Most Recent: Xbox 360

First details of Call of Duty Elite subscription serivce

Posted on May 31, 2011 by John Scalzo

Activision has been talking up their “Beachhead” initiative, a unified platform for Call of Duty stats and bonue features similar to Halo Waypoint, for a few months now. Today, the company is ready to unveil it under its official name: Call of Duty Elite.

As expected, Call of Duty Elite will carry a monthly fee, which Activision executives describe as “less than fees for comparable online-entertainment services such as Netflix.” For comparison’s sake, the Netflix one-disc package is priced at $7.99 a month. But don’t worry, gamers will have plenty of time to decide whether or not Elite is worth the price as it’s not scheduled to launch until this November, alongside Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3.

So what will gamers be getting for their subscription fee? Tracking tools will coordinate a wide variety of statistics for multiplayer matches, which can be used to find out which weapons work best on which map. A Theater mode will allow gamers to record and share clips of their Call of Duty adventures. And a Facebook-like Groups feature will let users meet up to plan their multiplayer matches (this feature will also be included in a free version of Elite). Best of all, Elite subscribers will receive all downloadable map packs for free as well, which will likely be the main draw for many early Elite subscribers.

Will you pay for Call of Duty Elite? Or is this just another way for Activision to squeeze another fistful of money out of their cash cow franchise? Let us know in the comments.

[Source: Wall Street Journal]

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

Mortal Kombat: Legacy Episode 8 – Get Over Here!

Posted on May 31, 2011 by John Scalzo

Scorpion and Sub-Zero continue to do battle in the second-to-last episode of Kevin Tancharoen’s Mortal Kombat: Legacy. I don’t think I need Scorpion’s spear to tell you to… come here!… and watch it. But it surely helps.

Next week, the entire tale (or at least this season) comes to a close with Sektor and Cryrax.

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

Hideo Kojima answers E3-related questions

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Mark Casino

The man with the master plan, Hideo Kojima, has answered some very important E3 related questions in the latest Kojima Productions podcast. For all of us who don’t understand Japanese, here’s a translation of the important part of the podcast:

Question: “Will you appear at the Microsoft E3 press conference?”
Answer: No

Question: “Will you announce Metal Gear Solid 5?”
Answer: No

Question: “Will Metal Gear Solid 3D be released at the end of 2011?”
Answer: Yes

Question: “Is Doctor Lautrec the new title from the Metal Gear staff?”
Answer: No (with a laugh)

Question: “Did Kojima Productions not work on Metal Gear Arcade?”
Answer: Yes

Question: “Is Gray Fox the main character in Metal Gear Solid: Rising?”
Answer: No

Question: “Will Metal Gear Solid: Rising’s multiplayer be shown?”
Answer: No

Question: “Is Metal Gear Solid: Rising’s release date November 1, 2011?”
Answer: No

Question: “Will Metal Gear Solid 4 be ported to NGP?”
Answer: No

Question: “Are you planning something big for Metal Gear’s 25th anniversary next year?” Answer: Yes

Also note that Hideo Kojima has confirmed he will not appear at E3 this year, so don’t expect any Metal Gear news at the big show.

Posted in 3DS, News, PS3, Vita, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Portal 2 soundtrack now available for download

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Bret Morace

Can’t get enough Portal 2? Well, lucky for you, Volume 1 of the game’s soundtrack, Songs To Test By, is available at the official Portal 2 website as a free download.

Just wait, there’s more. Valve has also promised two additional volumes in the Portal 2 soundtrack series will be released sometime in the future. The soundtrack is pretty impressive and currently dominating my iPhone, so for my fellow lovers of Portal 2, enjoy!

For science!

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

Street Fighter X Tekken: Julia is New Challenger #3

Posted on May 30, 2011 by Mark Casino

Ladies and gentlemen, it’s that time again to receive yet another obvious character tease announcement for Street Fighter X Tekken.

If you haven’t figured it out, it’s Julia from the Tekken series . Other characters that have been added to the roster are Sagat and Cammy. Is it just me or are these character reveals not as exciting as the ones for games such as the Marvel vs. Capcom series and Smash Bros Brawl series? Perhaps this is because we know for a fact that the only characters in this game will be from either Street Fighter or Tekken and that Capcom is not afraid to release a fighter with a 56-character roster list. Because Capcom has not released any word of the character roster limit, we may very well see almost every character from both the Street Fighter and Tekken universes.

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

See the Gears of War 3 “Campaign” trailer

Posted on May 28, 2011 by John Scalzo

As promised, Epic Games has unleashed the “Campaign” trailer for Gears of War 3. And, true to form, this world premiere is totally EPIC. The Black Sabbath song (“War Pigs”) is also a perfect complement to the visuals.

Gears of War 3 will be released exclusively for the Xbox 360 on September 20th. But I probably didn’t have to tell you that.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

New Releases: Hunted, Sims 3 Generations, BlazBlue Continuum Shift II, More

Posted on May 28, 2011 by John Scalzo

The month of May didn’t start with many big releases and it comes to an end in much the same way.

There’s Bethesda’s co-op action-adventure Hunted: The Demon’s Forge for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360; the latest Sims 3 expansion, The Sims 3: Generations; and the 3DS/PSP conversion of BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II. That’s pretty much it. See you in June.

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

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

Kinect with Hulk Hogan’s Main Event this Fall

Posted on May 27, 2011 by John Scalzo

Majesco and developer Panic Button will run wild on your living room this Fall, exclusively for Kinect, in Hulk Hogan’s Main Event for the Xbox 360.

The game promises all the fun of being Hulk Hogan including training sessions with the Hulkster on the art of showmanship (and posing) as well as a full-fledged Kinect-based wrestling game:

In Hulk Hogan’s Main Event, players will learn the ropes from the man himself as Hulk Hogan schools them on delivering the best show for the crowd by emulating famous Hulk poses and performing more than 30 punishing combos. The Kinect sensor tracks players’ every move; the more dynamic the motion, the more high impact the wrestler’s performance is. Players will create their own unique wrestler personality through a robust create-a-wrestler feature including many choices for face, hair, tattoos, outfit, ethnicity, body type, and entrance music. Perform in nine different venues including the backyard brawl, local gym and giant stadium in front of a massive audience. Enter tournament mode for two player tag-team and take turns delivering extreme moves. Best of all, players can wield a variety of damaging objects including metal chairs and ladders to deliver bone-jarring hits to their opponents.

“Listen up, people! You will feel the power of Hulkamania when you step into this game,” said Hulk Hogan. “Whether you are taking the damage or selling the pain, this game will let you unleash your inner wrestler as you hype up the crowd while putting the hurt on anyone that stands in your way!”

Well said Hulk, well said.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,