First ‘Amalur’ DLC out March 20

You won’t have to wait much longer for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning‘s first story-based DLC to hit Xbox LIVE, PlayStation Network, Origin and Steam — March 20′s the day when you can crack open the mystery that is The Legend of Dead Kel. The DLC content also gives you access to Gallows End, a whole new continent to explore (over 15% of the map will be this new, additional land) with its own side quests and dungeons to explore. It also includes more Twists of Fate, eight new armor sets, eight new shields and 18 new weapons. In Gallows End, you’ll get the ultimate in housing — Gravehal Keep. It’s not just one building, oh no. It’s a full estate, stuffed with more back stories, side quests and perks. No price announcement came with this, so we can only really speculate. (My bet’s on $10.) Reckoning is available now, and we’ll have

Read more →

The Women of Electronic Arts

I love this video so hard. It’s great to see Electronic Arts (EA) do a video showcasing Women talking about what it’s like working at EA. The women featured in the video below are in a variety of positions and showcase the diversity at EA. Hopefully the video is inspiring to young women considering a career in games. We’re one of the few sites that go out of our way to feature various Women that work in the Game Industry. This is for a few reasons. One, I feel that women are not featured well in gaming media and second, to help young women be inspired by someone’s story. Enjoy this look at what it’s like working at EA.

Read more →

Pre-order ‘Mass Effect 3′ on Origin, get ‘Battlefield 3′ free

We’ve seen this sort of thing before — when Battlefield 3 was prepping for release, all of a sudden EA’s Origin service offered a deal providing a copy of Dead Space 2 to anyone who pre-ordered the game using the service. Now, assuming you want it, Origin is making a similar deal — pre-order Mass Effect 3 and get Battlefield 3 for free. This is all assuming, of course, that you can stop playing the Mass Effect 3 demo that dropped yesterday. And that you actually want the game for PC, because this is an Origin-only deal. Does marketing a game with pre-order content like this make you more likely to buy it in advance?

Read more →

Origin adds downloads from publishers that…well, aren’t EA

Electronic Arts announced today that they’re adding games to their Origin platform from publishers other than themselves. That’s an important step for the service to take if they ever want people to take it seriously (or as less of an annoyance), for sure. The first game to be added is Trion Worlds’ MMO Rift. Other titles are coming from ten more publishers (Robot Entertainment, CD PROJEKT RED, Freebird Games, Recoil Games, Autumn Games, 1C Company, inXile entertainment, Paradox Interactive, Core Learning Ltd. and N3V Games) in the coming months. “Origin is focused on providing choice to consumers and the games they play,” said Craig Rechenmacher, Vice President of Business Development and Marketing for Origin at EA. “From blockbuster franchises to high-quality independent titles, we’re bringing the industry’s best content to one place. We’re excited to welcome new partners and a diverse new line-up of titles to Origin today.” If you’re

Read more →

Latest trailer for ‘Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning’ is all about the art design

If you’ve played the demo for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning (you can read Keri’s thoughts on it very, very soon, by the way — my thoughts are best summarized by OMG YAY), you know the art style is a little different from most games in its category. Looks like 38 Studios and Big Huge Games is okay with letting us in on how, exactly, that happened with this lengthy trailer on the game’s art design. And I mean lengthy — it’s seven and a half minutes long. Grab a glass of lemonade or something. I don’t know. But you will enjoy this. Take a look:

Read more →

Me-ow! Katy Perry hooks up with ‘The Sims’ for ‘Showtime’ special edition

The Sims 3: Showtime is supposed to make your Sims big stars, right? Well, they might get a little extra somethin’-somethin’, thanks to EA Play’s new collaboration with Kitty Purry — I mean, Katy Perry. The new expansion, currently slated for a March release, will be getting a collector’s edition featuring the starlet, and future content featuring Perry will also be produced. “Today marks the start of the most integrated and exciting collaboration with any artist in the history of The Sims,” said Steve Schnur, Worldwide Executive of Music for EA. “Katy Perry has been a fan of The Sims for several years, and her Simlish recording of her hit ‘Hot and Cold’ featured in The Sims 2 series quickly became the most popular Simlish music video to date. We couldn’t be more excited to work with Katy and bring her distinctive talents, style and personality to the franchise’s global

Read more →

‘Kingdoms of Amalur’ and ‘Mass Effect 3′ share demo perks

Playing the demos for upcoming titles Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Mass Effect 3 will unlock special items as part of a cross-promotion deal surely orchestrated by EA, who is publishing both titles. The demo for Kingdoms of Amalur, available January 17, unlocks items for use in Mass Effect 3, and vice versa. “We are thrilled to have the opportunity to deliver this massive one-two punch with Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning and Mass Effect 3. We wanted to provide fans of the Mass Effect franchise with a unique set of rewards for diving into the expansive universe of Reckoning,” said Curt Schilling, Chairman and Founder of 38 Studios. Playing the Reckoning demo allows you to unlock two items for Mass Effect 3 inspired by the game: the Reckoner Knight Armor, and The Chakram Launcher weapon, the latter of which is only unlocked after completing the demo and watching the final

Read more →

This year’s Xbox 360 House Party led by new ‘Alan Wake’

Over on Xbox.com, a new House Party is on the way. This year’s one-game-a-week promotion looks to start off with something quite a few people have gotten excited about since its reveal at the VGAs — Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. This year’s House Party also features Warp from EA, Nexuiz from THQ Partners and Ubisoft’s long-awaited I Am Alive. Get a look at all of them in the trailer below.

Read more →

It’s ‘Showtime’ for ‘The Sims 3′ next March

Your Sims are about to become superstars. Well, they will in March, anyway. That’s when the Showtime expansion for The Sims 3 will debut for Windows and Mac. You’ll be able to tell your Sims’ rags-to-riches story with brand-new social features, too. “The Sims 3 Showtime is a huge step forward for The Sims franchise,” explains Scott Evans, General Manager of The Sims Studio. “For the first time, we are introducing social features that allow you to send your Sims to a friend’s game, perform at their venue in front of their Sims where you both will earn rewards, and capture and share these in-game moments of your rise to fame.” A pre-order of the expansion will net you a special “Limited Edition” of the game which features the “Ultimate Stage,” a fully-customizable performance venue with all the trimmings — props, backgrounds, lighting and special effects. Here’s a trailer for

Read more →

Guest Review – Star Wars: The Old Republic (Beta)

After finishing my second beta weekend, and with the NDA lifted, I wanted to splurge about how much I love the new Star Wars: The Old Republic – and how I don’t see it as an MMO. And that’s what’s getting me to play it (I’m not much of an MMO player).  A Bioware game through and through, there are a lot of things that I love and that have got me excited for the release this December. A warning for possible spoilers, though I’ve done my best to avoid anything major. As of now, I’ve levelled two different classes into their mid 20s, and my partner has played two as well – Sith Inquisitor and Smuggler for me, and Sith Warrior and Republic Trooper for him. We played on PvE servers for the most recent beta, and got to see both the Imperials and rebel scu – I mean,

Read more →