All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

A portion of an MTV review… It’s a good first shot, and hopefully the beginning of a series (that’s right, another rhythm game franchise) because jamming on plastic guitars is just so much different than going head-to-head with your boys, rapping over some of the greatest hip-hop tracks of years gone by.

Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom isn't the only "partnership" game in the works at Namco Bandai and Game Republic. Knights Contract shares a similar "buddy road trip" design as Majin, but seems to lack some of the personality and charm of Game Republic's other game. I couldn't help but think, "This reminds me of Quantum Theory," while watching a hands-off demo at a recent preview event. In case you didn't know, that's not really a good thing.

You assume control of Heinrich, an executioner, cursed by the witch Gretchen and rendered immortal. The only way to break the curse is to team up with Gretchen and battle Dr. Faust, who's cursing the land with plague and monsters. It's actually a rather original spin on classic German literature. Unfortunately, none of that creativity seems to carry through in the design.

Gameplay is similar to recent action games a la God of War -- but there's a "twist." The AI-controlled Gretchen follows you into combat, enabling you to access her various witch powers and finishing moves. While you may be immortal, Gretchen is not, so you must balance protecting her and using her as an asset in battle. From what I've observed, immortality doesn't really add to the game. Namco Bandai's own Splatterhouse, for example, takes better advantage of the immortality concept by giving you the ability to swing your limbs at enemies -- even when they're detached from your body!

Welcome to the new NPD report! The agency's new reticence means we have no idea how hardware did in September -- except for the Xbox 360, which was at the top of the charts with 483,989 units sold. The NPD does report that at $383 million, total hardware sales are down 19 percent year-over-year.

We have a bit more information about software, but the format has changed for that as well -- instead of each individual version of a game (on each platform, for example) counting as one game on the list, they've been totaled. So Madden NFL 11 occupies one slot on the top ten this month instead of two.

Halo: Reach would have done well regardless of this change (it's at #1, after all, and on only one platform) but now we see games on the top ten that might have been muscled out by the Maddens -- like Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep and Metroid: Other M. Microsoft, never one to ignore a success story, blasted out Halo: Reach's first-month sales numbers: 3.3 million units. It notes that Reach is "only the third game this generation to surpass 3 million unit sales in the first month." The first? Yup, Halo 3.

Embrace change after the break.

OnLive's official blog announced that you can now play games on the service from overseas -- mostly. While the company "has data centers throughout the world in various stages of tests," there no guarantee that logging in to the US servers from overseas will provide you with a solid experience. Basically, if you want to play OnLive while abroad, "give it a try," and hope it works.

That said, the company is aiming to set up sites all over the world, with Germany and Belgium-specific servers heading into beta later this year. Meanwhile, if you want to play games while too far away from the servers that are currently running, you'll have to play games the old-fashioned way: With disc-based media and powerful computing and graphics processors built into a slim case with a large LCD screen. That's right, just like the old-timers used to do it!

Help us help sick kids... by playing video games.

Delays make us sad.

#dukenukem Frederik Schreiber, an amateur modeler itching to update Duke Nukem 3D into the present, has gotten permission from the studio now in charge of the franchise to create 'Duke Nukem Next-Gen' for the PC. More »

It appears the trophy (and presumably Achievement) list for Assassin's Creed Brotherhood has made its way online. Frustratingly for Platinum hunters, it appears Brotherhood will require you to collect all the flags and all the feathers in the game in order to earn. Drat! In addition, there are new multiplayer trophies for the new online portion of the game.

If you're concerned about spoilers, now would be the time to look away. Scanning the trophy list, we can garner three locations for missions: Rome, Spain and the present day. "Dust to Dust" requires you to collect an artifact in the present day, which may suggest that Desmond's abilities will be put to test in the sequel. There are also "VR Missions," which we can only hope will be inspired by Metal Gear Solid's wackier levels.

For the rest of the achievements, visit PS3Trophies.com.

[Image credit: IGN]

Pre-orders for Kinect selling out.

Now that the NPD has decreed our mere mortal minds are unfit to handle hardware sales figures, we're tasked with finding information from alternative sources -- wait, what's this? Aaron Greenberg just tweeted that the Xbox 360 bested the competition for the fourth month in a row? Search: complete.

Consider it the Halo: Reach bump. Previously, the Xbox 360 enjoyed three months of strong sales thanks to a hardware refresh, but Bungie's 343 Industries' franchise has been known to move consoles, so it's no surprise Microsoft dominated September. Greenberg elaborated in his following tweet that Microsoft sold 483,989 hardware units in September, "a 37% increase over last year." He also claimed the console is the only system with higher sales year-over-year.

So help us settle a bet: how many of you picked up the special edition Reach console?

I've played Lost in Shadow twice so far at preview events, and both times I was moved to ask, "Could this game end up on other platforms -- XBLA and PSN perhaps?" Both times the game's representatives said no. Lost in Shadow is headed to Wii this January as a retail release, and that could be a real shame -- though the game is "aimed at kids, but enjoyable for adults as well," according to a pitchman, history suggests that this unique, beautiful, third-party platformer from Hudson is unlikely to be a sales hit.

But for Lost in Shadow's sake, let's hope Wii owners discover this possible gem -- they might just find a very pretty, endearing game with an interesting platforming twist.

#preorderbonus BioWare is upgrading copies of Dragon Age II preordered before January 11 to the Signature Edition, packed with $20 worth of downloadable content, a soundtrack, and an in-game armory. It's like a preorder bonus, only...okay, it's a preorder bonus. More »

EA is bringing some of its biggest properties to iOS, the company revealed during a recent presentation at the Apple Store in Ginza, Tokyo. Aside from the numerous titles already revealed last week, EA is currently working on ports of Dead Space 2, Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, and even an ad-supported, subscription-optional version of Pogo, the company's casual online games portal. There will also be an EA Active presence on Apple's devices, as well as a version of Monopoly.

Also, the other properties EA has lined up include an adaptation of the board game Pictureka! and a new racer called Reckless -- formerly known as Deliverace. If you're wondering, "Why the name change?" then clearly you've never spent time on the Cahulawassee River. Nobody wants to be reminded of that "vacation."

[Image credit: 4Gamer]

Project lead Frederik "Fresch" Schreiber has received a non-commercial license to proceed with Duke Nukem: Next-Gen, his Unreal Engine 3-powered Duke Nukem 3D remake. Fresch secured the license in just under three weeks after his first announcement -- a credit to rights holder Gearbox's openness to share the franchise with the community -- and has aleady assembled a team of nine other contributors (though he is still "hiring" for a number of positions).

Fresch, who abandoned similar "next-gen" remakes of Daikatana (too unpopular) and SIN (shut down by MumboJumbo), has plans to release a public multiplayer demo of Duke Nukem: Next-Gen "sooner than you think." Of course, the full version will be released "when it's done" -- and he notes that "Duke Nukem: Next-Gen" is, wisely, just a codename.

Check out the freeware project's first test video after the break.

Sixty seconds could change your life in Minute to Win It! The quick-hit race to a million bucks has become a hit game show, and now you can chase the big money right at home. Experience the adrenaline rush as you race against the clock to complete challenges before time runs out while host Guy [...]

There will be blood. Dragon blood.

#bodies The main female character in macho first-person shooter Bulletstorm will have somewhat realistic proportions, thanks to the game's producer. More »

After 13 years with the same company, it's hard to characterize Haden Blackman's departure from LucasArts earlier this year as "sudden." But being at the creative helm of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 at the time - a major sequel to a major product that Blackman also led - certainly made it unexpected. Now, less than three months after leaving the studio that Skywalker built, Blackman is back with partner Cedrick Collomb (the lead engineer on Force Unleashed and, afterwards, director of engineering at LucasArts) to unveil Fearless Studios, the latest high-profile, creator-led independent studio.

I'm a big horror buff, and we've got a couple concepts we're exploring in that vein.- Haden Blackman "I've always wanted to run my own development studio," Blackman told Joystiq earlier this week. "It's been something that I've been thinking about for the last five or six years and have entertained a few other times in the past and this seemed like the right time. I had a great time playing in someone else's sandbox for the last twelve years but now I really want to see if I could build my own. Star Wars is arguably the most recognizable and powerful IP in the entire world and I was extremely fortunate to get to explore that universe."

Operating outside of the confines of Lucas' Death Star-shaped sandbox, Blackman says, "At least in the short term, we want to remain independent and build the games that we want to build the way we want to build them and with the people we want to work with." To that end, the fledgling studio already has "six different concepts" in the works. "They range from big action games similar to what we've done in the past with things like Force Unleashed, to hardcore horror. I'm a big horror buff, and we've got a couple concepts we're exploring in that vein." One description that Blackman consistently uses to define the types of projects Fearless is working on is "story-driven."

#namcobandai Splatterhouse protagonist Rick doesn't spend all his time tearing terrible monstrosities limb-from-limb, bathing in their blood as horrific gaping wounds appear on his body. Just most of the time. More »

Unlike a lot of the landmarks in Fallout 3, the Vegas strip in Fallout: New Vegas mostly survived the apocalyptic meltdown of America in tact. Sure, the roads are a bit scarred and the buildings could use some paint, but it's all there. Vegas, baby!

Get a headstart on your Wii GoldenEye exploits with a new Facebook game.

Features all new single-player storyline and multiplayer content.

#preview Forgive me for having played Battlefied 2: Modern Combat and not Parasite Eve. I cannot detail to you how the upcoming PSP game The 3rd Birthday builds upon the latter. But I can say how wonderfully it echoes the former. More »

Open-world adventure of good and evil shut down.

Lead on adventurer, your quest awaits.

Get your workout going.