Vice Weekly - What’s your vice?

New Rainbow Six “Fan Pack”

Coming out shortly for the hit tactical FPS, Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, is the Fan Pack, which consists of numerous updates and three maps. 2 of the maps, CQB Training and Mudertown are jus relit, or rather, unlit versions of the original maps, while the last map is the fan favorite of the original, Calypso Casino. The casino is a very welcoming addition to the game, since that, along with Casino Vault, were two of the best maps of the original. The Calypso Casino of course includes better textures and lighting. Gameplay features come in from this pack as well. The most noticable to the game is a Call of Duty 4 esque grenade danger indicator. This is very helpful, especially for this game because many times the game just turns into a grenade juggling circus, which is why I love hosts who take them off. Speaking of explosives, Incendiary grenades take a little but longer to detonate, but still are quicker than frags. On the decreased side, zoom is now a faster process.

For the A.C.E.S. side, there are now a total of 100 new ones to achieve, and each one after level 20 gives the player 5000 XP points…niice. And for those who have absolutely no lives (sorry to say), there are 99 new Elite ranks were added, so get at ‘em!

Now, the grand daddy of the whole Fan Pack is…(drum roll)…A NEW GAMETYPE!!! Yes! A new gametype is added to an already great game. “High Stakes Mode” is a brand new concept never before seen, and has twist and turns  everywhere. For starters, taking cover is now best done to peek out at the sides and shoot, as opposed to peek up. Many things are deleted from this gametype, including: aim assistance, radar and grenade indicator, less ammo and gadget rounds, and the whole cover system change which I don’t know how that works. Friendly fire is turned on as well, and when near death, the screen will begin to turn white.

Added host options in Versus Mode include random respawns, team chat while dead.

Ubisoft is definately getting credit for doing some really great fan service. Hopefully this pack will be free, but even still this sounds like ten dollars is well worth the price of the pack. This Fan Pack is due out soon.

Tags: xbox 360 ps3 rainbow six fan pack

Vice Weekly 003 - Babble Box

After a two week hiatus, Vice Weekly returns to grace your ear canals in an epic way. Keith couldn’t make it this week, so Mel, Gary & kevin go all out to make up for the lack of shows. They cover various topics such as Metal Gear Solid 4, Gears of War 2, slouching developers and much more. Check out the return of Vice Weekly, you won’t be disappointed!

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Tags: 360, gears of war, gears of war 2, Metal Gear Solid 4, podcast, ps3

Soul Calibur to go 2v2

Namco’s world famous Soul Calibur series will be seeing a new 2v2 feature in the single player game. Now I know what you’re thinking. 2v2 in single player? 2v2 in VS mode! unfortunately no word has been given by Namco at this time about 2v2 in multiplayer. Namco has clarified on other mechanics however, both brand new and added attributes to old mechanics. Such as new properties on the guard impact that will now make your opponent fall, which I assume you can take advantage of them while they’re on the ground. I would hope the timing becomes tight otherwise this could be broken.

The new Armor Break system works like guard bars from 2d fighters, though it hasn’t been revealed wheather or not the guard bar goes up over time. When your armor breaks you will recieve 10% more damage for the rest of the round. Again I hope this is balanced out or fast paced attackers such as Maxi could destroy your armor in the first seconds of a round. The new Soul Impact activates when your opponent’s health is red, if you guard impact or make your opponent block you can activate the critical finish to end the round. This is another thing and perhaps the most important thing that needs overlooking. I would hope for the sake of a Soul Calibur that your health becomes red at a really small amount, because if not the critical finish destroys most comeback oppurtunities. Create A Character options have been fleshed out as well you can change, colors, voices, weapons, and even the cloth combinations. With the proper balancing, Soul Calibur 4 is shaping up to take its rightful place among the trinity of 3d fighters again

Tags: 360, 4, Calibur, ps3, Soul

PSN Update for June 26th; US Edition

This weeks Playstation Network update isn’t as extravagant, but there are a few things out worth checking out. For you Rock Band fans out there, you now have a nice amount of new songs to download to try your hand at. Also for those who may not have seen the Call or Duty : World at War trailer yet, then you can have your chance to view that as well.

Add-on Game Content

PAIN Nigel Character ($0.99)
File size: 6.74 MB

Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock “I am Murloc” World of Warcraft Single (free)
File size: 13.2 MB

Rock Band
Build your Rock Band library by purchasing these song game tracks.

* “Crackity Jones” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Dead” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Debaser” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Gouge Away” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Here Comes Your Man” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Hey” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “I Bleed” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “La La Love You” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Monkey Gone to Heaven” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Mr. Grieves” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “No. 13 Baby” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Silver” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “Tame” - the Pixies ($1.99)
* “There Goes my Gun” - the Pixies ($1.99)

[Via Playstation blog]

Continue reading PSN Update for June 26th; US Edition

Tags: Playstation Network, ps3, psn, update

360 Premium to receive a price cut?

Word going around today on a lot of sites seems to be that the inevitable is upon us and we will be seeing the Xbox 360 Premium doning a new price tag come next week. Stuff this in the rumor jar for the time being, because as of this writing there is still no confirmation that the Kmart flyer is actually real. Also take into account that this might be a Kmart only special for that week.

If true, this will be a great time for anyone who planned on waiting for a price drop to finally jump at getting the console. The only thing I’m worried about is the fact that this is happening the month of E3, which could mean they’re lowering the price of the Premium unit to possibly release yet another SKU.

What do you guys think?

[Via Joystiq]

Tags: 360, price cut

N+ DLC contains 750 new levels

750?! These guys went to work

For those who don’t know, N+ was an Xbox live arcade game that came out a while ago, which was praised for its beauty in simplicity. Word came out today from Metanet Software, the developer of the game via their blog:

“We just submitted three downloadable levelpacks for N+ XBLA (one of which is free), we’ll be posting with more details as soon as we get a launch time. In total there will be over 750 new levels! The multiplayer maps in particular (over 300 of them) are a lot better than the ones that came with N+, since we’ve had more time to learn what works. We made sure to include more co-op maps, since they’re apparently quite popular.. these ones are even harder, so start practicing!

There’s also a small bonus in each pack which will remain secret for now.. or will it?!”

After playing it I agree, N+ brings you back to a time when games were so much simpler and yet so much more difficult for some reason. It had everything you could ask out of its gameplay. A single player mode, Co-op mode, and even a VS.  option.  The game was fun for hours on end, up to four people could play Co-op at a time. Some levels even required that you had more than 2 people to complete it. If you had a bunch of friends on Xbox Live it was so easy to lose track of time as you jump, wall jump, bounce, and run away from obstacles with your ultimate goal simply being hit the switch and get to the door. With 750 new levels the amount of days given to N+ by already avid fans will be doubled. if you don’t have N+ I would you advise that you get it as well as the new content when it hits the market place.

[Via Desctructoid]

Tags: 360, DLC, n plus, n+

Eternal Sonata: New Year , New Console, New Content

Eternal Sonata graced Western Xbox 360s in September of ‘07 and was well recieved by RPG fans as well as casual 360 owners. It was one of the games that helped define the Xbox360 as an every gamer’s machine by showing everyone that this time around the Xbox had its fair share of Japanese RPGs. However, that was September and now the title finds itself on Sony’s PS3. Surprising? Not really, but the amount of extra content that will be released in the PS3 version is. Usually a port if anything will gain trivial additions such as a new outfit for the main character to wear. The good folks at tri-crescendo have made sure this is not the case. They have added loads of new content into the PS3 version of Eternal Sonata including, new dungeons, two new characters, new quests, multiple endings, new 2D illustrations, and last but not least, new costumes for your characters to wear.

After a year of wait PS3 owners can say it was worth it when the game hits Japanese shelves in September of 2008,. As for those of us here in the US, we’ll just have to wait and see.

[Via Kotaku]

Tags: Eternal Sonata, ps3