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Review: Get Up and Dance

Thứ Hai, 30 tháng 1, 2012 | 0 nhận xét

Dance games eh, can anyone remember a time when they weren’t around? Ok so anyone who can remember a time before the Wii probably can, but now they’re a regular feature across all three main consoles and it’s getting increasingly difficult to ignore them. But with so many now on the market it takes something special to stand out from the crowd and get noticed, and with Get Up and Dance O Games have tried to inject something new into a busy market. It’s a shame it isn’t really enough to wow you.


Leaning firmly towards entertaining a few friends at once Get Up and Dance allows you to boogie along to any of the 30 songs provided either alone or with a few mates. While the options are there to dance alone, it’s the group dance modes that shine the brightest, giving you options to either do one off dances or starting a short career in front of a set of talent judges. It’s easy enough to settle on a lead dancer and assign others as backing dancers, giving a slightly more authentic feel to other “everyone do the same” type games. The odd thing is the choice of songs on offer, where the mixed bag is hoping to please everyone. In reality, in the same way a radio station that’s a mix of Radio 2, XFM and Kerrang would only please the most eclectic of music fans, the selection of songs in Get Up and Dance won’t please everyone all of the time, and you’ll probably only find a couple that you actually genuinely like. It’s not every day you find Pulp, Dusty Springfield and Jessie J on the same menu. As a result it’s probable there’ll be a small argument about song choice, resulting in your little sister sulking when you refuse to dance to Taio Cruz.

Other game modes include an interesting fitness option, which gives you a month-long set of dance exercises with the intention of knocking a few pounds off, but each dance is so lightweight it won’t really do much to anyone except the most doughnut-quaffing fatster, so it’s really an option for someone looking for a longer term game mode to keep them interested. Sadly, with the other game modes being fairly standard fare you’re unlikely to find any real longevity anywhere other than this, and you get the feeling this will find a spot near the back of the game shelf next to the other “party” games that only come out at Christmas, birthdays or any other time where Nan has had an extra sherry and wants to shake her stuff.

This dance is accompanied by the winners of The Gormless Factor 2011

Technically it’s sound enough; the Move integration is tight and responsive, and goes some way to show me just how bad I am at dancing. The idea of playing the music video in the background to make you feel like you’re really dancing in a show doesn’t really work when you end up looking like Mr Bean at a disco, although the younger gamers might find this a nice touch. It also doesn’t help that the little icons telling you what to do come a little later than would be helpful, and falling over is more of a certainty than a worry. It goes well with the Mr Bean look.

So, it’s another dancing game. Another dancing game that does its best to be something new, but all things considered just… isn’t. It works, and isn’t a bad game as such, but when there’s so much else on the market that does the same thing it’s just very hard to give a firm recommendation. If you can pick it up cheap, have a few friends to play with (who each need their own Move controller) and enjoy dancing to every style of music this side of opera, then you might just click with it and have a ball. Otherwise it’s difficult to see where Get Up and Dance fits into a market busier than your average Pussycat Dolls gig.

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Rayman Origins bounces to PC March 29

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When Ubisoft announced Rayman Origins in 2010, the publisher said a PC version of the 2D platformer was possible. Today, the publisher revealed a Windows version of the game is not only possible, but also nearly ready for release.


Ubisoft announced this afternoon that Rayman Origins will land on the PC on March 29. Of note, the game will be available for $30 at retail stores and as a download through Ubisoft's online shop.

While the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii iterations of Rayman Origins were launched in November, the PC version of the game isn't the only SKU still awaiting release. A PlayStation Vita version of the game is scheduled to launch on February 14, and a 3DS iteration is slated for March 20.

Rayman Origins is a quirky 2D side-scroller developed by Ubisoft and Rayman creator Michel Ancel. For more on the title, check out GameSpot's review of the Xbox 360 version.


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Review: Start the Party: Save the World

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Adding the word “party” into the title of a game is generally not a good omen. Trying to aim a game at the whole family is a harder task than opening a walnut with nothing but your forehead, so when Supermassive Games came up with Start the Party: Save the World they had a sizable task in making sure it didn’t fall into the oh-so-regular family trap of turning into something totally pointless. Did they manage it? Well… no. Not really.


When the Move was announced, a lot of people were concerned that the market would be flooded with shallow games, mimicking the Wii’s huge library of titles with no objective other than to flap your hands about the place for a few minutes at a time. Save the World takes a few steps to make its mini games a little more skillful, but there’s still nowhere near enough here to warrant rushing out and handing over your hard earned cash. It doesn’t really fare too well from the start, where you’re greeted with a main menu that gives you the choice of Options, and Solo or Group Play. There’s no difficulty settings or extra bonus items to aim for, but if the games are great fun then we could look over that happily enough.

But jumping into the games doesn’t really help much due to just how mixed the results are. With the general theme of Dr Terrible (steady with the imagination…) and his cronies doing everything to get in the way of the World and its day to day running, the mini games generally follow the theme of saving people from nasty situations. There’s no specific order to play them in, and each game is given a voiceover by a cheesy American guy to explain what’s going on and how you can help, so you don’t need to memorise how each game works. From here you’ll be drawing clouds, controlling a helicopter, repairing robots and several other tasks using your trusty Move controller. And while some of the mini-games are really well made, others are just a bit random and frustrating.

A couple of games have you using the Move as a drawing tool, by doing such things as drawing clouds to bounce falling cavemen into caves, or drawing huge laser circles around aliens to blow them up. These games work very well indeed, with the accuracy of the Move helping to make it a quite skillful set of games. Another favourite of mine was the ambulance game, whereby you balance an injured person on a big hand sticking out of an ambulance as it goes up and down hills and over speed bumps. You’ll need to collect first aid kits as you go, and doing so means you sometimes need to throw your casualty around and catch it carefully. It’s good fun at first, but it’s not hard to get the hang of it and once the challenge is gone, it loses its appeal.

This is a problem with many of the games. A few are fun for a while, but the challenge just doesn’t last. Others are just plain repetitive – having to clean, repair and extinguish robots on a production line is interesting until you’ve played it a couple of times, then you won’t go back to it. A second player can make things a bit more enjoyable; using the Sixaxis controller you can generally control something else within the game to make life trickier for the main player, which makes flicking fish into a boat slightly harder when player 2 is moving the boat around the place. But this isn’t all of the multiplayer action you can expect.


So, it’s a party game. Many of the games aren’t great on your own, but surely with a few friends it all picks up? Sadly that’s not really the case. There are a couple of game modes to play with your fellow gamers – Group Play and Quick Fire. They’re both pretty similar; Group Play just lets you play a few games, hand the Move over to someone else and see who gets the highest score. Quick Fire is basically the same, but you only get a short time on each game before it quickly moves on to the next which, for parties, is probably the best bet to stop your viewers waiting for too long. It’s the same set of 20 games you’ve got available in single player, and there isn’t really much of a party element other than taking it in turns.

So Start the Party: Save the World falls into that trap that so many have fallen into before. It’s not really a party game, although it is a game that kids might find entertaining for a couple of weekends. Considering you can pick it up for a touch over £10 it might not be a terrible bet for the kids, but it’s disappointing that Supermassive didn’t do more here, especially considering it’s the second game in the series. Yes a handful of mini-games are entertaining, but it’s not enough to recommend.

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Review: Premier Manager 2012 (After 1.01 Update)

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Football loving PC gamers don’t realise how lucky they are. For the past 20 years they’ve had access to a series of consistently brilliant management games, allowing them to experience the challenges, joys and frustrations of managing a top-level football club. But what about console gamers? Sure there have been attempts in the past, and pretty good ones, but there’s also been a lot of yawnsome toss. So up steps Premier Manager 2012, aiming for the top corner.


But early reviews were fairly negative, pointing out that the time each game took ruined the flow of the game. Well, we held fire on our review, gave it some extras hours and waited for the inevitable update. And sure enough, version 1.01 has arrived with a key change that might just rescue Premier Manager from an embarrassing early cup exit at the hands of Burton Albion.

Your first sessions with the game don’t give you much hope. The menus themselves are similar in design to the PS3′s XMB and finding the options you need can be tricky while you learn your way around. It’s also sometimes difficult to work out how to do various things; even advancing to the next day took 5 minutes to figure out after the first time I ventured away from the home screen. The controls are oddly mapped as well, with the circle button advancing the game and R1 bringing up the main menu – when we’re used to circle taking you back, it’s weird having to use it to advance the game.

But once you’ve taken the time to work out how everything works, it’s easy enough to zip through the menus, setting your team up and hunting for players to improve your squad. The transfers themselves are easy enough to carry out, although the searching options and transfer process is extremely streamlined, giving you only the basic options. Match tactics are a similar story, with a few options easy to change (formations, attacking bias, passing style) but impossible to fine tune, but this in itself isn’t a huge issue. Console gamers generally aren’t after the same experience as PC fans, and if you’re used to playing games in bursts of an hour or so then this slimmer structure will suit you perfectly.


Something that makes life harder is the background music. It’s bad. Really bad. Not in the same way as being forced into a 24 hour Robbie Williams-athon, just in a very repetitive, boring “please stop” way (actually that is the same thing…). If the option was there to listen to your own background music from the XMB then it would make Premier Manager a very relaxing experience, combining laid back and casual management with some music time, but there isn’t. You can turn the music off totally (phew) but it’s not the ideal solution, especially considering there must be plenty of system resources available while the game is running. The rest of the game’s sounds are functional bongs, swooshes and more bongs that do a job but will hardly pick up awards, so it’s probably worth just turning the sound off completely and putting the radio on.

But what of the matches themselves? Well, they’re slow. Even with the match speed set to “Fast” you’ll be watching each one for good couple of minutes, and the engine used to watch each game isn’t exactly flushed with detail. The pitch view is too small to be helpful, and the commentary is just a list of shots, bookings and goals. Hardly enough to judge how the match is going. They’re a bit of a waste of time really, and apart from making the odd substitution you might as well use the saving grace that 1.01 offers: the “Result Only” option.

After updating, you can now head into the menu and turn on an option that allows you to skip the match completely and just see the result. You still get to see stats of the game and player ratings, so you can see if your new signing is performing or if the new formation worked out well. You just don’t need to sit and watch a game play out that you can’t, in any way, speed up sufficiently or have much control over.

It’s a game changer. Instead of sitting down and playing a few matches you can now rattle through half a season easily in one sitting. The limitation of the game are still there; they haven’t changed the music, added more depth or found any official licenses hiding down the back of the sofa, but the flow of the game has increased considerably, even if it detaches you a little from the action.

But then there’s the issue of the price. If Premier Manager 2012 had a bargain price tag it would be easy to recommend to people after a bit of light-hearted, accessible managing, but it’s £13.99 which, by PSN standards, is a chunky request. And is there really enough here to spend that much money on? I’m not sure. It’s not a bad game by any means, but if you’ve got access to a reasonable PC then there shouldn’t be any competition on which way to look. It’s one of those games where someone asks you if it’s any good, and you just shrug and say “yeah it’s alright, not bad, not great…”. Worth looking into if you really fancy some management on your PS3 (especially with the new update) but it’s a lot of cash if you’re just a bit intrigued.

So Premier Manager 2012 got past the tricky 1st round tie, but ended up losing on penalties to Walsall. Maybe next year, eh?

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Gran Turismo Review

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A collective holy sh*t has probably dropped from every last one of you guys reading this. Or maybe not. Yes, you're looking at a Gran Turismo review that has scored, for the first time ever, nowhere near the practically perfect grades we've graced this franchise with since day one. Okay, maybe some of you have read some of the other reviews out there and are aware that something has gone really wrong. Well, first off, allow me to preface the remainder of this review by stating that Gran Turismo for the PSP has, allegedly, been in development for five years. I say allegedly, because I'm certain that the development cycle for the game had been temporarily sidelined numerous times in between all of the work Polyphony had to do for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3. Gran Turismo's development was most certainly not a continuous effort of five years...and unfortunately, it shows.


Now, after re-reading this review, it definitely comes off harsh, but with good reason. Gran Turismo PSP is a flawed game. But, on the other hand, I still had a lot of fun with it, as at its core, GT PSP is still very enjoyable, accessible, and fun game. I put in tons and tons of hours into the game just making money and collecting cars, which is one of the purposes of GT PSP. Many of these cars are transferable, allowing you to sync GT PSP to GT5 and transfer cars you've bought or won into your PS3 game. Again, GT PSP is a very fun game. But a "fully specced Gran Turismo", Kazunori Yamauchi said, this is not.

The first major disappointment came when I realized the tiny little size of the game file Sony had forwarded me. 937MB? Gran Turismo 2 was a PlayStation 1 game and it boasted two separate discs, essentially making it a game worth 1.2GB. Okay, so I held out hope. So the game boots up, and immediately I run to the dealership to look through the list of amazing cars, only to realize I can only choose between Bugatti, Bentley, Chevy, and Polyphony. "Oh," I said, "Sony must've sent me a demo file accidentally. Oh, those crazy guys, I'll just contact them agai...what? This is normal?" You see, as the days cycle in-game, the dealerships you can browse through change, as do the cars you can buy.

Allow me to explain in a bit more detail. When you boot up the game, you'll have four dealers to access and 100,000 credits to spend on a car, which is a gracious sum. Once you buy a car, you can participate in a few events. As the days roll on in the game, a new set of four dealerships will be made available to you. But, just because you can access a Nissan dealer, doesn't mean you can have the ability to buy any of their cars. No, no. If you don't see a GT-R or a 300ZX TT, you have to wait until the next time Nissan becomes one of the four dealers you can shop at and see if the assortment of cars features the ones you want. Yes, it's that complicated, confusing, and stupid.

Some of you may say, "but Arnold, why didn't you mention this in your GT PSP hands-on preview? Why is this such a shock to you?" Because when I played Gran Turismo PSP a few months ago at a New York City event, I recall being able to sort through a complete listing of every car in the game, through every single make; none of this four dealers only bullcrap. So to see this absolute lunacy on my PSP, in a game I had so long waited for made me livid, quite frankly, as I'm sure you can tell by the tone of this diatribe.

But things get worse, as GT PSP commits the ultimate sin, in my eyes. No customization. Sure, you can enter the game's Quick Tune menu and adjust suspension components such as camber, toe, ride-height, spring rate, and damper, but that leaves the other half of the gearhead spectrum (the straight line guys) alone in the dark. Yes, you can add some horsepower to your car, but you can only do it for drift trial mode. And you're not actually adding any components, you're just increasing a little slider that adds up to 20% more power to the car you're in.

Honestly, I could sit here and ramble about how utterly stupid this is. GT has always been about taking a car and making it faster, in some cases, absurdly fast. I've spent dozens and dozens of hours in GT4 just taking random cars that I like in real life, buy every little component for them to see just how much of a difference it makes around a specific track and in the 1/4 mile. GT PSP has taken all of that away from me, and has left me with an open-ended single-player mode that allows me to choose a car, track, set the number of laps (1-120) and race on it against three others. Yes, the total number of cars per track is not eight or even six, it's four, including you. And once you win a race, you earn prize money, and then you have the ability of racing that same track three more times. You see, the first time you race, you race it on an easy difficulty rank called D. Once you win, you can race against C-rank racers, then B, and then A.

The game boasts a total of 800 cars, but only 200-250 of those are actually unique models. And there are 35 tracks, with a total of 70 different layouts and variations. Unfortunately, there are some key tracks missing, most importantly, both Special Stage Route 5 and 11, series staples. I've also noticed that no aesthetic changes have been made to real life tracks such as New York City, to reflect their modern day changes. For example, the New York City track in GT4 depicted an area of Manhattan known as Columbus Circle (the roundabout portion), back when GT4 was developed and released, the area was under a lot of construction, so understandably the in-game track reflects that with cranes and such all around the area. But, five years later, Columbus Circle is brimming with beauty as the Time Warner building has been long finished...but unfortunately, the in-game track shows none of that detail, and instead looks precisely as it did in GT4. This tells me someone was forced to take away Polyphony's attention to detail and, in turn, forced to maybe...rush the game in time for the PSP Go launch?

I'm not quite done, yet, though. You see, beyond the standard races are also the Driving Challenges, which are nothing more than License Tests in disguise, and are not a requisite here. Although, taking 15 minutes and completing a few set of challenges will unlock the custom soundtrack feature, and they are strangely addictive, as well. Moreover, they're good for accumulating a ton of money in a relatively short time-span. And if you really dig the challenges, upon completing them, the game will reward you with a whole new bonus set.

Lastly, the multiplayer here is...well, disappointing. There is no online to speak of. None. Not even a meager two player battle. You're limited to four-player Ad-hoc, which is great and all, but finding someone, let alone three others, with a PSP and a copy of the game directly next to you is very unlikely. And I highly doubt you'll be making an event on Facebook inviting any would-be competitors to a multiplayer session at your house. Beyond a few new tracks and Professional physics loosely based on GT5's, Polyphony added little-to-nothing to make this GT feel fresher and revised.

Visually, the game looks really great. It's running at 60 frames per second and boasts some really nice car models for a handheld title. It's not quite Gran Turismo 4 caliber stuff, but if the framerate was brought down to 30, it probably could've been. Regardless, beyond the slick car models and super framerate, do lie some visual issues. Seams break up and textures and polygons all over the screen frequently, and it's more noticeable in some stages than others. These seams are white lines that run across various parts of the stages, flickering about. Also, there is no light emitting from the brake-lights of cars, as it's just a red and flat texture that gets drawn on when you hit the brakes...cheap. Moreover, the rims are two-dimensional and paper-flat when in a race, which I thought ended with GT4, but I guess PD couldn't get even that going on the PSP. Again, all in all, this is a very good looking game, but it does fall short in a lot of places I didn't expect it to, and it kind of takes a lot away from the overall look and feel. Shame.

The audio is acceptable, and you can hear that Polyphony put in a decent amount of work into the sound, especially when the PSP is running through an external speaker of some sort. The standard soundtrack is pretty good stuff, but the ability of a custom soundtrack is what I love most. Sound effects such as tires screeching and crashes are pulled right out of GT4, which is good and bad. It's good since they weren't that bad sounding to begin with. But it's bad because, well, not being bad doesn't mean they couldn't be improved on or made to sound a bit newer or fresher. Also, I noticed that a lot of the cars don't quite sound like their actual counterparts, as their engine and exhaust notes don't roar like they should - I mean honestly, a Ferrari Enzo sounds like a wind-up car in the game. The American V8s sound burbly and nice, but a lot of cars with defining characteristics in their engine/exhaust notes are missing said characteristics.

As you can see, I'm one of the few critics who isn't annoyed with this game for its lack of an expansive Career mode. Quite frankly, to me, the career is there with the open-ended single-player races. What bothers me is the lack of the fundamentals, the very basic and general things that have made Gran Turismo such a superb game. Yes, the physics are great, yes there's a ton of cars and tracks, and yes, despite all of these drawbacks the game is still quite a bit of fun. But this is a game that could've been perfect, it could've been the epitome of handheld to console ports, but instead it continues the age-old pessimism of handheld iterations of console blockbusters being nothing more than stripped down quick-flings. If there was one brand, one developer, one game franchise to end that stereotype, it should've been PlayStation, it should've been Polyphony, and it should've been Gran Turismo.

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SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny Review

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Up until now, Tekken has been the only massive 3D fighter to arrive on the PSP. Years ago when Tekken: Dark Resurrection arrived on the PSP, I praised it for being a superb game that brought the very same console experience into the portable world, complete with a story mode, endings, and all. So with SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny on the way, I expected to see that same kind of treatment. And while Broken Destiny delivers in many areas, it fails in one critical aspect...


...That aspect is a proper story mode that comes complete with individual endings. A mission-based mode called The Gauntlet serves as this game's core experience and quite frankly it's pretty terrible. Essentially the game pits you against numerous rivals, but instead of full fledged fights, you have to carry out specific tasks/requirements that are displayed on the screen in order to progress. Now, each one of these "missions" lasts, on average, about five seconds, with a select few going as much as 20. These "missions" will often require you to dodge an attack, block an attack, block then counter an attack, or dodge then counter an attack. Needless to say, these mission requirements are pretty repetitive and tire quick. Sure there's a mildly amusing story behind The Gauntlet, but it's not nearly amusing enough to play the mode for.

Now, as far the gameplay transition from console to handheld goes, SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny does everything just right. Just like how Tekken: Dark Resurrection found its way flawlessly onto the PSP, you can expect that same level of quality from Broken Destiny's battles, complete with its superb fluidity. In total, over 30 fighters are found in the game, one of which is Kratos, in addition to an all new fighter Dampierre. Kratos is one of the heavier pushes for Broken Destiny, as he is actually the most prominent figure on the game's box art.

Of course, naturally, Kratos was my first pick to fight with, and it felt absolutely fantastic to kick some ass with him. He retains all of his signature attacks from the game, and they're particularly awesome to pull-off, too. Also, thanks to Sony, Namco-Bandai had the proper help when integrating Kratos into the SC universe. In fact, from what I was told by a Namco rep, the Kratos model in the game is actually the same one found in God of War: Chains of Olympus, which is very cool.

Character customization has been largely carried over from SoulCalibur IV, which means you'll be able to put your creativity to good use in the game, so feel free to create an all new fighter, or edit an existing one to your liking. But another complaint to address here is that Broken Destiny doesn't offer nearly as many unlockables as SCIV did, beyond extra items for the character customization. And while I understand this is a UMD game, it's not like Broken Destiny comes loaded with CG endings and cut-scenes for every character. And it's not like unlockables take up that much space anyways.

I will say this much, for the general Quickplay matches, SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny is fantastic. The fighting mechanics are still some of the most polished out there, and it really does make for a terrific fighter. But if you're looking for rich gameplay modes that you can play over and over to unlock cinematics and such, this isn't your game. Modes include Quickplay, Trials, The Gauntlet and Multiplayer, which is limited to two-player Ad-hoc, so no online gameplay here like you'd get with the console games.

Now, in my hands-on preview of the game last month, I had to rant about a certain aesthetic choice that Namco has veered towards, and I will regurgitate what it was I said...You see, it seems like ever since the apparent demise of the Dead or Alive franchise, Namco-Bandai have felt the need to fill in an overly-exaggerated-bouncing-breasts void that this industry most certainly did not need in the first place. I'm no morale God. Hell, I love me a curvy woman...I just prefer that woman to be real. I just feel extremely embarrassed to be playing a videogame where nearly half of the polygonal count on nearly half of the characters is in their chests. It continues to perpetuate a stereotype that this industry needs to get rid of; a stereotype that calls gamers lonely, geeky, virgin losers. Forgive my bluntness, but that's just simply the perception a majority of people still have of us.

With that rant out of the way, at least when you're playing on the PSP, you don't have to feel so embarrassed, because chances are nobody's going to notice the ridiculous details put into the female fighters, thanks to the screen size, unless they're standing and watching right over your shoulders. So you can enjoy the game for what it is, a great fighter. Yes, even though I just went on a quasi-diatribe, there's still no denying that SoulCalibur games are terrific playing fighters that have kept many coming back for years. And beyond the questionable aesthetic choices, Broken Destiny is actually a damn fine looking PSP game, boasting great character detail, beautiful backgrounds, fluid animations, a great framerate and other sharp visual touches.

If you've been playing SoulCalibur games for a while, you know precisely what to expect from the sound. The audio consists of the following SC franchise necessities: the battle announcer, fighters with voice actors who boast quickly before the fight, and a soundtrack that closely resembles the tunes of past SC games. Broken Destiny does all of this with ease, as you'd expect, and also gives you the ability to use Japanese voices. There's nothing really monumental to the sound of the game, as I've pretty much covered all there is to it.

In all honesty, if you're looking for a fighter and don't have a copy of Tekken: Dark Resurrection for PSP, I'd just go and buy that instead of Broken Destiny, especially since Tekken can be had for cheap. SoulCalibur: Broken Destiny isn't a bad game, it just feels extremely barebones in many areas, despite boasting one of the all time best mechanics for a 3D fighter. Once this hits the $20 mark, I'd spring for it - otherwise, leave this one alone for now, there are other fighters out there for the PSP.

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Resident Evil 6 boasts 600 developers

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Capcom appears to be sparing no expense with Resident Evil 6. In a message posted to YouTube this week (below), executive producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi characterized Resident Evil 6 as being the largest project undertaken by Capcom to date, with some 600 developers involved worldwide.


"Between the 150 staff members in Japan and everyone around the world, we have more than 600 people involved. A lot of work has gone into this game," Kobayashi said. "Resident Evil 6 is by far and away the most ambitious game in the series."

With Resident Evil 6, it appears as if Capcom may seek to reconcile Resident Evil's survival horror roots with more recent installments' action-oriented gameplay. Later in the video, producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi indicated that the game will be a blend of action and survival horror, which the team is calling "dramatic horror."

Announced last week, Resident Evil 6 features a split plotline, with one fork following the travails of Leon S. Kennedy in the US and another taking up with Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance member Chris Redfield in China. The game is expected to arrive for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 20.

For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Resident Evil 6.


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Super Mario 3D Land sells 5 million, Skyward Sword 3.4 million

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Nintendo may have failed to hit its sales expectations for the 3DS, but the device isn't without its success stories. As part of Nintendo's postearnings information dump, the publisher revealed three first-party games that easily topped the million-unit sales milestone.


Super Mario 3D Land topped the 3DS's sales charts through December, selling 5.03 million units worldwide. The portly plumber's latest outing arrived to a solid critical reception in November. December's Mario Kart 7 posted a close second with 4.54 million units sold, while June's The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D sold 2.49 million units.

On the Wii, Nintendo saw a strong performance from Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. Launched in late November, Link's latest action adventure sold 3.42 million units through December. That figure was good enough for a third-place finish on the Wii chart, behind Mario Kart Wii (4.91 million) and New Super Mario Bros. Wii (3.53 million).

Turning to the DS, Pokemon White/Black continued to put in solid numbers, topping the handheld's chart with a combined 2.91 million units sold. New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS followed, with 1.87 million units and 1.26 million units sold, respectively.

A full list of Nintendo's million-unit sellers for the April-December period, as well as those games' lifetime-to-date tallies, can be found below.

3DS
Title / 2011 sales/ LTD sales
Super Mario 3D Land / 5.03 million / 5.03 million
Mario Kart 7 / 4.54 million / 4.54 million
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D / 2.49 million / 2.49 million

Wii
Title / 2011 sales/ LTD sales
Mario Kart Wii / 4.91 million / 31.91 million
New Super Mario Bros. Wii / 3.53 million / 25.47 million
Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword / 3.42 million / 3.42 million
Wii Sports / 2.4 million / 79.16 million
Wii Sports Resort / 2.19 million / 29.87 million
Wii Party / 1.91 million / 7.68 million
Wii Fit Plus / 1.75 million / 20.24 million
Kirby's Return to Dream Land / 1.21 million / 1.21 million
Wii Play: Motion / 1.12 million / 1.12 million
Super Mario Galaxy / 1.09 million / 10.4 million

DS family
Title / 2011 sales/ LTD sales
Pokemon Black & White / 2.91 million / 14.42 million
New Super Mario Bros. / 1.87 million / 28.74 million
Mario Kart DS / 1.26 million / 22.30 million
*Professor Layton and the Last Specter / 1.19 million / 1.19 million
Kirby Mass Attack / 1.01 million / 1.01 million

*Sales figures do not include Japan.


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Valkyria Chronicles 2 Review

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To this day, Valkyria Chronicles remains one of the most under-appreciated PlayStation 3 exclusives out there, regardless of how often the avid fans sing its praises. Some of those same fans were a little disappointed when the sequel came exclusively to the PSP, and it doesn’t help that the third installment also seems to be leaving PS3 owners out in the cold. That being said, strategy/RPG aficionados will most certainly want to dive into this sequel; it’s very much like the original, and although I’m not the biggest fan of the new school sim feature, Valkyria Chronicles 2 manages to retain much of its charm and intricate appeal. The depth is here, the storyline suffers only a bit due to extra emphasis on the aforementioned school feature, and above all else, that unique and oddly addicting gameplay is as good as ever. Honestly, if you were a super huge fan of the first title and you don’t yet own a PSP, VC2 might be enough of a reason to snag Sony’s portable.


As you might expect, we have to make allowances for the graphics, which obviously can’t be as accomplished or polished on the PSP. Even so, the cut-scenes are still super pretty and the in-game visuals are more than competent. I was actually surprised at how well detailed many of the characters were, the effects enhance the experience as always, and there’s only the anticipated lack of clarity and sharpness. If you can handle the latter and accept you’re playing this sequel on a lesser machine, you’ll be good to go. I do think there could’ve been more diversity in the environments, though, as there were three or four battles in a row where I began to get a little tired of my surroundings. I don’t remember this drawback being evident in the original on the PS3, which is why I mention it here. That aside, VC2 looks just fine and really, the story-driven scenes are pretty darn impressive for a handheld.

Concerning the sound, both the voice acting and soundtrack are definite highlights, although I might call the effects into question (due to an occasional lack of balance and intensity). Some of you probably know my favorite game of all time is Final Fantasy Tactics, so maybe I’m unfairly biased towards the musical talents of Hitoshi Sakimoto, but the quality and emotion of the tracks in VC2 is undeniable. I’m most thankful this one particular element of the first PS3 presentation carried over; it really gives the game that extra “oomph.” To me, the voiceovers in this sequel are solid, but a bit more hit-or-miss in comparison to the original. There are also less voices overall – again, to be expected – and like I just said, the effects don’t always do it for me. But man, the music is just so perfect and the complete sound package fits the style, theme, and structure of the game. So we definitely shouldn’t nitpick.

First and foremost, I want to make one thing very clear: if you liked Valkyria Chronicles, there’s little chance you won’t enjoy the sequel. The gameplay is almost exactly the same in terms of basic control and strategy; you still consume CP to move single or multiple units, you learn a large variety of new abilities and fresh tactics, and there’s that pseudo-third-person shooter view. It’s all here. Sega didn’t gimp VC2 just because they put it on the PSP, so don’t think for a second that we’ve received a watered-down, dissatisfying adventure. Personally, I’ve always loved the turn-based aspect of the game, which allows you to take as much time as you need to plan your strategy. The controls are straightforward and accessible, and the longer you play, the more depth you uncover. It’s actually quite mind-boggling, especially if you’re expecting some sort of strategy wannabe in a third-person shooter’s clothing.

Some of the uninitiated may get that impression from some of the screenshots and media. But the familiar know better. This being established, I should mention that Sega did make one significant concession to the PSP’s limited hardware: the battle sizes are smaller. There aren’t as many units involved in even the large-scale battles, and the battlegrounds are separated into different sections. You can also only deploy 6 units at a time this time around. Besides that, though, this is clearly Chronicles at its core. Everything works just about as well as it did before, and we even get a few new classes with which to experiment. The combination of massive amounts of micromanagement and the new school sim makes the game quite dynamic, even if I’ve long since grown tired of that distinctly Japanese schoolroom element. It was still cool to be able to control some of the school events by utilizing certain characters in battle; the two gameplay facets are tied together.

When VC2 was first announced, we found out the developers wanted to address the balancing issues some attentive fans spotted in the original. I’m not entirely sure Sega did everything they could do to fix the issue, though, because while there seems to be better balance on your side, the AI isn’t very bright. In fact, it can be downright stupid. Early on in the game, it might be understandable for the sake of difficulty purposes, but your foes never seem to get smarter. This drags the whole production down but thankfully, it can’t possibly destroy the inherent entertainment. Offering 35 unique classes and increasingly deeper upgrade systems for your weapons, there’s actually more to think about. If you’re a big fan of customization and micromanagement, you’ll probably lose hours to VC2; tweaking your characters and preparing for battle has never been so engrossing.

Then you’ve got the multiplayer, which lets you pick a leader and attack missions with up to four friends at your side. That’s a lot of fun – if you can find multiple people to team up with you – and Versus should be a big draw…although I still believe strategy/RPG is best played alone, I freely admit to wishing for a Versus mode in FFT, just to see how my team stacked up against human competitors. And it’s especially great for VC2 because, as I just mentioned, the AI isn’t exactly top-notch and it won’t be overly difficult to get the upper hand. Against a human opponent, however, all that changes. And even if multiplayer isn’t your bag, there’s no doubt that the single-player campaign will deliver the goods. How long might it take to complete over 100 different missions…? I have no idea, but I’m pretty damn certain you’ll get your money’s worth, and it’s nice to have the new multiplayer to add another dimension to the experience.

I’m still not sure about the whole school feature, the smaller battles may chafe, and I wasn’t as big a fan of the storyline. But even so, Valkyria Chronicles 2 is a more than worthy sequel: extra depth, more classes, more missions, more customization, the same gameplay the fans fell in love with back in 2008, and attractive multiplayer options make it a must for those who…well, you know who you are. If you never played the first game but own a PSP and consider yourself a strat/RPG follower, you’ll love it. I would dissuade those who have never sampled any sort of strategy game, but even if you’re just looking for something fresh and wildly in-depth, it’s right here. Just in a slightly smaller and more condensed package.

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God of War: Ghost of Sparta Review

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How does Sony manage to do it all the time? No, allow me to rephrase that. How does this franchise always manage to do it? How does it manage to not change its formula, but always win us over? God of War: Ghost of Sparta plays not much differently than the GOW games before it, and yet, we don't care. Has this franchise stumbled upon something that defies age? I'm not sure just yet, but what I do know is that I wholly enjoy this game. Much like every other God of War title, you're thrown into the eye of the storm immediately, so the game wastes no time in delivering the goods - and that's par for course. Traditionally, GOW games were never about long and tiresome training intros, and that's because the game is so accessible, there was never a need for them. Yes, occasionally you'll get gameplay hints towards the beginning, but they aren't very intrusive and allow the gamer to focus on the action.


And that's what makes God of War so great. Not just this game, but the franchise as a whole. It has never strayed from what's made it a superb series in the first place; it never lost its focus. God of War never tried to be something more than a balls-to-the-wall, super fast, super violent action game, and I respect that. It never decided that it had to become an RPG midway through, or that it needed strategy elements. No. God of War's focus has always been: 'pressing a series of buttons makes the character furiously whip around and spill lots of blood'. Perfect. And those boss battles? Let's face it, the reason we love them so much isn't because of how epic they can be, but it's because of how gruesome the boss' death ends up being. Those are just some of the reasons why we love God of War, and all of the reasons continue to exist with Ghost of Sparta.

The upgrades, the mayhem, the weapons, the boss battles, and even the always engrossing storyline - Ghost of Sparta continues the faithful God of War tradition of being the total package, despite coming in a package that only fits inside the UMD slot of your PSP. Perhaps the only drawback to all of this, and this may be considered a technical limitation, is that Ghost of Sparta is nowhere near as lengthy as other games in the series. The UMD can only store so much, and that impacts the length of the game to about eight hours. Though are a variety of challenge modes for you to partake in once you finish the game, which increase the amount of time you can spend with it considerably.

Bar none, Ghost of Sparta is the best looking PSP game available today. The same way that the franchise has set a bar on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3, it has done the same on the PSP. Chances are, considering the age of the PSP, it's unlikely a better looking game will come along and unseat Ghost of Sparta - I simply don't see it happening. So not only is Ghost of Sparta one of the best playing games for Sony's handheld, but it's the best looking one. Ready At Dawn has pushed this little unit to its limits by increasing the texture clarity, smoothing out the edges around game characters, allowing the framerate to run silky smooth, and employing some really spectacular effects. Chains of Olympus already looked great, but Ghost of Sparta simply looks better.

If you're a God of War fan, you know what to expect from the audio. Voice acting courtesy of TC Carson, who continues to deliver some of the best voice acting this industry sees on the regular, in addition to a soundtrack that's made to raise your tension, thanks to its fully orchestrated arrangements. Ghost of Sparta's brilliance knows no bounds, as the audio will leave you in a more than satisfied state. I also found it best to have a pair of nice headphones plugged in while playing, because the audio simply sounds that much more rich when it's streaming directly into your ears, as opposed to the PSP's speakers.

All in all, God of War: Ghost of Sparta is the PSP game you should have no reservations about. It's a well deserved $40 purchase that'll stay in your collection of portable titles for a long time. It's the ultimate example of the full console experience in the palm of your hands. God of War: Ghost of Sparta boasts everything you'd expect out of the franchise: superb visuals, great audio, massive gameplay, epic story, and great controls, all in a package that fits in the palm of your hand.

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3DS getting new 2D Mario

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Nintendo fans will soon be getting a new Mario game and a new way to take the company's systems online. Today, Nintendo announced that a new 2D Mario side-scroller is in development for the 3DS and detailed the plans for an online hub called the Nintendo Network for the Wii U and 3DS.


Nintendo shed little light on the new Mario title outside of acknowledging its existence. The company assigned the game a broad release window, saying it will ship during Nintendo's next fiscal year, which runs April 1, 2012, through March 31, 2013.

Nintendo also announced today the Nintendo Network, a new online service for the 3DS and Wii U that will cover "competitions and communication among users, as well as the sales of digital content." According to the company, the Nintendo Network will run parallel to the current Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection service.

Additionally, the Nintendo Network will introduce a personal account system for the Wii and will allow for multiple accounts to be registered to the console. According to Nintendo, offering this has been "a challenge we needed to tackle."

Further, Nintendo said it is exploring the possibility of offering full-game downloads through the Nintendo Network for the 3DS and Wii U. Nintendo said it already has the required infrastructure to allow for full-game downloads, and the concept was "built into the design" of the 3DS.

Nintendo indicated that full-game downloads for the 3DS and Wii U may still be far off. According to the company, it has not yet finalized partnerships with wholesalers and retailers, and storage capacity on SD memory cards is also an issue needing to be considered.

The last major announcement during Nintendo's investor meeting was word that the Wii U's tablet controller will include Near Field Communication (NFC) support. According to Nintendo, adopting this technology into the Wii U's tablet controller will make it possible to "create cards and figurines that can electronically read and write data via noncontact NFC and to expand the new play format in the video game world."

NFC technology was most recently used in Activision's Skylanders: Spyro's Adventures. In that game, players use real-world action figures to alter gameplay within the gameworld. According to Nintendo, NFC technology for the Wii U could enable further possibilities including "means for making micropayments."

The Wii U is due for a global launch by the end of 2012. No mention has been made of a price for the forthcoming console. Gamers eager to get a further glimpse at the console can follow the 2012 Electronic Entertainment Expo, where Nintendo will have finalized hardware on hand.

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Saints Row: The Third - Genki Bowl VII Review

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If you've already spent time in Steelport, you know that it's a place where an enterprising gang leader can earn cash and respect by chauffeuring tigers around, protecting friends from attack while perched in a helicopter with a rocket launcher, laying waste to city blocks with a tank, and participating in all sorts of other activities. Genki Bowl VII, the first mission pack add-on for Saints Row: The Third, brings four new activity types to the smorgasbord of mayhem and violence that is Steelport. Unfortunately, only one of these new pursuits measures up to the inspired zaniness typified by the activities included in the original game. Genki Bowl VII is a slight piece of downloadable content that mostly feels downright mundane compared to everything that came before.


Professor Genki, the homicidal man-cat whose Super Ethical Reality Climax competitions are a staple of the Steelport entertainment scene, ups the ante once a year, devising deadly new contests for a select group of proven warriors. As the leader of the Saints, you're given the opportunity to enter this annual tournament and prove yourself worthy of being crowned Genki Bowl champion.

Story is a minor part of this escapade, and laughs are in short supply. There are a few cutscenes in which returning commentators Zach and Bobby set up the events you're about to participate in, but the main game's hilarious scenes featuring your customized character engaging in the business of ruling a gang while naked and speaking in a zombie voice (or sporting whatever absurd characteristics you've selected for him or her) are sadly absent. Without these spirited interludes and the humor they inject into the proceedings, the events of Genki Bowl VII feel a bit lifeless and isolated from the rest of your character's adventures in Steelport.

Your participation in Genki Bowl VII begins with an event called Genki Apocalypse. In Genki Apocalypse, you're tossed into a booby-trapped, mascot-infested gauntlet, in which you must kill your enemies and make your way to the exit alive. If you think this sounds an awful lot like the Super Ethical Reality Climax events you've already played, you're not wrong. The only things that differentiate Genki Apocalypse from SERC are the amusingly cheap jungle set dressings that decorate the obstacle courses, and the shark-infested pools and streams within them. The first time you see a mascot wander into water and instantly get devoured by a great white, it's a delightful surprise that's perfectly in keeping with the cartoonish carnage that helps make Saints Row: The Third so exciting.

But as amusing as this little touch is, it can't keep Genki Apocalypse from feeling like more of something we got plenty of already. And the two instances of Genki Apocalypse don't even measure up to the better SERC events. The Genki Apocalypse layouts are a bit labyrinthine, and although Saints Row: The Third manages to make a surprisingly wide range of activities enjoyable, maze navigation isn't one of them. Failing an event not because you were shot one too many times by a guy in an energy drink costume but because you failed to find the exit before time ran out is no way for a Saint to go down.

After completing your first Genki Apocalypse event, you're invited to take advantage of a Super Ethical PR Opportunity. Here, you must drive the psychopathic professor himself to a public appearance. Professor Genki's ride, the Genki Mobile, is especially effective at mowing down pedestrians, and it sports flamethrowers on the front and sides. These features come in handy, because Genki is a demanding passenger. In addition to keeping him away from the overzealous fans who try to swarm around you, you must appease him by causing a tremendous amount of death and destruction before delivering him to his destination.

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EA stock tanks on Star Wars: The Old Republic fears

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US markets are largely positive today, due in large part to positive earnings-season economic data and strengthening unemployment data, according to a consensus of financial reporters. However, such is not the case for Electronic Arts, which is trading down more than 6 percent after Brean Murray Carret & Co. analyst Todd Mitchell lowered the company's price target from $28 to $22.


As reported by Market Watch, Mitchell's reassessment of EA came about due to what he termed "creeping concerns" over the future of EA's recently launched massively multiplayer online role-playing game Star Wars: The Old Republic.

"Specifically, initial sales appear to be below expectations, and casual observation of early play is causing us to rethink our churn assumptions," Mitchell said in a note to investors.

Released to a strong critical reception on December 20, The Old Republic sold more than 1 million units during its first week of availability. That tally proved to be more than what EA could handle, as the game's launch was marred by long wait times to access many servers.

Mitchell's analysis of The Old Republic's situation isn't without its detractors. Speaking with GameSpot, Electronic Entertainment Design and Research's Jesse Divnich emphasized that it is far too early to measure the game's long-term potential.

"Some sell-side analysts have such bad tunnel vision on the market that they fail to understand the mechanics of the MMO vertical," Divnich said. "Whether MMO, console game, mobile, or social, each have a completely different business model. It is erroneous to apply success metrics from other verticals to the MMO market and that is exactly what a lot of analysts are doing."

Divnich also noted that EA still has a number of options to boost player numbers and engagement, should the company deem it necessary.

Baird & Co. analyst Colin Sebastian echoed Divnich's sentiment, telling GameSpot, "The game doesn't appear to be the smash hit that some had [thought], but I think it's way too early to be signing the death warrant."


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Star Wars The Force Unleashed: Ultimate Sith Edition

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It’s been several years since LucasArts first asked its fan base, “Would you be interested in playing as a Star Wars villain?” Apparently, this idea was met with some enthusiasm, and the result was The Force Unleashed for console gaming systems. TFU makes its PC debut with the Ultimate Sith Edition with its flashy new packaging and additional game content. Unfortunately, this updated release is just a few banthas short of a herd.


To its credit, The Force Unleashed does a lot of things extremely well. You don’t need to be a Star Wars junkie to appreciate the story, which is lavishly presented in high-quality cinematic sequences. The characters are brought to life not only with terrific voice acting, but facial motion capture that impressively conveys the fluidity of human emotion. For those unfamiliar, The Force Unleashed follows the adventures of Darth Vader’s secret apprentice, who is exceptionally talented and trained as an instrument of the dark side. This makes the apprentice a true “wrecking ball” of the Force, indiscriminately blasting through rebel soldiers and stormtroopers alike.

Although dazzling as always, the lightsaber is not really the focal point of the combat. Most of the fun lies within the clever integration of Force powers. TFU is an action game at its core, and the available moves for the apprentice certainly reflect this. Hurling objects at your foes, electrocuting them with lightning, or simply blasting them into oblivion offers players the chance to channel quite a bit of aggression into the game. As you become increasingly skilled, you’ll be able to string powers together for devastating results; lifting a stormtrooper into the air, then impaling him with the lightsaber, might be one of the coolest things seen in any Star Wars video-game.


It’s not until reaching the heavier battles that players may notice the flaws in this alluring gem. The physics engine for TFU, while visually impressive, does not always function reliably or realistically. More importantly, the combat is flawed in a few areas that will cause significant frustration. In the thick of combat, the apprentice can literally get stuck in a loop of collapse as unavoidable attacks from enemies strike him repeatedly. The PC controls feel strangely stiff when compared to the console version, which means the apprentice will not always do what you want, as quickly as you’d want him to do it. The boss fights remain something of a mixed bag. Many of them feel like cheap efforts to exploit flaws in the combatant’s fighting style, while a few are genuinely engrossing.

This release also contains a few missions from TFU’s “alternate universe” of Star Wars fiction, which I will not spoil here. Aside from the exclusive new Hoth level, most of the “bonus” content in this Ultimate Sith Edition was actually released as downloadable content on the consoles. The player skins are basically what they seem – meaningless cosmetic costumes that have no effect on the gameplay whatsoever. Even diehard Star Wars fans may struggle to rationalize the purchase of the Ultimate Sith Edition if they’ve played the original. It is disappointing to see that so many of TFU’s flaws have been retained or even amplified, rather than repaired.

The Force Unleashed remains solid on the graphical front, with plentiful effects and detailed textures to aid the immersion of the experience. Sadly, players may find themselves pushing through the unpleasant sections of the campaign just to find out what happens next in the story. Without getting the gameplay right, The Force Unleashed flounders in its efforts to keep up with its own epic narrative. The Ultimate Sith Edition will provide entertainment for Star Wars fans, but action lovers may find their excitement short-lived.

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Resident Evil 6 dated for November 20

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The writing's been on the wall for a new flagship installment in Capcom's Resident Evil franchise for some time now, and today, the publisher pulled the trigger on that announcement. Resident Evil 6 will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on November 20.


Resident Evil 6 will feature a split plotline, though bioterrorism remains the motif. In the US, Leon S. Kennedy joins the president of the United States 10 years after the events that defined Raccoon City, ostensibly to offer the truth on what actually happened there. However, in the midst of this revelation, bioterrorists attack, converting the president into a lurching undead.

On the other side of the world, Bioterrorism Security Assessment Alliance member Chris Redfield touches down in China, which is in the midst of its own bioterrorism outbreak. Resident Evil 6 will be the first installment in the franchise to feature both Redfield and Kennedy, and Capcom noted that new characters will also be introduced in the game.

Development on Resident Evil 6 is being led by Hiroyuki Kobayashi. The developer has previously received producer credits for a number of Capcom's titles, including Resident Evil 4, Killer7, and Dragon's Dogma.

Prior to today's announcement, Capcom had posted to a countdown teaser site for the game, NoHopeLeft.com. That site now directs to a YouTube page featuring Resident Evil 6's first trailer, which can be found below.


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Shippin' Out Jan. 29-Feb. 4: Final Fantasy XIII-2, SoulCalibur V

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The past two weeks didn't feature many big ticket items on the new release schedule, but this week makes up for lost time. New titles out this week include Final Fantasy XIII-2, SoulCalibur V, NeverDead, and the Mac version of BioShock 2.


Out in front this week is Final Fantasy XIII-2 for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 from Square Enix. The game is a direct sequel to 2010's well-received Final Fantasy XIII. It sees the return of Final Fantasy XIII protagonist Lightning, but focuses much more on her now-liberated sister Serah.

Also out this week on the Xbox 360 and PS3 is Namco Bandai's fighting game SoulCalibur V. The publisher has slated 30 characters for inclusion, and the series' tradition of including guest characters from other games will continue with Ezio from Assassin's Creed confirmed to be joining the mix.

Another major new release out this week is Rebellion's action game NeverDead for the Xbox 360 and PS3. The game puts players in the shoes of Bryce Boltzmann, an immortal demon slayer who is prone to dismemberment. Jumping into the fray is encouraged here, as losing limbs can let players roll into previously inaccessible areas, and the severed appendages can be wielded as weapons or reattached to regain full mobility.

Lastly, BioShock 2 comes to the Mac this week. Ported by Feral Interactive, the game takes place 10 years after the events of the first BioShock game. Players return to Rapture, but this time they control a prototype version of the original's lumbering Big Daddy.

For further details, visit GameSpot's New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

Tuesday, January 31:
BioShock 2--Mac--Feral Interactive
Final Fantasy XIII-2--PS3, X360--Square Enix
NeverDead--PS3, X360--Konami
Puddle--PS3--Konami
SoulCalibur V--PS3, X360--Namco Bandai

Wednesday, February 1:
Rhythm Party--X360--Konami


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Infinity Ward crafting next-gen Call of Duty?

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In October, a job listing at Call of Duty studio Treyarch indicated that the developer was readying a next-generation entry in the shooter franchise. Now, it appears Infinity Ward is also preparing a next-generation Call of Duty game.


A requisition for a senior animator at Infinity Ward calls for a person with "an interest in working with next-generation technologies."

Unfortunately, the job listing does not offer any additional information about what Infinity Ward may be at work on. As for what next-generation technologies could pertain to, there are numerous possibilities. At the 2011 Electronic Entertainment Expo, Activision pledged its support for Nintendo's Wii U, and rumors are swirling that Microsoft and Sony are readying new consoles.

If Infinity Ward is indeed at work on a next-generation Call of Duty title, it won't be the only project the studio is crafting. Last week, Activision announced the Modern Warfare 3 content season, and it named Infinity Ward, Raven Software, and Sledgehammer Games as developers for the barrage of game updates planned over the next nine months.

A new Call of Duty game has been confirmed for release in 2012, but Activision has yet to name this title or mention what developer(s) are working on it. That game has no release date yet, but Call of Duty has had new installments debut between late October and mid-November every year since the franchise was launched in 2003.

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Kingdoms of Amalur

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Electronic Arts and 38 Studios are giving gamers an incentive to pick up a first-run copy of the fantasy role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. An online pass included with new copies of the game unlocks seven House of Valor faction quests inside the gameworld.

A new copy of the game for the Xbox 360 provided to GameSpot includes the online pass, and a statement to Joystiq confirms that first-run PlayStation 3 copies will also sport the pass. Downloaded versions of the game for the PC will include the content by default.


It was not made clear if the House of Valor questline will become available as downloadable content for those with a secondhand copy of the game. As of press time, EA had not responded to GameSpot's request for comment.

Writing on the game's official forums, 38 Studios community manager "Muse" noted that the House of Valor quests were not included on disc and then taken out.

"The House of Valor content was not in the finished game/disc at one point, then removed. It isn't there and we're locking you out of it. The House of Valor was created as stand-alone content, and was always intended to be the first DLC. Instead of holding onto it and charging for it later, we opted to give it to everyone who purchases the game new, for free, on launch day."

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is not the first EA-published title to sport an online pass. New copies of Battlefield 3, Dead Space 2, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, and several EA Sports titles all included onetime-use codes to download additional content.

Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is due out for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC on February 7. For more on the title, check out GameSpot's latest preview.

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Soccer Cup Solitaire

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Pass some time and shoot for the win with Soccer Cup Solitaire! Choose one of over 50 international soccer teams and guide them to victory with fast-paced card-matching action.


Get into the game by chaining together passing combos to increase your score. Every point earned brings you closer to scoring the winning goal! Collect Wild Cards and Bonus Cards, and use them to press your advantage on your quest to find the net. Are you ready to square off against the likes of Brazil, England, Spain and the USA? Each team you defeat is one more step on the road to the Cup! It's the world's favorite sport and the world's favorite pastime, together at last!
  • Exciting solitaire action with a soccer theme. 
  • Take control of your choice of teams in an international-style tournament
  • Find bonus cards to play fun mini-games
  • Build up your excitement - and your score - with passing streaks
  • Each tournament is different!

Soccer Cup Solitaire mixes two popular games to create a clever and addictive experience. Accessible for all ages. It's all been cleverly thought out and really gives the game a lot of personality. There's even a commentator who will give feedback every now and again on how the match is progressing, shouting and raving every time a goal is scored.

The game definitely improves on the similar Heartwild Solitaire Book One by not making speed a bonus-getter. The levels aren't even timed. It's actually kind of funny, because that means that the punchy, cartoony and rock music filled Soccer Cup Solitaire actually ends up being the more relaxing game, especially if you switch out the game's soundtrack for some soothing music of your own.
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Update Lost Saga Cheat Skill No Delay + peso + 1 Hit Crussade 30 January 2012

Chủ Nhật, 29 tháng 1, 2012 | 0 nhận xét

Lost Saga Cheat Skill No Delay + peso + 1 Hit Crussade - Previously we had to load all the cheat Cheat Engine for Lost Saga, if not satisfied then this is Lost Saga Cheat Skill No Delay + peso + 1 Hits Crussade January 30, 2012. Where we have discussed previously Lost Saga Cheat Skill No Delay + peso + 1 Hit Crussade to cheat LS 3 January 2012.

[Download]
Wait 5 seconds, then download dehhh skip ads ...
[-] Skill No Delay
For Windows 7 ---> Right click>> select "Run As Administrator"
WORK all WINDOWS XP / Vista / Win 7 (32 bit/64bit)
Credits:
Special Thx to:
[-] N3
How to use:
1. Open LS
2. Open Cheat
3. Login LS.
4. When Om Cowboy (GameGuard) who choose the cheat you want to wear!
5. Forgot his jgn Close Cheat!
6. Happy Cheating.
NB:
How to Use as usual hotkey already exists in the trainers who do not know leacher!
Open Trainer directly from winrar because if the extract will DC!

Thus first sob Lost Saga Cheat January 16, 2012 Skill No Delay + peso + 1 Hit Crussade, may enjoy playing the game
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Classic gaming: OGS Mahjong

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A somewhat neglected topic here on FreeGamer are classic puzzle games, and OGS Mahjong is definitely one of the gems of this genre:


The stable 0.9 release of this game can be expected shortly, so brush up your Mahjong skills or take the opportunity to finally learn the rules of this age-old classic (like me).
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Coldest: Mech AI and Playtesting with the Dev!

Thứ Tư, 25 tháng 1, 2012 | 0 nhận xét

Trees in Coldest

Bots were added to the mech fighting game Coldest. If you would like to help playtest the game together with the developer, follow the project's news feed (there will be an announcement for a session sometime soon) and get the git version via:

git clone git://coldestgame.git.sourceforge.net/gitroot/coldestgame/coldestgame coldest


Build instructions here.
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