Most Recent: PC

Telltale Games working on Law & Order: LA

Posted on April 19, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

In the video game industry, the best film and TV crossovers are developed by an elite team known as Telltale Games.

These are their stories.

That’s right. Hot off of Back to the Future: The Game and the incoming Jurassic Park: The Game, arguably the best studio for the job is handling NBC’s legendary crime and courtroom drama.

“Law & Order: LA fits very well with the style of episodic entertainment experiences Telltale has been building since our very first days,” said Dan Connors, CEO and co-founder of Telltale Games. “The talents and skills that we’ve been building at Telltale are ideally suited for the structure and storytelling approach of televised procedurals like ‘Law & Order.’”

Each episode will focus on criminal investigations with a strong focus on interrogation, as well as the tension that can flare up in the courtroom. According to Telltale, the first episode will debut sometime this year and will be available for PCs, Macs, consoles, mobiles, and tablets. You can visit the official site for more information at LawAndOrderLAGames.com.

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

Shift 2: Unleashed Review: Getting the NFS Out

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Adam Woolcott

It might be difficult to believe, but Need For Speed began as a racing sim. While the franchise might be known for high-speed police chases, loose physics, cheesy stories, and the immortal Razor Callahan, the original game (for the 3DO, no less) was a realistic take on driving a car at high speeds. While EA attempted to return NFS to its roots once before – 2007’s Need For Speed: Pro Street was something that could be described as a racing sim – 2009’s Need For Speed: Shift was the first time they’d really tackled the genre in such a forceful manner. The result was a game that couldn’t quite hang with Gran Turismo or Forza Motorsport, but managed to carve a niche that wasn’t really around – a realistic racer that wasn’t bogged down in endless menus and needless complexities. It was something to build upon, and with Shift 2: Unleashed, they’re doing just that. (more…)

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

New Releases: Portal 2, Mortal Kombat, SOCOM 4, More

Posted on April 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s finally here. All month long we’ve been building up to one of the biggest release weeks ever and it’s finally here.

Starting things off is Valve’s full-priced sequel to Portal, Portal 2. Coming to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360, the game will include co-op play for the first time and a greatly expanded single-player campaign.

Next up is a franchise that needs no introduction, Mortal Kombat is back. The reboot takes the series back to the birth of the MK saga and gives PS3 and Xbox 360 owners their latest 2D fighter fix. And speaking of long-running franchises, Sony and developer Zipper Interactive are finally bring SOCOM to the PS3 for real with SOCOM 4: US Navy SEALs.

Believe it or not, these three are just the beginning.

Sega is bringing High Voltage’s first person shooter Conduit 2 to the Wii. Square Enix is continuing to plug their huge franchises on the PSP with Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection. And Ubisoft is rewinding the clock to bring Prince of Persia Trilogy to the PS3 in stunning high definition.

Your wallet weeps. Check out the full list of the rest of this week’s new releases after the break. (more…)

Posted in DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , ,

Duke Nukem conquers comic books this July

Posted on April 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

Do you really need to drop a deuce and you’re all out of reading material? Well, Duke Nukem is coming to the rescue (even if you’re not a hot babe).

The star of Duke Nukem Forever will headline IDW Publishing’s newest comic book series, Duke Nukem: Glorious Bastard, starting in July. The series will be written by Tom Waltz (The A-Team: Shotgun Wedding) and IDW promises it’ll include “all the game’s trademark humor and over-the-top violence.”

It’s currently unknown if feces flinging will make it into the comic book as a representation of the game’s “trademark humor.”

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

Pokemon Black/White dominate sales chart

Posted on April 15, 2011 by John Scalzo

The NPD Group has revealed the list of bestselling games for March and the latest Pokemon game, Pokemon Black/White, has caught the top of the chart.

Pokemon White Version came out on top with Pokemon Black Version just behind it in the number two slot. According to Nintendo, both games combined to sell nearly 2.5 million copies (over 1.3 million for White and another 1.1 million for Black).

New releases were well represented among last months bestsellers with Homefront (#3) and Dragon Age II (#4) both taking up residence in the top five. The bottom half of the top ten was also almost completely made up of new releases including Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars (#6), Crysis 2 (#7), MLB 11: The Show (#9) and Fight Night Champion (#10).

Hit the jump for a complete look at the NPD Group’s top ten for March. (more…)

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , , , , , , , ,

World’s Biggest Pac-Man brings user-created mazes to your browser

Posted on April 14, 2011 by John Scalzo

Microsoft and Namco Bandai have teamed up with developer Soap Creative to bring The World’s Biggest Pac-Man to your Internet browser. Specifically designed for Microsoft’s Internet Explorer 9, the game will run in any HTML5-capable browser.

So how did The World’s Biggest Pac-Man become the biggest Pac-Man maze in the world? The game actually allows players to create mazes that can be attached to the title’s massive continuous maze. And each new maze is linked through the secret passageways that Pac-Man is famous for. The World’s Biggest Pac-Man has been live for a little over 24 hours and users have already created over 1,800 mazes.

“We are giving the world one of its favorite video games through the browser, in a fun and engaging way that truly showcases how developers can deliver a new class of web experiences by taking advantage of modern web standards and hardware acceleration,” Microsoft Australia “developer evangelist” Michael Kordahi said.

While the game is web-only for now, I would bet my last Power Pellet that a “best of” pack will make it’s way to the Xbox Live Arcade someday.

Posted in News, PC |

BlizzCon 2011 tickets go on sale in May

Posted on April 14, 2011 by John Scalzo

Blizzard’s annual BlizzCon show is always a big hit with gamers. And if you want to attend the 2011 edition of the company’s “celebration of the global communities surrounding Warcraft, Diablo, and StarCraft” you’ll have two chances to buy tickets.

The first batch of tickets will go on sale on Saturday, May 21 at 10 AM (Pacific Time) with another batch up for grabs on Wednesday, May 25 at 7 PM (Pacific Time). Tickets will be priced at $175 each and will only be available at the official BlizzCon website.

Blizzard fans looking for the complete BlizzCon experience will also have the chance to purchase tickets to the BlizzCon Benefit Dinner on Saturday, May 28 at 10 AM (Pacific Time). The $500 tickets will include admission to BlizzCon and the pre-show dinner, which takes place on Thursday, October 20. Proceeds from the dinner will benefit the Children’s Hospital of Orange County as guests get the “opportunity to rub elbows and trade war stories with Blizzard game developers and other employees before the show.”

If both of those options are out of your price range, then perhaps the BlizzCon Virtual Ticket (priced at $39.99) is for you. According to Blizzard, “the Virtual Ticket grants access to comprehensive live HD coverage from the show floor on each day of the convention, including exclusive interviews, demos, and more.” Ticketholders will be able to access all of the Virtual Ticket content through a multichannel Internet stream and also via Pay-Per-View on DirecTV. BlizzCon Virtual Ticket buyers will also receive this year’s BlizzCon-exclusive World of Warcraft and StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in-game items

BlizzCon 2011 will be held at the Anaheim Convention Center on October 21 and 22.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged ,

New Releases: Michael Jackson The Experience, Patapon 3, Rio, More

Posted on April 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Next week will be one of the biggest weeks for new releases this year, but that doesn’t mean publishers are taking this week off. Instead, they’ve put together quite possibly the oddest combination of games I’ve ever seen.

First up is the PS3 (with Move) and Xbox 360 (with Kinect) versions of Michael Jackson: The Experience. The King of Pop will be strutting through your living room with several new songs and a “Singing Mode.” If you need to feel the rhythm on the go, Sony will release the PSP rhythm game Patapon 3 this week as well.

Two big games for the kids will be in stores this week, a video game adaptation of the movie Rio (DS, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360) and the uDraw-powered SpongeBob SquigglePants (Wii).

Finally, we have two games that start with D and have been released for other platforms before: Divinity II: The Dragon Knight Saga (Xbox 360 this week, previously on the PC) and Dance Dance Revolution (Xbox 360 this week, previously on the PS3 and Wii).

The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found after the break. (more…)

Posted in DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , ,