All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

But Square Enix published FPS not enough to fight off New Super Mario Bros.

Take to the skies with your Wii.

We always figured that the Scarab was a pretty hefty Halo Wars unit -- it is the very end of the Covenant tech tree, after all -- but apparently it needed a little extra juice. A new title update now available for the game grants Scarabs with 25 percent more health and 25 percent more damage. If you weren't terrified of them before, you might want to reconsider. Other changes include Gremlins requiring two reactors to build, Grunts doing more damage to air units and more. The update also fixes some bugs including the cryo/reactor glitch, which sounds like it was pretty awful. See the full list of changes and fixes -- politely cribbed from HaloWars.com -- after the break. [Thanks, Ben]

New Super Mario Bros. and Tales of Graces push system even higher.

A comprehensive compilation of all our coverage.

New Super Mario Bros. and Tales of Graces push system even higher.

The official European site for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles has gotten a bit of a revamp for the impending release of the game. Not much in the way of new content to check out, but still worth a look. Site here (thanks Tim!)

“The Def Jam series is shedding the fighting aspect with its newest game. Titled Def Jam Rapstar, players will choose a hip-hop track to sing and try to get the best score.” “The game will use either the Xbox Live Vision Camera or the PlayStation Eye, depending on the system your playing on, to put [...]

Hudson gives us a deeper look at its upcoming creepfest.

Update: It seems the offer has been active for some time now, and the message was sent as a reminder. So, here's another reminder. You'd best pick that title up before the offer expires. Back in September, Nintendo began offering the Wii Internet Channel free of charge. To make nice with those who had already paid 500 points for the channel, Nintendo promised a free NES Virtual Console download. Today, we noticed the familiar blue glow emanating from the Wii, signifying something new. Imagine our surprise when we discovered a message from Nintendo saying the free NES download offer was now active. So, if you're a US gamer and you purchased the Internet Channel before it was made free, you're now entitled to a free 500 point NES download. For the record, we chose Kirby's Adventure.

Has any game been remade and repackaged into "Limited Edition" bundles more often than Lunar: Silver Star? With the announcement of this special edition PSP package from XSEED, we think the answer is "no." The Limited Edition will include a UMD version of the game, soundtrack CD and a set of 13 "bromide" collector cards "highlighting the girls of Lunar." Oh, game publishing companies, you know what fans want. The press release calls this the "definitive version of Lunar: The Silver Star." That is, until the next time they decide to remake this game. The Limited Edition will cost $40, $10 more than the standard edition, and will release on PSP in Q1 2010.

Today's European Wii/DSi Shop update includes one of the most cringeworthy localizations in memory. Tecmo's Tsuppari Oozumo Wii Heya, the latest in its long-lived sumo wrestling series, appears in Europe today as ... Eat! Fat! FIGHT! Sure, it's more lighthearted and less a strict simulation of sumo, but Eat! Fat! FIGHT? Really? A Boy and His Blob and Street Fighter II' (the PC Engine version) arrive on Virtual Console today, and DSiWare has yet another original Q-Games title: Starship Patrol, a futuristic-looking tower defense game in space! Eat! Fat! FIGHT! (WiiWare, 1-2 players, 1,000 Wii Points) Moki Moki (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) A Boy and His Blob (NES, 1 player, 500 Wii Points) Street Fighter II': Champion Edition (Turbografx-16, 1-2 players, 700 Wii Points) A Little Bit of... Magic Made Fun: Psychic Camera (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Castle of Magic (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points) Littlest Pet Shop (DSiWare, 1 player, 800 DSi Points) myNotebook: Green (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points) Starship Patrol (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

Plus one reason we're skeptical.

Namco Bandai is unsurprisingly working on a sequel to Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm. Revealed in the latest issue of V-Jump, the sequel will take place right where the first game left off, at the beginning of the Shippuden series. Not only will the cast of characters be older in the sequel, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 is promising some big new features, primarily 4-player support and a multiplatform release. Yep, unlike the first game, Ultimate Ninja Storm 2 will be released on both PS3 and Xbox 360. Details are slim at the moment, but with a planned 2010 release in Japan, we'll undoubtedly find out more soon. So long as CyberConnect 2 can expand on the game's depth while keeping its good looks, anime fans will want to keep an eye out for this one. [Thanks Fidoboy17; Via Siliconera]

Just wanted to let you know that we can finally say both Mega Man Official Complete Works, and Mega Man X Official Complete Works will be arriving in comic book stores next Wednesday Dec 23! Just barely in time for X-mas(or Mega Man X-mas if you prefer heh). As for regular book stores, and online [...]

I just got this text message from GameStop. I followed the address provided, put in my name and cell phone number, and found out that I had $20 in unused credits! I then got to print out a redemption receipt for use in the store. Pretty sweet deal if you ask me! [...]

If your wait to return to Rapture has been too much to bear, then you may be interested in some of the Achievements for Bioshock 2 over at Xbox360Achievements -- you know, just to help ease the passing of time. None of them spoil the game (you hack stuff again!) and, unsurprisingly, they mimic a lot of the Achievements in the first game. But, with the inclusion of multiplayer this time around, a few of the 'cheevos are obviously geared toward that. [Via Hot Blooded Gaming]

While Army of Two's focus has always been cooperative gameplay, EA Montreal's Eric Chartrand is responsible for designing the competitive multiplayer aspects of The 40th Day. In an interview with with That VideoGame Blog, Chartrand notes that one of the big changes for the AoT sequel is to adapt the multiplayer aspect, and make it play differently from the campaign mode. Whereas the story can feature designed bottlenecks (such as doors that require both players to open), multiplayer cannot, simply because humans play differently than AI. "The toolset we use in single-player has to be different from the one we use in multiplayer," Chartrand explains. Interestingly, Chartrand notes two games as his main inspiration for The 40th Day's multiplayer offerings: the decade old Counter-Strike and the recently-released Killzone 2. "What works in Counter-Strike is that you don't get progression," a stark contrast to the level-up gimmick common in most online shooters. "So why it works is because the gameplay in it. The second-to-second, the movement of the character, the shooting, the intensity of the combat is still fresh, even ten years after. So that's why we wanted to craft an experience that is as close to this as possible." Chartrand has even more praise for Guerrilla's FPS. "Killzone 2 has great maps, probably the best maps out there," he admits. However, what inspired Chartrand the most appear to be the game's community features, particularly its stats-laden website. "This link between stats, profile, friends, leaderboard ... all the community aspects, I think the Killzone guys did a very good job and we strive to imitate them."

The upbeat red-head and her comrade explore the beginnings of Final Fantasy XIII.

A recent PlayStation.Blog post contained great news for your ragtag group of trained virtual killers: an Uncharted 2 title update which goes live later today will add Clan Tag functionality to the game's multiplayer component, allowing you to proudly display your team's four-letter moniker before your PSN ID. Sure, this isn't exactly the full clan support that your clan might have hoped for, but it still lets you represent. Isn't that what really matters? The update's other features, which include quick rematches for online games and hastened load times, can be found in a list after the jump.

Back in September, Nintendo began offering the Wii Internet Channel free of charge. To make nice with those who had already paid 500 points for the channel, Nintendo promised a free NES Virtual Console download. Today, we noticed the familiar blue glow emanating from the Wii, signifying something new. Imagine our surprise when we discovered a message from Nintendo saying the free NES download offer was now active. So, if you're a US gamer and you purchased the Internet Channel before it was made free, you're now entitled to a free 500 point NES download. For the record, we chose Kirby's Adventure.

The official soundtrack for Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles releases in Japan on January 14th, 2010. No word on a stateside release date this time.