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EA says Red Alert 3 online multiplayer issues with Steam were 'quickly resolved'
Recently, some Steam users reported issues with recently purchased copies of Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 -- issues said to be caused by missing serial numbers required for online play that weren't included with digitally distributed copies of the game. EA today confirmed to Joystiq via Twitter that the issue had been "quickly resolved," further adding that "all is well back in Steam land." We've followed up with EA to find out the nature of the issue and for more information on its resolution, but until we hear back, you go enjoy dropping war bears into online matches. That's what they're there for, after all. %Gallery-16114%
PSA: Uncharted 2 double cash weekend, Santa hats in play
In our rush to the yule late this past week, we nearly forgot to mention that Nathan Drake and Nathan Drake lookalikes (Drakealikes?) have the chance to earn double cash (read: XP) this weekend in Uncharted 2's multiplayer mode. Donning the ubiquitous red cap (and apparently two brand new invisible hands), those taking Drake online will encounter not just jollier looking foes, but also "double for all kills and medals," according to Naughty Dog marketing man Arne Meyer on the PlayStation Blog. The temporary XP boost kicked in on Christmas Eve (December 24) at 10AM PST and goes until tomorrow at 11AM PST, so there are still at least another 24 or so hours to shoot some of those dastardly Drakealikes in multiplayer. %Gallery-51151%
Avatar mutliplayer trailer pits giant blue things against humans
It could happen this week, it could happen next week, but sometime in the month of December, Ubisoft will decide to liberate Avatar from the shackles of game development. And when that happens, we're prepared to go directly online and start popping 10-foot blue things with our big human weapons. This is about survival, ya dig? It appears that in addition to simply plugging bullets into the creatures, Ubisoft will also be allowing for some form of capture the flag (wait, isn't this about survival?). Other than that one crucial detail, the only info we gleaned from the multiplayer trailer above is that there'll be a ton of explosions, even more mid-air flip-kicks, and explosion/flip-kick-laden jungle combat when the game does finally come out. For now, unfortunately, you'll have to sate yourselves with something totally boring like Modern Warfare 2. Humans against humans? Pssshhht, that's so mid-November. %Gallery-70590%
Splash Damage's Brink wants to change your mind on multiplayer
Are you one of these folks who don't even realize there's a "multiplayer button" in your first-person shooters? After spending hours with the single-player campaign, you shelve the game and press onward, eschewing time with multiplayer for other, more solitary experiences? Splash Damage head Paul Wedgwood wants to change your attitude, telling Eurogamer in an interview that his studio's upcoming FPS Brink will do just that. "It's our goal from the outset to incidentally teach people to be good at multiplayer shooters while they're playing our single-player shooter," he says. Apparently, Brink will offer in-game rewards (double XP, for instance) to players willing to take their game online. "At a certain point in the game we say to them, 'Why don't you just try co-op and see how you go? For this next mission we're going to give you twice the number of experience points if you play co-operatively with somebody else.'" Thankfully though, he assures the internet-less among us (how are you reading this?!) that there's plenty of game in Brink without having to go online. "Your experience through it, imagining you have no internet connection should, for us to have achieved our goal, be as compelling as any other triple-A shooter." We'll find out if his plan works when Brink arrives sometime next year. %Gallery-64854%
Super Street Fighter IV getting 8-person lobbies for online multiplayer
Much to the chagrin of many Street Fighter fans trying to get their online multiplayer on, matchmaking issues and lack of a multiplayer lobby system really stood out as glaring missteps in Street Fighter IV. Thankfully, it appears that Capcom has taken the hint and will be including an eight-person multiplayer lobby for groups to observe other matches and virtually "quarter up," as it were. SSFIV's Masahiro Taguchi let the cat out of the bag on the official Japanese blog for the game (translated by Andriasang), saying that the regular ol' Street Fighter IV did not properly convey "the feeling of players gathering together for fights." He says that the ability to create multiplayer lobbies was on the table before creating SFIV, but was scrapped in favor of the one-on-one model currently in place. As frame rate can be a particularly important issue with fighting games relative to other genres, Taguchi makes a point to dispel any worries of online stuttering while observers look on to games in progress, though admitting that the process of making this lag free was a bit of a "technical feat." We're looking forward to putting Taguchi's claims to the test in 2010 when Super Street Fighter IV lands on our consoles. [Via Andriasang]
Rockstar revamps Social Club's online leaderboards and stat tracking for Gay Tony
With the release of this week's second Grand Theft Auto IV expansion The Ballad of Gay Tony, the game's developer has decided to update the online multiplayer statistics tracking in order to reflect the new multiplayer game types. The addition of "BASE Jump" to the mulitplayer as well as "new, tighter Deathmatch arenas" helped spur the leaderboard overhaul, according to the developer blog. The various new additions being made due to the DLC will even get their own section on the Rockstar Social Club, presumably for the four of you tracking your new GTAIV DLC stats after Modern Warfare 2 releases in a couple weeks.
Confirmed: Dead Rising 2 has multiplayer
Hey, remember when a representative from Dead Rising 2's middleware developer, mental mill, mentioned during a GDC presentation that Dead Rising 2 would have "multiplayer sessions," and then another mental mill representative said the first representative misspoke, and meant to say "multiplatform?" Good. Keep that hilariously convoluted exchange locked away in your mind for a minute.Capcom development head Keiji Inafune recently confirmed to Eurogamer that Dead Rising 2 will have some form of online multiplayer component. No specifics about the multiplayer offerings have been revealed, though it's nice to finally have a clear answer on the existence of this long obfuscated feature.[Via Shacknews]
Raging Thunder tries online multiplayer
Raging Thunder is one of those games we've been watching since the App Store was first announced, and now it may have reached another milestone. Polarbit says that with version 1.0.3, which is in the App Store now, they've released online, real-time competitive multiplayer. They say it's an App Store first, and I think they're right -- a few games have offered wifi multiplayer before (Apple's Hold'em does, and Raging Thunder did previously), and some games have done some non-real time multiplayer (Loot Wars is interesting in that way) but allowing players to play competitively online in real-time is something that hasn't been done much.It's not quite on the level of Xbox Live yet -- Polarbit is offering a free beta of their server software on the website, so you've apparently got to have your own server running (or sign on to someone else's) to race against your friends online. I just gave it a shot, and it worked well. The lobby system is a little awkward and without voice chat (strange how much I've just taken it for granted in multiplayer nowadays), it's hard to tell whether people are playing or just waiting in a room (or why they're dropping out of the race, as a few players did while I played). But once you get into the game, it's Raging Thunder with other people driving the cars. Well done.It would be nice to see player names above cars. Easier to do trash talking when you know who you're talking about. This is only the beginning, however -- here's to many, many great online multiplayer experiences on the iPhone.Update: Commenters have piped up (thanks!) with some other games that have attempted online multiplayer, including Tap Tap, Galcon, and Adrenaline Pool. Keep in mind that we're not talking about wifi multiplayer here, though that's cool, too -- this is real-time multiplayer with other people who are around the world.
Quantum of Solace has Zapper support, online multiplayer
For those of you who've been tracking Quantum of Solace over at The Stiq, you know that most of the worthwhile things to discuss about the game have come from the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions. Well, it would appear that Activision isn't leaving Wii owners out to dry, as some cool features are being utilized in the Wii version of the title. For one, there will be multiple control schemes. Gamers can use the tried-and-true Wiimote and Nunchuk setup, or they can bust out their Zapper and play with that. On top of that, Activision has also confirmed the game will feature online multiplayer, as well as 4-player split-screen local multiplayer, which is exclusive to the Wii installment.Activision is also hard at work to make sure the game is no graphical slouch. Seeing as how the engine behind the game is the same used in Call of Duty 4, we're sure Quantum of Solace will have some lovely visuals.
DS Daily: Wishing for Wi-Fi
Sometimes, you encounter those weird DS games that are just perfect for online play ... except they don't have it. Okay, so it's sometimes more than just "sometimes," but what can you do? Talk about it, of course! From Puzzle Quest to Mario Party to the upcoming Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: Ring of Fates, what do you wish had a little wi-fi multiplayer?
Medal of Honor: Heroes 2 marches in with new screens
The World War II genre may be glutted (and a little played out) by now, but when a game looks this good and has as much to offer as Medal of Honor: Heroes 2, we're not going to complain too stridently. In other words, we'll take what we can get. Heroes 2 is set for this month, and EA released three more screenshots to whet our appetites while we wait, which you can find both above, and in our gallery below.%Gallery-6588%
Buy NiGHTS, play online, make a garden
1UP recently had a chance to delve a little deeper into NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams, in particular the game's multiplayer and "My Dream" modes.Reportedly, the former is to consist of two gametypes, one of which -- imaginatively titled "Race Mode" -- will be fully playable online. This will see two players competing in an out-and-out race to the finish line, one as the eponymous NiGHTS, and the other as his her its arch-enemy, Reala.Passing through yellow or green rings contributes to a meter that can in turn be used for "dash boosts," while spike rings have the opposite effect. Encouragingly, it sounds like a fairly "pure" interpretation of the original Saturn game, if our withered, dried-up memories serve correctly."Battle Mode" is the second multiplayer variant, an offline game for two players. Here, each player has to avoid the "Mareballoon," essentially a large orange time bomb that NiGHTS and Reala can chuck between one another. If you're the one holding the Mareballoon by the time its clock has ticked down to zero, then your opponent clinches a point, with the first to three winning.Swoop effortlessly past the break for more.%Gallery-4673%
Shadowrun lacking campaign and split screen [update 1]
Over on the official Shadowrun online forums a question was posed to whether or not you could play local multiplayer split screen online or offline after hearing a rumor that there wouldn't be the option. In came Kimona, lead program manager of FASA Studios, to confirm that there indeed would be no local (LAN style) multiplayer or split screen for that matter. According to Kimona, the reasoning behind the choice was to "focus on making what we have even more polished and clean". And with information we learned earlier we now know that Shadowrun will not have any campaign mode or local multiplayer split screen as it is strictly an online multiplayer game. So Shadowrun enthusiasts, we think that not including split screen kinda sucks, but what's your opinion on the way things are shaping up?Update 1: We've made a mistake guys and read the forum's question wrong. What Kimona was talking about was having no online or offline split screen and says nothing about system link or local multiplayer. So, there will be system link goodness, but simply no split screen ... sorry for the confusion.[Via IGN]
