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Take an Expedition into Titanfall's War Games map
Following an initial reveal earlier this month, developer Respawn Entertainment has now graced us with a handful of screenshots and solid information on the War Games map included in Titanfall's upcoming "Expedition" DLC pack. Unlike the game's other maps, War Games isn't real. That is, it's even less real than the video game's other maps as it takes place within the same simulator players strolled through during Titanfall's training mission. As a result, the developers were able to craft imaginative structures with a focus toward acrobatics without having to worry about things like design congruency and sensible architectural layouts. This virtual setting also allowed Respawn's level designers to incorporate level battlefields for the game's titular giant robots, free of debris that might distract from the task of blowing apart opposing robots. For more, pay a visit to the Titanfall website where designer Jason McCord offers his take on War Games. This map, along with two others, will debut in the Expedition DLC at some point in May, at a price of $10. [Image: EA]
PvP plans change for WoW's Warlords of Draenor
After listening to the World of Warcraft community's concerns about the previously announced PvP arena plans, Blizzard has scrapped its original Trial of the Gladiator idea for Warlords of Draenor. Instead, the expansion will feature a return of Skirmishes and the addition of War Games. Skirmishes will be for unranked arena battles of 2v2 and 3v3 that players can queue for either as a team or solo; defeating the other team will net the victors Honor and another bonus (such as gold, more Honor, or Conquest points). While Skirmishes are meant to be more relaxed, the War Games are all about the competition. Utilizing a new Spectator Invite System, match organizers can invite two teams (who will all be wearing Tournament Mode gear to promote equal footing) to battle it out in front of a live audience -- all members of the organizers party will be able to watch the match.
MMObility: Modern War almost gets it, but only almost
Modern War by Gree has some pretty neat things going for it. A lot of the gameplay is not really state-of-the-art, and most of it we've seen before in many social-style games, but it allows for some cool and relatively persistent play on your mobile device. It's hard to find MMOs in today's mobile market. A lot of the time I'll download a new one only to find out that it's not really an MMO at all. There are some really great titles in the mobile/smartphone market, but it takes work to find them. Modern War is a sneaky one. It's more of a pseudo-MMO but does a few cool things that more MMORTS titles should. It also works nicely on my Nexus 7 tablet, for the most part, except for a few odd problems that I'll cover in a minute. After I'm done, you might understand how mixed up the game feels as it's pretty close to becoming a good game.
One million players have completed Halo 4's campaign
The official Halo Waypoint blog has shared a number of stats and figures from Halo 4's first week, revealing that over a million people have already completed the new game's campaign since launch; six percent of which have finished the game on its "Legendary" difficulty setting.All of that campaign playing took up 13.5 million hours of gameplay; however, War Games was actually the most popular game mode, with four million users clocking 16 million hours of competitive multiplayer within the first five days of launching. 1.9 million hours were spent playing Spartan Ops, Halo 4's ongoing episodic co-op mode.And if you're wondering just how much overall death Halo 4 has caused, 343 says that 4,590,416,285 kills took place in all of the game modes within the tracked five-day period. That's over 4.5 billion kills, between fellow players, the Covenant, and the new Prometheans. With all of that killing, it's no wonder the planet is called Requiem.
Halo 4 'War Games Map Pass' grants entry to 3 map packs for 15% off
The War Games Map Pass that we noted comes in the Limited Edition of Halo 4 is just what it sounds like – a season pass with a fancy name. Sold separately, the War Games Map Pass runs $25 (2,000 MS Points) and grants access to three multiplayer map packs scheduled for December, February and April: Crimson, Majestic and Castle. This is a 15 percent discount if bought individually at retail price. Crimson, set to launch in December, includes Wreckage, Harvest and Shatter maps. Majestic includes Landfall, Monolith and Skyline, and is set to launch in February. Castle has Daybreak, Outcast and Perdition, set for April.The War Games Map Pass also includes two in-game helmets and a unique emblem.
Halo 4's Campaign, War Games and Spartan Ops in latest screens
Halo 4 comes with three capacious modes: Campaign, in which Master Chief faces a new Forerunner threat; War Games, a mixture of competitive multiplayer modes; and Spartan Ops, an episodic and story-driven series of four-player cooperative missions.We have new screens from all three modes right below. Be sure to check out Chief's new opponents, the Prometheans – not to be confused with the Protheans from Mass Effect – and "Solace," a vibrant new battleground for competitive matches like Capture the Flag (yes, that guy above is shooting with flag in hand) and Halo 4's frantic spin on territory tussles, Dominion.%Gallery-166233%
Set your sights on Halo 4 multiplayer map 'Longbow'
What is it about shooting expensive cyborgs in the snow that is so gosh-darn appealing? We have fond memories of performing murders in Sidewinder and Snowbound, and now Halo 4 continues the snowy tradition with Longbow.Longbow is a map located in the northern polar region of the planet Concord, specifically designed to showcase one of Halo 4's new game modes – but 343 isn't talking specifics yet. "Each side is a very similar plan and path, but distinct enough to get a peripheral sense of being in a distinct 'zone' in the map," the blog post on Halo Waypoint explains. Longbow supports both traditional on-foot combat modes and more grand vehicle-based skirmishes.If you want to check out Longbow before anyone else, Microsoft will be showcasing it during the Rooster Teeth Expo in Austin, Texas on July 7 and 8, where the public will be able to get their first glimpse at War Games, the competitive multiplayer side of Halo 4.%Gallery-159487%
Researcher finds vulnerability in WPS protocol, looks for manufacturers to offer fix
On the plus side, your router's mostly secure. Security researcher Stefan Viehbock has just discovered a major security hole which allowed him to use a brute force technique to access a WPS PIN-protected network in about two hours. According to Viehbock, a design flaw allows the WPS protocol's 8-digit PIN security to fall dramatically as additional attempts are made. With each attempt, the router will send a message stating whether the first four digits are correct while the last digit of the key is used as a checksum and then given out by the router in negotiation. As a result, the 100,000,000 possibilities that the WPS should represent becomes roughly to 11,000. The US-CERT has picked up on this and advised users to disable WPS on their routers. Viehbock, in turn, claims to have attempted to discuss the vulnerability with hardware vendors such as Buffalo, D-Link, Linksys, and Netgear, but says he has been roundly ignored and that no public acknowledgement of the issue has been released. As a possible final step, Viehbock has promised to release a brute force tool soon, thereby pushing the manufacturers to work to resolve the issue. In other news, that evil supercomputer from the movie War Games just got a few more digits of the nuclear launch codes -- maybe one of Stefan's pals can look into that one.
Wargaming.net opens European office
Wargaming.net is expanding, and the company behind World of Tanks and the upcoming World of Warplanes has issued a press release detailing its growth and plans for the future. In short, a new European branch is opening, and the facility will boast "more than 40 professionals" who will handle Wargaming.net's PR, marketing, community, and support logistics. The company, which originally formed in Belarus, has tapped Frederic Menou to oversee its new European office which is located in Paris, France. Menou was formerly the managing director at Blizzard Entertainment Europe. "We are not a small company, we are becoming a global player," Menou says. "There's nothing that can hinder us from becoming the best company in the industry."
War Games FAQ
Blizzard has had the War Games mechanic enabled since Arena Season 9 started on December 15th, 2010. It allows your group to challenge another group of players in either battleground or arena combat. Today, Blizzard has provided an FAQ today on the War Games mechanics, which we've got for you below. You can access the War Games mechanic in-game by typing /wg or /wargame. The full blue post after the break.
It came from the Blog: War games live stream
It came from the Blog's War Games have begun! Join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) or watch the stream above and participate in the chat after the break. Update: The stream and event are now over. You may click on the image above to watch the video replay.
It came from the Blog: Join our war games
It came from the Blog invites you to join us for some war games. We've got no in-game holidays this month, so let's beat each other up! Unlike the Gurubashi Beatdowns, with Blizzard's new War Games feature, we can play party games (that may or may not involve killing each other) without funsuckers coming in to bother us. You want details? I got your details right here: When: Saturday, March 26 at 5 p.m. Eastern (2 p.m. Pacific, 3 p.m. server time) for the pre-event mixer and 5:30 p.m. Eastern for the War Games Where: Meet at the bar in the Goblin Slums of Orgrimmar on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) Who: Any Horde character level 10 and above (because players under level 10 cannot join raids) What: A pre-event mixer and then we'll split into two teams and play some War Games How: Ask anyone in It came from the Blog for an invite, if you are not already in one of our guilds I will be streaming the main event, as usual, and we'll also have a chat channel specifically for this event. Important instructions will be typed out in the chat channel, but full details will be given on the audio of the stream. Some WoW Insider bloggers will also be showing up for the mixer to say hi and accept virtual drinks from fans. We do hope you'll be there to join us. Please join us on Zangarmarsh (US-PvE-H) in It came from the Blog. Any member can invite. You are all welcome as long as you play by our simple rules -- basically, don't be a funsucker! Visit the guild FAQ for more details.
New war games mode for arenas and battlegrounds
If you've ever wanted to have a friendly match strictly for bragging rights, try out a new prospective arena or BG-mate before committing, or just practice some strategies, then war games are for you. Instead of accidentally almost starting a nuclear firestorm by playing games with a computer, you'll be skirmishing against other players in the World of Warcraft. Bashiok - War Games: Battleground and Arena Skirmishes Q: What's a War Game? A: A War Game is an unranked match in which one group of players challenges another group to an Arena or Battleground skirmish in a setting of their choosing. You will be able to initiate a War Game by using the /wargame or /wg command, as explained below. source While these matches are not for points, they can allow you to do fun things like challenge a rival guild to an Alterac Valley free-for-all, set up some arena runs to iron out the kinks in your group composition without losing rating, or set up an in-realm tournament on your own time. All war games must be between players on the same realm, but combatants can be from the same or different faction. We used to set up complicated free for alls in the Gurubashi Arena in guild for fun nights, this seems like a good way to extend that tradition. Go check out the complete FAQ and see if it's for you.
The Engadget Show - 009: Kevin Lynch, editor Q&A, AT&T GNOC tour, Sprint EVO 4G
Greetings people of Earth. The Engadget Show is back in a big way with this latest episode! First, Josh sits down with Adobe CTO Kevin Lynch to tackle a handful of thorny questions, from Flash vs. HTML5, to the smartphone revolution and his company's relationship with Apple. Then Josh, Paul, and Nilay welcome editors Chris Ziegler and Laura June for a special editor's Q&A, answering all your burning questions about news, culture, and what it's like to write for Engadget. We've also got a tour of AT&T's Global Network Operations Center (GNOC), which is essentially a war-room for networks that has to be seen to be believed. All that, and music from minusbaby and visuals from noteNdo. Okay that's enough reading... time to watch! Hosts: Joshua Topolsky, Paul Miller, Nilay Patel Special guests: Kevin Lynch, Chris Ziegler, Laura June Produced and Directed by: Chad Mumm Executive Producer: Joshua Fruhlinger Edited by: Glenn Gapultos Music by: minusbaby Visuals by: noteNdo Opening titles by: Julien Nantiec Download the Show: The Engadget Show - 009 (HD) / The Engadget Show - 009 (iPod / iPhone / Zune formatted) Subscribe to the Show: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Show directly in iTunes (M4V). [Zune] Subscribe to the Show directly in the Zune Marketplace (M4V). [RSS M4V] Add the Engadget Show feed (M4V) to your RSS aggregator and have it delivered automatically. %Gallery-93618%
Blood Bowl dev wants to work on Games Workshop's 'forgotten IPs'
If you're a fan of tabletop war games, you're probably hotly anticipating Cyanide's video game adaptation of Games Workshop's classic fantasy-football mash-up, Blood Bowl. You are also probably pretty old, and have a large, curly beard. Likely a gray or white beard, due to the aforementioned elderliness.We've got great news for these senescent war game enthusiasts -- in a recent interview with Eurogamer, Cyanide's Antoine Villepreux explained the developer would be glad to tend to Games Workshop's "forgotten IPs that we think deserve video game adaptations." If the words Inquisitor and Mighty Empires bring haste to your old, old heart, a table-to-TV adaptation of your favorite Games Workshop franchises might be within the realm of possibilities.
DSiCade brings free games to your DSi browser
If you're like us, then you've probably been enjoying Dr Mario Express and trying to find a place where you can enjoy WarioWare Snapped. And that's probably where your free 1,000 DSi points went, so how else can you enjoy free games on your DSi? Enter DSiCade.com.DSiCade allows you to play games on your DSi through its browser, as well as chat with other members on the site through the Shout Box! feature. The site itself is kind of bare bones at the moment, with only Missile Command and Simon Says clones available to play, but based on how well these games play, we'd say you should keep an eye on the site. We're no Simon, but we say that this will be a great destination for your DSi's browser in the future -- when there's more content on offer.[Via Pocketgamer]
Shall we play a game?
When you think of a rapidly developing Asian nation, fast becoming a global superpower and now harnessing the potential of supercomputing, what's the first purpose for this supercomputer that comes to mind? Hint: think video games, not war games. Regardless of your first thought, we're betting you wouldn't have guessed "World of Warcraft"... but it's true. China's World of Warcraft servers are run by The9, who own Blizzard's distribution rights in the country. "Earlier this year, The9 boasted of hosting more than one million World of Warcraft players online at the same time.To support the complex calculations required to create the game's graphics, The9 owns more than 10 supercomputer systems," Ashlee Vance reports for The New York Times.
Some fresh Star Trek Online customization info (for humanoids only)
Cryptic Studios made clear the basic framework of its vision for Star Trek Online immediately after announcing the game, but the occasional interview or FAQ has revealed greater detail over the past few days. The latest example is a video interview at MMORPG with Cryptic's Jack Emmert, who in the interview reveals specifics about character, race, and starship customization. He also talks about Cryptic's relationship with the previous holders of the Star Trek Online mantle, Perpetual Entertainment.As far as the customization goes, you'll be able to customize the "skin, eyebrows, antennae, and hair" of your characters and races. At launch, it's likely that all players will be humanoids. Ship geometry, colors, decals, names, and even serial numbers can all be set by players. It sounds like they'll use basic "kits" of tools based on which faction (Federation or Klingon) they choose.Emmert also says that "war games" within factions would be possible, allowing players to engage in PvP with members of their own factions in a limited way. He doesn't sound at all certain that it will be possible at launch, though.
WarGames returns to theaters via digital distribution & projection network
The Metropolitan Opera has enjoyed success through digital distribution in HD to move theaters, so of course our next pick for the Digital Broadcast Network is...Wargames? Thanks to the reduced cost of beaming the movie via satellite, National Cinemedia is giving the 1983 flick a one night only return in 300-plus theaters ahead of the 25 anniversary DVD release. This isn't the only movie enjoying the benefits of the technology, and seeing old movies on the big screen is a fine job for HD. However with great power comes great responsibility and we ask that it should be reserved for true classics of American cinema, like Top Gun, Ferris Bueller's Day Off, Goonies, Labyrinth. We're not sure WarGames makes the cut.[Via Pop Machine]
WoW Moviewatch: Serious Business
When two teens decide to hack into the Blackbird Human Computer War Network, they have no idea what they're in for. Meanwhile, in Azeroth, the government finds out that they're under attack. Against the advice of an underling, the head of state declares war.This is obvious nod to the 1983 classic, "War Games," but it's still quite enjoyable. Beckman Movie Productions made the Machinima for the GameRiot "Dawn of the Blackbird Machinima Contest." The submission deadline is today and you can vote for your favorite movie until the 27th.[Via Warcraftmovies.com]Previously on Moviewatch...
