All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Is no one impressed by your massive stockpile of (relatively) ancient virtual cars in Test Drive Unlimited? It's almost time for you to pick up this year's model -- Atari recently announced that this coming Fall would see the release of Test Drive Unlimited 2 on PS3, 360 and PC. This sequel will offer the persistent, open-world multiplayer racing of its predecessor, while introducing new elements such as vehicle damage, day and night cycles, and weather.

The press release promises "the world's most desirable vehicles," but we all know the best part of Test Drive Unlimited was the fancy clothes you could buy for your character. We can't wait to see what exciting fashion lines TDU2 brings to the table.

From Team Ninja to... Valhalla Game Studio?

Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami's first new game in four years is a shooter.

#disturbanceintheworkforce Electronic Arts this week let go a number of developers working on Steven Spielberg Wii puzzle tile Boom Blox, the company told Kotaku. More »

We’re always looking for ways to extend the PlayStation experience by creating new opportunities for you, our PlayStation fans, to interact with our products whether you’re in the comfort of your own home or on-the-go. It’s because of this that we’re happy to share our latest “magical” installment with you.

This weekend, Disney celebrated the re-launch of the re-imagined ESPN Wide World of Sports complex in suburban Orlando, Florida. As part of the newly revamped, state-of-the-art facility, we’ve teamed up with Disney to create an exclusive game pavilion for all things PlayStation.

The PlayStation Pavilion at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex showcases an evolving line-up of the latest PlayStation games including favorites from our publishing partners and our first party studios. The PlayStation Pavilion will play host to some of our biggest titles and PlayStation exclusives such as UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves, MLB 10: The Show, inFAMOUS, Buzz! Quiz World, LittleBigPlanet, and MAG all on 40” TVs in glorious HD. The Pavilion is also outfitted with its own stage where you can grab the mic and jam to your favorite tunes.

We’ll also be working with Disney to host on-site tournaments and “gamer nights,” where leader boards positioned throughout ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex will keep you apprised of the latest standings and give others a chance to challenge your high score.

Disney says it best, sometimes you really do have to see to believe. Fortunately, we were on-site for the Hollywood-style red carpet re-launch event and managed to sneak in a few shots of what awaits you just outside the Magic Kingdom. Hope to see your name on the leader board soon!

#lego Warner Bros. & Traveller's Tales - creators of the LEGO series of licensed video games - have announced that there are plenty more games left in the partnership yet. More »

#tomonobuitagaki Dead or Alive developer Tomonobu Itagaki left Tecmo over unpaid wages and started up a new studio. It was originally thought to be called "Tokyo Vikings". It's not. More »

#callofduty The writing is on the wall. With Infinity Ward's leadership removed, and Activision announcing a raft of new titles, the market is about to be saturated with Call of Duty games. So we figured we'd lend a hand. More »

#vanquish Vanquish is the upcoming title from Shinji Mikami, creator of the Resident Evil series. More »

If you're the sort who can get as far as "shows jet packs" and want to read these words rather than just going below the break and watching a purported Halo Reach beta trailer from a Taiwanese site called GNN for yourself, there's just nothing we can do for you. So we're just going to assume you've watched it.

That said ... DUDE! Jet packs! Assassinations! Load outs! New modes! The only feature Bungie forgot to list that was also included in that trailer? Like 50 million boners.

This is the part where we have to say that since it's not official, we don't know for a fact it's real. But if it's not on the level, it's the most elaborate video hoax in all of human kind (except for the moon landing). Tell you what, you let us worry about stuff like that. Meanwhile, why don't you start digging through the clip and let us know what else you find in the comments.

[Via Game Informer]

#squareenix The last note has apparently been played by Square Enix Music, rumors website Square Enix Music Online. More »

#capcom Super Street Fighter IV is $40. Seems steep for an update to a game that came out only twelve months ago. Let's give Capcom a chance to try and explain. More »

#tomonobuitagaki Before the brouhaha at Tecmo, game designer Tomonobu Itagaki made a name for himself making fighting games. He's currently working on another title, which he hinted at last year. More »

#clips Earlier this week, Bungie said it would be "dropping a multiplayer bomb". It appears a Taiwanese site has dropped that bomb a little early, with the leak of what looks a lot like a new trailer for the game. More »

If you like your adventure games to be rife with mature content, gore and unimaginably insane plot twists, you might just want to check out GOG.com's latest downloadable offering: Phantasmagoria: A Puzzle of Flesh. This sequel to Roberta Williams' adventure-thriller (which is also available on GOG) will only cost you $5.99. And for just six bucks, you'll be getting a whole bunch of crazy.

The game follows the exploits of pharmaceutical engineer Curtis Craig, a former psychopath who begins to suffer vivid hallucinations while seemingly being framed for murder. During these hardships, Craig also begins to explore his own sexual preferences, leading to a multitude of on-screen sadomasochistic encounters. Also, zombies.

Eden returns with open world racer.

#americanmcgee American McGee is a developer with an enormous imagination and...inconsistent execution. Yes, he's the man behind Alice, but he's also the man behind a string of disappointing titles ever since. So it's with uncertainty we look upon his next game. More »

#xbox360 Microsoft added two more titles to its range of Games on Demand titles today, with the release of Fallout 3 and Street Fighter IV onto the Xbox 360's digital shopfront. More »

#yakuza ...before you cut your pinkie off! With Yakuza 3 coming out in North America and Yakuza 4 coming out in Japan, is there a better time to talk about Japanese gangsters? No, no there isn't. More »

#pc On a day Microsoft made its first tentative steps onto Facebook, Nintendo has shot down the idea of any of its characters making a similar jump in a grab for the casual market. More »

#nintendo If you thought finishing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time was difficult, imagine doing it blind. More »

#clips Sadly, this is not a real game. Lucasarts and Traveller's Tales aren't that out of ideas. What it is, however, is the most amazing stop-motion Lego lightsaber battle you've ever seen. More »

[Hobby Search] Konami has filed a Japanese trademark for something called "Gradius Arc." The "Gradius" part is easy enough to parse -- Konami's long-running series of horizontal shooters, last seen in the form of WiiWare's Gradius ReBirth -- but the "Arc" leads us to one particularly fanciful hypothesis.

"Arc" happens to be the frontrunner among rumored names for the PlayStation Motion Controller, having been mentioned by several developers and even trademarked by Sony. Could this be the first evidence of a motion-controlled Gradius game?

However, we shouldn't jump to (horrifying) conclusions based on the presence of a common word that happens to coincide with what a controller might be called. "Arc" could just be a subtitle for a Gradius game that you play with a controller like a sensible person.

#japan At 12 years-old Motoki Nishimura became a gaming recluse. At 17, he became an author, writing a book about his experience. More »

#clips The creator of this side-scrolling interpretation of Team Fortress 2 intended to enter it in a map-modding contest last year but missed the deadline. More »

#politics Six Days In Fallujah, a game based on the Iraq War that Konami thought was too "hot" to publish, has according to IGN been completed, and is ready to be released. More »

#teamfortress2 Valve is currently "plugging away" at the ninth and final (maybe) class update for Team Fortress 2, giving every defensive player's favorite class, the Engineer, a batch of unlockable weapons and buildings. How's it goin'? More »

#callofduty While something rotten has definitely gone down between publishers Activision and the bossmen of Call of Duty developers Infinity Ward, it seems the studio itself is still a key part of the franchise moving forward. More »

Stereoscopic 3D visuals can really bring a tear to the eye, especially if your hand-eye coordination is off and you end up jabbing a plastic temple arm into a squishy place. Don't do that. Instead, CryEngine developer Crytek wants you to marvel at the latest addition to its engine, which will power upcoming urban shooter Crysis 2. This year's Game Developers Conference (running in San Francisco from March 9 to March 13) will mark the debut of stereoscopic 3D support in CryEngine 3, the company announced.

According to Carl Jones, Crytek's director of global business development, the technology will enable engine licensees to create 3D content on all supported platforms. It will enhance CryEngine 3's "LiveCreate" feature, which allows a single editor to create content that's playable on all three high-end platforms: PC; PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. "There are basically no longer any limits to a designer's creativity," Jones said.

We can't wait to see what kind of sci-fi cyborg shooters all the developers have in store for us at GDC. In 3D!

#valve Yesterday, Valve issued an update to its 2007 first-person puzzle game Portal, adding exactly one new Steam achievement and 26 audio transmissions that players could listen to via in-game radios. So started an impressive puzzle. More »