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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Monday 24th January 2011
Gamers' Voice, the UK-based video game advocacy group, founded by Labour MP Tom Watson in 2009, will be making a formal complaint to "relevant government agencies that protect consumer rights" this week. The target of the report is the unresolved bugs that are present in the PC and PS3 versions of Activision's Call of Duty: Black Ops. As stated on their blog, they believe that "it doesn't matter how big a game is, it should not be released 'unfinished' or with bugs that make the game unplayable", which, they say, are words that have been expressed to them in a lot of emails recieved by them.
Gamers' Voice do accept that bugs do slip through the net, and that no developer can be expected to find every bug in a game, especially since they are such complex entities. However, they feel that "entire sections of the PS3 and PC gaming community are apparently being used as game testers for an extended period after a game's release, yet being asked to pay for the privilege." 
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Tuesday 18th January 2011
Valve has announced that the Playstation 3 version of Portal 2 will be very connected with the PC and Mac versions of the game. Portal 2 will feature full cross-platform compatibility between PS3 and PC/Mac users; PS3 users can chat with those using Steam, play the multiplayer with them and can also take part in the use of cloud-based storage.
In addition to this rampant interconnectedness, those who choose the PS3 version of the game are ensured a free voucher for the Steam Play version, should you link your PSN and Steam accounts. "We hope to expand upon the foundation being laid in Portal 2 with more Steam features and functionality in DLC and future content releases," said Valve's Gabe Newell.
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Tuesday 18th January 2011
Paradox Interactive has announced that it will be the publisher for King Arthur II, the sequel to the 2009 role-playing strategy game, King Arthur. As with the original in the series, Neocore Games will be the developer behind the whole operation. This time around, the story is going to take on a much darker fantasy setting. King Arthur himself is now known as the "Maimed King", and bigger and more intense boss battles and fights are promised. The game also boasts an overhauled control scheme, with new camera control options, revised animations and "an extensive tutorial for the ultimate gaming experience."
"We are excited to begin King Arthur II with the Paradox publishing team," said Zoltan Pozsonyi, Producer of King Arthur II. "We have every intention of testing the limits in the sequel. With an extraordinary new plot and insane new battles, our community's expectations will be blown away." No release date has yet been announced, but the game appears to be well underway.
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Friday 7th January 2011
Sega have announced the minimum and recommended system requirements for their latest instalment in the Total War franchise: Shogun 2: Total War. Shogun 2 is a return to Feudal Japan, first visited 10 years ago by Sega in the original Shogun: Total War. Seeing as Creative Assembly now have "a wealth of new ideas and development experience", it seems set to be an excellent iteration.
Shogun 2: Total War is set for a release date of March 15th 2011, and will come in three editions: Standard, Limited (which will include a unique playable faction called The Hattori Clan and an additional battle scenario) and Collector's (containing everything in the limited edition, as well as a bamboo box with a figurine and an art book). Full system requirements after the jump.
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Thursday 6th January 2011
It's difficult to think of a major xbox release that doesn't cause the age-old issue that plagues Xbox to reemerge. I am, of course, referring to the dreaded 'Red Ring of Death'. Of course, as is always the case with these things, the people interviewed in this piece by the BBC had missed out on the three year warranty available for 'Red Ring of Death' and E74 errors by less than a month.
Needless to say, the forums have been a-buzz with people regailing their own tales of Kinect-related Xbox death, and there are plenty of interviewed accounts of people saying that their Xbox died almost the instant that the Kinect adapter was plugged into the port. Hit the jump to continue reading.
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Tuesday 4th January 2011
Today, Paradox Interactive have announced the line-up for the Paradox Interactive Convention 2011, set to take place this month in New York City. Susana Meza-Graham, Executive Vice President Publishing said of the event:
"The Paradox family has grown immensely over the last year to the point that we'll have over 16 development teams present at this year's annual convention. We'd like to think of ourselves as the games industry equivalent of Brad and Angelina, our development teams are our adopted 'children' and we love them all! We are looking forward to sharing our passion and their talent with our closest partners and selected media in what will be the biggest and greatest Paradox Convention to date. Therefore, we knew there was only one place that could accommodate the event this time round - 'The Big Apple'!" More details after the jump.
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Tuesday 4th January 2011
EA have announced the release of the latest instalment of the long-running Tiger Woods PGA Tour Golf series. Except this time, there's a twist, for the first time in the franchise, you will have the ability to play in 'the Masters', after a collaboration was formed with Augusta National Club. You will be able to play The Masters - described by EA themselves as "the most revered tournaments in golf" - on the grounds of the Augusta National, eventually working you way up to winning the 'Green Jacket'.
More details after the jump.
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Tuesday 4th January 2011
A month after shipping it's new MicroConsole hardware, cloud gaming service OnLive has announced at the Consumer Electronics Show a partnership with TV company VIZIO to have the OnLive system integrated into their HDTV's, the VIA Tablet, the VIA Phone and Blu-Ray Players manufactured by the same company. OnLive will be featured as an application on the mentioned products, alongside other preinstalled "VIZIO Internet Apps".
OnLive CEO Steve Perlman said this was a "major milestone", while Matthew McRae says the integration will give users "the freedom to switch games much like you change the channel".
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Monday 3rd January 2011
Nintendo's much loved battling creatures are returning to North America with Pokemon Black and White, which has been slated for a March 6 2011 release date. Continuing with the Pokemon tradition, this game comes with new locations, towns and cities, as well as a whole bunch of new Pokemon for you to catch. As always, each version of the game carries it's own Pokemon and uniqueness, so Pokemon Black will offer 'Reshiram' and will be set in 'Black City', while Pokemon White will offer 'Zekrom' and White Forest. Which is actually green.
More details after the jump.
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by Sean Meakin-Bolderston | Wednesday 22nd December 2010
There is further confirmation today that Portal 2 might really be released after the monumental delay that shifted it from April 18 to April 20. It has been announced today that EA Partners have made an agreement with Valve to distribute the game via retail channels.
On April 20 2011, Portal 2 will be available for download via Steam's service, while EA will be putting copies for other platforms, Playstation 3, Xbox 360, Mac and PC, on the shelves of your friendly local retailer.
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