Hasta La Gadget!

For many, The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion served as an introduction to DLC. Bethesda had its misses (horse armor anyone?) but it also some hits, one of which being the beyond excellent Shivering Isles expansion. Shivering Isles wowed Oblivion players when it released back in 2007, and ever since Skyrim was released, players have been asking for an expansion that’s on the same scale. So, is Skyrim‘s freshly-announced Dragonborn DLC the expansion everyone has been waiting for? There’s still a lot we don’t know, but what we do know suggests that it is.

Take, for instance, the fact that Dragonborn takes place on the island of Solstheim. The island, which lies off the northern coast of Tamriel, was already the setting of an Elder Scrolls expansion in the past: Morrowind‘s Bloodmoon. Right off the bat, we have our first evidence that Dragonborn will be a beefy expansion rather than a simple piece of new DLC – if Solstheim was big enough to take center stage is a previous expansion, it’s more than big enough to be the setting of a true-to-form Skyrim expansion.

Next we come to dragon mounts. It’s important to keep in mind that Bethesda hasn’t confirmed dragon mounts for Dragonborn, but the trailer for the DLC sure seems to suggest that players will get the chance to ride and control a dragon. If players can do so, that’s a huge feature – one that seems well-suited for an expansion but not a one-off piece of DLC like Hearthfire. That players can do something so epic is another thing that leads us to believe Dragonborn is the expansion we’ve all been waiting for.

In the trailer, we also get to see new enemy types, new weapons, and new armor. Naturally, that’s a no-brainer given the fact that Dragonborn takes place in an all-new setting, but the fact that we’re getting new enemies, weapons, and armor suggests that there’s plenty of content for players to devour. We also have the price to consider – 1600 MSP or $20. That certainly isn’t chump change, and even though Bethesda charged the same amount for Dawnguard, we’re thinking that the studio wouldn’t have an easy time getting away with charging much more. Therefore, $20 is about as much as Bethesda can charge for DLC, and it’s given Dragonborn such a price tag.

Finally, we’ve got the introduction of a new villain. If this were some paltry DLC offering, we wouldn’t be going toe-to-toe with the very first Dragonborn. We’ll have to wait until more details are released before making the final call, of course, but at the moment, Dragonborn is looking like the big Skyrim expansion we’ve all been hoping for.

Is Dragonborn the Shivering Isles DLC Skyrim fans crave? is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

A lot of people are excited for Grand Theft Auto V, there’s no doubt about that, but it seems that a couple of retailers might be a little too excited. Retailers aren’t supposed to open up Grand Theft Auto V pre-orders until November 5, but today images of pre-order bonuses are popping up all over the Internet. One of these pre-order bonuses, a little photo viewer, actually gives away some of the new locations in the game, so in a roundabout sort of way, we’re actually learning more about the game itself through these leaks.

The photo viewer is small enough to fit on a keychain, and is branded with a “FlyUS” logo – likely one of the businesses found in Grand Theft Auto V. The viewfinder’s five slides show a handful of different locations, including Zancudo River, Del Perro Pier, Grapeseed, Vespucci Canals, and finally, Vinewood Hills. We have to say, this is one of handiest pre-order bonuses we’ve ever come across.

GTAGaming originally posted the first slides and the image of the viewfinder, while over at Joystiq, a poster for Grand Theft Auto V is being shown off. Those who pre-order the game starting on November 5 will get both a poster and the viewfinder, though it’s difficult to tell if the poster over at Joystiq is an actual pre-order bonus or if it’s promotional material. In any case, it’s certainly doing its part in getting us excited for Grand Theft Auto V.

Earlier this week, Rockstar confirmed that Grand Theft Auto V will be arriving in spring 2013. The studio didn’t give a specific release date, and we’re thinking that it will keep the exact launch date a secret until we’re into 2013. Keep it tuned here to SlashGear, and we’ll let you know if any new details leak out!

[via Official PlayStation Magazine]

Grand Theft Auto V pre-order goodies leak is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

Well this certainly is interesting: earlier today, Amazon Germany outed a Skyrim Premium Edition. The listing stated that Skyrim Premium Edition will come with a number of bonuses, but strangely, it won’t include any of the DLC that has been released for Xbox 360 and PC. Bethesda then confirmed Skyrim Premium Edition to Eurogamer, revealing that the game will be launching in Europe shortly, with more details set to follow soon.

Bethesda didn’t confirm any other details, but the listing on Amazon Germany shows a number of goodies included alongside the base game. Those who pick up the Premium Edition will be getting a map of Skyrim, a T-shirt featuring the insignia of the Empire, a handful of postcards featuring Skyrim concept art, and an Elder Scrolls novel dubbed Hell City. If you’re buying on PC, you’ll be treated to a bonus disc that features all sorts of content, including trailers, walkthroughs, a copy of the soundtrack, and a 600-page eBook that we’re assuming is a strategy guide.

The listing gives Skyrim Premium Edition a launch date of December 7, and says that the game will be available for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Hearing that, it’s no wonder Bethesda has opted not to include DLC, considering that PS3 players haven’t received any yet. Bethesda’s struggles with bringing Skyrim DLC to PS3 have been well documented, and at the moment it’s unknown if PS3 players will ever get Dawnguard and Hearthfire.

As far as we can tell, this release hasn’t been confirmed for the United States yet. We’ve contacted Bethesda to see if Skyrim Premium Edition will be coming to US shores, and we’ll update this post if we hear back. Keep it here at SlashGear for more details!

Skyrim Premium Edition confirmed by Bethesda is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

If you follow Assassin’s Creed news, you probably know that it might not be long before we say goodbye to Desmond, one of the main characters in the story, for good. In a new interview with OXM, lead designer Steve Masters seems to suggest that Assassin’s Creed III may be the last game to feature Desmond. At the very least, it sounds like Assassin’s Creed III will be the beginning of the end for our lovable modern-day assassin.

“What we’re trying to do is bring some finality to Desmond’s story,” Masters said. “To actually wrap up what you’ve opened and experienced with him. So we’re trying to make it a little bit more direct with the storyline, but at the same time there are still going to be plenty of little mysterious bits for you to dig into, especially in the side stuff.” It sounds like Masters is trying to say that even though Desmond’s story will begin to wrap-up in Assassin’s Creed III, he’s hesitant to make the claim that the game will be the final chapter in the long-running narrative.

Masters and the rest of Ubisoft are aware, however, that some fans find the cliff hangers in the Assassin’s Creed series annoying, and in Assassin’s Creed III, the studio is looking to change that. Even if this game doesn’t conclude Desmond’s story, it will make some serious strides as far as actually telling the story goes. According to Masters, Assassin’s Creed III will offer a story that players can “sink their teeth in to,” rather than telling a story that leaves players guessing.

Whatever ends up happening in Assassin’s Creed III, it sounds like we can at least expect some major progress in wrapping up Desmond’s story. Ubisoft may need another game to fully close the story of Desmond, but one thing is sure: Desmond won’t be a mainstay in the Assassin’s Creed series for much longer. What do you think?

Assassin’s Creed III to “bring some finality to Desmond’s story” is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.

We’ve known for a while now that Star Wars: The Old Republic will be going free-to-play, but at first, neither BioWare nor Electronics Arts wanted to get into details when it came to restrictions for free players. Today, we might be finding out why the companies kept these details a secret for so long. BioWare has listed the free-to-play limitations on the SWTOR official site, and as it turns out, players who don’t want to pay anything to play are going to have a lot of restrictions to deal with.

In fact, the only thing that free players will have full access to is story content, meaning that they’ll be able to level their character from 1-50 and experience class stories in their entirety. Aside from that, though, you’re going to have use Cartel Coins or subscribe in order to get the full Star Wars: The Old Republic experience. For instance, free players will only be able to participate in three Warzones, Flashpoints, and Space Missions each per week, and they’ll be locked out of Operations entirely. In order to do more than what’s allowed, players will need to purchase weekly passes.

Character creation will also be limited for free players, as will the number of inventory slots. Free players won’t have access to the cargo hold until they shell out the Cartel Coins needed to unlock it, and even then, the space in the cargo hold with be limited until players pay more Cartel Coins to expand it. Fast travel cooldown will be longer for free players, and they’ll only have one available Crew Skill slot, with the option to buy more slots with Cartel Coins.

While all of that is sure to make players at least mildly upset, BioWare has put in place one restriction that might make their anger boil over: free players won’t be able to equip most purple items. Sadly, if you want to equip some of the best items in the game, it looks like you’ll have to pony up for a subscription or purchase a license from the Cartel Shop. Whereas once we thought that going free-to-play would be a great idea for Star Wars: The Old Republic, after seeing all of these restrictions BioWare and Electronic Arts are placing on free players, we’re not so sure that’s the case anymore. What do you think?

Star Wars: The Old Republic free-to-play limitations detailed is written by Eric Abent & originally posted on SlashGear.
© 2005 – 2012, SlashGear. All right reserved.