“Starhawk” Senior Producer Harvard Bonin Jr. explains exactly what he does, and gets his very own Spoof Ad.

After a year of major game releases, the game industry & gamers from all over the world are set to pick the best of the best for the 2011 Video Game Awards.

Shane Bell (Urgent Fury CIO) & Doc (The Tester (Season 1) & Replay w/ Doc) join Commander Fury to preview a few of the categories & make their 2011 VGA picks.

Over the last year we have seen several titles release with a multiplayer inclusion and have been excited about the different tournaments that can be created to extend the playability of the game and continue fostering the team building and communities built around it. But then we get the game and start testing to only find that sure the “Multiplayer” label is affixed to the game but no true means of really fostering a team or community for that matter.

So let’s go back a few years so I can help you understand where I am going with this. And keep in mind PC Gaming had already started this trend with games like CounterStrike, but that was not my introduction to multiplayer. On PlayStation 2, a game called Socom was launched with this new feature called Multiplayer. Online gaming was a new concept for consoles and this seemed pretty cool. You could play with different players and the experience would be absolutely different every time since you were playing with humans instead of programmed characters.

The next thing you know it, someone asked if I would join their clan or team for those not familiar with the term. Of course I have played with these guys a few times and enjoyed playing with them so I of course said sure. Next thing I know I have registered on the clan’s website and have instantly become a member of this highly focused community built around playing a game.

At the time I did not see how much of a big deal this would be, but later in life it would prove to be the friendships and team building aspect of this was unsurpassed by any other experience in gaming. Some of these clans have run strong for many years and like any team, many have had conflict and caused the creation of new clans.

So with that in mind you can look at the playability of a game and how this team building would foster a completely new breed of gaming now known as competitive multiplayer. Tournament communities started to spring up everywhere giving games a whole new life with teams competing for prizes, bragging rights and more. Suddenly your clan had a new purpose, not only are you playing with a group so you kind of knew who would do what, but now you could take your clans skills and pit them against other clans with a structured environment behind the scenes.

Fast forward about ten years to today and many of these tournament communities have come and gone and some have thrived. MLG is probably the best example of a thriving business built around competitive multiplayer. The business brings in several millions of dollars with their tournaments through sponsorship and attendance. Even Richard Branson jumped on the competitive gaming train with the launch of Virgin Gaming in 2010.

The big winner out of this business segment really has been the games themselves, as this creates a long lasting playability to a game. If done right a multiplayer portion of a game can be stretched out to years versus a few months. There is no beating the game, no trading in of the game, just endless play with your clan mates.

Now let’s look at the games of the last year or so. Multiplayer seems to have become more of an afterthought then a true focus. In the original Socom for example, you could create a room with a custom title like “My Clan Tryouts” and it made expanding your team very efficiently, this was what we call the lobby system.

In today’s games there are no lobbies, and even more so less means of even creating a private match. Socom 4 did have a clan match making system but it did not let you create any custom parameters to a match. Battlefield 3 launched with no private match making at all and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3’s private matchmaking is plagued with issues on PS3 causing communities such as ours to postpone or even cancel tournaments.

What do we have to do to get the game developers to take a step back and realize that with the right design, multiplayer can make their game more profitable? Let me explain how…

So let’s pretend a multiplayer game came out with the prized features like these:

• Private Custom Match Making
• Lobbies or User Created Rooms
•  A Clan Management System

With the ability to customize a private match, a tournament community can offer unique game play by changing the parameters of a game, giving players a completely different experience with the title. This can also keep the competitive play fresh with different setups, weapon restrictions, etc. While a good clan management system give members of the team the ability to manage their rosters, group up for game play and provide structure. And finally with a lobby system, the clans are able to promote recruitment, host events and even show off what tournament they are playing in.

This breeds for longevity gameplay, giving the developer the right formula to sale additional content. If you have strong tournament communities developing long term events, many will incorporate the new content to freshen up the tournaments. The PlayStation 2 Socom’s are a perfect example for our community… we were able to run a tournament from the day it launched until the day the next title released. Even with Confrontation we ran a tournament up to the Friday before Socom 4 released. That is just shy of three years of game play on a single title. Yet when the DLC was released, we quickly adapted a tournament specifically for it.

Now with today’s games, the community building portion of the game has gone. There is no way to foster the building or reinforcement of the clans and there are no stable private match making options in the game.

Is this the end of clans as we know it today? I still play with clan members from almost 10 years ago, but now it is almost impossible to get together and play. We invite all developers to contact tournament communities such as ours and even Gamebattles. The ability to include these three simple features can give a game the means to generate additional revenue, keep a strong fan base and breed a whole new generation of competitive gamers.

Well the eagerly awaited game event is here, and as I and many other games fans made our way from the Underground to Earls Court I couldn’t wait to see and more importantly play the new upcoming games.

The atmosphere was amazing as we all made our way into the arena, which was broken up into seven zones with the centre area dominated by the hot topic of conversation outside – Onlive.

Not surprisingly this is the first place everyone headed including myself, there were a number of consoles set up around the stand with both wired and wireless controllers with demo’s of some of the 100 games that are now available as of Sept 22nd (that’s in the UK of course, Onlive has been running in the US for a while now). As well as getting to play some of the games on offer, there was also the chance to get your hands on a free console once you had registered, needless to say I managed to get my hands on one and I’ll be posting more on the Onlive console and the games on offer in a separate article.

All the big names in gaming were showing off their latest creations, including the big 3′s Mass Effect 3, Battlefield 3, Resistance 3, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 and Gears of War 3. My first port of call was the Forza Motorsport 4 stand, Turn 10 have raised the bar even further with this latest in the franchise, the graphics were stunning as has been the case with previous incarnations and the controls were very responsive. The demo for Forza 4 is coming for Xbox LIVE Gold Members on Oct  3 and will be available for Silver members on Oct 10 for those who want a taste of things to come.

Another of the games I sampled was Battlefield 3, due for release on Oct 25th which was tucked away in the over 18′s area. This had a long queue of people waiting to play as you’d expect, but it was well worth the wait. It was certainly an amazing sight seeing banks of people all working their way through the trees and undergrowth, utterly absorbed. It wasn’t hard to see why, EA Games with Frostbite 2 have created very impressive gameplay and the headphones allowed the low hum of Earls Court to be blotted out in favour of the crackle of gunfire and the shout of orders.

I’m sure you have seen all the advertisements and coverage of the 3DS but you may have been like me and wondered just how good it is. Well they were showcasing the latest Mario and sonic releases as well as a demo of Sky 3D. The latter to try and show people that the 3DS has more to offer than just a handheald  gaming console. I was curious as to what the experience would be like and chatting to some of the others there, they felt the same.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       Its true to say that as this doesn’t rely on glasses, it makes it feel a more natural experience, although I did find the need to keep your viewing angle steady took a bit of getting used to. The 3D effect was very good and the adjustable 3D slide on the side made a noticeable difference.

It wasn’t just all game and console demo’s of course, there were a host of developer sessions throughout the weekend as well. Among those giving talks were Michael Denny from Sony talking about the Playstation Vita and Dr Ray Muzyka from EA Games on Star Wars: The Old Republic.

To sum up, there was much more at Eurogamer Expo 2011 than I am ever going to be able to write here, that said, the Playstation Vita, 3D gaming and the prospect of on-line gaming like never before with Onlive makes the next twelve months a very exciting prospect indeed.

We are only 2-Weeks into the first Urgent Fury Socom 4 tournament and we are already halfway complete with the first campaign. With 36 wars played, the standings are as follows: TNU leads with 10 points followed closely by 101, ReD, $K$, cKs, and 26* with 8. In the middle of the pack we have LPK with 6. Rounding out the field we have RVN, <N>, and WDA each with 2 points and IX still looking to pick up their first W. This tough field of competitors proved to be too steep as R2H never made it in by failing to submit their roster.

Going into week 3 of the first campaign, TNU looks to continue its winning ways after a rough start due to typos on their roster which cost them their only loss. Being the highest ranked clan in the tournament on the Socom in-game ladder, TNU has proven that they know how to win by leading the field with the most points.

A match between the current #2 and #3 seeds, 101 and ReD, resulted in a tie during the second night of wars when there was an glitch in the ladder system. Each team took a match in the first two but for some reason the game sent both teams back to their lobbies instead of sending them to the third match to determine the overall winner of the war.

$K$, cKs and 26* all locked up with 8 points each will be working to catch the current leader in hopes of capturing the top seed and a bid to the playoffs later this fall. After a close match against TNU and ReD, LPK looks to bounce back after a bumpy start. With only 6 wars remaining RVN, <N>, WDA, and IX hope to make up some ground after a very tough 2 weeks.

The Endurance format is much different than what most UF clans are used to. Previously each night would feature one war on a predetermined map and mode. Due to the lack of a party system, UF was forced to use the in-game ladder system to conduct the wars. When asked about the best-of-3 format for wars a few of the clan reps had this to say. darth_cedaus from Canadian Killing Squad said, “Love the best of 3 format. Much better than the 1-map wars back in the day.” ShadowOfaSolja from Threat Neutralizing Unit said, “Best of 3 is the only way to go ”

With a party system just around the corner, we will found out whether or not traditional 1-map per war formats will ever be possible again.

None of the clan reps had too much other to say about the tournament other than they really appreciate the great sportsmanship shown by UF clans. Respecting all of the rules set forth by tournament staff, participating clan are able to play Socom 4 without having to worry about exploits, cheating, Grenade Launchers, or Double Rounding in Bomb Squad.

Time will tell as we see how the wars play out to determine the winner of the first Socom Endurance Campaign.

MARCH 2010:

SONY REMOVES THE ABILITY TO INSTALL THIRD PARTY OPERATING SYSTEMS (SUCH AS LINUX) ON THE PS3.
WHILE MOST PLAYERS DON’T CARE (OR EVEN NOTICE). ANOTHER SEGMENT BECOMES EXTREMELY FRUSTRATED.

JANUARY 2ND 2011:

HACKER GEORGE HOTZ, A.K.A. GEOHOT, SUCCESSFULLY JAILBREAKS THE PS3….SO THAT IT COULD DO A NUMBER OF THINGS IT SHOULDN’T BE ABLE TO DO.

HOTZ THEN PUBLISHED THE PROCESS ON HIS WEBSITE, AND HIS YOUTUBE CHANNEL.

JANUARY 11TH 2011:

SONY SUES HOTZ FOR DISTRIBUTING JAILBREAK SOFTWARE TO THE PUBLIC.
CLAIMING THAT HOTZ IS HELPING PROMOTE PIRACY…BY ALLOWING ILLEGAL COPIES OF PS3 GAMES TO BE PLAYED ON JAILBROKEN SYSTEMS.

APRIL 2ND 2011:

A GROUP OF HACKERS KNOWN AS “ANONYMOUS“, BEGINS “OPERATION:SONY“….AN ATTEMPT TO DISRUPT SONY WEBSITES.
THE DEMAND IS…LEAVE HOTZ ALONE.

APRIL 11TH 2011:

SONY SETTLES WITH HOTZ.
DETAILS ARE SCARCE, BUT HOTZ AGREES TO TAKE DOWN HIS WEBSITE, AND INFO ON HOW TO JAILBREAK THE PS3.

APRIL 13TH 2011:

IN A CREEPY VIDEO MESSAGE, “ANONYMOUS” CALLS FOR A DAY OF SONY PROTEST…AND WARNS OF AN INCOMING ATTACK.

APRIL 16TH & 17TH 2011:

HACKERS DIGITALLY BREAK INTO THE PLAYSTATION NETWORK & SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT.

THEY STEAL PERSONAL PSN & SOE USER INFORMATION.
ALONG WITH EUROPEAN SOE CREDIT & DEBIT CARD NUMBERS.

APRIL 19TH 2011:

SONY DETECTS A PSN BREACH.
AN INVESTIGATION STARTS, BUT THE PUBLIC ISN’T TOLD.

APRIL 20TH 2011:

SONY SHUTS DOWN THE PSN, CITING TECHNICAL ISSUES.

APRIL 22ND 2011:

AS PUBLIC UNREST BEGINS TO MOUNT ABOUT THE PSN BEING DOWN…”ANONYMOUS” RELEASES A STATEMENT DENYING ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE PSN OUTAGE.

APRIL 26TH 2011:

SONY ADMITS THAT THE PSN HAS BEEN HACKED, AND CALLS FOR FBI ASSISTANCE.

MAY 1ST 2011:

SONY EXECUTIVES APOLOGIZE FOR THE PSN DATA BREACH AND OUTAGE.
IN THE MEANTIME, SONY & INVESTIGATORS DISCOVER A SOE DATA BREACH, AND SHUT DOWN THE SOE SERVERS AS WELL.

MAY 2ND, 2011:

SONY REVEALS DETAILS ABOUT THE SOE DATA BREACH TO THE PUBLIC.

MAY 4TH, 2011:

SONY CHAIRMAN KAZ HIRAI TELLS CONGRESS INVESTIGATORS FOUND A FILE WITHIN THE PSN THAT WAS NAMED ‘ANONYMOUS‘, WHICH HAD THE GROUP’S MOTTO…”WE ARE LEGION”, ATTACHED.

ALTHOUGH SONY DOES NOT SPECIFICALLY ACCUSE ‘ANONYMOUS‘ OF THE INTRUSION…THE COMPANY CLAIMS THE PSN WAS MADE MORE VULNERABLE BY THE GROUP’S EARLIER ATTACK, POSSIBLY KEEPING SONY’S I.T. SECURITY BUSY…WHILE OTHER HACKERS SNUCK IN, AND STOLE DATA.

MAY 5TH, 2011:

‘ANONYMOUS‘ DENIES THAT IT HAD ANY PART IN THE CREDIT CARD THEFT.
THE GROUP SAYS THAT IT IS ONLY AFTER LARGE & CORRUPT CORPORATIONS & GOVERNMENTS.

ON THE SAME DAY…

SONY RELEASES A STATEMENT SAYING
IT IS IN THE FINAL STAGES OF TESTING IT’S NEW NETWORK,
AND THAT THE PSN WILL BE RETURNING IN THE COMING DAYS.

MAY 10TH 2011:

THE PLAYSTATION NETWORK & SONY ONLINE ENTERTAINMENT ARE STILL DOWN AS OF 2 AM, EASTERN STANDARD TIME.

Sony declines to testify before Congress as $1 billion lawsuit filed. (from MSNBC.com)

Sony Online Entertainment

Like a character from their currently shut-down game “DC Universe Online,” Sony is under attack from all sides.

A U.S. House of Representatives subcommittee is demanding answers from Sony after private information from some 102 million personal accounts was taken by hackers.

In a letter written by the Congressional Subcommittee on Commerce, Manufacturing and Trade and addressed to Sony chairman Kazuo Hirai, representatives asked the company to answer a list of 13 questions related to the hacking of Sony’s PlayStation Network.

The questions come as lawyers in Canada have announced they’re seeking a $1 billion class action lawsuit against the company which has recently revealed not one, but two massive hacking breaches that left personal information from 102 million gaming accounts available to hackers.

On Monday, Sony revealed that its Sony Online Entertainment PC gaming service had been hacked … this after revealing last week that the PlayStation Network service had been breached.

The SOE breach exposed the information from 24.6 million personal accounts as well as some credit card information from gamers who play the service’s online PC games such as “EverQuest,” “DC Universe Online” and “Free Realms.” The PlayStation Network, on the other hand, allows PlayStation 3 owners to game online and that breach exposed personal information from 77 million private accounts.

The Congressional committee has demanded answers about the PlayStation Network breach only perhaps because news of the Sony Online Entertainment breach wasn’t released until Monday afternoon. Among the questions they asked:

• “Why did you wait to notify your customers of the breach?
• “Have you identified how the breach occurred?”
• Have you identified the individual(s) responsible for the breach?
• “How many PlayStation Network account holders provided credit card information to Sony Computer Entertainment?”

(To read their entire letter, see the New York Times post here.)

The Committee’s letter demanded a reply from Sony by Friday, May 6, and explained that it had scheduled a hearing this Wednesday “regarding the threat of data theft to American consumers.” It invited Sony to attend and testify.

Too busy to appear
Sony, however, will not be attending tomorrow’s hearing.

Sony Online Entertainment

Congress wants to know who breached Sony’s security. Certainly the mayhem these hacking attacks have caused is so extensive the Joker would be proud to take responsibility.

“Sony declined to testify because their internal investigation is still ongoing,” an official working for Representative Mary Bono Mack (R-California), told game blog Kotaku Tuesday morning.

But Sony has insisted it is cooperating with Congress. Sony of America spokesman Patrick Seybold sent a statement to Kotaku explaining:

“Sony is cooperating with the request for answers to the Committee’s questions, and in fact will be providing our responses in advance of the deadline. We informed the committee that we could not appear as early as this Wednesday because of our ongoing intensive investigation and management of this criminal cyberattack.”

In response to Sony’s decision not to attend the hearing, the committee has now moved the deadline for Sony to respond to questions to today, May 3, the New York Times reports.

Congress joins the attorney generals from more than 20 states who have already demanded answers from Sony. And the FBI’s cybecrimes unit has confirmed they are looking into the breach as well.

Meanwhile, as we reported this morning, Sony CEO Howard Stringer is under fire for his company’s handling of customers’ personal information and the hacking breaches, with some investors suggesting that he should step down.

Anger and lawsuits
But no doubt, the most heat is coming from gamers themselves.

The Toronto law firm McPhadden Samac Tuovi says it has filed a proposed class action against Sony “for the breach of privacy.” The lawsuit claims damages in excess of $1 billion, which includes having Sony pay the costs of credit monitoring services and fraud insurance coverage for two years.

The plaintiff in the action is 21-year-old avid PlayStation user Natasha Maksimovic.

“If you can’t trust a huge multi-national corporation like Sony to protect your private information, who can you trust,” Maksimovic said in a press release. “It appears to me that Sony focuses more on protecting its games than its PlayStation users.”

This lawsuit follows a lawsuit that’s already been filed in U.S. District Court accusing Sony of “negligence in data security.”

Meanwhile, as news of the second breach spread on Tuesday, many gamers responded with anger if not legal action.

“Frankly, during most of the time I’ve been a SOE customer, I’ve tried hard to ignore the feeling of constantly being treated like dirt…” wrote one gamer going by the name Faelan at online gaming site MMORPG.com. “I think I’ve given them more chances than they deserve and each time I’ve ended up feeling like the fool. No more I say. Goodbye SOE.”

“Sony is just another company that doesn’t care about its customers or its employees … and I think that’s why they were a target of the hackers,” wrote a gamer going by the name TheWillows on an “EverQuest” fan site.

But some Sony fans have responded with understanding and have said they will return to the company’s online gaming services when the servers finally go back online.

Whether it be a console system being hacked or a large business, no one wants their private information taken. Cloud computing security has risen in the aspect of online data security within the cloud. It is a good idea to talk to online security professionals and see what you can do to protect your self or business.

Wrote one “EverQuest” fan going by the name Kaifin, “I for one hope they recover because I have been happy with their products in the past. They were one of the big companies and got arrogant thinking it couldn’t happen to them and because of it they got screwed. Now they will be more careful in the future provided they survive this ordeal.”

For more on this topic, please see:

• Sony Online Entertainment hacked, some credit card info taken
• Sony sued, could bleed billions following PlayStation Network hack
• Games to play while PlayStation’s network is down
• How will Sony make amends to gamers?
• Former PlayStation hacker blames Sony arrogance for breach

Winda Benedetti writes about games for msnbc.com.

In this episode….we welcome some real heroes to talk about tactical gaming  from the perspective of

prior military service members….as we welcome the Off Duty Gamers.

Plus, we have an Urgent Fury:In Country SITREP shocker!!!

Urgent Fury Directors L to R…CIO Shane Bell, CFO Armond Compton, & COO John Ostrow at PAX East 2011.

The official attendance count for PAX East 2011 was 69,500. Breaking last year’s attendance of 52,290.

Brink TM from Splash Damage &  Bethesda shows off it’s final build of the game before it’s scheduled

launch on May 17th, 2011.

Don’t worry little buddy….the wait is almost over.

SOCOM 4 launches on April 19th, 2011.

Zipper Interactive’s Kevin Scmitt (Lead Designer, SOCOM 4) gives his Zipper colleagues a

crash course in the mysterious art of Parkour.

Urgent Fury covered the PAX East 2011 SOCOM 4 tournament.

Where 64 fans got to compete for a very nice trophy.

This guy has his sights set on victory. And a shot at SOCOM superstardom.

Shane Bell on the PAX East 2011 SOCOM 4 tournament…

“it  had all the intensity of classic Urgent Fury tournaments”.

The team of 8 shooters who won it all, are scheduled to be featured on a future episode

of Urgent Fury’s podcast Urgent Frequency.

This is just one of the reasons that Urgent Fury has plans for several

“live” tournament events in the coming year.

Stay tuned for more on PAX East 2011!!!

Battlefield 3 “School”

Battlefield 3 “Sniper”

Battlefield 3 “Staging Area”

AVAILABLE HOLIDAY 2011

On this episode…we answer the call of duty, as we travel back in time to 1968, and the war torn jungles of Vietnam….to give you an Urgent Fury: In Country SITREP. Then Jack “UK” Dellhouse & William “Wolfie D” Murray stop by to explain how a home is not necessarily a house…or vice versa….as they give us the inside scoop on Urgent Frequency Television‘s recent launch on Sony’s PlayStation® Home.

With all of the questions that surround the next title in the SOCOM:U.S. Navy SEALs franchise, Urgent Fury decided to do some forward RECON to get some real answers regarding what some are saying, is the most important release in the franchise’s long history.

After being invited to participate in ZIPPER INTERACTIVE’S SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs “MEDIA DAY“ event in Redmond, WA…..Urgent Fury immediately deployed UFreq correspondent Brian “Inadub” Carey, and he joins Commander Fury with a full report which includes the official SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs press conference.

All that…plus UF gets a new “home”.

Boy Oh Boy, this one is a big one… an epic end, to an epic year. PSNation’s Glen (Torgo) Percival and UF Director Shane Bell drop in for a State Of  The Union Of Gaming recap. Plus, you’ll hear your Holiday Greetings, an Urgent Fury SITREP, Cheech & Chong, and of course…”Dingo & The Baby”.

All that, and more…on this very special Urgent Frequency Podcast Before Christmas 2010.

Back by popular demand…Sam”Doc” Castannon III stops by to talk about his new podcast, and to update us on The Tester (Season 2).

Plus, Urgent Fury Command passes along hard dates regarding Urgent Fury:Cold War. And confirms the launch of  a TACMAP tournament event for Call Of Duty:Black Ops for both PS3 & XBox.

COMMANDER CLAYMORE FURY IS (RECORDED) LIVE, LOUD, AND PROUD, AND ON LOCATION…AT ONE OF THE THOUSANDS OF GAMESTOP LOCATIONS ACROSS THE LAND, CELEBRATING THE LAUNCH OF CALL OF DUTY:BLACK OPS WITH THE VERY SPECIAL SURPRIZE ATTACK MIDNIGHT OPS MIDNIGHT LAUNCH PARTY.

Save big on the Veteran’s Day… Get some gear from Commander Fury’s Lot or Official Gear from UFGL and more.

* $2.00 of the shirt net sale price, $4.00 of the mug net sale price, $6.00 of the calendars net sale price, $8 of the binder net sale price, and $10 of the shoe pair net sale price will be deducted when one or more shirts, one or more mugs, one or more calendars, one or more binders, and/or one or more shoe pairs are purchased and the coupon code VTRNSDAYSALE is applied at checkout. The net sale price is the price of the product (excluding shipping and taxes). Offer does not apply to screen printed apparel. Offer is valid from November 8, 2010 through November 11, 2010 at 11:59pm PT. This offer does not apply to past purchases and may not be combined with any other Zazzle promotional or volume discount offers. If a volume discount applies to your order, you will receive either the discount set forth in this offer or the standard volume discount, whichever is greater. Offer valid on Zazzle.com only.

This week we feature a special guest as Inadub prepares to try and Test the waters:

• Sam “Doc” Castanon III from Season One of the Tester tells how it is
• Prize Packs prepare to ship
• Sit Rep
• and so much more…

Part 2 is loaded with info about the South Hall at E3 including:

• An exclusive interview with Craig Owens of EA
• An exclusive interview with “Doc” of the Tester Season1
• A round table with Owners Shane, AC and John along with special guest Bill F’kn Murray
• How I owned the Devs of Medal of Honor
• And a Prize Pack beyond any ever done with the new command at Urgent Fury

So as many have been waiting for, we spent E3 gathering intel for all of you guys and well instead of spoiling it for you, I just will let you start with Part 1 of our 2 part series for the E3 Debrief…

Audrey Cleo with Commander Fury and Shane Bell of Urgent Fury

Commander Fury and Kevin discover the pleasure of the Move

The Urgent Fury Crew with Travis Steiner

Urgent Fury Black is upon us!!!

I will say it looks like Socom 4 is a true progression for Zipper… As you watch this video you will see the begining of what Socom 4 is going to look like.

From what it sound like the Move will be on both online and offline, but this could dramatically change the feel of Socom for those that are willing to jump on the Move wagon.

The more I watch, this looks like it may actually make Socom even more intense. I know that I am not the only one excited to play with this at E3. And for those of you in the New York area, keep you ears open cause there is word of a Live tour.

Video is below.

LONDON – 3 March 2010 – Can’t wait to jump into the “Halo: Reach” multiplayer beta on May 3? You’re in luck, because a thrilling first look video of “Halo: Reach” multiplayer action is now available. The “March Multiplayer Madness” video was captured from the game’s alpha build and offers a glimpse of…well, we don’t want to give away all the surprises do we?

Rest assured that more info is coming down the line as the launch of the public multiplayer beta nears. As a reminder, players will be able to access the beta, which launches in just two months, through “Halo 3: ODST.” Developed by acclaimed studio Bungie, “Halo: Reach” is being published by Microsoft and launches in autumn 2010 exclusively on Xbox 360.

The “March Multiplayer Madness” video is available now on Halo.Xbox.com, Bungie.net and Xbox LIVE.

The Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo features Port Valdez, a new vehicle focused map where up to 24 players can compete against each other in the game’s Rush multiplayer mode. Players have access to five land and three air vehicles including Main Battle Tanks as well as the fast-moving Quad Bikes and Mobile Armored AA. The fight is also packed with plenty of infantry combat fought alongside the waterline towards a great oil industrial landscape in the Alaskan mountains.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be in stores on March 2, 2010 in North America and March 4, 2010 in Europe for the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, PlayStation 3 and the PC. The Limited Edition can be pre-ordered now on all platforms at no extra cost, with participating retailers worldwide (while supplies last).

For more information on DICE, please visit www.dice.se. For more information on the Battlefield franchise please visit: www.battlefield.com. Or follow us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/OfficialBFBC2.

• Internet connection required. Demo will end on February 25, 2010.

###

About Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts Inc. (EA), headquartered in Redwood City, California, is a leading global interactive entertainment software company. Founded in 1982, the Company develops, publishes, and distributes interactive software worldwide for video game systems, personal computers, wireless devices and the Internet. Electronic Arts markets its products under four brand names: EATM, EA SPORTSTM, EA MobileTM and POGOTM. In fiscal 2009, EA posted GAAP net revenue of $4.2 billion and had 31 titles that sold more than one million copies. EA’s homepage and online game site is www.ea.com. More information about EA’s products and full text of press releases can be found on the Internet at http://info.ea.com.

EA, EA SPORTS, EA Mobile and POGO are trademarks of Electronic Arts Inc. Battlefield: Bad Company is a trademark of EA Digital Illusions CE AB. “PlayStation” is a registered trademark of Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. Xbox and Xbox 360 are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies and are used under license from Microsoft. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.