Most Recent: News

New Releases: The Witcher 2 Enhanced Edition, Disgaea 3 Vita, More

Posted on April 14, 2012 by John Scalzo

Welcome to another relatively dry week of new releases in the relatively dry month of April.

The biggest new release of the week is the Enhanced Edition of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for the PC and, for the first time, on the Xbox 360.

Also new this week is Deadliest Warrior: Ancient Combat, a compilation that brings together the downloadable games Deadliest Warrior and Deadliest Warrior: Legends in one retail package. It’ll be available for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Finally this week is Atlus’ Vita RPG Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention. It’s a shrunk-down version of the PS3 game with nearly the same name, so if you love strategy RPGs, it might be one to look into.

Wait! There’s one more. Budget publisher Viva Media will bring Dark Strokes: Sins of the Fathers to the PC this week.

OK, that’s all of your new releases for the week.

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

BioWare releases update for Star Wars: The Old Republic and rewards fans for their support

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Melissa Niedringhaus

BioWare today announced the release of “Game Update 1.2: Legacy,” which is a massive update for Star Wars: The Old Republic that will deliver new content and the next evolution of the Legacy System alongside community requested enhancements like custom user interfaces and guild banks.

The new Legacy System will give players the ability to join all of their characters in a family tree that gives each a “bond.” This bond will grant bonus abilities and new character customization options to each character in the tree. They can also unlock new races for new characters, and convenience items for ships including a Galactic Trade Network terminal.

There will also be new high-level content for both experienced and novice players, including a Flashpoint on Ord Mantell called Lost Island, an Operation in a new zone on Denova called Explosive Conflict, and Warzone: Novare Coast.

But that’s not all! To reward current players for their support, BioWare will be offering some in-game rewards, including a Tauntaun Ram pet for anyone with an active account created before or on April 21, 30 days of free game time for players who reach level 50 by April 12, and up to seven days of free game play for former players with inactive accounts starting April 13.

For more information on the update, head over to the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website for patch notes and a more in-depth discussion of the update with the SWTOR developers.

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Daily Scoop: April 13, 2012 – Friday the 13th!

Posted on April 13, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Not even the fact that it’s Friday the 13th can get me down today! Because no matter what the date, it’s Friday, and that means weekend! Yes, I did spend an hour in Staples last night printing out a copy of Cards Against Humanity to play tonight with my boyfriend and our friends. And yes, I did just get a beta key for Diablo III, which I will be playing every free moment. And yes, I do have D&D tomorrow. Weekend GO!

No deals today, but I did stumble upon Amazon’s Retro Gaming Store, which was definitely made by someone with a sense of humor! It says “All your base are belong to us” at the top, and has games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Genesis, and more. At the bottom, it’s got a section for the bestselling chiptune MP3 albums, including two of my favorites, Anamanaguchi and ComputeHer. It’s like they raided my brain to make this page!

No gaming shirts today, but there are two worth mentioning! (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Sleeping Dogs escapes from the developer’s doghouse on August 14

Posted on April 13, 2012 by John Scalzo

Sleeping Dogs has taken a long and winding road to store shelves, but it looks like it’s almost over.

Canceled by Activision last year, the development team at United Front Games wouldn’t lie down on the job and eventually the game was adopted by Square Enix. Today, after some additional development time and a strong showing at PAX East 2012, the team’s new publisher is ready to announce that Sleeping Dogs will take a bite out of store shelves on August 14.

In addition to a release date, Square Enix has announced a trio of pre-order bonuses for their Hong Kong-set true crime saga:

Best Buy: Georges St. Pierre Pack

  • Georges St. Pierre’s Signature “Flying Punch”
  • Exclusive Georges St. Pierre Outfit (T-Shirts, Headband, and Shorts)
    Unlocks the “Flying Punch” and Increases Grappling and Throwing Damage

GameStop: Police Protection Pack

  • Exclusive “High Speed” Mission
  • Exclusive HK Police SWAT Outfit
  • Exclusive Assault Rifle
  • Exclusive SWAT Police Vehicle

Amazon: Martial Arts Pack

  • “Shaolin Showdown” Mission
  • Shaolin Warrior Outfit (with Increased Striking Damage)
  • Bonus Triad XP Points
  • Wing Chun Decoration for Safehouse (with Temporary Combat Buff)

If you plan to pre-order the PC version from Steam, don’t worry, Square Enix plans to offer a package of “exclusive content” for those who prefer to download their games as well.

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Steam Box confirmed? Valve hiring engineers to work on new “platform hardware”

Posted on April 13, 2012 by John Scalzo

A few weeks back, there were rumblings that Valve was in the process of creating a PC/console hybrid that the media affectionately dubbed the “Steam Box.” Valve co-founder Gabe Newell brushed the rumors aside, telling The PA Report, “It’s definitely not the first thought that crosses our mind; we’d rather hardware people that are good at manufacturing and distributing hardware do that.” But in the same interview, he also told PA Reporter Ben Kuchera, “[I]f we have to sell hardware we will.”

However, with the latest addition to the company’s Job Listings page, “have to” may shifted to “want to.” It seems that Valve is looking for an Electronics Engineer who will…

Work with the hardware team to conceive, design, evaluate, and produce new types of input, output, and platform hardware

Sure sounds like a “Steam Box” to me.

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Nintendo Europe lets a Pandora’s Tower launch trailer out of the box

Posted on April 13, 2012 by John Scalzo

First there was Xenoblade Chronicles, an action RPG from Monolith Soft. Then there was The Last Story, an RPG from Final Fantasy creator Hironobu Sakaguchi. And today, if you live in Europe, there’s Pandora’s Tower, possibly the last Nintendo-published game on the Wii.

The three games have become a rallying point for Operation Rainfall, a grassroots effort to convince Nintendo to release the previously Japanese-only titles in the US. The group has already succeeded with Xenoblade Chronicles (which was released last week) and The Last Story (a Summer release is planned), but there’s still been no word on Pandora’s Tower. With the game now available on European store shelves, perhaps that’ll change.

I, for one, am definitely pulling for a North American release for Pandora’s Tower. Just check out the trailer above with its operatic score, British voices, and Japanese aesthetic. Pandora’s Tower could be a hack and slash for the ages.

Posted in News, Wii | Tagged

Crysis 3 to be unveiled on April 16

Posted on April 12, 2012 by John Scalzo

Developers at Crytek have made mention of their plan for a “Crysis trilogy” on more than one occasion. So hearing that the header image of Crysis 3 above was leaked by EA’s Origin store isn’t exactly a shocker.

What is surprising is that EA confirmed the rumor by telling Game Informer: “The best kept secret in shooters just can’t be contained. Stay tuned for more information on April 16.”

So check back Monday when we’ll learn more about Crysis 3.

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Mass Effect 3 tops NPD bestseller report for March 2012

Posted on April 12, 2012 by John Scalzo

Whether you loved Mass Effect 3‘s ending or you hated it, one thing’s for certain, BioWare made a ton of money selling you the game. In what should be a surprise to no one, Mass Effect 3 took the top spot in The NPD Group’s report of the bestselling games in March 2012.

Even though March was a bit of a slow month for new releases, the remainder of the top ten is populated almost totally by games released in the last four weeks including Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (#2), MLB 12: The Show (#3), SSX (#5), Street Fighter X Tekken (#6), Mario Party 9 (#7), Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations (#9), and Major League Baseball 2K12 (#10).

Whew!

Hit the break to see the full top ten, including the pair of holdovers from the February 2012 report. (more…)

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