Most Recent: News

Sega teases new Sonic for 2011

Posted on April 7, 2011 by John Scalzo

Sonic the Hedgehog’s home on Facebook has unveiled the first teaser trailer for the blue blur’s next game (currently untitled, but possibly known as Sonic Generations, which Sega just registered a domain for).

The trailer starts off innocently enough with Sonic dashing his way through tunnels, bridges and loop-the-loops… but then it gets weird when Sonic splits in two. One seems to represent the new, sleek Sonic while the other more closely resembles Sonic in his Genesis days. Does this mean there’s some kind of time travel operation going on in South Island?

Whatever’s going on, Sega has promised that the game will be released sometime in 2011 on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

XBLA Today: Dishwasher Vampire Smile, Red Faction Battlegrounds

Posted on April 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

Microsoft has performed their weekly update of the Xbox Live Arcade and added two new titles to the download service today.

The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is the latest stylish side-scroller from Ska Studios. Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), it tells the continuing tale of Yuki’s bloody quest for revenge.

Also available this week, and also available for 800 Microsoft Points, is THQ’s Red Faction: Battlegrounds. The vehicular combat game features four-player modes and rewards players with Red Faction: Armageddon unlockables (which releases on May 31).

Danny Bilson, THQ’s Executive Vice President of Core Games said, “This explosive arcade game is a throwback to top-down, four-player racers of the past, yet with story tie-ins and unlockable weaponry that you will experience in our most futuristic game, Red Faction: Armageddon. Great on their own, playing either will make the other that much more enjoyable – exactly what we want from our transmedia projects.”

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

EA sued over Madden, NCAA exclusivity deals

Posted on April 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

Ready your favorite frivolous lawsuit jokes, because Hagens Berman Sobol Shapiro and The Paynter Law Firm have filed a joint class-action lawsuit against Electronic Arts claiming the publisher has an illegal monopoly on NFL, NCAA and Arena Football games.

According to a statement from the plaintiffs in the case of Pecover vs Electronic Arts, EA signed exclusive licenses with the National Football League (NFL), National Football League Players’ Association (NFLPA), National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), and Arena Football League (AFL), thereby “[foreclosing] competition in an alleged football video game market” and “overcharging” for the games relating to these licenses.

When you put it that way, the lawsuit is really an awesome display of idiocy and misunderstanding of the video game market. First of all, whether or not you think EA Sports’ games are overpriced, they carry an industry standard $60 pricetag. So the “overcharging” complaint is just stupid. Secondly, the NFL approached EA with the proposal for an exclusivity deal. EA didn’t strongarm the license out of anybody, it was freely sold to them.

And Anybody that’s visited a game store in the last 30 years will know that these kinds of deals are fairly standard in the industry. For example, Activision holds the license to make games based on Spider-Man while Sega holds a similar license to make games based on Captain America. Overturning EA’s NFL exclusivity contract would basically render all of these licensing agreements void.

If the plaintiffs somehow win the day, anyone who purchased a Madden NFL, NCAA Football, or Arena Football game after January 1, 2005 will be considered a part of the class and will share in the judgment.

More information about the lawsuit can be found at EASportsLitigation.com.

Posted in News |

Daily Scoop – April 6, 2011: I <3 my PSP edition

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Thank goodness I’ve been inundated with PSP games lately. Hackers are trying to destroy the PlayStation Network, and the 3DS is making people sick (no, not like, disgusted sick. Like sick sick!). Luckily, my trusty PSP 1000, though over five years old, is still rockin’ it. And Gods Eater Burst is completely amazing.

Anywho, today’s Amazon Deal of the Day in video games is SEGA’s Yakuza 4 for the PS3. Jump on this, kids – it’s only $39.99 from $59.95. This is an awesome deal for a game that hasn’t even been released a month yet here in the states. There’s a lot of great stuff in this game, including much of what you’d like to see in “Tokyo’s adult nightlife…including hostess bars, karaoke pickup bars, massage parlors, and pachinko palaces.” Sounds awesome to me!

Nothing to report on the t-shirt end, unless you want to see my favorite shirt today, courtesy of shirt.w00t:

I need to wear this every day to work. When I try to explain these shortcuts to people, they look at me like I am some kind of wizard. Perhaps I could wear this shirt with my robe and wizard hat?

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

War rages on next week in Killzone 3 Steel Rain DLC

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

The PSN may be under attack, but that’s not stopping Sony and Guerilla Games from releasing the next batch of Killzone 3 map packs with the Steel Rain add-on DLC. The pack will include Junkyard, a Guerilla Warfare (Team Deathmatch) locale set in the MAWL Graveyard, but in the rain with jetpacks and EXO mechs. Stahl Arms takes place in, you guessed it, the epicenter of Helghan’s military industrial complex and will be playable in Warzone. You can grab them for $4.99 when the PlayStation Store updates next Tuesday April 12.

There’s only one problem. The day-one DLC, Reclaimed Territory, maps are not in the playlist rotation and if you land in a game with either map, you can’t vote to change the setting next game. Hopefully this issue will be resolved come next week.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

Dragon Quest X details to emerge later this year

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Hardcore RPG fans! The reason to steal your girlfriend’s buy a Wii is finally upon us! In the latest issue of Nintendo Power, Yuji Horii, creator and scenario writer of the Dragon Quest series, confirmed that the latest iteration, Dragon Quest X, will be ready for the masses soon. Horii stated, “all we can say is that development is going well and we’re on the last parts of the game. We can’t really share much else at this point, but by the end of this year we should be able to announce something regarding it.”

The last home console version of the game, Dragon Quest VIII, was one of the best RPG’s of the last decade, and potentially of all time. I can’t wait to see how Level-5 and the DQ trio (Yuji Horii, Koichi Sugiyama, and Akira Toriyama) work their magic on Nintendo’s system.

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British tabloid conducts study as part of 3DS smear campaign

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Don’t you just love how the guy to the left is holding a 3DS in the picture? As if his brain has been so disrupted from playing Steel Diver, that he has no idea a doctor is even examining him? I think that’s what British tabloid The Sun is going for.

Their latest article claiming that the 3DS has been causing widespread disorientation and sickness conducted a study where the participant played the handheld for two hours taking the recommended ten minute break every half hour. The doctor found that the subject was experiencing a headache, nausea, and high blood pressure. I assume that when you combine all three of those things you get the stupefying look in the above picture.

I haven’t had an extended session with the 3DS yet, and while it can be a little weird to adapt to, I don’t feel like it’ll cause any major problems. Anyone else experience issues playing on it?

Posted in 3DS, News |

Next EA Sports NBA sim coming in 2012

Posted on April 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

The cancellation of NBA Elite 11 left a big gaping hole in EA Sports’ release schedule last year. And now it looks like the simulation series will be skipping 2011 as well. In a statement released yesterday, EA Sports announced that their next NBA simulation title will launch in Fall 2012.

Interestingly enough, the NBA Elite title is never used in the statement, meaning that EA’s basketball series may receive yet another rebranding, even though a game bearing the NBA Elite name was never released.

“As planned, our next NBA simulation title is in development at our Tiburon Studio in Orlando,” said Peter Moore, President, EA Sports. “We have top talent on the game, and we’re giving the new development team time to deliver a superior experience. We’re making great strides and looking forward to launching a new game next year.”

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