All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Venus: The Case of the Grand Slam Queen now available for download.

Celebrates with musical guests Paul & Storm and Jonathan Coulton.

There was a time when I thought I was pretty good at video games. I've brought down the likes of Earthworm Jim, Rocket Knight Adventures, Ninja Gaiden (2004), Mega Man 9 and many others without much trouble and only the occasional spurt of profanity. Having completed the story (but not nearly all of the levels) of Super Meat Boy, I can soundly declare that it trumps them all. As of this writing, I have died 1,792 times and several hundred of those lives -- at least -- were spent trying to conquer the last level.

Super Meat Boy is tough, as tough as the toughest nails in the toughest universe. I've been maimed, beaten, crushed, devoured, stabbed, sliced and otherwise disfigured over, and over, and over again. I can only thank my lucky stars that my wife wasn't around to witness the frequency, volume and general ferocity of the swears that shook the living room walls. So, yes, it's hard.

It's also one of the best games I've played this year.

Hi everyone,

The fall season is notoriously known as a busy time for gamers. With games like Gran Turismo 5 and God of War: Ghost of Sparta releasing in the next month, PlayStation Plus gives gamers an opportunity to revisit some other PlayStation classics. Check out the upcoming items below and happy gaming!

PlayStation Plus subscribers will receive free downloads for Bloons, the highly addictive flash game turned minis, Burn Zombie Burn and Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee. Finally, any PlayStation Home visitors looking for PlayStation Plus items? After you have downloaded Burn Zombie Burn, be sure to check out the free Burn Zombie Burn Home item.

As always, a quick friendly reminder to check out the free downloads of Echoes – minis, Zen Pinball, and Syphon Filter 3, which will be pulled off of the PlayStation Plus section on October 19.

Also, look for the new PlayStation Plus membership cards in a store near you! The new PlayStation Plus cards bring all of the subscription benefits to your fingertips quickly and easily and provide access to the special discounts, automatic downloads, full game trials and exclusive content available to PlayStation Plus members. The cards will be available this month at Target, GameStop, Walmart and Best Buy. The new PlayStation Plus cards make a great gift for the holidays and are available in designations of $17.99 (3 month membership) and $49.99 (1-year membership).

PlayStation Plus Highlights for 10/19:

Free Games

• Burn Zombie Burn
• Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee (PS One Classic)
• Bloons – minis

Discounted Games

• Everyday Shooter (50% off)
• Everyday Shooter (PSP Game) (50% off)
• Shienryu (Japanese PS1 Imports) (50% off)
• Tall Unlimited (Japanese PS1 Imports) (50% off)

Free Themes

• Killzone 3 Theme
• Wise Father Theme

Last Chance, Get Them While You Can – Coming down on October 19th:

Free Offers to PlayStation Plus Subscribers

• Echoes – minis
• Zen Pinball
• Syphon Filter 3 (PS one Classic)
• Shades of Autumn Theme

Discount Offers to PlayStation Plus Subscribers

• Cuboid (50% off)
• LittleBigPlanet: Monsters Costume Pack (50% off)
• Savage Moon (50% off)
• Alien Breed: Impact (25% off)

Jospeh Staten lets loose with a tantalizing tidbit about life after Master Chief.

#sonyonlineentertainment As Sony Online Entertainment reveals plans to release the free-to-play MMO Free Realms on the Mac later this fall, fans are still wondering what happened to the PlayStation 3 version. We tapped SOE for an update on the console port. More »

Kenny Rogers is fond of reminding us "you've got to count your dub-plates before you touch the turntables, because if you run out of big tunes, it means your sound is done." The catch, of course, is that if there's no stopping your party, there's really no way to tell how many is enough. That said, we're pretty sure European purchasers of DJ Hero 2 are going to be in a better position to follow The Gambler's advice when they collect the free copy of DJ Hero, that Activision has announced will be included in their purchase of the Party or Turntable bundle (while supplies last).

In total, the deal will net buyers 170 mixes, which we'd assume are enough big tunes. Again though, and we can't stress this enough, there is no way of knowing.

A fun and exciting hidden object adventure game is headed to retail soon.

The definitive hip hop videogame now available in North America.

You can still import an older save file into BioWare's upcoming fantasy RPG, Dragon Age 2, like you could with Mass Effect 2 -- but since you don't have a persistent character this time (whoever your Warden was in the first game is replaced by "Hawke" in the sequel), it hasn't been as clear what the save file would change in the new game.

Speaking to NowGamer, lead designer Mike Laidlaw revealed that while you don't get to import your character, you're "importing the world" as it was in your game of Origins. "Who's in charge of Ferelden, what happened with the Dwarves, who's running Orzammar?" Laidlaw said. "All of these things are reflected and accounted for in Dragon Age 2." So if you hate the way you left affairs in Origins, consider a fresh save in Dragon Age 2. Then again, maybe you like fixer-uppers.

#community Randall Monroe from the webcomic XKCD just released his massive 2010 Map of Online Communities. Can you find Kotaku? Hint: Look for the fish. More »

Install the MMO magic on your home computer.

Kaos Studios' Homefront envisions a hypothetical future in 2027, when the US is in the grips of an invasion by a unified Korea. The multiplayer component takes place during the first days of the conflict, two years earlier, in 2025. Unlike the single-player campaign's guerrilla-based combat, the multiplayer represents large-scale war. There are helicopters, tanks, drones and plenty of other expensive futuristic technology to play with.

Been there, done that. But Kaos has something extra up its sleeve: Battle Points. It's in-game currency that allows players to call in vehicles, resupply themselves with ammunition and deploy special attack and reconnaissance drones -- and it's entirely score-based, so you don't have to be The Terminator to actually affect what's going on in a given match.

#clips Here a look at upcoming iPhone game N.O.V.A. 2 in action. More »

Take a look at the spaghetti western.

#blizzcon You can now stare at the Blizzcon 2010 schedule and dream. What will they reveal at the keynote if we got Cataclysm revealed last year? What's with the Diablo III panels? Where is StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm? More »

LOCO's most devious fighter to arrive on Tuesday, October 12.

Nintendo just sent us a note alerting us to a new way to spend Club Nintendo coins: the sensu (Japanese paper fans) released in Japan this April. They'll be available on the North American Club Nintendo site tomorrow, October 7, in four designs: Mario, Animal Crossing fireworks, Animal Crossing faces, or Blooper. Just in time for ... the scorching fall heat?

Each fan will cost 300 coins, equivalent to one of those silly Wii Remote stands. Sorry to tempt you during your ongoing quest to collect enough points for the Game & Watch Collection 2.

Images of the soccer game on PS3.

#clips Dead Rising is headed to the iPhone for the holidays, bringing with it the ability to beat up zombies with a wide assortment of objects, but not, it seems, the ability to separate zombie limb from zombie body. More »

Fertile new images from the tractor arcade game.

When asked by Nintendo Life to comment about the early release of Bit.Trip Fate's soundtrack (CDBaby, $6), Gaijin Games' Alex Neuse also offered a probable release date for the WiiWare game itself. "We don't have the final release date for Bit. Trip Fate just yet," Neuse said, "but if I were a betting man, I'd put my potato chips on Oct. 18 for a North American release. Or thereabouts."

As for that early soundtrack release: it was intentional, done partially "because we'd never done it that way before!" and because it was designed to help players "[build] a relationship with the more somber, darker theme."

As a huge zombie lover, I am really pumped to see us able to get Dead Rising series out to PS3 owners. Everyone deserves the right to slice a zombie in two! Developing the game for the PS3 was something that we started right at the beginning of our development process. We are not fans of porting, and wanted to be sure that we maximized the PS3’s capabilities.

Our development tools allow us to be platform agnostic while at the same time maximize the power of the Cell processor. The zombies are handled by the SPUs, allowing us to throw tons of them onscreen while still managing their movement and AI. We also have have lots of cool processing effects going, something that was also made possible by the PS3′s SPUs. We have tons of stuff to mess around with in Dead Rising 2, and having a huge amount of disc space to use really allowed us to get everything we wanted into the game. Installing the game definitely speeds up load times, something that made developing for the PS3 a great experience.

We also have some cool DLC coming up that we got a kick out of making. We really liked the idea of customizing Chuck, so we came up with some ways to not only look different, but get some cool weapons and abilities. For example, the Psychopath theme pack not only gives you a crazed horror outfit, but you are stronger and deadlier with classic horror movie weapons like the chainsaw, cleavers, axes, and machetes. The Psychopath theme will hit the PlayStation Network on October 12th.

We also have a Soldier of Fortune theme that decks you out as the ultimate action hero with increased deadliness for all firearms. Be sure to note the cool face paint — super 80′s action hero! The Soldier of Fortune pack due out on PSN a week later, October 19th.

There is a Sports Fan pack that lets you be the ultimate sports party animal. Drink as much as you want and not get sick! You are also more deadly with any sporty weapons. e sure to gamble…’cause you will likely come out a winner more often. The Sports Fan pack will arrive on PSN October 26th — just before Halloween!

And finally the Ninja theme….my personal fave. I love ninjas, and what better way to live out that fantasy than in a zombie-filled world? You are virtually undetectable to the undead and you are more deadly with swords and thrown weapons. You are a ninja, after all! The Ninja pack will hit PSN on November 2nd.

I hope that fans of zombie killing will enjoy some of the new gruesome ways that you can dispatch of the undead coming soon to Dead Rising 2. It’s great to finally be on the PS3 and to have the chance to spread the zombie infestation to an all new audience. Cheers!

Classic handheld RPG sequel hitting Europe in December.

Their names were John Pleasants and James Pitaro -- two hard-nosed CEOs from different sides of the track -- even though everybody who knew anything called them Jack and Jim. Jack grew up on the mean streets of EA until he gave 'em the clean sneak and shacked up with Playdom. Man, the team there was so green Kermit woulda tossed them a pity nickel, but he worked 'em into a lean crew the Mouse House just couldn't resist.

Pitaro, now he used to real choir boy, running sports over at Yahoo!. That was until someone from the media division looked at him the wrong way and he cleaned house over there so bad he was the only one left standing to see how spic 'n' span it was.

Now when the two of them took over as co-presidents of Disney Interactive way back at the beginning of October 2010, the two of them really started getting gashouse. Heck, there wasn't a fakealoo artist or roundheel left in that clip joint after Jack (who ran the games) and Jim (the online guy) were finished tuning them up.

Yep, they was about the best damn buttons I ever seen ... best I ever seen.

#eroge "Hoshizora e Kakaru Hashi" ("The Bridge over the Starry Sky") was originally slated for release on December 11, 2009. Then it was delayed. A whole bunch. More »

#kenlevine Does the game industry have a Hollywood complex? BioShock designer Ken Levine seems to think so. More »

The iPhone will add another title to its ever growing library of FMV games this week. Following in the footsteps of Dragon's Lair, Space Ace and Cobra Command, Brain Dead 13 will be added to the App Store this Friday by Digital Leisure. The game stars Lance, computer expert and '90s fashion victim, who is sent to a castle to fix the supercomputer of an evil genius. If you're unfamiliar with the fifteen-year-old title, the video after the break should pretty much get you up to speed.

#screengrab You probably never stopped to look at one too closely, but if you had, you'd have noticed the Boos of the Mushroom Kingdom are made of thousands of tiny, individual horrors. As seen on Teefury. More »

New tech does not always equal gimme gimme -- according to several prominent analysts, Panasonic is set to engage in quite the uphill battle with its new handheld, The Jungle. Both Bill Pidgeon of M2 Research and David Cole of DFC Intelligence told IndustryGamers they believe the unit is "a non-starter."

Colin Sebastian of Lazard Capital Markets said it looks like "an uphill challenge to launch a new portable gaming device unless there is some meaningful differentiation or access to proprietary content," while EEDAR's Jesse Divnich offered that its success hinges on third-party support, saying that, "with any hardware platform regardless of its quality, the absence of strong third-party support will most certainly end in failure." All valid points, but should these guys be giving the device the benefit of the doubt?

As it stands right now, we don't know much about the system other than what it aims to do: give MMO players a dedicated piece of hardware so they can take their games on the go. Given how popular MMOs are (and, in turn, how much of the cash money they generate), from a business standpoint it would seem win-win; nobody else is offering something to MMO players who may want a bit of portability. But, on the other hand, the problem is -- at least according to these analysts -- that the handheld doesn't particularly fill a void that can't be filled by a netbook or laptop.