All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

click to Boomer-size Valve took the wraps off Left 4 Dead 2's brand-new competitive multiplayer game type, "Scavenge," at a press event in San Francisco this evening. According to the developer, this mode is built purely for "quick, more frantic gameplay." (Yes, L4D actually can be more frantic).Scavenge has the four survivor characters scrambling to collect gas cans from various spots in a confined location -- in this case a motel, pictured -- in order to fuel up a generator before a two-minute timer expires. There are 16 cans total and 20 seconds are added to the clock for each one that's successfully retrieved. Four other players, controlling Special Infected, must do their best to stop the cans from reaching the goal. The two new Special Infected, Spitters and Jockeys, really excel in this mode. The former can set dropped cans on fire, while the latter can leap onto the shoulders of a survivor, "steering" them away from their goal.These best two-out-of-three matches are broken up into three rounds, during the "half time" of which players switch sides. Valve confirmed that each of L4D2's campaigns has a unique Scavenge map, for a total of six shipping with the game on November 17.

The Bayonetta PS3 demo has hit Japan, and its waiting for your first climax.

Though it may not yet include all of September, Kotaku's monthly monitoring of the most played Wii titles still provides some interesting insights. For one, it seems that Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the best bang for your gaming buck, as users are STILL sinking an average of 71 minutes into the game monthly. We're surprised to see Wii Sports Resort's absence (thought it was perhaps hampered by the lack of September's second half), but we're even more intrigued to learn that Rune Factory: Frontier is apparently way more engrossing than we could have ever imagined.

“This Blue Dragon is the final chapter.” - Blue Dragon franchise creator, Hironobu Sakaguchi I never got into the Blue Dragon games, but I definitely tried to. When the original title came out on 360, I downloaded the demo and gave it a go. Within about 10 minutes I had died, and every minute [...]

Another Code/Trace Memory’s Ashley Mizuki Robbins by Arit Uggghhhh…just when I start to calm down about the lack of Trace Memory R in the states, something pops up to bring it right back to the forefront of my mind. Nintendo, I still have a bone to pick with you!

When questioned about the possibility of a dedicated gaming handheld vs a phone with multimedia functionality, Microsoft's Robbie Bach expressed his hesitation to enter either market to attendees of yesterday's.First Annual Microsoft Open House. The Entertainment and Devices division prez said, "The portable market's an interesting market ... you have to decide which direction the market is going." Rather than pursue the phone with gaming/media functionality route that Apple has taken, Bach thinks current technology simply isn't good enough yet."You have to decide if the dedicated devices in the portable market are going to continue to grow, or whether the phone that you get is going to get powerful enough and battery power management is going to get good enough that people are going to look at it and say 'No, I just want one device that's going to have some games on it, some music on it, some video on it.' I'm probably more biased to think that's the direction where the market is going." Though he didn't mention an iPhone competitor or a dedicated gaming device, Bach hinted at the possibility, saying the Xbox and Zune are integrating at "a steady drumbeat." That steady drumbeat likely won't lead to much in the coming months though, as he noted, "There is a CES two years from now where people will look back and say 'Wow! Look at everything they did.'" At that point we'll only be four years from flying cars and hoverboards, so let's hope that Microsoft has some serious future stuff up its sleeves.

We take on the corkscrew in Forza 2, Need for Speed SHIFT, and Forza 3!

We're going to put this up front: There's really no reason to watch these Brütal Legend videos. They were shot during a press event at the Key Club in Hollywood, during which Jack Black dressed up as -- and pretended to be -- the game's protagonist, Eddie Riggs. The videos are unequivocally groan-inducing affairs. We're sure that the idea seemed funny at the time, but it falls pretty flat in execution. It's like watching bad improv, which, we suppose, is exactly what it is. There are a few notable tidbits in here, like Tim Schafer explaining that he didn't have the nerve to approach Jack Black for the project until he found out Black was a Psychonauts fan. Still, that one nugget -- which we've heard before -- will cost you five minutes of awful. For the truly masochistic, two more videos can be found after the break, one of Tim Schafer interviewing Jack Black, and another of Black playing Brütal Legend.

Dough Boy, a weird Japanese Famicom game that the states never saw. Looks like we didn’t miss out on much!

Click here for footage from Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver, FIFA 10, Okami Wii, Blue Dragon: Ikai no Kyoujuu, Grand Trucker, Hula Wii, HotD: Overkill, Ichimoudajin! Neko King and a peek at Mari Yaguchi trying out DSiWare (thanks NintenDaan!)

Wake up. Grab a brush and put a little make up.

Play to relax.

Last Friday, a blog entry at Capcom Unity (that was mysteriously pulled) revealed the names and dates for a number of "UMD Legacy" titles for re-release on the PlayStation Store: October 8: Darkstalkers Chronicle: The Dark Tower October 15: Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max October 22: Capcom Puzzle World October 29: Maverick Hunter X November 5: Megaman Powered Up This list completes the lineup of un-UMD'd games promised three months ago (and tosses in Capcom Puzzle World for good measure). While Capcom has neglected to price any of these titles, previously released Legacy games are currently $19.99 each on the PlayStation Store. Unsure of the veracity of the pulled info, we confirmed with Capcom's Chris Kramer who told us that the "titles are correct and the dates should be fairly accurate" though he did admit that it's "hard to pin down digital release dates almost until they happen." Still unaccounted for? Those PS1 old-timers you've been waiting forever to buy again: Dino Crisis, Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3.