Most Recent: PS3

Dead Space: Extraction Review: Pure Fun on Rails

Posted on February 10, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Dead Space: Extraction is another chapter in the horror-laden universe Visceral Games created back in 2008. Extraction is a prequel to the first Dead Space, and shows the gruesome details of what happened aboard both the colony and Ishimura before Isaac and his crew got there. Originally made for the Wii, this rail shooter from 2009 was ported to the PlayStation 3 in 2011 with incredible results – and an HD facelift. Surprisingly, Extraction isn’t just another rail shooter. (more…)

Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story |

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.

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

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…)

Posted in News, PC, PS3 | Tagged

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 ,

Stacking, Explodemon, Plants vs Zombies added to PlayStation Store

Posted on February 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Microsoft may be planning a five-week blowout of big games beginning next week with the Xbox Live House Party, but Sony has decided to dump a massive amount of cool games onto the PlayStion Store in a single day.

Leading off this week’s PlayStation Store update is Double Fine’s Stacking, perhaps the finest (AKA the only) game about Russian stacking dolls. Best of all, it’s free to PlayStation Plus subscribers. What a deal!

Also available this week is Explodemon, a platformer with an exploding hero that is totally not at all similar to last year’s XBLA game ‘Splosion Man.

Finally, Sony has made Tales From Space: About a Blob available to all PSN users and PopCap has fertilized the service with their hit game Plants vs Zombies.

More details on all of these games can be found after the break with even more game add-on news available at the PlayStation.Blog. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged ,

Mortal Kombat films upgrading to Blu-ray April 19, bring DLC vouchers to PS3

Posted on February 8, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Warner Bros. must be having a good time with the Mortal Kombat name. In addition to its triumphant return to consoles and a series of webisodes helmed by a passionate director with a great cast, the media juggernaut is bringing the original two films to Blu-ray the same day the game launches in the U.S. Mortal Kombat and Mortal Kombat: Annihilation will release on April 19 in separate retail packages, so you don’t have to waste the extra dough on the mess that was the second film, unless you really want to. Both discs contain theatrical trailers, trailers for the new game, and most importantly, voucher codes on an exclusive costume for Jade in the PS3 version of the game (sorry Xbox 360 owners). Mortal Kombat will also contain the animated film Mortal Kombat: The Journey Begins.

All of this media is making me incredibly nostalgic; April’s going to be chock full of content to really bring you back to when MK was in its prime. Not to mention, after playing it at PAX Prime with Senior Editor Nicole Kline, how insanely good the game is going to be.

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

Killzone 3 Beta Impressions: Hit Me Baby, One More Time!!!

Posted on February 7, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Killzone 2‘s multiplayer confused many casual shooter fans with its weighty movement and gun handling, but offered a treasure trove of depth and strategy for players who wanted a little more from their online experiences. This time around Guerilla Games strove to make the game more accessible to the console demographic while expanding on the strength of the last iteration. Killzone 3‘s multiplayer represents a culmination of compromise and innovation, showing off the characteristic production values and quality that no other developer can really claim. (more…)

Posted in Previews, PS3 | Tagged