Gallery: Ar tonelico Qoga – Knell of Ar Ciel

Posted on January 26, 2011 by geelw

With its March 15, 2011 release approaching, let's take a look at some nice screens and character illustrations from the final installment of Gust's rather intriguing mix of RPG and romance simulation, finally making it's PS3 debut. The first two games were pure 2D bliss packed with lovely hand-drawn art, parallax scrolling and limited 3D elements that gave them a nicely old-school feel. Qoga's shift to 3D battles and an all-new combat system does allow for more dynamic angles as you'll see, but it looks as if the game also uses some interesting hand-painted art in certain non-battle sections. I liked the first two games quite a lot (although the real-time combat system in part 2 was a bit too gimmicky) – fingers crossed that Qoga doesn't disappoint in any department.

More info about the game and screens below the jump.

CONTEST: Attention Artists: Konami Wants Your Artwork In Silent Hill: Downpour!

Posted on January 26, 2011 by geelw

More Silent Hill: Downpour news, this time, in the form of a great Facebook contest that should give you creative types a chance to stretch your wings. Click away below the jump for the full details.

Gallery: Silent Hill: Downpour

Posted on January 26, 2011 by geelw

Konami has released the first batch of six Silent Hill: Downpour screens as well as a single, short and nicely creepy music track from Dexter composer Daniel Licht. According to the press release, this newest installment developed by Vatra (the awesomely fun Rush ‘N Attack – Ex-Patriot)…

starts as Murphy Pendleton, the game’s main character, finds himself lost and alone in the woods after his prison transport bus crashes near the town of Silent Hill. What happens after is up to the player as they traverse an all-new Silent Hill environment that is expansive, yet claustrophobic. And though this sleepy town may feel desolate, the player is never truly alone.

OK, I’m in. hell, I’ve been a Silent Hill nut since the first game, so I’m ALWAYS in. The game ships this fall for the PS3 and Xbox 360. Back with updates as they come in.

LBP2 "Endless Fun" TV Spot

Posted on January 25, 2011 by geelw

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/0_pHjfoycLw?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0

Naturally, you WON’T be seeing this ad at ALL if you’re too darn busy playing Little Big Planet 2, so in case you come up for air and happen to end up here (thanks for dropping by!), here’s a look at the latest commercial for the game.

Knights Contract Goes Gold, Set To Hit Retail February 22

Posted on January 25, 2011 by geelw

Namco Bandai has announced that Game Republic's M-rated action game (and one I happen to be looking forward to for its supremely bizarre monsters) has gone gold and has a release date of February 22, 2011. In case you're wondering “Just what the heck is Knight's Contract?”, well, a few snippets from the press release below the jump should help…

L.A. Noire Trailer # 2 (Yup, It’s All In-Game)

Posted on January 24, 2011 by geelw

http://www.youtube-nocookie.com/v/aaKCpYzNQqY?fs=1&hl=en_US&rel=0

So good it's on both blogs, here's the second L.A. Noire Trailer for your approval – this time in long and short versions. Team Bondi's upcoming crime drama is certainly going to set a few new standards in terms of character animation and possibly game design. As usual, Rockstar is going above and beyond the call in ensuring their dev teams make games that try and do something different within their respective genres. And that, folks, deserves a lot of respect.

Atlus to Publish Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga In North America

Posted on January 24, 2011 by geelw

While I liked the original Divinty II: Ego Draconis on both the 360 and PC, it DID have it's share of technical issues that definitely required some serious patching. Nevertheless, the game not only got those patches, but some nice DLC and an excellent PC expansion that, along with the original content added up to well over one hundred hours of gameplay. In today's “Well, THAT woke me up!” news, Atlus USA has very wisely teamed up with Focus Home Interactive to present Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga exclusively for the Xbox 360 in North America.

It seems as if Atlus is striving to become the 'Kings of All Things RPG' these days as they branch out and publish non-Japanese developed titles such as The Cursed Crusade and now Larian's sweeping epic. Hmmm… maybe they can convince Soldak to get its games onto a console or look into stuff like the Eschalon series in the future… my mind is full of ideas. Er, anyway…

Press release/screens below the jump (it's long like the game, so go read it and make that pre-order afterward) and the trailer is up and running on the other blog.

Duke Nukem Forever Gets May 3rd Release Date, Hell Freezes Over Again (Well, It IS Winter…)

Posted on January 22, 2011 by geelw

So much for the few remaining skeptics out there, huh? 2K and Gearbox are finally getting the news out that The Man Himself will be landing in retail stores for PS3, PC and Xbox 360 on May 3, 2011 in North America and May 6 everywhere else those alien bastards are trying to take over (as in the rest of the world). Groovy, I say. Time to go stock up on bubble gum and dig out the old combat boots once more. What, the store's all out of bubble gum? Well, there's only one thing to do then, right?

Full press release below the jump because I'm too damn lazy to cut 'n paste excerpts (Well, I'm writing two reviews at the moment, too!)…

Earth Defense Force Insect Armgeddon Update: New Screens + Pesticide Gun!

Posted on January 20, 2011 by geelw

Where previous EDF games have similar acid-spewing or other weapons based on alien technology (which meant you couldn't reload them once you ran out of ammo, grrrr!), I like the all-new Pesticide Gun variants as well as the BIG explosions seen in these latest EDFIA screens (they almost look like a mini Genocide Gun with that blinding light). Go, Vicious Cycle! Spring is just around the corner and I'm pretty psyched about the final version (and still hoping we see some more surprises in terms of bonus materials). If you've been following this one from the beginning, you can see that the game is really shaping up nicely and should be quite a blast to play online or offline.

Note to D3: You ARE planning to get EDF 2 Portable out here in the US as well (on UMD and PSN, of course!)? Say YES and I'll be sure to tell too many people to buy the game. Hell, I'll go buy a few extra copies, for that matter!

Screens and details on the Pesticide Gun series can be found below the jump. I'll post the new game footage once D3 posts it on YouTube (as I'm away from a high-speed connection for a few days)

Operation Flashpoint: Red River Cover Art/Screens Update

Posted on January 20, 2011 by geelw

Cover art and four more screens from Codemasters’ upcoming military-themed tactical FPS. Don’t call it COD, MOH or anything similar until you’ve gven it a try. The series is known more for its realism than the usual online mayhem and non-stop single player shoot-festing. Granted, Dragon Rising wasn’t as deep as the original Op Flash (the edit feature was sorely missed!), but it was still a more complete game in terms of pure immersion and actual challenge than many shooters this generation.