Battlefield 3 beta release date confirmed. Pre-order for early access

Hold smoke grenades! The Battlefield 3 beta will begin on September 29 and run until October 10. Pre-order the game from Origin beforehand and you’ll get early access on September 27. You also get early access if you pre-ordered Medal of Honor. Yes, that Medal of Honor. We predict Battlefield 3 will be significantly better.
If you’re wondering whether you’ll be able to get a playable framerate, check the Battlefield 3 system requirements.

Players who sign up for the beta will also get access to Battlelog, EA’s new social networking system. We’re not quite as excited about that part which will let you track stats and share progress with chums. You’ll also get the option to join the EA Gun Club. That will provide early access to an M1911 pistol and come special badges. When did buying games get so confusing eh?
The Beta will take place on the Operation Metro Map which will have you sharing bullets across the outskirts of Paris, a bombed out metro station and the city streets. You’ll be playing the Rush mode and attacking and defending M-COM stations, just like in Bad Company 2.

Hooo crap! So close, yet so far!

Battlefield 3 will need 100 hours to unlock an entire kit

It will take ‘something like 100 hours’ to completely unlock an entire kit in Battlefield 3 report bf3blog,. The number was confirmed by senior gameplay designer Alan Kertz on twitter this weekend. Responding to gamer 450bq’s question “How long would it take on average to complete a kit?”, Kertz replied “If you unlock every weapon, every gadget, and every unlock for every weapon… something like 100 hours.”
DICE are clearly aiming for longevity in their unlock system, and we’ll be able to see how well that philosophy holds up when Battlefield 3 is released on October 25th.

This is great news. It Didn't that long to unlock a complete class If you played a couple hours in BF:BC2 every day.

Source: http://www.pcgamer.com/2011/09/05/battlefield-3-will-need-100-hours-to-unlock-an-entire-kit/

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim screenshots show lizard men, cat men, Orcs and Elves

Recently Bethesda released the results of their Skyrim character creator poll, a screenshot of a Dark Elf thief against he backdrop of a sinister aurora. Now more character screenshots have been gathered together on the Beth Blog, showing a lizardy Argonian, a feline Khajiit warrior, an Ork, a wood elf and some very serious looking human types. Absorb their frowns below.

Each image was created by a different journalist at Quakecon, with efforts from G4TV, Destructoid, JeuxVideo.fr, Eurogamer, Game Informer, Epic Battle Axe, Ripten and Kotaku.

Oh my lawd do they look badass. I know which one I'm choosing, do you?

Valve announces Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, playable at PAX

 

As rumor confirmations go, this one’s pretty quick. Valve just issued a press release announcing Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, a standalone release that seems to be a full update of Counter-Strike: Source with new weapons, maps, matchmaking, leaderboards, and more. No screenshots have been released, but from Valve’s language, it seems like more of an “anniversary

edition” of CS:S that dresses up the existing content than a full-on sequel. CS:GO will also be released on Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network. Read the full press release within.

This is great news. Can't wait to see the new source engine at PAX. (Well, I'm not going of course)