Mass Effect 3 multiplayer confirmed

Powerplay are reporting that Mass Effect 3 will feature some form of multilplayer component. The Australian magazine just posted this on their site: “That’s right – Mass Effect 3 is getting multiplayer! We travel to BioWare’s office in Edmonton for hands-on time with the series’ first foray into online gameplay, and chat with Mass Effect Series Producer and Mass Effect 3 Project Director Casey Hudson about the decision to go multiplayer in the epic battle for the galaxy.” The coverline of the mag reads: “Fight alongside your friends as the galaxy goes to war!” Despite rumours that Mass Effect 3 would feature a multiplayer component, Bioware have been careful not to confirm the mode, until now. What’s your Mass Effect multiplayer mode of choice? Co-op, adverserial, or a Brink-esque combination of the two? Or should Mass Effect have stuck to its singleplayer guns?

"Xbox 720" in a movie trailer, coincidence or stealth advertising?

Internet has discovered something odd: The trailer for the movie Real Steel, which is about futuristic robot fighting, you have spotted a banner advertising the Xbox 720, among others, true brands. Xbox 720 has for years been a silly name for Microsoft's next-gen console theoretical. It has never been confirmed in any way, and only been used for speculation. The future? But here it is suddenly, in an actual movie trailer. Do the makers of the film which we do not know, or is it a cunning that is much at stake forums (and apparently working on special effects) that have crept into the ad nonsense? Strange.

New Modern Warfare 3 Trailer

Yesterday the new Modern Warfare 3 Redemption trailer was released to the public. Finally, it got a positive response from its fans, where as in the past, it didn't seem to please everyone. The trailer provides tons of tasty eye candy for Call of Duty fans. We get to reunite with our old friend Captain Price and take aim at Markarov's head. The trailer shows  mass destruction happening everywhere in the world and the graphics seem to be handled very well. If anyone would agree with me, this is looking a lot like Call of Duty 4, which makes fans very happy.

Unreal Engine 3 Comes to Flash

Unreal Engine 3, the game engine that powers Bulletstorm, Gears of War 3and BioShock Infinite, now works in Flash. Epic's Unreal Engine 3 really gets around. If you play videogames, it's almost certain that you've played at least a couple that were built on UE3 technology. Some are obvious - Unreal Tournament 3, anyone? - but others might surprise you, like Lucha Libre AAA: Heroes del Ring, Leisure Suit Larry: Box Office Bust or Zumba Fitness. And with the addition of Flash support, that stable is poised to get a whole lot bigger. Imagine, if you will, Facebook games that don't suck. There are already a few that fit that description but UE3 support in Flash opens up a realm of possibilities that go way beyond anything we've seen so far. Quake Live has already demonstrated that "real" browser-based gaming is possible but making it happen through Flash is a whole different ballgame. Epic claims the technology will allow developers to "animate millions of objects with smooth 60 frames per second rendering and deliver console-quality games on Mac OS, Windows and connected televisions." "With UE3 and Flash, games built for high-end consoles can now run on the Web or as Facebook apps, reaching an enormous user base," Epic CEO Tim Sweeney said in a statement. "This totally changes the playing field for game developers who want to widely deploy and monetize their games." .

Dead or Alive 5 : Official Pre-Alpha Gameplay

Team Ninja explained at Tokyo Game Show that the goal for Dead or Alive 5 is to be more than a fighting game. It needs to be "fighting entertainment." The use of highly dynamic backgrounds and environments, mixed with some cinematic camera angles, certainly makes DOA5 look unlike any fighter out there. But, is it too much? We can't help but wonder how this game will actually play in this extended gameplay clip. It looks incredible--but will it be more fun to watch than actually play?

Torchlight 2 preview

When news of Diablo 3’s real money auction house broke, gamers responded with the inevitable arguing and outrage, but amongst it was one shared opinion: if it did cause a problem, people would simply play its action-RPG cousin Torchlight 2 instead. Max Schaefer, CEO of Torchlight developers Runic and co-designer of Diablo and Diablo II, explains their philosophy. “We want to establish that you can have a great, compelling, fun game to which you don’t need to make a long term financial commitment,” he says. “We also want to be able to move onwards – if you charge subscriptions and micropayments you commit to years of support and development on the game.”Torchlight II is the uneasy adolescence between the fast-paced, loot-crazed Torchlight and the plans for an MMO set within the same world. “It makes an excellent stepping stone to MMO development,” says Schaefer. The original Torchlight was beloved enough that players begged for a multiplayer component, so this time around you’ll be able to fight with friends, either online or over a LAN.

But that’s not the only difference between the two games. “We didn’t want to make it seem like we were simply tacking multiplayer onto Torchlight,” says Schaefer, “so we made the decision to start from scratch on characters”. In Torchlight II, there’ll be four new classes to choose from – the ranged, “lowmagic” nomad Outlander, the meleefocused, engineering-themed Railman, the fast-attacking Berserker, who’ll come with a selection of animal powers, and a mystery fourth character. Runic wouldn’t reveal too much about this one, but fantasy RPG tradition dictates that some form of mana-guzzling sorceress would fit nicely into that lineup. Each will have customisable male and female variants. Rather than simply giving players a new set of dungeons to explore, Torchlight II is expanding above ground. The linear, claustrophobic caverns of the first title are being augmented by overworld environments that’ll include deserts, snowy temples, dwarven battlefields, and haunted forests and swamps. Each has a full day/night cycle and random weather.

Those environments are far larger than in Torchlight. The largest levels in the first game were comprised of six to seven ‘chunks’ in a random linear order, but in Torchlight II a typical area will be comprised of as many as 23 ‘chunks’ in a grid. There’ll still be an entrance and an exit, but there’ll also be hidden corners to explore, rivers to navigate and landmarks to investigate. “The world is bigger and deeper,” Schaefer says. That world is split into three major sections, each with its own different hub town. Random events and tasks will pop up for your character to deal with in whatever way they see fit. Those will range from a broken down wagon beset by monsters to a slave camp that you have to burn down to free those trapped within. Each landmark in the game will have some form of mini-boss tied to it, marking a major increase in the number of boss fights that you’ll need to deal with. Guiding you will be a bulked-out plot. Whereas the first game’s story was largely incidental to the action, its sequel aims for a more balanced approach. “We don’t want to change the action-oriented nature of the game, but we want the story to feel more immersive and compelling,” Schaefer says. “This time we even hired a real writer!”

The sequel has been delayed a little by the process of getting the first Torchlight out on the Xbox 360, but PC gamers shouldn’t feel left out. “It gave our artists and level designers a bit more time to make cool stuff,” says Schaefer. “Also, we made some technological optimisations based on the necessities of porting to the Xbox.” That should mean that Torchlight II will have the same low system requirements of its predecessor, despite an increased polygon count and larger environments. Schaefer won’t commit to whether it would come with the much-loved netbook mode of the first game though. “We’ll wait till its done before saying anything about netbooks, just to be on the safe side.” By starting with the same basic technology and tools as the original game, the focus this time around can be placed more squarely on more and better content. “We’ve got a great running start. The development cycle will be around two years, which is almost twice as long as we took on Torchlight,” Schaefer says. Don’t dismiss Torchlight II as a mere stepping stone between the purity of Torchlight and the endgame of an eventual MMO. The first game distilled the action-RPG genre into a simple easy-tounderstand package, but Torchlight II promises to perfect that package with the addition of multiplayer, more compelling environments, and a storyline worth paying attention to. If Runic can pull it off, that long wait for Diablo III might not seem so bad after all.

Dota 2 Update Introduces Bloodseeker, Kunkka, and Practice Bots

In addition to Bloodseeker and Kunkka entering the Dota 2 arena, yesterday's update introduced several new features. Valve enabled practice bots, and while they're still a work in progress, they're a great "low-pressure tool for trying out new heroes and item builds." While League of Legends currently has practice bots as well, Dota 2 takes it to another level, giving players the ability to control and direct the bots. "You can ping the minimap to send commands to your allied bots – ping an enemy tower to tell them to push a lane, an enemy hero to ask for assistance in a gank, and so on." Dota 2 bots take it a step further by indicating their plans to you via text chat. Some of their abilities include: Let you know when they’re coming to your lane for a gank. Communicate when they’re fleeing or losing a fight. Indicate their high priority targets in upcoming team fights. Expose their thinking about whether they should push or defend their lanes. Call for assistance versus Roshan if they think the timing is right. Valve isn't stopping there. They also revealed a few features they will be adding to the bots next. Future updates include: User specified difficulty levels, so you can tune them to your skill level. Deeper control over your allied bots, so you can “command” your team at a high level. For instance, you might want your team’s carry to not join a fight, and instead keep farming their lane. Note that they do a good job of making these kinds of decisions themselves, but if you really want to be hands-on, you can. Support for several more heroes.