Gaming News of the week

Rumours that the next XBOX might ditch the disc have appeared... Valve dismisses steam box rumours that it might move to hardware... Mass Effect 3 bestselling for two weeks in a row... Playstation network barriers have been "removed" by Sony for CCP's Dust 514... IOS and Android game markets controlled bynew publishers, but failed to beat the new wave... Zumba fitness 2 drives revenue growth for Majesco .. And Capcom announces first browser-based title Onimusha Soul representsthe japanese publishers first stab at browser gaming.

By News for Eurogamer

Gamer of the week: Remnant

This week we look at Remnant a strange and confusing character with numerous interestsand skills which few can really understand. He defines himself as a gamer not only as a gaming fanatic but also as a gaming sceptic. He has particular games that intrigue him far more than others. He says that the SA gaming industryis growing in popularity, even amongst the older generation, but it is still lacking in areas such as smaller cities such as East London, but it is growing.
He believes that gaming in 10 years time will be "hugely popular" and he also adds that gaming in South Africa is "replacing movies slowly" and that he imagines that "everyone would get into " gaming.
When it comes to G3 it has been his subconscious hope that something like G3 would happen to him, and despite his efforts, something this important is a "great deal" in his life and also gives him a chance to share his love of gaming with others.
His advice to gamers who want to make a career out of gaming is "its simple" andthat a "true gamer must have pride in gaming" and thata gamer must live for it and nobody can tell you otherwise.Gaming to himis something you must be great at "like a talent"
When asked the hardest question for any gamer (PS3 or XBOX360) he replied XBOX because it was the first console he bought after the PS2 days, and that it has served him well.

Article by Walter

Advice by Laz: Soul Calibur - Unlocking Algol

Helpful hints to the Soul Calibur series, you will recognise the boss character Algol from SC IV is a playable character in the latest installment. He is unlockable after completing legendary souls mode ( unlocked after clearing episode 20 in story mode) which as you should know , is incredibly hard due to an intelligent and extra vicious AI, YOU WILL HAVE YOUR ASS HANDED TO YOU (Truth). Algol can be unlocked in a much easier way by simply selecting quick battle and choosing the following battle settings: EUROPE, INTERMEDIATE, NEWEST 1ST, do about 2 or 3 fights andan opponent card called TERAMOS might appear, he will battle using, Battle and win (TERAMOS is relatively easy), Algol becomes selectable in all modes except story mode and as a created character soul

Article by Lazarus  

Game Review: Final Fantasy XIII-2

If you aren't a fan of Final Fantasy or haven't played Final Fantasy XIII then FF XIII-2 won't be as fun a game to play as opposed to those who are and have. It's plot revolves around Lightning Farron being caught in another world named Valhalla, and despite the turn of events in FF XIII nobody at New Bodhum seems to remember Lightning surviving. Her sister Serah now lives in New Bodhum on Gran Pulse. A seaside town as was the original Bodhum on Cocoon. You meet Noel Kreiss, a young man who has met Lightning while travelling through time and he presents Serah with a gift, a bow for protection. Noel explains that Serah must come with him through a time gate to look for Lightning. The plot does seem to confuse as travelling through different time periods will definitely keep your mind in disarray. you see familiar faces and familiar foes, but whats new is the new battle system, being able to win over the creatures you have beaten and having them join your side as a pet one might say. Also you are able to upgrade them with their very own crystarium. You have the option of three creatures in battle, being able to switch between them. Alot of time travel exploring is involved so if that intrigues you , I say play it !! Priced at R599.

Article by Remnant

Game Review: Mass Effect 3

A warning !!! is in order for big fans of Mass Effect, it has alot of sadness, so brace yourself. Mass Effect 3 pretty much gets to the point as the game starts , within minutes Earth is under attack throwing Commander Shepard into the heat of battle.With amazing gameplay using the new Omni Tool Blade. Being able to cover behind debris and jumping your opponent with deadly Omni Tool attacks. Presented with many options of Rifles and SMGs, etc, each weapon is fully customisable with parts bought from shops on the Citadel. The story goes about forming a galactic army, rallying all the species to the fight on Earth, with unimaginable outcomes. Geth, Turian and Krogan are some examples of species who shall fight for Earth with plenty of familiar faces some or many may not be present, depending on your actions in ME2. Now after choosing who you want as a romantic decides which one you keep in  ME3. Spending alot of time doing side missionsfor people on the Citadel will ultimately help to rally more species to the fight. Now with more interaction with the crew members, it makes for a more in depth, but again a warning!!! the closer you feel to the people you know the more prepared you should be, brace yourself for the war to save all life in the galaxy.Priced at R599.

Article by Remnant

Mobile gaming

We have come far with phone gaming in just 10 years, but phone gaming's biggest problem is controls. Even Sony Ericsson Xpira play didn't get it right, but with the Zii mote, a bluetooth gaming remote (looks like a Wii's nunchuck) gaming is alot better. Bluetooth remotes are the next big thing in mobile gaming.
I'm a gamer but I am not moved by the Xpira play (with 1GHZ being underpoweredand a 512 MB RAM = PS1 graphics) I'm moved more by Nividea Tegra 2 ( with dual 1GHZ and up to 512 RAM) making it 1 Gig better than Xpira play, allowing it to produce PS2 graphics and if you want to have fun on it , you can set it to use a PS3 control

Article by TC3D

Game Review: Resident Evil Operation Raccoon City

If you are a fan of survival horror and third person shooter games then this game is what you would love to have this March. Its events take depicted in Resident Evil 1 and 3 with three enemies to tackle:

1. Zombies
2. Bi-organic weapons
3. Unpredictable elements

All of these create a brand new style of gameplay and breakingthe mould of conventional, traditional team based shooters, using the gimic the "bleeding mechanic". Its due to releaseon 20 March 2012 for both XBOX 360 and PS3 and is dveloped by Slant Six, priced at R599.

Article by Teddy

Game review: Gears Of War 3

The trilogy comes to an end with an impressive, competitive, brutal signature end. Taking place 18 months after the events of Gears of War 2, beginning with Chairman Prescott unexpectantly arriving on the Sovereign, informing Marcus that he needs to relay important information to the ship's captain Michealson. However Michealson is killed in a surprise attack by the Lambent leaving Prescott mortally wounded, from there on the story starts.
The game includes stereoscopic mode for 3D TVs, using Trioviz for Games Technology integrated with the Unreal Engine 3, allowing gameplay and cinematics to support S3D.
The games has an impressive ,competitiveand brutal player mode, this includes single campaign and a pretty brutal 5 on 5 multiplayer match up mode. It lso includes co-op of up to four players. Gears of War 3 introduces a new mode called Beast mode as you take on the role of the locust horde and their variations, it also includes Downloadable contentpacks which are:

• Horde Command pack - Released 1 November 2011
• Versus Booster Map pack - Released 24 November 2011
• RAAM's Shadow pack - Released 13 December 2011
• Fenix Rising - Released 17 January 2012
• Forces of Nature - To be released 27 March 2012

Gears of War 3 is packedwith alot of action to keep youplaying for hours on end, the game is availableat Incredible Connection, CNA, Game and BT Games priced around R499

Artucle by Walter

PC: LAN Gaming

This week in the PC section we look at LAN gaming, what it means and how to connect your PC to a LAN network.
A LAN is a gathering of gamers using a local area network(LAN) for gaming sessions, during LAN sessions the response time is faster than interaction over the internet, this changes the quality of the game. The network size varies from the number of computers connected to the hud / switch or an ad-hoc network which requires wifi allowing computers to connect over a wireless connection.
When gamers want to merge one LAN with another, a VPN software such as Hamachi is used to arrange computers over a network so that they appear on the LAN.
Once all your LANing requirements are met, begin looking at the games for the LAN gaming sessions, look into games such Battlefield 3, Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, The Elder Scrolls: Skyrim, etc.
Join LAN clans to improve your LANing experience, where you get to meet other gamers who share the same gaming interests as you. If possible host the LAN session or go online and find LANs in your area.

Article by Walter

Advice by Laz: The console wars

For all you new gamers out there we have a new section that will empower you to know everything about gaming... It's been a good run and here we are, we're in our seventh year of the 7th generation of video gaming consoles which, as you all should know by now, has been one of the longer modern ones even outliving their predecessors by two whole years. Yet it hardly felt like a drag right? We all sort of warmed up to the generation slow and steady and in time it did eventually deliver. the trial and error stage was over and developers now had enough guts (and moola) to really give it their all and give us MOSTLY quality titles for the general gaming audience. Gone were the days of developers running to Nintendo"s Wii to cut down on development costs. The console war had again come to an end and gamers were ready to sign a temporary peace treaty.
Then just when you thought it was ok to put your controller shaped rifle down. On June 7th during E3 2011 Nintendo went ahead and announced they were developing weapons of mass destruction (the Wii U which is expected to launch mid 2012). PS3 and XBOX 360 war veterans, still contemplating a truce, realised that this could only mean one thing...War was once again on the horizon. Sony were second to show they were armed and ready to retaliate to Nintendo's unprovoked 3DS attack with the handheld market as the battleground and Nintendo and Sony's respective handheld systems clashing once again.
But fear not yet, stragglers who only decided to buy a 7th generation console last Tuesday. As history suggests generations overlap , your XBOX 360, PS3 or Wii wont become outdated dustcatchers in your broom closetby lifecycle, and have hinted they are well into developing PS3's successor. The result? Simply that PS3 and PS4 will co-exist in the market and will have titles simultaneously dveloped for both. The same is true for Microsoft's XBOX 360 and it's successor.
Verdict? If you have yet to get a Gen7 console , now would be the best time to consider it.

Article by Lazarus

If you need help with gaming or a specific spot in a game, send us your questions and problems and Laz will try to help you

Gamer of the week: Lazarus

*This article was meant to be posted last week*

This week we look at the free spirit and open minded gamer and team member Lazarus. He doesn't see himself as a hardcore gamer, but sees gaming as a part of his life. He defines gaming as being a "getaway from reality" to experiencesomething different. Laz has been gaming since the age of three. When asked why he joined G3 he replied "50%" was due to his fiance Caleigh (Marketing and content manager of G3) and the other "50%" was because he got a chance to contribute to what he loved, and grow gaming.
Laz sees gaming in Africa being on the map in the future "especially in S.A" because we've already began developing our own innovative indie and mainstream titles, which he believes we can expand on. When asked what advice he would give to gamers who want to turn gaming into a career he said "just go for it and be creative and do something for the industry."
He is currently playing:
Soul Calibur IV on XBOX
Pokemon White on DS
Lord of Arcanano on PSP

Article by Walter

Mortal Kombat 9

Mortal Kombat is a title that has stood the test of time , we now take a look at the latest installment in the popular series.
The game features 27 characters but the PS3 version has 28 due to the addition of Kratos from God Of War. Each character has a unique fighting style and animation design. Mortal Kombat 9 consists of 30 arenas which were created in a realistic motion interaction environment.

STORYLINE:
After centuries, emporer Shao Kahn finally defeats Raiden and all of his allies. Faced with death Raiden sends a mental message to himself saying "He must win." The story begins with a cinematic opening , taking the younger Raiden past MK1,2 and 3 giving him premonitions of the future, enlightening him to change the course of history by allowing Shang Tsung to win. this is all set after the events of MK Armageddon, underlining the darkness and light in classic MK style.

Mortal Kombat 9 has been released on PS3 and XBOX and will be released on PS Vita later this year. It has recieved positive reviews with a rating of 8.7 and also recieving awards in 2011.

Give your vote and tell us if you think it's a hit or a miss

Article by Walter

Building a Gaming PC

It might sound hard , but its easier than you think. Many of us know the power a PC can deliver in terms of graphics, but don't know how to create it. So we have come up with with what we think might help you.

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. Check the system requirements for games you intend to play as well as the highest requirements
2. Find a retailer where you can buy parts for your gaming PC eg. Evetech (www.evetech.co.za), incredible connection etc.
3. Purchase a CPU separately from the motherboard, but the motherboard must be able to accept a fast CPU and have multiple PCI upgrade slots as well as PCI Express AGP slots
4. Insure you follow the manufacturers specifications on RAM to be used on the motherboard
5. Purchase the largest and fastest hard drive , which is a SATA drive
6. Purchase a PCI Express video card if the motherboard supports it otherwise get an AGP card but get a graphics card that meets the requirements of most games. The most commonly used are Nividia Geforce and ATI Redeon,  and ensure you look for GPU speed , graphics, memory and pixel share the card supports 
7. Get an audio card which meets your needs , when playing 3D some games may require sound card processors
8. Casing is important because you should have a case that is able to house your motherboard, pay attention to the device's front facing panels and you will need a power supply that is at least 300 Watts to power the unit, also get a cooling fan for the CPU
9. Buy a DVD-RW drive
10. Your monitor Should be as good as the PC so get a LED or LCD
11. Assemble your gaming computer using extreme caution or get it done by a professional

TIPS:

• Refer to your manuals when building the computer
• Always make sure you are anti static
• Hold all cards by their edges and never touch any part
• Avoid allowing any screws to come into contact with any component
• Keep magnetic devices away from the components
• Work on a table over a surface without carpets
• Insure all internal parts have been installed before turning the PC on

Article by Walter

Minecraft

This does kind of speak for itself, but first we start at the beginning. Markus Alexej Persson of Swedish heritage better known simply as 'Notch'. The founder and creator of Minecraft started out programming at the tender age of 7, using his fathers Commodre 128 (extremely old to say the least). He created his first game at the age of 8, a text-based adventure game with some help from type in programs. Years later in 2005 he bagan working for King.com as a game developer, in 2009 he left to work for Jalbum. Though when his creation Minecraft grew larger he took a back seat and only worked for Jalbum part time.
In 2010 due to the success of Minecrafthe left Jalbum to give his game full focus , almost two years laterand Minecraft has gamers all over the world downloading the RPG from the Minecraft website. It has grown significantly over the last few years created by Mojang, the founder being Notch. It has gamers rioting for it despite its old school graphics, but thats just it. Its not the graphics that captivate gamers , although the block like animals do provide some humour, but rather the sheer vastness of the game. The map itself is so massive, that without craeting a map and compass, you would surely get lost. the game creates a feel of no limits.

Article by Remnant

Fifa Street 4

If you are a fan of Futsal, a player or simply love football games, I'm sure you are aware of the March release of Fifa Street 4. this will be the fourth edition of the series. A huge difference for this installment is the Fifa 12 templatewith realistic movements. Fifa Street has totally new dribbling controls ,clearly the focus of the designers was to shine the similarities to Futsal and street football, the fast paced action, excitement and focus on the skill element of the game is welcomed. Locations and realistic movements have been imptoved.

Article by Suffo

Classic Review

Certainly a really old game , yet definately worth reviewing is Vampire the Masquerade. An increasingly ageing game, it's original concept and idea was first thought up by Mark Rein Hagen who's idea for an RPG in a vampires world was brought to life by White Wolf Gaming Studio's.
Although its creation couldn't be possible without a little help from Activision and eventuallyalso Troika Games, 1991 was The Masquerades birth year and has continued to survive as it made many following editions. In 1992 it had another simply titled 2nd edition, 6 years later in 1998 it had another titled the revised edition ansd yet another was created recently in2011 titled the 20th Anniversary. The year of it's completion. The Masquerade was surely a new adventure for gamers , it recieved the origins award for best playing rules of 1999.
Now diving into the game. Its based in the present dayas of 1991 no doubt. You play as a human who finds him or herself in a hotel room with a partner surely expecting a good time. On the contrary you are bitten by a vampire thus having you awake unawares that you have been reborn intoa blood lusting creature of the night...
The story goes like this , whoever bites a human and turns them , is the newly born vampires sire though your sire get executed for breaking the strict rules of the high kindred clan , the Camarilla. the prince of the Camarilla is a vampire named Lacrox, who spares your life thinking that as a newly born vampire you won't survive without a sire. Nevertheless you become his kindred. the story takes place in Los Angeles and you begin your game in Santa Monica. Although somewhat difficult to grasp at first, there are several vampire clans each with their own skills and characteristics.

Article by Remnant

Meet Gyro

This little guy is Gyro , G3's newest member. Gyro is the G3 mascot and will pop up in articles from time to time to provide a few laughs. Many ideas were given for our little buddy's name such as Guster, Gamo and Gallagar (All nominations had to begin with G) but a vote among the G3 admin team decided the name Gyro. We hope you will welcome him with all the love this adorable dragon deserves.

Gyro created by Caleigh
Article by Caleigh

Gaming News of the week

This week we saw the releaseof the much anticipated Mass Effect 3... Maxis will finally be creating a new entry in the popular SimCity franchise in 2013, promising features such as full 3D graphics and internet connected cities that can affect one another... Clones of games are causing trouble not only for developers but for an unwary gaming public. A presentation at GDC explored ways of attacking the problem of cloned games... At a Game Developer Conference presentation this week , two industry veterans laid out some ideas to make in game characters more believably human rather than rigidly or logically intelligent... Finally Epic Games president Mark Rein showed off the power of Epic'x Unreal Engine 3 running inside a flash powered browser window, including a better than console version of Unreal Tournament 3.

Article by Walter

PS Vita vs Nintendo 3DS

This week we want to see which is better, the PS Vita or the Nintendo 3DS. The Vita is the newest handheld on the market with a quad core processor and GPU similar to the first XBOX (NOT THE 360), the 3DS is almost a year ahead with a lower price and updated software as well as the launch or games like Mario Kart, Legend of Zelda, Mario3D and Resident Evil but is the 3DS still on top? lets take a look...

GRAPHICS:

The Vita's graphics are similar to the PS2.5 while the 3DS's graphics are similar to early PS2

CONTROLS:

The Vita's controls are like a PS2 with no L2 or R2 but not as good as a PS2 but better than the PSP Slide. The 3DS has controls like a DS but with only one slide pad (an add on will be out soon)

BATTERY LIFE:

The consoles are tied here with 4-6 hours for each of them

POCKET FRIENDLINESS:

TheVita is bigger so the 3DS is more pocket friendly

ONLINE AND STORE:

Tie

GAME LIBRARY:

THE 3DS wins here with way more titles

INTERNET ACCESS:

The Vita has wifi and 3G versions which can stream and allows you to watch movies , MP3's and view pictures.The 3DS only has wifi and allows you to take 3D pictures and make 3D videos , to view movies you have to stream them from online

PRICE:

The Vita costs more with the wifi version going for R3700 and R3900 for 3G. The 3DS goes for around R1500

Article by TC3D

Hi and welcome to Gamers Gaming Gateway or G3 for short. G3 is the home of the gaming world, inbodying all the elements that make up gaming laws, it is the heart and soul that informs and advises. We started out as a small group on Mxit , then Facebook and now we proudly have our own blog. WE DON'T JUDGE A GAMER BASED ON THEIR RACE OR GENDER BUT TREAT ALL GAMERS WITH RESPECT! We provide news , previews , reviews and much more for all gaming platforms. We look forwarded to the future success of G3.