Man, look at the drop that Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles took in just a week. It managed to nearly drop twice as much as it did last week. You have to wonder what makes a game take a hit so bad in just 7 days.
#netflix
The Netflix discs enabling streaming video over the Wii are already in the mail and one reader's uploaded this video, showing us what we can expect - in this case, 30 second loading times to browse the catalog. More »
As every assassin knows, nothing is true and everything is permitted. That includes Amazon's ability to drop the Assassin's Creed 2 price whenever it wants and especially when GameStop is doing it. The online retailer has slashed the price of both the Xbox and PS3 versions to a mere $29.99, matching GameStop's price. No matter where you buy it, that's a great price for one of Joystiq's favorite games of 2009. So hurry up and tell all of your Firenze that buying it is no leap of faith, Animus be said that this is one killer deal.
#paxeast
It's been a busy first day at PAX East, and we've only managed to capture a handful of cosplayers in our mad dash about the convention area, but what they lack in quantity they make up in quality. More »
We popped by Atomic Games' booth here at PAX to check out Breach, the dev's attempt to take on DICE's online-only, digitally distributed Battlefield 1943.
Atomic president Peter Tamte revealed during our play session that he hoped to get Breach on XBLA this summer (as previously estimated), and that the developer is targeting a $15 price point. Considering how polished the game was in the state we saw it, we certainly believe it can meet that deadline. Look for our hands-on impressions later today.
#pax
Are you in Boston, Massachusetts and attending PAX East? If you're in the mood to have a wicked pissa of a night, head over to tonight's Kotaku party at the lovely Rattlesnake Bar and Grill. We're buyin'! More »
#paxeast
It's hard to get an accurate feel for the Rocket Tag online multiplayer mode for Crackdown 2 when every time I try to get a word in edgewise - oh dammit I'm dead. More »
A portion of a Nintendo Life review…
It’s hard to knock Photo Dojo: its versatility and use of the DSi’s functions are superb, and the potential to create fighters based on friends, figures and anything else you can photograph is enough to forgive its simplicity and lack of gameplay modes. For 200 Points it’s almost impossible [...]
It's been nearly 5 years since Dark Energy Digital began work on the water physics-based action-adventure game Hydrophobia. In that time, the developer has shown approximately nobody the game -- heck, before I heard about the game heading to Xbox Live Arcade last summer, there hadn't been a lick of info on it in nearly 9 months. But with this week's announcement of the game's XBLA exclusivity (and subsequent playability at PAX East), Joystiq was offered its first chance to play the title this morning. I'm happy to report that ... it's pretty good!
Alright, so, while Hydrophobia probably isn't going to be taking top spots on my 2010 GOTY list, I could certainly see it making an appearance on my "best of XBLA" list this year. The demo immediately made me think of playing Shadow Complex at last year's E3 -- it doesn't quite look like what you'd expect from XBLA, and the developers made sure to repeatedly affirm the game's "AAA quality" throughout my hands-on earlier this morning. Whether guiding the game's main character, Kate, through platforming areas or underwater, the gameplay itself felt like a solid base for what could be a very interesting (6-hour-ish) experience.
Just exhale if you've been holding your breath for any Battlefield 1943 DLC, because it seriously sounds like the sun has set on the Pacific war. Speaking with DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke at PAX East, we asked if he could finally end the hopes and dreams that its successful downloadable experiment would receive more content. He informed us, "There's no plans. There's no plans for DLC." However, the PC version is still planned, and there is a patch incoming to address console issues, including mic problems on PS3.
Van Dyke told us that Battlefield 1943 was a cool way to express a classic game like Battlefield 1942 using the company's Frostbite engine. He said that it opened up a lot of eyes to showing off what an older Battlefield game could be like with the new engine.
When asked to elaborate if other classic Battlefield games would receive a reimagined bite-sized release he said, "I can't. There's no specific plans. The success of [1943] has given it an existence within our lineup, in our thoughts. You could possibly see another type of 1943 in the future. But it doesn't mean it's going to be based on 1942." When pressed, he continued, "Seriously, all options are open. We haven't closed our mind off to anything and we haven't locked down that we'll do anything specific."
#paxeast
Not many words for you about PAX East in this post. Just pictures and captions of some of the things we spotted on our first day at PAX East. More »
Just exhale if you've been holding your breath for any Battlefield 1943 DLC, because it seriously sounds like the sun has set on the Pacific war. Speaking with DICE producer Gordon Van Dyke at PAX East, we asked if he could finally end the hopes and dreams that its successful downloadable experiment would receive more content. He informed us, "There's no plans. There's no plans for DLC." However, the PC version is still planned, and there is a patch incoming to address console issues, including mic problems on PS3.
Van Dyke told us that Battlefield 1943 was a cool way to express a classic game like Battlefield 1942 using the company's Frostbite engine. He said that it opened up a lot of eyes to showing off what an older Battlefield game could be like with the new engine.
When asked to elaborate if other classic Battlefield games would receive a reimagined bite-sized release he said, "I can't. There's no specific plans. The success of [1943] has given it an existence within our lineup, in our thoughts. You could possibly see another type of 1943 in the future. But it doesn't mean it's going to be based on 1942." When pressed, he continued, "Seriously, all options are open. We haven't closed our mind off to anything and we haven't locked down that we'll do anything specific."
#sports
NBA all-star Gilbert Arenas, whose joking pistols-at-dawn challenge to a pissed-off teammate was no laughing matter to the league, is absent from fan voting on the NBA Jam roster. EA Sports says it's not entirely because of his legal troubles. More »
Good news that we’ve known for awhile…Monster Hunter 3 doesn’t have friend codes. Bad news that you might not realize…Monster Hunter 3 has a 6-digit ‘Capcom ID’. Now to keep things clear, there is still an instant add option for when you’re playing online and you want to join up with someone. [...]
This is no joke -- Tecmo's babe simulator beckons you to come on over to the PlayStation Network next week. Dead or Alive Paradise will be releasing on UMD on March 30, with a PSN version to arrive (very) shortly thereafter on April1. If you must buy the game, we recommend getting the PSN version -- you don't really want to leave incriminating evidence like boxes around, do you? And besides, we're pretty certain you don't want to fumble for a disc when you're getting ready to play.
Just in case you're not exactly sure what you're getting yourself into, we posted a video after the break. We highly recommend you don't watch it at work, or in front of other humans that you want to respect you.
The nice thing about launch copies of Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey -- aside from the fact that they allow you to play Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey right now -- is that they include soundtrack CDs. The not-so-nice part is that said CDs don't work.
Atlus acknowledged the manufacturing error responsible for the issue, and has instituted a replacement program for the discs. You can click here to sign up for a replacement CD, and you'll be bobbing your head to the sounds of demonic invasion in two to four weeks. Check here for more detailed instructions.
The release of Pokemon HeartGold/SoulSilver brought one huge innovation with it, that being the Pokéwalker. This little device has just made it easier to breed the ultimate Pokemon collection, as now you can work on your game while you’re at school/work/ect.. Hell, people have made a game out of finding different ways to [...]
#paxeast
The last video game from Twisted Pixel was a ridiculous exploration of how good a game you can get out of a character who only explodes. Their new hero has a worse affliction. He stars in a bad comic book. More »
Regardless of how you felt about Ubisoft's 2008 Prince of Persia, it represented a clear departure from the acclaimed Sands of Time trilogy -- an experiment, even. And although, on a granular level, The Forgotten Sands modifies the formula through the addition of elemental powers, they primarily strengthen the game's familiar basis of linear platforming mixed with light combat.
It's a solid basis and one that Ubisoft clearly believes to be worth pursuing again this May (especially with movie buzz in the air), but it hasn't been swept clean of old problems. Even in the short snippet of gameplay on show at PAX East, the combat feels like filler. It's competent -- and the Prince's agility adds an exciting flourish to every strike and finishing blow -- but it never feels complex enough to stand out as anything more than "that thing you do between platforming segments." That's a problem Prince of Persia often shares with Tomb Raider.
We just spent some time getting our filthy hands even filthier inside of Red Dead Redemption, where we actually skinned a horse and instantly felt like we'd killed Trigger. But no-good horse killin' aside, the big news here is that multiplayer is coming to Red Dead Redemption. We don't know how just yet, but a Rockstar representative told us that it would incorporate multiplayer in a "surprising" way. Surprising as in it doesn't totally suck like in GTA IV? Aw, snap. Yeah, we went there. Now we'll have to worry about being skinned.
More details are coming directly from the horse's mouth (sorry, couldn't resist) the week of April 5th, so stay tuned for more details when Rockstar reveals the secrets of what we like to call Red Dead Redemption: Posse Galore.
#paxeast
Just about everything I know after playing the new Hydro Thunder is what you knew if you read today's news about the Xbox-exclusive sequel to Midway's speedboating series. I can add at least one thing: It feels good. More »
