Manufacturer: SteelSeries
System requirements: Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Win 7/Mac OSX (configuration software not available for Mac systems)
MSRP: $89.99 USD/79.99 Euros

PC users in general (and most gamers in particular) tend to take the humble mouse for granted. It’s standard equipment on every PC, and it’s our primary movement tool through the marvel that is the Internet (try getting around your favorite site using just your keyboard and you’ll gain a new appreciation for your mouse). Yet most of us rarely give it a second thought. All, that is, except hardcore gamers looking for the little extra edge that could make them a force to be feared in their favorite online game.

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Electronic Arts revealed some noteworthy sequels with release dates today. Included in the list for the first quarter of 2011 were Dead Space 2, a Dragon Age: Origins sequel, and a new shooter from Epic Games. Additionally, EA also narrowed release windows for many of their other games: the new Medal of Honor is lined up for release between July and September; and the new NBA Jam, Crysis 2, and console releases for The Sims 3 are coming between October and December.

NewWorld (parent company of the Adrenaline Vault) has just announced the appointment of Joe Garagiola, Jr., as Chairman of the Board of Directors. Mr. Garagiola is Senior Vice President of Baseball Operations for Major League Baseball, and has been a member of NewWorld’s Board of Directors since January 2007. He also holds the distinction of assembling the fastest World Series winner in expansion baseball history, with the Arizona Diamondbacks. Mr. Garagiola, Jr., graduated from the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, IN, earning a B.A. cum laude in 1972 and earned a law degree from Georgetown University Law Center.

Quantic Dream CEO David Cage, whose mature interactive drama Heavy Rain hits stores later this month, says he feels that censorship in games is “probably the strictest in all the entertainment industry. One territory asked me to change one scene because it was too emotional. I read the email ten times to make sure I got it right. What do you mean too emotional? Can you change the end of Titanic, it’s really too sad. Same thing for Gone With the Wind, just add a couple of jokes near the end so we don’t cry.”

“If you show two people in love kissing in a videogame, you need to put fades to black before their lips are in contact, before she takes off her bra. Otherwise it might give ideas to these seventeen-plus people who probably never thought about all that before,” he says sarcastically. He feels that current constraints on game makers need to be modified in order to tell the level of stories that people really want. “Trying to create a mature experience for a mature audience is a massive challenge, because every single country has a different understanding of what could be perceived as shocking.”

Source: Destructoid

Publisher: Phantom EFX
Developer: Phantom EFX
System requirements: Windows XP (32-bit) or newer with administrator rights, 1 GHz Intel Pentium IV, Celeron or AMD or better CPU, 1 GB RAM, 64-MB DirectX 9.0c or OpenGL 2.0-compatible video card, DirectX 9.0c-compatible sound card, DirectX 9.0c, 2 GB hard-drive space
Genre: Casual
Release date: Available now

Humans are truly a strange species. Most of us work all of our lives to make enough money to live and thrive, then we jump on a bus to our closest casino and gamble it all away. Those with skill and discipline usually manage to come home with more that they took with them, but most of us aren’t so lucky. It’s the unfortunate many for whom developer Phantom EFX’s Reel Deal casino simulators are targeted, including Reel Deal Slots: Treasures of the Far East, a collection of virtual slot and video poker machines that tries to give you the excitement of the one-armed bandit, but without the unfortunate consequences.

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So you’re already to head out for New Vegas, but what do you really know about it? Until this point, not much, but the details are beginning to flow. You are not a Vault Dweller this time around, but instead a courier, dug up by a robot and nursed back to life by a doctor. The area around Vegas wasn’t hit hard in the apocalypse so many buildings remain intact, and the storyline follows a conflict between the California Republic, Caesar’s Legion and New Vegas residents.

Fallout: New Vegas will introduce a Hardcore mode that challenges players with dehydration, ammo weight, non-instantaneous healing and tougher enemies. In addition, Super Mutants will be more intelligent and varied, and an elite Nightkin has been added. The title also has a Reputation system on top of the Karma score, and these will be tracked by each settlement independently. VATS returns, but with added melee moves, and skills will play a larger part in conversations, unlocking new paths should your relevant ability be high enough.

Fallout: New Vegas will be released this fall for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Source: Eurogamer

In the gameplay department, Undisputed 2010 will add a new “Sway System” which offers full upper body and head control, as well as a new ground “Posture System.” New moves and cage positions have also been added, including moves from Sambo, Karate, and Greco-Roman Wrestling. Undisputed 2010 will also include the ability to form fight camps and leagues, training your players and then taking them online in a “virtual UFC world.” The Career Mode returns with a new “Game Is Watching You” system that will take note of your actions and influence in-game commentary, opponent A.I., and other elements of career progression. UFC Undisputed 2010 ships on May 25.

LucasArts has just announced the development of LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars for a release in the fall of 2010. The title will include all of the characters from both seasons of the animated television series, as well as some fan-favorite characters from the beloved theatrical saga. The game will feature brand new battle modes, giving players unique, head-to-head combat and an upgraded level builder, allowing the creation of customized bases and in-game battlefields. Play either as a Jedi or Separatist with all-new character abilities, such as Squad command, Lightsaber slicing, Lightsaber jumps, long distance Jedi attacks and Grapple Tie-Ups, all within a new, easy-to-navigate hub.

While there’s no release date yet for the content pack, Futuremark Games Studio has revealed the first screenshots from the upcoming Moonrise content pack for Shattered Horizon, their PC exclusive multiplayer first-person shooter. The Moonrise pack, which will be free to all players, includes four new environments effectively doubling the number of levels in the game.

A catastrophic explosion on the Moon has filled near-Earth space with billions of tons of rocky debris. Teams of players fight in zero gravity to control the limited supplies that mean the difference between survival and death in the cold of space. The four Moonrise levels are set around the shattered Moon, taking the fight deeper into space and showing a new side to the conflict.

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Not many people have achieved what I’ve achieved. Several flake out. Even more buckle under the pressure. They can’t handle the weight of the situation. Well, I didn’t buckle. I focused. I made a promise to myself and I kept it. I don’t mean to sound like I’m gloating … oh wait, yes I do. It was a long, grueling road. Countless hardships. Agonizing late nights. Dozens of bags of chips consumed in battle. So yes, I’m going to gloat, in this, the hour of my victory.

Back when I joined Avault a couple of years ago, my gaming shelf was in ruin. Ravaged by my neglect, several titles succumbed to the torment of dust and resigned themselves to a permanent incomplete state. Some games were half-beaten, several more were still in the beginning stages. Heck, a few were still in their packages. All told, I tallied the list of my ineptitude to be about 35. Thirty-five games I still had yet to beat. My life was a mess and I was spiraling out of control.

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