All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Perhaps it's my Canadian roots and the fact that I am one of two staff members that enjoys sports games but NHL 10 was one of the best titles released last year. After a shaky start in the current generation of consoles, the team at EA Canada has transformed the NHL brand into the premiere video game sports franchise.

Not content with adding a few adjustments to last year's winning formula, EA Canada is making drastic changes to NHL 11 - the 20th anniversary of the longstanding sports franchise. Unfortunately, of the gameplay changes I've seen, there may be some cause for alarm.

Yes, someone is actually making a real-life version of Monster Hunter’s Lacerator/Ravager Blade. The real deal is looking pretty wicked. That’s a great wall mounting for the den, don’t you think?!

Why, oh why have we gone so long without a Road Rash revival? There’s no other ‘racing’ game that gets my blood pumping like Road Rash. It was so much fun to bash your opponents as you sped by on a motorcycle. Give me a Wii update with some motion-controlled bat swinging [...]

#debate We talked about the best games of the first half of 2010 on Kotaku Talk Radio today and took your nominations by phone. What did we pick and why? Download and listen. More »

Hi Everyone- Here’s this week’s Digital Comics update. As usual, we have the full list of new content to the store below, but let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

To start with, we have another large set of new arrivals from DC Comics. Pick up your free copy of the Wonder Woman #600 10-page preview, written by none other than J. Michael Straczynski. Or download #1 of DMZ and follow Matty Roth, an aspiring reporter trapped in a Manhattan ravaged by America’s Second Civil War. Finally from DC, down in Texas it’s all about werewolves, as you’ll see in High Moon #1. Former detective Matthew Macgregor investigates strange happenings in a desolate town… werewolf western drawn by Steve Ellis.

Want more superhero action? Marvel’s Black Panther, makes his solo debut on Digital Comics this week! So, who is Black Panther? R. Hudlin is here to answer this question – in cinematic scope, no less. He famously said that his influences for the Black Panther were another mighty superhero (can you guess who?), Spike Lee, and Sean Combs. That’s quite something.

Last, but not least, another great series by IDW: Mystery Society. Charismatic duo Nick Hammond and Anastasia Collins bring their own justice to the world’s underbellies – and it’s not an easy task. Written by Steve Niles, with art by amazing Ashley Wood (Tank Girl, Zombie vs Robots, and many many others) – another one really worth a try.

That’s it, have a great week, and head to www.playstationcomics.com for more info or to view our full catalog and pricing.

• 2000AD Prog #1686
• Army of Two #5
• Astonishing Tales (2009) #3
• Batman: Hush #7-#12
• Batman: Year One #2
• Black Panther (2005) #1-#5
• Criminal (2008) #6 & #7
• DMZ #1-#5
• Dante’s Inferno #4-#6
• Devi #6
• Fables #6-#10
• Free Realms #3 & #4
• Fringe #4-#6
• Gladstone Gander and the Boomerang Friendship
• Green Lantern: Secret Origin #2
• High Moon #1
• Hope Falls #3
• Jonah Hex #7-#12
• Mirror’s Edge #4-#6
• Mystery Society #1
• Ramayan 3392 AD #6
• Resistance #3 & #4
• Snakewoman #6
• Star Trek: The Movie Adaptation #4
• Superduck and the Haunted Villa
• The Adventures of Sinbad Duck
• The Lion King
• The Sadhu #6
• Transformers #7
• Transformers: Ironhide #2
• Transformers: Last Stand of the Wreckers #5
• Ultraheroes #6: Good and Evil
• Victorian Undead #2
• Walk-In #5
• Wonder Woman #600: Preview
• X-Mickey #14: Werewolf Night

A portion of a 4CR review… Like Layton? Like Fargo? Ever wanted to combine the two? If you answered yes to that third one, you’re a strange kind of person, but Puzzle Agent is definitely going to be right up your snow-covered alley.

#sega Sega is bringing back its beloved Dreamcast this fall—or at least two of its more memorable games, in downloadable form—but what of its predecessor, the sometimes spectacular but relatively unsuccessful Sega Saturn? Sega has not forgotten it. More »

If you came out to the Los Angeles Convention Center a few weeks back and managed to catch up with GlassWalls and me in the PlayStation E3 Booth (err…complex), chances are you got a glimpse at a new suite of games packed into one convivial space known as Midway. And chances are you asked us when it was going to be released. And chances are we gave you a wink and a sly smile and said “soon.”

It’s funny how quickly “soon” turns to “tomorrow” in the rapidly-growing world of PlayStation Home. As the holiday weekend approaches us (and with it, all those extra hours to play our favorite games), we figured tomorrow would be the perfect time to launch what is easily one of the most epic gaming experiences to ever be released in PlayStation Home.

The Midway — available Thursday, July 1st — launches with 10 games, over a hundred rewards (including the Darla’s Den personal space), and plenty of secrets that you will have to uncover for yourself as you progress through this massive new game space. Simply collect your tickets from the kiosk at the entrance to the Midway and embark on a journey where a new reward is unlocked for every level of every game you master. Hang out in the space for long enough and you can even be rewarded with more plays for your favorite games (or the ultimate bragging rights at the Meet Darla photo booth). You can even collect exclusive arcade-style games like Trigger Happy-in-a-Box for the Darla’s Den personal space! Just enter the hilarious Tele-Porta-Potty in PlayStation Home’s Central Plaza to access the Midway when it launches this week.

For a holiday as important as Independence Day, we wanted to make sure we delivered the best event we possibly could to you, the loyal PlayStation Home community. And we wanted to make sure that both Canadians and Americans got an ample opportunity to celebrate – hence, Captain Kablooey’s Boombastic Bonanza! Simply head to the Central Plaza on Canada Day (Thursday, July 1st) and/or the 4th of July to participate in the festivities by playing the brand new Independence Day game with your friends, unlocking exclusive rewards (that you’ll have to see to believe), and then using those rewards to unlock progressively bigger and badder fireworks displays for the enjoyment of all onlookers. It’s easily one of the largest and most awesome events we’ve ever thrown — and it will only be available for a limited time — so come out to Central Plaza and show your national pride Home-style.

This week also plays host to some serious updates in the PlayStation Home Mall — with the highly-anticipated Active 8 Apartment UFO (which we’ve heard has a penchant for cattle abductions), new Independence Day-themed items from the Sodium store, full Woody, Jessie, and Zurg costumes from Toy Story 3 (and a bunch of furniture to boot), and tons of Alpha Protocol clothing items (including Michael Thornton, Sie, and Scarlet Lake costumes). So be sure to head to the PlayStation Home Mall this Thursday to keep your collection complete with these awesome new items.

See you in Home!

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy XIV will be launched on Windows PCs worldwide on September 30 -- well, provided you've obtained the game, installed it and then clicked on the launch shortcut. This step comes after you've made a choice between two different versions of the anticipated MMORPG: a standard edition, which will retail for $49.99, and a $74.99 Collector's Edition.

The latter edition will enable early access to the game on September 22nd ("subject to initial server capacity," Square Enix warns) and will include a making-of DVD, a Final Fantasy XIV-branded security token, an art book, special cover art by Yoshitaka Amano, a "fully-personalized Right of Passage Certificate" and a stat-boosting Onion Helm item for pre-orders (Standard Edition pre-orders get ze "Garlond Goggles," which do nothing in real life). Both versions offer 30 days of gameplay upon purchase, with one playable character and one non-playable character playing the undignified role of item retainer. Should you choose to continue exploring the world of Eorzea, Eorfee will be $12.99 per month.

Oh, and just a reminder that PS3 is one of several consoles that won't be able to play Final Fantasy XIV in 2010 -- since Square Enix confirmed that Final Fantasy XIV will only arrive on Sony's system in "early" March 2011. Pricing for that version will be announced at a later time.

PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners need to pony up.

Discover the secrets.

Sega is already selling its Genesis library all over the place (as downloads on XBLA, PSN, WiiWare, and iPhone, and on retail collections). Dreamcast games are due this fall for XBLA and PSN, with one already having been remade for XBLA. Now Sega is considering adding selections from the Saturn library to its catalog of digital releases.

Yosuke Okunari, producer of the Dreamcast remakes, told GAME Watch (translated by Andriasang) that Sega might consider Saturn games in the future, though it's a different initiative from the current releases. "What we announced this time is a project where we will have consecutive releases of titles that were debuted on Dreamcast," he said. "Separate from this, we're of course thinking about ports of Saturn games. It's the same as how Sega Ages and Virtual Console were separate existences. It's not that we have no intention of porting Saturn titles, so please share your requests." Sega Ages was a series of disc-based PS2 rereleases of classic Sega titles.

Coincidentally, the NiGHTSintodreams.com fan community sent out an announcement today for its campaign to convince Sega to port NiGHTS Into Dreams to modern consoles, in honor of the game's 15th anniversary. As one of the most prominent first-party games, NiGHTS has a good chance of being one of the first releases, should Sega decide to pursue Saturn ports.

This is my pick for a game that needs to see a Virtual Console release. Konami sanctioned the creation of a brand-new Rocket Knight game. How in the world could they not release one of the originals on the Wii VC? Any talk of the character, no matter what platform, is good [...]

PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners need to pony up.

#releasedate The first steps players take into the world of Eorzea will be wide ones, as Square Enix reveals two September release dates for Final Fantasy XIV on the PC; one for the normal edition, and an earlier one for the lavish collector's edition. More »

Play with robots, get mondo experience.

She was reading my mind.

#xbox360 Two weeks ago, something unusual happened in Los Angeles. Something amazing. And today I will agree with video game producer Tak Fujii that the man deserves an award for it. More »

One of the fastest growing Canadian game developers continues its rapid rise.

Direct2Drive has the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins for $20 today err, yesterday.

Update: Due to late publishing, the deal had left the building before this story made it to our front page. We apologize for the error. Today's deal is Battlefield: Bad Company 2, which ... does have some RPG elements in it! And rocket-propelled grenades.

If you happen to live in one of seven US cities selected by EA, you'll be able to catch Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit in advance of its November 16 release. Taking a cue from The Cannonball Run, the game will wind its way across the country (and back again), making pit stops at "hot local venues" along the route, where it will be playable while "renowned hip hop and rock artists" perform.

The tour rolls out on Wednesday, July 14 at the Manhattan Classic Car Club in New York City. Hit the break (not the brakes) for a full list of cities and dates, then visit the official Need for Speed site to sign up for a test drive at one of the venues.

Who says Master Chief will never be on the PlayStation 3?