I took these from my camera phone about a month ago… beautiful autumn day.

And here we are–new week, new additions to Xbox LIVE Arcade, new top played list!

1. Trials HD
2. Madden NFL Arcade
3. Battlefield 1943
4. Call of Duty Classic
5. UNO
6. Peggle
7. Castle Crashers
8. Hexic HD
9. Magic: The Gathering
10. Gyromancer

I didn’t know NFL was such a big thing here. You guys are liking it then, hey?

- jinx

Nie wydaje się Wam, że przez ostatnie tygodnie czegoś na CPN brakowało? I wcale nie chodzi mi o nowe wpisy, a o brak podcastu LBWT. Jakoś tak wyszło, że ostatni odcinek wyleciał z obiegu i nie znalazł się na stronie. Ale nic straconego, bo dziś to nadrabiamy, podwójnie! Kontynuując naszą podróż po świecie trafiamy do Paryża (nr 14) i Alabamy (nr 15). Rozmawiając o konstrukcji Eiffela i gejach nie zapominamy także o grach. Brutal Legend, Tekken 6, Assassin’s Creed II to tylko niektóre z gorących kąsków. Jak zwykle profesjonalni i zabawni panowie redaktorzy nie dają o sobie zapomnieć. Lepiej przesłuchajcie oba odcinki, bo naślemy na Was tego pana z góry.

LBWT14 – Newsy, Gran Turismo PSP, Tekken 6, Brutal Legend

>> DOWNLOAD! <<

LBWT15 – Assassin’s Creed II, Modern Warfare 2, Bad Company 2 beta i opowieść Spajka

>> DOWNLOAD! <<

załoga

Na koniec filmik o którym wspominamy w piętnastce:

Setelah lama dilenakan..

Setelah lama kita menjadi tenang..

Setelah lama kita (agak) lupa..

You are right.

Tonight is when we’re being waken up to reality again

That this battle is tough, that it is full of hurt and tears and suffocating pain

That this battle is real, that it is full of consequences

That this battle is crucial..

That we’re fighting for something we both believe in

That you’re fighting for something, and someone so precious and worthy

That I’m fighting for my future’s happiness, the one Ican’t afford to loose..

I was so scared last night

But my fear ain’t getting me somewhere, I guess..

So I might get to be so fragile

But at that time I know,

You’re gonna be the one that soothe me

…

I do love you, my dearie..

Detta spel kommer klå Modern Warfare 2 när det väl kommer ut. Kolla in dessa två videoklipp när DICE spelar betan till Playstation 3.

To scream.

To cry.

It helps.

When the air gets suffocating

When I cant wake up from my nightmare

When the fear inside creeps in

When the hollow hole in my heart start to hurt

When I feel the thread holding me is getting more fragile

When I feel I can fall helplessly from the cliff anytime

…

…

And give me a moment or two,

And I will be fine again

Standing again

Hanging tough, again..

]]> http://littlebigblogpl.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/little-big-walkie-talkie-15/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 15:44:42 +0000 ww3pl http://littlebigblogpl.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/little-big-walkie-talkie-15/ http://gardenofavalon.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/cod-mwii-pc-mania/ Sat, 28 Nov 2009 13:57:03 +0000 blueice760 http://gardenofavalon.wordpress.com/2009/11/28/cod-mwii-pc-mania/

well the flood of raging gamers that was sweeping across the internet concerning Infinity Ward’s latest creation COD Modern Warfare II seems to have been stemmed. If you don’t know about the petition… well its too late so don’t bother!

Anyways I recently finished the single player campaign, it took me about 6 hours to complete. The plot is a continuation of the earlier COD 4 Modern Warfare I, abit rushed though, there’s no introduction or opening cinematic in COD MWII, with the death of Imran Zakhaev, the void left behind is fulled by a new powerful terrorist Makarov, who is just as evil if not more and they have a bone to pick with the world… etc.  etc.  The action comes in rapid short bursts, and the plot is revealed to you during the interval between missions. This was very chaotic and not done as well as the COD 4 MWI. You assume different characters during the game. The gameplay is impressive, very smooth play. Impressive arrays of weapons that have very authentic sounds.

All in all a very nice game though for the price that its being sold at… well you have to think long and hard whether you the pleasure-to-price ratio is high enough for about 6 hours of campaign time. Infinity Ward certainly seemed to have made a mistake with the lack of a “lean”,  something that would have probably cost about 12 lines of coding. As for the multiplayer, I have read that it was disastrous and that it a new revelation, with such opposing opinions I guess it depends on the person playing the multiplayer. Oh and the obvious thing that annoyed me was that the COD MWII seemed to be a ported version of a console version with the few additions of a mouse and keyboard stuck on. This is an insult to the PC gaming community. Infinity Ward is reported to have invested the largest amount into the PC version of the game but its seems like a quick slapdash ported version. I also saw that reviewers rating the PC game according to “what you would get across all platforms” If I had wanted to play the console version I would have bought a console version! Sad.. very sad.

Anyway there seems that FPS gamers are now backing the new Battlefield

Ist zwar jetzt nichts weltbewegendes und auch nichts seltenes, gibt ja genug Seiten die im Moment noch Keys vergeben, trotzdem wer sich nirgends einen Account erstellen möchte oder ähnliches bekommt hier noch seinen Key!

Ihr wollt wissen wie? Ganz einfach: Ihr schreibt in die Comments wieso ihr den Key verdient habt bzw. wieso ihr ihn so gern wollt, die besten 2 Begründungen gewinnen. Samstag um 20.00 ist Schluß, da verschick ich dann die Keys! (“Ich habe noch nie was gewonnen….” zählt nicht )

Mitarbeiter sind vom Gewinnspiel ausgeschlossen! (Sorry Mike ;-D )

I like music, and a song that I quite like but haven’t made portable for myself is Fightstar’s cover of Jordan Sparks’ ‘Battlefield‘ on Radio 1’s Live Lounge.

I haven’t been to a gig in absolutely ages – perhaps I need to treat le girlfriend.

Creo que este juego va a ser el sustituto del cod modern warfare 2 ¿Que opinais ?

Last Monday, a group of Swedish researchers published a report which analysed the adherence of 20 recent first and third person shooters to the International Humanitarian Law (AKA the conventions of war crimes), which has made a fair splash in the gaming press, making it all the way to the BBC.  However, after a quick read through, the study possess a number of key flaws in its finding and methods, as well as evidence that it was lacking in depth. There were some interesting points, however they are bogged down in such a mess of poorly thought out points, that I figured a quick criticism of the report might prove interesting. So without further adieu…

If  someone was to publish a review which criticised films or novels for featuring war crimes occurring, they would be laughed out of the media. Many of our most powerful movies utilise war crimes for some of their most moving scenes and novels have been touching on this touchy subject matter for many years now.  However, this report justifies video games as a subject, by claiming that the interactivity can lead players to accept the action on screen as being permissable without as much critical thinking as people apply to the passive mediums. Although the claim that interactivity reduces critical thinking as compared to film or books is questionable, the core concept that games may be presenting war crimes in a positive light doesn’t seem too far-fetched, considering the general machismo and bloodlust that is celebrated by many titles.

Keeping this in mind, it’s frustrating that so many of the study’s points are based around passive elements in games. For example, the study lists a sequence in 24: The Game where Jack Bauer shoots a captured terrorist in the head after interrogating him, clearly violating the act which prevents the mistreatment of prisoners.  The report lists it as a ‘Strong’ violation, meaning that it has a high chance of influencing the player. However, this particular incident occurs… in a cutscene! The player is completely passive during this sequence, which is functionally identical to the television series of 24.  Including non interactive sequences in study is in my opinion disingenuous, due to the focus of the report really being on the nature of war crimes in interactivity, as the report dismisses the effects of war crimes in a passive medium in its ‘Aims’ section.  A large amount of the report’s complaints center around non interactive sections in these games, which undermines the strength of the report.

Furthermore, the study is curious in the way it chooses to deal with war crimes committed by the opposition in video games.  I personally believe that the presentation of war crimes committed by the enemies in game would cause people to turn away from such actions, as they’re usually not only presented as being evil acts, but the acts are committed by people with whom the player usually cannot sympathise.  Many of the reports findings are however based upon acts that are not committed by the player, again ignoring the interactive nature of games and merely calling out things which are presented to the player.  From the civilians being slaughtered in the opening sequence of Call of Duty 4, to the american prisoner being tortured in the beginning of Call of Duty 5, I would argue that witnessing either of these acts would desensitize players to the acts mentioned. I certainly disagree with the assertion that “it is not reccomendable to include such scenes [as the] killing [of] what are apparently look like civilians in video games, as it sends the wrong message to players”.

However, the report does finally get its act together and talks about games in which the player is allowed and even encouraged to commit war crimes. Possibly the best example was Battlefield: Bad Company in which the game actively encourages the player to blow chunks into peoples homes and provides rewards for players who pillage valuables from civilians, a clear violation of International Humanitarian Law.  The report also was correct in pointing out the number of games which allow the player to kill their opposition in ways which cause ’superfluous injury or unnecessary suffering’, such as using a flamethrower in World at War. It could be argued (quite validly) that the use of flamethrowers is historically accurate and therefore appropriate, however the report agues that any exposure to such acts is negatively influencing players perceptions of battlefield practices.  Although I personally disagree that allowing players to commit these war crimes will belittle the acts in their minds, however I have no evidence for that. Both of the games attempt to justify the occurence of war crimes, however it is conceivably possible that encouraging the player to commit such acts would desensitize players to the horror of such war crimes.

Another of the study’s repeated tropes is criticising games which allow players to kill enemies who’re wounded or who surrender. Although I can sort of agree that allowing players to shoot surrendering enemies reinforces the writer’s contention, they repeatedly bring up the ability of players in World at War to shoot downed enemies as being a violation of the equivalent IHR of the time, which stated that one shouldn’t ‘to kill or wound an enemy who, having laid down his arms, or having no longer means of defence, has surrendered at his discretion’. However, in Call of Duty games enemies who’re left on the ground will attack the player if they’re left alive, clearly making the targets valid in terms of that clause.

Let's face it, the plot of COD4 is hardly that complex

In fact, a lack of reasearch into the respective titles is one of the report’s greatest flaws. It undermines the credibility of many of the findings, some of which are heavily dependant on the context in which they occur. Probably the most grievous example is in the assertion that in Call of Duty 4, Cpt. Price kills Al-Asad in a certain mission, while simultaneously claiming that Al-Asad is the character the player occupies in the opening sequence. As anyone who’s played through the whole sequence would know, the player dies at the end of the introduction sequence to the game, pretty clearly demonstrating  a lack of understanding about what actually occurs in these titles.

Is Snake a War Criminal? Only you can decide!

This lack of understanding about games further manifested itself in the commentary of Metal Gear Solid 4, where the ability kill civilians ‘without reprimand’ in the second act’s final sequence. However, should a player call a certain character on the Codec following such an act, he will be reprimanded by his CO. Also the report failed to mention the game’s focus on non-lethality (something they praised in a different title) as well as ignoring the games many themes regarding the prevention of war crimes through the ‘Sons of the Patriots’ system.  They also misunderstand the nature of PMC’s in the title, assuming for some reason that the game’s many conflict zones are linked.

This man on the other hand, is underacknowledged as a bastard

An odd point in the report was the section covering Far Cry 2, in which the only reported violation was allowing players to shoot ‘at a church’, an act which goes ‘unpunished’. Although the report acknowledges that ‘it may be assumed that the attacks are not directed at the church’ the report clearly dropped the ball here. The incident mentioned is that the player is saving civilians from a militia and is ambushed inside a church where they may shoot at soldiers with small arms. Players defending themselves from assailants inside a church cannot constitute ‘excessive destruction’ which leads to a ‘violation of the principal of proportionality’. Further frustration in this section arose from the fact that the report did overlook the elements of Far Cry 2 in which the player was forced to carry out war crimes, from the destruction of civilian medicine to pillaging to destruction of culturally significant civilian structures. In a game where the player’s war crimes are one of the central narrative themes, to consider only the church incident is disappointing.

Lastly, I’ll provide you with a few of the reports recommendations to video games in the future, which are, in a word, bollocks.

‘the message of the scenes should never be that everything is allowed, or that it’s up to the player to decide what is right and wrong’, recommends the report in regards to scenes which allow any degree of player choice. The idea that player’s shouldn’t be allowed to decide what it morally allowable in a game is offensive, plain and simple. The core of our medium’s artistic ability casually discarded, not even receiving a whole sentence to itself.

Furthermore, the report also ‘reccomend[s] to game developers to avoid creating scenarios that easily lead to violations of the IHL, such as the so called ticking bomb scenario’. Again, this left me speechless. The report does have some valid points, (such as rewarding the player for looting, as opposed to simply using that as a tool to characterise the ‘Bad Company’) as well as identifying a number of ways to implement penalty systems in games for players who choose not to adhere to IHL (although too often these are simply game over screens), however the good points become lost in a mess of non-interactivity and misunderstandings.

No more 'ticking bomb' scenarios?!

Look out for a post analysing the narratives of Ken Lavine by Saturday, exams are over and the blog is back.

PS: In reading the piece, I stumbled across the fabulous word ‘parashooters’ so perhaps some of the quotes which I found offensive are more the result of non-native english skills as opposed to intent.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 est un jeu de tir subjectif évoluant dans un univers proche du notre. L’action se déroule alors qu’une guerre a éclaté entre les États-Unis d’Amérique et la Russie. Date de sortie prévue pour le 5 mars 2010.

Annoncé début 2009, Battlefield Bad Company 2 profitera d’une rectification du moteur Frostbite afin de permettre une destruction plus poussée des décors. Les zones de combat seront plus étendues, tout en optimisant la gestion des escouades et l’utilisation des véhicules. Les développeurs de DICE ont retravaillé le jeu de façon à ce que le joueur soit encouragé à travailler en équipe avec, par exemple, la possibilité de tirer des fléchettes-traceuses sur un véhicule afin qu’un autre joueur de classe artificier puisse le détruire à l’explosif.

Disponible depuis jeudi 19 novembre sur PS3, la version bêta de Battlefield : Bad Company 2 peut être pratiquée si vous disposez d’une clé d’accès. Cette dernière peut d’ailleurs être récoltée via le Twitter officiel du jeu. Une carte multijoueur est accessible dans cette version, Africa Harbour. EA a pour le coup mis en ligne un nouveau trailer in-game, permettant de prendre connaissance de l’ambiance qui y règne.

• La capacité de détruire absolument tout ce qui constitue le décor. Grâce à la nouvelle version du moteur maison de DICE, Frostbite, il sera maintenant possible de raser totalement une maison. Avant il restait toujours un petit morceau de construction. Désormais, vous pourrez faire place nette à condition d’utiliser une arme assez puissante.

• La gestion des armes est elle aussi un aspect qui marquera un progrès. Du lance-roquettes antichar au poignard en passant par tout un catalogue de fusils, de fusils-mitrailleurs, de mitrailleuses et de fusils de sniper, chacun d’entre-eux trouvera son moment de gloire, l’instant où il faudra l’utiliser dans un scénario où les dangers seront de nature multiple. En ce qui concerne l’arsenal, il y aura des nouveautés, tout comme au niveau des véhicules.

Oubliez les règles, c’est la guerre totale.  Bon courage, vous allez en avoir besoin !

Battlefield Bad Company 2 attendu pour le 5 mars 2010 en Europe, sur PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 et PC.

Battlefield Bad Company 2
Commandez-le dès aujourd’hui sur PS3, Xbox360, PC
Expédié et vendu par Amazon.fr. Emballage cadeau disponible.

Anoop performs “Battlefield” in Chapel Hill, NC, on November 8, 2009. You can find more videos from the concert at the Street Team Chapel Hill Archive Thread as well as at Anoop Desai Official YouTube Channel. Also, check out our mp3 archive page for downloadable mp3 files of this and other performances.

Here are your top played Arcade games for the last week, based on unique users on Xbox LIVE across ANZ. Tomorrow we’ll see the different between what you’re playing and what you’re buying.

1. Trials HD
2. Call of Duty Classic
3. Battlefield 1943
4. Gyromancer
5. UNO
6. Hexic HD
7. Castle Crashers
8. SOUTH PARK LET’S GO TOWER DEFENSE PLAY!
9. Peggle
10. Zombie Apocalypse

Love seeing Trials HD with such staying power. It justifies my own habit.

- jinx

W miniony weekend w mieście Brooklyn w USA odbyła się już ósma edycja turnieju Battlefield Arcadia, w trakcie której rozegrano turnieje w Tekkena 6 (BR) oraz Street Fightera 4. Poniżej przedstawiamy Wam wyniki obu rozgrywek:

Street Fighter 4 (2na2):
1. Jeron and Sanford (Empire)
2. Andre and Rahsaan (Empire)
3. Chris Hu and Rico
4. Aqua and Damdai
5. Noel and Flash Metroid (Empire)
5. Mike and Eric (Empire: $yndicate/DeadCell)
7. Dieminion and Kreymore (Empire)
7. IFC Yipes and Lincoln (Empire)

Tekken 6 BR:
1. FightingGM (Empire)
2. Blood Hawk
3. Naclam
4. Fernando “The Game” Febles (Empire)
5. Blood Red (Empire)
5. Gangster of Luv
7. Devil Himself
7. Aqua

źródło: forum TekkenZaibatsu

Now that Windows 7 has officially been launched, Direct X 11 games aren’t far behind. In fact there are already a few DX 11 compliant games available in the market today and the coming months will see many more. Today we’ll check out some of the more interesting upcoming DX11 games :

S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call of Pripyat

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. was all about immersion and whether you were roaming the Zone searching for loot in broad daylight or exploring some creepy old military base at night not knowing what lurked around the next corner, the feeling of dread was palpable. And now with the power of DX11 backing them developer GSC Gameworld can dial up the intensity to 11 to deliver an even more immersive experience for the sequel. The game’s already been released in Russia with the English version slated for a worldwide release this month.

Crysis 2

Not much is known about Crysis 2 at this point but if you’ve seen what the CryEngine 3 is capable of in some of the Tech demos floating around the net you know you’re in for one insanely good looking game. Since Crysis pushed the boundaries of PC gaming back in the day, I can only imagine the kind of hardware required to play this game in all its graphical glory.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2

The boys from B Company are back and this time they’re really gonna tear things down as DICE has promised even more destruction courtesy of a heavily modified Frostbite engine. While details regarding the single player are still scarce I am mighty impressed with the way the game’s online component’s turning out. PS3 owners will get a chance to sample the action via a beta that’ll be available by the end of this month while PC gamers sadly have to wait till December for a piece of the pie.

Lost Planet 2

Now this is pure speculation on my part since the game’s not even been “officially” announced for the PC but since Lost Planet came out for the PC a few months later, I’m guessing Capcom will dish out similar treatment to Lost Planet 2. And since Lost Planet was launched as a DX10 title, I think it’s fair to assume that Lost Planet 2 will ship with DX11 compatibility.

Alan Wake

Yes I know the PC version of the game is nowhere on the horizon but developer Remedy has always been faithful to PC gamers and I know (and seriously hope) that sometime in the future they will release this game on the PC. And when they do, you know it’s going to be DX11 all the way.

Aliens vs. Predator

When two iconic characters cross each other’s paths you know it’s gonna hit the fan. Throw in highly armed testosterone charged marines and you’re looking at some awesome three way action. The game’s being developed by Rebellion games, creators of the very first AVP game and will allow players to play as all three races through the course of the single and multiplayer campaign.

DIRT2

Dirt 2 released for the Xbox360 and the PS3 in September but the PC version was pushed back to December so that the game could take advantage of DX11 allowing Codemasters to present us with ‘the best-looking racing game that has ever existed.

[Tech2.0]

I got into the PS3 beta for Battlefield Bad Company 2.  GameSpot.com is giving 65,000 keys out.  Download it and installed.  When I went and tried to play it asked for a password.  Had know idea what it would be or how to get it.   I looked back on GameSpot’s website it said it was open to U.S. residents only.  I was like, “shit”.  Then I got thinking may be my Battlefield Heroes password would work, it did.

So far I have tried 1 and a half rounds.  From what I have tried the map is huge, there is a lot going on and it looks great.   Like most online fps games I play I die a lot and have know idea were I got shot from.  I did manage to get a total of 8 kills. LOL.  All so like most online game you can hear the people with head sets yelling and bitching.  That can be funny but most of the just plain annoying.

You can agree with me that life is tough. I recall the song from Jordan Sparks with the lyric “Love is a Battlefield” but I’d like to twist the text to say that LIFE is a battlefield.

Isn’t that true of life though? It’s like a battle we face due to some uncertainty or some spur of the moment change or drama that may arise. It could be on the job, financial hardship or dealing with relationship problems etc but those problems don’t necessarily mean those hardships can beat us and keep us down. Jordan uplifts her listeners with a positive note adding that as we go through the battlefield we “better go and get your armor.”

Like any battlefield you most certainly will face danger, attacks, whatever, but to conquer those battles, you wear your armor, your helmet, your sword, and prepare to fight.

Easier said than done, I know, but never give up facing those battles. Below are some people (in no particular order) that I’ve never met but inspire me to keep going, come what may. They’ve faced many battlefields in their lives, but one thing they’ve got in common is they never gave up believing in themselves. Who inspires you to keep going?

1. James J. Braddock – a.k.a The Cinderella Man
2. Benjamin Carson – pediatric neurosurgeon
3. Raymond Clarence Ewry – diagnosed with polio but became famed Olympian.
4. Chris Gardner – from the streets to financial giant
5. Madame C. J. Walker – labored on the cotton plantation to become one of America’s leading hairstylist guru in the early 1900’s
6. The Indianapolis Colts – I know it’s not a person but a team. However, they sure do inspire me
7. Ivy Lee – one of the founding fathers of public relations
8. Sally Kristen Ride – first female astronaut to go in space
9. Ray Charles – born blind but never stopped him from becoming the man who began “soul” music
10. Orpah Winfrey – female talk show host turned media broadcast guru