You can find the link to the 'Learn With Portals' page here, which will direct you to a brief summary of the program's mission statement, and a promotional video of a 7th-grade field-trip to Valve's studio (*accompanied by flight-attendant-like hand motions* the video is also provided for your convenience below). Best of all, there's also a link where you can get Portal for free.

It really is too bad: all I got to play in school was Oregon Trail. But on a more serious note, this whole program shows that games have immense educational potential if handled by a big-name developer that knows what they're doing. So, I give Valve +1 Cru Hunter point, and my stamp of approval.

For those who don't know much about the 2007 game, here's a description of the game from the game's page on Steam:

Portal™ is a new single player game from Valve. Set in the mysterious Aperture Science Laboratories, Portal has been called one of the most innovative new games on the horizon and will offer gamers hours of unique gameplay.

via GIO and IGN

Snow and Hope were shown briefly in a trailer at the Tokyo Game Show marking their return to your flat screen. Hope appears to have matured physically and Snow is barely recognizable when he reappears towards the end with Lightning's younger sister, Serah.

Not sure about you, but I would take Fang and Vanille over those two clowns anyday.

via G4TV and

According to CNN, Microsoft's demonstration of the tv service showcased voice and motion control technology through Kinect and a sleek interface where Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said that gamers will be able to access their favorite channels, live tv shows, news, sports, videos on demand and more.

Many financial analysists and executives from all across the board are reporting that Microsoft is in a unique place and have the opportunity to succeed where many others have failed.

"That's the opportunity here for Microsoft . Can they work with the content owners to innovate on top of the content itself and provide a higher-value experience to consumers? If they can, this could be big and meaningful." David Wertheimer, Executive Director of the Entertainment Technology Center at the University of Southern California

One thing that Microsoft failed to do throughout their meeting was mention a price, what their lineup will be, and who they have parterned with. That hasn't stopped rumors though. Some rumors have been circulating that Microsoft will allow cable and satellite providers to stream their tv schedules through Xbox Live TV so that gamers do not miss a single episode of their favorite show.

via CNN and Eurogamer

via Bethesda Blog

New features have been added to this game, and those features include:

• The ability to take control of your pet(Finally, scratching recliners and chasing tails will at last make sense to us all!)
  
• Like the Sims 3, traits are still available. Even your pets can have traits!
  
• The game is Kinect enabled, so you can tell your virtual pets to sit down when they are virtually acting crazy!
  

Pre-ordering The Sims 3: Pets Limited edition will land you special items you can buy in the virtual stores, and special animal skins like the panda and tiger skins for dogs, or the skunk skin for cats.

If you enjoyed 'Playing with Life' on The Sims 3, then I would have to say this is a must buy for fans of the series. I mean seriously, why waste time worrying about your real life, when you can worry about a virtual one?

via The Sims 3

This has been an Alex Shirley moment. Thanks for reading!

robot entertainment RELEASES INTERACTIVE orcs must die!™ GAMEPLAY Videos

Choose your traps in this interactive gameplay video with over 30 possible endings

PLANO, Texas – September 15, 2011 – Robot Entertainment has released a unique interactive gameplay video featuring their upcoming PC and Xbox LIVE Arcade game, Orcs Must Die!™ This demo video is the next best thing to playing the game! The video allows viewers to choose traps between successive waves of enemies with each choice changing the final outcome. The 30 possible avenues for completing the demo highlight the enormous variety of methods to kill orcs and defend your towers.

Viewers can start Wave 1 of the interactive video at this url:

Orcs Must Die! is an action-strategy game that challenges players to defend fortresses under siege. With a wide variety of traps and weapons to choose from, Orcs Must Die! dares players to find the best ways to hack, launch, flatten, gibletize, and incinerate an endless army of filthy orcs and their vile allies. Orcs Must Die! features a vibrant look, addictive gameplay, and a blatant disregard for the welfare of orcs. Orcs Must Die! will be available exclusively as a digital download on personal computers and Xbox LIVE Arcade this October. Additional information can be found at www.OrcsMustDie.com.

==

About Robot Entertainment

Founded in 2009, Robot Entertainment is an independent game development studio based in Plano, Texas. Formed by veterans of Ensemble Studios, the creators of Halo Wars and the Age of Empires franchise, which has sold more than 20 million games, the studio is focused on creating original games that are unbearably fun. Robot can be found on the web at www.robotentertainment.com, www.facebook.com/RobotEntertainment and www.twitter.com/RobotEnt.

Project Draco is being developed by the Ground Inc. and will follow a human trying to train a dragon to aid them in combat. Sound a tab bit familiar?

via Joystiq

Headlong – Section 21 once looked out onto the New Mombasa Orbital Elevator with pride and optimism. Now, with much of the city eviscerated by the Covenant’s brutal assault, the skyline remains only a shattered ghost of what it once was. Headlong provides a large, skyscraper-hemmed construction site with numerous vantage points for clever snipers as well as a large central basin for excellent vehicle combat. (8 - 16 players)

Also important to note is the multiplayer beta for Halo CE: Anniversary starts on October 4th. Apparently there is a way to sign up for the beta, but at the moment of this post, I have yet to find the link. If you do, dear reader, feel free to post it in the comment section below.

via Game Informer

Written by: Cru Hunter

Nintendo made the announcement yesterday along with a handful of other announcements regarding their 3D handheld.

• Monster Hunter 4 will be releasing on the 3DS
  
• Briefly mentioned system updates
  
• Mario Tennis slated for a 2012 release
  
• Animal Crossing was announced for the 3DS
  
• More young girl friendly games will be releasing on the 3DS
  
• A new Fatal Frame is on the way along with Fire Emblem, an RPG
  

Do you think all of the announced 3DS love will save the failing handheld?

via Wired

While Capcom has yet to confirm anything, the ESRB appears to have beaten them to the punch. Ratings for the collection that includes Devil May Cry 1, 2, and 3 have surfaced online and those ESRB ratings clearly include both the PS3 and 360. The collection has been rumored to be a PS3 exclusive since June after it was spotted on a Spanish shop list.

via Eurogamer

Last week, Sony's Sony's Senior VP of Publisher Relations Rob Dyer went on the defensive by taking a shot at Microsoft's right to deny downloadable arcade games that appear on the Playstation Network first after Microsoft admitted that they are "biased".

"We're a little biased, so obviously we're going to look to protect our own space..." ~European Xbox Boss, Chris Lewis in an interview to Eurogamer. " Whilst I can't be specific about the terms and conditions, you can be very confident we seek to maximise our own advantage to ensure the playing field is even, and certainly plays to our advantage wherever possible. As you can also imagine, our partners have to be mindful of the relationship they have with all platform holders, and they need to be equitable. But there are contractual situations where we get agreement with different people to do different things, and through what we have available on Xbox Live, we are able to offer things other people can't offer, that allows that exclusivity and unique elements to it that might not otherwise be available elsewhere."

Sony fired back at their competitor, accused them of trying to "protect" an inferior and outdated technology.

"I think what [Xbox Europe boss] Chris [Lewis] and the other representatives at Microsoft are doing is protecting an inferior technology. I think they want to dumb it down and keep it as pedestrian as possible so that if you want to do anything for Blu-ray, or you have extra content above 9GB, or you want to do anything of that nature, you'd better sure as heck remember that Microsoft can't handle that." ~ Sony's Senior VP of Publisher Relations Rob Dyer in an interview with IndustryGamers

Dyer further ranted, "And that’s a huge problem with them. It first started on the smaller pubs, and we can talk about what’s happened on XBL and the policy they have there that requires publishers to have a whole litany of things in order to get onto their network or they have to go through and be published by Xbox, by Microsoft, which essentially lets them dictate how long they’ll be exclusive and whether or not they own the IP, etc, etc. They - for instance, if you want to be able to do something on XBL, you need to have an office, there’s all kinds of restrictions. We don’t do that. We don’t have any kind of policy like that. We’re not pushing that. In fact, we’ve gone the other way to try and encourage publishers through our Pub Fund... We want to welcome the indies and we've seen that become a very big part of our business because indies are recognizing that we aren’t demanding a pound of flesh in order for them to get a game published on our network."

Sony taking advantage of Microsoft's strict content submission and release policy a surprise? No. Microsoft revealing that they are biased towards protecting exclusive content? No. Nintendo not making a peep about this ordeal? No. That is why all of these companies are receiving The Fail of the Day.

Ryan Payton made the shocking announcement and broke news that he formed his own studio, Camouflaj. People were wondering why he would leave Microsoft and 343 Industries when he was working on one of the series that made the Xbox what it is today.

"Some people say I'm crazy, but I want to make a game that one billion people play at once, and it's something that hits them harder than a great book or film." Payton furthered added that the Halo 4 he envisioned was not what Microsoft wanted. "The Halo I wanted to build was fundamentally different and I don't think I had built enough credibility to see such a crazy endeavor through."

via Joystiq

The $399 console comes with a custom Modern Warfare 3 design, sound effects for the on/off button and disc tray, 320 GB hard drive, two matching wireless controllers, exclusive avatar items, one month subscription to Xbox Live, and of course a copy of Modern Warfare 3.

Also announced at the start of the event was a $69.99 Modern Warfare 3 Wireless Headset with Bluetooth that is good to use on other Bluetooth enabled devices. With the purchase of the headset you will also receive an exclusive download.

Lastly, the Modern Warfare 3 Wireless Controller will be available for separate purchase at the price of $59.99. The controller's D-Pad rotates to adjust to the gamer's play style. Gamers who purchase the controller will also get an exclusive download.

via Major Nelson

A pair of these Portal themed knee highs will cost you $9.99.

via Jinx

We here at Gamercide are looking for writers of all skill sets to join our News Team. If you enjoy video games and writing then this is opportunity might be for you!

Basic Requirements

• Play Video Games
  
• Enjoy Writing
  
• Can Turn In At Least One News Story a Day
  
• Have Knowledge of What News Story You Write About
  
• Be Able To Take Minor Criticism and Grow From It
  

If you are interested in joining the News Team, please send an email to siren@gamercide.org for more details or send me a PM. Be aware that there is a trial period that you will be under until you pass my "final test" and can be a full fledged member of the News Team here at Gamercide.

Keep in mind gamers that this tear jerker offer requires you to spend money for a 1 free used game and the paltry gift card is not enough to buy a new game at the usual $59.99 asking price.

via Ars Technica

For all of the Gears heads out in there, be prepared to dig deep into those pockets if you want an 33% off of all game add ons for one of the most highly anticipated releases slated come out this September, Gears of War 3.

Epic Games announced that you will be able to purchase a "season pass" for the bloody awesome shooter that will "guarantee a 33 percent discount on the game add-ons". The newly announced "season pass" will cost you an extra $30.

Fans of Gears better choose wisely, because the first round of DLC for Gears of War 3 will be releasing this November.

via Joystiq

http://youtu.be/6bQvlJn8IHk

via

Unfortunately that statement is far the from the truth. PC gamers everywhere are reporting that instead of being able to play From Dust offline without the need of an internet connection, they are receiving error messages that tell them that they do in fact need a constant internet connection. To make matters worse there are plenty of bugs throughout the game such as the menu screen not loading, poorly designed mouse controls, and the simple fact that the graphics are way below a PC standard for output.

Ubisoft has not said anything directly regarding the ported PC version other than they are offering refunds.

via Rock, Paper, Shotgun and Platform Nation

"It's a little bit jaggier in certain areas. Instead of 720p you're at five something," said Executive Gears Producer Rob Fergusson. He further explained that the idea to make Gears of War 3 3D friendly came a bit late in the development stage.

"It was something that came in really late in our process. It wasn't something where we said, OK, we're going to design the game from the ground up for 3D. It was more of a post-process 3D, where we're like, OK, certain things need to be adjusted, but for the most part it generally works."

Fergusson was also loose lipped about the next Xbox technology and confirmed that the next console from Microsoft will support 3D technology like it's rival, the Playstation 3.

"As you look forward, in the next XDKs [Xbox Development Kit] coming out of the Xbox, it'll have more support for 3D or more higher quality for native support

for 3D. We're supporting the current state of the art for Xbox. Moving forward, the Xbox will be able to take it further."

via Eurogamer

Mojang's Markus Persson responded over Twitter, posted a picture of the letter, and took to his blog to explain the letter and how he felt.

..."A while later, out of the blue, we got contacted by Bethesda’s lawyers. They wanted to know more about the “Scrolls” trademark we were applying for, and claimed it conflicted with their existing trademark “The Elder Scrolls”. I agree that the word “Scrolls” is part of that trademark, but as a gamer, I have never ever considered that series of (very good) role playing games to be about scrolls in any way, nor was that ever the focal point of neither their marketing nor the public image.

The implication that you could own the right to all individual words within a trademark is also a bit scary. We looked things up and realized they didn’t have much of a case, but we still took it seriously. Nothing about Scrolls is meant to in any way derive from or allude to their games. We suggested a compromise where we’d agree to never put any words in front of “Scrolls”, and instead call sequels and other things something along the lines of “Scrolls - The Banana Expansion”. I’m not sure if they ever got back to us with a reply to this."

Persson also said that he hopes this is only lawyers being lawyers and not Bethesda itself "pulling a Tim Langdell". Bethesda has asked that Mojang stop using the word, "Scrolls" or else they will face a lawsuit.

via Gamasutra and The World of Notch

[insert sound of crickets here]

Modern Warfare 3 releases to the masses on November 8th, 2011.

via GameSpot

The $15 add on will release on the Xbox 360 on August 23. Playstation 3 and PC will receive it sometime before the end of September. Rezurrection will feature 5 Zombies maps that include 4 remakes from previous levels Nacht der Untoten, Verruckt, Shi No Numa, and Der Riese in Call of Duty: WaW. The 5th map is based on the moon in outer space. Also included in the add on is a Moon theme for the Xbox 360 and zombie theme songs.

Gamers who purchased the Hardened or Prestige editions of Black Ops will get the content for free.

via GameSpot

According to 1up, Pitchford took to Twitter yesterday to show his unapproval for the early announcement and targeted "shoddy journalism" (Eurogamer?) for the leak.

"I have long maintained that we will do more with Borderlands. Shoddy journalism is not an announcement." Randy Pitchford via Twitter

Talk about a verbal beatdown. Eurogamer first announced the leak yesterday claiming that they got the information from an unnamed source. More drama ensued as Ars Technica tried to stand up for Eurogamer and the other gaming websites that carried the story on, however Pitchford was not having it as proven in the previous tweet.

via 1up and Ars Technica

http://youtu.be/m7c1s7M4zg8

via Lazy Gamer