All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#screengrab Deviant Artist Kuroi-Tsuki shows us the stronger side of Super Smash Bros. Brawl's female combatants. As seen at Deviant Art - thanks Jenzi! More »

#pc PC gamers who felt burned by the decision to drop dedicated server support for Modern Warfare 2 may have a friend in that other Call of Duty developer Treyarch. The developer all but confirms dedicated server multiplayer in Black Ops. More »

Take a gander at a very creepy assassin.

If you're hoping to get acquainted with the world of Alan Wake before the game's extremely imminent release, you may want to watch the six-part mini-series Bright Falls, all of which is now available on Machinima's YouTube channel. Regardless of whether or not you understand a lick of what transpires during the Twin Peaks-esque series, it's still a really well-made tie-in, and gives a great sense of the unsettling environments the titular Wake will be exploring.

If you want more information about Bright Falls after viewing the series, we suggest checking out our interview with co-writer and director Phillip Van.

Watch: Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4, Episode 5 and Episode 6

Despite recent troubles in the North American and European branches, Sega overall had a good fiscal 2010, which ended March 31, financially speaking. The company as a whole saw its operating income rise to ¥36.7 billion ($397 million), a huge increase over fiscal 2009's operating income of 8.3 billion ($89.8 million). Operating income refers to profits minus expenses incurred in running the company -- in case you wondered why we picked up on that random statistic.

The consumer games division made ¥6.3 billion ($68.2 million) in operating income, returning to profitability despite a year-over-year drop of 7.5%. The profits in this division were driven by ridiculously strong sales of Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games (6.53 million copies!), as well as million-plus sellers Aliens vs. Predator (1.69 million), Bayonetta (1.35 million), and Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing (1.07 million).

Source [PDF] - Appendix of Consolidated Financial Statements Year Ended March 31, 2010

[Via Andriasang]

#clips The blood-curdling screams of teddies caught in the Jaws of Naughty Bear only make him shake harder. More »

Happy Friday! I’m happy to kick off the weekend with two bits of news from ModNation.

ONE: GET YOUR MOD ON NEXT WEEK!

I’m happy to confirm that on Tuesday, May 18th, the ModNation Racers Demo goes live and you can finally sample the over-the-top kart racing action and deep creation tools the critics have been raving about. So the question is- “What will you be able to do?

Well let me break it down-

Get your Feet Wet in Single Player – Race on one of the in-game tracks against AI in Single Player and test both your driving skills and your weapon management.

Face Off in Multiplayer! – Challenge up to 3 of your friends and race against each other in Offline Split Screen Multiplayer.

Design your Mod and Kart – Hop into the Creation Station to make your own Mod and customize your own Kart. See what you can do with just a fraction of the accessories from the full game!

Make a Full Track and Test Drive it! – Lay down some asphalt and drive your track to life! Sculpt mountains, create lakes, and place props wherever you want. Then take your Track for a spin!

Save your creations and Share them in the Full game! – Keep you creations on your hard drive and enjoy them with the full retail copy of ModNation Racers. Share your creations with friends as well!

We hope you are looking forward to your taste of our next Play, Create and Share experience.

TWO: IMPROVING LOAD TIMES

There have been concerns online about long load times in the final game and while even though UFG improved load times since the beta, they are looking into further optimizing the game via a post-launch patch!

So there you go! See for yourself next week what ModNation is all about.

Stay tuned for more fun stuff on ModNation Monday!

New details on gambling, the back-story, and dumb characters.

#names We already know that the DS sequel to 2009 hit Scribblenauts will not be called Scribblenauts 2. A now-dead link on Amazon suggests it will be called Super Scribblenauts. More »

New model includes smaller graphics chipset.

Although its official release date is May 18th, some retailers are selling early copies of Rockstar's Red Dead Redemption. To the surprise of the few that hijacked an early copy, the PS3 version includes exclusive content, marked by a special sticker pasted on the box. According to the packaging, it includes "PlayStation 3 exclusive content" like "Solomon's Folly Gang Hideout" and the "Walton Gang Outfit." There is no sticker on the Xbox 360 version.

We're surprised neither Rockstar Games nor Sony have yet to announce this potentially platform-deciding detail; thankfully, there's still time to change your pre-order, for those of you that absolutely need to ride around the Wild West wearing a top hat. Assuming, of course, you haven't already purchased the game from your local street date-breaking store.

[Thanks, MLC!]

The Halo: Reach beta has less than a week to go, and now you have one more reason to put a few more hours into it: Generator Defense. The new playlist is now live, presenting players with a 3-on-3 match of Spartans vs. Elites. The objective is simple: Elites attack the generators and Spartans defend them. Be sure to remember that the actual playlist is called "Network Test 1" -- an apt title, if our first few laggy games were any indication. But hey, what's a little lag when the survival of the whole human race is at stake?

In other news, a second episode of Halo: Reach Betabusters is available, and it includes plenty of things you might not know about in the beta (including the ability to assassinate players through glass). Find it after the break.

#impressions Video games do cause real life violence. I know this because after a half hour of playing Drive-By: Gang Warfare for the iPad at Crecente's request, I'm Google mapping his house and checking eBay for firearms. More »

#tribute Legendary fantasy artist Frank Frazetta died on Monday. Today, the gaming industry pays tribute with a series of sketches and illustrations posted here, exclusively, to honor an influential man and a vision that shaped countless video games. More »

It's fair to say Crackdown was a surprise -- even if you didn't buy it for the Halo 3 beta key, odds are that you downloaded the demo and found a pretty impressive pre-GTA IV open-world shooter. That seems like a blessing and a curse for Audio Director Kristofor Mellroth and the rest of the dev team at Ruffian Games working on the sequel: on the one hand, we have fond memories of the original game, but on the other, there are more great open-world games out there now. Will we go back to Pacific City now that we've got a choice?

Mellroth is doing everything on his end to make sure that we do. From the music of the game (which features remixes of Bob Dylan, the Rolling Stones, and Creedence Clearwater Revival, as well as electronic beats by artists like Tokyo Black Star and Adam Freeland) to gunshots, explosions, and the ever-present tones of Michael McConnohie, he's put a lot of thought into what Crackdown 2 should sound like and why. Read on for an exclusive interview with the game's audio director.

#screengrab ... Gordiant Approved! More »

#activision With the addition of Autobots Sideswipe and Jetfire and Decepticon Thundercracker, the armies participating in the War for Cybertron are now complete. Now all we need is a little energon, and a lot of luck. More »

Not content on simply golfing, the Helghast are making their way into yet another PlayStation game. Like its Xbox 360 counterpart, the PS3 version of Lost Planet 2 will feature its own console-exclusive characters. In addition to the PS3-only Monster Hunter characters, two Helghast skins will be made available as a free download via the PSN in June. As noted on the PlayStation.Blog, this will be the only game ever to include the Helghast, a Monster Hunter, Dead Rising's Frank West, and Resident Evil's Albert Wesker all in one place.

We wouldn't be surprised, though, if Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 manages to reunite all of these characters for a second time. Check out a trailer after the break.

The fourth game in Gaijin Games' retro-esque, musical Bit.Trip series arrives in Europe today, three days before Commander Video runs across the Atlantic Ocean. Should your tastes run more toward shooting than running, you can play Ghoul Patrol, the second game about zombies having eaten someone's neighbors.

DSiWare is packed with stuff, including EnjoyUp's original DS version of Chronos Twins and a time-management game about fire trucks.

• Ghoul Patrol (SNES, 1-2 players, 800 Wii Points)
• Bit.Trip Runner (WiiWare, 1 player, 800 Wii Points)
• AiRace (DSiWare, 1-6 players, 500 DSi Points)
• Brain Drain (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Chronos Twins (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)
• Fire Panic (DSiWare, 1 player, 200 DSi Points)
• Sudoku Challenge! (DSiWare, 1 player, 500 DSi Points)

This is a pretty amazing use of the Wiimote. Unfortunately, the video is not embeddable, so you’ll have to click over to check it out. Please do, as what you end up seeing is pretty damn awesome.

MIDLOTHIAN, VA – May 14, 2010 – SouthPeak Games today proudly announced that the Nintendo DSTM version of TNA iMPACT! Cross the Line will see the return to video games of the biggest name in professional wrestling, Hulk Hogan. That’s right, brother, Hulkamania is back and exclusively on Nintendo DS! Hulk Hogan is the most recognized [...]

I have to admit, I didn’t use much of co-star mode in Super Mario Galaxy. I like to keep my Mario experiences to myself, unless they are built around multiplayer, such as New Super Mario Bros. Wii. With that said, the co-star mode in Super Mario Galaxy 2 is much more involved, and [...]

#money In the last couple of months, both Wade McGilberry and Dallas Braden pitched perfect baseball games. Only Braden is a pro athlete. But McGilberry makes a lot more money. More »

Zallag and Artefact Studios are presenting the first in-game screenshots of Gods vs Humans! We’ll also learn more about the gameplay of this atypical strategy game that will be released for the Wii™ through the WiiWare™. You embody mighty Gods from 4 different mythologies (Norse, Egyptian, Greek-Roman and Japanese). Your goal is to stop humans from [...]

As of right now, there is absolutely no reason you shouldn't at least try Jason Rohrer's delightful, unique game, Sleep Is Death. Rohrer has officially lowered the price to ... well, whatever you're willing to pay for it. The minimum is $1.75 -- in order to cover processing and bandwidth fees -- but beyond that you can set your own price. The purchase nets two copies of Sleep Is Death -- one for you and one for a friend on Mac, Linux, or PC -- along with access to all future updates.

In case you missed our hands-on impressions of the game, it's essentially an adventure game with a sizable twist: it's actually being created as you play. It can only be played between two people, with one acting as the 'player' and the other acting as 'controller,' who creates the story and game assets on the fly. If it sounds bizarre, it is, but it's also one of the most intriguing game concepts we've seen this year.

Whatever you choose to pay for it, it will be a small price to pay for the opportunity to create stories like this.

[Via GameSetWatch]