Most Recent: News

Overstrike trailer strikes the right note

Posted on June 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

The 2011 E3 Expo may officially be over, but there’s still plenty of news releases and trailers to report on. After years as a Sony second-party, Insomnaic Games has made the leap to multiplatform development with Overstrike. But while the franchise may be brand new, Insomniac believes it’ll be very familar to their fans:

Combining Insomniac’s knack for imaginative weaponry with immersive and witty storytelling, Overstrike is a four-player cooperative action game featuring a team of elite agents called Overstrike 9. Comprised of an ex-mercenary, a lifelong thief, a gifted young scientist and a decorated detective, the members of Overstrike 9 are considered outcasts within their own organization, but are the best team suited to stop a global terrorist group from attempting to wipe out humankind. Overstrike 9 uses lethal teamwork and an arsenal of fringe-tech gadgets to infiltrate and destroy enemy strongholds.

“Overstrike presents a unique blend of features that have long been a part of the Insomniac DNA: high powered gadgets, action-heavy gameplay, memorable characters in a deep and mysterious universe and of course a touch of humor,” said Ted Price, founder and CEO of Insomniac Games. “And since this is our first multiplatform game, we’re especially excited to introduce ourselves to a new audience – one which may not have experienced our previous games.”

Overstrike is in development for the PS3 and Xbox 360 with an unknown release date.

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Assassin’s Creed: Revelations E3 trailer packs a punch (and a kick, swords, spears, etc.)

Posted on June 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Revelations promises to unite Altair and Ezio for the first time and this E3 trailer gives us a glimpse into how the two great assassins will meet. It is also in the running for “coolest three minutes of E3 2011.”

Assassin’s Creed: Revelations will be stores this November for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. Players who pre-order the game on the PS3 or Xbox 360 from GameStop will automatically be upgraded to the Signature Edition, which includes an exclusive single-player mission, a weapons capacity upgrade, an extra multiplayer character, an animated short film and an original game soundtrack.

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Wii U demo reel footage was from PC, PS3, Xbox 360

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Nintendo of America’s president, Reggie Fils-Aime, admitted in an interview to GameTrailers (full interview above) that the footage used in their demo reel was from the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 versions of those games. “We’re talking a year away from when the system’s going to launch,” Fils-Aime said as the reason for using the footage. The footage included Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier and Darksiders II, and other footage shown during the press conference included Battlefield 3 (which hasn’t been formally announced for the Wii U by anyone). The games looked fantastic… but they weren’t being run on Nintendo’s hardware.

I’m not entirely sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, Microsoft and Sony have bought been caught running games on other systems and showing the footage off as their own, but that still doesn’t make Nintendo’s subterfuge ok. On the other hand, this is a misleading and dishonest way to promote the new console, but at least Nintendo came right out and admitted it after the fact. The whole thing has left a bad taste in my mouth. Perhaps a reasonable price tag on the Wii U will get rid of that.

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Mario Kart 3DS trailer features high-flying fun

Posted on June 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Nintendo is bringing their biggest franchises to the 3DS in a big way and the new Mario Kart 3DS that debuted at this year’s E3 Expo promises several new ways to play the game.

Mario Kart 3DS adds gliders to every kart so Mario, Bowswer, Peach and all the rest can float after a big jump. Each kart is also equipped with a propellor allowing some races to take place underwater. Nintendo has given kart customization an overhaul as players will be able to choose a body and tires for their kart independent of their racer. Even something old is new again as coins are back for the first time since Mario Kart: Super Circuit.

Familiar tracks round out the Mario Kart 3DS with ghost houses, highways and desert tracks all visible. It also looks like we’ll be racing on an airship when the game ships to stores sometime this year.

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Final Fantasy XIII-2 E3 trailer shows off story, gameplay

Posted on June 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Square Enix has used the 2011 E3 Expo to give us a much deeper look at the next Final Fantasy game, Final Fantasy XIII-2. Releasing in early 2012 for the PS3 and Xbox 360, the game stars new character Noel Kreiss and Serah Farron, Lightning’s younger sister, in a search for Lightning after monsters attack their town.

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PlayStation Store brings you the “best” from E3

Posted on June 9, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

It’s nice to be having PlayStation Store updates again, and just in time for all the E3 updates. The E3 section has HD videos for stuff we’re all excited about at the expo, like Street Fighter x Tekken, Final Fantasy XIII-2, and, of course, the PlayStation Vita. There’s also a decent amount of E3 sales for games like Assassin’s Creed 2 and Warhawk. It may have something to do with a certain sequel in the works, but all of the Modern Warfare (1 & 2) map packs are about half off, so check them out if you haven’t already.

As far as new games, there’s New Adventure Island and Soldier Blade for both PS3 and PSP at a friendly $5.99 price point, and episode four of Telltale’s Back to the Future: The Game has just dropped. While it’s not a full game, a demo for El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron is out, and I strongly urge you to play it right now.

That’s about it aside from the usual suspects, although there are a couple dynamic L.A. Noire themes that I’m sure are super fancy. You can find the full update list here.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP |

Wii U online to include unique usernames; Friend Codes are dead

Posted on June 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Speaking to Ubisoft producer Adrian Blunt, the MTV Multiplayer blog has confirmed that the Wii U’s online network will launch with the ability to create unique usernames, very similar to PSN or Xbox Live handles:

“The first is the ability for individuals to make accounts. Rather than a machine having an account, each individual user has an account.”

[MTV Multiplayer asked]: “Equivalent to a gamertag on Xbox Live?”

“Yeah, exactly,” he said.

Blunt would go on to say that Friend Codes are a thing of the past and that the complicated codes will no longer be needed to find your friends on the Nintendo network. Instead, a unified Friend List will take its place:

“Also the ability to easily find friends. Rather than using friend codes, which we’ve had in the past, we’re able to connect players in a much easier way, which allows us to have a community that’s playing together in the game.”

HD graphics, no more Friend Codes, third party support… Nintendo may challenge Sony and Microsoft’s dominance for hardcore gamers yet.

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Dante levels a church in new DMC trailer

Posted on June 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Capcom is keeping pretty quiet on their Devil May Cry reboot/prequel DMC: Devil May Cry. The game, which stars a young (and dark-haired) Dante, is in development for the PS3 and Xbox 360 at Ninja Theory. And aside from the new trailer above, the game has mostly been pushed to the back of Capcom’s E3 2011 slate.

Although I guess now we Dante can change to his “classic” hairstyle during battle.

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