Our good friends at Hyperduck Soundworks are working with Extend Interactive again on their next game So Many Me. The pre-alpha trailer below has some rough sound work that The Ducks would like you to ignore and just enjoy the game play. Take a look and let us know what you think.

http://vimeo.com/25086057

Star Trek Pizza Cutter - $29.99

This adorable pizza cutter in the shape of Star Trek's Enterprise will be a pleaser for the pizza loving dad in your life. It's made of stainless steel and is an officially licensed Star Trek item. The Enterprise pizza cutter is available at thinkgeek.com.

Darth Vader Imprinting Toaster - $49.99

That's right, you can now take your toast to the dark side. This nifty little toaster will actually imprint Darth Vader's mug on your toast. This black toaster is an official licensed Star Wars item and is also available at thinkgeek.com.

Whiskey Stones - $19.99

These little handy cubes will help to keep your dad's whiskey or any other beverages cold without having the water diluation effect from plain old water ice cubes. Stick these bad boys in the freezer for a few hours and your dad's drink will stay on the cool side. The cold cubes are reusable and made from US mined soapstone. You can purchase a set of 9 cubes at thinkgeek.com.

The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun - $11.25

This 250 page geek book is packed with fun little projects ranging from taking things apart and building items like robots from scratch. Written by New York Times Bestseller author Ken Dedmead, this book is fun for the whole family. You can purchase The Geek Dad's Guide to Weekend Fun at Amazon.

Atari Pint Glasses - $22.99 for a set of 4

These four pint glasses come with Atari themed designs including Tempest, Centipede, Missle Command, and Asteroids. You can get the set at thinkgeek.com.

Recycled Neck Tie and Suit Wallet - $30.00

Giving out neck ties as gifts is not exactly the best gift that your father might want to receive. However if he has a business type job or maybe there is some family joke about neck ties, you can purchase this wallet which is made from recycled ties that other men no longer wanted. These tie wallets can be bought on Uncommon Goods.

L.A. Noire - $59.99

This crime solving based mystery game made by Rockstar is perfect for the father in your life who has been looking for a crime solving game without the CSI name attached to it. Available for the PS3 and Xbox 360, L.A. Noire is currently on sale at Amazon for $47.89.

Duke Nukem Forever - $59.99

Considering the time frame that it this game to come out, chances are your video game loving dad was waiting for this years ago.If you order it off of Amazon you will receive a $10.00 promo code that you can use on your next purchase. Hail to the king baby!

THQ has stated in a press release that their Montreal studio will be taking over the reigns of the Homefront series and that the reasons behind the closings were due to "a strategic realignment within its internal studio structure" and THQ "continues its strategy of aligning the best industry talent with the company's marquee franchises".

via Joystiq

Best Buy announced that all pre orders that they receive for the highly anticipated and graphically gorgeous continuation of the Batman Arkham storyline for the PS3, 360, and PC will receive Robin who can be used a playable character in two challenge maps. Yes that is correct. The selling point is Robin for only two challenge maps.

via Batman Arkham City UK and Best Buy

The production window, where you manage resources, produce units and manage trade.

But this control is also where the game falls down. Nothing is explained well. A tutorial is present, although it is text only and ultimately too quick and shallow to be of any help in such a deep game. It is necessary to read the manual through, which is well done. There are also great resources online to help players get accustomed to the game. Once this very steep learning curve is cleared, the game is very enjoyable, but the learning curve is so steep that many will just give up.

Starting up the game, players are greeted with a quite lengthy load screen. This can be a bit annoying, but it does mean that after this, any loading times within the game are very short. All games are played on the same “map”, i.e the World, at different points in time, so once this is loaded everything is quick. The game is real-time, meaning that time is always progressing. The player can choose the speed at any time, though in stable peace time, even the fastest choice can be too slow. It can get boring when you are waiting for something specific to happen, and everything on the home front is good. When at war, however, the game gets very hectic while managing troops, and repeatedly pausing and assessing the situation is common.

There are various map modes to help players easily assess their country, along with those around them. With terrain, political, diplomatic and regional map modes, among others, the game really lends a hand to help with inter-country relations. These allow you to see quickly those countries that you are allied with, at war with, those that are puppet states (protectorates), along with their relations to you. The graphics for military units are quite outdated, but there is an option to change these to counters, which look much nicer and also show more information on them. These counters are shown in the screenshots.

Players control many things via streamlined sliders, for example the production window, where IC (Industrial Capacity) is shared between various tasks. The values that are needed constantly change, as the game runs in real time, with a strategic pause feature. It is a challenge to keep your country afloat during wartime if one does not properly prepare in peace time. Strategic choices have to be made as it is often not possible to be perfect at everything. Securing good diplomatic relations is pivotal.

Diplomacy is conducted through its own window, with many different options. To send a diplomat to do business, diplomatic influence points are spent. This means that players have to keep an eye on the DI that they are producing. The game is about choices, and it does a good job, giving players freedom to chose what they want. In no one game can you be the king of everything, and this really provides good replay value. There are hundreds of historical events that occur, and more are added with Semper Fi. These immerse the player in the history of the time. This outlines how the game is one for history enthusiasts. Average players may not find much here if they aren’t really into the time period.

Warfare is conducted via a “fronts” system, with the goal being to maintain a solid front line of infantry, pushing forward slowly, with support from artillery, airstrikes and motorised divisions (tanks etc.) While this may not sound spectacular, it is the strategy and tactics of it that provide the enjoyment. Seeing as war will often be fought on multiple fronts, with multiple participants, this simplified system helps with keeping everything under control. Gameplay never leaves the world map, and players don’t actually get in there and control the units as they walk about the battlefield. See the screenshots for an idea of what war looks like.

Ultimately, Hearts of Iron 3 is a very good grand strategy game, made all the better by Semper Fi, with the addition of many new features. The choice offered in the game is massive, the scope is massive, the strategy is massive. Unfortunately, the learning curve is also massive. It is necessary to read through resources on the web to get a handle on the game. There is a point, however, where the game “clicks” and it suddenly opens up. That’s not to say there isn’t anything to learn after that, but the game does become playable if you are ready to work for it. When that happens, Hearts of Iron 3 becomes are very good grand strategy game and simulator.

Note:

This review was written based on a fully patched Hearts of Iron 3, with the Semper Fi expansion. It is recommended, if you wish to get the game, that the Semper Fi expansion is bought as well. It fixes many bugs, and adds few features that make the game feel more “finished”. Some of the features added are mentioned in the review. It allows players to define their own theatres of war, adds an air superiority map mode to help with managing air units, allows faction leaders to choose victory conditions, allows the sharing of technology between allies, and a bunch of other things. It is a good idea to research the game first, to check out the details.

Telltale Games, the leading independent publisher of cinematic adventures and the pioneer of episodic content delivery, today announced that the highly-anticipated Puzzle Agent 2, the sequel to the smash hit game Puzzle Agent, will be available for purchase on June 30.

Puzzle Agent 2 for PC and Mac can be pre-ordered at the discounted price of $8.99 from www.telltalegames.com, and as a special bonus, includes the original Puzzle Agent game for free. Touch screen players are not left out of the action either as Puzzle Agent 2 will also be available on iPad and iPhone. For series newcomers, the original Puzzle Agent for iOS will be on sale for the period of June 7-14 for $2.99 on iPad and $0.99 on iPhone.

“The Puzzle Agent series illustrates what can happen when top indie development talent has an opportunity to shine in front of a big audience,” said Telltale CEO Dan Connors. “As the first game in our Pilot Program, Puzzle Agent validates our decision to create the program and set the stage for Puzzle Agent 2 as well as other amazing indie projects.”

Puzzle Agent 2 builds on its award-winning predecessor with a wider variety of rewarding puzzles based on the feedback of Puzzle Agent fans. Developed in collaboration with comic artist and animator Graham Annable, it garnered PC Gamer’s “Puzzle Game of the Year” award and IGN’s Best iPhone Game of E3 2010. Puzzle Agent 2 picks up after FBI Agent Nelson Tethers “solved” the Scoggins Eraser Factory case. However, with factory foreman Isaac Davner missing and the “Hidden People” mystery largely unsolved, troubled Agent Tethers goes rogue and ventures back to the eerie town of Scoggins, Minnesota to solve the biggest case of his career.

Telltale Games is providing a first look at Puzzle Agent 2 at this year’s E3 conference at the Los Angeles Convention Center in Room #8205 in the Concourse Hall.

• Rayman Origins
  
• Driver: San Fransico
  
• Far Cry 3
  
• Brothers in Arms 4: The Furious Four
  
• The Adventures in Tintin
  
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
  
• Ghost Recon Online
  
• Trackmania 2
  
• Raving Rabbids: Alive and Kicking
  
• Just Dance 3
  
• Rocksmith
  
• Assassin's Creed: Revleations
  

Announcements

• Far Cry 3 showcased a bit of story along with an opening cinematic that was all about "insanity" and a very dark and twisted storyline.
  
• Gearbox announced the new Brothers in Arms game that is straying far away from the traditional WWII setting and going into a more cartooney and outrageous atmosphere.
  
• Raving Rabbids Alive and Kicking will be Kinect friendly.
  

Chastity's Final Verdict: Ubisoft's lineup is definitely something to look forward to. Far Cry 3 looks like it is going to be an outstanding dark story and Assassin's Creed: Revelations looks amazing. The only announcement I was disappointed with was the new Brothers in Arms game. That game should not bear "Brothers in Arms" in the title. In fact it reminds of me Team Fortress with the characters. Other than that, decent showing Ubisoft.

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
  
• Tomb Raider
  
• Mass Effect 3
  
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier
  
• Gears of War 3
  
• Ryse
  
• Halo 4
  
• Halo Anniversary
  
• Forza 4
  
• Fable: The Journey
  
• Kinect Disneyland Adventures
  
• Sesame Street: Once Upon a Monster
  
• Star Wars Kinect
  
• Dance Central 2
  
• Kinect Sports Season Two
  

Announcements

• UFC and Xbox Live partnered together and all UFC pay per view events will be available on Xbox Live. Kinect friendly.
  
• Cloud Saves and Beacons allow gamers to access their games saves on other consoles and beacons will let gamers tell their friends what they want to play.
  
• Fall 2011 Dashboard update coming and looks much more user friendly and clean.
  
• Youtube and Bing coming to Xbox Live.
  
• Xbox Live TV Service announced. Unfortunately not alot of details were dropped other than that you will be able to watch anything you want.
  
• Ghost Recon: Future Soldier will be Kinect friendly along with all future Tom Clancy titles. Future Soldier will use body tracking and voice commands.
  
• Tiger Woods PGA Tour, Madden, FIFA, and an unannounced fourth title will be Kinect enabled.
  
• Halo: Combat Evolved Anniversary will be priced at $40.00 and will feature HD graphics, co-op over XBL, and a release date of November 15th, 2011.
  
• Halo 4 shown at the end of the press conference with a 2012 release date.
  
• Forza 4 will use Kinect.
  
• Fable: The Journey will support Kinect controls.
  
• Minecraft is coming exclusively to the 360.
  
• Kinect Fun Labs available now on the Kinect dashboard. Lets users re-create their avatar to look just like them, finger tracking controls, and take 3D photos and edit them. There will also be item scanning for use in games.
  

Chastity's Final Verdict on Microsoft's E3 2011 Press Conference: I was a little disappointed by Microsoft's showing at E3 this year. It seems that they are heavily focused on marketing Kinect enabled titles which is great for them to steer gamers away from the Wii and PS Move. However that is all that there press conference was about. If you are married to your Kinect then this press conference was for you, but for gamers who were looking for sneak peeks, new games, and gameplay from regular games releasing soon, those gamers were left in the dark.

"When you are in the number one position you have a lot of people gunning for you," - Eric Hirshberg, Activision's Publishing CEO via MCV

I find that statement reeking of wrongs considering that according to Game Developer Magazine for the year of 2010, Nintendo sits at number one for the top overall publisher position, EA is number two, and Activision finds themselves sitting at number three. Also according to Software Top 100, Nintendo once again takes the top spot for "The Top 25 Game Companies" while Activision comes in second. Sure Activision had the best selling game of 2010 with Call of Duty: Black Ops, however when Black Ops released it was nothing but a lag and bug infested multiplayer experience on the PS3 and PC coupled with lax responses from Activision regarding the online issues, fans were left with a sour taste in their mouth. Hardly how a company in the "number one position" should be acting towards dedicated fans of Activision's cash cow, Call of Duty.

"Well, I think EA might talk about our games in the press more than we do. So, the first thing I say to them is ‘Thanks for the assistance in building awareness," - Eric Hirshberg, Activision's Publishing CEO via MCV

I seem to remember more than a few interviews done with loose lipped Activision CEO Bobby Kotick where he could not keep his mouth shut about EA like in an interview with Edge Magazine where Kotick said that "great people do not want to work at EA" or how about when Kotick slammed EA's decisions to buy smaller companies and rename them with EA followed by city in the title and further said that EA is struggling? Also did Hirshberg forget that Kotick was very vocal about how EA's marketing campaign to get gamers to buy more games new instead of used games is not in the best interest of gamers?

"But when you think about it, we’ve had tough competition every year for Call of Duty. It’s never been easy. This is one of the most competitive genres in one of the most competitive industries. Last year we had Halo: Reach and Medal of Honor, and it’s not like they weren’t amazing developers gunning for the top of this mountain either. And it’s the same this year – Gears of War is back along with lots of other games," - Eric Hirshberg, Activision's Publishing CEO via MCV

Tough competition every year? Does a Halo game release once a year or how about Gears of War? Is Epic cranking out those games year after year, forcing gamers to buy a new updated version of the game every fall? The answer is no. The only competition that Activision has year after year is themselves, because of the yearly releases of Call of Duty from different developers.

One thing that Activision needs to remember is that their success is based on three franchises and one of which they had absolutely nothing to do with and can thank Blizzard for and that is World of Warcraft. The second is Guitar Hero and with the Guitar Hero series in the can that only leaves Call of Duty.

There are only so many times that you can release what is essentially the same game yearly just better graphics and changed perk names, add a pay to play mulitplayer experience into the mix, and expect gamers to keep coming back for more and with EA whipping the media into a frenzy over their extremely detailed upcoming FPS, Battlefield 3, it is only a matter of time before fans say "enough".

The latest pre-E3 trailer that Square Enix has released shows a very young Lara looking surprisingly more realistic instead of the huge boobed fantasy that we are use to seeing and extremely vulnerable as cries out in pain and glances into the horizon ahead of her.

http://youtu.be/RN7_8Yholm4

via

Konami announced HD remakes of both Zone of the Enders, as well as a pack of Silent Hill games coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 sometime next year. They also announced a pack of HD remakes (a la the God of War pack) of Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater, and the recent PSP title Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. Both packs will have upgraded graphics, new interfaces, and new 2D art.

Also, Kojima announced the new "Transfarring" technology that will allow easier game save transfers between PS3 and PSP versions of games. We'll have to wait for more details on this one, but hopefully it will make things less cumbersome.

And on a final note from Konami, for now, a fireball crisscrossed the screen and this was shown:

That's right, a NEW CONTRA GAME IS COMING!! I, for one, can not wait for a new game. The recent Nintendo DS iterations have been great. We will have more info as it becomes available.

via 1up

GameSpot who got an E3 sneak preview of the highly anticipated game was told by Rocksteady's Dax Ginn that gamers will get to explore the darker side of the game and that Catwoman has been designed specifically for Arkham City.

via GameSpot

A Kinect enabled Ghost Recon makes sense, but Mass Effect 3? What do you think?

via NeoGaf and Eurogamer

Take-Two announced that there is a bountiful amount of DLC coming your way, however you can purchase it one of two ways either by ordering the Rockstar Pass (presently on sale at $1o until June) and you will receive all 7 DLC options or you can buy the content seperately for the price of $20.00 as it releases on the Xbox Live Marketplace and Playstation Network. Make sense? Didn't think so.

• Chicago Lightning Detective Suit (Social Club only) - May 17 Free with registration
  
• L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass (limited-time discount price) - May 31 $10.00
  
• "The Naked City" DLC case - May 31 $4.00
  
• "A Slip of The Tongue" DLC case - May 31 $4.00
  
• Broderick Detective Suit and Gun - May 31 $1.00
  
• Sharpshooter Detective Suit and Gun - May 31 $1.00
  
• The Badge Pursuit Challenge - May 31; $2.00
  
• Chicago Piano Machine Gun (free community unlock) - May 31
  
• L.A. Noire Rockstar Pass (standard price) - June 14; $12.00
  
• "Nicholson Electroplating Disaster" DLC case - June 21 $4.00
  
• "Reefer Madness" DLC case - July 12 $4.00
  
• via Take-Two Press Release
  

The recent announcement of Beachhead Studios working on the pay to play Call of Duty service that is titled, "Call of Duty Elite" has left fans either shaking their heads at the notion of paying to play for yet another service of their beloved series or others just simply saying, "don't like it, don't play it".

This service would mix together with Modern Warfare 3, however with Call of Duty Elite you are looking at somewhere around a $7.99 a month extra charge to access the extra content that you will not find with the game. This includes new levels for the game that can only be accessed through Call of Duty Elite DLC.

Elite will also have online features such as leaderboards and stats that seem to be on par with Bungie's online Halo leaderboards and stat tracker. There will also be a feature where users can meet together online and play together,

Activision CEO Bobby Kotick said, "This is an enormous investment" regarding the route that it appears the Call of Duty franchise and fans might taking.

via The Wall Street Journal Online

Fusion Genesis, Fusion Sentinent, and Fusion Vault are all names that appeared on the filing and according to IGN, the Australian Classification Board has a rating of PG for Fusion Genesis which features mild science fiction violence and coarse language.

Many gamers started speculating that this might be an announcement for a new Fuzion Frenzy series, however "Fusion" in the filing is spelled with an "s" not a "z". There are rumors that began last year of the next Xbox featuring AMD Fusion technolgy. Could this be a new hardware filing with a classification to take away suspicion or is it just a news series that might be Kinect enabled?

via IGN

"Sony Corporation and Sony Computer Entertainment (SCE) announced today that Sony Network Entertainment International (SNEI, the company) will fully restore all PlayStation®Network services in the Americas, Europe/PAL territories and Asia, excluding Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea by the end of this week. The company will also resume Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity™ for PlayStation®3 (PS3®), PSP® (PlayStation®Portable), VAIO and other PCs. Details for Japan, Hong Kong, and South Korea as well as the remaining services on Qriocity will be announced as they become available." - Sony and Sony Computer Entertainment Company, Playstation Blog

In case you have been living under a rock for the past couple of months or are just suffering from a case of "fanboy denial" Sony suffered a security breach in late April that completely shut down all aspects of the Playstation Network and put thousands of credit card holders private information in jeopardy.

via Playstation Blog

GameStop announced over the weekend that they will be honoring all pre-orders for Duke Nukem from back when most of you probably weren't even a thought and that those pre-orders will receive "Duke's Big Package" which includes the black and red trucker hat along with the game.

Now would be a good time to scour through your old receipts that you have been collecting for years and have been "meaning to go through".

via The Escapist

Be sure to follow Gamercide on Twitter for notification when we post news, reviews, and other articles involving gaming!

http://youtu.be/ClloTWxH7Lg

via

Joystiq is claiming that an image appeared late lastnight on Xbox.com that showed the cover of the game sporting a "Better With Kinect Sensor" purple logo. That image has since been taken down and replaced with regular looking cover art. If you pay attention to the differences in both covers you will see that Ubisoft logo has also been moved and both versions of the cover are extremely different.

What do you think Ghost Recon fans? Would a Kinect enabled experience enhance or destroy your gaming experience with Future Soldier?

via Joystiq

MonkeyPaw Games and Frozen Codebase released the first full gameplay trailer and a ton of screenshots for the upcoming HD remake of the classic Burgertime. Take a look at the the screenshots below and the full press release after the break. We will have the trailer uploaded later today.

BurgerTime World Tour: New Gameplay Trailer and Official Website Revealed

Hokkaido, Japan – May 26, 2011 – Get ready to become the world’s greatest burger chef! MonkeyPaw Games and Frozen Codebase today release the first full gameplay trailer of their upcoming digital download title BurgerTime World Tour. An evolved version of the original classic puzzler, BurgerTime World Tour stars burger Chef Peter Pepper as he travels the world serving burgers against other hungry international chefs. Of course, he'll also be dining and dashing while running away from angry food baddies such as cowboy sausages, dancing dill pickles, and the incredible, edible Mr. Egg.

With 50 levels, BurgerTime World Tour's unique cylindrical playing field, enhanced power-ups, and numerous multiplayer elements are just some of the tasty additions to the new menu. The culinary classic returns this summer when BurgerTime World Tour releases as a digital download on all current gaming consoles and PC.

Max Payne 3 was originally suppose to see a release date of 2009, but unfortunately has been pushed twice and is not on the release calendar for Take-Two in the 2011-2012 year.

via Eurogamer

Gamercide Honorable Mentions From Our Members:

• Fisher Price Driving in Middle-Earth
  
• Tiger Woods' Juggalo Wars
  
• No One Can Stop The Fun Noodle Hunt
  
• Enraged Porn vs. Street Fighter
  
• Spooky Porn in the Desert
  

via Videogamena.com (Thanks DD)