Gears of War 2 limps onto the battlefield

Those expecting a megaton blowout of information about the inevitable sequel to one of Microsoft's biggest XBox 360 hits, Gears of War, might be surprised, nay disappointed to learn that, yes, while information about the game is due to hit soon, according to the cover of the upcoming issue of gaming mag GamePro, its not the splashy, hype-filled debut you might expect for such a huge title. Mentioned twice on the cover, but yielding top spot to a "10 page scoop" on Rainbow Six: Vegas 2, the cover, at least in Gears of War terms, is underwhelming. Will we see Gears of War 2 in action at the upcoming Game Developer's Conference from February 18-22? Time will tell, but for now, it looks like Microsoft dropped the ball on this one. Big time. The aforementioned GamePro cover is below.




















GamePro to unleash a fury of Rainbow Six Vegas 2 news

UPDATE: Looks like GamePro are simply attempting to drum up more sales for their magazine, with Epic's Mark Rein stating that, "It is pure nonsense. We have not announced a sequel to Gears of War to Gamepro or anyone else." Looks like any Gears of War 2 info in the issue would be pure speculation, rather than a hands-on preview. Cheers Firing Squad.

Crysis Patch 1.2 Details

Up on the official Crysis site this morning is news of the game's v1.2 patch, which will be released soon, according to the weekly update:

Alright, let’s begin with the first topic. Patch 1.2 has been in development for quite some time now and we are very satisfied with its current progress. The patch as itself is nearly finished from a content point of view.

This means no new features and major changes are getting implemented unless a critical issue appears and requires immediate fixing. At the moment the tasks that are left to be done are testing the whole patch content-wise and installer-wise to ensure all bug fixes/features are working as intended and nothing else is broken.

The test phase will last until EA’s and Crytek’s Quality Assurance departments are satisfied with the overall quality and stability of the whole patch. Since this is a very important part of the patch development we have to wait for additional feedback from both QA departments in order to set and announce a release date.

Fixes and new features included with the patch are detailed below:

1. Optimizations and Stability

• Fixed potential server exploit that could cause servers to crash.

2. General Fixes/tweaks

• Added mouse wheel scrolling support for server browser.
  
• Fixed an issue where in unarmed mode, the character's arms will suddenly reappear and disappear when picking up and dropping an object.
  
• Added new effects for vehicle shattering after being frozen.

3.Weapons

• C4 will now stick to doors correctly.
  
• Added new grenade indicator icon. (explained in detail further above)
  
• Adjusted explosion radius of grenade launcher to be more efficient vs. players.

4. Vehicles

• Added check for players riding on vehicles while not seated to prevent them being killed.
  
• Tweaked damage for players hit by vehicles at lower speeds.
  
• Adjusted wall collision damage for civilian car.

5. Singleplayer

• Improved AI machinegun handling (both stationary and mounted machineguns on vehicles).
  
• Fixed an issue with "Escort Prophet out of sphere" objective failure causing reloading issues.

6. Multiplayer

• Added team colors to kill/death messages (explained in detail further above).
  
• Fixed some game states not properly resetting after game restart.
  
• Fixed issue where VOIP doesn't work properly on non-dedicated servers.

7. New Features

• Added auto team balance. Players will now be moved from full teams to the opposing side when dead if the numbers are unbalanced. (Can be disabled/enabled via cvar)

Head over to the official site to check out the remainder of the post.

This week on Game Theory Online

The biggest news this week, straight from us to you!

• Tiberium: Command and Conquer revisits the FPS!
• Burnout Paradise review roundup
• The Force Unleashed: Brand New Interview and Gameplay footage
• Far Cry 2: New 'Dunia' Engine Technical details unveiled
• Valve releases Steamworks, a complete suite of publishing tools for Steam
• Rock Band March DLC revealed by OXM?
• Skate cruises past Tony Hawk
• Tomb Raider Underworld first look
• Rez HD released onto XBLA
• Microsoft bids for Yahoo

Microsoft and Yahoo: A perspective

Probably the biggest news this week wasn't gaming related at all, rather it was the enormous $44.6 billion offer by Microsoft to take over the ailing Yahoo. Offering a 62% price premium, the deal has been structured by the software giant to make it almost impossible to refuse by Yahoo shareholders. Make no mistake, this is a hostile takeover attempt, and burnt by the dotcom bust, it seems likely that Yahoo will have little choice but to accept.

So why would Microsoft be interested in Yahoo? On the surface it might not be clear. Both offer similar online products and services (Yahoo mail, messenger, search etc), with little of Yahoo's products standing out against Microsoft's Live suite. The answer almost certainly lies in market share, advertising revenue, and the ability for Microsoft to sustain competition with Google. Most online analysts would say that Microsoft has been falling well behind in the online race for supremacy, with Google appearing younger and more agile with its range of online products and services, and being able to generate massive advertising income as a result.

Google's flagship search and Adsense technologies have resulted in a self-regulating profit generator, with the huge traffic volumes being attractive to advertisers, which in turn generates more relevant advertisements and hence income. If Microsoft hopes to compete effectively with Google in the online space, they need to grow, pure and simple. Acquiring Yahoo, and amalgamating Yahoo's online services with Microsoft's offerings will allow them to do just that.

Only time will tell how this will all pan out. Even if Yahoo accepts the deal, antitrust issues as have plagued Microsoft in the past, particularly in Europe, may rear their ugly head and prevent the deal from going forward. Assuming it all goes ahead, Microsoft will need to approach Yahoo customers carefully to avoid losing too many to its competitors, particularly Google, as well as deciding how, and if the Yahoo brand should live on. Either way, this is clearly a more aggressive Microsoft, and perhaps a window in the future of the company in the absense of Bill Gates. Is this the last takeover of this type we'll see from Microsoft going forwards? Magic Eight-ball says no.