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Final Fantasy Versus XIII stays PS3 exclusive in seven glorious minutes

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

UPDATE: Square Enix has pulled the trailer from YouTube. The publisher has promised to post an official version on January 27, which you can see right here.

Many gamers in RPG circles have been calling Final Fantasy Versus XIII “our last hope.” We’re banking it all on this game, that it’ll be what Final Fantasy XIII should’ve been: the mind-blowing cinematic JRPG that defines a generation. I really don’t want to jinx this, but it’s looking like Versus XIII will be that game. In this trailer revealed at the Square Enix 1st Production Department Premier (I love typing that), Tetsuya Nomura and crew lay it all on the line, showing exploration, combat, and beautifully-rendered cut scenes that look substantially better than the original trailer from 2006. It seems to be a real-time action RPG; the combat plays like a third person shooter when controlling party members with guns; you can get into turrets and even mechs to fight enemies; players will fight hordes of monsters at a time in massive, open environments; and Noctis can be seen fighting enemies on platforms flying through a city as terrifying velocities. This last scene seems to corroborate that there will be a lot of interactive set pieces to get the blood pumping – another scene shows the protagonist running from a Behemoth vomiting fireballs apparently in-game, and the windows crash in suddenly at a party, catching everyone off guard.

The end also confirms that the game will still be PlayStation 3 exclusive, and it shows from just how stunning the graphics are in the cutscenes. The only tragedy in this whole matter is that no release date has been pinned down. Many of the aspects of the game appear to be finalized, though, so hopefully we can get our hands on it soon.

Posted in News | Tagged ,

Square Enix reveals all at 1st Production Department Premier

Posted on January 18, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

I’m not sure who came up with the name for this event, but Square Enix is delivering the goods on their biggest titles today at their 1st Production Department Premier event. Happening this morning (or night) in Tokyo, the event has come with goodies like an incredible new Final Fantasy Versus XIII trailer, and the announcement of, yep, Final Fantasy XIII-2 (which is coming to the PS3 and Xbox 360). Japanese game blog Andriasang liveblogged the event and has all the details on those games as well as Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance and Final Fantasy Type-0 (the PSP game formerly known as Final Fantasy Agito XIII).

This is going to be a powerhouse news day for fans of JRPGs and Japanese games in general, so be sure to stay tuned.

Posted in 3DS, News, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

Daily Scoop: January 18, 2011 – Amazon All Games Gold Box Day

Posted on January 18, 2011 by John Scalzo

Today’s the day you’ve been waiting for, as the Amazon All Video Games Gold Box Event has begun!

First things first, the all-day Amazon Deal of the Day is Epic Mickey. The Wii platformer has been priced at $29.99, a 40% discount off of its regular $49.99 price. And Amazon is also offering a “Buy 2, Get 1 Free” promotion on almost 400 games spread across the PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PSP, DS and PS2.

For the rest of the event, Amazon has 12 limited-time deals planned to go live throughout the day. The clues make some of the titles (or audio accessories) pretty obvious, so here they are (along with our guess and their start times):

  • 9:00 AM (Eastern)/6:00 AM (Pacific): Play as Darth Vader’s fugitive apprentice. (Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II)
  • 11:00 AM (Eastern)/8:00 AM (Pacific): Amplified Stereo Headset with Chat
  • 12:00 PM (Eastern)/9:00 AM (Pacific): Red Dead Redemption’s DLC bundled pack. (Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare
  • 2:00 PM (Eastern)/11:00 AM (Pacific): TB headset for PS3
  • 3:00 PM (Eastern)/12:00 PM (Pacific): The latest installment of an epic sports franchise.
  • 5:00 PM (Eastern)/2:00 PM (Pacific): High-fidelity 5.1-/7.1-channel Dolby Digital surround sound for PS3.
  • 7:00 PM (Eastern)/4:00 PM (Pacific): Fierce ninja action comes to the PS3 and Xbox 360. (Ninja Gaiden II… maybe)
  • 8:00 PM (Eastern)/5:00 PM (Pacific): Game Audio + Xbox Live Chat
  • 9:00 PM (Eastern)/6:00 PM (Pacific): A very complete GTA IV (Grand Theft Auto: Complete Edition)
  • 10:00 PM (Eastern)/7:00 PM (Pacific): Transform your stereo headset into surround sound.
  • 11:00 PM (Eastern)/8:00 PM (Pacific): Are you afraid of the dark? (Alan Wake)
  • 12:00 AM (Eastern)/9:00 PM (Pacific): Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound for X360.

The rest of the Daily Scoop will be dished out later this morning by Nicole Kline, Warp Zoned’s scoopmaster.

Posted in Daily Scoop |

CoD: Black Ops First Strike trailer strikes online

Posted on January 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision and developer Treyarch have released the first trailer for First Strike, the first downloadable map pack for Call of Duty: Black Ops. The pack will be available to download from Xbox Live on February 1 for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) with a PC and PS3 release coming later (the Modern Warfare 2 maps typically took five to six weeks to reach the PC/PS3).

Treyarch used this DLC pack to respond to some fan complaints, citing more verticality and more sniper opportunities in the five maps:

Kowloon: Inspired by the Kowloon level from the single-player campaign. Features zip lines to quickly get from point A to point B.

Discovery: An Antarctic research station divided by a deep chasm.

Berlin Wall: The largest map, set in and around Checkpoint Charlie on both sides of Germany.

Stadium: Set inside a hockey arena in the US, the map features close quarters fighting and gives off strong vibes of Lake Placid and the Olympic battle for Cold War supremacy that was fought there (“Do you believe in miracles? YES!”).

Ascension: First Strike’s Zombie Mode map was sadly absent from this trailer.

Posted in News | Tagged , , ,

Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II Review: Starkiller Strikes Back in a By-the-Numbers Sequel

Posted on January 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

When it was released back in 2008, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed was met with stinging jabs from the critical community. Some of the game’s oft-mentioned flaws included repetitive combat, a poor camera, lame boss fights and a nearly broken targeting system. I did not share my compatriot’s problems with the game and actually found The Force Unleashed to be one of the better action-adventures of 2008.

But here we go again with Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II. (more…)

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

This Week: EA’s massive 50% off XBLM sale

Posted on January 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

Electronic Arts has launched their massive Xbox Live Marketplace sale, which runs from today through next Monday, January 24. Gamers will be able to get 50% off on the following Xbox Live Arcade games and Game Add-Ons, including the recently released MicroBot:

Xbox Live Arcade Games

  • Battlefield 1943
  • DeathSpank
  • DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue
  • Hasbro Family Game Night: Battleship
  • Hasbro Family Game Night: Boggle
  • Hasbro Family Game Night: Scrabble
  • Madden NFL Arcade
  • MicroBot
  • NHL 3 on 3 Arcade
  • Risk: Factions

Game Add-Ons

  • Dragon Age: Origins – Awakening
  • Dragon Age: Origins – The Darkspawn Chronicles
  • Dragon Age: Origins – The Golems of Amgarrak
  • Dragon Age: Origins – Leliana’s Song
  • Dragon Age: Origins – Witch Hunt
  • Medal of Honor – Hot Zone Pack
  • FIFA 11 – Live Season All Leagues
  • Fight Night Round 4 – Champions Pack II
  • Madden NFL 11 Max Pack
  • NCAA Football 11 – NCAA Power Pack
  • NHL 11 – 20th Anniversary Bauer Boost Pack
  • Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 – Favorites Course Pack
Posted in News, Xbox 360 |

EA wants to know if “Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2” in contest

Posted on January 17, 2011 by John Scalzo

With Dead Space 2 just a little over a week away, EA has launched a new contest on the Dead Space YouTube channel that seeks to find out if “Your Mom Hates Dead Space 2.”

Gamers are encouraged to show their moms a few scenes from Dead Space 2 and take pictures of the results. They must then tweet these pictures on Twitter with the hashtag #mymomhatesdeadspace2. The best reactions will be chosen by EA and win some sweet Dead Space 2-themed prizes (including a PS3 adorned with Isaac Clarke’s face).

EA has an entire playlist full of reactions already posted on YouTube, you’ll definitely want to check it out. Your mom might not.

Posted in News | Tagged , , ,

Daily Scoop: January 17, 2011 – Amazon Deals Edition

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Nicole Kline

It’s all about Amazon Deals in today’s Daily Scoop. First up, they’ve got up to 40% off Disney games. The pickings are pretty slim, unless you’re like me and you love Disney: Sing It games. They are super fun!

Next up is the Amazon Deal of the Day in video games, which is the DJ Hero 2 Party Bundle. Originally priced at $129.99, you can get it today for 23% off at $99.99.

But the REAL deals will be starting at midnight (Pacific Time) tonight, when Amazon goes live with another All Video Games Gold Box Event. All day tomorrow – that’s Tuesday, January 18th – the Gold Box deals will be nothing but video games. The link goes to a bunch of electronics deals right now, but we’ll bring you more information on all of tomorrow’s game deals as soon as we have it.

To round this out with something cute, check out today’s shirt.w00t – I know our editor, John Scalzo, will get a kick out of it.

“Freeze, rebel scum! Drop those plans immediately or OOPS! Hold your wamp rats, TK-80085. Don’t want to cross against the light now, do we?”

Posted in Daily Scoop |