Welcome to another weekly multiplayer gaming news round-up.

Wii U Online Will Be Free.

Recently, Nintendo held a shareholder meeting, where they revealed that the Wii U would feature free online for all users.  According to the reports, Iwata, president of Nintendo, stated that though they don’t have any issues with a paid subscription service, but free online would lead to better hardware and software development.

“…he doesn’t necessarily reject the idea of a paid service that allows not just Wii U but various other devices to connect to Nintendo Network. However, when considering Nintendo’s users, a paid membership service is not the best approach. By having everyone use the Miiverse together, word of mouth will more easily spread. This will lead to greater hardware and software sales.”

Black Ops Coming To The Mac This Fall.

Aspyr, a company that is specialized in porting games from Windows over to the Mac has officially confirmed that Black Ops will be released for Mac this fall. The port will feature all the released DLC along with the highly acclaimed Zombie mode. No official pricing or minimum system requirements been revealed yet.

No “Definite Plans” For The Future of Resistance.

Resistance: Fall of Man first debuted in 2006 as a PlayStation 3 launch title. Since then, the series has released two sequels on the PlayStation 3 and two handheld titles, one on the PSP and the other on the Vita. With the departure of Insomniac Games last year, it was unclear where the series would be heading. Burning Skies just released last May, and despite enjoying working on the title, SCEE Daniel Brooke told OPM that they currently have no plans for Resistance.

“The Resistance franchise has been exciting to work on but as for the future we have no definitive plans.”

It’s a shame considering how good Resistance 3 was. I only hope for the best and wish for it to return some day.

Dead Nation: Road of Devastation – Arcade Pack Available.

The highly acclaimed PSN exclusive, Dead Nation: Road of Devastion has received a brand new DLC pack titled “Arcade”. The Arcade mode will have you facing Road of Devastation once again, however this time survival will be made possible.  Take the experience online with another player as you battle through waves of zombies to help find the ultimate soldier.

Gran Turismo 5 Players Have Traveled A 1,367 Year Trip To The Next Nearest Sun In Just Under Two Years.

Congratulation GT5 players, you have officially accomplished what would have taken mankind 1,367 years to do. Kazunori Yamauchi, the creator of Gran Turismo tweeted that in total GT5 players have accumulated more than  36.4 billion miles in online races. To put this into perspective of how far this actually is, the guys over at GTPlanet have released of what this distance is equivalent to.

• GT5 players have driven the distance from the Earth to the Sun. And back. 200 times.
• Or the distance from the Sun to Neptune. And back. Thirteen times.
• In under 2 years GT5 players have driven three times further than Voyager 1 has managed in 35 years.
• We’d still take 1,367 years to drive GT5 to our nearest star, Proxima Centauri…
• Equal the record distance in the Nürburgring 24hr in 3.4 seconds
• Drive from San Francisco to New York in 3.5 seconds
• Drive from New York to London in 4.7 seconds
• Drive from London to Sydney in 14.4 seconds
• Drive around the Earth in the time it took you to read this article
• Drive to the Moon in 5 minutes 27 seconds
• Each player have driven nearly 500 miles

Gran Turismo 5 New DLC Available Now.

Last week we reported on a leak that GT5 would be receiving brand new tracks and vehicles. It has now officially been confirmed and released via the PSN Store.

• Twin Ring Motegi Race track with four different variation. ($4.99)
• Scion FR-S (free)

God of War: Ascension Collector Edition Now Available For Pre-order On Amazon.

Amazon has officially started taking pre-orders for God of War: Ascension Collection edition. You’ll receive a an exclusive 8′ Kratos statue along with a DLC pass that’ll grant you access to all future DLC. More details of what the Collection edition can be found below.

•  Exclusive 8″ Kratos Statue
• Premium Steelbook case
• Official Game Soundtrack (digital version)
• PS3 Dynamic Theme
• PSN Avatar Pack
• Multiplayer Double XP Unlock
• Pass for future DLC content

Pre-ordering from amazon will also give you a bonus exclusive Mythological Heroes Multiplayer pack, which will contain the following set of armors that you may use during online play: Achilles, Perseus, Orion, and Odysseus.

Battlefield Heroes Turns 3, New Map, Free Gifts.

EA is celebrating Battlefield Heroes 3 year anniversary with some brand new content, the first being the new map “Fortress Frenzy”. This map will take place on a small island where players will battle for control. “Treasure Chest” are also being introduced to Battlefield Heroes. These will be random special rewards that drop after killing an enemy. No word whether these content will be free, however it was confirmed that for players who log in between June 25, 2012 and July 1, 2012 will receive two free party pack. This pack includes a Battlefield Heroes Birthday Shirt, a Tricycle Emote that lasts for 3-days and a new Treasure Chest Key.

Need for Speed: Most Wanted – Autolog 2.0 Detailed

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War of the Roses DreamHack 2012 Tournament Gameplay:

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Tribes Ascend Update #6 Preview:

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PS3 Firmware 4.20:

Sony released a brand new Firmware Update for the Playstation 3 Home console. The following features have been added.

•  Sidetone now has 5 microphone audio levels along with an off option
• Wireless Stereo Headset will now have virtual surround sound functionality during Blu-ray or DVD playback.
• Power saving option that will automatically turn off the system have been added for [Video/TV/Music/Photo] and for [Game/Other Features].
• You can now copy/delete multiple save data at once.

Xbox 360 System Update:

A new Xbox 360 system update has been released, which will fix some of the Datel controller issue along with prepping the console for the fall update.

Tribes Ascend Patch #6:

New Features:

• Added support for “lock to player view” while spectating players. This allows you to see what the spectated player target sees. Press ‘L’ by default to lock the view to the player’s viewpoint. Mousewheel in for a first-person perspective.
• A new TDM map has been added to the list of maps in the Quick Play rotation. (Miasma)
• A new CTF map has been added to the list of maps available to play on Custom Servers. Stonehenge is a remap of a classic Tribes map. The map is currently in a “beta” state and will be added to the Quick Play rotation after it goes through testing on Custom Servers.
• Web Browser no longer asks for plugin permission.

Weapons Balancing:

• The Pathfinder’s Light Assault Rifle will now fire bursts from just holding down the fire button, rather than having to repress the fire button for each burst.
• Increased Rage Perk activation radius by 50%.
• Decreased effect radius of Raider’s Whiteout grenade by roughly 8%.
• Decreased damage on Shrike Rockets by 22%.
• Increased Shrike Rocket damage to armored targets (ex. base turrets, beowulfs) by 30%.
• Decreased damage on Technician’s Rockwind SMG by roughly 8%
• Slightly increased the distance from the reticule required for the Spotted command to work.
• Increased the distance Raider’s EMP grenades can be thrown to match most other grenades.
• Decreased explosion radius on Pathfinder’s Compact Nitrons by 13%.
• The Phase Rifle’s downscope reticule has been tweaked and crosshairs added.
• Raindance: A new route has been added into the generator room.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Update 1.3

• Group Finder – will make it much easier for players to join up with others in the game. This feature allows you to connect with other players who want to tackle the same Flashpoint or Operation that you do while also ensuring the group is filled out with combat disciplines that complement each other. Together you’ll be better prepared to take on the more advanced challenges in the game.
• Ranked Warzones – make PvP more challenging and more rewarding. You can now create a group, compete in ranked warzones, and then track your personal performance and measure your skills against other players.
• Legacy Character Perks –perks give you the opportunity to customize the leveling experience for your Legacy characters. You can focus on the parts of the game you like best, whether that’s space combat, PvP,or Group Missions and Flashpoints, you can choose which activities earn the most experience. The perks give you other bonus opportunities as well, like piloting a vehicle at level 10, earning bonus affection with companions, and even being able to reallocate your skill points in the field.
• Adaptive Gear – allows you to wear your favorite social gear into combat while still enjoying the bonuses you receive from your best combat gear. We’ll almost certainly be seeing more eccentric-looking groups tackling high-level operations, but that’s part of the fun.

Releases for the week of July 3rd.

• Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends (PS3, Xbox 360)
• The Secret World (PC)