Microsoft have revealed the lineup of playable games that they are bringing to GAMEfest at the Birmingham NEC from September 16th – 18th.  Leading the charge the HD retelling of Master Chief’s first outing, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary, with UK fans eager to restart the fight getting their first opportunity to get hands on with the games multiplayer mode.  Along with Halo: CEA, Microsoft will also be bringing Gears of War 3, Forza Motorsport 4, Dance Central 2, The Gunstringer & Kinect Sports Season 2 to the event, all making their UK debut in the process.  Games are not all MS have up their sleeves though, they will also be showcasing a range of new hardware at the event including the new Limited Edition Gears of War 3 Xbox 360 and Wireless Controller as well as the  Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 console, Wireless Controller and Wireless Headset.

Read the rest of this entry »

Somewhat hugely anticipated zombie slasher Dead Island launched on Steam in the US yesterday, and brought with it a monstrous problem that has been a great source of frustration for players – and I’m not talking about the undead antagonists.

You see, the release was chock-full-o-bugs, potentially breaking new records for launch day fiascos (sorry, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.). Although there has been no official word from developers Techland or publishers Deep Silver beyond the usual “there is an issue and we are looking into it”, it seems the release is actually an unfinished dev build, with messed up animations and sounds and, perhaps more worryingly, some dev code and files still included.

The most interesting of these being that, if players press “Y” during a game, noclip is activated, meaning that they can merrily fly about the map with gay abandon and even walk through walls. Not very professional, that.

Still, some of the game’s fans have decided to make the most of a bad situation by showcasing their bug-laden shenanigans on YouTube, as the hilarious video by Dopefish above ably demonstrates.

[Warning: video contains bad language, gore, and, er, "casual racism"]

Normally I give the track pack artist lead billing in these articles, but this weeks Rock Band 3 DLC sees 90′s classic ‘Unbeliveable’ by EMF hit the platform, and if ever a song deserved top billing then ‘Unbeleiveable’ is it.  Joining the cheeky chappies is a 3 track pack from rock legends Cheap Trick, featuring live renditions of their hits ‘Surrender’ & ‘I Want You to Want Me’ along with the studio version of ‘Dream Police’.

The Cheap Trick songs will be available as a 3 track bundle for 440/£2.49 and all of the songs will be available individually for 160/£0.99, with ‘Surrender’ having the option to upgrade to pro guitar & bass for an additional 80/£0.49.  As always the tracks will land on Tuesday via Xbox Live & PSN.

See the full tracklisting with video links after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

It’s the triumphant return of Video Friday! I can think of no better way to celebrate than with this great little video of Deus Ex: Human Revolution‘s augmented protagonist Adam Jensen busting some sweet moves to Men Without Hats‘ 1981 New Wave hit The Safety Dance.

17 years after their release, the Federal Department for Media Harmful to Young Persons (Bundesprufstelle) in Germany has removed Doom and Doom 2 from their list of titles deemed “likely to harm youth”, which meant the game was classified in the same bracket as porn.

Read the rest of this entry »

The first DLC for Sony Online Entertainment’s DC Universe Online MMO will be released September 6th, and the best thing?  As a thank you to the loyal players Sony has made it free for all current subscribers!  Entitled “Fight for the light”, the DLC revolves around the recently revitalised Green Lantern franchise, allowing players to become reservists in Green Lantern Corps or Sinestro Corps as well as introducing a whole new power set to the game, light.

See our very green screenshot gallery after the break along with the complete press release.

Read the rest of this entry »

Capcom have released the final box-art for the mother of all cross-over fighting games, Street Fighter x Tekken.  The game is due to land on March 2nd 2012 for Xbox 360, Ps3 & Playstation Vita.

Check out the PS3 packshot after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

Activision have announced their full lineup of playable games that they will be bringing to GAMEfest at the Birmingham NEC on 16-18th September, the biggest hitter being Modern Warfare 3, the latest installment of the blockbuster Call of Duty franchise.  Joining the juggernaut at the event will be Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, X-Men Destiny,Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure along with a hands-off showing for Prototype 2.

Today’s announcement bolsters an already strong line-up for the inaugural GAMEfest, with Activision joining the likes of Microsoft, Sony, Nintendo, THQ, Capcom, Sega and more exhibiting some of their upcoming games.  MW3 will be sharing the floor with the likes of Arkham City, Gears of War 3, Battlefeild 3, NFS: The Run, Street Fighter x Tekken and Uncharted 3 as UK gamers get their first chance to get hands-on with the biggest upcoming titles.

Tickets for the event are only a mere £10, or £5 for under 12′s and can be purchased online or from any GAME store, one caveat though folks…  Tickets are only available to GAME Reward Card holders, so if you don’t have one already then you’ll need to sign up before you can get yours.

Check out the full list of exhibitors and games so far here and read the full press release after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

Now you can train for the fabled Tour De France in your own bedroom with the latest offering from exercise bike manufacturer extraordinaire Pro-Form. The bike features iFit, a nifty system which integrates Google Maps into the riding experience allowing the rider to experience simulated courses from all over the world. Throw inclines, declines, and “intelligent” simulated wind resistance into the mix, and you could be the next Lance Armstrong without even having to risk talking to any Frenchmen.

The bike is $1299, but don’t fret, there’s a 6 month interest free offer on at the moment. You’ll be sporting that yellow jersey in no time!

A team of geologists in Japan have announced the discovery of billions of tons  of  “rare earth” elements ready to be harvested from the bed of the Pacific ocean, the BBC are reporting today. The 17 so called “rare earths” are elements with some pretty special properties, and include Yttrium (used in lasers and superconductors), Lanthanum (used in the production of camera lenses), Neodymium (used in capacitors), and Gadolinium (used in x-ray tubes and computer memory).

As the name implies, they’re also incredibly scarce, and are mainly found in Russia and China where they command a high premium in the high tech manufacturing industry. Japan have been investigating alternative sources of these minerals since China withheld supplies last year, causing an industry-wide manufacturing crisis.