Thanks to GO! Gamer.com for this update on Gears of War 2 including new improvements:

Just released today, May 26, the new Gears of War 2 Title Update 6 introduces a new social matchmaking system to the online multiplayer. Social Matches, now available for download via Xbox Live, allow players to jump in and out of games—including Horde—without disruption. Parties can also join in-progress matches or create their own new match if none are available. This new social matchmaking feature is open to anyone who owns all four downloadable map packs. Anyone missing any specific maps may be pleased to know that map packs are now available on the Xbox Live Market place at a new lower price.

Along with Social Matches, the new Title Update 6 also includes all of the following updates, additions, and changes:

Improvements
Title Update 6 makes these new improvements:

• Adds a new public multiplayer match option called Social Xbox LIVE (aka player matches), open to anyone who owns all downloadable maps (that is, All Fronts Collection).
  • You can join Social Matches in progress and can quit any time without penalty, although players who quit early don’t receive earned experience (XP).
  • Social matchmaking lets your party join a match in progress. If a match is not found, your party hosts a new match, filling any empty player slots with bots.
  • Social Matches automatically cycle to the next map without further matchmaking.
  • Teams are rebalanced between matches based on XP level without splitting parties.
  • If you quit, your spot is taken by a bot until a new player joins the match. That new player can join while the match is in progress.
  • If you join a match in progress, you are assigned a team based on XP level and party size.
  • If you join a match in progress, you replace a bot at the earliest opportunity: at the first bot’s death for respawning game types (for example, Annex) and at round completion for Warzone, Execution, and Wingman.
  • Social leaderboards become part of the War Journal.
• Renames Public Matches to Ranked Xbox LIVE Matches to differentiate these from Social Xbox LIVE Matches, and adds some improvements to these matches.
  • Improved host selection using bandwidth testing and previous hosting data has been added.
  • Before the match begins, teams are balanced based on XP without splitting parties.
• Renames Private Matches to Custom Xbox LIVE Matches and makes these matches invite-only.
• Adds the ability to join Horde sessions that are in progress.
  • In Social Horde, you can join a session in progress through matchmaking.
  • In Ranked Horde, you can join a session in progress only through invites.
  • If you join a session in progress, at the end of the session you receive the score you achieved during the time you spent in the session.
• Improves the precision of weapon selection using the D-pad.
• Improves client-side hit detection for ballistic weapons.

Technorati Tags: Gears of War 2, multiplayer games, social matchmaking

Aion, The Tower of Eternity is set to hit the market on May 26, 2009. You can preorder this game at my favorite place AMAZON.com or from any of your favorite game retailers. There’s a lot of buzz on this one. The developers behind Aion have prepared a new video tour of the game’s Verteron Zone, and it looks good.
A major feature of the game is flying, both to reach new areas of the game and for aerial combat.

Have a look:

Massive Gamer Magazine recently interviewed Brian Knox, one of NCSoft’s game developers on aspects of Aion The Tower of Eternity. Here is a portion of that interview that talks about one of the most unique aspects of this game, the ability of the characters to fly:

Massive Gamer: Something a little bit unique is Aion’s PvPvE feature. Do you anticipate it entertaining both the hardcore PvPers and the ones who typically shy away from PvP, or is it focused more on one play style more than the other?

Knox: PvPvE is a reward-based system, not a punishment-based system. Players have the choice to enter into the Abyss and take part in PvPvE for the chance at huge rewards and great challenges. Since it is a reward-based system, I believe that Aion players will find PvPvE very engaging and not what they would normally expect when you hear the word PvP. Grizzled veterans will love it for its unique challenges, and those testing the waters will find it accessible to participate on many different levels. Part of the design goal of PvPvE is to make the PvP parts of the game more accessible and less intimidating.

Massive Gamer: Flight is something new and innovative with Aion. A handful of games have attempted it, but most seem to fall flat. What makes Aion different?

Knox: Our development team knew that incorporating flight would be a huge challenge in an MMOG, but if done right, could be something very special and unique for the genre. Our answer was to make flight into a strategic and integral element of game play, and take it beyond just another way to travel or another direction of movement. Here is how it works. At level 10, all players go through the ascension ritual, where they get their wings. But you can’t just fly all the time; each character has a flight bar that displays the amount of time you can fly and you can run out of flight time. Of course, you get more flight time as you level up, and you can buff it with potions or items, but you always need to be very strategic about how you use your flight. Flying in combat is obviously a big deal, and it’s lots of fun, but you need to think about it. Do you want to use it to fly in and attack from above? Or do you want to save it in case you need to flee quickly? Aerial combat is tons of fun, and you need to be cognizant of that flight bar because if it runs out, you will fall. Fall far enough and you will die. Also, flight opens up a whole new 3D element to the game. You need to be thinking about what’s above you—often there are quests or items that are only in places you must fly to. There is mid-air harvesting as well. So as you get more flight time, more of the game opens up to you. Overall, flight is a big part of Aion’s core game play.

Massive Gamer: Will there be any mounts on ground? Or will flight be the primary travel mode?

Knox: The team is evaluating the idea of ground mounts for future updates but we haven’t announced anything yet. Personal flight can be used for short-range travel but that’s not the primary purpose of flight—flight is used as a strategic element to all aspects of game play and is not just for transportation. There will be teleporters to different parts of the world for travel, along with flight paths to speed up travel within the zone.

Read the entire interview HERE

Technorati Tags: Aion, MMORPG, multiplayer games, NCSoft, The Tower of Eternity, Verteron Zone Tour