DICE could be providing hints to the next game in the Battlefield series based on potential clues found in the recent "Back to Karklands" DLC pack for Battlefield 3.

The clues are based on certain writing found on one of the walls in the Wake Island map and DICE's previous history of teasing the next game within a DLC pack.

The writing which just has the plain text of "2143" could be the hinting the next game as a direct sequel of Battlefield 2142 and would be titled as "Battlefield 2143." DICE has also used the 42/43 numbering in the past for sequels with Battlefield 1943 being a direct sequel to Battlefield 1942.

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/upl...2-43-44-25.jpg
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...s-wake-island/
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Daily Recap:
1) According to CNET, Nintendo will be making an appearance at CES 12 with the Wii U being shown off again although nothing huge is expected as Nintendo still wants E3 2012 to be the real 2nd debut of the system.
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/wii-u-...ect-much/3869/

2) A recent update done by Sony for their S Tablet series in Japan now allows PS3 controllers to be usable for tablet games although no news if the update will be released to other regions.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/sony...s3-controllers

3) Developer studio Dimps is expanding into the mobile and browser markets with each market getting brand new gaming series created by the studio.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/dimp...op-its-own-ips

It appears Sony is in trouble with consumers regarding the PS Move edition of the Heavy Rain PS3 game with content and features originally promised as extras being missing.

Leading up the release of the PS Move edition, Sony had touted it would contain 4 extra pieces of content not found in the regular version from last year's release.

To make matters worse, while Sony will accept copies of the game returned to them, they are requiring consumers to foot the bill for any shipping in order to receive the correct version consumers had expected to receive when they first bought the game.

http://www.screwattack.com/sites/def...%20Rain3_0.jpg
http://www.screwattack.com/news/miss...-move-editions

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Daily Recap:
1) Sony releases 1st firmware patch for the PS Vita but it does not correct any problems reported since launch but instead primarily fixes stuff that wasn't ready in time when the Vita went into the mass production phase.

2) Microsoft starts its annual "12 Days of Xbox" savings with each day having a special item or game on sale along with a list of stuff that will stay on sale until January 2, 2012.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...ox-deals-deal/

3) Capcom confirms a Devil May Cry HD collection is set for an April 3, 2012 release date and includes Devil May Cry 1, Devil may Cry 2 and Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening for the Xbox 360 and PS3.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...ate-confirmed/

<div style='width:650px;font-size: 12px;'><embed src="http://cdn2.themis-media.com/media/global/movies/player/flowplayer.commercial-3.2.7.swf" flashvars="config=http://www.themis-media.com/videos/config/5148-be23eeee8f9dc0f4e727e13391927736.js%3Fplayer_version%3D2.5%26embed%3D1" allowfullscreen="true" allowscriptaccess="always" quality="high" bgcolor="#000000" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" pluginspage="http://www.adobe.com/go/getflashplayer" width="650" height="391" wmode="opaque"></embed><div><a href='http://www.escapistmagazine.com'>The Escapist</a> : <a href='http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/zero-p

Destroyed my friends Minecraft world that took 6 months to make just now... :lol:
Can't wait till they all go online next.

Maybe his friend will give up on Minecraft. That would make him the best friend imaginable.

Nah, One guy started extending his house and thought because I play it like once a month (if that)
he thought it'd be ok to completely destroy mine and my gf's island + take all our stuff, so he could use it on his.
Spent like an hour just burning shit.

The next Dragon Age game, Dragon Age 3, will be a bit different than the previous 2 games after Bioware revealed in an interview with Wired.com they are mixing aspects from Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim with the Dragon Age series.

These changes would also take into consideration requests by EA to add more multiplayer features starting with the rumors of co-op and battle arenas for the third game.

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/upl.../dragonage.jpg
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...n-from-skyrim/

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Daily Recap:
1) If the launch of the PS Vita is any indication, the majority of PS Vita games will not contain any printed game manuals and instead only have online digital manuals.
http://kotaku.com/5868704/report-the...uction-booklet

2) Microsoft confirms an update to fix problems resulting from the recent dashboard update is being worked on with the primary fixes revolving around user profiles unable to access some of the new features.
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/news/...rofile-errors/

3) The timeline for the Zelda series might have finally been discovered based on the official art book for the series 25th anniversary which potentially splits the actual timeline into 3 branches instead of the assumed single or dual timelines.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/comm...sibly-revealed


Bonus: The 2011 TPWW Gammies Awards ends in 2 days with voting still open for all categories.
http://www.tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?t=116201

We all know DA3 is going to be a cover-based shooter, so who is he kidding?

Also, hate the lack of manuals in my copy, even if they're only two page reference sheets.

I hate the lack of manuals in general.

It's gotten even worse lately, in that there isn't even a controller layout.

Lot of companies it seems are going the route of online manuals. Which is utter fucking bullshit, because not everyone has a laptop they can plop down in front of the tv. My xbox and computer are on different floors, so the online manual thing is a pain in the ass.

I don't get why they don't include them on-disc for console games at least. If printing costs are the issue, putting them on the disc shouldn't be.

They have to save that space for DLC.

True. It would be expensive to put that DLC on a server.

Tutorial levels essentially replaced having in-game manuals and I think it was either EA or Activision that started the whole trend towards this.

Might have been a Madden or Call of Duty game to be exact.

I can remember where it stated the figures but making and printing manuals doesn't really provide any real savings considering the costs for most decent video games is in the $10-$30 million range and manuals themselves only cost around the $30,000 to low $100,000 range.

Except they haven't replaced them in all instances. Especially not all instances where manuals have been removed. I'm also not a fan of waiting until I'm halfway through a game to find out how to do something because of in-game tutorials. It's rarely necessary.

We're going to end up with a Saints Row the Third model, where half the game is tutorial, much of it unncessarily and also incomplete.

Also, companies have eliminated shit for the sake of less savings. These days, I expect a corporation to pinch every penny.

Stupid iTunes fucking up my ability to type uninterrupted.

I liked the way Smackdown vs Raw 11 handled teaching you the controls. I don't remember if it had a manual or not, but if it did it likely sucked as most of them do so they provided a practice mode where you could take your time and learn how to do everything. My only complaint about it, was you had to exit out of it in order everytime you went to the main menu. If they could have stuck it somewhere off the main screen it would have been perfect.

I was actually looking forward to that for WWE 12 since they changed the controls, unfortunately it's gone.

In an interview with Giant Bomb, Remedy Entertainment revealed their plans and some of the changes for the upcoming download-only Alan Wake American Nightmare game.

The game itself is not being considered as "Alan Wake 2" but more as an extension from the first game in terms of story.

The studio did listen to complaints about the lack of overall variety in terms of combat from the first game and decided to add in a bit more action parts to the upcoming game. This also became a big reason why the decision was made to make it just a downloadable title since they can make the game move at a faster pace than the first game which also had some complaints of feeling a bit slow.

The game's story revolves a lot on the stories Alane Wake has written for his "Night Springs" series and ends up becoming trapped in them similar to the first game. Mr. Scratch also returns from the first game's DLC packs as the main villain in American Nightmare.

Also revealed was manuscripts play a bigger role this time in terms of both the actual story and as a way to gain access to new weapons and items.

http://media.giantbomb.com/uploads/9...mare_super.png
http://www.giantbomb.com/news/welcom...ightmare/3871/

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Daily Recap:
1) Valve now requires an additional $1 fee for any purchases made to the Humble Indie bundle below $1 as a way to punish and track scammers who were cheating in order to get better chances at winning free prizes. The extra dollar would go to the Child's Play charity to ensure they were not cheated out of their fair share from the scammers.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/jerk...aming-humanity

2) EA announces the reboot game for the SSX series has been delayed from its original February 14 release date to now a February 28 date with the extra time being used to polish the game.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/ssx-...nes-day-ruined

3) A class-action lawsuit has been filed against Sony challenging the company's ability to restrict lawsuits against them and how Sony hid the clause within the paper-only terms of service document.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/anti...d-against-sony


Bonus: 1 day left for voting in the 2011 TPWW Gammies Awards with winners to be posted late Friday.
http://www.tpww.net/forums/showthread.php?t=116201

So a class-action lawsuit challenging the prevention of calss-action lawsuits?

I think manuals are an outdated concept. Its best to learn on the go and today games have the room to teach you things as you play through. No one wants to take out a manual and lookingt hings up to interrupt yo game, yo wanna PLAY!

No gamer wants their hands held. [/ioplogic]

I agree! but explaing features in a game isnt hand holding.

Yes it is. real gamers harken back to the days of Zelda (The original, fuck this three dee shit) where you had to figure shit out yourself. You couldn't figure out where to kneel in Simon's quest, fuck you, you couldn't continue. None of this glowing weak spot, explain every strategy bullshit.

No manuals doesn't really bother me, most games in a genre have the same/similar control layouts these days anyway. But I can see how it would be a problem for someone who is just getting into gaming and isn't tech savvy enough to figure out how to get to the online manual. There is people like that out there... my sister and her boyfriend are two of them.

How long you've been playing games doesn't really factor into it. Sure you can figure the basic controls by yourself, but games are a lot more complex these days. Some have tons of situational controls that you might not remember from the one time they showed you in a tutorial.

I mean it's not THAT big a deal, but it's still an inconvenience. Miss the days where I could just reach over and pop the book out, and be done with it.

How digital releases on XBLA did it is fine. UMvC3's H&H Mode also has an in-game manuel that's great. I don't mind if they emulate the booklets nice and close.

Yeah, I don't mind it when it is in game, it's just this online tripe that gets my goose.

...Unless you're relative new to gaming, at which point things will seem far more daunting than if you've been playing them since 1978. Seriously, I know there are still issues even if you have like 40 years of muscle memory built up, but that doesn't mean that how long you've been playing games doesn't factor into it.

In other words, it's an inconvenience for you, but could really fuck the nooblets up.

This is a load of shit, especially for new games or games with different control schemes of which you've never handled. For example, in WWE 12 it explains the bare minimum control and that's it. It took a lot of trial and error and even having to go online to figure a few of the controls out. For example, I completely assumed they took out taking the turnbuckle pad off until I looked it up. Manuals need to be there at least to explain the fundamentals of the game because not everyone wants to sit there for an hour trying every possible control combination.

I also hate tutorial levels that force you to go through 100 different things that are obvious before hitting something you didn't know. Again, this is where manuals come in handy.

I have no problem with on-disk manuals, but espeically in this world of casual gamers meshing with hardcore gamers, it's not an "outdated" concept and is in fact more apt than ever.

Didn't realize that was an on-going debate.

REALLY hated that sort of thing in earlier WWE games. Especially when some of them were so contextualised they didn't really happen unless you knew to make them happen.

Then again, WWE manuals are usually shit. Half the time, there's one or two things I can't find in the manual and need to go online for.

According to Epic Games, Microsoft has sent out a new mandate set to start on January 1, 2012 which removes the ability to sell any "gun-like" props on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The new mandate also covers any new guns being created as either rewards or as pre-order bonuses if they are not in-game weapons and just avatar props.

All current gun props existing on the Avatar Store will be delisted starting next month but there is a grandfather clause which allows Xbox users to keep their exiting weapon props. Microsoft will also not be disabling the ability to equip them on a user's Xbox avatar.

This would be the 2nd time Microsoft has reconsidered guns and weapons as allowable props for their guidelines on what can and can not be done for Xbox Live avatars. The first attempt ended up being dropped after Epic Games was able to convince Microsoft to change their minds but it appears this time Microsoft will not budge from their new stance at least for the time being.

http://forums.epicgames.com/threads/...ce-on-1-1-2012

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Daily Recap:
1) Based on the leaked codename of "Iron Wolf" and other rumored info, the next game in the Call of Duty series will be Black Ops 2 and has a release date of October 11, 2012.
http://blackops2news.com/call-of-dut...or-black-ops-2

2) Sony denies The Last Guardian for the PS3 has been cancelled while Gamestop admits to an error lead in the cancellation notices being sent to customers who had the pre-order reserved for the game.
http://www.screwattack.com/news/rumo...celled-updated

3) Nintendo reveals the next Gameboy game to arrive on the eShop for the 3DS on December 29 will be Bionic Commando from the original Gameboy along with a "3D Classic" version of Urban Champion and a few other games.
http://www.gamezone.com/news/gb-bion...-december-29th

Can I still keep my big stompy robot, with all its guns?

Well what I mean is, it's shitty whether you've been playing a long time or whether you're new.

Tecmo reveals a few new details for the upcoming Ninja Gaiden III game with a new feature allowing seppuku or "honorable suicides" during multiplayer matches.

The mode only triggers when the character is near death and doesn't provide any actual special bonuses or perks besides denying the kill point to the attacking player.

Although the suicide itself will not include any gore nor dismemberment unlike the rest of the game but instead displays how the traditional act was done in the past to show off the "honor" part of the move.

The story itself has been written by the same person who wrote the NES trilogy of games.

Mizuki McCloud was revealed to be the primary backup for Ryu in the game. She is also compared more to the female CIA agent from the NES series than the more recent Gaiden games female backup characters.

http://www.egmnow.com/wp-content/upl...njaGaiden1.jpg
http://www.egmnow.com/articles/previ...inja-gaiden-3/
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Daily Recap:
1) Nintendo confirms the Wii U will launch in the 2nd half of 2012 with the final date to be determined and announced once E3 2012 arrives.
http://kotaku.com/5871091/the-myster...window-narrows

2) According to the preview sales results from the 1st week of the launch of the PS Vita, the strategy by Sony to "flood" the market with too many launch games might have backfired as none of the games managed to reach 30,000 copies sold nor did the majority of the launch games managed to reach 10,000 copies sold.
http://www.vgchartz.com/article/8864...ames-top-100k/

Aren't those kinda mutually exclusive?

http://penny-arcade.com/2011/12/26/just-wow1

Ocean Marketing vs Penny Arcade. Probably not gonna set the world on fire, but it's amusing as fuck and a nice primer in how not to do business

That shit is funny. Also love that "OCEAN MARKETTING" misspelled their own twitter name.