The British are a bit ahead of the rest of the world when it comes to recognising the achievements of videogames in the arts field. And the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) awards has become the defacto videogame awards show for grownups who aren't developers. Admittedly, that's not hard when the only real competing show is over in the US, where you'll find the likes of Megan Fox amongst the nominees.
The after parties for this year's BAFTAs are in full swing, and the winners are commiserating with the losers. The big winner on the night: Batman: Arkham Asylum, which managed to snatch the best game gong from hot favourite Uncharted 2. Here's the list:
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While BioShock 2 players are slowly cooling their jets after discovering the first DLC for the game was sitting on the game disc all along, PS3 punters are preparing for the first DLC pack for MAG, the Trooper Gear Pack. And the good news is it's going to be gratis.
Nope, no strings attached. Come next week (March 25th is the date being spruiked) it's free. Word from the official MAG blog:
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NCSoft has issued its own "PSA" (Public Service Announcement) to Aion players. And while it's doubtless been inspired by the Modern Warfare 2 (and its subsequent Battlefield Bad Company 2 satire) anti-grenade spam videos, it seems to have a more serious edge to it.
The video addresses the issue of RMT - Real Money Transactions - in Aion. In other words - buying in-game currency with real money, which in turn trashes the economy of a given MMO.
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If you've ever wanted to cruise planetary surfaces of the Mass Effect 2 universe in something a little more stylish, the Hammerhead hovertank may be just what you're looking for.
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For some time now exchange rates are a catch-all excuse for retailers to gouge Australians for more than their overseas counterparts are paying. But what happens when luck or a strong home currency tilts the balance in your favour?
Well, if you're using Steam, it might be that the game you want to pick up at a bargain price gets removed from sale. That's one possible explanation why Ubisoft has removed Silent Hunter V and Assassin's Creed II from Steam's United Kingdom online shopfront.
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You may well be interested in seeing what EA has to offer with their return to the Medal of Honor series. If so, you may be further interested in checking out what it actually looks like.
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Rebellion Studios recently put Aliens vs Predator out the door. Now they're showing staff out the same way. As expected, the developer has pulled the trigger on the closure of their Derby (UK) office - a process that begin in January with staff being warned of impending job cuts.
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Perhaps you've heard of Trickstar Games? The Prahan, Melbourne outfit, which describes itself as "the newest, but most experienced games development studio" only recently announced its existence to the world. The crew - which appears to be a chunk of the now-defunct Transmission Games team - are already putting their nose to the grindstone, working on International Cricket 2010 for Codemasters.
The Xbox 360 and PS3 game is in experienced hands. Trickstar head Tony Parkes claims the dev team has worked on Brian Lara and Ashes 2009 titles in the past. The big draw for the game - which has secured player, kit and ground licensing rights from Cricket Australia and England and Wales Cricket Board - is the new Action Cam feature:
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While file sharing technology is always one step ahead (or remains too hard to police, see: Usenet), entertainment companies watching their advertising and sales revenue plunge as people rip off their material online are still in a state of disarray. At least that's the only plausible explanation for mega-company Viacom's actions in relation to YouTube.
Viacom, which is in rough financial straits, has been party to an ongoing, billion dollar lawsuit with YouTube. Its claim like many other entertainment companies' - is YouTube isn't doing enough to protect their rights. With the judge presiding over the three year legal action ordering documents be unsealed (and therefore able to be shown to the public) , things are about to get pretty ugly.
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It looks like Microsoft are bowing to the inevitable and will enable Xbox 360 consoles to store and read on USB-based storage devices. Presently the console features USB ports, but does not read or make browseable USB media plugged into them.
Website Joystiq claim they've found documentation confirming the change going ahead in "Spring" (Autumn in the southern hemisphere):
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