Entertainment Electronics Blog

Bethesda has confirmed that the long-awaited Skyrim Creatino Kit will launch this week.

Skyrim’s modding suite, the Creation Kit, will launch on Tuesday 7 February, Bethesda’s Pete Hines has confirmed.

“For our Skyrim PC fans, the Creation Kit is on track for release on Tuesday. And, we also have a special surprise with it,” Hines tweeted.

Given that the Creation Kit enables gamers to create their own content, could “a special surprise” be some sort of new content?

Bethesda has remained coy on it’s plans for Skyrim DLC, saying only that it will be substantial and improve the game.

Hit the link to find out what features to expect from the Skyrim Creation Kit, or watch the Creation Kit video for more.

Async Corp. is about as charming as a puzzle game gets. There are a few flaws with it (most notably that the game does a terrible job of actually telling you how to play, but I’ll fix that in a second), but it’s just so cute and so charmingly devised that it’s hard to put down. The idea is that you’ve got two grids of colored blocks next to each other, and it’s your job (in an almost literal sense, as the game’s premise casts you as a worker at a fictional corporation) to “pass packets” back and forth by touching one grid and then the other. The trick is that you can only pass packets when they combine up into a rectangular box of four or more, at which point they create cute little boxes with faces on them, which can then be tapped away for points.

There are three different modes to play that challenge you to accomplish things within various limits, but that’s basically how the game works. And yes, once you get over that initial learning curve, there’s actually a lot of depth to the game: You can trade pieces to create two cute boxes for a “sync” move that earns you extra points, and once you make a box, you can add pieces to it to keep growing it for more points (though every piece you move has to actually finish off the box, so you can only complete them, not build them up).

The game is a lot of fun, and the cute little graphics, excellent chiptune music, and puzzle replayability make it more than worth the 99 cents. Definitely check it out if you’re in for some cute puzzle fun.

Daily iPhone App: Async Corp originally appeared on TUAW – The Unofficial Apple Weblog on Fri, 20 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Blizzard Auction House given the all-clear by ratings board.

Diablo 3 has been given the all-clear by South Korea’s game rating board, amid fears Blizzard’s real-cash auction house would be a sticking point in the gambling-concious country.

Diablo 3’s yet-to-be-confirmed simultaneous worldwide release date was thought to be in jeopardy should South Korea fail to come to a decision over the game, although Blizzard denied it was an issue.

Diablo 3 has now been granted an 18-and-over rating in the gaming-mad country.

Star Wars: The Old Republic getting new Flashpoint, Operation, Level 50 for PvP Warzones.

Star Wars: The Old Republic will receive its first official update next week, BioWare has announced.

SWTOR update 1.1, otherwise known as Rise of the Rakghouls, will include “new Flashpoints, Operations, WarZones and new game systems,” as well as “higher level group content, game feature additions and continued balancing and bug fixes,” when it hits on 17 January, according to the developer.

BioWare also reveald that its next SWTOR update is planned for March.

“A month ago when we launched the Early Game Access program for Star Wars: The Old Republic, we promised our fans that this would just be the beginning of our journey together,” said BioWare co-founder and MMO boss Dr. Greg Zeschuk.

“Rise of the Rakghouls adds a lot of the things our community has been asking for – additional higher level group content, features like anti-aliasing, PvP bracketing and more. In the future, game updates will be even more substantial, as we promise to continue to not only add to The Old Republic, but to also improve and refine the experience with the full Legacy System and new Guild features.”

Check out the feature descriptions and announcement video below:

Flashpoint: Kaon Under Siege is a completely new and unique group combat experience located on Kaon, a planet in the Tion Hegemony, a strategically important sector of the galaxy that has remained neutral, groups of up to four Republic or Imperial players must race to Kaon to eliminate the Rakghouls outbreak, securing the allegiance of the Tion Hegemony for their respective sides. This Flashpoint will be available for level 50 characters only and will feature Normal and Heroic modes. 

Operation: Karagga’s Palace, is a continuation of the game’s second launch Operation. In the Operation, teams of 8 or 16 players will face off against Karagga and the Hutt Cartel after the Hutts abandon their famous neutrality and breach agreements with both the Republic and Empire. Concerned by the threat of another combatant in the war for galactic control, both factions send teams of their most powerful heroes to confront Karagga and determine his intentions. This Operation will feature Normal, Heroic and Nightmare difficulty modes.

Two new DLC packs revealed by Sony, which will feature six new cars and an all-new track for testing.

Sony has just announced the latest DLC packs for Gran Turismo 5 from Polyphony Digital.

The first, inventively named Car Pack 3, will bring six brand new, stunning cars to tear up the track with. The Lamborghini Aventador, Jaguar XJR6, Aston Martin V12 Vantage 2011, VW 1200 1966, Mini Countryman S 2011 and the hybrid Nissan Leaf.

Car Pack 3 will be priced at and though additional prices aren’t confirmed, it’ll likely be priced at £4.99/$6.99

The second DLC pack is the Speed Test Pack, and will feature an all-new oval race track with a special performance measurement mode – perfect for trialing out your car collection and their stats.

The Gran Turismo 5 Speed Test Pack will cost or an estimated cost of £3.99/$5.99

Alongside this is the revelation that a new patch – now at Update 2.03 – will bring extra updates to Gran Turismo 5 featuring new theme colours and wallpapers as well as extra, unconfirmed tweaks to the game.

Both this update and both DLC packs will be available on the 18 January 2012.

Diablo 3 is coming to PS3 and Xbox 360 according to Blizzard community manager.

Diablo 3 is set for a console release according to Blizzard community manager Bashiok.

Asked whether he could “confirm or deny Diablo 3 is coming to consoles?” via Twitter the CM replied: “Yup. Josh Mosqueira is lead designer for the Diablo console project.”

Blizzard has been more than open about the fact it’s exploring how Diablo 3 would work on consoles, with a large number of vacancies posted relating to the PS3 and Xbox 360 development.

It’s no surprise that there’s a lead designer on the case, but Blizzard has always stressed that a console version of the game has not officially been announced.

While it doesn’t constitute an official announcement, the confirmation appears to suggest that Diablo 3 will arrive on consoles in one form or another, while Diablo 3 game director Jay Wilson recently confirmed “Asia is not what’s holding us back. You’ll see soon enough.” Is a console announcement incoming?

Diablo 3’s cash-money auction house could prove a substantial stumbling block to a faithful console version, but Blizzard could be looking at a work-around.

Diablo 3 is currently in invite-only beta on PC – the game will launch in ‘early 2012′ but no release date has been confirmed.

We’ve dropped Blizzard a line for further confirmation.

Square Enix enabling Final Fantasy fans to try-before-they-buy three weeks ahead of release.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 will get a demo via PSN and Xbox Live next week, Square Enix has confirmed.

The demo will hit PS3 and Xbox 360 in Europe on 11 January, but is only set for PS3 in North America where it launch a day earlier, the publisher confirmed.

Final Fantasy XIII-2 launched in Japan last month to critical acclaim, while Square Enix has been keen to push promotion of the game’s improvements in the West.

Diablo 3 Game Director clarifies release speculation.

Diablo 3 Game Director Jay Wilson has confirmed that the South Korean game rating board is not responsible for holding up the worldwide release of the game.

“Asia is not what’s holding us back. You’ll see soon enough,” Wilson tweeted, adding that the game “is not done yet”.

A report by The Korea Times yesterday suggested that Blizzard’s promise of a simultaneous worldwide Diablo 3 release could be held-up by a Korean rating body after it took exception to the cash-element of the Auction House.

Diablo 3 remains in closed beta on PC, and Blizzard continues to explore the possibility of bringing the game to consoles. Could “You’ll see soon enough,” refer to an incoming announcement.

Keep those fingers crossed, console fans.

South Korean game rating board could throw a spanner in simultaneous worldwide release.

Diablo 3’s release could be jeopordised by the most recent refusal by South Korea’s Game Rating Board to pass the game for release in the country.

“Committee members are conflicted about what to do with Diablo 3 because of Blizzard’s information on the game’s ‘auction house’ feature,” a board spokesman told Korea Times.

The high proportion of gamers in South Korea’s population are huge fans of Blizzard’s games Starcraft, WoW and Diablo, but Diablo 3’s real-money auction house could represent a problem for the board which has strict guidelines to limit videogame gambling.

“In principle, we are always committed to a global release,” a spokesperson for Blizzard said.

Diablo 3 is currently in closed beta, while Blizzard has yet to set a final release date for the action-RPG.

Lara Croft heads up issue 213 of Play as part of a Tomb Raider special, which is on sale now.

Tomb Raider leads Play’s 12 In 2012 feature with Crystal Dynamics chat about research rooms, the Japanese popularity of Lara and why she was seen as ‘big boobs, big ass, two guns’. Also starring in the feature are Assassin’s Creed III, Dead Space 3, BioShock Infinite and Resident Evil 6.

Naughty Dog also talk about everything Uncharted – what the future holds, why they made the storyline decisions they did for Uncharted 3 and the mistake that almost made it into the game and gave away that the pub level was made by an American studio…

There’s also essential reading for every PlayStation3 owner with the 61 Ways To Boost Your PlayStation3 feature, which covers everything from increasing your storage space to killing lag to playing your PlayStation 3 wherever you are in the world.

Also inside:
DmC Exposed
- Exclusive screens in our preview and interview special

The Year Of The Exclusive
- 29 exclusives inside for PlayStation3, PSN and PlayStation Vita

Grand Theft Auto V Rumour Round-Up
- Empire building, the return of the army, horses (!) and more!
Big Sony Sequels Inbound
- What are the chances of God of War IV, Resistance 4 or Killzone 4 happening?

Ninja Gaiden 3
UFC Undisputed 3
Rainbow Six Patriots
Street Fighter x Tekken
Resistance: Burning Skies
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Little Deviants
Escape Plan
Need For Speed: The Run
Tekken Hybrid

Get Play 213 (pictured) from all good newsagents, the imagine shop or via iTunes.