Mass Effect 3 “Take Earth Back” Teaser – Stellar Storytelling (Short Version)

Posted on February 15, 2012 by geelw

I saw the full-length version of this last week at the Spotlight EA event and it’s pretty spectacular, stirring stuff by time the dramatic ending rolls around. Not that Mass Effect 3 needs the hard sell at all. Hell, BioWare has pulled out all the stops with the upcoming PS3/Xbox 360/PC game an you’ll see many improvements plus a super 4-player co-op mode that ties into the main single player storyline. It’s almost like the developer (and whomever did the CG work) is showing off how well their game is going to yank players all across the emotional spectrum and leave them in sobbing, yet defiant heaps of Shepard-ness right before they hop back in to finish the fight. Wait, wrong game franchise! Oh, you know what I mean. If you STILL haven’t played the other two (or Mass Effect 2, if you’re only a PS3 owner), you should pick them up ASAP, as they’re cheap and will get you even more revved up for this finale. Also, the demo is out NOW, so give it a whirl – the single player is about 2 hours or so and you’ve got some co-op fun added as well.

Final Four Street Fighter X Tekken Characters, Release Dates Revealed

Posted on February 15, 2012 by geelw

No huge surprises here, but the addition of Street Fighter’s M. Bison and Akuma plus Tekken’s Jin and Ogre brings the tally to 38 fighters… which to me, means we’ll probably see some more coming via DLC down the road from Capcom. Er, not that 38 fighters is anything to sneeze at, mind you. It’s just that between the two fighting franchises, methinks there are some other characters that are MIA for any number of reasons. Of course, Namco’s upcoming Tekken X Street Fighter may also bring in a few of these new challengers, so we’ll need to see what up with that still in development follow-up at some point…

More trailers below the jump!

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The Driftmoon Demo Is Officially Live. You NEED To Play It. Now.

Posted on February 11, 2012 by geelw

Last year, Spiderweb Software’s Jeff Vogel (a maker of fantastic games in his own right) called Finland’s Ville and Anne Mönkkönen “two seriously attractive game developers” on his blog and I got a big laugh out of that because I’d been playing Ville’s games on and off for years without ever giving a thought as to what he looked like. The man’s got talent to spare and a unique vision that’s kept him around making a handful of fun independent games at his own pace. Driftmoon, the newest project (done in collaboration with his wife, Anne) is his most polished project to date and also the first game he’s actually looking to make a profit from. With a little assistance from people like you, of course. The official demo for the RPG has just dropped at the Instant Kingdom website and yes, I urge you to try it out and see what pretty much everyone who’s seen the game in development (and played the super early builds) already knows. You DO have a new tab open and are downloading away, right? OK, great – enjoy the demo!

Note: For you modern RPG fans out there – don’t overly obsess over the top-down viewpoint at all. Play the game for about five minutes and it’ll feel just right.

So, Activision IS Publishing A Battleship Video Game After All. Eeek.

Posted on February 11, 2012 by geelw

Wait, what? I was KIDDING when I said it was going to happen, geez. Well, here we go, courtesy of developers Double Helix and Magic Pockets: a licensed game based on the upcoming film based on the game that’s not like the original all that much (as in at all). Expect to see and play a hybrid that combines “tactical” naval battles with first-person shooting sections all against the evil space aliens that have invaded earth. Eeek. I must have been sleeping during all those Battleship games I played as a kid, as I clearly don’t recall ANY of that happening.

Except the “tactical” naval part. “A-1… MISS!”

Of course,, this could actually be pretty awesome (or at least halfway decent), so I’ll hold off a bit in my snark until May 15th when the game ships out. More on this one later – I need an aspirin.

Atlus Listens to Its Fans: Radiant Historia Is Coming Back!

Posted on February 11, 2012 by geelw

Radiant Historia was absolutely one of the best Nintendo DS role-playing games ever made, but it didn’t exactly get a huge production run back when it was release less than a year ago. Currently, legal copies can currently fetch up to $100 or so on eBay, which isn’t exactly an affordable sum these days (unless you’ve money to burn and want to show off a bit too much). Now, after doing the RIGHT thing and actually asking for input from their fan base, Atlus is giving gamers a second chance to grab the game online with pre-orders starting up NOW through Amazon or EB Games. Sure, I’d personally rather walk into a store and buy the game (I’m crazy like that, wanting to travel a few blocks and not being a total lazy ass who wants everything handed to him and all), but this is the next best thing to owning a time machine and going back to snap up a copy when you should have in the first place. Go, Atlus!

PlayStation Vita: What’s In The Box (Early Bird Version)

Posted on February 10, 2012 by geelw

Courtesy of the PlayStation Blog, here’s what those lucky folks who pre-ordered a Vita First Edition Bundle will be getting on February 15, a week before the official North American launch. For those smiling folks bouncing up and down in their seats that need a good game recommendation or two, right off the bat Gravity Rush and Uncharted: Golden Abyss should keep you busy along with the pack-in game you’re getting.

Double Fine Breaks Kickstarter Record, Gamers Get Even More Wild Ideas…

Posted on February 10, 2012 by geelw

Wow. I figured Tim Schafer and the team at Double Fine Studios would come out ahead in the end with their awesome Kickstarter project, but this is ridiculous (in the best possible way). With 32 still days left toward what was initially a $400,000 goal, they’ve broken $1 MILLION DOLLARS (actually, they’re getting close to 1.2 million as I write this) with no end in sight to the love (and money) being offered up by the gamers out there. Of course, this wild success has led to a ton of message board activity about getting game publishers large and small such as Nintendo, Sega, Sony, Capcom, Xseed, Akysys and many (many) others to start using Kickstarter to fund all sorts of canceled projects from Shenmue 3 to Starcraft: Ghost to collections of out of production RPGs to new IP that was never released anywhere but Japan.

Unfortunately, for those folks rubbing their hands together over the thought of playing that unreleased game of their dreams, all that wishful thinking isn’t going to do much good. The process of getting a game made, particularly something out of production or a new IP that involves a lot more than a small to medium-sized dev team isn’t exactly as simple matter of setting up a Kickstarter page, getting the word out and raking in the cash. Check out this really interesting post on Wired that goes into some nice detail on just what things need to be aligned in order for the process to happen. Hey, even I thought it would be a simple thing too, but a nice reality check helps in slapping the delusions away…

Hey, Kill Screen? Shouldn’t Your NYC-Themed Game Party Actually BE In NYC?

Posted on February 10, 2012 by geelw

I’m just sayin’…

OK, OK… I’m sure it’ll be a total blast at this year’s GDC, but really, now. Anyway, I’ll be nice and post the rest of the invite below the jump so people won’t think I’m being a jerk. Have a great event, but don’t have more fun that you would here in NYC. That would be rude.

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David Jaffe Wants YOU To Shoot Up Sweet Tooth. For Real.

Posted on February 9, 2012 by geelw

Now here’s a ridiculously awesome promo for Sony’s upcoming Twisted Metal, coming to the PS3 on Valentine’s Day (as well as a farewell of sorts to the franchise by series creator David Jaffe). I was planning to write something funny about this, but the press release is oh so much more succinct and yes, amusing – here’s a snippet:

In honor of Twisted Metal’s launch on PS3, we’ve aimed an M249-SAW at a real-life version of Sweet Tooth’s ice cream truck. On 2/14 and 2/15, we’re letting you pull the trigger by hitting a button on your computer.

That’s right. Fire a military-grade machine gun just by pressing your space bar.

It’s a two-day, shoot-till-the-truck-goes-up-in-a-gigantic-ball-of-flames-style internet spectacular. And it’s all happening live at http://www.shootmytruck.com.

Now, you KNOW everyone with a passing interest in firearms (yeah, this is America) is going to be all over this one. Heck, I bet it only takes a few minutes to blast that truck into scrap, er, Twisted Metal (ba-dum-bum!). Boogie on over to the Shoot My Truck website, watch the unedited version of the video above and sign up for your chance. U.S. of A. residents only, sorry!

Sleeping Dogs Trailer: Square Enix’ Hot Time In The Old Town, Hong Kong Style

Posted on February 9, 2012 by geelw

When i first heard about Sleeping Dogs, I thought it was another IO Interactive project in the Kane & Lynch series (hey, I liked both games, warts and all). Then, I remembered that Square Enix had snapped up the rights to United Front’s True Crime: Hong Kong game from Activision last year and *ding!* – all we had to do was sit and wait to see what sort of introductory trailer would be popping up. Here you go, folks – a live action (and boy, does it have action) deal that has me thrilled to see what the actual game looks and plays like. If what’s here is any indication, Activision may be wishing they’d kept that IP. Then again, I can see the skeptical message board crowd going on a rant about Square Enix maybe having a better movie than they do a game. In that case, I say just have an entire movie shot based around the game’s plot and stick it on the disc for the hell of it. I think this one will be a hit based on the location and faxt that there are still a lot of True Crime fans out there who want to see this one on store shelves (which will be later this summer)…

As for what the game is about, a brief summary is below the jump. Read on…

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