And we’re back! After a long hiatus from jobs, grad school, and other personal business, we are back into the thick of things once more. What better way to start afresh then to provide some news during the week of E3 2011. There is much in store so let’s get straight to it. Here is a highly anticipated game for many on the PS3, Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, due out on November 1, 2011. Drake’s fate is drawn into the adventures and stories of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia). Video after the break.

This week has been definitely filled with new items and games from everyone. Microsoft announces their slimmed console along with their motion capture device Kinect, so naturally Sony reveals their latest attempt into the motion capture realm. Sony announced on Tuesday the launch of their new device, Move. Check the details and more pictures after the break.

LucasArts has released another Star Wars trailer for you. This time its for the upcoming game The Force Unleashed 2. I’m personally excited for this game after recently playing through the first game. I’m curious as to where the writers are going to take the storyline. It seems that there can only be so much done in the time span between Episode III and IV of the movie series. Also worth checking out is the Force Unleashed II web site. There are no menus but instead take on the appearance as if you are in a bacta tank as a clone.(?) There are several audio files that you can listen in on and a few mini games to unlock memories. Some are flashbacks of the old game while others possible hint to the storyline of the next game. Go on and check out the site here. Make sure to check out the trailer after the break.

The new Medal of Honor was announced via trailer on Spike TV December 12, 2009. This is yet another game that seemed to slip under my radar. EA is creating a refresh of the old game, stepping away from World War II and placing it in modern times in war torn Afghanistan. The new game is being created in cooperation by both EA’s Los Angeles studio and Swedish based developer DICE. DICE was the company that created the popular Battlefield Bad Company series and also Mirror’s Edge. Check out the latest trailer at their website here.

EA is setting themselves up nicely to compete with Activision’s Modern Warfare series. The new Medal of Honor places you with elite Tier 1 operative soldiers in the U.S. led NATO war against Al Qaeda. When asked in a recent interview with Kotaku on why they chose Afghanistan, Medal of Honor executive producer Greg Goodrich said,

Afghanistan sort of chose us. We had a story we wanted to tell and it was about a certain group of individuals.

When asked if he was using this setting as an attempt to grab audiences from current events Goodrich said the following:

We have a story to tell: Our story, our characters and the quality level at which we’re telling our story will engage people whether it’s there or anywhere else. The backdrop is just that. It’s a historical backdrop that has rich history. It all adds to that recipe that goes into making a great storytelling experience, beyond the locale, beyond the time of day, beyond the audio or music.

This is something that I feel the Medal of Honor series will play into their latest game: real life historical events. The Modern Warfare series places you into a fictional war and storyline. Here Medal of Honor will thrill us with real people in historical events, all of which took place during the first part of the Afghanistan War. All I can remember was the feeling I had playing Allied Assault for PC when I played the D-Day landing. I true sense of get the hell off the boat and find some cover before I died. It brought the first attempts at blending cinematic storyline and gameplay together. I hope to expect the same things with this iteration of Medal of Honor. Expect to see this game for PC, Xbox 360, and PS3 this summer.

Sam Fisher is at it again. I remember playing the first Splinter Cell on my Xbox way back in high school (2002) and thought that the game’s concept was very well done. The graphics were amazing, not to mention the lighting was phenomenal. I don’t remember much about the game’s story line though I remember being hooked into the style of gameplay. Then they released Pandora Tomorrow in 2004 and Chaos Theory in 2005. I remember playing segments of Pandora Tomorrow on PC but don’t think I ever finish the game. Same thing with Chaos Theory. Since then they released Essentials, which was released for the PSP and then Double Agent for the Wii, 360, and PS3. I actually played Double Agent on the Wii and thought they did a fairly decent job at incorporating the Wii remote. Now Ubisoft is gearing for the release of Splinter Cell Conviction on April 13.

The new iteration looks like it will be another great game done by Ubisoft. The game caught me by surprise the other day when I found their latest development video. Take a look at it at the end of the post. One of their key features in this game is using the environment to display mission objectives and information. While you are sneaking around, an objective will look like its being projected on a nearby wall. Same with mission vital information. This seems to be very interesting way to drop in game menus to give it a better gameplay flow…

Be sure to check out the video after the break.

So in the May issue of the Official Xbox Magazine there is a load of information about the new Ghost Recon installment: Future Soldier. Here is the list of inclusions revealed by the magazine:

• The game will feature split-screen cooperative play, but it’s yet to be determined if it will be two or four players.
• Soldiers in Future Soldier benefit from “load-bearing leg braces that enable them to move swiftly” even as they’re covered in a ton of heavy technology.
• Gamers can sprint to cover, slide-tackle enemies, and hurdle low obstacles thanks to their new exoskeleton.
• A first for the series, the soldiers will have close-combat takedowns at their disposal.  The takedowns are based on various forms of martial arts.
• The team is divided into four members, each with a different class.  The classes are: Commando, Engineer, Sniper, and Recon.
• Commando is very similar to a standard soldier, using a rifle with multiple components and shoulder mounted rocket launcher.  Engineer has loadouts including a UAV drone which can be steered by the soldier.  Sniper features the main advantage of identifying targets.  Recon features the optical camo (invisible cloak), and will be what most gamers want to play as.  However, when not cloaked, you’ll be quite distinguishable on the battlefield.
• The game begins with “the Russian president being kidnapped by extremists, and instead of breaking out the popcorn for a cutscene, you’ll be in the shoes of one of his bodyguards.  Regardless of how well you may perform during this sequence, you won’t be successful, and the capture of the Russian leader is the flashpoint that kicks off what becomes a truly international campaign.”
• The game will feature quite a few different settings for the game, being much removed from the bland Mexico settings fans were used to.
• Teammate A.I. has been much improved.  Your A.I. partners will move like they have “ten to twelve years of military training”.  Instead of running in front of you, they’re more prone to follow like squadmates should.
• The partners are said to cover your flank and angles you can’t always get to when you move forward.
• With the tap of a button, you can follow your teammate automatically.  Doing this technique will allow you to focus on enemy fire, and keep an eye on your teammates back as you continue forward.  All four players can actually link up at once as well.
• The link-up feature is available in multiplayer too.  Stand close enough to a cloaked squadmate in multiplayer, and you’ll be cloaked.  Future Soldier is aiming to encourage teamwork over everything else.
• The co-op is four players, and completely drop-in/drop-out co-op for the campaign mode.  Multiplayer is said to be 8vs8, and contains classic modes such as capture-the-flag and domination.
• The Persistent Elite Creation system from Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will make its way into the title.  Meaning, your items in the campaign will be synchronized with those items you use in multiplayer along with your character.

Nothing too earth shattering here. The main issue I find is that the concept of the future has largely been identified as not laser wielding robots. Rather, I think the Ghost Recon series is reflecting the subtle changes our armed services will find over the next 75-100 years: cloaking, exoksekeletons, and whatnot. The problem is that, unless artfully done, this may lead to more run-of-the-mill gameplay.

Also, what is that locking on squad mates thing? Like, enable Universal Studios ride mode? I don’t know about that. It sounds like they’re taking a page from Bad Company 2 otherwise. The real deal has yet to be seen, however…

Hey guys, check out the latest of a string of Red Dead Redemption videos showcasing the unscrupulous nature of the cast.

Of course, the game will be host to a number of your crazy and unsavory characters. I personally can’t wait to see how this game turns out, though I’m slightly disappointed that it will only be released for Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. Check out the video inside.

After the release of Infinity Ward’s and Activision’s Modern Warfare 2 one can only question what will be up their sleeves next. Several clues point to production of a Vietnam based game. It makes sense as World War II has been covered, covered again, and then some more, followed by the coverage of Modern Warfare and Modern Warfare 2. Call of Duty Vietnam would make a nice addition to the collection. (What about World War I?)

One of the obvious clues that point towards its production and game design is recent casting calls in California for voice over and motion capture. The casting call also describes some of the characters specifically naming: Frank Barnes, Joseph Lewis, Jason Hudson, and Kristina Ivanova. Interesting how a Russian is named; she apparently is a martial arts expert. The new game will feature Military Assistance Command, Vietnam – Studies And Observations Group, which was a real unit during the conflict which took part in several missions conducted behind enemy lines. Xboxic has the official casting call document for you to peruse. Check out their article here. Activision will be using Treyarch to develop the game, the same developers they used to create Call of Duty World At War. Other rumors also indicate that this could be a game on a larger scale possibly covering events in Cuba. Call of Duty Cold War perhaps? Either way the game is said to be released this year around the holidays.