Activision is the biggest publisher in the industry topping even gaming giant EA since there merge with blizzard; creators of the magnificent World of Warcraft. While I’m sure there are millions of gamers who know about World of Warcraft, they also were behind the excellent Diablo & Starcraft which have many gamers still rattling their names off here and there. Activision was behind Call of Duty, Guitar Hero (First two), & Quake. Activision has a few games up its sleeves to reveal but the most anticipated game in everyone’s mind is Call of Duty 6.

Hiphopgamer was present at the NY Comicon and inside sources over at Activision were asked if Call Duty 6 would top Killzone 2 this year. Their answer similar to Sony’s arrogance was a big and bold “YES” and then some. Hiphopgamer went on to ask for more details for such as the graphical power of the game as well as if the game play had changed at all since COD4 but all that was said was that the graphics will blow you away and the game play is deeper than any other COD you’ve ever experienced! They also went on to say that the multiplayer is looking to take new heights never before seen in the FPS genre (Insult maybe?). The one hint that we received was how the point system will work with kills.

Considering what we’ve experienced with Killzone 2 and knowing that infinity ward is the type of developer that welcomes competition, we can expect something epic. COD4 was amazing and if they can manage that and more into the next COD, the game will be as innovative as the previous COD4 and as fun and addictive. This game looks to topple every other game trying to start a fight. Now we play the waiting game.

GDC.com

Tecmo the creators of the acclaimed Ninja Gaiden series have given some info regarding an announcement of a new title. In the invites that Tecmo sent to the press, it states “the greatest ________ ever” which will be unveiled to the press at GDC. Tecmo has yet to give any more information regarding there new title, but we do know that it will be an existing franchise from Tecmo. I personally hope that a new Ninja Gaiden will be announced because although NG2 was good it was a bit of a let down. GDC will be taking place March.23-27 and be sure to stay tuned to the Hip Hop Gamershow for all the best coverage.

thisis50.com

Static Major’s abrupt death last year was caused by complications associated with his treatment at a hospital in his hometown of Louisville, Kentucky.

Static, who co-wrote and produced Lil Wayne’s hit single “Lollipop” checked into the Baptist Hospital East on February 25th 2008 complaining of flu-like symptoms and shortness of breath and ended up dead hours later.

The cause of Static’s death was unknown when news of his passing surfaced but according to a recent report by The Leo Weekly, Static’s autopsy reveals that his death was connected to the treatment he received at the hospital.

Static (born Stephen Garrett) was diagnosed with myasthenia gravis, a rare autoimmune disease, after number of tests at the hospital on the day of his death. Muscle weakness and fatigue are among the diseases’ symptoms.

Doctors recommended that Static should undergo plasmapheresis, a treatment that removes toxins from the blood using a catheter. To receive the treatment, Static had to stay in the hospital to be monitored overnight prior to surgery the following morning.

Dr. Dean J. Wickel would conduct the plasmapheresis. After the procedure, Static would complain to nurse Denise Richards about having pain in his internal organs.

Wickel would instruct Richards to remove the catheter from Static who would then pass out after it was pulled out. Static didn’t regain consciousness after the catheter’s removal and died.

Static’s family has filed a medical negligence lawsuit against Baptist Hospital and Wikel.

Nurse Richards testified in a deposition last month that Wickel told her to remove the catheter because it was in the wrong place.

An incorrect insertion of the catheter can lead to excessive bleeding or lung puncture. Static’s autopsy report says he died due to respiratory arrest after the removal of the catheter.

Larry Franklin, the lawyer representing Static’s family, has asked the judge in the case to order Baptist East to reveal the identity of Static’s roommate at the hospital.

Franklin believes that the roommate would have heard the conversations between Static and the hospital staff and would have also witnessed the last moments before the singer/producer’s demise.

The hospital’s legal team has refused to reveal the roommate’s identity citing a privacy law that protects a patient’s identity. The law is called the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA).

They also argue that revealing the patient’s identity could end up in inappropriate disclosure of the patient’s personal health information.

“If this patient becomes a witness to this suit, he will be subjected to scrutiny and potential embarrassment,” the hospital’s legal team argued.

Static’s family wants a jury judgment for compensatory and punitive damages, along with costs associated with pain and suffering.

Static, who crafted hits for Aaliyah, Jay-Z, Nas and Ginuwine, was 33-years-old when he died. He is survived by a wife and four children.

psninsider.e-mpire.com

Crytek Announces CryENGINE® 3

New all-in-one game development solution for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3,

MMO, DX9/ DX10 and Next-Gen-Ready to be premiered at GDC 2009

Frankfurt a. M. (Germany), March 11th 2009 – Crytek GmbH (“Crytek”) is excited to announce that they will introduce their latest all-in-one game development solution CryENGINE 3, at this year’s GDC Expo (March 25th – 27th) in San Francisco. CryENGINE 3 is the first development platform for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, MMO, DX9/DX10 that also is truly Next-Gen-Ready – with scalable computation and graphics for all major upcoming platforms. It provides the complete game engine to create AAA quality next generation games, and includes the CryENGINE 3 Sandbox™ level editor, a production-proven, 3rd generation “What you see is what you play” (WYSIWYP) – tool designed by and for professional developers. CryENGINE 3 comes with significant new features specifically designed for console, online, MMO and Next-Gen game development.

“With CryENGINE 3 we are delivering our best game development technology that enables our clients to achieve their vision on current and future platforms to develop games such as MMOs, action games and more. Our complete game engine solution enables realtime development, ensures teams are able to maximise their own creativity, saves budget and creates greater gaming experiences. Also with our solution developers can start working on their next generation games today.” said Cevat Yerli, CEO & President of Crytek.

“CryENGINE 3 is a revolutionary change from our previous PC-only engines – and we’re applying a similar revolution to the service we provide to developers using the software to create extraordinary games. CryENGINE 3 will set the benchmark for complete game engine solutions in performance, and services to game engine licensees and their players. We’ve been preparing a long time for CryENGINE on consoles and we’re confident that Crytek will again amaze developers at GDC.” added Carl Jones, Director of Business Development CryENGINE.

CryENGINE® is the underlying technology for Crytek’s critically acclaimed games Crysis and Crysis Warhead and has already been licensed to a number of major game companies around the globe, including several recent serious games training and simulation projects.

videogamesbloogger.com

The 100% Completion achievement description in Halo Wars reads “Ready for the Sequel”, hinting that developers from the now defunct Ensemble Studios might have known they’ll work with Microsoft again in the future. Hopefully we’ll see Halo Wars 2 bring more RTS goodness to the Xbox 360 console.

With Microsoft closing their Ensemble Studios — for “a fiscally-rooted decision” — after Halo Wars was finished, didn’t inspire fans of the Age of Empires series or Halo universe with much hope of a sequel. Aside from the above hint that is. But there’s more hope…

In an email announcing the closing of Ensemble, Microsoft Game Studios boss Phil Spencer did mention that: “Following the closure, the Ensemble leadership team will form a new entity and have agreed to partner with Microsoft to develop future products and provide support for Halo Wars post launch. While the new company will be hiring a portion of the Ensemble employees, its size and resources prevent it from offering positions to the entire Ensemble team. We hope to integrate much of this creative talent into MGS or the broader IEB team, where we have relevant openings.” Read the full letter at IG.

As for the rest, former employees have banded together and already formed two new development houses…

One of them, former Ensemble Studios producer David Rippy founded Bonfire Studios. Mr. Rippy isn’t very optimistic about RTS games and even goes as far as to say that “Ensemble was kind of a victim of its own success as an RTS shop. As hard as we tried, we were never able to have one of our non-RTS prototypes greenlit, largely because we were ‘the RTS guys’. […] Our first game is something completely different than what we’ve done in the past. I think our games will always have a strong strategy element to them, though, since that is one of the core strengths of the team,” he told GI.

The second studio, former Ensemble Studios head Tony Goodman who founded Robot Entertainment. It consists out of 45 veterans from the Age of Empires developers, who found a new home there. They currently provide online support and community management for Halo Wars, and are working together with Microsoft Game Studios on Halo Wars downloadable content. As well as providing support for current and make future titles in the Age of Empires
franchise. With Robot teaming up with the internal MGS team, all made up of former Ensemble employees, they would seem the likely choice for Microsoft to select to make a sequel to the first Halo RTS. Which, by the way, is currently being met with great initial sales number of over 450,000 units in America and Europe. But right now they’ve only announced they are working on their own original IP.

Picture courtesy of VGboxart, I picked it because I like the idea of the Master Chief appearing in the second Halo Wars game as an epic unit.

According to Rehorror.net Capcom has revelead some downloadable contents for the game and set to be released somewhere around this year. The DLC will include deathmatch and team deathmatch modes for Mercenaries. and is set to be free. We dont know how the Deathmatch and Team deathmatch will work out in Mercenarie mode but im pretty sure it will turn out good.

Source

Picking up my Copies right now so ill see you guys online.

PS3: assyria89

360: a2raya

This is a contest. I posted a beat below. Try to figure out where it is from. It is a small clip of the beat. Name the track, album, artist, and if possible the producer. Post a comment with your answer. I will be starting a leaderboard. If are a real Hip Hop fan, this is a chance to prove it. Get on the boards. Prizes are possible later down the road.

Just post a comment with your answer. Just use your online name, and use the same name all the time if you want to be counted on the leaderboard. First to get it right gets a point and will be added to the list. Next beat will be up once the first one is figured out.

CLICK THE LINK BELOW AND LISTEN
beat1

Platform: Xbox 360, Playstation 3

Players: 2 (offline coop)

Developer: Deadline Games

Score: 7/10

Cost: $20 Downloadable Title

With the release of the highly anticipated Watchmen movie it only seems fitting that a game would be released alongside the film. Watchmen: The End Is Night is actually a prequel to the original story in which players take control of the characters Rorschach and Nite Owl to take down the criminals of New York City in a classic beat-em-up style game play.

Graphics: The graphics in Watchmen are some of the best I’ve seen for any downloadable game ever. Characters models look pretty good and seeing Rorschach’s mask change its faces is really awesome to look at, although the enemy models are mostly recycled throughout the game and you’ll notice that you’re fighting the same guy as you progress through the game. The main attractions in Watchmen are definitely the environments. The alley ways and city levels all feel very grim and it’s all backed up by superb lighting and rain effects so definitely the look of comic was very present while playing.

Sound: It was great to see that the actors from the film did the voice work for their characters. Patrick Wilson and Jackie Earle Haley reprise their roles as Nite Owl and Rorschach which really made the game feel authentic to the film as well as entertaining. The things that really made the sound feel dull were the enemies repetitive dialogue that after awhile you just got tired of listening to.

Gameplay: Basically it’s a beat-em-up, so you know that you’re going to be fighting wave after wave off thugs and criminals until the end. But it just felt so cool playing as characters from this classic franchise so I really didn’t mind beating up the same guys over and over again. Also things like new moves and abilities somewhat made the experience feel rewarding and playing as Rorschach or Nite Owl gives you different moves and abilities to use when fighting the scum of New York.

Final Thoughts: If you’re a fan of Watchmen or you want a good beat-em-up game then this for you. But things like online are absent from this title and that’s sure to keep some away from its steep $20 price tag. But if you got friends then the split screen coop will do just fine and playing through the game with different characters adds some great replay value. So please make sure you try the demo first before considering the full game.

IGN, Joystiq, and MTV’s Multiplayer Blog have all confirmed the rumors that a sequel to Resident Evil: Umbrella Chronicles is in the making. The sites are reporting that Japanese magazine, Famitsu, has revealed the game recently. Currently, all information is in Japanese but expect to have an english press release in the next couple of days. This is Capcom’s response to Wii owners who were upset over the fact that the Wii wasn’t getting a Resident Evil 5 port.

Source: http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/961/961342p1.html

UPDATE:

New details about the game have been revealed…

• Darkside Chronicles takes place in Resident Evil 2’s Racoon City. It’s September 29, 1998
• Players play as Claire Redfield and Leon Kennedy
• The main enemy is not the Umbrella Corporation
• Gameplay will be familiar to fans of Umbrella Chronicles
• The game will also make use of the Havoc engine for realistic physics.
• They want the game to be more accessible than the first game
• RE: Darkside Chronicles is currently 35% complete and is without a final release date

Many Star Ocean fans feel that it is a matter of time before Star Ocean 4 goes Multi-Plat. Well game producer, Yoshinori Yamagishi, talked about the ability to port the game to the PS3 in a interview with videogamer.com:

VideoGamer.com: Can the engine you’ve created for The Last Hope be used to make a PS3 version?

YY: If we just specifically talk about the engine, it’s a great engine and it is an engine that is capable of catering for all platforms. So it would be technically possible indeed to do a PS3 version, or even a PSP or DS version.

Well PS3 owners there is hope for you guys. It’s technically possible, and if Square Enix wants to make some serious money then I bet you see Star Ocean 4 on the PS3. The interesting part of this quote is the fact that he mentions possible Star Ocean 4 ports on the DS and PSP. To me, it seems that Square Enix and the team that worked on SO4 are looking at all possible port options. This is good for PS3 owners because it shows that Square Enix is not going to be stubborn about porting the game. They want to make the most money possible, and get the game to as many people as possible. Don’t be surprised if there is not only a PS3 port, but also a portable version of Star Ocean 4 on the DS or PSP.

Source to Quote: www.videogamer.com/xbox360/star_ocean_4_the_last_hope/preview-1545-2.html