preview
Latest
Hands-on with God of War II
IGN got an early hands-on preview of God of War II, and they're lovin' what Sony's Santa Monica studio has come up with so far.Without revealing too much of the sequel's plot, our hairless hero now sports some new magical attacks and context-sensitive finishing moves. Needless to say, prominent Greek mythological figures will also be showing up to keep Kratos company, and there will certainly be a lot of flashy slashing-first-ask-questions-later kind of action to fill the hours.For more spoilers on "an early section of the sequel," simply follow the image link above or Read link below, where you can find a few more details on the new power-up system and annoying enemy combatants (otherwise known as smarter fodder for your sharper blades). A practical explanation goes into the reasons for keeping things on the PS2 rather than the PS3, and hopefully less frustrating puzzles are revealed as well. More will likely be revealed at Sony's big E3 press conference today.See also: New God of War 2 director speaks God of War's Jaffe inspired by Britney vs. Christina God of War 2 GDC video leaked online
Preview of new Guitar Hero II co-op mode
In case you missed it on Friday, IGN posted a pre-E3 hands-on preview of Guitar Hero II's new co-op mode. It's a departure from the first game's multiplayer mode in that the two players have to depend on each other a lot more to pass each song and thereby make beautiful music together.While the old multiplayer option will still be around in the sequel, the new mode mixes distinct lead guitar and bass or rhythm parts where each player affects the other in various ways, whether by failing if either performance slips (as in DDR), sharing the same Rock Meter (with mistakes from either player resetting the score multiplier), and needing to both go vertical at the same time to activate the shared Star Power. Thankfully, different difficulty levels can be assigned to each player.The Joystiq team out in L.A. will probably find something to do until they get their sweaty paws on a guitar controller or two on the E3 show floor (maybe one of those wacky press conferences will help pass the time), but we're sure the wait to try the latest build of this rockin' series will be worth it. The seven songs available at E3 are listed below.[Thanks, murph]
DrunkenBlog discovers another image that crashes WebKit
Wanna have some fun with Safari (or apparently any WebKit-based browser), a certain picture, and a post at the DrunkenBlog? Apparently, drunkenbatman has come across another image that can crash WebKit and anything based on it, including the Finder and Preview.If you want the full rundown, head over to the DrunkenBlog post using something like Firefox, Camino or Opera - just not Safari, OmniWeb or any other WebKit-based browsers. If you visit the post in Safari, it will crash; this has been tested in the latest 10.4.5 update on both PPC and Intel versions. Also, whatever you do, do not download the image to your desktop, especially if (like me) you have the Finder option to "show icon preview" turned on. It'll crash Preview and send Finder into a constant crashing/restart cycle.Like I said, you can get the full, in-depth rundown (and I mean in-depth) on this issue and its specifics at the DrunkenBlog.
Firefox 2.0 alpha released
DownloadSquad has noticed that an alpha release (read: not stable) of Firefox 2.0 is live, available for Windows, Mac OS X and Linux, and waiting for your clicks. I'm having a hard time tracking down any kind of official list of what's new in this next major point release, but after quickly running it I can tell you it's at least a bit zippier. I've heard reports of a much-updated UI, better bookmark management and more security options are all on the menu, though I'm sure (and I hope) there is much more planned for the official release.So check it out if you're interested in what's coming next, but for those of you who can't afford to deal with sketchy software, you might want to keep moving along.
Star Trek Online tidbits
Star Trek Online has over a year to go until beta, but if you can't wait that long to get some idea of what it'll be like, this article at MMORPG.com should help. Complete with some early screenshots, the Q&A with producer Daron Stinnett focuses on some of the design decisions involved in the game.As some of the game's developers are actively monitoring fan forums for feedback (Perpetual have yet to create official forums), it looks as if you can get your opinions heard by hanging out in the right places. If you spot a Star Trek Online dev frequenting your favourite boards, let us know.[Fixed typo, thanks Andy Pan]
