All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

You know him…you probably hate it…but you have to respect him. Tingle is the type of guy that does what wants, goes where he pleases, and doesn’t hide his true feelings. Hell, who wouldn’t love to wear a ridiculously tight spandex outfit, and travel the world via balloon!?

Dom's got a brand new beard.

Creat Studios and TikGames are releasing yet another DLC expansion pack to their popular PSN ball-bouncing game, Magic Orbz. The Jungle DLC pack will be available on the PlayStation Store this Thursday, April 15th, for $2.99. The DLC will hit the European Store next week, April 22nd, for €2.99. Like the "Wicked Witches" and "Winter" packs before it, this adds 25 new stages and a set of new Trophies for players to acquire.

If you have yet to buy Magic Orbz, it's on sale on the PlayStation Store right now for $4.99. But you'll want to hurry to take advantage of this deal: the discount ends tomorrow.

Amazon has dropped the price of the Xbox 360 Arcade console to $159, as noticed by CheapCollegeGamer. The retailer doesn't mention an end-date for the promotion, but the listing notes that the price isn't shown without clicking to add it to the cart "because [Amazon's] price on this item is lower than the manufacturer's suggested retail price." It's rare for consoles to go on sale without it being an official price drop.

We've followed up with Amazon and Microsoft to verify that the promotion is isolated to just Amazon and not indicative of a general price cut.

[Via CheapCollegeGamer]

Music Master: Chopin is a music game for Eternal Sonata fans (and classical music fans in general). If you love classical music and music games, this will provide a welcome break from Mad Maestro! The PC/Mac/iPhone/iPad music game will feature playable arrangements of the music of composer Frédéric Chopin, in traditional arrangements as well as " vocal perfromances and rock arrangements," according to GameMusic.net.

StacjaKultura reports that the game is one of the winners of the "Chopin 2010 Promise" competition, a Polish government program to promote Chopin-based projects in observance of the 200th anniversary of Chopin's birth. It's being developed by Poland-based Bloober Team, who is also working on the iPad game, Gender Wars.

[Thanks, The_Shadow]

#women It's not a given that a war video game will have female fighters, but if Gears of War 3 does, the designers will have to decide if they will have equal opportunities to experience the game's signature actions... More »

New gameplay details emerge.

In this post-Modern Warfare 2 world, a number like five million may seem insignificant -- even laughable, to some. But hey, don't knock the PS3's latest accomplishment of selling 5,001,598 consoles in Japan.

Famitsu brings us the news, along with the top-selling games on the platform so far: Final Fantasy XIII is first with 1,883,828 units, Metal Gear Solid 4 takes second with 706,461 and Yakuza 4 -- which was just released a few weeks ago -- comes in third, selling an impressive 526,093 copies so far. Gosh, the only thing that's missing is a Dragon Quest.

[Via Andriasang]

Greetings!

It’s well known that Insomniac Games is one of the most creative and successful developers in PlayStation history. It’s hard to argue with franchises like Ratchet & Clank, Resistance and let’s not forget Spyro the Dragon all coming from the same house.

We wanted to see what would happen if Ted Price, the founder and CEO of Insomniac Games, got his hands on ModNation Racers.

The result? Ratchet and Clank get girlfriends!

This is just the first of many Artist Spotlights to come. We visited some of the most talented and influential folks from different walks of life and let them take a spin on ModNation Racers just to see how they Play, Create and Share.

So who’s next on the Spotlight?

Stay tuned to the PS.Blog to find out…but guesses are welcome! :)

#bugs Multiple day-one purchasers of Splinter Cell: Conviction are seeing the game freeze on its second level and at other moments. Publisher Ubisoft tells Kotaku the issue is being investigated. Please note: There is a temporary fix. More »

There seems to be a tiny bit of confusion going on over in Europe after the God of War Trilogy bundle was removed by some retailers. Eurogamer clarifies that the set isn't canceled, but that Sony is still working out who the retail partners will be for the special edition. The takeaway here is that not all shops will sell the item, which explains the pre-order cancellations we've received tips about.

Barring any hiccups, the Trilogy should release the last week of April in PAL lands for €89.99 (£64.99). Oh, and if you're wondering about picking up God of War 3, well, we liked it.

[Thanks, Miguel B.]

Nintendo of Europe sent a press release out, offering the first details and track listing for the European release of Jam with the Band, confirming that this release is based on the sequel, Daigasso! Band Brothers DX. The DS music title supports Band Brothers DX's downloadable WiiWare channel, which allows music made in the game to be played through the Wii, and thus through your TV's sound system. This way, bands of up to eight DSes can play together and hear the combined result.

The cartridge will include 50 songs, including "The Final Countdown," "We Are the Champions," and a fairly random assortment of popular music from the last few decades, as well as medleys of Nintendo music. You can find the tracks announced so far after the break. Nintendo will release around 50 additional songs, and user-created performances, as free DLC.

[Via Videogamer]

#requiredreading Acclaimed writer B. K. Evenson delves into the history of the Church of Unitology and the origin of the mysterious "Black Marker" in Dead Space: Martyr, a prequel to Visceral Games' sci-fi horror spectacular. More »

#contest Owners of WarioWare: D.I.Y., the DS game that lets us witness a world in which Nintendo fans make Nintendo games (Shigeru who?), are reminded/welcomed/encouraged to enter Kotaku/Nintendo's D.I.Y. contest. Make a game. Win money and stuff. Details here. Deadline looming. More »

It's Tuesday, which means: brand new Xbox Live Games on Demand to satisfy your very demanding gaming desires. There are two new titles this week. First up, we have Lara Croft's 2006 return to form, Tomb Raider: Legend. Next is Naruto: Rise of a Ninja, which is ... well, it's a Naruto game. Both titles run $29.99 in North America but, as usual, pricing and availability will vary by region.


Xbox.com: Add Tomb Raider: Legend to your Xbox 360 download queue ($29.99)

Xbox.com: Add Naruto: Rise of a Ninja to your Xbox 360 download queue ($29.99)

According to data collected by The Diffusion Group, there's one area of the console wars in which the PS3 has a notable lead: The percentage of users online in the U.S. According to the numbers posted by Gamasutra, 78 percent of PS3 owners have taken their consoles online, compared to 73 percent of Xbox 360 owners.

By comparison, only 54 percent of Wiis have been connected to the internet, which means that 46 percent of our nation's nephews are failing to return their Aunt Cathy's calls. (By the way, Dylan, would you just help her already? It would take you five minutes. Please, just help her.)

Aeria Games, a leading publisher of interactive entertainment, announced today that a major update with expansive new features and content will be added to Grand Fantasia, one of Aeria's most celebrated free-to-play massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG). The new features will debut in a live sneak-preview event on April 16 via Xfire, allowing all players to catch a glimpse of the new game content prior to its release.

Like a bearded girl with an amazing personality.

Yes, this is a real game that is out in South Korea. For those wondering, Touch: Man to Man is English training software. Whoever put together this title must not be too familiar with English!

April Fools stunt leads to tremendous community support for fictional Manatee Hero.

Games and music make love in the desert.

Tools to build your fandom empire.

#review Several years in the making, and at least one false start later, a new Splinter Cell is finally upon us. Fittingly, the best part of it sneaks up on you. More »

One of the most exciting aspects of MMA is the sheer variety of fighting styles you'll see in a single event. The original's repertoire was rather extensive: boxing, kickboxing, muay thai, judo, Brazilian jujitsu, and freestyle wrestling. UFC Undisputed 2010 adds three more fighting techniques into the mix: sambo, karate and Greco-Roman wrestling.

This developer video goes into more detail about the three new styles added to the game, emphasizing the differences between karate and muay thai, for example. With the ability to "combo anything together" in 2010, the added move list should provide a number of interesting and painful combinations to explore.

The white Nintendo DSi hits the US soon, with a pack-in of Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story.