First Screenshot of Mechromancer Revealed, New Ability Detailed

An official Twitter account for Borderlands 2′s Mechromancer Gaige revealed the first in-game screenshot of the class, and detailed one of her new abilities.

In between gory descriptions of her mechanized partner Deathtrap’s murder techniques, Gaige offered to explain one of three new abilities: “Electrical Burn,” “Sharing is Caring,” or “Make it Sparkle.” The winner, “Make it Sparkle,” causes Deathtrap to deal elemental damage based on the type Gaige shoots it with. “So your normal Deathtrap slashes a dude with his digistruct claws. Which is awesome. But after I make it sparkle with, say, a fire gun, the poor sucker on the end of the Deathtrap’s claws will be bleeding AND burning AND screaming.”

The Mechromancer class will be available October 16 as DLC for $9.99 or 800 Microsoft Points, or free for those who pre-ordered Borderlands 2 from participating retailers.

Source: Gearbox Software Twitter, GBX Mechromancer Twitter

38 Studios Head Curt Schilling Apologizes for Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning Online Pass

Curt Schilling, the vocal and honest founder of 38 Studios has made an effort to apologize for the misunderstanding, and to clear up Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning’s online pass offer. After an uproar from the community in response to a voucher included in the game said to provide “access to the House of Valor faction quest” – suggesting a very similar situation to the Catwoman sections in Batman: Arkham City that were already on the disc –  Schilling made a post on the 38 Studios forums.

Schilling made it clear the content is day one DLC, not simply a quest already on the disc. “You can argue the merits and effectiveness of it, but right now it’s how it’s done and as someone that’s as invested as I am in this company, I stand by what has happened,” he wrote.

He says he would have liked the situation to be handled with more care, and goes on to explain why the DLC method is beneficial to both his business and the player. ”We must make a profit to become what we want to become. The only way we do that is to make games you cannot wait to buy! If we do that, and you do that, we want to reward you with some cool free stuff as a thank you.”

Via: Joystiq

Source: 38 Studios Forums

Rockstar uncovers the future for L.A. Noire DLC, and the Rockstar Pass

They're pretty excited.

Starting today Rockstar will be offering their “Rockstar Pass” for those who bought a copy of L.A. Noire. The pass will grant you with all seven of the DLC available at the moment, and will guarantee you future content as it is released. The price is the same as any other DLC token in games now: $10 on PSN, and 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox Live. Purchasing this will actually save you $10 from buying the cases individually.

Of course if you’d like your crime à la carte, you can buy each case on Xbox Live now, and through the PlayStation Store, you know, when it’s up.

Rockstar also tucked in a confirmation on at least two more cases, set to release this summer. The “Nicholson Electroplating” Arson case, and the “Reefer Madness” Vice case will be released June 21th, and July 12th respectively. Each case will run you $12, or 960 MS points without the Rockstar Pass.

You can opt to not spend any more money and simply sign up for the Rockstar Social Club. Member will receive the Chicago Lighting Detective Suit, and the Chicago Piano machine gun.

Review: Mass Effect 2: Arrival (DLC)

It’s been awhile since Mass Effect 2 and I have been together. It’s good at luring me back whenever new downloadable content is released but otherwise I’ve moved on. The past few bonus missions were interesting and played with the mission structure of the core game, but Arrival feels like a giant step back.

I absolutely adore Mass Effect 2, and almost everything about it, but by the end of the game the patterns we’re becoming apparent. Get off ship, shoot some dudes, dialogue, shoot some more dudes, discover culprit, hunt down said culprit, more shooting, dialogue, boss battle. Arrival is about an hour and a half of that.