All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Looks like the elusive apparition will play an even larger role in the sequel.

Tor Books has announced that a new series of Halo novels are on the way. Not to be confused with the upcoming trilogy by Greg Bear, these will be penned by Karen Traviss, author of the Gears of War novels as well as the short story "Human Weakness" from the 2009 Halo Evolutions collection.

The first new novel to be penned by Traviss will serve as a sequel to Ghosts of Onyx, and will reveal the fate of its team of Spartans. The series promises to "explore the Halo Universe in the wake of the final events of Halo 3." Presumably, the novels will also contain a heavy does of alien murder. We've contacted Tor in hopes of pinning down a release window for the new novels. Meanwhile, Bear's trilogy is set to debut this year.

Find the press release after the break.

#research A study by a student at the University of Minnesota suggests that gold farmers - the unscrupulous salt mine workers of the MMO world - have a lot in common with other undesirable lots, like drug dealers and street gangs. More »

Relatively cheap, simple, and good for some fun.

#careers Next time someone's ripping on you for playing video games, either because they think you're too old or they consider it a waste of time, just tell them it's offsite job training. More »

#summer Even if you owned a Nintendo 64 and loved playing Banjo Kazooie as I did, you may not think of Rare's bear-and-bird action game as a summer game. One wonderful part of it was. More »

Let’s cut to the chase, shall we? Kratos would want it that way.

Tonight, GameTrailers TV is hosting a special God of War: Ghost of Sparta preview on SPIKE TV. The episode will showcase new gameplay video and details on the eagerly anticipated action epic being developed by Ready At Dawn Studios, aka the folks behind God of War: Chains of Olympus.

The SPIKE TV special will air tonight at 12:30am Pacific Time (check SPIKE.com for local listings).

Also, if you’re attending Comic-Con in San Diego, the Ready At Dawn team has a special treat for you. Drop by the San Diego Convention Center on Saturday to catch the “The World That is God of War” discussion panel and Q&A session — anyone with a badge should be able to attend, space willing. Here are the full details for the Comic-Con panel:

The World That is God of War — Ghost of Sparta Panel Q&A

• Time: Saturday, July 24: 1:00 — 2:00PM
• Location: San Diego Convention Center (Room 7AB)

111 West Harbor Drive
San Diego, CA 92101

Description: Ru Weerasuriya and Dana Jan are back, along with their talented team at Ready At Dawn Studios, to expand upon this blockbuster mythological world with God of War: Ghost of Sparta. Join Ru, Dana, and team for this one-on-one interview and Q&A session.

Finally, in related news, I got a chance to go one-on-one with Ghost of Sparta at the NYC PlayStation media day earlier this week. The action is classic God of War: fast, brutal, and epic. Kratos was packing plenty of new gear, too. The Spartan Spear and Shield grants Kratos a longer reach and the ability to hurl spears at distant foes, though his trademark Blades of Chaos still hold the edge in overall attack speed. I also experimented with the Eye of Atlantis, a new magical attack that gushes a stream of chain lightning at nearby enemies.

While you’re waiting for the SPIKE TV special and Comic-Con panel to start, you might want to take another look at the first Ghost of Sparta gameplay footage below. And yeah, that’s running on a PSP. Wait until you see it in person, free from web video compression.

Our MMO-centric sister site Massively received a whole mess of gameplay details and screenshots from Bigpoint's promising browser-based MMO, Battlestar Galactica Online. Players will be able to choose between the Human and Cylon factions, will be able to create their own out-of-ship avatars, and will progress through individual quests and story-based missions exclusive to their own factions. For instance, Cylons might be tasked with preparing a fresh slice of toast. (Because Cylons look like toasters. Obviously.)

For more details, check out the info Massively managed to glean from Bigpoint. For visual images you can see with your eyes, check out the gallery below.

#screengrab Step one, put on a huge Pikachu costume. That's it. There's no step two. As seen outside the Pokemon booth at Comic-Con, which dwarfs the Nintendo video games booth. More »

Joining the mighty Thor in Marvel vs. Capcom 3's character lineup is Amaterasu, sun goddess, white wolf and star of Capcom's Okami. She may be the smallest fighter on the roster, but, as you can see in the video after the break, she's as fierce as she is amazingly rendered. Bonus clip inside!

User-suggested changes from the last version: "Move Lock" feature (Press space and you don't change firing direction when you shoot), load button on the start screen

 

If you have any small or minor suggestions that you want me to consider, this is your last chance to do so. Nothing too big, though (Like a boss or something), because I'm almost done.

#suckerpunch Remember when Cole McGrath debuted his new look on the Game Informer's cover? Never mind! Designers heard the chorus of mehs - many comparing McGrath to Starkiller from Star Wars: STFU - and are going back to the drawing board. More »

"Hello, Apple Customer Support, this is Janice speaking. How may I help you?"

"Does my iPhone replacement plan cover ... um, if I accidentally jammed my thumbs through my screen?"

"If you jam your -- sir, I have to ask ... were you attempting to play 'My Name is Jonas' on Expert on the Guitar Hero App?"

"How on Earth did you know?"

"Sir, you're the twentieth person to call with that issue today. Oh, and the answer to your question is of course not."

Click past the jump to see all the tracks from Breaking Benjamin, Coldplay, Rise Against and Weezer which were recently added to the Music Store on Guitar Hero for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Also, be gentle with those thumbs, okay?

The fuzzy wuzzy animals don't stand a chance.

The Rock Band Twitter account has been a real beehive of activity as of late. No wonder, considering Harmonix has slowly been teasing new artists coming to Rock Band 3. So far, Tears for Fears, Marilyn Manson, The B-52s and Def Leppard have been confirmed for the game.

Harmonix promises to slowly trickle out more artists as Comic-Con progresses this weekend, so we'll be sure to relay the info as it's made available. In the meanwhile, we suggest you grab your hot pants and celebrate!

[Thanks, Conor]

Marvel's First Family a no-go for upcoming fighting game.

#gameface Boondock Saints star Sean Patrick Flanery gets a taste of his own medicine at Comic-Con 2010, as seen on MTV. More »

You know what’s really funny? I was looking at a Kellogg’s box that had this very promotion on it while I got this email!

#ps3 Does anyone know what the best way is to control a Resident Evil game anymore? At least Capcom keeps doling out options, including PlayStation 3 motion control, which I sampled this week. More »

The wolf from Okami kicks some ass.

BioWare confirms the obvious.

You know those "What If?" comics (like, "What if Spider-Man's spider-sense didn't tingle, but burned?"). The best way I can put Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night for iPhone to you is as one of these scenarios. Only in this case, it's "What if Castlevania: Symphony of the Night had been a puzzle game and not a Metroid tribute?"

If you'd asked me what my excitement level was for this app back when it was announced, I don't think it would've registered above "meh." But Encore of the Night has really turned out to be a lesson in not dismissing a title simply because it's from a beloved franchise and has seemingly been adapted to a totally inappropriate genre.

Now you can buy a set of earrings for your…fictional girlfriend? I don’t know what you would do with these!

Some moving new screens of a Move game.