#sony
So, the PS3 is now ready for 3D gaming. But are PS3 games ready? It appears, hrm, maybe, with the first batch of 3D-capable titles needing to have their graphics scaled back a touch. More »
Here's the thing about this Skate 3 trailer: it's freakin' nuts. Does it have narration from Skateboard Sense? Check. How about some raw meat grinding a huge ledge? Yup, it's there. What about a brief section where some dude goes crazy, pounding everyone around him with a skateboard? How about zombies and big heads and tons of bails and -- okay, you get the picture.
It's probably the most non sequitur trailer we've seen in a while and definitely the craziest Skate 3 trailer yet. Check it out above.
#republished
Earlier this week, we pointed you towards an interesting paper by Georgia Tech Professor Fox Harrell, which dealt with the surprisingly complex politics of avatars and identity in online games. Sadly, it seems many did not get much out of it. More »
#valve
We're only into week one of the rotating list of 'Mutations' coming to Left 4 Dead 2, but the code-burrowing Steam forum goers may have already dug up a good portion of the 20-plus game variations coming. More »
It's okay, you don't have to read this. You saw that there was a new Backbreaker video and you came to watch some dudes get tackled. That's fine, and we understand. So, really, you don't have to read this just to make us feel like we're earning our keep. Besides, we've already seen the video, and you should totally watch it. Like, seriously, so many dudes get tackled.
Actually, there is one thing you should read: The Backbreaker release date has been pushed back a week to June 1. Okay, now you can watch.
#review
Valve's first expansion to post apocalyptic zombie shooter Left 4 Dead 2 makes one appreciate the developer's gift with wordplay and just how important being able to see through walls is when battling the infected. More »
#mma
Members of the UFC Undisputed community will get a shot at early access to that game's demo, which THQ says will be read "in just a matter of days." More »
If you've been keeping up with the upcoming content expansion for LittleBigPlanet on the PSP, you've already heard about its new stock car racing-inspired tracks and vehicles. However, a new Media Molecule dev diary has revealed the DLC will not only allow players to race, but also to create. Oh, wait. They could already do that, couldn't they? To clarify, it will give Sackpeople a whole slew of construction-based vehicles, such as forklifts, cranes and cement mixers.
Check out the dev diary on PlayStation.Blog to see the building tools Media Molecule has built which you'll be able to build with after building them. We're not sure about you, but our minds just imploded.
#screengrab
Chevy Chase, as character Pierce Hawthorne, plays but does not create or share with Modnation Racers on NBC's Community, as not too surprisingly seen on the Sony Pictures Television produced sitcom. Thanks for the tip, Will! More »
#clips
More than any other sport, haves and have-nots define the culture of college football. But in this video, second-tier programs like Nevada, East Carolina and the Maryland Terrapins show that you really can win with anyone in NCAA Football 11. More »
There were a number of interesting features -- complex characters, a dark, mature story that explored the seedy lives of criminals -- in IO Interactive's original Kane & Lynch, provided you could look past the broken gameplay and the subsequent review scandal. While the franchise's name may be forever tarnished, that hasn't stopped IO from developing a sequel, one that expands upon the best aspects of the original. But, most importantly, does Kane & Lynch 2: Dog Days fix the gameplay inherited from its predecessor? Sort of.
As our previous impressions indicated, there's much to like about the game's presentation. Like Dead Men before it, Kane & Lynch is certainly not short on style. The "digital camera" effect makes this shooter look unlike any other game I've seen, offering the illusion of reality. Upon closer inspection, you can see the graphics tech is far from cutting-edge, but the clever filters and camera techniques make Dog Days feel far more authentic than the photo-realistic approach most other games attempt.
I am definitely getting into Monster Hunter 3. I haven’t taken it online yet, as I wanted to learn the ropes in single player. Now, I’m trying to get Cort and Lube to go online with their copies. I know Cort has it, and I’m sure we’ll join up along the way. [...]
When it comes to effective marketing strategies, it's kind of hard to beat "give away free money." It looks like that's exactly what Rockstar is doing in the UK, as any Xbox Live Gold or Silver member that downloads the Read Dead Redemption "Multiplayer Free Roam" trailer from Xbox Live between April 26 and May 10 will receive some free goodies. Specifically, grabbing the trailer will net you a token to download a Red Dead Redemption dashboard theme and -- more importantly -- 400 Microsoft Points for free. The points and token will be sent to the associated Live ID email address used to download the trailer within four to six weeks.
It's worth noting that the points expire on December 31, 2010, so don't plan on hoarding them. Also, the promotion is limited to the first 5,000 downloads (amounting to $25,000 in free money, incidentally). We're not sure how high the hype for Red Dead Redemption is in the UK, but we get the feeling this trailer is going to be pretty popular. Full details here.
We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week.
Recommendation of the Week: Cheech & Chong's Hey Watch This (Blu-ray: $24.99 MSRP, much lower at most retailers)
Earlier this week, Cheech & Chong returned to the world. Most appropriately, the date it happened was 4/20. For those of you who might know know, Cheech & Chong invented pot humor. Then they rode the top of that world for 14 years before breaking up in 1985. Then there was no Cheech & Chong. People turned to replacement movie stoners for years, looking for someone to identify with. But now, 25 year after they last appeared together on film, they're back. They reunited for a very successful tour in 2008, and the San Antonio portion of that tour was filmed and turned into this Blu-ray, which is also chock full of special features and skits created just for the film. It's a concert tour with a bonus. You don't have to be a stoner to appreciate some of this, although it probably doesn't hurt. They're touring together again right now, and are reportedly working on a new narrative film, Cheech and Chong's Up In Smoke Part 2. To tide you over until then, we're giving away three Blu-ray copies of Cheech and Chong's Hey Watch This. Head to the bottom of the post to learn how to enter.
Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, then chime in below!
#clips
It has been done. The bounty of defeating NES classic Castlevania using nothing but a Dance Dance Revolution dance mat controller can finally be collected by one man, Nick Hagman, hot-stepping vampire slayer. More »
#society
If I'm Not Drunk, the satire "game" about DUI, was too subtle in its message of how pathetic you are when you're drunk, there's now Guardian Angel, which takes a more proactive stance in helping alcoholics avoid relapse. More »
The latest developer diary for Star Wars: The Old Republic, posted above, makes an excellent point about the combat featured in other MMORPGs -- it's super unfair. Take a look at World of Warcraft, in which some dungeons pit 40 "heroes" against a single dude. Those odds don't sound very "heroic" to us, sir.
That's why SW:ToR hopes to even the odds by sliding the hero-to-villain ratio slide more towards the latter in most in-game encounters. Don't get too worried about being outnumbered, however -- based solely on the maneuvers featured in the video above, we think that small group of enraged Tusken Raiders is going to drop like a sack of bricks.
#consoletaisen
The battle for hardware dominance in Japan is, once again, kind of a wash, with the PSP and PlayStation 3 sitting atop the country's weekly console war casualty count. The PSPgo and PlayStation 2 sit at the bottom. More »
Don't you wish you had a matching controller for that limited edition 250GB Lightning PS3 you bought from Japan? Well, if you go to Hong Kong or Taiwan, you'll be able to do just that. To celebrate the new Chinese language release of Final Fantasy XIII, a new special edition DualShock 3 controller will be released. For about $90, you'll be able to get a bundle that includes the Chinese language version of the game, a PSN card, and a special Lightning-branded white DualShock controller, featuring the same pink design as the LE console.
Vogster has revealed that Unbound Saga is coming to Xbox Live Arcade. If you generally stick to the Xbox spectrum of the gaming world, there's a fair chance you haven't heard of Unbound Saga. Released last year for the PSP, Unbound Saga is a side-scrolling beat-'em-up with more than a passing resemblance to the old 16-bit title Comix Zone (also available on XBLA, incidentally). It didn't exactly bring in the best reviews -- even our brief time with it at NY Comic-Con 2009 was unimpressive. Aside from that, the beat-'em-up genre already has some standout titles on XBLA, especially with the recent edition of Final Fight: Double Impact.
That said, the XBLA version of Unbound Saga brings with it the addition of cooperative play, which was missing from the PSP version. It also appears to have improved graphics. Check out a new trailer after the break.
Developer Shin'en released a trailer for its WiiWare platformer Jett Rocket. Let's just get this out of the way: Wow, this looks nice for a WiiWare game. We're kind of amazed by how nice the environments and the lighting effects look! It seems like there are plenty of interesting elements (or gimmicks) in the levels, as well. Oh, not to mention that the protagonist has a jetpack.
Shin'en has yet to date the platformer. We're certain we don't have to say this, but we would warn the developer to avoid releasing a 3D platformer in May.
