Gaming with YMGA: August 2011

Saturday, August 27, 2011

PAX Prime 2011: Assassins Creed Revelations Panel

Friday, August 26, 2011

New Mass Effect 3 Screenshots from PAX

Counter Strike: Global Offensive Debut Trailer

Final Fantasy XIII-2 PAX Trailer

No Porshe for Forza 4. Skyrim featuring Same Sex Marriage

Halo: CE going 3D

Xbox 360 remake of first game in sci-fi franchise to include full stereoscopic 3D support.

hile Sony and Nintendo have respectively made much of their console and handheld stereoscopic 3D pushes, Microsoft has mainly sat on the sidelines when it comes to the technology. That may be changing, as today the Xbox 360 maker announced that Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will feature stereoscopic 3D support when it arrives in stores November 15.

Halo: CE HD in 3D!
Microsoft has said it is using a "custom made top-and-bottom 3D technology" to allow the game to run in stereoscopic 3D (a 3DTV will still be necessary to view the effect). Attendees to this year's Penny Arcade Expo will be able to see the game in 3D for themselves as part of the show's Halo Fest sub-event.

Developed by 343 Industries, Saber Interactive, and Certain Affinity, Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary is a rerelease of the original Halo game with a fully remastered campaign, Xbox Live co-op support, and seven bundled multiplayer maps. It will be compatible with the Kinect and will let gamers switch between classic and updated graphics with one button press.

Source: Gamespot

Skyrim DLC to be Xbox 360-exclusive for 30 days

First two add-ons for The Elder Scrolls V will debut on Microsoft's console a month before any other platform.

While it's increasingly rare for a third-party publisher to release a highly anticipated game exclusive to one platform, that hasn't stopped Sony and Microsoft from trying to secure an edge on the competition. As a result, PlayStation 3 players have seen console-exclusive content for games like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood and Dante's Inferno, while Xbox 360 fans of Call of Duty: Black Ops and Homefront have been able to get early access to the first-person shooters' add-ons.

Whoa there, PC and PS3 DLC!
Microsoft is furthering that approach, as today the company announced timed Xbox 360 exclusivity for Bethesda's upcoming open-world role-playing game The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. The first two add-on content drops for Skyrim will debut on the Xbox 360 and remain exclusive to the platform for 30 days. Last year, Bethesda agreed to a similar Xbox 360 exclusivity window with Dead Money, the first DLC pack for Fallout: New Vegas.

While it's unclear what will be included in those two packs, the exclusive add-ons are likely to be meatier than The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion's notorious horse armor DLC. In a recent interview, Bethesda executive producer Todd Howard said he envisions that Skyrim will welcome fewer but "more substantial" add-ons compared to its predecessor.

Source: Gamespot

EA changes Origin EULA

Earlier this week, Electronic Arts became a subject of controversy after customers took exception to the end-user license agreement in the publisher's Origin downloadable game service. While EA did not return requests for comment at the time, it did amend the EULA in question in ways that may address some of the users' concerns.

EA has revised its Origin EULA.
The newest Origin EULA (which went into effect on Wednesday) specifically addresses some privacy concerns in the section "Consent to collection and use of data."

According to the current agreement, "EA would never sell your personally identifiable information to anyone, nor would it ever use spyware or install spyware on users' machines. We and agents acting on our behalf do not share information that personally identifies you without your consent, except in rare instances where disclosure is required by law or to enforce EA's legal rights."

While the wording on collecting information about a user's computer, operating system, software, and software usage remains mostly intact, another clause from the agreement no longer appears. That now-omitted line originally stated, "EA may also use this information combined with personal information for marketing purposes and to improve our products and services. We may also share that data with our third party service providers in a form that does not personally identify you." In fact, the new EULA makes no mention of marketing at all.

The third section in the EULA, "Application communications and conduct/privacy settings," has also changed considerably. It no longer includes wording that "EA reserves the right to monitor communications on the Application and disclose any information EA deems necessary," nor does it specify that if users don't agree to EA's collection, they shouldn't install the application.

EA has run into privacy concerns in the past. Most notably, in 2006 the publisher first revealed that it had begun collecting users' data as a way to target and deliver in-game advertisements to players.

source: Gamespot