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PSA: Modern Warfare 3 fires off 'Content Collection #1' on PSN today
Patient PS3 players can now purchase the first DLC dump for Modern Warfare 3. Non-premium Call of Duty Elite members and stock Modern Warfare 3 players can now download Content Collection #1, which includes a smattering of multiplayer maps and a pair of Spec Ops missions.Content Collection #1 can be downloaded on PSN right now for $14.99. Within it you'll find multiplayer maps Overwatch, Liberation, Piazza and Black Box – plus Spec Ops missions Black Ice and Negotiator.
Overwatch drops on Modern Warfare 3 PS3 March 29; Black Ice, Black Box and Negotiator 'on or around April 12'
PS3 players, you've got some new maps coming your way over the next 30 days. One of Swords reports that Overwatch is set to drop on Modern Warfare 3 PS3 on March 29. It'll be available to premium subscribers of the Call of Duty Elite service on PS3.Then, the multiplayer map Black Box, and two Spec Ops maps, Black Ice and Negotiator, will come to PS3 "on or around April 12." We recently got our hands on those maps, which we wrote about here.If you're wondering about the vague date, it's because the time for posting the DLC on the PlayStation Network is up to Sony -- it could go live in the morning, or it could go live late at night.
Negotiation with extreme prejudice in Modern Warfare 3 Spec Ops DLC
Striking that balance of emotional impact and tension in video games is no easy task. For one, video games aren't real, so I generally don't concern myself much when I run over a virtual pedestrian or cut off an AI driver in the final lap. I don't care if I'm a jerk in a video game.But there's something about watching some thug shoot an innocent virtual person in the face, directly in front of me, that really ticks me off. As Sledgehammer Games community manager Guy Beahm and I ran through the Spec Ops DLC coming to Modern Warfare 3 Elite subscribers tomorrow, and as part of Content Collection #1, I genuinely felt lousy when I was seconds from saving a hostage. I really wanted to save these people.%Gallery-149099%
iRobot Negotiator is a tactical bot for those mean suburban streets
There's a new iRobot in the wings, ready for that all-important cat-in-a-tree incident your neighborhood has been gearing up for over the past decade. Well, kind of. The new iRobot Negotiator is designed for "public safety organizations" who don't need or can't afford the $100k PackBot 510. The Negotiator is built to provide basic reconnaissance to police and fire departments and public safety professionals, with an optional "civil response kit" to enhance its spybot prowess and chemical detection capabilities. The Negotiator should start shipping in Q4 2008 for around $15,000, with accessories bumping that price up to $20k and giving it flippers to climb stairs.Update: We just noticed that the iRobot Negotiator bears some, erm, striking similarities to the Robot FX Negotiator. If you'll remember, not only did iRobot win its lawsuit against Robot FX, it also bought up all of Robot FX's assets. Sounds like this is iRobot's shot at recouping some of those hefty court fees, but couldn't they have at least changed the name?
iRobot sues Robot FX over alleged patent infringement
It looks like Robot FX has run into a bigger obstacle than it's bargained for, with the company now facing not one but two lawsuits from iRobot over alleged patent infringement. Apparently, iRobot thinks that Robot FX's "Negotiator" robot is a little too similar to iRobot's popular Packbot, and it's asking for a permanent injunction to prevent Robot FX from selling any more of the bots, along with the usual damages. Adding further to the intrigue is the fact that Robot FX was founded by a former iRobot employee, who is specifically named in the second lawsuit claiming misappropriation and misuse of confidential information relating to the Packbot. Sadly, it seems that the whole matter will have to be settled in court, and not in a winner-take-all robot death match as we would have hoped.
A clever adventure game from the Simple series?
D3 Publisher, best known for Puzzle Quest and Naruto games over here, is up to volume 25 in their Simple DS series in Japan. The latest is quite a bit more interesting on the surface than most of the imitators they release: an adventure game about police negotiation.Rather than being a simple graphical text adventure, The Negotiator involves researching background information about criminals and investigating the scene before attempting to contact them. Of course, as with other Simple games, the execution may not live up to the concept, but the concept is so strong here that we almost feel like it's worth a shot anyway. There's precedent for domestic releases of Simple DS games in the form of Break 'em All. Not only that, but D3 recently released Puzzle Quest in Japan as a Simple game. We can only hope that either The Negotiator makes the overseas trip or that it's terrible enough for us not to want it. We're selfish!
