Most Recent: PC

George R.R. Martin overseeing A Game of Thrones: Genesis for PC, new screenshots

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

If you’re a fan of the fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, or one of the inevitable hipsters who is now because there’s an HBO series about it, there’s a Real Time Strategy game based on it coming out for PC this summer (with a story supervised by author George R.R. Martin). A Game of Thrones: Genesis from Cyanide Studio allows players (I love it when games give us permission) to experience 1000 years of Westeros history, from its founding up to Aegon the Conquerer’s invasion and the War of the Usurper, which sound totally awesome.

The game seems to be more in line with Civilization than Age of Empires, as you can use economic and diplomatic tactics to crush your opponents instead of sending a thousand knights on horseback their way. I might have to check this out if my laptop can run it, judging by just how cool the screenshots below are. (more…)

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New Releases: Marvel vs Capcom 3, Dragon Quest VI, Hyperdimension Neptunia, More

Posted on February 12, 2011 by John Scalzo

This week it’s all about RPGs, except for the return of a favorite fighting franchise…

The Marvel and Capcom universes will be colliding in a battle for one-on-one fighting supremacy again with the release of Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds this week for the PS3 and Xbox 360.

But every other major release will be much more enticing to RPG fans everywhere including Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation on the DS. Once Dragon Quest VI makes its way into stores on the 14th, it’ll mark the final game in the franchise’s main series to make its way across the Pacific. It just took a little over 15 years.

And speaking RPGs that are hard to find in America, Square Enix is bringing Tactics Ogre: Let Us Cling Together to the PSP this week. Tactics Ogre has always been hard to come by in collector’s circles, so this new version means that everyone who wants to play it will finally get the chance to.

Also available this week is Hyperdimension Neptunia for the PS3. The game tells the story of the console war as if it were a typical Japanese RPG. Oh yeah, and a nearly naked girl representing “Sega” is the hero. Man, how can you not love NIS America?

Finally, Frictional’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent, which was originally released in 2010, will receive a retail release this week.

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 ,

AIAS names Mass Effect 2 their Game of the Year

Posted on February 11, 2011 by John Scalzo

BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 walked away with Game of the Year honors at the Interactive Achievement Awards last night.

The game, which was just recently released on the PS3 after its PC and Xbox 360 debut last year, was given the award by the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. This is the Academy’s 14th year handing out the IAAs and Mass Effect 2 beat out Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Red Dead Redemption and Angry Birds to win the prize.

But among the honorees, only Black Ops went home empty-handed. Angry Birds was named Casual Game of the Year, God of War III won Outstanding Achievement in Animation and Red Dead Redemption galloped away with five awards.

You can watch the entire ceremony at G4tv.com/DICE2011 or you can see the full list of winners after the break. (more…)

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

Activision reveals new Family Guy game, X-Men: First Class, “unprecedented” new universe

Posted on February 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision was very busy during their quarterly financial briefing yesterday. In addition to canceling Guitar Hero 7 and True Crime: Hong Kong, the company revealed a few details about their 2011 (and beyond) schedule.

New Activision Publishing CEO Eric Hirshberg did most of talking. He began by reiterating that Call of Duty 8 is on track for a 2011 release and officially announced a free-to-play Call of Duty game for China, which will be released in 2012.

Continuing with the Call of Duty theme, Hirshberg revealed that a new Activision in-house studio, Beachhead, will be creating an “all-new digital platform for the Call of Duty franchise.” The system sounds very similar to Halo Waypoint and promises to “support in-game integration and bring online experiences and console play together.”

Activision also has a slew of licensed games in development for 2011 including three never-before-announced games: Family Guy, X-Men: First Class and Wipeout 2.

A Family Guy game was released by 2K Games to tepid reviews in 2006. X-Men: First Class will likely launch alongside the film in June with the Silicon Knights-developed X-Men: Destiny still on track for a late 2011 release. And for those confused about Wipeout 2, it’s not the futuristic racing franchise, but a second game based on ABC’s obstacle course game show.

Several previously announced 2011 games, including Transformers: Dark of the Moon, a new Spider-Man game, more Cabela’s Hunting titles and a new Bakugan game were also discussed.

Bungie’s New Universe was briefly mentioned, but only to confirm that it won’t launch until 2012 at the earliest.

Finally, Hirshberg announced that Activision will be unveiling “an all-new gaming universes that brings together the worlds of toys, video games and online play.” in two days at the New York Toy Fair. Activision will release the game based on this new universe in the second half of 2011 and calls the franchise an “unprecedented” merging of different media.

Wow. We’ll likely learn more about a lot of these titles at E3.

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

Activision cancels Guitar Hero 7, True Crime: Hong Kong

Posted on February 10, 2011 by John Scalzo

For the first time since the franchise launched in 2005, a new Guitar Hero game will not be released this year.

This news comes out of Activision’s quarterly financial briefing, where the publisher has revealed that it has disbanded its Guitar Hero business division and canceled the Vicarious Visions-developed Guitar Hero 7.

True Crime: Hong Kong, the United Front-developed reboot of Activision’s answer to Grand Theft Auto, has also been given the axe. Eric Hirshberg cut right to the point when explaining the reason behind the cancellation when he said “[True Crime: Hong Kong] just wasn’t going to be good enough.”

While not a cancellation, COO Thomas Tippl also revealed that the Tony Hawk series will also be taking 2011 off.

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Black Ops DLC makes its First Strike on PS3 March 3

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

If you’re a fan of Call of Duty: Black Ops, but not a fan of paying subscriptions in order to access content on discs you’ve already paid full price for, you’re in luck! Treyarch’s Community Mananger Josh Olin announced on the PlayStation Blog (despite great hostility from the PlayStation Nation) that the first map pack for Black Operations entitled ‘First Strike’ will be available on the PlayStation Store on March 3 for $14.99 (PC gamers will see it by the end of March). The game includes four new multiplayer maps – Berlin Wall, Discovery, Kowloon, and Stadium, the last of which also plays host for a brand new Zombies experience in Ascension. Presumably Steam will have a similar release date and pricing.

I went back to CoDBlOps on the PS3 recently and found nearly all of the network issues to be fixed; I’m not really sure why the naysayers on the PlayStation Blog are claiming it’s a broken game. Many of them make a good point, though: will this DLC even be relevant, considering it’s coming out mere days after Killzone 3 launches? Feel free to let us know in the comments or just check out the screenshots after the break. (more…)

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DC signals a Batman: Arkham City comic series this May

Posted on February 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Batman won’t just be stalking the streets on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this Fall as DC Comics has announced they’ll be producing a six-issue miniseries that will bridge the gap between Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City.

The miniseries will begin this May and it’ll be written by Paul Dini (the creative mind behind both games) and drawn by Arkham Asylum/Arkham City concept artist Carlos D’anda. You can spy a sneak peak of the cover to your left (a variant using in-game graphics will also be available).

Dini and D’anda will explore the yearlong gap between the games over the six issue miniseries (which will also be available as digital downloads) as well as in four “digital-first” interludes. These interludes will run eight pages and be offered exclusively as a digital download for $0.99 each. They will make their print debut as part of the Batman: Arkham City collector’s edition.

Doesn’t quite top a life-size batarang, but I’m sure WB Games will include plenty of other goodies in the Arkham City collector’s edition.

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

Battlestar Galactica Online now in open beta

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Bigpoint, the self-proclaimed “global market leader in browser-based massively multiplayer online games” (what?) has launched the open beta of the free-to-play, browser-based, space combat euphoria that is Battlestar Galactica Online. The Massively Multiplayer Online Space Combat Game (MMOSCG trademark Mike Gutierrez) tells an untold chapter in the latter half of the second season of the SyFy series as Colonial and Cylon forces are “stranded in an uncharted area of space.”

Players choose a side, go through training for the flight controls, then can begin getting into the meat of the game: exploring space, taking on missions, gaining experience, accessing the market, and customizing your avatar and ship. The game also provides some authenticity for fans as the game incorporates Bear McCreary’s (wow I love that name) score, the likeness of various actors, and the schematics by the show’s creators have been used to recreate the ships. Heiko Hubertz, CEO of Bigpoint proudly said, “We are confident that a new standard has been achieved – no longer should browser games be considered subpar to their console or PC-installed counterparts.”

That all actually sounds pretty awesome for fans of the SyFy series. Just don’t try to convince Senior Editor Nicole Kline it’s any good. You can check out the game here.

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