WTF? Namco Bandai Announces “World Tekken Federation” Online Service

Namco Bandai has unveiled a new online service that they’ll launch alongside Tekken Tag Tournament 2, and it’s called the “World Tekken Federation.” Slow down. Look at that name. Yup. The WTF. It’s okay to chuckle a bit. From the press release: The World Tekken Federation service will provide TEKKEN® players with a social community…

God of War: Ascension‘s Multiplayer Bloodbath is Getting a Beta Soon, and a Trailer Now

Adding a multiplayer component to a God of War game still sounds a little confusing. Earlier looks have been tantalizing, in that violent, kill-everything sort of way. Today, Sony shared a new trailer for the 4 vs 4 team bloodbath. They have also announced a multiplayer beta to run in the “near future.” Should you…

Five Comics That Won’t Save Your Soul This Week

If you’re here in the Panel Discussion programming block, you might be a lapsed comics reader, trying to find a way back to the JLA Satellite. Or you might someone killing time until you pick up your weekly Wednesday pull list. Or maybe you’ve said goodbye to dozens of longboxes to embrace the promise of…

Turns Out a Comic-Con is Pretty Good Place for a Rap Video

This music video by Chicago-based rapper Kid Static was at this year’s WonderCon and it nicely captures the fun to be had when nerds gather. Kid’s rhymes ain’t half bad, either.

The Best Imagination In Comics Lives In Brandon Graham’s Brain

Look, I love Grant Morrison. And I swoon every time a comic with Jonathan Hickman’s name on it comes out. Along with those two, lots of top-flight idea generators exist in the comics landscape of 2012. But, right now, the creator that manages to take me to the most weirdly seductive places and shows me…

Dick Grayson Goes Underground in This Preview of Nightwing #12

It’s tough to write Nightwing. Anyone approaching the superhero identity of Batman’s first sidekick has to find ways to make him seem as capable as his mentor without feeling like a clone. Writer Kyle Higgins has a pretty good job of that, by focusing on the passion and emotional attachment that Grayson brings to crime-fighting.…

Once limited to Guest Pass-holders, the Diablo III Starter Edition is now free for anyone with a Battle.net account.

Our First Look At Call of Duty Running On A PlayStation Vita

We’ve been curious about how Call of Duty will run on Sony’s handheld Vita console ever since we first heard about the game, and today at Sony’s Gamescom press conference, we got a look at Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified in action. You can see the game doing its thing above. It looks… well,…

This New Montage Of The Last Of Us Mixes Bloody Violence And Wistful Hank Williams

This new trailer for Naughty Dog’s The Last Of Us doesn’t show a whole lot of new stuff, but it shows it in a way we haven’t yet seen—accompanied by the wistful words of Hank Williams’ “Alone And Forsaken.” Those lyrics, via A Hank Williams Journal (where they have chords, should you want to strum…

This New PS3 Game Is Pretty Damn Crazy

Upcoming PlayStation 3 game Puppeteer, announced by Sony today at Gamescom, might be one of the strangest titles we’ve seen this year. It’s a platformer in which you play a boy-turned-puppet who has to hop his way out of a magical theater that moves as you move. Looks neat! Here’s more info courtesy the PlayStation…

Until Dawn Is A Gorgeous Horror Game That Uses PlayStation Move

There’s a new horror game coming to PlayStation 3 called Until Dawn. It’s sort of built like a teen horror movie; you play as seven characters that you have to keep alive throughout a long night. I’d be more excited if it didn’t use PlayStation Move.

An Invisible Little Boy Finds Himself in Sony’s Stunning Rain

The hero of Sony Japan Studio’s upcoming adventurer platformer is a little boy seeking a little girl in a dreary world defined by water falling from the sky. It’s a fortunate setting — Rain‘s protagonist is completely invisible. The trailer, accompanyed by melancholy piano music, highlights Rain‘s unique liquid-based gameplay mechanic. As is the world,…

This September’s Euro PlayStation Plus Game of the Month is Red Dead Redemption, and Plus is coming soon to the Vita.

Whips, Blowguns and Alligator Wrestling In Assassin’s Creed III Liberation On The PS Vita

At Sony’s Gamescom press conference, we got a look at a new montage of gameplay footage from the fall’s Vita exclusive Assassin’s Creed III Liberation. In the video, Liberation protagonist Aveline broke out some new tricks, from a guard-dropping blowgun to a bullwhip to some heavy alligator wrestling. Last week, I saw more of the…

There’s A New Killzone Coming To Vita

A new Killzone game called Killzone Mercenary is coming to PlayStation Vita, Sony said today at Gamescom. Here’s how Sony describes it on the PlayStation Blog: Designed specifically for the PlayStation Vita platform, Killzone: Mercenary is a first-person shooter that makes full use of the device’s graphical and input capabilities. It was built on the…

You’ll Be Able To Play PS1 Games On Your Vita Starting August 28

You can get PlayStation Classics like Final Fantasy VII and Tomb Raider on your Vita starting August 28, Sony said today at Gamescom. The service was first announced this year at E3 Here’s the list of games Sony has announced for initial support: Tomb Raider Final Fantasy VII Wild Arms Twisted Metal 2 Cool Boarders…

You’re the God of a Paper World in Media Molecule’s Tearaway

Paper hero Iota has a message for the real world, and only you can aid him in his heroic effort to escape the paper world inside your PS Vita in Tearaway, the next game from LittleBigPlanet creators Media Molecule. Iota is a tiny paper messenger tasked with breaking out of his wood pulp world with…

Call of Duty: Black Ops Vita Will Be Out This November

Call of Duty: Black Ops Declassified will be out this November, Sony said today. It will have four-on-four multiplayer, Team Deathmatch modes, and other Vita-exclusive content. Sony will also sell bundles that feature both the game and PlayStation Vita systems. Here are more details from the PlayStation Blog: Developed by the team at Nihilistic Software,…

Free Vita Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time with Cross-Buy

Sony’s new Cross-Buy feature augments Cross-Play between PlayStation 3 and PS Vita by offering copies for both systems in one package. Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time join PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale as games that give you both platforms for the price of one. Ratchet is a new download-only…

Characters from Devil May Cry and Ape Escape will appear in PS All-Stars Royale, Sony says, confirming an earlier leak