It's an exciting time to be a gamer because there is definitely a lot of pivotal stuff going on in our industry right now. Today I want to go on about a reasonably new development of an old concept. Expansion packs have been around since the mid 90's in the PC world. Back when the PC dinosaurs ruled the video game landscape (and just about any game could be played on any computer without a video card that costs more than a PS3), if there was a successful game, a half a year or so later we would see an expansion pack. People who enjoyed a game could purchase more content for around $20 to $30-ish. Don't quote me on this, but the first expansion in my memory was the level add on pack for Doom II released in 1995 called "Doom II Master Levels. Read More...

Just when you thought that Dante's Inferno was over and done the next major DLC for the title is hitting digital shelves. You know, the one that adds co-op play and the ability to create your own challenges for other people who are still playing Dante's Inferno to give a play. If there are still people who have not forgotten Dante's Inferno for God of War III that is. You know, those few Christians out there that refuse to play a "Pagan" title for a just as violent "Christian" version of the game. Jokes and pokes aside, the Trials of St. Read More...

It has been a while since we have heard anything from Raven and Activision about the upcoming FPS Singularity. Their new Prince of Persia: Sands of Time, Hellboy and Call of Duty mash up title coming out just about a year after it was shown off for the first time at E3 2009. You know the game about the Russians using super natural technology to turn back time on anything that is a noun; All wrapped into the WWI FPS genre. You know what I am talking about. Well if you don't, below is the latest trailer for Singularity to hit the web. Read More...

So thanks to Joystiq for pointing out that Ubisoft will no longer be including printed, physical manifestations of user manuals with their games starting with the recently announced "Shaun White Snowboarding" title. This is done under the guise of "going green". I am glad that Ubisoft has made such a great and undying commitment to preserving our beautiful Earth by not spending money (which in America is also green, ironically) on printing user manuals. Guys I appreciate the sentiment but call a spade a spade. If you need a little better profit margin then just say so. Read More...

So first off I'm Brian and new to Aggrogamer.com (and also Pwned.com My user name is GooseyB please friend me so I'm not too lonely!). Aside from video game blogging I also play in this band. You may or may not have noticed my first few articles posted this week. I am a video game news junkie and very opinionated. I may like studying the industry and culture surrounding video games almost as much as I like settling in with a new nerdy PC strategy title and a bottle of whiskey (almost). I do enjoy a lot of mainstream titles and also spend plenty of time on my XBox 360. Read More...

You can not follow game industry news and not have noticed the countless reports of the drama currently going on between publishing giant Activision and successful Call Of Duty developer Infinity Ward. Even legitimate news sources have covered the huge lawsuit frenzy that has been going on. Today, industry analysts have suggested that as many as 20 more Infinity Ward Employees are projected to no longer be employed by the company in a month's time (source Gamespot). Even though strong sales of the Modern Warfare 2 map pack DLC suggest a short term financial positive for Activision, the stock has continued to go down. I may not be a business tycoon or an expert economist, but I do know this Activision. Read More...

SEGA, according to Eurogamer, has reported its intent to make use of the Uniloc DRM for its PC release of Alpha Protocol, despite past issues regarding the software. SEGA will be joining the growing group of publishers who have begun using intrusive authentication software in the name of protecting their PC releases. Since the inception of PC gaming publishers have been trying to find effective ways to balance protection against theft and unobtrusive gameplay experiences. How many people remember the funny picture wheel with older Lucas Arts games, or the frequently used “what’s the 4th word on the 9th line of page 36 of the manual” chestnut? Read More...

In an interview with Edge magazine Max Beland, new (as of 2008) Ubisoft Montreal executive describes how many people found the stealth based gameplay of previous Splinter Cell titles, mainly Chaos Theory and Double Agent, too much for the casual crowd. Despite high critical praise of past entries in the series, Beland feels that the way to more people's game libraries and to expand the Splinter Cell brand is to focus more on brutal action sequences and less on specific stealth, which he referred to as "good and fun stealth gameplay, but its hardcore." Refresh my memory but when did exciting, intense stealth based action games start being marketed to the Guitar Hero crowd? I enjoy my casual titles as much as the next person, but it sets a very dangerous precedent when major developers and publishers begin changing proven, unique, and popular gameplay mechanics to try and take a "hardcore" property to a more "casual", mainstream crowd. Read More...

Not long ago Activision "let go" the co-founders of Infinity Ward, Jason West and Vince Zampella. Well it looks like these two guys have decided to start a new gaming company and get a new publisher. Jason West and Vince Zampella are two industry leaders who brought the amazing Call of Duty franchise to homes everywhere. Now brushing off the dust from a rumor filled departure, Jason and Vince have founded Respawn Entertainment. The website is up and running, and probably the simplest website in the world. Read More...

That is if you pre-order Transformers: War for Cybertron from them and have held out from going to Game Stop to get your exclusive there. Oh and if you want to get Demolishor and not Shockwave that is. Yea, that's right. You can get Demolishor now if you pre-order on Amazon.com for Activisions new pursuit of money from hardcore fans. If you look a little lower here, you can see what each of these pre-order gems will look like when you crack open your PS3 or XBox copy of Transformers: War for Cybertron. No, they are not specific to console as that may have sounded. Read More...

So if you were at PAX East last week, or at least following the official Dead Space Twitter account, you might have had the chance to catch a glimpse of what is to bee seen of the Dead Space 2. Either by being in the conference room or via the live uStream of the event. But just in case you didn't get to catch it either way, or just don't want to sit through all the other stuff they talked about, here is the video of in-game footage. Not the best shot of the action, but it is something. Also not 22 minutes long. Read More...

Looks like Ubisoft might be gearing up to go into feature films, or at least shorts sometime soon. First they do a live action short based on all the beginning story to Assassin's Creed II. Something that was produced very well and added quite a bit of extra content to the overall experience of the game. At least it did for me. But the Assassin's Creed short looks like it was just the tip of the iceberg for Ubisoft's short films. Read More...

So you played through Heavy Rain and seen all the endings, now what do you do? You could play around and just keep killing the hooker or store clerk for fun. You could try to find other ways to see Ethan off himself if Shaun dies. You could even replay the sex scene, that got no negative mention in the media, and see if you can glitch Madison to stay naked. Just to name a few things to do. You could do one of those options. Read More...

If you are one of the few people who actually picked up DJ Hero for the XBox 360 or PlayStation 3, then I am really sorry you spent all that money for nothing. Just Kidding. Anyways... All DJ Hero owners will be mixing it up with brand new mix tracks from Activision, as they will be releasing a JAY-Z vs. Eminem Mix Pack. Jamie Jackson, Creative Director of FreeStyleGames said, “From sold out concerts to #1 albums to double digit Grammy Awards, JAY-Z and Eminem define what it means to be a successful artist. Read More...

Activision finally reveals details, including the pricing, of it's first DLC content for Infinity Ward's latest best seller game, Modern Warfare 2. So far there will be three brand new maps, titled Storm, Salvage, and Bailout. They will also be throwing in two graphically enhanced maps from the original Modern Warfare, which are Crash and Overgrown. The price for these five maps is a ridiculous $15, or 1200 Microsoft Points. If anyone may recall, the only map pack released for Modern Warfare was four maps for only $10, or 800 MS Points. Read More...