After a slight delay due to internet issues in the prior presentation, a pack of media people shuffled into a little room to hear all about Killzone 2. Guerilla Games' managing director, Hermen Hulst, looked slightly horrified that the horde of journalists had left the two women in the room to sit on the floor ('Someone please get her a chair!'), but Kotaku writers getting stuck on the floor be damned, the show will go on! Eric Boltjes — senior online game developer — launched into a presentation and explanation of Killzone 2 online multiplayer's unique features and mechanics. After, of course, a nice video showing ... fast action, and lots of explosions! Boltjes underscored the fact that everything we watched was shot in real time on the PS3, and everything still looked nice even with 32 players in a game. We got a long laundry list of features and mechanics, which all seemed to come back to one word, 'customized.' For more from the presentation, hit the jump.

Boltjes laid out four goals for the game: 'everyone can enjoy Killzone 2 online,' 'play just the way you like it,' 'inspiring team play,' and 'create community beyond the game.'

Under the 'everyone can enjoy Killzone 2 online' category, Boltjes mentioned they wanted the hardcore and uh, less hardcore audiences to be happy and have fun, and noted a few features. The quick join feature will ensure that players can just hop into a game suitable for their ability level, but pickier players will be able to search for specific criteria before joining a game. The game will feature a 'slow introduction,' working up to advanced features; the advanced features will hopefully keep the hardcore audience chipper while not demoralizing those who aren't ready for a really steep learning curve. Along with that, there will be transparency in the progression of the game, with twelve military ranks to progress through as you play the game (unlocking more features along the way), with an additional 46 badges and medals to be won for completing specific goals. Stats junkies will also be able to track 'over 100 statistics' regarding their progress and performance.

Boltjes seemed very proud of the 'play just the way you like it' features, which meant customize, customize, customize (within reason). Players will be able to select from six badges; each badge has a primary and a secondary ability. Decide you're really more of a medic-engineer than just a medic? Combine the two to take the medic's primary badge and the engineer's secondary badge (and vice versa if you decide to play as an engineer-medic). Custom games will allow players to select everything from the maps played, types of missions, weapons available, types of badges allowed, and variable settings (how long it takes to revive a player, how long it takes to set/defuse an explosive, etc.)

Under 'inspiring team play,' Boltjes discussed the benefits of having a squad, including the ability to see the stats of other squad members, a squad-only headset channel, and a 'spawn on squad leader' feature. Also under the spawning mechanics is the ability to cycle through available spawn points and check out what's going on in real time. Dynamic missions will also allow several missions to be selected for a game, with another mission starting after one objective has been won (there is also the option to switch in the middle of a round). There can be four members per squad and eight squads per faction.

Boltjes finished up by discussing the clan system and how they want to 'create community beyond the game.' Clans can support up to 64 players, and clan vs. clan matches can handle 16 on each side. Clan matchups will feature a 'valor' betting system, with winner takes all of the predetermined 'valor' bet. It is possible to run out of valor, but by participating in entry fee-free competitions, clans can rebound from a lack of valor. Clan tournaments can be set up in a tier-based system, with a maximum of 256 clans. On the issue of community more broadly, Boltjes talked about the leaderboards — including individuals, friends, clans, and clan member stats — that can be sorted on an all-time, daily, weekly, or monthly basis. The Killzone 2 website was also brought out as a more in-depth companion to everything available in game.

During the Q&A, a few more things came up: no, graphics were not downsized for multiplayer (and the game did look nice, at least the parts we were shown). A public beta will be open later this year, and they will be closely monitoring for exploits and vulnerabilities. Killzone 2 will also be functioning on a global server system. Further, more single player news will be out later this year, and while they have some interesting ideas to go with Sony's Home, "we're not discussing it right now."

People loved it but they didn't like the host advantage [in Gears 1 multiplayer]. They got tired of the shotgun inconsistencies. We're fixing all of that. They didn't like the randomness of the chainsaw, so we put the chainsaw duel in — may the best man win! A lot of players wanted respawning, but we added in some modes for downloadable content on Gears 1 that added respawning, but even then it was a 15-second cue. So we have game modes now, like Guardian, where players cycle in and out a lot more often. And Wingman, which is kind of like our version of Last Man Standing Free-for-All, where you have five teams of two each. So it's you and a buddy versus the world, which feels really good. We've added a lot more depth to the multiplayer.

Thanks for that Mr. The Cliffster! Always keen for making stuff better.

Gears 2 Interview [GamePro via NeoGAF via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

Bungie offered no word on when specifically it will drop. MLG's site has some low-res shots of the event (camera shots of the monitor). You can at least make out the chilly, blue-hued, nitrogen-spewing environment familiar to the original Chill Out. Three more pics after the jump, and more in MLG's gallery.

Bungie Makes World Premiere of Chill Out Remake at MLG San Diego [Major League Gaming]

"A television show that is on once a week isn't enough. The fans today want the experience to go beyond that," Howe said. "For example, we can tell them that there will be an alien invasion at a certain place in the game, at a certain time, and to be there with all their friends and be ready. The outcome depends on them. And then that battle will be part of the universe in the show."

Sci Fi had originally planned to do something similar with their hit Battlestar Galactica, though decided to start fresh in order to create a world in which the players decide who the heroes and villains are.

This of course wouldn't be the first time television show crossed over with a computer game. Last year CSI explored the world of Second Life, creating a virtual experience in the game which allowed players to wander about looking for clues while playing the Law and Order gavel sound wav file over and over again. Maybe that was just me.

This project is different in that players are actually shaping the world instead of reacting to the events of the show. Not only will players take part in events and be featured in show footage, the show's creators will be able to get instant input on how viewers feel about the direction the plot is taking them and adjust accordingly. They'll even be able to launch expansions and new areas based on places the show characters visit. If anything, they'll wind up with the one MMO player-base that actually stops playing to watch television once a week.

As for sp3ecifics, all we know right now is that the game show will take place 80 to 100 years in the future of an Earth that looks very different than our own. Sci Fi plans on revealing more about the project later this year at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Sci Fi Channel is game to join the virtual world [LA Times]

Still, to the designers, hat-tip for rendering it like an old 4-bit PC game. I dunno, the tone just seems to deserve that kind of treatment. And also note how your dino farts after you chow down on less fortunate sauropods. Hat-tip for that, too.

Dino Run [Pixeljam, thanks Rob]

The game also boasts a new online ranking system that tracks your career and awards experience points based on achievements you reach. For those of us who love racing but suck at it, the game will also feature spectator mode, allowing us to watch jealously as more competent players master hairpin curves that we'd normally be eating.

Race Driver: GRID ships May 30th for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 in Europe and June 3rd stateside.

Fierce 12-player online races with full car damage - Race Driver: GRID's multiplayer details confirmed.

Wednesday, 14th May - Reflecting the ethos, spirit and attitude of the offline game, Race Driver: GRID will bring a world of motorsport to life online as Codemasters® today announced that the game's multiplayer content will feature 32 exhilarating online race events on 80 circuits at 15 intercontinental locations.

Featuring up to 12-player events with incredible full car damage, Race Driver: GRID's online multiplayer races will see gamers competing in aggressive races on iconic city streets and famous championship circuits across Europe, the U.S. and Japan.

"Race Driver: GRID online is the ultimate expression of what the game is all about - incident-packed, aggressive, wheel-to-wheel racing," said Ralph Fulton, Chief Game Designer, Race Driver: GRID. "Our wide range of motorsport disciplines, stunning locations and full damage 12-player races make for a uniquely spectacular race experience and our immersive new ranking system rewards player skill and deepens the challenge online."

Players will be able to take their custom livery online and make it feared and respected by competing in a huge range of racing disciplines; from drifting around Yokohama Docks, charging through the mean streets of Detroit, racing touring cars around Spa-Francorchamps to competing in chaotic demolition derbies.

The pure race experience is at the heart of Race Driver GRID's gameplay and, in online multiplayer, everything is geared towards maximising player time spent on track and minimising time spent in lobbies. Players can rapidly find the event they want and a slick voting system, matchmaking mechanism and seamless host migration means gamers find competitive races quickly and sessions stay together longer.

An innovative new online ranking system charts players' progress as they advance from Junior Rookie to Legend, with experience points being awarded based on a wide range of achievements, from events won to beating higher ranked opponents.

As players rise through the rankings, online leaderboards record the fastest laps for each track and gamers can download ghost cars to test out their skill against the best in the world in Test Drive mode or check out the competition in Spectator mode. Players can also fully customise their game including switching damage on or off, enabling catch-up mode, setting driver aids and allowing public and private games.

Race Driver: GRID is coming May 30th (Europe/PAL) for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft®, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Games For Windows®. A Nintendo DS™ edition will follow. Race Driver: GRID playable demos - featuring two online multiplayer events - are now available from Xbox LIVE® Marketplace, PLAYSTATION®Network and, for the Games For Windows demo, please visit www.racedrivergrid.com

As you may have noticed, many of the devs to which we turn for our hardcore fix seem to be making full-tilt sprints for social networks like Facebook and the casual space. In today's ultra high-risk game development environment, Threewave also thought it'd be prudent to get on the burgeoning social media train, founding Gnosis Games, a casual subdivision with titles like Paparazzi, which according to the studio is a chart-topper on RealArcade, Gamehouse and other casual portals.

Now, Threewave's Gnosis has turned to Facebook. In this case, though, there's a surprising and interesting ulterior motive that's more in line with the hardcore audience than you might guess.

For someone like CEO Dan Irish, whose career in the industry began way back in the Spectrum Holobyte days and led him through Relic to Threewave, what's up with this casual migration?

Apparently, Facebook is just a hop, skip and a jump from what Irish is used to. He calls the early days of multiplayer FPS "one of the first small social networks," in that the primary draw for users was to play online with friends. The desire to stay connected with pals is also what's driving the success of Facebook and other social media spaces.

"We see the opportunity on the social networks as paralleling some of the things from the early multiplayer gaming days in the mid-to-late '90s," said Irish. "We looked at this as an opportunity where I think some other game developers are not quite sure what to do with it."

Irish's attention to the social networking space echoes recent sentiments by Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, who suggested the growing Facebook infestation might be a stiff competitor for his company's games: "Figuring out how to make the game experience more fun than any one of a hundred Facebook applications is going to be a challenge," Kotick said.

Electronic Arts' former chief creative officer Bing Gordon also sees Facebook-style tools as the next big thing: he recently departed the company where he's worked almost since EA's inception to pursue what he called "a new round of invention" in social media. "I realized that I really, really, really wanted to be in the middle of that," said Gordon.

Elsewhere, stirrings on the fringe of the game industry's core have taken notice of the spread of social media, but it's also clear that the industry's eyeing that space warily, unsure how to make the best use of it.

Gnosis Games thinks it has an idea, though. "We're a bit ahead of the curve, because we're bringing a new set of tactics," said Irish. "How do you monetize and leverage social network applications on the social networking platforms?"

In other words, the Gnosis Games studio is Threewave's "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" strategy. Irish says that using Facebook is helping the company create better games - and better retail sales. Gnosis has created a series of simple casual titles that can be played directly on Facebook, and then studies the feedback and user behavior around these simple little embeddables to glean information that's useful in the creation of more complex titles.

Gnosis sees who's installing and uninstalling the games, how long they play, the ratings users give the games and other types of both positive and negative feedback, and uses that data to inform their game development. It lets the studio's developers access the huge mainstream user base on Facebook and learn from their tastes and behavior.

"We refer to that approach as a 'focused social testing,'" said Irish. "Essentially, what it does is it allows us to test game mechanics, test IPs and test characters, and integrate user feedback into a full retail product."

"For a company like us, that's great, because instead of spending $1 million or $2 million coming up with a new IP and then pitching it to publishers and hoping they like it - and then, being happy or grateful that we get a 20 percent royalty - we can do it for a lot less cost, attach an audience to it, make sure that it's fun and then take it to a publisher."

"All of that information is very helpful, and it wasn't really available to content developers like us unless we had big amounts of money and working with a publisher to do a focus group."

Games built on user feedback will not only be more enjoyable to the audience, goes the theory, but will also be lower-risk investments and permit more creativity and innovation - a formula that hopefully translates to better success at retail, something that PC games in particular especially need at the moment.

"The other benefit is it kind of levels the playing field for game developers," Irish said. "Now we have a more direct connection to the end user and the customer than we ever had before. What business is not going to benefit from a more direct connection to the customer?"

Quite a lot has been made over the past year of "Facebook as the next platform for gaming." Its viral spread and swelling user numbers are both attractive and intimidating to the games industry - but largely the social network has proven a less-than-desirable platform for the majority of final-product games. A rash of new media companies have hinged their business on Facebook games with brief fad appeal, but objectively, Gnosis' Facebook test concepts seem to reflect that there's actual game development experience behind the simple minigames, compared to some of their peers.

Leveraging Facebook's huge user base as a testing ground for game concepts is a fairly new strategic approach, and whether or not it's a successful tactic remains to be seen. But as the game industry enters an increasingly high-risk environment and looks for new ways to innovate and reach users at lower cost, it's likely we can expect to see more studios consider how best to use social media to benefit the games industry.

But it does pretty much nail the always changing landscape of a criminal's life, in enemies who become friends and vice versa, risks taken trusting someone and goals that were of vital importance at one point becoming expendable in short time.

It's still "a carnival of violence, deceit, and cruelty that makes you slightly nauseated after playing for only a few hours" — well, remember he's writing for a Slate audience. He fesses up to lacking joystick skills to control the cars, but offers up a couple informed suggestions.

One, set the next one in the south side of Chicago (isn't that Carcer City in GTA canon?) and two, for multiplayer: Form gangs, or clans, which themselves have their own alliances and enemies and bargains. That gets GTA IV into MMO territory of course — but isn't that the rumor we're hearing out of latest developments with Realtime Worlds and APB?

What Grand Theft Auto IV Gets Right About Gangland and Illegal Economies[Slate]

Normally the lack of instructions wouldn't bother me because I never read them, but the nuances of matchmaking and party formation can be a little confusing in GTA IV. Fortunately, Rockstar must have realized that they left something out in their instruction manual because they've recently published a PDF dedicated just to multiplayer gaming.

The guide is filled with interesting tips and info. For instance, they explain how Party Mode work, something that has been driving me crazy since the launch. Turns out that when playing team modes, the game tries to find a similarly sized party to match you up with. In competitive modes it just fills up the slots with people and gets you going.

There are also plenty of usefull tips in the guide, like using blip settings to tweak your difficulty setting, and how auto-aim is an "awesome feature" that is often misunderstood and absolutely doesn't level the playing field.

Hit the jump for the full guide.

Basics
• To access multiplayer in-game:
1) Press Up on the directional pad to access your mobile phone
2) Toggle to Multiplayer and press ( for PS3 or for Xbox 360) to accept
3) Choose from Player Match, Ranked, or Party Mode
4) Select from one of 14 multiplayer games and press ( for PS3 or for Xbox 360) to enter the multiplayer lobby
• The lobby is the meeting point for all players before starting a multiplayer game. Here you can see a list of who is playing and change your mode and character model options.
• To invite friends to multiplayer, you use your in-game mobile phone to look them up and then call them. (For Xbox 360 users, you can also select and invite friends via Xbox LIVE.)

Game Mode Descriptions
• Player Match – Results here do not count towards your GTA IV multiplayer ranking. There are separate leader boards for these modes. With Custom Matches, players can host matches where they can reserve spots for friends. Players can be invited into games in progress.
• Ranked – In ranked games, the more player cash a player wins, the higher their rank increases. After gaining a rank, the player unlocks more clothing options for their character. Players cannot invite friends into ranked games.
• Party Mode (2-8 players) - Players can invite their friends to a party mode by using the in-game mobile phone. (For Xbox 360 users, you can also select and invite friends via Xbox LIVE.) The players spawn in a “party area”. After the host, or “party leader”, selects a game mode, all players in the party will join that game mode. In team modes, the party will play against another party. In competitive modes, the game will be played as normal – but only players in the party will be involved, with other people allowed to join the mode until all slots have been taken.

Lobby Information
• The lobby system will only proceed if the host AND at least half of the players in the lobby are readied up. If you want to wait for more players stay un-readied in protest.
• Half of the lobby will need to manually boot a person in order to kick them from the game. In the lobby, you will be able to tell how many people have voted by the flashing icons next to their name. You can also choose to boot people in-game using the phonebook in your mobile phone.
• If you do not want any strangers to join your team then you and your friends should enter games via party mode. This mode restricts teams to only people that are in your party. Party mode will also only allow you to play with other parties of similar sizes.
• All players can invite their friends to join them. This can be done in the lobby or in the middle of games by using their mobile phone. The only exception to this is in Party Mode or in Xbox LIVE Ranked Matches.
• Custom match allows you to reserve private spots for your friends. You can also use this to ensure that you are the host of the match by selecting private slots to be > 0.

Settings
• Auto-aim is an awesome feature that is often misunderstood. It is intended to speed up the game by focusing aiming to a smaller area. It WILL NOT level the playing field. Turning this off will slow the pace of the game down and make melee combat, drive-bys, and sniper action more effective.
• If you are new to GTA multiplayer requesting that the location setting be restricted to the smaller areas (Prison, Docks, Charge Island, Colony Island, Airport, and Bohan) is the best way to go. The larger areas can be very overwhelming for new players.
• Blip settings are another great feature players can use to tailor their GTA online experience. Changing these from All to Leader, Near, or Far is almost like increasing the difficulty setting - we advise using a time limit over a point limit when using the latter two.
• We advise using the proximity voice chat setting to combat against players attempting to dominate the in-game chat with their loud family members, TVs, and music. If you need to talk trash to someone across the map with this on you can simply call them up on your in-game mobile phone.

Tips and Highlights
• All of the non-Cooperative game modes are money based. Only a team or a player can win. The one with the most money will always be the winner. In time limit games, the winner will be the one with the most money when the timer expires. In point limit games, the winner will be the one who reaches/surpasses the point limit first.
• There are 10 levels of achievement. Achievements allow you to unlock more options for clothing and characters.
• Taunts – players can press (L1 for PS3 or LB for Xbox 360) to perform a context sensitive taunt directed at the other players.
• You can talk to your friends on headsets during the modes. You can even have a one to one conversation with a friend by calling him/her through your in-game mobile phone.
• In Player Match mode, you can vote on what the next game will be using the in-game mobile phone.
• Players can set waypoints for other teammates in vehicles.
• A player’s gamertag will disappear whenever that player crouches or uses cover.

There are a few comments indicating gamers have seen zombies in online play, but nothing about transforming into one yet. Theories range from getting killed by a Rockstar employee, to killing a Rockstar employee, to getting the highest ranking.

They quote the official strategy guide (I don't have it) "If you see unclothed characters, look out! Only players who have reached the max ranking of 10 and a few other "special" people get the honor of shooting in their skivvies." But this player says he's only at Level 2. The user's name in the forums is GTA. I couldn't find a PSN ID for him.

More pictures after the jump. Warning, one's at a kinda uncomfortable low angle.

Zombie in Yellow Underpants [Gametrailers forum, thanks Willkiller]

"The multiplayer in this game is so well implemented that I can't imagine anyone owning a copy without trying to play it on Xbox Live," said Aaron Greenberg, the director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.

"GTA is unique because it appeals to such a large audience. It will likely be the best-selling game launched all year and we expect it will drive a lot of new members to Xbox Live."

GTA 4 poised to dominate Xbox Live [Reuters]

Rokkitball brings a new level of multiplayer gaming to InstantAction, combining the frantic pace of a shooter with the team strategy of a real-world sport," said Alex Swanson, Rokkitball Producer and Designer. "We plan to provide an on-going flow of new content to players through InstantAction, with several additional stadiums and enhanced team customization options already in the works."

InstantAction RELEASES 'ROKKITBALL'

Fast-paced Full-court Action Combines FPS Skills with Sports Strategy

EUGENE, OREGON - InstantAction.com, the web browser based action gaming platform that's revolutionizing how people play, today announced Rokkitball, a futuristic team-based game that's best described as football with rocket launchers and magno-beams. The game is available in public beta to play today at www.instantaction.com.

"Rokkitball brings a new level of multiplayer gaming to InstantAction, combining the frantic pace of a shooter with the team strategy of a real-world sport," said Alex Swanson, Rokkitball Producer and Designer. "We plan to provide an on-going flow of new content to players through InstantAction, with several additional stadiums and enhanced team customization options already in the works."

Launching on InstantAction with support for up to eight players, Rokkitball puts players on an ultramodern playfield with multiple goals. The tactics reward a combination of precision fire and team positioning to disrupt the enemy and control the field. Challenging bot players can be used to fill out games if there are too few humans, or to practice your skills when your friends aren't available.

"Rokkitball is a great example of the depth of games we can deploy on InstantAction," said Andy Yang, General Manager of InstantAction.com. "It begins to show the versatility of the platform and the quality of titles that we'll deliver more and more of to players."

Rokkitball was created by GarageGames internal studio.

To sign up and play Rokkitball or the numerous other games at InstantAction, please visit www.instantaction.com

About InstantAction
InstantAction is the leading multi-player action gaming destination that's revolutionizing how and where people play core games. It combines high-end visuals and action gameplay with social gaming, allowing players to form parties and easily move from one game to the next. InstantAction's initial portfolio of original games range from high-profile studios to newly discovered game development talent. InstantAction was created by GarageGames, an operating business of IAC (NASDAQ: IACI). InstantAction is located in Eugene, OR and on the web at http://www.instantaction.com.
# # #

The seven titles we owe it to: Doom, Quake, Tribes, Battlezone, Unreal Tournament, Counterstrike and Battlefield.

If nothing else, at least the past two or three years of FPSes, multi- and single-player, have combined to give us standardized controls, which makes picking up a new title infinitely easier to play — especially when it comes to free looking. It's now pretty much left stick = movement, right stick = head, with no fruity switching of camera angles or other unnecessary twists. Also, Y or triangle is use, B or circle is jump, etc. If you think that's a minor gamer assist, ask yourself the last time you used two different copiers or fax machines with the same set of commands.

Ed also argues that single-player FPSes are constantly delivering great new titles, but multiplayers have been "the same old for quite a few years now." I just can't see it that way. Maybe structurally they are the same, but characters, missions, game story, that's what gets me into an FPS now. True, a new gameplay innovation that's widely adopted will beat the best written game for sales, but I ask you, what else could a multiplayer FPS be doing right now?

How 7 Games Created the Modern Team Multiplayer FPS

That said, it's a common condition and as Ars Technica points out, one that developers either don't know what to do with, or do too little to accommodate.

Battlefield 2142, for example (I don't play it) has real problems helping color-blind gamers differentiate team flags. Puzzle games are a hard-hit genre too. And in others there are other minor issues, such as a Mario and Luigi looking almost identical to some red-green color-sight challenged. So just to get started on a thought provoking note, and because "this is what stuff looks like to color-blind people" is always cool, here's the article.

As for me, I don't want your pity. Seriously, I have no frame of reference to make me know I'm missing something, and I haven't yet screwed the pooch in team play (Unless you count the time in church league hoops, when we had green jerseys and Maple Springs Methodist had red, and I had to sit the bench the whole game) And who's to say you're not seeing the world all screwed up, and I'm right?

Color-blind gamers: common. Developer awareness? Minimal [Ars Technica]

The new modes, all described in detail on the jump, include Team Mafiaya Work, Team Car Jack City, Turf War and Race.

Hit the jump for a run down of the ones we already have heard about as well.

Newly Detailed Modes
Team Mafiaya Work: (2 to 8 teams) You're a member of a crew doing contract work for the mafiya—including such plum gigs as escorting wanted men, picking up MacGuffins and stealing cars. Work as a team to complete contracts before the time period ends and get the rewards. You'll probably want to do your best to scupper the other crew's work as well. Each contract you complete gives your team cash, and the crew with the most cash at the end of the round wins.

Team Car Jack City: (2 - 8 teams) Cars spawn parked around the map and the teams must steal then and take them to a drop off point. Teh cash teams get for dropping of stolen vehicles depends on their condition—teams get less cash the more damaged they are. The exception to this are special bonus cars, stuffed with drugs, which five a set amount of cash on delivery no matter how damaged they are. Your crew has to get hold of whatever vehicles the boss wants. Whichever crew makes the most money wins. Simple.

Turf War: (2 teams only) A timed capture-the-base mode. There are a number of bases around the map that you have to take by stand on on them for a short period of time. The more players that are on a base, the faster it can be captures. The more bases that your team owns, the faster your team's cash score increases. If the rival gang is on or near a base, you won't be be able to take control of it—so do what you can to try and... displace them. The team with the most cash at the end of the round wins.

Race: Race to the finish through each checkpoint in order. If you take a wrong turn or mess up in some way, you can respawn your vehicle on the last checkpoint you passed. There is a large selection of races for cars, boats , and helicopters—you can choose laps and vehicle class/type. This mode has two sub-modes: Free Race and Cannonball Run.

Free race are point-to-point races. First one to reach the end point inws.

Cannonball Run are races where you have to reaverse several checkpoints any way you can.

Modes we knew about
GTA Race: Rockstar North's twist on the concept of a race. Host selects vehicle type (each racer selects his or her specific vehicle after that), race, number of laps, and time limit. Despite ordered checkpoints, players can go anywhere in the city at any time. Do you want a straightforward race from start to finish or do you want to create a roadblock and shoot rockets at your fellow racers? The choice is yours - each player does it slightly differently. 16 players max.

Cops N Crooks: 2 teams, 2 vastly different goals. The cops can see the crooks on their radar but the the crooks can only see the escape point making this the ultimate cat and mouse situation. For the first time, players can get a chance to be on the other side of the law in a Grand Theft Auto with Cops n' Crooks. A team of "crooks" need to get their boss to safety, as the team of "cops" pulls out every trick in the book to try and stop this from happening. Again, 16 players max.

Hangman's NOOSE: Co-op in Grand theft Auto IV is a 4 person affair. Each mode is a short, story-based mission you must complete with your friends. In Hangman's NOOSE you must get crime boss to an extraction point alive. First, several of Liberty City's finest need to be dealt with and then transport must be secured. Will you take Kenny to safety in an armored car? How about a motorcycle or attack chopper? The choice is all yours.

Team Deathmatch: Classic deathmatch done Grand Theft Auto style. Go anywhere, do anything: the whole city is yours. 16 players max, teams can be made in any configuration. Weapons on the ground can be configured by the host. Capitalism rules here: the team with the most money in the end is the winner.

If you are up for long reads check out all of our impressions of GTA IV so far:

Hands on With GTA Multiplayer: City of Chaos
GTA4 Hands-On: The World is Yours
Rockstar Experimenting with Episodic Content
GTA IV: Reinventing a World
Grand Theft Auto IV

Grand Theft Auto IV Multiplayer Fact Sheet

Supports up to 16 players in all adversarial modes except co-op, which is a maximum of 4

Players are ranked from 0-10, picking up money in multiplayer increases rank

Options in each mode are dictated by the host - among the options they can change are location of the matches (can be entire city, one borough at a time, or even small sections within the borough), types of weapons available, time of day, weather, use of auto-aim, police presence, NPC presence, and tons more.

GTA Race sees the host choosing the class of automobile, each player can choose a car within that class. Races can include helicopter and boat races as well.

Multiplayer Modes:
Team Deathmatch
Classic deathmatch done Grand Theft Auto style. Go anywhere, do anything: the whole city is yours. 16 players max, teams can be made in any configuration. Weapons on the ground can be configured by the host. Capitalism rules here: the team with the most money in the end is the winner.

GTA Race
Rockstar North's twist on the concept of a race. Host selects vehicle type (each racer selects his or her specific vehicle after that), race, number of laps, and time limit. Despite ordered checkpoints, players can go anywhere in the city at any time. Do you want a straightforward race from start to finish or do you want to create a roadblock and shoot rockets at your fellow racers? The choice is yours - each player does it slightly differently. 16 players max.

Cops N Crooks
2 teams, 2 vastly different goals. The cops can see the crooks on their radar but the the crooks can only see the escape point making this the ultimate cat and mouse situation. For the first time, players can get a chance to be on the other side of the law in a Grand Theft Auto with Cops n' Crooks. A team of "crooks" need to get their boss to safety, as the team of "cops" pulls out every trick in the book to try and stop this from happening. Again, 16 players max.

Hangman's NOOSE
Co-op in Grand theft Auto IV is a 4 person affair. Each mode is a short, story-based mission you must complete with your friends. In Hangman's NOOSE you must get crime boss to an extraction point alive. First, several of Liberty City's finest need to be dealt with and then transport must be secured. Will you take Kenny to safety in an armored car? How about a motorcycle or attack chopper? The choice is all yours.

Would this be the last GTA, I wondered. The insider was quick to say no, even after I pointed out that I had watched a chunk of the single-player campaign, which impressed me, but didn't seem to include any giant leaps forward for the franchise.

"Did you see multiplayer?"

"No."

"Just wait."

After spending a morning at Rockstar late last month, playing around with Grand Theft Auto IV's single player campaign, the guys walked me to the room next door to check out Grand Theft Auto's first real take on multiplayer.

Over the course of several hours I had a chance to check out five multiplayer modes, including a short co-op campaign, out of what is rumored to be the game's more than dozen multiplayer modes.

I was happy to find that Grand Theft Auto has most definitely not jumped the shark.

I was initially disappointed when I discovered that my expectations, no matter how unreasonable, that GTA IV would let you play through the entire campaign with a friend weren't to be met. But that was short lived.

The sheer level of customization in the game, the wild variety of play, and the unsurpassed size of the maps made the lack of a full co-op campaign seem like an afterthought.

To start playing a multiplayer game you bring up Niko's cell phone in the single player campaign and, using the in-phone menu, select multiplayer. So you can drop into one of these sessions whenever you want.

While you can't play as Nikko, the campaign's main character, you can customize your own character, creating someone by choosing male or female and then selecting among four different heads, four torsos, four legs and several types of glasses and hats.

All but one of the multiplayer modes supports up to 16 players. (The co-op missions only support up to four.) The host has an amazing array of options that they can control. While setting up a game, the host can choose to modify the routine, like re-spawn times, weapon selections and friendly fire, or the unusual, like the time of day, the weather, how heavy the traffic is or how many people are on the street. You can even control police presence in your matches.

While the game allows you to select parts of the map to play in, choosing specific boroughs, smaller neighborhoods, or areas like the airport, it doesn't prevent players from roaming the entire city during any given match. Instead the respawns and weapon drops only occur in those areas.

While the high level of customization adds a lot to the experience, I was just as wowed by some of the little things built into multiplayer, like the ability for players waiting in a lobby to turn on their radio and listen to GTA's soundtrack.

Deathmatch
My first experience with GTA 4 multiplayer was deathmatch and team deathmatch.

Instead of winning with kill counts, both of these modes look at your cash total to see who won the match. Cash is earned by killing members of the other team and you can get extra cash by darting out to collect the money they drop when they die.

The controls were solid, as I've mentioned before, but what made this deathmatch feel so different was that it felt like it was taking place in a living, breathing world. People were walking around, there were cars to be stolen. You can actually load up a car with your entire team and try to drive-by the other team mates. You could even, if you felt like it, take off to parts unknown, areas on the map nowhere near where the action was taking place.

Deathmatch was fun, and the added twist of an open world and a huge map, definitely upped the value, but it was still deathmatch.

Cops N Crooks
The next mode we played was Cops N Crooks, a variation on your typical deathmatch mode where you have to find and take out the bad guys.

The team playing as cops can see the crooks on their radar, but the the crooks can only see the escape point on the map and don't know where the cops are until it's almost too late. The mode has two derivations: In All for One you need to kill the boss, played by one of the crooks. In One for All everyone has just one life and once the crooks are dead the cops win.

There were some really nice touches to the game that made this stand out from some of the other modes I've played in shooters. For instance as the bad guys, you can give each other waypoints on the live map, allowing one player to drive and another to navigate.

We also played matches were the bad guys split up into two groups, doubling the chance for the boss to get away because we weren't sure which group he was with.

Lots of fun, plenty of potential, especially when you factor in that this all still takes place in GTA's open world.

GTA Race
This was the mode I least wanted to play, but came in as one of my favorites to mess around with. Imagine Mario Kart in a real world, with real cars. Now add machine guns, pistols, rocket launchers, Molotov cocktails, in fact every weapons in GTA. Now, let people get out of their cars and do whatever they want to win, or prevent other people from winning. Wow, just wow.

This mode lets the host choose vehicle types before a race, the race course, time limit and number of laps. Sure the game has checkpoints, and you need to hit them, or most of them, to complete a lap, but being the fastest doesn't get close to guaranteeing a win.

In our introduction to the mode, myself and Newsweek's N'gai Croal were burning around the course, which I believe took place near GTA's Central Park, when we came to a stone archway we absolutely had to go through to complete the lap. Problem was, there were cars, lots of cars blocking our way. By the time I had assessed the situation, one of the other players ran up to me and killed me at the wheel.

The race quickly devolved into a deathmatch until we realized that Croal had nosed his car through the wreckage and was burning through the laps. In another race, this one taking place at an airport complete with moving planes, I didn't bother trying to speed through the course and instead clamored on top of an airport gangway with a rocket launcher and just waited. When people came by I blew up their cars. Meanwhile Rockstar's Jeronimo Barrera was taking great pleasure trying to mow down Croal in what looked like a golf cart.

From what I played of it, GTA Race could easily be a standalone game, something that would occupy a gamer's attention for months.

Hangman's NOOSE

The final mode we played was probably the most impressive. Hangman's NOOSE is Rockstar's answer to a story-driven campaign mode. Instead of allowing players to complete chunks of the single player campaign with a friend, the developers decided to create side missions, featuring ancillary characters, that can be played as a group with a total of four people.

Rockstar declined to say how many of these co-op missions the game will ship with, but I'd think it would come with more than the one and I'd bet that the 360 DLC will be all about this mode.

The mission we played was Hangman's NOOSE. In it you're asked to rescue a crime boss from an army of police who are picking him up on the runway of the airport. The missions started out on the runway and as we shot it out with cops, two more armored SWAT trucks drove up, unloading more and more cops.

The first play through was pretty succinct, we grabbed the armored truck, got the boss in it and tore across the city to our extraction point while the city's entire police force mobilized to stop us.

The second play through didn't go nearly as well.

A Rockstar developer took the wheel of the armored car again, and another rode shotgun. Croal hopped into the back to shoot at pursuing cops. I opted to swipe a helicopter that was on the runway and followed the wagon as it entered the interstate, trying to gun down the stream of cop cars in pursuit.

Then it happened: Croal was shot. The hit didn't kill him, but it did knock him from the truck which continued to speed toward the drop off point. Soon Croal was surrounded by cops on the middle of an interstate. I turned my chopper around and told Croal I was coming for him. Landing the copter in a nearby clearing, I got out to try and find Croal, but he had snatched a car and was already out of the police infested area.

I ran back to my copter only to find its rotors had been snapped off during my crap landing next to a copse of trees. The whole thing ended with me being gunned down by a phalanx of cops as I ran down the interstate toward the distant extraction point, and the whole team losing.

The missions was actually very straight forward, lacking almost completely in narrative and pretty short, but that works in GTA IV. It works because the game, especially in the multiplayer modes, seems to be providing you a way to create your own experiences.

I could replay Hangman's NOOSE a dozen times and not get tired of it, mostly because each time through created a different experience. It's so open ended that they story you play, as with single player, often seems like your own.

I've certainly not played enough of Grand Theft Auto IV to being able to say whether the game will live up to mounting expectations, but I can certainly say that Rockstar hasn't been caught resting. This game, and it's unusual and varied take on multiplayer gaming isn't packed with obvious innovations, but it still manages to innovate where it counts most: In storytelling.

...the online behavior of our customers is dramatically reducing our sales, and continues to stunt the growth of our industry. Non-gamers simply don't love games enough to put up with the crap they get online. The reason they would consider playing online is to have fun with other people — and right now, playing games online with strangers rarely delivers that for anyone outside the hardcore demographic.

I hang out with other gamers all the time, but it's mostly in multiplayer online play, using headsets. It's social, sure. But as any psychologist will tell you, hanging out in real life allows for even richer styles of communication to emerge. In face-to-face mode, we're better at picking up the little nuances — frustration, glee, sarcasm, subvocalized ranting, body language — that build team cohesion, and allow us to game with a positively Vulcan level of mind meld.

All completely true. The most fun I've had gaming over the past few years have been on those rare occasions that I have someone else playing with or against me at my side. Hearing a voice on the headset is one thing. Being able to turn to your side and punch someone in the arm when they screw up is another thing entirely.

Gaming with your friends is something that should be encouraged more. Oddly enough, this is one area where the PC gamers - connected to the internet years before consoles - excel. Look at LAN parties. Everyone lugs a computer out to a centralized location, complete with monitors, mice, keyboards, power supplies, etc., just for a chance to see the look on their opponent's face when they shoot it off. We need console game gettogethers, where a few folks bring their televisions, consoles, and controllers and people just chill and play together.

Mind you, if I ever seriously refer to such get togethers as play dates you have my full permission to punch me in the neck.

Frag With a Friend for Ultimate Fun [Wired]

Fluid Entertainment Gets $3.2 Million for New MMO Veteran children's game developer secures backing for original game.

March 12, 2008 - Fluid Entertainment, a California based interactive entertainment developer, today announced it has secured $3.2 million in Series A funding led by Trinity Ventures. These funds will support the development and launch of a new, entirely original MMO (Massively Multiplayer Online) game for children. Fluid Entertainment will announce more game details in the coming months.

"Fluid Entertainment is led by a creative team with more than a decade of experience developing interactive, educational, and - most importantly - fun entertainment for kids," remarked Tim McAdam, general partner at Trinity Ventures. "The company has been in business since the late 90s, and is widely known for developing well regarded games for children. With three other gaming investments in our current portfolio, we were looking for the right play in the children's MMO area, which is an open canvas with only a few incumbents. Fluid has a veteran team, a great history, and a clear and progressive vision that positions the company to become a leader in this arena."

Fluid Entertainment will use the financing to complete development of an engaging, interactive, and environmentally themed "green" game for kids. Slated for launch later this year, the game will feature unprecedented levels of engaging gameplay for children's MMOs, while infusing the compelling narrative with a meaningful purpose.

"It's an exciting time for everyone here at Fluid Entertainment as we drive toward launching an enormously imaginative, vibrant, and innovative new online 'playscape' for children," said Greg Jones, CEO of Fluid Entertainment. "We're thrilled that the venture community shares our exciting vision, and this financing ensures our ability to execute."

Fluid Entertainment's introduction of an original MMO property comes at a time of immense growth in the interactive entertainment field. According to the ESA (Entertainment Software Association), the computer and video game industry broke sales records in 2007, surpassing $9.5 billion. This figure reflects 28% growth from the previous year, with largest growth reflected in the "Family Entertainment" genre, which grew 110%. Additionally, a recent study published by eMarketer, predicts that MMOs, also called "virtual worlds," will be played by 53% of children and teens, a projected 20 million users, by the year 2011.

Working at the forefront of digital entertainment since the genre's earliest years, Fluid Entertainment has a long history of creating educational, engaging and entertaining media for children. The company boasts partnerships spanning a decade with such publishers as Hasbro, Berkeley Systems, Disney, Mattel and The Learning Company.

For more information on Fluid Entertainment, please visit: http://www.fluidentertainment.com

About Fluid Entertainment
Based in Mill Valley, California, Fluid Entertainment is an independent children's interactive entertainment developer founded in 1998 by industry veteran Scott Mathews. With experience creating high profile licensed interactive products based on properties including Harry Potter™, Disney, the Powerpuff Girls, Pokémon and many others, Fluid Entertainment is currently developing an original MMO title for children.

About Trinity Ventures
Trinity Ventures (http://www.trinityventures.com/), a 21-year veteran in the venture business with more than $1 billion under management, partners with exceptional entrepreneurs to build great companies. Trinity Ventures focuses on early-stage technology investment opportunities with a particular emphasis on the digital media, Internet services, mobility, security and software markets. Trinity has invested in more than 100 ventures, including such leading companies as Aruba Networks (NASDAQ: ARUN), Blue Nile (NASDAQ: NILE), Crescendo Communications, Extreme Networks (NASDAQ: EXTR), Forte Software, Illustra, LoopNet (NASDAQ: LOOP), Photobucket (acquired by News Corporation: NWS), Speedera Networks (acquired by Akamai Technologies: AKAM), Starbucks (NASDAQ: SBUX) and Sygate Technologies (acquired by Symantec: SYMC).

Press Release via IGN

We're now in the beta of our second public version. Both versions were implemented as Firefox extensions that follow players as they surf the web. The players provide the game with access to their browsers; the game provides the players with weapons, writing instruments, a gifting system, and a self-generating RPG character.

We started out to make a casual, massively multiplayer online game that took place alongside the rest of a player's online life. To do that, we had to answer two questions. One: what kind of interaction that occurs alongside the Everyday can we provide to players that they'll accept? And two: how can the game provide players with a set of behavioral summations that they could reasonably attribute to their decision-making process?

It's worth a read through, even if you have no intention of throwing your hat into the PMOG ring.

Human Data as a Playfield: The Passively Multiplayer Online Game [Terra Nova]

Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters PS2 Multiplayer Details [PlayStation Blog]

Dark Sector - Multiplayer Features

Game Types - Dark Sector's multiplayer is broken up into two distinct game types: Infection and Epidemic.

Infection - The Infection game type is a match between Hayden and the Lasrian military. One player assumes the role of Hayden while all others (up to nine) assume the roles of Lasrian Troopers. Hayden is considered the infected target, and it is up to the Troopers to bring him down. Once Hayden is brought down ("finished"), the Trooper responsible becomes infected and a new round begins. A match will run until either time expires, or a set number of points are reached. The ultimate goal of an Infection match is to have the most number of points when the match is over. Points are granted to Troopers by either stunning Hayden, finishing Hayden, or assisting in bring Hayden down and points are awarded to Hayden by killing Troopers (Troopers can lose points by committing suicide).

As a Trooper, the player will be armed with either an assault rifle or a shotgun, have a couple grenades, and one proximity mine. Troopers can only attack Hayden, and so they can either work together (communicating via a shared chat channel) or go solo. In order to bring Hayden down, they must inflict a set amount damage which will stun him, and then, while he is stunned, perform a "finisher." The Trooper that performs the "finisher" becomes infected and plays as Hayden in the next round.

As Hayden, the player has no allies, but is armed with a Tekna 9mm, the Glaive, all three Evolutionary Powers, and any weapons dropped by the Troopers or lying around the various maps. Hayden also has access to the elements fire, ice, and electricity (depending on the level) to use against the attacking Troopers.

Epidemic - The Epidemic game type is a team based match between the Lasrian military, and the Agency. Players are divided into two teams where (on each team) one player assumes the role of Hayden, and all others assume the roles of Troopers. Matches end based on a time limit, or point total, and rounds end whenever a Hayden is brought down. Team points are awarded whenever an opposing team brings down the other team's Hayden, and individual points are awarded to players based on kills and assists (players can also lose points by committing suicide). Players can only communicate with other players in the same team, and can only attack players on the opposing team. Both the Troopers and the Haydens retain the same functionality they have in the Infection game type.

In both game types, players will respawn at designated spawn points when they are killed.

Multiplayer Customization

On the X360, MP games can either be played using Xbox Live, or System Link. On the PS3, MP games can either be played on the Playstation Network, or LAN.

Each multiplayer game type supports up to ten players and has access to five different maps. The maps are unique in size, detail (such as weather effects), and layout. For example, the map called the Deck promotes a more close combat oriented play style, whereas the Court promotes a more team-based play style with its symmetrical layout and numerous opportunities to surround opposition. Multiplayer games can also be customized in terms of time limit, number of players, score limit, and the existence of bots.

Leaderboard

A Leaderboard is available for both the PS3 and the X360, however the X360 board uses TrueSkill™ rank and the PS3 uses a traditional scoring system. A player's score on the board (either PS3 or X360) is based on the multiplayer game performance game performance.

PS3 vs. X360

Both systems will allow players to create, join, and search for multiplayer games. However, only the X360 gives players a Quick game option, a Custom game option, and a Ranked game option. The Quick game option will pick a game for the player based on their preference of Infection or Epidemic. The Custom game option allows players to set up their own games with the customizable settings of time limit, score limit, number of players, and the availability of bots. Ranked games are directly linked to the X360 Leaderboard. A player's performance in a Ranked game will determine their position on the X360 Leaderboard. The PS3 allows players to search for or create multiplayer games.

The following plane variants will be available for download on Thursday, February 28:

F-117A Night Hawk - General Emblem (Free): An international conglomerate featured in Ace Combat 3, General Resource has used its access to the world's most powerful corporations to imbue this aircraft with increased attack power.

Mirage2000-5 - Advanced (200 Microsoft Points): Reduced armor and improved engine thrust have resulted in an aircraft with advanced handling and acceleration characteristics.

Su-33 Flanker - Crimson Wing (200 Microsoft Points): A fighter plane modified for air shows and exhibition performances, this aircraft is equipped with colored smoke missiles An increased missile payload and accelerated reload capabilities have been added for enhanced performance capabilities.

F-15E Strike Eagle - The Idolmaster Chihaya (400 Microsoft Points): While a little hard to handle when it's in a bad mood, this plane's talent is undeniable. Keep your head up, spread your wings and take to the skies!

Razgriz Set - Contains F-16C Fighting Falcon, F-2A, Su-33 Flanker and Rafale M (400 Microsoft Points): This set of four planes bears the emblem of the Razgriz squadron, the heroes of Ace Combat 5. Each plane is accentuated with advanced durability to ensure the survival of all squad members in even the most hostile missions.

The downloadable content for Ace Combat 6 launching next week also includes the following single player and online multiplayer stages and maps:

Battle Royale Download #1 (100 Microsoft Points): A maximum of 16 players can take part in this new online Battle Royale stage over the South Sea. Avoid the onslaught from the mighty Gyges and Kottos assailants and strike down the opposition!

Co-op Battle Download #1 (300 Microsoft Points): Up to four players can team up for this new online cooperative mission, hunting down the enemy forces that are hunkered down across a rocky canyon. Primary mission objectives consist of four individually timed operations, with a new secondary mission opening up once these objectives are met. Work with your wingmen to successfully clear all operations and unleash the full power of Ragno Fortress!

Siege Battle Download #1 (300 Microsoft Points): A maximum of eight players can take part in this new online Siege Battle above the snowy plains. The attacking side must dispose of enemy attack drones before attempting to down a unit of transport aircraft. A delicate balance of offense, defense and teamwork is required to lead your team to victory and see the transports safely to their destination.

Ace of Aces Mission #1 (350 Microsoft Points): A new single player stage for the masters of Ace Combat 6, this new mission's challenge exceeds that of the game's previous highest difficulty level. Introducing a new Counter-Charge system, players can gain additional allied support by destroying enemies within given segments of time. Time your attacks correctly and build a coalition to secure victory in this mission for the most hardened Ace Combat veterans.

50 PLAYER CAP for Multiplayer?! [Kaos Studios Community Forum via Eurogamer]

"Zero sum" is bad. Games where I win and you lose are bad. Worse still is "I win and all the rest of you lose". Notwithstanding the current cultural obsession with endzone strutting by winners, losers do not enjoy themselves and if you can help take the sting out of it, you should. Alliances, cooperative play, ranked "winners" rather than "A winner" with a bunch of losers are all options. Pacing needs variety. Slow periods should follow intense ones and forced "time-outs" can offer opportunities to socialize, catch your breath and anticipate things to come. Remember, the players no longer have a "pause key" as they did in a solo-game. Strategies need "wiggle room". People have different personal styles and when playing against each other it's great to let them "do it their own way" rather than a single approach that all must follow. If possible you should balance the game such that a strategic planner for instance might not always beat the joystick jockey or the detailed tactical type. A game that allows for diverse people to play diverse ways is always best.

There's much, much more, but it is interesting to see what we're still talking about in regards to multiplayer game design. We'll find out shortly what gems this year's GDC will produce.

GDC: Social lessons of years past [Lost Garden]

We got five, count em', FIVE gameplay clips from Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Comment Baron Witzbold has some suspicions about the multiplayer mode shown above. Says Witz: " It has an EXP system now it seems, well to be more correct an EXP system like COD4 with showing how much exp you get from kills and what not. Plus seems like they also added "challenges" too judging by the message that pops up on the screen that says "CQB Level 2 Complete"

The above statements are those of Witzbold and do not necessarily reflect those of the Kotaku staff. In other words, if you disagree yell at him in the comments, not us. Just remember, he holds the ban hammer in his mighty fist.

When it comes down to it — beauty sells. No matter what industry. Putting a good looking guy out front (like Abercrombie) appeals, having beautiful women starring in television shows appeals, and so does a great figure in body paint. The day we start looking at something like this and saying it is a bad thing and is sexist is the day we need to re-evaluate pop culture as a whole.

Fischer hasn't seen any of the discrimination or sexism that other women in the gaming industry have encountered, though in her particular profession the chances of any real dirt coming to fore are relatively slim anyway. I've known a great many PR people in my day, and they've all been extremely cheery, positive people, even when faced with promoting a product that's less than amazing. Not that Sega has ever had a less than amazing product, of course.

I'm guessing a lot of PR folks go home and cry at the end of the day. It's okay PR people. We understand. Let us know if you need hugs.

Women Working in Games: Sega PR's Tali Fischer On Progress, Sweatpants, And Naked Women At The VGAs [MTV Multiplayer]

TIMESHIFT™ XBOX360 MULTIPLAYER DEMO AVAILABLE ON MARKETPLACE ON 11/14

Sierra Entertainment, a division of Vivendi Games, announced today that a multiplayer demo for TimeShift will be available via Xbox Live download.

Developed by Saber Interactive and published by Sierra Entertainment, TimeShift is a first person shooter (FPS) video game that allows players to master the flow of time, to become the ultimate weapon in war-torn environments. Armed with the experimental time-manipulating Beta Suit and a huge arsenal of weaponry and vehicles, players have the ability to slow, stop and reverse the flow of time, allowing them to control several aspects of each battle sequence. Intuitive time controls give the player the ultimate advantage in avoiding attacks, correcting mistakes and outsmarting the enemy.

With a comprehensive online 16-player multiplayer mode, featuring time grenades, 14 different maps and over 40 different features, TimeShift gears itself to the players' unique style of gameplay by allowing matches to be completely customizable. Players can battle it out in a tight, well-balanced multiplayer experience that implements several aspects of the time-manipulating gameplay element found in the single-p