Sword & Sworcery Presents The Audience Calibration Procedure

Sword & Sworcery EP, the upcoming iPhone/iPad title from superbrothers, has a new video up. "Audience Calibration Procedure" presents an even more surreal look into this haunting title that uses retro graphics and a sense of wonder to create something new ... if not trippy. We took a look at the game back in October, and it is definitely on our radar. But don't just take my yakkin' for granted. Watch the video above and see what you think.

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LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean First Look Preview -- Captain Jack Sparrow Gets Bricky With It

What happens when Pirates of the Caribbean meets LEGO? Well, besides LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game.�You get swashbuckling blocks and a lot of attention to detail. But what does the search for a plastic Black Pearl look like? Apparently, not like plain old plastic bricks. But don't take my word for it. Check out what Nikole Zivalich had to say when she checked the game out at GDC.�

"At first glance, LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean looks like a LEGO game; it's colorful, it's bouncy, and everything is made of LEGOS. But after my glance turned into a stare, I noticed the jungle I was in had textures, leaves, vines, none of which were made of LEGOS. What surprised me wasn't simply the detailed landscape, it was how detailed it was. Another level I was shown took place on a pirate ship, but rather than being on a shiny, plastic Black Pearl, I was on a rotted wood, lines in the planks, realistic looking pirate ship."

Find out even more in our LEGO Pirates of the Caribbean: The Video Game First Look Preview.

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House of the Dead: Overkill?s PS3 exclusive level is a vegan?s worst nightmare

Sega has served up a slab of fresh details concerning the second exclusive PS3 level for its forthcoming House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut. Entitled Creeping Flesh, the added mission will see Varla and Candy from the first Naked Terror bonus mission butchering mutants in a meat-themed environment guaranteed to turn a few stomachs.

The level will place within a local abattoir which (predictably) has become overrun with unspeakable horrors, some of which use their meat bodies as living, oozing shields. Creeping Flesh will also feature what Sega and the developers at Headstrong Games lovingly refer to as meat walls and meat tunnels, as depicted below:

In addition to introducing Creeping Flesh's meat-mutants on PlayStation's European Blog, Sega's digital campaigns manager Mike Kebby spoke a little about the level's main baddie, explaining:

?Meat Katie is armed with a massive cleaver, and has a nasty habit of flinging large chunks of meat at her intended victims; I imagine Varla and Candy have had plenty of practice avoiding unwanted meat, so it?s probably not too much of an issue though. In other words, you?re going to need good reflexes, steady aim, and perseverance, because this melee monster is going to take a lot of bullets until she?s beaten.?

The first exclusive level for the PS3, Naked Terror, resulted in House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut being denied classification in Australia, making it technically unsellable down under. Creeping Flesh isn't likely to do anything to fix that.

House of the Dead: Overkill Extended Cut is scheduled to release in North America on October 25^th and in the UK on October 28^th. Check out more images from the Creeping Flesh level in our gallery below.

Aug 31, 2011

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inFamous 2 Allows Users To Build Their Own Missions, Beta Coming Soon

Jake Gaskill is currently playing inFamous 2 at GDC right this very second, which makes us all jealous of him. But more exciting than that is the announcement that Sucker Punch just made about their baby: players will be able to generate their own user-created missions in the game, and if they get popular enough, they will show up in the single-player game.

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The key fact you'll want to know to know is that the kit includes everything they used to make the actual game, plus some stuff that's exclusive to the user generated tool set. According to Jake, "There will be filters that will let you choose what types of user-generated missions you want to show up. Mission start locators will stream into the actual single-player game, so you'll see them as you run around. Filters will keep it from being too crowded.

But if you want the full story, head on over to the inFamous 2 User Generated Missions Preview. But before you do that, head on after the jump to see a couple of images explaining how user-created missions will appear in the game.

Additionally, there will be a beta launching in early April, and the best beta levels will be chosen to be available in retail game when inFamous 2 launches on June 7th. Which, coincidentally, is the very first day of E3. Details about how to get in the beta will be revealed on March 14.

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Halo Reach: Top 10 Sticks Honorable Mentions: Episode 7 by Anoj (Gameplay/Countdown)

Posted by Game Buddy | Posted in Xbox 360 | Posted on 31-08-2011-05-2008

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www.youtube.com Click here to watch Halo Reach: Top 10 Sticks: Episode 7 by Anoj (Gameplay/Countdown) Halo Reach: Top 10 Sticks Honorable Mentions: Episode 7 by Anoj (Gameplay/Countdown) Top10Series Website: www.Top10Series.com Accepting Submissions for Episode 9: Accidental?

The Console Shoppy Update

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Dead Island prequel comic lurches online

Dead Island drops in just six short days, but if you have six minutes now you can read a brief teaser of the game's underlying plot and its major players in Deep Silver's newly released digital prequel comic.

Originally handed out as physical swag back at Comic-Con 2011, the 6-page comic is now available online courtesy of Marvel. It follows an investigative journalist by the name of Roger Howard who journeys to the island of Banoi's Royal Palms Resort to look into the illegal exploitation of the island's natural resources, only to come to face to face with ? surprise! - zombies. The story is sparse, and most of it is eaten up by pages detailing the game's four main characters, but it's a worthy read ? especially if Techland is planning to follow up on poor Mr.Howard in the actual game.

The comic is penned by William Dailey, with art provided by Jorge Lucas (Incredible Hulk, New Invaders), Juan Santacruz (Fantastic Four), Diego Olmos (Batman in Barcelona), Carlos Rodriguez (Thunderbolts), and Sergio Arino (Push, Wildstorm). Give it a read here.

The Dead Island story continues in full for PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and OnLive players on September 6^th in North America and September 9^th everywhere else.

Aug 30, 2011

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Game Reviews 2011

http://www.gamesreviews2010.com Gaming News and ReviewsTue, 30 Aug 2011 12:37:06 +0000enhourly1http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1.4http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/la-tale-online-keys-giveaway/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/la-tale-online-keys-giveaway/#commentsTue, 30 Aug 2011 11:32:03 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8764http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/la-tale-online-keys-giveaway/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/gears-of-war-3-gameplay-video/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/gears-of-war-3-gameplay-video/#commentsTue, 30 Aug 2011 11:25:04 +0000Evergreyhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8781http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/gears-of-war-3-gameplay-video/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/max-payne-3-new-screenshots/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/max-payne-3-new-screenshots/#commentsTue, 30 Aug 2011 10:57:50 +0000Evergreyhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8777http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/max-payne-3-new-screenshots/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/battlefield-3s-caspian-border-gameplay-trailer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/battlefield-3s-caspian-border-gameplay-trailer/#commentsTue, 30 Aug 2011 10:30:37 +0000Evergreyhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8772http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/battlefield-3s-caspian-border-gameplay-trailer/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/need-for-speed-the-run-gameplay-video/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/need-for-speed-the-run-gameplay-video/#commentsTue, 30 Aug 2011 10:20:00 +0000Evergreyhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8768http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/need-for-speed-the-run-gameplay-video/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/4storys-content-sneak-peek/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/4storys-content-sneak-peek/#commentsMon, 29 Aug 2011 12:07:28 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8762http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/4storys-content-sneak-peek/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/legendary-wars-1-million-downloads-massive-gameplay-update/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/legendary-wars-1-million-downloads-massive-gameplay-update/#commentsMon, 29 Aug 2011 11:43:19 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8760http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/legendary-wars-1-million-downloads-massive-gameplay-update/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/mommy-birds-1-1-free-adventure-game/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/mommy-birds-1-1-free-adventure-game/#commentsMon, 29 Aug 2011 11:29:24 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8757http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/mommy-birds-1-1-free-adventure-game/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/landgrabbers-1-1-real-time-medieval-conquest-strategy/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/landgrabbers-1-1-real-time-medieval-conquest-strategy/#commentsMon, 29 Aug 2011 10:43:25 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8754http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/landgrabbers-1-1-real-time-medieval-conquest-strategy/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/ninja-tap-1-0-classic-arcade-style-fun-at-your-fingertips/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/ninja-tap-1-0-classic-arcade-style-fun-at-your-fingertips/#commentsMon, 29 Aug 2011 10:32:48 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8751http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/ninja-tap-1-0-classic-arcade-style-fun-at-your-fingertips/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/red-stone-online-keys-giveaway/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/red-stone-online-keys-giveaway/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 13:04:34 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8745http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/red-stone-online-keys-giveaway/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/global-agendas-expansion-recursive-colony-coming-early-this-fall/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/global-agendas-expansion-recursive-colony-coming-early-this-fall/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 12:09:07 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8742http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/global-agendas-expansion-recursive-colony-coming-early-this-fall/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/starcraft-ii-wings-of-liberty-v1-3-4-and-v1-3-5-19-trainer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/starcraft-ii-wings-of-liberty-v1-3-4-and-v1-3-5-19-trainer/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 11:50:37 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8740http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/starcraft-ii-wings-of-liberty-v1-3-4-and-v1-3-5-19-trainer/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/transformers-war-for-cybertron-20-trainer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/transformers-war-for-cybertron-20-trainer/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 11:45:12 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8737http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/transformers-war-for-cybertron-20-trainer/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/devil-may-cry-4-v1-0-19-trainer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/devil-may-cry-4-v1-0-19-trainer/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 11:41:23 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8734http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/devil-may-cry-4-v1-0-19-trainer/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/terraria-v1-0-4-8-trainer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/terraria-v1-0-4-8-trainer/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 11:36:32 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8731http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/terraria-v1-0-4-8-trainer/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/limbo-3-trainer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/limbo-3-trainer/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 11:21:24 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8727http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/limbo-3-trainer/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/from-dust-3-trainer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/from-dust-3-trainer/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 11:18:14 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8724http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/from-dust-3-trainer/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/angry-birds-seasons-v1-5-1-2-trainer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/angry-birds-seasons-v1-5-1-2-trainer/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 11:12:08 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8721http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/angry-birds-seasons-v1-5-1-2-trainer/feed/0http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/f-e-a-r-3-v16-20-1060-19-trainer/ http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/f-e-a-r-3-v16-20-1060-19-trainer/#commentsFri, 26 Aug 2011 11:03:31 +0000Gamerhttp://www.gamesreviews2010.com/?p=8719http://www.gamesreviews2010.com/f-e-a-r-3-v16-20-1060-19-trainer/feed/0

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Radiant Silvergun Slated for September 14 Release on XBLA

Almost a full year to the day that it was confirmed by Microsoft, Radiant Silvergun will be released on the Xbox Live Arcade.

The Treasure-developed, vertically-scrolling shooter has never been officially released out of Japan, leading to it fetching some fairly high prices on eBay. It began as an arcade game in 1998 and was ported soon after to the Sega Saturn.

Prior to its announcement, Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa said in 2009 that Microsoft had asked for the game to be brought to Xbox 360.

"We're thinking about it, certainly, but it's not as simple as just saying 'OK, let's put it up,'" he explained. "I mean, sure, with Ikaruga, we released it as-is without having to do or add a great deal to the game, and it was popular and well accepted for what it was."

Treasure, well known for many of its shooters, had expressed interest in bringing the game to Xbox 360 as far back as 2008. It wanted to do more than a simple port, and as announced last year, it'll include online co-op for two players and a "secret Ikaruga playing style."

According to Treasure's Japanese website, Radiant will be out on September 14 for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15). It's unclear if this date only applies for Japan or if it'll be coming out in other markets on the same day, but hopefully the latter is the case.

Source: Impress Watch (via NeoGAF)

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Postcard from PAX: The Tick Makes a Comeback at PAX

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Ha ha, suckers.

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Bloodrayne: Betrayal is still a PSN timed exclusive (for one day)

BloodRayne: Betrayal ? the 2D comeback for the heroine of Uwe Boll?s Nazi-killing masterpiece, Playboy?s first virtual centerfold, and a couple of pretty average videogames a few years back ? has had its Xbox Live release date pushed forward to September 7. Those of you keeping a worryingly-obsessive eye out for developments on the BloodRayne: Betrayal front will notice that that?s just one day after the 9/6 release of the PSN version?

This is bad news for Sony, who?d been touting the title?s one-month window of PSN exclusivity as a triumph to rival Microsoft?s celebrated Summer of Arcade. We may never know what behind-the-scenes skullduggery caused Majesco to reconsider and reduce Sony?s window of exclusivity to a paltry 24 hours; however, fans of both platforms are sure to welcome the news as a means of bringing all players together under a shared appreciation of elegantly-animated side-on demon-hunting. That?s how this fanboy thing works, right?

Aug 29, 2011

Source: Twitter: BloodRayneGame

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New Professor Layton, its 100-Hour RPG, and Tetris: Axis All Dated

A pair of games headed to Nintendo handhelds this year have been dated today, one of which brings a very nice surprise with it.

Professor Layton and the Last Specter is the fourth game in the Layton series and has already been available in Japan for almost two years now. It's a prequel that kicks off a new trilogy and will finally be coming out on DS in North America on October 17. That's all well and good, but the best bit of information lies with Professor Layton's London Life.

We've heard from some time now about an RPG included with Specter that had you running around London as Layton himself. It's being developed by Mother 3 developer Brownie Brown and is said to last more than 100 hours, which is a hell of a lot for a bonus feature in a Layton game. It's nice to see that it won't be left out of the the North American release, but what's even better is that you won't have to first unlock it as you do in the Japanese game -- it can be played right out of the box.

London Life was originally announced as coming to the ROID game service in Japan. The somewhat dark video above shows off some gameplay footage of walking around London and then playing a juggling minigame.

As the 3DS is backwards compatible with DS games, you'll be able to enjoy Specter and the bonus London Life on 3DS in addition to DS. If you're looking for something specifically tailored for the newer platform, Nintendo also announced today an October 2 release date for Tetris: Axis. There are over 20 modes in all and it features eight-player multiplayer support that requires only one person to have a game card. SpotPass and augmented reality support are also promised, the latter of which can be seen here.

In a rather unfortunate bit of timing, though, EA made a Tetris-related announcement today as well; it's released a free version of Tetris on Android. EA claims this is the first time the game has been released for free.

This highlights the challenge Nintendo faces in trying to compete with the mobile games space: EA is releasing a free version of Tetris you can play on your phone while Nintendo is trying to sell you a game that GameStop lists for $34.99 on a dedicated gaming device. Axis does sound as if it's got a lot more content, but enough to justify $34.99?

Tetris DS sold quite well, with two million units being sold in just over a year. That was at a different time, though, so it should be interesting to see how well Axis manages to do when it has to compete with a free Android game and a $2.99 iOS game.

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The Light and How to Swing It: Healing is a zero-sum game

Hi there! Gametaggr.com is a gamer-powered social news site where you can submit, promote, save and keep track of everyday gaming news. Go ahead and register - you'll get access to all the sites features, plus it's totally free and only takes a moment.

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Sounding Off On Brink

Brink is certainly one of the most striking looking shooters coming in 2011, but it's also going to sound amazing. The attention to detail on the aural side of things is staggering, and the lion's share of the credit goes to Splash Damage's Audio Director Chris Sweetman, who has gone to great lengths to create a layered soundscape, as you'll find out if you read on?

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IGN AU: You started out working in film ? how different is the approach to directing audio in a game as opposed to film?

Chris Sweetman: If I'm honest, the process of actually designing the sounds is really no different. The big difference is the non-linear approach video games take instead of the linear approach you see in film, plus the implementation of sounds and music within memory constraints.

In film, you will generally approach it scene by scene and multiple sound editors will work on different scenes. The supervising sound editor will manage these teams and make sure that the sound is consistent through the reels in collaboration with the director. This process will normally take around four months.

AAA video games are worked on for upwards of two years, so the process is much more iterative. You might also find that certain features won't arrive until the last six months (such as cinematic or dialogue recording). Implementation is the big difference with us having to orchestrate thousands of sounds in real-time over the course of play!

IGN AU: How did the transition across to games come about? What appealed to you about working in this medium?

Chris Sweetman: When working in film during the early 90s I began to feel that the video game industry was pioneering in a lot of areas, and I figured that eventually the audio would follow a similar model to film. In my opinion everything had been done in film audio that could be done, but interactive audio excited me, and I've been passionate about it for over 15 years now.

In film you don't tend to have one person doing all the audio - you play to individuals' strengths and experience by having specific roles, such as sound designers, dialogue editors, foley editors and so on. The games industry hadn't started doing this in 1995, so there were practically no specific roles as "Sound Designer" when I began looking for a way in.

Luckily I met with a like-minded chap called Pat Phelan who was the audio manager at Gremlin Interactive. He was as forward-thinking as I was, and I had a job!

From films like Goldeneye to games such as Burnout Paradise, Sweetman has worked his audio magic on some cool projects.

IGN AU: What are the challenges of working with sound in an active soundscape where you don't have complete control?

Chris Sweetman: It can be a real challenge, but we do have control over most aspects of audio playback.

One of the biggest challenges is creating space so that every sound can be heard properly, especially in first-person shooters when you potentially have 16 characters all firing their weapons at the same time! We use many tools at our disposal to make sure that when this does happen -- and it will -- you are not faced with a wall of cacophonous sound!

One of my processes is to look at how to create harmony very early on in the development cycle by making sure that three main focus areas are all designed with that in mind. In the case of Brink, these were Weapons, Explosions & Foley:

Weapons:
I made sure that each faction would have different weapon sounds even if they were using a re-skinned version of the same weapon. Each faction's weapons are designed as different timbres (kind of like voices in a choir). This means that when you hear lots of weapons being fired at the same time in the game, your chances of it sounding harmonious are greatly increased.

Explosions:
We designed the explosions so they were different timbres to the weapons, which in turn means that they don't occupy the same sonic space as the weapons.

Foley:
Each character class has its own set of footsteps and Foley. This even changes depending on how much clothing you are wearing, again meaning that the chances of the sonic landscape cluttering up are limited.

It's like betting on a horse race while knowing which horses will cross the line first.

IGN AU: In a game like Brink, where there are multiple class-types, is an effort made to make each one sound distinctive? Could a trained-ear tell the difference between classes on the battlefield just by listening?

Chris Sweetman: For Brink I decided to let the dynamic mission auto-chatter handle most of that work. For instance, the Medic is the only one who will hear people shouting for a Medic, while an Engineer is the only class who hears "I'm stuck on a mine."

Aside from that, each body type has different sets of footsteps, so it is possible to tell what size of character is coming around that corner up ahead.

Your footsteps betray you, Luke. Oh, sorry, n00bpwner69.

IGN AU: One aspect of sound creation that is generally overlooked is Foley work. How much detail did you go into to try and achieve realistic sounding movement for all the physical abilities at the player's disposal? Are these sounds distinguishable enough to know whether someone is sliding towards you or vaulting over your head?

Chris Sweetman: I'm really glad you guys picked up on this, as I wholeheartedly agree.

For me Foley is the undiscovered country in video games. It can be so powerful in aiding the player experience, but sadly it's never given the attention it deserves in most titles. Foley was a massive focus for me on Brink; we spent three days at Shepperton Studio recording every footstep, every gun rattle, and every slide, so that we could really go to town on the Foley detailing. Each of our three different body types has its own set of footsteps, scuffs, stops and starts on every surface in the game.

Weapon Foley was another big focus, with each weapon having its own set of weapon movement. -- for example, the sounds change depending on if you are walking or using the SMART system. We also have sets of sounds for mantling, wall jumps, climbing and sliding.

I've taken an unusual approach with particular sounds in Brink. One such example would be the sliding, where you can actually hear the slide further away than you would normally. I felt it was an important gameplay choice, and made sure that even from a fair distance away you would hear it.

So yes, you can definitely hear if someone has just vaulted over your head or is sliding around a corner!

IGN AU: Your game features different ranges of sound depending on how you're shooting and how close you are to another player's gunfire. How did you achieve this and do you feel it will make the sound effects stand out significantly?

Chris Sweetman: The major difference with Brink is that we change the sound when aiming down the sights and focus more on the mechanical aspect of the weapon. The reason for this is twofold: first, it really allows the player to focus on the target without a huge weapon sound creating a distraction, and second, it also permits me to play with the style aspect of the weapon sounds. The iron sights are designed specifically for each weapon, and sit underneath the main weapon sound. When the player moves into iron sights, we lower the normal weapon sound in volume and add the mechanical layer in real-time.

In regards to the other player's gunfire, we use varying stages of distance from the player to play back different sound content. There are three distinct stages - near, mid and far - and the engine crossfades these samples depending on how far the other player is away from you. The great thing about this method is that it fills out your background ambience with an interactive battle. Every weapon sound you hear is what is happening on the battlefield right now!

On top of that, we also filter the ambience of each player through our auto chatter system, so when you get a message from another player over the radio, the soundscape at their location can be heard in the background.

Auto chatter sounds awesome, but can it also filter out foul-mouthed 12 year olds? Now that would be valuable tech.

IGN AU: How do you achieve clarity of sound when you have up to 16 players in an area, all running, jumping, speaking and firing at the same time?

Chris Sweetman: We decided early on that achieving sonic space was the most important thing for us to solve, and our Audio Programmer Simon Price and myself spent months on working out different systems to cull sounds.

Eventually we settled on various solutions. One of the big ones was Simon creating our version of HDR (High Dynamic Range) audio, which at its most basic is an automatic mixing system that scans the volume of a WAV file and decides what the playback volume should be based on the distance from the player.

Alongside HDR we also have a snapshot mixer system which ducks groups of sounds dependent on game states that we set up. For instance, when one of the commanders is speaking to the player about pertinent game information, we duck all other sounds in the world by about 30% to allow him to be heard.

IGN AU: What aspect of your work on Brink are you most proud of? What should we strain our ears to hear when the game comes out?

Chris Sweetman: I'm most proud of the Foley and sonic clarity that we have in Brink. You can hear every sound -- and when you have massive battles raging that's a real bonus!

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Grand Theft Auto: Vice City - FAQ/Guide (ZIP)

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343 Industries: Halo 4 begins the Reclaimer Trilogy

If you're a Halo die-hard ? not just ?someone who likes them games where the green feller shoots aliens,? but who's read all the novels, memorized all the scripts and doesn't find the relationship between Master Chief and Cortana creepy ? then does 343 Industries have a game for you. Hell, it's got three: the new games, it was revealed at a PAX panel this weekend, will explore the relationship between the faceless hero and his bodiless life-partner, as well as delving into the past of Chief and the Halo universe in what's being called the Reclaimer Trilogy. A concept-art trailer teases some of the games' upcoming sights and locations.

Here's a look at some concept art and footage from the new trilogy, animated and set to a foreboding soundtrack so you'll keep watching. The new games, 343 says, will explore elements mentioned as far back as the original Xbox titles, as well as those added to the terminals of Halo: Anniversary Edition. A point of comparison might be the Metroid Prime trilogy's elaboration on elements of the original side-on titles ? but 343's Josh Holmes promises the games will still ?play like Halo.?

Here, Frank O'Connor discusses the new trilogy with the best-named woman in games, Kiki Wolfkill. 343 says the new titles will go further into Master Chief's character as well as his ?unique relationship? with Cortana, aiming to ?sell the fantasy that Master Chief is an 800-pound hero that is part tank, part jet fighter.? Even for one of the most speculated-upon masked heroes in all of gaming, that's admittedly a possibility that hasn't been raised yet.

You've still got a year until Halo 4 offers some clues as to what an 800-pound hero that?s part tank, part jet fighter (come on, seriously) looks like ? which gives 343, Microsoft and co plenty of time to tell us more about the first in the Reclaimer Trilogy. Excited?

Aug 29, 2011

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 PAX 2011 (Moogle, pink hair, sparkles) trailer rulez

Before opening hands-on time with Final Fantasy XIII-2 to PAX attendees, Square Enix unveiled a new trailer mixing cinematic elements, exploration, and combat. We shall call it the Final Fantasy XIII-2 PAX 2011 trailer. We watched all two minutes and change of it and aren't any close to figuring out what happened to XIII's protagonist, Lighting, but we're confident her younger sister Serah will find her soon enough - obviously Serah won't be able to deal with a creature as powerful as Atlas with just her ridiculously constructed Moogle crossbow.

As far as we know, this is the first FF trailer to ever show the main character trip and fall. It's hardly an encouraging sign, but maybe through the course of the game Serah will discover that she's stronger than she thinks. Then again, maybe she won't. Final Fantasy XIII-2 launches next January for PS3 and 360.

�Aug 26, 2011

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Modern Warfare 3 ? Infinity Ward?s Robert Bowling Talks Elite, PS3 Vs. 360, and Spec-Ops

Monday, August 29th, 2011 at 12:40 am �

This week we had Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer games come to town to show off some more of Modern Warfare 3 single player as well as a preview of their retooled Spec-Ops mode. Creative strategist Robert Bowling or ?@fourzerotwo? as the gaming world knows him jumped on camera to talk about everything we need to know about what will undoubtedly be the biggest game in the series (and probably the year) thus far. While we couldn?t get him to talk about the whole modernwarfare3.com fiasco, he was ready to answer everything we threw at him. Make sure to check out the full interview below.

Tagged with: Bowling ? Elite ? Infinity ? Modern ? Robert ? SpecOps ? talks ? Ward's ? Warfare

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Sounding Off On Brink

Brink is certainly one of the most striking looking shooters coming in 2011, but it's also going to sound amazing. The attention to detail on the aural side of things is staggering, and the lion's share of the credit goes to Splash Damage's Audio Director Chris Sweetman, who has gone to great lengths to create a layered soundscape, as you'll find out if you read on?

---

IGN AU: You started out working in film ? how different is the approach to directing audio in a game as opposed to film?

Chris Sweetman: If I'm honest, the process of actually designing the sounds is really no different. The big difference is the non-linear approach video games take instead of the linear approach you see in film, plus the implementation of sounds and music within memory constraints.

In film, you will generally approach it scene by scene and multiple sound editors will work on different scenes. The supervising sound editor will manage these teams and make sure that the sound is consistent through the reels in collaboration with the director. This process will normally take around four months.

AAA video games are worked on for upwards of two years, so the process is much more iterative. You might also find that certain features won't arrive until the last six months (such as cinematic or dialogue recording). Implementation is the big difference with us having to orchestrate thousands of sounds in real-time over the course of play!

IGN AU: How did the transition across to games come about? What appealed to you about working in this medium?

Chris Sweetman: When working in film during the early 90s I began to feel that the video game industry was pioneering in a lot of areas, and I figured that eventually the audio would follow a similar model to film. In my opinion everything had been done in film audio that could be done, but interactive audio excited me, and I've been passionate about it for over 15 years now.

In film you don't tend to have one person doing all the audio - you play to individuals' strengths and experience by having specific roles, such as sound designers, dialogue editors, foley editors and so on. The games industry hadn't started doing this in 1995, so there were practically no specific roles as "Sound Designer" when I began looking for a way in.

Luckily I met with a like-minded chap called Pat Phelan who was the audio manager at Gremlin Interactive. He was as forward-thinking as I was, and I had a job!

From films like Goldeneye to games such as Burnout Paradise, Sweetman has worked his audio magic on some cool projects.

IGN AU: What are the challenges of working with sound in an active soundscape where you don't have complete control?

Chris Sweetman: It can be a real challenge, but we do have control over most aspects of audio playback.

One of the biggest challenges is creating space so that every sound can be heard properly, especially in first-person shooters when you potentially have 16 characters all firing their weapons at the same time! We use many tools at our disposal to make sure that when this does happen -- and it will -- you are not faced with a wall of cacophonous sound!

One of my processes is to look at how to create harmony very early on in the development cycle by making sure that three main focus areas are all designed with that in mind. In the case of Brink, these were Weapons, Explosions & Foley:

Weapons:
I made sure that each faction would have different weapon sounds even if they were using a re-skinned version of the same weapon. Each faction's weapons are designed as different timbres (kind of like voices in a choir). This means that when you hear lots of weapons being fired at the same time in the game, your chances of it sounding harmonious are greatly increased.

Explosions:
We designed the explosions so they were different timbres to the weapons, which in turn means that they don't occupy the same sonic space as the weapons.

Foley:
Each character class has its own set of footsteps and Foley. This even changes depending on how much clothing you are wearing, again meaning that the chances of the sonic landscape cluttering up are limited.

It's like betting on a horse race while knowing which horses will cross the line first.

IGN AU: In a game like Brink, where there are multiple class-types, is an effort made to make each one sound distinctive? Could a trained-ear tell the difference between classes on the battlefield just by listening?

Chris Sweetman: For Brink I decided to let the dynamic mission auto-chatter handle most of that work. For instance, the Medic is the only one who will hear people shouting for a Medic, while an Engineer is the only class who hears "I'm stuck on a mine."

Aside from that, each body type has different sets of footsteps, so it is possible to tell what size of character is coming around that corner up ahead.

Your footsteps betray you, Luke. Oh, sorry, n00bpwner69.

IGN AU: One aspect of sound creation that is generally overlooked is Foley work. How much detail did you go into to try and achieve realistic sounding movement for all the physical abilities at the player's disposal? Are these sounds distinguishable enough to know whether someone is sliding towards you or vaulting over your head?

Chris Sweetman: I'm really glad you guys picked up on this, as I wholeheartedly agree.

For me Foley is the undiscovered country in video games. It can be so powerful in aiding the player experience, but sadly it's never given the attention it deserves in most titles. Foley was a massive focus for me on Brink; we spent three days at Shepperton Studio recording every footstep, every gun rattle, and every slide, so that we could really go to town on the Foley detailing. Each of our three different body types has its own set of footsteps, scuffs, stops and starts on every surface in the game.

Weapon Foley was another big focus, with each weapon having its own set of weapon movement. -- for example, the sounds change depending on if you are walking or using the SMART system. We also have sets of sounds for mantling, wall jumps, climbing and sliding.

I've taken an unusual approach with particular sounds in Brink. One such example would be the sliding, where you can actually hear the slide further away than you would normally. I felt it was an important gameplay choice, and made sure that even from a fair distance away you would hear it.

So yes, you can definitely hear if someone has just vaulted over your head or is sliding around a corner!

IGN AU: Your game features different ranges of sound depending on how you're shooting and how close you are to another player's gunfire. How did you achieve this and do you feel it will make the sound effects stand out significantly?

Chris Sweetman: The major difference with Brink is that we change the sound when aiming down the sights and focus more on the mechanical aspect of the weapon. The reason for this is twofold: first, it really allows the player to focus on the target without a huge weapon sound creating a distraction, and second, it also permits me to play with the style aspect of the weapon sounds. The iron sights are designed specifically for each weapon, and sit underneath the main weapon sound. When the player moves into iron sights, we lower the normal weapon sound in volume and add the mechanical layer in real-time.

In regards to the other player's gunfire, we use varying stages of distance from the player to play back different sound content. There are three distinct stages - near, mid and far - and the engine crossfades these samples depending on how far the other player is away from you. The great thing about this method is that it fills out your background ambience with an interactive battle. Every weapon sound you hear is what is happening on the battlefield right now!

On top of that, we also filter the ambience of each player through our auto chatter system, so when you get a message from another player over the radio, the soundscape at their location can be heard in the background.

Auto chatter sounds awesome, but can it also filter out foul-mouthed 12 year olds? Now that would be valuable tech.

IGN AU: How do you achieve clarity of sound when you have up to 16 players in an area, all running, jumping, speaking and firing at the same time?

Chris Sweetman: We decided early on that achieving sonic space was the most important thing for us to solve, and our Audio Programmer Simon Price and myself spent months on working out different systems to cull sounds.

Eventually we settled on various solutions. One of the big ones was Simon creating our version of HDR (High Dynamic Range) audio, which at its most basic is an automatic mixing system that scans the volume of a WAV file and decides what the playback volume should be based on the distance from the player.

Alongside HDR we also have a snapshot mixer system which ducks groups of sounds dependent on game states that we set up. For instance, when one of the commanders is speaking to the player about pertinent game information, we duck all other sounds in the world by about 30% to allow him to be heard.

IGN AU: What aspect of your work on Brink are you most proud of? What should we strain our ears to hear when the game comes out?

Chris Sweetman: I'm most proud of the Foley and sonic clarity that we have in Brink. You can hear every sound -- and when you have massive battles raging that's a real bonus!

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Uber Pulls a Capcom And Announces Super Monday Night Combat

Just in time for PAX, Uber Entertainment is revealing Super Monday Night Combat, a game they?re not quite calling a sequel yet brings several updates to the game, kind of like a certain other franchise Capcom is very proud of. However, SMNC will be using the free-to-play pay model.

SMNC will bring three brand new characters: the Combatgirl, the Gunslinger, and my personal favorite, the Veteran, who will specialize in grappling. It will also sport new (livelier) maps, new turret mechanics, a new leveling system that will have an impact on gameplay, as well as the previous 6 classes (Assault, Assassin, Gunner, Tank, Sniper, and Support) returning with rebalanced skills and abilities.

In 2010, Uber Entertainment released the well received Monday Night Combat during last year?s Xbox Summer of Arcade promotion. Since then, the console version received an update (Spunky Cola Free DLC) while Uber brought the game over to Steam as well.

Both versions were commercial successes, but Uber told Kotaku that the creation of SMNC was because Uber wants to take their business in a direction where they can constantly update their game and be in control of it. The Steam version of MNC has helped the Uber team realize this, but Microsoft?s stringent rules and services presented an unwelcome barrier for the console version.

I?m a big fan of MNC, and my favoritism for it has even gotten me in trouble before. The lack of concrete console plans is a downer but making this new game free-to-play certainly seems like an exciting decision.

Super Monday Night Combat can be expected sometime this winter.

Popularity: 1% [?]

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Catherine Brings Sexy Puzzle Gaming To US This Summer

Atlus has announced that the formerly Japanese-only sexy action-adventure puzzle game Catherine is coming to the US this summer from the director of Persona 3 and Persona 4, Katsura Hashino. We've mentioned Catherine before and it's described by Atlus as "an unprecedented exploration of the pleasures and horrors of love." The game follows the story of Vincent, a young man who is plunged into a love triangle between his girlfriend Katherine and his titular one-night-stand Catherine.

The game will feature multiple endings as well as co-op multiplayer modes called 'Escape With or From a Friend'. Catherine is being released for both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 consoles.

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Google begins gradual rollout of games in Google Plus

After early indications were discovered in Google Plus source code -- and after anyone ever looked at Google Plus and applied common sense -- we knew games would be available on the social network soon.

Today, Google began rolling out a small assortment of games, including the ubiquitous Angry Birds, EA2D's Dragon Age Legends, and sudoku. You know, Facebook stuff. A "Games" button at the top of your stream will take you to the available games, if the rollout has made it to your account. If it hasn't, Google says it will "soon."

Google's game implementation differs from Facebook in that game-related status updates are cordoned off into the "Games" page, so you can only see them when you are looking at game stuff. Unlike Facebook, you won't have to banish all your friends when they develop Zynga problems.

[Thanks, Dylan!]

Update: Venturebeat reports that Google is only taking 5 percent commission on its games, another advantage over Facebook (who takes 30). And on the new Google Plus platform blog, engineering director David Glazer claims Plus is taking a "quality over quantity" approach with its games. Developers and new game features will be added in "small steps."

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?Grand Slam Tennis 2? Announced, Coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 in 2012

If you?ve every played a match in Grand Slam Tennis, but thought your experience would be better served (pun intended) with the precise controls of a controller rather than the waggle of the Wii-mote, EA Sports has just the thing for you. Announced today is the next iteration of Grand Slam Tennis ? appropriately titled Grand Slam Tennis 2 ? that will be headed to both the Xbox 360 and PS3 for HD court-smashing action.

Receiving generally favorable reviews, the first Grand Slam Tennis was EA Sports? response to gamers clamoring for a more simulation version of the type of tennis that helped sell a ton of Wiis in Wii Sports. There were plans to bring that iteration to the PS3 and the Xbox 360, but they never panned out.

This time, though, EA Sports isn?t going to let that opportunity slip through their fingers, and plans to make Grand Slam 2 the closest thing to a multi-platform title as they can. What this means for the future of the Grand Slam Tennis property, whether the publisher is transitioning the title into a yearly release, is unclear, but that seems very likely.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 also boasts the type of deep features that gamers have come to expect from other EA titles like Madden or FIFA ? things like career mode and realistic AI ? but, being a tennis game, it still can lend itself well to motion control.

As such, EA Sports have included PlayStation Move support in Grand Slam Tennis 2 for all those gamers who want a combination of the ?get up and do it? attitude of a Wii title with the simulation and HD graphics of a PS3 sports game.

We?re still a ways away from Grand Slam Tennis 2?s release, but any tennis fans that have become bored by the continued domination of titles like Top Spin have something new to look forward to. Expect more footage of the game to be released, including an in-depth look at the game?s roster of current Pros and past Legends, in the months to come.

What do you think of Grand Slam Tennis making the move to PS3 and Xbox 360? Do you think tennis holds a place in the pantheon of popular video game sports?

Grand Slam Tennis 2 is slated for a 2012 release on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

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Catherine Brings Sexy Puzzle Gaming To US This Summer

Atlus has announced that the formerly Japanese-only sexy action-adventure puzzle game Catherine is coming to the US this summer from the director of Persona 3 and Persona 4, Katsura Hashino. We've mentioned Catherine before and it's described by Atlus as "an unprecedented exploration of the pleasures and horrors of love." The game follows the story of Vincent, a young man who is plunged into a love triangle between his girlfriend Katherine and his titular one-night-stand Catherine.

The game will feature multiple endings as well as co-op multiplayer modes called 'Escape With or From a Friend'. Catherine is being released for both the Xbox 360 and the Playstation 3 consoles.

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Amazing Spider-Man?s voice actor talks up Spider-Man: Edge of Time

If you?ve played any Spider-Man games or watched any Spider-Man TV shows, then you?ve already heard voice actor Josh Keaton deliver Peter Parker?s signature witty banter. He?s voiced the wall-crawler in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, and the Marvel Super Hero Squad games, and he?s returning to voice the Amazing Spider-Man in Spider-Man: Edge of Time. In this trailer for the game, Keaton talks up the character, and explains why the stakes are so much higher this time around. He also says ?You?re also going to have to compete against time? itself,? with a straight face, proving why none of us could ever be voice actors.

Just as was the case with Shattered Dimensions, Amazing Spider-Man is just one of collection of Spider-Men (can we say that?) to shoot webs across Manhattan. In the video you can see Christopher Daniel Barnes, voice of Spider-Man 2099, delivering his character?s lines as well. You even get to see the two arguing, space-time continuum be damned.

Edge of Time is due out on October 4 for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, Nintendo DS, and Nintendo 3DS, giving you plenty of options as to how you want to compete against time? itself.

Hahahahaha! See? We couldn?t keep help but laugh. Man, Keaton is good.

Aug 26, 2011

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Valve's first Counter-Strike: Global Offensive trailer reveals cross-platform play

Valve packed along a preview of Counter-Strike: Global Offensive with it for this weekend's Pax Prime in Washington, but for all those relegated to watching the big show at home, it's also released its stat-filled teaser trailer on the net. Fast-forward past the self-congratulatory bits for a peak at the new cross-platform multiplayer features coming in the 2012 downloadable sequel.

Valve announced Counter-Strike: Global Offensive earlier this month, and is teaming up with its Counter-Strike: Source co-horts at Hidden Path Entertainment for its development. As indicated in the video, the new game will sport better visuals, more weapon variety, expanded online modes and the ability to share games between all available consoles and computers.

"For the past 12 years, it has continued to be one of the most-played games in the world, headlining competitive gaming tournaments and selling over 25 million units worldwide across the franchise. CS: GO promises to expand on CS' award-winning gameplay and deliver it to gamers on the PC as well as the next gen consoles and the Mac," said Doug Lombard, VP of Marketing at Valve.

Counter-Strike: Global Offensive is scheduled to deploy on PSN, XBLA, and (of course) Steam early next year.

Aug 26, 2011

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Postcard from PAX: The Digital Game Museum: Keeping Old Games Alive Since Just a Little Bit Ago

If you've got some free time at PAX -- hell, even if you don't -- make your way to the sixth floor showroom and check out the Digital Game Museum's booth. They're a new organization dedication to preserving gaming history, and that's a damned honorable goal if there ever was one. As seen in the pic above, they have quite a selection of old game packaging on hand (though the organization seeks to preserve more than just boxes), along with all the physical trinkets and doo-dads games used to contain back when the user base consisted entirely of dedicated nerds (and I say that with affection). You can also play a few old PC games at the booth, and I managed to mess around with The Curse of Monkey Island enough to land it on my "must replay soon" list. But perhaps the coolest thing about the Digital Games Museum project is the fact that you can adopt the game of your choice for an entire year for just 20 dollars -- and guys, I'm calling dibs on Maniac Mansion.

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Assassin?s Creed: Revelations Multiplayer Beta Exclusive to PlayStation 3

Ubisoft has announced that a special multiplayer beta stage will be held for its upcoming Assassin?s Creed: Revelations title next month, exclusively on the PlayStation 3 console, for now at least.

Assassin?s Creed: Revelations is set to be one of the biggest games released by Ubisoft this year, promising to tie up the storylines that focused on the first two main protagonists, Altair and Ezio, while taking Desmond to a whole new level in terms of narrative.

What's more, the multiplayer mode will also be overhauled, with new features, modes and characters set to be included in the game.

In order to properly highlight the improvements to the online mode, Ubisoft has revealed that a special multiplayer beta stage will be running next month, exclusively for PlayStation 3 owners who have a premium PlayStation Plus membership or who are enrolled in the Uplay network managed by Ubisoft itself.

Check out everything that's included in the multiplayer beta for Assassin?s Creed: Revelations below.

Characters
Nine characters are available in the Beta which are all unlocked for your use at the outset. Though they share the same overall behavior, their animations differ and their ability sets are customizable. Available Characters include: The Sentinel, The Vanguard, The Guardian, The Vizier, The Thespian, The Deacon, The Bombardier, The Trickster and The Champion.

Maps
Three maps are available in the Beta and are all unlocked from the outset. Be sure to pay attention to their layouts in-game as these maps have been tuned to allow more strategy than those in Assassin?s Creed Brotherhood (it?s easier to break line-of-sight, for example).

� Knight?s Hospital
� Antioch
� Constantinople

Modes
Four modes are available in the Beta and are all unlocked from the outset. Two of these modes are returning favorites from Assassin?s Creed Brotherhood, while the other two are brand new modes designed in response to player feedback. Available Modes include: Wanted, Manhunt, Deathmatch (NEW), and Artifact Assault (NEW).

Abilities
Eight Abilities are available in the Beta, but only some are available initially while others must be unlocked by increasing your rank. Although some Abilities return from Assassin?s Creed Brotherhood, you may notice some slight tweaks resulting from player feedback. Available Abilities include: Tripwire Bomb (NEW), Closure (NEW), Disguise, Fire Crackers, Throwing Knives, Smoke Bomb, Poison and Morph.
The beta starts on September 3 and ends on September 11, but no word yet on if it hits other platforms, like Xbox 360 or PC, or non-PS Plus/Uplay members.�

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Electronic Arts Wants Alpha Centauri Linked Trademarks

Video game publisher Electronic Arts has filed two trademarks with the United States Patent and Trademark Office linked to one of the best strategy games of the last twenty years, Alpha Centauri, suggesting that the company might be ready to create another title using the same concepts and mechanics.The first of the trademarks is linked to ?entertainment services, namely, providing an on-line computer game; provision of information relating to electronic computer games provided via the Internet.?

The second one refers to ?computer game software; downloadable computer game software via a global computer network and wireless devices.?

The two trademarks were found by Gamespot and have been filed on August 1.

Electronic Arts has been known to file new trademarks for properties that it has no plans to further develop in order to protect its rights for the games it already has in its portfolio.

Strategy fans will probably hope that the situation is different for Alpha Centauri and that the company is actually working on something related to the franchise.

Alpha Centauri has been created mainly by Brian Reynolds, with some input from Sid Meier, and is a sort of a spin-off for Civilization, showing what happens with the crew of the spaceship that is a victory condition in the turn based franchise.

The game has seven wildly different factions, all filled with personality, that land on Alpha Centauri and need to deal with each other but also with the aggressive plant life of the world.

The game is notable for its story, for the way it combined grand strategy with micro management and for the complexity of both its research and its design mechanics.

Firaxis is currently working with Take Two on the Civilization franchise while Brian Reynolds is at the moment employed by Zynga, where he recently created Facebook title Empires & Allies.

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Fallout New Vegas Skill Books Location Guide

Fallout New Vegas features Skill Magazines and Skill Books as items that increase player stats.

The difference between Skill Books and Skill Magazines is, the effect of using Skill Magazine is temporary while the effect of using a Skill Book is permanent.

That makes finding Skill Books more important and useful in our quest to survive in Post Apocalyptic Wastelands of Las Vegas.

For more on Fallout New Vegas read our walkthrough, unique weapons, unique armor and outfits and Perks.

I have listed down every Skill Book you can find in the wastelands of New Vegas categorized by each type in name, location, description format.

Table of Contents

Big Book of Science

Big Book of Science #1
Location. Brewer?s Beer Bootlegging
It is in the backroom lying on a table just on the right side of the chem kit.

Big Book of Science #2
Location. Camp Forlorn Hope
Look at the right corner-desk in the Command Center.

Big Book of Science #3
Location. Executive Suites
Go to the Sierra Madre Casino and head towards its Executive Suites area, get into Vera?s room and search her book shelf.

Big Book of Science #4
Location. HELIOS ONE
You?ll get this as a reward once you run the power of the network (That Lucky Old Sun)

Big Book of Science #5
Location. Nipton Hall
On the top floor of the Mayor?s office, on a desk. (Joseph Steyn)

Big Book of Science #6
Location. Repconn HQ
Go inside the door which is next to the radioactive barrel, then go past the 2nd door and you?ll see it on the table.

Big Book of Science #7
Location. Research Center
Look between the Xander Plants, just next to the skeleton. South of the Y-O building.

Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual

Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual #1
Location. Camp Searchlight
It is in the basement, lying just next to the metal shelves. (East Chapel)

Chinese Army : Special Ops Training Manual #2
Location. Goodsprings
You will find it inside the house of Trudy and Sunny Smiles, east from the schoolhouse. You will find it on the book shelf. You need to steal it.

Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual #3
Location. NCR Sharecropper farms
The barracks are located near the four water towers; it is inside them next to some files and papers.

Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual #4
Location. Puesta del Sol switching station
There is a big machine in the eastern most room ? go towards the south of the room to find it. That machine has a catwalk and the book is on it.

Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual #5
Location. Vault 3
Go to the Living Quarters and go below the stairs from the recreation area, turn right and look on the shelves.

Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual #6
Location. X-13 Research Facility
It is in the room where you get the chest plate, just opposite to the door lying on the floor.

Chinese Army: Special Ops Training Manual #7
Location. X-13 Research Facility
It is given to you once you?ve completed the stealth suit tests.

D.C Journal of Internal Medicine

D.C Journal of Internal Medicine #1
Location. Followers Safehouse
Go to the second room and look the bed-side table.

D.C Journal of Internal Medicine #2
Location. Helios One
Go to the main building, 1st floor. It is lying on the bed of the room which had the Eastern terminal?s password.

D.C Journal of Internal Medicine #3
Location. Mesquite Mountains Crater
Check out the table beneath the Hat-like globe, Hell?s Motel.

D.C Journal of Internal Medicine #4
Location. Villa Clinic
Get to the basement and find the fire extinguisher, the book is in the cabinet just next to it.

Deans Electronics

Deans Electronics #1
Location. Abandoned Bunker
There is a reloading bench just next to the office; there is a metal sill on its opposite where the book can be found.

Dean?s Electronics #2
Location. Nellis AirForce Base
It?s on the big counter, Loyal?s house.

Dean?s Electronics #3
Location. Puesta del Sol Switching Station
It is next to the terminal which shuts off the power of the speakers, 2nd level of the station. Christine is recommended to be used in this one because her perk lowers the speaker power.

Dean?s Electronics #4
Location. Sloan
Look at the top left shelf just after you enter into the Worker Barracks.

Dean?s Electronics #5
Location. Southern Nevada Wind Farm
It is on the table which has the scrap metal.

Duck and Cover

Duck and Cover #1
Location. Mojave Outpost
Get in to the barracks and look beneath the bar?s counter, on the shelf.

Duck and Cover! #2
Location. Nellis AirForce Base
Get into the Pearl?s Barracks and find the grenade rifle, there is a book shelf just above to it.

Duck and Cover! #3
Location. Residential District
Go to the room where you meet Dean Domino, it is underneath the bed. You will have to use explosives and throwing spears to get the book though.

Duck and Cover! #4
Location. Sloan
It is on the shelf just beneath the first aid kit, Worker Barracks.

Grognak the Barbarian

Grognak the Barbarian #1
Location. Cannibal Johonson?s Crave
Just next to the fire, lying on the mattress.

Grognak the Barbarian #2
Location. Cottonwood Cove
1st floor, next to the bed of the nightstand ? Headquarter building.

Grognak the Barbarian #3
Location. Hidden Supply Cave
Get into the cave and find it near the metallic crates.

Grognak the Barbarian #4
Location. Jacobstown
Head towards the lodge and enter the first house at the Eastern side and you will find it near the oven.

Grognak the Barbarian #5
Location. Police Station
Get to the northwest far-corner of the basement; it is in front of the filing cabinets.

Guns and Bullets

Guns and Bullets #1
Location. Gomorrah
Go to the upper floor and look on the left side, it is on the first book shelf. Big Sal?s office.

Guns and Bullets #2
Location. Nevada Highway Patrol Station
Search the desks.

Guns and Bullets #3
Location. Raul?s Shack
There is a crate just next to a door.

Guns and Bullets #4
Location. Sierra Madre Casino
You?ll have to get into the cashier?s area, get to the 2nd floor and jump onto the beams so you can enter into the caged area. Search for it near the cashier?s table.

Guns and Bullets #5
Location. Vault-34
Go to the lounge (armory level) and find it near the pool table which is just next to the reloading bench.

Lying, Congressional Style

Lying, Congressional Style #1
Location. Brooks Tumbleweed Ranch
Go upstairs, into the room where the chessboard is located. It is a locker.

Lying, Congressional Style #2
Location. Cerulean Robotics
Next to the office desks, lying on the floor.

Lying, Congressional Style #3
Location. Lucky Jim Mine
It is inside the house (Lucky Jim Mine)

Lying, Congressional Style #4
Location. NCR CF
Get to the 2nd floor of the administration office, it is on the desk.

Lying, Congressional Style #5
Location. The Tampico
Opposite to the projector.

Nikola Tesla and You

Nikola Tesla and You #1
Location. Hidden Valley
Go to Schuler?s office, it?s in the white dust-bin. Just next to his desk.

Nikola Tesla and You #2
Location. Old Nuclear Test Site
It?s on the table, next to the exit door ? Irradiated shack

Nikola Tesla and You #3
Location. Repconn HQ
Go to the first floor, and get to the top of the safe. You can either go via the security door or get to the 3rd floor and grab the key which is next to the skeleton, in a suitcase.

Nikola Tesla and You #4
Location. REPCONN HQ
Get to second floor and enter into the first room of your right side, check the computer table.

Nikola Tesla and You #5
Location. Sierra Madre Casino Vault
There are few pipes just before the vault?s door, jump onto them and go past the walkway. Check the bag.

Pugilism Illustrated

Pugilism Illustrated #1
Location. Fisherman?s Pride Shack
Get into the shack and check on the bedside table.

Pugilism Illustrated #2
Location. Nipton Road Reststop
There is a shelf at the center of the room, of the store.

Pugilism Illustrated #3
Location. The Tops
Go to the casino and enter into the Presidential suite, there is a pool room, check the corner table.

Pugilism Illustrated #4
Location. Vault 11
Go to the female dorm -1 of the living quarters, just next to the wardrobe.

Pugilism Illustrated #5
Location. Villa
Just next to the fountain.

Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor

Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor #1
Location. Allied Technlogies Offices
Go to the biggest room of the area, and find it infront of the Nuka-Cola vending machine.

Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor #2
Location. Cap Counterfeiting Shack
It is in the small cellar room, just next to the bed on a suitcase.

Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor #3
Location. Primm
Go to the giftshop and search behind its counter ? Bison Steve Hotel.

Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor #4
Location. Salida del Sol
Check out the book shelf of the building which is opposite to the Salida del Sol House. (South)

Tales of a Junktown Jerky Vendor #5
Location. Vault 22
Go to the Pest Control and look on the table. (Laboratory)

Tumblers Today

Tumblers Today #1
Location. Bitter Springs Recreation Area
There are two rooms inside the office area, get into the smaller one and look on the table.

Tumblers Today #2
Location. Sierra Madre Casino
There is a room at the SE side of the casino?s floor area which has an auto doc in it, there is a tool cabinet behind the bar, it?s on it.

Tumblers Today #3
Location. Silver Peak Mine
Get into the shack, at the right side of the entrance there are two tables, it is behind them lying on the floor.

Tumblers Today #4
Location. The Prospector?s Den
Enter into the big barracks room of the caves. It is lying on the floor on the right side. (Caves)

Tumblers Today #5
Location. Wolfhorn Ranch
There is a fridge without its door, check beneath it. (Inside Farmhouse)

Wasteland Survival Guide

Wasteland Survival Guide #1
Location. Lone Wolf Radio
Next to the mattress (In Radio? Trailer)

Wasteland Survival Guide #2
Location. Matthews Animal Husbandry Farm
Next to the barrel crate of the top balcony ? North Barn

Wasteland Survival Guide #3
Location. Mesquite Mountains Camp Site
Get into the western tent and you?ll find it lying on the ground just next to the toolbox.

Wasteland Survival Guide #4
Location. Scavenger Platform
Go to the northern platform and check the broken metal bookshelf.

Workbench Crate

Workbench Crate #1
Location. Angel Cave
Check out the right side of Joshua Graham just when you enter in the cave for the first time

Workbench Crate #2
Location. Cueva Guarache
You can go the Survivalist?s room by walking into the corridor, and then past the pile of wood and then triggering the locked door by causing some damage to it, the book is in the room.

Workbench Crate #3
Location. Fallen Rock Cave
This is in the room from where you get the Compliance Regulator, enable the frag mines and get to the bottom.

Workbench Crate #4
Location. Stone Bone?s Cave
It is in the same room from where you collect the Desert Ranger combat Armor.

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