So why 2011? Well a source of Edge claims:

“Microsoft’s keen to avoid a clash with Halo: Reach and wants Natal to own Christmas.  That’s why we won’t be seeing Gears Of War 3 until next year, but expect a major marketing push ahead of its release.“ 

Fair enough I guess, though I would love to have Gears of War 3 as soon as possible.

Epic has also released this tech demo of Gears of War 3:

Another demo showed what the updated Unreal Engine was really capable of.  An Epic representative playing a demo, quickly ran through a city, indicating how quickly the buildings and the huge city can be easily rendered by the engine.

Mark Rein added: “One day we’ll show you what we’re doing with this. When you see what we’re doing with this, it’s going to blow your mind.”

All I hope, is that they address the multiplayer in Gears of War 3.  If they can find some kind of happy medium between Gears 1 and 2 as far as gameplay, then I’ll love it, and if they can go beyond that in a positive way, that’s just icing on the cake.

This kind of pisses me off, as I was expecting the DLC to cost 800 points, which is truly where it should be priced, but Activistion must be on a quest to push me to get the new Left for Dead 2 DLC instead (also releasing in March), and hold off on the MW2 maps.

How do you feel about the price of the DLC?

According to Philip Elmer-DeWitt:

“51,000 orders in two hours,” announced Victor Castroll shortly after noon. He’s an analyst with Valcent Financial Group and an AAPL Sanity member who, with the blogger-analyst who calls himself deagol, has been monitoring the spreadsheet.

To be honest, this just makes me sad.

Police say Dossey torched his Fort Lauderdale mobile home causing firefighters to put out the blaze to prevent it from spreading to other homes on the 1300 block of Southwest 21st Terrace Wednesday afternoon.

According to Fort Lauderdale Fire-Rescue, Dossey drenched his own mobile home park with gasoline and lit it. A few minutes later, his home exploded.

Now, Dossey is charged with first-degree arson.

I guess he showed you water company.

Source

There have a been a few screenshot leaks, but Activistion has been pretty on top of ripping them down, so sorry, I can’t really help out with that until the release some official shots.

In other news, new glitches and exploits are soon to come I’m sure.  We’re about due for something new and annoying in that game to piss me off.

It turns out that the PS3 Bluetooth module can only support up to seven wireless devices at a time, which will cause a problem for the Move controllers. You see, Playstation Move is not simply a single wand, there is also a second controller for your other hand, which can be used in certain games (think ‘nunchuck’ for the Wii). Now let’s quickly do the math here.

Let’s say I want to play a game with 3 of my friends, and said game supports Playstation Move and required both controllers. So let’s see, ( 4 friends times 2 controllers each = 8 bluetooth devices), ok…oh wait, Playstation only supports 7 bluetooth devices at a time, WTF.

Sony’s official response was this:
“Four PlayStation Move controllers can connect to a PS3 at one time (or two PlayStation Move Controllers and 2 PlayStation Move sub-controllers).”

So basically what they’re saying is you can only enjoy the full Playstation Move experience with one other friend at a time.

Good Job Sony.

Story mode:
You play a biker in the gang “Lost”, and your story runs parallel to Niko’s.  Rockstar has stated that this new addition (first of 2 that are scheduled), is going to provide a different side of Liberty City.   There’s going to be 1/3 of the missions from the original version and should take roughly 10-15 hours to complete.

The biggest additions one might notice is there are not mid-mission checkpoints.  No more failing a mission and having to drive all the way back across the map to restart it.  A common gripe from regular GTA 4.  However, this expansion does not add this function to the pre-expansion content. 

New Items:
There will be new weapons to include grenade launchers, pipe bombs, sawed-off/automatic shotguns.  There will also be new vehicles, including custom choppers that the gang ride.  And the way the protagonist controls a motorcycle is far more proficient than the way he drives a car.  Think about Niko, He could drive a car pretty well, but cornering on a bike was sketchy.

Multiplayer:
New game modes have been added.  Some seem really cool, some seem decent:
Witness Protection – Bikers try to eliminate a bus while the cops try to protect it.  (sound hard)
Race – Racing on bikes with racers carrying bats.  (road rash anyone?)
Lone Wolf Biker – Kill the Carrier on bikes. 
Own the City – Try to gain control of the city section by section.  (…meh)
Club Business – Like the original Mafia game in GTA IV, but with more tasks.
Chopper vs. Chopper – Helicopter vs bike. Bike rider tries to get through checkpoint while helicopter tries to stop the biker.  (this sound bad ass)

If you’re really a fan of GTA 4, have the spare 1.8GB hdd space it requires and an extra 1600 points, I’d say to go for it.

:UPDATE:  Ok, so this weekend I was able to knock out this expansion from start to finish (took me roughly 8 hrs).  All in all I’d say it’s a decent expansion, and it does introduce new things.  The new auto shotgun is absolutely bad ass.  There’s roughly 10 new motorcycles, mostly choppers, but there are a few sportbikes.    One of the best parts about this game, to me, are the few times you cross paths with Niko.  I always ran around in a suit and tie when I was niko, but when you see him he’s still in the junk clothes he arrived in.  I thought it was a little funny at least.   Some of the missions are pretty bad ass, but the game does have a stereotypical ‘biker gang’ feel to it.  I’m not going to ruin the plot, but there are some “sons of anarchy” moments.  The mid-mission checkpoints are very useful, since you’ll probably die much more often than in the original gta4.  The enemies are much more accurate, at least it felt that way.  I liked the expansion, but not as much as the original.  They said it had about 1/3rd the missions as the original, but to me it felt like much less.

spoiler alert:  you’ll see a dick

Ok, so the Demo has been released on the 360.  Set to be publicly released in north america on March 6, 2009

I have enjoyed aircraft war games about as much as FPS.  Provided they are made correctly.  Ace Combat, looks good, but is so unrealistic it’s crazy.  If you’ve played AC6, you’ll know what I mean.  Dogfights with UAVs,  “boss” type aircraft, Missiles that can be outrun by normal aircraft, no countermeasures, and really terrible plot.  By ‘terrible’ I mean cheezy.  But as far as looks go, the game looks good, the planes are rendered well, and the in-cockpit view isn’t shabby. And I know there’s room for unrealistic things in simulator games, like nobody wants to blackout from high-g turns and people like being able to shoot down more than 8 aircraft before having to return to rearm, but there’s also a limit.  AC6 is fun, it’s game play is too unrealistic.  But in any case, this story is about HAWX.

I spent a good deal of time playing the demo.  There’s several features I really like. 

First, a missile is ridiculously fast; there’s no outrunning it, which is also true to real life.  When you fire it, it takes off like a bullet.  Which is a feature I like.  Makes it seem like a rocket powered warhead, and not some slow moving tube.

Secondly, you have countermeasures, for those times when you simply can’t afford to go into evasive manuevers to avoid it (multiple missiles inbound), pop a flare to disrupt the missile’s tracking system and be about your business. 

Third, there’s a new camera view.  You have your standard nose-mounted camera, cockpit cam (good detailing too) and a 3rd person from the rear of the aircraft.   But there’s also a new distant 3rd person, which shows your plane and your target, and when your target maneuvers the camera also turns to keep him in sight.  So half the time you’re not looking straight ahead.  It takes some getting used to, but once you master it you’ll like it, since it makes combat maneuvers easier.  Plus, I don’t know for sure, but i think you can turn sharper in that view.  

Fourthly, when you’re in-cockpit, my favorite view, you can use the right thumbstick to turn your head, and just like the new missile systems you can lock on using your helmet instead of pointing your plane at your target.   Best used when dogfighting and you can’t get behind your enemy, look up at him and lock on and fire.  Your missile is very maneuverable. 

Fifth, the rendering for the ground is gorgeous so far.  Most city landscapes in Ace Combat are flat with the exception of some central areas in the city.   In hawx, there’s building everywhere.  Part of the strategy for killing tanks is having to basically dive-bomb them since they are hidden on streets between large buildings.

Lastly, dive-bombing said tanks is made easy with the new flight navigation system.  When you’re attacking a tank hidden in a city, hit the button, follow the maneuver navigation sequence and it will bring you straight down on top of him for an easy kill.  If you need to evade a missile, hit the button when it pops up and your navigation tells you the maneuvers needed to avoid it.  Same is true for a plane in a dogfight. Hit the button and follow the maneuvers and you’ll end up behind him.  This is a nice feature in a pinch, or when your out of your best weapons and need to use a gun (god forbid).

Also, worth noting is that i am unsure as to whether or not you will be able to land/take off on your own, or if it’s automated.  There are also voice commands, I have not tested these, but i’m sure you can use them to control your teammates.  If they work anything like they did in the End War demo, I’ll be happy.  Where you don’t have to speak like you’re talking to a 3 year old “alpha……attack…..charlie….one”, just say it like you’re speaking normally.

The storyline is set to take place between the events in Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and End War.  There were only 3 planes available in the demo, the f-16 (you start with it), the f-15, and some other aircraft that i didn’t use.  An interesting note, when you select aircraft each aircraft had it’s own perks.  Similar to COD4.  When you select one, it tells you if it has the increased load perk (or whatever it’s called), which lets it carry more weapons than normal.  Whether it can achieve a weapon lock faster than normal.  All those seem cool, but I really want to know if you can mix and match to get optimal setups.  I really like the F-15, because I used to work with them in my old job.  So if i can hook up an f15 to make it better, i’ll be all over that.  There’s also an experience system.  You kill planes you get XP, you get enough XP you gain a rank.  I’m sure rank ties in to what weapons you can use, or planes you can fly.  There’s also challenges, kill say, 50 land targets and get a bonus to xp. 

No word yet on whether or not the f22 will have some sort of stealth capabilities, or if the f117 will.  I don’t know if the f117 will be in the game, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t. 

Bottom line: If you like Ace Combat, you’ll probably love this title.  I, for one, will definitely be buying it.  And there’s an online co-op campaign mode.  I’ve tried it once and liked it.

Here’s a simple flowchart I drafted up to give people an idea as to what system they should buy, if they were on the fence.  I’ve included computer because they are still gaming platforms (think warcraft).  I’ll let the records show, that I do not buy into Apple’s propaganda, and the “apple tax”.  But, if for some unknown reason you despise microsoft, then by all means go for it…or get linux.

I know there’s some typos.  Live with it

Well, there she is.  The new Harmony 1100, by Logitech.   This little gem supposedly has the ability to control everything.  With a built-in database of 175,000 items, it’s pretty safe to say that your Xbox PS3 and Wii will all be included (update:  PS3 will need an IR -> Bluetooth converter, typical sony).  As will most brand name TVs.  Up to a max of 15 different units can be controlled with it.

What’s new with the 1100 over the previous 1000, is that it’s now black, and you now have the ability to control what’s displayed on the screen.  The 1100 ships this month for around $500, but if the upgrades don’t appeal to you, or you want a good deal, the 1000 can be found for under 300. 

I’ve also read that you can have it set to turn on your lights.  I guess if you use the X-10 lighting system ($20), you can then use the RF built-in to the remote.  I would really like a system with a single remote, I got about 5 now.