Happy Easter everyone! For those of you who don’t celebrate the holiday, Happy Sunday! May you all have a wonderful Sunday, April 8, 2012!

Big, big news in the gaming world this week! Tons of Mass Effect DLC is headed your way. First, the long-awaited patch that will fix the troublesome face importing issue will be ready this week, along with some free multiplayer DLC. More DLC is on the way this summer to hopefully placate the legions of angry fans who are irate over the game’s ending. Uncharted 3 gets some DLC, next-gen console rumors are running rampant across the information superhighway, and people are suing each other left and right.

Oh yeah, Halo 4 details emerged.

General Gaming News

‘Bout damn time: the patch for Mass Effect 3 fixing the face import problems will be made available this week. The patch will be available for PC users on April 9 while console users get it a day later on April 10. A number of other fixes are included in the patch, so check out the article to read the complete list.

The Mass Effect 3 patch doesn’t fix the game’s biggest issue-- its much-maligned ending-- but have no fear, BioWare announced that extra ending content will be released this summer in the form of free DLC called the Mass Effect Extended Cut DLC. The Extended Cut will feature new cinematics and epilogue scenes that will expand upon the game’s ending.

In the meantime, the Resurgence Pack will be available this Tuesday. The free multiplayer DLC offers two new maps-- Firebase Condor and Firebase Hydra-- as well as new weapons, consumables, and characters.

Update 1.5 for Skyrim arrived last week for console players. The update, which had previously been released for the PC, adds cinematic kill cameras, new kill moves, and a host of other, smaller features and fixes.

This should be of particular interest: female players of the online strategy game Prime World are being offered perks and incentives to play.

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Once again, here are some Hot Topics In The Gaming World You Need To Know About.

Sega’s going through a rough patch, as massive losses have lead to layoffs and game cancellations. Video games are making an appearance at the Smithsonian, and Hitman: Absolution and Assassin’s Creed III have some new visuals for you to take a gander at. Being a game tester isn’t as cool as it sounds, and the baton has officially been passed for one of gaming’s greatest franchises. Read on to learn more.

General Gaming News


This should be especially appealing to Guysgirl readers: “The Difficulties and Controversies of Designing Female Characters - Or, How Not to Add a Woman’s Touch”

Here’s some big news: the Smithsonian American Art Museum in Washington D.C. is hosting an exhibition titled “The Art of Video Games” and runs from March 16 to September 30. You can read this review for more information about the exhibit as well as the author’s thoughts.

IGN has compiled a list of the top 100 weapons in video games. Take a look and see whether your favorites made the list.

Think being a Game Tester and playing games all day for a living is a dream job? Well, think again. IGN reached out to quality assurance testers to hear what they had to say, and the results are alarming and surprising.

Here’s some fun April Fools tomfoolery courtesy of Google: 8-bit Google Maps.

Check out the new Hitman: Absolution trailer.

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Hello again, and welcome to another edition of Hot Topics. There was a lot going on this week in the gaming world as Modern Warfare 3 received its first big DLC, disgruntled Mass Effect fans got their wish, World of Warcraft fans get some good news, some new games took a beating from the critics, Grand Theft Auto V made an appearance, and a new Final Fantasy title may be in the works.

General Gaming News

It has been almost three weeks since Mass Effect 3 was released, and the game still makes headlines. Unfortunately, they have not been of the “positive” variety as the game has been dogged by a controversial ending and a bug that affects players who tried to import characters. Luckily, BioWare has taken steps to remedy both of those issues:

• A fix has been found for the face importing issue and will be included as part of the next patch. The downside is that the patch still has to go through rigorous testing, so a release date has not been announced.
• In case you missed it,BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka confirmed that new content is being developed to address all the outrage over Mass Effect 3’s ending and hopefully provide some closure.

There are a lot of side missions in Mass Effect 3, and many must be completed before advancing to a certain part of the game. IGN has compiled a list so that you don’t miss any.

IGN gave its official review, but the company went back and ask some of its other editors to give their thoughts on the game. You can read their “second opinions” here.

Operation Fortress is in effect this weekend as anybody who plays Mass Effect 3’s online multiplayer this weekend will receive a 25 percent boost in XP earned. The special weekend runs until 5 am PST on Monday, so time is running out.

The Child’s Play fundraising initiative known as “Retake Mass Effect 3”, aimed to raise money for the charity while putting pressure on BioWare to rewrite Mass Effect’s ending, has been shut down by the charitable organization. The movement even caused Child’s Play to revamp its own rules, so at least the movement accomplished something.

Finally, some non-Mass Effect news. Ninja Gaiden 3 was released last week, and IGN reviewed the game. Unfortunately, the review was less-than-stellar.

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Mass Effect 3 has been a huge success, receiving rave reviews and selling nearly 900,000 copies within the first 24 hours of its release. However, the game has not been without controversy as legions of fans are disappointed with the game's ending. BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka has now confirmed that new content is on the way that is aimed to give fans the closure they seek.

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"As this photo indicates, fans were not reluctant to show their displeasure.

It's a good day for Xbox users as two of the system's biggest franchises have new downloads available now: DLC for Modern Warfare 3 and a title update for Gears of War 3.

 

Modern Warfare 3's Content Collection #1 is now available. For those of you who elected not to shell out $50 for Call of Duty Elite, the premium content that had previously been unavailable is now for sale via Xbox Live for 1,200 Microsoft Points. 

The collection includes four new maps: Liberation, Piazza, Overwatch, and Black Box. Two new Spec Ops Missions--Black Ice and Negotiator-- are also included.

• Liberation - a vast map set in a militarized Central Park and conducive to snipers and long-range combat. 
• Overwatch - a two-level, almost symmetrical map set atop a New York City skyscraper
• Piazza - a seaside Italian getaway with tight corners and paths that are ideal for close-quarters combat.
• Black Box - set in the wreckage of a downed Air Force One, this map sounds reminiscent of Bloc from the first Modern Warfare: neighboring houses allow snipers to make the ground deadly for anyone caught out in the open but leave them open to countersniper fire. If you can get into the houses or the plane itself, close-range weapons rule the day.
• Black Ice - infiltrate a diamond mine via snowmobile and plant explosives to blow the place up.
• Negotiator - a hostage extraction mission set in India that features plenty of breaching-and-clearing to rescue VIPs.

Content Collection #1 is currently available for Xbox users only. It will be made available to PS3 users, but no date has been announced.

That's not the only piece of good news for Microsoft fans: the fourth title update for Gears of War 3 has been released. The update added some tweaks and general updates in preparation for the Forces of Nature DLC pack that will be released this coming Tuesday. Among the most notable changes are Savage Grenadiers and Savage Drones can now use SWAT turns in Beast Mode, spectator mode starts viewing a player rather than a battle camera, and ring locators are now visible in spectator mode during King of the Hall games.

Top o' the mornin' to ye! We here at Guysgirl hope everyone had a fun, safe St. Patrick's Day and are recuperating nicely this fine Sunday.

There was a lot going on in the gaming world this past week: BioWare has been dealing with some backlash over the ending of Mass Effect 3, Diablo III finally got a release date, a big change is coming to Xbox Live Arcade, some old classics are getting the HD remake treatment, and some good DLC news.

General Gaming News

It seems hard to believe with gaming more popular than ever, but some pundits are predicting that game consoles are headed for doom. Personally, I don't see it, at least not in the near future. What's the best way to play Halo or Call of Duty? On a giant tv with surround sound and a comfy couch, and only a console can do that.

Mass Effect 3 has garnered some strong criticism from fans regarding the game's ending(s) and the From the Ashes DLS. BioWare Director Casey Hudson responded to the controversies, and community coordinator Chris Priestly wrote anofficial repsonse about the ending on the game's official forums. Hudson also released this statement on the official forums.

If they do add additional endings, hopefully they are like this.   

Also of note, as of the time this article was written, there is still no fix for the character import issues affecting Xbox 360 users who were trying to import either a character from the original Mass Effect or a Mass Effect 2 save file that was saved in a cloud.

Now for some good Mass Effect news: if you're having trouble with the romances in ME3, or just want to know which characters you can have a relationship and how it turns out, IGN has your back with this romance guide. If only real life were so easy.

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 Most of us are used to weird antics of Shaq on and off the court, but in his new commercial he participates in with Tiger Woods for his PGA Tour 13 game, the antics are nothing but awkward.

In the commercial, Tiger and Shaq “duel it out” in a delayed translation karate golf fight that ends up with Tiger coming out on top as the winner in the new Kinect version of his infamous golf video game.

With a torn achilles in real life, looks like a weird commercial is the closest we are going to see Tiger win for a while.

Tiger Woods PGA Tour 13 releases on March 27th for the Kinect and Xbox 360.

Due to a family emergency I won’t be able to provide individual reviews of the Xbox Live Arcade House Party event. So instead I will briefly describe each game and tell you if it’s worth your time and money.

As a refresher, for those of you who do not know or are new to digital distribution services such as XBLA this House Party is a four week long event with a new Arcade title launching each week.

Hit the jump to see if these games are actually worth your time and money...

Lot of stuff going on this week in the gaming universe. Mass Effect 3 launched and was an immediate success, details regarding Assassin's Creed III emerged, there were some shakeups at major studios, a "making of" video for Halo 4 was released, and Diablo III fans got some bad news. Let's get to it! 

General Gaming News

In case you missed it, a little game called Mass Effect 3 was released last week, and it's managed to sell quite well so far. An astounding 890,000 copies were sold within the first 24 hours, and over 3.5 million units have been shipped worldwide. Forty percent of people who purchased Mass Effect 3 also obtained codes for the From Ashes DLC. EA CEO John Riccitiello said, "The tie ratio at the register is the highest in their history."  

IGN reviewed the game and game it a score of 9.5, good for an "Amazing" rating. The game also is an Editor's Choice. Read the full review here.

If you're struggling with Mass Effect 3, or just want to make sure you don't miss anything, check out IGN's Wiki Guide.

Things are not all roses for Mass Effect, however. Mass Effect 3 may require you to rebuild your imported Shepard's face. The problem seems to affect those who have used the same character dating back to the original Mass Effect and did not modify him/her in Mass Effect 2. When these players try and import their character into Mass Effect 3, the character is restored to the default settings. BioWare is aware of the problem and working on trying to find a solution but has yet to resolve the issue at the time of this writing. Since this seems to only happen to characters dating back to the first Mass Effect, PS3 users should be unaffected. PS3 users aren't completely out of the woods, though, as Eurogamer has concluded that the PS3 version has framerate problems and runs slower than the 360 version.

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The wait is over.

The highly-anticipated third entry in the Mass Effect franchise arrived this past Tuesday and promises to be the best of the acclaimed series.

The game sold 890,000 copies in its first day on sale, and 3.5 million copies have been shipped worldwide.

Mass Effect 3 is the conclusion to Commander Shepard's epic story that began in Mass Effect. In Mass Effect, Shepard became the first human Spectre and stopped rogue Spectre Saren Arterius before he could unleash the deadly Reapers upon the galaxy. The Reapers, who exterminate all organic life in the galaxy every 50,000 years, are not easily stymied. In Mass Effect 2, they enlist the help of the Collectors and have them abduct entire human colonies. It's up to Shepard and his elite team to embark on a suicide mission and take the fight to the Collectors.

In Mass Effect 3, you take on the role of Shepard once again and must assemble a powerful force to take back Earth and stop the Reapers once and for all.

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