A lot of stuff happens in the world of games every week - some of which you might have missed. Here's a quick round-up of what we considered to be the most talked about news stories of the past five days....
Internal clock error leads to ApocalyPS3. It is short-lived
For a minute there things were looking desperate. Panic. Fear. People screaming in the streets. PS3 owners huddled under tables in the duck-and-cover position. Empty playgrounds. Run for the hills. The end was upon us. That was Monday. By Tuesday, the cataclysmic chaos caused by the PS3's internal clock going cuckoo was over. Resolved. Fixed. Disaster averted. Business as usual.
We catalogued the entire nightmarish saga. We shall never forget.
Stupid research proves something we already knew
So apparently, 8% of gamers show signs of 'addiction' according to a study done by an Australian Hospital. Yes, that's 8%. If we were doing 'research' and the most interesting part of it involved the figure '8%' we'd probably keep quiet about it.
Take this example: Shock news! 8% of people wear wigs. Umm, that's sort of insignificant.
Now try this: Shock news! 98% of people wear wigs. F***, really? That's amazing.
Anyway, so 8% of us are addicted to games.
Valve make hard work of (probably) announcing Portal 2
Valve love a good tease. They're little bloody teasers. And this week Valve seemed to be taking great pleasure - and went to great lengths - in teasing a possibly imminent announcement regarding Portal 2.
First up they released an update for the PC version of Portal that made the radios in the game transmit a secret code. Next, another update added a new ending cut-scene. Which you can watch here if you don't mind about spoilers and all that:
Internet detectives got busy deciphering the messages and trying to make sense of it all. We were kind of relying on them to work it out because we simply didn't have the time. Unfortunately, all we've got are hundreds of pages on the Steam forums of speculation and question marks.
Guess we'll just have to wait and see. Just like we're waiting for Half-Life 2: Episode 3. The little bloody teasers.
Activison and Infinity Ward bosses go to war
Monday 1st March will go down as quite a significant day in the annals of videogame history - not only was it the ApocalyPS3 but it was an equally dark day for Infinity Ward, creators of the biggest game series on the planet, Modern Warfare.
On Monday afternoon reports emanated from Infinity Ward's LA office that security guards had entered the building and senior employees Jason West (IW President) and Vince Zampella (CEO) had 'not been seen'. Clearly some 'heavy shit' was going down.
It was. We later discovered that Activision had fired West and Zampella for breach of contract and insubordination. Since then, the pair have filed a lawsuit against Activison for unpaid royalties worth $36 million dollars.
So what went wrong? Quite alot, according to the official lawsuit document which has showed up online.
In essence, Zampella and West claim they signed a contract or 'Memorandum of Understanding' with Activision, which among other things promised royalty payments to Infinty Ward studios which normally would have been recieved by 31 March 2010.
They further claim that Activision didn't honour the MOU following the release of Modern Warfare 2, and instead launched an investigation against the two studio heads with the intention of firing them before they were due to make the royalty payments.
It would appear that until the lawsuit has been judged by a court the fate of the Modern Warfare series hangs in the balance.
Halo Reach video shows multiplayer beta
Is this video of the week? Not sure, but it is the first multiplayer gameplay footage of the Halo Reach multiplayer beta. Of note is the use of jetpacks, which prompts CVG to make a comparison with fairly ancient FPS Tribes.
Most PCs can run the first Crysis 2 shots
Your computer may wilt like a crippled flower under the strain of whatever specs Crysis 2 will sadistically demand, but at least most rigs could handle the first shots without requiring any NASA-sized upgrades. These are the pictures:
As you can see, the two images show - we presume - the beefy Nanosuited protagonist boshing about in an under-attack New York. General consensus is that the grafix look shit hot.
COD of War
If you don't get the fairly contrived pun, your loss, but we're alluding to the fact that while one branch of the Call of Duty series is in turmoil another is being announced - and it's an action-adventure game.
So in our mind it's like God of War but set in a Theatre of War of the last 50 years. Take your pick which one, because the only piece of info that Activision has released on this new title is the developer (newly formed Sledgehammer Games) and that it will be out some time in 2011.
Killzone 3 will be 3D
Totally rumourific at the moment, but an anonymous source has told CVG that the next Killzone will be compatible with Sony's still-to-be-named magic wizzy wand motion stick thingy. Not only that, but the game will be playable in stereoscopic 3D. Or, at least, it will be if you've got a 3D-enabled TV or monitor.
The 3D stuff we can believe. There's going to be a big push on 3D technology in the next five years and, with all the lovely 3D TVs that it makes, it's certainly in Sony's interests to be leading the charge.
But motion controls? In Killzone? We no likey that idea so much. We no likey the look of the motion controller. It looks like a lady vibrator. And we don't want to fight the Helghast with a lady vibrator in our hand.
