Dragon Age: Origins Update #5: The City of Denerim


This week, lets take a little trip to one of Dragon Age: Origins’ huge cities, the capital of Ferelden, also known as Denerim. It’s a nice place to visit, but you all know how the rest of that old saying goes, especially if the real world is beckoning you away from more play time with BioWare’s upcoming epic Action/RPG. Well, grab that passport anyway, this is only a short hop today!

By the by, I missed an update regarding the game’s soundtrack, so I’ll just quickly report that the very talented Inon Zur is doing the music for the game. A well-respected composer of film, TV and game scores, he’s done some great work in games such as Shadow Ops: Red Mercury, Lineage II, Fallout 3, both Crysis titles and many others. Meanwhile, back at the travel agency, your cart is ready – shall we get on with the tour?

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New Mass Effect 2 Character Revealed


Meet Subject Zero… don’t ogle her tattooed glory too long or she’s the last thing you’ll see… and no, you probably won’t die with a smile on your face, either. Mass Effect 2’s latest character reveal is this deadly lady who has “been around, ran with gangs, wiped out some gangs.”  Yikes.

Updated intel from BioWare notes this:

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Review: DIRT 2 (PS3)

Platform: PS3/Xbox 360

Developer: Codemasters (Racing Studio)

Publisher: Codemasters

# of Players: 1 (Online: 2 – 8)

Rating: T (Teen)

Official Site

Score: A

Accessibility is the prime mover DIRT 2 uses perfectly to keep players of all skill levels coming back for more. Whether you’re a rally newbie interested in the sport thanks to the X Games or a grumpy veteran player shaking his or her fist at Codemasters for “Americanizing” the game in the past two installments, there’s definitely something for you (and everyone in between those two extremes. Stick a controller in your hands or sit in front of your expensive steering wheel setup, lock in your difficulty and take the phone off the hook – you’re not coming up for air unless it’s your virtual ride taking to the skies on an awesome jump. Fantastic visuals, near perfect handling and a solid racing experience await anyone looking for one of the best racers this year. A few bumps in the road keep this from sheer perfection, but the Joe Gamer crowd will barely notice the problem areas.

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Left 4 Dead Crash Course DLC Coming 9/29

The gift that keeps on giving gets its second DLC pack as Valve is about to whack L4D fans over the head with some cool new content for everyone’s favorite PC and Xbox 360 Source Engine-powered co-op zombie killing masterpiece.

Quick details below:

Crash Course delivers new single-player, multiplayer and co-operative gameplay to both platforms, and bridges the gap between the end of the “No Mercy” campaign and the beginning of “Death Toll” in the original game.

While containing both Survival maps and a Co-operative Campaign, the primary goal of Crash Course is to deliver a complete Versus mode experience in just 30 minutes, resulting in a streamlined version of the game’s existing Versus campaigns. A recharge timer for infected teammates has also been added, and item spawn behavior has changed for more balanced gameplay.


L4D: Crash Course
DLC will be available on September 29, 2009 – hit the official L4D web site for more information!

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Goes Gold

Just a little bit longer… Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising has gone gold and is set to hit retail on October 6, 2009. Naturally, Codemasters is going all out with a bunch of cool stuff happening on the game’s official web site. Peek below for a few screens, boogie on over to the game’s site and go pre-order what’s looking to be one of the best modern tactical military games to date.

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Left 4 Dead 2 Ratings Update (UK, Australian and NZ Versions)

G’day to all my UK, Aussie and NZ readers! In case you’re wondering about the status of Left 4 Dead 2’s ratings, here you go – news directly from Valve. Let’s all hope cooler heads prevail thanks to a dose of simple common sense. Note to ratings boards around the world: It’s a GAME, folks – there are no real-life zombies and this isn’t going to inspire someone to run around looking for them with a squirrel gun.

Of course, if there’s someone out there that’s THAT far off the rails, well… there’s a pill for that, I hear. Or therapy… Anyway, off the soapbox and on with the news…

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Pinball Hall of Fame: The WIlliams Collection Rolls Onto PS3, 360

In the “It’s about time!” department: Crave has announced that Farsight Studios latest collection of classic pinball tables (in handy digital form), Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection is now available at retail. If you’re looking at that cover art and wondering “What’s pinball?”, well… that’s exactly WHY you need to spend the $40 on this one. Me, I grew up playing pinball (back in 1972, Gottlieb’s ‘Batter Up!’ was my introduction to the silver ball) and I was a big fan of FarSight’s PHOF: The Gottlieb Collection from a few years back, so this new set of silver ball oldies should be a real treat.

Anyway, here’s a bit of the press release:

“The Pinball Hall of Fame franchise was built on delivering the highest level of authenticity to the most discerning pinball players,” said Betsi Gijanto, executive vice president, Crave Entertainment. “With three brand new Williams tables, leaderboards, the 4-player multi-play option and high-definition graphics, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection for Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 upholds that standard while providing gamers with everything they’d expect on the latest game systems. Value-priced at $39.99, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection is destined to become a classic in many gamers’ libraries.”

True to the franchise, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection, developed by FarSight Studios, offers 13 Classic Williams tables from the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, including three new tables: Medieval Madness™, The Tales of the Arabian Nights™ and No Good Gophers™. In addition, the award-winning franchise is marking its debut on Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 with online leaderboards and trophies, multi-player for up to four players and HD Compatibility (1080i and 1080p). The game also features expanded table goals and bonus features throughout.
Rated “E10+,” (Everyone 10+) by the ESRB, Pinball Hall of Fame: The Williams Collection is now available at major retailers nationwide for a suggested retail price of $39.99

– go buy a copy already!

Update: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising Challenge!

I hate these darn coded messages. Either I get a rock thrown through a window here, a message-toting pigeon pooping on my windowsill or a big headache after someone conks me on the head and i wake up afterward with top-secret game info taped to my forehead.

Anyway, this latest dispatch came in from Codemasters. Yes, it was in code, and as I’m no master, I had to have some kid down the hall translate this. Cost me five bucks and when he found out I write a game blog, I almost went deaf listening to his whining for cheats and tips and such on games i don’t even play. Darn kids…

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Agetec & UFO Announce Way of the Samurai 3 for PS3 and 360

In a unique co-publishing agreement, Way of the Samurai 3 is set to hit stores on October 13, 2009 thanks to the fine folks at Agetec (PS3 version) and UFO (Xbox 360 version).
According to the press release, Acquire’s latest entry in the ongoing swordplay saga is an all-new Action/RPG that promises a “completely new, highly refined style of gameplay, a rich weapon crafting system, beautifully detailed graphics and a deep branching storyline that that will unfold multiple endings based upon player’s actions.”

With that in mind, here’s a look at the game’s story (click the pic to enlarge and read) and characters (ditto) as well as a nice set of screenshots and a pair of CG stills from what looks like the intro movie. In addition, an exclusive iPhone/iPod Touch app has also been announced – see below the jump for all the  details…

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Fairytale Fights Pre-Order T-Shirt Gets The DAF Seal of Approval…

Ah, my ladies in action! Remember, I DID say this one wasn’t for the kiddies…

Gamestop also has an exclusive trailer on the pre-order page (link below), so take a peek that way if you still haven’t seen the game running yet – it’s pretty spectacular stuff.

The GameStop Fairytale Fights pre-order program is available now through October 26, 2009 at GameStop. Please visit your local GameStop for more information and incentive details. Incentive items will be available at the retailer at time of pick-up starting October 27, 2009.

Fairytale Fights will be released on October 27, 2009 in North America and October 23, 2009 in Europe on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system from Microsoft and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. Fairytale Fights will be made available on PC in 2010.