All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

If you live in Boston or San Francisco and are curious enough about EA Sports Active to go into a retail store devoted entirely to the fitness game, you're in luck! And maybe you've also learned something about the amount of curiosity you have about EA Sports Active. On November 15, EA opened two EA Sports Active stores, featuring demo units of both Active and the new EA Sports Active: More Workouts, "Active Trainers" who will show attendees how to use the game, and even a supply of games to lend out to visitors so they can try it at home. The stores also take reservations for workout sessions. They'll be open until December 14. EA invited some bloggers to the Boston location for a tour and a workout. Not us, but fitness bloggers. You know, the people that someone might listen to if they cared about being healthy. Luckily for us, those bloggers took plenty of pictures of the inside of the Boston store. If you'd like to visit, the addresses of the stores are posted after the break.

Though scans of the actual article have yet to appear, the table of contents for the latest issue of Famitsu reveals a new No More Heroes game for Xbox 360 and PS3, called No More Heroes: Eiyuu no Rakuen (Hero's Paradise). With recent statements from series creator Suda 51 that the next No More Heroes game would be made for the Wii's successor, and that he sees the current controls scheme as the ideal, we're inclined to believe that this is a port of the original game, undertaken by publisher Marvelous -- much as it has expressed its interest in doing. We'll find out more when we can see the scan!

Are you ready for the hottest Three Musketeers sim ever?

Direct link, plus commercials and an overview here (thanks NintenDaan!)

With the launch of Assassin's Creed 2 today, Ubisoft has officially lifted the veil on its Achievement/Trophy-like "Uplay" program. First revealed at E3 (though minimally detailed), Ubisoft claims it to be an "online destination where gamers are at the center of a connected gaming universe," intended to link all Ubisoft titles across Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Players can access the Uplay portal through the web or in-game, with AC2 being the first title to include the still-in-beta service. Of the "four primary services" Uplay includes - titled "Win," "Help," "Share" and "shop" - only Uplay Win is currently available in the beta. Ubisoft explains Uplay Win as "[enabling] players to collect units based on their actions in the games and exchange them for rewards such as exclusive in-game content or digital items," the first of which are an Altaïr outfit and "access to the Auditore Family Crypt" (among other things). We've yet to fully plunge the depths of Uplay's offerings in Assassin's Creed 2, but if there's anything really exciting, we'll be sure to let you know all about it. Keep it locked!

The latest issue of Famitsu confirms what a USK rating hinted: Phoenix Wright is coming to WiiWare. Capcom is porting the DS games (or, if you'd rather, the Game Boy Advance games) to Wii one at a time, to be released in Japan starting December 15. Judging from what we can see (which isn't much -- portions of cell phone images of screenshots), the graphics aren't enhanced for Wii at all. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney will be available in Japan on December 15 for 900 Wii Points, with the two Phoenix Wright sequels following on January 26 and February 23 for 1200 Wii Points each. The original case added to the DS version of the first Ace Attorney will be out on March 16 for 300 Points. And now begin the process of reminding ourselves that we've already played all of this content, and just because it's being released again in a different format doesn't mean we have to buy it again. The fact that no announcements have been made about a North American release should help.

Experience all the aspects of the Star Trek universe.

Explore the final frontier like never before.

Tiffany Thornton lets you try her master class, which is gonna be hard right after she did them in the vocal booth. Nice!

We run the map and show off a few secret spots you won't want to miss.

I hated Doink as a wrestler, but I loved his character in the WWE games. Man, I wish this guy was still around!

Europe's totally awesome (and totally exclusive) VidZone service is finally expanding its reach. Sorry Americans, but this free music video streaming service isn't coming our way. Instead, eleven new European countries will be able to join the party by year's end. Here's the roll-out schedule: Thursday 26th November: Netherlands, Portugal, Austria Thursday 3rd December: Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Finland Thursday 10th December: Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, New Zealand According to PlayStation.Blog, new users will have to wait upwards of 15 minutes when initially launching the service. Why? Apparently, there's so just that much content to load when the application is launched for the first time. Each subsequent visit will only take seconds -- good, because we're confident you'll be coming back for more.

I love seeing these sort of things. I’ll never understand the slight tweaks that devs go through when they’re putting a final copy together.

Direct link and more videos here (thanks ibbsters!)

Looks like the 'Final' cover art wasn't so final after all.

Pictured: A successful commercial Speaking during a presentation at the recent Montreal International Game Summit (as covered by Edge), EEDAR Director of Analyst Services Jesse Divnich highlighted a tenuous connection between game review scores and commercial success. In the case of Nintendo's DS, Divnich is quoted as saying "scores don't matter." But do they matter among a more dedicated gaming audience? "When we did compare Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 only games, we did, to no surprise, find that review scores highly correlated to sales," Divnich told Joystiq. "However, marketing correlation was still just a tad bit more." According to EEDAR's research, marketing has played the "more crucial role" with DS games and, to some degree, Wii games (a point Nintendo's Reggie Fils-Aime seems to agree on). While emphasizing that his aim was not to dismiss the value of critical evaluation, Divnich suggested that marketing plays a more persuasive role in what has become a burgeoning industry. "Video games are now a mass marketed product, it is a product that targets all major demographics, very similar to television or movies or any other sector within the entertainment division." While Joystiq readers may lock out the din of marketing as they tap the F5 key and anxiously wait for review embargoes to lift, the industry has grown to encompass people who aren't as exposed to the likes of Metacritic. It seems that being informed takes precedence over being entertained -- at least until you start playing the game. "Quality does matter," concluded Divnich, "but marketing matters just a little bit more."

Hit the halfpipe and grind the park in this blazing gameplay.

Just a simple note for everyone, because I thought you’d be interested in hearing. No More Heroes, in some fashion, is heading to 360/PS3. This is confirmed by the Table of Contents from the latest Famitsu issue. Thanks to Wingzrow for the heads up!

There’s a bit of spoiler here…so I wouldn’t watch if you don’t want the game ruined for you!

We visually catalogue Ezio's implements of death.

There's a strategy game in here somewhere, buried underneath a massively lengthy story.

Players earn in-game rewards for completing specific tasks.

Still waiting for the details to come in, but we have the first Famitsu image as proof. I still can’t believe this is happening!

Nintendo's plumbers were fraggers way before fragging was cool.