Capcom Taking Heat for "DLC"

Recently there has been an uproar about the inclusion of downloadable content that has already been located in to a game's disc. Mass Effect 3 has received heat for this because of a character, whose coding was already fully in the game, but players were forced to pay extra in order to unlock him, after paying for the full game.

Recently however, another game has been exposed as using the same alienating practice. Street Fighter x Tekken. This game has forced players on the Xbox 360 to pay for extra unlock-able characters. Most of which were already coded in to the game.

This is not the first time Capcom has used a ploy such as on-disc DLC during the release of their games. Recently released Marvel vs. Capcom 3 also supported DLC for characters, of whom were already coded on to the disc.

Now here's the interesting part. The PlayStation Vita version of the game ships with all of these characters unlocked. This shows that the developer (Capcom) is using a promotional tactic with Sony, in order to increase Vita sales, by adding more value to the handheld's games, when compared to consoles.

Tactics such as this indulge in every form of media. However, a media such as video games relies more heavily on consumers. When people stop buying a companies game because of poor quality, or underhanded tactics, it forces them to either change their ways, or face bankruptcy. Hopefully developers realize the error of their ways, and start catering to the consumer, as they should.


If you wish to understand more, there is a very informative rant video, a personal favorite reviewer of mine, Angry Joe. Credit for much of this information goes to him. I advise you to watch his video entailing these events.






-Chris Hodgkinson

Battlefield 3: Snipers

I recently posted a video entailing a Battlefield 3 conquest round on Kharg Island. In this short video, my team controlled all points on the map, and as I was about to leave the area, I saw a little red dot on my mini-map.

This red dot was an enemy sniper, perched halfway up a building under construction, far away from his side of the map. With my team controlling the entire map, you would think he might have some common sense to at least capture a control point on our side, to give his team a much needed spawn location. He didn't. The sniper was quite content laying down in his building, bi-pod set up, and rifle in hand.

I ascended up the stair-well chasing that little red dot, until I appeared behind him. Calmly watching him as he obliviously maintained his attempts at sniping from afar, I approached him, my knife ready, my mind eager for his dog-tags. With one swift motion, and the click of a mouse button, my character turned him over, and delivered a swift stab in to the bottom of his throat, to ensure a quiet kill.

It was done. His dog-tags flickered on my screen, and his name glistened in the kill-feed. My life was joyful. I went on my way, to go help out my team. After all, that is what the assault class does.



Hopefully this story strikes home to snipers out there on the Battlefield 3 servers, whom I'm sure have been on the receiving end of this scenario many times. Sniping is all well and good. At least attempt however, to support your team by capturing objectives, when the time calls for it, and for goodness sake, do not go prone whilst trying to pick off enemy players whom are actually being useful. Otherwise, your dog-tags will certainly fall in the hands of a giddy assault player, with his M16A3.

- Chris Hodgkinson

Star Wars: Battlefront 3 NEWS - Spark Unlimited + LucasArts

Tuggie posted this yesterday, showing some evidence that Spark Unlimited's unannounced game is almost certainly under contract by LucasArts! Since Spark Unlimited has made 3rd/1st person shooters in the past, it almost certainly seems as though a new Battlefront is in the making. It is most likely to be revealed this summer, probably at E3.

Tuggie also said it could be a new Jedi Knight game, but personally I don't believe LucasArts would give Spark Unlimited such a critically acclaimed franchise, given their recent game receptions. (Legendary, Turning Point: Fall of Liberty, and Call of Duty: Finest Hour all received average/below average reception.)

All credit of this goes to Tuggie, and the other sources he himself names in the video. I suggest you check him out, he runs a great channel, and gives a ton of info regarding Battlefront 3.

- Chris Hodgkinson

Top 10 WORST F.P.S Maps

I enjoy indulging myself in some Battlefield 3 from time to time. The game is very well rounded as far as game play, factions, and gun-play goes. The maps are for the most part very well designed, the key words being "most part". Every now and then "Operation Metro" shows up in the map rotation, and I find myself cringing, I've even quit the server a few times just because I can't stand the map.

That made me think. What are some of the absolute WORST maps that I have ever had the unfortunate experience of playing? So I spent some time and thought up this list. (In no particular order.)

DISCLAIMER: I have not played every game in the world, in fact, i'm a fairly new FPS gamer, at least in comparison to some other people. So if I miss a map that you hated, or you liked one and you disagree, that is your personal opinion. You are certainly welcome to leave your opinions and talk about any other maps you wish. Just please don't be a meanie. 


10. Operation Metro: (Battlefield 3)

Easily the largest source of disdain I have for Battlefield 3 is this map. While it is playable with a small server, or on a console, it is frequently thrown in to the rotation of servers supporting a full 64 player count. This causes a standstill throughout the entire match due to the overemphasis and reliance of choke points which were intended to be used in rush mode.

So in the end, all you have with this map is people camping with RPGs, LMGs, and grenade launchers along a few sets of escalators, with other players handing out an unneeded amount of med-packs and ammo-packs in the same place in order to point whore their way up the leader-boards.

(A short video I made while playing on this map.)

9. Cul-De-Sac: (Homefront)




Homefront in itself was an average game. Sub-par graphics, along with serious hacking issues hindered the enjoyable game play. None the less I enjoyed the game. That is until I spawned in to Cul-De-Sac. It seemed as though every game I I played on this map, was dominated by spawn campers, and alleyway snipers. The map was small, and though balanced, it favored players who were willing to prone under a bus, or on a ledge for the entirety of the match. Hopefully Homefront 2 will learn from this mistake, and make it maps value more organized gamers, instead of kill streakers.








8. Longest: (Halo: CE)

Halo: Combat Evolved is easily one of my favorite games of all time. But no game is perfect. Longest epitomized hallway camping. Players also made a game of hiding in the small holes in the floor with a shotgun. I can't tell you how many times my avatar got a shotgun shell to the crotch. It's definitely not the worst map on this list, but was to blame for countless peoples rage-quits. 


7. Felucia: (Star Wars: Battlefront 2)



I'm a huge Star Wars junkie, if only for the original trilogy however. Nonetheless I found myself greatly enjoying my youth whilst playing Star Wars: Battlefront 2. The amount of time I invested in this game is incomparable to most other games I have played. The map Felucia however did not see much of my play-time. This map was stuffed with annoying ideas such as blurry specs floating around your screen, horrid lighting, and the not-so-great idea to make one of the control points on top of a hill so as to let you see the entirety of the map.


6. Cracked: (CoD: Black Ops)


I was definitely not a fan of CoD: Black Ops. Horrible map design, distraught lighting, and general connection issues plagued the game for me. One of the worst maps in my opinion was Cracked. This map personified camping. As a whole, it was covered with buildings that were complete with windows, and only one entrance. It also sported an exposed center, which made crossing sides on the map terribly dangerous, and stupid.












5. Crisis: (CoD: Black Ops)



Crisis was always a hassle to play on. It was just one of those maps I did not have fun playing. Every time I saw it on the "next map" list I let out a sigh, and just waited for the game to end. For lack of a better term, this map was ugly, both game-play wise, and through pure aesthetics. The spawn system was also a subject of question on this map. It was simply a chore to play through, and many players would agree with this.










4. Any S.V.E.R Map (M.A.G)


I don't care what people say, M.A.G was a great game. Or at least it would have been if not for the terrible balance issues that unfortunately hindered the game to a stand-still. Of the game's three playable factions (Raven, Valor, and S.V.E.R), S.V.E.R was easily one of the most overpowered factions in the history of the F.P.S genre. Since M.A.G was a control/capture point dominated game, each game was one by completing such tasks. Unfortunately for Raven, and Valor, the S.V.E.R control points were often located inside buildings, or in too close a proximity of a S.V.E.R spawn base, when compared to the Raven, and Valor maps. This meant that S.V.E.R quickly recruited players that saw an easy way to win and gain experience, which over-populated the player-base towards one side. The game was largely abandoned soon after as the other teams quickly dropped in numbers, leaving S.V.E.R with the only remaining player-base. 


3. Pier 17: (Crysis 2)



Pier 17 was the only Crysis 2 map I did not particularly enjoy. It seemed as though the entire player-base would attempt to take control of the inside of the large building in the West side of the map. This meant that if you did not wish to get pegged in the head by invisible people int he corner of the building whilst you were traversing the escalator case, you were reduced to trying to pick players off at long range as they entered the building. 




2. Kunar Base (Medal Of Honor)


     


Try to imagine yourself in a maze of concrete barriers, filled with sharp corners, and housing a plethora of choke-points. Now picture yourself dying 2 seconds after each and every spawn. In a gist, that is what playing on Kunar Base is akin to. This monstrosity of a map was almost unplayable, and should have remained in Frankenstein's laboratory.






1. Shipment (CoD: Modern Warfare)


Many people may wonder why this map made it on my list. To put it simply, I am a PC gamer. Most Shipment maps on CoD: 4 are modified to allow up to 50 players in one game. Could you imagine yourself playing TDM with 50 people, in a map that is maybe 100 feet? It's absolutely ludicrous, and has sucked all of the fun out of this map for me.  

Feel free to leave you opinions in the comments below. Be nice however. Also, don't forget to check out my YouTube Channel, and follow me on  Twitter.

Thanks for reading.




- Chris Hodgkinson

Have you seen my Skyrim Machinima? It's gotten great feedback!

I hope you enjoy it enough to keep in touch with this site as well as my YouTube channel. Stay fresh brahs'.