Yes, you read the headline correctly, because both Rainbow Six VegasPlayers Packs are going to be free for download. Major Nelson just informed us that the Black Edition was pulled from the Marketplace earlier this week, because Ubisoft didn't want the content to cost 800 Microsoft points ... they wanted it to be free! The Black Edition is now available on the Marketplace and is free for download, so go get it! But wait, did you pay for the content before the Black Edition was pulled? Not to worry, because Microsoft will be reimbursing those who paid for the Black Edition within' the next ten weeks. Sweet, isn't it?
But that's not all the good news. As a thank you to the Rainbow Six community, Ubisoft decided to make the Red Edition Player Pack a free download starting next Friday, July 6th. That's a 800 Microsoft point value! But sorry for those who already purchased the Red Edition, because no reimbursements will be made for the content. Ubisoft rocks ... they rock hard!
For unknown reasons, the Rainbow Six Vegas Player's Pack Black Edition downloadable content that released yesterday has been pulled from the XBLM. Major Nelson updated his post stating that new content was pulled, but didn't give a reason for it not being available. Some people who have downloaded the content are stating that the new maps seem to load slower than others, but other than that they didn't find a problem with the Black Edition pack. Stay tuned as we'll be sure to let you know when the content gets placed back onto the Marketplace or when we learn more about what went wrong.
A new Player's Pack is ready for download for Rainbow Six Vegas that came out of center field. For 800 MS points, the Player's Pack Black Edition brings you get 5 new maps, including classic from the original Rainbow Six 3, Presidio. Other new maps include a remixed Streets, as well newcomers Wartown and Red Lotus. All in all the whole pack comes to 705.5 MB. Did you get the previous Red Edition, which also included new gametypes with its release, and would you pick up the latest, as its only maps this time around?
Posted May 26th 2007 11:30AM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
As part of the Tom Clancy's EndWar press kit, creative director Michael de Plater confirms that the game will feature a persistent online campaign. In EndWar's Q&A section, Plater states that "one of our most ambitious features is a massively-multiplayer persistent online world campaign" and that "every time you log in you will see the shifting front lines of an entire world at war, where everyone is participating in a unified global version of World War III".
A living, breathing online war changing every second of every day is a rather interesting concept. Though, it sounds as if this persistent campaign will be nothing more than some sort of stat tracking feature that updates the "online war" rather than actually interacting with other players. But we guess any sort of persistent online experience is better than none. So, what do you think? Are you moderately interested in such a feature?
Hot on the heels of a new Assassin's Creedtrailer comes this new Splinter Cell Conviction trailer from Ubisoft's Ubidays event. The trailer shows off the new social stealth system that will be employed in Conviction, as well as Sam Fisher's new combat capabilities. We've noted before that Sam Fisher now possesses some kick ass maneuvers akin to those seen in the Bourne films and this trailer confirms it. In fact, the whole atmosphere of the trailer seems to take a page from the modern spy franchise, which isn't a bad thing at all. After all, how many times can you play as a guy in a rubber suit? Check out an extended look at the game after the break. Be warned though, the video is a little dark.
In an announcement during their Ubidays event in Paris, Ubisoft stated that their upcoming strategy title, Tom Clancy's EndWar, is capable of being controlled using only voice commands, although if you want, you can change the settings to use the controller to play as well. Ubi also wanted to point out that they are implementing a different camera position from the norm, comparing it to Madden's over the shoulder view. More details are expected to be revealed on EndWar as Ubidays continue. Are you down for gabbing your way through World War III?
Okay, so these new EndWar screens don't dazzle all the senses. They dazzle every sense except sound, smell, taste, and touch. So, um, when you come right down to it, all they dazzle is the eyes (unless you find licking your monitor a dazzling experience). Anyway, regardless of what particular sense is dazzled, the screens themselves are, in fact, dazzling. If this is the kind of quality we can expect from EndWar, the first RTS in the Tom Clancy franchise, color us impressed. The screens are just loaded with highly detailed objects and effects. We're particularly fond of the explosion seen above. Visit Xboxygen to see the screens in high resolution glory.
Now that we've taken a look at the first shots of EndWar, we can start to ask the serious questions. Being a console RTS, one question rises above all others: how does it control? According to EGM and Michael de Plater, who is leading the EndWar project, it controls nothing like Battle for Middle Earth II. 360 fanboys will recall that BFMEII, and now Command & Conquer 3, were Electronic Arts' attempts at streamlining console RTS controls. That's not good enough for Plater, who says that BFMEII "was a test case for exactly what we didn't want to do." A note for console RTS developers: watch out for flying mud.
CVG reports on the EGM information, clarifying that the main factions of EndWar will be the U.S. Joint Strike Force, Russian Spetsnaz, and the European Enforcers. Furthermore, combat will be limited to 12 squads at a time. Limiting combat numbers sounds like a great idea, as managing giant armies (as in BFMEII or C&C3) can be difficult on a console. Also mentioned in the article, the battlefield will be fully destructible.
Now we have a new question: will EndWar set the new standard for console RTS games, or will we have to wait for Halo Wars?
We brought word yesterday that the EndWar viral site password had been discovered, revealing a pair of video clips. Our friends at The Xbox Domain have uncovered the viral footage in handy YouTube form. As a public service to our readers, we have posted it here. We have to say though, even for viral footage, this stuff is pretty tame. The camera shaking and constant static effect nearly nullifies the whole experience. Honestly, if we didn't know from where the footage came, we'd have no idea what it was (which is sort of the point of viral marketing, we suppose). Still, if you've got a hankering for some Tom Clancy flavored World War III action, you might as well check it out. Hopefully it won't be too long before we see some actual gameplay.
Posted Apr 25th 2007 1:30PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Yesterday, our Tom Clancy viral website mystery was solved with the announcement of EndWar. Though, information about the game is still lacking, but that's where the original viral website Rev64 comes to the rescue with some new content. Head on over to the Rev64 website and use passcode "s9p1z6" to get in. Once in, you'll hear the plot and backstory that EndWar is based on, including some Russian revitalization talk. Our tipster Mike also mentioned two videos were viewable once in, but after the backstory is complete we get nothing. We're thinking we probably have to register to see the media. The two videos are supposedly a F-22 dropping happy bombs on a few unlucky souls and some shaky cam soldier footage. Can anyone confirm the two videos once in the Rev64 website?
We love us some MEGA64. That really goes without saying (which kind of nullifies the first sentence ... never mind). The latest video from the group is actually an advertisement for GRAW 2 but, as usual, it's pretty damned funny. Given the reaction from the Mexican government concerning GRAW 2, the video is also surprisingly relevant (in addition to the obvious hilarity). We won't spoil the video, so let's just say that it's worth watching. Click play, give it a watch, and tell us what you think.
In IGN's latest preview of Rainbow Six: Vegas' Player's Pack Red Edition, they reveal that the release date is slated for next Thursday, the 18th [sic]. This information should put some restless gamer's minds at ease, as the content was originally supposed to come out in March. The price point was not confirmed, except for the fact that it will be under 1,000 Microsoft Points off of Marketplace. Hopefully this has been worth the wait, will you be picking it up, and at what price?
Posted Apr 6th 2007 12:15PM by Dustin Burg
Filed under: News
Ubisoft is uncharacteristically up to some viral marketing antics, hosting some teaser for an unannounced game over at www.rev64.com. The website features the face of a man who winces and grimaces and a news stream heard in the background talking about OPEC and its affect on the US. There's a whole bunch of text flanking the right side of the page with clickable links that either play news clips, make the man's face cringe, or play weird sounds. Again, we're not professionals at figuring this viral stuff out, so we'll leave it up to you guys. But we do know that all of Ubisoft's fingerprints are on the site (that's the easy part) and it also showcases the Tom Clancy logo at the bottom of the page (even though IGN reports it as a Rainbow Six logo ... tisk, tisk). Is it a new Rainbow Six game or maybe it's the next Splinter Cell installment, we just can't tell. We'll just have to wait this one out, unless someone wants to spend hours analyzing the website and report back to us. Please?
This week Circuit City is hastily clearancing out a few popular video game titles, selling the original Xbox 360 version of GRAW for $19.99. Yes sir, $20 will get you one of the prettiest looking advanced war fighting games this side of the moon. Even if you're not a huge fan of war-style games, GRAW at $20 is a great "try me" price for anyone sitting on the fence. And if you are sitting on the fence ... why? Fence sitting results in 280 deaths a year, just get down and go buy GRAW already.
According to a Spanish newspaper called El Diario, the Governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua is demanding all copies of GRAW 2 be pulled from retailer's shelves. The Governor's knee jerk reaction to the game seems to be coming from the city of Juarez's mayor who has openly criticized GRAW 2's content calling it "a crime against the intellectual capacity of Juarez residents". And if you don't know, GRAW 2's storyline does deal with Mexican rebels and US forces duking it out on the US / Mexican border ... something the Mexican government obviously doesn't like. What do you think, silly government officials on their soap box or something to be really concerned about?
For unknown reasons, the Rainbow Six Vegas Player's Pack Black Edition downloadable content that released yesterday has been pulled from the XBLM. Major Nelson updated his post stating that new content was pulled, but didn't give a reason for it not being available. Some people who have downloaded the content are stating that the new maps seem to load slower than others, but other than that they didn't find a problem with the Black Edition pack. Stay tuned as we'll be sure to let you know when the content gets placed back onto the Marketplace or when we learn more about what went wrong.
This week Circuit City is hastily clearancing out a few popular video game titles, selling the original Xbox 360 version of GRAW for $19.99. Yes sir, $20 will get you one of the prettiest looking advanced war fighting games this side of the moon. Even if you're not a huge fan of war-style games, GRAW at $20 is a great "try me" price for anyone sitting on the fence. And if you are sitting on the fence ... why? Fence sitting results in 280 deaths a year, just get down and go buy GRAW already.
According to a Spanish newspaper called El Diario, the Governor of the Mexican state of Chihuahua is demanding all copies of GRAW 2 be pulled from retailer's shelves. The Governor's knee jerk reaction to the game seems to be coming from the city of Juarez's mayor who has openly criticized GRAW 2's content calling it "a crime against the intellectual capacity of Juarez residents". And if you don't know, GRAW 2's storyline does deal with Mexican rebels and US forces duking it out on the US / Mexican border ... something the Mexican government obviously doesn't like. What do you think, silly government officials on their soap box or something to be really concerned about?
