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This homemade Dishonored whalebone rune is cool, a little creepy

This homemade Dishonored whalebone rune is cool, a little creepy
Let's say you find yourself in possession of a whale bone. What should you do with it? If you're Reddit user Ragebarf, the choice is obvious: You painstakingly create a real-world version of a whalebone rune from Dishonored.

The rune design was carved with a Dremel, and the bone itself is affixed to the wooden board with leather straps. The board has been appropriately aged, as has the name plate and, if we do say so, the whole thing is very impressive. Kind of creepy, but impressive nonetheless. Check out pictures of the rune's creation from from start to finish right here.

Star Wars Pinball Boba Fett table grapples for your attention

Image The Boba Fett table from Star Wars Pinball looks pretty cool. Don't get too attached to it though. It will probably die a sudden and ignominious death. Star Wars Pinball rolls out to various platforms starting next week. ... Continue Reading

2013 Academy Awards red carpet event streaming on Xbox Live

2013 Academy Awards red carpet event streaming on Xbox Live
Xbox Live's latest streaming event struts its stuff at 6pm ET on Sunday, February 24, when film aficionados in the US with an Xbox Live Gold subscription can tune into the Associated Press' red carpet coverage of this year's annual Academy Awards. SmartGlass users can also engage with the second-screen experience through their tablets and smartphones.

During the event, Xbox Live users can participate in the same interactive voting and tweeting stuff introduced during the Presidential Election coverage. We're not sure what kind of questions will be asked, but if the Presidential Election was any indication, it'll be a lot of bar graphs showing community support levels for Jessica Chastain's dress and questions about foreign policy in Iran.

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WRUP: PlayStation MOAR

WRUP PlayStation MOAR
Here's everything we know so far about the PlayStation 4. If you'd prefer the abridged version, here's what we learned at this week's event and what was missing.

What's everyone playing this weekend?

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Armored Core: Verdict Day decides on Xbox 360 and PS3 this fall

Armored Core: Verdict Day, the latest entry in From Software's military mech series, will be released in North America on Xbox 360 and PS3 this fall, Namco Bandai has announced. After some confusion with the source URL (it says "summer") we confirmed with Namco Bandai direct that fall is indeed the launch window.

Verdict Day puts humanity in a war over valuable natural resources, with a persistent multiplayer mode made up of territories where each faction battles for control. Factions are broken up into squads, in which up to 20 players can join up and play together – if you're playing alone or offline, AI will fill in the gaps.

Operator mode gets beefed up in Verdict Day – the tactical top-down game mode where you act as battle overseer now lets Operators see the cockpit views of individual pilots, mark targets and set rally points in real-time. Verdict Day also checks for an Armored Core 5 save file and lets you transfer your custom mech.

See Splinter Cell: Blacklist's RC plane in action

Image Ubisoft is flying the Paladin remote-controlled plane, included in the Splinter Cell: Blacklist bundle, over an airy soccer field. Care to try it in your house next? ... Continue Reading

Deus Ex: Human Revolution film 'not a rehashing' of game

Deus Ex: Human Revolution film scribe C. Robert Cargill and director Scott Derrickson claim they're taking care to present a believable cyberpunk setting in their upcoming film, based on the Eidos Montreal game.

"Yeah, the chief philosophy is we're not making a video game movie, we're making a cyberpunk movie," Deus Ex film co-writer C. Robert Cargill says in an interview with Crave Online. "We've taken a look at what's worked in video games and what hasn't, and really what we've broken down is what we think the audience really wants, [what] the audience that loves Deus Ex is going to want to see out of a Deus Ex movie. And it's not a rehashing of the game."

The duo, which think of Mortal Kombat as the best video game movie yet made, will borrow motifs from the game, rather than attempt to replicate specific events. "The thing about Deus Ex, the landscape is massive. I mean, it is a big, broad, sprawling game, and look, it's impossible to get the aesthetic of that game into a single movie," Derrickson says. "That's the nature of turning a video game into a movie, is keeping the elements that are iconic and important, [that] advance the game, but also recognizing that if that's all you do, you'll just make another bad video game movie."

According to Derrickson, there's a draft of the film already, and the process as a whole is "moving like a rocket."

Ubisoft wants better relationship with PC players

Ubisoft is working to smooth out years of open hostility against legitimate customers of its PC products. Speaking with MCV, Uplay Director Stephanie Perotti announced more third-party partners for the publisher's digital distribution network, adding, "It shows our commitment to PC, and we want to improve our relationship with the PC community."

Ubisoft's messaging on this better relationship hangs on larger retail offerings through Uplay and the removal of always-on DRM from its games.

Not mentioned are the notorious delays of the publisher's major games between console and PC launches. Although Far Cry 3 didn't experience the standard PC release lag – since it launched so late a delay would have missed the holiday window – Assassin's Creed 3 arrived a month later on PC. We've yet to see what 2013 brings in terms of major Ubisoft games and how launch timing will shape up.

Fantasy strategy-RPGs and the limits of 'RPG elements'

This is a weekly column from freelancer Rowan Kaiser, which focuses on "Western" role-playing games: their stories, their histories, their mechanics, their insanity, and their inanity.

Fantasy strategyRPGs and the limits of 'RPG elements'
In theory, fantasy strategy games should be my favorite kinds of games. I am certainly a fan of the fantasy genre generally, and role-playing games and strategy games are my favorite game genres. Fantasy strategy games combine all of those elements, so they should be a guaranteed success, right? And yet they're not my favorite games. I enjoy them, certainly, but if I were making a list of my all-time favorites, they wouldn't show up toward the top. Examining the subgenre as a whole makes me realize that combining RPGs and strategy games is part of the problem. Too many good things doesn't necessarily lead to great things.

Elemental: War Of Magic was supposed to be the ultimate fantasy strategy game. It was supposed to combine the best of RPGs with the best of strategy games with an impressive fantasy setting. Ultimately it was crushed under the weight of its own ideas and egos, went through a disastrous development cycle and launched as a broken disappointment.

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Xbox Live cloud services down

There may be a few clouds hanging over your Xbox Live experience today. Microsoft reports that users are experiencing troubles accessing cloud saves and other remotely stored information on Windows 7 and Xbox 360. We've also received reports of trouble with the Halo 4 servers.

The (crackpot) theory going around the Joystiq think tank is that Sony's testing PS4 cloud services and taking up all the bandwidth in the imaginary "cloud." Xbox Live isn't working right, because Kaz Hirai is streaming some Cool Boarders 2 to QA.

Fire Emblem: Awakening 'Lost Bloodlines' DLC brings back another old character

Fire Emblem Awakening 'Lost Bloodlines' DLC brings back another old character
This week's new Fire Emblem: Awakening DLC is "The Lost Bloodlines 1," available alone for $3 or as a $6 bundle that also grants you two more maps when they're released.

Successful completion of this map unlocks a card to summon Leif from past Fire Emblems. If you're a Fire Emblem fan, this may be exciting to you; as someone who has jumped into the series with Awakening, all I can say is that his sword has been pretty good when my other characters have found it.

Other DLC available include three "Champions of Yore" maps and a bundle, and the "Golden Pack," led by the "Golden Gaffe" pack, which promises to earn you lots of in-game cash. It's not like paying for in-game currency because thankfully there's a Fire Emblem map between your expenditure and the virtual money.

Why the PlayStation 4 reveal doesn't mean much for JRPG fans yet

This is a column by Kat Bailey dedicated to the analysis of the once beloved Japanese RPG sub-genre. Tune in every Wednesday for thoughts on white-haired villains, giant robots, Infinity+1 swords, and everything else the wonderful world of JRPGs has to offer.

As we look ahead to the next generation of games, a lot of Japanese role-playing game fans figure to be looking somewhere other than the new PlayStation for whatever the future holds for the genre.

Seven years ago, that would have been inconceivable, but times have obviously changed. It's fair to assume that Japanese developers will stick with the PlayStation 3 and Nintendo 3DS for the time being, only occasionally venturing over to the next generation.

A lot of it has to do with the fact that Japan simply doesn't digest their games in the same way they did back in 2006. Mobile platforms have come to dominate what is a centralized culture that spends a lot of its time on trains, with home consoles increasingly relegated to a nerdy niche. The Nintendo 3DS, for instance, has reached 8 million units sold in Japan, and has already surpassed the lifetime sales of the PS3 on that side of the ocean. It's only natural that developers go where the customers are going, and that isn't likely to be the new PlayStation – at least in Japan.

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Rumor: Dead Space 3 Awakened DLC rouses March 3 [Update]

The first piece of Dead Space 3 DLC, 'Awakened,' could be stirring towards a March 3 release date. We know Awakened is coming sometime next month, but a post on the official Dead Space Twitter (now deleted, but screencapped after the break) in response to this tweet clearly noted a March 3 date. However, when asked about it later, another post reverted to the March release window, and "no precise dates" as yet.

It seems there are crossed wires at whoever's in charge of the Twitter feed, and the date may well be a mistake - March 3 is a Sunday, which is a bit unusual for DLC - so take it with a pinch of salt. In any case, we've reached out to EA for comment.

Update: An EA representative has told us that the company has "not announced a specific release date in March for Dead Space 3 Awakened."

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Arkedo Studio disbands under 'good conditions'

Arkedo Studio shuts down, kind of
The game industry is a bit less colorful today, with news that Arkedo Studio, maker of extraordinarily vibrant games like Hell Yeah! and Big Bang Mini, has effectively closed its doors. "Arkedo, the company, is still here," explains creative director Aurelien Regard. "But no one's employed anymore. No more games are produced either."

Regard explains that the company self-funded two small games after Hell Yeah!, but had no other paid projects lined up. "So, it has been decided to disband the team when there still was enough money to get good conditions for everyone, rather than replace permanent positions with interns and a bad atmosphere," he said. In addition, everyone at Arkedo wanted to return to smaller projects than Hell Yeah!, and both Regard and co-founder Camille Guermonprez were working on their own side projects anyway.

The last two Arkedo games will be released "soon," and then there will be no more Arkedo games. In an unusual twist, the studio is dissolving under seemingly amicable conditions. "What is for sure is that we still see one each other and will often do in the future," Regard said about himself and Guermonprez, "all with great pleasure and for a long time."

Pre-order BioShock Infinite on Steam for TF2 hats, free games; Amazon offers $30

Of course there are BioShock Infinite TF2 preorder hats
Pre-order BioShock Infinite on Steam, and you might get free copies of BioShock and XCOM: Enemy Unknown. In a Ninostarter-type drive, rewards are unlocked as the number of pre-orders goes up.

The first tier is a free copy of BioShock for everyone; next is a set of BioShock Infinite-themed hats, because it is a game on Steam. Finally, if pre-orders reach a high enough number, free copies of XCOM will be rewarded to everyone.

Amazon offers $30 in "2K Games Credit" with pre-orders of the PC download. You could always fold up some dollar bills into a hat.

Tretton: PS4 game prices range from $.99 to $60

Tretton PS4 game prices range from $99 to $60
PlayStation 4 game prices will run the gamut from one dollar to sixty, SCEA CEO Jack Tretton has revealed. "We're going to welcome free-to-play models, games from $.99 up to those $60 games," Tretton revealed in a CNBC interview.

Tretton also responded to the fact that we didn't actually get to see the PS4 during the unveiling event earlier this week, even though Sony told us all about the innards. Tretton says it was more important for Sony to show the concepts behind the system than to make a big deal out of the hardware itself – excluding the DualShock 4, obviously.

"You're going to see some of the greatest games ever created and the consumer is going to have more ease of use, the ability to sample games before they buy them and have more breadth of games than they've ever seen before," Tretton said of the PlayStation 4 during the segment. He also clarified that while Holiday 2013 is the official launch window for the PS4, "the promise is out for Holiday 2013, so pre-Christmas."

European Ratchet & Clank: QForce buyers get 2 free games

Ratchet & Clank Full Frontal Assault coming to Vita
To make amends for the latest delay of Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault (known as QForce in PAL territories) for Vita, Sony will provide a second free game for those who purchased the PS3 version. The European PlayStation Blog notes those who purchased the PS3 version of the game, which was supposed to launch with cross-play for Vita, will also receive MotorStorm RC at no extra charge.

Europeans who purchased QForce on PS3 will receive a download voucher for MotorStorm RC by email before February concludes. The voucher is valid for 60 days.

The free game is in addition to Ratchet: Deadlocked (PAL: Ratchet: Gladiator), which will also be a free download with the purchase of QForce, but there's currently no announced release date for that game. Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault for Vita currently has a "spring" release window.

Rainbow Moon follow-up 'Rainbow Skies' coming to handhelds, consoles in 2014

Rainbow Moon followup 'Rainbow Skies' in development for handhelds, consoles in 2014
Publisher Eastasiasoft has revealed a successor to its strategy/dungeon hybrid RPG Rainbow Moon. Rainbow Skies takes place in a new world with new characters, but builds on the gameplay of the last game.

Eastasiasoft and developer SideQuest Studios promise new features, including the ability to catch monsters, new combo atacks, and "treasure hunt quests," for this follow-up, which is due on unspecified "consoles and handhelds" late next year. Check out some lush concept art in our gallery.

Huge Xbox Games on Demand sale next week

Xbox Live's Games on Demand has the value of convenience, but the games are frequently priced well above their prices at retail. That issue will temporarily be resolved from February 26 through March 4, with the "Ultimate Game Sale."

Specific prices aren't offered, but games are being marked down up to 75% for the sale, and the list includes, like, everything. All the Calls of Duties, the Halos, the Batmen, Borderlandses, Metal Gear Solid HD, Dead Island, The Orange Box, etc. Even El Shaddai. Check the list after the break for many more.

Yes, these could all be discounted 1% and one game nobody cares about discounted 75%, but XBLM will be worth a look next week just in case.

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MechWarrior Online gets biggest map ever, new matchmaking system in latest update

MechWarrior Online gets biggest map ever, new matchmaking system in latest update
Free-to-play shooter MechWarrior Online has added a new update to the game, this one containing the biggest map yet. The environment is called Alpine Peaks, and features lots of cold, open areas, separated by some very tall high ground. In addition to the new map, the update also includes five new versions of a mech called the Trebuchet, which specializes in long range combat and carries medium weight.

Finally, the newest update also adds in what Pirahna Games is calling "Phase 3" of the matchmaking system, which will allow players of the same skill to find and compete against each other in a balanced way, despite what mech they're driving. The new system also allows for cosmetic holograms in the cockpit, so you can now show off any House Faction loyalties you happen to have. Us, we're partial to Winterfell, but -- oh wait, wrong setting. At any rate, the update is now live on the servers, so go get that Mech a Warrior-in'!

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No matter what you've ever done, it doesn't matter. Success is not guaranteed.

— Bungie's Joseph Staten on earning success with Destiny after Halo.

The Joystiq Podcast

The Joystiq Podcast

Super Joystiq Podcast Special: PlayStation 4 revealed

Latest episode: Thursday, February 21st, 2013

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