Assassin’s Creed III Pre-Orders Break Ubisoft Record

Ubisoft has announced that Assassin’s Creed III is the most pre-ordered game in company history. According to Ubisoft, Assassin’s Creed III pre-orders have “more than doubled” the number of pre-orders for Assassin’s Creed Revelations, which was the previous pre-order record holder.

GameStop president Tony Bartel said pre-orders are “nearly 100% higher than last year, putting the game on track to be one of the top titles of 2012” and Ubisoft senior vice president of sales and marketing Tony Key added that “this impressive pre-order mark is just a hint of the game’s potential.”

Assassin’s Creed III will hit stores on October 30th, with a Wii U version to follow on November 18th. For more on Assassin’s Creed III, read about the first downloadable content and Season Pass and our interview with associate producer Julien Laferrière.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Assassin’s Creed III DLC: George Washington is King

Ubisoft has announced new downloadable content for Assassin’s Creed III. Set in an alternate version of history, The Tyranny of King Washington is a single-player campaign that will be told through multiple downloadable content packs and features George Washington becoming king of America.

“As the revolution comes to a close, a new and most unexpected enemy emerges,” Ubisoft explains. “Driven by the desire to secure the fate of the colonies, the greatest hero of the revolution, George Washington, succumbs to the temptation of infinite power. The new King is born and his reign leaves no one untouched. To return freedom to the land our new hero must dethrone a tyrant he once called friend.”

The story will be told through three episodic content packs, all of which will be available by purchasing the Assassin’s Creed III Season Pass, which will be available on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC for $29.99 (2400 Microsoft Points). The Pass will offer access to five content packs in all, including single-player content as well as maps and characters for multiplayer. According to Ubisoft, purchasing the Season Pass will account for a 25% savings versus buying packs individually, and Season Pass owners will have access to content one week ahead of other players.

“History is our playground – and AC teams have always loved playing with historical facts and their consequences as a way to better understand a time period,” said Ubisoft executive producer Sebastien Puel said of the Washington content. “While Assassin’s Creed III concentrates on history as it happens, we wanted to take some liberties with this DLC and tell you how things ‘could have happened.’”

Assassin’s Creed III is less than 30 days away, hitting Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on October 30th, followed by a Wii U version on November 18th and a PC version on November 23rd. The downloadable content will “also be available for the Wii U,” Ubisoft said, but no specific timeframe was revealed.

For more on Assassin’s Creed III, read our hands-on impressions in the frontier and find even more details in our Assassin’s Creed III wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Invincible Iron Man #524 Review

Tony Stark has a long history of fighting to stop his armor designs from being stolen and exploited by various villains. But as the third Armor Wars conflict kicks off in the latest issue of Invincible Iron Man, Tony finds himself with some unlikely allies. And that's where Future is at its most appealing. Matt Fraction focuses a great deal of attention on Tony and Ezekiel Stane, showing the odd progression their relationship has taken since their first showdown at the very beginning of the series. Throw a few more classic Iron man villains into the mix and you've got the recipe for one memorable team-up.

Fraction connects a few more pieces of the puzzle in issue #524, revealing more about the role Justine Hammer is filling and just what is going on with JARVIS lately. This latter reveal is interesting, though it comes across as a bit random and unnecessary in the context of the larger conflicts of the series. Also troubling is that we still don't have much of an idea about what Rhodey is up to with his Iron Man masquerade and how he factors into Tony's ultimate plan. There are a lot of fun character moments in this issue, but not necessarily a great deal of plot progression.

The artwork doesn't shine that well in this issue, mostly because Frank D'Armata's colors tend to overpower the pencils even more than usual. There are a handful of panels where Salvador Larroca's line-work gains a greater level of detail and precision, but that isn't the case nearly enough. As usual, Larroca's action scenes and armored characters look great. This issue stands out because there's now a small army of Iron Men creating havoc. It's the human characters that have looked and continue to look unnatural.

Jesse is a writer for IGN Comics and IGN Movies. He can't wait until he's old enough to feel ways about stuff. Follow Jesse on Twitter, or find him on IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Dark Knight Rises Makes $1 billion

The Dark Knight Rises reached a series of box office landmarks over the weekend, outgrossing its predecessor The Dark Knight while at the same time becoming only the 13th film in history to pass the $1bn mark.

The Dark Knight grossed $1.003bn worldwide, and as of Sunday, The Dark Knight Rises has made 1.005bn.

According to The Hollywood Reporter, however, TDK did bigger business domestically than internationally, whereas TDKR made more money internationally. The Reporter suggests that may be down to the Aurora theatre shootings.

Whatever the case, The Dark Knight Rises now has Alice in Wonderland in its sites in the all-time box office list, while it will have to surpass The Phantom Menace to make the top 10.

Chris Tilly is the Entertainment Editor for IGN and still can't quite believe that many people went to see Alice in Wonderland. His idle chit-chat can be found on both Twitter and MyIGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

PAX: Tim Schafer and The Making of Double Fine Adventure

Double Fine Productions has a problem. Well, more like 3.3 million of them.

Since launching arguably the most well-known and successful video game campaign in Kickstarter history, the quirky developers of beloved games like Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, and Brutal Legend, are on the hook to make Double Fine Adventure (DFA), quite possibly the most talked about adventure game in the last decade. The real trick will be making it the most played, and Double Fine briantrust Tim Schafer knows it.

Discussing the making of DFA at the Double Fine Adventure Adventure panel at PAX 2012, the President and CEO, alongside Double Fine producer Greg Rice, laid his process bare, making a hall-full of friends in the process.

That's a 834% fund rate right there, folks.

If you've ever put something off, changed your idea in the middle of a thought (because you lost it), or considered tossing out plans wholesale for fear that no one will like them, you probably have a lot in common with the self-deprecating developer. Turns out the studio didn't have everything ready to go when the seconds counted down to zero and corks popped. $3.3 million dollars funded, now it was time to make a game. That's actually when that process began - by design - explained Schafer, onstage and throughout the 25-minute showing of the Double Fine Adventure Documentary that filmakers 2 Player Productions have begun shooting for their throng of Kickstaer backers.

His process is as fascinating as it is overwhelming. Thumbing a stack of notebooks evoking John Doe's journals from Se7en, Schafer shows how his games spend their infancy slow-cooking in the deep pages of his scrawled manuscripts, alongside non-sequitur ramblings and complaints about his poor memory or girls he'd loved and lost from the sixth grade. This is not a senselessly scatter-brained man, just proof that extremely-functional attention deficit disorder pairs well with game design. Once his ideas take form, Schafer talks himself into doing what sounds like the part of the process he like least: telling someone about the idea for the first time.

Pitching his good friend and partner in Double Fine crime, Ron Gilbert (best known for Maniac Mansion and the first two Monkey Island games), the industry vet speaks adorably in fits and starts, flush like a boy talking himself into asking a girl for a first dance. Schafer's not lacking for confidence, but he wants to hear that his ideas are good, naturally. And if they'er not, he wants to find better ideas. Because he cares so much, nothing matters to him more than getting it right.

And getting it right means uncertainty, and not having all the answers all at once. But he's okay with that. Walls pasted with sticky notes, "art jams" - long sessions that bring all the artists together to concept the art direction - and asking hard questions about story continuity alongside Rice; each is an inexcahngeable part of a vulnerable but self-assured process. That and the pizza orgies.

Once a Double Fine game is playable, schafer traditionally gathers a group of people to marathon of game testing and crowd-noshing by the slice. If the art jam is how the team finds out how the game should look, the pizza orgies are where they find out how the game should play.

By the end of their PAX panel, Rice simplifies all of this with a rosy-scheeked Cheshire aside, affirming the core "how-to" of good game making. "Look for good ideas, ignore bad ideas." Ricean megascience.

If Double Fine Adventure Adventure doesn't work out, perhaps they'll create  Pizza Orgy: The Game, one attendee offered during a lively question and answer session as the panel wrapped.

When asked if Pizza Orgy: The Game would be a "party game" in genre by another guest, Schaefer simplay said, "That depends on who you invite. Sometimes its really sad."

Casey Lynch is Editor-in-Chief of IGN.com. Hear about his love for PAX , metal, and Dark Souls on IGN and Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

The Expendables 2 vs Toy Story: Action Heroes vs Action Figures

Pixar's Toy Story series is beloved by children of all ages and contains some of the most human and heartwarming moments in the history of CGI animation. You already knew that. But did you also realise that the trilogy of big screen outings for Buzz and Woody contains enough balls-out action set pieces to recreate the trailer for The Expendables 2, shot for armour-piercing shot? Check the two trailers out below and find out what happens when action heroes are replaced by action figures. Spoiler alert: Jean-Claude Van Damme is just a cuddly teddy bear either way.

The Original Expendables 2 Trailer

Pixar's The Expendables 2 Parody Trailer

Source : ign[dot]com

Comic Book Reviews for 8/22/12

It's a big week in comic book history, as the beloved wall-crawler celebrates fifty years of thwipping and thwarting bad guys all across the Marvel Universe. To celebrate, Marvel has unleashed an over-sized (and double-priced) issue of The Amazing Spider-Man. Also this week, one of our favorites, The Rocketeer, returns in a new standalone adventure by the acclaimed Daredevil team of Mark Waid and Chris Samnee.

Over at DC, Batman goes incognito (and Bat-Cow returns), the game changes in I, Vampire #12, and Doc Manhattan makes his Before Watchmen debut.

DC COMICS

All-Star Western #12

Written by Justin Gray & Jimmy Palmiotti | Art by Moritat

"Apparently no one told Jonah Hex that the Night of the Owls crossover is done and he doesn't have to deal with the Court of Owls anymore. All-Star Western #12 sees Hex and his buddy Dr. Arkham in the clutches of the Owls, with only the foul-mouthed Tallulah Black still free to save the day. I worried about how well Tallulah could carry the issue given how obnoxious her dialogue can sometimes be, but she fares better this month than she has in the past. Hex still manages a fair amount of screen time thanks to a lengthy flashback sequence. For the most part, this issue offers a fun wrap-up to the current conflict, with ample doses of violence, humor, and scarred bounty hunters getting frisky." -Jesse

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

6.5

Batman Incorporated #3

Written by Grant Morrison | Art by Chris Burnham

"It should be no surprise that Batman Incorporated #3 is a really good comic book. Every issue before it was pretty awesome. Sure, it's easy to drown in the deep, deep waters of Grant Morrison's Batman opus, but this issue stands on its own as a really great Batman tale even if it's drenched in the bizarre pathos of Morrison's Dark Knight saga. Oh yeah, and Bat-Cow is back and living in the Batcave. That alone should make this issue a must-buy." -Benjamin

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

8.5

Batman: The Dark Knight #12

Written by Gregg Hurwitz | Art by David Finch

"There is not much new ground being covered in Batman: The Dark Knight #12. It feels like a story that has been done before. It promises new, shocking insight into Batman's past, but it's really just the same old stuff. Nothing exciting, nothing new. If you have read a Scarecrow story before, then most of what you'll read in here will feel like a retread. Because it is." -Benjamin

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

6.5

Before Watchmen: Dr. Manhattan #1

Written by J. Michael Straczynski | Art by Adam Hughes

"Of the various Watchmen protagonists, Doctor Manhattan might just be the most difficult nut to crack as far as writing a spinoff series goes. For one thing, the character exists on a fundamentally different plane, not perceiving time the same way as a normal human and thus isn't well suited to the traditional flashback approach. For another, Watchmen #4 casts a looming shadow. That was the chapter which featured Jon on Mars, reflecting back on his life's journey in a very fractured but wholly engrossing narrative. Can even a writer of J. Michael Straczynski's caliber compete with that?" -Jesse

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

8.0

The Flash #12

Written by Francis Manapul & Brian Buccellato | Art by Francis Manapul

"A year’s worth of Flash villains have all come together to make Hell for the Scarlet Speedster, but the lines in the battlefield aren’t as clearly drawn as you’d think. There are three different sides. Maybe four. It’s hard to tell because this issue’s plot moves at breakneck speed to set up a dire situation for The Flash Annual #1 and thus sacrifices any compelling motive behind the six villains’ actions. That said, the art looks spectacular from beginning to end. This issue reminds me of a bag of popcorn: it tastes great but it's all empty calories." -Joshua

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

6.5

Green Lantern: The New Guardians #12

Written by Tony Bedard | Art by Tyler Kirkham

"As a Green Lantern fan, this title has held a special place in my heart, but it’s hard to ignore the lack of grace in its storytelling. For a year’s worth of issues, the characters have talked and fought their way through each story development without reaching that next level of depth and intrigue that we often seek out in today’s comics. The story bends at the whim of which spectacle it wants to show off next, and while it attempts to find a heart in Kyle Rayner, it never gives the reader a compelling reason to truly invest emotions in him." -Joshua

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

6.0

I, Vampire #12

Written by Joshua Hale Fialkov | Art by Andrea Sorrentino

"Joshua Hale Fialkov has somehow topped the jaw-dropping events of I, Vampire #6 to once again devastate the status quo with a surprise conclusion. Yet no matter how outrageous his plot twists, he seems incapable of doing wrong. If you’re not reading I, Vampire, then make this the next comic you sink your teeth into." -Joshua

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

9.5

Justice League Dark #12

Written by Jeff Lemire | Art by Mikel Janin

"Not too long ago, DC had a very strict rule about letting characters from the Vertigo universe interact with the regular DCU. But now that there is no distinction between the two universes, certain books are taking advantage of the new freedom to mingle. Case in point -- Justice League Dark is quickly turning into fanboy heaven for anyone who adores DC's various horror and magically tinged properties." -Jesse

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

8.5

Scalped #60

Written by Jason Aaron | Art by R.M. Guera

"It’s hard to believe, but we’ve reached the end of one of the most engaging works to come out of Vertigo in the last decade: Scalped. It’s been a long, hard road paved with blood (lots of blood) and a fair share of misery to boot. If, for some misguided reason, you were expecting a happy ending, well, you’ve got another thing coming. To his credit though, Jason Aaron manages to subvert expectations and concludes this series in a fitting, if not entirely definitive, manner." -Joey

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

8.5

Teen Titans #12

Written by Scott Lobdell | Art by Brett Booth

"Did we skip an issue? Did something happen in another comic? How did we end up in a cabin in the woods? It seemed, for two issues, as though Teen Titans was getting better. Maybe not great, but better than it had been. Now, it's the same old crap. This comic, for lack of a better word, sucks. It's horribly paced, over written, and so convoluted that it's nearly impossible to care about any of these characters." -Benjamin

Click to read the entire review!

Final Score:

3.0

Source : ign[dot]com

Pokémon Black 2 and White 2: Something Old, Something New

We're about two months away from the October 7 launch of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2, the first numbered sequels in Pokémon history. While I’ve been messing around with the Japanese version of Black 2 since late June, I recently had the opportunity to see the North American version in action. From what I’ve seen, PokéFans should be excited.

Here’s what I found out… but beware, minor spoilers follow. If you want to go into the game knowing absolutely nothing about what’s new or what to expect, your ride ends here - and you’d do well to avoid the Internet for the next two months.

Picking Up Where Black/White Left Off

As we already knew, Black 2 and White 2 takes place two years after the events in Black and White. You begin your journey in Aspertia City, on the opposite side of the Unova region - and quite a bit has changed. The part I went hands-on with at the demo was from the beginning of the game, right after running into a couple of familiar faces from Black and White - Bianca and Cheren. Bianca, who gives you your starting monster, is now Professor Juniper’s assistant, and Cheren is the first gym leader you must conquer.

Leave that low level Purrloin alone, you big jerks!

Without giving away anything past the game’s outset, it looks like Team Plasma is back to its old tricks, but this time without N’s leadership to guide them. Reassembled as a band of pirates rather than knights, their ultimate goal is to fulfill a Unova prophecy by finding Kyurem and joining it with Reshiram and Zekrom. As you’d expect from direct sequels, Black 2 and White 2 feel very much like a continuation of the same thought process as Black and White, but with a brand new adventure to battle your way through and some well-done adjustments and additions (which I’ll get to in a bit).

A Link to the Past

Like all Pokémon games, Black 2 and White 2 are designed with accessibility in mind, so even people who’ve never thrown a Poké Ball in their life can jump right in. Even so, BW2 include some incredible nods to the past, most notably the Pokémon World Tournament. Here, trainers will have the chance to go up against every single gym leader, Elite 4 member and Pokémon Champion from all the core games. From Brock and Misty to Cynthia and beyond, they’re all here and ready to put your monsters to the test once more. While I didn’t get the chance to try the tournament for myself, as someone who’s played all of the games since the beginning, I’m terribly excited to finally have a quick, easy way to battle all my favorite gym leaders and so on from games past.

What happened to N?! Only one way to find out...

It was also revealed during my demo that those who played through the  original Black and White will be amply rewarded via Memory Link. This new system allows you to transfer over your save data from the original games for the purpose of unlocking special vignettes that tell the story of what happened between these two sets of games. Want to know what befell N and other juicy character details? If you played Black or White, the answers await you in this new adventure. The further you made it in the game (for instance, whether you just completed a few gyms, beat the Elite 4, or went the whole nine yards and tracked down all Seven Sages), the more vignettes you’ll unlock - a great incentive to finish Black or White before the October release date.

If You Can’t Beat ‘Em, Join ‘Em

A few other new additions that were on display include an area called Join Avenue. The person who runs the place is apparently in over his head, and has asked you to take over as manager and help bring the building to life by populating it with merchants and customers. You do this by inviting people you’ve battled against, traded with or met via Tag Mode to join in on your little social experiment. The more people you meet the livelier the place will become, and the more you’ll be able to upgrade the variety of shops that pop up, which sell all manner of cool items you can’t get anywhere else in the game.

That better be one tasty dinner for that price.

The game has also added a new feature to the Pokédex called Habitat mode. This addition allows you to see which Pokémon you can catch in each section of the map, designating which ones you’ve caught and giving you a stamp for nabbing all the monsters in a given area. This should prove a useful tool for those on the prowl to catch all 649 monsters - as well as those who are just to eager to finally catch an Eevee in the wild for the first time. In-game achievements in the form of medals will also be rewarded to Poké Masters who reach certain goals, from catching a certain number of monsters to saving often to beating the Elite Four.

While I only went hands-on with a very early segment of this new adventure, which I'd actually already played through on the Japanese version, what I was shown from later in the game has me pretty jazzed to get my hands on the English version. If it is indeed an improvement over the exceptionally well-made Black and White, it's safe to say we can expect great things from this Poké sequel.

Audrey Drake is an Associate Editor at IGN and a proud member of the IGN Nintendo team. She is also a lifelong gamer, a frequent banisher of evil and a wielder of various legendary blades. You can follow her wild adventures on her IGN blog and Twitter. Game on!

Source : ign[dot]com

GTA3 Not Coming to PSN Today, After All

Grand Theft Auto III – one of the most important and influential games ever released in the gaming industry’s history – was originally slated to come to the North American PlayStation Network today after receiving ESRB certification earlier this year. However, the plug has been pulled on the release of the game, at least temporarily.

At the top of the PlayStation Blog’s post regarding the PlayStation Store’s weekly update, it says this:

“Note: Due to an unforeseen complication, the Grand Theft Auto III PS2 Classic is not publishing with today’s Store post. We will update you when a new release date has been identified. We apologize for the inconvenience.”

Why the game has been pulled at the last minute remains to be seen. We’ll update when we learn more.

Colin Moriarty is an IGN PlayStation editor. You can follow him on Twitter and IGN and learn just how sad the life of a New York Islanders and New York Jets fan can be.

Source : ign[dot]com

Opinion: How Punk Rock's Past Inspires the Future of Indie Games

As the controversy between Fez creator Phil Fish and Microsoft began to unfold, I couldn’t help myself but think of a certain moment in rock music history. In 1976 England, the early punk rock band Sex Pistols signed with EMI records after a rise to stardom by way of audaciousness and controversy. In just a four short months, for reasons including a profanity-laden interview on national television and protests from the conservative right, the band was dropped from the label. And yet, they continued inspiring and intimidating an entire generation of music fans.

Why the quick music history lesson? Well, the similarities between where rock music was in 1976 and where games are today cannot be denied, and by studying those links, we can get a good idea of the future of indie games.

In the mid-70s, the biggest acts in the world tended towards the theatrical and over-produced. This was the era of KISS, Queen, and The Eagles. Today, their gaming equivalents are Call of Duty, Gears of War, and Halo. All are great in their own rights, but they’re undeniably big-budget and corporate.

The Sex Pistols’ rejection of their major label masters was a defining moment in music, proving that the artist could thrive without corporate help. Even if done unintentionally, their actions not only made the world aware of punk rock, they also became anti-corporate figures.

Fez creator Phil Fish is cut from much of the same cloth. He willingly signed a contract with a corporate entity to put out his work (Microsoft, for those not following), and railed against that company when he believed them to be treating him unfairly. If the history of music has anything to say about the maturation of the medium, he’ll be remembered as a jerk who somehow managed to become an anti-corporate symbol.

Sure, there have been important indie developers before Fish. Just as the Sex Pistols were predated by Patti Smith, Television, and Iggy Pop, Fish was beaten to the intellectual indie punch by folks like Jonathan Blow (Braid), Edmund McMillen (Super Meat Boy), and Markus “Notch” Persson (Minecraft). But, just as the proto-punk bands never reached national attention, none of these indie devs clashed so publically with a huge company like Microsoft.

So where do we go from here? If the second wave of punk rock during the early ‘80s is any indication, it’ll be in a more do-it-yourself direction. When the Clash, the Ramones, and their contemporaries began to fade into history, bands like Minor Threat, Black Flag, and the Dead Kennedys took the underground, independent mindset that those bands laid out and took them to the extreme. They pressed their own records, created their own labels, and booked their own tours. They weren’t dependent on major labels to get their music out there, and as such weren’t beholden to appease any corporate ideologies.

And now, independent games are poised to do the same thing. Hell, they’re in an even better position. With the advent of the Internet, it’s much easier to get your work to the general public, and because gaming is a digital art form, the costs of putting something out there aren’t too crazy. Taking things underground allows for more creativity, more edge, and more advancement.

But there’s a problem. Punk rock during the early 80s thrived because of communities in various cities. When a band like the relatively obscure 7 Seconds went on tour, they would be supported by folks who knew what the music was about, and were willing to help. There was a community there.

Gaming doesn’t really have an equivalent. Game jams almost serve this purpose, but they’re more for creators than fans. For a real community to form, we’re going to have to figure out a way to break down the barriers between the audience and the creators. In punk rock, that took the form of the hardcore singer handing the mic to the audience, essentially saying that they’re just as important as the people on stage.

With the advent of tools that allow the common folk to create games with little to no prior knowledge, gaming is again following the DIY music model. Our three-chord punk rock song is the game made with GameMaker, RPG Maker, or Unity. The tools to make games are becoming more and more readily available, and with them come the future of indie games.

Expect gaming’s Dischord Records to appear. Expect our Fugazi. Expect ideologues to come along, making art that would never succeed under the umbrella of traditional game distribution. Really, in people like Jason Rohrer or Anna Anthropy, they’re already here. Just expect them in greater numbers. The barriers between the artist and the audience are beginning to break down, and we’re lucky enough to see it happen.

Taylor Cocke is a Bay Area-based freelance games writer who talks way too much about music, coffee, and Kids in the Hall.Follow him on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com

Battlefield 3: Armored Kill Details

EA has revealed new information about Battlefield 3’s upcoming Armored Kill expansion. Armored Kill will include four new maps, including Bandar Desert, the biggest map in Battlefield history. Also included will be new vehicles (including tanks, ATVs and mobile artillery), five new vehicle unlocks for the base game, 20+ new unlocks for the new vehicles and a new game mode called Tank Superiority, which the Battlefield Blog explains as involving tank pilots and infantry using "all their skills to control key points of the maps.”

Armored Kill will keep the player cap at 24 players, and the new maps will all be playable in all six of Battlefield 3’s game modes. Armored Kill is set to arrive in September and, like all Battlefield 3 content, will come to PlayStation 3 one week early.

Armored Kill is the third of five Battlefield 3 downloadable content packs, following December 2011’s Back to Karkand and last month’s Close Quarters. As DICE detailed yesterday, Aftermath will follow (and is currently scheduled for December) and Battlefield 3’s content will conclude with End Game in March 2013.

All five Battlefield 3 packs can be purchased separately, or bought all together for a one-time purchase of $49.99 via Battlefield Premium, which offers unique in-game weapons, priority servers, double XP weekends and new dog tags in addition to early access to all downloadable content at no additional cost. Back in June, EA said that more than 800,000 signed up for Premium in the service’s first two weeks.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following him on Twitter or IGN.

Source : ign[dot]com

Microsoft Posts Loss on Quarter 4 Earnings Report

Microsoft's Q4 earnings are out, and despite increased revenue from last quarter, Microsoft has posted their first ever loss in the company's 26-year history - $492M to be precise - the company earned just $192M in operating income before taxes this quarter.

Some analysts saw this coming, due to Microsoft's writedown of digital advertising firm aQuantive. What's a writedown you ask? In 2007, Microsoft acquired the aQuantive, but declared the purchase a failure. The result was a written loss of assets in Microsoft's books.

Microsoft remains optimistic, though. “We delivered record fourth quarter and annual revenue, and we’re fast approaching the most exciting launch season in Microsoft history,” said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of Microsoft, in Microsoft's most recent press release regarding the report.

“Over the coming year, we’ll release the next versions of Windows, Office, Windows Server, Windows Phone, and many other products and services that will drive our business forward and provide unprecedented opportunity to our customers and partners.”

Could a new Xbox be a part of that "other products and services?" It's likely - Microsoft's entertainment and devices division alone saw a 20% increase in revenue this quarter, at $364 million. But that's still far from last year's $1.26 billion in profit. Of course, at the tail end of a console cycle, it's far from surprising.

With Windows 8 on the way, PC purchasing and revenue should pick up again in the fall.

Source : ign[dot]com

Runescape Reaches 200 MILLION Registered Users

Runescape has become the first game in history to have over 200 million registered player accounts. That's a LOT of accounts.

A counter has been running on the game's homepage which, when the milestone was reached earlier today, marked the start of 3 days of in-game celebrations.

Speaking about the feat, Jagex CEO Mark Gerhard commented, "When the game was first released, nobody could ever have expected it would reach such high levels of popularity largely by community word of mouth. It has been an incredible journey to get to where we are today, and by continuing our tradition of constantly innovating, evolving   and lovingly crafting RuneScape we are certain to continue to break records by creating an online adventure like no other."

Since its launch in 2001, the free-to-play MMO has enticed 200 million adventurers from more than 150 countries around the world. If RuneScape were a country it would be the 5th largest population in the world, and the game’s players have clocked up in excess of 443 billion minutes of game time so far.

To celebrate this undeniably impressive achievement, Jagex has created an infographic with some mental statistics that you can check out below.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant.  You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : ign[dot]com