Red Dead Redemption: Multiplayer Competitive Modes

Rockstar Games have released the second multiplayer video in their Gameplay Video Series. This one is entitled Multiplayer Competitive Modes and shows some of the types of modes available to play in multiplayer in Red Dead Redemption.



There is the exciting Mexican standoff between players that starts every multiplayer match with the winner given time to do what they want while waiting for their opponents to respawn. There are team-based Gang matches, Free-For-All shootouts, and Capture The Bag modes in specially designed locations within Red Dead Redemption's vast and beautifully detailed open world.

Pre-ordered Red Dead Redemption

I pre-ordered the Limited Edition of Red Dead Redemption today. This was the first time I've ever pre-ordered a video game and the first time I've ever bought a Limited Edition. I believe this game will be worth it.


The Red Dead Redemption Limited Edition features:

• The full Red Dead Redemption game



• The Deadly Assassin Outfit



• The Golden Guns Weapon pack



• The War Horse



• The originally scored soundtrack from the game

While I'd prefer to test my skills against the game without resorting to these enhancements, what I'm most enthusiastic about is the soundtrack. From what I've heard so far on the videos it's brilliant. Perfect to have on in the background when playing an Old West tabletop miniatures game or painting miniature cowboys.

Western Films

I've been watching western movies over the last couple of weeks.

• A Fistful of Dollars (1964)
  
• For A Few Dollars More (1965)
  
• The Good, The Bad and The Ugly (1966)
  
• The Wild Bunch (1969)
  
• Unforgiven (1992)
  

All great movies of their genre. Four out of five of these films were made in the 1960s. Four out of five of these films starred Clint Eastwood. Three out of five of these films were directed by Sergio Leone. None of these films were shot in the USA. (Well, that's not totally correct. One of these films had a short train sequence which was shot on location in California. Guess which one.)

I have several more westerns lined up to watch over the coming week.

Gaming with Grandma - 116

Another Saturday morning gaming session with my mother (AKA Grandma to our kids) and 8 year old daughter Maddie. We only played the one game this morning and it was one I chose, influenced I must admit by my infatuation with the upcoming video game Red Dead Redemption and a dice game playable by your character in the video game itself.

Bluff (AKA Liar's Dice) is a dice game where each player is given five dice and a cup to roll and hide them with. Players make successively higher declarations (guesses) regarding the results of all the dice remaining in the game, e.g. "there are five threes". However, someone can always challenge the bid. When that happens, all the dice are revealed and either the bidder or the caller loses dice, depending on who was correct. The last player with dice remaining is the winner.


Maddie did quite well. She was the one that challenged me the most and eventually knocked me out of the game first. Grandma did go on to win (with two dice remaining) and it was fun to watch the two bid and challenge each other.

Red Dead Redemption - Multiplayer Free Roam

Rockstar Games have just released their first video showing multiplayer action for Read Dead Redemption.

Check out first impressions of the multiplayer game play at IGN, 1UP, GamesRadar and GameSpot.



I'm counting the days until this is released.

Geocaching fun

I've been aware of geocaching for a couple of years now. It's something I always thought would be fun but until now had never got around to trying. As the kids are currently on holidays, and seeing how much enjoyment they had finding the hidden chocolate Easter eggs this morning, I thought geocaching might be a fun activity to try.

First up I downloaded a couple of free geocaching apps for my iPhone. Of note was the Geocaching Intro app by Groundspeak Inc. The iPhone uses a combination of GPS, Wi-Fi positioning and cell towers to determine your approximate location. Groundspeak's iPhone application then queries the Geocaching.com database in real-time and provides a list of geocaches near you. Once you select a geocache, the application then shows you what direction and approximately how far away it is.

Geocaching looks like a fun family activity that combines the fun of treasure-hunting with getting out and about in the outdoors. Unfortunately my wife Deb was still not well with a cold, and Georgia was too little for extended walks, so that just left Maddie and me.

Maddie next to the location of one of the geocaches we found today, a hollow at the base of the tree...

I also registered at Geocaching.com because you can log each geocache find you make. This is another fun aspect to the 'game' of geocaching because it's sort of like collecting achievements for your successes.

After several hours of searching Maddie and I found a total of seven geocaches within a couple of kilometres of where we live. We did a great deal of walking, got a lot of fresh air and saw some places we'd never seen before. We even had a surprise or two...

A huntsmen spider who didn't take kindly to us disturbing his geocache!

It was certainly a lot of fun and something we'll definitely do again.

Chocolate Bilby

Grandma gave the girls a white chocolate bilby each for today. Normally chocolate bunnies and eggs abound at Easter however in Australia a push was made many years ago to replace the traditional bunny with a bilby.


Bilbies are endangered desert-dwelling marsupials. Before European colonisation of Australia there were two species of bilby. One species became extinct in the 1950's and the other now only has about 600 left.

A portion of the profits of chocolate Easter Bilbies goes towards protection and research of this fragile species.

Red Dead Redemption: Gameplay Series - Life in the West: Part 2

Rockstar Games have just released a new preview trailer for their upcoming open-world western-action video game Red Dead Redemption. This trailer is the fourth of their Gameplay Series and reveals some of the side-missions and incidental encounters that the player can expect during the game.



Life in the West: Part II contains some more depth and detail on the atmosphere of revolutionary turmoil and social unrest that was prevalent during the time period, with gangs overrunning decrepit towns and roadside bandits a constant threat.

The game's protagonist, John Marston, is shown fighting alongside a small army of non-player characters, duelling with another gunfighter in a mini-game and carrying a passenger on his horse as part of an escort mission.

This trailer also sheds some more light on a few of the unique gameplay mechanics, including the mechanics of dueling and how the deeds you perform and the way dress impact how people of the world react to you.

The game play and graphics look awesome. I can't wait.

Playing games in Red Dead Redemption

I'm really, really excited about the upcoming release of Rockstar Game's sandbox-style action-adventure western video game Red Dead Redemption.

They've recently released a list of achievements and trophies that players can unlock. Of interest to me are the achievements for games that your character can play within the game itself.

• High Roller - Win over 2,000 chips in a hand of Poker or Blackjack.
• No Dice - Complete a game of Liar's Dice without losing a single die.
• What About Hand Grenades? - Get a ringer in a game of Horseshoes in any game mode.

Playing Horseshoes in Red Dead Redemption

And, although not related to the above, I had to laugh at the following achievement...

• Bearly Legal - Kill and skin 18 grizzly bears.

Who's going to skin who?