Siren

EA Week continues on Steam with today's discounts being Need for Speed related. Need For Speed Hot Pursuit - $29.99, $14.99 Need For Speed Shift - $19.99, $6.80 Need For Speed Undercover - 9.99, $2.50 via Steam Click here to view the article

Can you imagine fighting locusts with COG members in Gears of War alongside Halo's most recognizable character, Master Chief? It almost happened. Cliff Blezinski spoke to Complex about what could been. "I actually approached Microsoft on getting Master Chief into the game, but those guys are kind of squeamish. One of Halo’s successes is that it’s a soft M [rating]. Gears pushes it further. I’m creatively comfortable with that, though it can limit what you do. If you had to break it down, I'd say that Gears is like Mortal Kombat and Halo is like Street Fighter. But if we were to get Master Chief, we'd get his model, put him in a COG suit, make it blow up, and do some test animation work. We'd have to see what his head looks like being blown to smithereens or how his arm would look getting sawed off." Somehow I doubt Microsoft was excited about the idea of blowing their beloved green Spartan into tiny, bloody pieces. via Complex Click here to view the article

It has been 50 years since Marvel introduced everyone to the world of the Fantastic Four and to celebrate Marvel Entertainment and Zen Studios are releasing a Fantastic Four DLC pinball table on Pinball FX for the Xbox Live Arcade and Marvel Pinball for the Playstation Network. The brightly colored table that features all four members of the superhero team will release on May 17 on the Playstation Network and on May 18 on the Xbox Live Arcade. The table will also contain new Achievements and Trophies for those of you looking to add to your collection or boost your gamerscore. via Zen Studios Click here to view the article

News from Sony is not good this morning after they admit to losing credit card numbers and detail the extent of how many accounts may have been effected by another revelation that the security breach extends beyond the Playstation Network and out to Sony Online Entertainment. Approximately 12,700 non-US credit and debit card information was stolen from outdated databases in 2007, along with 10,700 debit records in other countries such as Australia and Germany. "The information from the outdated database that may have been stolen includes approximately 12,700 non-U.S. credit or debit card numbers and expiration dates (but not credit card security codes), and about 10,700 direct debit records of certain customers in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain." - Sony Online Entertainment Press Release Not stopping there with details Sony further went on to release a statement regarding how many SOE accounts may have been breached as a result of the April 16-17 security intrusion. "The personal information of the approximately 24.6 million SOE accounts that was illegally obtained, to the extent it had been provided to SOE, is as follows: · name · address · e-mail address · birthdate · gender · phone number · login name · hashed password In addition to the information above, the 10,700 direct debit records from accounts in Austria, Germany, Netherlands and Spain, include: · bank account number · customer name · account name · customer address" - Sony Entertainment Online Press Release Sony did say that this was not a new attack and that the issues with the Playstation Network and this newly founded second security breach happened at the same time in April. Over the weekend Sony issued an apology to it's Playstation Network users and has offered a "Welcome Back" program and stated that they will handle credit card theft issues case by case. via Joystiq Click here to view the article

In a statement made late last week, Chief Executive of Nintendo Satoru Iwata explained one of the regrets that Nintendo is coming forth about with the once considered landmark console, the Nintendo Wii. "I now regret that we didn't tie up with someone outside the company to market the Wii. If we had done that, the fate of the Wii might have been different. Now I am aware that we should not rely too much on ourselves. You will see what I mean by this when we market the 3DS and the Wii in the future." - Satoru Iwata, Nintendo's Chief Executive Hopefully these regrets will turn their newly announced console that will be on hand at this year's E3 into a machine that their fans and third party developers can enjoy. via Reuters Click here to view the article

Ubisoft has took to Facebook to announce the newest game in the Assassin's Creed lineup. However it is up to you if you want to look at the reveal. Ubisoft teases the reveal on the offical Facebook page for Assassin's Creed and only offers to show it if you hit the "like" button. Upon hitting the like button you are shown images that appear to be a very familiar assassin's blade. Click here to view the article

According to Peter Kafka, writer for All Things Digital plans were finalized over the weekend for a merger between website behemoth IGN and the smaller UGO to form one company. No news on how or if this will have any effect on IGN's other smaller websites like GameSpy and UGO's 1up or if there will be any job cuts. via The Escapist Click here to view the article

"We have had to take the SOE service down temporarily. In the course of our investigation into the intrusion into our systems we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern for us to take the service down effective immediately. We will provide an update later today (Monday). We apologize for any inconvenience and greatly appreciate your patience." - Sony Online Entertainment Home This statement can be found on the home page of Sony Online Entertainment's website making many question what is truly going on behind the scenes at Sony's camp, because according to Shack News Sony originally reported that SOE's servers were safe as they were kept seperate from the Playstation Network. "We have been conducting a thorough investigation and, to the best of our knowledge, no customer personal information got out to any unauthorized person or persons." - Linda Carlson, SOE Director of Global Communications via Shack News Click here to view the article

In an attempt to win back their user's trust who are outraged that their personal information was compromised during the recent Playstation Network security breach, Sony issued a public apology and is offering a "Welcome Back" program. "We deeply apologize for the inconvenience we have caused," - Kazuo Hirai, Chief of Sony's Video Game Unit This apology made by Hirai also accompanied by an admittance on their part that they did not do enough to ensure that their users personal data including credit card numbers and birthdays were protected and that they knew about the attacks on April 17, however according to Fox News he denied that Sony purposedly delayed the announcement of the cyber attack. Hirai later stated that regaining the trust of their users is one of the most important issues of all. "I see my work as first making sure Sony can regain the trust from our users," - Kazuo Hirai, Chief of Sony's Video Game Unit A writer from Japan who focuses on electronic security said that Sony will have a hard time recovering. "What became clear today is that Sony didn't even know its server had a vulnerability. Sony's crisis management came too little, too late." - Yoh Mikami, Writer What has become clear to many is that Sony is making attempts to win back their Playstation fans by offering a "Welcome Back" program when the Playstation Network is restored which they are estimating that some services will return this week and full service should be up and running in one month. The "Welcome Back" program will have the following with more to come. Each territory will be offering selected PlayStation entertainment content for free download. Specific details of this content will be announced in each region soon. All existing PlayStation Network customers will be provided with 30 days free membership in the PlayStation Plus premium service. Current members of PlayStation Plus will receive 30 days free service. Music Unlimited powered by Qriocity subscribers (in countries where the service is available) will receive 30 days free service. - The Playstation Blog Sony's offerings to the Playstation community might be a little too late as a breakdown has emerged via Twitter from Mark MacDonald that shows how many accounts were at risk during the security breach that has caused everybody from senators to the FBI to get involved. Click here to view the article

If you are participating in the Gears of War 3 Beta then listen up. You have the chance to earn up to five "Buddy Tokens" that you can give out to your friends to join you in playing the beta. You have until May 4th to complete one of the following taks or if you are a true Gears fanatic then all five: Purchase Gears of War content on the Marketplace Play the Gears of War 3 beta for 20+ hours Purchase a 12 month Xbox Live subscription Play 100 hours of any Gears title Played one game of Gears of War 3 in the beta If you complete any or all of these tasks, you will receive your tokens via email on May 8th that you can give out to your eager Gears of War friends. The tokens are part of the "Never Fight Alone" promo for the Gears of War 3 beta. via MMOFG Click here to view the article

If you have yet to pick up Mortal Kombat for the Xbox 360 or PS3, you might want to head over to Amazon to check out their amazing deal that will save you $20.00. As of yesterday, Amazon discounted both versions of Mortal Kombat from $59.99 to $39.99. No news on if this game deal is temporary or a permanent price slash. via Amazon Click here to view the article

Thanks to Major Nelson, we now know who and where the best Black Friday shopping deals are going to be for anything and everything Xbox 360. Walmart Special Edition Glossy White 4 GB Xbox 360 console, controller, Skylanders, and an exclusive Skylanders figurine - $149.99 Best Buy, Fred Myers', Newegg, and Fry's Xbox 360 250 GB console with Skyrim and Forza 4: Essentials Edition - $199.99 Target, Sam's Club, Meijer, Kmart, and Microsoft Stores Xbox 360 4 GB console with Kinect, Kinect Adventures, and Kinect Disneyland Adventures - $199.99 GameStop Xbox 360 250 GB console with Black Ops 2 - $249.99 Radio Shack Xbox 360 4 GB console with a wired headset - $169.99 Toys R Us Xbox 360 4 GB console with a $50 gift card - $179.99 Target and Amazon At Target; buy a copy of Halo 4 and receive a $20 gift card At Amazon; buy a copy of Halo 4 and receive a $20 gift card and a $10 Amazon Instant Video Credit. Major Nelson is also reporting that there will be first party deals on Dance Central 3, Kinect Sports: Ultimate, Fable: The Journey, and Forza Horizon. Each of these games will be receiving a 40% discount except for Forza Horizon which will see a discount of 33%. Click here to view the article

GameStop tweeted a huge deal if you need to purchase a Nintendo 3DS this holiday season for that someone special on your list. With the purchase of a 3DS or 3DS XL, you will receive 2 free games! Before you go putting on your Santa hat and grabbing your keys and credit card, there is a catch. Those two free games are Steel Diver and your choice of a Nintendogs game. No word on when this deals end, so if you have a younger gamer on your list who is asking for some 3DS hardware, you might want to take advantage of this deal before it's gone. Click here to view the article

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If you picked up Nintendo's latest console offering the Wii U and are a fan of the Metro series, don't expect to see a Metro game on the console...ever. Metro: Last Light developer 4A Games slapped Nintendo right across their already chapped butt cheeks, by calling the console's CPU "horrible". Speaking to NowGamer, 4A Games Chief Technical Officer Oles Shishkovtsov, shared his very blatant thoughts about Nintendo's newest console by stating, "'The Wii U has a horrible, slow CPU". Fellow 4A games employee Huw Benyon echoed the same response saying that they had hoped to work something out with the console, but the impact on the overall quality "wasn't worth pursuing". The Wii U debuted here in North America on November 18th and so far it has been met with mostly negative reviews including reports of lag issues, a huge day one update that had potential to damage the Wii U if the download is interrupted, and poor graphic output. Click here to view the article

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Actor Tom Hardy who most recently played a very well done rendition of Bane in Dark Knight Rises' has been cast as Sam Fisher in the upcoming Splinter Cell movie being produced by Ubisoft Motion Productions with the help of Regency Productions. The movie; which is still in it's infancy stage, has not been given a date for when production is expected to begin. Also announced from the Ubisoft camp is that Michael Fassbender will be starring in the upcoming Assassin's Creed film which is slated to start production in the summer of 2013. Fassbender starred in numerous movies such as Inglourious Bastards as Lt. Archie Hicox and X-Men First Class where he played Magneto. Fassbender is also known for his roles played in a few tv series such as the epic HBO miniseries Band of Brothers and British tv series Hex. Fassbender even lended his voice to Fable III as Logan; the older brother of the main character. via Variety and Eurogamer Click here to view the article

Why in the world would a director of a highly anticipated game say, "20 per cent of the players will see the last level of the game. It’s horrible to know. It makes the people working on it really really sad,". I have no clue, but Hitman: Absolution's director Tore Blystad made this rather idiotic remark in a recent interview with the Official Playstation Magazine. To Blystad's credit he did say that game was made for people who want to go back and replay it. If you are going off of a 20% finish rating, how in all of the Agent 47 fiber wire gaming goodness is there going to be any replay value? Click here to view the article

What game are you currently playing? Nothing specific really, I suppose Crysis 2 will be next in line since I just got it on sale, and it shouldn't take long to beat. What game are you looking forward to that has yet to release? Grand Theft Auto 5 is probably the main one. I have to have that game. I would literally invade a foreign country just so that game would release early. If you could be anything in the world what would it be and why? I suppose the only two jobs that interest me are radio talk show host or a professional wrestler. Although most radio host make horrible money. Ever since I was a kid I wanted to be a wrestler, however I'm only 5'6 160 and the ones who make it big are 6'4 250+. I wish I could just win the lottery, keep my job for the insurance, and travel the world. What is your biggest gaming pet peeve when playing with others? Well I don't usually play with strangers, so the whole trash talking usually isn't an issue, but the one thing that does bug me while playing with friends is when we try to organize something and people want to goof off. We will all be lined up or preparing to do something and someone will shoot someone, or start a fight because they think it will be cute or funny, when they can just stand there and be patient until our organized gameplay is over then start goofing off. When you aren’t gaming, what are you doing? When I'm not gaming, I'm probably working or sleeping. That is a usual day but I like watching television series, and movies, so I usually wind down by watching a good show or movie. I read quite a lot at work since there is a lot of down time and I usually enjoy mysteries. I just bought a house a couple months ago and I found out I enjoy doing yard work, so I'm usually out in the yard doing something during the day. I just bought a new bike for exercise so maybe I'll get into that too. If Jason Statham was standing right in front of you what would do? I would like to say I'd just shake his hand and get an autograph but that wouldn't happen. I would have to fight him. He is the greatest warrior in history. Statham is the only person worthy to fight me. So if I were to die by his hands I would be happy and I would like to think he would feel the same. They would have to evacuate a large radius though so there aren't any casualties. There would also be a long dramatic dialogue between us before the battle, we finally found our equals. It would be glorious. If you have a super power: a) how did you get it what exactly is it c) what do you use your powers for, good, evil, or something in between? I'd have to say teleportation. I would like to think it would be like the story line in heroes where everyone has the ability to have super powers, but they inject the person with shot to bring the powers out. So I'd like to think I got it from a mad scientist some how but the serum is destroyed. I would first rob many banks and stash my money somewhere. I would buy me a kick ass house somewhere in the country, by a kick ass outfit, something full bullet proof, then I would use my powers for good. I would use it to hunt down terrorist and bad guys. Until I met jason statham of course and we would do battle, and I would be labeled a villain, because I would be the hero the world deserves, I wouldn't be the hero the world needs right now, because I'm not a hero, I'm don knotts bitch, the grumpy protector, i'm green grenades. In 5 words or less, describe your gamer self grumpy, protective, bad ass, misunderstood, confused Click here to view the article

Rare has tweeted the Xbox 360 edition of Minecraft will be getting Jet Force Gemini skins that include Juno, Vela, and Lupus. The three classic character skins join a long list of character skins (over 45 to be more precise) for Skin Pack 2 including that precious tiny little cube of meat Super Meat Boy, Perfect Dark's Joanna Dark, Gears of War: Judgement Day Baird, the Pretztail from Viva Pinata, and Bill from Left 4 Dead. via PlayXBLA blog Click here to view the article

When: Saturday, January 5th, 2012 Time: 8:00 pm est - When the Grim Reaper runs out of prizes! Where: Gamercide It's that time of the year again! It's time for The Annual Gamercide Giveaway! I took into consideration feedback from how past giveaways have been run and I think I came up with something this year that will please everyone. Participants In order to participate you have to be a member of the forums here at Gamercide, not just a contributor or viewer of our online streaming. RegisterYou must send me a PM here or an email to siren@gamercide.org with your Gamercide name and what systems you own; consoles, handhelds, and if your PC is capable of handling small or large games.All participants must have their names into me by December 21st. Any names received after that will not count.From December 31st until January 2nd there will be a preview post of the prizes, except for the Grand Prize and the Gamercide Staff Bundle. Those two items will not be made public until the evening of the Giveaway. If there are any prizes that you already have, you can send me a PM or an email to let me know that you already have that prize and I will not include for that prize.You can win multiple times this year. Past years, when your name was pulled for a prize in a category such as Xbox 360 prizes, you were done in that category. Not this year!Each participant will have their name put in the Grand Prize and Gamercide Staff Bundle drawing. Again, you will not know what these prizes are until the evening of the Giveaway! Past years we have given away items such as a Netbook and a gaming PC!Bitching, moaning (except for pleasurable moaning at the sight of the awesome prizes) will not be tolerated. This year you are given the chance to preview and opt out of prizes that you already own. If you fail to send me a message with what prizes you are opting out of this year due to already owning them during the preview days, then it is your own damn fault and you are stuck with it.When you win a prize it is up to you, to get in contact with the person who donated the prize and exchange information. If there are any problems, feel free to PM me or send me an email.DonatorsIf you are donating this year, please send me a PM or email siren@gamercide.org with what your donation or donations are by December 30th.PrizesThere will be two "hats" this year. One containing the prizes and the other containing the names. I will pull from the prize "hat" first, name "hat" second.The last two prizes that will be given away this year are the Gamercide Staff Bundle and the Grand Prize.Make sure to pay attention to the forums or follow me on Twitter @SirenAssassin for updates regarding the Annual Gamercide Giveaway! Good luck to everyone this year Click here to view the article

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During a podcast interview with The Verge, Xbox Live General Manager Brian Hall spilled the beans about the next Xbox and Microsoft has been attempting to damage control since the accidental leakage. Hall who was speaking about Microsoft's products during the interview said, "We've operated Hotmail for about 16 years, We obviously have Exchange and Outlook that people use at work, and we just decided it was time to do something new and bring the best from each of those and put them together and release it right in time for the new wave of products that we have coming out with Windows 8, with the new version of Office, with the New Windows Phone and the new Xbox...". Whoops! Microsoft has since said that he was speaking about the fall dashboard update, however a job posting ad by Microsoft says something different. "Over the next eighteen months Microsoft will release new versions of all of our most significant products including Windows (Client, Server, Phone and Azure), Office and Xbox, along with completely new offerings like Microsoft Surface. This wave of product launches will define the course of the company for years to come and thus provides an unprecedented opportunity for us to refresh and evolve our strategic brand." The ad which has blew up all over the internet, has since conveniently disappeared. via OXM Click here to view the article

Major Nelson has announced a new limited edition bundle to the Xbox 360 family. The Xbox 360 Special Edition 4GB Kinect Family Bundle features a glossy and all white Xbox 360 and matching Kinect sensor and wireless controller. The family bundle also includes Kinect Sports, Kinect Adventures, and a 3 month XBL Gold Subscription. The new bundle is shipping today and will be available for $299 while supplies last. The glossy and white Xbox 360 wireless controller will be available for purchase separately at $49.99. via Major Nelson Click here to view the article

Hello….my name is Siren and I am a recovering achievement addict. Screw it, I am a full blown achievement loving addict. You hear me, you! How dare you sit there and judge me with your eyes as you read this. Well eat my words, I Siren am an achievement addict. An achievement whore if you would like to go that far. Hey, when you know something to be the truth, why deny it? I am sitting here typing this up as my punishment. That’s right. They decided to punish for me for my latest antics. “I guess you haven’t learned your lesson from the last two times,” is what they said. So they took away my pretty blue controller and my hard drive and memory unit. “You can have it when you are ready to beat this demon,” is the last thing they told me before they locked my precious’s away in a small gray safe complete with a lock. A freaking lock! Come on now. Then if that wasn’t bad enough, they took my beautiful black beauty of a 360 and smashed it to pieces right in front of me. In front of me! I did everything I could to hold back the tears, but it was no use. I bawled like a baby and tried to take a couple swings at them, but the bigger one held me back. The smaller one brutally attacked my 360. I crumpled to the floor as the last swing ended the life of my sole reason for achievement glory. They kept telling me “It’s for your own good Siren. You will understand one day”. Understand what? That some crazies that are jealous of my achievement hunting skills wanted my gamerscore out of the picture so that they could take the lead? That is all I understand. So what led to this madness this time you ask? I’ll tell you. My friend's list on the 360. One of my friend’s was getting a bit to close to my gamerscore and was plotting to pass me. See as a recovering achievement addict things like this are dangerous, because they can easily cause a relapse. In the end, I could not resist the demons telling me, “Do it Siren. Buy a crap game for the achievements”. I began to get feverish as I was browsing the internet looking for a game that was cheap and easy, just how I like my achievements to be. Nothing really caught my eye. Most of them of were teases or only had 10 achievements, but would prove to be a prude so those weren’t going to cut it. I needed something that could pull a gaming quickie off. None of that cuddling and foreplay crap. Then I saw it. A true achievement hunter’s dream, CSI: Deadly Intent. With CSI: Deadly Intent I knew what to expect after playing through CSI: Hard Evidence. Boring, repetitive game play, that makes you want to gauge your eyes out with your very own fingers, but you know what? I didn’t care. It was going to give me 1000/1000 blipping bliss. I carefully covered my tracks. I learned my lesson from the last time. I cleared the history on the laptop and remembered to close the page I was viewing. No way was I going to get busted this time. I shut the 360 off and pondered my move on how I was going to sneak in the contraband from the game store. Then it came to me. I’m pregnant! I’ll hide it under my shirt and they’ll never know! Brilliant I know. I heard the door open and footsteps move across the floor to the living room. I hid my excitement and sweaty palms the best I could. They sat down across from me and turned on the 360. This is when I made my first mistake. I began to shake my foot nervously causing one of them to ask if I was okay. I simply nodded and as one of them signed into XBL, I began to bite my fingernails. My eyes started darting back and forth as the friend that was about to pass my gamerscore sent one of them a private chat invite. It was accepted and they began chatting. That is when it happened. The friend muttered something about passing my gamerscore soon and I tried to remain calm, but the friend tossed in a chuckle as if to taunt me and I muttered “that’s what you think”. Boy was that a mistake. When asked what that meant, I began to back peddle, but I screwed all of the words up and ended up tossing my hands up in the air and admitting to my plan. They began to lecture me and all I heard were the chuckles of the friend over the speakers on the TV and I lost it. I jumped up and grabbed the headset shouting into it, “YOU’LL NEVER PASS ME! EAT IT CHUMP!” Before I knew it hands were on me trying to restrain me, but I was like a raging blonde bull. “YOU’LL NEVER PASS ME! WOO! WOO!” Before I knew what was going on, I was being forced to watch my toys being locked up and then…I can’t even repeat it again without bringing a tear to my eye. The destruction of my 360. How am I suppose to go on?! Anyway, they want me to write down what I learned from all of this and what I am going to do to get better. I suppose I am going to start over and repeat the mantra, “I am an addict” and detox from games for awhile. They say, “Give it a chance Siren, you will see.” All I see is relapse after relapse. Who knows, maybe next time you hear from me, I’ll be preaching to you the joys of being sober from my achievement addiction, but until then…. “My name is Siren and I am in recovery for a third time for my achievement addiction”. Click here to view the article