Max Payne 3 Review

Like it or not, times change. When Max Payne last appeared in a game in 2003, he blasted his way through countless enemies with reckless abandon, aided by his signature ability to slow time and deal graceful death. Today, reflecting modern sensibilities and perhaps his own age, Max takes things slower and makes judicious use of a new cover mechanic. Yet the addition of this contemporary element doesn't mean that Max Payne 3 plays like every other third-person shooter. Far from it. With its gripping narrative, brutal violence, and fantastic implementation of Max Payne's bullet-time ability, this is a distinctive and outstanding game through and through, and it's easily a worthy successor to the Max Payne games that preceded it.

Max Payne may need to play it a bit safer this time around, but he still often leaps fearlessly into action.

Wherever you go, there you are. It's a truth Max Payne knows better than anyone. Fleeing his New York life to take a job working security for a wealthy family in Sao Paulo, the hard-drinkin', pill-poppin' Max finds that his demons come along for the ride. Though the details of the plot add up to your typical story of conspiracy and corruption, of the rich and powerful preying on the poor and helpless to become even more rich and powerful, the writing, acting, and presentation elevate this tale well above a boilerplate video game crime story.

It's hard to stay ambivalent once you see the horrors being suffered by the innocent here, and you'll likely want to see Max's quest for vengeance through to its conclusion just as badly as he does. Max reveals a complexity here not seen in earlier games, as he hits rock bottom and must either stay there or face his demons head-on and make himself anew. Other characters, too, reveal a surprising humanity. You might be tempted to write off Marcelo, the youngest brother in the wealthy Branco dynasty Max is hired to protect, as the shallow playboy he often appears to be. But in moments of disarming honesty, he reveals to Max a depth that lies beneath the facade he presents to the world.

Cutscenes use multiple moving panels to pay homage to the graphic-novel-style storytelling of previous games without feeling beholden to it, and the considered use of blurring and other visual effects echo Max's state of mind, perhaps making you feel as if you're the one who has been hitting the bottle a little too hard. James McCaffrey does an excellent job reprising his role as Max, bringing a wider range of emotions to a character who has previously often been one-note. The writing is terrific; Max's world-weary wit is as bone-dry as ever, and as he ruminates on things like loyalty and loss, much of what he says has the sound of hard-earned wisdom. Subtle touches throughout the game make Max seem convincingly alive, such as the complex look that crosses over his face at the start of one stage when bloodshed seems inevitable; it's as if he dreads what's coming, but does his best to mentally prepare himself for it.

Live by the gun, die by the gun.

Max Payne 3 has far more sunlight and color than earlier Max Payne games, but the menaces Max faces here are at least as dark as those he's faced before. The locales Max has to gun his way into or out of are alive with authenticity and detail. Nightclubs throb with dance music and light shows; children play soccer in the favelas; run-down hotels are packed with leftover junk from their earlier days of luxury. And it's not all tropical locations and bad Hawaiian shirts for Max Payne here; a few great flashbacks that take place in Hoboken, New Jersey, reflect the snowy weather and urban atmosphere of earlier Max Payne games, as well as Max's previous fashion sensibilities, and connect his new life with his old one.

Though some things may have changed for Max Payne, one thing that hasn't changed is his ability to blow bad guys away by the hundreds. Three aiming options for the campaign let you customize the gunplay to your liking: hard lock takes much of the challenge out of things, snapping on to the nearest enemy; soft lock sticks to enemies once you've got them in your sights; and free aim leaves it all up to you. Regardless of the option you choose, shooting in Max Payne 3 feels terrific. This is partially due to the game's unflinching violence. Bullets visibly tear through bodies, leaving holes that spurt blood as your enemies die. Each encounter with a group of enemies ends with a bullet cam, showing your final, fatal bullet soaring through the air and striking its target in grisly detail, and giving you the option to pump excessive, unnecessary ordnance into the poor bastard. It's a cathartic and satisfying way to end each firefight.

Bullet time, the defining mechanic of the Max Payne series, lends gunplay a cinematic intensity that remains exhilarating from the start of the substantial campaign until its finish some 12 hours or so later. When bullet time is enabled, you can see every pellet that bursts forth from a shotgun, every bullet that whizzes past your head. Windows break apart beautifully; concrete shatters to reveal the rebar underneath; and all other sorts of believable destruction to the world around you takes place as you and your enemies try to gun each other down.

Max may be through with the past, but the past ain't through with him.

Bullet time slows your enemies down significantly, letting you aim and fire faster than they can respond. But despite the significant edge this gives you over your foes, they are no pushovers. They make smart use of flanking tactics, so you need to stay aware of what's happening on all sides, and, yes, you need to make effective use of cover. There are still situations aplenty where an old-fashioned head-on approach can get the job done, but by and large, you need to approach combat in Max Payne 3 a bit more defensively than in past games.

Max's vulnerability, and the feeling of danger that accompanies it, makes combat much more nerve-racking than it was in earlier Max Payne games, but it does come with a downside: Max's signature shootdodge has suffered. You can still leap through the air in slow motion like a John Woo action hero, attempting to blow your foes away before you land, but because your enemies also make good use of cover, there's a good chance some of them won't be vulnerable to your airborne assault, and as you get up from the ground after a shootdodge, you're something of a sitting duck. The result is that you may end up using shootdodge from time to time not because it's a particularly effective tactic but because, risks be damned, it just looks so cool.

Source : http://www.gamespot.com/max-payne-3/reviews/max-payne-3-review-6376769/

Port Royale 3: Pirates and Merchants Review

We tend to think of the Age of Sail as a time of swashbuckling pirates, lusty women, and fortunes to be made in Inca gold, but the truth is that most of the time, it was a pretty basic, scrape-to-survive lifestyle for the people who really lived it. They owned shops, traded stuff with each other, had the occasional setback, and generally woke up every morning to a day that would be substantially similar to the last. In that sense, Port Royale 3 is an accurate simulator of Age of Sail living for most people: not much happens, ever.

If you like maps of the Caribbean, you'll get plenty of looks at one in Port Royale 3.

You're a sea captain, working (at least initially) for Spain. You can choose to play the main campaign as a trader or as an adventurer: the latter option ostensibly makes this a fire-and-brimstone, crossed-cutlasses action game, while the former is for those players who prefer microeconomic challenges. In point of fact, though, you spend most of your time in either game mode simply looking at an overhead map of the Caribbean and aimlessly sailing around. While Port Royale 3 spends a great deal of time on tutorial videos, hand-holding, and tooltips for the control system, it totally fails to give you a sense of context for what you're doing.

For example, there's a complicated popularity system for your alter ego, both with individual cities and the countries that control them, but it comes off feeling like an abstract number that goes up and down based on simple, controlled stimuli. Get your popularity high enough by trading the right goods and avoiding the wrong ones, or by doing missions, and you unlock the ability to construct buildings in a town, or hire more sailors there. If it's really low, well, not a whole lot happen. Your fluctuating popularity, like so many other aspects of Port Royale 3's gameplay, doesn't feel organically integrated to a larger ethos, but instead feels tacked on.

Towns are the game's hubs. Get respected enough, and you can start to build structures in one.

When you're not confused as to why you're doing what you're doing, you find yourself confused as to where you're supposed to be going. Often, combat or search-and-rescue missions have you head to a general area ("southwest of Corpus Christi," for example) to seek out a target. But this target is often himself in a moving ship, and you have a very small circle around your own vessels in which such ships are revealed on the map. This means that you spend far too long sailing in an endless loop, searching for the proverbial needle in the oceanic haystack of the Caribbean, while your money and time drain slowly away. When you do finally get into a fight, you find that combat, like just about everything else in Port Royale 3, is competently handled, but not particularly exciting. It's heavily based on statistics, like how many guns you have in your convoy and how many sailors you have per gun, and has little to do with how you prepare for and control the fight, so you feel very divorced from whatever action there may be.

If you prefer, you can avoid fighting pretty much entirely and simply focus on trading for a living instead. Here, however, Port Royale 3 stumbles in its attempts to create a realistic economic model. Buying high and selling low is the name of this particular game. You can buy a certain number of the two dozen trading good types at any port, and some ports produce certain goods and demand others. However, Port Royale 3 has a ridiculously sensitive supply-and-demand mechanic working in the background: if you start to buy up goods at a particular port, even a port that produces those goods in quantity locally, the purchase price rapidly rises until you cannot possibly sell the goods you're buying at a profit anywhere else (no one in the world of Port Royale 3 has ever heard of futures contracts, apparently).

This means that, because ports have everything in tiny supply compared to your average convoy's cargo capacity, you always find yourself buying very small amounts of goods and then searching desperately to find a port where you can offload them without bringing the sale price down to nothing as the buyer's supply increases. The upshot is that it takes forever to make any kind of serious money by trading, as no matter how big your fleet is, you can never get a decent supply of goods at a decent price. It can take hours of real time to earn mere thousands of gold pieces in a game where tens and hundreds of thousands are necessary to have any real impact.

You can attack towns if you like and annex them for yourself or one of the four empires of the game.

Bottom line: trading in Port Royale 3 is a terrible, slow grind that sees you spending your time moving sliders back and forth ever so slightly so as not to affect the price too much, and getting very little reward for your precision. And since ship-to-ship fighting and treasure hunting are so hit or miss, you spend most of your time in Port Royale 3 trying to decide between being bored selling goods or being bored searching for something interesting to do. Multiplayer, though technically available, will likely serve as cold comfort, as it's all but impossible to find an opponent.

The saddest part of all this is that Port Royale 3 looks good and plays smoothly. It also, at least in theory, has a lot of facets: trading, ship-to-ship combat, ship-to-shore combat, two separate story campaigns, and multiplayer. But none of these offer anything that's much fun to do.


Source : http://www.gamespot.com/port-royale-3/reviews/port-royale-3-pirates-and-merchants-review-6376561/

Max Payne 3 Review

After almost nine years, Max Payne, the pill-popping, bullet dodging, cop with nothing to lose and a penchant for horizontal gunplay has returned in Rockstar Studios’ Max Payne 3. When it was first revealed that MP3 was going to be the next title from Rockstar Games, there was a nearly audible reaction of, "Why?" from a good portion of gamers. After all, it had been nearly a decade since anyone had seen Max in action, and it seemed that it would stay that way, since he wasn’t exactly a character gamers were clamoring to see resurrected.

Thankfully, Rockstar ignored our collective abandonment of Max Payne, and decided to once again put Max at the forefront of the third-person action genre by delivering a bullet-adoring, genre-defining, shooter experience to rival this generation’s best, and the result is Max Payne 3.


When the original Max Payne burst onto the PC scene back in 2001, with its melodramatic, film noir-inspired presentation and Matrix-style bullet time-centric combat, it was definitely a breath of fresh air, and a large number of gamers no doubt still remember sinking countless hours into the game just because the bullet time turned standard shootouts into something completely unique. It also told a twisted and unforgiving tale of corruption, redemption, and desperation, presented in a comic book-panel style in between scenes of explosive violence.

Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne carried its predecessor’s torch admirably, maintaining the core mechanics, tone, and style fans loved while adding a still impressive layer of physics that took the slowed down action to a whole new level. Watching thugs get spun violently into the air in slow-mo never got old, and it helped make the sequel a worthy successor to one of the most groundbreaking shooters ever, even if it did feature plenty of similar scenarios (the least appealing of which involved navigating window ledges). In short, it felt like a natural, less game-changing next step.

With Max Payne 3, Rockstar once again hits all of the expected series beats, most of which players have come to expect from the genre in general, but it does so with such flair, polish, and focus of vision that what you end up with is a game that has an old-school heart in a next-gen body. You’ll still need to track down painkillers to heal yourself, but you’ll be doing it as a fully motion-captured James McCaffrey who moves at a noticeably slower pace than the much younger Max Payne from the previous games. Max narrates the story in his familiar pseudo-noir wordiness, but now it’s accented with a system that projects choice words and phrases into the scene and turns video into still images that are then used to pull off the comic book panel effect.

This artful balance of old and new is mirrored in the game’s story as well. The narrative jumps between flashback and present day, telling the painful tale of how Max was pulled out of his whiskey-soaked stupor by former policeman-turned-hired gun Raul Passos and thrown (bald) head first into the gang and corruption-fueled madness of the Brazilian criminal underworld via his political powerhouse of a client, the wealthy and supremely connected Branco family.

The story itself has more twists than a Twilight Zone-themed roller coaster (damn you crazy metaphor-laden narration!), some of which are rather obvious, but others that completely caught me off guard. I can already anticipate some players referencing the Mexico portion of Red Dead Redemption when discussing the closing chapters of MP3, but as was the case in RDR, I found myself being pleasantly surprised by the meatiness of the final act, pudge included.

The scope of the story is equally impressive, taking you from the snowy streets of New York City to the sun-baked back alleys of Sao Paulo to the over-the-top decadence of a multimillion dollar yacht under siege in the Panama Canal. Each setting brings with it a unique color pallet, and is crammed with a staggering amount of detail. Imagine all of the effort Rockstar puts into bringing its open worlds to life. Now imagine all of that effort concentrated down to individual set pieces (that are still quite substantial in their own right), and you’ll start to get a sense of how remarkable these place spaces truly are.

But for as slickly told as the story is, it’s the presentation--the stuttery video feed camera effects, the sans-loading screen transitions between gameplay and cutscenes, etc.--that bring MP3’s "cinematic" vision to life. You should know though that while there technically aren’t any load screens, the first half of every cutscene is an unskippable load time. Obviously, being forced to watch a brilliantly directed and well-acted cutscene instead of staring at a load screen is hardly a bad thing, but I figured you should know.

You should also know that those gameplay/cutscene transitions I mentioned before will have you screaming with girlish joy, because they flow so naturally that you honestly won’t even realize they are happening. One second you’re watching Max run at a dude to push him out of a nearby window overlooking a dance floor and the next you’re crashing through said window only now you are aiming at other enemies scattered around the club below, picking them off as you fall towards the ground surrounded by glass and the bracing against the body of the dude you just tackled out the window. There are numerous action-packed transitions like this, but even the standard move from cinematic to gameplay is slick as all hell.

Honestly though, the crowning jewel in Max Payne 3’s multi-jeweled crown is the combat. The animations systems driving Max’s movements are easily the best of any third-person action game I have ever played. The way he shifts his weight when changing directions to the way he is able to roll around while prone, enabling him to blast fools in a full 360 degrees to how he looks popping painkillers with one hand and popping caps with the other are nothing short of extraordinary. And that’s not even taking into account what happens to the poor bastards on the receiving end of Max’s remarkable actions.

Building on the Euphoria-powered AI behaviors established in Grand Theft Auto IV, and then expanded in Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3 brings death to life in more moan-inducing ways than you can imagine. The way bullets impact bodies in the game is cringe worthy enough, but thanks to the new and improved final kill cam--another series staple--you get you watch in slow-mo and, if you hold down A/X, super slow-mo each individually rendered bullet rip through the flesh and bone of your enemies, before their bodies slump to the ground, filled with gaping, blood-spurting wounds. Action doesn’t get more joyously and bloodily balletic than this, and it all plays out without a single hiccup or slowdown even during the most chaotic of shootouts.

For as glorious as MP3’s action and presentation are, the game is not without its missteps, as small and few as they are. Similar to the oddly placed platforming sections in the previous two games, MP3 includes a couple of equally odd quick-time sequences at specific points during the story. Considering that you have to pull them off successfully to progress, these moments could have easily just been part of the cutscenes they appear in and nothing would have been lost.



The golden guns feature introduced in RDR makes its return in MP3, but it feels a bit out of place given the game’s linear design and more narrow narrative, because it means you’ll be spending time scouring every corner of every level to find the various gun pieces needed to unlock the golden weapons. While I do like that it pushes you to take in every inch of the gorgeously designed environments, it defuses the game’s otherwise fantastically frenetic pacing.

The same could be said for the television programs (despite the pertinent info provided by the newscasts detailing your actions) and the returning ability to play a little ditty on various pianos scattered throughout the game. You can also find clues (a picture, news clipping, a character hiding in a bathroom stall, etc.) that can give additional context to the story events, but this at least fits in with Max’s detective past, and therefore feels much more organic than tickling the ivories while someone you’re supposed to be rescuing is somewhere with a gun pressed against their head waiting for you to show up.

Once you’ve finished Max’s lengthy single-player campaign, you can then replay every chapter in the game in either Score Attack (new to the series) or New York Minute (a franchise staple), both of which will have leaderboard fanatics coming back on a daily basis to ensure their name remains at the top. You’ll want to play through the story mode again and again anyway because the combat is just that good, but having the option of doing so while racking up points and/or racing against the clock are welcomed additions.



As was the case with GTA IV and Red Dead Redemption, Max Payne 3 includes a robust, challenging, and super fun multiplayer component in addition to its substantial single-player offering. The standard deathmatch and team deathmatch are the perfect places to witness/cause massive amounts of fluid death, but Gang War mode is where I found myself having the most fun. Not only does this mode tie directly into Max’s story (you play as members of the gangs Max fights against in New York and Brazil), but it plays out over five chapters, each of which gets a specific voiceover narration setting up the story behind the showdown, and 10 game modes. So one round you might have to grab cash and bring it designated drop off points, and the next you’re trying to stop the other team from blowing up key points around the map. This sort of multiple game type setup is nothing new to multiplayer, but it works beautifully here.

One of the big questions for MP3 mulitplayer was how bullet time was going to work. The answer is remarkably well, because it’s based on line of sight. So when you dive and there’s no one around, you just dive. But if you have an enemy if your crosshairs, time slows for you and the targeted player. If the other player breaks your line of sight, time speeds up again. It’s an elegant solution, and one that rewards quick thinking and map awareness while also letting players enjoy the franchise’s signature gameplay features outside the main campaign.

The multiplayer also features a mega crap ton of challenges to complete and perks/weapons/gear/attachments/characters/outfits to unlock. The perks (Bursts/Sutures) system adds a great deal of strategy to multiplayer, as they offer all sorts of ways to counter opposing perk-based efforts. Having weight impact health regen and movement speed is another nice touch, since it discourages tanking in favor of lean, mean fighters.

Perhaps the most talked about multiplayer feature in MP3 is Crews. These are just clans--complete with fully customizable logos that can be crafted over at Rockstar’s Social Club site--but MP3 crews will eventually be transferable to GTA 5. Initiating vendettas against another player in multiplayer matches is one thing, but being able to start feuds with other crews is just good fun, and it adds an extra layer of camaraderie to the entire multiplayer experience.

Max Payne 3 is a technological tour de force that will have you screaming "Dear lord!" more times than midnight mass. The performances are top notch, the action plays out with unrivaled fluidity, and the multiplayer is deep and rewarding. Silly distractions aside, Max Payne 3 is an action lover’s wet dream that also happens to employ some of the slickest direction and transitional trickery this side of a David Fincher box set. Lock and load. It’s bullet time...time.


Source : http://www.g4tv.com/games/xbox-360/61622/max-payne-3/review/

Master Chief, Shepard, 007, Others Go Head-To-Head In Art Of The Instakill Ads By Google » Blog Tags Today's Most Popular Videos »

There are two important lessons to be learned from CorridorDigital's new mash-up short (via Destructoid): mash-ups are sweet and Nintendo's Mario continues to be the reigning king in all "who's the best?" video game debates. Don't agree? That's fine. Just stand over there. Away from me. I don't want to get any blood or entrails on me when a blue shells squashes you.

Great work on "Art of the Instakill" here from CorridorDigital, the same folks who brought you Repair Tool Hero and a special effects-fueled "Fus Ro Dah" vid. This one rules them all though. I can't think of any better way to kick off the week than with two minutes of senseless, cross-franchise violence.



Source : http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/723732/master-chief-shepard-007-others-go-head-to-head-in-art-of-the-instakill/

X-Play Summer Games Preview Week Starts Tonight 6:30/5:30c Ads By Google » Blog Tags Today's Most Popular Videos »

Tune in tonight 6:30/5:30c as X-Play kicks off Summer Games Preview Week, our ultimate guide to all the season's hottest games. Tonight we'll start it off with Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, Diablo 3, Max Payne 3, and more. Get full show details below:

Watch the X-Play Summer Games Preview tonight and all week at 6:30/5:30c!


Source : http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/723725/x-play-summer-games-preview-week-starts-tonight-630530c/

Ask Us Questions On Feedback! Ads By Google » Blog Tags Today's Most Popular Videos »

Tons of rumors are pouring in from gaming outlets all over the world, like rumors that Internet Explorer will be added to Xbox or rumors about Beyond Good & Evil 2 being a next gen title.  Next week on Feedback we're going to be discussing the rumors, the speculation and the hype leading up to 2012's E3. Have you heard any rumors that you would like us to discuss? Do you have any questions about what we expect to see at the convention? Ask us anything! The time is now!


Source : http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/723677/ask-us-questions-on-feedback/

FOX: Fringe's Final Season in Fall; Touch Also on Fridays

FOX have announced their initial 2012-2013 schedule. Of note is that the final thirteen episodes of Fringe will air for certain in the fall (rather than midseason) and that Touch, with Kiefer Sutherland, is moving to Fridays. Also moving is Glee, which will now air on Thursdays, with Tuesdays now all half hour comedies, including The Mindy Project with The Office's Mindy Kaling.

Two series we're very curious about here at IGN, The Following and The Goodwin Games, will be held for midseason. The Following is a serial killer-themed drama from Kevin Williamson (Scream, The Vampire Diaries), starring Kevin Bacon. The Goodwin Games is the new comedy from the creators of How I Met Your Mother.

FOX's schedule confirms Bob's Burgers will return, while it looks like Napoleon Dynamite is gone. Check out the full schedule below, followed by network provided descriptions of the new series.

FOX 2012-2013 PRIMETIME SCHEDULE
(All Times ET/PT)

MONDAY
8:00-9:00 PM BONES
9:00-10:00 PM THE MOB DOCTOR (new)

THE FOLLOWING (new) joins in midseason.

TUESDAY
8:00-8:30 PM RAISING HOPE
8:30-9:00 PM BEN AND KATE (new)
9:00-9:30 PM NEW GIRL
9:30-10:00 PM THE MINDY PROJECT (new)

THE GOODWIN GAMES (new) joins in midseason.

WEDNESDAY
8:00-10:00 PM THE X FACTOR (fall) / AMERICAN IDOL (midseason)

THURSDAY
8:00-9:00 PM THE X FACTOR Results (fall) / AMERICAN IDOL Results (midseason)
9:00-10:00 PM GLEE

FRIDAY
8:00-9:00 PM TOUCH
9:00-10:00 PM FRINGE (fall)

HELL'S KITCHEN returns in midseason.

SATURDAY
7:00-10:30 PM FOX SPORTS SATURDAY (fall)

COPS returns in midseason.
ANIMATION DOMINATION HIGH-DEF (new) will join late-prime in 2013.

SUNDAY
7:00-7:30 PM NFL Game (fall) / ANIMATION DOMINATION (encores)
7:30-8:00 PM THE OT (fall) / THE CLEVELAND SHOW
8:00-8:30 PM THE SIMPSONS
8:30-9:00 PM BOB'S BURGERS
9:00-9:30 PM FAMILY GUY
9:30-10:00 PM AMERICAN DAD

BEN AND KATE
What happens when an exuberant, irresponsible dreamer who always says "yes" moves in with his overly responsible little sister to help raise her five-year-old daughter? BEN AND KATE, a new single-camera young ensemble comedy, follows these odd-couple siblings as they push each other out of their comfort zones and into real life. KATE FOX (Dakota Johnson, "The Social Network") followed the rules all her life…until she got pregnant in college and dropped out just shy of graduation. After the birth of her daughter, MADDIE (Maggie Jones, "We Bought a Zoo," "Footloose"), Kate put her twenties on hold. Now working as a bar manager to make ends meet and maximize her time with five-year-old Maddie, she's uber-prepared for every possible catastrophe – except for the arrival of her older brother, BEN FOX (Nat Faxon, "Bad Teacher"). Ben likes trouble a lot more than his sister does. His infectious energy makes you want to follow him into any number of bad ideas. He'll totally screw up your life, but somehow, you'll feel good about it. Where Kate is all about planning and preparing, Ben is big on spontaneity and out-of-the-box ideas. But don't let the Velcro wallet fool you – he'll probably be a millionaire someday. When Ben comes to crash on Kate's couch for a few days, he finds a sad state of affairs. Kate's surviving, but not living. Ben realizes that for the first time in their lives, Kate needs his help and he's determined to bring some much-needed chaos into her overly stable world. He starts by offering to help look after Maddie so Kate can get back to experiencing her mid-twenties and making mistakes, since the one real "mistake" she's made turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to her. Always there to help with Ben's crazy schemes is his partner-in-crime, TOMMY (newcomer Echo Kellum), who worships Ben like a hero and nurses a serious crush on Kate. Kate's British best friend, BJ (Lucy Punch, "Bad Teacher"), is a cocktail waitress at the bar that Kate manages and an all-around hot mess who would do anything for Kate, even if her advice is often questionable and occasionally illegal. From writer/executive producer Dana Fox (NEW GIRL, "What Happens in Vegas") and executive producer/director Jake Kasdan (NEW GIRL, "Bad Teacher"), BEN AND KATE is a heartwarming story of deeply mismatched siblings: a sister who needs to go for her dreams and a brother who needs to get his head out of the clouds.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: 20th Century Fox Television, Chernin Entertainment
CREATOR/WRITER/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Dana Fox
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Peter Chernin, Katherine Pope
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Jake Kasdan
CAST: Dakota Johnson as Kate, Nat Faxon as Ben, Maggie Jones as Maddie, Lucy Punch as BJ, Echo Kellum as Tommy


THE MINDY PROJECT
THE MINDY PROJECT is a new single-camera comedy from Emmy Award-nominated writer/producer and New York Times best-selling author Mindy Kaling ("The Office") that follows a woman who, despite having a successful career, desperately needs to break bad habits in her personal life. After all, how many doctors make inappropriate toasts at their ex-boyfriend's wedding, nearly drown at the bottom of a stranger's pool and get arrested for disorderly conduct just moments before having to deliver a baby? Funny, impatient and politically incorrect, MINDY LAHIRI (Kaling) can quote every romantic comedy starring Meg Ryan that exists. She loves the good ones and the bad ones, because the girl always gets the guy. Mindy is determined to be more punctual, spend less money, lose weight and read more books – all in pursuit of becoming a well-rounded perfect woman…who can meet and date the perfect guy. Mindy is a skilled OB/GYN and shares a practice with a few other doctors, none of whom make life any easier for her. JEREMY REED (British writer/comedian Ed Weeks) is the walking definition of total bad news. He not only shares a practice with Mindy, but sometimes her bed as well – despite her best efforts to resist. He is funny, self-absorbed and super sexy. In contrast, DANNY CASTELLANO (Chris Messina, "Damages") is a hothead and guys' guy who has a habit of stealing Mindy's patients. Danny criticizes her for everything, including her struggling love life and her lack of professionalism – even though it's obvious to everyone except Mindy that he secretly admires her work. His blue-collar childhood gives him a big chip on his shoulder, but he is a dedicated physician, which Mindy can't stand to admit because he's always getting on her case. Rounding out the office staff are the receptionists – BETSY PUTCH (Zoe Jarman, "Huge"), young, earnest and easily excitable, who thinks the world of Mindy and is always trying to impress her; and SHAUNA DICANIO (newcomer Dana DeLorenzo), a self-assured Jersey Girl who is indifferent to Mindy, always knows where the cool party is and carries a poorly concealed torch for Danny. Mindy is in constant communication with her beloved best friend from college, GWEN GRANDY (Anna Camp, "The Good Wife"), who also happens to be the governor's daughter. Gwen is a hilarious, sometimes too-blunt friend, and secretly a former carefree party girl (which only Mindy seems to remember). Although Gwen is now happily married to a financial analyst, with a six-year-old daughter, this lawyer-turned-Pilates mom remains squarely in Mindy's corner. As Mindy attempts to get her career off the ground and meet a guy who passes her red flag test (no drug habits, no skinny jeans and no secret families, among others), only time will tell if she gets her romantic comedy ending.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Universal Television, 3 Arts Entertainment
CREATOR/WRITER/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Mindy Kaling
EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Howard Klein, B.J. Novak (pilot)
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Charles McDougall (pilot)
CAST: Mindy Kaling as Mindy, Chris Messina as Danny, Ed Weeks as Jeremy, Anna Camp as Gwen, Zoe Jarman as Betsy, Dana DeLorenzo as Shauna

The following new drama will debut this fall on FOX:

THE MOB DOCTOR
For most physicians, the Hippocratic oath is sacred. But for one Chicago doctor, who is indebted to the mafia, saving lives isn't her only concern. THE MOB DOCTOR is a fast-paced medical drama featuring a brilliant young female cardiothoracic surgeon who is split between two distinct worlds as she juggles her promising medical career with her lifelong debt as a doctor to Chicago's Southside mob. DR. GRACE DEVLIN (Jordana Spiro, "My Boys") is a top resident at Chicago's Roosevelt Medical Center. Smart and self-assured, she's heralded as one of the country's most promising young surgeons. But family ties keep her glued to her Southside roots. To pay off her brother's life-threatening gambling debt, she makes a deal with the devil and agrees to work "off book" for the mafia men she once despised. During the day, Grace must deal with the emotionally compelling cases at Roosevelt Medical – a toddler in need of a heart transplant, an elderly man desperate to donate a lung to his sick wife, the mass chaos in the wake of a two-train collision on the 'L.' But in her other vastly different world, she must juggle an onslaught of mob-related demands, including operating in mob-sanctioned locations, removing bullets from dead bodies to hide incriminating evidence, saving a juiced-up race horse and covertly helping an aging mobster with his erectile dysfunction. All the while, Grace must keep her dual life a secret from everyone: her protective best friend, NURSE ROBERTA "RO" ANGELI (Floriana Lima, "Glory Daze"); her handsome, blue-blooded boyfriend, DR. BRETT ROBINSON (Zach Gilford, "Off The Map," "Friday Night Lights"); her boss at Roosevelt Medical and Chief of Surgery, DR. STAFFORD WHITE (Zeljko Ivanek, "The Event," "Damages"); her rival, DR. OLIVIA WATSON (Jaime Lee Kirchner, "Necessary Roughness," "Mercy"); even her well-meaning screw-up brother, NATE (Jesse Lee Soffer, "As the World Turns"), and her overly dramatic mother, DANIELLA (Wendy Makkena, "NCIS"). The only one who knows the true scope of Grace's activities is the man to whom Grace owes her debt: the charming and diabolical Southside mob boss CONSTANTINE ALEXANDER (William Forsythe, "Boardwalk Empire"), an oddly compassionate killer whose relationship with Grace is more than it seems. Recently released from prison, the former head of the Chicago mob looks to reclaim his place in the organization, with the help of his right-hand associate – and Grace's ex-boyfriend – FRANCO (James Carpinello, "The Good Wife"). As Grace tries to heed the demands of these two conflicting worlds – not to mention the needs of her own slightly dysfunctional family – her moral center comes into direct conflict with the very immoral things she's asked to do. But with nerves of steel and a tough-as-nails exterior, she somehow manages to make it all work – at least for now.

PRODUCTION COMPANY: Sony Pictures Television
CREATORS/WRITERS/EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Josh Berman, Rob Wright
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Michael Dinner
CAST: Jordana Spiro as Dr. Grace Devlin, William Forsythe as Constantine Alexander, Floriana Lima as Nurse "Ro" Angeli, Zach Gilford as Dr. Brett Robinson, Jaime Lee Kirchner as Dr. Olivia Watson, Zeljko Ivanek as Dr. Stafford White, James Carpinello as Franco, Jesse Lee Soffer as Nate Devlin, Wendy Makkena as Daniella Devlin


THE FOLLOWING
THE FBI estimates there are currently over 300 active serial killers in the United States. What would happen if these killers had a way of communicating and connecting with each other? What if they were able to work together and form alliances across the country? What if one brilliant psychotic serial killer was able to bring them all together and activate a following? Welcome to THE FOLLOWING, the terrifying new thriller from creator/executive producer Kevin Williamson ("The Vampire Diaries," "Dawson's Creek," the "Scream" franchise). When notorious serial killer JOE CARROLL (James Purefoy, "Rome") escapes from death row and embarks on a new killing spree, the FBI calls former agent RYAN HARDY (Emmy-nominated actor Kevin Bacon, "X-Men: First Class") to consult on the case. Having since withdrawn from the public eye, Hardy was responsible for Carroll's capture nine years ago, after Carroll murdered 14 female students on the Virginia college campus where he taught literature. Hardy is a walking textbook of all-things Carroll. He knows him better than anyone; he is perhaps Carroll's only psychological and intellectual match. But the Ryan Hardy who broke the Carroll case years ago isn't the same man today. Wounded both physically and mentally by his previous pursuit of this serial killer, it's been a long time since Hardy has been in the field. This investigation is his redemption, his call to action. In contrast to nine years ago, Hardy isn't calling the shots on this case. He works closely with an FBI team, which includes all-business and tough-as-nails JENNIFER MASON (Jeananne Goossen, "The Vow," ALCATRAZ) and young, razor-sharp MIKE WESTON (Shawn Ashmore, "X-Men").
The team considers Hardy to be more of a liability than an asset. But Hardy proves his worth when he uncovers that Carroll was covertly communicating with a network of killers in the outside world. It quickly becomes obvious that he has more planned than just a prison escape, and there's no telling how many additional killers are out there. The FBI's investigation leads Hardy to CLAIRE MATTHEWS (Natalie Zea, "Justified"), Carroll's ex-wife and mother of the criminal's 10-year-old son, JOEY (newcomer Kyle Catlett). Close during Hardy's initial investigation, Hardy turns to Claire for insight into Carroll's next move. The tension rises when Carroll's accomplices kidnap his intended last victim from nine years ago. Hardy becomes ever more determined to end Carroll's game when he realizes that this psychopath intends to finish what he started. The thriller will follow Hardy and the FBI as they are challenged with the ever-growing web of murder around them, masterminded by the devious Carroll, who dreams of writing a novel with Hardy as his protagonist. The reinvigorated Hardy will get a second chance to capture Carroll, as he's faced with not one but a cult of serial killers.

PRODUCTION COMPANIES: Warner Bros. Television, Outerbanks Entertainment, Bonanza Productions Inc.
CREATOR/WRITER/EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: Kevin Williamson
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Marcos Siega
CAST: Kevin Bacon as Ryan Hardy, James Purefoy as Joe Carroll, Jeananne Goossen as Agent Jennifer Mason, Natalie Zea as Claire Matthews, Kyle Catlett as Joey Matthews, Shawn Ashmore as Agent Weston, Valorie Curry as Denise, Adan Canto as Billy Thomas, Nico Tortorella as Will Wilson


THE GOODWIN GAMES
Where there's a will, there's a way. And when that will's worth more than 20 million dollars, you can bet someone's going to find a way to get the cash. From the executive producers of "How I Met Your Mother," THE GOODWIN GAMES is a single-camera comedy that tells the story of three grown siblings who return home after their father's death, and unexpectedly find themselves poised to inherit a vast fortune – if they adhere to their late father's wishes. If any of the Goodwin kids feel like they deserve the money, then it's HENRY (Scott Foley, "Grey's Anatomy," "Felicity"), the eldest child and an overachieving surgeon. He sees himself as a role model for his less successful siblings – and reminds them every chance he gets. Returning home will force Henry to question the choices he's made, especially as he reconnects with his first love and true soulmate, LUCINDA (Felisha Terrell, "Days of Our Lives"). Middle sibling CHLOE (Becki Newton, "Ugly Betty") was a child prodigy in math, and her unofficial role as "the smart one" of the family still sends Henry into fits of jealousy. But long ago, Chloe gave up academics in favor of being the popular girl. Now, through a series of hidden messages, her late father will lead Chloe back to her old love of numbers – and back to the person she's meant to be. Of the three siblings, the youngest, JIMMY (Jake Lacy, "Better With You"), could use the inheritance the most. A small-time ex-con and dull-witted guitarist who's deep in debt to a loan shark, Jimmy may be the family screw-up, but he has more heart than anyone. Like his siblings, Jimmy's also returning to something in this town: his eight-year-old daughter. Pulling the strings from beyond the grave is the
children's late father, BENJAMIN (guest star Beau Bridges, "The Descendants"), a college math professor. Guilty over not parenting his kids better, Benjamin has left behind a series of unique challenges – administered by his estate attorney APRIL (newcomer Melissa Tang). Through these tasks, Benjamin hopes he can get his children to rediscover their true selves and learn the lessons he failed to instill in them while he was alive. Their potential reward? More than 20 million dollars – a fortune that they never knew their father had – and the chance to become the people their father wanted them to be. So let THE GOODWIN GAMES begin!

PRODUCTION COMPANY: 20th Century Fox Television
CREATORS/WRITERS/EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: Carter Bays, Craig Thomas, Chris Harris
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER/DIRECTOR: Peyton Reed (pilot)
CAST: Scott Foley as Henry, Becki Newton as Chloe, Jake Lacy as Jimmy, Felisha Terrell as Lucinda, Melissa Tang as April


Source : http://tv.ign.com/articles/122/1224630p1.html

Tomb Raider delayed to 2013

The upcoming Tomb Raider title currently in development at Crystal Dynamics has been delayed from Q3 2012 to Q1 2013.

The announcement came today via a post on the official Eidos Games forums, in which Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher outlined the developer's reasons for delaying the title:

Lara is going to have to hang out just a little bit longer.

"Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest-quality game," Gallagher said in the message. "In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from fall 2012 [spring in Australia] to the first quarter of 2013.

"We're doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game, and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice, and I guarantee it will be worth the wait."

As a consolation prize, the studio also released a screenshot in preparation for more information about the game, which will be revealed during this year's Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) in June.

Last year, it was revealed that Crystal Dynamics would be exploring Lara Croft's beginnings in the upcoming Tomb Raider title. Earlier this year, the studio also announced that it had no plans to release the game on the Wii U.

Set for release on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, Tomb Raider is the first instalment in the series since 2010's downloadable multiplayer-focused Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, and the first standalone game since 2008's Tomb Raider: Underworld.


Source : http://gamespot.com/news/tomb-raider-delayed-to-2013-6376549

Uncharted 3 Patch To Bring Back Elimination, The Lab Ads By Google » Blog Tags Today's Most Popular Videos »

Naughty Dog's upcoming v1.11 patch for Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception is aimed at bringing back some of the absent multiplayer content from Uncharted 2, a PlayStation Blog post confirms. Elimination mode is coming back, a team-based 5v5 best-of-three game with no respawns. The patch will also bring back The Lab, which is a special playlist that will be home to experimental Naughty Dog-created modes.

One new game type will be available when Uncharted 3's v1.11 patch is released at the end of May 2012, a map that limits players to using the T-bolt and Pistole weapons. The patch also includes a number of other minor feature changes and fixed, including an assortment of new custom game settings.


Source : http://www.g4tv.com/thefeed/blog/post/723729/uncharted-3-patch-to-bring-back-elimination-the-lab/