All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

The Capcom Unity blog has exploded with some updates today. I thought I’d do you a favor and squish them into one post. Monster Hunter Events in Europe Feb 1st - 5th Bear McCreary, Mega Man Fan Bear McCreary Discusses Dark Void and Dark Void Zero Soundtracks Monster Hunter Tri Interview with Kramez New Phoenix Wright OC Remix Brings [...]

CEO Bobby Kotick tells it like it is.

Click to Ys into the galleryAtlus has seen fit to bestow some new 3D Dot Game Heroes screenshots upon us, featuring a noteworthy addition to the game: the English language. These are the first screens of the localized version, which means that we can now make sense of the character editor for the first time! Some of these screens also feature something else that rarely makes it into 3D Dot screenshots: the UI. There's actually kind of a lot of stuff on the screen, which is a surprise given the otherwise retro presentation. Of course, being an Atlus game, some clever dialogue is also on display, like the reference to the classic Ys combat system in the screenshot featured above.

Build your perfect character.

Crackdown 2 producer James Cope doesn't want you to have any doubt in your mind that a demo is headed to Xbox Live before the game's release, telling IGN UK in an interview, "You can definitely expect a demo to hit Live before the game is out." While we know the game's set to release in the "first half of 2010," Cope wouldn't get any more specific about the release date. Cope, however, did explain the revamped orb collection system (which adds "new types of Orbs for Agility and Driving skills") and admitted that "the Agency has finally discovered the power of flight." More specifically, he's referring to helicopters, the armored vehicles that will aid you in your destruction clean-up campaign across Pacific City -- and something criminally absent from the first Crackdown. For a handful of more granular details about the upcoming city-jumping sim sequel, peep the rest of the source interview. [Via Xbox360Achievements.org]

New territories are discovered and added to Age of Conan online such as the Oriental-themed Chosain Province.

click to horizontally scroll through our gallery Japanese developer CAVE is famous for its hardcore "bullet hell" shooters -- at least among importers, because the console versions of those shooters have never been localized. Nobody's been crazy enough to put the time and money into one of the super-hard niche shoot-em-ups, until today, when Aksys Games (the company crazy enough to localize Cho Aniki Zero) announced that it will publish Deathsmiles on the Xbox 360. While this is going to be incredible news to shmup devotees, Deathsmiles may be a hard sell to general audiences, with its "gothic lolita" aesthetic and punishing difficulty. Those who do check out Deathsmiles for whatever reason will find a horizontal shooter with branching paths, online co-op play, and, in the words of Aksys's Cherie Baker, "little girls flying through a gothic otherworld to destroy the horrific, necrotic Imperator Tyrannosatan." Aksys has yet to announce a release date for Deathsmiles.

CEO Bobby Kotick tells it like it is.

The 360 is being dragged back to bullet hell.

To err is human, to march is divine.

The battlefield extends from ground to air in the last installment of the video series for Dark Void.

Believe it or not, the Mr. Saturn plush doll was found to be the most popular toy to win in Japanese arcades, according to Banpresto’s survey. That’s why they’re bringing the plush back to arcades from February 6th to March 6th. Look for these babies to pop up on eBay sometime thereafter!

Devise your strategy while reliving the biggest tank battles in history.

Activision has announced that DJ Hero was "the #1 new intellectual property by revenue in the U.S. and Europe for calendar 2009, according to the NPD Group." Lest you sped through that proclamation, take note of the two key words: "by revenue" -- in other words, the total amount of money spent by consumers. Considering DJ Hero debuted at $120 for the standard turntable bundle and $200 for the Renegade Edition, it's no wonder that it managed to bring in the most money (though not necessarily the most profit, and certainly not the most units sold for a new franchise). NPD representative Anita Frazier clarified for Joystiq the performance of last year's new IPs in terms of actual unit sales. As you might have guessed, DJ Hero wasn't quite #1 in that category, but managed a respectable 789,000 units in US sales. Still, it was soundly outsold by other new IPs, including Borderlands and Dragon Age: Origins, which sold 1.11 million and 1.14 million units, respectively. Besting them all, however, was EA Sports Active, which amassed 1.2 million units sold. And get this, if we consider new IPs that launched before 2009, then Wii Play and Wii Fit were technically the best-selling new IPs in 2009. Finally, we should point out -- as did Frazier -- that NPD data only covers the US, despite Activision's claim that the group provided European sales data regarding DJ Hero.

Well, publishers have kept their promise of bringing out more, new original I.P.s. The problem is, the large majority of these original titles don’t turn out to be hits. For example, there were 126 new properties launched for home consoles in 2009, and only 7 of those went on to become quantifiable hits. [...]

Mario Strikes Charged…a highly underrated sports game that can suck you in for hours upon hours. Grabbing either this title or its predecessor is a great way to get some multiplayer sports fun out of your Wii.

New maps and new achievements become available in the new downloadable content online.

New strategy war title set during 1943 Kharkov Defense Operation signals impending start of Paradox Interactive Convention 2010.

Providing further proof that LittleBigPlanet is more than just an engine for the creation of rocket-propelled genitalia, Media Molecule has released a video showing off the finalists for its latest Contraption Challenge. This time around, entrants had to build the most convoluted machines they could think up in order to cross hazardous gaps. The developer's favorite bridgebuilders can be seen in the video above. Check out the video after the jump, and think about how much more interesting your morning commute would be if these people were real-life civil engineers.

The Mass Effect 2 universe is a sprawling place -- but BioWare is prepared to expand it in ways far more elaborate than demonstrated by the delayed and haphazard additions to the original game. Available to new purchasers of the galaxy-hopping RPG later this January (digital and retail), "The Cerberus Network" will offer an in-game delivery mechanism for Mass Effect 2 downloadable content, including a free day-one pack featuring new missions, in-game items and Zaeed, a mercenary sporting very appealing proportions of deadliness and ruggedness. He might also have a scar on his face. Though BioWare's future plans seem ambitious -- a second DLC pack featuring the Hammerhead hover tank is promised, as are pieces of armor and new weaponry -- some may consider them to be equally aggressive. Exhibit A: Yo three-headed dawg, I heard you like DLC, so I put the Cerberus Network DLC in your DLC so you can get more DLC. In other words, if you buy a used copy of Mass Effect 2, you'll need to unlock The Cerberus Network through a "one-time, in-game purchase of a new activation code." We've asked BioWare and EA to comment the price of that activation code, and whether or not Cerberus will act as the exclusive mechanism to obtain future DLC. BioWare's most recent title, Dragon Age: Origins, also offered in-the-box DLC in the form of "The Stone Prisoner" add-on, which costs $15 separately. Update: Reiterating that the day-one DLC will be "free to those who access The Cerberus Network", EA has told Joystiq that additional details regarding "all ways to access DLC" are forthcoming. As for the price of Cerberus Network access itself? "More details to come on that."

In part three of the exclusive Sci vs Fi documentary, art imitates life as your decisions will determine the persona of Commander Shepard in Mass Effect 2.

Now this is just demoralizing. According to a report in the rumors section of the Feb. 2010 issue of Game Informer (which doesn't name its source) there won't be "any game from the [Half-Life] franchise in 2010." As if that weren't crushing enough, the magazine says it's not even sure there will be a Half-Life 2: Episode 3, postulating that the next Gordon Freeman adventure might be Half-Life 3 proper. Alright, listen, Half-Life: You take as long as you need, but we know you're holding Portal 2 in there somewhere. Just let GLaDOS go unharmed and you can develop until 2020 for all we care. Please, if not for us, think of the preteens waiting to record painful cover versions of "I'm Still Alive (Again)" on YouTube.

Little King’s Story gets a little more love, which is the only reason why I’m sharing this 2009 wrap-up list with you. Not only does Little King’s Story get recognition…it actually takes home the top prize. It may be taking people a long time to realize just how much a gem this game [...]

Direct link here Doesn’t seem like that Mii is having much luck with his stroke. He might want to stand up and give it a shot. Thanks to Kaminari1 for the heads up!

Get ready for some old fashioned sleuthing.

Open beta begins for War of Legends