All Articles: Michael Jackson: The Experience

Sony adds 17 games to PS Store including Counter-Strike GO, Dust 514 beta, more

Yesterday’s PlayStation Store update marked the final week of Sony’s PSN Play promotion. As promised, the publisher added Counter-Strike: Global Offensive to their download service. But they also added a few other games as well. Exactly how many did they add? How does 17 sound? Oh, and a closed beta too.

Ready? Here goes…

Two PS3 Full Games (Michael Jackson: The Experience and Transformers: Fall of Cybertron)… Nine PSN Games (Counter-Strike: Global Offensive, Way of the Samurai 4, Metal Gear Solid 2 HD, Metal Gear Solid 3 HD, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventure HD, Deep Black, Retro/Grade, Crazy Strike Bowling, and Legasista)… Two PS Vita Games (Metal Gear Solid 2 HD and Metal Gear Solid 3 HD)… One PS2 Classic (GunGrave Overdose)… and Three PS Minis (Top Trumps NBA All Stars, Chopper I, and The Next Space).

And that’s not counting the launch of the Dust 514 closed beta, which began yesterday for PlayStation Plus members.

More information on all of these games can be found after the break. Or you can visit the PlayStation Blog for a rundown of this week’s new game add-ons. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, PSP, Vita | Tagged , , , ,

Michael Jackson moonwalks onto 3DS, Vita

Not the most original of headlines, but what are you going to do? It explains very succinctly that Ubisoft’s Michael Jackson: The Experience will be available for the 3DS and PlayStation Vita this Fall. As does the game’s debut trailer, which you can view above.

Both versions make use of each handheld’s touch screen to match Michael’s choreography with stylus motions on the screen. Actually, I’ll let Ubisoft tell it:

Players will be invited on an interactive journey into Michael Jackson’s artistry, which will set a new benchmark for handheld rhythm games. Using the tactile screens of both consoles, the players move in line with the choreographies on screen to increase their score and bring to life the environments of 15 of Michael Jackson’s hit songs that span his solo career. As players continue to improve and have fun, aiming to become the ultimate performer, they unlock bonus content along the way such as Michael’s special outfits or “power-up” gloves.

The gameplay will be an all-new experience on both platforms. Using the tactile screen, players will draw a series of shapes according to the beat and the choreographies of the Michael Jackson avatar on the screen. By chaining together moves, they will progressively unlock spectacular special effects and other animated background elements, all while being able to watch the avatar perform. During timed freestyle moments, players can even create their own choreographies from a set of classic Michael Jackson moves.

Players will rediscover 15 settings inspired by Michael Jackson’s music videos and stage performances, such as the ghoul-infested graveyard dance from Thriller, the luxurious Palace of the Pharaoh from Remember the Time, the seedy underworld nightclub from Smooth Criminal, and many more. And in addition to the exciting gameplay, gorgeous cinematic cut-scenes will retell these fantastic stories in eye-popping detail.

Posted in 3DS, News, Vita | Tagged ,

Mortal Kombat decapitates the competition in April NPD report

It’s no secret that the video game community has responded to NetherRealm Studios’ Mortal Kombat reboot with a resounding “I love it.” But like Shao Kahn taunting a clearly inferior kombatant, the game also emerged on top of The NPD Group’s April 2011 sales report. And according to a tweet from Kombat creator Ed Boon, the game sold over 1,000,000 copies during the month. Flawless victory indeed.

April 19’s other big release, Portal 2, teleported its way to the top of the list with a strong #2 showing. Of course, it’s important to point out that a good portion of Portal 2’s sales were digital downloads through Steam, which isn’t counted by the NPD.

But the biggest surprise from last month’s top ten might be the absence of Sony’s SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs. The online shooter was also released on April 19th, one day before hackers took down the PSN. The service has yet to return and its offline status definitely contributed to SOCOM 4’s lackluster sales.

Hit the jump for the complete top ten of April’s bestselling games. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , , , , , , , ,

New Releases: Michael Jackson The Experience, Patapon 3, Rio, More

Next week will be one of the biggest weeks for new releases this year, but that doesn’t mean publishers are taking this week off. Instead, they’ve put together quite possibly the oddest combination of games I’ve ever seen.

First up is the PS3 (with Move) and Xbox 360 (with Kinect) versions of Michael Jackson: The Experience. The King of Pop will be strutting through your living room with several new songs and a “Singing Mode.” If you need to feel the rhythm on the go, Sony will release the PSP rhythm game Patapon 3 this week as well.

Two big games for the kids will be in stores this week, a video game adaptation of the movie Rio (DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) and the uDraw-powered SpongeBob SquigglePants (Wii).

Finally, we have two games that start with D and have been released for other platforms before: Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga (Xbox 360 this week, previously on the PC) and Dance Dance Revolution (Xbox 360 this week, previously on the PS3 and Wii).

The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , ,

Michael Jackson: The Experience trailer will make you want to dance

Trailers featuring teenage and twentysomething models getting super excited about some game they’ve likely never played are often embarrassingly bad. But this trailer for the Kinect version of Michael Jackson: The Experience is actually pretty entertaining. Sure, they’re all faux-excited, but “Smooth Criminal” is still as awesome as ever.

Michael Jackson: The Experience will be released for the Xbox 360 (powered by Kinect) on April 12th. A PS3 version will also ship to stores on the same day.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Michael Jackson: The Experience moonwalks onto PS3, Xbox 360 on April 12

Michael Jackson: The Experience was a big hit for Ubisoft this holiday season. How big? The game sold two million copies across the Wii, DS and PSP in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. But Ubisoft was quick to point out that those numbers don’t include Japan, “which has one of the largest and most passionate concentrations of Michael Jackson fans anywhere.”

The publisher also revealed that the King of Pop will be moonwalking his way onto the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this April. The Kinect and Move-enabled Michael Jackson game will be released on April 12 in the US and April 14 in Europe. It will include several bonus tracks not found on the Wii version including “Blood on the Dance Floor” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.”

Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is very excited about the upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Michael Jackson: “As the leader in the dance game genre, our teams have worked enthusiastically to build an experience that recreates the magic worlds of Michael Jackson’s videos and performances. We’re looking forward to bringing Michael Jackson The Experience to Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move so an even bigger audience can enjoy playing the game with their friends and family too.”

Posted in DS, News, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged