Urgent Fury Presents the POW II TacMap Tournament

POW IIUrgent Fury is notorious for enhancing the tournament experience with their Signature Scenario Based TacMap Tournaments. Over the years these events have had various twists to make the tournament event more interesting and POW II is no different.

Prisoner of War was by far one of the most popular adaptations to the TacMap experience added by creators Tow and Sniper. So with the release of Call of Duty Black Ops 2, the Directors and Staff felt we finally had the platform to bring POWs back into the mix. The last time POWs were found in a Call of Duty TacMap was Riot Act back in 2008. But before we go into the details about POW II, let’s talk about the TacMap 4.0.

All earlier TacMaps have been flash based making for tough updating and almost useless to IPads and mobile devices. So we have worked hard to find a new solution that is easier to manage as well as friendly to devices such as Tablets. So with great pleasure we are proud to announce the TacMap Version 4.0.

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Our new interactive TacMap brings new features to the player as well. Like before when you mouse over you will get the details about the Territory including the Name, Number, Map and Mode. But now when you click on a Territory it will offer specific Intel for that Territory. In the case of the example here, you will see we clicked on a Territory and it brought up the Game Map for that particular city.

intel

In the TacMap you will also see the continued use of color coding per clan and the return of the Clan Intel showing Territories owned and what clans are in a critical or eliminated status.

POW II for Black Ops 2 on PlayStation 3

So now let’s get into the nitty-gritty. POW II will be a Black Ops 2 Tournament for PlayStation 3 players. We are changing things up a bit this time around. Gone are the 13 week time limit with sudden death and a final championship. To win this event you have to eliminate all of your opponents period. Now with that in mind we are pretty sure you guys do not want a repeat of when our Clan held down Antenora for over 30 weeks dragging the end out beyond anyone’s belief. So we are introducing the new Stale Mate Provision:

The Stale Mate Provision activates once we have 4 or less clans that have not been eliminated. During the Stale Mate period, Clans have to gain at least one territory a week. If a clan fails to gain a territory, the clan will declare a territory to be returned to the battlefield.

A clan can be eliminated simply by not making any forward progress very quickly when we reach the Stale Mate Phase. You will also notice that the territories are returned to the battlefield. We will explain how the Neutral Cities work shortly, but this is also a change.

City Types

HQ Cities: All HQ cities’ maps will consist of only DEMOLITION map modes. In all DEMOLITION modes for HQ cities, defenders will play with 8 players, attackers play with 7. POWs are taken in these types of wars when the winning team sweeps their opponent, denying them a single round of victory. Two POWs are taken by the winner with the winner first choosing their POW and then the loser giving up one more of their own choosing. The winning clan may only take POWs if the winning clan owns a POW camp on the TACMAP. If they do not, then no POWs exchange hands.

teaser002POW Cities: All POW cities’ maps will consist of only TEAM DEATHMATCH map modes in an 8 v 8 match. If Clan A owns one or more POW cities, then when Clan A takes POWs from Clan Z in a war, Clan A places those POWs in one of its held POW cities. A POW city can ONLY be attacked by a Heliport City. Without a Heliport city, no POW city can be attacked. When a POW city is taken in an attack, the attacker must release all POWs from ONE clan (no matter how many) and must keep all other clan POWs in the city (no matter how many). This match is set with a 5-life respawn cap so teamwork and patience is critical. POWs are taken in these types of wars when the winning team still has four or more gunners alive by the time the match ends. Two POWs are taken by the winner with the winner first choosing their POW and then the loser giving up one more of their own choosing. The winning clan may only take POWs if the winning clan owns a POW camp on the TACMAP. If they do not, then no POWs exchange hands.

Heliport Cities: All Heliport cities’ maps will consist of only DOMINATION map modes in an 8 v 8 match. A Heliport city is the ONLY MEANS of placing an attack on a POW camp. Without a Heliport city, no matter what, you will be unable to potentially save your clan mates who are stuck with no chance of rescue. Whereas HQ and Heliport cities must be attacked by the borders that connect them, Heliport cities can mount attacks to ANY POW city or standard city on the Tacmap, regardless of distance. POWs are taken in these types of wars when the winning clan holds the losing clan to a score of 300 or less (the score cap of this match is 500 points to declare a winner). Two POWs are taken by the winner with the winner first choosing their POW and then the loser giving up one more of their own choosing. The winning clan may only take POWs if the winning clan owns a POW camp on the TACMAP. If they do not, then no POWs exchange hands.

War Zone Cities: All War Zone cities’ maps will consist of only SEARCH & DESTROY map modes in an 8 v 8 match. A War Zone city is the most common city found on the TACMAP, comprising nearly half of it. War Zone cities are considered “too hot” for landing, therefor, no Heliport cities may attack a War Zone, even if the Heliport City borders that War Zone. POWs are taken in these types of wars when the winning clan sweeps the losing clan, preventing the losing clan from winning a single round in this multi-round match. Two POWs are taken by the winner with the winner first choosing their POW and then the loser giving up one more of their own choosing. The winning clan may only take POWs if the winning clan owns a POW camp on the TACMAP. If they do not, then no POWs exchange hands.

Neutral Cities: All Neutral cities’ maps will consist of only HARDPOINT map modes in an Multi-Team match. A Neutral city is up for grabs by any bordering territory. If a single clan owns all bordering territories, they may claim the Neutral City as one of their attacks. If multiple clans border a Neutral City, up to 5 teams may send 3 players to attack the city. Neutral City Attacks are to be held at 9pm cst every Thursday and participation must be declared during the war meeting. This does not count as one of your attacks unless only one team declares an attack on a Neutral city, They are awarded that city and it will account for one Attack. POWs cannot be taken in Neutral Cities. Neutral Cities are not considered a pass through territory.

Prisoners of War

uf_pow2_noescapeWPWhen a player is taken as a POW from his clan, so too is his spot on the roster. The spot AND player taken as a POW cannot be re-filled at the beginning of a month when rosters can be amended. The spot and the player cannot take part in any of his clan’s UF: POW II wars until that player is freed. The only way to revive that player and his spot for future wars is if the POW city that he is held in is attacked and he is freed, either by his own clan or someone else’s, or by succeeding in a Great Escape week, which will be explained shortly. Once the POW Camp is Designated, the Player will be placed in the POW Camp usergroup on Urgent Fury. They will not have access to any forum except the Designated Camp Forum in effect cutting them off from the World of Urgent Fury. This forum will not be publicly accessible until after the completion of UF: POW II and is for the POWs to communicate and Plan any escapes, or post mail to their families and clan mates to be shared weekly on the forums.

The Great Escape is a specific week in which POWs can take freedom into their own hands by breaking free of the POW camp and the clan holding them captive. Great Escape weeks will be clearly labeled in the weekly schedule so that clans know when a Great Escape is approaching. All POW camps which hold AT LEAST FOUR or more POWs in them can see their captive POWs choose to band together during a Great Escape week and attack their captors. In this case, POWs are considered attackers and the owners of the POW camp are considered the defenders. All Great Escape wars must happen at 9pm CST on the day that the POWs collectively call for. No other time is allowed other than 9pm CST. The defenders, or owners of the POW camp, have NO say in the day that a Great Escape war is to happen. This attack is considered bonus in that the attack AND the defense does NOT count towards the 2/2 quota of attacks and defenses given to all clans every week. All Great Escape wars are scheduled at the Sunday war meetings.

Escapes will be a maximum of 8 v 8 in a Team Deathmatch Hardcore Setup. The POWs are limited to starting with a regular knife and the Defenders are only armed with the Five-seven Handgun. POWs can pick up the gun from a dead defender to even the battlefield.

We will also see the return of the Forced Offensive week and some other little twists and turns here and there. We have waited a long time to bring this back to the battlefield and call all clans to strap up and move out. Applications are now open and will close February 20th. Stay tuned to www.urgentfury.com for more information.

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Uncharted: Fight For Fortune announced for the Vita

Remember that Indiana Jones type of 3rd person adventure game Uncharted? Well in a bizarre chain of events, Nathan Drake is sent out on a mission to collect cards and do battle with them! From the Playstation blog’s Chris Reese, he describes Uncharted: Fight for Fortune as a turn based card game exclusive for the Vita!

 

Remember that Indiana Jones type of 3rd person adventure game  Uncharted? Well in a bizarre chain of events, Nathan Drake is sent out on a mission to collect cards and do battle with them! From the Playstation blog’s Chris Reese, he describes Uncharted: Fight for Fortune as a turn based card game exclusive for the Vita!

 

“So you’re probably wondering, how exactly does Fight For Fortune work? I’ll explain. The core gameplay in UNCHARTED: Fight for Fortune involves creating a team of Faction cards featuring heroes, villains, and mercenaries from the UNCHARTED universe, then using that team to defeat your opponent while defending yourself from their attacks.
Each Faction card can be equipped with powerful Resource and valuable Fortune cards, which enhance their stats and give them special abilities. Once you’ve selected and equipped a card, it’s time to head into battle! During combat, attacks either reduce the health of opposing Faction cards or the health of your opponent. Defeating an opposing Faction card removes it from play, while reducing the health of your opponent to zero wins you the game.”

 

Whether you enjoyed Golden Abyss or not, Bend Studios returns to the portable Uncharted series with turn based action! December 4th is when we’ll see how the $4.99 PS Vita game of Uncharted: Fight for Fortune will fare against other spin off card games based on our favorite Playstation treasure hunter.

 

Uncharted: Golden Abyss trailer

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SOF Studios Creative Director David Sears joins Commander Fury for an unrestrained Interview on TwitchTV

Every once and a while Commander Fury gets that interview of a life time, such as Harvard Bonin, Jr. of Santa Monica Studios, Travis Steiner formerly of Zipper Interactive and even Doc from The Tester Season 1. But when he got the call to host a live broadcast interview with David Sears, Creative Director at SOF Studios, the excitement was almost too much. However Commander Fury tightened up his boot straps and uttered an enthusiastic “HOO-YAH” and said let’s do it.

Recently SOF Studios announced the arrival of David Sears to the team, and August 23rd at 9pm central standard time this is your chance to ask the man behind our beloved Original Socom Series where he is going to take SOF Studios. Head over to their site and register on their forums so you can post your questions. Commander Fury will be reviewing these questions and including many of them during the live broadcast.

To listen to the interview and participate in a live chat, join us at www.twitch.tv/urgentfury and jump right into the chat, we will try to include live questions as well (time permitting). Be sure to follow Urgent Fury on Twitch as we have upcoming tournament broadcasts for the UF Dust Championship starting the 5th of September.

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World Renowned Creative Director and Shooter Entertainment Pioneer, David Sears (SOCOM), Joins SOF Studios.

Southern Pines NC – August 7, 2012 – Independent games publisher, Special Operations Forces Studios, Ltd. (SOF Studios), is honored to announce the hiring of 22-year games industry veteran and AAA Creative Director, Mr. David Troy Sears.

David, the visionary Creative Director behind shooter entertainment’s pioneering franchise, “SOCOM: US Navy SEALs” and most recently ground-breaking Creative Director for Ubisoft’s unreleased shooter title, “Rainbow 6: Patriots“, resigned from Ubisoft Montreal last month and joined the SOF Studios team in Southern Pines, NC.

David is an award-winning creative who has designed and directed the development of shooters, racing games, brawlers, action-adventure games, and platform games on a variety of consoles for publishers/developers including Ubisoft, Sony Computer Entertainment of America, Virgin Games, Zipper Interactive, Foundation 9 Entertainment, Kronos Digital Entertainment, Looking Glass Studios, and Pseudo Interactive.

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2 New Characters Join Sony’s Playstation All-Stars Battle Royal

As promised today at San Diego Comic Con two new playable characters were announced for Playstation All-Stars Battle Royale. Who are they you may ask? Read on to find out!

 

As promised two new playable characters for Playstation All-Stars were released today at Comic-Con. Before, SuperBot stated that the original line-up was going to be ten, with the last two being announced at EVO, Toro and Heihachi. The two new characters are Cole McGrath from inFAMOUS and Jak, with Daxter by his side of course. I mean you can’t have JAK without Daxter!

 

Here are the details released via the Playstation Blog:

 

Jak & Daxter:

Players familiar with Jak and Daxter’s arsenal will immediately recognize some of the weaponry utilized in PlayStation All-Stars including the Blaster, Needle Lazer, Gyro Burster, and Mass Inverter. When the going gets tough, Jak has the ability to unleash the powers of both Dark and Light Jak to even the playing field, as seen in Jak II and Jak 3 respectively. Daxter even lends a hand in Jak’s melee attacks.

Cole McGrath:

Cole takes advantage of a wide array of abilities in inFAMOUS, an experience we hoped to emulate when incorporating him into the game. He is a well-rounded fighter who is effective at both close and long range combat, and is highly mobile as well. Players can command both his electrokinesis and cryokinesis, using these powers to assault opponents from a safe distance or propel himself towards the action. With these abilities, Cole proves to be a formidable adversary for the rest of the PlayStation All-Stars cast!

 

There are still many characters I’d like to see anounced, even more now that there will be third party characters in the game. We will see as more info is released in the upcoing weeks.

 

PlayStation® All-Stars Battle Royale Event of the Year Trailer

 

 

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God of War Ascension Revealed

The next game in the God of War franchise has been announced

 

It seems that Amazon has leaked out the predicted God of War announcement titled “God of War: Ascension” It will be for the Playstation 3 and is predicted to be a prequel from the original games before he became the Ghost of Sparta. Not much else is known about the story, however. The listing notes, “Join Kratos as he seeks freedom, redemption, and the clarity to avenge his family in the most ambitious God of War adventure in the series so far.”

 

The product page, that is now active lists a 2013 release although no official release date has been announced. It also includes a teaser trailer which you can watch below. I as a huge God of War fan cannot wait to get behind Kratos’s blades again and I’m sure you can’t too.

 

I will post more details as they become available.

 

 

God of War: Ascension Trailer

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Battlefield: 3 Now ‘Banned’ in Iran…

Story by: CritiKiL

First the Lawsuit, and now This? ~ Iran has banned this video game in all of Iran, which is very popular here in the USA. In the picture above, it shows the US invading Iran. With the latest incident leading to the killings via Drone-airstrike by NATO, this video game is the first of expressions showing the countries unrest with what happened. Battlefield: 3 has been banned in that country because of it’s depictions of US armour and aircraft launching  assaults on and in the city of Tehran, according to an Iranian IT magazine today.

Tehran Highway: A nighttime map where players start off in the hills out side of the city and work their way in. Sounds a lot like Strike At Karkand. The map starts open, but ends “on a much more urban and tight note” with focus on infantry combat.

The game (EA’s current top-selling title), can be played as a solo campaign or as a group mission with up to 24 players online. The Iran scenario sees US forces fighting hostile militia near the Iraq-Iran border then moving on to Tehran under a looming nuclear threat. Intense gunfights are depicted in various military, industrial and urban locations in the capital, including Tehran’s historic Grand Bazaar.

According to EA, 5 million copies of Battlefield: 3 were sold within just ‘one week’ of it hitting the market on October 25, 2011. The game is available on DVD-ROM and as for download from the Internet. EA has no resellers in Iran, but pirated copies of all major videogames and computer software are widely available worldwide. This is the first time an official ban on the game was reported, but some computer store owners said they had declined to stock the game  initially, anticipating a possible crackdown on it.

Iranian police overseeing public places “raided (some shops) and arrested owners for selling the game secretly” even before the ban became public, said by one anonymous store owner who did not want his name mentioned. The Fars news agency said the game had prompted an online protest by a group of Iranian youths. One group said in an online petition, with more than 5,000 signatories so far:

“We understand that the story of a videogame is hypothetical … (but) we believe the game is purposely released at a time when the US is pushing the international community into fearing Iran…”

Although Not noted in the petition as far as we know: ‘an Iranian leader in the game outright calls Americans terrorists’, in explaining the source of the struggle in the Launch trailer that I’ve attached to this story below. Whatever the outcome, it looks like this game won’t be accessible or played in that part of the world ever again, but that’s just my take on the given situation. Let us know what YOU THINK, by commenting on this story! Don’t forget to watch the video below:

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Urgent Frequency Ep. 90 – The 2nd Annual URGENT FREQUENCY VETERANS DAY THANKSGIVING CALL OF DUTY MIDNIGHT LAUNCH PARTY Episode

Commander Fury is Urgent Fury’s “boots on the ground” for the biggest game release of the year!!!

As he finds himself braving the cold & crowds at his local GameStop to celebrate the launch of Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 for the 2nd Annual Urgent Frequency Veterans Day Thanksgiving Call Of Duty Midnight Launch Party Episode. Get all the intel about the most anticipated game of the year…including gametrailers.com‘s full review of the game, and an overview of Call Of Duty: ELITE.

Plus, we wrap things up with the Thanksgiving classic….Arlo Guthrie’s – “Alice’s Restaurant“.

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Modern Warfare: 3 Early Pirating ~ “Don’t Get Caught!”

 

Story by: CritiKiL

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 doesn’t come out until Nov. 8. But pirates have already obtained the video game — one of the most-anticipated of the year — VentureBeat has learned. The PC version of the game, or at least part of it, has been circulating among pirates in the U.S., who illegally copy and share it without paying Activision Blizzard or its retailers. That’s a big problem, as Activision Blizzard is expected to sell more than 20 million copies of the game in 2011 alone, according to Arcadia Research. That amounts to more than $1.2 billion in sales at retail. Piracy has always been a problem with video games, especially for PC titles. But the pirates go after Call of Duty because it’s the big prize. Every year, a cat-and-mouse game ensues. Activision Blizzard closely monitors manufacturing in the weeks leading up to shipment, since it only takes one stolen disk to set off the viral spread of pirated copies. But it’s hard to stop inside jobs.

Evidently, pirated discs began to spread quickly after an employee at a shipping warehouse (run by a huge shipping company) in Fresno, Calif., stole one disc. It’s not clear how many full copies spread this way, as the disc that was stolen was apparently Disc 2 of a two-disk set for the PC. Security may have been too tight for the thief to steal the other disc. The same course of events happened before last year’s launch of Call of Duty Black Ops and the year before that with Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2. But sales of the franchise keep climbing.

Investigators are using the same tactics as last year, knocking on doors around the country and asking people nicely to turn over and delete their pirated copies of Modern Warfare 3. Rather than face fines, many complied. A Modern Warfare pirate who was caught posted a message (below) yesterday on Craigslist. In it, the person warns others not to buy MW3 before the release date because “they will come get you.” The post says “you will be fined $5,000″ and it could result in permanent banning from online play. Then the person adds, “I already went through it.”

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Record HD Game Videos w/Notebook (New: AverTV USB HD-DVR)

Story by: CritiKiL

Ok, the moment you’ve all been waiting for is here! Many of you have Computer consoles or mini towers which incorporate HDMI capture cards for the Best recording of media that you watch or games you play through your HDTV. While that can get pricey or while many of you who only have Notebook Computers, this option is not available to you…’Until Now’. For the First time, you can record ‘Component Video’ connection through any computer (Like a Notebook computer) which has minimal requirements but a fast processor. Your output from your PS3 or XBox 360 is done via ‘component video’ (next-best output under HDMI), and recorded to your computer while the other output can either be ‘component’ or ‘HDMI’.

Whether you are a video game journalist or just a video game avid; video capturing your gameplay is a great way to show off your gaming skills, post a video review or share your video collection with your friends. There are several affordable options available for gamers today, but none may come as easy to install and use, as the all new AverTV USB HD DVR. Capture video games like a pro in high definition without over spending in a matter of minutes. Here are the Specifications, and System Requirements to make this work:

Input Source:

* Hi-Speed USB 2.0
* Component (YPbPr) Video & Stereo Audio
* S-Video / Composite & Stereo Audio
* Audio L/R
* IR Blaster

 

Output Signal:

* HDMI
* Component Video & Stereo Audio

System Requirements

* Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz
* AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 2.8GHz
* Intel Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHz Notebook or AMD Equivalent
* 1GB RAM
* USB 2.0 Port
* Graphic Card with 256MB of Memory
* CD/DVD Burner
* Sound Card
* 1GB for VCD and 5GB for DVD of available Hard Disk space
* Supports Windows 7, Vista and XP (32 and 64 Bit)

You can obtain one of these models at Amazon.com for a very good price! Just click this link to get yours today:

http://goo.gl/o8CyZ

And don’t forget to Check out the Video below (which shows a comparison to one of the leading HD recording devices, the HAUPPAUGE HD PVR), and get your money together and start recording using your Notebook or any USB connected Computer!

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