EA: Dead Space 3 got co-op because Dead Space is too scary to play alone

Speaking to Gamasutra, Miele described how EA's market research teams have switched from pigeon-holing players in terms of favourite genres or features, to categorising their tastes in terms of mood, situation or time of day.

"It was common for companies to segment the marketplace," she told the site. "Like, there's an Xbox 360 shooter consumer, or you have a PS3 sports fan consumer. And I knew that's not how people were consuming content."

EA's new approach shows that consumers routinely think outside the boxes publishers construct for them. "We went into people's homes," Miele went on. "I went on a couple of these trips, and we asked 300 consumers across the globe to take all their games, place them on the floor and sort them... not a single consumer organized them by platform or genre."

Her findings helped give rise to Visceral's new direction for the Dead Space series - apparently, the first two games enjoyed limited success because they were too scary to play alone. "That's how co-op was introduced. Cooperative play was the ticket; that is the key need and motivation for consumers.

It's not just a question of mimicking competitors, then. "I genuinely believe that there's a deep strategy that isn't just about a checklist of, 'this game did quite well and it had co-op in it, so let's put co-op in this.'"

As comparatively enlightened as Miele's approach seems, we do have caveats about what it bodes for Dead Space in particular. Sure, it's easier to play a game that doesn't terrify you, but many of those who bought Dead Space 1 and Dead Space 2 did so for the chills - chills which, I suspect, won't be quite so chilling with another player around.

Visceral claims the new Dead Space mixes balls-out action with suspense, but what we've seen of it suggests that action gets a larger share of the pie. Will returning fans be convinced? Look out for a preview in a forthcoming issue

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Criterion Details Autolog 2.0 for Most Wanted

Criterion has released details of Autolog 2.0, a network that connects online friends allowing them to compete in head-to-head races and easily compare their stats. The service first shipped with Criterion's take on Hot Pursuit in 2010, and the service will get lots of new features when Need For Speed: Most Wanted launches later this year.

Autolog 2.0 will record everything you do in the game, and it will broadcast this in the form of a 'Live Feed' that "pulls all the biggest news from your friends' games and invites you to do better". The service automatically highlight your greatest victories on your friends' Autolog Walls.

There will also be a greater degree of personalisation, allowing you to target which of your friends you really want to beat and customise the recommendations it makes. You can even turn down "the volume on a particular friend and focus the action on someone you absolutely must beat."

Autolog will also be more integrated into the game's open world environment. As you drive around the city, Autolog will inform you of your friends' current records and the times you have to beat.

For a full list of Autolog 2.0 features check out the official Need For Speed website.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted is out on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 2 in Europe and October 30 in the 
US

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DIRT Showdown- PC Review

And Codemasters Racing do it again. But this time with more car-nage than before. Dirt showdown is an action filled, full contact alongside with the ecstasy of destruction you would love to get. Codemasters retain the familiar Codemasters aesthetic, complete with crashing option overlays and smooth transition between menu levels.
As far as the story is concerned one shouldn't bother much really. Instead take a super heavy vehicle and head out for rampage. Isn't that fun?
You play as a pro level player from the beginning with two events unlocked. The cars are nicely detailed and accumulate muck and dust as the races progress. The environments are raging with spectacle and bursting with fireworks, and the tracks themselves are peppered with destructible objects. It’s a good looking racing game, no doubt, with the kind of visuals for which Codemasters has earned itself a reputation.


Gameplay 
While Dirt Showdown doesn’t really have a narrative, the game keeps you hooked on its various experiences by ramping up the difficulty across multiple competitions and always keeping things from getting stale.


There are four difficulty levels- pro,All stars,Champion, Legend. As the game progresses, the difficulty level increases, AI become much stronger and sharper and the game starts to become more fun. Well i wouldn't agree with this point entirely though, you will find out why. 


Dirt showdown has gone a long way if compared with previous release from codemasters-Dirt 3. Talking in terms of gameplay mechanics, style of presentation and mainly the types of events available for us to play. 


Although the gameplay has gotten better, the commentary can make you frustrated. The commentary is usually of very few words, intermittent and boring. Also the game becomes repetitive as it progresses. Also the customisation present doesn't really serve the purpose. Only three options-strength, power and handling making us think the developers did not put much time in making the game.


Events 
They are many type of events starting with usual Race-off to Destruction mania events. Certainly the events are fun to play, and to play demolition events it is quite gruesomely awesome and ecstatic. 


Each race has about 8 players with the AI players giving quite the required edge making it more fun. As you progress, AI players never leave a stone unturned to take out and wreck your car out giving you a stiff competition. 




Of course, one of Dirt Showdown’s biggest claims to fame is the introduction of demolition derbies and various other destruction-based events. These can take place either in the classic bowl-like arenas or on elevated platforms from which you can push your opponents and score big points. There are also reversal events called Hard Target, where you need to avoid getting crashed into for a certain time.


The type of events present in the game are 
RACE-OFF-Usual sprint -***


ELIMINATOR-With the time split of 14sec, the player in the last gets eliminated-****


KNOCK OUT- This is my favourite. In this event the player has to stay on the platform while scoring points by demolishing other players and throwing them out of platforms-****


HEAD TO HEAD- Well this race gives goose pimples. In this event, the player is asked to do as told. It can get fun if you master the track and the cars first. :P-**


TRICK RUSH- This event is all about scoring points and finishing your way up to to the first-***


8-BALL- Well this is new?!! And so much fun. Race tracks in this event cross each other giving a new possibility for mass destruction. This maybe fun at start since the drivers in the start aren't much competition but in the end it gets better and destructive-*****


RAMPAGE-Well if this isn't about carnage then what is? This is one of my favourites. Just pick your best muscle car and get out on the platform to destruct. 
I find this one very cool-*****
(The stars indicate the rating out of 5 i would like to give them)


Well these are some of many events available in the game. Events are certainly fun to play. 


" All's well need NOT not end well" Wondering what this means? 
Although the diversity, slick presentation and a good competition from AI is definitely are strong points for this game, but as you progress the number of laps increase and types of events remain the same leading to repetitive gameplay. It becomes boring once you in a lead in 8-lap race and noway your opponent can catch you. While the destruction events are quite fun, the scoring is all over the place because there isn’t that big of a difference between scoring crashes in the low hundreds and scoring over 1,000, even if you use boost.


Keeping the bugs and boring at bay, Dirt Showdown marks the return of Gymkhana competitions, although this time they’ve been refined and tweaked for a less annoying experience, while being renamed into Hoonigan events.You can enter experiences where you drive head to head 
against another driver on special courses designed to get you to execute all sorts of manoeuvres, from drifts, to donuts or jumps. There are also Smash Attack events, which challenge you to do things like smash items of different colours in quick succession, as well as Trick Rush ones, which are the most reminiscent of the Gymkhana from Dirt 3, as you drive around an abandoned compound and do whatever tricks you want.


Graphics and Sound

Very slick Graphics...simply superb

Dirt Showdown may not look that much different from Dirt 3, but this isn't a bad thing as Codemasters' Ego engine once again shines and recreates some really satisfying crashes without any bit of a slowdown.




Cars look great and the whole visual design of the experience makes the game stand out from other racing titles. Throw in some impressive level design complete with different types of weather depending on your location and Showdown will definitely delight your eyes. The menus look great with blocks falling from above.

Menus look great

Your ears, on the other hand, are in for a mixed experience. The soundtrack is filled with progressive rock, rap and quite a lot of dub step, which may not be everyone's cup of tea. Throw in the awful commentator who feels the need to keep you up to speed with what's going on the screen by shouting corny one-liners and you might want to play your own music while experiencing Showdown. This is too bad, as the sound created by engines and crashes is quite satisfying.


Conclusion
Dirt Showdown delivers a decent racing experience. Showdown may look heavy on options from its bombastic menus but ultimately it just feels like a narrow slice of Dirt 3 with some destruction derbies tacked on. While the destruction theme may not be pulled off perfectly and the Hoonigan events can still be a bit frustrating, racing fans who are looking for a bit of fun, both offline and online, can't go wrong with this one.


My rating is 7.0....

So...what are you waiting for ? Be there, be the winner..:D

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