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Gears of War 3: The best shooter since Call of Duty? Yes it is, find out why in this review.
Gears of War 3 is not a game that warrants the purchase of an Xbox360. In this day and age you should already have one. That said it is one of the main features to use the Xbox 360 for more than just Netflix & ESPN. Gears of War 3 takes off where it last left off. It is a in your face violent and bloody good time. The conclusion to a very well made series.
You are Marcus Fenix and your goal is the same as it always is; to end the Locust sum that you have been fighting since Emergence Day. As if the Locust were not bad enough, now you are fighting Lambent. They are the worst. They go after human and Locust. That does not mean that the Locust are going to help you. What it means is that you are going to have to load up on some more ammo to kill everything that isn’t human.
Taking cover, aim, fire and repeat is what this game is all about. It has not changed since day one so don’t expect it to change in this final round. That is not a bad thing this game works very well. They are the one that started it off. Mass Effect took to a new level as well as adding a role-playing feel. Gears of War 3 on the other hand is not having any of that RPG stuff. It’s Michael Bay action scene after scene. Chainsaw enemies, lots of fire fights and just pure over-the-top violence.
The Horde mode returns again in this version of the game. You can do it all by yourself or team up with up someone over Xbox Live. If you do go solo the game’s AI does will back you up. If you for some reason never played Gears of War 3; stop go play it and come back to this review. Still here ok fine. I will explain Horde mode. In a nutshell you need to survive 50 waves of enemies. Each wave gets harder. So pretty much it’s like a tower defense game in a shooters body. Beast mode is Horde mode only in reverse. Instead of humans you play as the Locust or the Lambent.
Gears of War 3 is one of the best looking games on the Xbox360. It pushes what this old system can do right to the max. The Uncharted series still has nothing to worry about but Xbox 360 does give it a run for its money. As far as your game play executions go. It should not be different then they were for Gears of War 2. The cover system is unmatched by anything out there with the Mass Effect series coming a close 2nd. That means nothing has changed under the hood and it should not. This is a great game and you should pick it up. Is this Medal of Honor or In Call of Duty but it is the best shooter for now.
Netflix to shed DVD all together: Step 1 Raise price & Step 2 split the DVD-by-mail business away. Call new venture Qwikster
Netflix has announced in blog post and video that it’s splitting the DVD-by-mail business away into a new. The new venture will be called Qwikster. I see this new venture as just one more step to leaving the DVD business for good. The recent price changes already split the cost for each service. This step takes effect in a few weeks and will force customers to go to two different websites. They will also get two two different sets of movie ratings and queues and two different charges on their bills. The separate sites will make it more difficult to manage for customers and that may be what Netflix wants.
Lack of communication for the backlash that Netflix has gotten may be justified but it seems that they don’t really care much. It’s very clear that Netflix is movie streaming company and does not care much if DVD subscribers jump ship. They plan to add a lot of new streaming content in the next few months. We will see. Until Hulu gets rid of ads, I’ll still be a loyal Netflixer
Video Games are big business: It’s expected to Exceed $74 Billion in 2011
Games are not what they use to be. You don’t have to blow on the carts anymore. If you pull out your friends controller the game will pause. Come to think of it your friend does not even have to be in the same country with you anymore to play along with them. Games have truly come a long way. As far as they have come the stigma remains that they are for kids only or losers. Well take note main media. Call of Duty holds the record for the biggest day in entertainment. Not the movies. What’s more This year alone games are expected to exceed $74 billion. That is Billion with a B.
That is what new research from Gartner said will be spent on global gaming. That is up 10.4% from 2010. What that is not enough? Well video games are to reach $112 billion by 2015. Casual gaming can be thanked for expanding games into other markets. It’s not just the systems anymore as more and more of them are holding on to long life cycles. Software sales are expected to reach $44.7 billion in 2011. Gartner research director Fabrizio Biscotti said “This large market size means that many consumers embrace gaming as a core piece of their entertainment budget and will continue to play as long as game publishers deliver compelling and fun games,”
Gartner PRESS RELEASE:
Gaming Software Spending Dominates but Online Gaming Growing Fastest Over the Next Five Years
Egham, UK, July 5, 2011—
The gaming ecosystem is undergoing major technology and business model transitions that will last beyond 2015. Gartner, Inc. estimates that worldwide spending on the gaming ecosystem* will exceed $74 billion in 2011, up 10.4 percent from 2010 spending of $67 billion. By 2015, spending will reach $112 billion.
Overall, Gartner estimates that the gaming software component will represent $44.7 billion in 2011, and it will continue to dominate the overall gaming market in the next five years as it absorbs almost two-thirds of consumers’ gaming budgets.
“This large market size means that many consumers embrace gaming as a core piece of their entertainment budget and will continue to play as long as game publishers deliver compelling and fun games,” said Fabrizio Biscotti, research director at Gartner.
In 2011, the gaming software spending will be followed at a distance by gaming hardware and online gaming, reaching $17.8 billion and $11.9 billion, respectively (see Table 1).
Table 1: Total Gaming Market Spending, 2010-2015 (Millions of Dollars)
2011 2013 2015 Gaming Hardware 17,797 24,621 27,354 Gaming Software 44,730 51,129 56,512 Online Gaming 11,899 21,453 28,298 Total 74,426 97,204 112,163 Source: Gartner (June 2011)
Within the gaming software market, mobile gaming will experience the largest growth opportunity with its share growing from 15 percent in 2010 to 20 percent in 2015.
“As the popularity of smartphones and tablets continues to expand, gaming will remain a key component in the use of these devices. Although they are never used primarily for gaming, mobile games are the most downloaded application category across most application stores,” said Tuong Nguyen, principal research analyst at Gartner. “For this reason, mobile gaming will continue to thrive as more consumers expand their use of new and innovative portable connected devices.”
The segment that will drive the largest revenue will come from video game consoles (hardware and software). In 2010, it generated more than two-thirds of the gaming ecosystem revenue, and Gartner predicts revenue to grow 4 percent in 2011.
Over the next five years, gaming hardware’s market share will remain constant while software spending will lose share to online-gaming spending, the fastest-growing segment. Gartner estimates consumer spending on global online gaming (subscriptions and microtransactions) will show a compound annual growth rate of 27 percent through 2015, with consumer spending on subscription fees slightly declining while spending on virtual goods will grow exponentially.
“We find that subscription fees are giving way to ‘freemium’ models, in which the game is provided for free to gamers but is monetized through advertising (both in-game advertising and display advertising) and in-game microtransactions, such as the sale of value-added services or virtual-good purchases,” said Brian Blau, research director at Gartner. “This trend is prevailing given the rise of social gaming, in which online gaming is connected to social networking sites and social networking platforms.”
“Users have become multichannel-oriented by choice and expect vendors to continue to deliver quality content and experiences by extending their gaming possibilities across multiple platforms,” said Mr. Blau. “If today’s mobile technology does not evolve quickly enough, the gaming industry is set to see the rate of innovation severely decline. Alternatively, it will provide opportunities in technology and content genres that we can’t foresee today.”
Additional information is available in the Gartner report “Market Trends: Gaming Ecosystem, 2011″ at http://www.gartner.com/resId=1724014.
Supreme Court overturns California law restricting the sale of video games
The United States Supreme Court voted 7 to 2 to overturn a California law restricting the sale of computer and video games–declaring those games to be protected speech like any other form of creative expression.
Justice Scalia writes:
Video games qualify for First Amendment protection. Like protected books, plays, and movies, they communicate ideas through familiar literary devices and features distinctive to the medium. And “the basic principles of freedom of speech . . . do not vary” with a new and different communication medium.
Wii U: Giant remote for Wii or a new way to play games?
I say it’s a little bit of both. One thing Nintendo has always been is forward thinking. Everything they do is not for the sake of what people want but rather to answer the question; “How do we make great games.” They were the first with a 6 boutton controller on the SNES. Everyone soon followed their lead after seeing the advantage. (I say thanks to Super Street Fighter II but that is just me) They were the first to have analog controls on the N64. Everyone followed that as well. Then Motion came into play with with the Wii. It took a little time but soon Play Station with the Move and Xbox wiht The Kinect followed like ducks. To be fair Nintendo may be first but the others always come and make it better. The only thing lacking is game quality at times.
Nintendo has done it again. The Nintendo Wii U is a step in a new direction but if you know your game history something similar has been tried with the Saga Dreamcast. Although Nintendo has taken it to a whole new level. Though Nintendo calls it a system its more like a controller that happens to have a 6″ screen. This thing has the works. It will have a microphone, a gyroscope, dual analog controls, two shoulder buttons, two triggers, a front-facing camera, a stylus, and a touchscreen. Now keep in mind this all going to in your hand. People were saying that the first iPad was too heavy to hold for a long time. Just think what they will say about this.
I will say that Nintendo did beef up the specs to 1080p and with the new controller has jumped off the map. However that is something they like to do anyway. It will just be a matter of time before we know if they are leading on the way or off that path.
Minecraft is going mobile. Now you can take your addiction with you
Minecraft! That should be enough to get your attention. The block-building game is an addiction to many around the world. Now it’s headed to Android devices but not before making a pitt stop on Sony’s Xperia Play. Incase you don’t know; Minecraft is a game that has taken off. While at first just a small beta game. It has now sold well over a million even though it is still not officially released.
The game is also headed to iOS devices later this year. Sony’s Xperia Play version will have an advantage over touch screen only devices because it has a gamepad. We don’t know when the game will come out but one thing that is known is that it will be a hit.
The game will be an exclusive to Sony’s Xperia Play for a little while. That extra time will help to get the device in front of the pack of other mobile phones. It is also some good PR for Sony who could use it right now. Mojang the developer of Minecraft is holding an event at E3 where more information and hopefully hands on playtime will be taking place. I will be there so I will keep you updated as we get more information during the event.
Play Station Network service should now be back up. RLS is still down :(
The Play Station Network is back up!!! You can now get back on still the best Blu-Ray player out there. The game system that has done great things is back up. If you live on the East Coast you should be all set. Other parts of the world are coming up as you read this. That is way ahead of the May 30th day that was given.
Sony has taken great steps to get they system back up and running. They have to be commended for sticking to their word and getting the system up by the date stated. We can rest assured that the network is now more secure than anything ever conceived by the Sony just months before.
Not all of Sony’s Network us up. The Retail Loyalty Site is still down at the moment. It is used to educate retail employees about ironically enough Play Station Network, PS3, PS2, PSP and games. Pretty much anything to do with gaming. Thanks @SonlyRLS for the heads up on the training site.
First with some help Redbox took out Blockbuster. Now it’s after Gamefly. They’re starting $2 per day game rentals in June
You can get your name into ‘BioShock Infinite’
Studio Irrational Games is hosting a contest where the winner will have their name honored in their upcoming title BioShock Infinite. Players can enter the “Name in the Game” contest via Irrational’s website. Visitors have until April 13 at 11:59 p.m. ET to enter.
The winner “will be chosen to be incorporated into BioShock Infinite as the namesake of a character, a business, or a building — whatever the Irrational development team comes up with,” reads a statement from the studio. Infinite is the third game in the BioShock series, and features the floating city of Columbia in 1912. The game is launching in 2012 for PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
[Via USA Today]
2K Sports shows off Serena William’s sexy moves in a new ad but she did not authorize it
2K sports has released a new Serena Williams ad. The thing is it is a way bit too sexy. So they are claiming that it is unauthorized. Humm, that seems a bit odd with a new tennis game coming out. I will say that is a great way to sell a game. Good job 2K sports. Now only if you would get the NFL back from EA Sports. I miss the competition.
