All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

HaloWars.com website going dark next month.

Once again, some sneaky developers are hinting at a big game reveal during the Spike 2010 VGAs using extremely surreptitious methods. A commercial for the awards program (posted after the jump) flashes the above image for a fraction of a second, seemingly indicating the premiere of some kind of game featuring "Infected." A couple years ago, we would have taken this as evidence of a new Left 4 Dead, but considering how zombies are now somehow included in every piece of popular media known to man, we can't be quite so certain.

Also briefly flashed during the ad is a QR code -- much like those dropped by BioWare, which hinted at its own VGA reveal last Wednesday. However, scanning this particular bar code leads you to another VGA teaser site, featuring the words "Look Closer" and "Murder." We have no idea what this means, but if someone's working on some kind of snuff film game, then they should probably stop, because we're so not down.

#nbaelite With NBA Jam on shelves and earning praise (deservedly), EA Sports is being a little more candid about NBA Elite, the canceled title and Jam's original dancing partner. More »

A portion of a Nintendo Life review… Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit on Wii is a very poor excuse for a racer that feels like a slap in the face compared to its PS3/Xbox 360 cousin. Taking the game in a different direction is fine, but not a single thing here feels as if it was [...]

Giant Bomb reports that an anonymous tipster recently sent word of a fairly thrilling project that's currently in the early stages of development at EA Sports: A reboot of the NFL Blitz franchise. The rights for EA to do so were apparently acquired when the publisher purchased the NBA Jam license from Midway -- we wonder if they were holding a two-for-one sale on over-the-top, lawless sports simulations?

According to Giant Bomb's report, the game is in development at EA Tiburon, the current home of NFL Blitz co-creator Mark Turmell. The only other details that came from the anonymous tipster are that the game would get a multiplatform release, and probably won't arrive until 2012. It's not a lot to go on, but it's enough to fill our heads with beautiful visions of 30-yard first downs and late, late hits. We've contacted EA for a comment on Giant Bomb's report.

Check in around the 1:53 mark for the reference…

For a limited time, buy one or more qualifying games and get 50% off a second game of equal or lesser value. Purchase titles from the list below, and the discount will be applied at checkout. Note: You may need to add the games to your cart separately if they are not on the same page. Offer [...]

-Sunday 28 November 2010, 11:00am, The Rocks- Nintendo invites Sydney-siders to a free outdoor art class hosted by acclaimed artist Mika Utzon Popov. Utzon Popov will use one of the latest games on Nintendo DS - Art Academy - to show how anyone from beginners to experts can create their own works of art! Click here to [...]

Unfortunately these aprons are not yet for sale on Etsy, even though the creator does have some of her works up for sale. Hopefully she ads these to her online store soon! Thanks to Gusto for the heads up!

#theshortgoodbye Barely two years after its release, Microsoft is pulling the plug on Halo Wars on Dec. 15, axing leaderboards and stat-tracking as well as the forums. Fans of the real-time strategy game are not pleased. More »

This Nintendo Power cover is nice and all, but it’s not very inventive. This is the same art that’s on the cover of the box. I’d like to see something new, especially made for Nintendo Power. I guess it’s more important to get the word out on Donkey Kong Country Returns, rather [...]

The torrent of holiday-season games is finally starting to ebb (with one major exception), but the same can’t be said for the gaming news cycle. DLC is being worked on, titles are being patched, and one upcoming PSN exclusive will allow you to buy your way into the character lineup (for charity, of course). Read on, fellow PlayStation fans.

PS – Less than 3 days!

The PS.Blog weekly reading list (Week of November 15, 2010)

• Dragon’s Lair Coming Out Next Week – PSNStores
• Blueside Demos Kingdom Under Fire II Controls For PS3 – Siliconera
• Kingdom Under Fire 2 marches toward PS3 in 2012 – Joystiq
• God of War: Ghost of Sparta Second Opinions – PlayStation Portable Feature at IGN
• Kung-Fu Live preview: You are the controller – Joystiq
• Tetris Comes To PS3 With 1080p Puzzle Block Action – HotHardware
• BioShock Creators Won’t Let PS3 Lag For BioShock Infinite – Kotaku
• Pick Up Red Dead Redemption’s Soundtrack – In Vinyl – Kotaku
• Costume Quest – Grubbins on Ice First Look – GameSpot
• Slam Bolt Scrappers Naming Rights Auction! – Penny Arcade
• Five great PS3 games for the holidays – msnbc.com
• R.U.S.E. Getting Free DLC – PlayStation LifeStyle
• PS3 Touts 50 Per Cent Software Growth For Sept – NowGamer
• Vudu Comes to PS3, Hulu Plus Cuts Price to $8/Month – Wired.com
• NIS America announces Phantom Brave PSP- Destructoid
• Dead Nation Launch n’ Brain Munchin’ – PlayStation 3 Feature at IGN
• In-Depth: Sony Threatens Microsoft’s Non-Gaming Dominance – Gamasutra
• The Sly Collection Review – PlayStation 3 Review at IGN
• Sony: Latin America Ready to Explode as Next Major Market – IndustryGamers
• The PlayStation 2 Is Still Japan’s Most Used Piece Of Hardware – PushSquare.com
• Review: Who’s That Flying? – Destructoid
• Move-enabled Funky Lab Rat coming to PSN – Destructoid
• PlayStation Home v1.4 Hands-On, Say Goodbye to Loading Times – PlayStation LifeStyle
• Mediatonic: behind the scenes with minis dev – PS3 Attitude

#kotakuweekends This week, Jezebel found in an auction of Playboy memorabilia several pre-publication centerfold shots with some unsexy editorial markup scrawled all over. (NSFW, nudity). It was an unsavory depiction even for one of magazines' most prolific airbrushers. Also, boobs. More »

It's rare that we see games' price tags fall much lower than yesterday's $2 BioShock deal on Games for Windows. And yet -- today's GfW weekend sale completely blows yesterday's out of the water: For $0.10 (yes, ten cents), you can grab Age of Empires III: Complete Edition.

#science Martin Aircraft Company's "Segway for the sky" is about to go into production. Can anyone lend me $100,000? More »

Now that all the major retailers have shown their hands in the upcoming battle for our Black Friday shopping dollars, it's time for us to draw up a plan of attack for the wee hours of November 26. What we're thinking right now is: Camp out at Sears, bust in as soon as the doors open, run towards the video game section, get distracted by that full-size ping-pong table for $260, buy that instead, then just spend all weekend playing ping-pong. It's going to be awesome.

As you limber up for the Black Friday rush, you should check out our seven favorite webcomics from this past week, listed below. Make sure you vote for your favorite in the poll posted after the jump!

Beating the System (Awkward Zombie)
Mount Doom (Penny Arcade)
Fallout 3: New Vegas (Virtual Shackles)
Words with Friends (GG Guys)
That Sucking Sound (No Cash Value)
See Master Belch (Brawl in the Family)
Crates (Nerf Now)

We have a little Deux action this week, as well as Nicky Hill. No Mom Brain, but Kirby and I are around as well. Another all-guy show, which always lends itself nicely to less focus and more stupidity. That’s a good thing, right? Download the show here (it’s delicious and filling…the show, that is)

So much Mario goodness in one place. How could you not want to get in on some of that fun!? Thanks to BoyRobber for the heads up.

Kamen Rider Climax Heroes OOO (Wii, jpn) - commercial 1 - commercial 2 Naruto Shippuden Gekitou Ninja Taisen Special (Wii, jpn) Thanks to Cadaver for the heads up!

Man, I didn’t even realize that we had another anniversary coming up on us tomorrow! Turns out that it’s the 6th-year anniversary of the Nintendo DS launching in North America. Has it really been 6 years already? It’s amazing to see that the system is still selling so well. Maybe the [...]

If there's anything this developer diary for the upcoming Enslaved DLC, "Pigsy's Perfect 10," has taught us, it's don't judge a book by its cover. The guy just wants a friend and he'll do what it takes to earn one -- er, build one, in this case.

#screens Oh man, the Hall of Doom ... that thing that looked like a cross between my elementary school principal and Darth Vader ... Well, it's different in DC Universe Online, as this latest batch of screens attest. More »

GaijinWorks founder Victor Ireland recently dove headfirst into the NeoGAF forums to reveal some release details for a pair of titles (recently hinted at by ESRB listings) which his company will be localizing for the U.S. PSN: Arc the Lad II and Arc Arena. The two games, which only ever made it stateside in the Arc the Lad Collection for PSOne, will hit the PlayStation Store next Tuesday, November 23.

Arc the Lad II will be available to purchase for $5.99, while Arc Arena -- an offshoot from the series where monsters you collect in Arc II can be fought in tournaments for prizes -- can be purchased in a bundle with Arc II for $8.99. For a brief moment, we debated between which of these two versions we would spring for, then reread the words "monsters," "collect," "tournament" and "prizes," and then the decision was pretty much made for us.