All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Grinding gear games announces free-to-play online action RPG coming in early 2011.

We've had a good time with OnLive's "instant-play" game streaming service so far, but if there's one thing we'd change, it would be the fact that it only supports wired internet connections. Thankfully, there are enough similarly minded folks out there, prompting the service to single out WiFi support as a "top development priority" to be introduced in beta form before October.

OnLive also announced today that it is extending its Founding Members program yet again (it was due to end this coming weekend), offering a free year of service and a guaranteed $4.95 monthly fee thereafter to anyone who signs up before January 1, 2011.

For those who are already members, Labor Day weekend (that's September 4-6 -- only two days away!) will bring with it a sale on all titles in OnLive's catalog, to the tune of 50 percent off each and every one. A full list of games available can be found here. If you're keen to try out the service (or get a preview of its WiFi support) the company will be exhibiting at PAX Prime this weekend, September 3-5.

The iOS version of Bit.Trip Beat won't be a simple port of Gaijin Games' WiiWare debut. It has a couple of new features that may convince even the few people who completed the game to buy it again.

A representative for publisher Namco Networks informed Joystiq that Bit.Trip Beat will have a multiplayer mode, for up to four players on either iPhones or iPads. Even more intriguing, the mobile version of the chiptuney rhythm-Pong game will have new downloadable levels.

Namco Networks expects to release Bit.Trip Beat this fall. You can see what it looks like on iPad in our gallery. If you look at the images on an iPad, you'll really get the idea.

#keijiinafune At last year's Tokyo Game Show, Capcom's Keiji Inafune (Mega-Man, Dead Rising) famously declared that the Japanese game industry was "finished". It was a wake-up call. But Japan, he says, still slumbers. More »

If you are going to PAX this weekend, I wanted to let you know that inFAMOUS 2 will have its very own booth space at the show! Sucker Punch will be on hand and we’ll have 7 kiosks featuring a demo of the game that will feature Cole’s new melee weapon (the “Amp”) and a new power called the Ionic Vortex.

Our booth number is #122 so swing on by to get your inFAMOUS destruction on! We’ll also be giving away a limited number of t-shirts to players until we run out.

If that wasn’t awesome enough news, the inFAMOUS 2 team will also be holding a panel on the topic of “Creating Super Powers” and showing some new gameplay featuring a power called the Kinetic Pulse, and a new enemy, the Ravager. Details are below, so hope to see you there!

inFAMOUS 2 Panel “Creating Super Powers”
Seattle Sheraton, Pegasus Theater
Time: 6:30-7:30pm

inFAMOUS 2 PAX Booth #122

Sega's PSP-only sequel out now.

Your path leads you to these screenshots.

#nintendo According to a report from a Japanese retail event, Nintendo is planning on bringing Super Mario All-Stars to the Nintendo Wii. More »

New subscribers to get Ratchet & Clank: Quest for Booty

#pc Sega has released a batch of in-game screenshots for upcoming strategy epic Shogun2 : Total War. They're moody! More »

#gameface Taken at a Halo: Reach press event in Sydney yesterday. More »

Team 17's Amiga classic gets the HD treatment, and Valkyria Chronicles II out now.

#toys It's a little late for Assassin's Creed II, we know, but just in time for Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood come these Ezio figures by NECA. More »

#nsfw Japanese erotic games tend to have, well, interesting promotional efforts. 18-years-old-and-up PC title Kud Wafter is no exception. Boob chocolate, anyone? More »

It feels so weird to be telling you this, but Ubisoft has made an advergame based on Tom Clancy's HAWX 2 and ... it's kinda good! It's a pretty basic shmup with an 8-bit theme, though it's a bit more forgiving than most traditional games in the genre. (Your plane can actually take more than one hit before going down.)

Everything else is pretty much what you'd expect: a rad soundtrack; several weapon types; and an endless supply of enemies to blast into oblivion. Don't believe us? Hit up the link and check it out.

[Thanks, Daniel]

#callofduty It's a safe bet that Call of Duty: Black Ops will become the de facto multiplayer shooter of the fall, deservedly so for the intelligent, exciting online features that developer Treyarch is adding to the series—most notably, gambling. More »

#gallery It doesn't matter if newly revealed PlayStation Network Tokyo Jungle is the worst game ever. It has a monkey in overalls. That's all it needs! More »

Whoa, whoa. Easy there, you dirty hippie. When we say "free love," we're not referring to the next meeting of the Rainbow Family of Living Light -- we're talking about a chance to play Eskil Steenberg's lovely little MMORPG, Love, at zero cost this Labor Day weekend. The offer will being around 1AM ET this Friday, at which point you'll be able to download the client on the game's official site. This free sample will be available until 7AM ET on Monday.

Now, that's what you have to do to get in on the free Love weekend. What you should do is watch this gameplay demonstration, so you'll know what the hell you're doing once you start making changes to the MMO's completely procedural world.

#yakuza Busting up a noodle house never looked so fun. More »

#tgs This year's Tokyo Game Show will have a whole slew of games on display. Currently, which platform will get the most games? Let's have a look: More »

Southpeak has announced that its chess title, Battle vs Chess (which is totally not Battle Chess) is headed to PC, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 on September 28. Much like Interplay's classic game of nearly the same name, Battle vs Chess lets players compete in the ancient strategy game using animated pieces. Battle vs Chess also includes several different gameplay modes, including a campaign mode and puzzle mode which house "over 50 puzzles and scenarios." Another mode allows players to manually place pieces, which can only be seen by the opponent after the game begins.

The PC version will retail for $20, while the Xbox and PlayStation 3 versions will be available for $40. Meanwhile, the Wii, DS and PSP versions are slated to be released in the first quarter of 2011 with prices still under wraps for now.

Rapid impressions after my first shot at the multiplayer game.

#konami Metal Gear Solid 4 is an epic game. But it's missing something. Rather, somethings. Those somethings are PlayStation Trophies, which the game does not support. More »

#toys The last few Valkyria Chronicles figures we've seen were for baddie Selvaria Bles. Time to even the score, with a figure of heroine Alicia Melchiott. More »

Wanna run Linux on your PS3? Think again!

How does former Spice Girl Mel B keep in shape?

#capcom Yoshinori Ono (pictured) is the producer of Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV. So you'd imagine he'd be pretty good at Street Fighter. He's just not as good as Daigo "The Best" Umehara (not pictured). More »

There’s been a slight update on the official Japanese site for Golden Sun: Dark Dawn. Much like the Kirby’s Epic Yarn website, the official release date has now been added. Everything else seems to be the same to me, but if you’ve missed out thus far, make sure to click over and have [...]

Did you know that The Witcher had three different endings? Seems like par for the course, right? Well, things are getting downright insane in The Witcher 2, which Eurogamer reports will have 16 different attainable outcomes. Here's some other interesting improvements, courtesy of that snazzy new multi-platform engine:

• There will be 256 cutscenes (totaling 150 minutes) in The Witcher 2, whereas the first game only had 130 cutscenes (totaling 53 minutes)
• The Witcher 2 will have 30 different armor types to choose from, compared to the five available in the first game
• You'll only need to suffer through four load screens in the sequel, while the first game forced players to wait during approximately 700

The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings is slated to launch sometime in 2011.