Labels: Andrew Whipple III, Beta, Diablo III, Feature, GGTL Live, livestream

The team also decided to play a bit of a game with fans, posting an image of a blurred out update list. The only piece of info was about Herobrine, a meme associated with Minecraft, specifically about a hidden mod which Notch didn't code in. However, after a few hours of work, diligent players had 'decoded' the tabs at the top of the page. These revealed that the team are hoping to implement an experience and levelling system as well as giant mushrooms, something which was later confirmed by an image posted on the new Google+ service. Also seen in the images were randomly generated villages, much like in the Millénaire mod, and pre-generated ruins\dungeons which players will discover when adventuring over their worlds.

All of the shiny new content will also come with added danger, as the team have developed yet another mob to make your gaming life a misery. The new challenge, the Endermen, are tall creatures with thin legs and arms. Although they are passive to begin with, the danger comes when you look towards them. As soon as your eyes land on them, the Endermen stop whatever they are trying to accomplish - they are able to move blocks around in your world - and begin to stare straight at you. If the gaze between the player and mob is ever broken, they run at an incredible rate straight towards you, ultimately ending in your demise. Oh, and don't think you'll be clever by backtracking as far as you can - if you are too far away, the Endermen begin to teleport to get to you even faster.

If we take into account that the Pistons mod was recently added to the vanilla version of Minecraft, fans should be readying for one of the biggest changes to Minecraftia since the brilliant Hallowe'en update. No, wait...


However, as we still don't have a date for when it'll all hit, it's easy to assume that we might not see all that content for a while. As such, I'd like to highlight some bits of the community which you may find interesting, and will hopefully occupy your needs until the release. First up, take a stroll over to YouTube to watch some Let's Play's, as there are some real gems out there, such as the excellent Yogscast adventures, absoltue giants on YouTube at the moment.

However, if you're looking for some single player fun, you can't really top X's Adventures in Minecraft. This series is a few months old now, and started when Minecraft was all the way back in Alpha. You'll find yourself gripped by the series, not only due to the spectacular world in which it is set, but also due to David, the narrator of the videos. He comes across as a genuinely nice guy who has a clear passion for making gaming content. Finally, the Man vs Minecraft series from family team Paulsoaresjr creates suspense due to the strict rules he has placed on himself, in which inventory management becomes a daily necessity.

Another big part of Minecraft is the wide collection of mods made by the community. Although there are too many to mention here, it is worth looking at a few key ones. At the moment the aptly named Better Than Wolves mod is one of my top picks. It brings some great features to your world, including windmills, waterwheels, pulleys and ropes. It gives you new reason to build a house with a giant tower, or a bungalow next to a river. Another piece you may wish to try is the Millénaire mod, mentioned earlier, which adds to the option to spawn a small village, complete with NPCs. You are able to trade with, help or hinder these fellow Minecraftains in their search to build a bigger and better village.

These mods breathe new life into the frankly empty world, and each contain some great ideas. Luckily, they're something we don't have to wait till the update for; I'd suggest you take a look and download some of them now.

Labels: 2011, Beta, Feature, Jacques Hulme, Minecraft, PC

There's also the inclusion of kickbacks and medals, Uncharted's answer to killstreaks. Get fourteen medals through killing or finding treasure, for example, and a brand new RPG appears in your hands. With only two rockets, it's overpowered enough to give you a reward but too fleeting to unbalance the flow of the game. You won't find any helicopters tearing down buildings or nukes wiping out humanity; the kickbacks are subtle and suitably weak for Uncharted 3, giving that extra goal to aim for but never giving anyone a major and unbalanced advantage.


You might be wondering why I've started with two quite low-key features. "Why, Chris, dost thou dance around the elephant in the room?" I hear your cry. Truth is, I don't want to talk about it. Because I know what I say won't be popular. Yet there's no denying it.

Uncharted 3's multiplayer isn't very good.

Whilst being able to put Drake in a funny hat or raining fire with an RPG for a few seconds is all nice and well, it does nothing to dampen the sudden realisation that smacks you in the teeth as soon as you attempt to kill an enemy: the game is just lethargic. Movement is excruciatingly slow, whilst two players trying to jump onto the same object or wall results in both bouncing off like dim flies. This might seem a minor grievance, but it'll reduce you to screams and tears on Airstrip. When aiming, Uncharted 3 isn't a 'twitch shooter' - in fact, it's not even a 'deliberate, forceful movement shooter'; swinging your gun around to face an enemy takes half an afternoon, by which time they've buggered off somewhere else.

But the main thing that attracts all my loathing of Uncharted 3's beta is the fact it takes so long to kill anyone. Nine shots with the G-MAL; yeah, I counted, and that's simply preposterous. Whilst other multiplayer games are fast-paced and exciting, with rewarding kills that require a bit of skill and cunning, Uncharted 3 is nothing short of a slog. You see an enemy. You shoot at him. He shoots at you. This will continue for a good number of seconds, as you wrestle with your gun's recoil and desperately hope that your headshots have some effect. Then, one of you will run away. It's just ridiculous. Any time there's a firefight, one player can just roll away, into a building, and no one gets a kill. In fact, this happens so often that it seems ninety per cent of your deaths are from two other players: the one that you're trying to fight, and someone else who's run up behind you and pumped half a clip into your back. Great.


Why not use mêlée, to stop them in their tracks? Well, as you move into position to punch someone, the enemy will be shooting at you. Since it takes two punches to kill a man in Uncharted, after you punch them, they will punch you, and thanks to those fresh new bulletholes he made in your face whilst you were lamping him, he'll very easily be able to merely knock your lights out. I've never seen the instigator of a fist fight in Uncharted 3 emerge the victor. Unless you get lucky, and happen to sneak up on them and crack their neck, don't bother throwing a punch.

I'll accept that this could just be me. Maybe I only like multiplayer games in which it takes one or two bullets to kill someone. If you want to call me names and denounce me as 'weird', or 'different', go ahead. There could be some odd joy in trying to shoot a player for a solid five seconds as he rolls and ducks away that I just don't 'get'. But any game that requires two full-blown sniper shots to end a life? That's not for me.

For all that, Uncharted 3 does hide a few surprises up its damp, dirt-ridden sleeves. The opening airplane battle on Airstrip is inventive and a superb taster with which to have some unique fun with, and dynamic maps - such as Chataeu slowly burning down - are a lovely touch.


The biggest surprise was co-op; it's by far the best part of the beta. The oncoming waves of enemies are easier to kill than human counterparts, it lasts a solid 15 minutes, so you become really involved, and the different game modes forcing teamwork perfectly emphasises how to do co-op well. With a focus on the co-operative.

It looks pretty. It does some new, fresh and exciting things. It's great fun with two friends. But Uncharted 3 has some huge competition in November, not only from the multiplayer components of Modern Warfare 3 or Battlefield 3, but also from single player timehogs like Skyrim. With such weak, dull, apathetic and slow combat, Drake won't hold your attention for long.

Labels: 2011, Beta, Beta Impressions, Chris Hawke, Feature, Multiplayer, Naughty Dog, Uncharted 3, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception

Dedicated Servers

A locust depicting the stranglehold that 'host' connection had on the community.

Arguably the most tremendous addition to the game, the Gears franchise has an infamous history of that heinous thing called 'host advantage'; when the person hosting the game also holds a greater connection and thus inflicts more damage, has greater accuracy, and pretty much everything is better for the host. In Gears of War 3, host advantage doesn't exist, and it's incredible. You see, now no-one has to worry about that sole guy who can take on the entire team with only a pistol, craggy game connections are extinct, and silly things like the room being dumped or host migration have vanished. The servers stand tall and proud, basically making Gears a lag-free endeavour, something that the series has needed from the start.

This has also affected joining games. Unlike the twenty-minute wait everyone had to endure during the launch of Gears of War 2, Gears 3 makes this process seamless and fast. Players will also be able to join your game on a whim when someone else unexpectedly quits. If no one is there to take the place of your former comrade, Epic's 'gear bots' jump into the mix. And, no, they aren't as asinine as the last ones were. Don't you remember the behind the back, no look, Boltok headshots?

Menus, Ribbons & Unlockables

See this here? He too could one day be yours to play as. Maybe.

When Gears 2 released a couple of years back, the menus were something of an afterthought. How bad was it? Well, let's just say that there was no option to even quit the game. In order to do so you had to jump back to your dashboard and boot the game again. Thankfully, Gears 3 sees a departure from this shoddy programming, and goes the extra mile by throwing in unlockables, and special awards that Epic are calling 'Ribbons'.

I really don't care about achievements, trophies, medals or ribbons, unless they net you something worthwhile in the game itself. Surprisingly, Epic has implemented a system that does just that. By completing tasks such as killing twenty-five enemies with the Retro Lancer, or performing a certain number of Executions, not only will you grab Ribbons, but you'll also net add-ons like weapon skins, characters, and unique executions for specific weaponry. In Gears 2 all the weapon executions were open, but if you want all the unique ones in Gears 3 you'll have to work for them.

More about Ribbons; they'll have a direct impact on how fast you'll 'level up'. Once again, a Call of Duty-esque experience system strikes into the heart of another shooter, and it works well for Gears of War 3. Depending on how well you do and how many Ribbons you've achieved, your experience will be bolstered tenfold. Since you pretty much get a Ribbon for everything you do in the game (including being the first to die), doing well and Ribbon-mongering share a symbiotic relationship. Progress is tracked in real-time during a game, like in Gears 2, but you can also observe what you've done on the main menu screen.

Combat

Violence really is the spice of life; a spice which costs $59.99, and is available from September 20th.

The thing that's seen the most tweaking in Gears 3 is probably the way combat unfolds. Sure, the new Team Deatchmatch mode has respawns with lives, which is slightly odd, but I'm really talking about the other major mechanic: rolling. Since the start, you've only ever been able to roll forward, backward, left, and right, frozen-rope style. In the new game, if you hold up and a little to the left while rolling, you guessed it, that's where you're rolling to.

This subtle tweak has changed much more than how it appears on the surface. Rolling with accuracy allows you to hit those tight corners you otherwise might have missed in the previous games. It also allows you to move about more erratically when fleeing for your life, or maybe even when you're chasing someone down. No more rolling in place gents, it's a skill roll now.

You also can't forget that stopping power is still in effect. When someone is shooting you, it means evasion is a necessity, as you won't be moving forward at the standard rate. Remember, Gears is a cover-based shooter, and Epic clearly would like it to remain as such. When it comes to cover, you also have to remember that if your enemy is present when you hop over some cover, landing inevitably on top of them, you'll kick them right in the face, causing disorientation and setting you up for an easy kill.

Oh and before I forget, if you're standing next to a teammate, you can now actually swap weapons with them. That's important because that novice with the Torque Bow can now give it to someone who isn't absolute rubbish with it. Thank you.

Weapons

I won't say it. Really, I won't.

Practically all of the standard weapons make a return in Gears 3, but some new ones and old favorites have surfaced with a twist. Take, for instance, the Gorgon Pistol. Now subtract 'Pistol' and add 'SMG'. That deadly dual-stream of bullets from the second game is now a constant stream, and it's all the better for it. The Hammerburst, along with the Lancer and Retro-Lancer, can all be selected any time you die during the match, to switch with whichever one isn't working for you. Whilst the Retro-Lancer is powerful but highly inaccurate, and the Lancer is largely the same, the Hammerburst is the most accurate of the bunch and can even zoom into a first-person view. Despite the apparent incompatibility of a first-person view in a third-person game, it's actually quite awesome and is a great unique feature of the Hammerburst.

Smoke Grenades are now useful, funny as that sounds, and can change the tide of a fight in a split second. Upon throwing down your smog-inducing spherical device, it'll explode, causing a concussive blast that stuns surrounding foes. The stun still allows enemies to move, but for a short period they cannot fire. Also, the Gnasher works again (thank the gaming Gods). Plus, the Lancer can only be interrupted if you're shot in the revving process. Don't believe me, believe Rod Fergusson:

I'm particularly fond of the fact that the Lancer chainsaw can only be interrupted when it's being raised. Like me, once it's up, it's on!

Active reloading is also a bit different. Veterans won't balk at the standard Lancer and Gnasher shotguns' active reloading, since nothing's really changed, but the other weapons you're used to may tell a different story. Take, for instance, the Hammerburst. Instead of increasing in speed, the Hammerburst takes you off guard by going at a steady rate. This might not seem like much, but in the midst of battle, having varying speeds at which your weapon reloads can make or break the fight. The new sawed-off shotgun is the epitome of this practice. Miss that active and you wont be shooting for a while, but land it, and things are gonna get dead quick.


Whether you've noticed them or not, the Gears 3 beta has given us plenty of minor and major changes. All hasn't been revealed yet, but you can definitely expect much more when the full game hits this September. Also, remember to submit some feedback, over on the Gears of War 3 beta forums. Epic wills it.

What do you think? What's your favourite change from Gears 2 to Gears 3? Let us know in the comments section, or you can tweet us @ggtl.

Labels: 2011, Andrew Whipple III, Beta, Beta Impressions, Epic Games, Gears of War, Gears of War 3, Microsoft Game Studios, Xbox 360

Labels: Beta, Competition, Frozen Synapse, Linford Butler, Mode7Games, PC

Now, there are some pretty significant changes in terms of the way Halo works now. There's a class system for a start and they all have their own starting weapons and unique abilities such as a jetpack, invisibility, a dash move, a shield and some other neat and useful ones. The way these affect the gameplay is noticeable in all the game modes that were available (Slayer, Team Slayer, Free-For-All, Crazy Kings, Oddball, Capture the Flag, SWAT) but are most useful in the new game modes created for Reach.


First of all you've got Headhunter; a fast and frantic mode in which everyone in the game carries a flaming skull which they drop when they die. The other players have to collect the fallen skulls and take them to a capture point to score points. The points are constantly changing, and what makes it even more challenging is that the number of skulls you're carrying shows up above your Spartan, making you a more likely target for the opposition if they see you have a nice collection of skulls. I had 6 skulls at once one time. I died quite quickly.

Stockpile was the next available new mode, which tasks you with picking up neutral flags from all over the map and taking them back to your team's base. It's basically capture the flag on steroids, and it's a hell of a lot of fun. You can't use your class abilities whilst your carrying the flag, creating a challenging game mode, but making it a shame that you can't jetpack your way across the map, holding a flag aloft.


The final two modes are kickass to say the least; Generator Defence and Invasion. These are both setup as Spartan vs. Elites (you can't be an Elite at any time like in Halo 3; only for these modes) and each team has different weapons and abilities available to them. Elites can run faster at normal speed but Spartans can sprint; Elites can become invisible but Spartans have jetpacks; Elites can do rolypolys and dash but Spartans can power up a shield. It's perfecly balanced and both modes are great fun.

In Generator Defence, the Spartans are defending and the Elites are trying to destroy the generators. The Elites have to destroy all three generators within the allocated time, but the Spartans should be okay as long as they can save at least one generator.


Invasion is the real big daddy of the Reach multiplayer experience (unless Bungie announce something even better). The Elites' objective is to assault a giant industrial complex, fight their way to the rear, steal a data core and take it to a waiting Phantom for removal from the area. The Spartans have a time limit in which to stop the Elites from advancing to each stage of the map. The Elites basically have to complete objectives to push the Spartans back and eventually capture the data core. Each time the Elites advance, more weapons and vehicles become available and the classes upgrade. It's really, really good.

The base gameplay is very similar to Halo 3 but the abilities really push it up a few notches. What helps are the new weapons too; there are some really awesome new guns in Reach and there'll be plenty more in the full game. Some of my favourites from the beta were a Needler/sniper variant for the Elites, a grenade launcher for the Spartans and, best of all, a plasma grenade launcher for the Elites. Using that against a Warthog is ridiculously satisfying. Games seem more tactical than before too, thanks to the new modes and abilities. It feels like a nice mix between Call of Duty and Battlefield, which is no bad thing at all. Having said that, it doesn’t feel as viscerally brutal as rival shooters such as Modern Warfare 2. Instead, Halo Reach multiplayer plays like a peculiarly violent sport, perhaps a little like if Sky Sports decided to give tazers to all the players before Arsenal took on Chelsea.


Reach's matchmaking and menu systems are also upgraded to the extent that they're actually worth mentioning. It's incredibly easy to hook up with friends, with no need to enter the Xbox 360 dashboard: just nudge your analogue stick to the right and you get a list of all your friends online, represented by their custom-made Spartan. You can see what they're playing and invite them into a match as easily as pressing a button.

Speaking of custom Spartans, the feature has been expanded a little for Reach too. The new armour pieces are purely cosmetic, but there's more satisfaction in how you earn them compared to Halo 3. Master the new weapons and game modes and you’ll amass in-game points that can be traded for new bits of armour. Colours and emblems are also available. However, you cannot customise your Elite, but as you can only play as them in 2 modes (and you might not even play as them in these modes anyway) it wouldn't be a worthwhile feature if you were able to.


Graphically, the Reach beta was more impressive than Halo 3, but not quite by the massive margin that Bungie had led us to believe. Fair enough, it's a beta with a while until release, and it's multiplayer, so the single player will probably look better, but I was still a tad disappointed. Whilst the Spartan models looked really good, everything else was a bit bland and underpar. However, the sense of scale is something that I haven't seen online outside the Battlefield series and that was something especially impressive in the Invasion game mode.

By the time the beta was over, I was very impressed. The additions are really fantastic and, at the end of the day, it's still Halo and therefore still very fun. Of course, this is just a portion of the online multiplayer, and Bungie have shown hardly any of the campaign or the co-op. With four months for Bungie to polish and perfect, I'm confident that this could be the greatest Halo game yet.

Tom

Labels: 360, Beta, Beta Impressions, Bungie, Halo Reach, Microsoft, Tom Acres, Xbox 360, Xbox LIVE

Labels: 360, Beta, Halo Reach, News, Tom Acres

When I got home on 23rd September to find a rather slick-looking email from the lovely people at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, inviting me into the beta testing phase of MAG, I can honestly say that I was giddy with childish excitement. I had friends who were official SCEE beta testers, who had already been in the beta for around a month, and every competition I entered didn't see me come away with a shiny redeem code, so my hopes for getting to play MAG before retail release were considerably lower than they were a few weeks previously. I needn't have feared, it turns out - I was one of the lucky few who Sony decided could make a good job of beta testing what could possibly be one of the most high-capacity games ever published. And I'm ever so glad they did.

The beta test is by no means as large as the full game will be - each match only features 64 players - and yet it still impresses. The games are frantic, fun and - surprisingly and impressively for a FPS - teamwork is pretty much essential to deciding whether you win or lose. It does nothing much new at all for the genre, bar the command view and faction concept, but what it does do is decent enough.

Gameplay is fluid and works very well indeed. Featuring many of the guns which FPS gamers will have become accustomed to, or at least some variants of those weapons, the game's combat is fluid and has the same feel as many other FPS games. Weapons are good, and all feature the aim down sights (ADS) view customary when it comes to today's shooters; however, some weapons - particularly the starting loadouts - lack a punch which leaves you a little disappointed at first. The game features armoured personell carriers too, so those with a flair for driving are catered for - these vehicles are solid-feeling and work really well: each have three seats, of which one is reserved for the driver and one for the gunner, whilst the one left over can carry a passenger. The turret view in these vehicles is excellent, with a high-tech look and feel which works just perfectly when driving into the heat of battle.

Graphically, the beta doesn't deliver quite as much as you'd think it might. Menu screens are very nice and look sleek and high-tech, but in-game screen resolution isn't fantastic, despite being in high-definition. However, various sources claim that the beta version of the game only features a fraction of the graphical intensity which the full retail version will have to offer. Weapon and character models are good though, and textures are pretty much standard quality FPS textures. In fact, there isn't much wrong at all with the beta's visuals, apart from the low screen-res. I'm sure this'll be upscaled in the final release, though.

MAG is an online-only game, and you can tell that a huge amount of effort and work has gone into making it a good online experience. The lack of lag is certainly noticeable - there is only ever lag when someone has an extremely low connection, and even then it doesn't affect the entire game, only that single player. There's no peer-to-peer server kafuffledegook*, either, as all of MAG's matches run from official servers setup to do the job of hosting. Voice comms over microphones and headsets are clear, crisp and audible, and work well in-lobby and in the midst of battle. There are options for building clans and getting friends together in one lobby, with the only exception being that they must be in the same faction as you are. However, if you play with those friends option, then you should already know which faction you're going to join before even installing the beta.

In all, the Massive Action Game beta certainly does what Zipper promised it would do when they were stood on stage at E3 '08. The battles are frantic, and teamwork is almost essential to avoiding defeat. The maps are huge and the game handles a large number of players well (although there are only 64 per game during the beta - the game will feel even more frantic once the retail version is released and 256-player battles are waged). However, so far, I've not seen much which does anything new for the first person shooter genre, so those of you expecting something revolutionary - gauging this from what I've experienced of the beta - think again.

Linford

Unfortunately, we could not provide in-play screenshots from the actual beta for legal reasons.

Labels: Beta, Beta Impressions, Linford Butler, MAG, Massive Action Game, Zipper Interactive

Labels: Beta, Giveaway, Jacques Hulme, MAG, Massive Action Game

Labels: Beta, Gran Turismo, GT5, Linford Butler, Rumours

Labels: Beta, Jacques Hulme, MAG

First of all, I need you to please adhere to the strict rules of this Beta Trial. As with any other Beta, YOU MUST NOT RECORD AND POST FOOTAGE AND/OR SCREENSHOTS OF THIS GAME ONLINE. This is because the game is not yet finished and you MUST agree to these terms in order to be approved.

Secondly, please understand the nature of this beta trial. We have made it available so that people can try out the online aspects of the game. There are many aspects of the game that are not yet finished so you will certainly encounter bugs, glitches and crashes. However, fear not — this will not damage your machine.
Please note, you must have a decent signal in order to enjoy this game. In the race you may see cars jumping around the track — this is simply because those testers have a bad broadband signal.

Here is some information for the demo:

RACING CONTENTS
Cars: Enzo Ferrari, Aston Martin DBR9, Mclaren F1
Tracks: Nürburgring GP Circuit, Spa
Weather Conditions: Dry, Wet
Racing Options: 1-16 player Online (yes, you can race on your own if you want)
Car Liveries: various liveries available

RACING CONTROLS
Obviously there will be many options in the final game but for the purposes of this trial the controls are:

L Steer
L1 Look Left
L2 Brake
L3 Headlights On/Off
R Gear Shift Up/Down (in manual gear mode)
R1 Look right
R2 Accelerate
X Accelerate
O Handbrake
Tri Look Back
Sq Brake
Sta Options (DOES NOT PAUSE GAME)
Sel Change View

Steering Wheel: Logitech and Thrustmaster wheels are catered for.

PSN COMPATIBILITY
PSN accounts from the US, Australia, New Zealand, Portugal and Belgium may not be compatible with this Sony Europe beta. You will know because you will get an ERROR message when you try to use the code. If this happens you need to set up a UK PSN account.

PENALTIES ETC
There are many options available to race hosts, ranging from no penalties, to full penalties and you can also set the game up so that players are disqualified after a set number of penalties.
Players will be penalised for cutting corners and overly aggressive behaviour

ASSISTS
All three racing modes are in this Beta. these are Assisted, Arcade and Simulation, the latter of which is fully customisable.

LIMITATIONS OF THIS TRIAL
Please understand that this trial is designed to give you a taster of what we're doing. Please also understand that the code this trial is based is now several weeks old (that's how long it takes to get it all approved and on the store).
Obviously there are only three cars and two tracks available. controller configuration is also limited and you don't have access to the Showroom (where you buy and sell cars and design your liveries).
The Damage meter is also off for this trial, so while there is visible damage you won't have to retire through excessive damage.

GENERAL TIPS
Don't underestimate how much of a difference there is between the handling of the cars and the way they handle in the rain.
I'd recommend jumping into the DBR9 and racing in the dry for a few races, just to get the feel of the game and the car, and to get used to the controls. Driving in the rain is a real challenge, especially in Simulation mode. Curbs are slippery, braking distances are vastly extended and braking while turning is a recipe for disaster.

Please note this is a Sony Europe trial so other territories may not be compatible. If your code does not work it may be that you live in a country that is not compatible. In this scenario please try opening a UK PSN account.
Because of the nature of Beta Trials you will have to download a 500Mb file. DEPENDING ON THE SPEED OF YOUR CONNECTION THIS COULD TAKE UP TO 45 MINUTES.
After you have downloaded and installed the Beta you can start it, however, upon starting it you will be asked to download the latest patch for Stage 2. Again, this could take a further 45 minutes!

Labels: Beta, Competition, Linford Butler, Supercar Challenge

Labels: Beta, Jacques Hulme, Trailer, Uncharted 2, Uncharted: Drake's Fortune, Video

Don't tell me. You've been sitting at that computer all day, feverishly checking your email inbox every few minutes, whilst rocking forwards and backwards muttering under your breath. It's understandable, in the current Home climate. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you're gonna have to wait a bit longer.

TedTheDog, SCEE Home Community Manager, has given us another quick update about what's happening on the Home front (eh, see what I did there?) via the Official EU PlayStation Forums.

Ted informs us that SCEE are busy at work identifying those unfortunate PlayStationers who did not recieve the beta key which should have been sent to them, and are adding them to the list of people due to be sent a key in the next batch later this week. No emails will be sent today, Ted mentions, so you may as well shut down Hotmail now. If the email problem is fixed by tomorrow morning, beta emails might be sent out tomorrow, but if not all the emails will go out on Thursday.

To sign off, I can only say on Sony's and TedTheDog's behalf, sorry for the delay.

Linford

To view all GGTL's Home articles, click here. For automatic updates, subscribe to our RSS Atom Feed.

Labels: Beta, Delay, Playstation Home, PS3, Update

Many PS3 gamers waiting in anticipation for their closed beta key wil be disappointed, as they have been delayed again, according to Home Community Manager on the EU PlayStation Forums, TedTheDog.

External problems due to issues with SCEE's email systems have caused the beta keys, which were due to be sent last Friday, being prevented from being distributed.

Just over 20,000 Beta key emails managed to make their way through the email chaos to reach their lucky recipients, many of who have downloaded the Home Beta and are enjoying it at the current time.

TedTheDog ensures the PlayStation community that SCEE intend to resend all the beta emails they think didn't get through as soon as they can, and also attempt to send a larger batch on Thursday (27th November). However, the email problem needs to be dealt with first. Ted also tells us that SCEE are working on the email blockage, but it's a pretty slow process, so it is safe to say that no emails will leave Home HQ today.

For those interested, the first batch of beta emails were targetted at a certain percentage of people who downloaded something from the PlayStation Store, and has nothing to do with the number of posts on the EU PlayStation Forums, as some thought. The next batch will be making their way to active PSN users who have logged into an SCEE hosted game in the last couple of months. Although some will not get a beta key, those who don't can be assured that the Open Beta will hit the Store before Christmas.

Linford

PS. The firewall which was put on Home to prevent gamesharing has been removed, thus making Home act like many other PSN games in the fact that it can be shared. However, TedTheDog and SCE encourage users to keep their PSN ID, password and other confidential information private and to avoid gamesharing at all costs. Please be sensible and keep your PSN login information private.

Labels: Beta, Delay, Playstation Home, PS3, Update

Labels: Beta, Competition, Resistance 2

1. The header must be of the dimensions 700px by 250px.
2. The header must contain the GGTL logo or the text 'Gamer's Guide to Life' (logo preferable).
   
3. The header must contain the names of all the GGTL writers.
   
4. The header cannot contain content unsuitable for minors.

1. You must be 18 years old or over.
2. You must own a PLAYSTATION®3 system.
3. You must have a valid North American PLAYSTATION®Network account.

Labels: Beta, Competition, Resistance 2

Labels: Beta, Resistance 2, Writer's note