New Mass Effect DLC Today
- Scribbled on February 9th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Microsoft Xbox 360, New Release(s), PC, RPG, Xbox Live Marketplace
Those of you who have been enjoying Mass Effect 2, some good news: new downloadable content will be hitting the Cerberus Network sometime today, according to the community forum mods.
According to a recent post on in the BioWare community forums, there will be two new items available for download tomorrow. This will be available via the Cerberus Network interface, so if you purchased the game brand new, or coughed up 1200 Microsoft Points, you will eligible for the download.
The two items are new pieces of equipment, first there’s the Cerberus Assault Armor which will give players a +10% upgrade to shields and health. Next there is the M-22 Eviscerator Shotgun which is has armor piercing shells and can be fired long range.
If you bought Mass Effect 2 new, both items are free. Otherwise, you may as well wait for DLC to be worth $15 before commiting to the Cerberus Network.
Need For Speed: SHIFT Ferrarri Pack to 360
- Scribbled on February 9th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Driving/Racing, Microsoft Xbox 360, Press Release, Release Date(s), Xbox Live Marketplace
Bluesnews is reporting that the Xbox 360 version of Need for Speed: SHIFT will be getting an exclusive DLC Ferrarri car pack on February 16 for 800 MSP ($10 USD).
Ferrari Races into Need for Speed SHIFT announces new DLC for Need for Speed SHIFT that adds 10 different Ferraris to the racing game, as well as Ferrari-specific challenges. This is apparently not coming to PCs, however, as word is: “The Ferrari Racing pack is the latest downloadable content for Need for Speed SHIFT and will be available worldwide today exclusively on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system for $10.00 or 800 Microsoft Points (Need for Speed SHIFT and Xbox LIVE® account required).”
The Ferrarris included are the 1996 Ferrari F50 GT, the 2005 Ferrari F430 Spider, the 2005 Ferrari FXX, the 2005 Ferrari Superamerica, the 2006 Ferrari 599 GTB Fiorano, the Ferrari F430 Challenge (Online/Quick event only), the 2006 Ferrari F430 GTC (Online/Quick event only), the 007 Ferrari 430 Scuderia, the 2008 Ferrari California, and the Ferrari 16M Scuderia Spider. 800 MSP is awfully steep for a car expansion pack – are the 10 Ferrarris and eight racing events included enough to make it worthwhile?
Click “Read more…” for the full press release.
Dead Space 2, Dragon Age 2 Due 2011
- Scribbled on February 9th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Action, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, RPG, Release Date(s), Sony PlayStation 3
Talk Xbox is reporting that Dragon Age 2 and Dead Space 2 will both be released by this time next year, 2011.
The publishing giant is looking to release Visceral Games’ Dead Space 2 as well as BioWare’s Dragon Age 2 no later than March 31 of next year.
EA also revealed that we should expect a title that has yet to be named from Epic, as well as a new Need For Speed title.
A year from now seems awfully soon for Dragon Age 2, but you can bet like Mass Effect 2, the endgame save file will be transferrable.
Let us know what you think.
LEGO Star Wars III Announced
- Scribbled on February 9th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Casual Gaming, Platformer, Platforms
Lucasarts has confirmed LEGO Star Wars III, and that it will take the animated series The Clone Wars as its template this time around.
The game will again be developed by UK studio Traveller’s Tales though it does promise brand new gameplay elements. It will include characters and settings from both Clone Wars TV series.
Our official reaction is a tremendous yawn and a dismissive “Ugh”. The LEGO games have not only been beaten to death at this point, but what is this manic obsession with the idiotic prequel crap George Lucas seems to be spewing out? The only way the franchise will grow, it seems, is if he kicks the bucket like Gene Roddenberry did, who, too, interfered with his own product.
Note to Lucas: the prequels stunk. Stop foisting these uninteresting characters on us. No one cares. Just enjoy the royalty checks and give someone else the reins to the IP. Please stop taking long dumps in your own drinking water. Now.
Rant over.
X10: Fable III Will “Super Piss Off” Gamers
- Scribbled on February 9th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Interviews, Microsoft Xbox 360, RPG, Shows and Events
At the Microsoft X10 convention, Peter Molyneux is promising that Fable III will force players to make hard decisions and will “super piss [them] off”.
“There’s some very, very big things happening in Fable,” Molyneux said in a GameReactor interview, “Bigger than you think, and it’s going to really upset people. I’m really scared when I go out and tell people what it is they’re going to get super pissed off, they really are.”
What decisions could happen in Fable III that could frustrate a gamer? Could it be related to whatever Project Natal will be controlling in the game? Whatever the case, expect Fable III gameplay footage soon.
Let us know what you think.
(Thanks, Xboxic.)
Madden NFL Coming to Facebook
One of the reasons Electronic Arts bought Playfish for a whopping $300M is their deftness at social games. Playfish’s first major project for EA? Madden NFL for Facebook.
Electronic Arts has its eye on the social space in a big way, moving aggressively toward digital revenue models and buying up Playfish — and it looks like one of its next moves will see the Madden NFLfranchise coming to Facebook.
“We have to make Madden more accessible,” EA Sports boss Peter Moore told Bloomberg. “You’ll see us on Facebook going forward.”
It’ll be interesting to see how they turn Madden into a football social game. Will people own franchises? Have play-by-email games? Let us know what you think.
New Info On Metroid: Other M
- Scribbled on February 8th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Action, Interviews, Nintendo Wii, Platformer
1Up is reporting that there’s some new Metroid: The Other M information given by the series’ co-creator about what will be in this game, announced in last year’s E3.
…In the pages of the latest Famitsu (via Andriasang), Metroid co-creator Yoshio Sakamoto explained a bit of what the game’s focus will be.
“[Different] from the rest of the series, this time we’re strongly depicting the human side of Samus through such things as movies,” Yakamoto said. “She’s a strong woman, but she also has a fragile side. We want to make a game whose charms can be felt from the story areas and these human touches as well. It’s an action game, but it’s capable of having a clear emotional side.”
No doubt the team-up with CG studio D-Rockets is where those movies come into the picture, and the announcement trailer at E3 last year (above) was already evidently filled with story-driven cut-scenes.
Let us know if you’re interested in the latest Metroid game for the Wii.
GameSpy: Expect Ghost Recon 4 Announcement
- Scribbled on February 7th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, Rumor Mill, Shooter, Sony PlayStation 3
GameSpy is announcing that UbiSoft will be finally announcing Ghost Recon 4 this week, after the publisher’s dropped hints about it for the past few months.
Speculation began earlier today when Ubisoft Community Developer Aymeric Evennou tweeted: “I’d only say: ‘Big announcement coming up next week.’ and I mean BIG!” Our friends at IGN picked up the trail and began putting together the pieces:
Ubisoft announced Ghost Recon 4 during an investors call last April. Since then, several trademark names have been registered, Ghost Recon Future Soldier, and Ghost Recon Predator, which means the title could have a new name.
During Ubisoft’s latest investor call in January, the publisher noted its new, and still unannounced, Ghost Recon title will be out during its fiscal 2011 year, which begins on April 2010 and ends March 2011.
Are you a Ghost Recon fan? Are you hoping the game returns to its roots seen in the first and second games? Let us know.
Strider Hits Mobile Phones
- Scribbled on February 7th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Mobile Gaming, Platformer
Get ready to swing your cipher on the go, as the classic beat-’em-up platformer Strider is heading to mobile phones.
Siliconera comments:
A rough comparison of how Strider looks in arcades to a teeny-tiny cell phone screen is above. Small, huh? This isn’t the first (and it probably won’t be the last) port of Strider so I’d wait for another version even though this is only 315 yen ($3.50).
Interesting to see Capcom breath life into Strider this way. They could have created an HD remix for PlayStation Network or Xbox Live Arcade. Actually, Capcom doesn’t even have to remake it. A Virtual Console Arcade re-release with no bells and whistles would be acceptable too.
Would you like to see Strider as downloadable content? Let us know.
Original Xbox Live Discontinued April 15
- Scribbled on February 6th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Microsoft Xbox, Press Release
Players who still game online on the original Xbox, or via Xbox 360 backwards compatibility, will no longer be able to play Halo 2 or Star Wars: Battlefront 2 without special help like XBConnect after April 15. Microsoft will be shutting down Xbox Original Live.
According to Major Nelson:
I wanted to let you know that on April 15, 2010 Microsoft will discontinue Xbox LIVE service for original Xbox consoles and games, including Xbox 1 games playable on Xbox 360. Our first step in this process will be to turn off auto-renewals for those members who only use Xbox LIVE on a v1 Xbox. While I can’t comment on the specifics, this change will allow us to continue evolving the LIVE service with new features and experiences that fully harness the power of Xbox 360 and the Xbox LIVE community. We did not make this decision lightly, but after careful consideration and review we realize that this decision will allow us unprecedented flexibility for future features.
Xbox LIVE general manager Marc Whitten (Gamertag Notwen) has posted this letter to the community which provides additional context.
What does this mean? It means players should get all the DLC content possible for their Xbox 1 games; backwards compatibility will be unaffected otherwise, since it’s software driven on the console. It also means that Friends lists will be able to support more than 100 Gamertags.
This will also allow Twitter/Facebook functionality from within games, allowing gamers to upload screenshots to Facebook, for instance. It will probably allow Facebook updates and Tweets from anywhere. On the other hand, Xbox gamers who haven’t upgraded to the Xbox 360 will be out of luck if they aren’t able to use software like XBConnect.
Let us know what you think.
MLB 10: The Show Gameplay Video
- Scribbled on February 6th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Game Videos, Sony PlayStation 3, Sports
Sony has released a new MLB 10: The Show gameplay video, and you can see the graphics are really improved from previous versions, which had nice models but looked like upscaled PlayStation 2 graphics. MLB 10: The Show matches its MLB 2K counterpart in looks now – and since MLB 10: The Show has far superior realism and gameplay, it makes it one of the best baseball games ever.
The video also includes a home run replay review. These guys just keep up with the times, don’t they? Meanwhile, MLB 2K10 has had checkswings removed.
EDITORIAL: Sony’s Delusions
- Scribbled on February 5th, 2010 by Jordan Lund
- Filed in Editorial Content, NPD, Sony PlayStation 3
Sony is now moving from being the company of false promises (multiple HDMI ports, all games in 1080p, all games at 60 fps for the PlayStation 3) to the company of false premises.
In a recent interview with IGN, Sony Senior Vice President of Marketing, Peter Dille is quoted as saying:
“I’m confident we’ll be around in 10 years and I can say that because we’ve done it twice. PS3 will be around in 10 years and probably much longer than that. I have my own opinion, but I’ll ask you the question. Do you think the 360 will be around in 10 years?”
Really, Peter? The PS3 is still going to be around in 2020? You do realize that the PS3 is not even close to being as successful as the PS1 and that machine lasted 12 years (1994 to 2006). Based on declining sales and a lack of new software titles, 2010 is looking to be the final year for the PS2 which would give it 10 years (2000 to 2010).
But if we’re to take Dille at his word, and really, since the launch of the PS3, we can rarely take the word of any Sony executive that the PS3 is somehow going to eclipse both of it’s predecessors and become a stunning triumph lasting from 2006 to 2020 – a whopping 14 years. Even if you assume that Dille is just confused and is thinking this is still 2006, and that the 10 year lifespan he’s talking about will come due in 2016, there’s still a fatal flaw in his reasoning.
LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4 Trailer
- Scribbled on February 5th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Game Videos, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii, PC, Platformer, Sony PSP, Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3
The next licensed game by Traveler’s Tales stars everyone’s bespectacled student wizard, Harry Potter. Us Muggles can check out the trailer for LEGO Harry Potter Years 1-4, for Wii, Xbox Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS, PSP, and PC. They’re missing the GameCube, Xbox, Dreamcast and ColecoVision versions.
Alien Vs. Predator Multiplayer Video
- Scribbled on February 5th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Game Demos, Game Videos, Microsoft Xbox 360, PC, Shooter, Sony PlayStation 3, Steam, Xbox Live Marketplace
A multiplayer demo for Alien Vs. Predator has been released on Xbox Live Marketplace and Steam – check out some of the action in the video above.
Angry Video Game Nerd Reviews Ninja Gaiden
- Scribbled on February 4th, 2010 by Jonah Falcon
- Filed in Action, Game Videos, Humor, Retro, Reviews
James reviews one of the hardest games in videogame history, Ninja Gaiden for the NES.
