All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Solid mechanics mesh with poor production values in the Move's first sim golf outing.

Apparently, Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood's Harlequin multiplayer character -- available only as a pre-order bonus from Gamestop -- didn't get the memo about, you know, stealth. Check out the trailer below to check out his (or her?) uniquely brutal, acrobatic style of dude-murdering.

Remember the gorgeous fan-remake of Sonic the Hedgehog 2 that we showed a few weeks back? Turns out that project is going to have a demo release, and that’s due out next week. Of course, you’ll need a PC to play this. That is, if SEGA doesn’t squash the title before it [...]

In KT Tunstall’s new single, she bemoans the fact that she didn’t get to be several of the things she envisioned becoming, one of those things being a rock of ages. Well, fret no more, KT! We’ve got the cure for those incredibly specific blues right here! In our 2011 title, Rock of Ages, you will finally get to be a Rock of Ages. Sisyphus’s Rock of Ages, to be precise. (Maybe you two will grab a drink and reminisce sometime about that one time he was rolling you up a hill and then he slipped, and you rolled all the way back down…or the other time that happened.)

The guys at ACE Team have put together this wonderfully lighthearted, action-packed trailer that highlights the rush you’ll from careening into would-be obstacles at high speed. Sure, your opponent’s going to have some defenses set up, but fortune (and physics) generally favors the boulder. (We’re never going to run out of rock puns, folks. I could talc all day about them.)

This trailer will also give you some glimpses at the new stylings of the Renaissance Era levels, a couple of the single-player bosses, some of the defensive units and our brand new logo (now with 100% more spinning cow!). After Rock of Ages debuted at this year’s E3, it quickly became one of the most talked-about games at the show, for both its distinct visual styles, and for its humor. After seeing this video, we think that you’ll be inclined to agree.

Look for it to roll out onto PlayStation Network in Spring 2011!

- due out next week in Japan - 500 Nintendo Points - developed by Jupiter, the developer behind Spectrobes and The World Ends With You - “use your favorite wallpaper as a [calendar/clock].

If you didn’t jump at the chance to grab one of the two Club Nintendo fans above, you’ve already missed out! Both designs are completely out of stock, and there’s no word on whether more supplies will come at a later date. I guess you’ll just have to make do with the other [...]

Naruto's never looked so good...

Have things been too sane for you lately? Perhaps a touch of mayhem would spice things up? It appears that Evolved Games, developers of Raven Squad, has you covered, with the ESRB revealing an unannounced game from the development house, titled -- yep, you guessed it -- "Mayhem." The listing pegs Mayhem as heading to Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, and describes it as a "racing game in which players compete in various demolition derby-style events to earn 'mayhem' points and unlock new levels."

Outside of the destruction derby action, the listing hints at the game's visual style, saying "comic book-style captions" appear to highlight dramatic crashes. It also appears that this game could be digital, as Evolved Games is listed as both the developer and publisher by the Australian Ratings Board -- unless, of course, the studio has suddenly found itself flush with extra cash to publish a console game. Yeah, we're better on the former too.

#fifa Peter Moore, the president of EA Sports, predicts a future in which the standout FIFA series transitions from annual disc-based releases to a more persistent online game. More »

With the NPD deeming the unwashed masses unfit to receive hardware sales data, we've been forced to procure the company's data through other means. Microsoft executive Aaron Greenberg made it easy yesterday, announcing the Xbox 360 sold 483,989 units in September, which is up 37 percent from the same time last year. Meanwhile, the other console makers were to be a bit shy -- and now we know why. Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter revealed in his investor note today, sourcing NPD's data, that the Wii and PS3 sold 254K and 312K units, respectively. That's a 45 percent drop from the same time last year for Nintendo and a 37 percent hit for Sony.

Pachter notes it's hard to ding the PS3 in a sales comparisons to last year, as it was flying high after receiving a major boost from that $100 price drop. However, for the Wii, he says the console continues to struggle due to "gamer fatigue" and "lack of high-profile releases."

Looking back at the N64's greatest shooter.

#worldseries Postseason sports means time for sports game developers to predict champions. Going against two heavy favorites in Philadelphia and the New York Yankees, MLB 2K10 says the Giants will win their first World Series since moving to San Francisco in 1958. More »

SNK Playmore has announced via its Facebook page that an updated version of the arcade fighter, King of Fighters 2002 Unlimited Match, is headed to Xbox Live Arcade. The game was announced for Japan late last year and is due in "Autumn 2010" here in the US. SNK promises "a high-quality conversion" of the original game, including "all characters from the NESTS CHRONICLES, numerous game modes, along with updated stages, new moves, BGM and graphics."

The game will include 66 playable characters -- match and character balances will follow the Arcade version of the game, while the presentation of menus and number of characters and game modes will follow the expanded PS2 version. There's no price currently set for King of Fighters 2002: Unlimited Match, though the "Ultimate Match" version of King of Fighters '98 is currently set at 800 MS Points on Xbox Live.

Info on Diablo, Warcraft, StarCraft and whatever else Blizzard is working on.

#fantasyfootball How did a game called Blood Bowl take this long to introduce an all-vampire team, and why aren't they turning to dust during day games? More »

Worried that Kinect won't work when you're not standing directly in front of it, despite the assurances given by developers? Worry not -- Eurogamer has heard that Microsoft has changed the configuration on the body recognition system, switching a node on the body model from the base of the spine to the back of the neck, allowing for players who put their knees above the waist while playing to be more easily recognized. Previously, individual developers could still edit their own recognition systems in, but this is a change to the base recognition system that Microsoft is building.

In fact, the way we understand it, a skilled developer could even recognize you in that weird position you used to sit in as a kid, where you put your back on the sofa seat, and hung your head upside down to stare out at the TV during Saturday morning cartoons. No idea what they'd use that pose for, but they could do it.

Filed under: Podcasts You want talk about Dead Rising 2 and Castlevania: Lords of Shadow? Done. A Spoiled Rotten on Enslaved? Why not? You want us take a week off from talking about game length? We live to serve. That's right, it's a Joystiq Podcast made custom, just for you.

Thanks to Alan Black for taking of a break from GTL to make this photoshop.

Get the podcast:
[iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast in iTunes
[Zune] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in the Zune Marketplace
[RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator
[MP3] Download the MP3 directly

Hosts: Justin McElroy (@justinmcelroy), Ludwig Kietzmann (@ludwigk) and Chris Grant (@chrisgrant)
Music: "Gravity (Don't Let Me Go)" by Jon Black, "Like a Hitman, Like a Dancer" by A.C. Newman
For fans: Joystiq Podcast Facebook group
New to the show?: Listen to Episode Zero
The Do It Line!: 1-(877)-JOYSTIQ

See all of this week's links after the jump.

#deals Fable II is supposed to go for $20 if you download it on the Xbox 360. But, less than two weeks before the release of Fable III, it it now free on the Xbox Live Marketplace. More »

We’ve already talked about how John and Edward Grimes were going to be promoting Mario goodness in the UK, but now we have the first peek at the duos working together. I don’t know what the hell is going on, and quite frankly, it scares me!

Namco Bandai wasn't exempt from the celebration that spread across the globe earlier this week when rescue workers retrieved 33 miners who had been trapped in a Chilean mine since early August. During the exhaustive rescue operation, the publisher Tweeted the image seen above, featuring its own mining mascot, Mr. Driller, as well as a Chilean flag and the message "Bienvenido de nuevo," or "welcome back!"

Apparently, the image rubbed some people the wrong way, as Namco Bandai has since pulled it from the company's Twitter account. In a statement Tweeted earlier today, the publisher said, "we would like to offer a profound apology to everyone. It was inexcusable." We're not so sure, Namco Bandai -- we think we could find it in our hearts to excuse you for joining in the global celebration with a lighthearted, context-appropriate greeting card.