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(2011-02-14 09:00:00)

Bungie Preparing 'Defiant Map Pack' for Halo Reach, Due in March

Bungie sent word today that Halo Reach will be receiving more maps in March. The "Defiant Map Pack" brings three new multiplayer maps -- Condemned, Highlands, and Unearthed -- that cover a variety of game types. An exact date wasn't mentioned in the press release, but the set will cost $10 (800 MSP).

[video]24097[/video] Shackvideo users can use the HD Stream.

Condemned takes place on a conquered orbital station, and supports 6-12 players in Team Slayer, Team Objective, and Free for All modes. Highlands is a larger-scale map set in a forest training area, providing for 8-16 player Big Team Battle, Team Slayer, and Team Objective game types. Finally, Unearthed takes place in an underground Titanium mine, and lets 4 players group up for Firefight and...

(2011-02-14 08:00:00)

Serious Sam 3 Due This Summer

Having plainly not made the 2010 launch developer Croteam once hoped for, Serious Sam 3 is now due to be released in summer 2011, CEO Roman Ribaric has said.

"Just a quick note to let all Serious Sam fans know that Serious Sam 3: BFE is coming this summer 2011," Ribaric wrote, also promising an official announcement "soon."

There's still very little known about the next entry in the trigger-happy shooter series. While platforms have not yet been announced, PC seems a given and Xbox 360 looks likely too. The recent revamps of the first two games, Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter and Serious Sam HD: The Second Encounter, were built upon the same engine as Serious Sam 3 and released on both platforms.

(2011-02-13 11:00:00)

Video Games Intersect Social Networks at D.I.C.E.

Some of the brightest minds in the video game world discussed the industry's rapidly growing relationship with social media at this year's D.I.C.E. Summit. Mark Cerny, whose career stretches back to designing arcade games in the 80's, broached the subject in broad terms during his talk titled "The End of Death, the Crash of 1982 and Other Topics."

In it, he discussed the challenge of unlearning habits and moving forward in changing times. As an example he cited how even today designers struggle to break free from the artificial requirement that a player die many, many times which is a holdover from arcade games needing to keep players paying the next quarter. He surmised that in similar fashion it will take at least 10, and as ma...

(2011-02-12 11:00:00)

The Video Game Release List of 2/14 - 2/20

I wanna take you for a ride! On this ride, we shall tour the range of video games being released next week, from vintage RPGs to state-of-the-art face-punching.

Highlights

(2011-02-11 20:00:00)

Daily Filter: February 11, 2011

Shacknews receives a slew of new screenshots and trailers for upcoming games everyday. The most anticipated titles receive their own post, because we know you're eager to see that content. For the rest, we have the Daily Filter, a place to feature all of the media we add to our enormous database on a daily basis.