New Assassin's Creed Teaser takes us to Istanbul

Another teaser video has been unlocked in the Assassin's Creed Facebook page.

Known for it's alternate reality, my sort of a passion for history made me like the Assassin's Creed series. We all know that the release date will be revealed this month but I couldn't help it, so I investigated a little with the available clues shown in the short clip below to give us an idea on what would the next Assassin's Creed game be all about.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjEvGo5TRck]

Assassin's Creed: Revelations Teaser

Left side: Masyaf Castle in background, Altaïr(?) or at least his hidden blade bracer in foreground

Right side: Hagia Sophia in Istanbul (Constantinople until 1453)

  • Originally used as a Cathedral for Orthodox and Roman Catholic Church until the fall of Constantinople in 1453.
  • It was used as an Imperial Mosque when the Ottoman Turks captured the city in 1453.
  • 1453 - Fall of Constantinople, start of growth of the Ottoman Empire and the end of the Byzantine Empire

"24061459"

  • 24th June 1459, Birth of Ezio Auditore da Firenze
  • 1459 - 6 years after the Fall of Constantinople

Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent (Suleiman I)

  • Born in 1494
  • Longest reigning Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1520 - 1566)

Timeline of events after Assassin's Creed Brotherhood:

In general, the 16th century was the Age of Discovery. A major era in the history of the world. Its also the time of Henry VIII of England (and we all know what a drama that was).

April 1509: The Battle of Agnadello between the French (commanded by Louis XII) and Venetians (jointly commanded by Bartolomeo d'Alviano and Niccolò di Pitigliano) starts.

May 1509: The French are victorious in the Battle of Agnadello. Bartolomeo d'Alviano is captured as a Prisoner of War. Niccolò di Pitigliano retrieves The Shroud.

1510: Francesco Vecellio, an Assassin, assassinates Niccolò di Pitigliano and retrieves The Shroud.

May 1510: Caterina Sforza, an ally of the Assassins, dies.

1512: The Medici regain their power.

Mid-1512 : Rise of Martin Luther, founder of Protestantism movement.

1512: Copernicus completes Commentariolus, placing the sun at the center of the solar system.

1512: Florentine Republic dismantled; Medici regain power.

1512: Selim I forces his father Bayezid II to abdicate the throne of Ottoman Empire. Bayezid dies shortly afterwards.

1513: Niccolo Machiavelli completes his book, The Prince. (in AC:B, Machiavelli says he will write the book in honor of Ezio - I speculate this is when Ezio dies or sometime around this).

1513: Bartolomeo d'Alviano is freed from French prison.

Sep 1515: Selim I captures Tabriz without any resistance. Subjugates the Persian Shah.

Oct 1515: Bartolomeo d'Alviano, an Assassin and condottiero, is killed.

Feb 1516: Mary I of England is born.

Jun 1516: John III, King of Navarre and brother in law to Cesare Borgia, dies.

1516: Selim I invades the Holy Land (Syria & Egypt).

1516: Leonardo da Vinci accepts to work at the court of Francis I, King of France.

1517: the Holy Land falls to the Ottoman Empire under Selim I, declares himself Caliph.

1517: Martin Luther publishes is 95 Theses, sparking the Protestant Reformation in Europe.

1519: Leonardo da Vinci completes the Mona Lisa in France.

1519: Hernan Cortez lands in Central America, meets the Aztecs.

1519: Ferdinand Magellan leaves Europe to circle the globe.

1519: First civil riots occur in Anatolia (Ottoman Empire)

May 1519: Leonardo da Vinci dies.

June 1519: Lucrezia Borgia, daughter of Rodrigo Borgia, dies.

1520: The fleet of Hernán Cortés arrives in Mexico.

1520: Giovanni Borgia gets the Crystal Skull.

1520:Bombastus analyzes the Crystal Skull.

1520: Selim I dies (possibly poisoned). Succeeded by his son Suleiman I (the Magnificent), ushering new era of growth in Ottoman Empire. Aleksandra Lisowska (Roxelana) is given to him as a gift. Initially a concubine, she later became his Queen, becomes the most influential figure in Ottoman politics.

1520: Aztec Empire destroyed.

1521: Martin Luther excommunicated.

1521: Ferdinand Magellan dies.

1521: Ottoman Empire advances into eastern Europe, capturing Belgrade.

1521: First son born to Suleiman I.

1522: Bianca Riario, daughter of Caterina Sforza dies.

1522: Suleiman I conquers island of Rhodes (Knights Hospitallers, who flee to island of Malta).

Dec 1524: Vasco da Gama, a Portuguese explorer and a Templar, dies.

1525: France and Ottoman Empire ally against the Holy Roman Empire.

1526: Suleiman I defeats King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia in battle, who dies while retreating.

1527: Medici lose Florence again to supporters of Giralomo Savanorola, unti 1530.

1527: Spanish & German troops sack Rome.

Jun 1527: Niccolo Machiavelli an Assassin, dies, entombed in Sante Croce, Florence.

1529: Treaty of Zaragosa divides world's waters between Spain and Portugal; East for Spain, west for Portugal.

1529: Suleiman I launches military campaign into Hungary. Lays siege to Vienna, Austria. But he is finally defeated, halting the spread of Islam into Europe.

1529: Archduke Ferdinand of Austria dies (how convenient)

1532: The Prince is published.

1532: Suleiman I launches unsuccessful campaign into Hungary.

1533: Ottaviano Riario, son of Caterina Sforza, dies.

1533: Peace treaty divides Hungary between Austria and Ottoman Empire.

1533: Suleiman I makes Roxelana Queen of the Ottoman Empire.

Jun 1541: Francisco Pizarro y González, 1st Marquess of los Atabillos, is assassinated by Assassins.

Sep 1541: Philippus Aureolus Theophrastus Bombastus von Hohenheim, a Swiss Renaissance physician, botanist, alchemist, astrologer, and a member of the Assassin Order, dies.

1542: Giovanni Borgia, an Assassin, experiences a vision of an unknown Chinese man through the Crystal Skull and decides to alert the other Assassins.

May 1543: Niccolò Copernico, a Polish Renaissance astronomer, mathematician and priest, dies.

1548: Giovanni Borgia, an Assassin and son of Lucrezia Borgia and Perotto Calderon, dies.

1553: Queen Mary I obtains an Apple of Eden and begins her rule over England.

Mar 1554: Ivan Ivanovich, heir to the Russian throne, is born.

1560: Francesco Vecellio, an Assassin, dies.

Nov 1581: Tsarevich Ivan Ivanovich is assassinated by Assassins.

other events at this time: - start of African slave trade - Islamic conquest of Christian Ethiopia

Fallout: New Vegas has three DLC on the way

Bethesda has revealed three downloadable content for New Vegas, Honest HeartsOld World Blues, and Lonesome Road. The release of the first one is actually close by, Honest Hearts is first up and will be out on May 17. 

This makes Fallout: New Vegas having a total of 4 DLC's. Blood Money was the first downloadable content released on December 21, 2010 on the Xbox 360 first. A few months later on February 22, 2011, it was released for PC and PS3 owners. Xbox 360 had that exclusive early release but for the next three DLC, they will all be released simultaneously just like the old days.

Available on May 17, Honest Hearts takes you on an expedition to the unspoiled wilderness of Utah's Zion National Park. Things go horribly wrong when your caravan is ambushed by a tribal raiding band. As you try to find a way back to the Mojave, you become embroiled in a war between tribes and a conflict between a New Canaanite missionary and the mysterious Burned Man. The decisions you make will determine the fate of Zion.

In Old World Blues, releasing in June,you will discover how some of the Mojave’s mutated monsters came to be when you unwittingly become a lab rat in a science experiment gone awry. You’ll need to scour the Pre-War research centers of the Big Empty in search of technology to turn the tables on your kidnappers or join forces with them against an even greater threat.

Lonesome Road, available in July, brings the courier's story full circle when you are contacted by the original Courier Six, a man by the name of Ulysses who refused to deliver the Platinum Chip at the start of New Vegas. In his transmission, Ulysses promises the answer as to why, but only if you take one last job –a job that leads you into the depths of the hurricane-swept canyons of the Divide, a landscape torn apart by earthquakes and violent storms. The road to the Divide is a long and treacherous one, and of the few to ever walk the road, none have ever returned.

It will cost us around 800 Microsoft points or $9.99 for each pack of downloadable content. That's $30 worth of new content and I'm tempted to get the first DLC in preparation for the next batch. Looks like I'll be revisiting New Vegas soon. Anybody excited??

If you want to read the full press release click here.

Sony Online Entertainment is Offline

Sony Online Entertainment said today it has temporarily turned off its servers after the company "discovered an issue" while investigating an intrusion into its system. It's unclear at this time if this incident is related to last month's intrusion of PlayStation Network.

"We had to temporarily take down SOE services during the night," a spokesperson said. "In the course of our investigation into the intrusion of our systems, we have discovered an issue that warrants enough concern. We will provide an update later today."

No timetable was provided for when the services will be turned back on so all you DC Universe Online PC players out there are out of luck.

Source: IGN

Weekend, what are you playing?

We enter into the month of May and with the PlayStation Network still down, meaning that all PS3 owners have no online fun for 2 weekends now. Still, people nowadays usually have more than one means of playing a video game here or there. So, what are you playing this weekend? 

Migoy: Still fighting the good fight in Dissidia 012 Duodecim: Final Fantasy. 50+ hours in and halfway through Scenario 000. Grinding with other characters on Quick Party battles on the side. I have a few PSX titles on my PSP which I got before the great PSN crash of 2011. Also found a few older PSX titles such as the 3 Road Rash games and Harry Potter 1. A bit of nostalgia gaming. I also found a GameCube memory card at Datablitz which I bought in a heartbeat and tested it by revisiting Mortal Kombat Deception, that game controls like butt.

Quash: Finally sat down and finished Crysis 2 yesterday. It was a great game overall and i'm thinking of making a review about it. Since Crysis 2 is out of the way i think i'll continue with Portal 2, i just started and hoping to finish this too by today. It was said to be arund 6-8 hours long but of course it all depends if i fail in some of the test chambers.

Arlie: Still playing Patapon 3, I am using Yumiyacha (Ranged type) as my primary Uberhero class and switched it to Wondabarappa who shoots crap out of a magical tuba. I might finally start on Dissidia 012 Duodecim: Final Fantasy this week. I will also play and hopefully finish today the fourth episode of Back To The Future: The Game which is entitled "Double Visions".

Portal 2 DLC coming soon for free

Yes you heard me, valve is being kind to us by giving us the first downloadable content of Portal 2 for free. The DLC will include new test chambers, leaderboards and challange mode for single and multiplayer challenge mode valve confirmed. It will be free for PS3 Xbox 360 and PC.

Free is always welcome and hopefully it comes out as a meaty DLC.