Hasta La Gadget!

If you’ve played military shooter ArmA 2, chances are you’ve heard of DayZ, a mod that turns the game into a multiplayer open world zombie-fest where no one is to be trusted as you struggle to survive. The mod is brilliant, if not a little rough around the edges in this early stage, and perhaps that’s why ArmA 2 developer Bohemia Interactive has decided to turn it into a full release. DayZ creator Dean “Rocket” Hall announced the game today, saying that he will become project lead with Bohemia Interactive acting as publisher.

“That’s right, this is actually happening,” Hall wrote on the DayZ blog. “This is the fairy-tale outcome for a mod that many would have said impossible four months ago.” Hall says that development on the mod will occur alongside development of the game, so those currently playing the mod can continue to enjoy it. He likens the development process of the full DayZ game to that of Minecraft, meaning that the game will be released very early in the development cycle (for a discounted price, of course) and will be getting frequent updates after that.

This has to be exciting news for those who have been playing DayZ since the start. With Bohemia Interactive backing it, Hall will be able to make the game he envisions at a much faster pace, and we’ll likely see additional features in the full game that probably wouldn’t have made it into the mod. More importantly, it’s good to see a developer that’s eager to support a team of modders who are clearly very talented.

Hall apologizes for the lack of details in his announcement today, but promises that more updates about this full DayZ game will be coming shortly. We don’t have a launch date for this planned DayZ alpha yet, but we expect that to be one of the first details Hall and Bohemia part with. Get excited folks, because if this full game is as awesome as the mod is, then we are all in for a treat (a bloody treat, but a treat nonetheless).

ArmA 2 mod DayZ getting standalone release is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you’re looking forward to Call of Duty: Black Ops II because of the single player campaign, you’re looking forward to the game for all the wrong reasons. A lot of Call of Duty players out there know that it’s all about the multiplayer, and today Activision and Treyarch gave us our first glimpse at the mode. There’s plenty of Black Ops II multiplayer action to check out in this new trailer, which is posted past the break.

The look we get at Black Ops II‘s multiplayer in this trailer isn’t too terribly long – the video comes in at just over 2 minutes long – but there’s enough footage to get a good feel for the mode. Surprisingly enough, the multiplayer found in Black Ops II does look quite a bit different from the multiplayer in other Call of Duty games, but then again, we suppose it would have to be considering that Black Ops II is set in the year 2025.

This means that there will be new, futuristic weapons to use, including a turret called the Guardian that uses heat to drive foes back, and the Dragonfire helicopter, which you can remotely control to defeat your enemies from a safe distance. We also get a glimpse at the A.G.R. mech, which packs a lot of firepower into a smaller, remote controlled package. There are also a few surprises that we’ll let you discover on your own, so give the trailer a watch below:

Call of Duty: Black Ops II is launching on Xbox 360, PC, and PS3 on November 13, 2012. Some seem to think that the Call of Duty franchise has already peaked, and that Black Ops II won’t make as much money as its predecessors, but we have a feeling that this one is going to do just fine. We’ll undoubtedly be getting more and more Black Ops II media in as we inch closer to its November release date, so keep it here at SlashGear for more information!

First Black Ops II multiplayer trailer released is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

With the release of Doom 3 BFG Edition coming up in just a couple of months, Bethesda and id Software have taken some time at this year’s QuakeCon (which kicked off yesterday) to hype the game. In a new trailer released today, we get a glimpse at some of Doom 3 BFG‘s new levels. There are eight new levels in all, and collectively they’re called “The Lost Mission,” serving as something of a second expansion for Doom 3.

As with most Doom-related media, this trailer can get pretty terrifying at times. We’re promised that Doom 3 BFG Edition will include more horror effects than the original did, so the hope is that this new edition is a bit more horrifying than the game we got in 2004. In The Lost Mission, players return to Mars as the last surviving member of Union Aerospace Corporation’s Bravo Team. Naturally, that isn’t a setup for a flowery story, and it isn’t long after arriving that we discover the minions of Hell are there in force.

It appears that this battle won’t only be fought on Mars, as the trailer gives glimpses of what looks an awful lot like Hell. With updated graphics for the current generation, Doom 3 BFG Edition is definitely a game to pay attention to. It also comes packed with copies of the original Doom and Doom II, so if you’ve never played a Doom game before (is that even possible?) Doom 3 BFG sounds like it’ll be a good place to start. Check out the new trailer below.

Doom 3 BFG Edition is coming to Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on October 16, and afterward we imagine id Software will ramp up work on Doom 4. At least, that’s the hope. We’ve known about Doom 4 since 2008, so it can’t be much too much longer until it’s finally released. Still, the team at id is taking Valve’s famous “when it’s done” approach to Doom 4‘s development, so we could be waiting for some time yet.

QuakeCon blasts terrifying Doom 3 BFG: The Lost Mission trailer is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Well, that was quick. Earlier this week Bethesda’s Pete Hines promised that more information about the missing PC and PS3 releases of Dawnguard, Skyrim‘s first DLC, would be coming soon. When he said that, we didn’t think he meant it would be releasing soon, but apparently he did. Yes, Dawnguard is available on PC right this very instant, but be ready to pony up that cash, because it comes with a price tag of $19.99.

Unfortunately, PS3 players still have a bit of a wait ahead of them, as Bethesda says that the PS3 version still isn’t up to the company’s standards. There wasn’t any kind of time frame given for its release, and Bethesda apologized to players for not being able to launch the PS3 version alongside the PC version. Have a look at the full statement below:

We are not satisfied yet with Dawnguard’s performance on the PS3. We would like for everyone to have a chance to play Dawnguard, but we aren’t going to release it for PS3 knowing that some people’s experience in Skyrim will be worse. We do everything we can to have our content available to all; from our free updates, to user mods, to paid DLC. We’re as disappointed as our fans when that isn’t the case, but we’ll continue to push for that reality.

Those players have been waiting quite some time for Dawnguard to arrive. Thanks to an exclusivity deal Microsoft struck with Bethesda, Dawnguard has been available on Xbox 360 since June 26. With most fans figuring that the exclusivity period was only 30 days, we were all surprised when July 26 showed up without the release of Dawnguard on PC and PS3 to accompany it. Outrage followed, as those eager fans took to Twitter and bombarded Pete Hines with angry tweets and endless questions about the ETA of the no-show DLC.

Now those questions have been answered, at least partially. To be completely honest, it doesn’t surprise us one bit to hear that Bethesda is having problems with the PS3 version of Dawnguard, considering the PS3 release of Skyrim was filled with some rather nasty bugs. Here’s hoping that the wait for Dawnguard isn’t too much longer for PS3 players, and that when it finally does arrive, it comes free of game-breaking issues.

Dawnguard now available on PC, PS3 players still waiting is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Minecraft update 1.3.1 has gone live, and we’re going to level with you: it sounds pretty awesome. This is easily one of the biggest Minecraft updates we’ve had since the game officially launched back in November, adding a variety of new things and fixing a number of bugs. Though there’s a lot of cool stuff to check out in this update, the biggest change by far is the merging of single player and multiplayer worlds.

Mojang described this change last month, saying that single player mode was basically becoming a “shell on top of multiplayer” so modders would only have to make one version of their mod, and Mojang would only have to fix a bug once instead of twice. That may be the biggest change, but there’s plenty more to tide over the die-hand Minecraft fan. For starters, emeralds have been added to the game, and players now have the ability to trade with NPCs.

Ender chests and “large biome” worlds have been added as well, and now players have the option of spawning a “bonus chest” when they start a new world. The bonus chest is aimed at getting you set up quickly, containing a number of items that make starting a new world a smoother experience. Temples can now be found in jungles in deserts, and Minecraft 1.3.1 also tosses writable books into the mix. Take a look at the full list of patch notes, straight from the Minecraft blog:

+ Single-player now runs a server internally
+ Publish the single-player instance to LAN
+ Automatically detect LAN worlds in multi-player screen
+ Added “cheats” option in single-player (enables commands)
+ Added “bonus chest” option to give players a quicker start in a new world
+ Added adventure mode (work in progress)
+ Added trading with villagers
+ Added emeralds, emerald blocks and emerald ore
+ Added cocoa beans to jungles
+ Added the Ender Chest
+ Added tripwires
+ Added new creative mode inventory with search functionality
+ Made it possible to gain enchantment orbs from mining ore and smelting
+ Added writeable books
+ Added “large biomes” world type
+ Added temples to jungles and deserts
+ Added chat settings
+ Added option to turn off and view snooper data
+ Added more information on the debug screen (F3)
+ New launcher with “Play Demo” button if not premium user
+ Added /seed command to see map seed
+ Added /defaultgamemode to set default game mode in a world (affects new players)
+ Added /debug command for profiling
+ Added SRV record lookup support
* Decreased max enchantment level from 50 to 30
* The /tp command can now send players to a specific coordinate
* Mobs can spawn on flat surfaces (such as up-side-down stairs)
* Updated language files
* Mobs are much less likely to glitch through blocks
* Server list can be reordered
* Nearby items in the world will auto-stack
* Stars are smaller and brighter
* Sky color in The End has been changed
* The “pick block” functionality has been improved
* Certain items that previously wasn’t stackable can now be stacked
* Hill biomes are slightly taller
* Wooden log blocks can now be placed side-ways
* Wooden half-blocks now act as wood
* Water slowly drips through leaves during rain
* Minecarts and boats will be placed by dispensers, if possible
* Gravel texture has been modified
* Levers can be placed in the roof
* Creepers’ explosions damage is now modified by difficulty
* Performance improvements
* Other bug fixes…
– Removed Herobrine

See? We told you that this update was massive. Booting up Minecraft and logging in will trigger the update prompt, and we highly suggest you say “yes” when asked if you want to update to 1.3.1. After all, it isn’t every day that a new block type is introduced in Minecraft. Have a look at our story timeline below for more on Minecraft, and happy digging!

Minecraft update 1.3.1 arrives with emeralds and NPC trading is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.