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God of War: Ascension, Power Stone, and paying allegiance to the gods
When asked about how he and the team at Sony Santa Monica are bringing multiplayer into the God of War series with God of War: Ascension, game director Todd Papy digs deep for inspiration. The single-player side of the game is obviously an influence, he says, as multiplayer side of the game attempts to enhance the always cinematic world of Kratos with a new character called the Avatar.But then things get a little nuts. "You can look at Allegiance levels," says Papy, referring to the mode's customization choices defined by the four gods Zeus, Hades, Poseidon, and Ares, "and you can look at Diablo and Call of Duty and other games that have skill trees that you basically level up."And then you can look at Power Stone," says Papy, "as far as that old school melee feel to it." Yes. That's the one. Playing God of War: Ascension's renamed "Favor of the Gods" mode, and running around with up to eight other players flipping switches, executing combos, and earning favor points does feel a whole lot like the Dreamcast classic. In a strange way, to be honest. But a good one nevertheless.%Gallery-172713%
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Angry, desperate, hungry, cold
Everyone has different definitions of what constitutes a hero. City of Heroes features plenty of them, after all, and even then there's a breadth of different elements that make them heroic. Some of them are bravely fighting against the odds with unreliable powers or no powers outside of training. Some are heroes who have all the power in the world, but they consider the needs of society to be greater than their own needs. But there's one unifying trait so simple as to be almost comical to state. Heroes do the right thing. No matter what. So it's kind of silly to try and glorify the actions of Emperor Cole's jackbooted maniacs, rallying under the "loyalist" banner as if stomping on people were something to be proud about. The fact of the matter is that Cole has been named Tyrant pretty appropriately, crushing any chance for an entire world to make its own choices and mistakes and steps forward. And the reward for handing him control has been paradise, sure -- if you consider what he's offering a paradise.
Allegiance Communications rolls out array of HD channels
Though Allegiance Communications may not be known very well nationally, we're sure mid-sized markets in Oklahoma, Kansas, Missouri, Arkansas and Texas are quite familiar with the name. Nevertheless, said cable carrier has reportedly just "completed the first phase of channel additions for 2008," and there's definitely some HD love mixed in. According to Oklahoma's Tecumseh Countywide News, local residents can now access A&E HD, HGTV HD, Food Network HD, National Geographic HD and Starz HD on channels 972, 973, 975, 976 and 974, respectively. Better still, the outfit has also promised that ESPN2 HD will be joining the fold in the coming months, and just in case that still wasn't enough, subscribers can look forward to Chiller, Fox Business HD and RFD HD showing up in the not-too-distant future. Not bad for a rural carrier, huh?
Allegiance's USB PC card adapter
We've been waiting around a while for a USB PC card adapter (that wasn't $600), and you don't have to be a MacBook or MacBook Pro user to appreciate this little number -- you'd be surprised how many smaller machines these days come slot-free. Allegiance's notably shoddy looking adapter (shown right) purportedly supports a variety of Cingular, Sprint, and Verizon cards out of box, and for a surprisingly lean cost of $200. Too bad they're back-ordered into June (and too bad the box looks enormous), but hey, now you've got something if you couldn't Bluetooth DUN or tether your way into some wireless access. [Via GottaBeMobile]
