Amazon has chosen Atlus's latest medical adventure, Trauma Team, as its Deal of the Day. If you've had difficulty fitting the multidisciplinary -- surgery slash forensics slash endoscopy slash orthopedics slash emergency medicine slash diagnostics (phew!) -- game into your already-strained budget, it should be about ... 25 percent easier today, as the game's marked down from $40 to $30.
A review on a certain trusted website suggests that Trauma Team is certainly worth picking up. Did we say "suggests?" More like commands: "If you read reviews to help you with buying decisions, this is an easy one: Buy this game."
Wizards of the Coast has announced that it plans to release Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers on Steam. Unfortunately an actual release date has not yet been confirmed by WOTC. We're guessing the date isn't too far off, as the game will be available for pre-purchase on Steam starting June 1. Those who pre-order Planeswalkers for $9.99 will receive both the original game as well as its first expansion pack, which was released last year on XBLA.
The release will also support future content. A second DLC pack is already available on XBLA, with a third pack expected this summer.
Looks like Galaxy 2 just couldn’t hold out against Ocarina of Time. I’m thinking this is the way things will stay from here on out. Thanks to shakakahn for the heads up!
A portion of a NintendoLife review…
You’re getting a big set of tough crosswords in this package – almost eighteen months’ worth of Telegraph crosswords are crammed into a DSiWare download, and all for less than the price of a week’s papers. If you’re after an easy introduction to the world of crosswords this isn’t it, [...]
Click to rappel into our gallery.
"The team's work can speak for itself so we're gonna jump right into the game. We're gonna take you to a weapon's manufacturing facility deep behind enemy lines in the Soviet Union. This is WMD."
After a brief introduction by Treyarch's Mark Lamia at an event in Los Angeles earlier this month, we were treated to our first look at the annualized, even-year Call of Duty production by Treyarch. Amidst all the legal posturing, accusations, departures, hires, and general unpleasantness, Call of Duty: Black Ops is finishing up its two year development and heading towards a November 9th release date.
While Black Ops isn't the next "Modern Warfare" game, this is a "modern warfare" title. The seemingly brief jump from World War II's 1940's setting to the Cold War's 1960's setting might not sound like much, but it's brought Treyarch's game into the modern era in a big way. The demo starts with a pilot - decked in full pressure flight suit, more astronaut than pilot - climbing aboard a massive SR-71 Blackbird, a "strategic reconnaissance aircraft" built in 1964 and a fabled "black" project.
Now we have our first look at the legends of Pokemon Black and White, as well as confirmation of the titles seeing release in Japan in September 2010. No other details at this time, but we’ll keep tabs on the situation!
English site here
Why wait for E3 to announce your biggest game of next year, right? First, Sony goes and reveals Killzone 3, and now Nintendo has revealed North American release plans for Pokémon Black and White for DS. The next generation of Pokémon will be released in spring 2011.
There are few known details about this new Pokémon game, other than the existence of a new city environment, the designs for the new starter Pokémon, and the fact that the Black and White versions are supposed to represent a "rebirth" for the franchise. Today, along with the North American release window announcement, Nintendo revealed that the box art for Pokémon Black will feature the legendary Pokémon Reshiram and White will feature Zekrom; as seen above (via Pokemon.com). You can start planning your purchase based on your preference between two freaky winged things.
Acquire and Zero Div are working on a new PSP RPG -- and it'll be completely free. Bakumatsu Revolution will be free to download via PlayStation Network and will feature a full ten-hour quest, which can be played solo or cooperatively with up to three others (Monster Hunter style). According to IGN, players will even be able to freely distribute the game through PSP-to-PSP wireless connectivity.
Of course, there's always a catch. While the core game will be free, for-pay add-ons, such as downloadable items and quests, will be available after release. Essentially, this is the "freemium" model that's been successfully utilized by many PC MMOs and casual titles, especially in Asian markets.
Bakumatsu Revolution will be available on June 25 in Japan; but no plans for a North American release are currently in the works.
[Flickr: kk+]
What's your "Spoon face?" Find out next week with the release of the first Spoon pack for Rock Band, featuring a four-track collection of the indie band's more recent songs -- including a pair off this year's album, Transference. Also "in store" next Tuesday is P.O.D.'s life anthem, "Alive." Be warned -- the chorus will get stuck in your head.
#apple
The iPad finally goes on sale in Japan today. The country's TV news have been covering the launch as well as another product on sale in nearby China: the iPed. More »
Square Enix releases it's first iPad game, Chocobo Panic, with high-resolution ports of Chaos Rings and Crystal Defenders on the way. Check it out, once you're done with Prince of Persia. More »
Update: Commenter Troy points us to an interview on The 8th Circuit, which has a few details on Earthworm Jim HD's multiplayer. According to Gameloft's Anne-Joelle Casenaz, the XBLA and PSN versions will feature "brand new levels with exclusive enemies and up to 4 players in co-op multiplayer!" So there you go: It's co-op.
According to a list of Achievements unearthed by Xbox 360 Achievements, it looks like the upcoming Earthworm Jim HD will feature some form of multiplayer. There are two Achievements for multiplayer, one awarded for being "'No. 1' in each Xbox Live multiplayer level" and another for completing all multiplayer levels. It's hard to imagine how multiplayer would work, though GamerBytes offers up the possibility of speed run competitions or a multiplayer variant of the snot bungee mini-game.
We'd also suggest that the space races between levels could work as well. Also, given the title of the second Achievement is "World Partnership," the multiplayer could be cooperative in nature.
Sure, there's a Blur demo on Xbox Live, but if you'd rather try out the Bizarre racer in a more public place -- or if you don't have an Xbox on which to test drive it -- select Best Buy stores will host in-store demos this Saturday and Sunday. You can check here to see if your local store is among the illustrious 200 to play host to these demos.
For your trouble, you'll get -- not only the chance to play the arcade-style racing game but also -- a Blur poster. You can tell your non-gamer friends that it's a poster for the band, who just happens to really like cars.
#bioware
Han had Chewie. Luke had R2-D2. Who will you have by your side as a Companion Character in BioWare's Star Wars: The Old Republic, and will you be able to sleep with them? More »
