#clips
This is our first look at Telltale's upcoming Back to the Future series of adventure games. If you enjoyed any of the three films, even in the slightest, you must watch this clip. More »
We showed you all the new screens and art yesterday, and now we have the details today…
- fifth and final update
- available on December 17th
- features Dragon Quest IX content
- Legend Quest IX scenario is completely new
- features 14 chapters
- face off against enemies recognizable from DQIX
- special cards, with one featuring DQIX’s Rikka and [...]
- events following the Gourd Lake incident, Miles Edgeworth will head to a prison
- Miles is joined by Kay Faraday to investigate a prison situation
- newcomer prosecutor who calls himself Ichiryu, but his full name is Yumihiko Ichiyanagi
- Ichirya aims to be number 1 with everything he does, so he tries to solve cases faster [...]
The first time I played Maniac Mansion was on the NES. My family didn’t have a PC that could play games back in the day. Actually, we didn’t even have a PC! I only knew of console/portable/arcade gaming at the time. PC gaming wasn’t even on my radar. Little did [...]
According to a recent report from Lazard Capital Markets' Colin Sebastian, the firm's "industry checks" have revealed that Walmart has begun selling used games in over 500 of its stores. We decided to perform our own industry check, and the very first Walmart we called (in Tulsa, Oklahoma) was indeed stocking used games. The clerk we spoke to said that the store "just started carrying them." Further investigation revealed that used titles are also available on Walmart's website.
The company revealed plans to begin a used game program earlier this year, and Sebastian believes Walmart will "focus on the deep-value end of the market (e.g., games under $20 ASP)," potentially preventing "overlap" with used game juggernaut GameStop. Cheaper, older games do seem to dominate Walmart's used inventory, although we did spot Rock Band 3 for $50. Assuming Walmart maintains this focus on cheaper games, Sebastian believes the program could "ultimately expand the market for used games."
Sebastian notes that getting into the used game business isn't easy, requiring extensive inventory tracking, refurbishment and restocking. He concludes that it's unlikely for other used game distributors to be as "tightly integrated" as GameStop. We've certainly seen big names try and fail at the used game racket before ... Walmart included.
You know, in retrospect, that was quite a tell. Just last week, Splosion Man 'sploded to the top of the Xbox Live Arcade charts thanks to a hefty 75% Black Friday discount; this week, developer Twisted Pixel introduces us to Ms. Splosion Man, the titular leading lady in its next digitally delivered opus, coming "fall of 2011." Notably absent from the press release: a platform. Splosion Man was, of course, an Xbox Live Arcade-exclusive and part of Microsoft's 2009 Summer of Arcade.
While the press release doesn't share much in the way of information, we had the opportunity to speak with Twisted Pixel CCO Josh Bear, who told us, "We could have churned out new levels [for Splosion Man], but we wouldn't have had the time to add in new gameplay puzzles or cool new character stuff. But we didn't just want to do Splosion Man 2, it had to be something a ittle more interesting. That is why we decided to do MSM."
Check out the teaser trailer and cheeky press release just after the break, and then read our interview to learn about the game's Ms. Pac-Man homage ("everything was just more polished and better all around"), what former Rock Band 3 senior designer Dan Teasdale is up to since leaving Harmonix (turns out he's serving as the studio's janitor) and how Splosion Man and Ms. Splosion Man are different ("Splosion Man has a penis, Ms. Splosion Man" ... we'll leave the rest to Mr. Bear).
Fresh out of containment and ready to butcher countless more scientists, Ms. Splosion Man was revealed this evening by Twisted Pixel. Alongside the first teaser and news of next fall's splosive sequel, Twisted Pixel CCO Josh Bear spoke with us about all things MSM. We got to the important stuff upfront, pinning Bear to the wall about the real difference between Mr. and Ms. Splosion Man. "Splosion Man has a penis, Ms. Splosion Man has a vagina," he confessed. Solved.
Oh, right, there was also talk of the reasoning behind a full-on sequel in terms of gameplay. Bear explained: "I think with Splosion Man a follow up was something we really wanted to do, and that is why you never saw DLC for that game. We could have churned out new levels, but we wouldn't have had the time to add in new gameplay puzzles or cool new character stuff. But we didn't just want to do Splosion Man 2, it had to be something a ittle more interesting. That is why we decided to do MSM."
And that's not all! Apparently Twisted Pixel is already hard at work on another game -- an entirely new IP, in fact -- with ex-Harmonix designer Dan Teasdale. Head past the break for more.
#xbox360
Enthusiasm for Ghostbusters plateaued soon after its 2009 release, but the game's solid multiplayer variety made it a cult hit for many. That's why, 18 months later, the developer's finally patched a bug that kept players from collecting four achievements. More »
On January 18, Media Molecule will launch Griffin McElroy's 2011 Game of the Year, LittleBigPlanet 2. Some people are lucky enough to be in the beta right now, supping on the game's alluring blend of platforming and secretspices before they must pay to do so. If you're one of those lucky few, we'd like to inform you of a new feature in the beta: voice recording.
In a pre-launch update on the PlayStation Blog, Mark Valledor, marketing manager at SCEA, offered a tutorial video showing how users can record voices in the game and assign them to character. The video in question (which the screen above this text was taken from) was made by YouTube user Sackinima and sums voice recording up pretty well, so we've gone ahead and embedded it past the break -- fast forward to 2:30 for the good stuff.
#starcraft
Perhaps in an effort to dissuade people from using outlawed (at least for this game) game trainers, Starcraft II developers Blizzard have publicly revealed every single singleplayer cheat for the game. And they're good for a chuckle. More »
#wow
Next week, the world of Warcraft will change forever with the release of Cataclysm. Here's everything you need to know before Deathwing the Destroyer comes over and trashes the place. More »
Think you have what it takes to be a real professional racer? If so, you'll want to enter in this year's GT Academy. The tournament challenges Gran Turismo 5 players to take on a series of online time trial events. Over the course of five weeks, players will compete to record the fastest lap times, and the top 128 players per region (four regions total) will move on to the second round, one step closer to the grand prize: an opportunity to join a real racing team and compete in a real race.
Registration begins next week, December 6th. But even if you're not a racing expert, you should consider registering just to score some digital swag. Each week, players that compete will get a free digital download, regardless of your ranking. So don't be ashamed to drive like a grandma on the virtual course. No one's going to judge you, we promise.
Our buds, bros, chums and cohorts over at Cheap Ass Gamer are hosting a pretty clever donation drive for Child's Play 2010 (alongside its annual charity drive, of course) -- for every new follower the bargain-wise site obtains on Twitter, its generous creators will give a quarter to to buy some games for sick kids in hospitals across the country .
To take part in the drive, sign in on the promotion's official page, click the link to follow CAG on Twitter, and then (optionally) Tweet the message provided to you to share it with your followers. Not only will CAG donate a quarter for each of your followers who participates, but you'll also move up the leaderboards based on how much cash your endorsement rakes in (UK residents can also participate and will be automatically redirected). And if there's one thing we love, it is earning ranks on leaderboards. By which, of course, we mean "charity!" We love charity so, so much. Way more than we love bolstering our e-peen.
Extra charitable folks who want a chance to win a couple thousand dollars in prizes can also enter a raffle the site is holding -- for every $5 you donate via CAG's PayPal to Child's Play, you get one entry for the raffle. Did we mention thousands of dollars in prizes?
#freetoplay
After two years of plundering the pockets of players, Sony Online Entertainment makes subscription fees walk the plank, making MMO Pirates of the Burning Sea free-to-play. More »
Tighten those wrist straps, friends, and prepare to imagine your PlayStation Move controllers into Top Darts, a new PSN release scheduled to launch in time for Christmas. Developed by Devil's Details, the Move-only game features a host of (uh) top darts games, duh, including 501, Around the Clock and Cricket, with support for up to eight players.
Top Darts also includes single-player League and Cup modes, plus simultaneous multiplayer modes, which do away with the traditional wait-your-darn-turn etiquette, while simultaneously making it safer to throw so many "darts" around the living room at once. Just ... again: Mind those wrist straps!
#adventuresinazeroth
Over the past six years in World of Warcraft, countless low-level Horde players have met their death at the hands of the people of Hillsbrad Town, but nothing they did was bad enough to deserve what happened to them post-Cataclysm. More »
Though GOG.com's DRM-free distribution methods preclude physical packaging, the two games added to the lineup this week do exactly what they say on the box. Moto Racer 2 is Delphine Software's accessible, arcade-style motorcycle hit that you may have encountered on the original PlayStation. It's available for $5.99 now and includes a track editor.
Joining Moto Racer 2 is Alien Shooter, an isometric action game in which you play a photographer documenting the momentous meeting between intergalactic diplomats at an Earth-sponsored universal peace summit. Probably. That one's also available for $5.99, and comes with a soundtrack and two equally earnest expansion packs, Alien Shooter: Fight For Life and Alien Shooter: Experiment.
