GamingZap

StarCraft 2 Released

The iconic StarCraft 2 was released yesterday worldwide and although there are no official reviews yet, the general consensus is that the game is meeting and exceeding expectations. With massive sales worldwide, the game is already a huge success both on and offline. There are a few mixed opinions about some of the battle.net settings and a few bugs but they are set to be ironed out soon and have already been noticed by Blizzard. If you don’t have the game yet, the minimum specs are as follows:

Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the latest Service Packs) with DirectX® 9.0c
2.6 GHz Pentium® IV or equivalent AMD Athlon® processor
128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better
12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

The game was released along with a special collector’s edition filled with goodies for the real die hard StarCraft fans. With competitive play already beginning and an online user base in excess of a million people on the first day, StarCraft 2 has already taken the world by storm. Stay ahead of the game with the best accessories you can find on GamingZap.com.

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Street Fighter X Tekken Announced

Capcom and Namco have teamed up for a surprising announcement. The two developers are collaborating to produce “Street Fighter X Tekken” and “Tekken X Street Fighter”. It is exactly what it sounds like: a fighting game that pits the characters from Street Fighter against those of Tekken. The fighters will all retain their signature moves. Note that it is not called Street Fighter vs. Tekken. The title is pronounced Street Fighter “Cross” Tekken.

During Capcom’s Comic-Con panel both a trailer and a gameplay demonstration were shown. The trailer showed Ryu meditating in a dojo when Kazuya Mishima from Tekken bursts through the door, ready to kick some ass. After the Street Fighter X Tekken logo was shown, the classic Pac-Man cut scenes were recreated with Mega Man chasing a ghost across the screen and then running the other way followed by Pac-Man.

Then Yoshinori Ono from Capcom and Katsuhiro Harada from Namco played against each other in a quick match. During gameplay, Ryu called in Chun Li to help him out and Kazuya called in Nina Williams for a ridiculous team-up attack. They fought on a futuristic battlefield with giant mechs roaming in the background. The game was running on a PlayStation 3. Visually, it looked very similar to Street Fighter IV with 2D gameplay and 3D rendered character models.

Street Fighter X Tekken is being developed for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. When will it be out? Capcom says “not for a while” and Namco also said it is creating its own version of the game, Tekken X Street Fighter, but details on that aren’t available at this time. Limited Edition accessories are going to be released along with the game and will be available on GamingZap.com as well as with many other gaming accessories.

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Halo Reach Xbox Bundle

It comes as no surprise that there were more announcements to be made regarding Halo: Reach, and so this year’s Comic-Con in San Diego was packed with Halo news. Along with a new Firefight mode and Forge World  Microsoft also announced a new Halo: Reach  limited edition Xbox 360 bundle and accessories.

The bundle will be released along with Reach on September 14th and comes with Halo: Reach, two wireless controllers. This version of the redesigned console has a 250 GB hard drive, built-in wireless, and costs $399. There are also a few special pack-ins including a token for Limited Edition Elite armor set, an episode of Halo Legends, and a Reach themed wired headset. The announcement also states that silver console has “custom sound effects” from the Halo universe.

The silver wireless controller and headset will be sold separately in late August. The controllers have a suggested price of $59.99 and come with a token for animated Covenant Banshee Avatar item. The headset has a suggested price of $49.99. A separate wireless headset has also been rumoured to be available at release separately. There is no news as of yet how widely these accessories will be available in Europe and the UK, but you can be sure that there will definitely at least be a small amount available on GamingZap.com along with many other accessories.

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New Marvel Vs Capcom 3 Characters

Marvel vs. Capcom 3’s character list just seems to keep growing lately. It’s not only the recently revealed Chun-Li, Doctor Doom, Super-Skrull, and Devil May Cry’s Trish who are joining the Marvel vs. Capcom fighting game fray. According to Marvel.com, there are apparently two more characters. The website for the venerated comic book publisher shows character art and in-game shots of both Thor and Okami’s Amaterasu. Neither character has yet been officially confirmed, but their appearance on Marvel.com seems somewhat official!

This could just be an official leak. The game is due to be released next year following a massive amount of hype, with a host of limited edition accessories to go with it. Mad Catz has already announced they will be doing a high quality limited edition joystick for the game which will be available on GamingZap.com along with many other accessories.

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Crazy Pre Order Bonus Sonic Hat

Sega’s revealed a Sonic Colours pre-order incentive in the States that sees early customers receive a barmy Sonic hat in the US. Those who pre-order the Wii or DS game in North America will receive a gigantic, blue Sonic hat. Reminiscent of the Scribblenauts  “Rooster Hat” bonus, this Sonic hat is the worm on GameStop’s hook for purchasing on either the Wii or DS.

The hat will be handed over for both online and in-store purchases when the game launches. If recent history serves as any indication, it may be easier to justify spending the money if one thinks of the game as being the pre-order bonus for the hat. There’s no word on the deal coming to Europe as yet and when contacted Sega UK replied with “no comment”. This hat probably won’t make you a better gamer, but there are plenty of accessories that will at GamingZap.com.

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Xbox 360 S Tops Charts

Microsoft’s Xbox 360 ‘Slim’ or ‘S’ enjoyed an amazing UK launch over the weekend - even out-performing the release of Sony’s PS3 Slim in 2009. The hardware was released at retail on Friday - with a host of sellers discounting the SKU or offering it as part of a cash-saving bundle.

The 250GB console is smaller than the Xbox 360 Elite, and comes with WiFi capability under its hood. It also contains one fan instead of the previous model’s two - something Microsoft guarantees will help kill off the Red Ring Of Death. It’s also very shiny. According to official UK industry data monitor GfK-ChartTrack, the XBox 360 S achieved the biggest ever launch in the UK for a “revised” home console - surpassing the launch sales of both PS2 Slim and PS3 Slim.

Over its first two days, the console sold around the same as the original Xbox 360’s launch sales total back in week 48 of 2005. Xbox 360 was the bestselling home console in the US in June as total monthly hardware sales increased five per cent year-over-year to $401.7 million. It was Microsoft’s  largest non-holiday month ever following the launch of the new slim version and $50 price cuts on older models, but DS retained first place on the rankings. Wii sales comfortably topped PS3s, but Sony will be happy that its system recorded an eleventh consecutive month of year-over-year unit increases.

June US console sales:
DS: 510,700
360: 451,700
Wii: 422,500
PS3: 304,800
PSP: 121,000

With the upcoming Kinect, sales for Xbox are again set to increase later this year. Accessorise for the Xbox 360 as well as other platforms will be available on GamingZap.com.

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Preload StarCraft 2 Today

The highly anticipated sequel to StarCraft is nearly here. The digitally-distributed version of StarCraft 2 is now available for pre-loading, so you can be absolutely ready for the game’s launch on July 27.

You don’t even need to pay right now - you can simple head over Blizzard’s site now to download the full encrypted client file. Only July 27 at 10am, users will be able to run the installer and activate their copy via Battle.net online system.The beta version of the Battle.net website is now live too, reports Shack News. To coincide with the release of StarCraft 2, Razer is releasing it’s range of official accessories for the game.

With the styling inspired by the game itself and incredibly high technical specs, it is a definite buy for fans of the series and genre alike. However, not only does the lighting change colour on these accessories but they are designed to reflect the APM (actions per minute) of the user or give alerts relative to the game, making the lighting more than just for show. I imagine that in a professional level game, all of these accessories would be glowing red. These will be available on GamingZap.com along with many other PC gaming accessories soon.

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Onslaught coming to PC

DICE has finally confirmed that the PC version of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will get the co-op focused Onslaught download content. The PS3 and Xbox 360 versions earlier this month, and now the PC version is to follow although the PC Gamer report offers no release date.

Battlefield Bad Company 2 has been extremely popular on all platfroms it has been released on, with the addition of the new game mode adding more variation on to the existing packages. Onslaught works like a cross between the existing Rush and Conquest modes in Bad Company 2. You and your squad are tasked with making your way to specific points while battling AI controlled opponents, which you then have to hold for a specific amount of time. Once you’ve held a point long enough, it detonates (similarly to an M-Com station in Rush), and a new section of the map opens up with a new point to grab.

This sounds simple, but in practice, it’s often anything but. Heavily armed enemies storm in from every direction, and turn up the heat when you try to hold capture points. From shotgun toting assault troopers to snipers, the AI won’t give up points without a fight. This is especially apparent when troop transports and tanks roll in and you’ll scramble to coordinate with your teammates to see who has the equipment needed to take them out.

‘Onslaught mode’ can be played with up to four players across four multiplayer maps; Valparaiso, Atacama Desert, Isla Inocentes, and Nelson Bay, which have been redesigned with new lighting, time of day, added vehicles and other effects. Pro level gaming accessories such as the  Razer equipment to help you with your objectives will be available on GamingZap.com to keep your performance at the top level.

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Kinect banned in China

Like the Xbox 360 itself, Microsoft’s upcoming Kinect motion control device for the console will not hit retail shelves in China when it launches this fall, the company’s Chinese division said this week. According to a SinoCast Daily Business Beat report, Microsoft China COO Michel Van Der Be said the peripheral is the latest game hardware release to fall prey to China’s Ministry of Culture edict issued in 2000, prohibiting the sale of video game equipment and accessories.

Van Der Ber did not indicate whether Microsoft would appeal the ban, but said the company intends to cooperate with local laws. There are very few instances of legally-available game consoles to buy in China, although Nintendo has made some inroads. In late 2003, the Chinese joint venture iQue released the iQue Player, a console based on Nintendo 64 hardware. iQue has also distributed a number of Nintendo portables in the territory, and Nintendo has indicated its intent to sell the Wii there.

Despite the ban, China hosts a significant “grey market” for game consoles, and according to a 2007 Gamasutra interview with Niko Partners analyst Niko Hanson, Xbox 360 was at the time this generation’s leader among those channels. The Kinect will be available on the more console friendly side of the world with GamingZap.com later this year.

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Black Ops to outsell Modern Warfare 2

Rumours that the next Call of Duty game “Black Ops” will not do as well without the backing of the original Infinity Ward staff have today been silenced by pre-order figures.  Pre-orders for Call of Duty: Black Ops are outpacing those of its predecessor Modern Warfare 2 as Treyarch’s Cold War shooter is set to shift 12 million units in the months following its November release.

The figure - culled from estimates by analyst Evan Wilson of Pacific Crest Securities - is still short of the 16 million that Modern Warfare 2 shifted over the Christmas period last year, but it’s a sign that headshots and killstreaks will once again dominate the festive period.

It also suggests that the ongoing Infinity Ward saga – which shows no signs of running out of steam – hasn’t had a significant impact on the popularity of the franchise. Treyarch is taking the reins for Call of Duty: Black Ops, and it’s all looking mighty impressive so far. Console versions are once again lucky enough to be released with limited edition Black Ops peripherals by Mad Catz which will be available on GamingZap.com along with many other accessories.

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