Arthur Gies

Previews Editor

Arthur is your curmudgeonly (but fair!) local Previews Editor. He's been writing about games since 2007, and has had work appear on 1up.com, Gamespy, PC World, The Washington Post, Team Xbox, and most recently served as an Editor at IGN. He co-hosts one of the internet's most hated podcasts, Rebel FM. But your mom would probably like him. At least, that's what she said last night.

Articles by Arthur Gies

Max Payne 3: A man on fire
I watched Max Payne take cover, and I inhaled sharply. I watched him jump out of it into bullet time, and I let out my breath. Max Payne 3 is the most precarious situation Rockstar has gotten itself into in years. It's been eight years since the last Max Payne title, Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. To give you a bit of perspective, Max Payne 2 came out just a few weeks after Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, and Grand Theft Auto 3 had just released on the Xbox. Feel old yet? If not, there's a good chance you haven't played a Max Payne game before.%Gallery-135972%
Max Payne 3 screens have hair, QA with developers
You saw that Max Payne 3 trailer, and I'm sure your first thought was: "What happened to his hair?" It rocked your world. It made you question whatever deity you believe in. It made you question the existence of deities you don't believe in! Well, we've got good news for you - Max isn't bald. He's shaving it off. And to prove it, Rockstar has a few screenshots for you to show you that it's not genetic, it's a fashion choice. Be thankful. Some of us aren't so lucky. Meanwhile, Rockstar took non-folicular questions from social networks and politely answered them at Rockstargames.com. Because that's what people with hair do.%Gallery-135879%
Apple founder Steve Jobs passes away at 56
The Mac may have long since abdicated much of a claim to gaming, but you would need to be blind to have missed the marked effect on gaming made by the iPhone and iOS over the last three years. With that in mind, we'd be remiss in ignoring former Apple CEO and founder Steve Jobs passing today at the age of 56. Jobs stepped down from his CEO position earlier this year due to his waning health. Jobs is survived by his wife Laurene and his three children, and his biological sister Mona Simpson.
Sony implies all first-party titles to use Online Pass
We hope you like using that on-screen keyboard on your PS3. Sony confirmed in a statement today that Uncharted 3 will use the Online Pass system introduced earlier this year with Resistance 3. However, the same statement also specified that "Online Pass will be incorporated into... future Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios games with online functionality." Similar to EA's Project Ten Dollar and other single-use code programs from other developers, Sony's Online Pass ties multiplayer functionality to the use of, er, a single-use code. While Sony didn't actually spell out Online Pass use "forever and ever," they did include a portentious "We will provide further information in the future." We recommend a USB keyboard.
Epic and Adobe announce Unreal Engine 3 support for Flash 11
While everyone else was watching Apple talk about games on the iPhone, Adobe and Epic had a different cat to let out of its bag: Unreal Engine 3 support for the web-based Flash Player 11. During Adobe's annual ADOBE MAX conference, Adobe and Epic demonstrated a version of Unreal Tournament 3 running in Adobe's ubiquitous web plugin. This could mark a major transition in social gaming, particularly on Facebook and Google Plus – social game developers already leverage Flash heavily on both platforms. Infinity Blade visuals on Facebook? It could happen. Full press release after the break.%Gallery-135737%
RAGE review: Anger management
RAGE isn't what you think it is. In fact, it's easiest to tell you what RAGE isn't right away. It's nothing like Fallout 3. It's nothing like Borderlands. It's not an RPG, though Id and Bethesda have used RPG terminology in describing it. It's not much of an open world. It's not very big. It's not very long. And unfortunately, it's not the return to prominence that Id fans have been hoping for.%Gallery-129768%
Webzen and Firefall developer Red 5 kiss, make up
Back in July, Red 5, developers of the upcoming MMO RPG/Shooter hybrid Firefall, filed for legal arbitration against their Korean publisher Webzen. Alleging breach of contract and a host of other accusations, Red 5 later found themselves hit with a counter-suit courtesy of Webzen, and... you really don't care about any of this, in all likelihood. What you do care about is whether or not you'll ever be able to play Firefall, and why wouldn't you? It sounds pretty sweet. Well, good news! Webzen and Red 5 have settled with each other, according to a press release sent out this evening. The details? Webzen gets "compensation" for the development costs they covered, and they'll get cut into revenue generated by Firefall when it launches "for a time." Red 5 gets, well, to finish the game, and no longer has to deal with Webzen. Full press release details after the jump.
The bloody corporate future of Syndicate
Starbreeze's Syndicate is everything a particular group of PC gamers fears it is. It's not isometric. It's not particularly focused on slow, methodical strategy. And you have direct control over your character, a departure from the CEO-using-mindless-drones-as-chess-pieces schtick of the original game. So for some of you, the fight's already lost. You can stop reading now. For everyone else, you'll definitely want to keep reading. Because the new Syndicate is pretty cool.%Gallery-135195%
Felicia Day takes us through Dragon Age 2: Mark of the Assassin
Felicia Day likes Dragon Age 2 so much she almost got me killed. In Dragon Age 2, I mean. Last week I hung out with the actress as she showed me Dragon Age 2's new DLC, Mark of the Assassin, starring ... well, her. "I created the character with BioWare inputs," Day told me. "I played through the game several more times, you know? It was the best kind of research."%Gallery-134111%
Microsoft solves Reach disc issues with Games on Demand
Did you get one of Microsoft's special copies of Halo: Reach? You know, the ones that were sent out to test their recent security update allowing developers more space on Xbox 360 game discs. You were probably super-stoked. Your stoke-age was halted this week though, in all likelihood, as the most recent Reach title update prevented players using one of those magic free discs to get online – and from enjoying the beta playlists designed to ease players into Halo CE Anniversary's multiplayer tweaks. Microsoft has previously mentioned that a simple title update probably wouldn't get the job done. So today, they've started giving away Games on Demand copies of the game to affected users.
Finding The Missing Link in Deus Ex's First DLC
I'm not sure if Deus Ex: Human Revolution's first add-on, "The Missing Link", could have stumbled into view more clumsily than it did. A sort of alternate reality game revealed its existence, but clever players figured out more than Square-Enix and Eidos Montreal bargained for, leaking the premise and "The Missing Link's" primary gameplay conceit without any sort of context. It really hurt the general excitement levels for one of the most well-received games of the year. I'm here to give you that context. And I might just be here to give you back some of that general excitement too. %Gallery-134718%
The sound and fury of BF3's Operation Guillotine (with first 360 footage)
The thing that never quite comes across in all of the footage EA and DICE have released is how likely Battlefield 3 is to get you kicked out of your apartment. Take this video, for example. It looks great. We're seeing the Frostbite 2 engine at night, for a change, and that light mortar? Awesome. And there are plenty of explosions in there, and gunshots, and yeah, they seem loud. But the videos just don't cover it. How do I know? Because I just sat at Dolby Labs in San Francisco and played it. And let me tell you. You have no idea.%Gallery-134127%
New Starhawk trailer goes to space, brings cowboys and their friends
Did you totally dig the Starhawk reveal a few months ago, but get turned off by all that dirt? Well, good news! There's less dirt in space. Unfortunately, there are hordes of pissed off war-painted people up there. It's a trade-off.
Gears of War 3 review: The damage done
A lot of high profile sequels are exceedingly self-conscious exercises in trying to manage player expectation, to change just enough, but throw in enough of the same to keep things familiar. Gears of War 3, on the other hand, is the most confident release this year. The word polish is bestowed often, but Gears of War 3 is embarrassingly well assembled. Anyone who played this spring's multiplayer beta has an inkling of this. From a mechanical standpoint, the third-person, cover-based shooting in Gears has never been as fluid, as responsive to player input. Weapons feel and sound fantastic and pack the punch that previous iterations struggled with. But it isn't just those meat and potatoes aspects – or the beautiful, colorful visual palette on display, a marked departure from Gears 1 and 2 – it's the entire package. Nothing in Gears of War 3 feels like an afterthought. %Gallery-133846%
Vita launches in Japan on December 17th [Updated, launch price, pre-order info]
While North American audiences won't be getting their mitts on Sony's sleek new handheld until sometime next year, Japanese audiences don't have much longer to wait. Sony's next system launches in its home territory on December 17th. Pre-orders for Japanese customers are available starting October 15th. Japanese gamers have a few different options when picking up a Vita. For the 3G-equipped model (with service courtesy of Japanese telco DoCoMo), MSRP is ¥29,980 (roughly $389.80 USD). For the Wi-Fi only model, it'll be a more modest ¥24,980, or $324.80 USD. Be sure to check out our liveblog for up-to-the-minute information live from Sony's TGS press conference.
Square Enix announces Final Fantasy 10 remake for PS Vita - and PS3
The title says it all. As one of the few well-received bits of news during this morning's Sony TGS press conference, Square Enix announced that it will bring the PS2 hit, Final Fantasy X, to the Vita and its big brother in remastered form. Details on exactly what this means were scarce, but we imagine it'll look prettier and prettier-er on the Vita and PS3, respectively.
Launch line-up for Japanese Vita launch leaks [Update: UMvC3 confirmed, more]
Sure, you're probably excited (or moderately curious) to see what Sony has in store for its TGS press conference that starts in ... oh, about five minutes or so. We wouldn't want to dampen any of that excitement, but someone made an oopsie and left a slide from Sony's presentation on the screen long enough for some enterprising individual to take a picture and, well, you see where this is going. The full list of Sony's Vita lineup at TGS is after the break.
Gears of War 3 gets Golden launch week bonuses
If you didn't get your very own gold-plated murder machine during the Gears of War 3 beta back in April, we've got good news – which is, uh, that you'll still be able to do that. The US Air Force is sponsoring "Gears of War 3 Golden Wings Week" for next week's Gears 3 launch, and players who go online to share their chainsaw-powered love with other Gears players between September 20 - 26 will unlock the Golden Lancer and Golden Hammerburst weapon skins. While these don't actually do anything (other than make you a more obvious target, possibly), they are a great way to let people know you were playing the game before they were. Unless you weren't, in which case, let the bonding begin! Of course, you can get even more bonding in via the real-world, real-big Gears of War 3 launch event at the Times Square Best Buy in New York on September 19th, which comes complete with its own real-live Cliff Bleszinski. Or, we guess you could just watch the live broadcast on Gametrailers TV with host Aisha Tyler, or go to one of the more pedestrian midnight releases. You know. If you're boring.
Syndicate details leak online via Origin
Back in April of last year, a copyright document ferreted out by Superannuation revealed that Starbreeze, the developer of Escape From Butcher Bay and The Darkness, was hard at work on a revival of the Syndicate series for EA. Now it appears that we're all about to get our first look at the fruits of Starbreeze's labor, judging by an early posting to EA's Origin store, caught by the all-seeing eye of Mordo – we mean, gaming forum NeoGAF. There's plenty of info over at GAF, but the particularly interesting bits include Chips, which add new abilities and skills, four-player cooperative play, and a story penned by Crysis 2 scripter (and author of Altered_Carbon, Black Man/Thirteen and more) Richard K. Morgan. The scuttlebutt indicates that Syndicate will debut in next week's Gamesreactor magazine (a Swedish publication), and really, EA couldn't have picked a better time to reveal a Sci-Fi Noir action-adventure title, could it?
Anonymous Tumblr account accuses Crytek of employee mistreatment
A CEO with a big personality? A game with a high-profile delay? Disgruntled employees? You'd think we were talking about LA Noire and soon-to-be-defunct studio Team Bondi - or, uh, Red Dead Redemption, now that we think about it – but you'd be wrong! Nope, this time it's German developer Crytek in the crosshairs of an anonymous Tumblr account alleging a whole host of unsavory management practices.