News

What we're playing this weekend

Posted by: Chuck at 11/3/2007 3:22 PM - Comments (0)
More On: What we're playing Gaming Nexus
Elliot Bonne - Staff Writer
This weekend I'll be diving into more Halo 3 multiplayer, exploring Folklore, and also counting the minutes until Call of Duty 4, Assassins Creed,and Mass Effect hit retail.

Randy Kalista - Staff Writer
I'll be entrenched along World in Conflict's American frontlines, as well rolling 20-sided dice in Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask of the Betrayer .  I'm also finishing up the Mass Effect: Revelation novel during piss-break long load screens in The Witcher -- but that's the last time you'll ever hear me complain about that game since the most difficult thing to do in The Witcher is to turn it off.

Dan Keener - Staff Writer
A busy weekend with lots of football games, but I should be able to squeeze in some Ace Combat 6, a look-see at the new Buccaneer table on Pinball FX and possibly some Viva Pinata Party Animals.

Matt Mirkovich - Staff Writer
When Lou and Guitar Hero III aren't pissing me off, I'm playing Virtua Fighter 5 on 360. Dear Activision, boss battles are stupid and the fact that I cannot play the songs outside of the boss battles is also dumb. Also thanks for ruining Knights of Cydonia, guess I'm happy you didn't ruin Stockholm Syndrome. Final Fantasy Tactics is still in the PSP, and the storytelling is so much better with the revised script.

Cyril Lachel - Sr. Staff writer
Goodness, what am I not playing?  This week is absolutely crazy as I have so many games to get through (and more on the way).  The good news is that I've managed to fight my way through a good chunk of games already, but by no means am I 100% caught up with the holiday titles.  For one thing I plan on getting further into The Orange Box.  Last night I went through all of Portal (which is amazing, I might add) and some of the original Half-Life 2.  Maybe this weekend I can get through the rest of Half-Life 2 and maybe start checking out those two episodes.  When I'm not playing that I'll be sitting down with Full Metal Alchemist: Trading Card Game for the Nintendo DS, SWAT for the PSP, Project Gotham Racing 4 for the Xbox 360, Speedball 2 on the Xbox Live Arcade, Tony Hawk's Proving Ground for both the Nintendo DS and Xbox 360, Sam & Max - Ice Station Santa on the PC, and Final Fantasy Tactics for the PSP.  And believe me, that's just part of the list.  But who am I to complain, there are worse problems than having too many games to play

Charles Husemann - Editor In Chief
This weekend I'll be banging through Ratchet and Clank Future : Tools of Destruction and continuing to work my way through the very awesome The Witcher.  I'll also be futzing with Eye of Judgment which looks pretty cool but I think I'm going to have to re-arrange my living room to play it.  I'm also looking forward to getting together with some friends Saturday night for a Guitar Hero III jam session complete with fog machine.

NHL 09 demo coming to PSN this afternoon

by: Chuck - posted: 8/21/2008 4:47 PM - Comments (0)
EA Sports announced that you'll be able to download a demo of NHL 09 this afternoon on the PlayStation Network.  The demo will allow you to play the Red Wings against the Penguins and test out the new Be a Pro mode.  Xbox 360 owners will get their chance at the demo in September.  NHL 09 has been the dominant franchise for the last two years and I'm interested to see how they've improved on the Pro-Stick controls this year.  I've never played the game on the PS3 so there's going to be a little learning cover I think.

Update: EA just sent word that the demo has been delayed and won't be out until "Late August".  Given that next week is the last week of August I'm guessing it's going to be next Thursday. [READ MORE]

New Character for Neverland Card Battles revealed

by: Dan - posted: 8/21/2008 4:24 PM - Comments (0)
YUKE’S Company today introduces us to Galahad (no not Sir Galahad the Pure from Monty Pythons), the protagonist of their upcoming Sony PSP title Neverland Card Battles. The game is due out in October and is rated ‘T’ for teen.
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NHL 2k9 demo now available on Xbox Live

by: Chuck - posted: 8/21/2008 12:50 PM - Comments (0)
Xbox 360 fans left out in the cold by the timed exclusive demo of NHL 09 will be happy to know that 2K Sports has their back and has released a demo of NHL 2K9 on Xbox Live today.  The demo is limited to one three minute period of hockey between the Pens and Red Wings (again).  2K sports admitted at E3 that they were behidn and have a few tricks up their sleaves for this year's hockey game and I'm interested to see what exactly they are as they've been a bit mum on the topic.  I'll be buying the game no matter what as Rick Nash is on the cover but I'm hoping they've stepped up their game a bit. [READ MORE]

Microsoft to allow you to register to vote from your Xbox 360 starting next week

by: Chuck - posted: 8/21/2008 12:35 PM - Comments (0)
Xbox 360 owners who haven't registered to vote yet and still want to participate in the elections this fall will be able to register to vote through their Xbox 360 starting on Monday.  This really eliminates any excuse gamers have for not registering to vote as the process will probably not take more than 10 minutes or so and you can do that between games of Castle Crashers next week.  Microsoft will also be rolling out online polls and forums where you'll be able to voice your opinions about the upcoming election.  I'm guessing this part of the process will quickly deteriorate into the standard mire of racial, gender, and homophobic slurs that Xbox Live is known for but at least the registration process is cool. [READ MORE]

It'll cost you $5 to move those Rock Band songs over to Rock Band 2

by: John - posted: 8/21/2008 9:30 AM - Comments (0)
When Rock Band 2 is released, an update will appear on the 360 to let give you an option of transferring over most songs from the first game. DLC will work automagically. This won't be a free service though as you'll have to pay $5 to move the songs over to the latest game. $5 isn't too bad I guess and while it sucks to have to pay for the move it's better than nothing. I'm sure those that don't have the first game will just rent or borrow a copy and transfer them over saving themselves a few bills in the process. Right now it just says 360 but I'm sure the PS3 will be the same. The Wii and PS2? Well, that'll be a conundrum. What do you think? $5 too much or that's OK with you?

Logitech gives Wii owners a force feedback wheel

by: John - posted: 8/21/2008 9:24 AM - Comments (0)
Logitech makes some really sweet wheels and today they've announced the Speed Force Wireless for the Wii. Yes, you read that right, the Wii. The wheel will be great for the upcoming Need for Speed Undercover giving the game a more realistic feel using the wheel instead of the WiiMote. It doesn't use the Bluetooth technology built into the Wii opting to go with a USB dongle and working on a 2.4GHz band. It's an easy one piece wheel with the pedals on the back of the wheel.  You can see more pictures below and read up on the product on Logitech's website.
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Classic Gaming Trivia for 8/21/08

by: John - posted: 8/21/2008 9:14 AM - Comments (0)
For yesterday's entry, I went to one of my old C64 classics. I played PSI-5 Trading Company a lot on the Commodore 64 when I was a kid and it was one of the more unique games at the time. Today we have three pictures for you and you can see two more when you click on the Read More button. This game, as well as the company, were one of my favorites for the system.
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Perfect World in beta, trailer in throes of heroism

by: Randy - posted: 8/21/2008 4:08 AM - Comments (0)
Apparently, in a Perfect World, land-based travel is for suckers, swords are for flying, and women are used to play capture-the-flag.  I subversively nabbed a key, letting me into the beta for one week, which started this past Tuesday, August 19th.  First impressions will be up this weekend.

News Roundup: Silent Assassin Homecoming

by: Randy - posted: 8/21/2008 3:36 AM - Comments (0)
Demos, Clients
 Trailers
 Screenshots
 Articles
Thanks to Defunct Games, Techgage, AtomicGamer, The Hachiko, Gram.pl, BurnOutPC, and Digit-Life for today's News Roundup.

Change the African landscape with Far Cry 2's map editor

by: Randy - posted: 8/21/2008 2:55 AM - Comments (0)
I may have an oh-so-tender spot for map making, but that doesn't mean people disinclined towards drawing up their own playgrounds won't find this video exciting.  This map editor for Far Cry 2 features the most intuitive user interface I've seen since Sim City 4's, and certainly the easiest drag-and-drop action I've witnessed for an FPS editor.  And being from Montreal, Canada, the Ubisoft team couldn't help but toss in an homage to their Mecca, Paris.


But if pretty, pretty pictures aren't enough to get you in the mood -- and you need some freshly-baked literary soul food to get your guns oiled -- then it's time to revisit War Cry 2's in-game and in-character blog, War Unlimited: My Journey Through a Warzone.  It rocks a war-journalist vibe in the war-torn countryside, with a war-time aesthetic hinting at war veteran Ernest Hemingway's short stories. I know our newly-inducted writer, Sean Nack, has already been subscribing to this one.

Bond actors enter the Quantum of Solace video game soundbooth

by: Randy - posted: 8/21/2008 2:08 AM - Comments (0)
Activision wrangled the Quantum of Solace Bond movie stars into the video game recording booth:  Daniel Craig, Judi Dench, Mathieu Amalric, and Olga Kurylenko will all be fully voice featured in the upcoming game that's built on the Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare game engine.  Interestingly, the awesome Judi Dench (who plays the character M in the films) is the only one with a strong background in voice acting, with plenty of movie narration credits to her name, as well as previous video game work in GoldenEye: Rogue Agent, James Bond 007: Everything or Nothing, and The World Is Not Enough.  Comparatively, the other actors are soundbooth virgins, since I also don't think Olga Kurylenko's role in the Hitman movie counts. 

Here's a couple videos of Activision's high tech character-likeness mapping procedures.



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Adidas Live Season changes the game in FIFA Soccer 09

by: Randy - posted: 8/21/2008 1:42 AM - Comments (0)
EA has just sacrificed your FIFA Soccer 09 roster on the altar of fantasy futbol realism.  A global network of scouts (!) will now monitor every player in the newly-featured Adidas Live Season leagues and, throughout the season, will be piping weekly performance reports to a central EA Sports database of player statistics.  Andrew Wilson, Vice President & Executive Producer for the franchise said, "The game will feel and play differently each week.  With Adidas Live Season, if Ronaldinho has a great match on the weekend, you'll feel the difference when you pick up the controller as his in-game attributes increase."

In related news, EA just pulled a Madden with the Spanish Liga BBVA and Adelante by securing exclusive licensing.  This gives EA Sports sole rights to include every Spanish La Liga club and further shuts out competitors from delivering up-to-date kits, squads, and player likenesses.

FIFA 09 will be available worldwide in 18 languages in 37 countries in October.  (More painful proof that American football is just small potatoes.)  A demo will be made available on September 11th for both Playstation Network and Xbox Live. [READ MORE]

WAR goes stunningly cinematic

by: Randy - posted: 8/21/2008 1:22 AM - Comments (0)
This is going to come off wrong, but Warhammer Online's war-for-war's-sake premise has always left me with a cold shoulder.  It looks great, and the combat mechanics will be tabletop-comprehensive; no one's arguing against that.  I guess I'm just asking myself that old actors' adage:  "What's my motivation?"  But if this video teaches you nothing else, it's that life in WAR is fleeting.  Boy, it's a smashing-good video though.  This one just might seal the deal for folks that have been on the fence about WAR, and even non-MMO fans can get a kick out of the brutal sense of battlefield humor.
Set against the backdrop of a city under siege, a devious Goblin Squig Herder, mutating Chaos Marauder, and deadly Dark Elf Sorceress (bet on her) lead the invading hordes of Destruction in the assault on the city of Altdorf.  Rallying the forces of Order in defense of their capital are the noble High Elf Shadow Warrior, fiery Empire Bright Wizard, and stalwart Dwarf Engineer.  To the victors go the spoils of war; to the defeated, utter annihilation.

Point of Purchase delayed

by: Chuck - posted: 8/20/2008 11:31 PM - Comments (1)
Due to some computer problems Point of Purchase this week will be delayed.  I'm hoping to be up and running tomorrow but it might not be until Friday. Apologies for the delay.

Dungeons & Dragons Brings Tiny Adventures to Facebook

by: Eva - posted: 8/20/2008 8:46 PM - Comments (3)
Wizards of the Coast has unleashed its new Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures application on an unsuspecting Facebook community today. This strangely addictive little app. has overburdened servers with members waiting anxiously for their next adventure to begin.

You start by selecting one of several character templates. I chose the Elf Ranger by a narrow margin over the Tiefling Warlock. After naming her, I sent her into the nearest swamp to gain some experience which hopefully comes with gold and loot. Part of the draw to Tiny Adventures is winning or purchasing new potions, weapons and armor to trick out you character with. Each step of an adventure comes with a blow by blow commentary that will appeal to anyone whose sense of humor is a bit on the dark side and pop culture references.

WotC has discovered a very simple, ingenious way to introduce a lot of new people to D&D 4.0. The cooperative team building nature of the new Pen and Paper rules are mirrored in Tiny Adventures which allows players to heal or buff their friends. The game is addictive and will have you leaving your Facebook open so you count the minutes until you can continue your adventures. To get in on the game, check out the latest WotC Digital Insider or look up the Dungeons & Dragons: Tiny Adventures application on Facebook.
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FIFA 09 soundtrack getting popular artists

by: Sean Colleli - posted: 8/20/2008 7:13 PM - Comments (0)
EA wants you to know that the soundtrack to FIFA 09 will have 42 popular artists signed to provide signature hits and even a couple debut songs.  I'm not sure how enthusiastic Americans will be about this news, but the international scene will appreciate it.  Check the release for a full list of songs. [READ MORE]

Direct 2 Drive Shatters Suns; Emperor Palpatine could not be reached for comment

by: Nathan - posted: 8/20/2008 5:31 PM - Comments (0)
Direct2Drive is an increasingly popular outlet for developers to get their games into the hands of their customers. Clear Drown Studios is releasing their real time strategy game for the PC titled Shattered Suns on the web download service.

"We are very excited to offer Shattered Suns available for digital distribution on the day that the game releases into retail," said Chas. Cooper, Founder of Clear Crown Studios. "By providing gamers the ability to purchase through Direct2Drive, we are working with a trusted leader in the industry giving our fans the best experience possible in downloading our games."Shattered Suns sounds a lot like Sins of the Solar Empire with its reinterpretation of the classic real time strategy genre. In Shattered Suns custom-designed space ships clash in 3 dimensional space, but with the added twist of having to keep track of how shifting planets and orbiting objects change the battlefield.

Consumers can download Shattered Suns today at http://www.direct2drive.com. Shattered Suns is rated E10+ by ESRB with an MSRP of $39.99 (USD). [READ MORE]

October 28th is Fallout 3 day

by: John - posted: 8/20/2008 2:02 PM - Comments (5)
One of the most anticipated game will be coming out on October 28th in North America and October 31 in Europe. Fallout 3 is slated for release on the 360, PS3, and PC for that day and you can bet I'll be in line to pick this one up. We've been teased with footage and pics for a long time and to finally be close to getting my hands on the next installment in the series is pretty exciting.  You can read Chuck's take on the game at E3 but we all know it's going to be an incredible experience once it's released. [READ MORE]

EA serving up tennis

by: John - posted: 8/20/2008 1:59 PM - Comments (0)
One sport that EA hasn't really gotten into is tennis but that's about to change. They have announced and all new tennis game in development and will first be available for the Wii in 2009 with other platforms later on. For those wondering, yes it will take advantage of the Wii MotionPlus add-on. I'm glad to see EA will be utilizing the peripheral to offer a more accurate swing for the game. You can expect all the licensed venues and players to appear as well. [READ MORE]

Sony shows off 160GB bundle, keypad attachment, and PSP-3000

by: John - posted: 8/20/2008 1:54 PM - Comments (3)
A lot of Sony news just came in hot and heavy so let's run them down quickly.

First up is a new 160GB bundle of the PlayStation 3 with the great Uncharted Drake's Fortune. You'll also get a voucher for PAIN and the console comes with a Dualshock 3. Look for it in November for $499.

Next is a new Wireless Keypad that snaps on top of a controller and offers a QWERTY keyboard along with some system specific keys. There's even a mode to turn the main keys into a touchpad to let you move a cursor around like that of a laptop. Since it's a Bluetooth device, you can use it with other products that have Bluetooth capability as well.

Finally, a new PSP model is coming called the PSP-3000.  The two key improvements are:
  • The LCD screen will have a wider color gamut and higher contrast ratio to deliver deeper, more vibrant colors, as well as anti-reflection technology so you can see the screen more clearly when playing outdoors. As you all know, the PSP’s screen is a key strength of the hardware, and this update adds an absolutely dazzling LCD screen to the handheld.
  • A built-in microphone allows for Skype calls and multi-player gaming communication directly from the hardware - eliminating the need for attaching a separate headset.
[READ MORE]

Government approves EA takeover of Take 2

by: Chuck - posted: 8/20/2008 12:56 PM - Comments (1)
Reuters is reporting that the US government sees no problems with Electronic Arts buying out Take Two.  This news comes one day after EA officially dropped their hostile bid to buy Take Two and entered negotiations to buy out the company.  It looks like the road to a EA-Take Two merger is all but complete except for nailing down the brass tacks and coming up with a final number.  I can't say that I have a good feeling about the merger but it seemed inevitable once EA made the initial offer. 

It will be interesting to see what EA does with the final company and what studios will make the cut and which ones won't.  I imagine we've seen the last year of dual hockey titles and I imagine that we'll see a lot of developers hitting the streets. 

Gamefly holding a open casting call for new commercial

by: Chuck - posted: 8/20/2008 12:43 PM - Comments (0)
GameFly is working on a new commercial and they want you to be in it.  As part of their Super Fan Casting Call,all you have to do is dress up as your favorite video game character and either show up to one of the casting calls in LA, Chicago, and New York (details after the jump) or submit your 45 second video to them for you chance to enter.  Video entries must be submitted between August 26th and September 30th.  Entries will then be posted on Gamefly's site and people will vote on who will be in the commercial.  Sounds like it's time for Ben to bust out that old Princess Peach costume. [READ MORE]

Konami steaming Silent Hill Homecoming to PC's in September

by: Chuck - posted: 8/20/2008 12:23 PM - Comments (0)
Konami announced today that they will be bringing Silent Hill Homecoming to PC's this September through Valve's Steam service.  From the release it looks like this will be the only way PC gamers will be able to get their hands on the game but we're following up with Konami to see if that's the case.  Certainly good news for PC fans with a thirst for horror games. [READ MORE]

Gaming Gibs for 8/20/2008

by: Chuck - posted: 8/20/2008 12:17 PM - Comments (0)
Here are a few things I missed while trying to figure out how to drug John and give him this haircut:
  • 360Sync has the Duke Nukem 3D achievements, might be the last time you see those words "Duke Nukem" and "achievement" used in the same sentence
  • Nvidia doesn't think consoles are a threat to PC gaming, no this isn't an article from 2001
  • Xbox 360 sells out in Japan, snow ball fight breaks out in hell
  • The Analog Gamer continues to prattle on about the Star Wars pen and paper game
  • Nintendo enters full CYA mode over their lackluster E3 performance
  • Habs fans get excited about NHL 09 as they get to relive the glory years
  • Valve talks about the new levels in the TF2 patch
  • What game boxes would look like with developer credits on them.  Good idea but we need to find a balance folks
  • Need help unlocking challenge rooms in Bionic Commander:Re-armed, Capcom shows you how to unlock them

Pac Man - The horror movie

by: Chuck - posted: 8/20/2008 12:01 PM - Comments (2)
I guess this answers the question of "What would Pac Man look like as a horror movie with a bunch of guys in multi-colored tarps"
Thanks to Cinematical for the link