Games News

You might remember when Diablo III screenshots were first making the rounds, and the Internet had a bit of a collective freak-out over all the pretty colors. The game’s producer urged calm, but apparently the team opted to have a bit of fun at the expense of the controversy. Players are discovering a secret level called Whimsyshire, and it’s amazing.

A Blizzard forum post details how to find the secret area. If you collect a set of items from various acts, and a set of plans from Izual in Act 4, you can open the portal leading to the stage.

Finding it grants you a Feat of Strength and Banner Sigil, but the real gift is the hilarity. Check out a video below to see it in all its sparkly glory.

Original post:
Diablo 3 players find level of rainbows, unicorns

Far Cry 3 is due sometime this fall, but Ubisoft will be hosting a closed multiplayer beta in the summer to give a taste of jungle carnage. The company announced today that the two-week beta will be invitation-only, with a variety of ways to snag an invite, through a game purchase, sweepstakes, or various other giveaways.

You can score an invite by buying Ghost Recon: Future Soldier from GameStop starting May 22, if you’re a PowerUp member. That will grant you an invite that you can validate online, and pick between the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 version. Once the beta goes live this summer, the code will be e-mailed to you. You’ll also be able to enter a Facebook sweepstakes, and through spots on the official Ubisoft and Far Cry sites, along with social channels.

The beta will include 16 player matches, six playable classes, and various maps and modes. The announcement promises dozens of weapons and hundreds of upgrades and customizations — probably more than you’ll have a chance to get through in a fortnight.

Originally posted here:
Far Cry 3 closed beta begins this summer

The PlayStation Vita is getting another game to take advantage of its AR functionality this month, with Table Top Tanks from developer Devil’s Details. On May 22, you’ll be able to build your own maps and incorporate real objects, presumably on top of a table of some sort, and navigate your nimble little tanks across the arena.

The PlayStation Blog provides a closer look at the game. The tanks themselves come with some color customization and different shell types to be equipped. The game includes a campaign to teach the basics, but the meat of it comes from making your own maps.

You’ll pick a map size, place virtual shapes in place of real world objects, and give them properties like being filled with smoke, fire, or water. This will impact the behavior if they’re blown up. Then you pick from capture the flag, last man standing mode, or two vs two. You can play against AI tanks or up to three friends using ad hoc mode.

Devil’s Details already has a DLC pack in the works, to add toy tanks and a themed fighter yet.

jwplayer(“jw-u46ruQlPUH4″).setup({flashplayer:”http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/themes/twenty11/plugins/jwplayer/player.swf”,skin:”http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/themes/twenty11/plugins/jwplayer/glow.zip”,width:640,height:387,”controlbar.position”:”bottom”,dock:”true”,stretching:”fill”,provider:”youtube”,file:”http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u46ruQlPUH4″,plugins:{“hd-2″:{},”viral-2″:{“oncomplete”:”false”,”onpause”:”false”,”allowmenu”:”false”}},logo:{file:”http://blog.us.playstation.com/wp-content/themes/twenty11/plugins/jwplayer/logo.png”,position:”top-left”,hide:”false”,over:1,out:0.6,link:”http://blog.us.playstation.com”,margin:12}});

Excerpt from:
AR game Table Top Tanks to hit Vita May 22

One of the surprise hits of the DS was Brain Age, a collection of mini-games intended to test someone’s mental capabilities. Somehow, Nintendo had managed to make the idea of playing a math game exciting to gamers and non-gamers alike.

Countless clones have come since then, and although none have managed to recreate the runaway success as the original Brain Age, that hasn’t stopped publishers from trying. Smart As is Sony’s latest attempt, this time for the Vita. It’s exactly what you’d expect out of a brain training game–one designed to take advantage of the Vita’s dual touch panels and 3G connectivity.

In addition to a too-clever-for-its-own-good title, Smart As includes twenty different mini-games across four different categories: Logic, Arithmetic, Language, and Observation. You can play the daily challenge, which throws a sequence of random games from each category. You’ll be scored on your overall brain health by the end, of course.

Can you guess the right letter?

Unfortunately, the overly-sterile art style and inherently simple nature of the games invite comparison to Welcome Park, an app that’s preloaded (and free) on every Vita. One game has you tapping the front or rear panel based on on-screen prompts, which makes it feel like a system tutorial more than a game meant to expand your mental capabilities.

Smart As would probably work best as a free-to-play game, like Treasures of Montezuma Blitz. However, Sony is positioning the title as a full retail game–not just a PSN download. Given the simplicity of the experience, this is definitely not a title that will help Vita fly off store shelves.

Watch the Shacknews E3 2012 page to follow all our coverage of this year’s show. This preview is based on a hands-on demo shown at a pre-E3 event.

Excerpted from:
Smart As preview

The Dust 514 closed beta has been going on for quite a while, favoring players of its parent game EVE Online. Now the game is letting mere civilians register for the beta too. It’s still closed since players are being let in on a limited basis, but it’s less closed.

You can sign up for the beta at the registration page. This week more EVE players will join along with ones from EVE Fanfest, but CCP promises that waves will continue to roll out in waves throughout the summer. More details are forthcoming at E3 in just a few weeks.

Dust is an ambitious idea, tying a PS3 shooter into the persistent world of the PC game EVE. It will be free-to-play and support mouse and keyboard controls for those making the jump from PC. Check out our preview for more details.

Read the original:
Dust 514 beta registrations open