Via Euro Gamer we’ve got a release date for Vegas 2. March 21st. Ubisoft’s Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will start shipping on March 21st this year. For some more info on the new features in the game you can read an article we wrote or pick up the newest issue of GamePro. Check out a video of the game here. Xbox 360 Fanboy also has some more info on the game.

Boom!

That’s right it says “weak”, as in not strong. Below are some news stories from the past week or so that just didn’t seem super enough for their own headline post. However, they still hold a special place in my heart. So, without further ado, here it is. Weak sauce.

New Flash Player gets HD Video Playback

The future is HD and everyone on YouTube can look forward to a high-definition experience sooner now. The scientists over at the Adobe labs have brought the newest version of the Flash Player into HD. The latest version includes HD video support using the highly popular H.264 codec (Apple’s baby). As well as that is improves overall load on your CPU by using hardware acceleration instead of relying on software decoding and rendering. H.264 isn’t the only Apple friendly addition. The update also includes AAC (default encoding in iTunes) sound support. Oh, and Linux is also finally getting the update it’s been desperately needing.

EA’s Convinced C&C Renegade Wasn’t Enough

Enter Tiberium. The newest entry to the C&C universe. Wait, didn’t they already do this back when it was called Renegade? Or, the way they describe it, it sounds more like one of the updated Battlezone games.

EA describes Tiberium’s gameplay as a “blend of first-person shooting and tactical squad combat,” allowing players to control multiple ground and air units in addition to the game’s central character, Forward Battle Commander Ricardo Vega.

Source [Joystiq]

Amazon Takes Preorders for Gears of War 2, Then Stops

Guess they realized no one knows when the game will come out or anything else about the game for that matter. So, we all pretty much know they’ll be making a sequel, you don’t stop when there’s so much money on the table. But, I guess the good folks over at Amazon wanted to get in on some of that money first. The pre-orders where up and down within two days. I wonder if people that preordered will get a refund?

Sorry, No Dreamcast 2. Just Business Stuff

Recently Sega fanboys were peeing their collective pants as Sega updated it’s Dreamcast trademark. Sorry everybody, according to GameDaily, Sega of America PR Director Charlie Scibetta said, “SEGA has no plans to get back into the hardware business, but we also want to protect our past and current brands. The trademark application was filed to protect our current and potential future use of the word DREAMCAST and to prevent other parties from using it in a way that could be confused or linked with SEGA.”

I still have my Dreamcast, and was always a Sega gamer, so I was actually excited about the potential for Sega to get back into the hardware business. Sigh.

Boom!

What is Fury? And why is it Free? Here’s a quote from the developers website, “Combat with the exciting pace of an FPS game, and the strategic depth and character development of an RPG.”

It’s another free MMORPG. But this one is different from a lot of the others lately. It wasn’t meant to be free. It seems the developer Auran has run into a bit of a money problem. They’ve had to cut jobs and outsource their support services to China. Oh, and bonus, now you can play Fury for free.

Here’s some of the links. UnleashTheFury.com (official site), Free 2 Play (info about free Fury), and finally the link to download the game (the Fury forums).

Boom!

Looks like those screenshots everybody, including us here at CounterAgent, posted last week have sparked some minor controversy. The developer’s have admitted to “polishing” some of the screenshots. Just a little color correction, nothing major. Guerilla, the developer behind Killzone 2, posted on the official PS3 forums

“They are only the tiniest bit touched up. Short answer is yes. Long answer is that there was a little bit of colour-correction done and some minor polish, but nothing major. Still very close to reality and it looks better in motion in my opinion.”

As if Sony and Killzone 2 need any more bad press. Then again, people say “any press is good press”. And I am writing about them right now. So, good job Sony!

Boom!

That’s right everybody, Ubisoft has revealed they are working on a sequel to one of the best shooter’s of the past few years. Are you ready for this? The sequel is set in none other than Las Vegas Nevada.

“Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas had the effect of a bomb in the world of video gaming in 2006, by introducing in one fell swoop technological advance and innovation in terms gameplay,” said Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. “We are confident that Tom Clancy’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will also pioneer in the field of highly competitive shooters and delight fans of the Rainbow Six brand.”

And they have a release date so we might as well start counting down right? It’s set for March 2008. Since they don’t give a day of the month I’m just going to assume it’s the last day of March.

In other Ubisoft news, they’ve delayed their premiere PS3 shooter Haze. Pushing it back until early next year. As if Sony needed anymore bad news. And they’ve also announced a delay for Sam Fisher’s next mission, Splinter Cell: Conviction, maybe pushed back as far as fall next year.
Boom!

Medal of Honor Heroes 2 hasn’t really gotten much press. While it’s a sequal to a game most people never played, let alone never heard of, this game looks to help move the Wii a step closer to the “hardcore” gamers. The game may not look nearly as good as most similar games on the other two consoles, it does boast some of the best control options on the Wii.With the release of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption many Wii gamers have fallen in love with FPS controls on the Wii. MoHH2 looks to improve on the controls provided in Corruption by giving the player extensive customization for pretty much any control scheme you can dream up.

Okay, so the game is still set in WWII, not the “modern combat” setting many gamers are moving into now. I hate to have to preface things like this, but, for a Wii game it looks to really impress. The fact that they are one of the first developers to try real online multiplayer with the Wii. Let alone 32 players at a time.

And if that wasn’t enough, the game also supports the Wii Zapper, woopidy doo. But here’s a cool spot of fun, an Arcade mode, designed for the so-called casual gaming Wii crowd, you know the toddlers and grandparents that can’t handle the difficult controls of a First Person Shooter, but still want to shoot the crap out of Nazis. The Arcade mode is basically an on rails shooter version of the full game, which I’m actually really looking forward to.

Oh yeah, and it’s coming to PSP also, minus the Arcade mode, I think. Don’t quote me on that.

Boom!

Looks like the PC gaming community has been starved for a good FPS. Keep in mind this is just the demo, I mean wow. Here’s a link to get the frosty ice level, Frozen Island made by a modder by the name of Renji.

In related Crysis playing news, and general new PC game playing stuff, Firing Squad has posted tells you how to get the most out of a $500 PC upgrade.

Boom!

Here’s a screenshot I took of the Crysis demo. The demo size is pretty large at almost 2 gigs. The computer I played it on just barely meets the minimum system requirements, but I have to day it actually still looked good. If you have a descent gaming machine you must download this single player demo. Not only is this game a showpiece of what games can look like, but it actually plays really well. The guys at Crytek have done it again. They sure do love them some tropical islands. Can’t wait for the full game.

Link: Download Crysis Free from FileFront

Boom!

Developers of COD4, Infinity Ward, have leaked a couple of new features for the multi-player mode.  First the highest level you can get to in your performance level ups will be 65.  That should keep some of you busy for at least 2 weeks right.  We really like this level up system just from the beta testing.  It was roughly a week to week and a half that we reached the max level up for the beta which was 16.  So it should take a little to reach 65.  Also they talked about prestige mode.  This is for people who reach level 65 max out the level up. Any in prestige mode will first get a “really cool icon so everyone knows your in prestige mode”.  But you will lose all your extras gained and you will start over from scratch.  This could help you to continuously play the multi- player for a long time.  Whether or not this will make it better we’ll see but we can’t wait for this game to drop.

The next big sci-fi shooter isn’t coming out on Xbox 360, and maybe that’s a good thing. I don’t know how much more the console can sustain. Haze is a very promising first person shooter set in a sci-fi universe. It’s “gimmick”, what sets it apart, is what the developer has termed “Nectar” which gives your player temporary special abilities, similar to some of the force powers seen in many Star Wars games.

Hopefully, at least for Sony’s sake, provides something different in the genre, or if nothing else gives players a reason to finally own a Playstation 3. The biggest problem is the same one with most titles on the PS3, it doesn’t come out until next year.

Check out the complete extensive hands-on preview at Bit-Tech.net