techcheck

At their E3 press conference today, Andy Beaudoin from Zipper Interactive (known for the SOCOM series) revealed a new project called MAG, short for Massive Action Game. The game will break up to 256 human players into eight-man squads fighting each other simultaneously in a total free-for-all. Characters will be able to advance their statistics as they play. More as sony releases more information.Andy Beaudoin from Zipper interactive. MAG = Massive Action Game. Zipper building on their experience from SOCOM. Buh. 256-player battles. We certainly hope this handles voice chat well. “MAG will deliver a sweeping battle experience using only real players” 8-player squads. lead by people who are “proven” to be good leaders, character advancement tree to fine-tune your character.Groundbreaking large scale combat, intimacy of 8-player squad combat, and character growth

There may not have been any word of a new PSP out of E3 as some had suspected, but it looks Sony may have a bit of a late surprise for us, at least if these tantalizing pics from PSPChina are to be believed. Apparently, this new PSP-3000 model remains mostly unchanged from the current PSP-2000, with the notable addition of a built-in microphone and a somewhat less notable PlayStation button in place of the usual Home button. As you can see in the picture after the break, the signature steel ring on the back of the PSP also appears to have been trimmed a bit (there’s a pic of the inside of the case as well, for the curious). Not exactly the DS Lite sort of upgrade that’d make everyone ditch their old PSPs to be sure but, as we’ve seen with the PSP-2000, it would be about par for the course for Sony.
The availability of the PSP-3000 image on the PlayStation site shouldn’t come as a signal that a redesign is impending — it’s clear that Sony plans on revising the hardware through its supposed ten year life cycle. However, it does seem to display a bit too much forethought from the web designers that created and uploaded this image. How long will it take before we hear rumblings of yet another PSP redesign?
 

The beta test is beginning to ramp up. Tonight we have word that the beta downloader is in action and delivering data to those that have access to it (via WotLK Wiki). This is an obvious indicator that Blizzard has switched over to the beta testing phase, and that they are getting ready to send out invites.

Additionally the beta page at beta.worldofwarcraft.com now shows beta information and activity. If you do get a beta key, you can use this page to sign up and gain access to the client files. It would be a good time to start keeping and eye out for a real beta invite, and let us know if you get one if you’re one of the first lucky few. However at the same time, please be very careful not to fall for any beta scams.

Here’s the official trailer