Natsume News: Afrika Goes Gold

Posted on September 17, 2009 by geelw

Until now, Natsume hasn’t published a PlayStation 3 title, but that’s about to change as its upcoming PS3 exclusive, Afrika has gone gold and should be available soon. I remember this photo safari simulation as being one of the earliest PS3 games announced (through some amazing screenshots in Japanese game magazines a while back) and as you can see throughout this post, it still looks pretty darn good.

Anyway, here’s the press release, a bunch of screens and CG renders. Given the success of Natsume’s family-friendly Harvest Moon games as well as the company’s status among gamers of all stripes and a publisher of well-crafted niche games, this one might be a bit of a sleeper hit when it’s released.

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CDV USA to Publish Divinity II – Ego Draconis In North America

Posted on September 17, 2009 by geelw

As a longtime RPG fan, I’m doing the happy dance again because yet another awesome game from a favorite series of mine (and many others out there) is finally on the way stateside. cdv USA has wisely picked up the North American publishing rights to Larian Studios’ Divinity II – Ego Draconis for the PC and Xbox 360. Both versions are set to hit retail this holiday season, which means pre-order time for those of you looking for what’s probably going to be quite the sleeper hit…

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Gallery: Brink

Posted on September 13, 2009 by geelw

Bethesda Softworks has always been more than just The House that Elder Scrolls Built as the company has also developed or published a number of games in different genres over the years. One of Bethsoft’s upcoming publishing projects comes from UK developer Splash Damage (Enemy Territory: Quake Wars) in the form of the third-person action/shooter Brink, which looks as if it’s going to keep the good times rolling for fans of high-concept productions. While the game isn’t set to hit stores until Spring 2010, it’s shaping up to be a pretty impressive game based on the info, concept art and in-progress screens you’ll see below…

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Gallery: Zaku (for the Atari Lynx!)

Posted on September 13, 2009 by geelw

If you’re one of those folks who remembers the late, lamented (and technically superior to other handheld gaming systems of the period) Atari Lynx, well, guess what? There’s actually a small, dedicated group of folks out in California working away on a brand new game for the handheld, which still has a small, dedicated user base. Zaku, published by Super Fighter Team is a horizontal shooter being created on an actual Lynx development kit and according to the official website, will run at a blazing 60fps, making it the fastest game ever on the system… Continue reading →

Half-Minute Hero Demo ( #1) Arrives On PSN

Posted on September 11, 2009 by geelw

The first of two demos for Xseed’s upcoming lighting-paced retro PSP Action/RPG is now available for download over the PlayStation Network, which leads me to ask why you’re still reading this when you should be playing this rather hilarious bit of gaming goodness. So, go download away onto your PSP (you DO own a PSP, right?) and play it to death in half-minute chunks, laughing crazily as you skip out the door a few minutes later to go preorder from wherever you normally get your games.

Or pre-order HMH online, if that’s your thing. Heck, it’s not like you’re getting much exercise these days, anyway. A little sunlight won’t kill you, y’know… Well, that’s what I’ve heard… *Ahem,* anyway, let’s see what the official press release says:.. Continue reading →

Dragon Age Origins: Meet Leliana

Posted on September 11, 2009 by geelw

In this week’s Dragon Age: Origins update, we’ll take a look at one of the game’s female characters, Leliana, a bard from the land of Orlais who also happens to be a selectable party member and from what I can tell a “romance” option in the game. As I can see some of you less lucky guys getting royally slugged by your real-life significant others over choosing this lovely virtual redhead as your potential partner, you may want to keep the fawning to a minimum…

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Interview: Creating Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain

Posted on September 9, 2009 by geelw

One of the more impressive Nintendo DS games created to date is Fighting Fantasy: the Warlock of Firetop Mountain, created by London, Ontario-based Big Blue Bubble, Inc., published by Aspyr Media and set to hit stores on October 26, 2009.

What makes the game so amazing is how close it comes to replicating the experience of many great PC RPGs from years ago wile feeling completely fresh thanks to the DS touch screen and a dedicated team of artists and programmers looking to bring the book to life and beyond in portable form. FF looks to be a classic, deep first-person role-playing experience set in an huge game world running at a blazing 60 frames per second with full, intuitive touch screen controls and the ability to map locations as you like in order to uncover every nook and cranny of the world you’ll explore.

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to ask Damir Slogar, Big Blue Bubble’s CEO and Goran Marinic, the game’s Lead Designer a few questions about the game, most of them submitted by fans over on the game’s Gamefaqs page. In addition, I’m more than pleased to show off the excellent concept art and weapon renders I just received, which hasn’t been published anywhere else online. Continue reading →

Review: Darkest of Days

Posted on September 8, 2009 by geelw

Platform: Xbox 360

Developer: 8monkey Labs

Publisher: Valcon Games

# of Players: 1

Rating: M (Mature)

Official Site

Score: B

If you can overlook its technical issues, there’s a lot of fun to be had in Phantom EFX’s shooter, Darkest of Days. For their first major console and PC release, developer 8monkey Labs has cooked up a supremely cool entry in the extremely crowded FPS genre that focuses on a solid single player story-driven experience rather than hanging its reputation on the usual multiplayer shenanigans many gamers come to expect. The shooting action using a combination of historical and tricked out futuristic guns is indeed thrilling during the massive battles you’re dropped into during the game. Granted, some hardcore FPS fans will pick the game apart for its flaws and fail to enjoy the experience for its good points. For the rest of us, following the compelling story as it plays out turns out to be the really surprising thing, even outstripping the action at some points.

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Dead Space Extraction Goes Gold

Posted on September 3, 2009 by geelw

EA has announced that Dead Space Extraction for the Nintendo Wii has gone gold and should be in stores on September 29, 2009. Also announced was a nice bonus: pre-ordering the game at selected retailers will give gamers access to four of the game’s ten challenge modes for solo or co-op play. The Wii exclusive game is a prequel to the events of last year’s huge sci-fi/horror action hit on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, Dead Space and was developed by Eurocom with a huge assist from Visceral Games.

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Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! – Coming Soon to a Console Near You!

Posted on September 2, 2009 by geelw

After making quite a splash on the Xbox 360, the next entry in the popular Scene It? movie trivia game series will appear on all three home consoles this year. Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Screenlife have announced that Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! is currently in development at A2M (Artificial Mind and Movement) and will be available this holiday season. The new game will feature thousands of all-new questions including many on 2009 film releases, an improved single player game (hooray!) and loads of mini-games.