What began as an innovation from Ubisoft with Assassin’s Creed in 2007 became an award winning series with over 28 million units sold. Among the awards given to Ubisoft for Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood were IGN’s E3 Best Action Game and the Writer’s Guild Award for Best in Video Game Writing all in 2010! The same year Brotherhood also raked in the Best Action-Adventure game of the Video Game Awards. They even added in a little humor for the character winners of their respective awards: Ezio Award Winner Humor.

So…what now? Revelations! According to an interview of the lead writer, Darby McDevitt on CVG, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations will NOT be the end of the series, because it will not answer all our “burning questions.” It is not mentioned in this interview if Ezio’s story will end, however.

Another interesting article that backs and adds to this claim I came across was one in which the AC: Revelations lead game designer Alexandre Breault said that there is no way creating an annual Assassin’s Creed series could “fatigue the franchise”. He more specifically says that “As long as each iteration is better than the previous one, we believe players will want more of it. They won’t say ‘enough of Assassin’s’ as long as the game is better than the previous one.” More of the interview can be seen on Gamerzines.

As much as I would love to play a successful AC game every year, fans have their doubts including I. A few more comforting quotes I want to get down before I end this article are some by the production manager Jean-Francois Boivin:

“We know what we’re doing, we’ve had a plan for a long time where this license is going to go.”

“Assassin’s Creed 3: new setting, new hero. That’s the way it works.”

“Assassin’s Creed 3 is yet to be officially announced. Don’t be surprised to see it next year.”

I’m extremely excited, but a little worried as well. By the way, these quotes pretty much make the end Ezio’s trilogy a certainty.

In the meantime, enjoy the Assassin’s Creed Revelations E3 trailer that brings this gamer tears to her eyes every time she watches it. This is from Machinima’s youtube page:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Hopefully you haven’t left yet so I can tell you about what I really wanted your attention for. Yes, it does involve Dark Age of Camelot.

We’re listening, you fat piece of shit.

Thank you for staying tuned. How long has it been since you’ve enjoyed the glory of RvR? No, I don’t mean the abortion of RvR that was present in Mythic’s failed Warhammer Online game. I mean real RvR. The kind where three realms go head to head on a battlefield, sieging keeps, slaying epic beasts, forming alliances, and claiming the rights to the world’s most powerful relics.

I know your mind is fluttering with thoughts of a time long ago where PvP in an MMO was actually interesting and purposeful to your entire faction. What would you do if you had a chance to revisit the past? Would you take the reins of life and steer them into the right direction?

Yeah, Umar. Cool story, bro. We can always resub to DAOC and its dwindling population, new rule sets, or play on classic servers for a nominal monthly fee.

Yes, that’s true. You could do that or…

You could play the sonuvabitch for free on the Uthgard Free Shard server. Yes, I said free. It is a DAOC emulated server with all the classic rule sets and additional content added from the staff.

The population is healthy and the community is active. All the instructions to download the game and get it working takes no longer than 5-10mins once the game has been installed. Enjoy your crusade as a proud member of Albion, mystify the world with your fairy magics in Hibernia, or bathe in the blood of the mighty as a Midgardian. That’s it. I have nothing else to say. Go play, haters.

The aforementioned trip was my first vacation and would see us visit the land of my forebears. Namely, the Torbay area of Devon, and we would stay in a rented cottage. I was around 11 or 12 at the time and was very excited about my first trip away, it sounded fantastic, even if it would be occurring in the school summer holidays, thereby failing to ensure that I’d miss any schooltime! For those who don’t know, Torbay is a beautiful area of the Devonshire coast known as “the English Riviera”. It enjoys a mild climate and is home to a sizable marina, some top beaches, three lovely resort towns - Torquay, Paignton, and Brixham, which collectively feature many sights and attractions of magnificent splendour. I, however, ultimately saw very little of all this after I first wandered past an amusement arcade.

Up until this point I’d had little interest in arcades. Sure, I’d seen most of the big-name machines like Centipede, Asteroids and the like dotted around here and there and I had a bash on occasion like when my dad would give me a few 10p coins to use on the Space Invaders machine at my youth club, but videogames were still a niche subculture at this time - some games had intrigued me but none had ever truly captured my imagination. Until, that is, I happened upon one of the several arcades in Torquay and something caught my eye. I saw a machine, big, bright red, gleaming like a….. Ferrari! Now cars were an interest of mine at that time. This magnificent-looking machine grabbed me by the ears and pulled me in.

I arrived beside the dauntingly large machine. I felt a mixture of excitement and nervousness. Amazing images greeted my young eyes. It was fast and colourful. The sounds came booming out of the speakers. There was actual music… The arcade games I’d seen before were pretty impressive, but I’d never seen anything like this – it was amazing! After moaning at my parents for what seemed like an eternity, they yielded and bestowed upon me a shiny fifty pence coin. I finally lowered myself into the large seat armed with the coin and immediately felt more important. I deployed it and selected the music – Magical Sound Shower of course - and began the game. The excitement as I floored the accelerator and zoomed away from the start line was immense.

I soon reached the first corner of the exquisite Coconut Beach Boulevard, started to turn the wheel and – oh my God! – the whole seat moved! I managed to get as far as the uphill chicane before succumbing to the ever-precarious tree-lined roadside. Upon hitting them for the first time, the whole machine shook around! To say that this was unexpected would be to put it mildly – this was quite incredible! Unfortunately this revelatory experience didn’t last much longer as my time expired, but it was to become an important experience for me. Suffice to say, and the rest of this holiday was predominantly spent in the various arcades of Torquay, and most of that time, sat in an OutRun machine’s seat.

It’s hard to explain how much Outrun means to me. It was the first videogame I ever really played properly – the beginning of what was to become a passionate, not to mention expensive hobby, which has been vigorously pursued ever since. It’s a real possibility that had this encounter not taken place, I may not even be a casual gamer now, let alone the hardcore gaming nerd that I became and remain. The holiday had to end though, and upon returning to Hampshire, the source of my obsession was nowhere to be found. This situation was soon rectified, however. After a hard fought campaign, my parents finally bought me a Sega Master System, on which I had discovered I could play Outrun. I had to pay them back of course, so three years of paper rounds ensued, all proceeds going to this cause. It didn’t matter though – I had Outrun!

Great! Finally some games I have been looking forward to are coming out! This 2011 *might* be a good year!

DC Universe Online, January 11 2011

This MMO might be really fun based on all the teasers and videos I saw of developers giving us details about it, but let’s see how it really is when it is live. I’ll probably wait for my friends to get this (Umar, ahem) and tell me how shitty or great it is. Still, it looks fun, so it might be worth it for you if you love the DC Universe, even if the game is just okay. I actually got excited about this one when the first teasers leaked and I don’t care too much about most MMOs that come out.

Venetica, January 11 2011

Something about this game, just based on the trailer makes me think it probably won’t do that well unless it has something really unique to it.

Spellforce 2: Faith in Destiny, January 12 2011

These RPG-RTS games are pretty good. Although this expansion is not made by Phenomic who make one of my favorite games Battleforge, this is still made by Jowood who makes a ton of sleeper games that are actually very, very good.

Dead Space 2 Box

Deadspace 2, January 25 2011

The first Deadspace was scary and brilliant. It was the total spiritually real successor to System Shock 2. Although Bioshock copies its formula every single freaking time from System Shock 2, Deadspace actually added a whole new level of horror and gruesomeness to the desolation and hopelessness of being stuck alone in a ship full of raving things that want to kill you, chop you up into a thousand pieces, and eat you.

Two Worlds 2, January 25 2011

Part one for Two Worlds was a fun game, although many people said it was pretty generic. I found the combat in the first one actually a LOT more fun than Oblivion, a game a lot of people always compare this one to. Yeah, it was generic but if the gameplay is fun, what’s the problem? Let’s see if Two Worlds 2 caters more to the hipster fanboys that hated the first one. ;]

gog holiday sale banner

So you are a little short on cash this year, but you are a classic gamer and you need your fix. Well Good Old Games has just launched their holiday sale that gives you 50% off pretty much every title they have. The offer is good from December 14th, 2010 until January 3rd, 2011.  In addition, GOG is also giving a free copy of Tyrian 2000 as a virtual stocking stuffer.

Check out just some of their awesome games:

gog sale list

And that is just a few of over 290 games they have on sale so head on over to GOG.com and tell em Obsolete Gamer sent ya.

giving a gift box

Something about Christmas brings out the good in all of us, encouraging us to help others that are less fortunate than others.  Sometimes, we are the ones that receive the help.

This year, ObsoleteGamer.com, EOGamer.com, Girlgamer.net, Hard4Games.com , UOForums.com, and UOHomeDecor.com are reaching out to you to give to a family in need.

Imagine loosing everything you had in a fire.  Imagine the Christmas tree, presents, keepsakes, mementos, clothes, gone a  little more than a week before Christmas.  Your five member family made it out of the home with their lives and only the clothes on their back.  This is what happened to the Conley Family of Flint, Mich., this past weekend.

Their 4-year-old son, Rylee, lost his Nintendo 64 and Donkey Kong game in the fire, a game he absolutely loved playing with his family.

The Conley children, Riley, age 4, center

Seeing as it’s Christmas, all of us at the above mentioned sites want to reach out and help this family and provide them with a gift for their son.  So our sites have teamed up in an effort to reach out to our readers during Christmas time to acquire the following items for the family before Christmas:

• Limited Edition Wii (The 25th Edition Red One)
• Donkey Kong Country Returns for the Wii
• 3 Wiimote + Chuk bundles
• Wii Charge Station Quad

Our goal: To raise at minimum $500 before Dec. 22 to purchase and deliver these items before Christmas to this family.

To make a donation towards the purchase of these items, please click here.

Conley family photo

Once the purchases have been made, I will scan copies of the receipts as well as take pictures of the boxes etc. being shipped to the family.  I will also be trying to contact a local group up there to perhaps have them deliver it and get pictures to show the family receiving it.

Personally, I’d like to raise up to $1,000 so the family can have the gifts and extra cash in this time of need.

Donations for this Christmas gift are being made to my Paypal account.  I have been a verified Paypal User for many years.  In addition, I also have a Paypal Debit card, which will allow me to easily access and purchase the items without any transfer delays.  My past history with donations for causes is well known.  If anyone questions my integrity, please feel free to follow up with the Sara Routh family who received the money donation to bring Sara home for the Big Bang event this summer.  You can see this here for more info.

Other Donations are being sought and accepted as well.  If you do not want to donate through us, you can read the following and donate directly to the family.  Below is a request from a family member for the Conley Family:

Please HELP! My aunt’s house burned down today! They lost everything in a fire!!

Sizes: boys 4t or 5t, women XL top, 14 pants, womens size 5 & 2, & mens Pants: 28-30 Shirt: small/medium. Please send donations to:
Laurie and Ryan Conley
c/o Don Sorensen
3354 Lynne Ave.
Flint, MI 48506.

Thank you!!!

Please help this family to have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year despite this tragedy.

TRON hot girl

Games Coming Out December 2010 For PC by Honorabili

I can’t believe December is such a weak month this year but then again not that many studios are going to be suicidal enough to go up against a WoW expansion…

Swords and Soldiers HD, December 1 2010

This game looks like a cute slaughter-fest and it’s available on Steam here. These kind of games remind me of Castlevania mixed with the slaughter of Worms. ^_^

TRON: Evolution, December 7 2010

I hope this game will be as amazing as TRON 2.0 I will surely play it anyways because I’m sort of a fanboy of TRON that being one of the movies I grew up watching almost every month of my childhood. You can view my review of the original TRON here. If you want the new TRON game, you can purchase it here from ebgames.com.

World of WarCraft: Cataclysm, December 7 2010

This is a requirement for every fanatical WoWhead. It’s very likely that if you are one, you already ordered it; if not, head over here to get it. Goodbye life!

Bejeweled 3, December 7 2010

I play Bejeweled pretty often. I don’t think I can justify paying $20 for a new version though… If you can, here is the link to the latest incarnation of this addicting puzzle game that’s a perfect time killer!

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam, December 18 2010

War-huh… what is it good for? VIDEO GAMES apparently! This Deer Hunter expansion to Bad Company 2 should inject some life into that game which is competing with the latest Call of Duty. Ah, when will this Battlefield vs Call of Duty battle ever end? ;-]

***

Merry freaking holidays kiddos!

NES Console System

One day you’re unwrapping the brand new console you got for Christmas in the middle eighties and the next thing you know you’re twenty-five years older and can play every title on a cellphone. The first NES has given millions of fans countless hours of fun over the last two decades and will continue so for a long time to come and so we want to wish the Nintendo Entertainment System a happy 25th birthday.

Today, October 18^th marks the 25^th anniversary of the NES being first sold in the U.S. Now some of you gaming history buffs might be thinking “Hey, I couldn’t get my NES until 86.” Well you are right. Originally the Nintendo was only available for limited release at the high-end boutique toy store known as FAO Schwarz. It was at the New York store that you could purchase the NES in 85; you would have to wait a bit longer before you could buy it elsewhere.

FAO Schwarz

When I purchased my NES it cost me around $159.00; however the pricing for what was called the Control Deck ran for about $129.00, it came with two controllers and the combo game of Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt. I remember repackaging my NES in the original box every night before bed. However, that didn’t last long and soon I was blowing on cartridges and punching it out of frustration, good times.

Gold Zelda NES cartridge

The Nintendo Entertainment system had an incredible decade long run in the U.S. From 1985 to 1995 thousands of games came out that won numerous awards and critical acclaim from critics and fans alike. This is the system that launched with titles such as Excite-bike, Baseball and Ice-climber and went on to offer titles like Metroid, Ninja Gaiden and the awesome Golden Edition Legend of Zelda. Not only games, but the NES had awesome accessories such as the NES Zapper, Robbie the robot and of course the power glove.

Powerglove advertisement

Now our good friend also had some growing pains. First off was the issue with the front loading system on the NES which was prone to come loose over time. Also the spring that held up the cartridge bay would sometimes break after limited use. Then of course there was the blowing on the cartridge thing which had more to do with the connectors than just dust particles alone. In addition to some hardware issues the NES suffered from a ton of horrible third party games and accessories that dragged the system down in its later years. You could find add-ons of one sort or another for the NES everywhere from drug stores to gas stations. Then came the awful games like 1UP 7UP and crash test dummies, not to mention the unlicensed games like the infamous Bible Adventures game.

Bible Adventures NES cartridge

However with over 60 million units sold worldwide and the continued success of Nintendo and its core titles there is no doubt that the NES is one of the king consoles of the 80’s. As said the classic games are still played today on phones, via emulators and even on flash game websites. The NES became an important part of many households just like the family television and we at Obsolete Gamer are thankful for the time spent and memories with our Nintendo Entertainment System.

On to the next 25!

Sonic the Hedgehog 4 Episode 1

For fans of the classic Sonic games Christmas has come early. This month you will be able to purchase Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1 on the iTunes App Store, Wii Shop Channel, Playstation Network and Xbox Live Arcade in just about a week.

Story

The story takes place right after Sonic and Knuckles. With Mecha Sonic destroyed and Eggman defeated Sonic returns the Master Emerald to Angel Island, but as you can guess the ol Doc isn’t going to take his defeat lightly.

Characters

SONIC:

Sonic is back and retains all his signature moves from the previous series including super speed, spin dash and homing attack. After defeating Dr. Eggman Sonic flies off into the sunset with Tales. Soon after he decides to take off on his own to discover a new territory and so begins the next adventure.

Dr. EGGMAN

Sometimes when you lose you think back on what you did wrong. After his defeat Dr. Eggman decides to go back and revisit and refine the best of what he created in the past. What this means for fans is some of the best areas and badniks from the previous titles with some new improvements.

Zones

Like many of the classic Sonic games Sonic 4 will bring you something old and something new. Some zones will have that familiar feel, but with updated graphics, music and badguys.

Splash Hill Zone

This zone will mirror many of the starting zones from classic Sonic including The Green hill zone. This costal paradise has green trees, rolling hills and bright blue waters, a perfect place for Dr. Egghead to start his mischief.

You can expect a lot of what you saw in Angel Hill with lots of rolling hills, spikes and springs to rocket you across the landscape. You can also swing from vines to get to higher ground and the waterfalls look pretty cool and you can swim up them to get to your destination.

Lost Labyrinth

Some fans call them zone clichés and I guess I have to agree to a point, but there is a reason for the pattern and in this case the old mixed with the new makes a great combination. In Lost Labyrinth the theme is ancient ruins in the vein of Aquatic Ruin from Sonic 2 and Marble Garden from Sonic 3. However, while this zone has the underwater ruin feel of its predecessors it adds a lot more including a Indian Jones style mining cart riding experience and you even get chased by a bolder and yes the water bubbles are still there.

This zone really takes the ruins aspect to the max; it almost has a Tomb Raider feel to it. There are classic areas to the zone including running through a maze, traversing underwater and needing to take in air bubbles. In addition you can ride a mine cart roller-coaster style and try and keep your balance on a metal bolder. If that isn’t enough there are water slides and a part where you have limited light.

Casino Street

It’s all bright lights and big city, the Casino inspired zone is taken directly from Sonic two and expanded upon with more bells and whistles than a Vegas slot machine. Speaking of which the Sonic slots are back where you can win or lose coins. Also returning is the pin ball themed areas that bounce you around the zone.

I loved the Casino Zone from “2” the slot machines were my favorite and I’m glad to see it back in “4”. I loved what they did with the playing cards being able to ride them and play mini-games with them. The pinball areas are well done and look to be a lot of fun and the over-all theme is presented nicely.

Mad Gear

It is the world Dr. Eggman wants to see, industrial with gears and pistons and I am sure a ton of pollution. This zone is in the same vein of Sonic 2’s Chemical Plant or Sonic 3’s Metropolis Zone. The colors here are not as bright and vibrant and that’s the point.

Every Sonic games has a zone like this which represents what kind of world Eggman wants, the steel and iron replaces the glass and trees of earlier levels. Also often the levels are harder to speed through as you end up spending more time jumping and avoiding traps and pitfalls.

Music

The music still has the melody of some of the earlier games, but a lot more is added to it compared to the tracks of Sonic 2 & 3. In each of the tracks you can hear the slightest hint of the original zone it was created based on and in some cases it is very clear.

[mp3player width=300 height=150 config=fmp_jw_osg_config-xml.xml playlist=sonic-the-hedgehog-4.xml]

Personally I like the simpler themes of the older games. I understand what Sega is doing adding more to their stage themes, but sometimes simple is good especially for those of us who love to remix.

Interview

From E2 2010

Breakdown

Here is a breakdown of what you need to know about Sonic 4:

• This is only Episode 1 meaning there will be future episodes
• There will be alternate endings if you collect all the emeralds and the ending will connect and continue with episode 2
• There will be 4 total zones with three acts per zone plus boss battles and bonus world
• There will be achievements which will unlock special endings
• New skills and characters along with zones will be released in future episodes

Some fans are already claiming Sega is milking it with the episodes, but from the looks of it you will get your money’s worth per episode. This is a complete game and while short will give you the bang for the buck, that is if you are a Sonic fan.

Release Info

Now that you have an idea of what to expect here is the low down on when and where you can find it and for how much:

• Nintendo Wii – Via Shop Channel – Oct 11^th for 1500 Wii points
• Playstation 3 – Via PlayStation Network – Oct 12^th for $14.99
• Xbox 360 – Via XBL Marketplace – Oct 13^th for 1200 Microsoft Points
• Iphone/Ipad – Via iTunes App Store – Oct 7^th for $9.99

[poll id="6"]

Overall

There was a lot of hate over some of the later Sonic games, fans wanted more of the original, but the question remains if this version will satisfy the purists who want their Sonic 2 & 3 days back with those who don’t want to shell out $15 bucks for what some call “New levels for an old game.”

I, like many old school gamers, care about the gameplay over the flashing lights, we rather play a good game that stays true to its roots than a re-envisioningthat ruins the franchise. The idea of updating slightly, but not changing too much is not new, just look at StarCraft 2 for an example. Personally as a fan of classic Sonic this game is a winner for me. Is it groundbreaking and new, no, but we tried that with Sonic and for me it did not live up to the name.

I look forward to this game and once I get my hands on it will bring you a more in depth review.

Super Mario Bros 3 Tanooki Suit

Think of the millions, perhaps billions of items out there in the universe of video games. If you could select any one of them as a gift for your favorite guy or gal what would it be? Maybe you would go back to classic gaming treat your lady to a pixelated piece of fruit from Pac-Man. Ladies maybe what would make your man’s day would be the completed gun from Heavy Barrel. What would I give out? Well for me it’s a no brainer, a Tanooki suit.

The Tanooki Suit first made its appearance in Super Mario Bros. 3, it was a rare item and pretty much once you lost it you would never see it again. The suit turned you into a raccoon looking creature but actually Tanooki suits are named after tanukis, Japanese creatures who, according to mythology, can use leaves to shapeshift and cause chaos.

Tanooki cosplay

Why would this be an awesome gift? Well first of all with the suit on you could run and take off to the skies and fly. Who wouldn’t want to do that? Secondly you could turn into a statue. I am not 100% sure how useful that would be, but if you need some quiet time that would do the trick. The most important part is how cute she would look in it.

Maybe for the guys it’s not as sexy. Also there is a furry component to wearing a suit like this pretty much anywhere, but who cares let your fur flag fly. Just be careful and don’t get her the frog suit or its game over.

Demon’s Soul box

If the hype surrounding the PS3 exclusive Demon’s Souls was to be believed, I was looking forward to a game with a brutal difficulty not seen since the heyday of Rygar and Battletoads; one that had a more terrifying atmosphere than Silent Hill; and with more varied and gruesome ways to die than Dragon’s Lair combined with Space Quest. In short, the ultimate challenge for the hard-core. With the bar set so high, it seemed likely to disappoint in at least some respects. What I found was a flawed but thoroughly enjoyable third person hack and slash/dungeon crawler that threatened to send me to a video game addiction clinic before I finally managed to best it.