Star Fox 64 3D is one of the few playable titles out of the oodles of announced 3DS projects on display at Nintendo's E3 booth. It's a short demo of the classic N64 game's first level, fading out after a few seconds of the boss battle.
The 3DS version of Star Fox 64 is instantly familiar to players of the original. The demo opens as you cruise over a short stretch of ocean (a shortened version of the original level's intro), soaring through a ravine into "Corneria City." The place is an obstacle course, the vision of some insane architect, and I crashed and collided with the archways and tumbling towers my first time through, as my eyes drifted down to the touch screen, which displayed the control layout.
During our demo of Spec Ops: The Line, the new military shooter set in Dubai from Berlin-based development studio Yager set to launch in 2011, producer Greg Kasavin revealed the game would open a beta prior to its 2011 launch. While he couldn't divulge exactly when the beta would be available, he did say that PR was likely to reveal more in the next few days.
We'll be sure to update you all as soon as we hear something, but if you're looking for a taste before you get your taste, we suggest you grab some Nerf guns and head down to your local playground.
#ea
Tomorrow, select PS3 and PC owners will begin beta testing the new Medal of Honor. Xbox 360 owners, you're going to have to wait until next week. Sorry! More »
Don't feel like paying the $30 asking price for a PlayStation Move Navigation Controller? There is a cheaper (albeit less comfortable) solution: just use the DualShock controller. At an E3 presentation about the Move, Anton Mikhailov confirmed that the two controllers are interchangeable.
This method of control was actually used at Tokyo Game Show last year, to demonstrate the newly implemented motion controls of Resident Evil 5. While using the DualShock may not be the most attractive way to play, it's certainly nice to know that you have an option to avoid the cost of entry.
#capcom
This is a weird one. Many 3DS "games" on the showroom floor show gameplay, but are just tech demos. This one shows nothing but cinematics, but is actually a proper game. More »
Essentially everything you need to know about Def Jam Rapstar's gameplay can be seen in the video after the break, in which I square off with Def Jam Enterprises' James Waller. If throwing your dignity out the window and throwing down in a singing contest is your idea of a good time -- and it is for me -- you'll have a lot of fun with Rapstar. Incidentally, the game features more than just rap; pretty much anything in the hip hop genre is fair game. 4mm Games marketing director Devin Winterbottom told me that Def Jam secured rights for over 200 tracks from various labels -- including Aftermath, Death Row, Sony and Warner -- and the plan is to release weekly DLC after the game launches later this year.
We don't think anyone would argue that the Lego brand isn't reaching a notorious level of oversaturation in the gaming space. Between the adaptations of classic film franchises, video game IPs, hell, even an MMO, it's beginning to seem that every other game that gets revealed nowadays somehow features snap-together protagonists.
And yet. LucasArts and Traveller's Tales next entry in the successful Lego Star Wars series, the undisputed O.G. of Lego-based, family friendly action games, looks to be a fresh addition to the pack. Not due to sweeping gameplay innovations or a sea change in the way the developer has adapted the source material -- but rather, due to the thick layer of polish Lego Star Wars 3: The Clone Wars has received since the series' last installment.
Any time a developer decides to charge a fee to let players access their game's online offerings, they're electing to enter into one of the most competitive fields in the video game industry. Subscription fees are a limited resource among consumers, much more so than basic retail expenses. In order to pull down a significant portion of this resource, their games have to evolve in new and interesting ways.
APB is full of little, awesome things that aren't present in any other offering in the industry -- online or otherwise. Many of these are small features which only serve to add more social functionality to the core game. However, the relationship between the Criminal and Enforcer factions which the online multiplayer is built around is one of the most clever innovations visited on the online action genre in quite some time.