All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Beta signups begin for innovative developer's fantasy-themed parallel universe game.

Remember the Avatar game that XBLA developer Ninjabee announced earlier this month? We still don't know much about it. Ninjabee has released some concept art on its blog but, as the weird bird above will attest, that hasn't been too helpful in identifying the project. Thankfully, there is some good news, as the company has announced that its next game will be officially revealed later this week (tomorrow, in fact). Based on the art we've seen, we're guessing it's not A Kingdom for Keflings 2. Whatever it is, you can bet we'll be posting it right here as soon as it's announced.

Get a look at Microsoft and Capcom's big title unveil.

A closer look at the unexpected crossover.

40,000 Euros collected for save the children.

There's more killin' to be done.

Stand up. Walk over to your couch, and remove its cushions. Stick your hand into the exposed crevasses of your sofa, taking care not to lose any fingers in any reclining mechanisms which may be hiding within your chair. Dig out eight quarters, or twenty dimes, or forty nickels, or two-hundred pennies, or any combination of these denominations which add up to 200 cents. Deposit your recently excavated horde in your bank account, or the bank account of a trusted friend or relative. Access Steam, and use these funds to purchase Psychonauts, which, until tomorrow, only costs 200 cents. Download the game, and play it. When you get a free moment, return the cushions to your couch, so it can collect more funds for the next time Steam slashes the price on one of our favorite games ever. [Thanks, Dao]

There are all kinds of different reasons for choosing to write one story over another. For instance, I'm telling you about a Pokémon-centric GameStop promotion solely to irritate Joystiq co-worker and co-brother Griffin McElroy with my ignorance. It's a pretty big sacrifice for a major gaming website with millions of readers, but Griffin loves Pokémon more than you love most members of your immediate family, so it's absolutely worth it. So, apparently, if you take Pokémon Platinum, Pokémon Diamond or Pokémon Pearl (are there really that many?) into GameStop between January 30 and February 14, you can get a Pikachu-colored Pichu. That Pichu will also give you access to the mythical, spiky-eared Pichu in Pokémon Heart Gold and Pokémon Soul Silver (There are more of them? And they're called that?!). So make sure to say "Hi" to Griffin and his girlfriend there. Oh, and by the way: That thing to the right is a Pichu. I don't know how to break it to you, Griffin, but he is Pikachu-colored and has spiky ears.

Is that a bandit in your dungeon?

It would appear that BioWare has gotten things with our buddy Zaeed all sorted, as his Xbox 360 DLC pack is now available through Mass Effect 2's Cerberus Network. Coming in an update this morning, the disgruntled, padded mercenary is now available for the low, low price of zero dollars. As BioWare doc Greg Zeschuk explained to us recently, additional content arriving for Mass Effect 2 through the Cerberus Network will be free of charge, with "paid DLC packs" available separately.

All hit Mac games from Playrix for one low price.

Once more into the breach.

If you prefer Street Fighter in hand-drawn 2D instead of the look of Street Fighter IV, and if you prefer it to be ... completely non-interactive, well, Capcom has some exciting news. A Super Street Fighter IV anime project is in the works from the Gonzo animation company. The anime focuses on Juri (and her weird glowing eye), but also contains "great fighting action," "backstory goodness," and "plenty of Cammy and the Dolls," according to Capcom's Seth Killian. How to see the anime is a bit of a mystery. Capcom is offering it to Xbox 360 buyers of Super Street Fighter IV as a bonus (possibly as some kind of download or through Xbox Live Marketplace), but that offer is for Japan only. The fact that a trailer is available on Xbox Live Marketplace in North America suggests that it will be available here in some form. We're checking with Capcom for details. In the meantime, enjoy the trailer above or through your Xbox. Shortcut: Download the Super Street Fighter IV anime trailer

Bad news for those of you who have picked up some classic arcade titles on Xbox Live and can't wait to play them in Microsoft's new Game Room: It looks like you will have to repurchase anything you want to play with your avatar in the 3D environment. Game Informer learned this recently from a Microsoft rep, who went on to say that it's because the Game Room titles are different from the XBLA versions -- in fact, it sounds like they're more old-school and not "revamped," as the rep puts it. Fortunately, you will get a small price break: As previously announced, the games will sell for 400 ($5) to play on Xbox 360 and PC, 240 ($3) for the game on one platform or 40 ($0.50) for "two quarters'" worth of playtime. But for those of us who've already shelled out 400 for the Centipede/Millipede combo, it looks like we'll have to pull out the wallet yet again.

Sega of Japan announced that it will release an update for the PS3 version of Bayonetta tomorrow, which adds an "Install" item to the game's main menu. The patch, first tentatively announced in November, is intended to cut down the long load times that have perturbed Bayonetta's PS3 players. This doesn't mean the game has now achieved total parity with the Xbox version -- there are still other visual issues, like frame rate, in Sega's PlayStation port -- but at least Sega has now taken one step towards improving the experience on PS3. The update has currently been announced only in Japan only, but the release date just happens to fall on a Thursday, when the PlayStation Store updates worldwide, so we wouldn't be shocked to see it arrive here tomorrow as well. [Thanks, Copland]

We'd heard before that Korean developer Blueside (of Ninety-Nine Nights and Kingdom Under Fire) was working on a sekrit massively multiplayer game called Project T for the PC, but now we've learned that it's also planning to release the game on the Xbox 360. A Korean job listing for the company says that the MMORPG is in development for both platforms, and asks for game programming skills of all kinds, including experience working on commercial MMOs. The game is supposed to be an "action RPG," so it actually sounds like a pretty good fit to try for the more action-friendly console world. The job listing specifies a contract time of one year (though that seems pretty boilerplate in these situations), and the MMO was last scheduled for a release sometime in 2011. The company's also working on some MMO-style gameplay for its upcoming Kingdom Under Fire II.

We live in exciting times. You can, today, right now, actually buy in real life the kind of sci-fi gear you only expect to find in a video game. Controlling things -- anything but your own body, really -- with just your thoughts is a fantasy and sci-fi staple, whether it be Darth Vader force-choking some mouthy Imperial admiral or Professor Xavier commanding the X-Men from the comfort of his wheelchair, finger pressed to temple in grim concentration. But that fantasy is now reality, and you can control things (well, a thing) with just the power of your mind. Think it and your computer does it, no more pesky mice or keyboards or even voice commands. Or so the people at Emotiv would have us believe. Being the kind of guy who absolutely cannot wait for the day when, as Jonathan Coulton sings, "the things that make me weak and strange get engineered away," I pre-orded Emotiv's thought-controlled EPOC mind-computer interface device as soon as I thought I had $299 to spare. As it turned out, being the first on your block with the new toy comes with a real risk: you might end up buying a frustrating experimental prototype for the cost of five new video games. Gallery: Review: Emotiv EPOC

click to enlarge Sega has dropped some new screens from its upcoming Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing kart game, and if you don't find them completely charming, there's something broken near your left ventricle. We don't yet know if the game is any good or not, but if you look at these lush, colorful 3D recreations of classic Sega environments and characters and don't feel the slightest stirring down in your jaded, Mature excuse for a gamer heart, you better get it checked. Note that these screens come from the Xbox 360 version, which explains why Banjo and the Avatars (coincidentally a great band name) appear within. Enjoy.

Aksys Games has taken to promoting Record of Agarest War in a ... unique way, downplaying the actual strategy RPG gameplay in favor of lasciviousness. That extends (huh-huh, we said "extends") to the limited edition release of the Xbox 360 version, revealed today as the "Really Naughty Limited Edition." The PS3 version will be somewhat less naughty due to its digital-only release. For the truly despicable amongst us, Aksys has seen fit to package the game with a "Sensual Vira-Lor mouse pad" --featuring ergonomic breasts -- and a "Yearning Ellis pillowcase," packaged in a collector's box adorned with bathing anime girls. There's also a soundtrack CD, but that seems relatively innocuous. The Really Naughty edition, at least, carries a reasonably modest (for a limited edition) price of $59.99, so at least you won't be spending more than usual for the bonus of deep, lifelong shame. It'll be available April 27. Aksys has offered no date for a non-special edition.

Imaginary friends.

Marvelous Interactive executives have taken a pay cut in response to a bad earnings forecast due to the publisher's low sales figures. Executives will take a 15-17 percent cut in pay, directors will be hit 25-43 percent, while the CEO will take a 77 percent reduction. What's unclear is if this is a sign that executives are taking responsibility for what happened, or if there simply isn't enough money in the coffers to pay them. [Via Siliconera]

image source: Comedy Central PC gamers have long been vocal about intrusive DRM programs hidden in their games. With illegal game downloads in the millions, publishers are desperately trying to find new solutions in the war against piracy. Ubisoft's upcoming The Settlers 7 will introduce a new DRM model for the company, one that doesn't require disc authentication and allows multiple installations across multiple systems. "If you own a hundred PCs, you can install your games on a hundred PCs," Ubisoft's Brent Wilkinson told GameSpy. Central to Ubisoft's new DRM plan is its online integration. Like select Steam games, Ubisoft will require players to log-in with a Ubi.com account in order to play, even for single-player games. As a plus, the online connectivity allows saves to be stored on Ubisoft's servers, meaning players can resume a game from any computer they own. Wilkinson dismissed concerns that some players may not have a ready internet connection: "We think most people are going to be fine with it. Most people are always connected to an Internet connection." But just in case you don't, may we suggest AOL dial-up? It's the future, we swear! [Via BigDownload]

Want to see one of the goodies you’ll get to take home if you were to win Nintendo’s New Super Mario Bros. Wii coin battle contest? Yeah, that’s a pretty fancy statue that only a select few gamers will get to take home with them. I really want Nintendo to bring this content stateside. [...]

Direct link here Random spawn point…random enemy…impossible to reach without cheating. What’s going on here?!

The Arc Rise Fantasia soundtrack will be out in Japan on March 3rd, and it will contain 3 discs with 71 tracks total.

Is it MAGnificent or MAGediocre? We don't know yet!

“I created the data exactly in line with it [the map], but then Tezuka-san made a mistake and only used half of the data. I said, ‘Tezuka-san, there’s only half here. Where did the other half go?’ and he was like, What?! Oops, I messed up…’ But Miyamoto-san said it was fine just like [...]