Joystiq

Diablo 3 beta bug opens three secret gates of Hell

Jessica Conditt — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:20:00 EST

The Diablo 3 beta is well underway with hundreds of thousands of players delving into the dungeons of Sanctuary, and with so many deviants roaming the deadlands, there was bound to be some mischief. A bug in the beta granted access to three areas not yet intended for public play: the Festering Woods, Drowned Temple and Fields of Misery.

The three bugged levels are mostly playable, featuring larger, more diverse beasts than in the released beta levels, including goatmen, violent trees, ghouls, spirits and more, incgamers reports. Blizzard pulled the servers to lock the areas out again, according to ubergizmo, but not before a few players recorded their adventures -- watch one romp through the Fields of Misery above.

Diablo 3 beta bug opens three secret gates of Hell originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 13 Mar 2012 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bad Company 2's Operation Hastings map unlocked for PS3 and Xbox 360 players

Andrew Yoon — Sun, 02 Jan 2011 00:45:00 EST

Although PS3 and Xbox 360 players didn't quite measure up to the challenge, DICE has unlocked the final map of the Battlefield Vietnam expansion, Operation Hastings, for everyone. PC players were able to get up to the requisite 69 million team actions in a matter of days, far outpacing console players (with 34 and 46 million actions, respectively). The sudden change of plans is apparently to "start this new year with a big of a bang as we ended it."

Well, what are you waiting for? Time to start playing that map you all (sort of) worked for!

[Thanks, Zach!]

Bad Company 2's Operation Hastings map unlocked for PS3 and Xbox 360 players originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 02 Jan 2011 00:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unlock Guybrush Threepwood in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:20:00 EST

Filed under: Weird But True, Opinions, New In Pop Culture

As a fun exercise for the afternoon, you could try coming up with a canon-friendly explanation as to how nigh-mighty pirate Guybrush Threepwood -- spindly physique and all -- could become an inhabitant of the Star Wars universe. A bizarre curse wrought by the dreaded LeChuck? A mysterious inter-dimensional rift inside a mystical reef? LucasArts wizards looking to include a neat, unlockable model in next month's action-packed sequel, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2?

No matter the nature of your narrative, you'll have to make up the specifics for now. According to a winking LucasArts representative, "we're going to keep how it's unlocked a secret." We suspect "secret" is right -- as in, have a Secret of Monkey Island or Monkey Island 2 save file nearby. If it's not that, it's probably destroying one hundred flooring inspector droids.

I couldn't help but ask Monkey Island designer (and new Double Fine employee) Ron Gilbert what he thought of Guybrush's journey across the universe. "'Hi, my name is Guybrush Threepwood and I want to be a Jedi.' That was the original opening line in Monkey Island but they made me change it to 'pirate' and I had replace all the Stormtroopers with buccaneers and the Millennium Falcon became a pirate ship. Nice to see it's come back full circle," Gilbert said via email.

"I first heard about this last night and I wasn't sure what to think of it, but now that it's settled in, I think it's very cool. It says a lot about the strength of Monkey Island and Guybrush in that he can go toe-to-toe with Star Wars."

Gallery: Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 (Guybrush)

Unlock Guybrush Threepwood in Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Sep 2010 15:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hey, cheaters, this is how you unlock every song in Guitar Hero: World Tour

David Hinkle — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:36:00 EST

Filed under: News, Cheats

Have you been plugging away at Guitar Hero: World Tour, only to still be lacking those last few songs to complete your set list? Are you the type of person that enjoys cutting corners and finds diligence to be nothing more than a nine-lettered word? Well, we've got something for you: the code to unlock every song in World Tour.

We're not going to leave it on the front page for everyone to see, however. We've tucked the code past the break, away from those of you who want to earn your songs and not hit a specific button sequence in order to unlock them. Enjoy.

Continue reading Hey, cheaters, this is how you unlock every song in Guitar Hero: World Tour

Hey, cheaters, this is how you unlock every song in Guitar Hero: World Tour originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:36:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Battlefield: Bad Company demo dropping June 5

Xav de Matos — Fri, 09 May 2008 23:20:00 EST

Filed under: News, Xbox Live Marketplace

Anyone who wasn't lucky enough to experience the closed beta of the slightly controversial EA first-person comedy-shooter (not kidding), Battlefield: Bad Company, will soon have their chance. Today EA announced that a demo for the DICE developed title will hit the Xbox Live Marketplace and PSN on June 5. The single and multiplayer demo promises to showcase what was in the beta as well as the wacky characters found in the campaign mode. Gamers who decide to pre-order the title from select retailers will be treated an early download of the demo beginning May 29.

For those at home keeping score you'll remember pre-ordering and playing the demo will give gamers access to two of the five controversial weapons found in the beta. Pre-ordering gives gamers access to the QBU88 Sniper Rifle while downloading and playing the demo nets players the UZI Submachine Gun.

Battlefield: Bad Company ships on June 25.

Battlefield: Bad Company demo dropping June 5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 09 May 2008 23:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wii Warm Up: Smash 'achievements'

Candace Savino — Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:30:00 EST

Filed under: Wii Warm Up

Whether or not you've gotten the chance to play Smash Bros. Brawl, you've probably heard about the game's ~~achievements~~ challenges and rewards. This system is somewhat similar to earning achievements in Xbox games, although not quite.

We really like how Brawl handles challenges, but what do you think? Do the challenges add any depth to the game? And, how do they stack up when compared to achievements on Xbox titles?

Also, if you do own the game, have you used any golden hammers yet to unlock any rewards? If so, on what challenges?

Wii Warm Up: Smash 'achievements' originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 22 Mar 2008 10:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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22 unlockable characters confirmed for Castle Crashers

Jason Dobson — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

You'll need more than your fingers and toes when counting up the number of playable characters in The Behemoth's upcoming (and long awaited) XBLA opus Castle Crashers, as the devs have confirmed that the game's roster will pack in "about" twenty-two unlockable slots.

How exactly characters will be unlocked remains, much like the game's eventual release date, a mystery, with Behemoth blogger Emil teasing only that characters will be added "by various different means." However, given that since it was first announced some two years ago the heavily-stylized side scroller has remained near the top of a short list of titles we cannot wait to sink our thumbs into, it's just shy of hyperbole to say that we'd do anything Castle Crashers asked of us anyway.

[Via Xbox 360 Fanboy]

22 unlockable characters confirmed for Castle Crashers originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 19 Mar 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Hard mode unlockable in BioShock demo

Kyle Orland — Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:02:00 EST

Filed under: Hacks, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters

When we first saw that the Hard difficulty in the BioShock demo was not initially available, we figured it would require a quick playthrough to unlock, a la Ninja Gaiden Sigma. No dice -- beat the demo and the hard mode still sits there behind its grayed-out curtain, taunting you with the implicit judgment that you haven't played enough first-person shooters to handle it.

Fear not -- unlocking that hard mode isn't as hard as you think. Apparently, if you go into your Gamertag profile and set your default difficulty to "hard," the mode will start out highlighted and selectable when you go into the demo. We've included some video of the simple trick after the break for those of you who are a little slow on the uptake.

Not a groundbreaking discovery, by any means, but it is a nice way to squeeze some more fun out of that demo before the street date. That is, assuming you haven't picked up the game already.

Continue reading Hard mode unlockable in BioShock demo

Hard mode unlockable in BioShock demo originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 15 Aug 2007 11:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Wiimote door unlocker

Eric Caoili — Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: How-tos, Mods, Controller, Video

Years from now, we'll laugh at how we once depended on dated technology like keys and key cards. We'll mime the motions of manually unlocking a door while our friends guffaw at the absurdity of our adolescence. We'll all shake our heads at the joke our lives used to be.

We have a long way to go before we can telepathically open doors, travel to distant star systems on a whim, or make out with holographic hussies in a holodeck, but a group of Japanese tinkerers have started taking the steps to get us there. Setting up a lock motor with a PC that accepts bluetooth commands, they've jury-rigged a door to unlock when it picks up motion from a Wii remote. Futuristic!

We can't imagine this as being very secure, so don't plan on guarding your important documents or Pokemon cards with one of these DIY locks. Check past the jump for video of the setup in action.

[Via Engadget]

Continue reading Wiimote door unlocker

Wiimote door unlocker originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 26 Apr 2007 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is Guitar Hero breakin' the law? Breakin' the law?

Justin McElroy — Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:26:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Rhythm

If Game Stooge had its way, these guys wouldn't be the only ones with Guitar Hero-related legal woes. It may be a little hard to swallow, but a recent editorial on the site makes the assertion that having to unlock songs in the game before you can play them is an illegal practice -- "quite illegal".

The piece insists that the reward for mastering hot licks should not be the rest of the game, but bonuses like the achievements system of Xbox 360. Although Game Stooge doesn't say so, it's an argument that could be extrapolated to most games, which often require completing one stage before playing the next.

It's here that the plot sort of gets lost, when Game Stooge suggests that advertising more features than are immediately available is actually illegal. The idea is almost kind of cute, like your mom suing you for not honoring the "Good for 10,000 World-Class Backrubs" coupon you made her when you were seven.

But before Game Stooge proves that there's nothing more rock 'n' roll than an understanding of the legal system gleaned from Phoenix Wright, does the editorial have a point? If you buy a game, should you be able to do whatever you want with it from the word "go"? Or should you, like a young Stevie Ray Vaughn, have to play until your calluses fall off and then glue them back on?

[Update: The Law of the Game, new kid on the sparsely populated legal video game blog block, tackles the GameStooge editorial, with real-sounding legal terminology. You go, Matlock!]

Is Guitar Hero breakin' the law? Breakin' the law? originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 05 Apr 2007 15:26:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Unlock all of MGS:PO's unique characters

Andrew Yoon — Sun, 17 Dec 2006 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Cheats, Metal Gear: Portable Ops

While driving around using the GPS system will get you some characters, the coolest ones have to be earned through the game. Or... through these cheats. A forum member from MGCN called SHADOW.EXE has uncovered passwords for what could be every unique character in the game. Check it out:

HUNTER-N is NULL
LQ.N2 is PYTHON
JUNKER is CUNNINGHAM
ERBE is GENE
PK +ESP is URSULA (can't be got with ELISA at the same time)
THE-L is ELISA (can't be got with URSULA at the same time)
E.APPLE is EVA
PM-EMS is PARAMEDIC
DARPA-1 is SIGHT
R.R.R. is OCELOT
1+2-3 is ZERO
SATURNV is SOKOLOV
IVN =RV is RAIKOV
T.F-ACID is TELIKO
MGA2VE is VENUS
! TRAUMER is GAKO

[Via 1UP]

Unlock all of MGS:PO's unique characters originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 17 Dec 2006 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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