Monday, September 13th, 2010
Maybe you have heard of Magicka, maybe not. It’s a top-down, action-adventure fantasy title that’s big on co-op and spell casting. Notice how I went out of my way to specifically not mention a certain point-and-click-heavy Blizzard game; oh wait, there it goes again.
As evidenced by the latest trailer for Magicka, Arrowhead Game Studios isn’t afraid to get a little silly every now and then. Even in breaking normally sad news like a delay, they’re still able to get a smile out of us.
This sub-genre of isometric RPGs has sort of been tackled to death at this point, but I’m feeling good about this game. Why that is, I can’t really say. Good old blind optimism!
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
Next week, September 22 to be exact, Quantic Dream’s psychological murder mystery Heavy Rain magically transforms from vanilla PlayStation 3 game to thrilling, motion-controlled PlayStation Move game. More »
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
I’m sure that Shigeru Miyamoto and Nintendo had no idea how much they were going to change the world with the introduction of the Nintendo Entertainment System and Mario. 25 years later, videogaming is a huge industry that rivals even movie studios. And it’s all thanks to one turtle hating Italian plumber.
To celebrate 25 years of gaming, Nintendo created this cool little video detailing Mario’s history. Not all of the Mario games get mentioned, but the important ones are here. Happy birthday, Mario!
What’s your favorite Mario game of all time? Mine is between Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Super Mario World.
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
Using jet packs as marketing tools has been done before, but in the case of the Halo: Reach launch event held in London’s historic Trafalgar Square this morning the spectacle was quite appropriate. More »
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
Filed under: Downloads, Strategy, Sid Meier’s Civilization V
Next week Civilization V, the latest game in the long running turn-based strategy game series, is released to stores and via digital download on Steam. However if you pre-order via Steam you can now start pre-loading the title on your PC hard drive so that when Tuesday, September 21 rolls around you can play the game immediately.
If you are not patient enough to wait until next week to check out the Firaxis Games-developed title, publisher 2K Games is holding a two hours streaming video event which is scheduled to start right when this post goes live at 4 pm Eastern time. As the game is being played Civilization V’s producer Garrett Bittner will be answering questions from the viewers.
Civilization V pre-load available on Steam; streaming game demo video now live originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 13 Sep 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
Break.com gathers Katee Sackhoff, Stan Lee, a rapping Seth Green, and several scantily clad models for this parody of Katy Perry’s “California Girls,” “Geek and Gamer Girls,” which are apparently attractive women who love posing naked with toys. More »
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
PlayStation Move is officially on store shelves next Sunday, September 19, although if you’re lucky you can buy one right now. Heavy Rain is on store shelves as I write this, but if you want to play it with Move, you’ll have to wait until September 22. Sony has announced that it will be releasing a free patch to update Heavy Rain for Move on that day; just boot up your game and the patch will automatically apply itself, provided you’re online.
I’ve had some extended hand-on time with Heavy Rain Move, and my initial impressions haven’t changed much — I like it better with the motion controller. But if you’re not sold on it yet, try it yourself — there’s going to be a demo hitting the PlayStation Store on September 28. It will feature two levels — “Sleazy Place” and “Crime Scene” — and will feature full Move support.
Heavy Rain was actually originally developed with motion control support in mind, so David Cage of the game’s developer Quantic Dream told me in a conversation we had earlier this year. Perhaps this was the Heavy Rain that was always meant to be. Was there anyone holding out for Move controls before trying it out?
Heavy Rain on PlayStation Move Comes 9/22 [PlayStation Blog]
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
The Nintendo64 had some great games, but they were always few and far between, especially in the early days. That was a big problem for Nintendo’s last cartridge-based console, until Rare came out with GoldenEye 007, that is. Who cared if there wasn’t a new game every week when you could just play GoldenEye to pass the time?
Rare’s first-person shooter paved the way for a genre that would come to consume store shelves and the beloved game is getting a re-imagining for the Wii and DS this November. I got my hands on the new game last week and I wasn’t all that disappointed with what I played.
GoldenEye 007 (Wii, DS)
Developers: Eurocom (Wii), n-Space (DS)
Publisher: Activision
To be released: November 2, 2010 (US), November 5, 2010 (EU)
Remember the tank level in the 64 version of 007? It was a pretty badly designed and boring level. The new tank section in Eurocom’s version of the game is a gigantic blast though, mainly due to the fact that there’s a ton of action taking place on the screen. Enemies are coming at you from the ground and the air giving you something to shoot at throughout the entire level.
Along with the massive amount of enemies, buildings are getting bombed all around you in an attempt to stop Bond from giving chase to his target. It’s pretty impressive to see buildings crumble (for a Wii game, anyway).
This section of the demo was short but it did the job, showing how much Eurocom has changed from the original. The new game’s story follows GoldenEye’s plot for the most part, but there are some additional missions never seen in the original game or movie for that matter.
Of course, the real meat to GoldenEye is the multiplayer. They’ve updated the scheme so that it takes a more modern day approach, meaning that you have loadouts to pick from whenever you spawn instead of finding weapons scattered throughout the map. You can only carry two guns and a few grenades at a time, too.
As a fan of the original, I wasn’t all that thrilled with the loadout feature. I get that enough in Call of Duty and the Halos. What I really like that is new, though, is all of the modifers you have at your disposal. Only a few were shown, but expect to see things like paintball mode, Golden Gun matches and a modifer that makes people explode when they touch each other.
If there is anything that will really hurt GoldenEye, it’s the graphics. Multiplayer is a ton of fun, but when you’re on a map with wide open spaces, it’s nearly impossible to spot the (up to eight) other players from afar.
Along with the Wii version, I checked out the DS game being developed by n-Space and it was alright. It’s just a matter of FPS games being your thing on the DS. n-Space has developed all of the Call of Duty games for the DS and they know how to make a solid handheld shooter by now. You’ll like it if you’ve enjoyed their other offerings.
I’m actually split on GoldenEye. It’s a case of overwhelming nostalgia dulling my feelings and being a big James Bond fan. I’ll play it just to see how much has changed, but take away my love for the original game and I don’t think GoldenEye 007 would be on my radar at all.
Oh, also, ODDJOB THROWS HIS FUCKING HAT AT PEOPLE. FUCK YEAH!
For more on GoldenEye, check out Matthew Razak’s interview with Eurocom and another preview of the game from gamescom.
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
THQ today detailed their release plans for a half-dozen games, including Red Faction Armageddon which is now planned for a May 2011 release day. More »
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Monday, September 13th, 2010
People puzzling in the streets of San Francisco during Nintendo’s Professor Layton and the Unwound Future special event. Be sure to read Kotaku’s full review! More »
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