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Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage kicks off in Borderlands 2 next week
Just as the Trophies foretold, the next expansion for Borderlands 2 is indeed called "Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage" – big surprise there. Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage will cost 800 MS Points ($10) a la carte when it launches on November 20; if you signed up for the Season Pass, this DLC is included in the up front cost.We were invited to check out the new DLC for about an hour last week. Any Borderlands player worth his weight in Slag will sense an odd familiarity at the heart of Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage almost immediately. While it is a story-driven narrative full of fetch quests and one loud sassy mouth in your earpiece, these instances are tied together with arena battles reminiscent of the many hours I spent in Moxxi's Underdome.That's the sense of familiarity, perhaps not the ideal thing to read considering how abrasive the Underdome DLC was in the first Borderlands; however, Gearbox shows a much more learned execution in the early moments of Torgue's Campaign of Carnage. The big thing is I never felt like any of my time was wasted, perhaps my single biggest complaint about the Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot DLC. %Gallery-171080% I wasn't able to explore that much of the DLC's plot, nor would I want to spoil it for those anxious to pony up at the bar and slam down another tall glass of DLC. But what I took away was Gearbox's dedication to making Mr. Torgue a memorable character, a loud and manly dude whose quips were on par with the dry, threatening sounds of Handsome Jack.Mr. Torgue is much more irreverent and fun, and often enjoys breaking down the third wall to engage in some meta humor with the player. He's more likeable than Jack, but then again he wasn't billed as the bad guy almost immediately. There are places to go and things to see and Mr. Torgue plays the role of sidekick quite well, bringing levity to every situation.And all of my progress wasn't for naught. A big problem with Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot is how none of your progress transcends that DLC prison – once in the arena, you don't get experience points and level up. Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage chooses to sidestep that rule and doesn't force you into a series of claustrophobic arenas – it mixes things up by sending you to completely new areas in-between the arena battles.
Borderlands 2 on Mac Nov. 20
Borderlands 2, which has already shipped 5 million copies on other platforms, will become available for Mac players on November 20. Porting duties will be handled by Aspyr, purveyor of many major Mac ports.The Mac version will support the same drop-in/drop-out features found elsewhere, so the Apple crowd won't be left out of some of the best co-op action of the year.%Gallery-161206%
Borderlands 2 updated to prevent sabotage exploit on Xbox 360
The Xbox 360 version of Borderlands 2 was updated today to "prevent data loss" from an exploit caused by a third-party program.The exploit reportedly could wipe progress or delete characters entirely. At the time, publisher 2K Games and developer Gearbox Software provided a workaround to avoid the exploit.The Gearbox Software update log noted today: "Added security to prevent data loss tied to malicious violations of the Xbox Live Code of Conduct through an unsupported third-party program."And that should be that. Happy vault hunting!
Borderlands' Claptrap returns for second season of web series
With a new Borderlands game comes a new season of web shorts featuring Claptrap, the series' roguish, deeply insane automaton. In this opening episode, Claptrap gives us the lowdown on making Borderlands 2.
The Art of Borderlands 2 up for preorder on Amazon
The Art of Borderlands 2 is, as you might expect, a hardcover art book that celebrates the look and design of Gearbox's latest gun-grabbing first-person shooter. It's available for preorder right now from Amazon.com, for a discounted price of $25.00, down from the usual cost of $40.00.If you can't get enough of Pandora and its combat-prone inhabitants, this should help. The book features over 200 pages of concept and production art, along with insight and commentary from the developers on how it all got put together.The book is set for a publication date of November 5, so there's plenty of time to grab this one and get it wrapped and under the tree for your local gun nut before the holidays.
Gearbox releasing special Halloween skin SHIFT codes today for Borderlands 2
Gearbox is spooking things up today by releasing special SHIFT codes for Borderlands 2. The codes will unlock Halloween-themed character customization skins, including the above buzzy little number for Maya.The giveaway kicks offs at 11AM ET (8AM Pacific, 3PM British) on Gearbox's Twitter and Borderlands' Facebook pages, and codes will be active until November 5 at 0.55AM ET. For extra fun, dress up like the skin you win when you go Halloween-ing tonight. Even though people won't get it, you'll definitely look super cool*.*Joystiq offers no guarantee of your cosmetic coolness
Borderlands 2 has shipped 5M units to date, XCOM a 'critical and commercial success'
Gearbox Software's Borderlands 2 has shipped 5 million units to date, Take-Two interactive announced this morning in its second quarter financials. The company also noted that XCOM: Enemy Unknown is "proving to be a critical and commercial success." Both games are remarked as having "strong digital sales.""Take-Two's second quarter revenue and earnings exceeded our outlook, driven by the breakout success of 2K's Borderlands 2 and robust demand for our catalog and digitally delivered offerings," noted Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick. "Moreover, with Grand Theft Auto 5 slated for spring 2013, we are poised to generate substantial revenue and earnings growth in fiscal year 2014."Both Borderlands 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown currently hold near 90 Metacritic ratings.
Borderlands 2 hack can 'sabotage' characters through Xbox Live, Gearbox warns [Update: patch incoming]
While PS3 and PC owners can sleep soundly at night knowing that their Borderlands 2 characters are safe from the nefarious plots of evil men, Xbox 360 owners are not afforded such a luxury."Users have begun violating the Xbox Live Code of Conduct by using an external application to maliciously disrupt the experience and sabotage characters of legitimate Borderlands 2 players on Xbox 360," Gearbox Studios community manager Chris Faylor said in a post on the developer's official forums.While Gearbox and its "partners" work to resolve the Xbox-specific issue, it recommends avoiding public games with unknown players for the time being. Additionally, players should always Save & Quit before returning to the dashboard or powering down their Xbox, and if you find yourself kicked back to the main menu after death, select "Continue" immediately.What destruction is actually involved in the exploit's sabotage is uncertain – anecdotal accounts on the forum report everything from wiped character progress to entirely deleted characters. We've reached out to Gearbox for clarification and will update with any new information we receive.Update: Gearbox has informed us that a patch to exterminate the exploit has been submitted to Microsoft for approval and will be released "as soon as possible."[Thanks, Justin!]
Hit List Q&A: Randy Pitchford, Gearbox Software President
In the "Hit List" from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences, the video game industry's top talents describe their current gaming addictions, their most anticipated releases and more. This week: Gearbox Software President Randy Pitchford. A note from the AIAS:Randy Pitchford is co-founder, owner and President of Gearbox Software. Randy served as Executive Producer and in creative and development capacities in the creation of Gearbox Software's award winning, best-selling original franchises Brothers in Arms and Borderlands. Under Randy's leadership, Gearbox Software has also developed a string of hits with sequels, expansions, and original games for many of the industry's most credible franchises and in 2010 acquired Duke Nukem to add to its stable of properties. Before the launch of Borderlands 2 on September 18, 2012, Gearbox Software games have sold over 30 million units earning more than $1 billion in gross revenues.What many do not know is that prior to game development, Randy was a professional magician. In his forthcoming 2013 D.I.C.E. Summit session titled "Video Games Are Magic," Randy will explore how the lessons of magical performance apply to our industry. Along the way, he'll demonstrate and expose specific techniques, methods and ideas from magic that illustrate how the art of illusion has a lot in common with the art of interactive entertainment and leave his audience with tools that are useful and applicable from the executive level to the design level of our craft.
Buy AMD Radeon HD 7900, get Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution and Sleeping Dogs free
AMD is doing something innovative with a graphics card bundle: including games we want to play. Engadget reports the company's new 'Never Settle' campaign gives away Far Cry 3, Hitman: Absolution, and Sleeping Dogs with any Radeon HD 7900 series purchase, along with 20 percent off Medal of Honor: Warfighter.The promotion extends across Radeon HD 7770 GHz cards and up. Single 7770 GHz and 7800 purchases get Far Cry 3 and 20 percent off MoH: Warfighter, while dual purchases get Hitman: Absolution thrown in too. AMD places the 7900 bundle's value at over $170, a meaty response to Nvidia's Borderlands 2 freebie with the GeForce GTX 660 Ti.
Captain Scarlett hails Mr. Bubbles in Borderlands 2 'Pirate Booty' DLC
There's an interesting easter egg in the new Borderlands 2 DLC, Captain Scarlett and Her Pirate's Booty. The iconic Big Daddy (AKA Mr. Bubbles) from the BioShock series makes an appearance at some point in the add-on adventure and – well, we don't want to ruin it for you. In the interest of spoilers, we've embedded the video showing off the Pandora version of everyone's favorite child social worker past the break.
Trophies reveal Borderlands 2's next DLC, 'Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage'
It seems that PS3 Trophies for Borderlands 2 have outed upcoming DLC once again. A tipster sent us the above image, and it points to a new piece of content entitled "Mr. Torgue's Campaign of Carnage." The image corroborates rumors of Torgue-related DLC that first popped up in September.Torgue is one of the weapons manufacturers in the Borderlands 2 universe. Presumably, the DLC will involve the man actually in charge of the company. Also presumably, it will involve shooting a lot of things.[Thanks, Sean!]
PSA: Borderlands 2's 'Captain Scarlett' DLC out today
Borderlands 2's first downloadable expansion, Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty, will be available at some point today for Xbox 360, PC and PS3. The expansion adds the sandy Pirate Bay area, the town of Oasis, new enemies and, of course, more loot.Captain Scarlett is the first of four downloadable expansions for the hit game, which sold 1.4 million copies in the US during its debut month, and is priced at $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points) There's also the Borderlands 2 Season Pass, which includes all four pieces of DLC as they become available for $29.99. Now, vault hunters, will you answer the call of booty?%Gallery-168131%
Borderlands 2 Mechromancer trailer shows off your early skills
Sure, most of you have already downloaded Gaige the Mechromancer, the fifth playable character in Borderlands 2, but she was supposed to launch tomorrow. All that play time you already clocked with her? We hope you cherished it, because it was special – Early Bird special.
Analyst: Borderlands 2 sold 1.4 million in US [Update: NPD confirms]
Even though Borderlands 2 bested sales of the first game by 234%, it wasn't able to sell more copies than Madden NFL 13 in September. According to Macquarie Capital analyst Ben Schachter, 1.4 million physical copies of Borderlands 2 were sold in the US at retail since its launch – we've reached out to the NPD for exact September sales. Update: NPD has confirmed with Joystiq that Borderlands 2 sold 1.4 million copies at retail in September. That figure doesn't take into account copies of Borderlands 2 sold digitally, via Steam on PC or as part of the Day 1 initiative on the PlayStation Network. GI.biz says Schachter forecasted a total of three million in sales during the last three months of this year, accounting for the aforementioned digital distribution channels.Borderlands 2 recently released its new character class – the Mechromancer – and will get the first of four DLC content packages on October 16. 'Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty' will be available across all platforms for $9.99 and free to owners of the Borderlands 2 content Season Pass.
Borderlands 2's Captain Scarlett DLC lands on October 16 [update: gallery]
The first Borderlands 2 downloadable expansion, Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty, is landing next week on October 16. Associated Press reports the DLC is set in a new area which features the bandit-occupied slums of Oasis. Gearbox Software president Randy Pitchford described the area as a dried-up landscape "more like Tatooine than an ocean." The Sand Skiff vehicle Pitchford discussed last month also features in the expansion, along with a new currency called "seraph crystals."Captain Scarlett is the first of four downloadable expansions Gearbox is releasing for Borderlands 2, each priced at $9.99. The Borderlands 2 Season Pass makes all four pieces of DLC accessible when they release for $29.99. We've reached out to Gearbox for more information on the upcoming DLC.Update: Gearbox sends some hi-res images of the DLC, including the Sand Skiff after the break. Keep heading on and you'll find a gallery, which also has some box art.
Borderlands 2 Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty DLC outed
The first downloadable expansion for Borderlands 2 is titled 'Captain Scarlett and her Pirate's Booty', according to the game's updated trophy list. PS3Trophies noticed three extra Captain Scarlett trophies added to the game via yesterday's title update.The three trophies are for completing the "X Marks the Spot" mission, discovering all named locations in Oasis and the surrounding Pirate's Booty areas, and completing all Pirate's Booty side missions. This, along with information drawn from the game's PC source files by Gearbox forum users, suggests the DLC introduces new areas.We've reached out to Gearbox for further information on the DLC, and we'll update you as soon as we know more. Until then, this was the voice of the Mysterons, and as ever we know that you can hear us.
PSN Tuesday: Dishonored, Sherlock Holmes, Retro City Rampage, tons more
Today's PS Store dump includes a barrage of full games as part of Sony's Day 1 Digital promotion and its ongoing indie focus. For full games, we have Dishonored, Birds of Steel, Devil May Cry HD Collection and The Testament of Sherlock Holmes.PSN gets Retro City Rampage, The Walking Dead Episode Four: Around Every Corner, Derrick the Deathfin, Machinarium, Worms Revolution and more. Retro City Rampage is also hitting Vita, alongside Dr. Who: The Eternity Clock, Spy Hunter and Sunflowers.Vita is getting three new PSOne Classics, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 4, Destrega and Saiyuki: Journey West. There's also a free demo for this week's big release (that isn't Dishonored), XCOM: Enemy Unknown, and the Mechromancer DLC for Borderlands 2. Check out the complete lineup here.
Borderlands 2's Mechromancer busts out early, available later today [update]
Borderlands 2 is getting its fifth playable character today, a week ahead of schedule. Gearbox chief Randy Pitchford tweeted the surprise breakout for Gaige the Mechromancer, promising the DLC's availability across all platforms sometime today. The content is free with Premiere Club editions of the game, otherwise it costs 800 MSP or $9.99.Last week Gearbox revealed Gaige's skill tree, which imbues the Mechromancer and her robotic accomplice Deathtrap with a whole host of deadly abilities. We also discovered how she sounds via the above recording, all innocence and sweetness until she starts yelling about jerk-bags and smashing the system.Update: The DLC is now available for Xbox 360 and PC. It looks like players on PlayStation 3 have to wait a little bit longer to take the Mechromancer out for a spin.
Take a look at the Borderlands 2 Mechromancer skill tree
Gearbox has posted the full skill tree for upcoming Borderlands 2 DLC character Gaige the Mechromancer. The interactive skill tree lets you pump 46 points into three different tracks, providing an ample preview of what to expect from Gaige and her pal Deathtrap.Gaige can do thing like ricochet bullets, share her shield with Deathtrap and even elementally charge her robotic pal with whatever properties her gun is imbued with. Head on over through the source link below and spend some points!
