Loyal minions! Gather around because it’s once again FooBear408 story time. I realize it’s been quite some time since I’ve published any articles, but I’ve been working on about four or five articles at the same time – so be ready for a Foo onslaught! Fret not loyal reader, for I have always and shall be – your friend. And remember, you can always get your fill of PS3BLOG’s most popular writer (yours truly) usually every Thursday on the weekly podcast – published by our very single, very disease-free,  Jcmdaddy. Just recently I visited my local Gamestop and preceded to drop some serious clams on some pre-orders to help lessen the sticker shock of when I actually go to pick them up. Those quality titles include: Dead Island LE Modern Warfare 3 (Sorry Ace) Battlefield 3 Driver 3 Uncharted 3 LE Goldeneye Reloaded I already had $20 down on each and put down another 20$ on each of the titles. Plus two copies of “Medal of Honor” LE – one for a buddy and one for myself. That brought my total bill to just under $160. I paused for minute realizing how far I’ve come to where I can just walk in a store, and buy whatever I like, whenever I like. Wait. Let me back up… When I was a kid. I was poor. Dirt poor. My family was the definition of concentrated evil. My stepmom and dad were having “problems”, so I would get sent to whomever would take me in. It’s when I got shipped off to my aunt sandy’s house in Fresno ( the hottest place on the planet )  and I  learned the meaning of hard work. My uncle was a premier grower for Sun-Maid raisins and he would put me to work tilling fields and spraying pesticides and making sure all the farm equipment was properly maintained. I was 13, and pretty soon I was joined by another poor soul of my immediate family – my cousin Dave. We happened to work for my iron-fisted uncle Earl during one of Fresnos’ record heat waves that lasted for more than 3 weeks. At that point in time in my life waking up at 4am, and working until around 5pm – wasn’t on my agenda. The phrase “hard work” and “meaning of a dollar” were ingrained into my DNA at an early age. Buying anything meant having to work half to death for it, or you would have to get resourceful and find ways of making money to get what you wanted. My choices included: Washing cars Mowing Lawns Weed Pulling Painting  Landscaping And the degrading – but money always helped: Dog Poop pickup with my trusty shovel that I named Wilbur. Now, let’s go to present day… I know some younger kids and hear kids complain online about “how my mom won’t buy that game” or the even more popular “I’m too young to have a job”. Is it that these punks are too lazy? Maybe they’ve been so jaded by life they’ve decided to become some sort of beatnik and mimic Jack Kerouac and complain about everything and write about it in their journal? Maybe, just maybe – they have some sort of debilitating phobia that doesn’t allow them to make an honest dollar and instead be completely dependent on their parents for everything. Possibly if they did get a job; the world would cease to exist and the universe would implode and collapse on itself causing an insane of meteoric pressure. It would then create a black hole that would suck our entire planet through and we would be forced to live as slaves when giant gerbils would enslave our helpless planet? As you can see, I’ve given this deep thought. And  of course the kids can’t be solely to blame, the parents I’m also sure have a hand in totally spoiling their lazy child and insisting they just focus on schoolwork so they can go to a college and get a degree. Then graduate and go into the most cutthroat job market anyone has ever seen. Maybe not though, I’ve been known to make mistakes from time to time. But probably not. Looking back on all the hardships I’ve had to endure, I think the hardest would’ve had to have been being a kid. It’s not easy, but there’s always the tough path and then there’s the easy path. I chose the tough path and now I’m grateful to my Uncle Earl for teaching me not to be afraid of a little hard work. It’s not uncommon for me to work a 14 hour day, and then turn around and do the same thing the next day. Then go home and do a quality podcast and get harassed by Ace & JCM for the usual 90 minutes and call it a day.  Just ask my super hot girlfriend, she hates it when I have to work late. What can I say though? I like money, games cost money. Pug dogs eat a lot of food and that costs money. Everything costs money, and I’m not above rolling up my sleeves and doing what needs to be done in order to get what I need. So when I go up the Gamestop counter and reach into my wallet to buy these games, I can appreciate what it took to get me to that counter in the first place. It’s only after you lose your independence as a human being that you end up having nothing left at all. And if that’s not enough of an ordeal -gerbils come over and take over and turn your fleshy corpse into a water feeder. I for one would welcome our furry overlords. I think I’d be pretty safe – I would just explain that I’m pretty good at picking up poop.

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I Remember When Video Games Cost A Nickel!

It had been quite a while since we lived to experience a very soon to be expensive, tremendously over-hyped, and overall, achievable year. We had a break down along the way, but the PlayStation wagon kept on moving forward, with what is soon to be the biggest fall releases in history. I am talking big names people. Great sequels and centuries of video games development. This is not a list of what I am personally looking forward to this fall. This is the list you will look back upon and think, yeah, I remember spending my entire paycheck in the local game store that year. Here is the list of the most anticipated retail titles this fall, arranged by release date. Some of these might include some spoilers, so read at your own discretion! Remember to add any I missed in the comment section for future reference… Resistance 3 (Sep. 6th 2011) The story takes place 4 years after the events of Resistance 2 where 99% of humans are either dead or turned into Chimera. We will follow the path of Joseph Capelli (our protagonist) on his journey to New York City to help Dr. Malicov (stick it one more time) to the occupying Chimeran Force! Two awesome titles set for Oct. 4th 2011! Twisted Metal The longest running series in PlayStation history returns with the 8th game in the series, simply titled Twisted Metal. Players will take part in the battle of four factions for control, and the prize of one wish fulfilled by Calypso (the host of this blood path contest). The game will feature 16 players on PSN battling in a variety of game modes. Rage Id software upcoming shooter set tale in the year 2038. Asteroid strikes and destroys all civilizations on the planet. The remaining survivors form settlements around water supplies and maintain distance from other hostile factions whom inhibit the surface. You will take part as a member of the Eden Project. A (failed) project in which hundreds of pods containing individuals with outstanding abilities are sealed underground in a plan to rebuild the earth. You will be forced to head to the surface in hunt for food, water and most importantly … Allies! Batman: Arkham City (Oct. 18th 2011) Based on DC Comics’ Batman, this sequel to the very successful stealth action-adventure will have big shoes to fill. The story will take place one year after the events of Arkham Asylum and will feature different characters from Batman’s universe. The story will revolve around the new mayor of Gotham City, Quincy Sharp, who, after being incapable of containing the large amount of inmates in city prisons, decides to let them loose in a well-guarded, by private military contractors, part of Gotham he calls Arkham City. Battlefield 3 (Oct. 25th 2011) The story of the single player campaign will take part in the year 2014. You will take on the role of two main characters. The first is Staff Sergeant Black, leader of a 5 man squad team on a mission to locate and, hopefully, return a second missing squad investigating a possible chemical weapons site along the Iraq-Iran border. The second playable character is Marine Sgt. Miller during a tank battle near Tehran. Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception (Nov. 1st 2011)

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The List

In case you didn’t know this is a free game inside of PlayStation Home. Here is a preview of the 3rd track released from Lockwood Publishing . In case you missed the launch trailer you can check it out here .

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Sodium 2: Project Velocity | Track 3 Preview

EA has revealed that it will be releasing Modern Warfare 3′s biggest rival, Battlefield 3, on October 25th — two weeks before the new Call of Duty. Will this have an effect on either game’s sales? It looks like the latter part of the year will get pretty bloody. EA also released new multiplayer footage, it looks insane! Can’t wait for Battlefield 3! A beta was also confirmed for September, so, hold out a little longer for a battlefield 3 fix. Keep in mind any videos during E3 will be embedded on the post itself, so, click the jump! Battlefield 3: Operation Metro Multiplayer Gameplay Trailer: Battlefield 3: E3 Frostbite 2 Features Trailer: Man, don’t these trailers look frigging sweet!! Thoughts, opinions, or maybe you have a question? Leave a comment below!

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E3 2011: Battlefield 3 Launches October 25th

Fanboys everywhere rejoice!! As promised, we bring you the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 reveal trailer. MW3 is being made with a new engine, so hopefully we will see some new amazing gameplay soon! “The epic sequel to the multiple Game of the Year award winner Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 returns on November 8th.”

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Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Reveal Trailer

White Knight Chronicles was an excellent RPG with an amazing Multiplayer component. The village mode in the first one was so simple and yet so very deep. Did you miss the first installment? Don’t worry, as part 2 and 1 ship on the same Blu-ray disc! The Sony Blog sat down with the director Yoshiaki Kusuda to get the details behind this excellent series. Tell us about the story in White Knight Chronicles II – The game takes place one year after the events of the original White Knight Chronicles. A year after the return of the Yshrenian Empire, Leonard and his companions come back together to protect the Kingdom of Balandor, the Archduchy of Faria and the Free City of Greede from the Yshrenian Empire, and end up having to save the entire world. – Two new characters will also play key parts in the story: Miu, the daughter of Archduke Dalam; and the mysterious Scardigne. There is civil unrest in the Archduchy of Faria, with one faction trying to protect Miu and another militant faction trying to spark a revolution. Scardigne belongs to the former, but you’ll need to play the actual game to fully understand the role he takes in the story. – White Knight Chronicles II will bring a satisfying conclusion to the conflict between Yshrenia and the other powers, and to the stories of Grazel, Leonard, and Princess Cisna. – What influenced the original White Knight Chronicles? – We wanted it to be a sort of majestic fantasy, with heroic elements that would appeal to RPG fans. In the original White Knight Chronicles you saved a princess, and in the sequel you have to save the whole world. – Along the way, players will transform into a Knight to do battle with gigantic enemies, and there may even be a little love story in amongst all of the fighting. During their adventures, the players will gradually solve mysteries such as the origin of the Knights and the effects they have on the world. I think the game will help both children and adults remember some things that we tend to forget in our modern lives. What gameplay improvements have been made to the sequel? – We made a number of changes to improve the game’s pacing, such as better response time in battles and having gauges fill up while a special move is being performed, which allows you to transition to the next move more quickly. However, just doing that would turn the game into a mindless button masher, so we also added elements where the player has to attack his opponent just at the right time. This adds element of strategy has slightly increased the difficulty of battles. – For example, since you can now guard whenever you want, you can avoid getting stunned when an enemy makes a powerful attack by guarding at just the right time. Or, you might use an area-of-effect attack the instant an enemy summons a group of smaller enemies. Strategy is definitely more important in this game. – Why did you decide to include the original game with its sequel on the same Blu-ray Disc? – When we were creating White Knight Chronicles II, the first thing we thought about was what form the product would take. A sequel would usually be sold as a separate package that you could buy on its own and play without the original game if you wanted. However, in the case of a game like White Knight Chronicle,s you also have the online gaming side which means it’s difficult to keep the sequel completely separate from the original. We considered a number of possibilities, like making an expansion that would require the original game. – But that would limit our audience to people who had purchased the first game and wanted to play more. The number of PS3 owners has increased since the first White Knight Chronicles was released, which gives us a chance to attract new players, so we decided that including the original game on the disc was the best solution. Will there be more WKC games in the future? – White Knight Chronicles II concludes the story started in the first game, so for the moment we don’t have any plans for more games in the series. However, we will be releasing additional quests in the form of downloadable content. And you never know. If there’s strong support for another sequel… – What is your favourite RPG? – Tactics Ogre. It’s a fairly old game now but the story and game world were fantastic. It’s one of those games that I could just sit back and enjoy. Release Date 8/2/2011 Features: Signature combination of singe player and multiplayer returns allowing players to share characters from your single player game in multiplayer 2 games in 1! This game includes all the content from the first game with improved and enhanced features of the sequel adding up to over 100 hours of combined gameplay Improved gameplay mechanics that fans demanded makes battles more fast paced and dynamic Character can now select new skills and spells such as dual wielding weapons to make characters more customizable For the first time ever, create and customize your very own Incorruptus that you can use in both single and multiplayer modes Over 400 new armors and weapons added Beautifully orchestrated and crafted visuals and score enhances the story of the battle between light and darkness Create and customize your very own avatar to use in both single and multiplayer modes Create your own town and invite your friends online to buy exclusive items and materials to create more powerful weapons and armors Play with up to 6 players online to go on new quests and challenges This is looking like the best RPG deal on PS3 yet. Here’s a Gameplay trailer for those of you who are not familiar with the series. Source: PSBlog

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White Knight Chronicles 2 Q&A

Some new screenshots have emerged out of BF3. Some of the screens are from the in game footage we have already seen, some of them are just renders and some of them are of concept art. It’s a pretty cool way of just looking at everything from start to finish. The lighting in this game is phenomenal, as well as the graphics and the animation. Please try not to get stuck on the whole thing about how the PC version will be better than the Console version, just try to enjoy what’s coming our way. One thing that I have an issue with is how the dirt kicks up. If you look at the screenshot you will notice it by the middle soldiers boot. This all makes sense if the solider was running through a muddy surface but doesn’t really fit here. I know the alley is dirty but not dirty enough to kick up that kind of dirty. One other area I saw this in was the roof tops where they go to take out the sniper. After all that running, and shooting they go up to the roof top and dirty is still kicking up all over the place. The roof just isn’t that dirty for that kind of detail. The next three shots are of the alley you just witnessed in all of its glory. Even though all three of these shots show the part of the alley it’s nice to see it going through a transition before reaching the final stage. Frostbite 2 allows for the use of features such as dynamic radiosity, dynamic shadows, and deferred lighting on a big scale. Included are some examples of an environment where you can see just the lighting information (1), the actual light probes that control how light affects dynamic objects (2 – one of these probes contain more lighting information than an entire level from BFBC2), and the finished environment the way a player would see it (3) This is pretty crazy stuff. DICE didn’t sit their rehashing old games, they actually sat down, thought how they wanted to improve the game and did it. I myself really like BFBC2 and think it looks great. But to hear that one of these probes contains more lighting information in BF3 than an entire level from BFBC2 is just mind blowing. I really didn’t think they pushed it to those kind of extremes. Just looking at these is making me salivate. It’s hard not to make myself sound like some deranged fan but when I start analyzing everything I have seen from this game it just makes me feel like a little girl on her 16th birthday that received her pony. The game is just mind blowing as it is but when you look at the physics, animation and just the fluidity of the game you can’t help but thing that just isn’t real. That has to be some kind of a cinematic cut scene. When you see the soldiers run through the alley and pay attention to how their body is position and moving as they run it’s extremely impressive. I am not knocking on Call of Duty Modern Warfare but if you watch someone running and compare that to what you see in this game it’s like day and night. Character movement isn’t the only thing worth mentioning. The environment is just as crazy, right before you enter the roof where you are looking for the sniper you kick open a door. It swings open as realistically as it’s going to get. Just look at the dust and smoke fall off of the hotel building as the sniper eats the rocket launched at him or how the ground reacts to the earthquake. Talk about taking a game to a whole new level… in fact I would go as far and say DICE just invented a level. As you know, destruction will be a major part of Battlefield 3, both on a micro and a large scale. You saw the earthquake, and the hotel getting RPG’d at the end of Battlefield 3 Executive Producer Patrick Bach’s playthrough, showcasing one of the new destruction features we’re bringing to Battlefield 3: Crumbling facades, as you can see in this four picture sequence. This level of destruction will be a feature in both single player and multiplayer. The above is what Stefan Strandberg, the audio engineer a DICE is looking at when he tries to piece together everything that can happen at any given time within the game. You can also see that this is what the schematic might look like for a tank within the audio section of Frostbite 2. This guy really seems to know his stuff, because the first thing I would try to do with that image is connect the dots, if that’s even possible. The last several images are of the concept art. Most be really interesting to work on a project and see it from just thrown around ideas, to some concept art, to renders on a screen to a finished product that you know is going to change everything.

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Battlefield 3: Screenshots, Renders & Concept Art

(Found the Picture on Photobucket by Hypersonic01) According to an article just released from the L.A. Times, Modern Warfare 3 will be released in November of 2011, and will be developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, with Raven Software pulling the multiplayer development duties. Activision has quietly tapped Sledgehammer Games, a Northern California studio, to help out with the making of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, according to people familiar with the situation. The game has not been officially announced by Activision. But the title is well into production and is expected to come out in November, the same month that the publisher has annually released a new Call of Duty installment, people with knowledge of situation said. Modern Warfare 3 will be the first game Infinity Ward has produced since the departure of of company co-founders Jason West and Vince Zampella. People close to the matter said Infinity Ward is working closely with Sledgehammer, which is led by a team recruited away from Activision’s rival Electronic Arts Inc. The two studios are equally sharing duties of producing the single-player portion of the game, the sources said. Activision has also brought in Wisconsin-based Raven Software, which is working on the online multi-player elements for Modern Warfare 3, sources said.

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Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 Information Has Surfaced

Activision-Blizzard announced earlier today that the latest installment in the Call of Duty franchise has surpassed 1 billion in sales worldwide. This is nearly a month faster than it took CoD: Modern Warfare 2 to hit 1 billion. It is now on track to set another milestone in the entertainment and video game industry. Before the games launch the expectations were set pretty high but now it seems that Wall Street’s expectations for the game weren’t high enough. Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Market has stated that they are “increasing the unit estimate for ‘Black Ops’ to 19 million from 17 million”. In its first five days on shelves, Black Ops pulled in $650 million. Just by looking at the numbers you can see that the game is going to break Modern Warfare 2′s record in everyday. Just recently it was released that Activision is already working on the games first DLC. Modern Warfare 2 had two downloadable map packs, the first of which pulled in 37.5 million in its first week. I am sure we can expect that the DLC for Black Ops will top that. According to Bobby Kotick: “people should expect to see more content made available for this game”, as well as why it’s doing so well: “The reason ‘Black Ops’ has done so well is it’s more accessible as a game,” says Kotick. “The folks who are making these games are really thoughtful about incorporating user feedback into the game. Each successive iteration makes it more broadly appealing.” Honestly at this point. it doesn’t matter how bad or flawed the game can be, as long as it has the Call of Duty stamp on it people will run out and get it. I also feel that the reason the game is so popular is because what Infinity Ward did with Modern Warfare 2. SOURCE [ CNBC ]

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CoD: Black Ops Surpasses 1 Billion In Sales

According to Vgchartz , they have estimated that GT5 has sold 1.8 million units worldwide in 2 days. That would put it at the 5th fastest selling PS3 game ever only to be beaten by Black Ops, Modern Warfare 2, Final Fantasy XIII and Grand Theft Auto 4.

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Gran Turismo 5 Sells 1.8 Million in 2 Days