Lots of News: TES Skyrim, Gears 3, and LA Noire, and Mortal Kombat

Well guys, lots of news today, mostly from stuff I didn't get into this week. Due to busyness, I'm pushing back my impressions on the Dragon Age II demo until tomorrow.

First up, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim got its first gameplay trailer a few days ago. Now I've made it no secret that I could not get into Oblivion, but this is still going to be a huge release and so I need to mention it. Also, the trailer really is freaking awesome. First off, it looks absolutely beautiful and the fact that the visuals are from in-game is quite shocking. It looks exciting and watching this trailer had given me the urge to give The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion another try before this game comes out. Maybe after I finish up with Dragon Age II, I'll give her another go.

Next up, we've got some Gears of War 3 news. The game now has an official release date. For those looking forward to Gears of War 3, the game will be released this year on September 20th in America and September 22nd in Japan. Epic Games also announced that for those who picked up the Epic Edition of Bulletstorm for the Gears of War 3 beta that was on it, the beta will begin sometime in mid-April. The lead designer, Cliff Bleszinski, has also said there will be other ways to get in on the beta.

Finally Epic Games also released the official box art for Gears of War 3. A GamesRadar article noted an interesting contrast that while the lighting for each cover's environment has brightened over the course of the three games, the mood shown by Marcus has gotten more hopeless.

Next up, we've got Rockstar's LA Noire. The game, which will be released on May 17th in North America and May 20th in Europe, has gotten its cover art and pre-order bonuses. Depending on who you pre-order from, you'll get different bonuses.

Pre-ordering from Gamestop will give you a bonus case titled "The Naked City" where you will look into what appears to be a suicide by a fashion model. Gamestop will also give you the The Badge Pursuit Challenge where you must locate 20 police badges for bonus including improving your character's abilities.

Pre-ordering from Amazon will give you the Broderick Detective Suit which gives your character better abilities in hand-to-hand combat and damage absorption. Pre-ordering from Best Buy will give you the Sharpshooter Detective Suit which increases your accuracy with pistols and rifles. Finally, pre-ordering from Wal-Mart will give you the bonus case "A Slip of the Tongue" in which you will investigate a car theft ring.

Of course, there's also the box art. Escapist criticized the box art as being uninspiring, mediocre, and bland but I like it. It fits the noir feel that Rockstar is attempting to achieve and the dichotomy in the color scheme showing a mysterious woman tinted blue, and a murder scene tinted red gives it vibrance. But what are your thoughts?

And finally, the lack of an R-18 rating (think Australia's equivalent of R-rated movie or M-rated game) for video games has given another casualty. Mortal Kombat has been refused classification by the Ratings Board in Australia, effectively barring it from retail stores and banning its sale in the country. It's still possible and legal to import it from other countries, but it's pretty sad that Australia refuses to give its mature and reasonable adults the option.

The Australian government was planning on discussing the matter of an R-18 rating for video games in March, but that has been postponed indefinitely, though they have said that it might be possible in July. Until then, Australians will have to either go without Mortal Kombat or be forced to pay extra money for an out of country import.



Well, that's all for today. I'm going to be busy for the rest of the day, so tomorrow I'll be putting up my thoughts on the Dragon Age II demo. Keeps yours eyes open for it.