Most Recent: News

Mortal Kombat DLC priced; Kombat Pass announced

Posted on June 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

The good news: NetherRealm Studios plans to support Mortal Kombat with at least four downloadable characters.

The bad news: Each character will cost $4.99 (or 400 Microsoft Points).

Yup, publisher WB Games plans to perform a Fatality on your wallet with the DLC pricing for Mortal Kombat. But the company is offering a slight break to Xbox 360 owners in the form of the Kombat Pass. The pass offers players a $5 discount to download all four characters (Skarlet, Rain, Kenshi and “an unannounced new entrant”) for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).

If you choose not to download the new characters (and I don’t blame you), NetherRealm will be releasing free compatibility packs to ensure the new characters play nice with the current characters in online play. These compatibility packs will also include two free Klassic skins, such as the Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3-inspired Cyrax and Sektor skins found in the first pack.

Skarlet will be available to download on June 21 with Rain, Kenshi and the “unannounced new entrant” (which totally sounds like a new character to us) will be available later this Summer.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

BioWare bringing Mass Effect 3’s “FemShep” to the masses

Posted on June 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

When promoting the Mass Effect trilogy, BioWare has never strayed far from the default look for the game’s protagonist, Commander Shepard. And that default has always been the male default, meaning players who like to play as “FemShep” never got a chance to see her in action in the game’s many trailers. According to David Silverman, Director of Marketing at BioWare, that’s all about to change for Mass Effect 3.

In a series of recent tweets, Silverman has confirmed that a trailer starring a female Shepard is in the works. “FemShep” will even get a chance to be a cover girl as the Mass Effect 3 Collector’s Edition will feature both versions of Shepard on the box.

Here’s what Silverman had to say about the future of “FemShep”:

there will be a #FemShep trailer. We actually had a meeting on her yesterday. We are working on the look now.
– June 14

the CE of #ME3 has both #FemShep and male Shepard on the box.
– June 12

Mass Effect 3 will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on March 6, 2012.

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

Daily Scoop: June 17, 2011 – Yay comics!

Posted on June 17, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Yay! It’s here! In an hour I’ll be at the Wizard World Comic Con, drinking in all the sights I’ve grown to love over the years. If you hear I’ve been arrested, it’s most likely because I’ve finally confessed my undying love to Bruce Campbell… or I caught sight of Brian Herbert and tackled him and chastised him on his horrible writing. Either way, send me letters in jail!

Not much in the way of deals, I’m afraid. Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games is Hori’s HD LCD Monitor 3 for the PlayStation 3. It looks nice and sharp, but even at the sale price of $189.99, it’s still pretty expensive.

No video game shirts today, but I’m a sucker for this origami dinosaur shirt that’s today’s Qwertee:

It’s dino-tastic!

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Complete list of all Redbox games; nationwide rentals begin today

Posted on June 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

The time has arrived, video game rentals are now available at Redbox machines across the country. Beginning today, gamers will be able to rent a variety of PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 titles for $2 a day. After 30 days (and $60 in total rental fees), the game will be yours to keep.

Users can visit Redbox.com/games to browse a list of games available at their local kiosks as well as reserve a game for pickup right from the website. The initial inventory includes 38 different titles which run the gamut from family friendly shovelware to the latest hardcore games, such as Duke Nukem Forever, Infamous 2 and Red Faction: Armageddon. Multi-disc games will not be available at Redbox kiosks, so the PS3 version of L.A. Noire made the cut while the Xbox 360 version did not.

You can view the complete list of games available to rent from Redbox after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 |

Sega exec hints at HD Sonic on Wii U

Posted on June 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

A week ago, Sega’s Executive Vice President of Marketing told GameSpot that Sonic Generations wouldn’t be coming to the Wii U. This was surely disappointing news for many Sonic fans.

Thankfully, Mike Hayes, the President of Sega West has some good news to balance it out. Talking to GamesIndustry.biz, he revealed that the company plans to bring a high definition Sonic game to the Wii U, possibly in time for the system’s launch:

“That controller is absolutely brilliant and we have to think of innovative ways to use it. We’re doing high definition Sonics, we’re doing obviously Aliens: Colonial Marines, so you can bring them across, and that’s relatively low cost, which is good news.”

So it’s not Sonic Generations, but it’s HD and it’ll be ready for release in about a year… maybe. Figuring out what’s going on with the Wii U is hard.

Posted in News, Wii U |

Daily Scoop: June 16, 2011 – Wizard World Comic Con!

Posted on June 16, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Tomorrow begins one of my favorite weekends of the year – Philadelphia’s Wizard World Comic Con! I’ve been attending it for 10 years now, and it’s a blast. This year they’ll have Bruce Campbell, Sean Patrick Flannery, Norman Reedus, and Adam Baldwin, along with a slew of other actors, comic book creators, and people dressed up in crazy costumes. If you’re in the area, come over to the convention center and check out all the fun!

The deals today are slim – Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games is Namco’s Active Life: Explorer With Mat for the Wii. It’s $23.99 down from $29.99 and describes the mat itself as a “specially-designed mat is bundled with the game so you can jump straight into the action.” OOH. FUN.

In other news, Ript‘s “Kent” is absolutely amazing:

Wow. Give me the Batman version of that and I’m all over it.

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Activision unveils Annihilation map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops

Posted on June 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

Confirming everything from yesterday’s leak, Activision has announced that the third map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops will be available to download from the Xbox Live Marketplace on June 28. As always, the pack will be priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).

The CoD: Black Ops Annihilation Map Pack will consist of four multiplayer maps (Hangar 18, Drive-In, Silo and Hazard) and a new “Zombies experience” known as Shangri-La.

“Shangri-La [is] an exotic and mysterious map filled with deadly traps, dark secrets and innovative gameplay that will challenge even the most daring zombie hunters,” said Treyarch Studio Head, Mark Lamia.

If you plan on picking up the map pack, you might also want to know Activision plans to pair it with a Double XP Weekend beginning Friday, July 1.

The Annihilation Map Pack will also be released for the PC and PS3 at a later date.

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

Nintendo Download: Donkey Kong ’94, Mega Man V

Posted on June 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

Nintendo has pushed out the first Thursday update of their weekly Nintendo Download with another Game Boy re-release, a mega Virtual Console update and a bevy of DSiWare titles.

Donkey Kong was originally released on the Game Boy back in 1994 and was the first major sequel to the arcade classic. It’s available this week on the 3DS eShop. Also this week, the Wii’s Virtual Console continues its dash through the Mega Man catalog with the addition of Mega Man V.

Five other games were added to the various download services today and you can read more about them at Nintendo’s official site:

All DSiWare games are also available on the 3DS eShop.

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii |