Me:

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You?

Beat Last of Us (clearly). I played half way through Duke Nukem Forever, then stopped.  I spent almost an hour on one boss battle, and then decided life was too short.  Now playing Killzone 3.

I've been playing a ton of The Last of Us multiplayer.  It is a total blast.

4.5? 4.5!

We are in the news offseason. This is so boring for news right now.

I decided to go the Game of Thrones route rather than Duke Nukem.

ONM preview Splinter Cell Blacklist

Looks pretty good, not only the gamepad features but it looks like the game engine is better on U too:

"We are taking full advantage of the hardware to really show off the details in our game, particularly with light and shadow "

This is looking like a solid buy for U owners.

ONM said:

"The GamePad screen is the player's version of Sam Fisher's arm computer or OPSAT (OPerational SATellite uplink)," explains Blacklist producer, Liu Jun. "Sam uses his OPSAT throughout the game to access and control his gadgets and to communicate with his team.

"With the Wii U version, the player gets to experience first-hand how OPSAT works for Sam and how it feels to operate it. In the Wii U version, players can see what Sam sees through the OPSAT and it's a very powerful feeling to choose how to use this gadget to make decisions as the leader of Fourth Echelon."

"Originally, Sam's OPSAT was based on real-world military prototypes and secret research programmes," states Jun, "but our inspiration is not just military. We look at exciting innovations and we find inspiration from the latest technology."

It's important to tread the line, though. A few years ago, flying killer robots would have been more Terminator than tactical espionage, but Blacklist's Tri-rotor finds its place here, thanks to the US government's deployment of similar drones overseas (thanks, Obama!).

You'll pilot it remotely to scout ahead, mark enemies and even explode with frag grenade force. Like ZombiU players whipping out their backpacks and glancing away from the TV, you'll need to pick your moments carefully, unless you want a bullet in the back. And in most scenarios, you don't.

The GamePad doesn't just help with gadgets. "Players are going to be constantly making tactical choices on the fly, such as, 'should I kill this guard or just knock him out?' or, 'should I use a Five-Seven with a silencer, or a shotgun?'" explains Jun. "We use the GamePad screen to help players make tactical choices on the fly, without breaking the game's flow or story's tension. So, at any moment and by simple touch, you can pick any of your weapons or gadgets, or switch from lethal to non-lethal takedowns."

Killing remotely is great, but nothing beats getting up close and personal. "Killing in Motion is a core gameplay philosophy in Splinter Cell: Blacklist, enabling the player to move through the environment to kill quickly and fluidly and we've connected this in an innovative way to the GamePad," says Jun. "By raising the GamePad, for example, you can activate the thermal vision on your GamePad screen. From there you can use the motion controls to scan the environment and conveniently mark enemies with a simple touch. Once you've mastered Sam's abilities, you can give the execute command, and enjoy the spectacle of the Killing in Motion you've just triggered on the screen."

With the GamePad, Blacklist isn't merely on par with the other consoles, but shaping up to be even better. "In the Wii U version of Blacklist we are taking full advantage of the hardware to really show off the details in our game, particularly with light and shadow, a core element of all Splinter Cell games," Jun tells us. "Also, it's the first time with a Nintendo console that we can offer an online multiplayer experience on par with the other consoles. It's an exciting challenge to design with two screens in mind and make them equally useful."

"At Ubisoft, we believe in exploring new technologies and we believe in the potential of the Wii U as a platform for core games. We already released many games for the platform including Assassin's Creed III and ZombiU. Really, the only question for us was whether we could do Splinter Cell justice on the Wii U. The answer is a big yes and we think Wii U owners will think it was the right decision, too."

gamingeek said:

The Game of Thrones route? So you walked about the mediterranean making everyone bow down before you with a self satisfied look on your face?

I had a fun day, the bank machine swallowed my card and didn't give me my money. It half ejected the card but not enough so you could pull it out then it started beeping like crazy and a guy behind me and I tried to get the card out by sticking a key into the slot. Of course this did not work and the machine just ate my card and the card of the chick behind us. We complained but since the machine would not be servied till tomorrow they could not give me the card back. So I have no money and no card and all the parking around the borough is now pay by card via telephone. So I can't even park.

Sounds like a fun day.

We need some damn news.

NEWS!!!

Dan Mattrick leaves! Jumping off the sinking ship I see.

Assassin's Creed creator feels the series focuses more on killing

You know I'd like to see more developers talk about games series they created and what they think about them after they stopped working on them. Mikami has very strongly hinted that he's not impressed with the current day RE games. And I know Yasuhiro Wada has said he didn't like that Harvest Moon started focusing so much on the social aspects (which is why he finally created Hometown Story).