snowbound
Latest
Gears 2 'Snowblind Map Pack' coming March 31, title update on March 24
If you tire of brutishly halving your enemies in the same boring Gears of War 2 locales, a recent Epic Games announcement will likely thrill you to death -- on March 31, the title's second batch of downloadable arenas, titled the "Snowblind Map Pack," will find its way onto Xbox Live, bringing four new maps to the chainsaw party: Grindyard, Under Hill, Courtyard and Fuel Depot, a remake of a map from Gears the First. No price has been announced -- we're assuming it'll be around the same 800 price point of the "Combustible Map Pack."Arguably more exciting than this, however, was Epic's announcement that the oft-discussed retooled ranking system will be coming to the game the week before "Snowblind" drops -- a title update on March 24 will (mostly) eschew the criticized TrueSkill system in favor of a more intuitive, experience point-based system. Players will earn experience points for scoring in public matches, rising up to level 100. They'll even unlock achievements at set levels (5, 15, 25, 50 and 100) -- we also hear that "Cole Train" evolves into "Cole Barge" at level 60. Gotta curb stomp 'em all!
Canadian currency buried in Halo 3's Snowbound
In terms of global appeal, Canada's currency is on fire! It's the currency of choice. No, wait, it's the only currency worth using. So, that must be why team Bungie hid a piece of Canadian currency in Halo 3's Snowbound. Because it's the crème de la crème of currency ... duh! Though, our heavily bias opinion thinks that the best loon portrait goes to the Minnesota state quarter. We aren't sure if this is an old or new Halo 3 Easter eggs, but it's new to us so that makes it worthwhile ... or something like that. Oh, and be warned that the video's musical goodness isn't all that musically good.
More information on Book 13's Forochel region
The Lord of the Rings Online development team has revealed more information about the new region for Book 13: Doom of the Last-King -- Forochel. This new, expansive land will feature their latest effort at a snowbound landscape. One of the ways in which Forochel will be different will be in its new 'cosmetic temperature system', in which you'll be able to see your character's breath the farther into the cold you travel. While this may seem trivial, you'd be surprised what a tiny effect like that can do to help immersion.Of course, the changes aren't all cosmetic. Spending too much time in the Ice Bay will have a deleterious effect on your morale. Life-saving warmth can be had at towns, by spending time over geothermal vents, and by creating campfires. And annoyingly, the announcement mentions that they've learned some lessons concerning monster moods, spawns, and patrols, but stop short of actually saying what those lessons are.For those of you who've been anticipating this new Book, go check out the full release, and judge for yourselves if it's going to be worth the wait.
