Uncharted - Golden Abyss
Unknown | 18.14 |
PS3
Plot
The story is set some time before the events of Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, and begins in medias res. Nathan Drake is somewhere in Central America, following mercenary Jason Dante, who's ordered his men to kill Drake on sight. After a few gunfights, one appears to succeed with an RPG.The game then flashes back two weeks. Drake and Dante, revealed to be old friends, arrive at a dig site in Panama headed by Dante's "partner" Marisa Chase, who doesn't trust him. At the site, they find corpses of Spanish conquistadors who were poisoned and a grave marker with a Visigoth (precursor to Spanish) symbol. Chase also shows Drake her amulet, which Dante doesn't know of. The dig is then interrupted by Dante's real partner, revolutionary leader Roberto Guerro, who takes over and captures the two.
After Drake escapes from a burning building at Guerro's base and saves Chase, they go to retrieve her stolen amulet from his office. Afterwards, they are chased by Guerro to the top of a waterfall, but escape. They then go to the house of her grandfather, Vincent Perez, who found the Amulet at the site and, after being diagnosed with cancer, left further work to Dante, who paid off Guerro for access to the site. In Perez' study, Drake realizes that the marker referred to the Sete Cidades, an ancient Christian sect who were dedicated to finding seven cities of gold after they were apparently found by Spanish monks led by Friar Marcos de Niza.
Following further clues, one referring to a "Sword of Stephen", they go to a sinkhole near ruins where Perez seems to have been, and where they find the "Chamber of the Seven Fathers", a room containing the orders secrets. There, they learn that the cities were never found, but they discover that the Sword of Stephen is in fact the sword of Esteban the Moor, one of the monks in the expedition, whose empty (except for the sword) tomb they soon find along with Perez' corpse and information about one of the cities located here, Quivira.
Unfortunately, they are interrupted by Dante, who accidentally insults Guerro in front of him, making him throw him off a balcony. After Guerro escapes with both Chase and the sword, Dante, who survived, teams up with Drake and they barely escape, too late to save Chase. Enraged, the two part ways, now officially enemies.
Soon after, Drake, now joined by Victor "Sully" Sullivan, follows rubbings he made of symbols he found on the sword to a temple complex, known as the Temple of Serpents, believed to be the entrance to Hell, where they witness a brutal battle between Dante's and Guerro's men. Afterwards, Sully is injured and sends Drake off alone. He makes it to the temple, in a repeat of the opening, and survives the RPG. He then makes his way to the entrance of Quivira, where he saves Chase from Guerro's men, who are trapped by Dante's. After Chase insists that they continue, Drake uses the amulet, which is a key, to open the entrance and they enter.
After crossing a massive lake, they make it to the center of Quivira: the Golden Abyss, a massive room whose walls are lined with gold. They also find the corpse of Esteban, who was sacrificed by Marcos to seal the gates (as had the soldiers from the dig site). Unfortunately, a geiger counter reveals the gold to be radioactive. Dante, having dealt with Guerro's men, arrives and reveals that he knew about the radiation but still intends to sell it on the black market (Guerro wanted it to fund his now defunct revolution). However, Drake beats him in a fist fight and, after he and Chase get away, she detonates explosives, sealing the cavern and killing Dante and his men.
Unfortunately, Guerro soon appears and attacks with an RPG, the last of his army. With Chase's leg trapped under a fallen pillar, Drake fights and tricks Guerro into falling through a damaged bridge to his death. After Drake frees Chase, they escape in a helicopter piloted by Sully. Chase tosses away the amulet, feeling it belongs in hell with the rest of Quivira, and they leave, while at the same time, suggesting a romance between the two.
Development
The game was developed by SCEA's Bend Studio, overseen by Naughty Dog. The game was officially unveiled with a brief gameplay demo, alongside the announcement of the PlayStation Vita, on January 27, 2011.On June 2, 2011, the official title for the game was unveiled as Golden Abyss, and numerous hands-on previews of the game were released across several sites. This was the first public appearance of the game since its unveiling in January.[4] Prior to the announcement though in May 2011, it was rumored that the game's title would be Uncharted: Golden Abyss, before any official announcement from Sony.[5] The game features touch and motion based controls for navigation and aiming, though these are optional control schemes.[4] The game is being developed by Sony Bend Studio, who are being overseen by Naughty Dog. A brief gameplay demo has been shown. It is known that the game will have an optional touchscreen control feature and motion sensitive controls. In a demo at E3 2011, it was shown that weapons can be picked up and reloaded by tapping the weapon icon on-screen. Bend studio creative director John Garvin has confirmed that Naughty Dog allowed them to use their mo-cap and voice over studios. It has been confirmed the game will contain over 2 hours of cutscenes. The game doesn't run on the full resolution of the OLED screen of the Vita (960 x 544), instead it runs on a lower resolution (800 x 450)
Nolan North revealed in an interview that he will return to play Drake, lending his voice acting talents along with motion capture work, as in the console games. He also revealed that the story was also being written by Garvin. According to a motion capture video released from PlayStation, Richard McGonagle is set to return in the game as well as Victor Sullivan. Naughty Dog co-president Christophe Balestra confirmed the game's stance in the franchise, as well as suggesting a greater focus on exploration rather than gunplay.
Patch
The 1.01 update enabled the use of the "Black Market" ingame store which enables players to trade and receive bounty items that are collected in the game with other Vita players using the PS Vita's "NEAR" application. In addition to this, the patch also prepared the game to use the Treasure Map DLC pack.
DLC
The Treasure Map DLC pack was released on the PS Store for $0.99 in US and for 1€ in Europe. This DLC pack adds a treasure map for each chapter to help players easily locate all the collectibles in a chapter.
Reception
The game received generally favorable reviews. Anthony Severino of PlayStation LifeStyle gave the game a perfect 10 out of 10 score in the first full review of the game. GameTrailers called the game "A powerful tech demo for the PlayStation Vita, but it's also an engaging game that's a blast to play in spurts. Touch screen use is a little heavy-handed and it's missing those 'wow' moments we're used to getting from the franchise, but it's a solid action adventure with production values strong enough to quell any sense of system buyer's remorse." IGN stated "The game is great and an impressive launch title for the PlayStation Vita. It's just that the Uncharted series has been known for being a story-driven experience, and Golden Abyss goes in another direction. It's a beautiful, fun game with tons of collectibles, plenty of laughs, and some cool twists on a franchise PlayStation fans know so well. It's just not an instant classic like the other entries in the series." Game Revolution noted "[...] all the game's complaints won't detract from the simple fact that this is Uncharted on a handheld. It's just slightly diminished. Golden Abyss is more like Drake's Fortune than it is Deception-it doesn't span that many environments, has smaller set pieces, and lacks online multiplayer." Game Informer commented "For the first time, we're able to play a handheld game with the scale and production values of a home console title. The base level of craftsmanship on display in Golden Abyss means you'll get your money's worth – but not a penny more. I wish all the perspiration expelled in the making of the game had been complemented by a bit more inspiration." GamesRadar cited "It's mostly there - the charm, the gameplay, the visual presentation - but there are some key elements missing. The level design leaves much to be desired, and without the cinematic moments the experience simply isn't incredibly strong. It's still an extremely solid cover shooter with a strong story and some fine platforming elements, but as far as an Uncharted game, it comes up short of what we've come to expect."[15] Eurogamer stated "While the absence of multiplayer means it won't last you as long as previous instalments, new control options have allowed the developers to line the seams of Drake's adventure with flashy tassels and detailing that make for a varied and entertaining outing - perhaps even more so than its big brothers." Electronic Gaming Monthly commented "A story worthy of the franchise, Uncharted: Golden Abyss falls short in terms of pacing and controls, as the touchscreen gimmick takes the experience down a big notch." felt that "Golden Abyss is full of disappointments. The action set pieces are great, but there's too few of them; the voice acting is exemplary, but the narrative doesn't do it justice; the touch and motion controls work well for some actions, but they ruin others. For every moment of enjoyment you have, something comes along to spoil it. Despite its problems, though, Golden Abyss still succeeds in delivering some intense, entertaining action and combat.
Awards
Golden Abyss received the first award at the Gamescom 2011 for Best Mobile Game before release. It is also nominated as Most Wanted Mobile Game at Computec Games Award.Expected Playstation 4 Specifications
Unknown | 21.49 |
PS3
First up is the PS4 CPU (Central Processing Unit)
For comparison the PS3 uses a cell based processor with 1 PPE (Power processing element) @ 3.2 GHz which is dual thread i.e. capable of processing 2 streams of instructions at a time and 8 SPEs (Synergistic Processing Elements) @ 3.2GHz of which 1 is disabled for yield purposes and 1 is reserved for security purposes such as encryption and decryption of the hard drive in real time. The cell in the PS3 has an overall performance of 204 GFLOPs.
Sony had invested hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars in to the development of the Cell Processor and on building fabrication factories (of which cost over $500,000,000 each!), all that money would go to waste if Sony chooses not to include a Cell processor in their next console.
I believe that Sony will add more SPEs to have an overall amount of 16 SPEs as this has an optimal power to heat ratio if manufactured at 32nm. It should consume the same amount of energy as the 90nm Cell processor found in the 60/20Gb PS3s. 1 will be disabled for yield purposes and 1 will be reserved for security purposes. If this cell processor is made then it should start at 32nm as Sony are already at work shrinking the PS3's cell to 32nm. At 32nm they could double the local store for each SPE to 512KiB which will add much more performance for games.
Clock speed could increase to up to 3.8GHz, however with the improved performance of the new cell and the amount of SPEs this is unneeded and will create too much heat. I can only see an increase in clock speed if fabrication starts at 22nm as this will help reduce the heat created. 22nm processors are expected to be released in 2011 so by the time the PS4 comes out this would be the norm, so 22nm is a feasible starting fabrication. This will make it have an overall performance of around 500 GFLOPs for the whole Cell Processor at 3.2GHz.
Second up is the PS4 GPU (Graphical Processing Unit. Updated Feb 2012)
This is where it gets a bit tricky as I am just going to base my prediction on a product that hasn't been released yet. However I do believe that since the PS4 is a “closed” system and that the cell can do some graphical processing that a relatively moderate GPU can be used in the PS4. For comparison the PS3 uses the Reality Synthesizer developed by Nvidia, clocked at 550MHz with 256Mb of GDDR3 clocked at 700MHz.
So if Sony is going to continue with stereoscopic 3D then that will rule out any ATI 5000 series cards and below and I do believe that Sony will stick with Nvidia anyway since they have a good relationship. The PS4 will need to be able to support 1080p 3D @ 60 FPS per eye so it has to have enough VRAM.
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 700 (due to be released in 2013). A 512 bit bus so that it can communicate with the cell exceptionally fast and a core clock speed in excess of 1GHz. All of which if utilised properly could do 1080p @ 120 FPS with high resolution textures and high AA and AF.
Thirdly the main PS4 system RAM. Updated Feb 2012)
For comparison the PS3 has 256Mb of XDR RAM clocked at an amazing 3.2GHz (Super fast!!!!! :o). The next obvious step would to include 1Gb of XDR however XDR2 has been released since that time with many improvements such as a bandwidth increase and reduced latency (even though it was low to begin with). XDR2 operates at double the CPU speed, so 6.4GHz to 7.6GHz is expected even though it can operate at up to 8GHz!
A unified memory architecture would be the best choice next generation. It gives developers the most flexibility to use the RAM exactly how they want. Code will be much more efficient, so the need for installs would be non-existent. I predict at least 4Gb of RAM in total. Either GDDR6 or XDR2, however GDDR6 is more likely as it is much cheaper and still super fast. The Cell's memory architecture will have to be updated to be compatible with GDDR6, however it has been 7 years since the Cell's creation I am sure that could be easily achieved.
Blu-ray or HVD?
Many people have been saying that the next logical step for Sony is to ditch blu-ray and go with HVD. HVD drives are just too expensive (a few thousand dollars) and too big.
Sony spent a lot of money on developing blu-ray, why would they ditch it? Its wasteful and the fact that not a single developer has created a game that uses a full 50gb dual layer blu-ray disc yet makes the extra space useless. And with a 100gb quad layer disc in development who needs HVD anyway?
Anyway to use the 100Gb disc you'll need a better blu-ray drive with faster reading speeds. The PS3 has a 2x blu-ray disc, 4x is the minimum to read a 100Gb disc. However the average read speed nowadays is 8x and it is relatively cheap, so I expect the PS4 to have at least a 8x drive which reads at 36Mb/s, so games should load much faster.
Hard drive or SSD?
SSDs are still to expensive to even be considered for a games console, so I expect spinning drives to stay with similar sizes of today’s PS3s . I'm not sure if Sony will change the SATA port to SATA 2 or 3 considering hard drives still don’t reach the SATA 1 limit of 150 Mb/s.
Lastly PS4 USB connections
2 to 4 USB 3.0 connections are to be expected. Anyone who has ever done a full back-up of your PS3 would be grateful for USB 3 connections as backing up 100Gbs of install data, applications and save data can take about 8 hours, with USB 3 this should be halved.
Posted by Henry, you may recognize my user name from the PS4 Forums. I have written an article for all of you about what I believe could* be the the specification of the Playstation 4.
*Disclaimer: This article is speculation only, however I have based this article on facts and figures to make as accurate an assumption as I possibly can. Any similarities with the Playstation 4 (in the event of Sony releasing the specifications of the Playstation 4) is purely coincidental. Enjoy and if you have any questions please leave a message below or message me in the PS4 Forums (registration is free). This article will be updated periodically with the latest information available to us.
Rumors
Update 03/01/2012
A recent article from Kotaku has begun a heavy debate on the internet, relating to the processor choice of the next Playstation console. The current processor in the Playstation 3 uses the Cell architecture originally designed by Playstation creator Ken Kutaragi. He originally planned that several household technologies could use this Cell technology to compliment the Playstation, thus increasing its computational power. Sadly, his vision seems to have come to an end as industry experts are reporting that Sony will ditch the current Nvidia design, for the more favored AMD. Although this is currently just speculation, in an interview last year, critically acclaimed programmer John Carmack said that an AMD Fusion-style chip was almost inevitable for the next generation of consoles.
This is a double-edged sword for Playstation fans. If the rumors are true, developers could already be developing titles for the Playstation 4 using currently available AMD technology. the downside, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make current Playstation 3 games or PSN titles, compatible with the Playstation 4. So what are your thoughts? Would you prefer backwards compatibility, or are you happy that developers will be able to program next-generation games far more easily? Leave a comment and let us know.
READ MORE
For comparison the PS3 uses a cell based processor with 1 PPE (Power processing element) @ 3.2 GHz which is dual thread i.e. capable of processing 2 streams of instructions at a time and 8 SPEs (Synergistic Processing Elements) @ 3.2GHz of which 1 is disabled for yield purposes and 1 is reserved for security purposes such as encryption and decryption of the hard drive in real time. The cell in the PS3 has an overall performance of 204 GFLOPs.
Sony had invested hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars in to the development of the Cell Processor and on building fabrication factories (of which cost over $500,000,000 each!), all that money would go to waste if Sony chooses not to include a Cell processor in their next console.
I believe that Sony will add more SPEs to have an overall amount of 16 SPEs as this has an optimal power to heat ratio if manufactured at 32nm. It should consume the same amount of energy as the 90nm Cell processor found in the 60/20Gb PS3s. 1 will be disabled for yield purposes and 1 will be reserved for security purposes. If this cell processor is made then it should start at 32nm as Sony are already at work shrinking the PS3's cell to 32nm. At 32nm they could double the local store for each SPE to 512KiB which will add much more performance for games.
Second up is the PS4 GPU (Graphical Processing Unit. Updated Feb 2012)
This is where it gets a bit tricky as I am just going to base my prediction on a product that hasn't been released yet. However I do believe that since the PS4 is a “closed” system and that the cell can do some graphical processing that a relatively moderate GPU can be used in the PS4. For comparison the PS3 uses the Reality Synthesizer developed by Nvidia, clocked at 550MHz with 256Mb of GDDR3 clocked at 700MHz.
So if Sony is going to continue with stereoscopic 3D then that will rule out any ATI 5000 series cards and below and I do believe that Sony will stick with Nvidia anyway since they have a good relationship. The PS4 will need to be able to support 1080p 3D @ 60 FPS per eye so it has to have enough VRAM.
The Nvidia GeForce GTX 700 (due to be released in 2013). A 512 bit bus so that it can communicate with the cell exceptionally fast and a core clock speed in excess of 1GHz. All of which if utilised properly could do 1080p @ 120 FPS with high resolution textures and high AA and AF.
Thirdly the main PS4 system RAM. Updated Feb 2012)
For comparison the PS3 has 256Mb of XDR RAM clocked at an amazing 3.2GHz (Super fast!!!!! :o). The next obvious step would to include 1Gb of XDR however XDR2 has been released since that time with many improvements such as a bandwidth increase and reduced latency (even though it was low to begin with). XDR2 operates at double the CPU speed, so 6.4GHz to 7.6GHz is expected even though it can operate at up to 8GHz!
A unified memory architecture would be the best choice next generation. It gives developers the most flexibility to use the RAM exactly how they want. Code will be much more efficient, so the need for installs would be non-existent. I predict at least 4Gb of RAM in total. Either GDDR6 or XDR2, however GDDR6 is more likely as it is much cheaper and still super fast. The Cell's memory architecture will have to be updated to be compatible with GDDR6, however it has been 7 years since the Cell's creation I am sure that could be easily achieved.
Blu-ray or HVD?
Many people have been saying that the next logical step for Sony is to ditch blu-ray and go with HVD. HVD drives are just too expensive (a few thousand dollars) and too big.
Sony spent a lot of money on developing blu-ray, why would they ditch it? Its wasteful and the fact that not a single developer has created a game that uses a full 50gb dual layer blu-ray disc yet makes the extra space useless. And with a 100gb quad layer disc in development who needs HVD anyway?
Anyway to use the 100Gb disc you'll need a better blu-ray drive with faster reading speeds. The PS3 has a 2x blu-ray disc, 4x is the minimum to read a 100Gb disc. However the average read speed nowadays is 8x and it is relatively cheap, so I expect the PS4 to have at least a 8x drive which reads at 36Mb/s, so games should load much faster.
Hard drive or SSD?
SSDs are still to expensive to even be considered for a games console, so I expect spinning drives to stay with similar sizes of today’s PS3s . I'm not sure if Sony will change the SATA port to SATA 2 or 3 considering hard drives still don’t reach the SATA 1 limit of 150 Mb/s.
Lastly PS4 USB connections
2 to 4 USB 3.0 connections are to be expected. Anyone who has ever done a full back-up of your PS3 would be grateful for USB 3 connections as backing up 100Gbs of install data, applications and save data can take about 8 hours, with USB 3 this should be halved.
Posted by Henry, you may recognize my user name from the PS4 Forums. I have written an article for all of you about what I believe could* be the the specification of the Playstation 4.
*Disclaimer: This article is speculation only, however I have based this article on facts and figures to make as accurate an assumption as I possibly can. Any similarities with the Playstation 4 (in the event of Sony releasing the specifications of the Playstation 4) is purely coincidental. Enjoy and if you have any questions please leave a message below or message me in the PS4 Forums (registration is free). This article will be updated periodically with the latest information available to us.
Rumors
Update 03/01/2012
A recent article from Kotaku has begun a heavy debate on the internet, relating to the processor choice of the next Playstation console. The current processor in the Playstation 3 uses the Cell architecture originally designed by Playstation creator Ken Kutaragi. He originally planned that several household technologies could use this Cell technology to compliment the Playstation, thus increasing its computational power. Sadly, his vision seems to have come to an end as industry experts are reporting that Sony will ditch the current Nvidia design, for the more favored AMD. Although this is currently just speculation, in an interview last year, critically acclaimed programmer John Carmack said that an AMD Fusion-style chip was almost inevitable for the next generation of consoles.
This is a double-edged sword for Playstation fans. If the rumors are true, developers could already be developing titles for the Playstation 4 using currently available AMD technology. the downside, it would be extremely difficult, if not impossible, to make current Playstation 3 games or PSN titles, compatible with the Playstation 4. So what are your thoughts? Would you prefer backwards compatibility, or are you happy that developers will be able to program next-generation games far more easily? Leave a comment and let us know.
Total War - Shogun 2
Unknown | 05.47 |
BATTLE
Total War: Shogun 2 is a strategy video game developed by The Creative Assembly and published by Sega. It is the latest installment in the Total War series and returns to the 16th-century Japan setting of the first Total War game, Shogun: Total War, after a series of games set mainly in Europe. The game was released on 15 March 2011.
Shogun 2 received critical praise from reviewers. Facets praised include the simplification and refinement of the series by returning to its roots.
Setting
Shogun 2 is set in 16th-century feudal Japan, in the aftermath of the Ōnin War. The country is fractured into rival clans led by local warlords, each fighting for control. The player takes on the management of one of these clans, with the goal of dominating other factions and claiming his rule over Japan. The standard edition of the game features a total of eight factions (plus a ninth faction for the tutorial), each with a unique starting position and different political and military strengths. The limited edition includes an exclusive ninja clan, the Hattori, and a DLC unlocks a tenth clan, the Ikko-Ikki.[2][3]The game moves away from the European setting of previous Total War games and returns to the first setting in the Total War series, but making significant changes to core gameplay elements of Shogun 2. For example, to reflect the characteristics of East Asian warfare, the game's AI is designed on the principles of Sun Tzu's The Art of War. Also, compared to Empire which spanned almost the entire globe, the new installment focuses only on the islands of Japan (excluding Hokkaido) and on a reduced number of unit types.
Gameplay
Shogun 2 has a combination of turn-based strategy and real-time tactics gameplay, a staple of the Total War series.[4] The player plays the role of both the clan leader and general, alternating between the campaign, where the player manages his land and armies turn by turn, and the battles, where the player takes control of the army on the battlefield in real-time.[5]In the campaign, the player needs to oversee the development of settlements, military production, economic growth, and technological advancement. The armies and units are organized and moved around the stylised campaign map by the player to carry out battles with other factions. In addition to fighting, the player is able to engage in diplomacy, political maneuvering, and special agents to gain the upper hand. Ninja and geisha are also present in the game as assassins and spies.[5] While religion isn't as relevant as it was in Medieval II, it can't be neglected by the player. Greater interaction with the European foreigners (Nanban traders), for example, to enhance trade and acquire firearms, exposes the clan to Christianity, which will seriously increase religious unrest in the provinces. Religious agents, such as monks and priests can be used to convert the enemy population.
There are nine different clans that inhabit the provinces of Japan which the player chooses from[6] (plus one more included in the Limited Edition of the game, and one added through DLC).[7] All Clans have particular advantages in certain areas, in order to give a variety of play style with each.
- The Chosokabe clan inhabit Tosa province and can recruit superior bow infantry and generate more income from farming.
- The Date clan control Iwate and can recruit superior no-dachi samurai, all their units also gets a bonus when charging.
- The Hojo clan are great builders and siege specialists who inhabit Izu and Sagami.
- The Mori clan inhabit Aki and have a long history of naval mastery.
- The Oda clan are efficient commanders of ashigaru and are settled in Owari.
- The Shimazu clan inhabit Satsuma and can recruit superior katana-armed samurai, their generals are also more loyal to their clan.
- The Takeda clan warlords preside over Kai and recruit superior cavalry.
- The Tokugawa clan inhabit Mikawa province and rely on diplomatic relations and the recruitment of better warrior ninjas and metsuke.
- The Uesugi clan control Echigo and specialise in Buddhism, allowing them to recruit better monks and warrior monks as well as generating more income from trading.
- The Hattori are the leading family in Iga and recruit specialised ninjas and warrior ninjas with more expertise.
- The Ikko-Ikki clan are a "family" of religious rebels that control Echizen and Kaga and recruit Ronin and superior warrior monks.
In total war Shogun 2, leaders and generals are given personality and depth in gameplay, with emphasis on role-playing. Generals and agents are portrayed as "larger-than-life" heroes with unique characteristics and powerful abilities. The player is able to improve and unlock traits and special abilities for the characters as they gain experience. However, the player may also be inclined to engage in family politics within the clan to keep its members loyal.[5]
The battles of Shogun 2 involve large-scale engagements between armies that meet on the campaign map and can take place on land or on water. The developers proclaim they are paying particular attention to re-designing the naval and siege battles appropriate to the new setting. In contrast to European castles and forts, the castles in feudal Japan had multiple tiers, and thus the siege battles in the game will put less focus on wall defences but more on courtyard brawls and tactical manoeuvring. Also, the players will fight naval battles with unique Japanese ships resembling "floating castles", and take into consideration melees on ships, arrow fire, coastal terrain, and other factors.[3] Like the recent installments, Empire and Napoleon, the weather and climatic conditions have effect on battles. For example, fog greatly reduces visibility, while heavy rain diminishes the effectiveness of missile troops, such as archers or gunners, thus requiring the players to adapt their strategies. Also, as in Napoleon Total War, armies standing on enemy provinces during winter season or fleets far from the coast suffer atrittion.
Shogun 2 features multiplayer battles with up to 8 players as well as multiplayer campaigns involving competitive or cooperative play with 2 players.[8] In a multiplayer campaign, players can be grouped into different clans, so that for each clan, one player assumes the role of clan leader and others take command of armies. The clan leader has the ability to direct other players and assign rewards based on loyalty and performance, introducing clan politics into multiplayer. As a player's army invades an enemy territory or is attacked by enemy armies, the online matchmaker finds a suitable opponent and initiates a multiplayer battle. When a player defeats enemy armies and conquers territories, the player will gain points and other bonuses for the clan. In addition, an achievement system is designed to provide adhering players with unique abilities and cosmetic upgrades
Release
Retail versions
Shogun 2 was released in four different editions. The "Standard Edition" contains just the game, while the "Limited Edition" additionally makes playable a unique faction with special talents (the Hattori Clan), an additional historical battle scenario 'Nagashino', a complete set of armour for the player's online avatar and a starting bank of experience points to spend on that online character. The "Collector's Edition" will include the Limited Edition content as well as a replica bamboo box containing a Shogun 2 art book and a detailed figurine of Takeda Shingen. The "Grand Master's edition" consists of the Collector's edition, as well as a bamboo Shogun 2 themed chess set, currently exclusive to select stores in the UK and Australia.[10][11]- Players who pre-ordered at GameStop (online or in-store) will unlock and take part in The Historic Battle of Kawagoe. Set in 1545, the Battle of Kawagoe saw the Hojo clan launch a successful night time counter-attack against the besieging Uesugi, eschewing heavy armour in favour of speed and stealth.[12]
- Those who pre-ordered at Best Buy (online or in-store only) will unlock 1,000 Koku, the currency used in Total War: Shogun 2. Player’s campaigns will begin with 1,000 Koku, allowing them to purchase new buildings, train new units and upgrade their towns.[12]
- As a special pre-order bonus, Steam announced the 'Shogun Pack' for Team Fortress 2. This was given to players who purchased Total War: Shogun 2 before its release date. The pack consists of eight feudal Japan-themed items, including a sashimono, katana, kunai, and gunbai. It should be noted that these items do not affect Shogun 2 in any way and can only be used in Team Fortress 2.[13]
- Steam also released the Total War Collection on the 10th of March. This consisted of Empire: Total War, Medieval II: Total War, Rome: Total War, and Napoleon: Total War. It also included Shogun II Total War which could be preloaded on the 14th of March.
armada supernova 2526
Unknown | 05.04 |
ADVENTURE
Product Info
Supernova, the first expansion for Armada 2526 gives you 4X more. More to explore, more to exploit, more to exterminate and expands you’re gaming horizons by letting you challenge your friends via LAN or PBEM play.
There are new star and planet types to discover, and more than 30 special features to make each star system distinctive. You may encounter tachyon storms, psychic plants, primitives or find abandoned alien technology that advances your own research. Two new races, with their own ships and special characteristics, await your discovery, befriend them, play as them, or exterminate them as you wish.
A new trade system lets you construct networks to trade valuable commodities between the stars, both between your own worlds, and with other players. Alien relics, rare minerals, tourists, or even natural anti-matter, your freighters carry them all. Choke an enemy with trade embargoes, or blockade their planets with stealth ships operating behind the lines. But trade and tourism bring less welcome visitors too. The new espionage system lets you plant spies to gather information or steal technological secrets, or drop special forces that can sabotage defenses before an attack.
Fifty new technologies open up new strategies and tactics. Confound your enemies with hard to detect stealth ships, jam their missiles with electronic warfare, build fighter stations to defend your planets, and blitz defenses with stormtroopers. Research Gaia to make everyone happy, or grind them under your heel with a variety of more powerful warships and upgrades weapons.
Armada’s simultaneous order system makes it ideal game for multi-player action. Now you can crush your friends playing over LAN( local area networks) or PBEM (play by email).
There are new star and planet types to discover, and more than 30 special features to make each star system distinctive. You may encounter tachyon storms, psychic plants, primitives or find abandoned alien technology that advances your own research. Two new races, with their own ships and special characteristics, await your discovery, befriend them, play as them, or exterminate them as you wish.
A new trade system lets you construct networks to trade valuable commodities between the stars, both between your own worlds, and with other players. Alien relics, rare minerals, tourists, or even natural anti-matter, your freighters carry them all. Choke an enemy with trade embargoes, or blockade their planets with stealth ships operating behind the lines. But trade and tourism bring less welcome visitors too. The new espionage system lets you plant spies to gather information or steal technological secrets, or drop special forces that can sabotage defenses before an attack.
Fifty new technologies open up new strategies and tactics. Confound your enemies with hard to detect stealth ships, jam their missiles with electronic warfare, build fighter stations to defend your planets, and blitz defenses with stormtroopers. Research Gaia to make everyone happy, or grind them under your heel with a variety of more powerful warships and upgrades weapons.
Armada’s simultaneous order system makes it ideal game for multi-player action. Now you can crush your friends playing over LAN( local area networks) or PBEM (play by email).
Screenshots
Features
- New star and planet types and more than 30 special features ranging from anti-matter to alien tech that, make each star system distinctive.
- Covert action system lets spies gather information, and steal technologies, while Special Forces can infiltrate enemy planets and sabotage defenses.
- New trade system with explicitly represented trade routes. Domestic and foreign trade; embargoes and blockades.
- 50 new technologies include signal jamming, stealth ships, weapon upgrades and orbital fighter stations.
- 30 plus new unit models.
- Two new alien races.
- Supports multi-player via LAN or PBEM.
Reviews - From the Press
Review on Gamer's Hall
76% - [Translated from German] The developer stayed loyal to the concept of elegant simplicity while still enriching the game with useful ideas.
Review on Cyberstratege
9/10 - Probably the most fun and 4X playable on today's market.
76% - [Translated from German] The developer stayed loyal to the concept of elegant simplicity while still enriching the game with useful ideas.
Review on Cyberstratege
9/10 - Probably the most fun and 4X playable on today's market.
Armada 2526: Supernova Preview on SpaceSector
I am really impressed with this Armada 2526 first expansion. Supernova really adds a lot on top of an already solid and fun Armada 2526 gaming experience.
I am really impressed with this Armada 2526 first expansion. Supernova really adds a lot on top of an already solid and fun Armada 2526 gaming experience.
Customer Reviews
- Author: Claudeee - Reviewed: 28 DEC 2011
An excellent STRATEGY game, turn-based with pausable real-time combat and relatively easy to learn rules. Not far from being a masterpiece; maybe with the next expansion. Simple, complex too, with some humor sometimes. Very well done. "Master of Orion" with better graphics? For me, YES.
- Author: Anzacc - Reviewed: 24 DEC 2011Actually the best and complete 4x turn-based
Ninja Fishing
Unknown | 08.15 |
FUNNY
After your hook has reached the surface, your ninja avatar will throw the fish into the air. Now comes the slicing. Using your finger, you must slice as many fish as possible. Your ninja will throw multiple fish at once and some fish are tougher than others to slice, so you must do your best to stop any whole fish from escaping your katana blade. Occasionally, your ninja will also throw dynamite. If you hit the dynamite, your round is over and any remaining fish escape to live another day.
Using the coins you’ve gained for skillfully catching and slicing fish, you can buy equipment which will help you in your fish-catching crusade. For instance, you can buy a stronger katana, capable of cutting through tougher fish more easily, or you can buy a longer fishing line or a stronger hook. You can even purchase an MBA, which allows you to sell your fish for a higher price.
Fish cluster.
Our only critique of the game is the slicing element of the fishing. Fruit Ninja got it perfect, using the screen to good effect in the landscape orientation. In Ninja Fishing, with the screen held portrait, the fish don’t seem to go high enough. Also, the fish-falling physics don’t seem right, as they often slide down the side of your screen.
Though its slicing mechanic isn’t exactly original or perfect, Ninja Fishing has enough substance and quirkiness of its own to feel unique. It’s a simple idea, but the items you can purchase extend the game and add new challenges.
Fruit Ninja
Unknown | 08.07 |
FUNNY
Your success will also please the wise ninja Sensei, who will accompany your journey with wise words, fun fruit facts, and he will reward you when he believes you have done good!
Have you got what it takes to become a Fruit Ninja?
Gameplay flavours!
Classic ModeFruit Ninja / Fruit Ninja Kinect
Zen ModeFruit Ninja / Fruit Ninja Kinect
Arcade ModeFruit Ninja / Fruit Ninja Kinect
Mutliplayer ModeFruit Ninja / Fruit Ninja Kinect
Fruit Ninja FrenzyFacebook
This free to play facebook madness is going to dominate your wall with smug scores; the fact that your long lost auntie in australia is beating you will be seen by all!
This is no ordinary fruit ninja either, invest in some smoothies to give yourself the upper hand in this worldwide competitive fruit off!!
Angry Birds Space
Unknown | 05.01 |
FUNNY
In February 2012, Rovio announced a new game in the Angry Birds franchise to be called Angry Birds Space.[101] Angry Birds Space launched on March 22, 2012,[102] and features elements from the preceding Angry Birds games as well as new gameplay mechanics.[102] The game contains 60 initial levels with extra levels available as free updates and in-app purchases.[103] Angry Birds Space launched on iOS, Android, PC, and Mac, with a Windows mobile release to follow.[101]
NASA states that such collaboration with Rovio Mobile may share the excitement of space with the Angry Birds community, educate users on NASA’s programs, and create interactive educational experiences for the public.[105]On March 8, 2012, new footage of Angry Birds Space, presented by NASA astronaut Don Pettit onboard theInternational Space Station, was released. The video shows that the game's stage is no longer flat, instead comprising several different planets, each of which has its own gravitational field that affects the trajectory of the birds after launch.
Other media
The Angry Birds characters have been referenced in television programs throughout the world. The Israeli comedy show Eretz Nehederet (in English: a Wonderful Country), one of the nation's most popular TV programs, satirized recent failed Israeli-Palestinian peace attempts by featuring the Angry Birds in peace negotiations with the pigs. Clips of the segment went viral, getting viewers from all around the world. The sketch received favorable coverage from a variety of independent blogs such as digitaltrends.com,[6] hotair.com[107] and intomobile.com,[108] as well as from online news media agencies such as Haaretz,[109] The Christian Science Monitor,[7] The Guardian,[110] and MSNBC.[52] American television hosts Conan O' Brien, Jon Stewart and Daniel Tosh have referenced the game in comedy sketches on their respective series, Conan,The Daily Show, and Tosh.0.[111][112][113] In the 30 Rock episode "Plan B", guest star Aaron Sorkin laments to Liz Lemon, "Our craft is dying while people are playing Angry Birds and poking each other on Facebook". He then provides a tip for Liz to improve her score in the game. In February 2011, American journalist Jake Tapper mockingly introduced U.S. Senator Chris Coons as the "Angry Birds champion of the Senate" during the National Press Club's annual dinner.[114] Some of the game's more notable fans include Prime Minister David Cameron of the United Kingdom, who plays the iPad version of the game, and author Salman Rushdie, who claims he is "something of a master at Angry Birds".[115] Basketball star Kevin Durant is an avid fan of Angry Birds, and regularly plays other NBA stars in matches, although he is weary of cheating. [116]
In September 2011, the Window of the World theme park in Changsha, China opened an unlicensed Angry Birds attraction.[122] Visitors to the park use a large slingshot to launch stuffed versions of the bird characters at green balloons representing the pigs.[122] Upon learning of the attraction, Rovio Mobile was reported to be considering working with the theme park to officially license it.[123]Angry Birds and its characters have been featured in advertisements for other products. In March 2011, the characters began appearing in a series of advertisements for Microsoft's Bing search engine.[117] At the 2011 South by Southwest festival in Austin, Texas, Nokia used scrims on a downtown building to project an advertisement for its new N8 handset that included the game's characters.[118] A June 2011 T-Mobile advertisement filmed in Barcelona, Spain included a real-life mock-up of the game in a city plaza,[119] while Nokia used the game in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia to promote an attempt to set a world record for the largest number of people playing a single mobile game.[120] Finnair has also used Angry Birds in their advertising, including taping an Airbus A340 airliner with the Angry Birds figures and holding an Angry Birds tournament on board a flight to Singapore. [121]
The game's popularity has spawned knock-off and parody games that utilize the same basic mechanics as Angry Birds. For example, Angry Turds features monkeys hurling feces and other objects at hunters who have stolen their babies.[124] Another game, entitled Chicks'n'Vixens and released in beta form on Windows Phone 7 devices, replaces the birds and pigs with chickens and foxes, respectively.[125] The developer of Chicks'n'Vixens intended the game as a challenge to Rovio Mobile, which stated at the time that a Windows Phone port of Angry Birds would not be ready until later in 2011.[125]
Angry Birds has inspired works of religious analogy. A five-part essay entitled "Angry Birds™ Yoga – How to Eliminate the Green Pigs in Your Life" was written by Giridhari Dasa of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (i.e. Hare Krishna) of Brazil, utilizing the characters and gameplay mechanics to explain various concepts of yoga in Gaudiya Vaishnavism as understood and interpreted by the Hare Krishna.[126][127][128][129][130] The piece attracted much media attention, in Brazil and abroad, for its unique method of philosophico-religious presentation.[131][132][133][134] The piece was also recognized and appreciated by Rovio Mobile's Peter Vesterbacka, who was prompted to comment on Twitter, "Very cool! I can see Angry Birds Yoga becoming a worldwide craze;-)".[126]
Rovio is investigating ways to expand the Angry Birds brand, including merchandise, television shows and movies.[135] The game's official website offers plush versions of the birds and pigs for sale, along with T-shirts featuring the game's logo and characters.[136] In May 2011, Mattel released an Angry Birds board game, entitled "Angry Birds: Knock on Wood".[137] Over 10 million Angry Birds toys have been sold thus far.[138] Rovio opened the first official Angry Birds retail store in Helsinki on November 11, 2011 at 11:11am local time.[123] It expects to open its next retail store somewhere in China, considered the game's fastest-growing market.[123]
Mikael Hed, CEO of Rovio Mobile, has envisioned a feature film in the stop-motion animation style of Aardman Animation.[135] To that end, Rovio has purchased a Helsinki-based animation studio to prepare Angry Birds short cartoons on Nickelodeon,[138] the first of which was a Christmas special named "Wreck the Halls" that debuted on Nickelodeon in December 2011.[139] Rovio also hired David Maisel, former executive producer of Marvel Studios films such as Iron Man and Thor, to head up production of feature-length films.[138] Hed acknowledges that such a film would be years away, and that Rovio must keep the characters relevant until then, by producing sequels or new ports of the original game.[135] Rovio officials have hinted that one such "sequel" will be told from the pigs' point of view.[140]
In March 2012, Rovio announced plans for an Angry Birds attraction due to open in summer 2012 at the Särkänniemi adventure park in Finland.[141]
Also in March 2012, Formula 1 driver Heikki Kovalainen unveiled an Angry Birds crash helmet that he will use in the 2012 season, following sponsorship from Rovio.
The game also features new bird characters, such as laser bird, that carry their own unique abilities.





