Deadpool here, I’ve taken over this hack’s column just for this one awesome post and I need to show you ladies my impressive roster for the game you know you need to buy. That’s right, my game, Deadpool: The Game!

While High Moon Studios were developing what will obviously be the best game in the universe, ever, I went through binders and binders of super strong men and women (heh, you guys, you remember that, right? That guy who did that?) to help build the most genderfully diverse roster of freaks in spandex you’ve ever seen, ever. I’ve recruited some of the most powerful, intelligent, lovely ladies from the Marvelverse for this game. Psylocke, Domino, Wolverine, all the pretty ladies.

Oh, I almost forgot, Rogue, that certain catch du jour, power absorbin’ Southern Belle with the kicks from hell, who I might have made sign something to be my contractually obliged co-star. Mmmmm, check, please!

Ok, gotta play it cool, ‘Pool. Gotta think of a really awesome line to impress a Southern lady this classy and elegant. How about ‘Damn girl, you must be Rogue, ‘cos you’re sucking the life out of me’ No? Ok, what about, ‘How would you like to join Domino and Psylocke as the inaugural class of Deadpool’s school for making out’? GUH! This is harder than it looks.

While you’re thinking of that really awesome line, I’m going for a chimichanga pig-out, don’t get any on your spandex, ‘Pool!

Hey, Deadpool: The Game is out on the 28th of June. Get it!

(-Phil, what the hell just happened?)

EA and Microsoft have always maintained that hacking has not taken place, but rather, it is the work of phishing scams and the sheer popularity of FIFA Ultimate Team packs that mean the game suffers more malicious attacks than others. I’ve received more than enough messages about duplication glitches and visiting websites like freefutcoins.com.

This is certainly good news with next-gen consoles around the distant corner, especially with features like increased connectivity.

EA Sports boss Andrew Wilson held the answers to how EA will address security.

Wilson told Eurogamer that Microsoft and Sony are re-architecturing their networks to increase security, adding double authentication among other things. As for EA, Wilson said the company has started investing in a brand new ID system to be built on top of the first-party networks that will be rolled out this year. “That should make gamers feel better,” Wilson said.

Most of the problems around FIFA Ultimate Team and compromised accounts, Wilson said, are the result of malicious intent. He insisted EA Sports’ new architecture will help block these, but it’s also investing in task forces set up to spot unusual behaviour early.

“When you get more and more people operating online and you’re getting more and more things moving around – buying, selling and trading among folks – there are errors,” Wilson said. “You push X when you should have pushed Y, A when you should have pushed B. Things happen.

“We get a lot of contacts from our gamers saying, ‘hey, listen, my team disappeared.’ We’ve put a process in place to try to figure out how that happened. We’re investing heavily at a customer experience level, where I think we’re getting better – we’ve got work to do there – but we’re getting much better and investing there, and with a live ops team inside of FIFA that has the ability to go in and evaluate that account quickly and try to figure out what happened.

“In cases where we see there has been user error, typically we will work with that user to try and reinstate them back to where they should be, but help them understand that they need to be careful in this process, because we won’t keep doing it.”

Let’s hope those phishing scams come to an end, starting on FIFA 14.

The game, in conjunction with Cricket Australia and the ECB, will now be moved back to a July release.

Tim Woodley, Senior Vice President for Global Brand and Marketing at 505 Games explained the decision:

“505 Games has made a commitment to creating a cricket game designed for cricket fans. Developer, Trickstar Games has taken the time to overhaul and rebuild the game engine to offer brand new features in batting, bowling and fielding. By pushing back our release date, this gives us the opportunity to deliver a quality cricket title.”

So expect an overhauled cricketing machine of a game come July. Let’s hope it doesn’t bowl a maiden over on a sticky wicket.

The weapons include some interesting choices including one called the “Casual SWORDSPLOSION!!!”. There will be a range in rarity from your common weapons to the rare Seraph weapons.

In addition to all these weapons, there are also re-skins of regular weapons that will drop throughout the DLC.

The final piece of DLC for Borderlands 2 is due out next week and we highly recommend you download it if you still play a bit of Borderlands 2 now and again.

Browsing the Xbox Live Marketplace, what do I come across, but the Merc With a Map Pack DLC for Deadpool. This will add 2 new Challenge Mode maps. These are ‘GRT Plaza’ where Mr.Sinister’s clone army has taken over and ‘Inside The Tower’ where Mr.Sinister’s goons are partying hard. Master both maps and you can move up to Infinite Mode. Infinite Mode will offer global leaderboards where all your stats are tracked.

Infinite Mode will also add two new playsuits for Deadpool to party in. D-Pooly, a loose-fitting suit and Uncanny X-Force, perfect for for binging out on chimichanga.

So, what’s this, have I missed the release date? No. This has been released a full week ahead of the game and costs 240 MS Points . If you’re planning on picking this up, is it worth picking this up before it’s out? No?

This DLC was part of the pre-order bonus for Gamestop and EBGames and Deadpool obviously thought everyone should have the chance to download this.

Deadpool, starring everyone’s favourite Merc with a Mouth and nominated for an E3 2013 Best in Show award, is out on the 25th June.

Titled “Vengeance” the DLC pack contains 4 brand new maps along with a new Zombies mode and weapon, the Ray Gun Mark 2.

The maps include Cove, a beach hideaway perfect for some murder in the sun or snipe shots hidden in a tunnel. Rush, an abandoned paintball course, riddled with bean bags to hide and choking spots galore. Detour, a huge bridge in the heart of the US, letting you battle out in the open or underneath in the frame-work and Uplink, a satellite facility based on Summit, which fans will remember from the first instalment of the Black Ops franchise.

Most excitingly however (for me anyway) is a brand new Zombies map called Buried, which leaves you battling the hordes in an abandoned underground town. Helping you along the way however is a brand new gun based on the always helpful Raygun, the RayGun Mark 2, which creators promise will shoot a high-grade beam that will tear through whole lines of the undead.

Check out the trailer below and expect the map pack to drop on July 2nd.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The demo I was walked through was identical to the one shown at the Sony Conference at E3, in fact it was identical which to me was a little weird, however it allowed me to concentrate more on the attention to detail, something I always felt that Bungie lacked while developing the Halo franchise.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The next generation of consoles really has helped and improved the feel to the game, a lot higher quality textures have been used throughout and there is a clear view of scenery that uses an extreme amount of polygons.

The art style itself still smells of Halo, the way the characters move can easily be compared to Spartans and Elites, even the design of them wouldn’t look out-of-place in Microsoft’s flag-ship title.  Destiny still manages to remain a new identity, the fact I’m even making comparisons is because that’s the first thing that Bungie fans will do when seeing Destiny.

It’s no secret, I was never really a Halo fan but Destiny seems to have grabbed me by the neck whilst whispering into my ear “You will buy me, you do need me in your collection.” and this is because the game just looks fun.  The drop-in and drop-out co-op is so seamless and smooth that if you’re not paying attention you can just miss out that your friends are joining you on the battlefield until one of them headshots an enemy that you’ve tried to cap.

Whilst playing co-op with a friend or two you can actually wander into multiplayer matches just by following your quest line, this to me is a fantastic idea and once again seemed quite smooth, could the cloud be powering this? The battle was intense, fast-paced and epic, if the game does manage to pull this off when the final retail product is released them I’m sure it will be a chart-topper.

Another great feature to the game is the dialogue, more and more games are now featuring some heavy, interactive dialogue and Destiny will be no different, this is a feature that I look at when buying games, will this game involve me emotionally? I hope so, from the looks of the demo Bungie are certainly trying to capture your heart as well as your head.

Think of Destiny as a Halo meets Borderlands except it’s just more fun and immersive,  it also has a serious side to it but for the most this is a great, ass-kicking, mind-warping game that deserves your money.

Today Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios, the creators of the “Forza Motorsport”  series, announced that open-wheel cars will be making their series début in Forza 5, meaning that for the first time players of Forza will be able to drive some of the greatest current and historic gran prix racing cars along with cars from the IZOD IndyCar Series.

Alan Hartman, Studio manager for Turn 10 spoke about the decision

“Including open-wheel cars in ‘Forza Motorsport 5’ brings ‘Forza’ fans a whole new world of racing action, Players will be able to drive these incredible cars on a collection of world-famous race circuits as well as our Prague city track, which we debuted this week at E3. In addition, the brand new graphics engine in “Forza Motorsport 5,” powered by the Xbox One, will let ‘Forza’ players get closer than ever to these amazing cars and to really build an appreciation for these masterpieces of race engineering.”

Some of the historic grand prix cars you can expect to drive will including the 1976 McLaren M23 and the 1976 Ferrari 312-2 cars driven by Niki Lauda and James Hunt, during the 1976 season.  These models will be available as a free download to all “Forza Motorsport 5” players at launch.

Famous cars from the IndyCar series will also be making their début in Forza 5, featuring cars representing four of the top teams in the IZOD IndyCar Series: Andretti Autosport, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, Target Chip Ganassi Racing, and Team Penske.

Greg Gruning, Executive Vice President for IndyCar, was pleased to announce the partnership

“IndyCar fans have been asking to see IZOD IndyCar Series cars in a console game for some time, and partnering with industry leaders such as Microsoft and Turn 10 Studios certainly satisfies that wish, we couldn’t have better partners to showcase our sport to a young, technology-driven demographic than with the platform provided by the Xbox One and ‘Forza Motorsports 5.’”

So how does this news take you race fans? Excited to get behind the wheel of some true speed machines?

Unload in the comments below!

The Creative Director on “Project Spark,” Henry Sterchi, took some time to talk with Xbox Wire about the unique opportunities they have with “Project Spark,” as well as answering questions such as “just what can I build?”

“Project Spark” will be available to download for free on Xbox One, Xbox 360 and Windows 8. What opportunities do free-to-download offer that aren’t available in conventional retail games?

Henry Sterchi: “Project Spark” was conceived around letting everyone bring their imagination to life, so we wanted as many people as possible to play it and share their creations with the world. With the community being a central part of the experience, the more people that get involved playing, creating, inspiring each other, and even showing off their skills, the better.

User creation is the cornerstone of “Project Spark.” What are some of the coolest things players can create, and what are some of the crazier possibilities that you envision the community will explore?

At the highest level, the coolest thing people can and have been creating is the unexpected. We just continue to find new things and possibilities and it’s such a fresh experience where you never know what people will make next and it’s basically endless.

When we first got the touch controls running, one of the testers showed up with a fully functional synthesizer that recorded back your play. But, one of the coolest things I’ve seen is that we had a team member build a game they always wanted to make since they were a kid. It was this awesome early 90’s style RPG where you’d go around a town and talk to NPCs that would give you new quests and such. They had tons of dialogue to tell a story they’ve always wanted to tell. You could acquire a sword and find this cool hidden land filled with bad guys below the town. Seeing someone really pour their passion into something and make their once impossible dream come true was really inspiring.

The craziest thing I’ve seen so far was a nearly full length “buddy cop” style movie with stunts and boat chases and action scenes. I kept watching it laughing, it was so off the wall.

I just don’t know where the community will take things, but I know there will be so many new things and unexpected things – and that’s super exciting to me.

How is Kinect functionality being integrated in “Project Spark”?

We aren’t talking in details right now around Kinect, but as you saw in the Media Briefing; you can use the voice recognition to create. Just being heard like that with the game responding is an awesome experience. There are a lot of possibilities, but we will release more details in the future.

What new technologies are you most excited about with Xbox One?

New technologies open up new possibilities, and for a game like “Project” Spark where possibility and imagination rule; it really unlocks some amazing things. Obviously you have the improved visuals, and creating worlds that are beautiful, rich and feel alive is super powerful. We’re really excited about all of the new elements around Live, which is paramount to us.

The ability to create with touch controls on a second screen brings a whole new dimension to things as well. With that, you have the ability to use a second screen to create your own games with this super intuitive touch control on big screen living room TV. Of course, you also have all of the potential with Kinect and so much more, making this the perfect time to make the type of experience we are with “Project Spark.”

Anything else you’d like to add?

We just can’t wait to see what people will make and create. You can go to www.joinprojectspark.com and sign up for a chance to get into our upcoming beta or join the discussions on Facebook at project-spark or Twitter with #projectspark. We look forward to hearing from everyone and hope you all give it a try!

So there you have it, everything you could want to know about Project Spark (I hope) but has it sold you?

Shout out in the comments below!

Created by Capybara Games, the minds behind Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes and the ever popular (and my personal favourite) Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP, Below is a classic tale which looks like what you’d expect from the creative team at Capy Games.

With colourful yet moody graphics and utilising Kinect, you’ll search the open world for (what else) rare and unique loot while fighting back the evil darkness that surrounds you. The team at Capy Games are looking to use the Kinect as a rather unique way to gauge level progression, although details on this are scarce for now.

Capy Games’ co-founder and creative director, Kris Piotrowski, and co-founder and president, Nathan Vella, sat down with Xbox Wire to discuss their new endeavour.

You just announced your new Xbox One title “Below.” How would you describe the game?

Kris Piotrowski : “Below” is an adventure game which focuses on atmosphere, exploration, survival and skill-based combat. Many of the ideas in “Below” are directly inspired by roguelikes of yor, though we’re approaching every aspect of the design with a uniquely stylized perspective. “Below” features no text, no hints and no dialogue. It’s all mood, atmosphere and soul… and skill.

The game has a really unique aesthetic, particularly the scale – what’s the idea behind this?

Kris Piotrowski : We wanted to create a world that was rich with tiny details, and create a space that felt grand because the character was so small, and so far away. The scale also helped enforce some of the main ideas found in game: the tiny wanderer players control is highly capable, but very fragile. Their time on The Isle is short and fleeting, one false move away from permanent death. The art style and scale help evoke this feeling of loneliness and vulnerability: The wanderer feels far away from the player, and the environments feel vast and intimidating by comparison. The game scale also offers many unique gameplay advantages, but we’ll reveal more about that in the future.

How did “Below” come to be an Xbox One game, and what has it been like developing “Below” for Xbox One?

Nathan Vella: We had been working on “Below” for a while before even considering platform, and by the time we were ready to find the game a home we had a clear picture of what we thought would make the game special. We had already started working with Microsoft Studios on “Super TIME Force” (which hits XBLA on Xbox 360 this year), so “Below” definitely flowed from that relationship.

In the end, Xbox One really afforded us an opportunity to develop on a platform that fit exactly what we wanted to do with “Below,” in terms that really worked for us. It’s a great fit. Since then, “Xbox One” development has been very smooth – and this is really important to us, since we really want to focus as much of the team as possible on the core of the game — things like exploration, combat, and aesthetics.

For us, working with Microsoft Studio comes with some big advantages, even beyond early access to a new platform. We’ve had, and will continue to get, real support from a lot of the Xbox One teams. When you can jump into a meeting to discuss cloud features with a lead on the team in charge of those features, you know things are going to get done and they’ll get done right. The fact that they’re looking to our game to help ‘shape’ some of Xbox One features & systems is amazing, and very handy too!

Another big part of the announcement was that Jim Guthrie is doing the soundtrack. How did this come to be?

Kris Piotrowski : Working with Jim Guthrie and Superbrothers on “Sworcery” was one of the most rewarding collaborative experience of my life, and a great learning experience for Capy Games. As soon as we wrapped up “Sworcery,” we immediately asked Jim to help us with Below. Though Below is in no way a sequel to “Sworcery,” it does dip into some of the same pools for inspiration. And of course, creating “Sworcery” has made it a permanent part of our sensibilities. The focus on atmosphere, mood and soul is something that we’re hoping to continue and build on with “Below,” and Jim is a dang soulful fella. Plus by now, we’re all good friends and love working together.

Nathan Vella: It’s really amazing to create a new, interesting space for people to explore while listening to Jim’s beautiful music. We’re excited to be working with that crazy dude again.

So what do you think? Excited to get your hands on this glorious quest for booty?

Mark Whitten, the Xbox One’s chief producer, took the stage at E3 to show how Twitch will be a service fully integrated into the console, allowing you to instantly broadcast any of your gameplay as well as interacting with other live broadcasts.

Beyond this rather exciting news not too much detail was shared, however today Major Nelson had the chance to interview Emmett Shear, CEO of Twitch, about the partnership.

Major Nelson (MN): What does Xbox One integration of Twitch mean for the future of live broadcasting?

Shear: This is our chance to break into the console space in a big way. To date, PC games have been the biggest things on Twitch, mostly because it’s incredibly difficult to broadcast console games today. The Xbox One integration means that Twitch users are going to be able to broadcast their console experiences even more easily than they can broadcast from PC. Live broadcasting your game is going to be for everyone in the future, not just people who can afford a capture card.

MN: What excites you most about coming to the Xbox platform, specifically Xbox One?

Shear: The Xbox One platform combines the best parts of console gaming with the best parts of PC gaming. Dedicated hardware for high level performance, combined with multitasking to run broadcasting and chat at the same time. The platform melds gaming with other activities in a way that we’ve never seen before. There’s no way we could have accomplished what we’re doing with the Xbox One on any other platform.

MN: What’s your favorite game to play?

Shear: I love all kinds of games. I’m kind of a game omnivore. Most recently I’ve actually been playing a lot of board games and card games. Magic: The Gathering, Small World, Coup. On the computer, usually Heart of the Swarm. My all-time most played game is almost certainly StarCraft: Broodwar. Close second to Super Smash Brothers.

MN: What has changed to make video games so popular among spectators?

Shear: Put simply: it’s now possible. Internet connections are fast enough and video encoding is widespread enough that it’s possible to create this content. Live video is a lot more bandwidth intensive than clip-based video, so it makes sense that it’s taking off later.

–

You can read the full interview over at Major Nelson’s blog.

So what do you think of this new partnership? a flash in the pan gimmick or the future of how we digest gaming and connect with fellow gamers from around the world?

Let us know in the comments below!

Speaking through XboxWire, Microsoft Studios Vice President Phil Spencer, couldn’t be happier with what we can expect from the Xbox One

“Today is an incredible day to be a gamer. As the head of Microsoft Studios I am, first and foremost, a gamer and I’ve never been as excited for the future of gaming as I am today.

It was an honor to introduce you to an incredible lineup of games coming to Xbox One – a lineup that included blockbuster franchises, new IP and the classics you love. We were joined on stage by world-class developers from around the world to showcase why Xbox One will be the best place to play games this year, and into the future. And we showed how technology in Xbox One is being used to usher in a new generation in gaming via exclusive titles like “Forza Motorsport 5,” “Ryse: Son of Rome,” “Killer Instinct,” “Sunset Overdrive,” “Below,” “Battlefield 4,” “Dead Rising 3” and so many more

We have more titles in development now than at any other time in Xbox history. We’re partnering with the world’s top publishing partners to bring the best games and exclusive content to Xbox One. And at Microsoft Studios, we are investing more than ever in studios around the world to create new and original games for Xbox One. We showed you just a sampling of these titles today”

Spencer went on to detail the work that went into delivering what he believes is THE console for gamers

“Xbox One was built for gamers, by gamers. It offers the perfect balance of power and performance, with a sophisticated architecture that allows creators to build realistic, cinematic worlds that look like real life and characters that feel almost human.  Advanced AI adapts to the way you play, makes game words come alive, and even allows your friends to play against your shadow when you’re not available. Xbox One creates a new generation of multiplayer that is smarter and faster, with advanced algorithms that can pair you with other players based on skill, language, and reputation, so you can play people that are most like you

And sharing your magical moments has never been easier. Game DVR makes it easy to capture your greatest game moments, With Upload Studio you can, edit and share your greatest moments with friends around the world and with Twitch now on Xbox Live, a single voice command can start live broadcasting. There are a wide range of other innovations for our 48 million member Xbox Live community. You can read more about other Xbox Live improvements in Marc Whitten’s blog post.“

It seems however much negative attention the Xbox One may be receiving, it’s still building up steam in the pre-order department, with a good few million gamers already securing theirs.

“We are celebrating the innovation in Xbox One. And we’re celebrating the talented creators that are making magic happen, every single day. But most of all, today we are celebrating you – all 77 million and counting. We thank you for your support, your passion, and your excitement for what’s to come. This fall the new generation of gaming begins on Xbox One. Thank you for joining us on this journey.”

As always, only time will tell who will come out on top in this generations console war, but it’s safe to say we can expect some great games along the way and each day Microsoft seem to be working a little bit harder to smooth over the cracks they created in their road to victory.

The London based store will be open to the public June 20th and will have a variety of Xbox and Microsoft products to play with such as ”gaming pods, head-to-head challenge areas, a Microsoft Surface display and the latest and greatest in Xbox hardware and software.”

The store will be located at Boxpark, Shoreditch.

An odd move on GAME’s part considering Microsoft’s current view on the preowned market.

Vengeance is the rumored name and it contains four new multiplayer maps; Detour, Uplink, Rush and Cove, as well as a new zombies map called Buried. The pack will also come with a new weapon for the incredibly popular zombies mode, Ray Gun Mark II.

Safe to assume if the picture below is real, it’ll be free for season pass holders and it’ll hit Xbox Live first.

Look legit? Let us know what you think below!

Click here to view the embedded video.

Coming to both Xbox One and Xbox 360, Skylanders SWAP Force is an update on the previous titles, the game features a ton of new mechanics and abilities including flying, climbing, digging, bouncing, teleporting and jumping.  The graphics engine has also been revamped bringing in full-HD quality at 1080p but the biggest change has come in the form of the new swappable characters.

There are 16 new SWAP Force characters including Night Shift, Free Ranger and Freeze Blade, with these new characters you can mix and match the figures creating new characters such as Night Blade or Free Shift.  There over 250 combinations you can create with the 16 new SWAP Force characters.  The game will also feature 16 new Core Skylanders, 8 LightCore Skylanders and 16 new versions of earlier Skylanders. Most of the characters will stay priced at £8.99 ($9.99) but the new SWAP Force characters will be priced at around £13.99 ($14.99), a little more expensive but you’re unlocking further characters so it’s more value for money.

During my developer session I really grew to love this title having never experienced Skylanders before so I can certainly say that this title is one to watch.  Skylanders SWAP Force is due for release on 13th October in the US and 18th October in the UK.

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Co-director of Dark Souls 2 Yui Tanimura explained his surprise to the West’s reaction when speaking with Siliconera:

“Coming from Japan, it’s hard to fully comprehend why and how much the North American and European audience keeps thinking it’s going to be easier. With that being said, if you take a look at the demo, and also played the demo, it’s going to be pretty clear that the difficulty will be just as high as necessary as before.

We have been constantly repeating this, because we did start off with a misleading comment earlier on. But at the same time, I’m not too worried about expressing the difficulty of the game. I’m sure players will see the footage, see the b-roll, and start to understand that it’s going to be just as challenging or even more so.”

Whether something has been lost in translation or misunderstood, From Software seem very determined to let fans know that the crippling difficulty is still there for all to enjoy.

Another game in the works however, is an MMO follow-up known as Class4 for now, with Microsoft in charge of greenlighting the game.

“We cannot begin working on Class4 without a greenlight from Microsoft (who owns the IP, as part of the bargain that led to the funding and development of State of Decay) and a mutually agreeable contract,” Sanya Weathers, director of community, explained to me.

“We have to agree on where we think the technology is going to be in a few years (since the game will take a few years to develop); we have to agree that we have the same goals; and we have to agree on how we’ll collectively run and support the final game.

“Those discussions are still in progress.”

If you’re a fan of State of Decay keep your fingers crossed for some sort of co-op mode to arrive in a future update, since Undead Labs have confirmed that it’s in the works.

If you’re yet to check out SoD check out Rich’s review of the game and our tips on how to survive in the zombie apocalypse world.

The new pack “Relic” brings new armor and weapon skills, as well as four multiplayer maps; Lost City, Museum, War and the fan favorite, Checkout.

A new game mode is set to be released too, called Breakthrough which involves one set of players attacking and the other defending. The attacking team tries to deliver a flag to a set location however they only have a limited number of lives while the defenders have everything to play with.

Sound good? Great. Unfortunately, no price or release date has been released, expect it soon though.

In this article I wish to share my experiences with you, the good, the bad and the damn right ugly.

The Good

• Freebies, everyone loves freebies and there were plenty up for grabs at this years E3, from t-shirts to stickers, controllers to lanyards and posters to toys.  I even managed to grab a MOBA control pad for my Android device.
• Titanfall statue, this thing was utterly amazing, at around 15ft tall this thing completely dominated the lobby and was constantly being photographed by gamers and geeks alike.
• The EA booth, this took over the doorway into the south hall of the convention centre.  Walking in and being greeted by 64 PC’s running Battlefield 4 alongside an extremely loud Need for Speed: Rivals booth, EA clearly had a lot to shout about and it does stand as one of my top booths at the event.
• Elder Scrolls online, the only thing better than playing ESO was finding out that ESO is coming to consoles.  I was lucky enough to sit down and play it for around an hour and absolutely loved it!
• Booth Babes, even though they are technically banned from E3 you can still find them, watch out for out upcoming gallery.
• Xbox Showcase and after-hours booth entry; all of the games but without the queues, also with the added bonus of free alcohol, what could go wrong?

The Bad

• Queues; the dreaded lines of doom, the worst of which was Call of Duty: Ghosts… You could honestly walk past the line and accuse people of camping.  The second worst was the lines for Watch_Dogs and The Division due to the amount of queue jumpers with passes but enough of that as I was a queue jumper.
• Blisters, the nemesis of all expos is the blisters that form on your feet after walking for hours, you never realise how precious your feet are until the puss sacks form on your feet.  Take this as a warning, if you get new trainers make sure you wear them in before even attempting to conquer E3.
• One thing that I thought I’d never see was someone trying to sell the big bag of swag they have acquired inside the event but it happened. $100 for his whole bag, I don’t know about you but I find that extremely offensive to the developers and publishers who spend so much money just to give stuff away… If you’re reading this bro then picture my middle finger-pointing directly at your face.

The Ugly

• It’s really hard to think of anything that really annoyed me at E3 apart from the Sony booth (just kidding) but one thing really stood out for me; the E3 Merchandise Store.  Located in the lobby was the store and it featured some of the laziest, ugliest clothing known to the gaming world and every article of clothing featured a clichéd slogan from the gaming industry alongside a hefty price tag, worse still people were actually paying for this smut.
• The only other ‘ugly’ was some of the venue’s security, the power had gone to their heads… I’m not going to go into too much detail but one instance left me fuming; I had a pass that clearly said I had access to the second floor (meeting rooms) and yet I was held each time I tried to gain access to a meeting that I had an appointment for.  I loved the American people in general but the on-site security were doing more harm than good.  There were more instances of this power abuse but all in all the venue staff were extremely pleasant, friendly and always willing to help.
• The last ugly belongs to me and my, embarrassing, chaffing, it’s quite brave of me to admit this but by Tuesday I was in a world of pain and I stupidly didn’t think of bringing Sudocrem with me, a big shout out to Graeme (@AceyBongos) and Maurice for convincing me to go to the Forza Showcase party on Tuesday night and a bigger shout out to Maurice for taking me to a pharmacy to find some life-saving cream to fix me up.

Finally I have to say a massive thank you to Microsoft and the Xbox Community Network for arranging the trip, getting me in to see some huge games and generally for being awesome throughout the event.

Thanks to Tobias from Xbox Dynasty for supplying some of the photos below.

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Thanks to Tobias from Xbox Dynasty for sharing the images with us.

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Once again we have to say a massive thank you to Tobias Schulte of Xbox Dynasty for supplying the majority of these images.

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Publisher Square Enix Europe told Gamesindustry.biz that all other projects that were in development at the studio have been canned so that the team can refocus their attention on a new title in the Hitman franchise. As part of this refocus, production director Hannes Seifert is the new studio head.

Square Enix released the following statement:

“The studio will focus resolutely on the future vision for the Hitman franchise and is in pre-production on a new AAA Hitman project. However we have taken the difficult decision to cancel other studio projects and initiatives at IO and reduce the workforce in this studio, which will impact almost half of the employees currently at IO, as we make internal adjustments to face the challenges of today’s market.”

“For those affected, we are extremely grateful for the hard work which they have contributed, and where it’s possible and appropriate to relocate staff to open positions at other studios within the group, we will try to do so,” the statement continued. “We are also reaching out to other companies for outplacement opportunities. We sincerely wish them well in their future careers. If you are part of a company that is looking for additional development talent, please contact us directly at info@ioi.dk”

As always it’s sad to see staff being laid-off, but that’s the nature of the gaming industry and hopefully those talented staff will find new positions relatively quickly.

Thanks to Tobias Schulte from Xbox Dynasty for supplying some of the images.

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Xboxer would like to thank Tobias Schulte of Xbox Dynasty for contributing to this gallery.

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Disclaimer: Xboxer does not claim ownership to all of these photos, if any of these photo’s copyright belongs to you then please drop us a line and we will make sure you’re accredited to the images that you own.

If you’re looking for some hectic tank-on-tank battles, head on over to this super simple page and enter a contact email, your gamer tag and your name, then just cross your fingers and hope to be picked.

World of Tanks is expected to launch this summer and it’ll be free for Xbox Live Gold members while Silver members will be able to try out a demo.

Since this news we’re yet to hear from any publishers about their stance on this, and whether or not they’ll choose to opt in or out.

Apart from Ubisoft that is, as chief executive Yves Guillemot spoke about this controversial subject at this year’s E3, explaining that as a company Ubisoft are undecided. Guillemot suggested that much will depend on whether there will be unanimity among platform holders with the future of the pre-owned market, adding that the system might not change that much at all.

“If you look Microsoft has said they won’t take money from stores. There is a good chance we will have the same situation as with the previous generation, we don’t know for sure yet because we are waiting to see what Sony will do, what Nintendo will continue to do and so on. After that we will decide exactly what will be our position.”

“I understand the difficulty and I understand that second hand is something interesting because people can buy a game, resell it and then because of that they can experience many games during the year. It’s a good thing for the industry because they take more risks and have more for their money. So we need to make sure that we find a system that will allow gamers to still play a lot of different games in the longterm.”

Guillemot used Steam as an example of a digital licensing model that he believes consoles could use as a guide, noting that there will be some difficulties continuing with the more traditional model of physical/boxed games.

“I think we have to look at what Steam is doing and consider that maybe it is where the business is going in the longterm. So those consoles have to adapt and take advantage of the possibility to connect with the consumer easily. We need time and we need products that are adapted to that. But it works with Steam and I think it can work with the other machines. Steam came and they were only online so there were no questions. Here they are coming with machines that can be online and the games can be boxes as well, so we will have for the next few years a different experience.”

Aqua Kitty – Tikipod

Everyone knows cats hate water, so what’s this foolish feline doing anywhere near the water? Desperate times call for desperate measures and for this kitty, the milk just ran dry. Deep in the ocean, full fat milky goodness seems to be forming naturally. Enter our furry hero, all decked out in his sub to blast the mechanical sea creatures and defend the kittens who are embarking on a milk extraction mission. This is looking great, a proper retro shooter in the X-Out mould, with a bit of Fire & Ice thrown in. 240 MS Points

Toxic trash – Robot Socks

This is another retro-looking game. It’s a puzzler that requires quick thinking. Utilise recycle power-ups and combos to boost your score but look out for the toxic trash that will make the timer go into overdrive. Two mode, three difficulties and 21 levels to conquer. 80 MS Points

Penny Arcade’s On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 – Zeboyd Games

The last of the Rain-Slick series hits the marketplace and it looks great. More retro role-playing and adventuring. The world has been destroyed but don’t let that stop you. Explore this huge, sumptuous world and fight off the strange and bizarre with your own team of monsters. Watch the trailer here. Great stuff. 400 MS Points

Fanny Granny’s Great Escape – jksgames

Well, this looks, different. Blazing arcade madness is the tagline. I’m just hoping that Granny isn’t into lighting them. This racer casts you in the role of Granny, in her mobility scooter, zooming down the track in an arcade racer that will have you parping for glory. Collect food to build up your, erm, boost, and then ‘let rip’ to blast your way to the next checkpoint. All good clean fun, but no handbrake turns, you wouldn’t want to be leaving skidmarks. 80 MS Points

AppPack 3 – RicolaVG

Next up we have AppPack 3, which RicolaVG have suggested is going to be the final app pack they will release. This has four games, StarWings 3, Mini-RPG, Gravity Dash 3 and Arrowstorm II Remix, and four apps including Indiemon Earth Nation Guidebook, BMI calculator, Pick and an app mysteriously titled RicolaVG. There isn’t much in the way of screenshots for the games, but the one shown looks pretty basic. 80 MS Points

Mystic Cards – Aztecgames

Use your wits to defeat you opponent in this on and offline multi-player card game. Take on up to 3 opponents and get rid of your cards first. 240 MS Points

Flyby – ZeroLRS

We end this week’s delights with another retro shooter. I love a retro shooter, I do, and this looks polished, if a little too clean. The object of the game is simple. Fly across space and blast you enemies into little bits in your shiny space craft. Endless waves of enemies to take aim at and the opportunity to set the highest score. 80 MS Points
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That rounds off another week in Indie-land. Are any of you lovely people looking to invest in any of these? I’d recommend On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4, and Aqua Kitty looks great fun. Until next time.

This time in the biggest Splinter Cell title to date. Splinter Cell: Blacklist will be out in August and Ubisoft have done a bit of showing off at E3 with the new trailer for it.

Kit envy, much?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Speaking during this years E3, Kojima believes that the games new open world setting along with multi platform development, which will include smart phone and tablet integration, will give players much more freedom in a move away from the series typically linear nature.

“The first reason why I wanted to go open-world is because I wanted to create a world that had a lot of freedom and allowed users to create their own gameplay.

“The other reason for the game going open-world is that we wanted to use multiple devices for this game, so using tablets and smart phones you can also enjoy MGSV and create user-generated missions within the world. That’s another reason we had to go open-world – if it was linear we wouldn’t be able to do that.”

For now, Kojima avoided going into too much detail with regards to these user-generated missions, but the concept alone is extremely exciting and surely a huge task to pull off. If anyone can do it though, Kojima and his team would surely be the best choice.

He didn’t go into specifics on exactly what he meant by “user-generated missions”, but the prospect of being able to custom-build your own missions in an open-world Metal Gear Solid game is huge.

What do you think? Excited?

This time around Blezinski has once more spoken in support of Microsoft’s DRM measures to control the sale of second-hand games, something that he believes is destroying the industry.

Speaking via Twitter, Bleszinski posted several seemingly frustrated comments expressing his support of the Xbox One’s move towards a DRM-controlled, used game market.

“You cannot have game and marketing budgets this high while also having used and rental games existing. The numbers do NOT work people.

The visual fidelity and feature sets we expect from games now come with sky-high costs. Assassin’s Creed games are made by thousands of devs.

Newsflash. This is why you’re seeing free to play and micro-transactions everywhere. The disc based day one $60 model is crumbling.

Those of you telling me ‘then just lower game budgets’ do understand how silly you sound, right?”

Blezinski also offered his thoughts on the current debate around the Xbox Ones mandatory online check ins which must be performed once every 24 hours.

“If you can afford high-speed internet and you can’t get it where you live direct your rage at who is responsible for pipe blocking you,”

While his comments hold some validity, I’m sure they wont go any way to calming the storm within the gaming community right now.

So what do you think? Is he right? Are Microsoft just trying to protect the industry or are they seeking control? Focus your rage (or defensiveness) to the comments below!

Tell us a bit about yourself…

Well, I just turned the big 40 this year and its actually ok!! Nothing fell off! I live north of the wall up in Aberdeenshire with my wife, 2 kids and a dog, Life is pretty good just now but time is very short so not getting in as much gaming as usual.

What are you playing at the moment?

I’ve been playing Turning Point: Fall of Liberty recently, I know, I know, not what you expected lol, but like many others I’m trying to get through my pile of shame before the next gen hits!

What games are you most looking forward to in 2013?

Well that’s an easy one right now; just saw the trailer for Mad Max!!! So that really has got me a little bit excited but other than that, nothing really except Battlefield 4

What are you thoughts on Xbox One? Will you be getting one?

I think Microsoft have made an amazing machine, and would love to own one, I think with the always on idea and the way they can use the cloud to enhance the games could be what makes their games more advanced than the ps4, its no longer a case of upgrading them console as all they need to do is upgrade the cloud to improve on games so this console is kind of future proofed as far as limitations go? That’s how I’ve taken the idea anyway, might have got that all wrong? As for getting one? I think the pre-owned thing is a big thing for me, as just now I have 4 consoles in the house and really couldn’t buy new all the time for everyone! For that reason alone, I’m swaying towards PS4

What got you most excited at this years E3?

Just the whole “new gen” thing in general, and Mad Max of course

 How did you think E3 went for Microsoft?

I think it went fine until the Sony one hit, No DRM and an £80 difference could be their downfall.

 What is your favourite game so far this year?

Tomb Raider is the only game I’ve really had time to try this year, but that’s no bad thing really,

What got you in to gaming?

My neighbour had a ZX81, and old Clive Sinclair console which only did black and white, I think it was a game called Pole Position but we are going back a fair bit!!

What was your first console?

My first console was a 16k ZX Spectrum, the rubber keyed one, but I soon got a 32k ram pack to stick on the back, MORE POWER!!!! Lol.

Who is your favourite character in gaming and why?

Its more of a group of characters, the squad from Bad Company, I just loved that single player, and the parody videos they did of MGS and Rainbow Six Vegas, and that was before the game actually hit!! They really struck a note with me.

If you could have one classic game remade what would it be?

I think it would be Renegade, I had so much fun with that game when I used to stay at my cousins house in the summer holidays, had to put many a 50p in the TV meter lol. Back then you could rent TVs that came with a box on the back for 50p’s, when the money ran out it cut the electric!

And finally, what are your top 5 games of all time?

In no order…

The original “Elite” couldn’t tell you how many hours I played on that.

Battlefield 2 Modern Combat, fuelled my love of online gaming on the ps2

Ratchet and Clank, great fun little game

Left for Dead, I’ve had so many fun hours with friends on that game

Socom 2, I made so many good friends on that game that I still play with, great times

I guess from that you can see that my favourite games aren’t all about the game, but the memories they bring up for me.

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Many thanks to Stephen for agreeing to take part in our Community Spotlight! You can follow him on twitter by clicking this rather link.

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We’re always on the lookout for special people in our community to talk to, are you one of them? If you think you are one of those people why not send us an email and you could be the next person under our Community Spotlight!

Marvel at the action, in this slick adventure, just don’t read the text in the trailer.

On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness 4 is available from the Xbox Live indie Games Market, now, priced 400 MS Points

Click here to view the embedded video.

While Respawn have recently gone on record as saying that Titanfall could at some point in the future see a cross-platform release, EA president Frank Gibeau has discussed the publishers decision to sign a console exclusivity deal with Microsoft.

Speaking at this year’s E3, Gibeau said that EA has been unbiased towards platforms for 30 years and will “continue to be that way” but occasionally he noted “Tactical opportunites” such as Titanfall come up from time to time.

“We have a very balanced portfolio across both Sony and Microsoft. FIFA, Madden, Battlefield, Need for Speed, our entire line-up is going to be deployed on both platforms, so strategically we’re going to be multi platform, platform agnostic, and our history shows we go where the audience is and so we will do that.

“However, there are tactical opportunities from time to time on a title or on a service component that we do enter into a relationship with one or two of the first parties on that particular opportunity and we’ll execute on it.

“Titanfall is an example of that. It’s a product that came in through our EA Partners group, it’s a partnership with Respawn, and there was an opportunity for Microsoft, EA and Respawn to create a tactical opportunity to make Titanfall exclusive to Microsoft.

“But if you look at our entire line-up beyond Titanfall, it’s really focused on multi platform and over the life-cycle of these [platforms] we’re really not tilting one way or the other. We’re very balanced and we’re going to continue to support both equally.”

The epic sci-fi shooter Titanfall, which sees giant robot suits go up against teams of elite soldiers, was officially confirmed as Respawn’s debut title earlier this week and is set to release spring 2014 for the Xbox One, Xbox 360 and PC.

Kojima often breaks the fourth wall within the Metal Gear series in unique and exciting ways, who could forget the Psycho Mantis battle in MGS1, where he reads your memory card to mock you and makes your control pad rumble across the floor.

Speaking with CVG, Kojima teased that there will be surprises in MGSV, something which he believes “movies can’t do”.

“Specifically for the next-gen and Metal Gear Solid V, it’s not necessarily about breaking the fourth wall, but we do have a big surprise for the players in this game, we have challenged and pushed ourselves with something that movies can’t do but only games can do. It hasn’t been done before,”

Kojima has been very interested in the new Kinect as of late, especially keenly interested in its ability to read a players heartbeat and facial expressions.

“I’m very interested in that stuff whether it be the facial expression readings or something else, but we’re having a hard time with that and we’re not sure if we’ll be able to implement something for MGSV. But we’re still looking at it and are really interested in the new Kinect.”

So what do you think Kojima has planned that movies fail to do?

Let us know in the comments below!

As impressive as this was however series creator Hideo Kojima says that he believes the next-gen versions of the game will look much better than whats was initially shown on Monday.

“For this project we were using the PC to build the Fox Engine to create our game, we’re using the current-generation as a [guideline]. While we were developing on current-gen, next-gen came long. We’re really trying to reach the peak of the current generation right now — 360, PS3 — and then see how much we can take it up for the next-generation.”

Kojima pointed out that the video shown at this years E3 presentation was “more tuned to current generation” in terms of the games models and textures.

“Once we start going into development for next-generation we’re definitely looking for something better than [what] we have shown today”

Kojima added some detail, explaining that the team are looking for a 60 frames per second refresh rate along with a much higher resolution for their Xbox One release. Kojima also explained that the next Metal Gear Solid would also feature interactivity with smartphones and tablets.

“You can also enjoy the game with multiple devices,” he said, so players can “enjoy [Metal Gear Solid 5] from anywhere at any time. With MGS5, I feel that [using] multiple devices, tablets and smartphones and how to interact with it socially is a big step forward.”

If Kojima is correct and we can expect MGS5 to look even better than whats been shown, then I for one simply cant wait to see the future, but what do you think? Shout words at us in the comments below!

E3 2013 has been a rip-roaring success for games this year and LEGO Marvel Super Heroes clearly wants in on some of this action.

So, here, for your viewing pleasure, is the official E3 trailer for the latest in the LEGO franchise.

Featuring Spiderman, The Hulk, Captain America, Fantastic Four, Iron Man, Thor & Loki. It’s a feast of Super Hero goodness!

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes is out in the autumn.

Click here to view the embedded video.

After THQ closed its doors, Ubisoft acquired THQ Montreal along with its current works and staffing, which meant 1666 and Desilets were a package deal, however shortly after this pairing Ubisoft stated that the two could not reach a creative compromise and that Desilets chose to leave.

Desilets soon made his views vocal and claimed (in rather blunt fashion) that he had simply been fired and escorted out of the building by guards.

According to a filing captured by La Presse, Desilets is looking to get $400,000 from Ubisoft and the rights to purchase 1666, this apparently includes quoted statements from Yves Guillemot, CEO of Ubisoft explaining his position on the new IP

 “[I] loved 1666: Amsterdam and wanted to conduct its development”

Supposedly THQ had agreed that Desilets would have complete creative freedom on the title, something that Ubisoft was not willing to grant once ownership was transferred which lead to the publishers falling out with Desiletes.

This isn’t the first time that Ubisoft and Desilets have battled in the courts, after his initial departure which was quickly followed by his hiring by THQ, Ubisoft sued the Assassins Creed creator in a bid to prevent others from following.

Obviously all of this mess now means that all work on the title 1666 is on-hold, which could quite easily become an indefinite state of affairs.

Ubisoft spoke with Game Informer recently about the problems with Desilets and his work.

“As stated before, the acquisition of THQ Montréal in January allowed Ubisoft to welcome 170 experienced developers to our existing and renowned workforce. Unfortunately, the discussions between Patrice Désilets and Ubisoft aimed at aligning Patrice’s and the studio’s visions were inconclusive. We received Patrice’s legal request and will address it in court. We will make no further comment at this point”

So what do you? is this all petty squabbling or unfair business?

Included are the likes of the UK, Ireland, US, Canada, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, the Netherlands, Australia, New Zealand and the Scandinavian region. Based on the current list it appears that Microsoft won’t look to launch in Asia this year.

Here are the launch countries in full:

• Australia
• Austria
• Belgium
• Brazil
• Canada
• Denmark
• Finland
• France
• Germany
• Ireland
• Italy
• Mexico
• Netherlands
• New Zealand
• Norway
• Russia
• Spain
• Sweden
• Switzerland
• United Kingdom
• United States