Halo: ODST returns players to the universe of Halo without its central character. Can Halo be fun without the Master Chief?

While I haven't had a chance to play any of the campaign yet, ODST's new multiplayer mode, Firefight, was at E3 for some heavy play testing.

What Is It? The enigmatically renamed Halo 3: Recon puts you in the shoes of a UNSC Orbital Drop Shock Trooper during the events leading up to Halo 3. The first-person shooter takes place in New Mombasa. At the beginning of the game the player gets separated from the rest team during a drop.

What We SawI played several rounds of multiplayer Firefight, which has a team of gamers taking on increasingly difficult waves of enemies.

How Far Along Is It?Halo: ODST is due out Sept. 22, the matches I played seemed very polished.
What Needs Improvement?Horde Two: When we started our hands-on time with Firefight the Bungie folks were quick to tell us that this was not Horde mode. After playing it for a bit, I'm not sure why they're trying to make the distinction. If they do want to differentiate Firefight from Horde, they have a long way to go. If they don't, then they should embrace what is a solid game mode.

What Should Stay The Same?Damage Control: This is no Master Chief you're controlling, which means you're shield free and once more dependent on health packs. Nothing changes the flavor of Halo more than having to start scrounging for health.
Visor: You may not get Master Chief's height, shield or ability to dual-wield, but you do get a handy-dandy new night vision visor that you can toggle whenever you'd like. The visor also highlights enemies in a red outline, making it a bit easier to take on a wave of bad guys in the middle of a fire fight.

Humanity: Everything from the perspective (remember you're no seven-footer) to the fact that falls will hurt you are reminders that you're just a grunt, not a super hero. It's nice, after years of playing the guy on the horse, to finally be the one down in the dirt having to get by.
Team Play: It's kind of cool to be fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with four other grunts as you're taking on the full spectrum of Halo bad guys, including teams of Chieftans.
New Weapons: The silenced submachine gun is a fun, but mostly ineffective weapon. Not so with the pistol, which returns to the Halo universe in all of its glory. Firing off headshots with this bad boy has never been easier.

Final ThoughtsI loved Horde mode in Gears of War 2 and I love Firefight in Halo: ODST, both are fantastic multiplayer coop modes that force gamers to work together to survive. Adding skulls, achievements and leaderboards make it all the more fun. - Kotaku

Dirt 2 First look

Dirt 2 First Look
We kick the muddy tires of Codemasters' upcoming off-road racing sequel.
by Ryan Geddes

February 18, 2009 - In 2007, UK-based Codemasters racing studio overhauled its successful Colin McRae Rally series, adding a slick new menu system, a gorgeous graphics engine and a more comprehensive sampling of the sport's events to help attract a wider audience. The result was Dirt, an impressive new racing property that left racing game fans begging for a sequel. And being polite British types, the Codies racing team cheerily agreed to do just that. The studio officially announced Dirt 2 back in November, but details have been thin in the months to follow. That all changed this week when the developers stopped by the IGN offices to show an early version of the mud-splattered sequel, and I came away impressed. On a wall of the Codemasters racing studio is an oversized sign that reads, "Off-road racing with extreme sports attitude," and it's this design philosophy that's driven the Dirt 2 team during the game's 18 months of development to date. While the pure rally feel of Dirt is very much still the core of the experience, Dirt 2 is branching out to include new off-road events that stray from the traditional.

It's only a bumper. It can be replaced.The development team kicked off their demo with a handful of videos from real-life racing events to set the tone, starting with a scene more reminiscent of an X-Games exhibition than a rally competition. The footage shows Team Subaru driver and DC Shoes founder Ken Block taking his WRX STI over a 171-foot jump, and although stunts like that aren't the sole focus of Dirt, they're reminiscent of the new direction some elements of world rally racing are going, and it's a vibe you'll see in the game. The most obvious place you'll see this new direction is in the stadium events. Set in huge venues like London's Battersea Power Station (the scene on the cover of Pink Floyd's Animals record), and a fictional mega-venue outside of Los Angeles, these races feature tight tracks with varying grades and surfaces where you'll be battling other racers to cross the finish line first. In a single lap, you might roll over tarmac, gravel, loose dirt, a tightly packed berm and a two-foot-deep puddle of standing water. I was shown a few laps at Battersea that contained all of the above, plus a dangerous jump in the middle of the track that requires a steady hand and nerves of steel. Any good racing game needs to have rock-solid handling, and getting that just right has been a major focus of the Codemasters team. With Dirt 2, the physics wizards at Codemasters have changed the way the cars feel compared to the previous game. Each car now has realistic weight transfer modeling on all four wheels, and the entire system of how traction is transferred to tires has been updated. Whereas before the suspension as a whole had weight load treatment, now the differential and individual corners of the vehicle are independently modeled. How does that translate into car handling in the game? I'll let you know once I get behind the wheel.

The roaring crowds rally's been missing.The physics aren't the only part of Dirt 2 to get an overhaul. The third-generation Ego engine that's working under the hood has an all new lighting/rendering system that's designed to give unprecedented layers of depth to terrain and environments. The build I saw was based on pre-alpha code, and there's plenty Codemasters isn't showing off yet, but the environments already look stellar, despite missing textures, lighting, and so-called "crowd furniture." I caught a glimpse of what the developers are planning to do with particle and water effects, too, and rally fans won't be disappointed. In the races I watched, cars got progressively grimier until they looked like they'd been airbrushed with brown paint. One flick of the windshield wipers though, and you're right as rain. Water, always a rally-racer's enemy, has also been given close attention in Dirt 2. It may look pretty, but you don't want to plow into it unless you plan on slowing down by about 30 percent. But if you happen to land in the drink instead of hitting your apex, no worries. There's always the replay.

With 2008's Grid, Codemasters brought a clever new innovation to the world of racing games. The replay function allowed you to tap a button on your controller or PC keyboard and stop time in the middle of a race. And depending on your difficulty level, you could then rewind your race to the moment before you made your fatal error and try again. I didn't get to see it in action, but Codemasters said the replay function will play a part in Dirt 2, which will come as welcome news to those of us who don't share Travis Pastrana's deft touch on hairpin turns. Many fans of both Dirt and Grid will notice that there are definite similarities between the latter and Dirt 2, including the replay system and the introduction of tighter, circuit-based tracks. But Dirt 2 also shares another trait with its street-racing sister game: online multiplayer. While Dirt was universally well-received by critics, it also took a few hits for not having a robust competitive online multiplayer system where a group of friends could log on and race against one another in real-time. There was multiplayer, yes, but gamers wanted to see their friends racing alongside them. That's all changed in Dirt 2. Now, the new motto is all cars, all tracks, all online. In general, Codemasters is paying a lot more attention to online connectivity in Dirt 2. There's talk of including a system that will alert you in-game when one of your friends beats your lap time on a certain track (good luck, Goldstein).

Advanced lighting tech opens up new track possibilities. But before you head online to start battling real-life drivers, you'll need to get the basics down in the single-player mode. The main way you'll do that is through World Tour mode, which is the meat of the Dirt 2 experience. Codemasters is still keeping some secrets about what World Tour will include, but we do know you'll be playing as a rally driver who travels to events throughout the world to compete in races of all different types. And at least at the beginning, you won't get the Pastrana or Block star treatment. Instead, you'll start out the old-fashioned way – in an RV. In Dirt 2, your trusty RV serves as your menu system, allowing you to choose races, get updates and tweak your cars, all from the comfort of your plush captain's chair. But the RV is much more than a menu system, Codies says. It will go with you to every event, and the exterior scene will match your surroundings. So if you head to an event in China, you'll see the mountainous environment in the background and your car of choice parked outside. Hopefully I'll be able to set up my grill, too. After all, it's not rally without steaks.

Leave em' in the dust.In addition to China, Dirt 2 also takes you to California, Utah, England, Croatia, Malaysia, and other well-known rally locales. So what cars will you be using to tear up nature's pristine virtual environments? Codemasters isn't saying just yet, due to ongoing licensing discussions. But you can bet your rear differential that Subaru will be involved. I have yet to get my hands on Dirt 2 in earnest, and there's a lot Codemasters has yet to reveal about its upcoming rally racer. But from what I've seen so far, the team is set to deliver a razor-sharp off-road racing experience in September. The environmental sound is beefed up, the cars sound throatier and the damage and destructible environments are already impressing. We'll have much more on Dirt 2 as the game progresses, so check back soon for more mud, sweat and gears.

Click here for more pictures

(Provided by IGN.com)

New york Comic con.. Wow.

That's it, all our coverage, our pictures, our impressions and our stories from this year's New York Comic Con. In case you missed something here's our full run down:

Cosplay

The Cosplay of NYCC (Part 1)This Blue Dragon 'Shu' Mascot Is Really CreepyThe Cosplay of NYCC (Part Two)
Culture

Square-Enix Brings Toys, Not Games, To NYCCMichael Buffer Gives A Wii To The Best "Rumbler"Now Is Not The Time To Be Selling $1000 Halo CostumesThe Gaming Swag of NYCCActivision's Green Screen A Hit At Comic-ConA Look At The Gaming Booths From Comic-ConThe Best Way To Play F.E.A.R. 2: Project OriginThis Is Entirely Way Too Much Pac-Man Stuff, Namco
News

New Wolfenstein Features Otherworld
Previews

Prototype Preview: Slick, But Not A Stand OutX-Men Origins: Wolverine Preview: A Bloody Good TimeBattlefield 1943: Pacific Preview: A Much Needed UpgradeGhostbusters: The Video Game Preview: Don't Cross The StreamsinFamous Preview: Ride The LightningSonic And The Black Knight Preview: It's Probably Not For YouVelvet Assassin Preview: Metal Gear LiteRed Faction: Guerrilla Preview: Search And DestroyA Quick Look At Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han TaoA Quick Look At Bomberman Ultra90 Minutes With GTA: Chinatown Wars

Gameloft on the rise at EA Games

Gameloft, EA Insist Gaming Market on the Rise

Posted on: Thursday, 4 December 2008, 10:00 CST It was announced on Wednesday that Electronic Arts and Gameloft, the world's two biggest mobile gaming firms, that the market is doing alright, only a day after their next principal rival, Glu Mobile, made some sever cuts to their company.Glu Mobile chief executive Greg Ballard announced on Tuesday that he is reducing both staff and his own salary as an answer to "increasing economic headwinds facing our industry."However, the company’s rivals contradicted this on Wednesday, insisting that the mobile gaming sector is flourishing.

"Concerning the iPhone, mobiles etc, we are not worried, it's all going well," a Gameloft spokeswoman stated, when inquired about a fourth-quarter demand, but insisted that it is too early to make a statement over the sales of console games.Barry Cottle, head of EA's mobile business, added that the rising adoption of smartphones is key factor for their sales, implying that a decrease in handset market sales is not hurting the industry.

"Mobile games are actually thriving right now," Cottle stated at the 'Nokia World' mobile industry conference in Barcelona.He said it is way too soon to calculate approximately the potential impact of deteriorating economies, but the company continues to thrive in all areas in spite of a drop in handset sales in Europe.The mobile games industry is anticipating a larger adoption of innovative platforms such as Nokia's N-Gage, Google's Android and Apple's iPhone to improve the market next year as allowing consumers to discover and purchase games with ease.Glu Mobile added in its statement that it will prolong its efforts to expand on their games for the three platforms regardless of cost cuts other places.

Nokia released its N-Gage platform earlier in the year, although it has just started to get steam as the company has begun to promote new smartphone models with a pre-installed gaming service."We like N-Gage . We're bullish on it," Cottle said. "As it gets incorporated the addressable market continues to grow."We really believe the N-Gage experience is the right one -- we are going to see mass market adoption," he added.

EA announced that it has created several games for Google's Android, but sells them through a third party system."As soon as they have a billing system in place we'll launch even more games," Cottle noted.-----

On The Net:EAGameloft
Source: redOrbit

Eidos Bought by Square enix

Square Enix have just announced that an agreement has been reached with the board of Eidos, by which Square will purchase the creaky old British publisher for £84 million (USD$120 million).
That price represents, according to Square, a premium of 129% over Eidos' current market value. Meaning that, yes, in other words, they're paying more than what Eidos are worth.
Despite being agreed to by the men in expensive suits at both companies, for the deal to go through it has to be approved by 75% of Eidos' shareholders at the company's next meeting, which is due to take place early next month. Which it should, since the Eidos board are going to recommend shareholders sell up.

Oh Square. You look a little...desperate! Shifty delays, downward-looking finances and now paying over the board for the rights to Tomb Raider (driven into the ground), Hitman (gathering dust) and...Kane & Lynch? You're getting our common sense all Imperial Hot & bothered.
Full details on the announcement below if you're in need of bedtime reading.

By Luke Plunkett kotaku.com

Head here for more info on the purchase:http://kotaku.com/5152117/square-enix-trying-to-buy-tomb-raider

Eidos stocks rise as Square Enix bids

Shares of Eidos on the London Stock Exchange skyrocketed today, more than doubling following the announcement of a generous buyout bid by Japanese RPG giant Square Enix.

Closing at only 14 pence yesterday, shares of Eidos stock on the London Stock Exchange are currently trading at 31.75 pence, or .25 pence below the 32 pence per share Square Enix has offered to buy out the company in their proposed £84.3 million bid for the troubled Tomb Raider publisher.

The market opened today with a sale of 178,000 shares selling at 27 pence per share, with more than 16 million shares changing hands as of this writing. The sheer volume of trades is staggering, especially when considering the highest volume Eidos saw through the whole of last year was

The jump is of course a direct result of Square Enix's bid, as both individuals and arbitrageurs - companies that buy large amounts of stock in order to secure small but high-volume profit with minimal risk- rush to grab as much Eidos stock as possible before the deal goes through.
While the deal isn't 100% in the bag, it's a much safer bet than investing in Take-Two Interactive stock turned out to be following Electronic Arts' failed takeover bid last year.

As an outsider to the financial world, it's a fascinating process to watch. One company makes an offer on another, and then the stock prices rise to meet that offer in the hopes of making a small profit. Once you start to make sense of the charts, it really is quite interesting. Head over to the London Stock Exchange website to experience the hot stock drama.

By Mike Fahey kotaku.com

Left 4 dead Updates and free downloads!

Valve announced today that the Survival Pack downloadable content for Left 4 Dead will be free to both Xbox 360 and PC gamers.
The downloadable content will be available this Spring. It will introduce a new multiplayer game mode entitled, Survival, plus two complete campaigns for Versus Mode titled Death Toll and Dead Air.
We love map packs… and love them more when they are free. Valve is awesome!!!

http://www.steampowered.com/

Also Valve has released a new patch for the PC version of Left 4 dead. The one for XBox 360, basically identical in contents, will be launched in the next few weeks.
The new update will bring a few changes to many game mechanics, and also correct a several number of bug and glitches (and we wonder if the “super-jump” will still be possible).
The full list of changes that are available in the patch can be found on this link.