14 DAY TRIAL // We reviewed Alpha Protocol last week, giving it one of the best scores it had gotten from the gaming press, but we've kept playing the game this week, detailing our branching narrative experiences in a series of diaries. And, apart from a Weekend Reading feature linked with the Obsidian role playing action hybrid and an EndWeekGame piece, we've also had time to put together a list of the most interesting news stories of the last few days.
On Monday, The Lord of the Rings Online was revealed to be going free to play in the fall, allowing most gamers to visit Middle Earth without paying anything while offering microtransactions for those interested in more content. On the same day, Ice-T accidentally unveiled he was involved in the creation of Gears of War 3.
Tuesday was the day when a rumor popped up that the newly announced Nintendo 3DS handheld would actually be more powerful than the Wii home console, while Respawn Entertainment, the new studio formed by the people who created the Modern Warfare phenomenon, announced that they were planning to unveil something big at the upcoming E3.
On Wednesday, Epic Games put out a lot of screenshots showing Gears of War 3 in action, detailing the new characters and gameplay mechanics, just as Take Two announced that Max Payne 3, the game Rockstar is building, featuring a puffy, bald main character who had not left New York, would be again delayed, probably coming in early 2011.
On Thursday, 2K revealed the games it would be showing at E3, with titles like Civilization V and Mafia II taking center stage and set to arrive in the fall of this year. This just as Sony unveiled that those who own the PlayStation 3 and a 3D capable television would be able to experience three PSN titles in full three dimensions, with more to come soon.
On Friday, Mortal Kombat was confirmed as being in development by Warner Bros., with the intention of going back to the violet roots of the franchise at some point in 2011. This just as more companies announced the titles they would be displaying at E3.