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Q4 release for Mafia 2 (re)confirmed; Payne, Noire, Civ V still on hit list

Xbox 360 Fanboy - Sun, 03/14/2010 - 00:59

Earlier this month, Take-Two announced the potential movement of one of the titles planned for release in its fiscal fourth quarter, extending from August to October. The choices were: LA Noire, Mafia 2, Max Payne 3, or Civilization V. During our demo of Mafia 2 on Wednesday, we were told the game would make its Q4 release, removing it from the list of potentially delayed titles. If we were the betting type, we'd be looking at one of those two Rockstar titles; after all, we've seen Civilization V at this point while LA Noire and Max Payne 3 remain shrouded in mystery.

Q4 release for Mafia 2 (re)confirmed; Payne, Noire, Civ V still on hit list originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 14 Mar 2010 00:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Medal of Honor trailer defines Tier One Operative (in case you were wondering)

Xbox 360 Fanboy - Sat, 03/13/2010 - 22:00

The latest trailer for EA's upcoming reboot of the Medal of Honor series, which debuted this week on GTTV, really goes out of its way to explain exactly the kind of gentlemen you'll be piloting this summer. These guys are Tier One Operators -- "experts in the application of violence" -- which might explain why some guy who seems to just be hanging out gets totally messed up without much of a reason.

Aside from a repeat performance of the "kick dude in chair out of window who's actually booby-trapped with explosives," we're given a bit of a hint at what to expect from the game. From what we can glean, there'll be a lot of sneaking up on dudes and stabbing them ... repeatedly. Oh, and the aforementioned messing up of relatively innocent looking folks as well. We're gonna go out on a limb here, though, and say there's probably more to the game than that. Until we find out, we've got the trailer embedded after the fold.

Continue reading Medal of Honor trailer defines Tier One Operative (in case you were wondering)

Medal of Honor trailer defines Tier One Operative (in case you were wondering) originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: Games

Impressions: Mass Effect 2 DLC - Kasumi's Stolen Memory

Xbox 360 Fanboy - Sat, 03/13/2010 - 21:12

click to kazoomi

Like some of the best loyalty quests in Mass Effect 2, "Kasumi's Stolen Memory" is an inventive sub-story that steps away from all the galactic peril just long enough to explore the motives and traits of a newly recruited squad mate. The downloadable add-on introduces Kasumi, a cocky human thief in search of data relating to a former partner (in crime?), and sees Shepard accompanying her on an important and incredibly dangerous two-person mission. You know, a date.

Donning a sleek bit of evening wear and a false identity, Shepard accompanies Kasumi to an exclusive party -- the kind that requires either a shiny invitation or a shady conscience. While the commander mingles, a cloaked Kasumi keeps an eye out for the hidden art vault that she believes holds her partner's grey box. What they eventually find encroaches upon spoiler territory (that's especially sensitive given the 90-minute length of the mission), but unsurprisingly triggers one of Mass Effect 2's intense combat sequences.

Continue reading Impressions: Mass Effect 2 DLC - Kasumi's Stolen Memory

Impressions: Mass Effect 2 DLC - Kasumi's Stolen Memory originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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GDC: EA DICE on building a bite-sized Battlefield

Xbox 360 Fanboy - Sat, 03/13/2010 - 19:30

EA DICE has been a fairly prolific developer during the current console generation, churning out both a high-profile title based on original IP (Mirror's Edge), as well as ones based on established franchises like Battlefield. EA was searching for a way to capitalize on the downtime between these blockbuster releases -- a game which would be relatively quick and painless to create, while still standing up to the quality standards set by their previous releases. Thus, the idea for Battlefield 1943 was born.

Battlefield 1943 producer Patrick Liu explained the studio's unique design philosophy while making the game, which boiled down to "make the game as long as resources last." They maximized the amount of content they produced under this strategy by settling on the somewhat smaller scope of the game early, and focusing on recreating the Battlefield experience to adhere to that scope.

Some decisions made under this philosophy include making ammunition and health auto-regenerate, cutting down on tiresome resource runs back to your home base. This decision led to others, including the removal of the medic and engineer classes. It also let them focus on perfecting a handful of maps and gametypes, which, while iterated from previous installments in the franchise, also saw major adjustments in 1943.

The result was a project developed by 15 series veterans at once, at one-tenth of the cost of a full DICE game, which broke day one, week one and month one downloadable sales records. It's no surprise that Liu expressed interest in developing more "games of this size and scope" -- when handled correctly, it sounds like a miniature entry in a major franchise can be quite the profitable cash cow.

GDC: EA DICE on building a bite-sized Battlefield originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 13 Mar 2010 19:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Categories: Games