All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

First Bit.Trip Fate Screenshots

Dead Space 2 Collector's Edition announced.

Get ready to hit up the game on WiiWare October 25th! Thanks Nintendaan!

Dead Space 2 Collector's Edition announced.

Sega continues to work on the zombie shooting spinoff Yakuza: Of The End, releasing more screenshots as proof that it really is following through on this insane idea. The new screens feature Kamurocho pre- and post-zombies, as well as the four protagonists (and Chiaki Kuriyama) firing weapons at the undead. Also, one screen (above) reveals the presence of at least one non-zombie monster, which is totally disgusting.

The accompanying news post rounds up all the voice talent behind the cast, and explains how each of the main characters ended up in the middle of a ruined Kamurocho. Kazuma Kiryu returns to rescue his adopted daughter Haruka; Yakuza 4's Shun Akiyama is in town to collect on a debt when the zombie thing happens; Yakuza 2 final boss Ryuji Goda has been wandering aimlessly, selling takoyaki on the street (to pay for maintenance of his awesome cybernetic arm, possibly); and Goro Majima is chasing Goda when he finds a city full of zombies. Apparently, the crazed Majima is enjoying himself.

Some tidbits in English: - 9.000 takes for 62 hours of animation, 1/3 ended up in the game - Daniel Craig is face and voice for James Bond 007, while Ben Cooke (his usual stunt double) made the stunts work. Kirsty Mitchell as Natalia Simonova, Kate Magowan as Xenia Onatopp, Elliot Cowan as Alec Trevelyan and [...]

News on the setting, multiplayer and sweet, sweet weapons -- it's all here.

These are dark times -- if you're paranoid about losing hours of game progress. Some users have reported an unusual save glitch in the PlayStation 3 version of Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. Affected players report being prompted with a message upon startup, which reads, "Save file corrupt, will now overwrite, press X to continue." Needless to say, pressing X leads to grim results.

Konami has acknowledged the problem -- which it says is restricted to a small number of users -- and promised a patch is en route to eradicate erroneous erasure. We'll let you know when we hear a firm release date, and recommend you keep a backup of your save file on a USB drive in the meantime.

Because the best videogame movies aren't based on videogames.

#screengrab Reader Sean was playing Popcap's brilliant Plants vs Zombies the other day, when he looked at his fan. And had an idea. More »

Considering how wildly addictive Chu Chu Rocket is, you'd think the franchise would have seen a port on every gaming device by now. While Sega has yet to announce an XBLA or PSN version, they did showcase the iPad version of the game at a recent event. Launching on October 28 is a brand new Chu Chu Rocket, designed for iPad and iPhone. Unfortunately, it's not a universal app, but the iPad version offers an extra feature: four player same-screen multiplayer. You'll have to get close to your friends in order to play, as you huddle around the four corners of the iPad.

For those unfamiliar with the game, Chu Chu Rocket is a real-time puzzle game, in which you must place arrows to direct mice away from ravenous cats and into the safety of their escape pods. The franchise makes a whole lot of sense on a touch screen device, letting you simply hold and swipe your finger to add the mouse-moving arrows. While the game is ideal for iOS, it's a bit disappointing to see how dated the UI elements look. It also appears the menus haven't been properly optimized for use on the touch screen. Another disappointment: Local multiplayer on multiple devices runs sluggishly, with a full second of lag after you touch the screen.

Still, it's more Chu Chu Rocket in a form factor that works well for the franchise. With its same-screen multiplayer, it seems the iPad version is the one to get.

Speaking with 1UP, FrozenByte's Lauri Hyvärinen discussed some of the new facets of Trine 2, noting that online and offline co-op will be a drop-in / drop-out affair and that players can switch between single-player and co-op at any time. Hyvärinen also noted that the game will have a longer adventure than the first, features an entirely new upgrade system and has a "NewGame+" option to let players take on previous puzzles with their new found abilities. Check out a trailer after the break.

#gameface Mom, Dad and Mini-Maxwell seen this weekend in Los Angeles at a launch event for Super Scribblenauts, which hit shelves yesterday. More »

Man, remember that Kmart ad campaign featuring Rosie O' Donnell and Penny Marshall? We wish that was still going on for this deal, only because we'd love to hear the pair squawk about the over-the-top ninja action of Vanquish, which will come with a $20 coupon for future game purchases at Kmart.

The undisputed champion of war shooters is about more than just lawsuits.

The undisputed champion of war shooters is about more than just lawsuits.

Put Johnny 5 on the endangered species list.

The undisputed champion of war shooters is about more than just lawsuits.

It looks like Borderlands GOTY Edition owners won't be the only ones to enjoy early access to the Duke Nukem Forever demo. Big Download has confirmed that those who own the original Borderlands on Steam will also receive a code to access the "Duke Nukem Forever First Access Club." The site currently only hosts some wallpaper, though it should eventually grant users early access to the upcoming Duke Nukem Forever demo. The promotion appears to apply both to current owners and new purchases of Borderlands (in addition to the Game of the Year Edition).

We've contacted Valve and Gearbox for confirmation, but it certainly appears to be good news for those who don't want to spring for Borderlands GOTY and those who have already purchased the original.

[Thanks, Jake!]

The undisputed champion of war shooters is about more than just lawsuits.

We write up rhythm games' soundtracks pretty frequently, but it's rare for one of these lists to possess the kind of hypnotic power to send us into dancing fits by simply reading the songs therein. That's what's happened to us after reading the complete Dance Central tracklist posted after the jump, which, as you can imagine, is making it awfully hard to type right now. We can usually get in a few words before our very spirit compels us to do more popping and locking.

Seriously, you have to check out the list of songs posted after the jump -- but only if you're in a dancing-appropriate location, like your home, or a ballet class, or an old, abandoned factory. If you're not too busy moving uncontrollably to that funky beat, we suggest watching the Poisonous trailer posted even further down.

#cheats The incentive for completing NBA 2K11's "The Jordan Challenge" is "Creating a Legend," which allows you to take Michael Jordan through the game's career mode. If you can't beat all 10 challenges, an unlock code out there will bypass it. More »

Sega is giving the people what they want. Sonic's lips are sewn together tightly, his pals have been laid to rest in a shoebox somewhere in the garden, and the world is nice and two-dimensional again. This is the 16-bit sequel you've been craving for sixteen bitter years, one that sidesteps every pitfall introduced in Sonic's 3D outings. Finally, the cycle is over!

But there's a problem. If you've been on the verge of starvation for 16 years, you might be a tad too eager to swallow any crumb that's flicked your way. And if there's one thing that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 is, it's crummy.

Uber Entertainment's fantastic XBLA game, Monday Night Combat, has finally received that desperately needed title update. According to the developer, the update was submitted to Microsoft for certification over a month ago and got caught up in "a perfect storm" that delayed it until now. Allegedly, the first DLC pack, which will be free, should be out now "sooner than later."

The title update fixes several technical hiccups and also addresses the exploits that plagued the game shortly after launch. We're looking forward to jumping back into the Monday Night Combat arena and really hope future exploit-fixing updates don't get caught up in cert -- losing isn't fun, but losing to cheaters is the worst. Check out the full list of changes in the title update after the break.

In-game cheats are fine. 3rd party hacks are not ok.

Grasshopper Manufacture has added even more talent to its roster, according to a report from the latest Famitsu. Yasuhiro Wada, former president of Marvelous Interactive (and creator of Harvest Moon), and Little King's Story director Yoshiro Kimura, have joined Suda 51's team as chief operating officer and chief creative officer, respectively.

"We haven't released a single [original] title in the past year, which is something that caused a lot of regret in my mind," Suda told Famitsu (according to 1UP's translation). "Having these two people join Grasshopper will make us a more sturdily-organized company, and it'll improve our development, technical, and release skills." Both have previously worked as producers for Grasshopper games, including both No More Heroes. Suda suggested that the new hires could help Grasshopper expand into new genres, including games for all ages.

#music Rock Band 3 launches October 26, bringing with it three free and nine paid tracks from classic rock band The Doors and a confusing new way to classify downloadable music. More »

An alleged Valve employee seeking to air grievances with his employer and one specific employee has taken to an anonymous blog titled "The Truth About IceFrog." In it, the person -- supposedly working on "an unrelated project" from "IceFrog" -- describes not just a poor working environment with the Defense of the Ancients co-developer (whose real name is said to be Abdul Ismail), but also details "something fishy" regarding his past.

Though "IceFrog" apparently told colleagues and Valve execs he never worked at S2 Games -- developers of Heroes of Newerth, a DotA clone -- a handful of online evidence suggests he did at one point (DotA co-developer Steve "Pendragon" Mescon even outright states as much). Furthermore, the anonymous blogger likens "IceFrog's" actions to being "the CEO of McDonald's (DOTA) looking for a job at Burger King (Riot Games), then working for Fatburger (S2 Games), then quitting and going to work for Wendy's (Valve) but outright lying to Wendy's (Valve) of involvement with ANY previous employer," adding "In the corporate world, this would be the equivalent of stealing trade secrets." As announced this morning, "IceFrog" is currently working on Dota 2 for Valve.

When we contacted S2 Games to confirm whether or not a man named Abdul Ismail or "IceFrog" ever worked there, we were repeatedly told "No comment." Valve representatives didn't mince words, saying only "It's fake," while League of Legends developer Riot Games offered "At no time did Abdul Ismail, or anyone known as 'IceFrog,' work at or for Riot Games in any capacity." Now if you don't mind us, we can't fight the sudden urge for a fast food burger. If you've got first-hand knowledge regarding any of the accusations, feel free to drop us a line.