Consider this one a public service announcement for those of you still desperately searching for a Wii – according to a rumor posted over at Kotaku, Amazon.com will be putting their inventory of Nintendo's Wii up for sale today (10/31) at 1pm EST/10am PST.
Even if the rumor is true, don't expect them to last long – the Wii is still highly in demand, and I'm sure there are plenty of people out there who are going to be clicking like mad as zero hour approaches. If you're going to give it a shot, let me be the first to wish you the best of luck.
While one might assume that today's Xbox Live Arcade release would have a somewhat spooky flavor to it in honor of Halloween, that just isn't the case. What we do get is Mutant Storm Empire, the sequel to one of the Live Arcade's earliest titles Mutant Storm Reloaded.
While I haven't had a chance to try Empire yet, according to the product description and most of the previews I've read, Pom Pom Games has done away with my biggest complaint about it's predecessor – namely, the "level-based" nature of the game. Mutant Storm Empire promises to play all sixteen of it's levels as one continuous experience. If you're like me and prefer that your arcade games to ramp up the difficulty without any kind of break in the action, this could well be a major selling point for you. There is also one other new option worthy of note here – the game will now support two-player co-op action, which should certainly add a whole new flavor to the game.
Ultimately, I think my purchasing decision for Mutant Storm Empire will be based less on it's price tag (800 points – $10), and more on just how long each of said levels are. Mutant Storm Reloaded was a game where each level seemed to end just as it was becoming exciting, and while Empire may remove the delay between levels, if each level is still overly short, those sixteen levels could go by far too quickly. Call it a personal preference, but I feel the best arcade-style shooters are the ones that have that never-ending feeling. Mind you, they don't have to actually be never ending, just make the game long enough that it will take a good while to attain the necessary skill to reach that end. As an example, while it wasn't a shooter, I think many (including myself) felt cheated every time that timer ran out in Pac-Man Championship Edition. (Do you hear me Namco? I'm more than willing to pay again for a version of the game with no timers!) Without a doubt, one of the great features of some of the earliest arcade games was their ability to be played forever on a single coin.
My lecture on arcade game design done, it's time to take a look at the particulars surrounding Mutant Storm Empire;
Title: Mutant Storm Empire
Developer: Pom Pom Games
Publisher: Pom Pom Games
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/31/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Fantasy Violence
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"There's this evil emperor, see, and … well, he's evil. Now someone has decided to put a stop to the whole evilness thing, and that someone is you. It's the right thing to do! Besides, in Mutant Storm Empire, it'll be fun. Battle through line after line of the emperor's minion horde, destroying absolutely everything you can! Blast through bunches of robots, crush colonies of aquatic monsters, smash swarms of UFOs, and demolish devastating bosses. It's a continuous adventure through four immense, strikingly vibrant worlds, and you can fight alone or join forces with a friend in two-player cooperative mode. Enjoy the frenzy!
- The art of blasting: Practice the way of "Blastikkidoo" or the art of blasting, as you plow through the different worlds in Mutant Storm Empire. This all-new sequel to Mutant Storm Reloaded ratchets up the competitive challenge!
- Numerous levels: The four different worlds feature sixteen challenging levels, all in gorgeous high-def 3-D graphics.
- Multiplayer modes: Play co-op offline with a friend, or head into Xbox LIVE® territory and go multiplayer for up to 2 people.
- Achievements: Twelve new achievements to master ranging from easy, such as getting a single combo of beasties, to difficult, such as completing the game on the Black Belt level." – Xbox.com
As for last week's Live Arcade releases, I stand by my comments on each – Battlestar Galactica is still trash and Exit is a game that has a bit of potential for those who enjoy puzzle solving platformers. While I may never even look at BSG again, I'll certainly be revisiting Exit at some point in the future.
You'll have to pardon how brief I keep this post, but I'm feeling quite a bit under the weather at the moment and really want nothing more than to crawl back into bed and go to sleep.
My health aside, what we're here to talk about is the Xbox Live Arcade – namely the fact that Microsoft not only announced which title would be seeing release this week (Mutant Storm Empire – 800 points), but also gave us a peek into what games will be coming in the immediate future.
While Castle Crashers is still nowhere in sight, here are a few of the titles we can expect to see in the coming weeks;
While a few of those titles sound like they could have potential, I have to say that nothing there really gets me excited – then again, the way I'm feeling right now, not much probably would. It's kind of hard to sound enthusiastic when your only goal in life at the moment is to go back to bed.
You know, sometimes when I'm putting these lists together, I completely blank on a game or two. I bring this up, because last week, I completely forgot about the Sunday release of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock. Yes, I suck – it's true. I apologize for any inconvenience that omission may have caused anyone living under a rock.
It's because I feel so bad about the whole thing that I'm not only going to include GH3 with this week's release list, I'm also going to make it my pick of the week. Guitar Hero III, as you are no doubt aware, is the latest game in Activision's massively popular rhythm game series – and this time around, it's more than just a new set of songs. Whether it's because of new developer Neversoft, the looming competition coming from Rock Band or just a natural progression of the series, GH3 introduces guitar battles to the mix in order to liven things up. Guitar battles are played much like the standard game, with the exception that instead of generating star power, players generate power-ups that can be used to make life more difficult for the competition.
The power-ups take the form of such dirty tricks as temporarily raising the skill level an opponent is playing, doubling the number of notes on screen, breaking parts of your nemesis' guitar and even going so far as to reverse the notes being played on screen. All's fair in love and rock, I guess.
The other big news with Guitar Hero III is that it marks the series' debut on the PlayStation 3 and Wii, as well as being the first time a wireless guitar is being offered for the Xbox 360. Now gamers can rock the night away free from the danger of yanking their consoles off the shelf. Rock on dude.
Now that we've talked about GH3, let's get on with this week's retail highlights;
Be sure to check out the below list for all the titles you can expect to find at retail this week.
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
A single player demo of Crytek's highly anticipated shooter Crysis is now available for the PC via most of your favorite file download sites. Approximate download size is 1.77GB.
Please note: Crytek strongly recommends that you update your video drivers before attempting to play this demo.
About an hour ago, I went out in search of a store that would have the Wood Swarm theme deck for The Eye of Judgment in stock, and happened to stop in my local Walmart on the long shot that they would have it. While I didn't find the theme deck, what I did find were a few accessories for the Xbox 360 on clearance.
While I can't say for certain that the same will be in effect at every Walmart, this store had the following items on clearance;
While many gamers won't care about the remote or memory card, the Wireless Gaming Receiver is a nifty little item that will allow you to use your wireless Xbox 360 accessories on your PC.
Bottom line? If you're in the vicinity of a Walmart anytime soon, you may want to stop in and check out the gaming section to see if there are any deals available.
A demo of Screenlife Games' Scene It? Lights, Camera, Action for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions except Asia via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 619.00MB.
While we're on the subject of this week's PlayStation Store updates, Sony has finally gotten around to releasing another classic PlayStation title for both the PlayStation 3 and PSP. Spyro the Dragon, the first in the now familiar series of games, is available for download through the PlayStation store at a cost of $5.99.
"Meet Spyro, the adorable and mischievous little dragon on a GIGANTIC adventure. Take on an astonishing and completely 3D platform adventure game unlike any other! Take a wonderful journey as you glide, fly, roll, and frolic through fantasy worlds." – PlayStation.com
I remember playing Spyro when it first came out back in 1998, and despite my general dislike of platform style games, I did enjoy my time with it. Maybe it was the fact that the main character was a dragon, or maybe just the fact that I found making Spyro charge headlong into objects utterly hilarious, but I did like it.
That said, I still won't be purchasing this one. I've got my Emotion Engine equipped PS3 and the original game right here, so there's no need to shell out any more cash for nostalgia's sake. I do wonder if part of the reason Sony is backing away from any support for backward compatibility is so they can rake in the cash the same way Nintendo does with the Wii and it's Virtual Console. Just something to consider.
One of the item's released in this week's PlayStation Store update was EyeCreate – a free program for the PlayStation 3 that will allow PlayStation Eye owners to edit their own videos using the console.
"PLAYSTATION®Eye required. EyeCreate™ is the first video editing software for the PLAYSTATION®3. Using EyeCreate™ and the PLAYSTATION®Eye camera, you can capture video, audio and even photos which can then be edited into a movie. An extensive list of special effects such as Color Filters, Distortions, Art Filters and Motion Trails can give your video a professional touch. There are even advanced features such as Time Lapse and Stop Motion to experiment with. Once you're done creating and editing your masterpiece, Export it to watch it on the Video folder of the XMB. EyeCreate™ will let you express yourself and get creative!" – PlayStation Store
While I do understand the need to support the just-released PlayStation Eye camera, I do have to wonder why this wasn't just included with the Eye itself. Ultimately, EyeCreate sounds like a nifty little program for those looking for some simple video creation fun – and since the price is right (free), it certainly couldn't hurt to give it a download.
Following in the footsteps of the latest MAME update, MAME32 v.120.1, the Windows GUI port of MAME v.120u1 is now available. The same advice I gave about the latest build of MAME applies to this version of MAME32 as well.
Check out the official MAME32 page here for more details and the download links.
The updates continue on the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, as version .120u1 is now available for download. This update focuses on improvements to Namco System 21 emulation as well as the addition of a new generic polygon rendering system for multi-core processors.
Because of these changes, unless you’ve been having a problem with your current installation, I’d recommend holding off on upgrading until the next full release. As always, those of you interested in testing this build for the dev team should download the update and then head on over to MAME Testers to find out how to get started.
The updated emulator files can be found at the official MAME development page at Mamedev.org. You can Click here to see the full list of what’s new in this update.
It’s wednesday, and you know what that means – it’s time for another edition of Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays. Once again, it’s a double feature week as two more original titles find their way to the Live Arcade in the form of Battlestar Galactica and Exit.
Battlestar Galactica is a top down, free roaming shooter based on the current incarnation of the show of the same name. You take the side of either the human race or Cylon empire and fly about, performing missions to advance your cause in either a free-play mode or a campaign. Online, the game also offers domination and multiplayer dogfight game modes for up to 8 players.
Having just finished playing both of today’s releases, I feel pretty confident in saying that while Battlestar Galactica is a pretty game, there’s not much meat to it. At 800 points ($10), I certainly could think of better games to spend the money on, so my advice to you is to be sure to try the demo before you buy this one.
Title: Battlestar Galactica
Developer: Auran
Publisher: Sierra Online
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/24/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-4 / 2-8 Online
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E10 – Everyone 10+ (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood)
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Enter the Battlestar Galactica universe in Battlestar Galactica™. Sign up to defend the Galactica, or play as the ruthless Cylons as they seek to remove the Human Race from existence. Pilot iconic ships from the Viper II to the Heavy Raider and lead your squadron in enormous fast-action multiplayer space combat (with up to eight players online) or play through the exciting single-player campaign.
- Single-player campaign: Pilot various ships and complete memorable missions from the TV series.
- Multiplayer game mode: Play online with up to eight players in this relentless space-based action shooter in Firefight, Skirmish, and Domination modes.
- Spaceships: Pilot four human and four Cylon ships, from the Viper II to the Heavy Raider, each with unique weapon capabilities.
- Special weapons: Coordinate attacks with an arsenal of destructive weapons including missiles, guns, and more.
- Defensive maneuvers: Avoid annihilation with the barrel roll, quick turnabouts, and other aerial moves." – Xbox.com
The second Live Arcade title of the week shows a little more promise if side scrolling platform puzzle games are to your liking. Exit is a stylized take on the classic platformer where your mission is to escape from a series of buildings using items found throughout each of the game’s levels. Adding to the mix is the need to rescue other people trapped in the building, and in many cases use them to help solve the puzzle that will allow you to escape unharmed.
The tutorial levels that I tried are fairly straight-forward and didn’t include any truly mind-bending puzzles, so I really don’t know whether or not this one is going to live up to it’s promise. As usual, my advice is for you to download the demo and see whether or not the game suits your tastes.
In my case, while I liked the puzzle solving aspect of the game (despite the tutorials simplicity), I found that it was just a little too slow paced for me to really get into – which is why I didn’t play the tutorial levels all the way to their completion. it’s one of those titles that I’ll probably go back to soon in order to see if it still leaves me cold or if I was just feeling a bit impatient today. I guess the best thing I can say about Exit is that it reminds me of a cross between the Castle of Dr Brain and Mario vs Donkey Kong.
Title: Exit
Developer: TAITO Corporation
Publisher: TAITO Corporation
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/24/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E (Everyone) Cartoon Violence
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Meet Mr. ESC, otherwise known as Mr. Escape. Mr. ESC is an escape artist whose objective is to save people from disastrous situations, clearing each danger-filled stage within a limited amount of time. Save lives in EXIT®, a frantic, mind-stretching, action-packed puzzle game!
- Frantic rescue action: As Mr. ESC, take control and rescue people from dangers like fires and earthquakes. Turn them into Companions and lead them to safety.
- Puzzle-solving skills required: Use your Companions by commanding them to use items, solve puzzles, and reach the exit within the time limit.
- Companion abilities: The different Companions you save have different abilities. Young Companions have average abilities, Adults are strong, and Kids can make it through tight passages. Be sure to save the injured Patients as well.
- Multiple stages: There are over 120 challenging stages to escape, and even more stages will be available for download.
- Twelve new achievements and leaderboard: Master twelve new achievements, and compete for the best stage times on the leaderboards to prove you are the greatest escape artist in the world!" – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade titles, I couldn’t really get into either of them. Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe suffers from both control issues and a general lack of solid fun that easily makes it (imho) not worth the price that’s being asked for it. Every Extend Extra Extreme, while a good title, just didn’t fit my tastes. The game’s design makes you feel more of a spectator than an active participant, and I found myself growing bored of it quickly. It’s not a case where I’ll say it’s a bad game, just one that I’ll say I don’t particularly care for.
It’s wednesday, and you know what that means – it’s time for another edition of Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays. Once again, it’s a double feature week as two more original titles find their way to the Live Arcade in the form of Battlestar Galactica and Exit.
Battlestar Galactica is a top down, free roaming shooter based on the current incarnation of the show of the same name. You take the side of either the human race or Cylon empire and fly about, performing missions to advance your cause in either a free-play mode or a campaign. Online, the game also offers domination and multiplayer dogfight game modes for up to 8 players.
Having just finished playing both of today’s releases, I feel pretty confident in saying that while Battlestar Galactica is a pretty game, there’s not much meat to it. At 800 points ($10), I certainly could think of better games to spend the money on, so my advice to you is to be sure to try the demo before you buy this one.
Title: Battlestar Galactica
Developer: Auran
Publisher: Sierra Online
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/24/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-4 / 2-8 Online
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E10 – Everyone 10+ (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood)
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Enter the Battlestar Galactica universe in Battlestar Galactica™. Sign up to defend the Galactica, or play as the ruthless Cylons as they seek to remove the Human Race from existence. Pilot iconic ships from the Viper II to the Heavy Raider and lead your squadron in enormous fast-action multiplayer space combat (with up to eight players online) or play through the exciting single-player campaign.
- Single-player campaign: Pilot various ships and complete memorable missions from the TV series.
- Multiplayer game mode: Play online with up to eight players in this relentless space-based action shooter in Firefight, Skirmish, and Domination modes.
- Spaceships: Pilot four human and four Cylon ships, from the Viper II to the Heavy Raider, each with unique weapon capabilities.
- Special weapons: Coordinate attacks with an arsenal of destructive weapons including missiles, guns, and more.
- Defensive maneuvers: Avoid annihilation with the barrel roll, quick turnabouts, and other aerial moves." – Xbox.com
The second Live Arcade title of the week shows a little more promise if side scrolling platform puzzle games are to your liking. Exit is a stylized take on the classic platformer where your mission is to escape from a series of buildings using items found throughout each of the game’s levels. Adding to the mix is the need to rescue other people trapped in the building, and in many cases use them to help solve the puzzle that will allow you to escape unharmed.
The tutorial levels that I tried are fairly straight-forward and didn’t include any truly mind-bending puzzles, so I really don’t know whether or not this one is going to live up to it’s promise. As usual, my advice is for you to download the demo and see whether or not the game suits your tastes.
In my case, while I liked the puzzle solving aspect of the game (despite the tutorials simplicity), I found that it was just a little too slow paced for me to really get into – which is why I didn’t play the tutorial levels all the way to their completion. it’s one of those titles that I’ll probably go back to soon in order to see if it still leaves me cold or if I was just feeling a bit impatient today. I guess the best thing I can say about Exit is that it reminds me of a cross between the Castle of Dr Brain and Mario vs Donkey Kong.
Title: Exit
Developer: TAITO Corporation
Publisher: TAITO Corporation
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/24/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E (Everyone) Cartoon Violence
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Meet Mr. ESC, otherwise known as Mr. Escape. Mr. ESC is an escape artist whose objective is to save people from disastrous situations, clearing each danger-filled stage within a limited amount of time. Save lives in EXIT®, a frantic, mind-stretching, action-packed puzzle game!
- Frantic rescue action: As Mr. ESC, take control and rescue people from dangers like fires and earthquakes. Turn them into Companions and lead them to safety.
- Puzzle-solving skills required: Use your Companions by commanding them to use items, solve puzzles, and reach the exit within the time limit.
- Companion abilities: The different Companions you save have different abilities. Young Companions have average abilities, Adults are strong, and Kids can make it through tight passages. Be sure to save the injured Patients as well.
- Multiple stages: There are over 120 challenging stages to escape, and even more stages will be available for download.
- Twelve new achievements and leaderboard: Master twelve new achievements, and compete for the best stage times on the leaderboards to prove you are the greatest escape artist in the world!" – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade titles, I couldn’t really get into either of them. Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe suffers from both control issues and a general lack of solid fun that easily makes it (imho) not worth the price that’s being asked for it. Every Extend Extra Extreme, while a good title, just didn’t fit my tastes. The game’s design makes you feel more of a spectator than an active participant, and I found myself growing bored of it quickly. It’s not a case where I’ll say it’s a bad game, just one that I’ll say I don’t particularly care for.
It’s wednesday, and you know what that means – it’s time for another edition of Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays. Once again, it’s a double feature week as two more original titles find their way to the Live Arcade in the form of Battlestar Galactica and Exit.
Battlestar Galactica is a top down, free roaming shooter based on the current incarnation of the show of the same name. You take the side of either the human race or Cylon empire and fly about, performing missions to advance your cause in either a free-play mode or a campaign. Online, the game also offers domination and multiplayer dogfight game modes for up to 8 players.
Having just finished playing both of today’s releases, I feel pretty confident in saying that while Battlestar Galactica is a pretty game, there’s not much meat to it. At 800 points ($10), I certainly could think of better games to spend the money on, so my advice to you is to be sure to try the demo before you buy this one.
Title: Battlestar Galactica
Developer: Auran
Publisher: Sierra Online
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/24/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-4 / 2-8 Online
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E10 – Everyone 10+ (Fantasy Violence, Mild Blood)
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Enter the Battlestar Galactica universe in Battlestar Galactica™. Sign up to defend the Galactica, or play as the ruthless Cylons as they seek to remove the Human Race from existence. Pilot iconic ships from the Viper II to the Heavy Raider and lead your squadron in enormous fast-action multiplayer space combat (with up to eight players online) or play through the exciting single-player campaign.
- Single-player campaign: Pilot various ships and complete memorable missions from the TV series.
- Multiplayer game mode: Play online with up to eight players in this relentless space-based action shooter in Firefight, Skirmish, and Domination modes.
- Spaceships: Pilot four human and four Cylon ships, from the Viper II to the Heavy Raider, each with unique weapon capabilities.
- Special weapons: Coordinate attacks with an arsenal of destructive weapons including missiles, guns, and more.
- Defensive maneuvers: Avoid annihilation with the barrel roll, quick turnabouts, and other aerial moves." – Xbox.com
The second Live Arcade title of the week shows a little more promise if side scrolling platform puzzle games are to your liking. Exit is a stylized take on the classic platformer where your mission is to escape from a series of buildings using items found throughout each of the game’s levels. Adding to the mix is the need to rescue other people trapped in the building, and in many cases use them to help solve the puzzle that will allow you to escape unharmed.
The tutorial levels that I tried are fairly straight-forward and didn’t include any truly mind-bending puzzles, so I really don’t know whether or not this one is going to live up to it’s promise. As usual, my advice is for you to download the demo and see whether or not the game suits your tastes.
In my case, while I liked the puzzle solving aspect of the game (despite the tutorials simplicity), I found that it was just a little too slow paced for me to really get into – which is why I didn’t play the tutorial levels all the way to their completion. it’s one of those titles that I’ll probably go back to soon in order to see if it still leaves me cold or if I was just feeling a bit impatient today. I guess the best thing I can say about Exit is that it reminds me of a cross between the Castle of Dr Brain and Mario vs Donkey Kong.
Title: Exit
Developer: TAITO Corporation
Publisher: TAITO Corporation
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/24/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E (Everyone) Cartoon Violence
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Meet Mr. ESC, otherwise known as Mr. Escape. Mr. ESC is an escape artist whose objective is to save people from disastrous situations, clearing each danger-filled stage within a limited amount of time. Save lives in EXIT®, a frantic, mind-stretching, action-packed puzzle game!
- Frantic rescue action: As Mr. ESC, take control and rescue people from dangers like fires and earthquakes. Turn them into Companions and lead them to safety.
- Puzzle-solving skills required: Use your Companions by commanding them to use items, solve puzzles, and reach the exit within the time limit.
- Companion abilities: The different Companions you save have different abilities. Young Companions have average abilities, Adults are strong, and Kids can make it through tight passages. Be sure to save the injured Patients as well.
- Multiple stages: There are over 120 challenging stages to escape, and even more stages will be available for download.
- Twelve new achievements and leaderboard: Master twelve new achievements, and compete for the best stage times on the leaderboards to prove you are the greatest escape artist in the world!" – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade titles, I couldn’t really get into either of them. Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe suffers from both control issues and a general lack of solid fun that easily makes it (imho) not worth the price that’s being asked for it. Every Extend Extra Extreme, while a good title, just didn’t fit my tastes. The game’s design makes you feel more of a spectator than an active participant, and I found myself growing bored of it quickly. It’s not a case where I’ll say it’s a bad game, just one that I’ll say I don’t particularly care for.
A demo of Electronic Arts’ Need for Speed Pro Street for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 654.64MB.
A demo of Activision’s Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 544.82MB.
According to a story running over at Gamespot, Electronic Arts has announced that Army of Two will be delayed until early 2008.
“Previously expected to see release on November 13, Army of Two has been shuffled back into EA’s early 2008 lineup, with the publisher saying it needs the extra time to polish the shooter.” – Gamespot
While I applaud Electronic Arts for not pushing an unfinished title out the door in the name of profits, this move does bring the issue of the company having three very similar games (Army of Two, Battlefield: Bad Company & Mercenaries 2: World in Flames) falling into roughly the same release window to the forefront once more. I can’t help but think at least one of those titles will see another delay in order to avoid the potential lost sales a near simultaneous release would create.
Looks like November is getting more and more affordable for gamers.
There are a ton of quality titles coming to retail this time around, which makes it pretty hard to pick just one to call my “pick of the week”, but I’m going to do it anyway – because that’s just how I roll.
Taking everything into account, I’m going to put my money behind Sony’s The Eye of Judgment as pick of the week. Anytime a company is willing to try something a little different, it should be recognized – and Sony’s hybrid video/collectible card game is certainly falls into that category. While I find the game immensely interesting due to the massive variety of potential strategies that will no doubt appear over the next few weeks, I do worry that the title is going to see lackluster sales.
Between the perceived complexity of the title and the cost of the cards required to play the game competitively, I think a lot of people may be turned off before they ever even give the game a chance. I’ve also found that many game shops are unsure of whether or not they’ll be carrying the booster packs and theme decks at launch (or afterwards), meaning that the game could conceivably be hamstrung by card supply constraints.
I guess what I’m saying here is this – if you plan on buying this game, be sure to get the cards now while they’re still available – because if the game tanks, you may not see them on the shelves for long.
Here are the week’s retail highlights;
Be sure to check out the below list for all the titles you can expect to find at retail this week.
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
A second demo of Sony’s Folklore for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 1.27GB.
A demo of THQ’s Juiced 2: Hot Import Nights for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 969MB.
MAME32, the Windows GUI port of the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, has now made the jump to v.120, incorporating all of the changes seen in the most recent build of it’s command line based parent.
Check out the official MAME32 page here for more details and the download links.
A demo of Konami’s Pro Evolution Soccer 2008 for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in North America via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 1.18GB.
After much procrastinating, I’ve finally gotten around to posting my hands-on experience with Sony’s The Eye of Judgment, a hybrid collectible card game developed with the assistance of Wizards of the Coast, for the PlayStation 3.
Since the article is pretty long and somewhat image heavy, I’ve set up the full article on another page so that those of you who have no interest in the game don’t have to deal with seeing the whole story every time you visit the site.
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Just a taste of what you’ll find in the full article – you know you want to read it! |
As you may have guessed from the title, Capcom has confirmed that Street Fighter IV, the next installment in their classic brawling series is finally in development. While Capcom didn’t divulge what systems the game will appear on or give a firm release date, they did manage to get the first teaser trailer for the game out the door.
Normally, I’d pass on putting up a trailer that doesn’t include any gameplay footage, but because of Street Fighter IV just being confirmed, all the hours of enjoyment the Street Fighter series has brought me, and the rampant speculation that the game’s art style may mimic the stylized look of the teaser, I figured it was at least a bit newsworthy. Okay, it probably didn’t hurt that I fell asleep at my desk (again) and as such still didn’t finish editing my hands-on look at Sony’s The Eye of Judgment. Yeah, I know, I suck.
Let the internet rumor-mongering commence!
Welcome to another edition of Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays. This week, Microsoft is giving Xbox 360 owners another double dose of action with the releases of Every Extend Extra Extreme and Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, so let’s get right to it and take a look at our two contestants…
Every Extend Extra Extreme is the latest iteration in the Every Extend series, and promises to provide players with more of the music-based, chain-blasting action fans of the previous games have come to expect. One perk found in the Xbox 360 version will be the ability to stream your own music to the 360 for use in the game, which should add a great deal of variety depending on what kind of music you choose to use.
For those of you who are completely lost at this point, let me explain… Every Extend Extra Extreme is a game where the actual frequency of enemies and the timing of the combos players can make is controlled by the music being played in the game. The premise is simple – players sacrifice their onscreen avatar by crashing into the enemies on screen, thereby setting off a chain reaction of explosions that generate their score. Naturally, the longer and more complex the chain reaction is, the more points the player scores.
If you’re still confused, my advice is to try the demo available in the Xbox Live Marketplace or download Every Extend, the original freeware game, for your PC to see if this is a game worth your 800 points ($10).
Title: Every Extend Extra Extreme
Developer: Q Entertainment Inc.
Publisher: Q Entertainment Inc.
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/17/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: Not available
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"The latest creation by Q Entertainment, EVERY EXTEND EXTRA EXTREME (E4) is a unique action-packed shooter. Time your self-destruction perfectly, create chain reactions by exploding enemies, and extend the game life. Enjoy a trippy, trancey clubbing experience through the combination of highly addictive gameplay, music, and sharp visuals. E4 features five exciting game modes as you collect bonus items and detonate your craft to the beat to multiply your scores.
- Wildly fun gameplay: Unique, fun, addictive gameplay mixed with hip and cool original music offers a club-like experience in the living room.
- Next-gen challenge and graphics: Outrageous visuals and high-quality sound add to the richness of the gameplay. There are a hundred times more enemies, a hundred times more chain reactions, and a stylish collection of newly designed visualizers all exploding in high definition with 5.1 surround sound support.
- Multiple game modes: Play E4 The Game Unlimited, a reverse action-shooter where the goal is to self-destruct, create large chain reactions of explosions by defeating enemies, and extend the life of the game by collecting the items they leave behind. Other game modes include E4 The Game Limited, that challenges with a Time Attack version of the main mode. Take on R4 The Revenge, a genuine shooter with up to 100 stages. And go head to head in H4 Versus Live, against other players on Xbox LIVE®.
- Your own music: Add your own music in the S4 Wiz Ur Muzik mode. Enjoy a customized E4 gameplay experience by adding your own tracks and playing to your favorite music." – Xbox.com
If Every Extend Extra Extreme didn’t sound like your kind of game, then perhaps Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, a remake of the 1991 game of the same name, will be more to your liking.
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe is a futuristic sports game where players in an enclosed arena attempt to score by throwing a ball into their opponent’s goal. Those are the entire set of rules – how your team does that is entirely up to them, meaning that violence is sure to ensue. I don’t have much first-hand knowledge of this game, so I’m going to highly recommend that you try the demo before shelling out the required 800 points ($10) to purchase this one.
Title: Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Developer: The Bitmap Brothers
Publisher: Empire Interactive, LTD.
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/17/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E (Everyone) Mild Violence
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"In the year 2326, rival gangs form an ultra-violent streetsports league called Speedball to settle their deadly disputes. Get your steel ball into the opponent’s goal. That’s it, there are no other rules, and anything goes. The sport becomes quite popular, but it is also extremely dangerous. Ten years later, Speedball becomes the national sport with sponsors, professional teams, and insanely brutal action.
Now, the Bitmap Brothers and Empire Interactive bring you the legendary futuristic sports game Speedball™ 2: Brutal Deluxe completely remastered for Xbox LIVE® Arcade. Play the fast-paced and utterly brutal game with its classic 2-D graphics, or go full on with the new super-enhanced high definition 3-D visuals. Smash your way to the top of the league in the solo game or go head to head locally or on Xbox LIVE. The game features 32 teams, 4 leagues, cup and knockout competitions, team enhancements, management and training options, and Ranked Preset or Ranked Career games.
- Updated classic: Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe brings you both the original version with its violently fast action and 2-D graphics, and the exciting new high-def enhanced 3-D graphics for players and arenas.
- Multiplayer mode: Win as many professional matches as you can, join the upper leagues, and unlock new content in the online store. Play locally or on Xbox LIVE. Compete head to head in friendly or ranked matches.
- Expanded gameplay: The solo game includes 32 teams, league championship, cup and knockout competitions.
- Management options: Use your management skills to train your players or buy star players as you mount your challenge for the championship." – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade titles, I can sum it up pretty shortly with the following statements… If you don’t already own Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for another system, you really owe it to yourself to pick it up for the Live Arcade – it’s every bit as addictive as it’s handheld cousins. As for Yaris, it’s a very rare thing for me to say that a free game isn’t worth the time to download, but Yaris accomplishes that feat quite well. It just isn’t even worth the hard drive space it occupies.
Welcome to another edition of Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays. This week, Microsoft is giving Xbox 360 owners another double dose of action with the releases of Every Extend Extra Extreme and Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, so let’s get right to it and take a look at our two contestants…
Every Extend Extra Extreme is the latest iteration in the Every Extend series, and promises to provide players with more of the music-based, chain-blasting action fans of the previous games have come to expect. One perk found in the Xbox 360 version will be the ability to stream your own music to the 360 for use in the game, which should add a great deal of variety depending on what kind of music you choose to use.
For those of you who are completely lost at this point, let me explain… Every Extend Extra Extreme is a game where the actual frequency of enemies and the timing of the combos players can make is controlled by the music being played in the game. The premise is simple – players sacrifice their onscreen avatar by crashing into the enemies on screen, thereby setting off a chain reaction of explosions that generate their score. Naturally, the longer and more complex the chain reaction is, the more points the player scores.
If you’re still confused, my advice is to try the demo available in the Xbox Live Marketplace or download Every Extend, the original freeware game, for your PC to see if this is a game worth your 800 points ($10).
Title: Every Extend Extra Extreme
Developer: Q Entertainment Inc.
Publisher: Q Entertainment Inc.
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/17/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: Not available
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"The latest creation by Q Entertainment, EVERY EXTEND EXTRA EXTREME (E4) is a unique action-packed shooter. Time your self-destruction perfectly, create chain reactions by exploding enemies, and extend the game life. Enjoy a trippy, trancey clubbing experience through the combination of highly addictive gameplay, music, and sharp visuals. E4 features five exciting game modes as you collect bonus items and detonate your craft to the beat to multiply your scores.
- Wildly fun gameplay: Unique, fun, addictive gameplay mixed with hip and cool original music offers a club-like experience in the living room.
- Next-gen challenge and graphics: Outrageous visuals and high-quality sound add to the richness of the gameplay. There are a hundred times more enemies, a hundred times more chain reactions, and a stylish collection of newly designed visualizers all exploding in high definition with 5.1 surround sound support.
- Multiple game modes: Play E4 The Game Unlimited, a reverse action-shooter where the goal is to self-destruct, create large chain reactions of explosions by defeating enemies, and extend the life of the game by collecting the items they leave behind. Other game modes include E4 The Game Limited, that challenges with a Time Attack version of the main mode. Take on R4 The Revenge, a genuine shooter with up to 100 stages. And go head to head in H4 Versus Live, against other players on Xbox LIVE®.
- Your own music: Add your own music in the S4 Wiz Ur Muzik mode. Enjoy a customized E4 gameplay experience by adding your own tracks and playing to your favorite music." – Xbox.com
If Every Extend Extra Extreme didn’t sound like your kind of game, then perhaps Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, a remake of the 1991 game of the same name, will be more to your liking.
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe is a futuristic sports game where players in an enclosed arena attempt to score by throwing a ball into their opponent’s goal. Those are the entire set of rules – how your team does that is entirely up to them, meaning that violence is sure to ensue. I don’t have much first-hand knowledge of this game, so I’m going to highly recommend that you try the demo before shelling out the required 800 points ($10) to purchase this one.
Title: Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Developer: The Bitmap Brothers
Publisher: Empire Interactive, LTD.
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/17/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E (Everyone) Mild Violence
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"In the year 2326, rival gangs form an ultra-violent streetsports league called Speedball to settle their deadly disputes. Get your steel ball into the opponent’s goal. That’s it, there are no other rules, and anything goes. The sport becomes quite popular, but it is also extremely dangerous. Ten years later, Speedball becomes the national sport with sponsors, professional teams, and insanely brutal action.
Now, the Bitmap Brothers and Empire Interactive bring you the legendary futuristic sports game Speedball™ 2: Brutal Deluxe completely remastered for Xbox LIVE® Arcade. Play the fast-paced and utterly brutal game with its classic 2-D graphics, or go full on with the new super-enhanced high definition 3-D visuals. Smash your way to the top of the league in the solo game or go head to head locally or on Xbox LIVE. The game features 32 teams, 4 leagues, cup and knockout competitions, team enhancements, management and training options, and Ranked Preset or Ranked Career games.
- Updated classic: Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe brings you both the original version with its violently fast action and 2-D graphics, and the exciting new high-def enhanced 3-D graphics for players and arenas.
- Multiplayer mode: Win as many professional matches as you can, join the upper leagues, and unlock new content in the online store. Play locally or on Xbox LIVE. Compete head to head in friendly or ranked matches.
- Expanded gameplay: The solo game includes 32 teams, league championship, cup and knockout competitions.
- Management options: Use your management skills to train your players or buy star players as you mount your challenge for the championship." – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade titles, I can sum it up pretty shortly with the following statements… If you don’t already own Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for another system, you really owe it to yourself to pick it up for the Live Arcade – it’s every bit as addictive as it’s handheld cousins. As for Yaris, it’s a very rare thing for me to say that a free game isn’t worth the time to download, but Yaris accomplishes that feat quite well. It just isn’t even worth the hard drive space it occupies.
Welcome to another edition of Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays. This week, Microsoft is giving Xbox 360 owners another double dose of action with the releases of Every Extend Extra Extreme and Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, so let’s get right to it and take a look at our two contestants…
Every Extend Extra Extreme is the latest iteration in the Every Extend series, and promises to provide players with more of the music-based, chain-blasting action fans of the previous games have come to expect. One perk found in the Xbox 360 version will be the ability to stream your own music to the 360 for use in the game, which should add a great deal of variety depending on what kind of music you choose to use.
For those of you who are completely lost at this point, let me explain… Every Extend Extra Extreme is a game where the actual frequency of enemies and the timing of the combos players can make is controlled by the music being played in the game. The premise is simple – players sacrifice their onscreen avatar by crashing into the enemies on screen, thereby setting off a chain reaction of explosions that generate their score. Naturally, the longer and more complex the chain reaction is, the more points the player scores.
If you’re still confused, my advice is to try the demo available in the Xbox Live Marketplace or download Every Extend, the original freeware game, for your PC to see if this is a game worth your 800 points ($10).
Title: Every Extend Extra Extreme
Developer: Q Entertainment Inc.
Publisher: Q Entertainment Inc.
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/17/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: Not available
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"The latest creation by Q Entertainment, EVERY EXTEND EXTRA EXTREME (E4) is a unique action-packed shooter. Time your self-destruction perfectly, create chain reactions by exploding enemies, and extend the game life. Enjoy a trippy, trancey clubbing experience through the combination of highly addictive gameplay, music, and sharp visuals. E4 features five exciting game modes as you collect bonus items and detonate your craft to the beat to multiply your scores.
- Wildly fun gameplay: Unique, fun, addictive gameplay mixed with hip and cool original music offers a club-like experience in the living room.
- Next-gen challenge and graphics: Outrageous visuals and high-quality sound add to the richness of the gameplay. There are a hundred times more enemies, a hundred times more chain reactions, and a stylish collection of newly designed visualizers all exploding in high definition with 5.1 surround sound support.
- Multiple game modes: Play E4 The Game Unlimited, a reverse action-shooter where the goal is to self-destruct, create large chain reactions of explosions by defeating enemies, and extend the life of the game by collecting the items they leave behind. Other game modes include E4 The Game Limited, that challenges with a Time Attack version of the main mode. Take on R4 The Revenge, a genuine shooter with up to 100 stages. And go head to head in H4 Versus Live, against other players on Xbox LIVE®.
- Your own music: Add your own music in the S4 Wiz Ur Muzik mode. Enjoy a customized E4 gameplay experience by adding your own tracks and playing to your favorite music." – Xbox.com
If Every Extend Extra Extreme didn’t sound like your kind of game, then perhaps Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, a remake of the 1991 game of the same name, will be more to your liking.
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe is a futuristic sports game where players in an enclosed arena attempt to score by throwing a ball into their opponent’s goal. Those are the entire set of rules – how your team does that is entirely up to them, meaning that violence is sure to ensue. I don’t have much first-hand knowledge of this game, so I’m going to highly recommend that you try the demo before shelling out the required 800 points ($10) to purchase this one.
Title: Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Developer: The Bitmap Brothers
Publisher: Empire Interactive, LTD.
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/17/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E (Everyone) Mild Violence
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"In the year 2326, rival gangs form an ultra-violent streetsports league called Speedball to settle their deadly disputes. Get your steel ball into the opponent’s goal. That’s it, there are no other rules, and anything goes. The sport becomes quite popular, but it is also extremely dangerous. Ten years later, Speedball becomes the national sport with sponsors, professional teams, and insanely brutal action.
Now, the Bitmap Brothers and Empire Interactive bring you the legendary futuristic sports game Speedball™ 2: Brutal Deluxe completely remastered for Xbox LIVE® Arcade. Play the fast-paced and utterly brutal game with its classic 2-D graphics, or go full on with the new super-enhanced high definition 3-D visuals. Smash your way to the top of the league in the solo game or go head to head locally or on Xbox LIVE. The game features 32 teams, 4 leagues, cup and knockout competitions, team enhancements, management and training options, and Ranked Preset or Ranked Career games.
- Updated classic: Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe brings you both the original version with its violently fast action and 2-D graphics, and the exciting new high-def enhanced 3-D graphics for players and arenas.
- Multiplayer mode: Win as many professional matches as you can, join the upper leagues, and unlock new content in the online store. Play locally or on Xbox LIVE. Compete head to head in friendly or ranked matches.
- Expanded gameplay: The solo game includes 32 teams, league championship, cup and knockout competitions.
- Management options: Use your management skills to train your players or buy star players as you mount your challenge for the championship." – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade titles, I can sum it up pretty shortly with the following statements… If you don’t already own Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for another system, you really owe it to yourself to pick it up for the Live Arcade – it’s every bit as addictive as it’s handheld cousins. As for Yaris, it’s a very rare thing for me to say that a free game isn’t worth the time to download, but Yaris accomplishes that feat quite well. It just isn’t even worth the hard drive space it occupies.
Welcome to another edition of Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays. This week, Microsoft is giving Xbox 360 owners another double dose of action with the releases of Every Extend Extra Extreme and Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, so let’s get right to it and take a look at our two contestants…
Every Extend Extra Extreme is the latest iteration in the Every Extend series, and promises to provide players with more of the music-based, chain-blasting action fans of the previous games have come to expect. One perk found in the Xbox 360 version will be the ability to stream your own music to the 360 for use in the game, which should add a great deal of variety depending on what kind of music you choose to use.
For those of you who are completely lost at this point, let me explain… Every Extend Extra Extreme is a game where the actual frequency of enemies and the timing of the combos players can make is controlled by the music being played in the game. The premise is simple – players sacrifice their onscreen avatar by crashing into the enemies on screen, thereby setting off a chain reaction of explosions that generate their score. Naturally, the longer and more complex the chain reaction is, the more points the player scores.
If you’re still confused, my advice is to try the demo available in the Xbox Live Marketplace or download Every Extend, the original freeware game, for your PC to see if this is a game worth your 800 points ($10).
Title: Every Extend Extra Extreme
Developer: Q Entertainment Inc.
Publisher: Q Entertainment Inc.
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/17/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: Not available
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"The latest creation by Q Entertainment, EVERY EXTEND EXTRA EXTREME (E4) is a unique action-packed shooter. Time your self-destruction perfectly, create chain reactions by exploding enemies, and extend the game life. Enjoy a trippy, trancey clubbing experience through the combination of highly addictive gameplay, music, and sharp visuals. E4 features five exciting game modes as you collect bonus items and detonate your craft to the beat to multiply your scores.
- Wildly fun gameplay: Unique, fun, addictive gameplay mixed with hip and cool original music offers a club-like experience in the living room.
- Next-gen challenge and graphics: Outrageous visuals and high-quality sound add to the richness of the gameplay. There are a hundred times more enemies, a hundred times more chain reactions, and a stylish collection of newly designed visualizers all exploding in high definition with 5.1 surround sound support.
- Multiple game modes: Play E4 The Game Unlimited, a reverse action-shooter where the goal is to self-destruct, create large chain reactions of explosions by defeating enemies, and extend the life of the game by collecting the items they leave behind. Other game modes include E4 The Game Limited, that challenges with a Time Attack version of the main mode. Take on R4 The Revenge, a genuine shooter with up to 100 stages. And go head to head in H4 Versus Live, against other players on Xbox LIVE®.
- Your own music: Add your own music in the S4 Wiz Ur Muzik mode. Enjoy a customized E4 gameplay experience by adding your own tracks and playing to your favorite music." – Xbox.com
If Every Extend Extra Extreme didn’t sound like your kind of game, then perhaps Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe, a remake of the 1991 game of the same name, will be more to your liking.
Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe is a futuristic sports game where players in an enclosed arena attempt to score by throwing a ball into their opponent’s goal. Those are the entire set of rules – how your team does that is entirely up to them, meaning that violence is sure to ensue. I don’t have much first-hand knowledge of this game, so I’m going to highly recommend that you try the demo before shelling out the required 800 points ($10) to purchase this one.
Title: Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe
Developer: The Bitmap Brothers
Publisher: Empire Interactive, LTD.
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/17/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E (Everyone) Mild Violence
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"In the year 2326, rival gangs form an ultra-violent streetsports league called Speedball to settle their deadly disputes. Get your steel ball into the opponent’s goal. That’s it, there are no other rules, and anything goes. The sport becomes quite popular, but it is also extremely dangerous. Ten years later, Speedball becomes the national sport with sponsors, professional teams, and insanely brutal action.
Now, the Bitmap Brothers and Empire Interactive bring you the legendary futuristic sports game Speedball™ 2: Brutal Deluxe completely remastered for Xbox LIVE® Arcade. Play the fast-paced and utterly brutal game with its classic 2-D graphics, or go full on with the new super-enhanced high definition 3-D visuals. Smash your way to the top of the league in the solo game or go head to head locally or on Xbox LIVE. The game features 32 teams, 4 leagues, cup and knockout competitions, team enhancements, management and training options, and Ranked Preset or Ranked Career games.
- Updated classic: Speedball 2: Brutal Deluxe brings you both the original version with its violently fast action and 2-D graphics, and the exciting new high-def enhanced 3-D graphics for players and arenas.
- Multiplayer mode: Win as many professional matches as you can, join the upper leagues, and unlock new content in the online store. Play locally or on Xbox LIVE. Compete head to head in friendly or ranked matches.
- Expanded gameplay: The solo game includes 32 teams, league championship, cup and knockout competitions.
- Management options: Use your management skills to train your players or buy star players as you mount your challenge for the championship." – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade titles, I can sum it up pretty shortly with the following statements… If you don’t already own Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords for another system, you really owe it to yourself to pick it up for the Live Arcade – it’s every bit as addictive as it’s handheld cousins. As for Yaris, it’s a very rare thing for me to say that a free game isn’t worth the time to download, but Yaris accomplishes that feat quite well. It just isn’t even worth the hard drive space it occupies.
The latest version of the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator is now available. Version 1.20 incorporates all of the changes made in the last series of interim updates. If you were having problems with anything in v.119, this new version may be the one for you.
The updated files can be found at the official MAME page at Mamedev.org. You can Click here to see the full list of what’s new in this release.
Those of you who are burned out on World of Warcraft and the other available MMOGs and have been hoping that NCSoft’s upcoming Tabula Rasa (designed by Richard “Lord British” Garriott of Ultima series fame) will rekindle your interest in the genre should be aware that Fileplanet still has a limited number of keys left for the open beta test running through October 26th. If you want to give it a shot and see if it’s for you, be sure to grab one as soon as possible.
I’ve followed this one a bit over the last few months, and did grab a beta invite from Fileplanet, so if I get a chance to put some time in with it and it’s something worth talking about, I’ll throw up a post sometime after the 26th… or before that if it’s really amazing.
A demo of THQ’s WWE Smackdown vs RAW 2008 for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions except Korea via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 1.21GB.
Yes, I’m a little behind with this update, but a PC BETA demo of Epic Games’ Unreal Tournament 3 is now available for download from most of your favorite PC file download sites. Download package is approximately 741MB.
Please note: as stated above, this is a BETA demo, and as such may contain numerous bugs and glitches as well as some instability. There have been quite a few reports of the game not running properly or causing other system problems after installation. While I can’t vouch for the system stability issues, I will say that I never managed to get the demo to run acceptably.
Bethesda Softworks has released The Fighter’s Stronghold, the final downloadable content pack for The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, for Windows and the Xbox 360, and for the period between October 15th and October 21st, gamers can download the pack free of charge.
“Fighter’s Stronghold – DLC6
Defeat the attacking marauders and become lord of Battlehorn Castle. Located in the Colovian Highlands west of Chorrol, this expansive castle will allow you to live the life of a noble warrior, with private quarters, grand dining hall, wine cellar, barracks, training room and more. And what castle would be complete without a few hidden passages and dark secrets?
- A fully detailed castle for you to explore
- Knights of the True Horn patrol the castle and do your bidding
- Secret treasure vault
- Upgrade the furnishings in every area of the castle
- Hire a vintner to create special wines to enhance your fighting abilities
- Hire a combat trainer to spar with
- Hire a taxidermist to craft lifelike trophies for your great hall
- Purchase an ancient Dwemer Forge that buffs your Armorer skill” – The Elder Scolls download page
The Fighter’s Stronghold is available to PC users through the game’s official store, while the Xbox 360 version can be obtained via the Xbox Live Marketplace. No information on what price the pack will carry after the 21st or whether or not the pack will be made available for the PlayStation 3 is currently available.
This week’s release list is full of titles, but there’s not really much that I find worth getting excited over. I guess if I had to pick a highlight for the week, it would be Rockstar’s port of Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis for the Wii. It’s not that I particularly cared for the game when it was on the Xbox 360, it’s just that I feel that the Wii’s controls may be ideally suited for this game.
Here are the week’s retail highlights;
Be sure to check out the below list for all the titles you can expect to find at retail this week.
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
Following in the footsteps of the latest MAME update, MAME32 v.119.4, the Windows GUI port of MAME v.119u4 is now available. The same advice I gave about the latest build of MAME applies to this version of MAME32 as well.
Check out the official MAME32 page here for more details and the download links.
The updates continue on the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, as version .119u4 is now available for download. This update adds a few new Japanese arcade titles as well as some driver updates for multithreaded 3dfx support.
Because theres really not all that much new in this update, I’d recommend holding off on upgrading your installation until the next full release. However, If you’re one of those valiant souls who wants to test this build for the dev team, download the update and then head on over to MAME Testers to find out how to get started.
The updated emulator files can be found at the official MAME development page at Mamedev.org. You can Click here to see the full list of what’s new in this update.
This week’s PlayStation Store update brings Jonathan Mak’s critically acclaimed game Everyday Shooter to the PlayStation 3. The game is a stage-based shooter that plays a lot like Bizarre Creations’ twin-stick shooter Geometry Wars, with the added twist that the player must collect particles created by the destruction of your enemies in order to chain together scoring combos.
One of the game’s coolest touches is that it’s in-game audio effects become part of it’s soundtrack, meaning that every shot and every explosion will create a soundtrack that differs with each play through.
“Developed solely by Jonathan Mak, Everyday Shooter won three awards at the Independent Gaming Festival at the 2007 Game Developers Conference. Unlike traditional arcade shooters, the sound effects in Everyday Shooter play in musical harmony with the game’s background music. Throughout Everyday Shooter’s album of games, typical arcade sounds of destruction are replaced with guitar riffs harmonizing over an all-guitar soundtrack.
KEY FEATURES
- Album of Shooter Games – Each of the 8 ‘songs’ or levels has a completely different visual vibe and chain system.
- Vector-Based Graphics – Graphics are created from mathematical equations celebrating the beauty of geometry.
- Stunning, Evolving Synaethesia – Every shot, hit, or explosion creates a visual and musical inspiration that produces a note, chord or riff that harmonizes into the song for each level.
- Full HD at 1080p – In addition to the fluid music, enjoy the brilliant colors and stylized visuals.” PlayStation Store
Based on the trailers I’ve seen of Everyday Shooter, as well as the praise the game has drawn from numerous reviewers who have had a chance to try it, I’d probably feel safe in saying that if you’ve got a PlayStation 3, don’t mind stage-based shooters and are a fan of arcade style games, this one is probably going to be a good buy for you.
It’s in that statement that the bad news surrounding Everyday Shooter can be found… I say “probably”, because as with most of Sony’s other PlayStation Store offerings, no demo is available for you to try before you make a purchasing decision. While the game certainly looks fun, it only has a limited number of stages, and without getting a feel for how long each lasts, there’s a question as to whether or not this one is really worth the $9.99 price Sony is asking for it.
A demo of THQ’s Conan for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 541MB.
A demo of Insomniac Games Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 1.57GB.
A demo of Insomniac Games Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 1.57GB.
A demo of Insomniac Games Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 1.57GB.
A demo of Insomniac Games Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 1.57GB.
A demo of 2K Sports NHL 2K8 for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 1.08GB.
A demo of Sega’s Virtua Fighter 5 for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 674.39MB.
A Windows PC demo of Activision’s Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare is now available for download from most of your favorite PC file download sites. The demo contains one mission from the single player campaign and weighs in at approximately 1.37GB.
In a surprise announcement, Electronic Arts has announced that in a deal worth up to 810 million dollars, they’ve purchased both Pandemic Studios (Mercenaries 2) and Bioware (Mass Effect). I can only assume that EA took those stories about them falling behind Activision on the third party developer size chart poorly.
“Today I want to announce two new teams joining the EA family – Pandemic Studios in Los Angeles and Brisbane , Australia ; and BioWare Corp. in Edmonton and Austin . Both will become part of the EA Games Label, reporting to Frank Gibeau.
As you may know, I brought these studios together and served as their CEO while I was with Elevation Partners. I know and respect these teams, the games they make and the strong individual creative cultures that define them. I couldn’t be happier to have them join us at EA.” -EA.com
This one was a bit upsetting. Bioware and Pandemic Studios are two of the more unique development houses out there, and fears of them getting the standard EA treatment (sequel after sequel with few real changes) is running pretty high on the internet right now. We can only hope that this turns out well in the end.
On a related note, Microsoft was quick to point out that regardless of today’s announcement, they are still the exclusive publisher for Bioware’s Mass Effect, and the game will remain an Xbox 360 exclusive. However, they also did make a point of noting that Bioware owns the intellectual property for Mass Effect and that, at present, there are no deals in place for the second or third games in the series.
“First, and most important right now, EA’s acquisition of BioWare will not change the current release schedule for Mass Effect. All of us are excited for the game’s worldwide release, starting Nov. 20. Everyone at BioWare (the owners of the Mass Effect IP) and Microsoft (the exclusive publisher of Mass Effect) are committed to keeping everything on track. And yes, Mass Effect will be an Xbox 360 exclusive, despite any rumors (or wishful thinking) to the contrary.
Since neither BioWare nor Microsoft have made any announcements about sequels or publishing deals, we aren’t ready to say anything more about the future of the franchise, but you can be sure we’ll be discussing a lot of things with BioWare (and EA) in the weeks to come.” – Gamerscore Blog
Why do I get the feeling that eventually every third party developer will fall under EA, THQ, Ubisoft or Activision? *Sigh*
In a surprise announcement, Electronic Arts has announced that in a deal worth up to 810 million dollars, they’ve purchased both Pandemic Studios (Mercenaries 2) and Bioware (Mass Effect). I can only assume that EA took those stories about them falling behind Activision on the third party developer size chart poorly.
“Today I want to announce two new teams joining the EA family – Pandemic Studios in Los Angeles and Brisbane , Australia ; and BioWare Corp. in Edmonton and Austin . Both will become part of the EA Games Label, reporting to Frank Gibeau.
As you may know, I brought these studios together and served as their CEO while I was with Elevation Partners. I know and respect these teams, the games they make and the strong individual creative cultures that define them. I couldn’t be happier to have them join us at EA.” -EA.com
This one was a bit upsetting. Bioware and Pandemic Studios are two of the more unique development houses out there, and fears of them getting the standard EA treatment (sequel after sequel with few real changes) is running pretty high on the internet right now. We can only hope that this turns out well in the end.
On a related note, Microsoft was quick to point out that regardless of today’s announcement, they are still the exclusive publisher for Bioware’s Mass Effect, and the game will remain an Xbox 360 exclusive. However, they also did make a point of noting that Bioware owns the intellectual property for Mass Effect and that, at present, there are no deals in place for the second or third games in the series.
“First, and most important right now, EA’s acquisition of BioWare will not change the current release schedule for Mass Effect. All of us are excited for the game’s worldwide release, starting Nov. 20. Everyone at BioWare (the owners of the Mass Effect IP) and Microsoft (the exclusive publisher of Mass Effect) are committed to keeping everything on track. And yes, Mass Effect will be an Xbox 360 exclusive, despite any rumors (or wishful thinking) to the contrary.
Since neither BioWare nor Microsoft have made any announcements about sequels or publishing deals, we aren’t ready to say anything more about the future of the franchise, but you can be sure we’ll be discussing a lot of things with BioWare (and EA) in the weeks to come.” – Gamerscore Blog
Why do I get the feeling that eventually every third party developer will fall under EA, THQ, Ubisoft or Activision? *Sigh*
In a surprise announcement, Electronic Arts has announced that in a deal worth up to 810 million dollars, they’ve purchased both Pandemic Studios (Mercenaries 2) and Bioware (Mass Effect). I can only assume that EA took those stories about them falling behind Activision on the third party developer size chart poorly.
“Today I want to announce two new teams joining the EA family – Pandemic Studios in Los Angeles and Brisbane , Australia ; and BioWare Corp. in Edmonton and Austin . Both will become part of the EA Games Label, reporting to Frank Gibeau.
As you may know, I brought these studios together and served as their CEO while I was with Elevation Partners. I know and respect these teams, the games they make and the strong individual creative cultures that define them. I couldn’t be happier to have them join us at EA.” -EA.com
This one was a bit upsetting. Bioware and Pandemic Studios are two of the more unique development houses out there, and fears of them getting the standard EA treatment (sequel after sequel with few real changes) is running pretty high on the internet right now. We can only hope that this turns out well in the end.
On a related note, Microsoft was quick to point out that regardless of today’s announcement, they are still the exclusive publisher for Bioware’s Mass Effect, and the game will remain an Xbox 360 exclusive. However, they also did make a point of noting that Bioware owns the intellectual property for Mass Effect and that, at present, there are no deals in place for the second or third games in the series.
“First, and most important right now, EA’s acquisition of BioWare will not change the current release schedule for Mass Effect. All of us are excited for the game’s worldwide release, starting Nov. 20. Everyone at BioWare (the owners of the Mass Effect IP) and Microsoft (the exclusive publisher of Mass Effect) are committed to keeping everything on track. And yes, Mass Effect will be an Xbox 360 exclusive, despite any rumors (or wishful thinking) to the contrary.
Since neither BioWare nor Microsoft have made any announcements about sequels or publishing deals, we aren’t ready to say anything more about the future of the franchise, but you can be sure we’ll be discussing a lot of things with BioWare (and EA) in the weeks to come.” – Gamerscore Blog
Why do I get the feeling that eventually every third party developer will fall under EA, THQ, Ubisoft or Activision? *Sigh*
In a surprise announcement, Electronic Arts has announced that in a deal worth up to 810 million dollars, they’ve purchased both Pandemic Studios (Mercenaries 2) and Bioware (Mass Effect). I can only assume that EA took those stories about them falling behind Activision on the third party developer size chart poorly.
“Today I want to announce two new teams joining the EA family – Pandemic Studios in Los Angeles and Brisbane , Australia ; and BioWare Corp. in Edmonton and Austin . Both will become part of the EA Games Label, reporting to Frank Gibeau.
As you may know, I brought these studios together and served as their CEO while I was with Elevation Partners. I know and respect these teams, the games they make and the strong individual creative cultures that define them. I couldn’t be happier to have them join us at EA.” -EA.com
This one was a bit upsetting. Bioware and Pandemic Studios are two of the more unique development houses out there, and fears of them getting the standard EA treatment (sequel after sequel with few real changes) is running pretty high on the internet right now. We can only hope that this turns out well in the end.
On a related note, Microsoft was quick to point out that regardless of today’s announcement, they are still the exclusive publisher for Bioware’s Mass Effect, and the game will remain an Xbox 360 exclusive. However, they also did make a point of noting that Bioware owns the intellectual property for Mass Effect and that, at present, there are no deals in place for the second or third games in the series.
“First, and most important right now, EA’s acquisition of BioWare will not change the current release schedule for Mass Effect. All of us are excited for the game’s worldwide release, starting Nov. 20. Everyone at BioWare (the owners of the Mass Effect IP) and Microsoft (the exclusive publisher of Mass Effect) are committed to keeping everything on track. And yes, Mass Effect will be an Xbox 360 exclusive, despite any rumors (or wishful thinking) to the contrary.
Since neither BioWare nor Microsoft have made any announcements about sequels or publishing deals, we aren’t ready to say anything more about the future of the franchise, but you can be sure we’ll be discussing a lot of things with BioWare (and EA) in the weeks to come.” – Gamerscore Blog
Why do I get the feeling that eventually every third party developer will fall under EA, THQ, Ubisoft or Activision? *Sigh*
Ever since it’s announcement, the question of just how powerful of a system Crytek’s upcoming PC shooter Crysis would require to be playable at any level. Although numbers have been thrown around for months now, Crytek was never officially willing to say exactly where they were going to set the bare bones entry level point for the game… until now.
Yes, Crytek & Electronic Arts have finally announced both the minimum and recommended system specs for Crysis – and, as expected, they’re damn high… “How high?” you ask?
Crysis: Minimum System Requirements
Operating System: Windows XP or Windows Vista
Processor: 2.8GHz or faster (XP); 3.2GHz or faster* (Vista)
Memory: 1GB RAM or 1.5GB RAM (Vista)
Video Card: 256MB**
Hard Drive: 12GB
Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c compatible* Supported Processors: Intel Pentium 4 2.8GHz (3.2GHz for Vista) or faster, Intel Core 2GHz (2.2GHz for Vista) or faster, and other similar CPUs.
** Supported chipsets: NVIDIA GeForce 6800 GT + or similar GPUs. Laptop versions of these chipsets may work but are not supported. Integrated chipsets are not supported. Updates to your video and sound card drivers may be required.
Now then, keep in mind that the above are the MINIMUM system requirements for Crysis. The recommended system specs make the following changes;
Crysis: Recommended System Requirements:
Operating System: Windows XP / Vista
Processor: Intel Core 2 DUO @ 2.2GHz
Memory: 2GB RAM
GPU: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS/640 or similar
Based on the above specs, my PC will just barely miss the minimum system specs (my processor is just a bit too slow – no comments from the peanut gallery, please), so it looks like I’ll be sitting this one out until I either build a new PC or the game gets ported over to a console. It’s certainly a bit depressing, as after having played the game a little at DigitalLife ’07, I was hoping that there would be a chance for me to be able to experience this one in full.
If your system meets the required specs, congratulations – Crysis should be one hell of an experience. If your system fell short… well, either start planning on making some upgrades between now and the game’s November 16th ship date.
Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays returns to the two-game format this week with the release of the ever-addictive Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and Yaris, a free combat racing game sponsored by Toyota.
We’ll open with a look at Puzzle Quest, the game that has already taken the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP by storm. Puzzle Quest is a highly addictive mix of classic puzzle-game strategy with a heavy dose of RPG gameplay built in. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of this game and have spent more than a few hours playing it on the DS.
The gameplay premise itself is simple – the game presents a standard map-based RPG experience until the player becomes involved in combat. Once facing an enemy, the game switches to a puzzle grid where players take turns moving colored orbs around to create groups of three or more. Based on the color of the matched orbs, players will either do damage to their opponent or gain magic points related to the color that can be sued to cast spells or use special abilities. As you can imagine with an RPG, items and allies found during your adventures can help tip the balance in your favor for each fight.
The game is one of the higher priced Xbox Live Arcade releases, but at 1,200 points ($15) it’s actually the cheapest version of the game available on any system – and if you don’t already own it on another system, it’s one hell of a bargain.
Title: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Publisher: D3 Publisher of America
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/10/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 1200 points ($15)
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Suggestive Themes
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords™ delivers, for the first time ever, classic puzzle-game action backed with an epic story of good versus evil. Challenge your puzzle skills in single-player campaign mode, or battle your friends in multiplayer action. Experience a puzzle game with role-playing elements. It’s like nothing you’ve played before.
- Unique gameplay: Classic puzzle gameplay is enhanced with the addition of RPG-style character and story elements. The game is incredibly simple to learn for casual players, with seasoned gamers able to utilize deeper strategies.
- Quests: For the first-time ever in a puzzle game, embark on an epic single-player campaign comprising more than 150 challenging quests.
- Role-playing game elements: Create and build a persistent hero from one of four unique classes. Gain skills, spells, weapons, and more over the course of the game. Customize your characters to give them an advantage in battle.
- Battles and conquest: Build your empire as you capture cities, build castles and gain a party of companions that will aid you in battle. Battle other warlords for supremacy in multiplayer mode." – Xbox.com
Next up, we’ve got Yaris, a free combat racer where players can battle it out across eight different tracks… oh hell, let’s face it – this one is an advergame from the folks over at Toyota. I really don’t have high hopes for it at all, and the best thing I can find to say about it is that it’s free. Free is always good.
Title: Yaris
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/10/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: Free
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Cartoon Violence
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Hop into a Toyota Yaris and drive it on crazy tracks loaded with stubborn obstacles, cool powerups, and intense enemy action. The relentlessly twisted courses in Yaris might have loops or even be tube-shaped, but the Yaris never has to worry about sliding off track, as it defies gravity by scaling side-walls and going all topsy-turvy. Equip your Yaris with an arsenal of weapons to take out your adversaries, but be careful to avoid enemy fire, because once your shields are depleted, so is the game.
- Customizable cars: Drive either a Yaris Sedan, Sports Sedan, or the Liftback. Collect coins on the track and outfit your Yaris with weapons, shields, and tire configurations.
- Game modes: Race and take out your enemies in either single player or player vs. player game mode.
- Wild tracks: Drive on eight different tracks of progressive difficulty.
- FREE download: Yaris is a free Xbox LIVE® Arcade game. Play it today.
- Gallery feature: Browse through the game’s cast of characters, including all the Yaris cars.
- Twelve new achievements and new Leaderboard: Twelve new achievements to unlock, and a new Xbox LIVE® Arcade leaderboard for you to dominate. Get in your Yaris and drive!" – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade release, Tetris Splash, as expected it was… well, Tetris. There’s really not much else to say about that, now is there?
Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays returns to the two-game format this week with the release of the ever-addictive Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and Yaris, a free combat racing game sponsored by Toyota.
We’ll open with a look at Puzzle Quest, the game that has already taken the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP by storm. Puzzle Quest is a highly addictive mix of classic puzzle-game strategy with a heavy dose of RPG gameplay built in. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of this game and have spent more than a few hours playing it on the DS.
The gameplay premise itself is simple – the game presents a standard map-based RPG experience until the player becomes involved in combat. Once facing an enemy, the game switches to a puzzle grid where players take turns moving colored orbs around to create groups of three or more. Based on the color of the matched orbs, players will either do damage to their opponent or gain magic points related to the color that can be sued to cast spells or use special abilities. As you can imagine with an RPG, items and allies found during your adventures can help tip the balance in your favor for each fight.
The game is one of the higher priced Xbox Live Arcade releases, but at 1,200 points ($15) it’s actually the cheapest version of the game available on any system – and if you don’t already own it on another system, it’s one hell of a bargain.
Title: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Publisher: D3 Publisher of America
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/10/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 1200 points ($15)
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Suggestive Themes
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords™ delivers, for the first time ever, classic puzzle-game action backed with an epic story of good versus evil. Challenge your puzzle skills in single-player campaign mode, or battle your friends in multiplayer action. Experience a puzzle game with role-playing elements. It’s like nothing you’ve played before.
- Unique gameplay: Classic puzzle gameplay is enhanced with the addition of RPG-style character and story elements. The game is incredibly simple to learn for casual players, with seasoned gamers able to utilize deeper strategies.
- Quests: For the first-time ever in a puzzle game, embark on an epic single-player campaign comprising more than 150 challenging quests.
- Role-playing game elements: Create and build a persistent hero from one of four unique classes. Gain skills, spells, weapons, and more over the course of the game. Customize your characters to give them an advantage in battle.
- Battles and conquest: Build your empire as you capture cities, build castles and gain a party of companions that will aid you in battle. Battle other warlords for supremacy in multiplayer mode." – Xbox.com
Next up, we’ve got Yaris, a free combat racer where players can battle it out across eight different tracks… oh hell, let’s face it – this one is an advergame from the folks over at Toyota. I really don’t have high hopes for it at all, and the best thing I can find to say about it is that it’s free. Free is always good.
Title: Yaris
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/10/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: Free
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Cartoon Violence
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Hop into a Toyota Yaris and drive it on crazy tracks loaded with stubborn obstacles, cool powerups, and intense enemy action. The relentlessly twisted courses in Yaris might have loops or even be tube-shaped, but the Yaris never has to worry about sliding off track, as it defies gravity by scaling side-walls and going all topsy-turvy. Equip your Yaris with an arsenal of weapons to take out your adversaries, but be careful to avoid enemy fire, because once your shields are depleted, so is the game.
- Customizable cars: Drive either a Yaris Sedan, Sports Sedan, or the Liftback. Collect coins on the track and outfit your Yaris with weapons, shields, and tire configurations.
- Game modes: Race and take out your enemies in either single player or player vs. player game mode.
- Wild tracks: Drive on eight different tracks of progressive difficulty.
- FREE download: Yaris is a free Xbox LIVE® Arcade game. Play it today.
- Gallery feature: Browse through the game’s cast of characters, including all the Yaris cars.
- Twelve new achievements and new Leaderboard: Twelve new achievements to unlock, and a new Xbox LIVE® Arcade leaderboard for you to dominate. Get in your Yaris and drive!" – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade release, Tetris Splash, as expected it was… well, Tetris. There’s really not much else to say about that, now is there?
Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays returns to the two-game format this week with the release of the ever-addictive Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and Yaris, a free combat racing game sponsored by Toyota.
We’ll open with a look at Puzzle Quest, the game that has already taken the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP by storm. Puzzle Quest is a highly addictive mix of classic puzzle-game strategy with a heavy dose of RPG gameplay built in. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of this game and have spent more than a few hours playing it on the DS.
The gameplay premise itself is simple – the game presents a standard map-based RPG experience until the player becomes involved in combat. Once facing an enemy, the game switches to a puzzle grid where players take turns moving colored orbs around to create groups of three or more. Based on the color of the matched orbs, players will either do damage to their opponent or gain magic points related to the color that can be sued to cast spells or use special abilities. As you can imagine with an RPG, items and allies found during your adventures can help tip the balance in your favor for each fight.
The game is one of the higher priced Xbox Live Arcade releases, but at 1,200 points ($15) it’s actually the cheapest version of the game available on any system – and if you don’t already own it on another system, it’s one hell of a bargain.
Title: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Publisher: D3 Publisher of America
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/10/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 1200 points ($15)
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Suggestive Themes
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords™ delivers, for the first time ever, classic puzzle-game action backed with an epic story of good versus evil. Challenge your puzzle skills in single-player campaign mode, or battle your friends in multiplayer action. Experience a puzzle game with role-playing elements. It’s like nothing you’ve played before.
- Unique gameplay: Classic puzzle gameplay is enhanced with the addition of RPG-style character and story elements. The game is incredibly simple to learn for casual players, with seasoned gamers able to utilize deeper strategies.
- Quests: For the first-time ever in a puzzle game, embark on an epic single-player campaign comprising more than 150 challenging quests.
- Role-playing game elements: Create and build a persistent hero from one of four unique classes. Gain skills, spells, weapons, and more over the course of the game. Customize your characters to give them an advantage in battle.
- Battles and conquest: Build your empire as you capture cities, build castles and gain a party of companions that will aid you in battle. Battle other warlords for supremacy in multiplayer mode." – Xbox.com
Next up, we’ve got Yaris, a free combat racer where players can battle it out across eight different tracks… oh hell, let’s face it – this one is an advergame from the folks over at Toyota. I really don’t have high hopes for it at all, and the best thing I can find to say about it is that it’s free. Free is always good.
Title: Yaris
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/10/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: Free
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Cartoon Violence
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Hop into a Toyota Yaris and drive it on crazy tracks loaded with stubborn obstacles, cool powerups, and intense enemy action. The relentlessly twisted courses in Yaris might have loops or even be tube-shaped, but the Yaris never has to worry about sliding off track, as it defies gravity by scaling side-walls and going all topsy-turvy. Equip your Yaris with an arsenal of weapons to take out your adversaries, but be careful to avoid enemy fire, because once your shields are depleted, so is the game.
- Customizable cars: Drive either a Yaris Sedan, Sports Sedan, or the Liftback. Collect coins on the track and outfit your Yaris with weapons, shields, and tire configurations.
- Game modes: Race and take out your enemies in either single player or player vs. player game mode.
- Wild tracks: Drive on eight different tracks of progressive difficulty.
- FREE download: Yaris is a free Xbox LIVE® Arcade game. Play it today.
- Gallery feature: Browse through the game’s cast of characters, including all the Yaris cars.
- Twelve new achievements and new Leaderboard: Twelve new achievements to unlock, and a new Xbox LIVE® Arcade leaderboard for you to dominate. Get in your Yaris and drive!" – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade release, Tetris Splash, as expected it was… well, Tetris. There’s really not much else to say about that, now is there?
Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays returns to the two-game format this week with the release of the ever-addictive Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords and Yaris, a free combat racing game sponsored by Toyota.
We’ll open with a look at Puzzle Quest, the game that has already taken the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP by storm. Puzzle Quest is a highly addictive mix of classic puzzle-game strategy with a heavy dose of RPG gameplay built in. As you can probably tell, I’m a big fan of this game and have spent more than a few hours playing it on the DS.
The gameplay premise itself is simple – the game presents a standard map-based RPG experience until the player becomes involved in combat. Once facing an enemy, the game switches to a puzzle grid where players take turns moving colored orbs around to create groups of three or more. Based on the color of the matched orbs, players will either do damage to their opponent or gain magic points related to the color that can be sued to cast spells or use special abilities. As you can imagine with an RPG, items and allies found during your adventures can help tip the balance in your favor for each fight.
The game is one of the higher priced Xbox Live Arcade releases, but at 1,200 points ($15) it’s actually the cheapest version of the game available on any system – and if you don’t already own it on another system, it’s one hell of a bargain.
Title: Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords
Developer: Infinite Interactive
Publisher: D3 Publisher of America
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/10/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: 1200 points ($15)
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Suggestive Themes
Demo?: Yes
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords™ delivers, for the first time ever, classic puzzle-game action backed with an epic story of good versus evil. Challenge your puzzle skills in single-player campaign mode, or battle your friends in multiplayer action. Experience a puzzle game with role-playing elements. It’s like nothing you’ve played before.
- Unique gameplay: Classic puzzle gameplay is enhanced with the addition of RPG-style character and story elements. The game is incredibly simple to learn for casual players, with seasoned gamers able to utilize deeper strategies.
- Quests: For the first-time ever in a puzzle game, embark on an epic single-player campaign comprising more than 150 challenging quests.
- Role-playing game elements: Create and build a persistent hero from one of four unique classes. Gain skills, spells, weapons, and more over the course of the game. Customize your characters to give them an advantage in battle.
- Battles and conquest: Build your empire as you capture cities, build castles and gain a party of companions that will aid you in battle. Battle other warlords for supremacy in multiplayer mode." – Xbox.com
Next up, we’ve got Yaris, a free combat racer where players can battle it out across eight different tracks… oh hell, let’s face it – this one is an advergame from the folks over at Toyota. I really don’t have high hopes for it at all, and the best thing I can find to say about it is that it’s free. Free is always good.
Title: Yaris
Developer: Backbone Entertainment
Publisher: Microsoft
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/10/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-2
Full Game: Free
Rating: E10 (Everyone 10+) – Cartoon Violence
From the Xbox.com product description;
"Hop into a Toyota Yaris and drive it on crazy tracks loaded with stubborn obstacles, cool powerups, and intense enemy action. The relentlessly twisted courses in Yaris might have loops or even be tube-shaped, but the Yaris never has to worry about sliding off track, as it defies gravity by scaling side-walls and going all topsy-turvy. Equip your Yaris with an arsenal of weapons to take out your adversaries, but be careful to avoid enemy fire, because once your shields are depleted, so is the game.
- Customizable cars: Drive either a Yaris Sedan, Sports Sedan, or the Liftback. Collect coins on the track and outfit your Yaris with weapons, shields, and tire configurations.
- Game modes: Race and take out your enemies in either single player or player vs. player game mode.
- Wild tracks: Drive on eight different tracks of progressive difficulty.
- FREE download: Yaris is a free Xbox LIVE® Arcade game. Play it today.
- Gallery feature: Browse through the game’s cast of characters, including all the Yaris cars.
- Twelve new achievements and new Leaderboard: Twelve new achievements to unlock, and a new Xbox LIVE® Arcade leaderboard for you to dominate. Get in your Yaris and drive!" – Xbox.com
As for last week’s Live Arcade release, Tetris Splash, as expected it was… well, Tetris. There’s really not much else to say about that, now is there?
A demo of Sierra’s F.E.A.R. Files for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in Canada and The United States via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 584.87MB.
A demo of Microsoft’s Project Gotham Racing 4 for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 1.27GB.
A demo of Electronic Arts The Simpsons Game for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 442.71MB.
A demo of THQ’s Conan for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions except Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 483.84MB.
The releases just keep coming, and once again this week will see a bumper crop of A-List titles finding their way to retail. This week, I’m going to choose Half-Life 2: The Orange Box as my pick of the week. With all those choices, why Pick The ORange Box? It’s simple, you’re getting 3 games and two expansion packs for the price of one. Not too shabby, eh?
For those of you not familiar with The Orange Box, Valve has decided to release Half-Life 2 with it’s two expansion packs, Team Fortress 2 and Portal, a new puzzle type shooter, together in one package. Before we move onto the week’s highlights, we’ll take a closer look at each of those items.
Half Life 2, as I’m guessing most of you know, is the sequel to 1998’s Half-Life which saw protagonist Gordon Freeman fighting an alien incursion caused by the accidental opening of a portal to an alien world by the scientists at the Black Mesa research facility. In his attempt to escape the facility, Freeman encountered a mysterious being known only as the G-Man, who eventually placed Freeman in stasis for 10 to 20 years.
In the game’s opening sequence, Freeman is revived by the G-Man and returned to Earth, where he finds that the planet has been taken over by an inter-dimensional force known as “The Combine“. Once again, Freeman finds himself fighting for survival against seemingly insurmountable odds. I won’t delve into the plot any further for those of you who haven’t yet had a chance to play Half-Life 2 to it’s completion.
The game was met with near universal praise, and has seen one “Expansion” already in the form of Half-Life 2: Episode One with a second expansion, simply named Half-Life 2: Episode 2, making it’s debut in The Orange Box pack.
The next game included in The Orange Box is Team Fortress 2, a sequel to 1996’s Quake modification Team Fortress and 1999’s Team Fortress Classic mod for Half-Life. The original game saw players choose a team and character class which they would use in conjunction with others to complete the objectives of each game type. The long-awaited Team Fortress 2 will continue to evolve this concept by giving players 9 classes to choose from encompassing a wide variety of different skills and play styles.
Finally, we come to the newest member of The Orange Box, Portal. Portal is a bit of a strange game to explain as at it’s heart, it’s a single-player, puzzle based shooter. The Player is equipped with a gun which can create a portal through solid objects into another space. Using this gun and the portals it creates, players will attempt to solve a variety of different objectives set forth for each level.
Put all of these together and you’ve got The Orange Box – a package that will surely keep many busy for quite a few hours – especially those who have yet to complete Half-Life 2 or it’s first expansion.
Here are the week’s retail highlights;
Be sure to check out the below list for all the titles you can expect to find at retail this week.
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
Those of you who’ve been coming to the site for awhile have probably guessed that one of the games I was hoping would make an appearance at DigitalLife ’07 was the Windows version of Gears of War. While many of the titles I was hoping to get a chance to play were no-shows, I’m glad to report that Gears was indeed playable on the show floor.
Perhaps the best place to start is with this statement… it’s Gears of War. The section of the game I had the chance to play through took me from Marcus & Dom’s escape from Jacinto Penitentiary, through the meeting with Colonel Hoffman and into the battles in the ruins. Through that part of the game, the Windows port offered the exact same gameplay experience as the Xbox 360 original.
So what is going to make this version of Gears worth purchasing? Well, naturally if you don’t have an Xbox 360, this will be your first chance to play Epic’s masterpiece – and Gears remains an experience that should not be missed. In addition, the PC version will contain five new campaign chapters not found on the 360 (and, according to Epic Games VP Mark Rein, due to changes made to Unreal Engine 3 since the 360 version of Gears was released, these chapters will never be coming to the 360)
Beyond those five chapters, there is one other truly stunning difference between the two versions… the graphics. Simply put, if you thought the Xbox 360 version of Gears was a thing of beauty, you haven’t seen anything yet. The game looked absolutely amazing running on the kiosks in the Microsoft Games booth. Everyone I spoke with playing or watching the game could not get over just how good Gears looked. While I’m sure reaching that level of graphics at home is going to take a monster of a system, if you’ve got it, you’re going to see details that truly make the game a visual treat.
Control wise, the game was set up to be played with keyboard and mouse, and after a bit of trial and error, I was able to easily perform the same maneuvers I could pull off using the Xbox 360 control pad. The only place I noticed any kind of issue was when attempting to take cover from a standing position (as opposed to getting under cover using roadie-run). To be honest, I’m pretty sure that problem was more tied to my unfamiliarity with the keyboard controls. Beyond that one complaint, the default scheme worked quite well – though I will admit that should I decide to pick this one up, I’ll probably find myself using an Xbox 360 controller for familiarity’s sake.
So, what else is there to say? The game seemed extremely stable on the demo PC provided and there were no signs of slowdown or glitches evident. All signs seem to point towards Gears of War being a standout title.
In summing things up, my advice to those who have a system that can handle the game – and haven’t had a chance to play through Gears on the 360 – is to immediately add this one to your “must have” list. As I said earlier, Gears of War truly is an experience you should not miss. However, If you’ve already played the game to death on the 360, you’ll need to judge whether or not the five new chapters will justify the $49.99 price tag the game will carry.
The Windows PC version of Gears of War is scheduled to release on November 6th, 2007.
Following in the footsteps of the latest MAME update, MAME32 v.119.3, the Windows GUI port of MAME v.119u3 is now available. The same advice I gave about the latest build of MAME applies to this version of MAME32 as well.
Check out the official MAME32 page here for more details and the download links.
The updates continue on the Multiple Arcade Machine Emulator, as version .119u3 is now available for download. This update contains more changes to Sega Model 2 emulation as well as some changes to support 3dfx Voodoo emulation on multi-cpu systems.
The development team has stated that this update should be viewed as a work in porgress and that there will most likely be a few glitches in the code. Because of that warning, I’d recommend holding off on upgrading your installation until the next full release. However, If you’re one of those valiant souls who wants to test this build for the dev team, download the update and then head on over to MAME Testers to find out how to get started.
The updated emulator files can be found at the official MAME development page at Mamedev.org. You can Click here to see the full list of what’s new in this update.
The other day, we reported on a rumor from 8BitJoystick that stated that Bungie was about to break away from Microsoft and once again become an independent developer. At the time, it was hard to believe – even with the explanation 8BitJoystick gave for the split. It was also something that I said I believed was false, but given the recent news out of Microsoft, wouldn’t completely write off either.
Turns out, those rumors were true.
This morning, both Microsoft and Bungie have announced that the two companies will be parting ways, with Bungie returning to being an independent developer and Microsoft becoming an equity holder in the company. As reported before, Microsoft will hold the rights to the Halo franchise.
From what little of the press releases I’ve been able to read so far (damn you, work!), it appears that while Microsoft will hold some stake in Bungie and will continue to work with them on future Halo related projects, Bungie will be an independent entity, free to pursue whatever projects they choose without any input from Microsoft. Based on the wording of the releases, it also appears Microsoft may have the right of first refusal on whatever projects Bungie creates.
Don’t quote me on this though, as I have not had a chance to fully read both releases and other particulars. I could be wrong.
Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of the Halo franchise, to embark on a path to become an independent company. Microsoft will retain an equity interest in Bungie at the same time continuing its long standing publishing agreement between Microsoft Game Studios and Bungie for the Microsoft owned Halo intellectual property as well as other future properties developed by Bungie. – Microsoft press release
“Bungie and Microsoft Corp. today announced a plan for Bungie Studios, the developers of Microsoft’s “Halo” franchise, to become a privately held independent company, Bungie, LLC, in which Microsoft will hold a minority equity interest. As part of this transaction, Bungie and Microsoft have forged a deep and long-term development and publishing relationship focused on the continued success of the “Halo” franchise. It is also the intent of both parties to expand their partnership to include new IP created and owned by Bungie.” – Bungie press release
I’ll be sure to talk more about this later this evening once I’ve gotten a chance to go over all the available information, but for now, I’ll just link the full press releases from both companies.
An Xbox 360 demo of Koei’s Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War is now available for download via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 1.9GB.
An Xbox 360 demo of Warner Brothers Games Looney Tunes: ACME Arsenal is now available for download in Canada, Mexico and the United States via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 557.93MB
Don’t mind the mess (or extremely old/missing posts) – We’re just preparing to jump servers and as such are moving all of our old blogs over to WordPress format. If you’re currently looking for NYLatenite’s Gamer’s Paradise – (also known as nylatenite.com) – we’re still over at www.nylatenite.com. Thanks!
A demo of Electronic Arts The Simpsons Game for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 628MB.
A demo of Koei’s Bladestorm: The Hundred Years War for the PlayStation 3 is now available for download via the PlayStation Store. Download size is approximately 865MB.
An Xbox 360 demo of Activision’s Bee Movie Game is now available for download in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Download size is approximately 444.90MB.
Today’s PlayStation Store update will see the release of Go! Sports Ski, a new extreme skiing game designed by Smackdown vs RAW developer Yukes. The game will offer both single player action as well as multiplayer racing via split-screen for the low cost of $2.99.
“Go! Sports Ski™ is a skiing simulator that harnesses the SIXAXIS™ wireless controller to twist, turn and pull off tricks. The easy and intuitive motion control allows you to fly down visually stunning slopes right out of the gate. Supporting various single player modes, including slalom racing, a split-screen versus mode and several online battle modes, Go Sports Ski features two distinct courses. Other online features include downloading the top online player’s ghost data to race against and a global ranking system.
KEY FEATURES
- Various Gameplay Modes – Includes 3 offline practice modes, split-screen battle, 2 online single player leaderboard time trials, and 4 player online battle mode.
- SIXAXIS™ Wireless Controller – Fully controlled by the SIXAXIS motion sensors to simulate realistic ski slopes.
- Collect up to 27 Emblems – Unlock emblems with gameplay success and display them to your online records.
- Global Online Ranking – See how you stack up against other skiers worldwide.” – PlayStation.com
Go! Sports Ski has been rated E (Everyone) by the Entertainment Software Ratings Board.
Nintendo has announced that, effective immediately, they will begin including a new protective cover and wristband with all Wii remotes the company ships. So that existing customers don’t feel left out, the company will also begin shipping the covers free of charge to existing Wii remote owners.
“Nintendo is now including the Wii Remote Jacket for the Wii Remotes in all new hardware being shipped. For Wii owners who purchased their systems prior to this addition, we are offering to send free Wii Remote Jackets for their existing Wii Remotes.” – Nintendo.com
Wii owners who would like to request free remote jackets for their remotes should have their console’s serial number handy and fill out the form at this link indicating how many of the remote jackets they’ll need. Nintendo will begin shipping the jackets on October 15th and expects delivery to take between five and ten days.
You knew it had to be coming eventually, didn’t you? Tetris Splash, yet another take on Alexey Pajitnov’s classic game, comes to the Xbox Live Arcade today, and well… it’s Tetris.
I think at this point in time, you’d be hard pressed to find just about anyone who plays games at all and doesn’t know what to expect from this title. What I’m trying to say here is that you probably already know whether or not you’re going to pick this one up regardless of what I say in the next few paragraphs. It’s ok, I understand – no need to apologize.
Tetris Splash promises to not only let you play the standard game of Tetris, but to throw a few new game modes into the mix. Based on the product description, that will include team based games for up to six players in addition to the usual one and two player modes. Are those modes going to be enough to justify spending 800 points ($10) on yet another version of Tetris? Well, that’s up to you, isn’t it?
In the event that you have been living under a rock or have been in a coma since 1986, a demo will be available via the Xbox Live Marketplace to aid in your purchasing decision.
Title: Tetris Splash
Publisher: Tetris Online, Inc
Genre: Xbox Live Arcade
Release Date: 10/03/07
Console: Xbox 360
Players: 1-4 / 2-6
Full Game: 800 points ($10)
Rating: E (Everyone)
Demo?: Yes
“The most popular electronic game of all time is back, with new variants, enhanced graphics, and beautiful aquatic playscapes inTetris® Splash! Since its introduction,Tetris has gone from Russian sensation to worldwide phenomenon, attracting more than 60 million enthusiastic players. Thanks to its unique, simple randomness, it’s never the same game twice. Now, with new modes and team play, Tetris Splashintroduces even more exciting, enjoyable ways to play this classic favorite. As easy to learn as it is addictive, it’s equally fun for the casual player and the seasoned Tetris pro!
- Modes of play: Three different modes of play including Tetris, T-Spin, and Combo, plus a unique screensaver mode.
- Multiplayer: Playable solo, competitively or in teams, with an online multiplayer mode via Xbox LIVE® for up to six players.
- New twists: New, enhanced graphics, and beautiful aquatic backscapes add a real splash to the fun of Tetris.
- Content and themes: Exciting downloadable content will be made available including themes and background aquatic creatures.
- Achievements: Twelve new achievements to master and conquer. ” – Xbox.com
Since there was no new Xbox Live Arcade release last week (the only thing Microsoft put out in the middle of Halo 3 mania was a Bomberman Live add-on pack), I’ve got nothing else for you. Move along, nothing to see here.
If you’re a regular reader of this site, then by now you know that I hold a special place in my heart for point-and-click graphic adventure games. Simply put, when done right they allow a level of story telling, humor and puzzle solving that other game types can’t even come close to matching. It’s because of that love that I’m bringing you this early trailer for Autumn Moon Entertainment’s upcoming game A Vampire Story.
In this one, you take the role of reluctant vampire Mona De Lafitte, an aspiring opera star who was kidnapped – and made a vampire – by her obsessed vampiric fan Baron Shrowdy von Kiefer. Mona, along with her companion Froderick the bat, will have to try to escape the Baron’s clutches, come to grips with her unlife and try to fulfill her dreams of becoming a star. I think you’ll agree there’s just tons of potential for hilarity here.
It’s being developed by another group of ex-LucasArts employees and seems to be on target to hit that perfect mix I just mentioned. Once you get past the cheezy voice-over for the below trailer, I think you’ll agree. Check it out.
A Vampyre Story is currently slated for an early 2008 release on Windows PCs.
As hard as it is to believe, that’s the rumor floating around the old internet water-cooler. It all started with a post over at 8BitJoystick (found by way of Kotaku) in which the poster stated that he had inside information from an unidentified Bungie staffer that the company would be parting ways with Microsoft.
“So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week.
You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft gets to keep all rights to the Halo franchise, but as today Bungie no longer part of Microsoft. Ask anyone who works there to search the global address book, they’re no longer in there. Microsoft was supposed to release the press release today but if they wait till the 10/6 the impact wont effect the quarterly results. However today is the actual official date and the day the NDAs expire, however you still didn‘t hear this from me.” – 8BitJoystick source e-mail
Now I’ve certainly heard rumblings in the past that Bungie wanted to work on something other than the Halo franchise and were basically forced to work on Halo 3 instead, but this one is a little hard to swallow. I would have to imagine that Microsoft, having now completed the Halo trilogy, would love for Bungie to come up with a new franchise for them – and more importantly, given the cash cow that Bungie has been for the company, would probably do quite a bit to keep them happy.
Kotaku picked up the story and contacted Edelman Public Relations, the firm that handles PR for Microsoft, in order to see if they could get more information on what exactly is going on. The answer they received was not the most reassuring of statements;
“There’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3” – Edelman Public Relations
Yeah, not a ringing endorsement of corporate stability there, is it? Then again, if most companies commented on every rumor floating around, they’d spend all day just releasing denial statements.
8BitJoystick then posted a follow-up article discussing possible reasons why they believe the story to be true. Namely that in most developer acquisition deals, the current staff of a company sign 3, 5 or 7 year contracts with the aquiring firm. Based on 8Bit’s math, that time could be just about up, meaning that the core Bungie staff would suddenly be free to resign, seek employment elsewhere or start a new, independant development house – both of which would certainly bring them more money than they’re seeing now.
“The scenario is not hard to believe. You buy a company and you sign retention agreements for key employees, i.e. the team. These employees have HUGE financial incentive to stay so they do.
3 or 5 or 7 years later depending upon the contract, the time is up. MS formally acquired bungie about 7 years ago at this time… they announced intention on june 19th, add 3 months for presumed legal stuff, and you get september 19th, which is close today, give or take. So… retention contracts go POOF, and suddenly a bunch of key people can leave with no penalty.” – 8BitJoystick
If that is indeed the case, then it makes a great deal of sense for Microsoft to cut some form of a deal to keep Bungie working solely on the Xbox 360 for at least the time being.
How would they be able to do that? By allowing Bungie to break away from Microsoft, yet still keep all the tools it pioneered during the development of the Halo trilogy. In return, one would assume, Bungie would sign some sort of an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft stipulating that the next set number of titles would be exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform (or maybe 360 and PC).
So where in all of this does the truth lie? I really couldn’t tell you at this point, but if I had to bet on it, I’d say this one will turn out to be false. I will say this though, after the shocking departure of Peter Moore and Activision‘s acquisition of Bizarre Creations, I’m not willing to write off anything at this point.
As hard as it is to believe, that’s the rumor floating around the old internet water-cooler. It all started with a post over at 8BitJoystick (found by way of Kotaku) in which the poster stated that he had inside information from an unidentified Bungie staffer that the company would be parting ways with Microsoft.
“So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week.
You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft gets to keep all rights to the Halo franchise, but as today Bungie no longer part of Microsoft. Ask anyone who works there to search the global address book, they’re no longer in there. Microsoft was supposed to release the press release today but if they wait till the 10/6 the impact wont effect the quarterly results. However today is the actual official date and the day the NDAs expire, however you still didn‘t hear this from me.” – 8BitJoystick source e-mail
Now I’ve certainly heard rumblings in the past that Bungie wanted to work on something other than the Halo franchise and were basically forced to work on Halo 3 instead, but this one is a little hard to swallow. I would have to imagine that Microsoft, having now completed the Halo trilogy, would love for Bungie to come up with a new franchise for them – and more importantly, given the cash cow that Bungie has been for the company, would probably do quite a bit to keep them happy.
Kotaku picked up the story and contacted Edelman Public Relations, the firm that handles PR for Microsoft, in order to see if they could get more information on what exactly is going on. The answer they received was not the most reassuring of statements;
“There’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3” – Edelman Public Relations
Yeah, not a ringing endorsement of corporate stability there, is it? Then again, if most companies commented on every rumor floating around, they’d spend all day just releasing denial statements.
8BitJoystick then posted a follow-up article discussing possible reasons why they believe the story to be true. Namely that in most developer acquisition deals, the current staff of a company sign 3, 5 or 7 year contracts with the aquiring firm. Based on 8Bit’s math, that time could be just about up, meaning that the core Bungie staff would suddenly be free to resign, seek employment elsewhere or start a new, independant development house – both of which would certainly bring them more money than they’re seeing now.
“The scenario is not hard to believe. You buy a company and you sign retention agreements for key employees, i.e. the team. These employees have HUGE financial incentive to stay so they do.
3 or 5 or 7 years later depending upon the contract, the time is up. MS formally acquired bungie about 7 years ago at this time… they announced intention on june 19th, add 3 months for presumed legal stuff, and you get september 19th, which is close today, give or take. So… retention contracts go POOF, and suddenly a bunch of key people can leave with no penalty.” – 8BitJoystick
If that is indeed the case, then it makes a great deal of sense for Microsoft to cut some form of a deal to keep Bungie working solely on the Xbox 360 for at least the time being.
How would they be able to do that? By allowing Bungie to break away from Microsoft, yet still keep all the tools it pioneered during the development of the Halo trilogy. In return, one would assume, Bungie would sign some sort of an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft stipulating that the next set number of titles would be exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform (or maybe 360 and PC).
So where in all of this does the truth lie? I really couldn’t tell you at this point, but if I had to bet on it, I’d say this one will turn out to be false. I will say this though, after the shocking departure of Peter Moore and Activision‘s acquisition of Bizarre Creations, I’m not willing to write off anything at this point.
As hard as it is to believe, that’s the rumor floating around the old internet water-cooler. It all started with a post over at 8BitJoystick (found by way of Kotaku) in which the poster stated that he had inside information from an unidentified Bungie staffer that the company would be parting ways with Microsoft.
“So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week.
You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft gets to keep all rights to the Halo franchise, but as today Bungie no longer part of Microsoft. Ask anyone who works there to search the global address book, they’re no longer in there. Microsoft was supposed to release the press release today but if they wait till the 10/6 the impact wont effect the quarterly results. However today is the actual official date and the day the NDAs expire, however you still didn‘t hear this from me.” – 8BitJoystick source e-mail
Now I’ve certainly heard rumblings in the past that Bungie wanted to work on something other than the Halo franchise and were basically forced to work on Halo 3 instead, but this one is a little hard to swallow. I would have to imagine that Microsoft, having now completed the Halo trilogy, would love for Bungie to come up with a new franchise for them – and more importantly, given the cash cow that Bungie has been for the company, would probably do quite a bit to keep them happy.
Kotaku picked up the story and contacted Edelman Public Relations, the firm that handles PR for Microsoft, in order to see if they could get more information on what exactly is going on. The answer they received was not the most reassuring of statements;
“There’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3” – Edelman Public Relations
Yeah, not a ringing endorsement of corporate stability there, is it? Then again, if most companies commented on every rumor floating around, they’d spend all day just releasing denial statements.
8BitJoystick then posted a follow-up article discussing possible reasons why they believe the story to be true. Namely that in most developer acquisition deals, the current staff of a company sign 3, 5 or 7 year contracts with the aquiring firm. Based on 8Bit’s math, that time could be just about up, meaning that the core Bungie staff would suddenly be free to resign, seek employment elsewhere or start a new, independant development house – both of which would certainly bring them more money than they’re seeing now.
“The scenario is not hard to believe. You buy a company and you sign retention agreements for key employees, i.e. the team. These employees have HUGE financial incentive to stay so they do.
3 or 5 or 7 years later depending upon the contract, the time is up. MS formally acquired bungie about 7 years ago at this time… they announced intention on june 19th, add 3 months for presumed legal stuff, and you get september 19th, which is close today, give or take. So… retention contracts go POOF, and suddenly a bunch of key people can leave with no penalty.” – 8BitJoystick
If that is indeed the case, then it makes a great deal of sense for Microsoft to cut some form of a deal to keep Bungie working solely on the Xbox 360 for at least the time being.
How would they be able to do that? By allowing Bungie to break away from Microsoft, yet still keep all the tools it pioneered during the development of the Halo trilogy. In return, one would assume, Bungie would sign some sort of an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft stipulating that the next set number of titles would be exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform (or maybe 360 and PC).
So where in all of this does the truth lie? I really couldn’t tell you at this point, but if I had to bet on it, I’d say this one will turn out to be false. I will say this though, after the shocking departure of Peter Moore and Activision‘s acquisition of Bizarre Creations, I’m not willing to write off anything at this point.
As hard as it is to believe, that’s the rumor floating around the old internet water-cooler. It all started with a post over at 8BitJoystick (found by way of Kotaku) in which the poster stated that he had inside information from an unidentified Bungie staffer that the company would be parting ways with Microsoft.
“So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week.
You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft gets to keep all rights to the Halo franchise, but as today Bungie no longer part of Microsoft. Ask anyone who works there to search the global address book, they’re no longer in there. Microsoft was supposed to release the press release today but if they wait till the 10/6 the impact wont effect the quarterly results. However today is the actual official date and the day the NDAs expire, however you still didn‘t hear this from me.” – 8BitJoystick source e-mail
Now I’ve certainly heard rumblings in the past that Bungie wanted to work on something other than the Halo franchise and were basically forced to work on Halo 3 instead, but this one is a little hard to swallow. I would have to imagine that Microsoft, having now completed the Halo trilogy, would love for Bungie to come up with a new franchise for them – and more importantly, given the cash cow that Bungie has been for the company, would probably do quite a bit to keep them happy.
Kotaku picked up the story and contacted Edelman Public Relations, the firm that handles PR for Microsoft, in order to see if they could get more information on what exactly is going on. The answer they received was not the most reassuring of statements;
“There’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3” – Edelman Public Relations
Yeah, not a ringing endorsement of corporate stability there, is it? Then again, if most companies commented on every rumor floating around, they’d spend all day just releasing denial statements.
8BitJoystick then posted a follow-up article discussing possible reasons why they believe the story to be true. Namely that in most developer acquisition deals, the current staff of a company sign 3, 5 or 7 year contracts with the aquiring firm. Based on 8Bit’s math, that time could be just about up, meaning that the core Bungie staff would suddenly be free to resign, seek employment elsewhere or start a new, independant development house – both of which would certainly bring them more money than they’re seeing now.
“The scenario is not hard to believe. You buy a company and you sign retention agreements for key employees, i.e. the team. These employees have HUGE financial incentive to stay so they do.
3 or 5 or 7 years later depending upon the contract, the time is up. MS formally acquired bungie about 7 years ago at this time… they announced intention on june 19th, add 3 months for presumed legal stuff, and you get september 19th, which is close today, give or take. So… retention contracts go POOF, and suddenly a bunch of key people can leave with no penalty.” – 8BitJoystick
If that is indeed the case, then it makes a great deal of sense for Microsoft to cut some form of a deal to keep Bungie working solely on the Xbox 360 for at least the time being.
How would they be able to do that? By allowing Bungie to break away from Microsoft, yet still keep all the tools it pioneered during the development of the Halo trilogy. In return, one would assume, Bungie would sign some sort of an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft stipulating that the next set number of titles would be exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform (or maybe 360 and PC).
So where in all of this does the truth lie? I really couldn’t tell you at this point, but if I had to bet on it, I’d say this one will turn out to be false. I will say this though, after the shocking departure of Peter Moore and Activision‘s acquisition of Bizarre Creations, I’m not willing to write off anything at this point.
As hard as it is to believe, that’s the rumor floating around the old internet water-cooler. It all started with a post over at 8BitJoystick (found by way of Kotaku) in which the poster stated that he had inside information from an unidentified Bungie staffer that the company would be parting ways with Microsoft.
“So heres my big secret. You should google Bungie + Microsoft + separation this week.
You know that big ol BILLION dollar franchise Bungie has created for Microsoft, to show their appreciate Microsoft is letting Bungie leave. Of course Microsoft gets to keep all rights to the Halo franchise, but as today Bungie no longer part of Microsoft. Ask anyone who works there to search the global address book, they’re no longer in there. Microsoft was supposed to release the press release today but if they wait till the 10/6 the impact wont effect the quarterly results. However today is the actual official date and the day the NDAs expire, however you still didn‘t hear this from me.” – 8BitJoystick source e-mail
Now I’ve certainly heard rumblings in the past that Bungie wanted to work on something other than the Halo franchise and were basically forced to work on Halo 3 instead, but this one is a little hard to swallow. I would have to imagine that Microsoft, having now completed the Halo trilogy, would love for Bungie to come up with a new franchise for them – and more importantly, given the cash cow that Bungie has been for the company, would probably do quite a bit to keep them happy.
Kotaku picked up the story and contacted Edelman Public Relations, the firm that handles PR for Microsoft, in order to see if they could get more information on what exactly is going on. The answer they received was not the most reassuring of statements;
“There’s been no such announcement. We continue to celebrate the tremendous success of the global phenomenon that is Halo 3” – Edelman Public Relations
Yeah, not a ringing endorsement of corporate stability there, is it? Then again, if most companies commented on every rumor floating around, they’d spend all day just releasing denial statements.
8BitJoystick then posted a follow-up article discussing possible reasons why they believe the story to be true. Namely that in most developer acquisition deals, the current staff of a company sign 3, 5 or 7 year contracts with the aquiring firm. Based on 8Bit’s math, that time could be just about up, meaning that the core Bungie staff would suddenly be free to resign, seek employment elsewhere or start a new, independant development house – both of which would certainly bring them more money than they’re seeing now.
“The scenario is not hard to believe. You buy a company and you sign retention agreements for key employees, i.e. the team. These employees have HUGE financial incentive to stay so they do.
3 or 5 or 7 years later depending upon the contract, the time is up. MS formally acquired bungie about 7 years ago at this time… they announced intention on june 19th, add 3 months for presumed legal stuff, and you get september 19th, which is close today, give or take. So… retention contracts go POOF, and suddenly a bunch of key people can leave with no penalty.” – 8BitJoystick
If that is indeed the case, then it makes a great deal of sense for Microsoft to cut some form of a deal to keep Bungie working solely on the Xbox 360 for at least the time being.
How would they be able to do that? By allowing Bungie to break away from Microsoft, yet still keep all the tools it pioneered during the development of the Halo trilogy. In return, one would assume, Bungie would sign some sort of an exclusivity agreement with Microsoft stipulating that the next set number of titles would be exclusive to the Xbox 360 platform (or maybe 360 and PC).
So where in all of this does the truth lie? I really couldn’t tell you at this point, but if I had to bet on it, I’d say this one will turn out to be false. I will say this though, after the shocking departure of Peter Moore and Activision‘s acquisition of Bizarre Creations, I’m not willing to write off anything at this point.
A demo of LucasArts Thrillville: Off the Rails for the Xbox 360 is now available for download in all regions except Asia and Mexico via the Xbox Live Marketplace. Approximate file size is 331MB.
Well, things never go quite as planned, do they?
Some of you, no doubt, noticed that despite today’s earlier post, nothing did in fact change. Well, not at first… after a few hours, everything changed to the degree that the site was unreachable.
We do apologize for that, but we ran into some technical difficulties with the changeover – in fact, some older sections of the site still aren’t working, and probably won’t be until the weekend. The best laid plans of mice and men and such – you know how it goes…
Anyway, the main page and archives of the site are now back online, and you should be able to see the new format now. So much for getting all those DigitalLife ’07 posts done today. Ugh.
That’s right folks, everyone’s favorite dog and rabbity thing are coming back for a second season of episodic gaming! Telltale Games has announced that Sam & Max: Season 2 will kick off at GameTap with the premiere of episode 201: Ice Station Santa on Thursday, November 8th, with a downloadable version of the game to follow direct from Telltale on November 9th. After the initial premiere, the series will go on hiatus until January 10th, at which time the last four episodes will be released on a monthly basis.
As with the first season, individual episodes will be priced at $8.95 while the entire second season can be purchased at the discounted price of $34.99. Just like last year, those who purchase the full season package will also be eligible to receive the full second season on disc at the end of it’s run for the cost of shipping.
While I wasn’t overly thrilled with how much of the first season turned out, I’ll still be forking over my cash for this one in hopes that with the experience gained from season one, Telltale will be able to bring the Sam & Max series closer to the magic that was Sam & Max Hit the Road.
That’s right folks, everyone’s favorite dog and rabbity thing are coming back for a second season of episodic gaming! Telltale Games has announced that Sam & Max: Season 2 will kick off at GameTap with the premiere of episode 201: Ice Station Santa on Thursday, November 8th, with a downloadable version of the game to follow direct from Telltale on November 9th. After the initial premiere, the series will go on hiatus until January 10th, at which time the last four episodes will be released on a monthly basis.
As with the first season, individual episodes will be priced at $8.95 while the entire second season can be purchased at the discounted price of $34.99. Just like last year, those who purchase the full season package will also be eligible to receive the full second season on disc at the end of it’s run for the cost of shipping.
While I wasn’t overly thrilled with how much of the first season turned out, I’ll still be forking over my cash for this one in hopes that with the experience gained from season one, Telltale will be able to bring the Sam & Max series closer to the magic that was Sam & Max Hit the Road.
That’s right folks, everyone’s favorite dog and rabbity thing are coming back for a second season of episodic gaming! Telltale Games has announced that Sam & Max: Season 2 will kick off at GameTap with the premiere of episode 201: Ice Station Santa on Thursday, November 8th, with a downloadable version of the game to follow direct from Telltale on November 9th. After the initial premiere, the series will go on hiatus until January 10th, at which time the last four episodes will be released on a monthly basis.
As with the first season, individual episodes will be priced at $8.95 while the entire second season can be purchased at the discounted price of $34.99. Just like last year, those who purchase the full season package will also be eligible to receive the full second season on disc at the end of it’s run for the cost of shipping.
While I wasn’t overly thrilled with how much of the first season turned out, I’ll still be forking over my cash for this one in hopes that with the experience gained from season one, Telltale will be able to bring the Sam & Max series closer to the magic that was Sam & Max Hit the Road.
That’s right folks, everyone’s favorite dog and rabbity thing are coming back for a second season of episodic gaming! Telltale Games has announced that Sam & Max: Season 2 will kick off at GameTap with the premiere of episode 201: Ice Station Santa on Thursday, November 8th, with a downloadable version of the game to follow direct from Telltale on November 9th. After the initial premiere, the series will go on hiatus until January 10th, at which time the last four episodes will be released on a monthly basis.
As with the first season, individual episodes will be priced at $8.95 while the entire second season can be purchased at the discounted price of $34.99. Just like last year, those who purchase the full season package will also be eligible to receive the full second season on disc at the end of it’s run for the cost of shipping.
While I wasn’t overly thrilled with how much of the first season turned out, I’ll still be forking over my cash for this one in hopes that with the experience gained from season one, Telltale will be able to bring the Sam & Max series closer to the magic that was Sam & Max Hit the Road.
That’s right folks, everyone’s favorite dog and rabbity thing are coming back for a second season of episodic gaming! Telltale Games has announced that Sam & Max: Season 2 will kick off at GameTap with the premiere of episode 201: Ice Station Santa on Thursday, November 8th, with a downloadable version of the game to follow direct from Telltale on November 9th. After the initial premiere, the series will go on hiatus until January 10th, at which time the last four episodes will be released on a monthly basis.
As with the first season, individual episodes will be priced at $8.95 while the entire second season can be purchased at the discounted price of $34.99. Just like last year, those who purchase the full season package will also be eligible to receive the full second season on disc at the end of it’s run for the cost of shipping.
While I wasn’t overly thrilled with how much of the first season turned out, I’ll still be forking over my cash for this one in hopes that with the experience gained from season one, Telltale will be able to bring the Sam & Max series closer to the magic that was Sam & Max Hit the Road.
You may have noticed that things are looking a little different here at nylatenite.com today. Well, after some consideration and a review of the site traffic numbers, I’ve decided to make the “new version” of the site active. Simply put, it’s something I’ve wanted to do for quite awhile now in order to streamline the posting process, try out some new features and possibly bring in some guest writers from time to time. Besides, based on the site’s traffic reports, most of you are already using this new format (introduced during E3’07) to keep tabs on our posts.
I’m hoping that the additional time granted by not having to update three separately formatted sites with every post will correspond to nylatenite.com being able to bring you a bigger slice of the days gaming news in a more timely fashion. Rest assured, our mission of bringing you the news without all the fluff posts you’ll find on other sites will be unchanged – I just really want to be able to get back to doing more than just get one or two topics up a day. Nothing kills the desire to keep writing for the site than to just post a lot of release announcements without being able to weigh in on them.
So, what does this mean to you? Well, for starters, if you’re seeing this notice on the old style “Black & Blue” front page at http://www.nylatenite.com/gamersparadise.htm or http://www.nylatenite.com/whatsnew.htm, you’re going to need to change your bookmark for the site over to http://www.nylatenite.com as that old style format will no longer be supported. There are plans in the works for a similarly themed skin for the main site, so if you absolutely need to see the dark version of the site, we should be able to accommodate you soon.
What it also means is that there are some new features available on the site, including the ability to easily post comments, lookup older posts using the search box, tags, calendar or archives, see a summary of recent posts, get site updates via RSS feeds along with continued support for both standard and widescreen displays. Yeah, we think it’s pretty cool too.
That’s not to say there aren’t some issues with this new format. Looking at the archives box on the right, you may have noticed that some of the sites previous posts between August 2006 and March 2007 have not yet made the jump to this new version. While we will, as time permits, continue to bring those posts into the archives, there’s no ETA on that occurring. Those posts are still available in the old version of the site archives via this link should you need them. I’ll also be adding a link to those archives in one of the boxes to the left of your screen.
So there you have it. I’m hoping that you like the new look and continue to check in with us as part of your daily routine.
Well gang, it’s another week jam packed with new releases – and this time, there are quite a few notable titles in the mix. If I had to pick just one title out of the bunch for myself, I’d grab Project Gotham Racing 4 for the Xbox 360. Prior to PGR3, I didn’t care for the series at all, but with the introduction of PGR3’s in-car view, I quickly fell in love with the game. (Those of you who remember our coverage leading up to the launch of Forza Motorsport 2 know well just how often I griped about the lack of an in-car view – well, this is why.)
As an added incentive to purchase PGR4, the game will (at least for awhile) be the only place anyone can play Geometry Wars: Waves, a new take on Bizarre Creations now classic game Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved. This is probably also going to be Bizarre’s last spin with the PGR franchise due to their recently being acquired by Activision, so this could be it for the series as a whole. Did I mention that the game will not only feature supercars, but also motorcycles? Yeah, this is going to be a keeper.
Of course, by now the Nintendo fans in the house are calling me a philistine for not choosing The Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass as my game of the week. Rest assured guys, I’m sure Phantom Hourglass will be a great game, as Nintendo always shows the greatest care when putting out their core 1st party titles – I’m just not a huge Zelda fan. (..and here come the philistine comments again!)
Here are the week’s retail highlights;
Be sure to check out the below list for all the titles you can expect to find at retail this week.
Please keep in mind these are only estimated release dates and could change at any time.
NYLatenite's Gamer's Paradise 