All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

RPG's mystery console at last revealed.

#movies From the eye patch to his name itself, Metal Gear's "Snake" has a lot in common with that other Snake: Snake Plissken, star of 1981 film Escape From New York. But what does that film's creator, John Carpenter, think? More »

We can't imagine what kind of event would spur EA to slash the price on several of its big-name iPhone games -- oh, right. Regardless of motive, Touch Arcade informs us of the sale, which extends through tomorrow. Here are some highlights:

• Command & Conquer: Red Alert [iTunes link]
• FIFA 10 [iTunes link]
• Dragon's Lair [iTunes link]
• Need for Speed: Shift [iTunes link]
• SimCity [iTunes link]
• Battleship [iTunes link]

The good news: lots of iPhone games are only $1. The bad news: none of those games is Mirror's Edge (which is still only available for iPad).

[Thanks, Dali]

#gameface The UFC's Pat Barry, Cain Velasquez, Joe Stevenson, Gray Maynard, and Dan Hardy at E3 showing their less scary side at the UFC Undisputed 2010 booth. More »

Buy.com is currently offering 12-month Xbox Live Gold cards for only $35 -- a substantial savings over the usual $50. Well, technically, it's only $34.44, so the deal is even better. There's a limit of three per customer, which adds up to three years of Live for just over 100 bucks. Not bad.

[Thanks, Richard!]

#clips So, the new Transformers game is pretty good. Especially its dedication fans of the original series. But we didn't think it would be this dedicated. More »

#level5 One of the best-looking games due for the Nintendo DS is now one of the best-looking games due for the PS3, with this weeks' Famitsu reporting that Level 5's Ninokuni is getting a major facelift for a home console. More »

#housekeeping Something important to keep in mind when you write to us: Unless you say it is off the record, we reserve the right to publish the email. If it's a tip, however, we'll keep your personal information completely confidential. More »

PDP is quickly making a name for itself as a manufacturer of quality peripherals, and one lap around the company's E3 booth showed why. Though companies like PDP are still battling with the perception that third-party controllers and other complimentary devices are sub-par knock-offs, much of PDP's line of products don't just feel sturdy and well-made -- some are actually pretty innovative, to boot.

The Afterglow collection is PDP's current bread and butter. Each comes with built-in Red, Green or Blue LEDs, and clock in roughly $10 below MSRP of their first-party equivalent. The highlight is the Wii controller, which not only sports a $29.99 price tag, but features a much more ergonomic button layout: The Plus and Minus buttons are now located directly to the left and right of the A button, while the 1 and 2 buttons are skewed slightly to the left and right, giving players a better indication of which input they're sliding their thumbs over.

A few other peripherals didn't have quite so much in the function department, but more than made up for them with form. The Tron-inspired controllers looked awfully sharp, while the Epic Mickey Wiimote dock made us reconsider our firm position against novelty controller charging stations. Check out the full lineup of PDP's current and future products in the gallery below.

#e3 Fable III is more than just bigger swords, bigger farts and more blood, says Lionhead Studios lead Peter Molyneux. It's about touching people, kingly responsibility and... OK, it also has bigger weapons and more vicious wind-breaking action. More »

#e32010 Though it leaves the Pacific islands for New York City, Crysis 2 is still governed by the law of the jungle - do unto others before they do unto you. Fortunately, you get more than one way to do it. More »

The OnLive game streaming service went, well, live during E3 (June 17, to be exact) opening its virtual doors to 25,000 pre-registered users, gifted with a free year of service and a voucher for one game. But most folks will probably want to pick up some more titles once they've experienced OnLive's voodoo firsthand. For them, the service offers the ability to demo any game for 30 minutes, then, should they want more, purchase multi-day or full "PlayPasses."

Some of the launch titles can only be purchased outright -- technically, you're buying a "pass" to play the game through at least June 17, 2013 -- while others offer tiered "rental" options as well (or, in a couple of cases, only the limited passes). Check out the full list of available titles and their pricing options after the break.

Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes on PSN and XBLA is pretty much what it sounds like: last year's DS game in high definition on consoles. For me, that alone is enough to ensure a purchase, because I'd make a hobby out of purchasing that delightful game if I could. Similarly, the new online (or offline) multiplayer component in Capy's remake of the DS puzzle RPG is, precisely, the Clash of Heroes gameplay, adapted for more players. Which is enough.

Help Tink find and grow the rare Rainbow Lily.

#halo The story behind Halo's most famous Spartan, Master Chief, is ready to be (re)told in comic book form this September. Marvel Comics will adapt Eric Nylund's bestselling novel prequel to Halo: Reach as part of a "graphic fiction event." More »

#madden My time with Madden NFL 11 was in the cooperative team-play booth. On the floor, someone managed a video peek at this year's ratings and piece together the eight best players at all positions, and overall, when the game ships. More »

Apart from God of War: Ghost of Sparta and some key third-party games, the PSP's lineup at E3 wasn't exactly exceptional. The surprises for Sony's handheld this year were few and far between -- except, perhaps, EyePet PSP, which continues SCEE's penchant for augmented reality games. Check out all the trailers after the break.

That's the second largest monkey head I've ever seen.

It's difficult to comment on Castlevania: Lords of Shadow as a product of the long-running (and now rebooted) gothic action franchise. Abandoning large-scale exploration in favor of linear action -- which was itself abandoned when Castlevania: Symphony of the Night debuted in 1997 -- Lords of Shadow invites comparison to God of War more than any other modern game.

That's an admittedly tiresome shorthand as far as game previews go -- "It's like God of War but with whip-swords!" -- but it's still useful in conveying how Lords of Shadow plays. Your attacks are sweeping and imprecise, yet bolstered with enough combos and violent flourishes to make you feel in charge. Castlevania's sub-weapons return to your repertoire as well, with the first two levels of the game allowing you to quickly dispatch a flying dagger into approaching enemies. The resulting explosion of bloody mush is a fair indicator of the game's disgusting, wonderful violence.

Even the most trivial battle, such as Gabriel Belmont's tutorial tussle in a rain-slick village under siege, is given a certain gravitas by the game's tight camera and atmospheric visuals. And if there's one thing that brands Lords of Shadow as a promising 3D Castlevania game, it's the effort that's gone into creating dark, imposing environments that feel like they extend far beyond the boundaries of the level. Developer MercurySteam has delivered an impressive showcase of scale and animation here, with even the lowly warg becoming a pouncing cause for concern. So yeah, it's a few steps up from recycled Game Boy Advance sprites.

That's the second largest monkey head I've ever seen.

Tripping the light fantastic with Mizuguchi's hands-free shooter.

That's the second largest monkey head I've ever seen.

#itsadate Are you perfectly fine with rainbows in your Diablo III? Then you might like the gameplay and lighthearted approach of Hothead Games' action-RPG DeathSpank, which marries deep role-playing with broad humor in just a couple of weeks. More »

#e32010 Under EA Black Box, Need For Speed had conditioned me to put the accelerator trigger in a death grip and never let go until the end of the race. That won't help in Criterion's Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. More »

Ah, the Tuk Tuk. Almost universally recognized as the most useless vehicle of all time in regards to its implementation in video games. (You ever try to rack up a huge crash score while driving a Tuk Tuk in Burnout 3? It is impossible.) Avalanche, however, recently gave the poor, pod-shaped vehicle a facelift with a new piece of free DLC for Just Cause 2: Introducing the "Tuk Tuk Boom Boom" (pictured right), available today through Xbox Live, PSN and Steam.

You'll notice that Avalanche has peeled the roof off of this particular model of the vehicle, leaving just enough room for a massive, powerful cannon. It's also faster and handles better than the rollover-friendly standard version, meaning the Tuk Tuk Boom Boom might just become your new mode of transportation of choice when it's time to raid that enemy base -- or, you know, that impoverished civilian village.

From Dead Space 2 to Kirby's Epic Yarn, see how and why this year's show was as gruesome as ever.