All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

#adventuresinazeroth You left Azeroth behind long ago, but you can't resist the rumbling of the Cataclysm any longer. It's okay, we understand. Here are some helpful tips to help you ease yourself back into the addiction. More »

#ps3 The underside of a Gran Turismo 5 racer reveals this curiosity: the logo for die-cast collectible maker AutoArt (lower side, center). More »

We send BioWare a little bit of tough love.

Small frustrations mar what is an otherwise decent experience.

#wii The soundtrack for the original Donkey Kong Country is so enchanting that the president of Nintendo listens to it in his iPod. How did it get so good? More »

As Kinect and Move continue to make headlines as the season's hottest hardware, THQ is quietly enjoying the apparent success of its uDraw GameTablet, which launched November 14 for Wii. Early indications from the company suggest the kid-targeted device is selling well at retail (for around $70), as one tongue-in-cheek tweet from VP Danny Bilson hinted.

Without sharing specific sales figures, Wayne Cline, director of product development for THQ's Kids, Family and Casual division, got a bit more specific about uDraw's performance. "Our early reports are looking very promising, and I know we're doing very well at Walmart, Best Buy and Toys R Us -- outlets like that," he told Joystiq. "And we're getting really good first-look feedback from a lot of things like parenting magazines and such. It's looking very positive." But how long will that last?

The latest Homefront developer diary is all about the multiplayer, with Kaos Studios emphasizing the game's sense of "large scale warfare." The video details the Battle Points system, which allows players to purchase vehicles and weapons during matches. Also: Futuristic robo-drones.

Dead Nation’s nonstop shooting and scrambling will test the mettle of even a veteran gamer — and that’s part of the fun! I’ve compiled my battle-tested tactics gleaned from beating the game on the “Grim” difficulty, plus bonus tips shared by PlayStation Twitter followers. Earn more gold, find more health, beat back mobs efficiently, and choose the right upgrades. Be sure to leave your own battle-tested tips in the comments!

Mob Rules

• Rush makes you (briefly) invincible. Pressing L2 grants you a burst of speed that makes you untouchable for a nanosecond. Use it to dodge angry Bombies, power through a zombie crowd, or sprint over flames. But even the Rush won’t save you from the dreaded Cutter…
• Master the Melee. Melee attacks (R2) knock away all zombies, even those lurking behind you, so it’s a must for crowd control. To be a real melee monster, collect fashionable ExoGear armor pieces hidden throughout the game and equip them at the Weapon Shop.
• Melee while reloading. Stuck in a reload animation just as a mob is closing in? Jam on the melee button (R2) to fend off the onrushing zombies — it won’t interrupt your reload progress. So no excuses: Reload at every opportunity!
• Learn to love car alarms. That telltale red warning light is your cue to open fire — the resulting racket will bring every nearby zombie running, giving you time to slink away before the ensuing explosion.
• Trick the Jumper into smashing other zombies. When you hear its distinctive shriek, Rush away. With practice, you can use this technique to direct the Jumper right into a zombie crowd with lethal results.
• Listen to the music. Dead Nation’s dynamic soundtrack gets the blood pumping. But, more importantly, it can give you clues about the next threat. If you hear the music kick into overdrive, ready a powerful weapon!
• When all else fails, throw a grenade. It’s tempting to solve every problem with bullets, but equipment like flares and mines are absolute lifesavers. Use them regularly or suffer the consequences!

Cash is King

• Keep your enemies close. Those gold and red orbs that gush from defeated zombies? They boost your cash and score multiplier, respectively, but their value decreases rapidly over distance. For maximum cash, stay as close as possible to the carnage.
• It pays to wait. Glowing blue boxes always carry ammo; all other boxes alternate between red (score multiplayer) and gold (money for weapons and upgrades). If you’re strapped for cash, wait for each box to turn gold before opening it.
• Cash 4 Health. Topped off on life? Don’t let that health kit go to waste. Tap R2 — you’ll squash it and gain bonus cash. Protip: This doesn’t work in real life.
• Junk in the trunk. Car trunks always contain gold, so be sure to loot them at every opportunity.
• Leave no gravestone unturned. Take some time to venture off the main path. Dead Nation is riddled with secret nooks and crannies loaded with item boxes and cash, and you’ll need every last dollar if you want to max out all of your gear.
• Ammo comes first! Remember to buy ammunition and items before spending all your cash on upgrades and new weapons.

Tips for Healthy Living

• Rest a little. Your character automatically regenerates 20% of his or her life bar. If you’re low on life and facing long odds, grab that next health kit after you regenerate and you’ll come out ahead.
• Health-o-Matic. Soda machines are scattered throughout the environments, and can provide one of two effects. Shoot it to create a noisy diversion; Melee it (R2) to gain a quick health boost.
• Max out your Endurance. If you’re having trouble surviving, equip ArmoShell armor upgrades at the next Weapon Shop to boost your defense.
• Rush the flames away. Flames and poison goo will melt down your health bar in milliseconds. Rushing (L2) will slough off any harmful substances and get you back in the fight.

Weapon Tips

• Rifle: Limitless ammo makes this a handy fallback, and its charged “powershot” drills through a crowd like a hot knife through butter. The powershot can also snipe out a dangerous target in the middle of a crowd. Upgrade it early, but don’t rely on it.
• Shotgun: Upgrade early and upgrade often. Perhaps the single most useful weapon in Dead Nation, the Shotgun makes mincemeat out of the toughest zombies. Don’t get trigger happy, though: ammo is painfully limited.
• SMG: This rapid-fire weapon is best used against weaker zombies such as skeletons. On higher difficulties, the SMG will barely faze tougher enemies — use it with caution and upgrade it gradually over the course of the game.
• Flamethrower: This specialized weapon fits a niche role. You’ll need to top off every upgrade to reach its full potential — a pricey proposition. It’s best for crowd control, as flaming zombies move slower and tend to scatter.
• Blade Cannon: A keeper! The bladed projectile will carve through an entire horde, instantly killing all zombies — including the dreaded soldiers and fat men — with one well-placed shot. It’s also a one-hit kill against Bombies, though Jumpers and Cutters will barely shrug. It’s definitely worth upgrading.
• Launcher: This powerful rocket launcher is the ideal choice against Cutters and Jumpers, though it starts with only five shots. Upgrade the ammo capacity posthaste, and always fire from a safe distance!
• Shocker: This lightning gun can flash-fry a huge horde in seconds — if you have the cash to max out its upgrades. The Shocker will also immobilize lesser enemies, making it a powerful alternative to the Flamethrower.

Equipment Tips

• Flare: Invest in the Duration upgrade to keep zombie mobs distracted longer, then let loose with the Shotgun, Blade Cutter, or Shocker.
• Grenade: Zombies will lunge for the blinking light, making Grenades a great choice for redirecting rampaging mobs. Stay clear of the red explosive radius!
• Mine: Upgrade these bad boys as quickly as possible, especially to gain multiple Explosive Charges. Even though mines don’t attract special enemies like they do with zombies, you can still utilize them by standing behind mines and luring them in.
• Molotov: Handy in a pinch, but self immolation is a constant risk. Molotovs are perhaps most useful for creating a literal firewall between yourself and an angry horde. Use with caution!
• TNT: This screen-filling explosion inflicts the most damage of all, making it valuable against the rock-hard Cutters. As with the other items, zombies will be attracted to its blinking light.

Co-op and Community Tips

• Make sure to balance the weapon loadouts for co-op play, so you can handle all types of zombies (via @EGjonas)
• In co-op, play back-to-back to keep lights surrounding the area and you’ll have fun mowing down hundreds of the undead. (via @MeatRations)
• Pump the first few rounds into the cars BEFORE you need them to blow up. Prime ‘em. (via @BenKuchera)
• Always exploit the exploding cars AFTER you’ve looted them. (via @Geofortean)
• Use a charged shot to quickly set off a car alarm or a soda machine. (via @psnstores)
• Upgrade the default Rifle to max power, then use bottlenecks in the environment to line up the zombies. Boom! Multi-kill! (via @Essmithsd)
• Always be moving while engaged in combat. If you need breathing room, melee and rush are an effective way to buy precious seconds. (via @driftingdrafts)
• Reload, switch weapons, and switch back to the original. The weapon will be at full stock without the wasted time. (via @Taggart451)
• In co-op, stick side-by-side in a narrow alleyway and lure the zombies in while backing up. Using Molotovs for a line of fire and Mines (via @GameOnGreggy)

Hear some testimonials of high-class MMO players on the overall feel of Rift.

#consolewar The PSP2, a device Sony won't talk about, is coming and it's powerful — potentially as powerful as a high-end console, we've reported. That gives it a chance against the iPhone, 3DS and more, EA's boss tells Kotaku. More »

We're not sure if it's too soon to name our 2011 Game of the Year, but we're awfully tempted to just go ahead and give it to Bandai's DS soon-to-be-classic, Fly Mr. Science. Based solely on the box art alone (the full version of which is posted below), we can tell it's going to be ... important.

Filed under: Podcasts Just because we're past the torrent of new releases for the year doesn't mean we don't have anything to talk about. You still like Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, right? Well, we're talking about that! Also, there's a Spoiled Rotten for Fable 3 -- you don't wanna miss out on that, do you?

Thanks to Alan Black for the photoshop of which we are almost certainly not worthy.

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: "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.

The slow-to-adapt music industry has finally caught on that Christopher Tin's "Baba Yetu," an amazing piece composed for Civilization IV, is worthy of a Grammy nomination. The song was originally created for the 2005 game, but has since made the pro choir circuit over the years, and has also become a staple of Video Games Live. The track, which is nominated in the "Best Instrumental Arrangement Accompanying Vocalists" category, is from the composer's debut album, Calling All Dawns.

Video Games Live Executive Producer Tommy Tallarico tells Joystiq that this is the first time a song made for a video game has been nominated for a Grammy award. He explained, "We've worked very hard through the Game Audio Network Guild for the past decade to gain game composers the ability to be nominated for a Grammy and to get the recognition they deserve. ... We've always been very honored to work together with our good friend Christopher Tin to bring this wonderful song to the world. As video games start to evolve more into our culture and become a bigger part of mainstream society, we're hoping to see a lot more of this kind of thing happening in the future."

The 53rd Annual Grammy Awards will be held on February 13, 2011. Best of luck to Tin on grabbing the Grammy: he'll win an award and hold a record that will stand the test of time.

#roundup Everyone in awhile it's nice to do a Frankenreview featuring a game that isn't considered to be a major blockbuster release. Hello, Splatterhouse. More »

#retro Not long ago, I sat down with Pac-Man CE DX, the new sequel to 2007's stellar Pac-Man: Championship Edition for Xbox Live Arcade. More »

A portion of an NWR review… The personality is incredible, the mini-games very enjoyable and the bonus modes are very nice. If you are up for another party on the Wii, Pac Man Party should be sought out right away.

A portion of a Siliconera review… Okamiden is aimed solely at fans of its predecessor, and while it is strife with references and fanservice in an attempt to hide its own insecurity, it lacks the substance necessary for it to hold itself up on its own. I feel like I enjoyed the game solely for its [...]

Ready to turn your totally sweet keytar into a totally sweet game controller? Mad Catz announced that the PS3 and Wii versions of the Rock Band 3 MIDI Pro Adapter, which allow use of MIDI keyboards, drum kits, and, eventually, the Rock Band 3 Squier Stratocaster, are headed to retail now. The Xbox 360 version, according to the announcement, is expected to ship "imminently" in limited quantities, to Best Buy stores.

However, Amazon still shows the release date for all three versions as December 26, and Best Buy shows only the PS3 version in stock. We've asked Mad Catz to help clear it all up for us, but it's likely most of you won't need one of these until the March release of the Stratocaster controller anyway.

Hello, everyone! Enrique Galvez and Adam Milecki here to, once again, bring you news of Rockin’ Android’s latest PlayStation Network release for your PS3: Qlione Evolve! Qlione Evolve is more than what you’ll see on its liquid surface. First, the Qlione Evolve bundle includes two games; Qlione and Qlione 2, at an unbeatable price. Second, the games’ shoot-’em-up-like appearance gives way to something more akin to anti-shoot-’em-ups. Let’s examine this, shall we?

In a laboratory, you might see whole other worlds under the lens of a microscope. In Qlione Evolve, you’ll attempt to subsist in similar, but much more dangerous, ecosystems. It’s a microbe-eat-microbe world in the liquid spaces of Qlione Evolve. As a tiny inhabitant in this microscopic top-view 2D world, your humble attempts to evolve will be in constant jeopardy as you are attacked (even shot at!) by the other denizens. Luckily, your strange little creature can spawn bombs and traps that push and pull the surrounding liquid environment, making for turbulent physics-based battles. This is the unprecedented concept that makes these games, what we like to call, “anti-shoot-’em-ups.”

Evolve is more than just the name of this bundle. While your goal in Qlione is to simply survive, Qlione 2 has you evolving, and even devolving, in an attempt to find the optimal form to fight off your assailants. The thumping, bass-heavy techno soundtrack will be encouraging you all along the way. With the Qlione Evolve bundle, you get both complete games and their PSN extras like custom soundtracks, online leaderboards and Trophies. Plunge into a creative take on a complex world beyond what our eyes can see. Let Qlione Evolve pull you in when it hits PSN this Tuesday for $6.99.

Stay tuned newcomers and Rockin’ Android fans alike. We’re just getting started! For more information on Qlione Evolve visit the official Qlione website at www.qlione.com.

We've heard some horror stories about the arduous nature of the Xbox Live certification process, but whoa man, this is a little excessive. Do you guys remember back when they made a video game interpretation of the Ghostbusters franchise like, a hundred years ago? Well, the 360 version of that game had some niggling issues preventing users from unlocking four of the game's multiplayer Achievements -- issues that were fixed in a patch which went live earlier this week, some eighteen months after the game's initial release.

Of course, we're only assuming the certification process is to blame for the patch's late arrival. Maybe it just took that long for developer Terminal Reality to fix these problems. Or maybe Slimer was up to his old tricks, delaying the dev team with his incorporeal shenanigans.