Weekly Wrap Up: Oct 23

Max Payne 3 DLC

            Rockstar has detailed their second multiplayer map pack for Max Payne 3.  Titled Hostage Negotiation, the pack will include: 4 new maps, Estadio Do Galatians, Club Moderno, Favela Heights and O Palacio Strip Club, 2 new weapons, the IA2 Assault Rifle and the M24 Sniper Rifle and 3 new items, the Bomb Suit, which offers some protection against explosive damage, the Explosive Burst, which creates traps, and finally the Intimidation Mask, which slows opponent’s reload speed.  The pack will be available on October 30^th for $10 or 800MSP, unless you have purchased the Rockstar Pass for $30 or 2400MSP that entitles you to all the game’s DLC.

007 Legends Skyfall

            The free additional mission for 007 Legends modeled after the new movie Skyfall is set to be released on the same day as the film, Nov 9^th, on PS3 and then on Nov 20^th on the 360.  The game itself is already out on these platforms and will be coming to the PC on Nov 2^nd and the Wii U some time in December.  No word has been released on when the Skyfall add-on will be released for those versions.

Bioshock Infinite news

            And for once it isn’t about departures.  Bioshock Infinite will have two special editions available upon its release, the Premium Edition and the Ultimate Songbird Edition.  The Premium Edition, which costs $80US, will come with the following: a 3-inch keychain of the Murder of Crows vigor bottle replica, a 5 x 7 inch lithograph by Jorge Lacera, a 25 millimetre, resin-cast Handyman miniature from the upcoming Bioshock Infinite board game, an art book full of concept art and commentary with a hand distressed cover, exclusive in-game gear, a digital soundtrack, and either Avatar costumes if you are on the 360 or Themes if you are on the PS3 or PC.  The Ultimate Songbird Edition includes everything listed above as well as a 9 inch statue of the creature from the game known as Songbird and will cost $150US.  Along with the news of these special editions Irrational has released another trailer for the game titled Beasts of America.

http://www.bioshockinfinite.com/media/#5gBVZj6ROV0

Wii U details

            In a recent post on Nintendo’s site, company President Satoru Iwata transcribed a conversation with some of the Wii U’s designers about the Gamepad’s ability to work away from the Wii U.  While no specific range was given to how far the Gamepad can be from the console and still work they did try to give a general idea.  Walls tend to interfere with the signal and depending on the thickness of your wall, like say if it were concrete, you may not be able to play through it.  For most walls it should work, but the way I see it that might mean that if you are a couple of rooms away (thus multiple walls) then it might not work, or at least not at optimal speeds.  In addition to this we have also learned this week that Nintendo is once again way behind at connecting players over the internet by their decision to leave voice chat as a clear afterthought.  The Gamepad’s built in microphone cannot be used to communicate with other players in voice chat, so if you want that feature, which mostly everyone who likes playing online with friends will, then you will have to buy a 3^rd party headset (that’s right Nintendo won’t even bother to make one) and plug that into your Gamepad.  If you wish to use voice chat while using a Pro controller (the one that looks kind of like Xbox 360 controllers) then, because the Pro controller doesn’t have a headphone jack, you will have to have your Gamepad on and sitting beside you with a headset plugged into it so you can talk.  On top of that most titles won’t support voice chat, which means the chances of cross-game chat being available are probably zero because it isn’t a standard feature.  I understand needing to buy a headset because who would want their conversations coming through the TV, but the fact that the Pro controller meant for more dedicated gamers doesn’t have a headphone jack is completely ridiculous.  Also the fact that there will be games that don’t support voice chat is crazy, I mean one of the Wii U’s big features is the Miiverse where people can leave messages all over the place and comment on levels in Mario.  Yet if my friend is online I can’t talk to him through the console about the levels or get real-time instructions on how to beat a part, instead I have to read a bunch of notes in the level select menu.

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