Most Recent: PS3

Tee up on March 8 for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters demo

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

If you have a fetish for green jackets, you might want to check out the demo for Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters, coming March 8 to Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

The demo includes “Play Now,” where you play as Tiger on the last hole on the last day of the tournament, at the Augusta National’s par-4 18th hole. “Road to the Master’s” mode lets you play five holes, at the new TPC San Antonio Oaks course, appearing for the first time in the series. As EA likes to do with their demos nowadays, you can already start earning XP for the full game by sharing the demo with your friends, and completing the five holes allows you to bypass the EA Sports Amateur Tour and go straight to the National Tour. In addition to San Antonio Oaks, the demo showcases a couple other new features for the game, including the voice talent of Masters announcer Jim Nantz and True View mode, where you swing in first person, much like last year’s definitive John Daly’s ProStroke Golf.

It’ll be interesting to see if EA can top ProStroke’s highly immersive combination of first-person gameplay and PlayStation Move. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 12: The Masters will be available March 29 for Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3, with full PlayStation Move support.

Oh, and my right arm’s just a little longer than my left…

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Dead Space 2: Severed priced and dated, new trailer freaks me out

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

EA announced today that Dead Space 2: Severed will be released on March 1 for the PlayStation Store and Xbox Live Marketplace for $6.99 and 560 MS Points. This expansion contains two new story chapters featuring Gabe Weller and Lexine Murdoch from the rail shooter Dead Space: Extraction, which we loved the crap out of. The good news is their voice actors appear to be returning; the bad news is I think they’re screwed. The trailer above shows them returning to The Sprawl of Dead Space 2 (which we REALLY loved the crap out of) around the same time Isaac Clarke is struggling there, and Weller appears to have an awesome and unique security suit. The trailer is full of terrifying images and glorious fanservice, so if you’re a devout follower of the Church of Unitology, you absolutely have to check this out. I got goosebumps.

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

New Battlefield 3 gameplay trailer, pre-order bonuses detailed

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

I’m really torn about Battlefield 3. I’ve been a huge fan of the Bad Company series and certainly lost a lot of time in Battlefield 1943, but I don’t feel I’ll be up for the true sequel to the original franchise. Without a PC to run it, I’m kind of disappointed the console versions will only support up to 24 players, which is what we’ve come to expect in Bad Company. Getting the same scale as the console spin-off just feels like I’m not getting the authentic spirit of the game.

In any case, DICE gives us another amazing trailer showcasing the new engine and features for the game. Frostbite 2, their “next-generation engine for current-generation platforms” sports some seriously impressive lighting, as well as destruction that seems a lot more unpredictable this time. The gameplay shown is standard – a little running, a little gunning, but it displays the return of going prone, something a few players complained about being absent in Bad Company.

The official Battlefield 3 site has also revealed the first tidbits about pre-order bonuses: reserving the game will net you the “Back to Karkand” expansion, including four legendary maps from Battlefield 2, weapons and vehicles, unique rewards, new achievements/trophies, and more. That’s a pretty big pre-order bonus; it sounds as robust as Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam (which was excellent). Battlefield 3 is scheduled for release this Fall 2011 on PC, Xbox 360, and PS3.

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

Test Drive Unlimited 2 patches incoming, first DLC pack will be free

Posted on February 23, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

We gave Test Drive Unlimited 2 a decent score, but the game wasn’t free of issues, and it certainly had a couple bugs. Network issues, exploits, and corrupt saves have been fixed on the PC version, even repairing some corrupted save files, and console patches are in the pipeline at Sony and Microsoft. Taking it one step further, Eden Games have announced that the first DLC, the “Exploration Pack,” featuring Lancia Stratos version Rallye, 1969 Dodge Charger, and new wrecks to explore will be available for free. Eden wants you all to know, “the team spends a great deal of time looking at community feedback, so please keep posting your comments to the official TDU2 forums and we look forward to seeing you in Ibiza.”

Sounds like a good PR move on their part, and free DLC is always a good thing. There’s no date on when those patches will be certified or when the Exploration Pack is coming, but stay tuned for more Test Drive Unlimited 2 info.

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

Fallout: New Vegas “Dead Money” DLC, Xenogears added to PlayStation Store

Posted on February 23, 2011 by John Scalzo

Sony has performed their weekly update to the PlayStation Store and dropped a ton of DLC onto gamer’s laps… especially those that love RPGs and games with RPG elements.

The big release this week is the addition of the “Dead Money” DLC expansion for Fallout: New Vegas. The pack was previously exclusive to the Xbox 360, but Bethesda has said that all future expansions will be released simultaneously on the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360. But for fans of classic RPGs, the bigger news is that Xenogears has been added to the PSone Classics section of the shop. The game is currently selling for over $100 on eBay, so the PlayStation Store’s $9.99 price tag is incredible.

More RPG fun can be found in two of the demos uploaded this week. Sega has released a demo of Yakuza 4, their open world game with RPG elements; while EA has added a demo of Dragon Age II. Non-RPG demos Lego Star Wars III and MLB 11: The Show.

As far as new releases go, Sony has added a trio of titles: Space Ace, a spiritual sequel to Dragon’s Lair; Days of Thunder: NASCAR Edition, a racing game based on the 20 year old movie; and Alien Breed 3: Descent, a good old-fashioned space shooter.

Finally, the voting for the first annual PSN Gamer’s Choice Awards has begun. Don’t forget to vote!

More information on all of this week’s new releases can be found after the break and all the details about this week’s game add-ons can be found at the PlayStation.Blog. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, PSP | Tagged ,

Stacking Review: Yertle Ain’t Got Nothing on Double Fine’s Puzzler

Posted on February 22, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

In a space where a million small studios are trying to make the next big hit, world-class developer Double Fine productions returns to the downloadable scene with Stacking. From the mind of Art Director Lee Petty and under the mantle of the legendary Tim Schafer, this puzzle-solving adventure game combines pleasantly appealing visuals and intuitive gameplay with the social commentary and quirky humor of the era of silent films. (more…)

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

Red Faction: Armageddon gets its ass to Mars on May 31

Posted on February 22, 2011 by John Scalzo

Because references to Total Recall never go out of style. Anyway…

THQ has announced that the latest entry in their Mars-based shooter series, Red Faction: Armageddon, will be released for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on May 31.

Developed by Volition, Armageddon is set 25 years after the events of Red Faction: Guerrilla. Starring Darius Mason, the son of Guerrilla’s Alec Mason, the game digs deep into the heart of Mars to reawaken the ancient Martians. And unlike the benevolent ancient Martians of Total Recall, these space aliens are pissed.

Gamers will get a second helping of Red Faction this May when Syfy airs the tie-in movie Red Faction: Origins. The film, which stars Robert Patrick, is meant to bridge the 25-year gap between Guerrilla and Armageddon.

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

First Bulletstorm DLC announced

Posted on February 22, 2011 by John Scalzo

Bulletstorm, the latest psychotic shooter from Epic Games and People Can Fly, is in stores today. And, like with Dead Space 2, publisher Electronic Arts is wasting no time in announcing the first downloadable content pack.

The Gun Sonata pack will be available this Spring on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Marketplace. It’ll be priced at $9.99 (800 Microsoft Points) and include three new maps for the Anarchy multiplayer mode. The maps will take place in “the wretched” Sewers of Stygia, “the dilapidated ruins” of Hotel Elysium and “the open spaces” of Villa.

The DLC pack will also feature two new Echo mode maps: Crash Site, “where Final Echo soldiers must deal with the ramifications of their crashed ship”; and Guns of Stygia, “in which a captive commando escapes from an enemy prison.” The final piece of the Gun Sonata pack will be two new Leash enhancements, the Flamingo and the Pulp.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged