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UncategorizedWatch Seth Green Sell Dragon Quest IX To Teenagers
How does one sell a game like Dragon Quest IX, a traditionally core role-playing game, to the general Nintendo DS-owning populace? Right. Seth Green and pop rock band The Lost Boys. This is Nintendo’s attempt at shilling Square Enix’s Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies and… gotta say, I think it works. Sure,…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Homefront‘s Future Plans Include London
At E3, Homefront was offhandedly mentioned to me as inspired by Resistance, just without the aliens, naturally. As if to drive that point home, the man in charge of THQ’s core games portfolio already has designs on London. Homefront, written by John Milius (“Apocalypse Now,” and “Red Dawn,”) is set in Colorado, 2027, with the…
By Owen Good Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Madden‘s Newest Stat, “Swagger,” is Sponsored
In the rollout of Madden player ratings, few noticed the attribute “SWG” – for swagger. But a leaked screenshot in the EA Sports forums put it on everyone’s map today – because it’s sponsored by Old Spice. See for yourself: As for what “swagger” does for you, word has it that it’s a kind of…
By Owen Good Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
The New Kid Icarus Is Trying To Fix Shooters’ ‘Creativity Problem’
After two decades, Nintendo is finally creating a new Kid Icarus, this time for the new Nintendo 3DS. Kid Icarus Uprising‘s designer has even loftier goals for the sequel, targeting “an overriding problem with a lot of game design.” Masahiro Sakurai, the brains behind Super Smash Bros. Brawl and the new Kid Icarus, says that…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Xbox Live Arcade Deals of the Week Are Critical Darlings
A handful of Xbox Live Arcade‘s critical successes are now vying for commercial accessibility. Defense Grid, P.B. Winterbottom, Rocket Riot and Poker Smash are just 400 Microsoft Points. Darwinia+ is now 800 Points, Chime a mere 240 Points. [Major Nelson]
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Don’t Think Of Kinect As ‘Casual,’ Think Of It As Super Mario Bros.
Worried that Microsoft’s E3 showcase of its Kinect controller for the Xbox 360 was a little too “casual,” a little too Wii Sports rewarmed? Kinect’s creative director sees it otherwise, that Microsoft’s taking a Super Mario Bros. approach instead. So says Kudo Tsunoda, the oft-sunglassed man behind games like Kinect Adventures, the river rafting and…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Madden 11 Demo Offers 5-Minute Quarters to All
Last year’s Madden NFL 10 demo let you play four quarters just one minute long each, though a GameStop preorder did give special access to a longer game. This year, EA Sports is giving everyone five-minute quarters to try out. The reason: Madden‘s new GameFlow – in which the CPU calls plays for you like…
By Owen Good Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
A Summer Of Limited Screens
To: Ash From: Crecente Re: THE IMAGES HAVE RETURNED…SORTA We’ve instituted another set of rules for Tristan starting in July. We already has a bunch of rules about screen time (tv, video games, computer) and about what he can and can’t do on the consoles. As I wrote about Friday, Tristan snuck some Modern Warfare…
By Brian Crecente Published June 28, 2010 -
UncategorizedThe Best Fan-made Halo Elite Costume You’ll Ever See
Standing at least seven feet tall and full of fancy animatronics, it’s fairly safe to say this lifelike Elite costume, more detailed than any Halo cosplay we’ve ever seen, is elite level cosplay. It was designed by self-taught make up and effects artist Pete Mander, who has created a Halo costume to outdo all others.…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Computers That Listen And Learn Better Than You Do
From suggesting restaurants to diagnosing patients, computers seem to be getting smarter each passing day. The New York Times looks at some of the powerful technology coming to light, as computers begin listening and reacting to our problems. The New York Times piece begins with a mother and son entering a room, where a medical…
By Mike Fahey Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
NBA 2K vs. NBA Elite: It’s Still Fargin’ War
A video of NBA Elite shown at the NBA draft last week did plenty to rile fans of both sides in sports gaming’s last real competition. One sent a link to NBA 2K‘s community manager, who tweet-replied “That looks awful.” “And you were worried,” Ronnie Singh, the NBA 2K community manager, said to the fan…
By Owen Good Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
PlayStation Plus, New Features Added To PS3 ‘Soon’
Sony’s new PlayStation Plus subscription service is launching, officially, in North America on June 29. That means a new way to spend fifty bucks a year on your PlayStation 3 and a new firmware update with all-new features. PlayStation Plus brings more than just a fee, mind you. Subscribers get early access to demos and…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Meet Portal 2’s Wheatley, The Eye Who’s A Guy
Today Valve releases the first in a series of videos covering the E3 demo for Portal 2. In the first portion we meet Wheatley, the personality sphere that’s cuddlier than a companion cube, if that’s even possible. While Crecente briefly touched on Wheatley’s first appearance during his Portal 2 preview during E3, I had no…
By Mike Fahey Published June 28, 2010 -
UncategorizedHow I Didn’t Get Killed At E3
How did I get to E3? How did I get a VIP pass? I don’t even know. The idea was that I would walk up to E3 and, telling nobody anything, manage to just get in. That’s what happened. It worked out pretty well. I have business in the San Francisco Bay Area from late…
Tim Rogers Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Now You Can Snowboard And Look *Just* Like Tron!
Get ready to dress yourself in Tron inspired everything later this year, when Disney’s sci-fi video game update hits theaters, bringing with it a massive influx of licensed goods. Like Tron: Legacy snowboarding boots, for example! Disney is buddying up with Burton—the maker of those lovely looking boots—as well as Oakley, Adidas and Hurley for…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
Followars Makes Turn-Based Battles Out Of Twitter
Japanese Harvest Moon publishers Marvelous Entertainment has unleashed Followars onto the iPad, a two-player game that turns your Twitter followers into combatants in turn-based role-playing battles to the death. In Followars, now available for $2.99 in the iTunes App Store, two players face off in the iPad arena, using their Twitter followers as lackeys in…
By Mike Fahey Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Lost Wheel Returns, In A New Video Game
People know I’m a fan of Lost, so they send me Lost sightings. Such as this Lost “donkey wheel” in new first-person shooter Singularity. From Raven Software, the people who put cake in a Wolverine game. Turn that island! Credit to RiotPelaaja of message board NeoGAF for spotting this. Singularity |OT| – Anyone? No? [NeoGAF]
By Stephen Totilo Published June 28, 2010 -
UncategorizedA Look At Silent Hill 8 On A Dark & Stormy Night
The psychological horror series Silent Hill appears to be on a return to its roots with the next entry, a dark, stormy and flashlight-lit scarefest that’s very different from the more cerebral and most recent entry, Silent Hill: Shattered Memories. The Silent Hill trademarks are intact in this E3 trailer, with a town that transforms…
By Michael McWhertor Published June 28, 2010 - Uncategorized
The Bosses Of Lost Planet 2 All At Once, All For You
Capcom is delivering more downloadable content to Lost Planet 2 next month, with a special Rush Arena mode featuring you and three friends against every boss in the game. It’s really only a small chunk of downloadable content, but the price seems right. Coming at the end of July and running $2.99 or 240 Microsoft…
By Mike Fahey Published June 28, 2010