesn't love a good cyclops fight? Unfortunately, a gate will go up, so you'll be in tight quarters. Luckily, he moves pretty slow. It might take a while, but unleash a few lengthy combos in between his fist pounds. When the O icon appears, tap it to complete the kill.
Kill the underwater seas monsters that appear over the edge of the area. Once the gate falls, head down the stairs and open the chest. Head back up the stairs, then up the next set of stairs and through the doorway to the Temple.
Turn right at the end of the hallway and destroy the pots in this area to get a few extra red orbs. Walk up to the statue of Poseidon, hold O and release to kick the statue out of the way.
Drop down into the whole and swim to the left and up through the next whole. Jump out and open the two nearby chests. Jump back into the water and swim up and over to the far right whole.
Head down the hallway, open the chest on the left, then pull up the door. Destroy the enemies around to the right before sprinting down the bridge. Save your game and open the chest next to the left statue before heading up the steep pathway.

Temple of Poseidon

Head up the stairs and push open the large door. Following that strange encounter with your mother, she will turn into a beast named Callisto. He moves slow, but watch out for his claw attacks and his dash attacks.
If he happens to pin you against a wall, repeatedly tap L and R to break free, the press the appropriate buttons on the screen to deliver a crushing blow.
The best time to get in a few combos is after Callisto makes a dash attempt and crashes into a wall. Once he is dead, walk to his lifeless body and press O to finish him off.
Press O to pick up Callisto's armlet, then head up the pathway. Walk towards the gate in front of you and press O to obtain the Eye of Atlantis. You and now press the right arrow to activate the "Eye of the Storm." Test it out on the group of enemies that appear.
Once they have been destroyed, head through he newly opened doorway on the right. Destroy the pots down the pathway and if you have not done so already, you should have enough red orbs to upgrade your Blades of Chaos.
Open the two chests at the end of the pathway which should be your third Gorgon Eye and a Phoenix Feather. Head back to the main area and through the doorway on the left.
Turn left up the pathway and out onto the platform area where you will be greeted by the tentacles of Scylla. After he drags you into the cave, press O to bash his head and send him back underwater.
Follow the pathway and keep in mind that you can destroy the tiny triangular rocks for more red orbs. Open the chest on the left for another Phoenix feather, then get the two chests on the right.
After you save your game, turn back to the left and wall climb up the wall to the top of the ceiling. Once you reach it, climb over to the right. Carefully climb down and continue climbing across the ceiling.
As you make your way across, clear the path by destroy those tiny lava rocks and kill those annoying spiders. Once you reach the end, press L to drop down.
Open the chest on the right, then walk to the edge and press O to swing across the two lights to get across to the other side. Jump up on the ledge and then up onto the next level. Turn left and head down the pathway to the next area.

Borderlands Patch 1.41 Released

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 12:50 PM PDT

The latest free patch for Gearbox’s RPG shooter has just gone live. It updates Borderlands to version 1.41, and includes all of the following goodies:

Level cap increase of 8 levels for all players.
- Original Borderlands players will now be able to achieve level 58.
- Owners of The Secret Armory of General Knoxx can achieve a record setting increase to a maximum level of 69
Enemies now scale to new level caps throughout the whole game as long as play through 2 has been completed.
Item drops (with the exception of COM Decks) will now scale to new enemy level caps.
DLC4 Achievement/Trophy glitches that have affected some users will now properly award players for obtaining these achievements.

Got all that? Good. Now, go get the patch! It’s on our fast, free servers for your downloading convenience.

Call of Duty: Black Ops Launch Party Starring Metallica

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 12:10 PM PDT

The folks at Activision are hosting a balls-to-the-wall launch party for Call of Duty: Black Ops next week. These parties usually feature some live music, and this one is no exception. Of course, most of them don’t get a band this large, as the CoD launch party will feature Metallica.

The launch party will raise $1 million for the Call of Duty Endowment, the organization that helps soldiers move into civilian life, as well as helping them find jobs and new careers.

Bobby Kotick, the oft-maligned CEO of Activision Blizzard, said, “We are honored to have Metallica partner with us to pay tribute to the brave servicemen and women who have risked their lives at war only to return home to find their biggest challenge is searching for a job. Today, the unemployment rate for veterans is 21% higher than the rate for all Americans, with veterans’ unemployment topping 500,000. We believe that the business community can and should do more.”

It’s nice to see gaming companies using their powers for good and helping out veterans in need. Now, if I could just figure a way to slip into that party….a

Buy Two Games, Get One Free From Amazon

Posted: 02 Nov 2010 11:14 AM PDT

The calendar has turned to November, which means I’m cutting back on my spending for the next three weeks in preparation for Black Friday. That means I’m only spending money on booze, smokes and movie tickets until the big day arrives. Incidentally, the Titanic Iron Bowl for the Ages also takes place that day, and so I’ll need extra money for extra booze that day, because no matter how that game turns out, I’m going to be more drunk than you thought possible.

Anyway, a lot of websites try to act like Black Friday the day is not a big deal by rolling out sales all month, but these sales are never as good as the real thing. Case in point is Amazon’s Three Games for the Price of Two sale, which is a pretty good deal in its own right but not as good as a real Black Friday deal, in which every game would cost no more than $30. Anyway, seeing as how this is a pretty good sale on its own, as I said, and there are 800 different games on the list, you might as well take a gander and see what there is to see. Just remember that you know this isn’t the real thing because you didn’t have to get up really early or sit outside in the cold for hours before being able to partake.

Sale ends Saturday.