All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Another part of the world locked down. I know there are a bunch of Samurai Warriors fans out there, and now those living down under can rest a little easier. I think I’ll check out this title when it lands in the states. Who else is interested?

A portion of a Guardian review… The often amusing All-Star moves give backmarkers the chance to catch up – thankfully blue shell equivalents are absent here – while an enthusiastic commentator’s interjections are informative rather than irritating. And while the action can get a little too busy at times (one track resorts to huge arrows to [...]

Inazuma Eleven 3 is in the works, and it takes the soccer games to a world stage. How is the team going to get to Inazuma Island when all they have is a crappy bus? No worries, Level-5 has thought of everything! The team is getting a major transportation upgrade this time. [...]

Man, it’s so weird to see a Nintendo game appear on a platform that Nintendo didn’t make. You can’t even imagine something like this happening in today’s day and age, but back before Nintendo made the NES, they had no problem with the Mario Bros. popping up on Atari’s platform. It may not [...]

I don’t have a Club Nintendo account, so forgive me for being ignorant. I’m not sure if all games that are on Club Nintendo give you the opportunity to leave a ‘testimonial’ about the product. If this is a rare occurrence, one would believe that Nintendo is trying to pool data on Hotel [...]

Another very interesting look at the different types of boxarts that Japan/Europe/NA got for the same games. In the case of Flashback, you can see that North America clearly lost. Oddly enough, this seems to be a random occurrence. Usually Japan ends up with the best boxart, and we end up beating [...]

We knew a few details about the plot of Deep Silver's video game adaptation of Prison Break, but we weren't aware that the game's protagonist, Company agent Tom Paxton, was actually a chimpanzee in people-clothes. At least, that's what we're assuming from the title's first gameplay trailer, posted above, in which it's revealed Paxton spends a remarkable portion of his day hanging from pipes, ledges and elevator maintenance ladders. Check out the trailer above to see the hanging (and other stuff, we guess) in action.

By the way, if any major television producers happen to be reading this post, a show called Monkey Prison would be the greatest thing ever. Feel free to use that -- just send us an email so we can work out a royalty agreement.

We talked about a bunch of Game Crazy stores closing, all because of the parent company mess. These closures are also hitting Hollywood Video, and they too are selling off their games. You can find some great deals, such as games $9.99-$24.99 plus 30% off. Thanks to Matt for the heads up!

Believe us, dear reader -- there's nothing we'd like more than to have brought you with us to Las Vegas for this year's DICE, but you must understand that the airfare was simply too much to bear. We've got the next best thing though (outside of our weeklong coverage, of course): the full bag of swag handed over to us upon entry. In practice, this means a Modern Warfare 2 throat communicator, a Street Fighter IV fightpad, a seasonally appropriate Rock Band Network hoodie, a Rayman Raving Rabbids-themed Wiimote charger and ... some other stuff! All you have to do is tell us below in the comments what you thought was the most interesting story to come out of DICE 2010. 24 hours starts now!

• Leave a comment what you thought was the most interesting story to come out of DICE 2010.
• You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec, in part because of our feelings on The Quiet Revolution).
• Limit 1 entry per person per day.
• This entry period ends at 6:01PM ET on Monday, February 22.
• At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive one Modern Warfare 2 throat communicator (ARV $29.99), one Street Fighter IV fightpad (ARV $39.99), one Rock Band Network hoodie (ARV $10), and a Rayman Raving Rabbids-themed Wiimote charger (ARV $29.99).
• For a list of complete rules, click here.

What is Joyswag? Since we don't keep the games and merchandise we receive for review or promotional purposes, it becomes "Joyswag," which is passed along to our readers. Please note that Joyswag may be in "used" condition. For more info on our policy, click here.

Apparently, not everyone who received one of those fancy voucher codes from BlizzCon 2008 was accepted into the first wave of invites for StarCraft 2. A Blizzard representative explained on the Battle.net forums that "due to the sheer number of BlizzCon attendees, we could not get everyone in with the first wave." That being said, you might want to reconsider dropping $300 on one of those vouchers.

The poster confirmed that these neglected BlizzCon attendees "will be included in a future wave, possibly within the next two weeks." We're hoping the wave isn't restricted to just this group of globetrotters, and that us plebes can get our hands on the highly sought-after strategy title as well.

[Via Big Download]

These come right from the guys at Sumo Digital… Feathering the gas (that is varying the amount you are applying) during drifts will actually give you more control. As with all racing games, you want to be aiming to drift as close to the inside of corners as you can, you vary the gas, you can [...]

I don’t know how you make this glitch happen. I honestly have no idea how people figure this stuff out. This doesn’t seem like a glitch that you can just stumble upon. Thankfully, the person that created the glitch caught it on video. Obviously, there is a little nudity here…but it’s [...]

Auction here (currently at $21,000) Nintendo 64 NU 64 Gang Writer NES plus 53 Games and extras (money going to a family in need) Virtual boy plus Games (money going to a family in need)

Way back in 1985, the Milwaukee Journal featured an reoccurring article called ‘Video Adventures’. This one-man feature chronicled the world of video games from 1985 to 1991, back in a time when hardly any newspapers or magazines featured gaming news. Thankfully, Google now has an archive of all the Video Adventures features that [...]

A reader letter sent into Nintendo Power discussing Mario and Sonic… Now, you have to ask yourself, is this letter real? There’s no way we’ll ever find out, unless one of the NP staff comes up with the original letter, as well as a name and addy. I don’t think that’s going to happen. [...]

Uh-oh, very sore subject for me. Trace Memory is one of my favorite DS games. It may not be the most amazing as far as gameplay goes, but I love the story and artwork, as well as the way the story was told. That’s why it pains me to say that the [...]

It seems that, once again, our anonymous tipster was right on the money. The ESRB recently rated Tecmo Bowl Throwback for the PSN and XBLA platforms, describing it as a "top-down arcade-style football game in which players compete against teams around the country to become the 'Tecmo Bowl Champion.'" Though the game earned an "E" rating, the listing mentions "cheerleaders wearing low-cut tops" and "a 2D swimsuit model with some exposed cleavage." How positively scandalous!

Surprisingly, the ESRB listing doesn't mention a twelve-foot-tall, cybernetic Bo Jackson who causes every player who thinks about tackling him to explode in a fountain of gore. So, we're guessing that feature isn't getting ported over from the original game.

Capcom has said that Nintendo was going to help give Monster Hunter 3 a big push in Europe, but we never heard anything about the North American side. Will NoA reach out and give a hand to Capcom for the Monster Hunter 3 launch in our neck of the woods? While we can’t be certain, there’s [...]

In a letter recently distributed (.pdf link) to the company's investors, Nippon Ichi president Tomohiro Sato announced that he would be stepping down from his managerial post on March 31. Sato cites "personal reasons" as the force leading him to resign, though this news comes only two weeks on the heels of Nippon Ichi's announcement of its 98 percent year-over-year revenue decline, and resulting JASDAQ freefall.

Though we may not undoubtedly know what led to Sato's departure, we're really hoping this is just part of Nippon Ichi's restructuring process, and that we're one step closer to getting our hands on Absolute Hero Modding Project. Ever the pragmatists, we are.

One of gaming's favorite pastimes: "What if" scenarios involving Final Fantasy VII. What if they actually made a next-gen version that looked like Advent Children? What if Square hadn't defected to the PlayStation? What if Aeris didn't have to die and instead was real and we were in love and got married?

Of course, only slightly less popular is the "What if Final Fantasy VII came out ten years earlier and was 8-bit" scenario. We're pretty sure someone already did the actual work of porting the game over to the Famicom (thanks, Shenzhen Nanjing Technology Co, Ltd!) but in case you missed that, take a gander at Martin Barreby's non-interactive reimagining after the break. Sure, some of the art looks like it's cut from a fanfic and the gameplay actually looks worse than 1987's Final Fantasy 1, but it's "just a small project with not that much effort put into it" says Barreby, so lay off.

Next: What if Cloud's sword and hair were subject to the same laws of gravity that we are?

No matter how far the video game industry gets from the original days of 8-bit gaming, we will never leave it behind. Not only are there gameplay ideas from the 8-bit days that will last forever, there are also design choices and visual elements that we’re always going to be inspired by. 8-bit [...]

We've received a ton of emails asking how one might get up on the StarCraft 2 beta if they didn't apply for access last year. Kotaku recently turned our attention to a possible solution, though ... well, you're not going to like it. More than 50 beta keys, most of which came in the form of coupons handed out at BlizzCon 2008, are now being auctioned off on eBay. The prices range from around $120 on the low end, averaging out at about $300, and reaching as high as $450.

If you're as independently wealthy as you are impatient, this may be your only channel for instant gratification. Of course, keep a watchful eye out for scammers, and keep in mind that purchasing Battle.Net accounts linked to World of Warcraft accounts is against Blizzard's Terms of Use. We'd also advise you to take a good look into that deep, dark, truthful mirror, and think about all the other things $300 can buy. (Hint: It can buy a lot of things.)

Based on the precedent set by your reaction to similar news for StarCraft 2 and Modern Warfare 2, we're guessing you're not going to like the information Command & Conquer 4 lead designer Sam Bass recently shared with Destructoid. According to him, the FMV-filled strategy title won't provide any LAN or dedicated server support to its players.

These two features were apparently struck from the game in favor of a server-based character progression system. Bass explained "if you go to another machine -- friend's house, Internet café -- whatever, you can login with your profile and all the stuff you've unlocked is accessible to you there. It all lives on a server so you can't really do dedicated servers with that." He also explained that the game's online networking is "a lot more solid," so you won't be left completely high and dry, as far as multiplayer skirmishes are concerned.

Still, we're worried about the future of the LAN-friendly strategy game, which appears to be turning into an endangered species. We've contacted Bono to see if he'd lend his musical support to a charity concert event.