All you 360gamercast regulars (which should be all of you…) might recall an article I wrote talking about the up and coming content for Dragon Age: Origins.

BioWare (Electronic Arts) have recently announced that the hit RPG, Dragon Age: Origins, content entitled ‘Return to Ostagar’ will be available for download this January.

All you bold adventurers will have the opportunity to side with the legendary King Cailan to uncover the mystery of Ferelden’s fallen king at the home of the Grey Wardens final resting place (at least for most of them).

“We are thrilled at the way the fans have embraced Dragon Age: Origins and we’re excited to welcome them back into the game…Return to Ostagar represents BioWare’s commitment to providing a steady stream of compelling post release content as we continue to expand the Dragon Age universe.” said the General Manager and Vice President of BioWare Edmonton, Aaryn Flynn.

The content will be released on the 5th January 2010 on the Xbox360 for North America and Europe. The DLC will be available for PS3 users at a later date (ha). Players will be able to download ‘Return to Ostagar’ for 400 Microsoft points (or BioWare points).

Bring on the dragons.

I think it may be the impending arrival of my 30th birthday that has finally pushed me over the edge. Or maybe it was the foul mouthed little bugger on Modern Warfare this afternoon. Either way I’ve had enough. It’s time all children were banned from xbox live.  In the 5 or so years that I’ve been on the service I’ve been greeted with a constant stream of young morons who, if they are to be believed, have all slept with my mother. The poor woman would have barely had time to come up for air.

If they’re not telling me about their sexual exploits with my mother then they are most likely telling me how I must be gay, or singing me the latest chart nonesense down the mic, or spamming me with messages, or using the latest glitch to kill me, or moaning at me for losing a game when they were the one at fault. You get the idea. Sometimes the only way to avoid all of this is to unplug the headset, but if I have to do that then what’s the point of xbox live?

Perhaps I’m being too harsh and advocating punishing all for the sins of the few, after all I’ve met plenty of younger gamers who are mature beyond their years. Maybe if microsoft were to put an age filter on games so that I could choose to play with only over 18′s then that could work. On the other hand it would only take one slipping through the net to ruin the experience for oldies like myself. No, banning them all is the way forward. Just like they will be shortly banning all electronic devices onboard planes to prevent the one in a billion that is a bomb, we should ban all children from xbox live to eliminate the idiots.

Of course, I know that this will never happen. Microsoft is only really interested in the almighty dollar and I don’t blame them for that. So thank goodness for party chat which reduces my exposure to the little hellions. That at least gives me a glimpse into what live would be like without the children, and that is a beautiful place indeed.

Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Conviction collectors edition was revealed yesterday to be coming to the xbox 360. This game is going to be a GAME exclusive for us UK’ers and will be priced at £69.99.

As stated on the GAME website, the pack will include:

An exclusive Sam Fisher statue,
Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction game in unique SteelBook case,
Infiltration Mode: Eliminate all hostiles in the mission area without being detected,
A special playable skin: Shadow Armor,
Early access to 3 weapons: SC300, SR2 and MP5,
The official Splinter Cell Conviction Soundtrack (more than 17 tracks).

 
“Sam Fisher can no longer rely on his trusted bag of tools and iconic goggles. He’s gone beyond being a double agent. Now he’s a fully fledged fugitive without the intel of 3rd Echelon or the support of his friends. Those custom gadgets can’t be found at your local hardware store.”

 
The bundle will be released on the 26/02/2010; so start saving!

This is our last episode of the year and to celebrate we talk about our best games of the last decade, Webby and Punker have a few arguments and there is lots of news. We hope you enjoy the show and continue to listen in the coming years

In this very festive show we talk about our top 5 games of the year, 5 worst games of the year and the 5 best arcade games. A small bit of news, Punker gets upset by a certain Itunes review and we sing you a xmas carol.

From everyone here at 360Gamercast we wish you all a very merry xmas and a happy new year

The second Operation Flashpoint®: Dragon Rising™ downloadable content – the ‘Overwatch’ pack – is now available . The ‘Overwatch’ DLC delivers two game-changing multiplayer modes and new Fire Team Engagement (FTE) missions.

 
Showcasing the new content and modes featuring in the DLC, a new ‘Overwatch’ gameplay video is now available from www.flashpointgame.com. Players are shown engaged in electrifying combat, deploying a range of military assets from short and long range weaponry to armour and helicopters in tense battles for superiority in the new game modes and FTEs.

 
The ‘Overwatch’ DLC extends the unique Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising experience in solo, co-operative and adversarial play. In new multiplayer mode Blindside the PLA must complete objectives in the shortest time possible while the USMC defends in tense, tactical engagements. An additional new mode, Supremacy, tasks opposing forces to occupy strategically vital positions featuring force multipliers like gun emplacements and air strikes.

 
These new multiplayer modes are complimented by two exhilarating new FTEs. In Friendly Skies, PLA anti-aircraft artillery prevents US airborne reinforcements inserting into the combat zone. Players must remove that threat and then defend the position from a PLA counter attack. In Hostile Takeover, intel reveals enemy movement in the village of Armudan, a perfect base for launching attacks deep into enemy territory. Gamers must flush out the PLA, establish a perimeter and hold their ground against a new enemy assault.

Now over the past few months there has been a lot of talk about Fable III. Some of you would have heard about it and some of you wouldn’t have. For those of you who aren’t in the know, here is a summary to all things Fable III.

Firstly, the game plans were announced and stated to most likely be released sometime in 2010.

Now moving away from the actual announcement of Fable III, Peter Molyneux talks Natal.

Way back in October Molyneux was quoted saying, “I am going to say it’s going to use a controller. But I’ve never said it’s not going to use Natal.” He later clarified, “I have not said that we’re not going to have Natal in Fable III. All I have really said is it is a controller experience. That doesn’t mean there isn’t going to be Natal. Do you really think knowing me I wouldn’t want to use something like Natal? I mean that’s just mad, man.”

Later that month Molyneux reveals some more information at the BEFTA lecture. He confirmed that the game will offer support for the Natal motion control system. He also promoted the soon to be Fable III in-game micro-transaction shop. This shop is rumoured to include armour, weapons and even new areas. Could this mean an improved online experience? It looks like it may just.

FINALLY, this week on Major Nelson’s weekly podcast, the head of Xbox360 product management, Aaron Greenberg confirmed that Fable III will be released Autumn 2010!

Now how’s that for news. Bring on Fable III!

All those who aren’t excited, maybe it’s time to re-visit your local game store and pick up a copy of Fable II, Game of the Year edition. Have fun folks.

One of the things I love most about being a gamer is the knowledge that to the uneducated masses the whole concept of video games is something foreign and strange. Yet this concept is something I can share with fellow gamers and it’s one thing that helps to bind us together as a community.

 
  Imagine how we look to those outside of our world for a second. We spend far too much time indoors, playing games in private and chatting away to voices in our ears. We understand the language of the internets which to those not in the know really must look bizarre. We get excited over the strangest of things, like revies scores, and even argue vehemently amongst ourselves over things which must seem trivial to most.

 
  I personally love this aspect of being a gamer. I like the fact that people at work don’t understand, and probably never would be able to understand my pasion for all things gaming. I find it fantastic how I can instantly get on with someone once I find out that they too are a gamer. I love how something like this has brought all of us together as a community and how I have more in common with some people who I’ve only ever met as voices in my headset that with people I’ve known at work for years.

 
  Now, if we could just work out some kind of special handshake, things would be perfect.

 Thanks to the ESRB’s publication of it’s rating for Mass Effect 2 we’ve gained a few eye openers as to whats to come when the game ships next year.

‘In this action role-playing game, players’ objective is to defeat an alien enemy that is silently abducting entire human colonies. Players must assemble a team of henchmen, command a space ship, and travel to distant planets across a futuristic galaxy.

 

 

At its core, the game involves a combination of conversation/interaction with characters, and ground-based (i.e., “run-and-gun”) space battle: Players use assault rifles, submachine guns, shotguns, and pistols to kill humans, robots, and aliens in the frenetic third-person firefights. Some enemies emit large splashes of blood when shot (particularly with “head shots”); several enemies lie stagnant in pools of blood—factors for the Mature rating. Henchmen are able to freeze and shatter enemies, engage in melee attacks, set robots on fire, and use telekinesis to disable aliens.A handful of cutscenes depict dramatic interrogations in which human characters are threatened, punched, kicked, and shot (in the leg) by alien creatures.

 

 

The game contains themes of illicit drug use, addiction, and trafficking—often focal points to the branching storylines; for example, “Morinth likes dancing while on a drug called Hallex,”"Narcotics flooded my veins when I attacked,” and “The asari injecting so many drugs into me was terrifying.”

 

 

During the course of the game, players may enter a bar where alien pole dancing exists (choreography highlighted on big-screen monitors) or hear suggestive comments such as “krogan sexual deviants enjoy salarian flexibility” and “if this is just about sex, maybe you should just f**king say so.” [Italics added] Players can also choose to have “romantic encounters” with the alien/human henchmen characters; this involves watching a guided cutscene in which two characters flirt, kiss, and/or embrace: clothed alien/human characters may prop a partner on top of a space console, clear away the clutter from a bed-slab, unzip a future-blouse, or just talk it out. Though an alien/human may gyrate her hips while on top (fleeting—one-to-two seconds), actual sex is never depicted—the camera cuts away to space furniture and ceilings.’

 

 

  I, for one, am very much looking forward to some alien pole dancing and illicit drug use!

Apparently the first batch of Left 4 Dead 2 DLC is going to feature the survivors from the original game. The players will meet up with them during the new campaign level called ‘The Passing’.

I’m quite looking forward to this as I’ve been intrigued by the rumours that the first survivors are in fact carriers of the virus.
Unfortunately we’ll all have to wait until Spring 2010 to find out if that’s true.