Most Recent: News

Assassin’s Creed III Season Pass takes on Tyranny of King Washington

Posted on October 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

Assassin’s Creed III is jumping on the Season Pass bandwagon with an alternate-alternate history of the American Revolution told in three downloadable parts.

“The Tyranny of King Washington” posits what the fledgling nation of America would be like if George Washington decided that a more royal reputation was in order for the office of the President after being elected in 1789. In addition to the three episodes of “King Washington,” the Assassin’s Creed team at Ubisoft will release new multiplayer content including “new maps and characters.”

The Season Pass will be available for $29.99 (or 2400 Microsoft Points) on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Wii U owners will also receive access to “The Tyranny of King Washington,” but the packs will have to be purchased separately.

“History is our playground – and AC teams have always loved playing with historical facts and their consequences as a way to better understand a time period,” said Sebastien Puel, Executive Producer at Ubisoft. “While Assassin’s Creed III concentrates on history as it happens, we wanted to take some liberties with this DLC and tell you how things ‘could have happened.'”

No timetable was announced for the Assassin’s Creed III DLC, but Season Pass owners will be able to download the DLC one week before the general public.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Wii U, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Daily Scoop: October 4, 2012 – No deals, no shirts, no problem!

Posted on October 4, 2012 by Nicole Kline

It’s another day of no deals, only this time, there aren’t any nice t-shirts, either. So I guess I’ll have to be creative and think of something else to tell you about. I can do that, right? Sure I can!

My pal Jake Vander Ende has a really cool Etsy store you should check out, called Spriteborne. He makes incredible, unique t-shirt designs using his love of video games, and adding in some stencils and bleach. I have been a huge fan of his shirts since I first met him at the Smithsonian exhibit on the art of video games. My favorite shirt has to be the Castle Crashers one, which is just too adorable.

That’s all I’ve got for today, unless you want to read about ant videos. Oh, and the Homestuck Kickstarter got funded today. Agents and exiles, rejoice!

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Happy Wars goes free-to-play on XBLA on October 12

Posted on October 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

The first free-to-play title on the Xbox Live Arcade, Happy Wars, will be available next Friday, October 12.

The 15-on-15 “cartoon combat” game features “madcap free-for-all battles” as players take their cute critter into battle against other Xbox Live Gold players. Players will be able to fight in open fields, seize castles, and unleash powerful magic as they fight for their piece of the happy kingdom.

And because Happy Wars is a free-to-play title, players will also be able to customize their character’s looks, outfits, and equipment with Happy Stars (the developer’s cute name for in-game collectibles) or purchase them with Happy Tickets (the developer’s cute name for real-world cash).

So you use your cash to fund your credit card which is used to buy Microsoft Points which is turned into Happy Tickets which you can exchange for a cute costume. Sounds perfectly straightforward to me.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Nintendo Download: Art Academy, Crosswords Plus, Cave Story, more

Posted on October 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

Nintendo is going big with this week’s Nintendo Download with seven titles are newly available to download today, and an eighth scheduled for release this Sunday, October 7.

This week’s two biggest additions are Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone! and Crosswords Plus. The art tutor and the crossword puzzles collection are now available on the 3DS eShop… and in the same week the retail versions became available in stores. Not bad, Nintendo.

Purchasing either title through the 3DS eShop will also net you a downloadable copy of Donkey Kong: Original Edition, which features the never-before-seen-on-a-home-platform Cement Factory level.

There’s plenty of other new releases this week as well. So hit the jump for a full rundown of this week’s new Nintendo Downloads. (more…)

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Minecraft Xbox 360 Edition Adventure Update will include these additions, fixes, and changes

Posted on October 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

According to Microsoft, the “Adventure Update” for Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition will be available “soon.” And while they refuse to give us an actual release date of the long-awaited patch, you can find a massive list of new additions to the game (Creative Mode! Survival Mode! New mobs!), bug fixes, and other changes.

And if you’d prefer to see the new features in action, Microsoft is hosting a special livestream tomorrow on their Twitch TV channel. But, and they couldn’t stress this enough, the update will NOT be available to download tomorrow.

Hit the jump for the complete list of patch notes. (more…)

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Cliff Bleszinski leaves Epic Games

Posted on October 3, 2012 by John Scalzo

The man known to many as “CliffyB” has left his post as Design Director of Epic Games, the company said today in a news post on their website. According to the announcement, Bleszinski is leaving Epic to “chart the next stage of his career,” whatever that may be.

Bleszinski is best known for his role in the creation of Gears of War, famously brandishing the trilogy’s “Lancer” weapons at more than one E3 Expo. But the developer also had a hand in Unreal Tournament (and its many sequels) and Jazz Jackrabbit.

“In 20 wonderful years with Epic, Cliff Bleszinski has grown into a true design luminary, and his contributions to the Unreal and Gears series have helped shape the game industry into what it is today. Cliff leaves Epic with our gratitude for his many contributions, and our wishes for continued success in the next chapter of his life,” said Tim Sweeney, Epic’s founder, CEO and Technical Director.

Apparently, the first step in that next chapter involved a viewing of Looper.

Posted in News |

Battlecry Studios, Bethesda’s new studio, opens its doors

Posted on October 3, 2012 by John Scalzo

Bethesda acquired Arkane Studios in 2010 and the developer’s first game under the Bethesda banner, Dishonored, will be in stores next week. So it seems like a perfect time for Bethesda to announce that they’ve opened Battlecry Studios, the company’s second studio in the Austin, Texas area.

Battlecry will be headed up by Rich Vogel, the former Executive Producer of Star Wars: The Old Republic. He is currently in the process of staffing the new studio and beginning work on an untitled future project that may be a free-to-play FPS for next generation consoles. At least, those are the jobs Battlecry Studios is currently hiring for.

Hopefully we’ll find out more soon.

Posted in News | Tagged ,

Daily Scoop: October 3, 2012 – Some sales are less useful than others

Posted on October 3, 2012 by Nicole Kline

It’s Wednesday, even though it feels like it should be Friday. The manacles of time chain us down, binding us to our narrow worldview and creating in us a vacuum only filled by love and video games. And when love is not available, video games are all that we have.

Ok, I’m being a bit melodramatic. I blame it on Homestuck. Also, did you know there’s a Homestuck Video Game Kickstarter? Smash open your swollen porkhollow and surrender your boondollars. I want those Midnight Crew playing cards. How about you?

Not many deals going on today – at least, nothing really all that useful. Amazon’s got some sales going on, including lots of stuff for under $10. Cheap doesn’t always mean good, though. I mean, do you really want a copy of Duke Nukem Forever, or Shaun White Skateboarding, or Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian? You do??? Well then go scoop them up for under $10!

No game-related shirts today, readers. Sorry! Hopefully the daily shirt gods will bless us tomorrow.

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |