Most Recent: News

Kaz Hirai promoted to President and CEO of Sony

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Kaz Hirai has been named as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Sony Corporation today. This change will become effective as of April 1. The current Chairman, CEO, and President, Sir Howard Stringer, will become Chairman of the Board of Directors come June.

This change of the guard really comes as no surprise. Kaz has been great for Sony (and for Ridge Racer jokes). In addition to these changes, the former chairman, Yotaro Kobayashi, will be retiring.

So what did Kaz have to say about the changes?

“As challenging as times are for Sony now, were it not for the strong leadership of Sir Howard Stringer these past seven years, we would have been in a much more difficult position. I am grateful to Sir Howard and to the Board for their confidence in me, and I look forward to working with everyone at Sony more closely than ever before to build a strong future for our customers, shareholders, partners and employees. The path we must take is clear: to drive the growth of our core electronics businesses – primarily digital imaging, smart mobile and game; to turn around the television business; and to accelerate the innovation that enables us to create new business domains. The foundations are now firmly in place for the new management team and me to fully leverage Sony’s diverse electronics product portfolio, in conjunction with our rich entertainment assets and growing array of networked services, to engage with our customers around the world in new and exciting ways.”

I’m personally excited to see what Kaz can do for Sony. Bring on the regime change!

Posted in News, PS3 |

Daily Scoop: February 1, 2012 – Why are there so many songs about rainbows?

Posted on February 1, 2012 by Nicole Kline

What a lovely day to think about rainbows, and what is on the other side of them. Don’t you agree, froggy friends?

Not much going on today in terms of deals, other than Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games. They’ve got the Xbox 360 version of Mortal Kombat for just $25. Scoop that jam up!

No video game shirts today, but I couldn’t help myself on sharing this one: (more…)

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, Xbox 360 |

Del Rey to publish Darksiders novel

Posted on February 1, 2012 by John Scalzo

Del Rey continues their domination of the video game tie-in novel with the announcement of Darksiders: The Abomination Vault. Written by Ari Marmell (Agents of Artifice, The Warlord’s Legacy), the novel takes place thousands of years before the cataclysmic events of the first game:

In Darksiders: The Abomination Vault, the Horsemen of the Apocalypse (beings charged with maintaining the Balance between the forces of Heaven and Hell) have uncovered a plot to resurrect ancient weapons of unimaginable power. Death, with the help of his compatriot War, must track down and neutralize the mysterious individuals behind the scheme before the entire universe is plunged into a devastating conflict.

In addition to the publishing duties on The Abomination Vault, Del Rey’s sister company, Random House Worlds, has been tasked with creating the universe bible for the Darksiders franchise. Seems kind of funny to worry about that now when Darksiders was originally released back in 2010.

Darksiders: The Abomination Vault will be published in May. Darksiders II, the next game in the series, will be released this Summer.

Posted in Etcetera, News |

XBLA Today: Rhythm Party, Double Fine Happy Action Theater

Posted on February 1, 2012 by John Scalzo

It’s Kinect Day on the Xbox Live Arcade as today’s update features a pair of Kinect games that promise to turn your living room into a magical adventure or a trippy dance party. But then, aren’t all dance parties trippy?

Double Fine Happy Action Theater has been priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10) and even though its long title sounds trippy, it’s actually a magical living room game for the Harry Potter in all of us:

Are you annoyed at how little magic you are able to shoot from your fingers? Have you ever tried to get grandma to do the worm, but all she would do is just stand there? Have you ever noticed how your living room doesn’t have any hot lava in it? And who designed this living room anyway?! It doesn’t even have any buildings to smash! Well, Double Fine Happy Action Theater can solve all of these problems and more! You will also be able to clone yourself or hang out in a plate of jelly if you want. And when you’re done with that, maybe you will want to feed some pigeons or have a snowball fight. There are 18 amazing ways that Double Fine Action Theater will enhance your life! And up to 5 of your friends’ lives too!

So that leaves Rhythm Party, which has also been priced at 800 Microsoft Points/$10, to help you unleash your inner raver:

Rhythm Party is a rhythm action game developed exclusively for Kinect on Xbox Live Arcade! Brought to you by the Dance Masters development team, it transforms your entire body into a controller. No need for choreography anymore. You’re the choreographer and the dancer! When your body appears at the center of the screen, just dance! Game play is simple: Use your arms and legs to hit the Ripples in time with the rhythm while you create an original performance. Your performance skills are the key! With a soundtrack recorded largely in collaboration with top international artists, and different special effects for every song, this game is guaranteed to get your body moving and your blood pumping!

Posted in News, Xbox 360 |

Simpsons Arcade Game is free for PS Plus users starting next week

Posted on February 1, 2012 by John Scalzo

Even though it has still yet to be officially announced, Sony has revealed that The Simpsons Arcade Game will be available as a free download for PlayStation Plus subscribers beginning next week.

Not only is that radical news, but the classic beat ’em up kicks off an amazing month of PlayStation Plus freebies:

February 7

  • Final Fantasy V
  • Inferno Pool
  • The Simpsons Arcade Game

February 14

  • Battle Fantasia
  • Far Cry 2
  • Fatal Inertia
  • Hamsterball
  • Mahjong Tales: Ancient Wisdom
  • Supersonic Acrobatic Rocket Powered Battle Cars

February 21

  • Altered Beast
  • Comix Zone
  • Golden Axe
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  • Streets of Rage 2

More PlayStation Plus special offers for the month of February can be found at the PlayStation Blog. Sadly, it doesn’t include the date that non-Plus subscribers (or Xbox 360 owners) will get to play The Simpsons Arcade Game.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Prototype 2 RadNet Edition content announced

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Radical Entertainment has announced a set of Radnet Edition content of their upcoming game, Prototype 2. The game will launch on April 24, and a limited number of games released that day (including pre-orders) will include free access to RadNet. Fans will get in via a one-time use code and will receive 55 pieces of free additional content, which will be released over seven weeks.

Included within this content are Avatar Items, Behind-the-Scenes videos, Challenges, Dynamic Themes, in-game Events, and bonus Mutations to be used in the game’s single-player campaign. There’s also “the ultimate shape-shifting reward,” which will be announced sometime in March.

Apparently, there’s never been more impetus to kill Alex Mercer. Ken Rosman, Studio Head of Radical Entertainment, said that the studio “has always focused on bringing long lasting fun to its fans, and Prototype 2’s RadNet content is our way of rewarding the game’s most loyal supporters – the early adopters, the one’s who will replay it over and over again. We think this is great because we’re giving our fans hours of additional gameplay outside Prototype 2’s main narrative, and cool rewards – all delivered weekly following the game’s launch!”

That’s some pretty good incentive to me. Pick up your copy of the game when it releases on April 24 and try to be one of the lucky ones.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Mass Effect 3 voice cast announced

Posted on January 31, 2012 by Nicole Kline

As if fans weren’t already excited enough, BioWare announced the all-star voice cast they’re using for Mass Effect 3.

Of course, Mark Meer and Jennifer Hale return as Shepard and FemShep, respectively, and Martin Sheen will reprise his role as the Illusive Man. Other celebrities returning are Keith David as Captain Anderson, Lance Henriksen as Admiral Steven Hackett, Tricia Helfer as the Normandy’s A.I., Ali Hillis as Dr. Liara T’Soni, Seth Green as Joker, Carrie-Anne Moss as Aria T’Loak, and Yvonne Strahovski as Miranda.

But there will be some new voices as well, most notably Freddie Prinze, Jr. as one of Shepard’s allies, James Vega, and Jessica Chobot as news reporter Diana Allers. Prinze, Jr. even had an opinion about video games: “I have always loved science fiction and I have always loved games and Mass Effect is really the first time both come together successfully. It is a completely immersive game where you really feel like you’re part of this journey inside this universe. It will make you think, you will care about the character you are playing, and you will care about the characters that you bring into battle with you.”

Wow. Really? The first successful science fiction video game? I think some would balk at that.

Mass Effect 3 will be out on March 6.

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

PSN Today: Madden NFL 12 full game; Twisted Metal, Syndicate demos

Posted on January 31, 2012 by John Scalzo

It’s demo day on the PlayStation Network as a multiplayer demo for David Jaffe’s Twisted Metal reboot and a co-op demo for Starbreeze’s Syndicate reboot are now available on the PlayStation Store.

In addition to these gaming appetizers, Sony will be adding six new games to the store as a main course. Most of them are reheated leftovers (Madden NFL 12, the Kane & Lynch games), but there’s definitely a full spread of genres available.

Hit the jump for more details on all of this week’s releases and hit up the PlayStation Blog for a complete look at this week’s new game add-ons. (more…)

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