Spooky Demonic Narrator Guy issues the ominous warning — to, we're assuming, either Resistance: Fall of Man protagonist Nathan Hale or Resistance 2 players — "You think you can resist, but you haven't seen what we're truly capable of." Explosions, flesh eating and gargantuan space ships follow — the kind of stuff you demand from your first person shooters.

Unfortunately, the whole thing's a low-fi affair. Here's to hoping we see it in more glorious resolutions at E3.

Resistance 2 - 2nd Trailer. [YouTube]

The bad news is that Mr. C says he needs to sell his PlayStation 3 in order to scrounge up the funds to travel home to see his father, who is very ill, for the first time in seven years and possibly for the final time. A plane ticket to Bulgaria, he says, isn't cheap, so the very neat PS3 must go.

Sure, you may have doubts about the validity of the whole thing, especially since we're not sure Bulgaria is even a real country. But being dishonest about something this grave will only secure you the finest lake of fire in Hell, so we're taking off the cynic's hat for once. David's plea is after the link and after the jump.

ONE-OF-A-KIND LASER-ETCHED SONY PLAYSTATION 3! 120GB!! [eBay]

Dear Kotaku Editors,

Last April, I was the winner of your one-of-a-kind Red Laser-Etched PS3. I thank you very much for letting me have it, but unfortunately I have run into a situation where I have need to sell it.

You may not believe the story that you are about to read but it is 100% the truth. I just didn't want some Kotaku reader to find it on ebay and it end in a post about how I am just out for money etc, and didn't appreciate it.

I am a poor college student. My father lives in Bulgaria and is suffering from cancer. I haven't seen him since I was 15, and I am almost 22 now. The cancer has been in remission for many years but has suddenly taken a turn for the worse. I need to fly there to see him as it very well may be the last time that I have the chance. I am so broke I can barely feed myself and go to school much less afford this ticket. I have no credit history and can't get a private loan. Really my only choice is to sell something and the awesome PS3 you guys gave me is the only expendable and valuable thing that I own. I love it, but if there was ever a good reason to sell it this is it.

It occurred to me that this type of thing may go for well more than I need. And if it does I will donate what I can to Child's Play. Unfortunately I don't know the exact amount (at least 1600 total) that I will need to cover this whole trip. I just know that I need to go as soon as possible.

Anyway, this is the auction: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&rd=1&item=250262768816

thanks again,

I wish I had been able to keep it but I would never forgive myself if I didn't try to see him.

D

Chimera Skull from Playstation 3 game TV ad [eBay - thanks, Benj!]

One of the first games expected to shine in one of Home's series of game portals is Insomniac's Resistance: Fall of Man. Resistance is said to provide Home visitors with an interesting room to explore, one that will let PlayStation 3 owners visit unseen areas of the game and tap into bonus content in the form of "intercepted" radio communications between European and U.S. forces.

These hidden transmissions will help to flesh out the Resistance story, giving players a better understanding of the game's conflict. We hear that Home avatars will have free roam of unpopulated levels, not unlike a virtual Resistance museum.

As interesting as these plans are to Resistance fans like us, they're not as impressive as what we've heard about what Home in store for Warhawk and Uncharted. Stay tuned.

Since the story broke, Manchester Cathedral has seen a significant rise in visitor numbers...Teachers tell us that teenagers in particular are interested to see a building which they thought was fictional.

For instance, did you realize that the single-player campaign is pretty much finished, the game's narration is dead, the 8 person campaign multiplayer will support a class system ala Battlefield 2 and Team Fortress, or that Insomniac is doing their damndest to get 60 players on a map at once? If not, you might want to hit up the link for a full refresher course. Because that and a bottle of Cholula will pretty much set you until fall 2008.

Previews: Resistance 2 [1UP via PS3Blog]

Please, no Wii Date Rape jokes in the comments. It's beneath you.

Ghost Squad: neue Printanzeige [WiiGamer via UK:R]

On December 18, 2007, Sony filed a trademark for "Resistance 2" in relation to a video game. And while it's not uncommon for companies to go on the trademark defensive, ensuring that another company won't steal the title, we already totally knew that Insomniac is developing Resistance 2. You know, even though we don't at all.

Resistance 2 [trademork]

The mag points to Sony's use of an eviscerated, beheaded goat as a centerpiece for a God of War II promotion as 61st dumbest business move of the year. Close by, at number 63, was the decision to use a bombed out Manchester Cathedral as a backdrop for the PlayStation 3 game Resistance: Fall of Man. Hey, they may have lost a few fans in the church, but this one seems a bit harsh, Fortune editors. It's not like they actually bombed the cathedral for reference shots.

101 Dumbest Moments in Business [Fortune - thanks, Kenneth!]

Champagne fountains are overrated.
And to top if off, there was a special "homage to Burning Man." Ouch. But I have a feeling Master Chief's Spartan armor can handle the Resistance flame war and still manage to sell another bajillion copies before the day is through.

RESISTANCE REINVENTED [threespeech]

It's been great to have a network that can facilitate the map-pack downloads, demos and trailers for both Resistance: Fall of Man and Ratchet & Clank: Tools of Destruction. The number of users on PSN has been rising steadily and we absolutely plan to support them with more new content coming soon.

D+Pad Nov 2007 [via maxconsole]

The full list of changes in the latest patch is after the jump, courtesy of Insomniac's James Stevenson, a man who simply cannot be faulted for his gaming blog preference.

New Features
- Player with a USB keyboard attached to their Playstation 3 may now take in-game screenshots by pressing the "printscreen" key (multiplayer only). There will be a slight pause as the screenshot is taken. The screenshots will be viewable from the Photo bar of the XMB menu.
- Players may now create a custom game that requires a password for other players to join. When creating a custom game, select the option named "password" and enter the desired password from the on-screen keyboard. Players who are invited into a password protected game by another player already in the game do not need to enter a password to accept the invite. Password protected games will be indicated by a "lock" icon next to the game name in the "Find Game" screen.
- Bullseye Tags may be turned off as a custom game option without turning off the bullseye.
- Carbine 40mm Grenades may be turned off as a custom game option without turning off the carbine.
- There is a new game option named "Send Voice Chat To All". If this is enabled, then all players in the game may hear voice chat sent from any other player in the game, including players on the opposing team and spectators. Squad voice chat will still only be heard by members of the same squad. This option defaults to off.
- The game option "Round balancing" now has a third option available to custom games - "Aggressive". If round balancing is set to aggressive, it will attempt to rebalance the teams every round based on how well the players scored in the previous round to create the most even teams. "Aggressive" round balancing WILL split parties.
- Both Multiplayer and Singleplayer Resistance: Fall of Man now support the rumble feature of the Playstation Dual Shock 3 controller.

Balance Changes
- Range and damage on the Rossmore 236 has been decreased for both primary and secondary fire modes
- Reload time of the LAARK L209 has been increased.
- Projectile speed of the LAARK L209 has been decreased.
- Splash damage radius of the LAARK L209 has been decreased.
- Hedgehog grenade splash damage has been generally increased, although the radius in which it will kill a player in 1 hit has been decreased.
- Frag grenade splash damage radius has been decreased.
- Arc charger fire rate has been increased.
- Arc charger clip size has been reduced.
- Arc charger damage has been decreased for the primary fire and increased for the secondary fire.
- Rate of fire the bullseye tag (secondary fire) has been decreased.

Bug Fixes
- Fixed several possible collision exploits
- The "Elite Soldier" and "Assassin" medals are now obtainable in all ranked gametypes instead of just Deathmatch and Team Deathmatch
- "Defender" ribbons obtained in ranked CTF games will now correctly add to your total stats
- Fixed several issues that could cause party members to drop out of a party
- Various lobby, disconnect, and miscellaneous fixes.

It is a disgrace that Resistance: Fall of Man has been shortlisted... Sony has admitted that they did not have permission to film or use Manchester Cathedral in their computer game... Bafta should not be seen condoning such behaviour unless they are saying it is acceptable for producers to walk into historic buildings and film interiors - ignoring contracts, rights and liability.

Bafta (British Academy of Film and Television Arts) has stated that the award which Resistance is up for, the PC World Gamers' Award, is public voted. Although they didn't say it outright, I'm assuming this means they are absolving themselves from any responsibility in the matter and basically telling the Church to take a hike. This final bit from the Dean of Manchester Cathedral, however, is priceless:

(The Dean) then called on Sony to abide by new "sacred digital guidelines" as he feared other buildings would be cloned for "virtual desecration".

Sacred digital guidelines? Wow... just, wow. Sounds like something a certain Florida lawyer might come up with...

Church criticises gun game award [BBC News]

[Thanks, HellblazerUSA]

Manchester Cathedral was ransacked during the English Civil War in 1649, half-destroyed by German bombs in 1940, and bombed by the Irish Republican Army in 1996. It survived all these attacks. Its patrons rebuilt it.

And it stands still today. Resistance adds a fictional homage to the church's resolve, this time in an alternate history fraught by an enemy that neither understands nor cares for human practices like religion. And it survives this as well. The Church of England sees their cathedral's presence in Resistance only as a sordid juxtaposition, the sanctity of worship set against the profanity of violence. But when viewed in the context of the game's fiction, the cathedral serves a purpose in the game consonant with its role in the world: that of reprieve for the weary and steadfastness in the face of devastation.

The Manchester bishop obviously didn't agree, but Bogost points out that this flap provided yet another platform for 'concerned citizens' to rail against video games and perceived links between virtual and very real violence. Would the flap been as big if there hadn't been some religious angle to foam at the mouth about?

Persuasive Games: The Reverence Of Resistance [Gamasutra]

My roommate convinced me to play a couple rounds of co-op mode with him and I figured why not, if nothing else, he can do all the work and I'll just duck and cover a lot. Well, I don't know if it was the game, the controller or some miracle, but I found that I was able to do pretty well with it and even became a grenade expert, waiting for the precise moment when a big group of aliens got together and then blowing them all to smithereens. Certainly the engaging storyline helped retain my interest and the sight of those giant War of the Worlds-esque gatherers sent me shuddering which in my mind is always a sign of a good game.

So now Resistance has become not only my first real positive FPS experience, it's also become what I like to call my BioShock Trainer. If all goes as planned I should be all ready to put the hurting on some genetic mutants when the game comes out next week, but I will always remember Resistance fondly. A boy never forgets his first FPS.

Insomniac CEO Ted "I'm So Nice" Price says of the initiative "The 'R&D' page on the Insomniac website is meant to share knowledge with fellow studios about PS3 development while giving our fans a detailed look into how we make our games. This page will also help explain our production philosophies."

Insomniac explains that its goal is to document "our current research and development in hopes of supporting the PS3 development community and enhancing overall development for its core technologies such as the CELL processor and RSX." It's also a kind of behind the scenes look at past, present and future development, built just for computer nerds.

What does it all mean? Better looking PLAYSTATION 3 games, we hope. Maybe, just maybe, some developers will even discover the secret to unlocking a consistent frame rate in their PS3 titles. I'm looking at you, everyone who's not Team Ninja or Insomniac.

Insomniac R&D [Insomniac Games]

I would think it's pretty clear that the combination of high price, the loss of numerous exclusives, various Sony PR missteps and little in the way of standout exclusive software is probably the reason behind some of the cool reception. But, hey, I just work here.

While Price is concerned, justifiably so, of negative press and its impact on his company's PS3 game Resistance: Fall of Man, some of us who own both aren't as upset about the alleged muddy spin. While I feel I'm getting the most out of my investment in this impressive piece of kit, others are having a hard time justifying the buy in. I also can't say I'm too unhappy from an ownership perspective that the press is keeping Sony on its toes to work harder at making the PS3 a success.

Ted Price: PS3 Has Become 'Whipping Boy' for Press [GameDaily Biz]

Based on my single visit to Insomniac Games, I can confirm that it is indeed an awesome place to work, solely judged on the high availability of delicious snacks. That's why I'm awarding them the first annual Kotaku award "Best Company At Which To Snack In America." Congratulations, Insomniac. Michael McWhertor

Insomniac Games among Top 10 for 3rd Straight Year in 50 "Best Companies to Work for in America" rankings.

"Once Again, Ratchet & Clank® and Resistance: Fall of Man Creators Remain First & Only Videogames Company Honored"

BURBANK, Calif. (FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE): Independent console videogames developer Insomniac Games has once again distinguished itself as being among the best studios to work for in the games industry. For the third straight year, Insomniac retained its unique distinction of being the first and only videogames company named to the "50 Best Small & Medium Sized Companies to Work for in America" list.

The rankings were announced before an estimated audience of 15,000 at the Society for Human Resource Management's (SHRM) 59th Annual Conference & Exposition in Las Vegas. Despite a 20-plus percent increase in applicants since last year — and a combined 50 percent increase since 2005 — Insomniac ranked 8th in the small companies category. Insomniac Games is the only company in the history of the small business category to earn a Top 10 ranking for three-straight years, remains the first and only videogames developer included on the list, and is the only company in the "TV, Film and Video" category to be recognized this year. In addition, Insomniac is Southern California's lone representative to the small business list.

"Last year was among the most challenging in Insomniac's history as we prepared to release Resistance: Fall of Man™ worldwide with the launch of PLAYSTATION®3," said Ted Price, Insomniac Games' founder and CEO. "Yet we delivered a top-rated and top-selling game — on time — while retaining our Top 10 ranking as one of the best small companies to work for in America. Therefore, it's especially gratifying to demonstrate again that it's possible in the games industry to achieve excellent results while maintaining a collaborative and stimulating workplace culture."

SHRM, the world's largest human resources management organization, recognizes the top 25 small and top 25 medium companies in America that have used smart people management strategies to develop successful organizations with highly productive and satisfied workforces. The results were primarily based on a randomly distributed employee opinion survey that measures several categories such as workplace environment, management's responsiveness to employee feedback, and adherence to company philosophy. In addition, further assessments of company programs, practices and workplace culture were factored into judging.

Insomniac Games remains the only North American videogames developer to be honored in any ranking compiled by the Great Places to Work Institute ® (GPTW). The organization is perhaps best known for producing Fortune magazine's annual "100 Best Companies to Work for®" list, which ranks companies with more than 1,000 employees. Two videogames publishers have made GPTW's "100 Best Companies to Work for in America" list since it was first published in 1984.

Insomniac Games is best known for creating the multi-million unit selling Ratchet & Clank® and Spyro the Dragon® franchises for the PlayStation® game console and PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The company is responsible for the top-selling Resistance: Fall of Man, exclusively for PLAYSTATION®3 and is currently developing Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction™ for exclusive release on PLAYSTATION 3 this fall. Insomniac, with 150 employees, continues to seek new employees in a variety of production-related positions.

About Insomniac Games Insomniac Games is a wholly independent console videogames developer that has released award-winning hits for the PlayStation® game console, the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and PLAYSTATION®3 for 13 years. The company created the first three Spyro the Dragon® games, the Ratchet & Clank® franchise and Resistance: Fall of Man™, which have combined to sell more than 25 million units worldwide. Insomniac Games is currently developing Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction™, which will release this fall, exclusively for PLAYSTATION 3.

In addition to making blockbuster videogames, Insomniac is known for ranking among the top four "Best Small Companies to Work for in America" in 2005 and 2006 and among the Top 10 for 2007, according to the Great Places to Work Institute and Society for Human Resources Management. More information can be found at http://www.insomniacgames.com/ or by listening to Insomniac's "Full Moon Show" podcast, available on iTunes and the studio's website.

A handful of companies have teamed up to throw together a team and singleplayer Resistance: Fall of Man tourney starting next month.

The tournament, sponsored by SCEA, the Global Gaming League and GameStop, will be broken into 1V1 and 3V3 bracketed matches that will run from July 7 through July 28 (hey, that's my birthday!). The 26 finalists will be flown to New York City to compete in the semifinals and finals from Aug. 10 through Aug. 12.

If you're interested hop on over to GGL to register and for the full set of rules. The prize list, though, is on the jump. Brian Crecente

Prizing - 3v3 Competition:

* First Prize (3 players) Platinum DVD Dream® System, $500 GameStop gift card per player, and $500 cash per player, ARV: $3,000.00 per player
* Second Prize (3 players) Ultimate PSP® Prize Package, $300 GameStop gift card per player, and $250 cash per player, ARV: $1265.00 per player
* Third Prize (3 players) $150 GameStop gift card per player
* Fourth Prize (3 players) $100 GameStop gift card per player
* Fifth Prize (6 players) $50 GameStop gift card per player
* Top six (6) teams win a Resistance: Fall of Man™ jacket and a round trip for each player, three (3) players per team, to New York, NY from 8/10/07 through 8/12/07, including airfare, hotels, airport transfers, and $100 spending money, ARV: $1,100.00 per player.

Prizing - 1v1 Competition:

* First Prize (1 player) Platinum DVD Dream® System, $500 GameStop gift card, and $1,000 cash, ARV: $3,500.00
* Second Prize (1 player) Ultimate PSP® Prize Package, $300 GameStop gift card, and $500 cash, ARV: $1,515.00
* Third Prize (1 player) $150 GameStop gift card
* Fourth Prize (1 player) $100 GameStop gift card
* Fifth Prize (4 players) $50 GameStop gift card per player
* Top eight (8) players win a Resistance: Fall of Man™ jacket and a round trip for one to New York, NY from 8/10/07 through 8/12/07, including airfare, hotels, airport transfers, and $100 spending money, ARV: $1,100.00 per player.

GGL, Sony, GameStop launch Resistance tournament [GGL]

When asked by Member of Parliament for Manchester Central Tony Lloyd if he agreed Resistance: Fall of Man's choice of location was "not only in bad taste but also very, very insulting to not simply the Church of England, but people across the land who think it's inappropriate that big corporations behave in this way" Blair was inclined to agree. According to a report on the matter from Games Industry, Blair noted:

I've no doubt this debate will go on for a significant period of time, but I do agree. I think it is important that people understand there is a wider social responsibility as well as an interior responsibility for profits.

Oh, snap! Those Brits are ruthless. You can read more of Tony's ice cold opinions on the matter at GI. Let's hope this can all be resolved without calls for smiting. Michael McWhertor

Prime Minister responds to Church's Resistance complaints [Games Industry]

Church officials in the UK are up in arms over the inclusion of Manchester Cathedral as a setting for the PS3's FPS, Resistance Fall of Man. They claim that Sony used the nave of the cathedral for the scene of a huge battle without first gaining permission from the church itself. Additionally, they are incensed that a church would be used as a setting for such a violent game.

Rt Revd Nigel McCulloch, The Bishop of Manchester admits that Manchester has a gun crime problem and he does not take the matter lightly.

For a global manufacturer to re-create one of our great cathedrals with photo-realistic quality and then encourage people to have guns battles in the building is beyond belief and highly irresponsible.

Sony hasn't returned church official's phone calls, but did give this quote to the Times newspaper through Sony rep, David Wilson.

It is entertainment, like Doctor Who or any other science fiction. It is not based on reality at all. Throughout the whole process we have sought permission where necessary.

The church is now calling for the game to be pulled from store shelves and an official apology from Sony or it will consider legal action against the gaming giant.

Seeing as Resistance is the PS3s top seller (over a million copies) and the crown jewel of the system's game collection, I doubt this will go down without a fight. But, who will win out in a battle between the Church and Sony? It's kind of like asking who would win in a fight between Superman and Jesus. The Church of Italy was able to successfully block the sale of Rule of Rose in Europe, but Sony is a huge company and with so many copies of the game already in players' hands, it's going to be quite a feat to have it removed removed from stores. So, keep an eye out gamers, we could be seeing the beginning of the battle of the century. Flynn De Marco

Cathedral row over computer game [BBC News]

Today's game content-light PlayStation Store update isn't being helped by the (I'm sure very necessarily) delayed downloadable updates for the two PLAYSTATION 3 games most often listed as reasons for owning one, Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm.

IGN reports that Sony has given new release dates for the Motorstorm 1.2 update, which should now hit June 11th in-game and 14th on the Store, and the Resistance map pack which is scheduled for... the future! In other words, Insomniac and Sony are still nailing down some last minute things. I'm sure we'd all rather have working updates than broken ones.

Good thing PlayStation 2 games are still being released on a regular basis, no? Michael McWhertor

PSN Content Interrupted? [IGN]

In addition to the map preview, Gamespy also revealed details on the game's upcoming patch which addresses some multiplayer concerns, including unified global servers, access to in-game buddy lists and punishment for pathetic scum who drop out of ranked games. Assholes. Not you, Insomniac. Them! You're alright. Michael McWhertor

Resistance: Fall of Man Map Pack Preview [Gamespy]

There's plenty of much deserved love for Motorstorm and Resistance: Fall of Man and the PS3 hardware itself, but UK gamers weren't holding back on the criticism. It's the same old story; too expensive, not enough games, the PlayStation Store is a content wasteland. In general, it's fairly civil (until the UK: Resistance readership shows up to make things more interesting) and full of quality feedback that is hopefully taken to heart. Michael McWhertor

TWO MONTHS IN... [Three Speech]

At the time, we had no idea that we'd be attending the industry's final decadent blowout. We'd have taken a moment to pause, to reflect, to appreciate the sights and the stench of a Los Angeles Convention Center packed with 60,000 attendees.

E3 taught us many things. We were horrified to learn the PLAYSTATION 3 was to be priced at $599, yet pleased that it would ship worldwide by November 17th. How naive we were then.

We had just seen the Halo 3 trailer. Witnessed the Super Smash Bros. Brawl reveal. We'd been subjected to "massive damage", "Riiiiiidge Racer!" and Bill Gates paralyzing keynote and we didn't think we could take it anymore.

We relished in our first hands-on experience with the Nintendo Wii remote. We played Super Mario Galaxy, Guitar Hero II, Metroid Prime 3, Elite Beat Agents and Resistance: Fall of Man all for the first time. I recall the horrible bus ride home from the Sony party, ready to vomit into my free Ogio luggage.

With the new, slimmed down E3 still two months away, there's plenty of time to remember the insanity, the sheer pleasure of dozens of game announcements all occuring over the course of five days. Won't you share them with me in the comments? Michael McWhertor

You can't win it anymore, but it just showed up and I thought you'd want to take a gander.

Insomniac Games didn't limit their signing exuberance to just the cover, they also signed the crap out of the instruction manual. Now that's a splendid copy of Resistance: Fall of Man. Congrats Dave. Brian Crecente

So the folks over at Insomniac Games couldn't help but notice that our spiffy Playstation 3 giveaway, while now featuring a copy of Oblivion signed by some of the Bethesda devs, was still very much lacking in any Resistance Fall of Man-nary...Um, yeah.

And they couldn't have that, so they've offered to throw in a free copy for our one lucky reader. Better still, they've even offered to have some of their devs sign the copy as well.

So let me get this straight, our giveaway now includes a one-of-a-kind laser etched PS3, copies of Fight Night, Madden, Call of Duty, Ridge Racer and signed copies of both Oblivion and Resistance.

This is officially now our coolest contest ever, I think.

Sadistic PS3 Contest [Kotaku]

Another Resistance update is scheduled for May, which will include two new maps and worldwide online play support. You can read the full list of current changes after the jump. Oh and watch for yours truly on R:FoM multiplayer this evening and enjoy kicking my ass. Michael McWhertor

Insomniac Games and Sony Computer Entertainment America have released the second content update for Resistance: Fall of Man. This update features two new modes of play amongst a host of other changes.

New Gametypes
- Added Team Conversion
In Team Conversion your goal is to kill everyone on the other team before they kill your team. Players are given a limited number of lives as a human and Chimera. If your team has at least one player with at least one life when the other team is completely dead, your team wins. You become a spectator when you have lost all your lives.

In Team Conversion mode, you are scored by how long you survived and how many other players you killed, like in free-for-all Conversion. However, the win goes to the last team with one or more players alive.

- Added Assault
Both teams start with a few nodes and all of the base defenses from Breach. To win, destroy the enemy reactor. When you deactivate an enemy node, it becomes permanently neutral, and your opponents lose some base defenses. At the start of the match, both reactors are shielded (invulnerable), so you must deactivate at least one of the enemy nodes. Nodes do not regenerate health in Assault, but they take substantially more damage than in other modes.

Individual players are scored based on damaging the enemy reactor and defending your reactor and nodes. Unlike other gametypes, players are also awarded points for damaging enemy nodes.

When you are killed, the map will appear. In an Assault match you can choose to respawn at nodes that have been deactivated as well as your team's reactor and active nodes, or with your squad if you are a member of one.

New Game Options
- Added "Round Balancing"
Round balancing can be set to either "on" or "off". It will default to "on". When round balancing is "on", if the number of players on each team is uneven at the end of the round, players will be moved from the team with too many players to the team with too few players to attempt to balance the teams. Parties will not be seperated, so it is not guaranteed to result in perfectly balanced teams. Round balancing is turned ON for ranked games.

- Added "enhanced" radar mode
"enhanced" radar is a new radar option. In custom games, the radar option can now be set to "on", "off", and "enhanced". In enhanced radar mode, human radar will show any enemies who are moving (not just sprinting/raging), jumping, or firing. Enemies who are crouching and moving will not show up on radar in "enhanced" mode.

Spectator mode
- Added "Spectator mode"
You may now join a game in "spectator mode", either by selecting "spectate" from the "Join Game" popup in the "Find Game" screen, or by bringing up your options menu from the "Staging" screen and changing your team until it says "Spectators". Games are limited to having 10 spectators, and there is a new game option "Allow Spectators" which defaults to "on" that may be turned off if the game creator does not want to allow spectators. Ranked matches do not allow spectators.

Spectator players will not be visible to anyone else in-game (although they will be visible in the staging screen), nor will they be able to talk to anyone except other spectators using the voice chat. Spectators can see all players on both teams on their radar. Spectators can toggle between two modes, "Observer" and "Free roam". In "Observer", spectator will see through the eyes of the player they are observing, including seeing the player's first person weapon and animations. Spectators can switch between observing different players with the "Melee/Action" key (default: Triangle), or switch to "Free roam" mode with the "Reload" key (default: Square). In "Free Roam" mode, spectators may wander freely about the map to view the action however they want. Spectators in "Free Roam" mode can switch back to "Observer" mode by pressing the "Reload" key (default: Square). If a spectator in "Free Roam" mode toggles to "Observer" mode while aiming at a player, he will observe the player he was aiming at instead of randomly selecting a player to observe. In both "Free Roam" and "Observer" mode, spectators can toggle their onscreen HUD on or off by pressing the "Zoom" key (default: R3).

In gametypes with limited lives (such as conversion, or if limited lives has been turned on by the game creator), players who lose all their lives and are eliminated will enter spectator mode, with a few small differences: Eliminated players cannot observe players on the opposite team, they can only see what their team sees on the radar, and they can only chat with other eliminated players (NOT with spectators).

UI Improvements
- Sorted buddy list by online status
- Made text on the map easier to read
- Players added to the ignore list will be removed from the buddy list
- Previously the health of a node was indicated by how fully shaded it was in the color of the team that controlled it or was capturing it. This was difficult to see, and it did not distinguish between nodes that were in the process of being captured from nodes that were in the process of being detroyed. Now nodes will have a health bar underneath the node (which will be team colored) to indicate its health, and the color of the node icon will indicate whether any team is in control of that node or not (it will be colored that team's color, or gray if no team controls it). Therefore if a node is in the process of being captured will have a team colored health bar and a gray icon, and a node in the process of being destroyed will have a team colored health bar and a team colored icon.

General
- Optimized net code
- Improved respawn algorithm to avoid selecting spawn points near enemies
- Optimized join game process for ranked game to be faster and more reliable, especially for large parties

Balancing
- Increased points for a "defense" kill from 1 to 4 in all modes
- Shotgun damage will decrease faster as range increases
- LAARK respawn time increased to 90 seconds, ammo respawn time increased to 60 seconds
- LAARK splash damage radius reduced
- Carbine headshot damage increased

Bug Fixes
- In FFA gametypes, you can no longer incorrectly see players on the radar who are within radar range of other players but not within radar range of you.
- Chimeran players no longer take extra melee damage from some weapons
- Enemies killed after you die but before you respawn will no longer count towards your killing spree for your next life
- Deaths will now tally correctly when a player dies by drowning
- Fixed a bug that sometimes caused the wrong map to load after a map vote
- Fixed problem where the quality of the microphone chat would degrade over time when in a party or long game
- Fixed bug that would cause you to reload after firing one shot if you had full ammo and hit reload and then fired in rapid succession
- Fixed several collision problems, including potential methods of escaping from the intended play area
- Fixed several potentially exploitable gameplay glitches
- Fixed several rare crash bugs

Look to the podcast every other Thursday to bring listeners updates on upcoming games, such as Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, as well as keep current Resistance players informed about the state of the game. They'll also feature Insomniac games fan mail, as well as talk to gaming professionals and industry insiders from outside of Insomniac and within. Good times!

The first episode is ready for download at the official site. The lovely press release? Post jump! Michael McWhertor

INSOMNIAC GAMEST LAUNCHES NEW STUDIO PODCAST

Independent Console Videogames Developer to Give Fans "Full Moon" via Bi-Weekly Self-Produced Show

BURBANK, Calif. (February 28, 2007) - Insomniac Games plans to give its fans and fellow gamers a "full moon" on Thursday, March 1. That's when the wholly independent console videogames developer will upload its first podcast, "The Full Moon Show," as part of an ongoing, twice monthly (every other Thursday) in-house production.

The goal of "The Full Moon Show" is to provide gamers with an insider's look at the world of videogames development in an irreverent (and hopefully entertaining!) manner. The podcast, available via the home page at www.insomniacgames.com beginning March 1, will offer a more in-depth experience than a laundry-list of company announcements. In addition to providing periodic production updates about Insomniac's upcoming games such as Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, here are summaries of some other segments:

. "Mystery Guest": Insomniac will interview well-known personalities about videogames development from within the videogames world but who do not work at Insomniac Games. The only clue about the podcast's first "Mystery Guest" is that this person received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Game Developers Association. Insomniac will make a donation in the name of each Mystery Guest appearing on "The Full Moon Show" to Child's Play, a games industry charity dedicated to improving the lives of children with toys and games in a network of over 40 hospitals worldwide.

. "I Want Your Job!": This segment will focus on interviewing an Insomniac employee about their job, including an overview of what they do, how they got the job, and tips for getting similar jobs within the games industry.

. "Online Update": As the Resistance: Fall of Man online community continues to grow at a rapid rate (nearly 300-400 people register daily at Insomniac's official R:FOM site, www.myresistance.net), "Online Update" will serve as a virtual "ESPN SportsCenter" for profiles on top players, top clans, patch and expansion updates, and more.

. "Mailbag": Insomniac will share some of its amusing fan mail, including some of the more outrageous (and pathetic) excuses for being banned from our forums communities.

"We want to share what it's like to be at Insomniac and in general bring fans and gamers closer into the world of videogames development," said Brian Allgeier, "The Full Moon Show" podcast co-host and Insomniac Games' design director. "We hope that by listening to 'The Full Moon Show,' gamers will gain a better understanding of what it's like and what it takes to make videogames for a living, along with hearing about some of the more amusing stories that happen inside our studio that are rarely discussed publicly."

Allgeier will share hosting duties with James Stevenson, Insomniac's online community manager and former games industry journalist, as well as Ryan Schneider, Insomniac's marketing director and also a former journalist. Podcast listeners will be able to correspond with the hosts at podcast@insomniacgames.com to suggest story topics, Mystery Guest ideas, and to provide general feedback. The studio's podcast webpage will eventually list past Mystery Guests, provide clues for upcoming Mystery Guests, offer polls for most popular story ideas and provide links to archived "Full Moon Show" podcasts.

ABOUT INSOMNIAC GAMES
Insomniac Games is a wholly independent console videogames developer that has released award-winning hits for the PlayStation game console, the PlayStation 2 computer entertainment system and PLAYSTATION 3 for 13 years. The company created the first three Spyro the DragonT games, the Ratchet & ClankT franchise and Resistance: Fall of ManT, which have combined to sell more than 21 million units worldwide. In addition to making blockbuster videogames, Insomniac is known for ranking among the Top 5 "Best Small Companies to Work for in America" in both 2005 and 2006, according to the Great Places to Work Institute and Society for Human Resources Management. More information can be found on the Insomniac's website at http://www.insomniacgames.com/.

In a sit down with N'Gai Croal, Phil Harrison talks up Resistance: Fall of Man a bit and mentions that Sony is prepping new content for their shooter and that we can expect to start seeing the new stuff this April.

"We're going to release additional content for Resistance. I don't think we've gone into detail on the schedule, but we have some really, really cool things that will be extending the story, extending the locations, some brand new content, starting in April. So if that works well and is well-received by the audience, then that will keep the engagement with game going between now and should there be a sequel at some point in the future."

What sort of new content would you like to see on the shooter? I'm sorta split between new multiplayer maps and fresh single-player content. Brian Crecente

Loot: The Phil Harrison Interview, Part I [Level Up]

The currently ongoing AOU show in Japan has me excited for some upcoming arcade action. I might have to revisit some Gradius on the PSP then pick up those Parodius and Twin Bee import collections.

That reminds me. Any CPAs out there? I need to know if I can write off these shmup purchases as work expenses.

Enough about me. What's on deck in your console or PC for gaming this weekend? Michael McWhertor

On the game front, I'm still slowly working my way through Metroid Prime 2 and Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin, but may find some time to get in a bit of Resistance: Fall of Man multiplayer. Anyone want to go a few rounds? My copy of the Nintendo DS guitar non-game should have arrived during my absence. In addition to all that digital fun, I'm still playing the real life game of piecing together my surround sound system and dealing with the technical limitations of my cable box (and my brain).

So, what's it gonna be? What in the bloody hell are you playing this weekend? Michael McWhertor

Check the contest details for the usual rules and regulations, but those of you under 18 or outside of the U.S. of A shouldn't even bother with the click. Tell you what. If I win, I'll re-gift it. Sound fair? Michael McWhertor

Resistance Online Sweepstakes [PlayStation.com]

Ranked Games

• Map size determined by the number of players in the game
• All maps available for ranked games
• Score limits for team deathmatch adjusted based on the number of players in a match
• Time limits added for all game types that were missing them

• Various bug fixes and formatting issues
• Fixed a rare issue where a player would become invisible to all other players in a match
• In Human vs Human or Chimera vs Chimera team games, all players on a team will show up as the same model to help distinguish between   the teams.
• Added a barrier on Manchester, which was previously left out, to prevent players from leaving the playable area.

• "Return a Flag" ribbon now displays properly.  All "Return a Flag" ribbons earned prior to this patch will be restored.
• "Multi Kill" ribbon will now be tracked.  Unfortunately, no "Multi Kill" ribbons earned before this patch can be restored.
• "Target Bomber" ribbon can now be achieved with the frag grenade as well as the hedgehog grenade
• You will now receive a system message when you earn a new rank.
• A player's rank will not be sometimes misrepresented as lower than it actually is.
• Wins/Losses are now displayed on the player stats.
• Changed the requirements to earn some of the medals on the character sheet.
• We have replaced the Skeleton skin with a new skin, the Mechanic.  We've determined that the Skeleton is much smaller and more difficult to see on many levels than any of the other skins.  The skins were never meant to give a gameplay advantage, but to offer you the chance to customize your character as you see fit, and we don't want people to be at a disadvantage because they didn't pick any one particular skin.  Never fear, the skeleton may make a return at some later date, in some form or other.

• You can now accept a party invite if you are in a game and the party you are joining is in the same game.
• The results screen will now automatically rejoin the game after 30 seconds instead of disconnecting from the game as it previously did.
• There is now an option to enabled "Map Vote" for custom games.  If this option is enabled, players may press triangle when they are on the results screen to vote on what map they wish to play next.  This option is enabled by default.
• You can now create a deathmatch game with a time limit as the only end game condition.
• Fixed a bug where players joining a game in progress would sometimes be placed on the team that had more players instead of the team with less players.

• Voice chat is now "push-to-talk" by default in team games as well as free-for-all games.  The standard button is L3 and it can be remapped.  Open mic is active only for squad chat when you choose to join a named squad.  In that case you still use the push-to-talk button to broadcast to your entire team.  Other places where open mic is active are when observing in a limited lives game and when you are in a party
• There is now an indicator in the lower right hand corner to let you know when you are transmitting on the microphone

• Players in a squad will now be given an additional option to spawn near their squad in CTF, Meltdown, and Breach. 
• Player names that are longer than 11 characters will no longer be truncated if they have a clan tag enabled.
• The flag taken message will stay on the screen longer in CTF games
• Enemies are now represented as triangles on the radar and map.
• Buddies on your team will show up as green dots on the map and radar (if it is enabled)
• Squad members will show up as yellow dots on the map and radar (if it is enabled)

• Chimeran rage damage multiplier has been reduced.
• Chimera at max heat will now only lose health until they are at 50% health instead of going all the way down to 1% health.
• Humans will now spawn with 1 frag grenade as well as the M5A2 Carbine
• Enemies will now show up on the Human map/radar if they are within radar range of ANYONE ON YOUR TEAM and only in the following circumstances: They are sprinting or in rage mode, they are firing/attacking, they are jumping, or they are within range of node radar (Breach)
• The L11-2 Dragon will now do extra damage to Chimeran players as was originally intended
• Most weapon damage values have been tweaked in the interest of balance.  In general, weapons have been tweaked to deal slightly less damage.
• The spawn selection algorithm has been modified to make players spawn next to enemies less often, and to spawn near teammates and squadmates more often
• Moved the location of the flag in several CTF maps to help prevent stalemating
• Suicide will now increase the waiting time until a player respawns by 10 seconds in team games.

Hey everyone, we've been hard at work here at Insomniac on improving the game, we've decided to let you in on some of the upcoming improvements! They're coming in two forms: a server-side update for ranked games, and a downloadable client-side update. Here's some of the things we'll be changing:

Server-side (ranked game) update:

* Map size determined by the number of players in the game
* All maps available for ranked games
* Score limits for team deathmatch adjusted based on the number of players in a match
* Time limits added for all game types that were missing them

The more meaty downloadable update info after this commercial message from Continue Reading.

Client-side (downloadable) update:

* Added a game option to allow "map voting", which will allow players in a custom game to vote on a new map from the results screen
* Expanded tactical element of squads. In objective based team games (CTF, Meltdown, Breach), players will be able to select to spawn near their squad as well as all the previously available spawn points. Additionally, squad members will be displayed different on the map/radar so that you will be able to find them easier
* We've been busy refining the balance between the Chimera and the Humans in order to make both races more fun to play, and to give players improved tactical options (you'll have to wait on the specifics)
* We've improved the spawning algorithm to prioritize spawn points that are away from enemies and near teammates and squadmates
* Wins/Losses are now displayed on the character sheet
* We have replaced the Skeleton skin with a new skin, the Mechanic. We've determined that the Skeleton is much smaller and more difficult to see on many levels than any of the other skins. The skins were never meant to give a gameplay advantage, but to offer you the chance to customize your character as you see fit, and we don't want people to be at a disadvantage because they didn't pick any one particular skin. Never fear, the skeleton may make a return at some later date, in some form or other.

Man, I can't tell you how many times I've spawned right next to an enemy, or had them spawn behind me. As fun as it is to pop up unexpectedly and shoot some poor sap in the head, the change is probably for the best. And hallelujah to getting rid of that damn skeleton. The tactical changes are looking to fix my biggest gripe, which was feeling like I was completely alone in team-based games. I suppose getting myself a headset would help that too. *hides*

No concrete date has been made for the patch yet, but we'll have more details and the release date as soon as I get James all boozed up and vulnerable. Michael Fahey

The problem? The CNET editors didn't really see the difference either way.

I'm not sure if that benefits Sony or Microsoft, but Aaron Greenberg, group product manager for Xbox 360, and Scott "1080p is basically impossible" Henson, director of platform strategy, brought out the big guns and left the staff unswayed. In fact, admitted non-videophile Daniel Terdiman said of the touted 360 superiority "any differences are those that I think would be noticed only by someone with too much time on their hands." Whether it was Gears versus Resitance, Blu-ray versus HD-DVD, they just didn't seem to care.

Maybe if Microsoft hadn't brought in that nice 1080p Sony Bravia and instead used a television that didn't support 720p, the editors might have noticed. Michael McWhertor

Xbox 360 meets PS3, and it's ready to rumble [CNET]

Incoming patch for PS3 title Resistance: Fall of Man. What for? Online multiplayer. But what exactly? Don't know. Developer Insomniac's lead multiplayer programmer illuminates (sorta):

I can't yet talk about all the things we've changed, but I really think that people will be very pleased to see how responsive this is to some concerns that have come out since we went live.

We've addressed a few key balance issues and put a big focus on making it possible to more effectively use a variety of strategic and team-based tactics in the game. I'm very excited to see how people like the change when it releases. That should happen very soon, so stay tuned.

I used to loathe console patches. But if companies are going to use them to fine-tune games and make them better, by all means, do it. Brian Ashcraft

Resistance Patch [Eurogamer]

Sony faceman and bringing of all tidings Playstation 3 Dave Karraker delivered some interesting PS3 launch details earlier today.

Although Sony, like Nintendo, isn't talking specific numbers they have confirmed that their console sold out "within hours."

Biggest selling game: Resistance: Fall of Man, followed by Madden '07

The $599 60GB model was the top selling SKU (over the $499 20GB model)

PSP week-over-week sales increased +29% at our top 5 retailers (week ending Nov. 20)

PS2 week-over-week sales increased +24% at our top 5 retailers (week ending Nov. 20)

Dave Letterman used the system launch to mock Pres. Bush, Wal-Mart used it to attack Sen. John Edwards and Nike used it to create a pair of shoes that no one will be able to buy. Brian Crecente

After parking on a "better hide the laptop" kind of street, I walked my way over to the Best Buy on La Brea, strolling past the hundreds upon hundreds of campers and line-sitters passed out and sprawled out on the sidewalk

A few dozen patient potential PS3 owners had run out of sidewalk, forcing a second line across the street. The annex line was full of kids who smelled way too good, dressed way too sharp to dirty themselves with a three day line-up. This was the fresh crowd. And it looked like they too were going to get a PS3 tonight.

I called my friend, Freeloadin' Scott Andrews who had just parked and planned to meet at the media entrance. He paused carefully to take this snapshot.

After checking in at the press desk, then meeting up with Scott, we weaseled our way in to the party zone. No one of note really, save Danny "Surely I've Killed A Guy" Trejo, Stan "The Man" Lee and some very tall basketball playing type (look, I don't follow the sports, okay?) had made their way into the event.

They'd be here soon enough, but Scott and I decided to work our way in, check out the scene, and maybe score a late dinner. Sushi, burgers, chili, corndogs, all manner of hors d'oeuvres, mashed potatoes, BBQ beef sandwiches, donuts, Jamba Juice, mini-pastries, it was all there for the devouring.

We first checked out the Resistance: Fall of Man set up. Behind it were a few PS3's with Call of Duty 3 running. Both stationgs were patrolled by fake military types, but occupied by real life military types.

After watching the above enlisted man get his ass handed to him repeatedly by a Chimera Titan in Resistance, I gave him a few pointers, to no avail. He was a lost cause.

A quartet of Guitar Hero II demo stations were just behind us, so I figured, what the hell, I'll get a couple songs in before the perfumed masses arrive. Before I knew it, a "Shout At The Devil" here, a "Killing In The Name Of" there, the place was packed.

Then George Constanza... crap, I mean Jason Alexander appeared, ready to rock out.

Unfortunately, he sucked like you wouldn't believe. He made it about 14% through one song on Easy before throwing in the towel.

The rest of the party featured playable PS3 and PS2 kiosks, ranging from titles like Motorstorm (looking much improved), NBA 2K7 (shiny, pretty), Need For Speed Carbon (hideous, as it was shockingly fed through composite cables into Sony Bravia displays) and... Pimp My Ride? (Yes, Xzibit was there.) After mocking the game and the girl playing it a little too loud, we decided to check out the Blu-Ray igloo.

Reps from various movie studios were on hand to answer questions and hand out free discs, but we got trapped either at the bar or planted comfortably in front of the Panasonic Elite displays, soaking in the crystal clear imagery. Yeah, that's right. We were at a party with free booze watching TV. Pathetic.

We emerged from the bustling igloo to witness a half-dozen Laker girls strutting their stuff. What else can you do at this point?

Soon enough, Camp Freddy/pretty-much-Velvet Revolver took the stage, clearly there to collect a paycheck and cover some of their favorite songs. I saw Slash. The night bordered on surreal.

They made Guitar Hero II sessions virtually unplayable at this point, so, after discussing the Guitar Hero on PS3 problem and getting some bad news (it won't ever be playable), I stormed off to find corndogs. We ran into the Genji producer we made to suffer during a Justify Your Game segment and apologized profusely for putting him on the spot like that. Then we all laughed and froze in place, allowing the credits to roll.

Okay, that last bit didn't happen, but the night was definitely winding down. We momentarily got excited when Ricky Schroeder walked by. This was a bad sign. Then Ari's assistant Lloyd (real name unknown) from Entourage emerged from the Blu-Ray tent and I became inappropriately speechless.

I check my watch.

It was almost 11:45 so we decided to depart to visit the camper queue, waiting for the herd to rush the store. After three days of smelly anticipation, many were going home with a PlayStation 3 within the hour. What will happen?! Michael McWhertor

In an interview recently, Insomniac games' Ted Price revealed that the upcoming Resistance: Fall of Man will not use the central buddy list created for use with PS3's online service, but will have its own separate buddy list, clan registry and in game chat services. According to GamesIndustry.biz, this will be the same for all of the PS3 launch titles. You'll have to create a separate buddy list for each game? What a pain!

This sound suspiciously like the horrible Nintendo DS friend code system. They copied the DS's colors, fine; colors are nice. They copied Nintendo's motion control, not so fine, but the deed is done. The crappy friend code system though, that's where I draw the line. Someone over at Sony really needs to learn the difference between copying the good things Nintendo does and copying the stupid things Nintendo does Let's hope that by the next crop of games, Sony will have figured out how to integrate to a system more like the 360 than the DS.

GamesIndustry.biz: PS3 online concerns [Eurogamer Thanks, TJ!]