Hasta La Gadget!

Microsoft is giving UK gamers another chance to take advantage of some free Xbox Live Gold this weekend. The company just recently offered the same deal to those in the US and other regions in the world, except for the UK and Europe. They had a free weekend last month, and are now getting the opportunity to go at it once again.

If you have an Xbox 360, but have never taken advantage of Xbox Live Gold, this would be a great time to check it out for yourself and see what all the fuss is about. You’ll save yourself $60/year for the membership, but if you decide after this weekend that you want to hop in full time, you can actually pick up Gold memberships for as low as $35 in some cases.

Xbox Live Gold allows you to play against your friends, as well as access different services like Netflix, Spotify, MLB.TV, and a handful of other apps in the dashboard. Granted, you’ll still have to pay for each service individually, but it’s a small price to pay if you want to use your gaming console as a home theater solution as well.

The free weekend promotion starts at noon UK time on Friday, May 3, and ends at midnight on that Sunday night/Monday morning. Typically, Microsoft has ended their free weekends well into the day on Monday, so having the free weekend end at Midnight on Sunday night seems a little odd. Nonetheless, that should give you plenty of time to clear your calendar and get to gaming.

[via Joystiq]

Microsoft offering free Xbox Live Gold this weekend in the UK is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, which will be released sometime in 2014 for next-gen consoles and the PC, will forgo both multiplayer capabilities as well as quick-time events. Konrad Tomaszkiewicz and CD Projekt RED (the developer of The Witcher 3) spoke with Forbes about The Witcher 3 and they stated that the game had no place for multiplayer. He also stated that quick-time events were being left out because all they resulted in was frustration for players.

There were some talks previously that multiplayer was being considered for the game, however, Tomaszkiewicz stated that instead, the final saga of Geralt will be focus on an “epic, story driven, single player, open world RPG experience.” He assures players will get at least 50 hours of gaming from the main storyline as well as 50 hours of gaming from doing side quests or exploring the new open world.

Tomaszkiewicz said the team decided to remove quick-time events altogether from the game due to all of the negative feedback they received from gamers. He also said that while quick-time events fit in with some games, like Uncharted, it didn’t fit too well with The Witcher. He says that the only way to implement quick-time events into games is to make it simple to the point “where you don’t even realize that you’ve just finished a QTE sequence.”

Also, to the gratefulness of gamers everywhere, The Witcher 3, as well as CD Projekt RED’s future games, will always be DRM-free. We all know the nightmare DRM can cause, and so does CD Projekt. Tomaskiewicz says that DRM “is the worst thing in the gaming industry.” Like many gamers have said, DRM limits their rights to play the games they paid for. Tomaskiewicz says, “What if you lose your connection beacuse of your internet provider? You can’t play anymore.” He says that DRM punishes users more than it stops online piracy.

CD Projekt RED will release The Witcher 3 in 2014 for the PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox 720 all at the same time, something they hadn’t done before with previous Witcher releases. It will be the final chapter in Geralt’s story, however, there may still be a chance that The Witcher universe will return and with new characters. Unfortunately, Tomaszkiewicz says that there are no promises of them adding character customization to the game.

[via Forbes]

The Witcher 3 forgoes multiplayer and quick-time events is written by Brian Sin & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Electronic Arts sent out an “organizational update” today notifying the public of another round of layoffs made by the game publisher. No specifics were mentioned, but it certainly seems that Electronic Arts is having some tough times, and a lot of re-organization is going on for the Redwood City-based company.

In the update on the company’s website, Electronic Arts notes that “in recent weeks, EA has aligned all elements of its organizational structure behind priorities in new technologies and mobile. This has led to some difficult decisions to reduce the workforce in some locations.” Again, no specifics, but we should hear come May 7 when the company announces fiscal year earnings.

According to Kotaku, it’s said that Electronic Arts has let go of as much as 10% of its workforce. The video game publisher didn’t comment on the headcount, but we’re guessing that 10% is about 1,000 employees, give or take a hundred or so. That’s certainly a lot of people, and that’s less people working on great games like The Sims and the Madden NFL series.

Electronic Arts has had a rough few months, however. The SimCity launch went exactly the opposite of what the company was expecting, and along with the SimCity fiasco mixed in with the DRM controversy, the publisher landed itself the “Worst Company in America” award for the second year in a row. Luckily, CEO John Riccitiello got out of there when he could.

Electronic Arts confirms more layoffs on the way is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Gameloft has been teasing its Iron Man 3 game for a few weeks now by releasing a couple of trailers showing off some of the new features. However, the game is now available for your disposal, and it comes just one week before the theatrical release of the movie with the same name, which is set for May 3.

The game features an endless-runner aspect, where you fly through the sky defeating various enemies while trying not to get yourself killed. You’ll take on four villains from the Iron Man comic book series, including Crimson Dynamo, Ezekiel Stane, Living Laser, and M.O.D.O.K., all of which will provide a bit of challenge in order to get to the next round.

Your character (Tony Stark) will also be responsible for running Stark Industries and you’ll be able to research and develop up to 18 Iron Man suits that you can wear and fly around in. The game also offers three different locations to keep you occupied, which include Malibu Shores, New York City, and China.

The game is free and is available now for both iOS and Android, but you’ll also be able to spend money on weapon upgrades, as well as special tricks and “HP”. These come in the form of in-app purchases, so while the game is free, you’ll ultimately have to pay money if you want to get through the game quicker.

Iron Man 3 mobile game capitalizes on pre-movie hype is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Zynga has released the sequel to one of its best games of all time, and they’re fittingly calling it Draw Something 2. The new Pictionary-style game brings more social features, new drawing tools, and a personal gallery that looks to one-up the original installment. The game is available now in iTunes, and it comes with a free version, as well as an ad-free $2.99 flavor.

Aside from the new social features and additional drawing tools, the game promises over 5,000 new words, as well as a free draw mode that you can casually play around with without the need to compete against someone — great for practicing up on your digital finger-painting skills in your spare time.

The original Draw Something game was a huge success at launch, with the developer recently announcing that the game hit 100 million downloads in its first year, and it quickly became the number one social game in the world. Draw Something was initially developed by OMGPOP, but they were eventually bought out by Zynga after the raving success.

However, Zynga has been struggling lately, and the company is continually going downhill. With the massive success that is Draw Something, it’s possible that the sequel could be the company’s saving grace, but as gameplay of Draw Something has slowly started to decline, we’re not quite sure what success Draw Something 2 will see.

Draw Something 2 aims to be Zynga’s saving grace is written by Craig Lloyd & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.