All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

New item packs arrive.

Physics-based action-adventure game for the PC now set for retail debut next month.

Finally, a chance to play Bayonetta for those of us who never got around to setting up Japanese PSN accounts or Sega Passes. Sega announced that the demo for Platinum Games' torturiffic action game will be available on Xbox Live and PSN, in North America and Europe, on December 3. With this demo, you'll be able to gauge the limits of your Bayonetta fandom. Maybe you'll like it enough to buy it. Maybe you'll like it enough to buy the PAL limited edition. Or enough to import the PAL limited edition (for North American gamers). Or maybe you'll freak out about Bayonetta and feel compelled to import the Australian limited edition. This is why demos are so important: you can make sure you actually like the game before you bring yet another fancy plastic foot-pistol into your home.

EA's preparing a new pack of cars for your virtual garage in Need for Speed: Shift. On December 1st, Xbox 360 owners worldwide will be given five classic rides to race around in, free of charge, while PS3 owners in Europe and North America gain access on December 3rd and 10th, respectively. Dubbed the Legendary Car pack, this new bit of DLC puts gamers behind the wheel of these five classic rides: 1967 Chevrolet Corvette Stingray 427 1967 Shelby GT-500 (Nicolas Cage not included) 1969 Dodge Charger R/T 1971 Dodge Challenger R/T 1998 Toyota Supra Mark IV The free update will also bring with it a new Team Racing mode, which will allow two teams of up to six racers to compete against each other online. You've got some time, so find a few friends and get your shake and bake on.

The key to happiness this way lies.

The black Wii system, originally released concurrently with Monster Hunter Tri in Japan, is now in stores across Europe. And Nintendo is doing its best to keep it there, despite increased demand. According to MCV, demand for the console has risen 60% in the last week, and distributor Nindie.com is working "round the clock" to keep shipments going briskly. "Of course it would be wrong to attribute all of this to Black Wii as we're all starting to see a natural peak season uplift on all hardware," senior Nintendo product manager Rob Lowe said. But Wii sales have apparently doubled following the release of the smart-looking black system. And, Lowe reminds buyers, "It is a limited edition version of the console so currently we only have plans for it to be available in 2009." That should have some effect on demand as well.

The Assassin's Creed sequel may not have taken out Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 from the top spot on the UK charts, but the game did outperform the original's 2007 debut by 12 percent in unit sales. Although Chart Track doesn't give specific unit sales figures, it's staggering to think that Infinity Ward's FPS dropped 86 percent after its launch week and still retained the top spot. Behind the big boys of violence, Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Wii Sports Resort and Wii Fit Plus took the next three spots, respectively. The hardened Left 4 Dead 2 shambled up to seventh spot. Source -- Call of Duty stands firm [Chart Track] Source -- All formats chart [Chart Track]

Warcraft turns 15 years old! We interview Blizzard about the past, present and future of the franchise.

Nintendo celebrates Thanksgiving by dropping a massive feast onto the table of every Wii and DSi owner in North America. The next Bit.Trip game is now available on WiiWare, DSiWare receives another heaping serving of Electroplankton, and Virtual Console welcomes ... Super Mario Kart. We guess when Nintendo said "by year's end" it meant "next week." See the full, seasonally appropriate bounty after the break.

This Black Friday, November 27, Nintendo will release DSi bundles containing pre-installed software to the value of $20. The metallic blue DSi bundle (a new color for the States) will feature Mario-themed DSiWare, while the white is for those with "a passion for brain teasers." Blue version: Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, Dr. Mario Express, WarioWare: Snapped!, Mario Calculator and Mario Clock. White version: Brain Age Express: Arts & Letters, Brain Age Express: Sudoku, Brain Age Express: Math, Clubhouse Games Express: Card Classics, Photo Clock. There is no altered price to go with the announcement of these bundles, so we're guessing the units will retail at the normal $170 price. Of course, it is Black Friday, so check various retailers for the best deals.

Download New BIT.TRIP Kicks, Speeding Karts, Magic Castles and More

Microsoft exec spills sauce on new game.

Microsoft exec spills sauce on new game.

A portion of an Examiner review… Scene It? Bright Lights! Big Screen! keeps things current by including questions from films such as 2012 and The Box but also goes as far back as Casablanca and Citizen Kane. In the four hours we played, not once did we see any repeat questions or clips. It should also [...]

Poison tribute from Daniel Vendrell Oduber of Ikari Studios (Zombie BBQ) I’m secure enough in my masculinity to admit that I like this Poison art. Maybe I’ll even make it my desktop! Let’s just hope Poison doesn’t end up in my dreams!

Every Tuesday night at the warehouse, we have a get-together called Movie Night. Each week, one person brings a terrible movie, and we all make fun of it. Many of us have had plans of bringing Double Dragon, but the movie isn’t on Netflix! With that said, none of us can actually [...]

Yes, there’s a King of Fighters card game, but Magic Johnson isn’t in it. Neither is Shaq, or Megan Fox for that matter. Well, at least not in the retail pack, but a certain fan of the card game has scanned his deck, and replaced all the in-game characters with real life celebrities [...]

I’ve just finished reading through the Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks feature in Nintendo Power, and it doesn’t really give any information that we don’t already know. I’ve pulled the little bits and posted them below. I’m only covering aspects that we haven’t discussed yet. - your inventory has room for six collected items [...]

We're usually hesitant to spend real-life money on virtual clothing, but you can bet we'll spring at the chance to purchase the recently revealed Sonic the Hedgehog costume pack for LittleBigPlanet. See, if we dress ourselves up like the series' speedy, cerulean protagonist, then play one of the many, many Green Hill Zone stages crafted by the LBP community, we can pretend that we're playing a decent, current-gen Sonic platformer. We've contacted Media Molecule to try and find out the North American release date and price for this costume pack. We shouldn't let the developer hear us say this, but we'd pay anything for that beautiful illusion. [Via Siliconera]

First off, I want to state that this may not be the fault of Gamestation, but instead, the people they do their shipping through. With that said, I can understand how a customer would be upset having paid for a special edition of a game, only to get this in the mail. Apparently, many Gamestation [...]

It’s a stretch, but I think you could do it! Of course, you might not be able to sit down…or move comfortably. Looks like you’ll have to buy yourself a bigger pair of pants if you plan on taking this bad-boy on the go!

Direct link here I remember being so excited about this game before it came out. I loved every second of it, and I’m dying to play through it again. I know it was a collect-a-thon, but I don’t care! It represents a time when RARE knew what it was doing…and was actually with [...]

In response to a possible class action lawsuit resulting from a recent round of Xbox Live bans, Microsoft has now asserted the legality of its position. A spokesperson has told the Financial Post that piracy is a violation of the company's terms of use and that Microsoft is "well within its legal rights" to ban users from its Xbox Live. It was reported earlier this month that the law firm AlbingtonIP is "investigating" the possibility of a class action lawsuit against Microsoft over the bans. The firm argues that timing of the bans -- shortly after the release of Halo 3: ODST and just prior to the launch of Modern Warfare 2 -- was designed to get as much money from Xbox Live subscriptions as possible. In other words, the firm believes that Microsoft personally waited for a time when many people -- modders in this case -- would be purchasing Live subscriptions for popular games -- money that probably wouldn't be refunded after a ban. Joystiq's Law of the Game columnist, Mark Methenitis, classified the suit as a likely "cash grab," explaining that anyone savvy enough to mod an Xbox would know to stay well away from Xbox Live. We might add that major releases, like ODST and Modern Warfare 2, are the biggest targets for piracy, and likely correspond with rises in illegal downloads. And that just might have something to do with the timing of the bans in question. [Via Kotaku]

Cruising the Twitters, as we are wont to do, we stumbled upon a revelation, courtesy of one Major Nelson. That revelation: Today is the fourth anniversary of the launch of the Xbox 360. Yes, just four years ago, on November 22, 2005, the Joystiq universe was just buzzing with excitement. There were freezing cold lines to wait in, boxes to open and new games to play -- in fantastic HD resmolutions! And then, of course, it began. Check out a sampling of our Xbox 360 launch coverage after the break.

A portion of a BlogCritics review… This game delivers on entertainment with a solid application incorporating the NDSi camera. Hopefully more NDSi games like this one will create a new wave of innovative entertainment to compliment DSiWare downloads.