Due to unknown issues EA and DICE decided to delay the Medal of Honor 360 beta, at first it was assumed that it was the folks over at Microsoft who were to blame, but with the latest delay just announced nobody really has any idea what the cause is.

The developer had this to say on the subject,

“As for the Xbox 360 version of the beta, we are delayed and we apologize. To the Xbox 360 community, we say thank you for your continued patience. We are working to fix the issues that have caused this delay and, like you, we’re eager to get the game up and running at quality.”

Supposedly the beta will be extended for 360 users so that everyone has enough time to play before it officially comes out in October.

Unfortunately since we have no idea what the reason is behind the delay we don’t know how long it’s going to take to fix it, this is the kind of thing the folks over at EA seriously need to tell us.

-Dr Strange Lulz

The first thing you’ll notice about the new Xbox 360 is that it is noticeably  shorter and thinner than its predecessor, so you’ll be able to set it up in slightly smaller areas, and with its shiny new finish you’ll want to show this beast off as often as possible.

The new built in 250 gig hard drive is, funnily enough, located at the bottom of the system. Honestly, the fact that the hard drive is built in really has no effect on the system overall, how often do you take your hard drive off anyway.

The system has a port specifically for Kinect, which I suppose is what Microsoft was referring to when they claimed the system was “Ready for Kinect”. They’ve also done a good job of adding more USB ports, there are now a total of five (Two in the front, and three at the back) and with the new ability to store game saves and profile data on USB drives they are a welcome addition.

Aside from slightly shorter load and startup times, the system’s major improvements lie in cooling, sound and wifi. The system is clearly designed to improve airflow and reduce the need for additional cooling units. As for the sound, the system truly is whisper quiet. I have a particularly loud Elite and upon starting the new 360 up for the first time almost cried tears of joy over how quiet it was.

The new Xbox 360 boasts the fastest Wi-fi available on any system to date, 802.11n. While I don’t use Wi-fi, I’ve heard mixed reports regarding the speed on the new system. A few people claimed that the connection was slower while the vast majority say that it’s a drastic improvement.

All I can say is this, the system is beautiful and performs like a  dream. While the changes are nice, they aren’t strictly necessary… so unless you’re a die-hard 360 fan who needs to have the latest and best, the decision to pick up the new system will really be up to you.

Best RPG: Deus Ex Human RevolutionOn any other day I would give this to Fallout, but the variety of ways you can complete a mission and long term consequences depending on how you do is far more important to me than the name of a developer (The same reason I’m not falling all over myself about RAGE). Fallout: NV looks nice but it’s the exact same engine as Fallout 3, gameplay hasn’t really changed, and to me it just seems that they’re playing this one safe.

Best Sports Game: NBA Jam

Best Racing Game: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Best Shooter: Medal of Honor

Ok Ok, don’t shoot me, let me explain myself. The guys over at Treyarch displayed a decent amount of footage at E3, the problem I found was that none of it actually looked fun… at all. It just seemed like they were trying to one up Infinity Ward and coming up short (“Modern Warfare 2 had a nuke? Ya… well… we nuked the whole planet, this game takes place on a terraformed Mars, booya! Ya we went there!”) So you’ve got a chopper, sweet. But I know from experience with every one of your games that the gameplay footage shown was on the easiest mode possible, and that you almost died… every time you showed it off. Anyone who’s ever played World at War will tell you that Veteran mode is one of the hardest things they’ve ever done.

Medal of Honor footage was entirely multiplayer and frankly, 30 seconds of multiplayer footage looked a hundred times more fun than the idiotic chopper level in Black Ops. Medal of Honor seems like it will be the perfect balance between COD and Battlefield, while maintaining some of the scope of the Battlefield games they’ve also managed to introduce the close quarters intensity of COD. Take a look at the beta on June 21st.

Best Platformer: Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Best Fighting Game: Marvel vs Capcom 3

Best Action Game: Assassins’ Creed: Brotherhood

Take one-part Assassin’s Creed add one-part Multiplayer and you’ve got a winner folks. The multiplayer for AC: Brotherhood remains true to it’s origins, allowing players to do all the things they would normally be able to do in singleplayer and then using those abilities to kill your friends. Scarily awesome.

Unfortunately I actually forgot to get my press registration in on time this year otherwise I would have been there, luckily I’ve learned my lesson and I guarantee I’ll be there next year.

Now to the real news.

Three words that could either make or break my decade…

Mass Effect Movie.

Legendary Pictures has acquired the film rights to the EA-Bioware epic.  While normally I’d be freaking out over the possibility of them ruining my favorite game, there are a few hints that this might just be the one we’ve been waiting for.  Jon Jashni (Ninja Assassin, Where the Wild Things Are, The Hangover) and Thomas Tull (The Dark Knight) have signed on along with Avi Arad (Spiderman, Ironman) and his son Ari to produce the film, while the co-founders of Bioware, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk will be executive producers.

“We are thrilled to be working with Legendary,” said producer Avi Arad. “EA and BioWare are terrific partners who have created a brilliant piece of fiction with a universe filled with amazing aliens and technology. More importantly, though, they created a parable whose conflicts mirror the ones we currently face in our own world. This story emphasizes the need for all cultures to learn to work together. All this magic is presented in a fast paced action-adventure that makes for the best kind of movie experience.”

Who will direct? Your guess is as good as ours.

I’m hoping for J.J. Abrams.

So Red Dead Review on Monday.

- Dr Strange Lulz

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is the first installment in the three part sequel to 1998′s Starcraft and it’s expansion pack  Starcraft: Brood War, both massive titles (more like title really) that dominated the RTS market for… actually Starcraft is still pretty much the RTS to play, at least in my book.

Wings of Liberty will contain 29 missions focusing on the Terran campaign, despite not being able to play as the Protoss or Zerg in single player, players will still be able to use either in Multiplayer.

The game will launch on July 27th for both PC and Mac and will run you about $60. Knowing it will sell, Blizzard has also announced a deluxe collectors edition containing a 176 page art book and a flash drive preloaded with the original Starcraft and its Brood War expansion ( I love Blizzard ) that will cost $100.

“Gimme something to shoot.”

- Dr Strange Lulz

While I thought Halo: ODST was a complete and utter failure, I’ve made no attempt to hide my excitement about the newest installment in the series. I’ve been keeping an eye out for every bit of information on Reach and this little tidbit caught my eye.

The Halo: Reach Limited Edition is basically what we’ve come to expect from limited editions. The game disc comes in a collectors edition metal case modeled after a recovered ONI black box, and incudes an Artifact bag containing Dr. Halsey’s personal journal and other classified documents meant to clear up some secrets from the Halo universe,  it also comes with an armor set exclusive to the Elites for use in multiplayer.

The Limited Edition will retail for $79.99

Now onto the exciting stuff.

The Halo: Reach Legendary Edition comes with everything included in the Limited Edition as well as a few bonuses like an exclusive Spartan armor effect.

Oh, and then there’s this…

The primary boxing is rather large, it needs to be as it includes a statue of Noble Team. The statue, painted by the geniuses over at McFarlane Toys is individually molded, hand-painted and individually numbered. A true collectors item if I’ve ever seen one.

I needs it.

I’ve already made a place for it on my shelf, right between my Master Chief Helmet and my Modern Warfare 2 Soap Mctavish bust with Night Vision Goggles.

So I like collectors editions, what of it?

The Legendary Edition will retail for $149.99 and are currently available for pre-order.

To sum it up, Move is effectively Sony’s answer to the Wii’s nunchuks, they even look similar… but that’s where the similarities end. Unlike the Wii, Sony’s motion controller is boasting 1:1 tracking. What does this mean? Well anyone who’s ever used the Wii’s motion controller can attest to the fact that there is a delay between your actions and the effect on your screen. The Move doesn’t have that lag. 1:1 motion tracking basically means that as your action is being performed, the results are showing up on the screen with zero delay.

Unlike many peripherals which release with only a handful of games with which they can be used, Sony is offering over 20 launch titles are in development  to further separate the Move from the Wii and it’s shovelware.  With the support of companies like Activision, Ubisoft, Electronic Arts, THQ, and Square Enix (Just to name a few) it’s likely that we’ll see some incredible games with hopefully equally incredible uses for the Move.

Alright now lets take a look at the hardware that makes it all possible.

The Move has everything you’d expect from a controller, analog stick, triggers, standard face buttons (on both controls actually), and a D-pad. So instead we’ll talk about what makes the Move unique.

The first thing you’ll notice is the the tracking light (ya, the funny ball at the top of the controller) yes it’s stupid looking, but its what allows the Move to track with the precision that it does. It tracks players movement as well as registering depth, unlike infrared motion tracking, the Move can tell whether the controller is moving closer or farther away from the camera, thus allowing it to account for motions like stabbing and punching.

One of the most interesting features of the Move is actually on the inside. The Move and it’s Sub-controller use gyroscopes, accelerometers, and terrestrial magnetic sensors to accurately measure the pitch, roll, yaw, and speed of the controller. How will this affect gaming? Instead of just choosing between three different shots in tennis games, you’ll be able to put spin on the ball just as you would in real life as the Playstation Eye tracks the Move’s roll. Precision is what separates these two controllers at the end of the day.

Over all, the Move is shaping up to be one of the best peripherals in recent history. As I’ve mentioned before, I’m not a particularly big fan of peripherals, but I’ve honestly got high hopes for this one.

Of course now I feel like a clown for having traded in ODST, which if you remember, allows you instant access into the Halo: Reach Beta on May 3rd.

So keep those discs handy boys and girls.

As for whats actually in the trailer, here are just a few of the things people have spotted.

• Custom Loadouts for powers. (Which the devs have already explained will be in multiplayer)
• Jetpacks (Halo going Tribal?)
• New Weapons: Needling Rifle, Covenant version of Spartan Laser, Grenade launcher, Designated Marksman Rifle.
• Modes: Invasion, Spartans vs. Elites, Headhunter and The Arena. (Halo gametypes have always bothered me, Reach might be the one to turn it around.)
• Active Rosters. (This could have something to do with Clans or simply a way to enter friends games.)
• Targeting reticule increases in size as accuracy lessens with continued fire.
• Maps in the trailer: Spillway, Yard, Rock Garden, Atrium, CIC, Smelter, Powerhouse level 2, Barren Field
• New Sweet Looking Assassinations (The animations look like they take a while, I hope this doesn’t have the same effect that the stealth kills had in AVP.)

Stay tuned for more information over the coming weeks.

Nintendo has been on the cutting edge of peripherals from the very start, giving us gaming greats like the NES Zapper which paved the way for every light gun you’ve ever used, and the Rumble Pack which made its debut on the N64 and is now standard in every gaming controller. Yet for every great peripheral there are five abominations that should have never seen the light of day. A gaming peripheral is designed with the idea of “Enhancing the player’s gaming experience” this doesn’t always work out as planned (Just look up the UForce)

For a while there (during the first gen consoles, Playstation, Xbox, N64) gamers were free from the peripheral onslaught, and it was in fact Sony that brought this monster back to life with its Playstation 2 Eye Toy. Since then peripherals have been making a comeback the likes of which I never could have imagined, just look at the Guitar Hero guitar for example.

Now we’re venturing into the realm of the next gen consoles and seeing exactly where they will take this new gaming battle. E3 09 had one of my funniest memories in gaming peripheral history, Microsoft had just delivered their keynote speech and debuted the Natal, which frankly blew everyone’s minds. Sony was scheduled to deliver their keynote speech the next day, and for the first time in a long time were the first company not to be on the bandwagon by not having some kind of motion based controller. When Sony delivered their speech (The same statistics and graphs based spiel they give us every year. I really don’t care how many games the PS2 is selling.) and showed us the Sony Motion Controller it was clear that they got scared by Natal’s ridiculously well executed demonstration and pulled these guys straight out of R&D to show off a product that was barely in the early stages of testing. Well, I found it funny.

Peripherals come and go but one thing always remains (relatively) the same, the standard controller. Yes we’ve added new things to it over the years, a D-Pad, Analog Sticks, Rumble Pack, but the structure and core idea behind it remain the same. While the Sony Motion Controller may have 1:1 movement tracking, twitch gaming will always be controller based.

-Dr Strange Lulz

I spent most of this week splitting time between a third Mass Effect 2 runthrough, the Alien Vs Predator demo, and the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo, so here’s a bit of info.

AVP Is Awesome

While it’s only a multiplayer demo it still gives us great insight as to how the actual game plays. The only gametype available in the demo is Deathmatch, which is rather unfortunate since most of the time it’s an absolute free-for-all,  it’s far more interesting watching the species unite against each other. We’ve gotten a few games in which we have all members of each species refrain from attacking each other, instead focusing their efforts on the other two, and it’s just way more fun.

enemies don’t live long enough for facehuggers

Each of the three species has its own strengths, weaknesses, and strategies for victory.  A Human’s best hope is to stick with his teammates and hold down an area while keeping their back to the wall to avoid flanking. In a group humans are devastating as their combined efforts tear Xenomorphs apart as if they were tissue paper. Predators are built for ambushes, their weapons are slow to use but generally kill in one hit. A fully equipped Predator is not something you want to go up against. My one criticism in regards to the Predators is how crowded the control scheme can be at times, juggling between 4 weapons, 3 vision modes, healing, and stealth it can all be a bit overwhelming.

I’ve had the most fun playing as the Aliens, unlike the other two species the Aliens weren’t designed for sustained combat. Instead they’re at their best when running in, striking fast, and getting the hell out of the way before being blasted to pieces by a pulse rifle. The ability to run on walls and ceilings can at first be disorienting, but once you get the hang of it you unlock your potential as a the deadliest guerrilla warrior of all time.

Battlefield: Don’t compare it to COD

scope

First off, the demo is amazing. It holds true to everything the Battlefield series stands for and shows the continued dedication of the developer to create the perfect combat game. Most of the issues from BC1 have been resolved and with the improvements to the destruction and graphics engines, we’re left with a remarkably polished game. These are of course just demo impressions. We’ll see how the full game turns out on March 2nd.

I’ve gotten into a couple of discussions over the last few days with friends regarding Battlefield: BC2 and how it compares to COD, the fact is.. it doesn’t. I’ve played every Battlefield game since the release of 1942, and own every COD game ever made, and I’m telling you right now, you cannot compare these games. COD is about ground level, player vs player, intensity. Battlefield is all about scope, you have to constantly be aware of tanks, UAV’s,  APC’s, Helicopters, Boats, and every kind of vehicle you can possibly imagine, all the while remembering that you have an objective to complete… oh ya and there are guys to kill as well.

Apart from the fact that you shoot people, these games are nothing alike.

Alan Wake & Halo Reachit holds videogames? my kind of book…

Alan Wake finally got a release date and a beautiful collectors edition, so get your orders in now if you want to get one when it goes on sale May 18th.

Also, thanks to X10 we now know that the Halo: Reach Beta will kick off on May 3rd, unfortunately the beta will only be available to people who still own a copy of ODST, I am not among them.

- Dr Strange Lulz