Indie studio Mojang has today revealed that their fantasy strategy title Scrolls (not to be confused with The Elder Scrolls) is now available for purchase in Open Beta form. Checking in at $20, the new card game offers players the chance to go toe-to-toe with their foes in a battle of parchment as they try to win (or sadly lose) on the battlefield.

Welcome to a world where the essence of conflict is stored on a parchment. You use the power of creatures, spells, and ancient machines to gain the edge in battle, deploying your forces by using scrolls: some rare, some common, some brutal, some tactical.

Over time, you'll develop a unique army and the skills to manipulate it. Eventually, you'll face off against other players, proving your might on the battlefield...

Those looking to purchase the game can find it on their store page, though you will need a free Mojang account to complete the transaction. Currently the servers look to be gaining quite a thrashing so actually purchasing the game may be hindered for some.

While you wait, a new guide was revealed earlier last week that gives a quick overview on just what Scrolls has to offer, which you can check out here.

Scrolls is available for both Windows and Mac.

We're only just over a week out from the worldwide launch of the hotly anticipated PlayStation 3 exclusive The Last of Us, and developer Naughty Dog has decided the time is right to fill us in about the game's enigmatic multiplayer mode.

Unfortunately there's no neat and tidy walkthrough video explaining the multiplayer component yet, but there is a fresh round of detailed previews over several international games publications, including ShackNews, Videogamer, NowGamer, PushSquare, and TheSixthAxis.

Here's a few quotes to summarise things.

Videogamer:

Tying into the single-player, The Last of Us' online offering sees you choose a clan and then join in the effort to stay alive in the game's post-apocalyptic world. In order to introduce a sense of tension, though, you're only given 12 in-game weeks to do this (each match corresponds to a single day).

It's not just as simple as shooting people in the face so you don't succumb to the worst fate possible, either. Above all else, securing and protecting supplies is imperative to the survival effort. These resources become yet more important as your group grows. While lodging a bullet between someone's eyes will help in your quest, so do assists, revives, crafting items and physically picking up supply drops, obviously. It expands further than this too: members of your posse can suffer from sickness or get mauled by a pack of infected between matches. Overcoming such obstacles requires you to engage in specific missions you'll be set in upcoming rounds, such as achieving a certain amount of melee kills or headshots.

TheSixthAxis:

The two game modes are Supply Raid and Survivors. Supply Raid sees players from each clan scavenging for supplies with a twenty-life limit, although anything crafted or bought is carried over if you die (assuming there are lives left). Survivors is more brutal: once you’re dead you’re dead until the end of the round, and there are seven rounds for each match.

PushSquare:

Similarly to Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, there’s plenty of room for expansion too. You can completely customise your character with masks, hats, and custom emblems, while loadouts can be personalised to your own individual playstyle. As you progress, you’ll unlock more loadout points, which will allow you to carry more efficient gear at once. Every item that you attach to your character has a weight, meaning that you can’t simply wander into battle with all of the best weapons in your backpack.

ShackNews:

We walked away impressed by how well the survival action gameplay of the campaign translates in a competitive environment. However, with only two modes, we're concerned about the longevity of the game's online offerings.

Hit the thumbs below for some multiplayer-themed screenshots.

The Last of Us Launches on June 14 2013, exclusive to PlayStation 3.

Developer Telltale Games may have just given us a first look at new The Walking Dead content, an episodic series based on Robert Kirkman's original comics that has so far given us a taste of the first season.

The clip was posted on Vine and features a short glimpse at what appears to be in-game assets from their iconic ink-like illustration style. Titled "Day 2", the clip appears to show photographs of characters (including one named Vince), pieces of paper and evacuation orders. It is unclear whether this new content is the upcoming season 2 or if it could be a prelude to the next season.

Recently The Walking Dead writer Gary Whitta had mentioned (via Polygon) that Telltale was planning on producing new content to "make the wait for season two slightly less agonizing," which could be related to this new clip seen on Vine. "Knowing that it's a way off, and knowing that people are hungry for more Walking Dead... There may very well be more Walking Dead from Telltale before season two," said Whitta.

Those looking to the official E3 website have found that Telltale Games' exhibitor page has listed "The Walking Dead Season 1 DLC" alongside their already announced The Wolf Among Us title, possibly alluding to a reveal at E3 2013. For now check out the clip below and let us know your thoughts in the comments.

PopCap Games has confirmed new details for their upcoming sequel to the pot planting title Plants vs Zombies, revealing a worldwide launch on July 18 for iOS devices.

Previously the title was available as a single-purchase app, however this time round PopCap has announced that Plants vs Zombies 2 will launch as a free-to-play title. Those expecting a catch on the free-to-play offer shouldn't be too worried, as the title will offer the ability to purchase some upgrades and in-game items with real money but the game will ensure "players can face every zombie and access every level in every world at no cost.

Designed from the ground up as a live service, the ever-expanding universe of Plants vs. Zombies 2 continues the epic struggle of plants defending your brainz against zombies from your backyard through the vast reaches of time, both past and future. New worlds with new levels, plants, zombies and new ways to play will be released on an ongoing basis. Leveraging the touch interface of Apple’s popular mobile devices, Plants vs. Zombies 2 includes all-new touch-screen power-ups that enable players to “break the fourth wall” and interact with zombies directly, as well as via plant defenses.

Currently no other versions have yet been announced, but it is probably safe to say that PopCap are planning the iOS as a timed release and will hopefully have more details on further releases later down the track. For now you can check out the quite wacky CGI trailer for Plants vs Zombies 2, and keep a sunflower ready for the iOS release on July 18.

Another day, another matinée - here are all the gaming-related videos that have crossed our desktops since the last screening:

• Company of Heroes 2 "More Than Tanks" Trailer
• Civilization V: Brave New World "Trade Routes" Trailer
• EVE Online: Odyssey "In Development: Features" Trailer
• Remember Me Live Action Cinematic Trailer
• Remember Me "Bastille" Trailer
• Borderlands 2 "Krieg: A Meat Bicycle Built for Two" Trailer
• World of Warcraft "Armored Bloodwing Mount" Trailer
• Ride to Hell: Retribution "Built, Not Bought" Trailer
• New Super Luigi U Japanese Overview Trailer
• Hawken "Mech Mechanics: Raider" Trailer

As always, stay tuned for the latest game videos as we get them online!

With all the rumours circulating regarding the state of Prey 2, including the big one that Human Head are no longer behind the wheel, with the keys now being handed off to Arkane Studios, an ex-Human Head employee has broken his silence to mourn the passing of the game from his former studio, which has actually caused a mild stir in the media, prompting quite the conversational response from him.

"This Prey 2/Arkane rumor is giving new life to a lot of old lies,” Jason L. Blair, a former writer and narrative designer on Prey 2 Tweeted. “I’m been quiet about this whole business but can’t stay so anymore."

Blair is now at Volition, but states that he worked on Prey 2 for the final six months of its active development at Human Head before the game was thrust into limbo -- a situation that perplexed the industry and prompted much discussion, including this feature from us.

"I was narrative designer/writer on Prey 2 for the last six months of its development at Human Head. It was a lot more than a demo," he added. "Prey 2 was a full game. And a crazy fun one. The team was small but you wouldn't have known it.

"I was heartbroken when Prey 2 went into limbo. Human Head deserved to have that game released. Frankly, they needed it.

"As for Arkane, I've enjoyed what I played of Dishonored. They have the chops. If the rumor is true, they'll likely do well with Prey 2," Blair said.

Those Tweets were all posted on Friday, and have been picked up by the industry at broad, and since then have spread like wildfire, prompting an updated response from Blair clarifying that he's not at all attacking Arkane's alleged involvement in the game, rather that he's simply upset that Human Head are no longer involved.

"Articles have called me "bitter" and "livid" yet "fully on board" about the Arkane/Prey 2 rumor. Heh," Blair wrote just an hour ago. "For the record, I'm not "bitter" or "livid." And I attacked the lie, not a company or person. I don't know its source only that it spread."

Bethesda is yet to officially chime in on the rumours, but if they are true, and based on what we saw of Prey 2 in person, Dishonored in their pocket or not, Arkane do have some pretty big shoes to fill. Stay tuned for more as it emerges.

While the games servers for Eve Online and it's PlayStation 3 shooty counterpart Dust 514 are still recovering from a denial-of-service attack, the CCP team has released another of their In Development video series, offering a feature overview of the soon-to-launch 19th expansion for Eve Online, Odyssey.

In the tradition of the Apocrypha expansion, Odyssey greatly expands the opportunities for players to explore all corners of the massive EVE Universe and its 7,929 solar systems.

EVE Online: Odyssey will take the exploration of space to a whole new level with an entirely revamped scanning mechanic, a fresh and accessible user interface and enticing new rewards for finding and interacting with sites hidden among the stars. All of Odyssey’s exploration changes are designed to make space feel even more alive and they will make it easier and more compelling for pilots to forge their path through the mysterious and dangerous universe.

The dev video features more than a few nods to Stanley Kubrick sci-fi opus, and a wealth of information about the forthcoming expansion. Check it out below.

Eve Online: Odyssey is due to launch on June 4th 2013.

According to Fusible (Thanks Joystiq), several domains pertaining to Halo Spartan Assault have been registered by MarkMonitor, a service affiliated with Microsoft.

Variations include SpartanAssault.net, HaloSpartanAssault.com, Halo-SpartanAssault.com, Halo-SpartanAssault.net and HaloSpartanAssault.net, sugessting the title of a future product in the Xbox flagship franchise.

There has been no confirmation from Microsoft as to what they might be attributed to yet, but name of the recently announced live action Halo TV series, to be produced by Stephen Spielberg, is one possibility.

For those who purchased a copy of the recent God of War: Ascension title, developer Naughty Dog has revealed via the PlayStation Blog that the promised Last of Us demo is now available to download and play.

The demo features the Outskirts level of The Last of Us, in which Joel and Ellie, along with Tess, will encounter multiple Infected enemies. Runners and Clickers have distinct behaviors and methods of attacking you. You’re going to need to explore the environment and scavenge your surroundings for items and objects that might give you the kind of offensive or defensive advantage that suits your play style.

Full instructions on how to gain access to the demo can be found on the PlayStation Blog.

The Last of Us will be available June 14th, 2013.

Rumours are once again floating around that Human Head's Prey 2 title, which was debuted at E3 2011, has once again been delayed. According to a source at Kotaku, the title was in limbo for a year while Human Head waited on word from Bethesda as to the development of the game.

Debuted at E3 2011, the game was apparently "shifted" to Fallout: New Vegas developer Obsidian "for at least a few months." Bethesda supposedly tried to get Rebellion developer onto the game's development as well but the project was eventually turned down.

According to the source, the project has now been moved over to Dishonored developer Arkane Studios, which has apparently caused some of the members to not be happy with working on the title. The source has also said that the development team has been told "to forget that it's called Prey 2 and just treat it like a new System Shock." The game is now being apparently re-tooled and is expected for a release in 2016, according to the tipster.

Hopefully we'll hear more information at this years E3, but until then treat this all as a rumour until something official has been announced.

An Amazon European website has accidently listed Dragon Age 3: Inquisition, outing the title for the recently revealed Xbox One console. The listing has since been removed, but the brief glimpse of the game's pre-order suggested that the game may be seeing a possible next-gen release.

The listing was found on the Amazon Italy site (via All Games Beta), and adds to an oddly recurring European theme with both Germany and Italy websites accidentally leaking a Mirror's Edge 2 listing earlier this week. This listing however is different, due to Dragon Age 3: Inquisition having already been revealed last year.

Hopefully we'll hear more on both EA titles at this years E3, where AusGamers will be on the scene for all the news so stay tuned.

For those eagerly awaiting what Blizzard has in store for the silver screen, World of Warcraft movie producer Charles Roven has revealed to SlashFilm the status regarding filming for the MMO title.

Speaking with SlashFilm, Roven revealed that filming has been planned to start in the first quarter of 2014, with Duncan Jones (Moon, Source Code) on board to direct after Sam Raimi's version was stalled.

“First quarter 2014 we’re going to shoot that movie,” Roven told Germain while discussing Legendary’s plans. “We’re moving forward; obviously Legendary is making that film and I’m having a great time with Duncan.”

It is still unknown what exactly the film will be based on, and whether it will be live action or CGI. One thing we do know is that the film is expected to be released in 2015 but that could be pushed back thanks to the new 2014 filming date. One thing is for sure, we'll definitely be seeing an interesting take on the Warcraft universe.

After opting for a more alternative event this year, Wii U and 3DS creator Nintendo has unveiled their E3 2013-themed website that will offer up-to-date information on all the game reveals and announcements expected this year.

Nintendo had previously stated that they would be skipping the main E3 event, instead opting for a new presentation style which will be offering several smaller and separate events instead of the large press conference. The new website details that all this will begin on June 11 with a new Nintendo Direct and "coverage will continue throughout E3 with game trailers, interviews, and more."

Those lucky enough to be in America will also find Best Buy locations hosting demo booths of the new game announcements expected at their E3 event, including the new 3D Mario, Mario Kart and Super Smash Bros. Check it all out at their website here.

The offices of Robotoki, the indie studio founded by former mouthpiece of the blockbuster Call of Duty franchise was reportedly stormed by the Los Angeles Police Department today, in what is presumed to be the latest occurrence of the juvenile prank known as swatting -- whereby a prankster anonymously contacts emergency services fabricating an armed threat at a premises to invoke a law enforcement response, which usually comes in the form of a police SWAT team that is obligated to treat all such tips seriously.

Mentioning the event on his heavily-followed Twitter account, Bowling explained "The LAPD just stormed @robotoki with guns drawn and detained me as they cleared the building. I blame GHOST." Ghost being one of the iconic characters of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series, of which Robotoki has a life-sized, armed statue of in its window, over-looking the street.

Ghost is also the name of the the next upcoming game in the Call of Duty franchise, that the former Infinity Ward Creative Strategist and Community Manager no longer has any involvement in.



Bowling was likely implying the former as the cause of the police reaction, but surely even a life-size statue would need at least a 3-kill streak to trigger a SWAT deployment.

2013 has seen a disturbing resurgence in Swatting, targeting high-profile or controversial celebrities such as Sean Combes, Justin Bieber, and Russell Brand. If caught offenders have faced up to 11 years in prison for the act, although it's often perpetrated by troubled teens.

Update: We presumed wrong: official details provided to Polygon have since confirmed that the police response was more innocently the result of a Robotoki staff member accidentally triggering a panic button before retiring for the day:

Bowling said the police arrived at the front of the building only to find that there was no way to get in from that side. As they moved around toward the back where Robotoki's entrance is located, the officers spotted Bowling's life-sized statue of Ghost standing at attention with his gun at the ready.

So they made entry.

"I was in my office when they arrived and saw them coming up our stairs, guns drawn," Bowling said. "They yelled for me to put my hands up and walk towards them slowly, then took me into custody and out of the studio until they cleared the rest of the rooms and floors."

Bowling said about 15 minutes later the officers emerged, laughing — they had mistaken Ghost for a real threat and had nearly taken him down.

Office security cameras captured the ordeal, and a still shot of the climactic moment was provided to Polygon, who's report explains that they had originally presumed it to be a result of miscommunication or a prank "Until we reviewed the security footage and saw our designer's curiosity to be the cause".

SEGA has released a developer diary style trailer for Castle of Illusion, the forthcoming remake of th 1990 SEGA Mega Drive title, currently in production at Brisbane-based SEGA Studios Australia --possibly the last title we might see from the team formerly known as the Australian wing of Creative Assembly, following reports the studio was being wound down toward closure later this year.

The eight minute video features commentary from both the Aussie staff working on the new game, as well as the Director of the original Japanese-developed Mega Drive game Emiko Yamamoto, who is serving as an advisor this time around.

Castle of Illusion is due on Steam for PC, and XBLA for Xbox 360 and PSN for PlayStation 3 this Winter (Northern Summer). Watch the video below.

Indie developer Playdead has revealed through the PlayStation Blog that the award-winning title Limbo (AusGamers 9/10) will be making its way to Sony's PlayStation Vita handheld on June 5th.

As we approach the third anniversary of LIMBO, the game is finally ready for handheld devices. Together, with the talented people at Double Eleven, we at Playdead have been working hard to adapt LIMBO to PS Vita without compromising the experience.

It isn't yet clear whether Limbo will be making use of the unique rear touchpad that the PlayStation Vita heralds, however expect to obviously hear more soon.

Limbo is currently available on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and will be available on PlayStation Vita come June 5 for $14.99.

Guild Wars 2 may be seeing a Looking For Group tool in the near future, according to a recent Reddit user (thanks VG247) who discovered evidence of the system while digging through the game's .dat files.

While it hasn't been confirmed officially, the most recent Last Stand at Southsun update has added several interesting lines of code related to the LFG tool, including the ability to create groups for dungeons, personal stories, WvW, PvP matches, Fractals and the current Living Story. The lines of code also imply that users will be able to filter descriptions, advertise your group and join a group within the tool.

Currently players looking to join up with others inside the game have to utilise the global trade chat channels available within major cities, or use the quite tardy player search function. Hopefully we will hear more on this feature officially from AreaNet sooner rather than later.

While the discovery of the LFG tool is definitely big news, the .dat files have also uncovered several new in-game items, including back to school town clothes, a dragon mask, new swimwear and a new weapon called Skyhammer. Check out the Reddit post for the full rundown.

If you've played any of the recent Assassin's Creed Titles to Completion, you might have noticed a novelesque ending-credit sequence, acknowledging the work of multiple studios.

Although the game's development is helmed by the creative leads at the Ubisoft Montreal studio, different sections of code and content creation are delegated out to the publisher's other subsidiaries around the globe, primarily Singapore, Annecy in France, and Bucharest in Romania.

The company's most recent expansion is a new Abu Dhabi establishment in the United Arab Emirates.

The latest developer diary features some of the Montreal team discussing the challenges and benefits of working with such a diverse team, explaining that every minute of every day, there's people in the world working on the upcoming Assassin's Creed 4. Check it out below.

Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is due on October 31st 2013 for PC, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii U, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions also in production.

EA and Crytek have today announced that a new multiplayer DLC pack will be making its way to the futuristic Crysis 3 shooter, offering four additional themed maps. Players who gather up the strength to try out the new DLC will be shipped off to the West Pacific to find four new maps, two additional multiplayer modes - Frenzy and Possession - and deadly new weapons.

“The gameplay in the Crysis series has always been deeply connected to the unique environments in which the action takes place,” stated Cevat Yerli, CEO of Crytek. “By transporting players out of the Liberty Dome and into the Lost Island setting, we’re not only returning to Crysis’ spiritual roots, but also introducing fresh ways to play that provide Crysis 3 fans with genuinely game-changing new tactical options, game modes and weapons.”

Crysis 3: The Lost Island will be making its way to PlayStation 3, PC and Xbox 360 on June 4th for 1200 Microsoft points and $14.99.

Overkill and 505 Games have outlined an extensive list of incentives for prospective Payday 2 players to prematurely purchase their product on PC, with a limited Career Criminal Edition" offering up beta access for yourself and friend, a soundtrack, a digital game-guide and blueprint mission maps, and discounts in the in-game Crime.net feature.

Full details can be found over on the Steam store page, but stay right here and watch the new trailer below, which features in-engine footage, rounded off with some heisty gameplay action.

The Budget-priced Payday 2 is due for PC in August 2013.