All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

A portion of a C3 review… The original 7 Wonders was addictive as it was, but its sequel manages to surpass it, giving fans of the genre another pleasing piece of puzzle pie for a very wallet-friendly price.

Piranha Bytes' Risen will release this February on Xbox 360 in North America. Speaking of rising, that's likely something the review scores could use after the North American release. The PC version is currently scraping by with a 77 on Metacritic and the Xbox 360 version, which has raided Europe, is sporting a frighteningly low score of 58. Under normal circumstances Risen might stand a chance with a February release -- despite its review scores. But, as has become disturbingly clear to other publishers, 2010 is just full-up with solid launches, that everyone has to bring their A-game to survive this year's release schedule.

I’ve heard quite a few complaints about Sands of Destruction, the game that SEGA supposedly fixed for North American release. It sounds like they may have done more bad than good, with enemy encounter rates being a big point of contention. You should be able to take more than one step without going [...]

Remember, Capcom’s ‘official back story’ for Dark Void Zero involves none other than Jimmy Fallon as a child. In the actual game, you can see Capcom’s reference to the late-night host. They’re going a long way to make us believe this back story, but this bit is to strange to try and believe!

A new listing on Amazon's Japanese site suggests that a new entry in Atlus's long-running Shin Megami Tensei series could be headed to PS3. The listing is for a game with the temporary title Shin Megami Tensei. Even if this is real, of course, the Shin Megami Tensei series seems impossibly diverse, and could mean anything from first-person dungeon crawlers to MMOs. While many of the spin-off games called Shin Megami Tensei in America -- like the Persona series and Devil Survivor -- don't carry the Shin Megami Tensei name in Japan, there's still a staggering variety of games that could fall under the label, given that the Devil Summoner series, the recent Strange Journey, and, yes, Shin Megami Tensei Imagine (the MMO) have been branded with the "main" series title. Basically, there are a ton of spin-offs, and some of them include Shin Megami Tensei in their name. For its first appearance on a next-gen system, though, chances seem a bit higher that this will be the "real" followup to Shin Megami Tensei 3: Nocturne. Whatever it is, it'll probably involve demons. And cool character art. [Via Siliconera]

EA Sports' monthlong silence on FIFA 10's Ultimate Team DLC has been lifted today with the release of a new (and charmingly British) walkthrough trailer. As you can see for yourself above, the clip not only gives us a cursory tour of the new content, but also a preview of what's to come -- new packs, updated player stats, and more tournaments, among other things. The DLC is said to be priced at 400 ($5) or $4.99 via Xbox Live and PSN (respectively) and we still don't have a more solid release date than "February." In the meantime, well, we've got you this trailer. That's something, right?

Capcom has done a fantastic job of confusing the hell out of everyone with Dark Void Zero. Was it really an idea that existed a long time ago? Was there a classic game that was forgotten, only to be rebirthed years later? Is this all an elaborate marketing scheme? It’s hard [...]

A portion of a Hanafuda Times review… Despite being absolutely ridiculous, this game is actually one of WiiWare’s more entertaining titles: not something I can say for most games priced at 500 points. If you’re into the WTF genre, don’t let this game get away.

A portion of a GamerRoad review… Eco Shooter: Plant 530 is certain a worthwhile purchase with a simple control scheme that lives up to the promise of what the WiiWare should be: cheap, interesting games that are simple to pick up and enjoy, despite its limited nature. Now if Nintendo can actually get around to [...]

Make sure to check out the full NPD report for all sorts of interesting data (thanks Johnny4!)

Check out details on this mod’s creation here (thanks Greenhough!)

Remember the Glory of Heracles trojan horses that were sent to the press last week? Well, the creator of those horses took some pictures before sending out the troops. I guarantee these pictures to be the most epic collection of paper trojan horses you’ve ever seen!

Are you ever curious about what the future of video gaming is going to look like? Perhaps you envision a world where young people control the actions of prison inmates remotely, as they compete in a gruesome deathmatch? Or maybe it's world where games that are played with the hands are curtly dismissed as "baby toys." However, for a glimpse at the more immediate future of our industry, we need not look further than the IGF Student Showcase -- a round-up of the neatest titles being developed by the big industry names of tomorrow ... today! The IGF committee recently announced the winners of the 2010 Student Showcase, highlighting ten games independently developed by the bright minds currently attending some form of educational institute across the globe. These games will go on to compete in the Best Student Game category of the IGF Awards on March 11 -- an award which nets the winner a cool $2,500. Check out the full list of finalists -- some of which are totally free and available to download now -- right after the jump.

Is this game really that violent? And why do Predators wear fishnet stockings? These questions and more answered.

"Some games teach you to kill."

"Some games teach you to kill."

As part of its month-long look at Halo: Reach, Game Informer has put together a brief video about 343 Industries, the group put together by Microsoft to handle the massive Halo franchise. The magazine puts a few questions to 343 Industries' Josh Holmes, Bonnie Ross and Frank O'Connor about how the group came to be, the creation of Halo Waypoint, and what the meaning is behind its mysterious name. According to O'Connor, Microsoft decided some time ago that Halo was large enough that it needed more than a handful of people to steer the franchise. As for the 343 Industries name, Ross mentions the obvious connection to everyone's favorite Forerunner AI, 343 Guilty Spark, but adds that it may be more fully explained in the future. O'Connor expands further, noting that the answer to the mystery behind 343 will "make itself evident in a few years." Our best guess: "Because it sounds cool."

"Some games teach you to kill."

The New York Times reports that Microsoft has "held in-depth discussions" with the Walt Disney Company to stream ESPN programming through Xbox Live. According to anonymous sources, ESPN would provide live streams (like it does with the titularly similar - though unrelated - ESPN360) to subscribers for a fee. There is also the possibility that Microsoft may "create some interactive games in association with ESPN" ... as compared to non-interactive games? The idea described sounds similar to that of the sports-heavy - and UK -only - Sky Player. While North America doesn't currently have a TV streaming application, it does have Netflix. If the Times' sources are on the money, it sounds like the ESPN offering would be a similar streaming app, not to mention the next step in an increasingly non-interactive battle for the living room. [Via @GeoffKeighley]

Click to Yakuza-size Though the number of images displaying dudes brawling in the gallery below may lead you to believe that the pictures therein are of a new Street Fighter game, we assure you, they're just images from soon-to-be-localized Japanese crime drama, Yakuza 3. Don't believe us? Just check out the first image in that gallery. See that? That's a back tattoo, which members of the Yakuza are like, contractually obligated to get. This guy's back tattoo is of a snake, which means that his skin gets dry in the winter. Also, it means he likes to swallow whole, completely uncooked eggs. Weird, right?

We know, you now have that Andy Gibb song stuck in your head. Sorry, but them's the breaks! This week's Virtual Console release is Sega's Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi, a dog-friendly side-scroller very much like previous Shinobi titles. Hey, if it ain't broke, don't fix it! Check it out in the latest episode of VC in Brief above. Shadow Dancer: The Secret of Shinobi (Genesis, 1 player, 800 Wii Points) Every week, we like to check out what's new on the Virtual Console. We offer these videos as a sort of taste to help you decide whether or not you would want the game in question. We also toss in our own two cents because we're pushy jerks like that.

While most of Skate 3's marketing SLAVE has focused on the team-driven aspects of the game -- a campaign which is admittedly only two trailers deep -- today's video update provides a THRASHER glimpse at a pre-order incentive: Black Box Skate Park. It's an underground FALLEN, industrial-looking warehouse enclosure home to various pipes, ledges, and curved surfaces -- a place where lots of skateboarding can be done. Check it out all in the ZERO trailer above.

Adventure game Sherlock Holmes vs. Jack the Ripper will take a stab at North American retail this March. Released last year in Europe, the console port of the PC game has the fictional detective on the trail of the real-world 19th-century serial killer. Hey, while we're messing with fiction, reality, history and time, why not have Holmes team up with Doctor Who and Sam Beckett? He can change history for the better, putting right what once went wrong and bringing Beckett one step closer to his leap home. Actually ... that's not bad. Hands off, video game industry! We're saving that idea for Joystiq Publishing's still-looking-for- 2011 release list.

Direct link/source here Is it just me, or is that ad not really annoying? It seems like people are much more easily annoyed in 2010. That’s kind of a scary thing!

The online world of Hellgate: London experienced its apocalypse (or, judging by the game's ruined, lifeless environments, its second apocalypse) almost one year ago, only remaining open in Korea as a free-to-play title. Today, HanbitSoft, the company responsible for keeping the game on life support in Korea, announced it had secured worldwide publishing rights for the title, and would revive the game in Europe and the U.S. later this year. The MMO, which has appropriately been remonikered Hellgate: Resurrection, has adopted a universal free-to-play model during its downtime. It's also acquired a few new features, thanks to developer T3 Entertainment. Hopefully, the studio didn't succumb to the crippling waves of depression which hampered the game's original creators.

Capcom offered the first look at Rockman Zero Collection with a new trailer on the game's website. Well, second look if you count the original games as the first look. Unsurprisingly, the collection as presented on the DS looks just like the games running on GBA, with some placeholder imagery on the bottom screen. Most of the time, it appears to be character art of Zero or the current boss, but the trailer also shows a menu of what looks like an artwork collection. So you can play games, and look at pictures from those games! Basically, if this is localized, buy it because you want copies of these games, not for any new content, though some might still show up. [Via Siliconera]

A dedicated team of homebrewers has done what Nintendo and Tecmo never did: translate Fatal Frame IV. A team at Fatal Frame fansite Beyond the Camera's Lens has released a patch that swaps out the Japanese text in the Tecmo/Nintendo/Grasshopper Manufacture-developed Fatal Frame IV: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse with its own translated English text and allows the Japanese disc to be loaded in other regions' Wiis. The best part? It runs from an SD card on any Wii -- no matter which region, and without the need for modding. We suspect sites like Play-Asia and YesAsia are about to experience a significant increase in the number of orders for this 2008 survival horror game. [Thanks, Antares Meketa!]