JOE’s Gaming Round-up 03/08

By Emmet Purcell

Welcome to another week of JOE's videogame round-up. As always, we're looking to provide you with up-to-the-minute news, download reviews, weekly charts and forthcoming release dates on a weekly basis. So if there’s anything you think we’re leaving out, or would like us to shine a spotlight on, feel free to leave a comment below.

News

Bungie to 'punish' online quitters in Halo: Reach

Hopefully quitters won't be as badly punished as this poor Spartan on the right

As any FIFA fans can tell you, there's nothing more frustrating than online quitters, 'rage-quitting' after going more than a few goals down mid-game. Similarly, it's a big problem for online shooters, as team rapidly lose players once their side begins to suffer a heavy losses. Halo: Reach developers Bungie have clearly had enough, and are now promising to 'punish' online quitters for their forthcoming release.

According to Bungie's Brian Jarrard, 'One of the new things people will be excited about is how we’re going to be able to penalise people who are habitually quitting out of games, which isn’t exactly cheating, but it creates a really negative experience for everybody else in the game. We actually have new tools now to detect that and eventually, people who do this habitually will actually be penalised." Jarrard then added that Bungie wants 'to be able to remove them [quitters] from the population so they can’t make everyone else keep having a bad time.”

Battlefield 3 beta invite included with Medal of Honor Limited Edition

This is a pic from Medal of Honor - don't get too excited

Are you a fan of Battlefield: Bad Company 2, or even the Medal of Honor series? Here is some good news for you - publishers EA have just announced that Limited Edition copies of their Medal of Honor reboot will include beta invites for Battlefield 3. Sadly, no other information on the latest in the Battlefield series was divulged, though it is thought that the beta will start sometime within the 12 months following Medal of Honor's October release. It's interesting to also note that Battlefield developers DICE have been working steadily on the mutliplayer aspect of the latest Medal of Honor, so perhaps we should expect some striking similarities between both series in the near future.

Purchase/Download of the Week

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (Xbox 360 Live Arcade, 1200 Microsoft Points - out August 3rd)

You may need a bigger telly

The classic Castlevania series returns, with Harmony of Despair bringing the familiar 2D side-scrolling that has enraptured gamers for over two decades, rather than the 3D stylings of forthcoming franchise reboot Lord of Shadows. The main twist in Despair, however, is that up to six players can compete in the online co-op story mode. It's certainly an interesting proposition, and the combination of retro side-scrolling gameplay with online connectivity has us very intriuged. Reviews have been slightly mixed though, and 1200 Microsoft Points is a lot of money - it's a tough decision but we're sure Castlevania fans won't be able to resist.

Friday Releases 06/08/10

Apparently these characters which bend the elements are actually known as 'benders'

Well, well, well - this is certainly a terrible week for new releases - especially since our 'pick' of the week is the videogame adaptation of M Night Shyamalan's The Last Airbender movie, which is released in cinemas in two weeks. We have absolutely no idea if this game is any good, aside from a 6/10 score for the Wii version from Nintendo Power, which claimed the title was 'pretty unspectacular' - a strange choice of words when you consider surely spectacle is all an Airbender game may have going for it? Ah well, at least Madden 11 and Kane & Lynch 2 are out soon...

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair (XBLA, released Tuesday 3th)

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The Last Airbender

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Art Academy

Sorceror's Apprentice

The Last Airbender

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