All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Family-friendly MMO game brings chills and thrills during scariest time of year with exclusive Halloween themed items, spooky design contest and prizing.

Pikachu gets his very own Wii adventure later this year in Japan.

Pikachu gets his very own Wii adventure later this year in Japan.

Developer Psyonix was presented with one of two options for the one year anniversary of its PSN-exclusive Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket-Powered Battle Cars: a) make a shorter title, or b) cut the price in half.Well, it chose the latter. Starting today (going on until October 29th), the soccer-inspired "racing" game will be half-off. For the low price of $4.99, you'll get access to the entire game, including the free expansion DLC released earlier this year. The price drop is sure to prompt a nice influx of gamers to the network modes.

The Major sends word that a Band Hero demo is now available on Xbox Live Marketplace. The demo allows players to try out three different songs in the new, family-friendly Hero title, and offers both the Party Play mode and the new Sing-Along mode. The three playable songs are: Finger Eleven - "Paralyzer" Katrina & The Waves - "Walking on Sunshine" Taylor Swift - "Picture to Burn" That's right, Taylor Swift is right there. With some clever positioning and a few mirrors, you might be able to convince your daughter this is the full game, saving you the trouble of actually buying it. Good luck.

The long-running RPG Maker series has appeared on PC, Super Famicom, PlayStation, and other home systems, but now Japanese game designers will be able to make portable RPGs. Using the RPG Maker DS software, players can create characters, environments, monsters, set sound effects and music, and even create special "event" items like chests and save points.All the screens show premade monster and character graphics being used -- from some 800 character pieces, 150 sounds, and 1500 map features, but you'll be able to make your own if you're patient enough (the stylus helps in that regard). There's also some kind of wireless support, though we don't know if it means you'll get to share your elaborate, strategic Twilight fanfic scenario online or not.RPG Maker DS will be out January 28. We're really hoping Agetec, who has published RPG Makers in North America, picks this one up for us. It's hard enough to play RPGs in Japanese, much less make them.

We lay the SmackDown on this year's game.

The best NBA sim on the PSP just got better.

Never count this franchise out.

Even through my darkest days, this fire burns always.

Step between the ropes and dance, girly man!

If Activision really wants to reach the widest possible audience with DJ Hero, TV commercials are probably the best way to expedite that process. If said TV commercials happen to feature Daft Punk's wonderfully catchy "Around the World," even better.After the break, see one TV ad starring a digital version of Daft Punk (though, since the band is ostensibly robotic, what's the difference?) and another featuring both a clip of Justice vs. Public Enemy, and an improbably shiny DJ Hero controller. And if you like those, Activision continues to upload preview clips of in-game songs to its YouTube channel.

Special paint scheme will run in the NASCAR Banking 500 on October 17.

Advergaming taken to a new level for with LEGO Star Wars: Quest for R2-D2.

Kami Toman gets his rage on over IGN UK's 'controversial' Uncharted 2 review.

In the spirit of the season, Microsoft has released some Halloween costumes for Avatars. There's quite a spooky selection to choose from, including ghosts, cowboys, werewolves, vampires, wizards, witches and Frankenstein's monster. For good measure, Microsoft even threw in a skeleton and a mummy. All of the outfits cost 240 ($3), but you'll need to pay another 80 ($1) if your outfit of choice features a hat. Perhaps the most frightening of all is the male Sheriff's outfit. It's something about the combination of the incredibly tight fit, coupled with the standard, effeminate Avatar pose. It just don't look right.

A simple free update adds controller support, 50 player Emporia Tournaments and tons of new content to the hit arcade-style 3D side-scrolling MMO.

Vibrant Wii controllers in new colors, now available at Walmart.

You'll find the full list of this week's releases for the European PlayStation Network after the jump. Honestly, though, if you've chosen to put down that copy of Uncharted 2 in order to check out Mushroom Wars or Uno, we don't really think we can associate with you any longer. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

Kami Toman gets his rage on over IGN UK's 'controversial' Uncharted 2 review.

There are two things we can say about Torben Sko. First: He's probably never had a problem getting 'torbensko' usernames. We'd like to applaud his forward-thinking parents who clearly saw the benefit of a unique name in the distant, internet-enabled future. Second: Sko's technology demos (remember this head-tracking demo?) have helped us conceptualize what a Natal-enabled future will be like, more so than jury-rigged versions of Burnout Paradise or Katamari Damacy. In his latest video (found after the break), Sko demonstrates how to control the facial expressions of a virtual character using nothing but a plain ol' web cam (oh, and the same FaceAPI software he used for his first demo). Much like Hideo Kojima's visions of a Natal-enabled future, Sko's never involve replacing the controller (or keyboard and mouse) but rather supplementing it with, in this case, your face. No word on support for particularly ugly faces, but we suspect Microsoft's got its best and most beautiful people on it.

Only a week after everyone found out about Nintendo's PokePark Wii: Pikachu's Big Adventure, Nintendo has revealed the game, which will be released in Japan on December 5 for ¥4,800 ($53). Though it's certainly not the console debut that fans really want, this happens to be the first console Pokémon game developed by Creatures Inc., creators of the main handheld series.The game involves Pikachu competing and cooperating with other Pokemans in a sort of theme park through, according to Andriasang, "tag, battle, and quiz mini-games." The game emphasizes Pikachu's interactions with his new friends and includes a camera mode to allow you to photograph the Pokémon you meet.

We dive into Infinity Ward's third pillar of Modern Warfare 2 and deliver more info on missions and weaponry in this must-read update.

Infinity Ward's Joel Emslie gets interrogated.

Can Konami take it to extra time?

Up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, Start. It's a powerful string of commands capable of garnering its invoker thirty lives, a gaggle of power-ups or other potent in-game bonuses. However, a technomancer from ProtoDojo.com has figured out a way to give the Konami Code practical applications in real life -- it can now be used to unlock one gigabyte of LOLCat JPEGs, German techno covers of Billy Ocean songs or, well, smut. This little slice of realized magic is possible due to a 1GB flash drive embedded into a hollowed-out NES controller. Entering the Konami Code into the controller unlocks it, allowing you to browse its contents on your compy. To see how this technological feat was made possible, watch the video after the jump. After that, start pondering what this guy could put into a Power Glove. Perhaps -- dare we say it -- a two gigabyte flash drive? [Via The Tanooki]

Definitive Compilation of Content from the Entire History of the Popular MMO Game Will Be Available in One Package in Time for the Holidays

Rumors of new consoles swirl, Microsoft and Nintendo not commenting.

Bethesda Softworks has revealed the cover for The Infernal City, the first of two Elder Scrolls books the publisher plans to produce. The novel, written by Greg Keyes, will make its way to store shelves November 24 ... the audio book will only have six voice actors (OK, we made that last part up). Joystiq chat transcript upon seeing the cover:Alexander S.: Question: Where is the water generated from that just flows out of this flying city?Dave H.: A wizard did it.Alexander S.: That's your answer for everything.Ben G.: Yeah, Dave's wrong anyway. A whole bunch of wizards would be required for something like that.Alexander S.: They have a wizard on the "Hamster Wheel of Water Generation."JC F.: How could you even keep the city's inferno going with all that water?Justin M.: It's a water inferno.