Most Recent: News

Presidents of the United States of America catch ’em all

Posted on March 8, 2011 by John Scalzo

They sat in a boggy marsh with lump, they crushed a peach in their fist and they performed a duet with Sir Mix-A-Lot. But do you believe that The Presidents of the United States of America can also catch ’em all?

The 90s alt-rock gods (in my mind at least) performed their Pokemon tribute song “Can’t Stop (Catchin’ ‘Em All)” at the Pokemon Black and White launch party this weekend in New York City. If you couldn’t make it down to the Nintendo World Store, don’t worry, we’ve got the song right here:

This is definitely one group of Presidents that I’d never want to impeach.

Posted in DS, Etcetera, News | Tagged

Microsoft begins work on next Xbox

Posted on March 7, 2011 by John Scalzo

That’s right, “begins work,” which likely means the next Xbox is not going to be released anytime soon.

Microsoft has posted multiple job openings on LinkedIn to fill several positions in their Xbox division. These jobs have titles like Hardware Verification Engineer and VLSI Graphics Architect, which may not mean much to someone who’s not a hardware developer, but the job listings include a few tell-tale signs that Microsoft has started working on the Xbox 720 (emphasis added):

Come join a dynamic engineering team and play a key role in the development and verification of the Xbox and future platforms.

[The Xbox Console Architecture team] is responsible for defining and delivering next generation console architectures from conception through implementation.

While it’s possible Microsoft has been working on the third Xbox in secret all this time, it’s not very likely. So don’t expect a big, splashy reveal at this year’s E3 and I wouldn’t hold my breath for one in 2012 either.

Posted in News, Xbox One |

PSN Gamers Choice winners announced

Posted on March 7, 2011 by John Scalzo

The votes have been tallied and the winners of the first annual PlayStation Network Gamers’ Choice Awards have been announced:

Even though it appeared on the PSN a year after its Xbox Live Arcade debut, Castle Crashers took the award for Best PS3 Downloadable Game.

A lot of games let you kill zombies, but Dead Nation is the only zombie game awesome enough to be honored as the Best PlayStation Network Exclusive Game.

And speaking of zombies, Age of Zombies was chosen as the Best PSP Mini.

Finally, Kratos and God of War: Ghost of Sparta stand tall as the Best PSP Downloadable Game.

The PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards are more than just a chance to let gamers vote on their favorite PS3/PSP games of 2010. Sony plans to discount all four of these titles for a week beginning tomorrow. As part of the PSN’s Spring Fever event, each game will be 50% for PlayStation Plus subscribers and 30% off for all other users.

We’ll have more on the rest of the Spring Fever discounts tomorrow.

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged , ,

Daily Scoop: March 7, 2011 – Skillshots FTW

Posted on March 7, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Bad news: it’s Monday again. Good news: Amazon has an awesome Deal of the Day in video games today, which is Bulletstorm. EA’s controversial, nut-shot-oriented FPS is just $39.99 today on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 and $39.95 on PC. Considering the game is less than two weeks old, I’d say a $20 discount is a pretty good deal. If I didn’t already have a massive backlog, I might consider buying it myself! It also seems to be a lot like a rip-off of Borderlands, which I’ve already spent over 50 hours in, so I could instead spend that money on DLC and extend that experience. Decisions, decisions…

The only other thing I have to report on is that today’s Qwertee shirt is too cute:

I wonder what he’s playing?

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Hackers beware! CoD: Modern Warfare 2 getting patched

Posted on March 7, 2011 by John Scalzo

Hackers beware, your days of hacking Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to shreds on the PS3 are numbered. Robert Bowling, Infinity Ward’s Community Manager, has revealed on the company’s official forum that a “title update [that] will address security issues that have affected online play” will be made available to PS3 players worldwide on March 8. PC and Xbox 360 owners will also receive the patch, however a release date has not determined.

Keeping out the hackers isn’t the only purpose of this patch, according to Bowling it’ll also “address a small geo exploit on the map Fuel, which players exploited in order to get inside a rock on the outskirts of the map.”

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

Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D will include Master Quest

Posted on March 7, 2011 by John Scalzo

John D. Villarreal, the “Game God” of Conservative New Media, was at last week’s Game Developers Conference and got a chance to play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. During his playtime, the Nintendo representative that was standing guard over the 3DS revealed that the re-release will include both the original game and the Master Quest arrange mode.

The Master Quest was previously only available as a pre-order bonus included with The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker or as part of the Legend of Zelda: Collector’s Edition GameCube bundle, both of which will set you back quite a few rupees for a used copy today.

Posted in News | Tagged ,

Bomberman Hero, Heavy Fire: Black Arms added to Wii Shop

Posted on March 7, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s Monday and Nintendo has updated the Wii Shop Channel with two explosive games.

Blasting off first is Bomberman Hero, an N64 game that is now available on the Virtual Console. And blowing up on WiiWare is Heavy Fire: Black Arms, a light gun shooter from Teyon.

The three additions to the DSiWare service are a bit less combustible, but Gamebridge has released GO Series: Earth Saver, which is the closest thing to Armageddon The Game there’ll probably ever be. Other addition include the “platform racer” Jelly Car 2 and the swinging platformer G.G Series: Horizontal Bar.

More information on all of these games can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in News | Tagged ,

Battle: Los Angeles gets downloadable game

Posted on March 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

Few movies get turned into games nowadays, but Konami has decided to buck that trend and bring a game based on Battle: Los Angeles to the PC, PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this month. Developed by Saber Interactive, the game will be a first person shooter where players will “fight alongside characters from the film and defend the city of Los Angeles from attacks from unknown forces.”

While the game may be scaled down to fit inside a downloadable package, the action looks and sounds like anything but (just check out the trailer above):

Battle: Los Angeles is a high-end fast and frantic first-person shooter game that will take players through a single player campaign that mirrors the upcoming feature film. Players will assume the role of a Marine fighting against a worldwide alien invasion that has the city of Los Angeles as the major battleground and focal point for the game. Players will battle unique and varied enemies, using an arsenal of weapons throughout the game like an assault rifle, sniper rifle, rocket launcher, frag grenades, and a turret gun as they navigate the streets of Los Angeles avoiding fierce and relentless attacks. Aside from high-caliber fire fighting combat, destructible environments have been included using the Havok Destruction Module, which will allow players to destroy scaffolding structures, vehicles and overpasses to eliminate enemy forces. With unlockable content, trophy support, and 5.1 surround sound, Battle: Los Angeles will pull players deep into the heart of the battle to save mankind.

Battle: Los Angeles opens in theaters on March 11.

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