All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

We have mixed feelings about utilizing the ESRB as a source for upcoming US release. On the one hand, we're thankful that their rating practically assures that Sega's After Burner Climax will be coming to the US on Xbox Live and PSN (it was previously only announced for Japan). On the other, they always manage to make games sound so boring, and this is a game that includes both the words "Burner" and "Climax" in its title. Here, see it in action if you don't believe us. Listen to this: "Most of the jets-even the missiles/gunfire-appear somewhat fantastical." And yes, those italics are theirs. The only cool word in the whole thing is "fantastical" and even that's softened by a "somewhat." But don't worry, ESRB, we've taken the liberty of awesoming-up your listing.

Nintendo announced its earnings for the nine-month period from April to December 2009, reporting a 23.8% year-over-year drop in net sales from the same period in 2008 but still claiming "the third best corresponding performances in company history." That's the extremely mild downside of the kind of crazy success Nintendo's been experiencing: even slightly less crazy success sounds bad. The company also announced new sales totals for its hardware. The DS sold an additional 23.35 million units worldwide in April-December 2009, for a worldwide life to date total of 125.13 million. Wii is now up to 67.45 million worldwide, having sold 17.05 million units. Both of those totals are, again, down from Nintendo's 2008 sales, while also being ridiculous. You can see the full chart of Wii and DS sales, as well as software sales, all broken down by region after the break.

Koei has decided that assembling giant crowds of fictionalized historical armies isn't enough! The publisher is now turning its attention toward assembling giant crowds of real people with its Sengoku Bushou Matsuri (Warring States Commander Festival), to be held March 6-7 in Saitama, Japan. The event is intended to celebrate not only samurai culture, but (of course) Koei's own recent Wii release, Samurai Warriors 3. The event is packed with Japanese celebrities, including singer and suspected vampire Gackt, and the entire Samurai Warriors 3 voice cast will attend. We believe all the attending celebrities will be participating in some kind of war drama. Which means that if you want to see TV stars pantomiming samurai warfare in outrageous, game-inspired costumes, this is probably where you want to go. Here's the really crazy part: Koei expects 80,000 to attend. [Via GameGrep; thanks, Peter]

"They" are, of course, CD Projekt, creators of The Witcher, and They is the mysterious first-person shooter we've seen clips of since the fall of 2007. The resources of original developer Metropolis Software (purchased by CD Projekt) were moved off the game and onto the higher-priority Witcher sequel, according to a new interview in Big Download. If you irrationally fall in love with games before you barely know anything about them, take heart! CD Projekt co-founder Marcin Iwinski said, "we have by far not buried They, and we would really like to return to it."

It's time for the masses to try out Battlefield: Bad Company 2's multiplayer, as EA has seen fit to deploy a demo on the Xbox Live Marketplace. The 1.4GB download will see fierce fighting on the Port Valdez map in "Rush Mode." Access to the demo ends February 25, 2010, a week before launch. For those interested in learning more about the single-player campaign, check out our hands-on of the solo experience with Preston, Sweetwater and the rest of B company. Add Battlefield: Bad Company 2 - Demo to your download queue

The upcoming demo for Bad Company 2 features the Port Valdez map.

The Magnificent Seven reasons it could be great, and The Dirty (Half-)Dozen things they need to fix before release.

We remember a time when every young buck coming out of the MMO development stables would puff up its cheeks and proudly proclaim itself "The World of Warcraft-killer." However, the industry's a bit older and wiser now, and massive online game devs are at peace with the fact that they'll never catch up to Blizzard's irrationally lucrative MMORPG. A handful of these developers recently spoke to MCV about how it feels to compete with an unstoppable juggernaut. (In short: Not awesome.) Even in an MMO-heavy year which will see the introduction of Star Trek Online, APB, Final Fantasy XIV and others, Jagex COO Rob Smith thinks 2010's online games "are unlikely to topple the likes of World of Warcraft from their throne, at least in the short term." He's probably right -- unless, of course, 2010 is the year that the FarmVille MMO which we all totally know is going to happen actually happens.

In its continued quest to unearth some of PC gaming's finest relics, GOG.com has announced a new deal with Activision Publishing Inc. -- in the context of purveying point-and-click classics, that means Sierra games! The first two games to be added to GOG's DRM-free lineup are role-playing favorite Arcanum: Of Steamworks and Magic Obscura; and Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers, the first outing of Jane Jensen's caustic-witted writer and detective. Both titles are priced at $5.99. More classic titles from Activision's vault are expected to be added over the coming weeks. With Gabriel Knight star Tim Curry leading the charge, anything can happen.

Project Lead Tim Jones gives the rundown on the new upgraded Aliens vs Predator experience.

Direct link and two more videos here So I guess you are supposed to pretend like you’re actually playing the real-life game? I think that’s a pretty weird, but fun idea!

Now you can practice your Street Fighter II moves wherever you go. I’m not too sure how I feel about the choice of a dpad for performing fighting game moves, but I guess that just makes more sense for this lineup of classic keychains.

Hello Kitty Birthday Adventures is a new game for the Nintendo DS that stars everyone’s favorite feline – Hello Kitty! In Birthday Adventures, kids get to collect stamps and stickers for Hello Kitty’s birthday book by playing mini-games, helping friends, and finding special objects. By attending special holiday parties throughout the year and by winning [...]

The Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing news continues to pour in. First up, some track names that were taken from the new trailer poster earlier today. Some of the names zip by quickly, which means that a few of them couldn’t be transcribed fully. - Sonic -Whale Lagoon - Billy Hatcher – Icicle Valley - Sonic [...]

The latest trailer showcasing Napoleon: Total War takes us for a decidedly multiplayer spin. Whether it's playing through the three multiplayer campaigns (Italy, Egypt and Europe) or one of the historic battle recreations for up to eight players, it's apparent that the quest for RTS enjoyment isn't one you'll have to face alone. There's even drop-in support for the main campaign, allowing one of your friends to take over for any of your ill-fated CPU opponents in a given match.

Animal Crossing has plenty of fighting in it, but it’s only the verbal variety. If fisticuffs were added into the mix, I think things would get pretty bad very quickly! I can only imagine the wars that Tom Nook would cause. You can be sure that his shop would be smashed to [...]

Want to learn all there is to know about Resident Evil 0, the original Resident Evil, Resident Evil 2, Resident Evil 3 Last Escape and Resident Evil Code: Veronica? If so, this Resident Evil archives book is going to be right up your alley. 352 pages of stories, characters and all sorts of [...]

The figures you see above are currently only available through importers, and that’s if your lucky. Capcom may be looking the change that. They’re asking Mega Man fans to speak up if they’d like to see these goodies outside of Japan. If you’re looking to make this happen, hit the link below [...]

In the Wii-specific trailer for Sonic and SEGA All-Stars Racing that we posted earlier today, you can actually see a confirmation of a NiGHTS cameo in the game. It looks like it’s nothing more than a quick appearance for some checkered flag waving, rather than as a playable character. Thanks to Melvin for [...]

This patient has a steel girder through his chest. The pressure is on!