All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

The press raises their cups in praise of this DS title.

FIFA 10, the latest iteration of EA Sports' biggest global franchise, itself based on the world's most popular sport, is selling well. That's an understatement. Worldwide, EA estimates game sales have surpassed 4.5 million units since the October 1 launch, including a so-called record-setting first week, in which 1.7 million units were sold in Europe to make FIFA 10 the world's "fastest-selling sports video game." What better time to announce that the game will receive a fresh pair of legs? EA today announced the pending release of FIFA 10 Ultimate Team, a DLC management mode -- introduced to the series last year (and ported to this year's slumping Madden game) -- that has been made over with a "redesigned chemistry system built around player relationships." Think: God game governing platonic dating-sim played with a deck of cards, and ... you're there. Come February, Ultimate Team will be available for download for 400 or $4.99 via Xbox Live and PSN.

The princess finds a way to help in spirit form.

It's time once again to hop on the Zelda train.

A portion of an NWR review… The only sour spot in the package is Bop It’s cumbersome motion controls. The rest of the package shines with solid game versions of the board games, elaborate multiplayer modes, and bonus content to unlock. Grab some friends and have some fun with this throwback.

Stereoscopic 3D gaming that doesn't involve Virtual Boy? Count us in.

[Image source: Scott Bowling] Erik Estavillo has been given a handful of nicknames by the press recently - he listed "Professional/PSN Plaintiff," "The Serial Suer" and a few others when he spoke with Joystiq this morning. He assured us though, time and time again, "That WoW lawsuit, that's my final lawsuit. So people know, I'm not suing any more companies." In case you missed it, Estavillo is currently engaged in four separate lawsuits - one with Microsoft, one with Nintendo, one with Sony (in both Federal and State court), and one with Activision Blizzard. "One lawsuit for each major console maker and one for the PC, so four total," he clarified to us. Aside from seeking money (anywhere from as low as $180 to $1 million, depending on the case), we asked Estavillo what his intentions were behind launching the multiple lawsuits. "What I wanted to do was exploit the weakness of each console and show that they're not impervious to flaws ... each console has a flaw and they should fix it," he said. During the interview as well as in some of his court filings, Estavillo claimed to be suffering from a variety of psychological maladies, and has repeatedly stated that he uses online gaming as his primary form of communication. "I told this other interviewer and it's true - I actually have no friends. I rely on online gameplay for socialization." Though he's yet to win a case, his first (by default) could come as soon as December 3 - the end of Sony's 30 days to respond to a summons. If he does, that would mean $180,000 and a "no contest" ruling against Sony. Though he said he'll keep some of the money he may win, he noted that, "Half the money I get is gonna go to God. I'm giving half the money I get to CBN [Christian Broadcasting Network], local churches, charities, or poor people on the street." We talked to Estavillo about a variety of other topics - from what games he plays to why he's subpoenaing celebrities instead of experts - but due to sheer length we've broken the rest of the interview out after the break. Update: Erik Estavillo emailed us this evening to say that Sony has responded to his summons, thus closing out the possibility of a default settlement. The first hearing will be in early 2010.

Are your youngsters ready to join the club?

Solve the Dragon's Riddle and set out to town and country.

Read even more storybooks to your little ones on the Nintendo DS.

According to Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg, Xbox 360 sales saw a serious increase thanks to the post-Thanksgiving shopping madness known as Black Friday. While Greenberg doesn't disclose specific numbers, he notes in a recent tweet that Black Friday granted the Xbox 360 its "biggest sales week of the year," with Microsoft selling over twice as many units than the previous week. That certainly sounds like a lot, though the average weekly sales in October -- based on NPD figures -- were slightly above 60,000 units. Assuming November's weekly average was similar, Microsoft certainly didn't come close to topping Sony's impressive Black Friday total of 440,000 PS3 consoles. And let's not forget Nintendo's Black Friday success: 550,000 Wii consoles and DS / DSi sales in excess of one million units. Rest assured we will break down the exact November numbers once the NPDs shake out later this month. [Via Gamasutra]

The Wii gets its own take on the James Cameron universe. Life on Pandora isn't problem free.

An all-new kind of identity theft.

24 days, 24 awesome game deals, 24 hours each.

Nintendo must have found a really cheap wholesaler for wooden boxes, because, much like it did for Professor Layton and the Diabolical Box, the publisher shipped out press copies of The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks in handsome wooden cases. No puzzles were required to get into this treasure chest, however. Along with the treasure chest, Nintendo sent a Link t-shirt. In a separate mailing, the company sent another wooden gewgaw: a train whistle, just like the one you got from any museum gift shop ever. In a truly superhuman display of discipline, we've managed to leave the whistle untooted so future Joyswag winners won't be subject to blogger cooties.

Navigate the treacherous courses with ease.

[Image source: Scott Bowling] Erik Estavillo has been given a handful of nicknames by the press recently - he listed "Professional/PSN Plaintiff," "The Serial Suer" and a few others when he spoke with Joystiq this morning. He assured us though, time and time again, "That WoW lawsuit, that's my final lawsuit. So people know, I'm not suing any more companies." In case you missed it, Estavillo is currently engaged in four separate lawsuits - one with Microsoft, one with Nintendo, one with Sony (in both Federal and State court), and one with Activision Blizzard. "One lawsuit for each major console maker and one for the PC, so four total," he clarified to us. Aside from seeking money (anywhere from as low as $180 to $1 million, depending on the case), we asked Estavillo what his intentions were behind launching the multiple lawsuits. "What I wanted to do was exploit the weakness of each console and show that they're not impervious to flaws ... each console has a flaw and they should fix it," he said. During the interview as well as in some of his court filings, Estavillo claimed to be suffering from a variety of psychological maladies, and has repeatedly stated that he uses online gaming as his primary form of communication. "I told this other interviewer and it's true - I actually have no friends. I rely on online gameplay for socialization." Though he's yet to win a case, his first (by default) could come as soon as December 3 - the end of Sony's 30 days to respond to a summons. If he does, that would mean $180,000 and a "no contest" ruling against Sony. Though he said he'll keep some of the money he may win, he noted that, "Half the money I get is gonna go to God. I'm giving half the money I get to CBN [Christian Broadcasting Network], local churches, charities, or poor people on the street." We talked to Estavillo about a variety of other topics - from what games he plays to why he's subpoenaing celebrities instead of experts - but due to sheer length we've broken the rest of the interview out after the break.

Unlock secrets and shortcuts with the ability to see into other minds.

Videogame adaptation of Cameron's universe doesn't quite deliver.

We want to be more upset at Laughing Jackal's wholesale appropriation of the Qix concept -- even going so far as to use a similar title -- for its PSP Minis game, Cubixx. But the fact is that Qix is awesome, whether Taito is making it or not, and it's relatively unexplored compared to other arcade classics like Pac-Man. And Cubixx does add an interesting wrinkle to the Qix gameplay: a cube, in which you attempt to draw lines to cover the area of all six faces. Cubixx will be released in Europe on Thursday 3rd December at a £2.49 price point. See some footage on the other side of the post break.

After revealing the news that it would be giving Serious Sam: The Second encounter an HD makeover, Devolver Digital has now dropped some bad news: Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter has been delayed on the Xbox 360. According to the Devolver Digital Twitter account, the XBLA version of the game has been pushed to January. No specific date was given, though we're willing to bet it'll be a Wednesday, which narrows it down to January 6, 13, 20 or 27. Where are you putting your chips? [Via Shacknews]

How often do you have a day where the Fed-Ex man drops a treasure chest off at your door? I think this is the first time for me…and probably the last one as well. That’s okay though, because I don’t think I’ll ever get a cooler treasure chest in my entire life! Direct link [...]