All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

If you’re looking for a few more templates to use in myPostcards, you should start up the app right now. KnucklesSonic let us know that there are three new templates available, one of which is seen above. You’ll have to hop on your DSi to find out what the others two are!

#tgs It would be silly to spend all our time showing off the PS3 version of Ni No Kuni, when the game will also be turning up on DS. More »

#tgs2010 Capcom, the game maker behind Resident Evil, held its Tokyo Game Show event at a restaurant called Gonpachi, because it said it wanted to give the foreign press a "Japanese experience". But Gonpachi is much more than that. More »

Mega Man Universe, we surmised from the very beginning, is an amalgamation of familiar elements in a new presentation. According to producer Akiko Ito, it'll contain even more familiar elements than we've seen: the levels and bosses of Mega Man 2.

Ito told Joystiq during an interview, "The base story and the base game is taken from Mega Man 2, so players can experience Mega Man 2 through this game." She explained that these "default" stages don't have to remain in their original form, as well: "Basically, we're going to create the stages from Mega Man 2 faithfully in this new style, and you can play them as is, or you can customize different sections of them, or you can customize all of it if you want to, so pretty much you can do whatever you'd like with the stages."

We're calling it right now: the most popular player-created stage will be "Quick Man, but without those laser things."

#gt5 It's taken six years for us to get Gran Turismo 5. It may take you that long to get through all these screenshots. And before you ask, no. It's not a joke. That combi van will be drivable. More »

One of the world's smallest dogs takes over Tokyo.

#tgs The latest Castlevania game, Lords of Shadow, wasn't originally intended to be a Castlevania game. And this trailer shows it. More »

We find ourselves in a bit of a precarious situation -- we've always thought the songs that play at the end of Alan Wake's episodes are delightful little treats, so we don't want to forecast the ending track of the game's upcoming DLC chapter, "The Writer." We do know what said track is, though, and we desperately want to tell you. If you don't mind the minor spoiler, continue reading past the jump.

Okay, so it opens up with this knight guy, named Alfred (Or something, I really haven't thought his name through), and he's the captain of the Hyrule Guard (Which is like this elite police force/task group composed of the King's finest warriors) leading a group of knights to the outskirts of Hyrule's countryside; they come across a goron, and they question the goron to see if he knows what they're looking for. Alfred is essentially searching for this corrupt priest named Agahnim; he was essentially the King's court holy man, but conspired against the king by trying to poison him, and when he failed, he fled from Hyrule.

 

So the goron dude tells Alfred that he saw weird cultist activity down the road in this small, abandoned town; the knights search the town and find Agahnim performing some sort of black magic ritual by draining the blood of freshly killed villagers and siphoning it in to this sort of magic vortex. Alfred and crew are like "what the hell is going on here," and then Agahnim simply says, with wicked glee--despite knowing that he is going to be captured, put on trial and executed--"He's returning. The Great One is finally returning."

 

And then it cuts to this other little village on the outskirts of a forest; there's this ranch where a young mute boy named Link lives. He's living a happy life despite the fact that for some strange reason he was born without the ability to form words (And this is a plot point explained a little later). He lives a happy life with his best friend Malon until a group of mauraders--which turn out to be the barbaric hordes sent by the ruthless Moblin King--ransack the town and kidnap Malon. Link, being the courageous young hero (Idiot) that he is, grabs his father's old rusty sword and shield and sets off after the moblins.

 

It turns out later that the Moblin King actually is in cahoots with Agahnim, but Link doesn't know this yet. Meanwhile, this Middle-Eastern looking man with bright red hair is leading a group of Gerudo refugees across the Great Desert/Hyrule border; you see, the land of the Gerudos is very poor and many want to come to Hyrule, which is the land of opportunity. The thing is, though, the leader of this operation is also a knight of Hyrule himself... but he also holds motives aside from gauranteeing safe passage to immigrants and serving the king.

 

Meanwhile, the daughter of the King, Princess Zelda, has special mystic powers; she can reveal the true motives behind anyone she talks to. Some say it's magic or psychic powers, but nobody knows what it really is. Alfred and the middle-eastern man (Who we'll call Gamond) escort Princess Zelda to Agahnim's prison cell and Zelda tries to get Agahnim to reveal his true motives. Aganhim then tells the group the story of Ganondorf, a man from the vast desert who held a remarkable power: the Tri-Force of Power. Ganondorf was destined to do great things, as the Hero of Power, but instead, was filled with rage and hate, due to the fact that his people were oppressed for so many ages. Thus, Ganondorf would seek out the full Tri-Force of the Gods to gain the power of the Gods for himself, and re-create the world the way he wanted to... at the cost of the lives of everyone.

 

I'll continue later, but it's interesting so far, is it not

Will Kinect sales meet expectations?

Behold: Pieces of media from Namco Bandai's upcoming over-the-top action game, Knight's Contract, which actually show what the game is going to look like while you're playing it. Check out some (awfully familiar-looking) gameplay screenshots included in the gallery posted below.

#tgs I've played Gal Gun, the Xbox 360 on-rails shooter that pits you, the lonely high school student Tenzou, against a horde of school girl admirers on a quest to find true love. Cute? Kind of. Creepy? Yep. Shallow? You bet! More »

Valve's latest featured fan campaign for the PC version of Left 4 Dead 2 should be instantly familiar to anyone who's enjoyed the developer's seminal Half-Life series. The five-chapter campaign is set on the streets of Half-Life 2's police-state metropolis, City 17, where the oppressed citizens have been replaced by zombies, and the totalitarian Combine have been replaced by zombies, and ... yeah, just about everyone's been replaced by zombies there.

As with all its featured community levels, Valve's temporarily hosting servers running the City 17 campaign. If you feel up for a romp through your ol' crowbaring grounds, you should take advantage of this delightful opportunity.

With Civilization 5's demo launching the same day as the game on September 21, it seems the best way to find out what you're in for with the latest installment is by checking out the 13-minute gameplay video after the break. We'll also have our review of the game up tomorrow and the video is a good primer for some of the big changes found in the latest iteration in the classic franchise.

#talesofthepissed So. We've gone through long snappers, injured running backs and unceremoniously dumped wide receivers on the list of those with Madden grievances. Is there any other class of marginal or washed-up performer with a beef? Oh yeah. Canadian football players. More »

At last night’s Gran Turismo 5 panel at the Tokyo Game Show in Makuhari Messe, Polyphony Digital’s Kazunori Yamauchi gave an extensive update on new features coming to GT5. Highlights included new community features related to My Home, weather effects such as rainfall, returning legacy tracks, and new cars. For more details, see the full announcement on Gran-Turismo.com. But first things first! Watch the new Tokyo Game Show trailer for Gran Turismo 5 below.

My Home Detailed

Gran Turismo 5 will include a big focus on social media functions and community interaction. The record of your playing experience, as well as your future objectives, are all organized on the “My Home” screen — a sort of “home base” for GT5 players. In addition to your PS3, My Home will also be viewable from your PC’s web browser starting on November 2nd, GT5’s release date. Kazunori explained that while console gaming and web browser gaming are separate fields, GT5’s My Home function will help bridge this gap.

My Home is made up of three modes: GT LIFE, Profiles, and Community. Today, Polyphony Digital primarily touched upon the Community element. Kazunori explained that, while the major feature of the Community element is the ability to privately communicate with and race your PSN friends online, there are many other communication features built into GT5. Sharing photos and user-created courses, mail, and even a BBS bulletin board will all be included in the Community section of GT5. These functions will also be available for use in a web browser on Gran-Turismo.com as well as your PS3. You’ll also be able to “gift” cars or car parts to your PSN friends.

Inside Community is “My Lounge,” in which up to 16 friends can gather to hold online races. Lounge rules are up to you and can be changed from lounge to lounge: A Spec allows you to race from behind the wheel, while B Space allows you to give commands to an AI driver as a sort of “director’s mode.” The AI driver feature also allows you to “rent out” AI drivers, and they’ll gain experience as they race.

Remote Racing is a special mode in Commmunity that also ties into the AI drivers and web browser support. In Remote Racing, you can set up an AI driver as “public,” and he may race against one of your PSN friends while you’re away. When you return, he’ll have gained experience while you were away. In Remote Racing, you’ll be able to watch these races, but not give AI commands like you would in the standard B Spec mode.

New Cars and X1 Prototype Reveal

With over 1000 cars in the final game, Polyphony Digital showed off a selection of new cars, starting with the X1 Prototype Project, a dream car that was designed in a partnership between Red Bull Racing and Polyphony Digital. See the mysterious X1 Prototype in the new video below.

Kazunori explained that both teams were interested in building a car that “throws aside all rules and regulations,” and was built for maximum performance — “the fastest racing car on land.” The X1 Protoype will be playable in GT5. In addition to the X1 Prototype, Kazunori also introduced a selection of new cars that will make it into GT5 on November 2nd.

Isuzu 4200R ’89

Citroën GT by Citroën Race Car

Volkswagen typ2 (T1) Samba Bus ‘62

Volkswagen Kubelwagen typ82 ‘44

Volkswagen Schwimmwagen typ166 ‘42

Returning Legacy Tracks

Kazanori also confirmed that some popular legacy tracks from GT’s history have been rebuilt and remodeled for GT5. Check them out in the screens below.

Trial Mountain Circuit in Gran Turismo 5

Laguna Seca Raceway in Gran Turismo 5

Sarthe 2009 in Gran Turismo 5

Weather Change Effects

Finally, the Polyphony Digital team also confirmed that environmental changes due to rain and snow have been implemented — down to functional windshield wipers. Combined with other new visual effects such as day-and-night cycle, lightning and tire smoke, Kazanori explained that the weather effects will allow for more immersive racing experiences. Kazanori also confirmed that the weather effects wouldn’t be available on every course, but primarily courses focused on endurance racing.

For more details on Gran Turismo 5′s Tokyo Game Show announcements, visit Gran-Turismo.com.

Unsurprisingly, EA Sports president Peter Moore agrees that sales of Tiger Woods 2011 were "disappointing, in particular on the Wii, " but believes there's hope for the title yet. Moore told Eurogamer that the game will be "well represented as part of the Move launch," and that the upcoming Ryder Cup during the first week of October (and seen in the franchise for the first time this year) will bring it back into the spotlight to tack on some extra numbers. As for whether the golfer's well-publicized personal problems may have affected the video game franchise, Moore says that's a "consumer call," and reiterates EA's support of the star.

Moore also talked a bit about the much-reviled Online Pass system, saying that 60 to 70 percent of players have accessed the Online Pass content so far, without going into detail about how many used codes or paid outright. Finally, he believes that we're currently in a mid-cycle market in terms of console sales. Prices are still too high -- especially when you include the Kinect and Move hardware -- he says, to reach the video game console sweet spot of "$199 or below." Until we get there, Moore is convinced, "We're nowhere near mass-market pricing."

#clips EA Sports is not often in the position of the contender. It is with its mixed martial arts title, as THQ owns the UFC license, the leading mark. That doesn't mean EA's marketing the game like a lightweight. More »

Toys R Us is looking to get in on the used game biz. We know -- back in September, Toys R Us said the opposite, but it would appear that was all a ruse. (That's the last time we let The Giraffes trick us!)

The retailer will sell these used games at 500 of its 850 stores in the US, GameSpot reports. The games -- which are handed over to a third-party company for testing before being sent back to be resold -- will go for no more than $30 each. Those trading in games can do so at an in-store kiosk for gift cards redeemable at any Toys R Us location and through its online store.

Your at-a-glance guide to what's coming to shelves in Australia.

#clips Color me surprised, especially since I played through the game twice and didn't notice him, but the Master Chief does appear to make a quick cameo in the end of Halo: Reach. More »

MonkeyPaw Games, how did you know? Seemingly in honor of a certain blogger's birthday, the upstart developer/publisher will release two PSOne Classics on the North American PlayStation Store on September 21. The identity of the two games, Cho Aniki and Gaia Seed, isn't a surprise, but the games have interesting implications (beyond the implication that you'll be able to play Cho Aniki).

The two games are the first offerings in a service called Imports on the Playstation Store, on which unaltered Japanese games will be released. "Classics like Cho Aniki and GaiaSeed," according to MonkeyPaw, "will be followed by a steady stream of untouchable titles you dreamed of playing but were relegated to reading about." A steady stream of PSOne titles, period, would be noteworthy for the North American PSN service.

Direct links here Thanks to Thomas for the heads up!

Your at-a-glance guide to what's coming to shelves in Australia.