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Borderlands: Mad Moxxi’s Underdome Riot
Review by: Tina Amini
Tina looks at Mad Moxxi's Underdome Riot to see what else you can get out of Borderlands. READ FULL REVIEW...
Theatre of War: Kursk 1943
Preview by: Chad Smith
How is this WWII strategy game shaping up? Find out as Chad gets an early glimpse of the game. READ FULL PREVIEW...
Vancouver 2010
Review by: Cyril Lachel
Don't go where the huskies go, don't eat the yellow snow and definitely don't buy Vancouver 2010 for the PS3! READ FULL REVIEW...

Dante’s Inferno launches today with a new developer’s diary

by: Tina - posted: 2/9/2010 4:38 PM -
For Dante’s Inferno’s launch date, EA and Visceral invite you to the 9th circle where hell is frozen over.

The developer’s diary also touches on some of the criticism the game has been getting over “desecrating” the original poem. You can hear some of their refutations of such claims and the reasoning behind their defense in the video below.

Happy launch date. Who plans on picking up the game?


NinjaBee shows off XBLA title Ancients of Ooga

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 4:06 PM -
NinjaBee let loose with a bunch of screens and info on their latest Xbox Live Arcade title, Ancients of Ooga. The game is considered by the NinjaBee staff as a spiritual successor to Cloning Clyde because of the heavy influence from one of the original XBLA titles. Brent Fox, NinjaBee Art Director offers up some insight into the Ooganis:

“The Ooganis aren’t your typical heroes,” said Brent Fox, NinjaBee’s art director. “But that’s what makes this game so fun to play. They’re quirky, bizarre, and at times borderline foul. An Oogani’s world is centered around eating. You have to eat, chant, dance and even puke your way through the primeval land of Ooga. This is definitely the most gluttonous game you’ll play in 2010 – it’s gonna be out of this world!”
 
If you loved Cloning Clyde and some of the original Xbox Live Arcade titles, it sounds like Ancients of Ooga may be something to check out.

Lamb of God creating exclusive song for Iron Man 2

by: Tina - posted: 2/9/2010 3:16 PM -
What better element to compliment a cinematic video game than to have its very own song? SEGA announced that the artists to compose this exclusive new song will be Lamb of God, an appropriate addition to the intensity of what is to come with Iron Man 2: The Video Game.

Releasing just 3 days before the sequel to the actual movie comes out, you can expect to experience said intensity of both the video game itself as well as its new track on May 4th.

Lamb of God’s drummer, Chris Adler, commented: “'We knew we had something special and intense when we wrote this track and working with SEGA has been nothing short of incredible. A few of us are real game and comic fans so the partnership with SEGA has been really exciting and we can’t wait to play the game and hear our music as Iron Man kicks ass.” [READ MORE]

Uncharted 2 soundtrack now available in CD with new tracks

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 3:16 PM -
Arne Meyer, Sr Manager of Marketing Communications at Naughty Dog, has posted at the Official PlayStation blog that the soundtrack for Uncharted 2: Among Thieves is now available in stores on CD. The soundtrack was previously available only on iTunes, but you can now purchase the CD and get three previously unreleased tracks, which can be sampled here. The Uncharted 2 soundtrack was again composed by Greg Edmonson, who scored the music for the original game.

Trauma Team’s new screens and developer featurette

by: Tina - posted: 2/9/2010 3:04 PM -
The last developer featurette from Trauma Team we introduced you to discussed the visual art in the game. Now, Masayuki Doi – Art Director & Character Designer – talks about the creation of CR-S01’s character design in the game. You can head over here to read the full story of how the team attempted to create a captivating character amongst the other protagonists.

Along with a few new screenshots below are screens of the transformation of E3 contest winner Charlie Malone’s character into Trauma Team. Kudos on a pretty good rendition of last year’s E3 contest winner.

Nothing says "I love you" like spending time together in MMOs

by: Chad - posted: 2/9/2010 3:04 PM -
That's what Mythic Entertainment wants you to believe.  Most MMOs go "Koo-Koo for Cocoa Puffs" when a holiday approaches and Valentine's Day will be no different.  Special live events and activities will be happening during these dates:

Warhammer Online (February 9th -16th)
Dark Age of Camelot (February 8th - 21st)
Ultima Online (February 14th)

With all of the special happenings, I'm giving you authorization to skip getting a present for your special someone.  Who needs flowers, chocolates, and gift cards when you can have quality time in digital form? [READ MORE]

Mass Effect 2 freebie armor and weapon now available

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 2:38 PM -
Last month, BioWare announced plans for the Cerberus Network and a whole bunch of DLC for Mass Effect 2 that would tie into it. The first batch came out in late January, but a couple of freebies were introduced today according to the BioWare official forums.

The Cerberus Assault Armor and M-22a Evisceratior Shotgun DLC are now available from the Cereberus Network for both 360 and PC players. A couple of screens are below (the armor looks sweet), but here are the specs:

Cerberus Assault Armor
Cerberus assault armor is designed for shock troops, turn the tide of battle against creatures or forces that would decimate normal soldiers.
Increases heavy weapon ammo capacity by +10%
Increases shields by +10%
Increases health by +10%

M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun
The M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun is a longer-range shotgun with armor-piercing loads. This design also violates several intergalactic weapons treaties, so the M-22a is not distributed to militaries.

Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! gets a new title

by: Tina - posted: 2/9/2010 2:34 PM -
Looks like PSP owners excited for the release of Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! will have to begin to revise their speech somewhat. The game is now being called What Did I Do To Deserve This, My Lord?!

Due to a “conflict of interest with an existing IP,” NIS America decided to go for this new title. You can probably venture a quick and accurate guess as to what title the original was leaning very close toward. Either way, the game is still releasing on May 4th.

Dead Space 2 DOA on PC

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 2:28 PM -
This is news that surely will make John unhappy, but Dead Space 2 for PC appears to have been canned according to multiple websites and confirmed by the WindowsGamer twitter feed. The PC version was just announced in early December, but yanked back almost as fast.

The news was originally buried in the EA earnings call post I put up yesterday, with a little “x” next to only the console and handheld platforms. Anyone have any thoughts on this news? Were you planning on getting a console version anyways? Leave us your thoughts in the comments section.

Wil Wheaton to keynote PAX East

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 2:02 PM -
Long known for his uber geekdom and a fixture at PAX, Comic Con and other events, Wil Wheaton confirmed on his Twitter page that he will be the Keynote speaker at the PAX East event in March. Wheaton is both an accomplished actor and writer, but he has always stuck close to the video game world, lending his voice to several game franchises including Grand Theft Auto, Ghost Recon and Rainbow Six. Most recently, he has been playing a recurring role as the villain Fawkes in the online series “The Guild”.

This is a huge win for all the attendees of the event. If you haven’t had the pleasure to follow him on Twitter (he was one of the very first celebrities to embrace the site…he just gets it), as it is a very entertaining feed. I am sorry I will not be able to attend and hear Wheaton’s comments. It should be a good time for all. [READ MORE]

Military Madness gets crazy on the iPhone OS

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 12:42 PM -
Hudson has brought the classic Military Madness franchise to the iPhone OS with Military Madness: Neo Nectaris. Originally released on the TurboGrafx-16 back in 1989, the updated version is on the AppStore, costs $4.99 and updates the controls to full touch with re-done graphics and cut-scenes. I imagine Cyril could appreciate this title, although he probably still has the original tucked away somewhere in his closet.  Chuck posted some footage of the console version way back in September, so check that out to get a feel for what the full scale game entails.

Ubisoft breaks my heart... puts Endwar 2 on the backburner

by: Jeremy - posted: 2/9/2010 11:41 AM -
 Why? Wwwwhhhyyy!?!?!  Wwwwwwhhhhhhhyyyyyyyyy!?!?!?!?!

On the same week that Ubisoft has made many gamers happy by announcing Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, the company has also managed to absolutely break this gamer's heart.  In an interview with the website VG247, Ubi Shanghai employee Michael de Plater stated the the project of Endwar 2 has been put "on the backburner".  The first Endwar was one of the most original games that I had played in years; while the concept wasn't original, I always felt that the precision in the execution was.  Endwar nailed the concept of a voice controlled RTS right on the head.  The game wasn't perfect to say, but it was as close as any company has ever come to pulling it off flawlessly.  I absolutely loved the game and was really looking forward to the sequel since it was announced as being in development last summer.  Unfortunately, it looks as though I will continue to wait on the sequel.  When de Plater was asked to elaborate on the backburner statement, he gave no further comment.  All that I can say is: "booooooooo" <thumbs down>
[READ MORE]

The zombies... are officially... coming...

by: Jeremy - posted: 2/9/2010 11:11 AM -
 We knew they were coming, but now we know when.  Popcap's ingenious Plants vs. Zombies is finally hitting the iPhone on February 15, 2010.  The iPhone port of last years runaway tower / house defense has been delayed a few times over the past couple of months but it appears that those delays are finally over.  Popcap has officially announced a firm date for the game and released an official trailer showing the scaled down port of the game.  Start saving up your sun now... only a few may days until they attack...

[READ MORE]

...and the BlazBlue: Continuum Shift info starts pouring in...

by: Jeremy - posted: 2/9/2010 10:39 AM -
 I reported on the Famitsu cover leak yesterday and today the full article has been exposed.  Japanese gaming blog Andriasang has exposed all of the details included in Famitsu's four page story on BlazBlue: Continuum Shift.  In addition to everything that was listed yesterday from the arcade version of the game, the home versions of the game will include yet another additional character, u-12, and a ton of additional gameplay modes.  Among the modes that will be included in the home versions are:

  • Tutorial- guided instruction(s) on all fighting mechanics
  • Arcade- standard arcade progression mode
  • Versus- standard competitive mode against local human and computer controller opponents
  • Score attack- fifteen round battle to achieve a benchmark score
  • Training- free practice mode
  • Challenge- various character-specific missions
  • Legion- enemy progression based on a map, as included in the PlayStation Portable version
  • Story- over 28 character specific scenarios
  • Gallery- view event movies, pictures, and sound tests
  • Replay theater- management and review of saved battles
  • Online / network battle- full online multiplayer support including ranked and unranked battles
 
The article also states the the conversion is well underway and actually scheduled for release this coming Summer in Japan.  Hopefully North America will get it by the end of the year...

[READ MORE]

Max & the Magic Marker finally coming to WiiWare

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 10:11 AM -
It was announced yesterday on the game’s official site that Max & the Magic Marker will finally be hitting the U.S. WiiWare queue in March. The game is available on PC and MAC currently, and is a 2D physics-based puzzler with the following details:



  • 15 inventive and puzzling levels
  • Unique drawing control in a truly dynamic physics environment
  • 3 beautiful worlds inspired by childrens drawings
  • Death traps, monsters, and challenging puzzles
  • Unlockable challenges, secrets and rewards
  • Original and awesome soundtrack by Analogik


EA finds another outlet for the Madden series

by: Jeremy - posted: 2/9/2010 9:47 AM -
 As if the Madden series had not already hit every platform imaginable, Electronic Arts found yet one more to put the game on: Facebook.  The Facebook phenomena continues to spread and many game companies are starting to turn to it as a viable outlet for free-to-play games and promotion.  Peter Moore has stated in an interview with Bloomberg Television that their goal is to make the Madden series "more acessible" to the public.  In order to do so, the series will now have a presence on the Facebook social network.  
 
It is currently unknown as to what the Facebook version of the game(s) will include, but Moore states that the new version will be presented in a simpler form than the mainstream version(s) of the game.  I think that it will be very interesting to see how EA handles this new version of the game.  I would expect that the game will be more along the lines of a simulation much in the same manner of the recent release Quick Hit Football.  Hopefully we will find out more information in the coming months...
[READ MORE]

E3 2010 Registration now open

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 9:14 AM -
With CES just wrapped up and PAX East around the corner, the folks at E3 say “Don’t forget about us” as registration is now open for the 2010 Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3 Expo). The 2010 E3 will once again be at the Los Angeles Convention center (Someone please move this to Vegas!) from June 15th-17th. According to the release, 90% of the available space has already been sold out, so the 2010 show should be as full as last year. Those looking to go can register here:

[READ MORE]

The well isn't dry yet- LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars

by: Jeremy - posted: 2/9/2010 9:03 AM -
 LucasArts and Telltale Games know how the industry works and know that when you have a good thing going, you should continue going with it until the end.  The companies released a press release yesterday announcing LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars for later this year.  The game will be coming out on pretty much every platform imaginable, both handheld and home consoles.  The game is also going to include the characters introduced in the Cartoon Network television series in addition to the classic roster from the various movies.  The game is also said to include all new battle modes, expanded level creation modes, and all new gameplay tactics.  The full press release is listed after the jump...

[READ MORE]

MLB 2K10: Absolute pitching control

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 8:21 AM -
2K Sports has released their latest video in the Hitters vs. Pitchers series for MLB 2K10 and it is showing off the pitching controls. It looks like pitchers will have more control than ever (and some new controls to master) and players will have lots of tools to help master these new controls. It is nice to see the Tigers new $80 Million man Justin Verlander get some props in the video as the primary demonstration pitcher.

After seven long years, there is a Need for Ferrari…

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 8:12 AM -
EA announced yesterday that Ferrari will be joining the Need for Speed franchise again after a seven-year hiatus. On February 16th, a the 10-car Ferrari Racing Pack will become available for download to Need for Speed Shift exclusively on the Xbox 360 for 800 MS Pts ($10.)

Not only will the cars become available, but there will be 46 new Ferrari specific challenges in career mode and 125 new Gamesrscore points to earn. Check out the car list below, and the full release after the jump:

The Ferraris will include:
1. 1996 Ferrari F50 GT
2. 2005 Ferrari F430 Spider
3. 2005 Ferrari FXX
4. 2005 Ferrari Superamerica
5. 2006 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano
6. 2006 Ferrari F430 Challenge (Online/Quick event only)
7. 2006 Ferrari F430 GTC (Online/Quick event only)
8. 2007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia
9. 2008 Ferrari California
10. 2008 Ferrari 16M Scuderia Spider

Update (Chuck) - Added screens

[READ MORE]

BioWare keep rolling as Dragon Age: Origins hits 3 million shipped

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 7:51 AM -
BioWare has been on a bit of a roll lately, and it continued with last year’s release of Dragon Age: Origins. The game has gone triple platinum, meaning it has shipped over 3 million copies since it was released. This follows Baldur's Gate, Neverwinter Nights, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, Jade Empire and Mass Effect as big time titles.  Tina loved the PS3 version of the game.

If you haven’t picked this game up yet, now is the time as an expansion pack titled Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening will be available on March 16, 2010, and EA disclosed in their earnings call yesterday that a new Dragon Age title is in the works for a Q4 2011 release on console, PC and handheld.

BioWare is almost guaranteed to keep the blockbuster streak alive with Mass Effect 2 currently garnering big sales and lots of attention. [READ MORE]

Weekly Xbox Live updates

by: Dan - posted: 2/9/2010 7:34 AM -
Since last week, there have been several new items made available, or discounted on Xbox Live Marketplace. The Marvel vs Capcom 2 deal is not too bad, but I would stay away from the Bioshock 2 Avatar items and their hefty 320 pt price tag.  Check out everything below:

Demo:
Sonic and Sega All-Stars Racing

Games on Demand:
Street Fighter IV
Halo Wars

Xbox Live Arcade:
Darwinia+ (2/10/20, 1200 MS Pts)

Deal of the Week:
Marvel vs Capcom 2 (800 pts)
TMNT: Turtles in Time Reshelled (400 pts)
Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao (800 pts)

DLC:
Bioshock 2 Avatar Items
Forza Motorsport 3: Nürburgring GP Track Pack

Ubisoft officially announces Future Soldier

by: John - posted: 2/9/2010 5:24 AM -
As Jeremy pointed out, there's a new Ghost Recon game coming out and Ubisoft finally put the official word on Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Other than the news that it's being set for this Holiday season, not much else was talked about as the next game in the Ghost Recon line.

But, those that purchase Splinter Cell: Conviction can get in on the multiplayer beta that's scheduled for this Summer. Splinter Cell comes out April 16th so for a limited time, you can get into the beta that way. I'm anxious to see what Ubi has in store for the third game in the series as I had a lot of fun with the first one. I'm sure we'll see a lot more in the near future and hopefully some playing time at E3.

[EDIT: DAN]  UBI has posted an image of the new Ghost Recon Skull logo on their twitter feed...

[READ MORE]

The female Monk of Diablo III

by: John - posted: 2/9/2010 5:19 AM -
A few weeks ago, Blizzard asked folks to do some renditions of what they think the female Monk should look like in Diablo III. Well, Blizzard's finally put out the official look of the bare handed warrior.

On the Monk's page, you can see the concept drawing and the model. Is it just me or does the female monk model kind of look like Rhianna with that hairdo and facial structure? The white hair is a nice touch although she does look more muscular in the concept than the final model.

Monks are probably one of my favorite classes in the fantasy genre so I'm probably going to go this route when the game comes out initially.

News Roundup weekend edition: EA unveils Karate Dojo: Ultimate butt Rash Edition

by: Nathan - posted: 2/9/2010 12:57 AM -