Siren

If you are stuck in your cubicle at work and unable to try out the Mass Effect 3 demo that landed on Xbox Live this morning, EA has something to wet your appetite. EA has released a teaser trailer that will surely make you want to fake being sick, just to run home and play it. http://youtu.be/Esung4vdTCI via Mass Effect Channel's Youtube

Ubisoft has announced their 2012 list of releases and interestingly enough, Assassin's Creed 3 is listed on that list for release this year. Assassin's Creed 3 - 360, PS3, Wii U, Microsoft Windows Brother's in Arms: Furious 4 - 360, PS3, Microsoft Windows Far Cry 3 - 360, PS3, Microsoft Windows Just Dance: Final Party - 360, Playstation Move, Wii U I Am Alive - 360, PS3 Prince of Persia - Wii, 3DS Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier - 360, PS3, Microsoft Windows Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon Online - Microsoft Windows, Wii U Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell: Retribution - 360, PS3, Microsoft Windows It appears that it's going to be a profitable year for Ubisoft if they can manage to keep those games in the 2012 release lineup. via Gameranx

Make as many jokes as you want about this, but "Get Ready to Lick the Competition" says Microprose and Kung Fu Factory in a press release for their new arcade game titled, Girl Fight. Releasing later this spring, Girl Fight is well as the title implies girls fighting and will feature long legs, flying hair, and sexy vixen-esqe fighters. The female only fighters will be customizable with characters skins, abilities, and codex entries. No price has been announced for the fast paced arcade fighting game, however something tells me someone out there will pay $15 to see a little virtual T&A battling it out. via Joystiq

Are you groaning at the thought of what love dovey Nicholas Sparks movie your significant other is going to make you sit through this Valentine's Day? Fear not, my anti Valentine's Day gamers. I have compiled a list of video game love fests that ended so wrong and a tad bit bloody that it will no doubt put a smile on your face while your wife is sitting there sobbing over the latest letter in Dear John. Final Fantasy X - The Love That Could Never Be Cupid definitely had other plans for Final Fantasy X's pairing of pretty boy Tidus and mild mannered summoner Yuna. During Yuna's pilgrimmage to defeat Sin and free Spira from evil, she fell in love with protagonist Tidus who at the end of the game you find out has been brought to Yuna by the Fayth to help defeat Sin along with another FFX character, Auron. After Sin was defeated Tidus could finally be "sent" and allowed to live as a spirit with his father Jecht, Auron, and Yuna's father, Braska. In Tidus's final moments of being with Yuna he fades while giving her a hug and jumps into a fiery Farplane. Yuna is later seen standing on a bridge over looking the ocean whistling hoping that Tidus will answer, but unfortunately he never does. Final Fantasy X earns a 5 out of 5 broken hearts Silent Hill 2 - The Love That Is Worth Killing For James Sunderland was brought to the fog ridden town of Silent Hill after he received a mysterious letter from his deceased wife Mary. During his search for Mary, James comes across a stripper who is the very frisky, doppleganger version of his late wife who happens to be named, Maria. Maria who is killed several times throughout the game keeps coming back taunting James who is already being tormented by creepy nurses and of course series staple, Pyramid Head. As the game progresses and James thinks that he is closer to finding his beloved wife, gamers are treated to the twisted reality of the story. James killed his wife by smothering her with a pillow and created Maria in his head out of guilt thus explaining that Pyramid Head is James wish to be punished for killing his wife. Silent Hill 2 earns 4 out of 5 broken hearts The Darkness - The Love That Is Taken Humans are worthless cattle according the demonic powers The Darkness that control Jackie Estacado in 2007's hit The Darkness. The Darkness proved this to the Jackie as his girlfriend Jenny was kidnapped by evil police chief Eddie and don of the Franchetti crime family, Paulie who took Jenny back to the orphanage where Jackie and Jenny grew up. Jackie finds the threesome only to be held back by The Darkness powers as Eddie and Paulie murder Jenny right in front of his eyes. Jackie later commits suicide only to be brought back to embrace The Darkness and exact revenge on those responsible for Jenny's murder. The Darkness earns 3 out of 5 broken hearts Gears of War series - The Love That Became a Destiny Dom Santiago spent much of the Gears of War series looking for his beloved wife Maria who four years after E-Day, the day that they lost their two children Silvia and Benedicto disappeared and was never heard from again until the events of Gears of War 2 when Dom discovers that she was kidnapped by the Locust. When Dom who is accompanied by his good pal and partner Marcus discovers Maria trapped in a pod, it is too late. She was tortured beyond recoginition, but Dom ends up imagining that Maria appears how he last saw her. Dom snaps out of it after Marcus gives him a few minutes which utimately leads to Dom killing his wife to put her out of her misery. As time goes on and Maria's death takes a toll on Dom, Dom sacrifices himself in Gears of War 3 to save the others and is last seen yelling "I bet you never thought it would end like this Maria!" as he drove a truck into a fuel tank to kill the Lambent that were closing in around them. Gears of War earns 5 out of 5 broken hearts Dead Space - The Love That Would Not Die Engineer Isaac Clarke spent 12 horrific chapters in Dead Space searching for his love Nicole Brennan aboard the USG Ishimura not knowing that the 12 chapters spelled out, "Nicole is Dead". He discovers the video of Nicole giving herself a lethal injection causing her demise and eventually Isaac loses his mental well being and begins to see visions of Nicole throughout Dead Space 2. These visions and sightings of a disturbed version of Nicole eventually cause Isaac to have a needle pushed through his eye in one of the most gut wrenching and extremely intense scenes ever put into a video game. Isaac ends up destroying his Nicole vision and is rescued after he accepts his fate and tries to enter a permanent slumber. Dead Space earns 5 out of 5 broken hearts Red Dead Redemption - The Love That Led to Sacrifice In 1911, John Marston set out on a journey to get back to his wife and son. In 1911, John Marston returns to his wife Abigail and son Jack. In 1911, John Marston sacrificed himself so that his family could escape. In the matter of one year, Marston gave up everything only to see his family one more time. John Marston's story began as he was taken away by governement and later left for dead. Once he recovered, he set out to exact revenge on those that have wronged him. When he found his way back to his family, he was betrayed by Edgar Ross, his government contact throughout the game. Marston takes a final stand to save his family telling them to go and he will catch up, only to die of gunshot wounds. His family escaped only to return to John Marston's dead body. Red Dead Redemption earns 3 out of 5 broken hearts Portal - The Love That Went Up In Flames The weighted companion cube followed you through thick and thin, proving it's love by helping you get through test chamber after test chamber and then you killed it by tossing it into the flames. Blame it on GlaDos all you want, you killed the friendly cube who loved you proving that love and friendship can only go so far. Portal earns 2 out of 5 broken hearts Final Fantasy VII - The Love That Was Cut Short In perhaps what was one of the most shocking scenes of it's time, young love was ended by the blade of a sword. Flower seller Aeris asked Cloud a young mercenary to be her bodyguard after she was worried about being captured. Aeris is eventually captured but rescued by Cloud and in a short amount of time the seeds of love begin to grow. Unfortunately for the two, Sephiroth who was hell bent on tormenting Cloud throughout FFVII has other plans and drives a blade right through the back of Aeris while she was praying at an alter with Cloud watching. Cloud ends up releasing Aeris's body back to the planet by taking her to a lake in the Forgotten City and having a water burial. Final Fantasy VII earns 3 out of 5 broken hearts Dante's Inferno - The Love That Faced The Ultimate Betrayal Dante's fiance Beatrice made a bet with Lucifer that Dante would remain faithful while he was away fighting during the crusades and in return he would make sure he arrived back home safely, however if he did not remain true to Beatrice, her soul belonged to Lucifer. Unfortunately for Beatrice, Dante slept with a slave girl and in return the slave girl was freed. Before Beatrice is sent to hell to be with Lucifer for Dante's sins, the slave girl's husband finds Dante's father and kills him and also finds Beatrice who tries to escape. The angry husband kills Beatrice by impaling her with his sword, retrieving the now bloody sword, and stabbing her once more in the chest. Beatrice dies within minutes of Dante's arrival. Dante watches as Lucifer takes Beatrice away, leading him to open the gates of hell and attempt to rescue Beatrice from Lucifer's grasp, however Beatrice's soul is angry with Dante for his sins and puts him through trials. Dante eventually does save Beatrice's soul from Lucifer's grasp and she is taken to heaven. 4 out of 5 broken hearts

Valve wants you to know that there is no need for alarm due to the recent downtime of Steam. There was simply a power outage and not a repeat of past security breaches in 2004 and 2008 where vital information was stolen from Steam account holders. "Our datacentre's uninterruptible power supplies experienced a power failure. The power is back on now, and we're working to get service restored as quickly as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused.", stated Steam in a message to their users. Steam is back up and running, however still experiencing some issues that the team at Valve are working on. via Steam Forums

Not quite a shocker, but Activision has confirmed that they will release a new Call of Duty during 2012. Activision did not release any information regarding which of the studios will be working on the next entry into the well milked out series, but as IGN points out, Infinity Ward is already working on a next gen Call of Duty. Can you say Black Ops 2? via IGN

Yet another rumor has entered the rumor mill surrounding the hush hush next Xbox that Microsoft still has yet to announce other than it appearing on their employees resumes. Xbox World Magazine is claiming that sources are saying that the next console from Microsoft will feature a HD touchscreen controller with buttons and analog sticks and that the controller will supposedly function like a TV remote when you are watching television, be a browser for the internet, and will allow you to take the game with you to play when you are traveling or you know...taking care of business in the john. Again I must stress that this another rumor and without Microsoft confirming or denying anything, who knows if this or any of the other rumors are true. Maybe the next Xbox will be a unicorn that can shoot arrows and poop rainbows. via IGN

The creative minds behind the desks at Bethesda have been busy, because today the 1.4 update for Skyrim went live across Steam and Xbox Live. Bethesda is waiting to hear back from Sony regarding the Playstation 3 patch, but they remain hopeful that it will release today. The patch fixes several bugs, quests issues, and adds support for Skyrim Workshop for the PC. For a complete list of the fixes, head on over to Bethesda Blog.

Ever wonder what is was like to grow up into being one of the most successful golfers in history before a huge sex scandal smeared the name, Tiger Woods? EA has announced a new mode for this year's Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13, "Tiger Legacy Challenge" that has you playing as the golfer from toddler on up to adult. The new mode will have you playing Tiger's "Toddler Years" from ages 2-6 as he learned to master his craft all the way up until his "Record Books" years that have him chasing his 19th major win. There is also a "Future" years mode that will allow you to play major golf events in 2014 and 2015. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 is set to launch on March 27th. via EA Sports

EA has sent out their press invites to an upcoming announcement regarding the Medal of Honor series that will take place at this year's Game Developer's Conference. The announcement is set to happen on March 6th and the masses are predicting the reveal of Medal of Honor 2. Not too shocking, but at least it does not contain Call of Duty. via CVG

The Salt Lake City Tribune is reporting that the outspoken co-founder of Eat Sleep Play, David Jaffe is out of a job. Jaffe reportedly lost his spot at the company he helped he co-found in 2007, because Eat Sleep Play and Jaffe wanted to do down separate paths. Eat Sleep Play's other co-founder Scott Campbell has since confirmed this report and said that they company will now focus on developing games for iPhone and iPad. Jaffe was not the only employee to leave the company. Eat Sleep Play has also laid off 8 employees all before the launch of the Playstation brand exclusive, Twisted Metal on February 14th. via Salt Lake City Tribune

Do not call the upcoming Playstation 3 and Vita Final Fantasy X a "remake", because Square's Shinji Hashimoto will be the first to remind you that it is a "remaster". During the Taipei Game Show the media asked Hashimoto if the popular love story of Tidus and Yuna was going to be a remake or remaster and Hashimoto quickly responded with "remaster" citing the HD overhaul and according to Joystiq, Hashimoto is claiming the HD "remaster" is prettier than the original that released in 2001 with cutscene graphics that would rival many games to this day. No release date has been given yet for the FFX remaster however as Andriasang points out, there was a mysterious Twitter message posted on Square Enix's Twitter that talks about "X" being next. Could this mean that a release date will be announced soon? via Joystiq

On February 7th, the Playstation Network will be going under a cosmetic overhaul. The Playstation Network is being renamed to Sony Entertainment Network. Sony cites that it will easier for users to associate the Sony Playstation brand with all of the Sony's products. The name change will not affect current PSN account holders other than the "PSN" part. "The rebranding of PlayStation Network accounts to Sony Entertainment Network accounts is a change in name only," explained Sony in an email to Eurogamer. "Your username or password will not change, nor are we asking you to change them." Sony will be issuing a new Terms of Service and User Agreement along with the name change from PSN to SEN. Declining the new terms much like any user agreement means you will not be able to access your SEN account. via Eurogamer

Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Future Soldier's delays might have done this game some good, because the gameplay trailer features stunning FPS action full of stealth, bullets, and beautiful explosions. http://youtu.be/AxmH3v9_qAEvia Ghost Recon Youtube

The man that has enforced Xbox Live's policy to millions has decided to leave his 17 year position at Microsoft. Stephen "Stepto" Toulouse made the announcement on his website saying that Febraury 15th will be his last day on the job. "Despite the wonderful ability in Microsoft to change careers pretty dramatically inside the company, I’ve been there nearly 18 years and it’s the only world I’ve really ever known. I feel too strangely comfortable, and too strangely tied." Further on in his blog entry, Stepto says that he will not comment on specific personal changes, honoring Microsoft's "no comment" rule. via Stepto

Sega games on a Nintendo console here in America? That is correct. The ESRB has rated two Sega Game Gear games for Nintendo's 3DS. The Game Gear games are Sonic the Hedgehog Triple Trouble which happens to be a favorite of mine and Shinobi. Both have received an "E" for "everyone" rating. For those of you that are not up on your handheld knowledge, the Sega Game Gear was Sega's take on the handheld craze that released here in the states in 1991. Sega officially dropped support of their handheld in 1997 after an unsuccessful shelf life in Japan and issues with the handheld's battery life became more prominent. The original model would only last for about 4 hours. Sega Game Gear games are available in Japan for the Wii through the Nintendo E-Shop. via Tiny Cartridge and Game Gear wiki

Bioware and Microsoft are granting you silvers out there a change to check out and play the online multiplayer in Mass Effect 3. The limited time Gold subscription will be including upon the download of the Mass Effect demo which will be available to those of you who used an online pass to play Battlefield 3 on Valentines Day, Febraury 14th. The rest of you will have to wait until February 17th to join in on the action. The demo also includes one single player mission where the Reaper's invade Earth. via Bioware

What's in a name? Well not much if you are referring to Nintendo's upcoming console the Wii U. After complaints that the company has received since the announcement of the Wii U, rumors have been spreading across the interwebs that Nintendo is considering changing the name of the console. Sources close to Nintendo are claiming that Nintendo is worried that there might be confusion over the name of their newest console like with the numerous other different named DS handhelds. Nintendo has not confirmed anything regarding a possible name change so we will have to leave this one at the rumor door, but I do wonder if they thought maybe about changing the name to Nintendo Revolution? via IGN

Hot on the heels of Microsoft swatting away rumors that the next Xbox was releasing later this year, Sony has announced that they are in no hurry to reveal anything having to do with the Playstation 4. Sony France CEO Philippe Cardon, told french website Lepoint.fr that Sony will be the last to announce a new console. "The Wii is under time pressure because it's in decline. As far as we're concerned, we're under a lot less pressure. We were the last to release the PS3. We will probably be the last to announce something." This announcement should come as no surprise considering that Sony was the last of three brands to release a next gen console during the bitter console war. via IGN

Microsoft has finally responded to the many rumors and speculations that they were planning on surprising the industry by releasing a console later this year by stating nothing new is coming in 2012. The announcement came from Microsoft France's marketing director Cedrick Delmas who also stated during an interview with french website Lepoint.fr, that it's still too early to say what Microsoft will be unveiling at E3 2012. "We're in an industry that talks a lot, that likes telling stories. I am not convinced that things will happen this year. The Xbox 360's cycle is not over at all. The proof is that we haven't price cut this year. Afterward, what will happen at E3, it's still too early to say. What's certain is that there will be nothing new in 2012." Delmas also commented on Nintendo's upcoming console release with the Wii U by saying "we're not here to counter Nintendo and they're not here to fight the other manufacturers. Nintendo has put itself in a different cycle. It's going forward to its own rhythm, with success as we have seen with the Wii, and now it's their turn to present their innovation." via IGN

Perhaps one of the most interesting rumors surrounding the still rumored and not confirmed next Xbox is a recent rumor that the next console will not allow the useage of used games. This nasty little rumor began on Kotaku when they cited their sources that claimed that whenever the Xbox 720 is released, the console will automatically say a big fat no when the user puts a used game into the tray. Before the subscribers of Gamefly and lovers of used games at Gamestop get their panties into a bunch, the Xbox 720 itself hasn't even been confirmed or mentioned by Microsoft, let alone this little rumor. So take a big deep breath and go back to playing. via IGN

You silly Playstation 3 gamers. Just because you buy a Call of Duty Elite subscription does not mean that you get the DLC first, those only who have the Xbox 360 get if first. Confused? Activision's Dan Amrich took to his blog to explain why this is going on after PS3 gamers started complaining that they are receiving the DLC last. "Back in 2010, Activision and Microsoft entered a business deal to release DLC on Xbox 360 earlier than other platforms; this contract is valid through the year 2012. This business deal was very widely reported by the games media when the announcement was made at E3 in 2010, and the DLC releases for both Modern Warfare 2 and Call of Duty: Black Ops was released in accordance with that contract. All DLC for MW3 will follow the terms of that deal as well, because it’s still 2012. I wondered where people would have gotten that idea — had someone actually promised that, or said something at XP 2011 that I missed? — so I researched it. What I found was that you can’t prove the non-existence of something. I can find no evidence of “buy Elite, get PS3 DLC same time as 360″ ever being so much as suggested by any official source. It was never one of the things listed in the official benefits chart; it was never promised by any representative of Activision, Call of Duty, Elite, or its developers. Honestly? I think gamers just convinced themselves that it would happen because they wanted it to happen. That makes sense, but it doesn’t make it true. So…that’s where we are. The deal from 2010 is why DLC comes out on Xbox 360 first. I’m seeing people scream “rip-off” and stuff like that, but nobody’s going to get ripped off; every gamer will get everything they were promised and everything they paid for. It’s unfortunate that people assumed things about Elite that turned out to not be based in fact, but I hope the truth is clear now. Unpopular, I’m guessing, but clear." There's more to that blog post then just my little snippets, but let's be honest here. All that this comes down to is a bunch of whiny PS3 gamers who are complaining about spending extra money for a subscription to a game where the multiplayer is technically free? Did I sum that up right Mr. Amrich, because I think that's what you really wanted to say. via Dam Amrich Blog

Here is a gimpse at the classes and races that you can choose from the Special Forces multiplayer mode in Bioware's upcoming and final chapter in Commander Shepard's storyline, Mass Effect 3. What will you be? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h254YRtQoJUvia Bioware Youtube

Falling into the ugly, "game gets DLC before releases" category, Namco has announced that next week's release Soulcalibur V, will be getting custom character creation packs to the tune of €1.99 or 160 Microsoft points each. The first pack will release on Soulcalibur's release day February 3rd, and include 9 customization options like bikinis, wings, and face paint and also original music from the very first Soulcalibur. On Valentine's Day, February 14th, Namco will be releasing 9 "fearsome" custom options that include a breast plate, kimono, and animal heads along with music from Soulcalibur II and Soulcalibur III. On February 28th, the last day of DLC releases you can get your hands on 9 more customization items that include masks, facepaint, and camo and music from Soulcalibur IV and Soulcalibur: Broken Destiny. No American release date has been announced, so if you live in Europe have fun spending the extra dough and if you live here in the states, lucky us. via Joystiq