As of today the survey Valve promised last week has gone live.  Filling out the survey through Steam acts as a "sign-up” form for the CS:GO beta and completing the survey will put you in line to get a CS:GO beta key from Valve.  Click here to launch the survey from Steam.  Make sure Steam is running for the link to work correctly.

In addition to a hardware component that is identical to the familiar Steam Hardware Survey, there is a survey component as well asking for brief information about your experience with CS:GO, which Valve asks that you answer honestly as they are recruiting beta testers of all skill levels and levels of Counter-Strike experience.

Here’s the text of the blog post about the survey on the official CS:GO site:

Last week we launched the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Beta by giving 7,000 keys to current CSS and CS 1.6 players. Monday 2,000 keys went out to community sites around the world.

Today we are opening up our online survey to everyone. The next keys will be sent on the basis of this survey. If you don’t fill it out, you won’t be getting a key.

Over the coming months we will make selections from the survey participants. Sometimes we might add experienced players, other times new players. Sometimes 1.6 players, sometimes CSS players, sometimes people who have played neither.

There are no wrong answers to the survey questions.

Make sure to fill out the survey today; next week we will make our first selection from the survey.

We will also continue to give gift keys to active CS:GO beta players to share with their friends. Earning these keys is easy, hit quick match and play CS:GO.

Check back later this week for our analysis on the recoil change and a new update this Friday.

In case you missed it – here is a link to the survey.

Additionally, we here at CounterStrikeGO.com have received a small number of beta keys to distribute ourselves, and we’ll be posting more information on that tomorrow and giving keys away on our Twitter (@CounterStrikeGO) and on this website.  Check back later for details.

Via Counter-Strike.net (Official)

I have decided to review a game that I stumbled upon called Gotham City Imposters.

Why you may ask? I originally downloaded this with a buddy as a joke, cause it just looked so funny.

Now when we initially launched the game you get to watch this great quirky video that is extremely hilarious. The tutorial is very informative and is worth going through for some of the button controls and to learn what specific items roles are.

The customization in this game is just incredible, for a $14.99 dollar game I expected a lot less. The gadgets, and weapons very balanced. Just little tip watch out for snipers. To my surprise this is the first game ever that I enjoyed sniping.

The characters are very detailed. You can make your player the most ridiculous Batman & Joker Impostor, or maybe you will take a serious approach to your costume.

The graphics of the maps are decent. I couldn’t see the designers doing it any other way as the game is meant to be a parody.

The game play is very good, but can be difficult if your not playing with well-coordinated teams. As a habit when I play a game I would play any class but sniper and found it hard to do when everyone on your team is running around trying to go all MW3 on people. When I switched to sniping solo play was good. Later during the night I had grouped up with one of our clan members Iblind. Iblind and Myself were coordinating our gameplay together and we kept destroying the other teams vs. my solo games, where our team would barely win or lose half the time.

I would love to see more game modes. I would have to say this is my only complaint.

Now one thing I never liked in games is Buy to get more XP Items or group XP items, as a gamer now that has very little time to keep up with some of you crazy gamers. I can’t complain it adds to the experience for me, and make it all that much harder for some stay at home gamers.

It’s hard to describe the game but my best explanation is Team Fortress 2 meets Borderlands.

Both PC and PS3 are similar, I did notice that the controls were more suitable for console gaming. The wait times are longer on PC.

I give this game an easy 9/10 on the account that the game play was unexpectedly good and for all the humor put into the game. For $14.99 this game is a no brainer and worth double that price.

I give the pc version a 7/10 due to the controls being so sensitive, and wait times are longer. Same game modes as PS3 version. Seeing more game modes would be a nice plus.

Hope to see some of the clan on this....soon.

SH00TZYU OUT!!!

In a bid to settle the age old rivalry between metal and hip hop, we give you the Battlefield 3™ Metal vs. Hip Hop Challenge!

This Saturday and Sunday, you have the opportunity to play with (and against) Hip Hop artists Mickey Factz and Big Boi or Metal heads Dave Mustaine from Megadeth and Jonathan Davis from Korn to see what genre reigns supreme: Metal or Hip Hop?

To pledge your allegiance to Hip Hop or Metal, make sure to become a fan of the hip or Metal Platoon of your choice on Battlelog. Which of the two sides can amass the most fans and claim the title as the biggest force in music? Click the links below to go directly to the Platoon of your choice become a fan and pledge your allegiance: 

Visit Dave Mustaine’s (Megadeth) Metal Platoon
Visit Big Boi’s Hip Hop Platoon
Visit Jonathan Davis’ (Korn) Metal Platoon
Visit Mickey Factz’ Hip Hop Platoon

January 7 and January 8, these artists will go head to head in Battlefield 3 for two hours. For a chance to join, become a fan of their Platoon and follow us on Twitter. We will tweet from @battlefield and post more information on the Platoon walls in Battlelog to let you know which servers you will find your favorite artist on. Read on for the full schedule.

Throughout the month of January, you can also take part in the Metal vs. Hip Hop war by creating your own custom Metal or Hip Hop Platoon on Battlelog. Just name your new Platoon "[MvsH] Metal” or "[MvsH] Hip Hop”, gather as many fans as you can and prove your allegiance by playing Battlefield 3 throughout January.
 
Any game you play for your Platoon will be automatically monitored by the powerful stats tools in Battlelog so everyone can see who has the most badass Platoon. After the end of January, DICE will crown the champions among the user generated Platoons in a number of areas, such as total score amassed, number of fans, and more.
 
Now go out there and fight for the glory of Metal or Hip Hop! Start by siding with one of our artist Platoons, then create your own. Stay tuned for details on what servers Dave Mustaine, Jonathan Davis, Big Boi and Mickey Factz will duke it out on this weekend.

The number and type of slots determine the modules (interchangeable hardware components that enhance or otherwise alter the functionality of the dropsuit), weapons, and equipment you can fit. The slot types available on dropsuits are as follows:

• Light
• Heavy
• Sidearm
• High
• Low
• Equipment
• Grenade

The three weapon slots – Light, Heavy, and Sidearm – cascade. That is, a Heavy slot can be fitted with a Sidearm, Light or Heavy weapon and, similarly, a Light slot can be fitted with a Light or Sidearm weapon. The high and low slots are module slots, each used for particular types of modules. Equipment slots allow the dropsuit to carry deployable or handheld equipment such as scanners, nanohives, drop uplinks, repair tools and more that will be covered in a future blog. Lastly, grenade slots determine the capacity (i.e. how many you can carry) of the grenade types – Locus, AV, EMP – fitted.

The intrinsic benefits of your chosen suit define, in part, the type of role you wish to fulfill on the battlefield but ultimately it’s how you choose to fit the suit that determines what it is capable of. Do you play to its strengths or do you surprise the enemy with an unconventional, risky fit? The choice is yours.

Dropsuits are classified as Standard, Advanced, and Prototype, each requiring specific skills to be trained before they can be used. Today, we’re going to take a look at two standard dropsuits: the Assault and Heavy.

Caldari Assault

The Caldari dropsuit design and aesthetic philosophy is heavily influenced by the culture’s origins on brutally frigid home worlds, dismissing stylistic notions in exchange for the ruthless, bare-minimum functionality requirements needed to keep a soldier alive. As such, the Caldari suit is notoriously uncomfortable and outright ungainly in some instances, yet remains in high demand due to its remarkable resilience in smart battlefields.

Standard Assault

The Assault dropsuit is a versatile frontline combat suit that combines excellent protection, good mobility, and sufficient equipment hard points for mission-specific customizations.

A flat-coil e5000 fifth generation fusion core runs up the inside of the back plate, powering the entire suit. Its output and heat buildup are controlled by a L2 "Gatekeeper” regulator conduit, which connects directly to the sensor system at the base of the neck. Every joint is reinforced with kinetic sensors and two-way, high torque servos to enhance the soldier’s strength, balance, and resistance to impact forces. The suit’s helmet has more integrated sensor, communication, targeting, and data processing systems than most civilian vehicles. Furthermore, every armor plate on the suit is energized to absorb the force of incoming plasma-based projectiles, neutralizing their ionization and reducing thermal damage.

Assault dropsuits are intended for standard combat operations or those in which the objectives are likely to change at a moment’s notice. Its ability to carry anything from small arms and explosives to heavy anti-vehicle munitions and deployable support gear makes it the most adaptable suit on the battlefield.

Amarr Heavy

The look of this Amarrian suit has changed little since it was first created, due largely to the commonly held belief that its original form is immaculate; the perfect amalgam of science and religion. Aesthetics are as important as function, because to the Amarr, aesthetics are function. Enshrined within the armor, the wearer becomes a vessel, the embodiment of God’s will and an instrument of holy wrath, unmistakable, and feared, by all who look upon him. To the Amarr, the dropsuit itself is the weapon.

Standard Heavy

The Heavy dropsuit is a second-generation solution designed to withstand concentrated small arms fire and protect the wearer from the concussive, thermal, and impact forces of low-grade explosives. Additionally, its power-assisted exoskeleton facilitates usage of the heaviest caliber personal weapons.

Every vital area of the wearer is protected by 25mm composite ceramic shell or high tensile steel plates, layered with impact absorbing, compressed carbon latticework. A secondary thermal dispersion membrane channels excess heat away from the point of contact, distributing it over a larger surface area and thereby lessening the potential damage. Superconductive veins of hybrid silver coat the outer layers and connect every piece of the armor to a grounding heat sink, dampening the harmful effects of direct fire electromagnetic weaponry.

Heavy dropsuits lack the mobility of lighter suits, but this trade-off results in a defensive system that defies standard infantry conventions. No other classification of personal armor can claim to be able to stand toe-to-toe with enemy vehicles and survive.

Even with just these two dropsuits, we can already see battlefield tactics starting to take shape. The Heavy can withstand a lot of punishment, but it has no equipment slots. Pairing it with another dropsuit capable of dropping ammunition replenishing nanohives or repairing from a distance will substantially increase the effectiveness of the Heavy. Alone, a Heavy could easily be outnumbered and outmaneuvered, but surrounded by allied Assault dropsuits it becomes a tank in every sense of the word, soaking up damage while the rest of the squad picks off the enemy.

Although formidable, the Heavy and Assault suits represent only one aspect of the battlefield eco-system. Sheer firepower will only get you so far. A smart squad will utilize the force multiplying support of the Logistics suit; the recon and electronic warfare specialties of the Scout; and all the modules and equipment they have at their disposal to become an unstoppable force. After all, one should never underestimate the value of a well-placed EMP grenade.

DUST 514 Interview: Changing Console Shooters Forever

We haven’t heard a great deal about DUST 514 since it was shown at E3 2011, other than that it’s a first-person shooter connected to the vast sci-fi universe of PC MMO EVE Online, and that it’s coming exclusively to PlayStation 3. When developers CCP made the trip from Iceland to London to outline their vision for this new addition to their immensely popular EVE universe, I came out of the meeting amazed at the scale of the project. Suffice to say, DUST 514 is not just another shooter.

After the meeting, I interrogated Brandon Laurino, Executive Producer at CCP, to find out exactly why PlayStation 3 owners should be getting excited.

(Early gameplay video)

http://www.viddler.com/explore/sceablog/videos/1851/

PS.Blog: With EVE Online, CCP already has a huge, engaged community. Why are you now trying to break into the console FPS market?

Brandon: EVE Online is an incredibly deep MMO and, for better or worse, that comes with a typical perception that it is complicated. The common joke is that you have to overcome a ‘learning cliff’ to get involved. Part of the thinking behind DUST 514 is to address those preconceptions; we accept that there is a barrier to entry with something as deep as EVE Online and we wanted to make it more accessible, providing another portal and dimension into the EVE universe. What’s more accessible to a gamer in this day and age than a shooter?

Why did you specifically choose PlayStation as your partner in making that happen?

Brandon: Obviously, we were attracted to the power and the feature set of PlayStation 3, but it really came down to Sony’s willingness to work with us in bringing an MMO to the platform. There have been attempts to bring MMO games to consoles in the past but we believe we’re now in a position to do it properly, using existing features on PS3 and the PlayStation Network, and collaboratively developing new features to support our vision.

Can you elaborate on your vision for a ‘proper’ MMO?

Brandon: We’re breaking so much ground with DUST 514: we’re not only building a full console MMO; we’re building one that feeds into another MMO on a completely different platform [PC]. We’re breaking more ground by bringing the microtransaction business model to a console shooter for the first time. All of this was inconceivable not too long ago, and it’s the partnership between CCP and Sony that’s finally making it happen.

Talking about the connectivity between DUST 514 and EVE Online, is this something that’s going to most benefit EVE players or is there equal benefit to those players first experiencing the universe through DUST 514?

Brandon: It runs both ways – you can be sure that we’re very conscious of that in our design, we run through all the different use cases constantly to ensure its well rounded. EVE Online players can continue playing just the way they are and new players can jump into DUST 514 and get a traditional shooter experience, if that’s what they like. There are aspects that are consistent between the two platforms, such as in-game currency, and there are ways that EVE Online players can impact events in DUST 514 and vice versa, all without harming the overall ecosystem.

Because we have this living universe we call EVE – a single shard server, where all EVE Online players and all DUST 514 players are literally in the same universe, not a bunch of split instances, with a huge variety of dynamics and interdependencies within the ecosystem of the sandbox we’ve created – people playing DUST 514 and people playing EVE Online are essentially providing user generated content for each other, just by their sheer presence and their actions in the game world. To give an example, for a player fighting on a planet surfaces in DUST 514, the actions of the EVE Online players can trigger epic moments and provide support that is completely user-driven. Similarly, a DUST 514 player could trigger an event from the ground and do something spectacular in EVE Online. This emergent behaviour and gameplay is only possible with our level of connectivity. These are the broad strokes, the gameplay and interactions run a lot deeper than that.

In that case, what’s to stop an EVE Online veteran blowing my corporation out of space?

Brandon: We have some rules of engagement that ensure nothing drastic happens without some kind of fair warning and time to prepare, this is basically carried over and expanded upon from large scale player-driven warfare in EVE Online, where sometimes users are coordinating battles involving tens of thousands of players at once. Additionally, there are things that you can earn or build, independently in DUST 514 and / or EVE Online, or collaboratively between the two, that will mitigate those scenarios.

Putting the philosophy to one side for a moment, what is DUST 514 going to be like to play when you’re on the ground, in battle?

Brandon: Essentially it’s a vehicular combat game on an extremely large scale, and then when you move into installations and outposts, it’s more infantry based. We’re using Unreal Engine 3 and we’ve incorporated a Mega Terrain engine into it that lets us create huge levels with varied terrain, with a vast array of vehicles ranging from buggies to tanks to aircraft. Typically, you would use vehicles to traverse the landscape and engage in closer combat when you deploy into outposts, but there is a huge amount of tactical freedom, way outside of those broad examples.

There’s some familiarity for players of shooters in that we have general classes or playstyles that we’ve worked out, such as light infantry and heavy weapons, but we’re hesitant to label them that way because we have something called the Fitting system – something that has been entirely ported over from EVE Online – where you can attach all manner of weapons and equipment to your character and your vehicles. It’s better to think of it like the character systems found in the deepest role-playing games; you can have the broad classes that are familiar to shooter fans, but there is massive freedom to expand on or go totally outside of them.

What’s the plan for expanding content in DUST 514?

Brandon: Right off the bat, we have literally thousands of in-game items built into the system; likewise, in terms of scale, you’re looking at a conflict taking place across thousands of planets, so we’re not just talking a dozen maps – we’re talking an entire universe of planets and areas of engagement within them. That’s the difference in scale we’re looking at here, and taking our experience with EVE Online and also, some inspiration found in the best microtransaction based MMOs, social and mobile games, and we’ve set up our workflow so that we can iterate and add new content very quickly. In terms of scale, depth and volume of content, DUST 514 will easily be the biggest multiplayer FPS on the market – also by virtue of being an MMOFPS, not just an FPS.

Talk us though how your beta is going to work.

Brandon: Just as we have done with EVE Online, we’re going to be telling a story with each of the events that happen in our game. To give a bit of context, in EVE Online you play as the pilot of a spaceship – a capsuleer – and in DUST 514 you play as a mercenary on the ground. It’s going to be a bit weird if, all of a sudden, we release the DUST 514 beta and all these mercenaries suddenly show up in the EVE universe, so the setting is that the first small group of players that get access to the Private Trials will be the first trial of this new mercenary technology in the context of EVE Online. Just as you’re helping to test the game in the real world, in the EVE world you’re taking part in war games organised to test this new mercenary technology.

With our Private Trials – we’re not calling it a Beta, but Private Trials in both the real world and the EVE fiction – we’re not taking the usual "on / off” method of rolling out a build and then taking it back and tweaking it, then rolling it out again; when we roll out with those first few users we are introducing mercenary technology to EVE, our "game as a service begins”, and the story will continue from there as that technology develops, further empowering the DUST 514 mercenaries from test subjects in war games to ultimately allowing them to take hold of their own future. It’s what we call a thematic rollout.

There will be people out there who will look at DUST 514 and assume it’s an EVE Online spin-off. How would you counter that?

Brandon: We’re not thinking of it in that way at all, I suppose is the easiest way to respond to that. The EVE universe is comprised of three experiences: one is the classic EVE Online play, "flying in space” or what we call FIS; there’s WIS or "walking in stations”, where you can now get out of your ship and explore the interiors of space stations; and the final piece is DUST 514 and we’ve nicknamed that SIF, or "shooting in face”. None of those three are spin-offs, they’re experiences of equal value that can be played independently or fully connected. If you’re connected then you’re going to get the rich emergent gameplay that runs through all three.

We have so much to talk about, much of which is new territory for me. Is there anything we haven’t mentioned that you really want to get across to our PlayStation.Blog readers?

Brandon: I hope it comes through that what we’re developing is a truly new experience on PS3 – on consoles in general. It is the deepest shooter with the richest universe ever conceived and, on top of that, by bringing to market an MMO with microtransactions, we could be changing the face of console gaming forever. This is groundbreaking stuff, but user choice is at the core – it’s playing the game however you want to play it. If you want a quick experience, you have it; if you’re looking for something deeper, it’s there. If you want to pay a very small amount of money to play, you can; if you want to be heavily invested, you can do that too. We’re providing a more extensive array of options than has ever been seen in a console game.

http://blog.us.playstation.com/2011/10/10/dust-514-interview-changing-console-shooters-forever/

Not on my watch – 25 points
Protect Chaffin from the soldiers in the street in Operation Swordbreaker

Involuntary Euthanasia – 25 points
Kill the 2 soldiers before the building falls on them in Uprising

The Professional – 30 points
Complete the street chase in Comrades in under 2 minutes 30 seconds without dying

Army of Darkness – 30 points
Shoot out the 4 lights with 4 bullets in Night Shift

Practice makes perfect – 15 points
Headshot each of the targets in the gun range in Kaffarov

What the hell *are* you? – 20 points
Take a russian Dog Tag in the forest ambush in Rock And A Hard Place (1)

Roadkill – 20 points
Kick the car to kill the soldiers in Uprising (2)

You can be my wingman anytime – 30 points
Complete Going Hunting in a perfect run

Scrap Metal – 25 points
Destroy 6 enemy tanks before reaching the fort in Thunder Run

Butterfly – 25 points
Take down the jet in one attempt in Rock And A Hard Place

Twofor – 15 points
Take down 2 enemies with 1 bullet in Night Shift

Ooh-rah! – 30 points
Complete the campaign story

Between a rock and a hard place – 15 points
Beat Solomon, flawlessly, in The Great Destroyer

Semper Fidelis – 50 points
Complete the campaign story on Hard (2)

Push On – 20 points
Reach the garage without going into man-down state in Hit and Run

Two-rah! – 30 points
Complete all co-op missions

Lock ‘n’ Load – 30 points
Unlock all unique co-op weapons

Car Lover – 20 points
Complete the mission without losing a humvee in Operation Exodus

In the nick of time – 20 points
Disarm the bomb in under 20 seconds in The Eleventh Hour

Bullseye – 20 points
Reach and save the hostages without alerting any enemies in Drop ‘em Like Liquid

Untouchable – 20 points
Complete the mission without using the fire extinguisher in Fire From The Sky

Army of Two – 50 points
Complete all co-op missions on Hard

Ninjas – 20 points
Reach the VIP without setting off the alarm in Exfiltration

Vehicle Warfare – 30 points
Obtain all 3 vehicle warfare ribbons

Infantry Efficiency – 30 points
Obtain all 4 weapon efficiency ribbons
Decorated – 50 points
Obtain one of each ribbon in the game

It’s better than nothing! – 30 points
Finish as 3rd MVP in a ranked match

Support Efficiency – 30 points
Obtain all 4 support efficiency ribbons

Colonel – 50 points
Achieve rank 45

1st Loser – 30 points
Finish as 2nd MVP in a ranked match

Most Valuable Player – 30 points
Finish as MVP in a ranked match

M.I.A – 20 points
Obtain your first enemy Dog Tag

Secret Achievements:
Secret Achievement – 20 points
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement – 20 points
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement – 20 points
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement – 20 points
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement – 30 points
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Secret Achievement – 10 points
Continue playing to unlock this secret achievement.

Roadkill with a jet anyone?

Take control of a chainsaw wielding, lollipop loving, pigtailed high school cheerleader as she fights her way through hordes of classmates-turned-zombies. From the brilliantly crazy mind of Giochi ‘Suda51’ Suda, enter Lollipop Chainsaw. Quite simply (in my mind at least), if that opening description doesn’t fill you with excitement and lust in equal measure then you’re either without a pulse, without eyes or don’t know what a cheerleader is.

However, a good concept doesn’t mean a thing if the gameplay doesn’t live up to the expectations it sets. Thankfully then, things look promising – Lollipop Chainsaw was undoubtedly one of the finest games shown (behind closed doors) at this year’s Gamescom.

Lollipop loving protagonist Juliet Starling is clearly the star of the show. Sporting cheeky winks, a (very) short skirt and the severed head of her friend ‘Nick’ around her waist she attacks zombies with the help of her chainsaw via a simple combo system that favours timing over complicated strings of inputs. The emphasis of Juliet's attacks is quite clearly on their visual impact rather than their technical execution.

Zombies literally explode when met with the chainsaw's blade, their bodies splattering blood in all directions across the candy-coloured environment of San Romero High School in which the first part of our demo was set. The palette is nothing short of sacchirine in its construction; reds are positively scarlet, blues are like lightning and yellows make those seen in Kill Bill look like dull browns. Despite their garishness though, the visual assault works in that it creates a stark, intense comic book sensibility that sings in unison with the madcap plot, characters and gameplay.

Furthermore, the HUD and screen filling place cards that introduce primary bosses have been constructed with the same style in mind. Juliet’s health (signified by a string of lollipops, obviously), her ‘star power’ meter and other onscreen bric-a-brac painted in the same ink dot technique employed in classic Americana comics of the 1960s. It’s silly, it’s over the top, it’s charming and, above all else, it’s so typically Suda51.

If you manage to dispatch numerous zombies in a single combo you’re treated to screen filling text indicating your success in the traditional Japanese videogame manner of an awkward translation - namely: ‘Good Hunting ‘X’ Zombies,’ in which ‘X’ signifies your kill count. The higher your count, and the flashier your attacks, the faster you’ll fill up Juliet’s star meter. When full you can trade-in your stars for a brief period of invincibility and increased damage.

During this time Juliet is shadowed by a large halo of rainbows and stars, further adding to the aesthetic onslaught and creating a distinct (if slightly unnerving) juxtaposition between explicit violence and post-watershed school girl imagery. In the midst of this is the severed, necktie wearing head hanging from our heroine’s waist. Nick, as he’s known, has some part to play in the plot and the gameplay but both the game’s developer Grasshopper Manufacture, and its publisher Warner Brothers, are keeping tight-lipped as to the exact nature of his involvement. 

Not everyone in San Romero High is a zombie, though. During our demo Juliet came across a couple of students that had somehow managed to avoid succumbing to the living dead; duly signified by their perfectly clean letterman jackets. On both occasions these students were under attack upon our arrival and required help to survive. If you manage to save them you’re rewarded (in our case with a lollipop shaped health pack), fail to rescue them and they turn into an extra tough zombie as punishment for your tardiness.

The San Romero section of the presentation ended with a battle against a ‘sub-boss’, Mr Fitzgerald. In keeping with the brash nature of the rest of the game, Fitzgerald introduces himself to Juliet with the line "I’m Fitzgerald, bitch!” hardly a fitting line for a school teacher… Apparently, you’ll know how to differentiate between regular zombies and sub-bosses by the fact that only the latter are given a name. If only real life held the same degree of clarity.

Potty-mouthed Fitzgerald uses a desk as a shield which, despite the fact that chainsaws are designed to cut wood, is impenetrable to Juliet’s attacks. Landing hits requires you to run around behind him and attack from the rear, a task our playthrough operator handled with practised ease. Beat Fitzgerald and you’re treated to the line: "You’re getting a C, bitch!” Apparently, Miss Starling is a high achiever and a 'C' is significant punishment for the vanquishing of a teacher.

The demo then jumped forward to a sequence featuring a fight against a 'proper' boss. ‘Punk Zombie Zed’ is the sort of punk you'd expect to see in a bad 1980s high school coming of age movie; complete with long leather coat, Dr Marten boots and spiked mohawk.

Zed's battle is split into three segments. In the first he runs around at motion blur-inducing speed, stopping occasionally to spike you with his microphone stand. The second sees him attack at range by turning the lyrics coming out of his mouth into physical objects of propulsion. Third, he fires discs of sound waves at you which you must avoid as they boomerang back towards him and eventually kill him. As Zed dies he lets out a scream of pain, invoking Juliet to give a sly smile to the camera and complain: "Geez, he’s so emo.”

Naturally, for a Suda51 title, Lollipop Chainsaw is looking every bit as indulgent, provocative and fantastical as the rest of the maestro’s output to date. Nothing makes sense, nothing is supposed to make sense and, for that very reason, everything seems to work. We'll have to wait and see whether or not it plays as good as it looks, but if it comes anywhere close then those with an itch for feminine zombie hunters are in for a treat.

The irony here though is that, despite being shown at Gamescom, the extreme levels of violence and gore means that Lollipop Chainsaw is probably going to be banned in Germany. In this instance, I’m glad that I don’t live there.

The first DLC for Battlefield 3 will be Back To Karkand, which has already been announced and will be offered for free to those who pre-order the game. Everyone else will have a chance to buy it approximately one month after BF3′s release (rumored to cost $10). Battlefield 3 ships on October 25 on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

DICE developers confirmed via Twitter that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions would run at 720p, as opposed to 1080p, which both consoles support. Furthermore, console versions would run at 30 frames per second, which is considered the bare minimum frame rate for first person shooters. The news comes after DICE developer Johan Anderson confirmed via Twitter that the game will run at 30 fps on consoles, and later confirmed that it will be in 720p as well.

It’s not a big surprise that Battlefield 3 won’t support 1080p — very few games are run in 1080p, especially graphics intensive shooters and action games (for instance, Crysis 2 ran at 720p and 30fps as well). Regarding the frame rate, it’s interesting to note that BF3′s main competitor, Modern Warfare 3 and its predecessors have always run at 60fps, which resulted in the familiar smooth gameplay that Call of Duty is known to deliver on consoles. On the other hand, Battlefield 3 and the new Frostbite engine offer full destruction, larger maps and more features than any Call of Duty game.

We just read this over our morning coffee and toast. We recommend you have a read of it, too, though we leave your choice of meal up to you.

The deal is this - yesterday, Eurogamer and then many other sites broke the news that Gearbox was working on Borderlands 2. It's interesting news, but really hardly surprising, given the game's success and 2K's marketing commitment to the game. However, therein lies the problem.

You see it would appear that Randy Pitchford, Gearbox's boss, believe that any sense of real journalism in gaming is so far out of place as to be deserving of namecalling. He came out swinging on Twitter, saying that anything unannounced didn't exist and that the article itself was shoddy journalism.

Of course, cut to the next day and 2K and Gearbox make the official announcement, and as that Ars article points out, therein lies the rub. 2K had an already extant agreement with Game Informer to break the news and details of the game.

It's worth repeating some of Ars' points, because we too worry that this shows exactly what parts of the games industry think of those who write about it - that we are merely an extension of their marketing department. No wonder a lot of readers have little faith in games journalism, when the industry that should be supporting us thinks so little as well.

All this on top of the looming presence of Game Informer. GI is a title that wields incredible power, and if that mag's signed an exclusive deal with 2K, then it's very likely there were discussions between both parties once that Eurogamer story broke. Atomic's had it's own issues with Game Informer's remarkably pull, when the mag refused to let us have a global lead on a Civilization V announcement - as if Atomic could in any way effect their sales! Because of that we were asked not to publish until after GI had their chance. Which, of course, would have effectively been a waste of time and not been 'news' at all. So we turned down the entire preview offer, cancelled our trip, and had to find another article.

It was annoying to say the least.

And again, that too was a 2K game, showing the very tight relationship the two companies have. As an Editor, I defend my exclusives too, but I'm not going to do it at the expense of another title.

It's a shame, really. I used to quite unashamedly like Randy Pitchford, and enjoy his work. But the man's making that harder and harder to do. Attacks like his on honest games journalists do not do anyone any favours.

Spain police also said they have been one of the first police forces in their country devoted to tracking Anonymous, who may have been responsible for several distributed denial-of-service attacks (DDOS) against business and government organizations.

Arrest were made in Barcelona, Alicante, and Valencia. One arrest in the city of Gijón had a computer in the house which was used to attack the PlayStation Network. The arrest not only helped officials pinpoint attacks on Sony PlayStation Network, but also dozens of other attacks including the bank BBVA, an Italian utility company called ENEL and government websites in Egypt, Algeria, Libya, Iran, Chilie, Colombia and New Zealand.

Anonymous have targeted groups like Scientology website and companies that have cut its ties with WikiLeaks, like Amazon.com, MasterCard, PayPal, PostFinance and Visa.

Spanish police also said Anonymous is responsible for attacks on Catalan police websites and an attack on the Central Electoral Board and UGT trade union back in May.

Names of those arrested have not been released yet.

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Playing a videogame on your home console used to be a pretty simple proposition. You bought the game in a store. You took it out of the package and inserted the cartridge into your home entertainment system. When the game didn’t work, you took out the cartridge and blew into it. (The "Blow Into It” method stopped working when games made the jump to disc technology, but toothpaste would usually do the trick.) Eventually, you got bored of the game and stuck it in the back of the closet forever, unless you got nostalgic or wanted to impress a girl with your Super Mario Bros. III speed-run (and if you found that girl then I pray you married her).

But that’s all changed in the last ten years. Online multiplayer technology has turned some games into backdoor national pastimes. That’s especially true of the massively successful Call of Duty series: The annual release of new entries in the first-person shooter has become a giant media event, and publisher Activision has attempted to reap more profits from the series out of downloadable content, including expansion packs and star-studded zombie mini-games. But like any good media company, Activision is now faced with an existential question: Now that we’ve made billions of dollars off of this franchise, how can we make more billions of dollars? The solution: A monthly subscription. Activision execs told the Wall Street Journal that they’re planning to launch "Call of Duty Elite,” a new premium service that will give Call of Duty players access to extra content, new maps, and social networking (why not?) for a monthly fee.

Now, keep in mind: Purchasing a new Call of Duty disc already costs $60, to say nothing of the start-up costs of purchasing a console, a controller, an internet connection, etc. It’s understandable that Activision would attempt to move Call of Duty into a subscription model; corporate sibling Blizzard has had monstrous success with their subscription-based World of Warcraft. And, lest gamers get in an uproar, "Elite” doesn’t seem entirely necessary — slapping "social media” onto a service and calling it "premium” feels very 2008 to me. But the apparent inconsequentiality of "Elite” is maybe the most disturbing thing about this move. In general, I’m skeptical about downloadable add-on content, and this feels like one more move towards a cash-grabbing mentality.

But maybe I’m wrong. Gamers who enjoy playing Call of Duty multiplayer at all hours might appreciate a premium subscription service. Heck, I almost wonder if "Call of Duty Elite” should separate out the more experienced players: I can’t believe all the foul-mouthed fifth-graders who have killed me literally hundreds of times actually enjoy playing against non-experts like me. What do you think, people? Would you pay a monthly subscription for a premium videogame service?