Monthly Archives: March 2015
Titanfall’s Three DLC Packs are Free on Xbox One and Xbox 360
Titanfall's Season Pass content is currently available to download free of charge on the Xbox One and the Xbox 360, according to listings on the Xbox Games Store.
Today marks the one year anniversary of the launch of Respawn Entertainment’s multiplayer first-person shooter. Its release was followed shortly by a trilogy of downloadable content packs, that were normally available separately for US$9.99 or as a Season Pass pack priced at US$24.99. The three map packs are currently available for free for both systems via the Xbox Games Store as the Season Pass bundle or as separate packs.
Australia to Trial New, Free Classification System for Online Games
Minister for Justice Michael Keenan has announced that Australia will soon commence a year-long trial of a new classification tool that will allow developers to get mobile and online games rated without needing to submit them to the Australian Classification Board.
Keenan confirmed that Australia has joined the International Age Rating Coalition (IARC), a partnership of government and industry content classification agencies from around the world, including the United States, Canada, Europe, and Brazil.
As a result, Australia is now preparing to trial the use of the IARC’s new tool for classifying games. The IARC rating tool is an online questionnaire where developers answer a series of questions about content. Based on these responses the IARC tool assigns the most appropriate rating from various territories around the world, and digital storefronts automatically display the correct rating information for each territory.
This Liquid Metal Thinks for Itself
A new self-powered liquid metal motor could be bringing us all one step closer to a real-life T-1000.
New Scientist explains the device: "just a drop of metal alloy made mostly of gallium – which is liquid at just under 30 °C – with some indium and tin mixed in. When placed in a solution of sodium hydroxide, or even brine, and kept in contact with a flake of aluminium for 'fuel', it moves around for about an hour. It can travel in a straight line, run around the outside of a circular dish, or squeeze through complex shapes."
This Week on the PSN
Every Tuesday, Sony drops a bunch of new stuff onto the PlayStation Network. Those with a PlayStation 4, PlayStation 3, or PlayStation Vita can download these goodies, which include PSN games, movies, themes and more. While the Official PlayStation Blog outlines these updates in full each week, we thought we'd help truncate the good news into something more digestible.
Here are this week's new PS4 games. You can begin pre-ordering Borderlands: The Handsome Collection this week as well.
- DmC: Devil May Cry Definitive Edition ($39.99)
Want the Mother Soundtrack on Vinyl? Here’s Your Kickstarter
Ship to Shore PhonoCo. is hoping to release a fully-licensed soundtrack from the 1989 video game Mother (its sequel, Mother 2 is known as EarthBound in the West) as a vinyl LP.
The Kickstarter will allow for the making of 2,000 copies of the album, while any extra money raised will go toward pressing additional copies. Also, 500 copies will be pressed on transparent red vinyl that will be exclusive to this campaign. In addition, a digital liner notes booklet is being created with Fangamer to accompany the album.
Undead Labs Finds ‘Ridiculous’ Amounts of Penises In State Of Decay
When Undead Labs began revamping its 2013 zombie-survival game with the upcoming State of Decay: Year One Edition, the developer found a surprise in the game’s higher 1080p resolution textures that was concealed in the lower resolution version.
Undead Labs outsourced the creation of some of the textures and assets to contractors to assist with the original game’s development. The indie developer only discovered recently with the enhanced resolution and texture quality that the hired artists had designed penises into the game’s textures.
“Some of our contractors worked a ridiculous amount of genitalia into the background,” Undead Labs senior designer Geoffrey Card told XBLA Fans during PAX East.
Daredevil: All of the Cool Stuff in the New Trailer
The new Daredevil trailer has hit and it's full of martial arts action and Kingpin goodness. Check out our detailed breakdown of all the cool Easter eggs, references, and interesting tidbits we found.
A very large, very bald man is meeting someone, with the New York City skyline in the background. This is Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), the Kingpin of Crime.
Rockstar Issues Statement Regarding GTA Online Issues
Rockstar has acknowledged that players are currently experiencing issues connecting to GTA Online in wake of the release of the highly-anticipated Heist DLC.
“We are aware of some issues today with players having problems connecting to GTA Online, as well as issues with the Xbox Live service,” said Rockstar in a statement provided to IGN. “We are working to restore full access to GTA Online as quickly as possible.”
Rockstar also noted that players can monitor the performance of all platforms on the publisher’s GTA Online status page. At the time of publishing, status across Xbox 360, Xbox One, PS3, and PS4 is indicated as “limited” and the Rockstar Social Club is “up”.
HBO NOW and Apple Deal Is a Timed Exclusive
The standalone HBO NOW app will be coming to Apple products exclusively, but that exclusivity deal has an expiration date. An HBO spokesperson confirmed that the deal with Apple begins in April and will last for three months.
The new HBO app was officially announced at Apple's live event on March 9, confirming an earlier report that HBO was in talks with Apple to be a launch partner for the new service.
But what, exactly, does the deal mean for you? The very thought of an app that allows access to the entire HBO library of original programming is like some beautiful dream. For the time being, accessing that wealth of programming will be the privilege of those who own an Apple device, be it iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad, or AppleTV. Once you've registered through the app on an Apple device, you can watch HBO programming in a browser on a Mac or PC by visiting hbonow.com.
Daily Deals: $360 PS4, Classic GTA Games Sale, Logitech Gaming Mouse Sale
$360 PS4 With The Last of Us Remastered and Wired Headset
Use code TAXHACK10 to get $40 off this bundle. You've got two days to cash in on deal. This code works sitewide on Groupon, so shop around.