A leaked Ubisoft internal video recently revealed that the next Nintendo console, Wii U, will be using NFC technology with it’s tablet-controller. In addition, several mobile phones and devices now use NFC technology, and its rumored that the next version of the iPhone will have NFC technology as well. This opens the door for several exciting things in gaming.

The most obvious way Near Field Communications will change gaming is financial. Imagine using your smartphone to pick up Microsoft Points. Just last month, ePay announced they will soon be offering PIN-on-receipt delivery for Xbox LIVE Gold subscriptions and Microsoft Points for retailers. Soon will come the day when gamers can sit their NFC-enabled smartphone next to their Wii U controller in order to buy DLC or games as long as they have a e-wallet of some kind attached. Another possible application is being able to use your NFC enabled device to head to the local game rental kiosk and with one wave you can rent the latest console game.

There are others ways in which NFC could be used to innovate gaming other than purchasing. The most obvious was seen in Skylander’s use of RFID tech. I promise you this, when NFC become commonplace for gamers, you will have a lot of cool collectibles that will act as vessels to news ways of playing your favorite games. Imagine an octagonal portal in which you could place your favorite UFC fighter collectible in and it instantly appears in a title bout. Or how about picking up a Hot Wheels car that inserts itself into a racing game as soon as it touches a tablet controller? Figures, figurines, models will soon overpopulate gamer living rooms around the world.

But there are other uses of NFC teach to change the way we place games. A few years back Bill Gates spoke about Windows Everywhere in which people could use PCs, social media, and game consoles to interact seamlessly. I foresee more of that coming to light, with and without the Microsoft logo attached to it. I wouldn’t doubt that there will come a day where Madden Football fans will be able to create teams or plays on their PCs or tablets and them save them to their NFC-enabled devices to use them when they play online on their game consoles. Role-Playing Games could also find themselves exploring this brand new world of NFC tech, as gamers could be able to share their wealth, treasure, or even characters with friends just by sitting their smartphone next to their friend’s NCF-enabled console or PC.

On a personal note, as a two console household, Near Field Communication could give potential relief to buying things twice, like Online Passes that are now required for such games like Battlefield 3 or Gears of War 3. One pass purchased with a new game could be tied to a NFC-enabled device with a digital wallet that acts as a digital permissions key to use the online pass on whichever device is using the key.

One last way that NFC technology could change the way games are played would be social. For mobile games, gamers could pick up nearby games with other players and play at the same time. Also, retailers could use NFC to tie into social aspects of gaming. Perhaps Best Buy could offer a special character in a future Mortal Kombat game that they could only get using their NFC-device and a pre-order with their local store. Maybe Facebook use places to offer discounts on special video games if users check-in using NFC-devices to a particular retailer. Also, NFC-enabled devices could be able to download the much missed game manuals that used to appear in game cases.

Near Field Communications, like its sister technology, RFID has the potential to change the way we game in the future. There are possibly some security challenges to overcome, as always with anything that might have real money attached to it, but it does offer new and innovative ways to connect gamers with others, their favorite retailers, and the game characters they know and love.

There were a few things that I learned from this behind the scenes glimpse that I didn’t before.  The most important, in my opinion, is that you will be able to play the game with a controller on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.  The video also teased some of the new abilities that will be at your disposal when you take control of Oswald.

There is still no word on who the main villain could be, despite a look at a mad scientist of some sort; however, I have some ideas that they can use.

Epic Mickey 2: The Power of Two will be available on Playstation 3, Xbox 360, and Wii later this year.

The real big news comes with the new Face-Off maps though. “Face-Off” is a new mode that takes you away from the safety of your multi-man squad and pits you up against other players in 1 v. 1 or 2 v. 2 matches. Finally, a way to settle the score with all those annoying people online. Face-Off maps aren’t the same size of the regular maps you are used to playing, but instead are smaller, close combat maps. You shouldn’t have to go very long without seeing an enemy in these maps. Starting May 16, two Face-Off maps, Erosion and Aground, will be available to everyone, regardless of whether you have an ELITE membership or not. Then on May 22, we will be given two more Face-Off maps, Lookout and Getaway. For a special behind-the-scenes look at Face-Off, watch the trailer below.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 DLC Collection #2 will be out next week and will run you 1200 Microsoft points, and as always is free for all you ELITE members. Stay tuned to The Married Gamers for more Call of Duty tips, news, and reviews!

Check it out here:

Assassin’s Creed III is due out on Halloween this year.

Colossal Mayhem brings us a new missile weapon, the Thermobaric Boom-Stick, new force powers including “Warp Vortex, Anti-Gravity Field, and Air Time”, in addition to “Heller Test Subject, Infected Heller, and Infantry Heller” skins. I for one am really excited about these powers, namely the Anti-Gravity Field because that increases the mayhem the Heller can create. The Excessive Force pack includes a Viral Infector Grenade Launcher, “Shockwave, Chaos Creator Mode, and Medusa’s Wrath” powers, as well as “Armored Heller, Agile Armor Alex Mercer, and Zombie Mercer” skins. These are sure to change how you play the story and give Heller a few more deadly tricks and gadgets for his tool belt.

Each pack will cost you 400 Microsoft points on the Xbox 360 and $4.99 on the Playstation Store. If you purchased the Prototype 2 Blackwatch Collector’s Edition you will be able to download it for free using the code you were issued in your collector’s edition box. To see the Colossal Pack in action, watch the trailer below. In case you missed our Prototype 2 review from last week, you can check it out here.

This week The Married Gamers sits down with Rocky aka Brodiemash from Dumb Drum and Swedefest to talk about his work on the upcoming Swedefest 9 on May 24, 2012. What is a Swede? How can you start something unique in your own local communities? What is a Jedi squirrel? All this is answered, plus who we’d include in a future Avengers movie! All this and more in episode 254 of The Married Gamers podcast!

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Project Director Thomas Veauclin and Lead Game Designer Sylvain Sechi from Cyanide Studio talk about creating a new story set the in the A Song of Ice and Fire universe and working with the series author, George R.R. Martin.

Also discussed in more detail are the two main characters players will be exploring the world of Westeros in parallel with the first book of the series. Mors of the Night’s Watch, and Alester the Red Priest. They detail the attributes of these two characters, and the game follows a style of narration similar to George R.R. Martin’s in the novels.

Game of Thrones will release on Xbox 360®, PlayStation® 3 and PC on May 15th in North America, and the first week of June in Europe

For more information, visit http://gameofthrones-thegame.com.

The preview shows off some of the more dramatic beats of the game and evokes much of the same feeling that was prevalent in the original games.

Max Payne 3 is coming out this Tuesday, the 15th and from the looks of things, we are in for some pretty heavy hitting stuff when Rockstar puts an end to my Payn-ful puns.

Early today, Ubisoft and Marvel made their superhero team-up official today by releasing a few tasty tidbits on Marvel Avengers: Battle for Earth, due out this Fall for both Microsoft’s Xbox 360 Kinect and Nintendo’s upcoming Wii U consoles.  The game will feature at least 20 different characters, including Avengers such as Iron Man, Hulk, Captain America and Thor, plus other fan-favorite heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe stable.

“We are excited to team up with Marvel Entertainment to bring some of the most iconic comic book characters from the Marvel line-up to life in motion-gaming,” said Tony Key, US senior vice president of sales and marketing at Ubisoft. “Fans of the Marvel universe and superhero games are going to love the extensive combinations of characters, motion-controlled moves and competitive gameplay.”

“For the last few years, Marvel has positioned itself to deliver the absolute best in entertainment, be it in film, animation, comics or games,” said Andreea Enache-Thune, senior vice president of games and digital distribution at Marvel. “Partnering with Ubisoft is a big part of that ongoing movement. We are confident that Ubisoft’s talent matches Marvel’s own commitment to making the Avengers: Battle for Earth the best in the motion-controlled gaming category.”

One of the more interesting bits to come from today’s announcement is word that the game will borrow heavily from Marvel’s popular Secret Invasion storyline, which saw the Marvel Universe blindsided by an all-out assault on Earth from the shape-shifting alien known as the Skrulls.  Gamers might remember that the Skrulls were shown  as the planned baddies in early leaked footage of the now-defunct Avengers first person game that THQ Studio Australia was working on before the studio’s doors were closed last year.

It’s likely that Ubisoft will show off the game at next month’s E3 Expo, but for now you can register for updates at the game’s official website, and as always, keep checking back with The Married Gamers on any new announcements.

The 2012 E3 Expo is now less than a month away. The E3 Expo is a fantastic event, full of spectacle, huge announcements, and a great way to see and sometimes get your hands on games and devices that will be hitting stores shelves later in the year and into the next. The Married Gamers have attended the event for a few years now, but this year we won’t have a presence on the show floor for a few reasons. To our readers and listeners, don’t fret! The Married Gamers will continue to provide dynamic coverage of the announcements and news coming out of E3 Expo, but we won’t be hustling from one hall to another to get from one appointment to another.

So why won’t we be on the floor of Expo this year? We have some very good reasons. While we didn’t submit any media credentials this year, starting last year it has become very hard for small indie websites to get press badges for the expo. To their credit the Entertainment Software Association (ESA) has put together the world’s most important video game trade show year after year. The event dominates the local area and has become the place where most game publishers make new announcements about forthcoming games and devices. Its success has lead to larger and larger crowds, including more media. Now to get a media badge sites must have certain metrics to qualify, which has lead to some great indie sites being cut out or given just one badge which makes covering a large trade show exceptionally hard. I feel that smaller sites and enthusiast media (podcasts, video bloggers, or Youtube channels) offer unique perspectives that that larger sites can’t or won’t include in their coverage. It’s a shame that such sites can be included but I am hopeful that in the future the ESA might use different qualifications to include such voices.

The biggest reason why we won’t on the trade show floor? ROI, Return on Investment. Late last year I came to a realization, E3 Expo just hasn’t become cost effective for a site such as ours. Between hotel costs, meal costs, transportation, not to mention the unseen costs of lining up appointments and such we spend quite a bit of money. While E3 is awesome to see “the new shineys,” many times during appointments since the game or device was just announced the most common answer we’d get from game publishers was “We’re not talking about that yet.” It’s frustrating but understandable. The games industry spoon-feeds news about their games when it fits their marketing cycle. When a company announces a game, marketing will not show you everything. They want to keep up interest in their games from announcement until it hits the store shelves. And yes, sometimes PR can’t say anything yet because frankly the game is still in development and those aspects of the game haven’t been finalized yet. The result for us internally is that we spend lots of money to be able to see and maybe play something we can’t really know much about.

Money is at the heart of why The Married Gamers won’t be attending this year’s E3 Expo. Personally, I’m fine with it. I am thankful that we’ll have press releases flooding our e-mail inbox, live web feeds of several of the Media Briefings, great sites indie sites like GamingAngels and Gamertag Radio, and social media to get a feel for what going on. Instead I’ll wait a month to get more answers out of PR and marketing at the San Diego Comic Con, and loads more at events like PAX Prime. I look at it as working smarter with the resources we have and until costs go down or how game companies market their games my feet might not touch the carpeted floor of the fantastic E3 Expo.