All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#sports For years, NBA 2K only featured a few pair of authentic Air Jordans in its equipment lineup. That changes with NBA 2K11, featuring His Airness in the game. Twenty-five models are available, and they carry attribute boosts. More »

With the release of Metroid: Other M only days away, it's probably time we all got caught up on the series. Thankfully, Nintendo has released a handy video that condenses the entire story into seven minutes -- minus all the portable entries and the entire Metroid Prime series, anyway.

He's back in the yellow and black.

Next Tuesday, we’ll be bringing PlayStation Move out to the nation’s capital to show to some local and national media outlets. But why should they have all the fun?

We cordially invite you, the PlayStation community in the Washington DC area, to go hands-on with PlayStation Move a month before it starts showing up in stores. We’re going to outfit Current Sushi & Lounge in Dupont Circle with final or near-final versions of Sports Champions, Kung Fu Rider, echochrome ii, Start the Party!, Tumble, and some brand new tech demos showing what the future of motion gaming may look like.

Attendance is, of course, free, and we’ll pick up the tab on hors d’oeuvres and drinks (for those 21 and up). And all attendees will score the much-in-demand PlayStation Move tee.

Here’s what you need to know; be sure to read and then RSVP:

• When: Tuesday, August 24, 6-9pm
• Where: Current Sushi & Lounge, Dupont Circle, Washington DC, USA, Earth
• Who: PlayStation fans 18 and up (must have valid ID). Kids under 18 must be accompanied by a parent/guardian.
• RSVP here.

Our previous Move Meet-ups have been a great time – but they’ve taught us that showing up early is a good idea.

Now, does anyone have a connection to get the President to show up?

#gamescom2010 You love to punch your arms through the air, like you're beating up ghosts. You wish you could be part of a Fight Club. You have an Xbox 360 and may have a Kinect. There is a game for you. More »

When Warren Spector told Gamescom attendees that the denizens of his chosen profession are "still making cartoons," he wasn't referring to his upcoming illustrated opus, Epic Mickey. Rather, he was voicing his opinion on what he sees to be one of the biggest challenges facing the industry today: game developers' proclivity for attempting (and ultimately failing) to mimic the storytelling techniques of movies, comics and other forms of popular media.

Of course, one of his main problems with games' stories is their tendency to be dude-centric -- he warned the Gamescom crowd "if we don't break out of big buff guys with swords and guys in tights and space marines in armor, we're going to get marginalized in the way comics have been in the United States." He also warned about attempting to ape blockbuster films by filling games with obscenely expensive visuals, as "we still fall far, far short of what people expect from a movie."

Ultimately, the only form of storytelling Spector thinks games should attempt to emulate is oral conversation, as the person interacting with the game is equally responsible for shaping its story. "Player experience comes first," Spector explained, "we have to allow them to show their creativity. No other medium has allowed them to do this. We are unique in the history of humankind. Every player becomes an author when they play a game."

Just as we saw yesterday, RedSpotGames did indeed have a WiiWare title to show off at Gamescom. ‘Rush Rush Rally Racing’ is the title that they unveiled, and it should bring back a lot of memories for those of you that played a few of the Micro Machines games on earlier consoles. Check [...]

The strangest concept for us about this fall's Splatterhouse re-imagining is the departure it takes from the series' 16-bit origins. Oddly, the latest trailer features a mashup of the original game with the new one, spliced with music from the original. We'll be honest -- it's pretty confusing.

That, however, is significantly less of an issue than one of the screenshots Namco sent along with the new trailer. It's ... well, let's just say it's probably not the safest image for your boss to see. Or anyone, really. Actually, you know what? Maybe just stick with the trailer for now. Besides, you probably don't have enough Tide in your house to get out the stains left by this screen. We sure didn't.

More impressions of the campaign.

Did you see the St. Louis Arch in the trailer? Our resident expert did.

It’s not surprising to see Professor Layton and the Lost Future heading to Australia. Still, it’s nice to have a 100% confirmation that Aussie fans of the Layton series are going to get to take on the next outing.

#xbox360 One of gaming's big dreamers, game designer Peter Molyneux, showed us Project Milo — a controller-less game about a virtual boy — two Junes ago. There was potential. There were hitches. A year later, Milo's made a lot of progress. More »

#gamescom2010 Eric Chahi made the acclaimed game Out of This World, then Heart of Darkness, then took a break from game-making, during which time he fell in love with volcanoes. Now he's making this. More »

#kotakumagu Cory Schmitz, the man behind the classy EXP. magazine, has been kind enough to send us over some shots of his latest mag effort: The Controller More »

During a Konami press conference at Gamescom, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow producer David Cox took to the mic to announce European and UK release dates for the forthcoming game: October 7 in Europe and October 8 in the UK. Furthermore, Konami UK rep Richie Churchill revealed via his Twitter account that the game will be getting a distinct collector's edition for (at very least) the UK, featuring the game's original soundtrack and a "replica God Mask in awesome packaging."

Wait a minute -- why don't we get a God Mask?! Anyway, given the way European and UK releases work, it's fair to guess that Lords of Shadow will land stateside on October 5 (as compared to the Halloween release date Amazon gave it), sans God Mask. That's exciting enough, we guess.

With three weeks to ship, hockey fans can get a taste of what to expect come September 7th as the NHL 11 Demo is now LIVE on the PlayStation Network! Watch the NHL 11 PSN demo launch trailer below.

Those that download the demo will get a sampling of two game modes: Battle for the Cup and Hockey Ultimate Team. Battle for the Cup allows fans (single or local multiplayer) to play the 3rd period of Game Seven in the Stanley Cup Finals between the Philadelphia Flyers at Chicago Blackhawks. The score will be different each game as it will be simmed up to that point in time. You will be able to view the box score of the first two periods prior to entering gameplay.

In the Hockey Ultimate Team portion of the demo, each user will receive a Starter Pack of cards. You will be able to edit your lineup and try to maximize chemistry. For consumables, you will start with a couple of Training Cards and will earn more Training Cards that can be applied to your team after each game you play in the offline tournament (only tournament available in the demo). Just like in the Battle for the Cup mode, each game will be in the 3rd period (up to three games).

Not every demo HUT team will be the same. There is a pool of 75 players, 4 jerseys and 4 logos that the user can get in their starter pack. Each user will receive 24 players, 2 jerseys (one home and one away) and 1 logo in their starter pack. Once the user quits out of HUT and re-enters, their team will be reset with a new group of cards.

You will earn EA Pucks after every game you play in HUT whether they win or lose. The point of allowing EA Puck earning in the demo is to show you approximately how many pucks you will receive when you complete HUT games.

Just for entering Hockey Ultimate Team in the demo, you will receive a small reward pack when you play HUT in the full title. If the user wins the HUT demo tournament the reward pack that they would have received for playing the demo will turn into a larger reward pack that contains a rare card. Users will also receive an additional reward pack in the full title if they invite their friends to play the demo via PSN. Note, however, that your demo HUT team will not transfer to the full game.

Classic controls will be available in the demo. You can choose between Default, Classic, NHL 94 Controls, and Custom control schemes. You can do this in the pause menu once you enter gameplay. All camera options available in the full title will also be available in the demo (Ice, Classic, Overhead, Broadcast and Action).

The demo is just under 1.2 GB and Bottom of the Well by Airbourne and Full of Regret by Danko Jones are the two music tracks in the sampling. Also, an interactive tutorial will be available on the main menu of the demo and Hockey Ultimate Team tutorial video is also played before you create your HUT team.

Enjoy the demo and let us know what you think with your constructive critique!

These little tikes have some game, even if it is a bit shallow.

Fans of Battlefield: Bad Company 2's squad-based modes get two new ways to lay waste to a pair of familiar maps today. VIP Map Pack 6 is now available for all versions of the game. This latest map pack adds Panama Canal to the set of Squad Deathmatch maps and Laguna Presa to the Squad Rush mode.

Grab a few friends and check out the brief video preview of the new scenarios after the break. Hoo-rah!

#gamescom2010 It's actually a rather nice t-shirt, complete with official PlayStation branding and a lanyard, as seen in the swag bag from last night's Sony event. More »

Though the vivid colors and lush foliage might suggest otherwise, Enslaved: Odyssey to the West is an Unreal-powered action game due this October. These latest screenshots once again place the environments somewhere between utopia and dystopia, and highlight the volatile cooperation between lead characters Monkey and Trip. It's no Melissa & Joey, but it'll do.

Batman: The Video Game Batman: The Video Game is actually a really great game for the NES. It’s one of the earliest examples of a licensed title done right. The game has fast-paced action, tough bosses, and a rocking soundtrack. If you can hunt this one down, I suggest you give it a [...]

The IGN editors are flipping out over new old Cole. Come see.

A brief look at the latest portable version of Activision's first-person shooter series.

It's not easy to do justice to war. Make a game too realistic, and you threaten to make it so brutal that it's simply not fun to play. Make it too bombastic, and you risk making a mockery of the soldiers that risk their lives every day in the real world. In this writer's opinion, Modern Warfare 2 is guilty of the latter. "Heart" was replaced by in-your-face Bruckheimer-inspired drivel that made me swear off the Call of Duty franchise for good. I went into Black Ops knowing full well that I would hate it.

I was wrong.

In many ways, Black Ops is everything you'd expect from a Call of Duty game. The gameplay certainly looks unchanged: duck, take cover, fire down the sights and throw back grenades. It's still a heavily scripted experience, with set piece after set piece. And, of course, there's no shortage of explosives -- The Expendables would be jealous of Black Ops' abundance of helicopters and missiles. At first glance, Black Ops struck me as "just another Call of Duty." For series stalwarts, that's enough to buy back into Activision's annualized franchise. For me, I needed more.

#gamescom2010 With the release of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow mere weeks away, what can reignite our interest in the latest and perhaps greatest attempt at a three-dimensional Belmont adventure? How about the creepiest coffins you've ever seen in a video game? More »