New Games |
- Monday Mind Teasers: Kingdom Rush
- Watch people blow up in this new Showdown Effect trailer
- Journey composer shares a text commentary on his score
- The PAX East IndieGameStand booth has 12 games
- Senran Kagura Vita sells 120,000 copies in opening week
- Jerry Rice and Cris Carter battle over Madden 25 cover
- BioWare San Francisco has reportedly been closed
- Donkey Kong also got ripped off for an iOS game
- Paradox will make a Magicka-related announcement at GDC
- New Hori keyboard is both metal and gosh-darn cute
- Bethesda updates Skyrim to version 1.9 Beta on Steam
- Spec Ops, Joe Danger 2, & more now free to PS Plus users
- The best and worst games of 2013: February Rising
- Social game with a conscience Half the Sky launches today
- Aliens: CM co-creators TimeGate Studios hit with layoffs
- Origin has all standard versions of Crysis 3 for $41.99
- Ten psychedelic freakouts and hallucinations in games
- PS Vita anniversary sale continues with even more deals
- Add some noir to your fairytales in Diggs Nightcrawler
- Listing for 'modified' Deus Ex: Human Revolution spotted
- Endless runner Sonic Dash announced for iOS
- Prepare for Mass Effect 3: Citadel with a launch trailer
- These Dungeonland class videos show off the game's humor
- Dreamfall Chapters gets a proper trailer
- Review: Alien vs. Predator: Evolution
- Debut TMNT: Out of the Shadows trailer appears
- The Elder Scrolls Online beta is coming this month
- World of Warcraft content patch 5.2 will launch tomorrow
- New releases: Construction finishes on SimCity
- Shin Megami Tensei IV: Characters show gear changes
- Does social integration in games matter to you?
- Vita sales quadruple after the price drop in Japan
- Battlefield 3's End Game DLC starts rolling out this week
- Harvest Moon creator's new game, HomeTown Story
- StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is 50% off until March 12
- Assassin's Creed IV will have exclusive content on PS4
- Game Boy never sounded better than with this Spanish gold
- PS4 presentation at GDC will talk technology and design
- Rumor: Yu Suzuki may head to Kickstarter for Shenmue III
- Animal Crossing: New Leaf and others demoed at SXSW
- Dota 2 is officially the most played Steam game to date
- PlayStation Network undergoing maintenance today
- How Far Cry 3 influenced Assassin's Creed's new direction
- Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter begins March 6
- Gears of War: Judgment features two different campaigns
- Xbox Live sale day 7 is all about the fighters
- Assassin's Creed IV will include shipjacking
- Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin OST out next week
- Assassin's Creed IV's promise of a seamless, open world
- Enjoy acoustic Chrono Cross music first thing in the AM
| Monday Mind Teasers: Kingdom Rush Posted: 04 Mar 2013 02:30 PM PST You poor, poor gamer soul. It's getting late and you were just about to sign off and go to bed. Then you checked the new Monday Mind Teaser. You fool. It's no secret that this is one of the most addicting flash games ever made in the history of the Internet, but since a lot of gamers are extremely uninterested in tower defense gameplay there's still a large online population of pixel pushers that haven't given this game a chance to blow them away yet. With perfect pacing, a fun fantasy art style, and an annoying amount of replayable bonus challenges to stop you from quitting once you've beaten the game, this title truly deserves its immense praise. It's been released for the iPad and was also greenlit for Steam recently, so there's no escaping this iconic genre-defining game! If there's only one tower defense game you ever play, it should be Kingdom Rush. Make sure you guys reply with some other must-play tower defense games in the comments below! Last Week: Museum of Thieves! |
| Watch people blow up in this new Showdown Effect trailer Posted: 04 Mar 2013 02:00 PM PST Showdown Effect is ready to launch this week, and in celebration, Paradox has provided us with a new trailer titled "Le Ballet of Death." Odds are you've never heard of Showdown Effect, and since it hasn't gotten any publicity or buzz, I don't blame you. Basically, it's a PC game that lets you relive glorious cheesy '90s area action in a 2D arena based setting with up to eight players. Our review will be coming shortly after launch, so stay tuned if you're on the fence. |
| Journey composer shares a text commentary on his score Posted: 04 Mar 2013 01:30 PM PST Leave annotations on for this one, folks. Journey composer Austin Wintory uploaded the entire Journey score filled with official and unofficial art, all with text based commentary popping up throughout this hour long listen. Journey was one of the best games of 2012 without a doubt, and it's the amazing Grammy-nominated soundtrack that helped make it one of the many reasons why. Really wish more composers would do this kind of stuff. In any case, sit back, drink something nice, and relax as you take this all in. |
| The PAX East IndieGameStand booth has 12 games Posted: 04 Mar 2013 01:00 PM PST The best part about PAX is the indies -- plain and simple. Sure, you could wait in a two hour line to get a look at the new Assassin's Creed, but you could also spend that time not waiting in line, playing indie games, and most likely chatting with real live developers. Seems like a pretty easy decision if you ask me. IndieGameStand, a new digital distribution service, highlights a new indie game every 96 hours and they're bringing 12 of these games to PAX East for everyone to try out and enjoy. Apparently there will be a prize wheel with a chance to win indie titles, and everyone who enters the booth will leave with a game from the site. Scanning over the list of games, the highlights that stick out to me are Krunch, Aztaka, and Space Pirates and Zombies, but I'm pretty excited for all twelve. Count me in! |
| Senran Kagura Vita sells 120,000 copies in opening week Posted: 04 Mar 2013 12:30 PM PST Senran Kagura: Shinovi Versus released last week in Japan and sales has been relatively strong thus far. Marvelous AQL announced today that the PlayStation Vita brawler has sold upwards of 120,000 units, a figure which includes both physical copies and digital downloads. To date, only Persona 4 Golden (137,076) and Hatsune Miku Project Diva F (150,592) have experienced stronger Japanese launch weeks amongst PlayStation Vita titles. The strong showing may have something to do with the system's recent price drop, as the release coincided with a significant spike in hardware sales. PSVita『閃乱カグラ SHINOVI VERSUS -少女達の証明-』販売本数が早くも12万本を突破、シリーズ最高実績を達成 [Marvelous AQL via Gemastu] |
| Jerry Rice and Cris Carter battle over Madden 25 cover Posted: 04 Mar 2013 12:00 PM PST Since all of you have been keeping up to date with all the latest Madden news, you're aware of the fact that the upcoming Madden 14 is now retitled Madden NFL 25, right? Well, since every Madden needs a cover, EA Sports has decided to go legacy style for this one, and is pitting a number of legendary players against each other. This week, it's Hall of Famers Jerry Rice and Cris Carter. You can vote by tweeting to @SportsNation with the hashtags #Madden25Rice or #Madden25Carter. I think you all know what to do. Us Chris Carters need to stick together, right? |
| BioWare San Francisco has reportedly been closed Posted: 04 Mar 2013 11:45 AM PST BioWare San Francisco (formerly EA2D), the developer behind Facebook game Dragon Age: Legends and Mirror's Edge 2D, has been shut down according to information provided by internal sources to GamesRadar and IGN. The closure of the Redwood Shores-based studio has resulted in between 25 to 30 employees getting laid off. One source said that development of social games in that area was "too expensive." Electronic Arts has not yet commented on these reports. BioWare San Francisco shut down, employees laid off [GamesRadar] |
| Donkey Kong also got ripped off for an iOS game Posted: 04 Mar 2013 11:30 AM PST What was that saying again? "When it rains, it pours"? The Android developer who released a game unwittingly starring Yoshi may have been able to cover his ass -- albeit barely -- but there is no way in hell that the mastermind behind Krazy Kong - Race in Jungle Temple could pull the same "ignorance" card. Not only does Emoticon LLC's masterwork include the spitting image of Nintendo's great ape, but also the title text uses the same stylized font as Donkey's arcade adventures. Krazy Kong is free to download, so I had to check it out for myself. The game is an auto-runner of the lowest order, with stiff controls that require you to tap then release the screen before Krazy will jump and a static background that never scrolls no matter how far you run. But the best part is that ads pop up before every game, sometimes during the game -- I was approaching a pit as one such ad materialized, causing me to exit the game and bring up the App Store. And kill myself in the process, natch. Believe it or not, there was a much more direct Donkey Kong clone called Crazy Kong (with a "C") that released a few short months after the arcade original. Glad to know the tradition of "crazy" knock-offs has survived well into the 21st century. Krazy Kong - Race in Jungle Temple [App Store via NeoGAF] |
| Paradox will make a Magicka-related announcement at GDC Posted: 04 Mar 2013 11:15 AM PST Paradox Interactive is no stranger to making announcements at the Game Developers Conference, and it seems GDC 2013 will serve as a launchpad for something new related to Magicka. PC Gamer was told that such a reveal will happen during the March 25-29 event and it's not going to be a port or more downloadable content. An honest-to-goodness sequel would be -- now that the original game has built up an expectation-breaking audience -- much appreciated, I'm sure. Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet isn't really my thing, but a true follow-up likely would be. Paradox to announce a new Magicka game during GDC [PC Gamer] |
| New Hori keyboard is both metal and gosh-darn cute Posted: 04 Mar 2013 11:00 AM PST I have been trying to get into the Dragon Quest series of games for a few years now, mostly from the positive response that RPG players have given the series. I also love finding regular everyday items that get an infusion of videogame flavor into them. Hori has worked with the Dragon Quest franchise in the past, but this time they are looking to make things a bit more metal. This adorable little collector's item is a fully functional USB keyboard that can be used in conjunction with the upcoming Dragon Quest X on Wii U. All of the individual Metal Slime figures can be removed for easy storage or left on for maximum awesomeness. Hori is looking to release the keyboard this spring at ¥4980 or $53 USD, but there is no word yet on a North America release. Now if Hori could release their Metal Slime army around the Dragon Quest X North America release, I think that will make many a fan boy's year. |
| Bethesda updates Skyrim to version 1.9 Beta on Steam Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:30 AM PST Good news, weary travelers of Skyrim! Bethesda has just updated the PC version of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to 1.9 beta for you to test out, if you so wish. It looks like console adventurers will have to wait a little while longer, but the company is hoping to push out the patch later this month. Version 1.9 beta carries a huge number of fixes, from the ability to drop certain quest items after quest completion to more specific issues revolving around certain quests. The biggest addition from this update is the new "Legendary" difficulty setting. Players with skills of level 100 now have the option to make that skill Legendary by resetting its level back to 15 and removing the associated perks. This will allow the player to level up the skill and regain their perks again. Clearly, Bethesda has taken a few tips from the Call of Duty series. From a design perspective, I can understand why adding such a feature to your enormous open-world RPG would make sense: the die-hard fans can continue to enjoy the game and feel as though that they continuing to get stronger through the use of those skills. Personally, I see it as a waste of the time and effort that I had put in to attain those skills in the first place. I'll be downloading this update but leaving the Legendary setting for those made of sterner stuff, and with far more free time on their hands. |
| Spec Ops, Joe Danger 2, & more now free to PS Plus users Posted: 04 Mar 2013 10:00 AM PST PlayStation Plus subscribers just got a buttload of games thrown at them with this weeks months additions to the service. Spec Ops: The Line, Joe Danger 2: The Movie, and The Cave are all now free to play on the PlayStation 3. Over on the PlayStation Vita side, Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention and Tekken 6 are now available to handheld owners, with Tekken 6 also free to download on the PlayStation Portable. Remember that thing? The PSP? Sup Marcus!? With new additions to Plus means some prior titles will be on their way out. This is your last month to check out Guardians of Middle Earth, Quantum Conundrum, Dungeon Defenders, Fooseball 2012 (Vita), and Plants Vs Zombies for free. Each game will be leaving the service on specific dates detailed over on the PlayStation Blog. PlayStation Plus March Update: Spec Ops: The Line Free for Members [PlayStation Blog] |
| The best and worst games of 2013: February Rising Posted: 04 Mar 2013 09:00 AM PST Our monthly reviews recap continues on from the series return last month. January was packed full of great games, to the point of sensory overload. Thankfully February didn't have as many new titles, giving us a chance to catch up. That said, there were still some pretty awesome games that came out last month. Most notable of the bunch were Bit.Trip Presents Runner2, Dead Space 3, and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance. And let's not forgot the highest scoring game of the month, Star Wars Pinball. Check out everything that came out in February for a quick and easy look at what you may have missed out on. |
| Social game with a conscience Half the Sky launches today Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:45 AM PST Within the past year or so, there's been a new crop of social games that, one might say, have a conscience. Their goal isn't so much taking your money as it is encouraging you to be an organ donor or convincing you to give money to charity. Half the Sky Movement: The Game is the latest one in that line. The rather oddly named game is based on the "Half the Sky" movement, which seeks to educate and raise awareness for women's issues around the world. I've played a bit of the game, and I have to say I like it a fair bit. I mean, it's no Journey, but in terms of trying to use its design and mechanics to accomplish something important like increasing donations to organizations that help distribute vaccines or non-profits that fight sex trafficking, it's pretty awesome. It's free, obviously, so if you have the time it's definitely worth a quick look. I can't ever think of any instance where a little compassion for others wasn't worth it. Except Kefka. He doesn't deserve anything, ever. |
| Aliens: CM co-creators TimeGate Studios hit with layoffs Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:30 AM PST TimeGate Studios, one of the development teams that worked on the poorly received Aliens: Colonial Marines, has had some of its staff laid off according to Polygon. The development of the game, its reception, and the story of just what the hell happened has all been quite the mess, and this is definitely more sad news. The president of the studio, Adel Chaveleh, had this to say to Polygon: "Today, we had to make the difficult decision to let go of some great game developers. This is never easy, and we're doing all we can to assist those developers affected. TimeGate is preparing, as is the entire industry, for the transition to next-generation consoles and new business models. As part of this reinvention, all projects and strategic initiatives continue to move forward at the studio." TimeGate also worked on the Section 8 and the F.E.A.R. series, so we can easily say that there are definitely a talented lot out there that no longer have a job. Sources told Polygon that as many as 25 people have been let go. I hope they can all find work somewhere else soon. Layoffs hit one of the Aliens: Colonial Marines development studios [Polygon] |
| Origin has all standard versions of Crysis 3 for $41.99 Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:15 AM PST It's been a matter of weeks since Crysis 3 released and if you were hesitant to buy at launch knowing that discounts tend to crop up before long, your intuition has paid off. The Origin store is selling the game for $41.99 on PC (physical and digital), Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. It's worth mentioning that with boxed copies, free shipping will take 5-7 days. The Origin-exclusive Digital Deluxe edition is also marked down, from $79.99 to $55.99. Is this enough of a drop for you to consider ordering now, or can you hold off for the time being? [Via Dealzon] |
| Ten psychedelic freakouts and hallucinations in games Posted: 04 Mar 2013 08:00 AM PST Have you ever heard the saying, we're all a little bit crazy? I don't know about you, but "a little bit" might be an understatement, especially within the world of videogames. While virtual protagonists often reflect the absolute best that humanity has to offer, heroes have their fair share of mental afflictions. The body is easy to heal, but the mind is much more fragile. Whether super-powered or ordinary, no individual can bear the weight of the world indefinitely without feeling the pressure. Talk about tons of baggage. |
| PS Vita anniversary sale continues with even more deals Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:45 AM PST Sony is continuing its celebration of the PlayStation Vita's first anniversary by throwing yet another sale in the system's honor. The festivities kicked off last week with more than a dozen hot deals and players have one more day to partake before the second round arrives tomorrow. In addition to the numerous discounts on offer, Sony is giving away four great games for free exclusively via the PlayStation Vita Store. Wild Arms, Patapon, Piyotama, and Patchwork Heroes are all available gratis starting tomorrow and running through March 11. |
| Add some noir to your fairytales in Diggs Nightcrawler Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:30 AM PST After the mixed reception to the Wonderbook: Book of Spells late last year, I would have thought that Sony would have shelved any future Wonderbook titles for a while. But only a few months after that romp through J.K. Rowling's desk drawer, London Studios is taking another shot at it with Diggs Nightcrawler. You play the role of Library City sleuth Diggs Nightcrawler, who's on the scene of the horrific murder of Humpty Dumpty. As the trailer shows, London Studios is trying some interesting new puzzles that take advantage of the Wonderbook's features. I'm always down for more noir in my daily entertainment intake. Diggs Nightcrawler, and his bumbling pig associated, will be launching this May on the PlayStation 3. Wonderbook: Diggs Nightcrawler out in May - Check out the new trailer [PlayStation EU Blog] |
| Listing for 'modified' Deus Ex: Human Revolution spotted Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:15 AM PST An Australian Classification Board listing for a "modified" version of Deus Ex: Human Revolution was spotted recently, possibly pointing to either a new edition with downloadable content packed in or, as suggested by CVG, a Wii U version of the popular game. Although the listing only specifies Human Revolution as multiplatform, developer Straight Right is said to be porting one of Square Enix's titles to the console. After the recent Deus Ex: Human Defiance trademark got my hopes up, I think I'll just pretend I didn't see this news and act surprised if and when anything good comes of it. Deus Ex: Human Revolution re-classified in Australia [CVG] |
| Endless runner Sonic Dash announced for iOS Posted: 04 Mar 2013 07:00 AM PST Sonic Dash has been announced for iOS as an endless runner, likely in the vein of Canabalt. Not much is known about the title, but there is mention of a "frenzied 3D dash through ... Seaside Hill." In this case, I'm going to assume (and hope) that the "3D" is more of a reference to the art style rather than gameplay. Only iOS has been mentioned, but if Sonic Jump is any indication, it should eventually come to Android devices as well. I hope it's as simple as Canabalt, since I still hold that up as one of the shining achievements of mobile games, alongside the less simple but still amazing Polara. |
| Prepare for Mass Effect 3: Citadel with a launch trailer Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:45 AM PST Tomorrow marks the release of the Citadel downloadable content ($15) for Mass Effect 3 on PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. I'm not so sure about this new "threat," but I like seeing so many familiar faces return. Frankly, there's no such thing as too much Wrex. BioWare has also set up an FAQ that talks about when you'll be able to access Citadel, the fact that the main ending won't be impacted (outside of the ensuing increased Galactic Readiness score), and that on Xbox 360, the add-on will be split into two separate downloads -- it's that big, apparently. The first file will be $15, while the second is free; just be sure to grab both. |
| These Dungeonland class videos show off the game's humor Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:30 AM PST Dungeonland, the ARPG-ish dungeon crawler, has quite a lot going for it. Chris came away quite surprised with the game, despite hearing some mediocre things beforehand. A large part of the game's charm has been the humor conveyed through the promotional videos, like the three class videos released today. The Rogue, Warrior, and Mage each get their own highlight video showing off the various play styles of each. There is a good amount of diversity within each class, though nothing too crazy or divergent from the norm. The Grimoire DLC Pack, which was previously only available to early adopters of Dungeonland, is now available to everyone for $2.99. This DLC unlocks five new spells to choose from for the various classes. Bugs were also squashed, which you can read all about here. |
| Dreamfall Chapters gets a proper trailer Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:15 AM PST With only five days left until the end of its Kickstarter, Red Thread Games has released its first full trailer for Dreamfall Chapters, showing off Stark and Arcadia (along with some familiar haunts) and hinting at the story, very, very vaguely. Dreamfall smashed its initial funding goal a wee while ago, so now all that's left for us to do is gorge ourselves on more trailers and tidbits while we wait for the release of the game in November, 2014. Well, I've been waiting long enough. |
| Review: Alien vs. Predator: Evolution Posted: 04 Mar 2013 06:00 AM PST When the makers of Alien vs. Predator: Evolution saw the negative press and subsequent fallout regarding Aliens: Colonial Marines, they must have laughed. I imagine them bellowing obnoxiously, roaring their gleeful approval that no matter what their game will be like, there's no way it could be considered anywhere near as bad. Sadly, these hypothetical developers are wholly mistaken. Evolution is ironically titled, as backward and inefficient as it is. It manages to do the seemingly impossible and rival Colonial Marines in its awfulness. Just when Aliens fans thought things could only get better, along comes Angry Mob Games to demonstrate that, no, the franchise isn't done being pissed on yet. In fact, the flood's only just begun. |
| Debut TMNT: Out of the Shadows trailer appears Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:45 AM PST Three new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games will be released by Activision over the coming years, and this -- TMNT: Out of the Shadows -- is the first one. And it looks ... good? The combat, anyway. I'm always afraid to call it so early on, as we're shown little gameplay footage in this trailer. The fact that this is a downloadable title for PC, PlayStation Network, and Xbox Live Arcade only has me feeling more anxious to see more. I always loved the action figures as a kid -- remember the giant Party Wagon toy? -- but I've yet to really get into any of the games ever since the original Turtles in Time. Wouldn't mind changing that. [Via All Games Beta] |
| The Elder Scrolls Online beta is coming this month Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:30 AM PST In a recent FAQ, Zenimax answers most of your questions regarding the beta program for The Elder Scrolls Online -- including the announcement that it's coming later this month. Like most MMO betas these days, later this month invites will go out for specific play sessions -- meaning, there will only be certain windows in which to wrack up some playtime. According to the FAQ, every beta will have a different purpose and focus. Initially, the betas will be held on weekends (similar to Guild Wars 2), and as time goes on, more events will be held with more participants. Pretty standard stuff. If you haven't done so, go sign up for the beta and take your chances. Your Beta Questions Answered [Elder Scrolls Online] |
| World of Warcraft content patch 5.2 will launch tomorrow Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:15 AM PST World of Warcraft's newest expansion, Mists of Pandaria, is getting a new content patch soon. Although the patch has been delayed a few times, the expectation was that it would launch this week -- specifically, tomorrow -- which Senior Community Blizzard Rep Jonathan Brown has now confirmed. As we've mentioned before, the patch will bring about a large number of instances, new mounts, and more. I've always been a huge fan of subscriptions in MMOs when done right -- and Blizzard has always handled them extremely well when it comes to World of Warcraft. |
| New releases: Construction finishes on SimCity Posted: 04 Mar 2013 05:00 AM PST This Monday heralds a week of mayoral responsibilities and the raiding of trap-laden tombs, both of which undoubtedly require similar skill sets. As much as I'm a big fan of Ms. Croft, and it seems like her latest outing is one of her best, I'm a tad more taken with managing a crazy little city. I'll admit that I'm still not completely sold on SimCity, however. It certainly looks lovely, but I miss my water pipes and gargantuan utopias, and so many of the design choices seem to be aimed at people who are social butterflies, when I'm more of a grumpy moth. Regardless, I'm still rather excited about its imminent release, and will be doing my best to ensure that Beardtopia is the grottiest, most unfriendly city in all the land. On top of SimCity and Tomb Raider, there are a plethora of other new releases demanding your attention this week. Two Naruto Shippunden titles drop, saturating the colorful, super-powered ninja market; Atelier Ayesha: The Alchemist of Dusk gives budding herbalists something to do on the PS3, while also searching for their lost sister; The Showdown Effect jumps out of a burning building and punches a vaguely German sounding villain in the face; and the 3DS gets a new Castlevania: Lords of Shadow title. You lot are getting spoiled this week. What's tempting you the most? |
| Shin Megami Tensei IV: Characters show gear changes Posted: 04 Mar 2013 04:45 AM PST Equipment changes in Shin Megami Tensei IV will be reflected in the character models. A new video posted to the game's official website shows exactly how this works. Atlus plays dress-up with the game's protagonist, showing off all the funny little hats he can wear. Everything from clothing to shoes has its own graphical representation in SMT IV, and this shows in menus as well as in actual gameplay. With the store-themed DLC they're bringing to Japan, the sky's the limit. We should get a Destructoid costume in there. |
| Does social integration in games matter to you? Posted: 04 Mar 2013 04:30 AM PST [Every Monday, Destructoid will pose topical a question to the community. Answer it if you want!] Our games are becoming ever more connected to social networks and features, but does anyone care? This week, we're asking if you think connecting to others socially is an important aspect of gaming. Do you love to share? Are you sick of tweets coming from within games? Answer The Question for yourself in the comments below! |
| Vita sales quadruple after the price drop in Japan Posted: 04 Mar 2013 04:15 AM PST Japan's Sony Online Entertainment president, Hiroshi Kawano, said today that the PlayStation Vita sales numbers in Japan have almost quadrupled those before the price drop on February 28. That's a very encouraging sign for Sony, although there are currently no plans to bring such a price drop to North America. I'm sure many of us have had our fingers crossed that this price drop does eventually make it over here, so hopefully this success can be used to influence a change of heart. The price drop would likely equate to a 3G and Wifi model going for $200, which is a way better price for a handheld. Seriously Sony, come on now, we're all waiting. Sony Japan president: PS Vita sales have increased four-fold [Game Jouhou via Gematsu] |
| Battlefield 3's End Game DLC starts rolling out this week Posted: 04 Mar 2013 04:00 AM PST Battlefield 3's End Game downloadable content is almost here! Battlefield 3 Premium members on the PlayStation 3 get the content first this week on March 5. Then Premium users on PC and Xbox 360 get it on March 12. Non-premium PS3 users will then be able to buy the new content starting on March 19. Xbox 360 and PC users can finally buy the DLC on March 26. The final DLC will include four new maps each based on a different season, two new transport vehicles that each have an AA device on them to fight against air units, a dirt bike for super fast gameplay, a new dropship that teams can control as a mobile spawn point, and the return of Capture the Flag and Air Superiority modes. I played through End Game last week at EA's offices and the two new modes are pretty fun. Air Supority sees everyone in jets having to control three key points in the air in a 12 versus 12 setting. CTF is pretty fun too, largely thanks to the dirt bikes. You have to stand on the flag for a few seconds before stealing it, and you can only score when your own flag is back at base. Plus, both flags always appear on everyone's radar, so no hiding here. There's a bunch of new dog tags, Achievements/Trophies, and new Assignments as well. Finishing all the assignments will actually unlock a new gun, the M1911 S-Tac that features a flashlight and silencer. This gun was previously a DICE only weapon and is being released as a reward to fans that have stuck out with Battlefield 3 for this long. |
| Harvest Moon creator's new game, HomeTown Story Posted: 04 Mar 2013 03:45 AM PST Remember Project Happiness from last E3? Last year's tease from Harvest Moon creator Yasuhiro Wada has its official title now: HomeTown Story. Famitsu has the full story from Wada himself. He says that the game is nearly 60 percent complete, with the story being the bulk of what's left for their workload. Wada says that you'll play as a merchant in a village, and you'll work to meet people in that village to get them to come to your store. It's less about the store and more about making friends, it seems. Game music composer Nobuo Uematsu recorded the game's theme song. You can hear that work in this debut trailer on Famitsu, which has full English voicework. HomeTown Story will come to portables in Japan. Natsume will release the game in North America this year, and Rising Star Games will do the same in Europe. |
| StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is 50% off until March 12 Posted: 04 Mar 2013 03:30 AM PST While Blizzard gears up to launch StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm in about a week, you can gear up for StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty now for 50% off on Blizzard's Store. Originally the game was dropped down to $39.99, and now, you can grab it for $19.99. As of this moment, this is only at the Blizzard Store. Save 50% [Battle.net] |
| Assassin's Creed IV will have exclusive content on PS4 Posted: 04 Mar 2013 03:15 AM PST Today's the big coming out party for Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. While we already knew the PlayStation 3 version was going to have this, we can now also confirm that the PlayStation 4 version of Black Flag will include 60 minutes of additional gameplay as well. It'll be made available to either platform through the PlayStation Network sometime after launch on October 29. Assassin's Creed III also had exclusive story content during the initial release. If Ubisoft follows the same pattern, then whatever this exclusive content is will be released to other platforms once some kind of "Complete Edition" is revealed that will include the full game and all the downloadable content, like the Washington Edition Europe is getting. For more on Assassin's Creed IV, check out our first look preview, how the team knew naval combat would be successful, and how Far Cry 3 influenced the new design. |
| Game Boy never sounded better than with this Spanish gold Posted: 04 Mar 2013 03:00 AM PST Euros did crazy sh*t with video game music; this is a well established point by now with legendary folks such as Chris Hülsbeck, Rob Hubbard, Reyn Ouwehand and Tim Follin walking this fine earth and crunching out the most insane music back in the day. But there is another name that belongs in that celebrated string of legends; Alberto González. Growing up I had many of his games like Asterix and Bomb Jack, and took the man for granted as one of the best and most recognizable video game composers. But as I've come to learn over the years, his name never traveled much outside of the European territories. Luckily Alberto got us covered and can help rectify this crime. He recently opened his own SoundCloud account and has started remastering and uploading not only the full soundtracks to his games, but also the full soundtracks to games that were cancelled and went unreleased! Check out some of the samples below, and do make sure you at least check out Smurf's Nightmare about eight minutes in. Seriously one of the greatest songs composed on a Game Boy. Alberto stopped composing game music around 2002, but he's still very much active in the video game industry being the lead designer at Abylight, the studio behind the award winning AfterZoom game on DSiWare. |
| PS4 presentation at GDC will talk technology and design Posted: 04 Mar 2013 02:45 AM PST With GDC less than a month away, it's a good time to find out what will be presented this year. Sony will be presenting an "Overview of PS4 for Developers," which will talk about the system in regards to the technology and how easy it is to design for it. Sony made sure to point out how much developers will love developing for the PS4, so this presentation should get down to the nitty gritty as to why. Other highlights of GDC this year will be "Running the VR Gauntlet -- VR Ready, Are You?" by Oculus VR and "NVIDIA Project SHIELD and Tegra 4: Redifining AFK" by NVIDIA. The former will go into detail about building a VR game and what developers will need to know if they want to support it. The latter will discuss NVIDIA's latest development tools, including how crazy their new Tegra 4 actually is. I love GDC for all of its technical details, even if some go way over my head, and it looks like this year will certainly not disappoint. |
| Rumor: Yu Suzuki may head to Kickstarter for Shenmue III Posted: 04 Mar 2013 02:30 AM PST French reporter Sebastien-Abdelhamid recently interviewed Yu Suzuki, creator of the Shenmue series at the Monaco Anime Game Show, and has a bit of a bomb to drop on us. Apparently, Suzuki may entertain the idea of crowdfunding Shenmue III, and/or a potential anime or manga series. The full interview with all of the details is coming soon. I would support this effort in a second. As many people know, Shenmue II was one of my favorite games of all time, and learning how this story concludes would be a proper resolution for one of the biggest cliffhangers of all time. Make it happen Suzuki! Yu Suzuki [Sebastien-Abdelhamid via Game Informer] |
| Animal Crossing: New Leaf and others demoed at SXSW Posted: 04 Mar 2013 02:15 AM PST Don't you hate people that say "South By" when referring to popular film, music, and interactive festival SXSW? I do. That's kind of like those people that say they have a Facebook. A Facebook what? Account? A book of faces? Nintendo will be showing off their latest wares at SXSW 2013 this year, and they plan to show off many unreleased Wii U and 3DS games alongside currently available offerings. The event will serve as the U.S. debut for anticipated games like Animal Crossing: New Leaf, HarmoKnight, and Kersploosh!, among others. The SXSW Gaming Expo is open to the public. It will be open March 8-10 at the Palmer Events Center in Austin, Texas. Nintendo's booth there will host these demos as well as give away prizes to attendees. See below for the full list of titles to be shown at SWSX. |
| Dota 2 is officially the most played Steam game to date Posted: 04 Mar 2013 02:00 AM PST As Dota 2 consistently racks up new content updates, it seems like fans have been racking up big numbers for Valve in terms of overall playtime. Breaking the record for overall concurrent players for a Steam game set by Skyrim (287, 411), Dota 2 now boasts the title of the most popular game on Steam ever with 297,116 concurrent users. For reference, it is free, and people could easily get a free beta code, but the game isn't even officially out yet, and go only go up from here as more content is added. 297,116 concurrent players is still nothing to scoff at for a MOBA. If there was ever any doubt in people's minds, Valve does it again! Dota 2 has just broken another record [Reddit] |
| PlayStation Network undergoing maintenance today Posted: 04 Mar 2013 01:30 AM PST PlayStation Network will be down all day today as Sony does some upgrading to the PlayStation Store software. The downtime started at 5:00AM Pacific, and is expected to be down until around 9:00PM Pacific. If you signed into the PlayStation Network within the last five days however, you should be able to play games online and use apps like Netflix, Hulu, Music Unlimited during the downtime. For those sad they won't be able to access PSN, here's a picture of a dog on top of a tortoise with dollar bills all over them because this is the Internet. [Via @PlayStation, PlayStation Support] |
| How Far Cry 3 influenced Assassin's Creed's new direction Posted: 04 Mar 2013 01:00 AM PST One of the biggest things about the new Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag is its promise of a big, emergent, seamless open world. Granted, pass Assassin's Creed games have offered huge environments before, but this is something more. Something similar to that of Far Cry 3's world. As Ashraf Ismail, game director on Black Flag, described all the major points about the new game to me, I couldn't help but compare it to Far Cry. And as it turns out, the first-person tropical shooter influenced some of the new design decisions, to the point of even bringing some of the team that worked on Far Cry 3 on board. "We learn from the games that we develop internally at the studio," Ashraf told me. "Far Cry 3 had that awesome element of completely distracting the player and having you pulled off the main path. We actually have a bunch of Far Cry 3 development members in our team and they're helping us bring this to the naval world. |
| Torment: Tides of Numenera Kickstarter begins March 6 Posted: 04 Mar 2013 12:30 AM PST Torment: Tides of Numenera, the spiritual successor to the phenomenal Planescape: Torment, was revealed to be taking the crowd-funding route some time ago, and now inXile are finally about to start their Kickstarter campaign on Wednesday, March 6. InXile's other work in progress, Wasteland 2, had an extremely successful Kickstarter, as did Numenera, the tabletop RPG and setting of Torment, created by Monte Cook. So this new campaign is treading familiar ground. Chris Avellone, who led Planescape: Torment's development team, has put together a wee video endorsing the game -- it's got a lot of sticky stars -- and he explains why he thinks this spiritual successor is in more than capable hands. I'll be chatting with inXile's Colin McComb and Kevin Saunders about Torment later today, so keep an eye out for the interview this week. |
| Gears of War: Judgment features two different campaigns Posted: 04 Mar 2013 12:00 AM PST I love Gears of War. Like many earlier adopters of the Xbox 360 (I have and love a PS3 too so don't hate), Gears of War was that first big game that made me very comfortable with my system choice. With roughly a year and half separating Gears of War: Judgment and Gears of War 3 though, I'll admit that I was firmly in that camp of Gears fans who really didn't see Judgment as necessary, and my hands on with the free for all mode at the last PAX Prime certainly wasn't winning me over. Having spent the better part of a day with Judgment though, I am definitely warming up to it. Sure, it's not Gears of War 4 proper, but if you fancy yourself a Gears fan, then there's no reason to not open up to this one. |
| Xbox Live sale day 7 is all about the fighters Posted: 03 Mar 2013 11:00 PM PST Major Nelson and his crazy price-slashing antics continue as we roll into day seven of the surprisingly good Games on Demand sale. This time 'round, the focus is squarely on the fighters. Some of the genre's biggest names are on display, such as Mortal Kombat for $19.99, Tekken Tag Tournament 2 for $19.99, and Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition for $9.99. Mortal Kombat vs. DCU is the cheapest and most-heavily discounted title; it's available for $4.99. Since Microsoft was a bit late getting their Day 6 deals on the Xbox Live Marketplace, those offerings will be on sale for an additional 24 hours -- through the end of Day 7. Of course, these are all heaped on top of the games that have been discounted throughout the entirety of the sale. Xbox Live Ultimate Game Sale Day 7 [Major Nelson] |
| Assassin's Creed IV will include shipjacking Posted: 03 Mar 2013 10:00 PM PST While Assassin's Creed III teased it with only a cinematic, you will actually be boarding other ships in real time in Assassin's Creed IV. A basic example I was told is that players will see a ship, weaken it with an attack, then command the crew to throw hooks onto their target in order to drag the ships together. From there you can board it, continue your attack, and take what you want. "ACIII started the naval combat experience," Ashraf told me. "They did something that was really credible, really wonderful. But for us, that was really just a foot in the water. It was a tease of a potentially bigger system. We're diving really deep on this [with ACIV]." The team started work on ACIV in the Summer of 2011 and knew early in development that the naval elements of ACIII would do really well. Their prediction came true as Ashraf told me that it was one of the most well reviewed aspects of the game. "We kind of knew ahead of time that this would be very successful. We played the really early versions of [the naval element] and we felt like okay there's something really solid here." Check out my preview on Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag for more on the new entry to the series. |
| Final Fantasy XI: Seekers of Adoulin OST out next week Posted: 03 Mar 2013 09:00 PM PST There has been a lot of Final Fantasy XI music released up until now, and while composer Naoshi Mizuta has always been the biggest musical contributor, he's truly come into his own over the past couple of years. It's been amazing watching him grow with this title, and while I may never play it, I've come to be extremely interested in what he'd be doing for the latest expansion, Seekers of Adoulin. |
| Assassin's Creed IV's promise of a seamless, open world Posted: 03 Mar 2013 08:00 PM PST Despite all the leaks in the past week, there's still a ton of stuff to tell you about Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag. The first thing is that the new game sees you playing as a pirate, but not the Disney romanticized, cliche style of pirates from films such as Pirates of the Caribbean or Treasure Island. "No hooks, no parrots, and no walking the plank," as one of the promotional trailers I saw stated. While the pirate theme is intriguing, the real big deal is the new world you get to explore, both on land and sea. Ubisoft is pushing for a massive open world, seamless experience akin to that of Far Cry 3. And that seamlessness will be huge when it comes to the transitions between naval and ground experiences all during Black Flag. |
| Enjoy acoustic Chrono Cross music first thing in the AM Posted: 03 Mar 2013 06:00 PM PST It's Monday. It's probably really f*ckin' cold outside too. Hell, I live in South Florida and it's a frosty low-40s out my window. You're gonna need a pick-me-up to get the week rolling. Luckily for you, the Super Guitar Bros. acoustic duo is ready to warm your bones with an arrangement of "Time Scar" from the PlayStation classic Chrono Cross. It's just what the doctor ordered to get the blood flowing again. Have a good week everyone! Chrono Cross - Time's Scar [YouTube] |
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