interweb ink » David Thongvanh

Blizzard Announces Starcraft 2 Collector’s Edition

David Thongvanh — Thu, 08 Apr 2010 21:38:52 +0000

Blizzard has released details on 2 editions of the upcoming Starcraft sequel, the regular priced at $59.99 and the other at a hefty $99.99

The regular edition will be available online, but the collector’s edition will only be available in retail stores. The CE will come packed with a 176-page art book, the original Starcraft and the Broodwar expansion on a 2G USB drive, and a number of off-line and on-line goodies. Both versions will, of course, come with the new Battle.net standard, offering the first look at the altered interface for most of the public.

Disappointingly (at least to me) this first installment will only have the single-player campaign for the Humans, with the Protoss and Zerg campaigns coming in future releases. No word on those further expansions at the moment, but hopefully they’ll be more than just campaign expansions. SCII is projected for later in 2010, so there’s plenty of time yet to hear more.

Check out the official release

Nintendo Goes 3D at E3

David Thongvanh — Thu, 25 Mar 2010 12:34:17 +0000

Nintendo is slated to discuss their attempt at a 3D DS at this summer’s E3. More ambitiously, they’ve set a release date for the platform in March 2011.

Although early, Japanese newspaper Nikkei reports that the device will have some kind of 3D joystick as well as force feedback. One confirmed feature is full backwards-compatibility, so don’t start selling off your current DS library just yet. It will presumably have cameras to accommodate the DSi library, but other features are sketchy for now.

It’s interesting that Nintendo would head this direction. The pop-out kind of 3D hasn’t been used much in gaming–3D usually means 3D modeling, 3D characters. Developers and industry experts are optimistic for now, but skeptics are already comparing it to the old 3D movies. E3 should give the public a better idea of whether or not this new DS will crash and burn, so keep an eye on Nintendo this summer.

Check the official press release for yourself.

Activision Prices Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack

David Thongvanh — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 02:01:53 +0000

Activision has released the price of their upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 map pack, pegging it at 1200 Microsoft points, or $15 USD.

Dubbed the Stimulus Pack, it’s definitely stimulating Activision’s profits. Adding only 5 maps, 2 of which are re-releases, many fans are disappointed at having to pay what is in essence $5 per new map. Some speculate that this is a test price to see how high people will go for downloadable content. Many still remember when Ubisoft first introduced the now-standard $10 price tag for DLC, and there was a similar outcry at that time.

As with before MW2 itself came out, some are beginning to shout for boycotts of the map pack–we all saw how that worked out, and the result will likely be the same. Could this be the start of a new standard in DLC pricing? Let’s hope not.

Rock Band 3 Dated for Holidays

David Thongvanh — Wed, 10 Mar 2010 00:31:36 +0000

With a franchise as successful as the Rock Band series, you knew there was never a question of if there would be another one, only when it would come. Harmonix has delivered, announcing on Facebook that Rock Band 3 will be out in time for Christmas this year.

Harmonix hasn’t announced any of the songs yet which isn’t surprising, but there’s already rampant speculation. While fans drool and dream about that though, they can tide themselves over with Green Day Rock Band, slated for June this year. They haven’t announced platforms yet, but you can expect titles for Xbox360, PS3 and Wii.

One big question is whether or not RB3 will have the option to import songs from previous games as RB2 did, though there was a $5 price tag attached to that. Details are scant right now, but we’ll keep an eye out and our fingers ready for more info.

Former Infinity Ward Heads Taking Activision to Court

David Thongvanh — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 23:32:13 +0000

Jake West and Vince Zampella, former President and CEO of Infinity Ward respectively, have begun legal proceedings over their firings at Activision.

As reported earlier in the week, Activision fired West and Zampella under unusual circumstances. A press release by the company cited breach of contract and “insubordination”, though the exact details around these reasons have not been released. In response, the two have fired back with a $36M lawsuit. They accuse Activision of manufacturing a reason to fire the pair so as to avoid paying them royalties for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. Activision has said they are “disappointed” in the lawsuit but believe they are justified in the firings. More on the situation as it develops.

You can check out the legal documents at Kotaku

Activision Turns Infinity Ward Upside-Down

David Thongvanh — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 00:06:57 +0000

Breaking news: Activision has fired both the CEO and President of Infinity Ward, makers of the Call of Duty franchise.

In a completely-unexpected turn of events, Activision has cut the two men most responsible for hit first-person-shooter Call of Duty from their derivative developer Infinity ward. Reports from G4 indicate that both Vince Zampella, CEO and Studio Head of Infinity ward, as well as Jason West, President and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 director, were escorted off premises by security earlier today.

Kotaku also covered a statement from Activision today stating that they planned to take the Call of Duty series in a new direction under developer Treyarch, who created Call of Duty 3 and Call of Duty: World at War. Activision declined to comment on the dismissal of Zampella and West, saying that they did not comment on HR matters related to its studios.

Considering how integral Zampella and West have been to the franchise, fans can expect some drastic changes in the next Call of Duty installment. Activision has also said that the series will be taking a turn towards action/adventure rather the previous FPS style. No one can tell for sure what impact will have, but considering that Call of Duty is one of Activision’s central profit pillars, this is almost certain to have a significant impact on Activision as a company.

Starcraft 2 Video Round Up

David Thongvanh — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:06:28 +0000

Last week the gaming world lit up with news that the StarCraft 2 closed beta had begun. The original game rose to epic status, becoming almost a national pastime in South Korea, and is still one of the most popular Real-Time Strategy (RTS) games on the market today–this in spite of the fact that the game was released in 1998. As sequel to one of the most played PC games in the world, StarCraft 2 has some big shoes to fill but early word seems to be it’s doing a nice job of it. Judge for yourself with some of these great matches.

This video pits two well-known players in the StarCraft community against each other, KHB and Artosis. The game-deciding unit, the Protoss Mothership, is just one of the new units added in the game.

While not really a gameplay, this video does a great job of showing off StarCraft 2′s new engine, especially the rendering details of individual units even when there are many on screen.

A neat little match in 2 parts. Not exactly expert level play, but you get to see a lot of units in action, which was always my favorite part of StarCraft.

There’s plenty more videos out there on Youtube and other video sites. Take a look and, if you’re like me, drool over them until you can get your hands on the real deal.

The Countdown to Metroid: Other M has Begun

David Thongvanh — Wed, 24 Feb 2010 20:38:08 +0000

After a long wait, Nintendo has officially dated the next highly-anticipated installment in its Metroid franchise, Metroid: Other M, for June 27, 2010. This newest episode in the adventures of one of gaming’s earliest female icons promises to delve into Samus Aran’s past as well as offer brand-new gameplay innovations to the Metroid series.

One of the features employed in Other M allows players to switch between 1st-person perspective as used in the recent Metroid Prime games, but also has the option of 3rd-person for a more traditional experience. Though this kind of view-switch has been implemented in other games, most recently Dragon Age: Origins, Metroid is a different kind of game from Bioware’s strategy/RPG. Nintendo is sure to put an interesting spin on the mechanic for an action game such as Metroid, and gamers should eagerly anticipate summer to find out more.

The official Nintendo page for Other M

2K Games Announces DLC For Bioshock 2

David Thongvanh — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 20:21:49 +0000

Developer 2K Games has announced its plan to release the first DLC pack for Bioshock 2 in March. An exact release date has not been given, but the package is confirmed to be 400 Microsoft points and will be $4.99 on the Playstation Network. Details on PC release were not mentioned, but the pack will likely be released on Steam though price is unknown.

The first of several planned DLC releases, this pack, dubbed the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, expands on to the multiplayer experience by adding two new characters, a host of new challenges and items, and an increase to the rank cap, allowing players to reach as high as level 50. No content is being added to the single-player campaign, but 2K Games does make some non-committal statements that seem to allude to more single-player content in future DLC.

New York, NY – February 22, 2010 – 2K Games announced today an aggressive post-launch downloadable content plan for BioShock®2 that extends and enhances the single and multiplayer experiences by adding more glimpses into the award-winning world of Rapture. Downloadable content will be made available soon beginning with the Sinclair Solutions Test Pack, available this March from the Xbox® LIVE Marketplace for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Games for Windows–LIVE for 400 Microsoft Points and from the PlayStation®Network for $4.99.

The official release

Bioware Announces New Character for Dragon Age Sequel

David Thongvanh — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 21:37:45 +0000

Bioware announces a new dwarven companion, Sigrun, for the sequel to their hit RPG from last year, Dragon Age.

The third party member announced, Sigrun integrates some of the previous game’s lore by being a member of the dwarven Legion of the Dead, a group of dwarves fighting to regain lost family honor. Going by the official website, Dragon Age Origins – Awakenings has another five party members to introduce before the March 16th release date. The original Dragon Age was an award-winning hit and selected by several sources as PC Game of the Year in 2009, so expectations are high for this upcoming release.

New DAA Expansion Character: Sigrun

One of the new characters that you can add to your party in Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening is the deadly rogue Sigrun. She brings along all the skills needed to survive from growing up casteless on the streets of Orzammar as well as a healthy hatred of darkspawn.

Find out more about Sigrun and Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening on the official site