All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Camelot's handheld RPG approaches, it's very effective.

#nothingpersonnel n-Space, the Orlando based studio behind GameCube title Geist and the Nintendo DS versions of numerous Call of Duty and James Bond games, is reported to have closed its doors earlier today. More »

#hate Trey Smith, the creative director for the recently released NBA Jam, would like to see a kinder, gentler gamer culture. "If the people of PAX ran the world, it would be a much better place," he told MTV Multiplayer. More »

Within the span of a year, Kingdom Hearts fans are experiencing three different games in the series: 358/2 Days, Birth by Sleep, and now, Re:Coded. While each game continues the franchise's penchant for high production values, we can't help but wonder if the series is overstaying its welcome.

Re:Coded isn't a new game per se, but it's the first time American fans will be able to experience this side-story (minus the few of you that own a Japanese mobile phone). The revamped DS version bumps up the graphical quality considerably, matching the fidelity of 358/2 Days, while throwing in a number of new features, such as an leveling up system and Tag Mode. However, the side-story origins of Re:Coded are still very clear. This is not the Sora you've played as in Kingdom Hearts 1 & 2. Instead, it is a digital copy of Sora that traverses through an infected "datascape." The demo felt entirely disconnected from the canon, and the lack of any voice acting makes its low-budget cell phone roots that much more obvious. (Cutscenes are instead shown as conversations between character portraits.)

Gameplay is what you've come to expect from a Kingdom Hearts title: an accessible, RPG-inspired hack 'n slash. Those that have played 358/2 Days on DS will find themselves in familiar territory here, with the controls being nearly identical. However, the infected dungeon I played through wasn't particularly inspiring. There were only two enemy types to fight against, and the blue and green color palette of the stage wasn't very attractive. The dungeon design wasn't interesting, either, with Sora simply having to bash through various boxes to progress forward.

#capcom Spider-Man fans will have their choice of costumes in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, the fighting game that ditches palette swaps for "new costume color variants." Selections from Spider-Man's MvC3 wardrobe were on display at today's New York Comic Con. More »

Posters of this adorable lost god puppy can be found all over New York Comic Con. According to the poster, his name is Chibiterasu, he weighs about twelve pounds, and he likes painting and peanut butter. If you didn't figure it out, it's a viral campaign for Okamiden, and he can be found at Capcom's booth.

After we got to play the upcoming DS game, we decided to give a call to the number listed on the flier. Unfortunately, all we got was a voicemail message, which you can listen to here:

We're back with first footage of Sir Arthur (Ghosts 'N Goblins) and Nathan Spencer (Bionic Commando) duking it out in Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Marvel's expected to talk about the game -- and a new title based on one of its properties -- during a NYCC panel tomorrow morning. We'll be live with news!

Game of the Year Edition or Ultimate Edition, call it what you will, it's when all a particular title's DLC is bundled up in one retail package about a year after launch. It's 2010, we accept now that almost all major titles will have DLC (that can, in some cases, fundamentally change/"fix" a game) and at some point it's going to get bundled together at the same price (or less) than the original game's cost. So, why buy now when you'll get a wayyy better deal less than a year later? Ohhh, because it's shiny and new. Say no more.

What's everyone playing?

#ratings Interestingly, the trade sending Randy Moss to Minnesota boosted the Vikings' overall rating in Madden NFL 11 without diminishing the New England Patriots'. Not that this is necessarily a zero-sum game, but what gives there? More »

This Pikachu DSi charge stand looks absolutely delighted to be sending electricity to a DSi. We feel the same way about bringing you the news that you'll be able to buy one of these for yourself in December. An Amazon listing shows that the charger, which was released in Japan this September, will be available in America through the online retailer on December 23.

It's designed to work with both the DSi and DSi XL, and will sell on Amazon for $40. Sure, that sounds like a lot, but does your current DSi charger make you smile?

Just moments after Capcom announced the inclusion of Bionic Commando's Nathan "Rad" Spencer and Sir Arthur from Ghosts 'N Goblins in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Marvel unveiled its two latest additions to the game's cast: Magneto and MODOK. Keep reading to check 'em out in action in our gallery.

#clips Nathan "Rad" Spencer, the star of 2009's Bionic Commando, exchanges blows—and quips—with Iron Man in this new gameplay video of Marvel vs. Capcom 3. He also tells Dormammu it's "Party time!", which the demonic overlord probably rarely hears. More »

Spartan Army! For those that may have missed yesterday’s post, the announcement and release of the Origins trailer with Deimos Skin has been overwhelming, and we can’t wait for our Spartan Army members to relive the God of War III experience with the exclusive voucher pack-in of God of War: Ghost of Sparta.

If the Deimos Skin announcement wasn’t exciting enough for you, here’s reason #4 to Pre-Order God of War: Ghost of Sparta – Legionnaire Kratos. Here’s a little sneak peek at the Legionnaire Skin in action!

After all, if Kratos will reveal the origins of lost worlds and discover his dark past within Ghost of Sparta, what better way to complete the God of War experience than with the exclusive Legionnaire Skin included in the pre-order bundle?

Every End Must First Begin

#cosplay I missed Captain America wheeling a kid in a wagon. I missed Joker choking Robin. But I did catch these people cosplaying at the New York Comic-Con, some of them as video game characters, one of whom thought I was Luke Plunkett. More »

If you just can't get enough Minecraft -- and, let's face it, you can't -- then these adorable papercraft models are for you! As an added bonus, the models are so simple and boxy that there's no way you'll super glue your fingers together trying to make a stupid, impossible-to-build Companion Cube.

[Image credit: jumbso]

The Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roster just keeps on growing. At a New York Comic Con panel, Capcom announced the addition of Bionic Commando's Nathan Spencer (with dreadlocks and bionic arm!) and Ghosts 'N Goblins' Sir Arthur, both from the Capcom half of the fighting mash-up. In addition, Capcom revealed some alternate costumes for Spider-Man. Oh, and there's a story, too:

"Victor Von Doom has assembled the greatest villains his world has to offer. Together with the diabolical Albert Wesker, this unholy alliance will join their respective universes in an effort to conquer both. But doing so has come with a terrible price. A great and powerful threat has been awakened .... a threat that will set into motion a battle the likes of which neither world has ever seen ... a battle that threatens the fate of two worlds!"

But that's not all! This weekend will hold at least one more MvC3-related surprise. Marvel is having a panel of its own tomorrow morning at 10:45 a.m. EDT, where it will announce two more characters from its side of the game -- in addition to a brand new game. We know that one is a returning character, but one is a newcomer to games. Exciting, no? We're planning on live-blogging the event, so stay tuned!

Just in case you didn't get enough weird this week, NIS has you covered with its announcement that the sequel to its PSP action game Prinny: Can I Really Be The Hero? is coming to North America in January 2011 bearing the title Prinny 2: Dawn of Operation Panties, Dood! (No joking, dudes!)

The side-scrolling, hack-n-slash game was released earlier this year in Japan under the name Prinny 2: Dawn of the Great Pantsu War (no "dood," dudes) and will arrive here in both UMD-based and PSN download form. Now, let's see if NIS America follows through and makes the Japanese release's 10 yen (12¢) daikon radish weapon DLC available Stateside, too.

A portion of an IGN review… Super Scribblenauts fixes what didn’t work in the first game, finally giving us the experience we were so excited about at E3 2009. The controls work now, the dictionary is as impressive as ever, and the ability to tack adjectives onto your objects increases your creative possibilities tenfold. It can [...]

- Dr. Eggman’s Incredible Interstellar Amusement Park is powered by Wisps - Eggman is chaining planets together to take over the universe - Eggman says he’s a changed man, and no longer trying to cause trouble - Sonic and Tails go to investigate - they spot Orbot and Cubot, who are trying to capture Wisps - Eggman has [...]

Certainly looks like the real deal to me. I know that the Super Mario All-Stars – 25th Anniversary Edition is heading to Europe, but the red Wii is new to me. It also looks like Europe will be getting a pre-loaded Donkey Kong instead of Super Mario Bros.. I wonder if this [...]

Rick Pierce, self-described "mid-level designer moving into senior-level roles," was recently invited to Valve's offices for a second-round interview. He didn't get the job. "You're fantastic, but let's give it a little more time," was Valve's parting encouragement.

Rick's story doesn't end there, though: He sent a nifty card (pictured above; full size here) to Valve as both a "thank you" -- Rick says he "loved every minute" of the interview -- and a crafty reminder to the company that he's a talented designer. His generally uplifting account, as told in comments on Reddit, underscores a tough job market and inspires positive creativity in spite of the down economy. As Rick says, "Hang in there, it gets better."

In that spirit, we'd like to point you to Rick's Quandry texture pack for Minecraft and encourage you to poke around the site of his indie studio Retribution Games. We'd also like to invite you to share links to any of your own game design-related work in the comments section of this post.

#statues Add StarCraft II's Kerrigan and World of Warcraft's Moonkin to the assembly of statues based on Blizzard's big games, coming from DC Comics. At New York Comic-Con, I shot video of those debuting statues and the rest of the line. More »

The Marvel vs Capcom 3 roster just keeps on growing. At a New York Comic Con panel, Capcom announced the addition of Bionic Commando's Nathan Spencer (with dreadlocks and bionic arm!) and Ghosts 'n Goblins' Arthur, both from the Capcom half of the fighting mash-up. In addition, Capcom revealed some alternate costumes for Spider-Man. Oh, and there's a story, too:

"Victor Von Doom has assembled the greatest villains his world has to offer. Together with the diabolical Albert Wesker, this unholy alliance will join their respective universes in an effort to conquer both. But doing so has come with a terrible price. A great and powerful threat has been awakened .... a threat that will set into motion a battle the likes of which neither world has ever seen ... a battle that threatens the fate of two worlds!"

But that's not all! This weekend will hold at least one more MvC3-related surprise. Marvel is having a panel of its own tomorrow morning at 10:45AM, where they will announce two more characters from the Marvel half of the game, in addition to a brand new game. We know that one is a returning character, but one is a brand new addition to gaming. Exciting, no? We're planning on live-blogging the event, so stay tuned!