Most Recent: Articles

Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2 lands on XBLA; new trailer released

Posted on February 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

Nathan “Rad” Spencer is back for another battle against another evil dictator in Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2. The sequel is now available on the Xbox Live Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).

If you’re away from your Xbox 360 and want a look at how the bionic arm works this time, you can check out the game’s launch trailer above.

Oh, and Bionic Commando: Rearmed 2 is available on the PlayStation Network too.

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EA working on “exciting” new FPS

Posted on February 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

Electronic Arts held their quarterly financial briefing yesterday and their CEO, John Riccitiello, revealed a small slice of the publisher’s 2011/2012 plans. Riccitiello has vowed to return EA to the top of the heap when it comes to first person shooters and he revealed that the company has a secret shooter in the works:

“This year, with the trail end of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 still doing well, Medal of Honor doing well, Crysis and Bulletstorm, we’re clearly going to make more progress on our goal, and that’s before we get to what I think is going to be a very exciting entry later in the year that we’re not yet announcing.”

The briefing also revealed that EA has three games planned for the 3DS launch window (The Sims 3, Madden NFL Football and FIFA Soccer) with a plan to release two of three alongside the 3DS hardware on March 27. This is our first confirmation of any 3DS launch day titles, even if it is still a bit of a guessing game.

Finally, EA used the briefing to gloat a bit. They announced that five of their 2010 releases, FIFA 11, Medal of Honor, Madden NFL 11, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit and Battlefield: Bad Company 2, have all sold more than five million copies apiece. And even though it’s only been available for a week, EA also announced that Dead Space 2 has already sold two million copies, nearly doubling the sales figures of the first game.

Posted in 3DS, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 |

Namco Bandai to publish Dark Souls, Armored Core V in America

Posted on February 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

Namco Bandai is teaming up with From Software to bring two of the developer’s most anticipated titles to North America. The Ridge Racer publisher has signed on to release Dark Souls in 2011 and Armored Core V in 2012.

Armored Core V is still over a year away, but From Software is promising that it will revolutionize the series with a stronger emphasis on tactics and geography that straight up shooting. The online multiplayer mode will also receive a facelift with team play and “huge battles on a global scale.”

Darks Souls is the spiritual sequel to From Software’s sleeper hit from 2009, Demon’s Souls. Like it’s predecessor, it’ll be an action RPG “set in a rich, dark fantasy universe.” But unlike it’s predecessor, it’ll be available for both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. You can check out the game’s first trailer after the break. (more…)

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Daily Scoop: February 2, 2011 – I love t-shirts

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Nicole Kline

It’s no secret that I have a pretty serious t-shirt addiction. I had a lot of t-shirts before my first PAX, and now, four PAXes later, I’ve got another 50 – and that’s just the free ones. E3 wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I still got a handful of shirts there, too. No matter what the vessel, this addiction has been getting fed pretty regularly.

Anyway, writing this Daily Scoop has done nothing to curb it – if anything, it’s made it horribly difficult to stop myself from buying these shirts every day. This one from Tee Fury is certainly not helping:

I mean, really. Just look at that. I feel like some days, these daily t-shirt sites are singing songs to me, asking me to show them what love is.

That’s all for now. Oh wait, it’s not. Go read my review of Dead Space 2!

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Dead Space 2 Review: Eviscerates the Hype With a Frighteningly Good Game

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Nicole Kline

EA’s Visceral Games got the attention of the gaming community back in 2008 with the original Dead Space. The universe has since expanded, spawning comics, novels, animated movies, and a Wii rail shooter. Dead Space 2 is a superior game to the first one, but not at the expense of it. The original is excellent, but the second took every aspect of the first game and made it better, from the character development to the navigation in zero gravity. Even the story and characters have a depth the first did not and, to make matters even better, now there’s multiplayer, bringing Necromorphs to life in unimaginable ways. Isaac Clarke is back, and – despite a little issue of not remembering what happened in the last three years since the first game ended – he’s tougher than ever. The sequel has better graphics, better guns, and better mechanics – but does it live up to the hype that’s been building up around the series for more than two years? (more…)

Posted in PC, PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Demo for Yakuza 4 coming to PlayStation Store

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Sega’s European and American divisions announced today that the latest entry in Japan’s answer to Grand Theft Auto, Yakuza 4, will have a downloadable demo coming to the PlayStation Store. The demo will come early for PlayStation Plus subscribers on February 16, 2011, and a week later for all PSN users on February 23. One unique aspect Yakuza 4 brought to the series was the inclusion of four playable characters, and you’ll be able to try out all of them when the demo hits.

Yakuza 3 and 4 on the PlayStation 3 were those kind of rare gems from the East no one really expected to eventually make their way to American shores. These games coming over is proof that Sega still does a few things incredibly right.

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New Batman: Arkham City screenshots give bad guys something to lose sleep over

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

I am totally ready to mess up those dudes to the left. A few new screenshots have leaked for Batman: Arkham City coming sometime in the fourth quarter of 2011. In addition to the quick glimpse into predator mode to the left, they also show Bruce stalking a helicopter, Harley looking hot as ever, and Two Face doing his (or, um, “their”) best Uncle Sam impression. Hit the gallery below for the pics in their full size. (more…)

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New Tactics Ogre video brings the love you’ve been missing

Posted on February 2, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Before the team formerly known as Quest made Final Fantasy Tactics, before they even needed the “formerly” in their name, a group of dedicated Japanese RPG developers churned out the masterpiece known as Tactics Ogre. The game focuses on the nation of Valeria, and the Liberation Army’s struggle to bring freedom to an oppressed people. A big part of the game’s attraction, apart from being an entry in the awesome Ogre Battle series, is that it is the spiritual predecessor to Final Fantasy Tactics, with a similar art style, combat system, and interface. After releasing only in Japan on the Super Famicom and Sega Saturn, a limited North American release for the PlayStation, and no fan translation in sight, many RPG fanatics gave up on playing this game. But finally, the game will see an all-new re-imagining and it’s coming later this month.

The trailer shows a few animated scenes from the game, some in a normal animation style, others in a kind of story book mode. The iconic artwork of Akihido Yoshida is brought to life by the trademark sounds of Hitoshi Sakimoto, who went on to work on the newest big player in the Strategy RPG sub-genre, Valkyria Chronicles. If you’re even remotely a fan of RPG’s, Final Fantasy, or just own a PSP, this is a spectacle you don’t want to miss. Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together will release for the PlayStation Portable on February 15, 2011.

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