Most Recent: Xbox 360

XBLA Today: Diabolical Pitch, Pinball Arcade

Posted on April 4, 2012 by John Scalzo

Today’s Xbox Live Arcade additions have a theme, can you figure it out?

First up is Diabolical Pitch, a Kinect-powered XBLA game that features a pitcher with a bionic arm trapped in an amusement park full of demons. No, really! It’s priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10) and sounds totally awesome:

An unusual, unique and wacky pitching action game is coming to Kinect and the name of the game is Diabolical Pitch. A former pitcher now outfitted with an incredibly powerful bionic arm finds himself in a run-down, dark, and twisted amusement park. The night gets strange and intense quickly as you must use your pitching skills to survive the game of your life. Charge up your diabolical pitch to wipe out all the enemies crowding towards you. Power-ups give your throwing arm insane abilities that will give you the edge against huge mobs of enemies or even the most fearsome boss. Kinect turns your room into a playing field and your Diabolical Pitch is the main attraction.

Also available this week is Pinball Arcade, which aims to be a platform for additional tables much like Pinball FX. The base game includes four tables and is priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10):

Real pinball for your Xbox 360! The all-time greatest pinball tables from Williams, Bally, Stern Pinball, and Gottlieb are now together in one game. Every flipper, bumper, sound effect, and display pixel has been painstakingly emulated in astonishing detail. The four table launch collection includes Tales of the Arabian Nights, Ripley’s Believe It or Not, Theatre of Magic, and Black Hole.

Did you guess the theme? It’s flying metal balls.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends will include 50 cars you’ll never own

Posted on April 3, 2012 by John Scalzo

Do you want to own a Ferrari? How about 50 of them? Just outside your price range, right? Don’t worry, Atari’s got you covered.

Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends will be available this May for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and it’ll be packed with Ferraris, 50 of them in fact, in three different classes. Hey… look at that!

Want to know which specific Italian road machines made the cut for Test Drive: Ferrari Racing Legends? Check out the complete list after the break(s). (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Sine Mora Review: Bullet Time, Meet Bullet Hell

Posted on April 3, 2012 by John Scalzo

Sine Mora is the product of a very unlikely union: Hungarian developer Digital Reality and the Suda 51-led Grasshopper Manufacture. Digital Reality is best known as the developers of several obscure strategy games for the PC while Grasshopper has made a name for itself by fitting more crazy into a game than any developer working today. With all that working against them, their partnership has resulted in an absolutely excellent game. (more…)

Posted in Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Capcom won’t apologize for Street Fighter X Tekken “on-disc DLC”

Posted on April 2, 2012 by John Scalzo

Watch a company lose whatever good will they’ve built up over 30 years in three easy steps…

  • Step 1: Capcom began selling “DLC” for Street Fighter X Tekken that was completed before the game shipped and was included on the disc.
  • Step 2: Several Street Fighter X Tekken players then filed complaints with the Better Business Bureau over the unethical nature of this practice.
  • Step 3: Capcom replies, in essence, “DLC included on the disc and DLC available to download from a server are exactly the same.”

Really? I’m not one of those people who believe “on-disc DLC” is inherently evil as long as the gamemaker is upfront with everything before the sale. But this is just too much. Bad form Capcom. Gamers may constantly crack jokes about the “evil empire” tactics of Activision and EA, but neither one has ever said anything that over-the-top evil.

You can read the publisher’s full response to the BBB after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Xbox 360 Transforming D-Pad controllers get shiny in May

Posted on April 2, 2012 by John Scalzo

The Xbox 360 controller with the Transforming D-Pad is going to get a bit more affordable, and a bit shinier, this May. Priced at $54.99, Microsoft will release the red, blue, and silver “Chrome Special Edition” controllers you see above next month. The lower price is due to the exclusion of the Play and Charge Kit that’s included in the current Transforming D-Pad package.

As a big fan of the Transforming D-Pad (I never play without it anymore), this is great news for those looking to upgrade their Xbox 360 controller.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 |

Lick Lollipop Chainsaw, Mortal Kombat Vita at PAX East 2012

Posted on April 2, 2012 by John Scalzo

Gimme a W! Gimme a B! What’s that spell!?!… You know, that kind of thing doesn’t work when what you’re trying to spell is just initials.

Anyway, Lollipop Chainsaw and its gory school bus full of gore and guts will be making a stop at this weekend’s PAX East expo. The game, which is scheduled for a June 12 release on the PS3 and Xbox 360, will be available in playable form to fulfill all your fantasies of cheerleaders, chainsaws, and doing the splits to decapitate a zombie.

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment will also be showcasing playable versions of Mortal Kombat for the portable PlayStation Vita, The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings for the Xbox 360, The Lord of the Rings Online, and Dungeons & Dragon Online: Menace of the Underdark in booth #424.

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

Anomaly: Warzone Earth invades XBLA on April 6

Posted on April 2, 2012 by John Scalzo

When 11 Bit Studios decided to bring their “reverse tower defense” game, Anomaly: Warzone Earth, to platforms beyond the PC and iOS, they realized that they needed to create the perfect control scheme. After testing an old joystick with suction feet on the bottom, a Virtual Boy, the Minority Report gloves, and several others, they were stumped. A breakthrough in the process came thanks to the tireless efforts of Mr. Dr. Ed. The 11 Bit scientists found their perfect control method in the Xbox 360 controller. You can relive the entire process thanks to the “documentary video” above.

So now, the developer is happy to announce that Anomaly: Warzone Earth will be available to download from the XBLA on Friday, April 6 (what’s with all the Friday release dates?).

Personally, I think the Twister controller had potential.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

New Releases: Kinect Star Wars, Devil May Cry Collection, Xenoblade Chronicles, More

Posted on March 31, 2012 by John Scalzo

March is over and that means Spring is… well… Spring’s been here for a while now, I guess it’s just a tad more official with the turning of the calendar page.

That said, we’ve got a few new releases that’s sure to interest you including the Devil May Cry HD Collection (PS3, Xbox 360), which compiles Devil May Cry, Devil May Cry 2, and Devil May Cry 3: Dante’s Awakening. It’s joined by the long-awaited Kinect Star Wars and it’s companion R2-D2 Xbox 360 Bundle. The GameStop-exclusive Xenoblade Chronicles will also be available this Friday, April 6. You may squeal now.

What else is new in stores this week? Hit the jump to find out. (more…)

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