Joystiq, today, said that they have received info from “tipsters” telling them Realtime Worlds will be sending out another wave of invitations to the beta for their persistent online title APB.

Realtime Worlds, makers of a little title called Crackdown, calls the new game “the next evolution of action games into the persistent online space.” If your interested in being part of the beta and you’re not yet registered, you might want to head to the APB website to get signed up.

If you do get into the beta, or are already in, be sure to let us know what you think!

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Greetings Axeheads and welcome to that little slice of heaven we call the weekend! With this week’s blitzkrieg of news coming out of GDC we’ve seen a veritable ass-cake worth of new screens and videos to get us sold on a new slew of games. Impressive as some of them are, it all smells a bit dog to me.

You see, advertising isn’t about a clever product that solves a problem, or getting a laugh out of someone before you show them your URL (those all these can be effective tools). Advertising is about linking a product to a person’s identity or even creating that identity. To really sell someone something you don’t appeal to what they like, but rather who they are.

At this point you’re asking yourself, “Brent, what the shit are you talking about?” I’m talking about Valve. I’m talking about one of the most clever viral marketing ops in recent memory. And it all started with an innocuous update to Portal.
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Greetings Axeheads! We come, once again, to the end of a week full of insightful discussion and superb punditry. We’re going to close out the conversation on game delays with a Battle Cry that puts some pragmatic perspective on the high-profile delays of 2009. Were the rash of delays from late last year a good thing? Could we have afforded all those games anyway? Is the game industry harming themselves irrevocably by leaning on the delay crutch too often, rather than simply being smarter with their scheduling? AxedWheelie makes the case…
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Ubisoft’s Maxime Béland appeared on-camera recently to answer some fan questions. In the video, Béland confirmed that there will be a demo available for Splinter Cell: Conviction. What map will be featured in the demo? Well its a secret. When should we expect it? Secret.

If only they’d employed this same strategy when dealing with the actual game’s release date. Its difficult to even prove there’s been a delay when the release date is such a closely guarded secret.

Souce

As you might have imagined, there is a plethora of game videos coming from GDC right now. So we thought we’d put together a small collection of links so you can browse some of the ones we’ve seen so far. We also found a video on 1UP.com that is not from GDC – but it is still worth a look! It is called Lust Cause 2.  Cast your gaze below for the rest of the list.

The GDC List:

Joe Danger

Bit.Trip Runner

EyePet

Motion Fighter

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker

Blade Kitten

Sports Champion

SOCOM 4

FIFA Soccer 10

Split/Second

Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Alpha Protocol

Brink

So yesterday I had the chance to sit down with SEGA’s Matthew Hickman to check out some new gameplay from the upcoming espionage RPG Alpha Protocol by Obsidian. The walkthrough, which you can check out in full right here, showcased the game’s blend of action and RPG elements while highlighting a few specific ways that you’ll be able to grow your character’s skill set based on how you want to play.

All in all, the game is looking pretty sweet. IMO, the level of success it enjoys will be directly tied to the game’s story and the player’s ability to care about and be immersed in Alpha Protocol’s characters and world.

Anyway, check out the walkthrough and let us know how you’re feeling about Alpha Protocol as we near the game’s launch here in the states on June 1, 2010.

Bethesda has sent word that a new trailer for Splash Damage’s Brink is now ready to rock your world. The new cinematic trailer, which you can check out in HD right here, is accompanied by the launch of the game’s new website which allows you to explore the Ark, learn more about the factions, check out Brink’s gameplay features, as well as gain access to the latest news, updates, and assets from this promising looking title.

So, check out the new trailer, visit the new website, and be sure to let us know your thoughts on the game below.

Greetings! As the discussion continues this week on delays and whether they help or hurt the games we play, we bring you another stellar Member BattleCry. We’re seeing a lot of good points raised in the dialogue on this subject and many people are pointing out two situations; one where the delay helped and the other where not so much.

Coky14 checks in with not only two such examples, but also so insightful comments on how gamers perception affects their attitude about the delay as well as the psychological impact of  a firm street date being broken vs a vague release window changing. Let’s turn things over to him…
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OnLive, the cloud gaming service being developed by WebTV alum Steve Perlman, will be going public on June 17, 2010. The service will have somewhere between twelve and twenty five games at launch and will be available on the Mac and PC. Perlman has stated that the launch of the micro-console, which allows you to play games on your TV ala an Xbox or PlayStation, will be announced at a later date.

The service will debut at a price of $14.95 a month with game purchases and rentals costing an additional fee (though we don’t know if that fee will be less than or equal to a retail game).

OnLive is offering the first three months of its service for free for the first 25,000 people to sign up. Will OnLive be a game changer? I guess we will wait and see.

via Joystiq and Engadget

IGN posted on their website today that they have learned that BioWare will be releasing more DLC for their epic space-festival of awsomeness, Mass Effect 2. The upcoming DLC will feature a new character, Kasumi, a stealthy vixen of the female persuasion that you will meet at the Citadel. So buy this lovely lady a drink or just lay down your magical rap and perhaps you can get her to join your team!

The Kasumi content will add about an hour and a half of gameplay as well as some new items and you will be able to access it regardless of where you are in the story.

As a matter of note, this DLC marks the first one that BioWare will be charging for – even if you are a member of the Cerberus Network. While there is no indication as to how much BioWare intends to charge for the content, we do know that it will be available for download on April 6^thfor Xbox and PC.

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