Smackdown! vs RAW 2009 Tag Team

One of Brunei's most watched sports is Wrestling. Or more specifically, WWE. Which is why I think that THQ's Smackdown! VS Raw series have sold so well here. But one of the problems with the series is how it gives and takes features as the each product gets released - though keeping most of what works in. This can be seen through its season mode, or 24/7 mode in 2007.

One feature that was once put in the story mode was the ability to go in as a tag team. Fans of this feature will finally be able to jump for joy as WWE SvsR 2009 will include a story mode for tag teams. 2009 will also see DLC put into place, most probably in terms of updating the roster. And speaking of online play, players will also be able to play tag team matches now.

Chris Jericho, Jeff Hardy, Matt Hardy, Randy Orton, Mr Kennedy, Undertaker and John Cena have been revealed to join in 2009's roster. More will be announced soon as the final number has yet to be revealed.

Check out the following video for SvsR 2009's tag team promo.

GDC08: Warhawk Future

Support for Warhawk will continue for a very long time as long as there is a community out there. Well, at least that's what Dylan Jobe, game director of Warhawk, told 1up at an interview during last week's Game Developers Conference.

"Warhawk will continue to be supported through a number of booster packs and is likely not the last we'll see of the franchise," reported 1up.

In the interview, Operation Broken Mirror was also confirmed at the upcoming Booster Pack which will include one new vehicle, the rumoured APC. This APC will act as a portable spawn point and equipment producer. Operation Broken Mirror will also include a new battledfield.

Good news is that game modes will also be supported and will continue to be integrated into patches and updates for free, just like the upcoming 1.3 warhawk patch.

When asked about the long gone single-player, Jobe told 1up that they are not working on bringing the single-player experience and that if they do, it would be related to a new product.

So Warhawk fans, looks like the future of this franchise is really bright. So keep playing and you'll get more out of it.

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Twisted Metal Extra Twisted

The PS2 still proves to be so popular in this country, especially since support for the system is still high. Thus, I think owners of PS2 would be happy to know that Twisted Metal Head On Extra Twisted Edition will be out February 5th (my birthday btw) for some never before seen levels as well as old school arenas to blast your opponents in. Here's a gameplay video from Jaffe himself.

From Crackle: Twisted Metal Head On Extra Twisted Edition

PS: Seems like a lot of games are coming out February 5th.

Resistance 2, 60 players

Word has been out and around that Game Informer has world exclusive info on Resistance 2, the first ever news on the upcoming sequel to the PS3's launch title. A lot of information has been spreading around on the Internet and if you have any, please leave a comment and share with us. I haven't seen the magazine myself. But I'll share what I've found out so far.

Resistance 2 aims to have a lot of online support. It has two story modes, the usual single player and a co-op mode which will support two player offline and eight online campaign. Outside the campaign modes, online multiplayer will support up to 60 players per server (and no, that's no typo), beating Warhawk as the most player per server. In terms of the story mode, it's not clear whether they will have two separate stories for single player and co-op modes but hopefully, they will.

Resistance 2 is aiming for an Autumn 2008 release date.

UTIII 3rd Person Mod

I've always wondered when mods will start to pour out for the PS3 version of UTIII. And well, now a first user-released UTIII mod is here and it changes your FPS to a 3rd person. Not a big fan of FPS because it makes you feel nauseous but you want to play UTIII? Well, here's your wish come true! Click here to download the mod and instructions on how to install it on your PS3.

CES: The Agency Gameplay

Remembet The Agency? It's been so long since we last heard of this ambitious online game. The following video is a presentation by SOE at CES on The Agency.

The First Xbox360 Meet in Brunei

It’s amazing to see support from the community from time to time. This is especially true during the recent 1^st Xbox360 Gamers Meet held at the Mall in West Street Café today.

It was Guitar Hero III's mini-tournament that took center stage, despite only using the HDTV’s speakers; it still gathered onlookers and supporters to join in on the fun with the competitors. The intense battles between eight players were electrifying and the intensity increased when the finals took place.

In another turn of events, as the last of the Guitar Heroes receives their prizes, the organizers showcased another glimpse of the future by unveiling Rock Band for the first time in public. Songs that were played were Weezer’s Buddy Holly and The Knack’s My Sharona. The audiences were ecstatic, even as far as humming to the tune.

This event was the first of its kind outside the usual Winning Eleven Tournaments which has been going around for awhile now. Overall, the event was well received and quite commendable for a first time.

The purpose for such meeting was to create awareness of an Xbox360 community in Brunei, promoting the system as well as its online/LAN capabilities and encouraged gamers at purchasing original games.

Amongst the schedule events for the day included demos of Halo 3 and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare which showcases what the Xbox360 does best, playing together in multiplayer.

With more encouragement from the gaming community, events such as this will only get better and hopefully have enough variety to pull off something on a grander scale. Let this be the start to something great!

For more info about the event here.

Warhawk Patches

Upcoming patches will be available soon for Warhawk that will resolve a number of current issues in the game as well as add a few new layouts for small scale games. The following is a list of updates for the soon to be released Warhawk v1.1.

Server-side updates
* Stat database stability improvements
* Improved server stability
* Max Clan limit changed from 32 to 64
* Viral Rank-up bug fixed and correct for players that were accidentally ranked up.
* “Time-in-Vehicle” Stats fixed so certain awards can now be granted properly.

Client-side updates for Patch v1.1
* Stat connection, fetch/post fixes
* Significantly improved client connection stability
* Quad “????” Ping display bug fixed.
* Added support for Player-Ranked Servers.
* Game synchronization fixes due to fluctuating network conditions (packet-drop).
* Crash fixes for end of game and split screen.

Version 1.2 on the other hand will include the following updates:

Patch v1.2 includes:
* 5 New layouts.
* Clan game server option.
* Buddy slot reservations.
* Integrated Warhawk Store.
* Updated CTF capture/return behavior.
* Internal stat padder protection.
* Booster Pack status display at join game list.
* DualShock3 integration.
* Separate SIXAXIS motion control on/off per mode (ground, hover, flight).
* Detailed Player Score display at end of game fixed.
* Added new server type filters (player, ranked, dedicated, clan, Official Warhawk, etc).
* Added new server full/open filter.
* Fall damage exploit fixed.
* Dismount into walls exploit fixed.
* Invisible Tank, Turret & Warhawk exploit fixed.
* Auto-kick of idle players.
* Add to Favorites button added to end game screen.
* Increased VOIP volume when not using headset.

For a detailed information on v1.2, check out this playstation blog post which also include the maps of the new layouts.

[Via BruWarhawk]

Warhawk, A Story of A Respawning Soldier

You find yourself on one side of a battlefield. You look around and you see more people, teammates, joining in on the fight. Everything is silent as everyone runs towards their tactical positions. Picking up ammunitions, weapons, gears. Boarding 4x4s and tanks. Commanding turrets, machine guns. Piloting a Warhawk. The silence only lasted for a few seconds when the first explosion is heard.

You run, looking for something. Anything to survive. Picking up weapons and gears, you see an empty Warhawk at a distance. You get on and the Warhawk starts to hover. You switch into flight mode and a few seconds later you are zooming in the skies of Eucadia. All of a sudden, red lights start to flicker everywhere. Even before you realise what the warning sign meant, your Warhawk obliterates into a million pieces.

You respawn. This time, thinking you are better off driving a ground vehicle. You see a tank parked. You board and you start driving. You look at the digital map and find your enemy's base. You plan to capture their zone so your teammates have more place to respawn. But your thoughts didn't last long. You see a Nemesis flying through the sky, shooting at you. You see your enemies throwing grenades at your tank. And before long, before you can see what's coming at you, your tank explodes, bringing you down.

You respawn. You see a 4x4 and start to drive it. It's fast. It's light. And you think that you can easily outrun all the other vehicles, including soldiers on foot. You see an enemy in front and you ram into him. You see a Nemesis flying towards you, you outrun it between the trees. And finally, you reach an enemy base. And you drive towards their flag. But at the corner of your eyes, you see the shadow of a tank. Next thing you know, you've respawned.

You tell yourself, this is not the end. You respawn yourself next to a turret. You board the turret and start to aim at everything in the sky and the ground. Warhawks, Nemesises, tanks, 4x4s. They fall down to your missiles. You laugh and feel that you have finally conquered it all. But before success was reached, a foot soldier plants a rocket launcher at you.

You respawn. This is war.

The end.

Like my little story? That's the experience you get in Warhawk. Everything is fast. You don't get time to think much. You have to think in advance. Go plan fast. Know where you are going. Know what you are aiming at. Because if you don't, you die. And you will keep dying. And you will keep standing up. And you will try to find that last son of a bitch who just made you cry out fowl in your room.

Get Warhawk. I absolutely love it.

PS: Thought I'd include an old and new Warhawk videos. Look at how long you can survive in the old one compared to the latest Warhawk.

Warhawk: Choices, Choices

Warhawk is online! And I'm broke and busy! I can't believe it. I've been waiting for this day for so long and then, I have no money and no time? Well, not the the time matters since I've got no money to buy one in the first place anyway. And not that the money matters when I don't have the time to play it too. Oh God, the dilemma is killing me!

Anyway, less personal rants and more news - not that I've been doing a lot of those lately.

Right, I'm not here to blog about how good the game is since there are plenty of sites out there to find out the ratings (plus it's not like this is the first site you'd go to to find out if the game is good or not - AND I don't have the game yet) but I am here to warn you guys not to download the PSN version. Why? Because by downloading it from the store, Warhawk limits itself to the account that downloaded the game. Thus, those of you with multiple accounts or would like your siblings to play the game, heed my warning, do not download it. Get the retail version instead. Plus, you get a bluetooth headset. And others can use it too.

Unless ofcourse, you never wanted to to begin with.