Most Recent: Xbox 360

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…)

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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.

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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

Halo 5, Project Gotham Racing spotted in the wild

Posted on February 9, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Ok, this is legitimately weird. Apparently Eurogamer caught a “Channel 4” news report with Jonathan Cluts from Microsoft interacting with “hidden Kinect-like technology to change the appearance of a wall” at the company’s secret home of the future, Microsoft Home. Navigating through icons on the wall, he selected “Grandma’s Room.” What was more notable was that granny’s quarters were sandwiched between Project Gotham Racing and Halo 5, as pictured left. Other than displaying “Inside Halo 5” underneath the Icon, that’s all there really was mentioned of the games.

Microsoft Home is known as a showcase for future consumer products, and I think it’s safe to say everyone expects another Project Gotham Racing and certainly another Halo to be in development. While this is the first we’re hearing of the sequel to Halo: Reach (the now-presumed “Halo 4” in spirit), there have been strong indications that the original Halo: Combat Evolved will be remade this year. Some have speculated Bizarre Creations will return to Microsoft to work on PGR, but nothing has been heard of the studio since their parent company Activision recommended them for closure.

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Stacking, TNT Racers on XBLA today

Posted on February 9, 2011 by John Scalzo

Microsoft is gearing up for their second annual Xbox Live Arcade House Party promotion, but they still added a pair of new games to the XBLA today.

Stacking, a puzzle platformer starring a bunch of Russian stacking dolls from Tim Schafer’s Double Fine Productions is definitely the highlight of the day. It’s been prriced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15).

Next up is a racing game known as TNT Racers, except the TNT stands for “Tracks N Tricks.” It’s been priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10).

More information on both of these titles can be found 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.

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Release dates and prices for 2011 XBLA House Party games

Posted on February 8, 2011 by John Scalzo

With just a little over a week to go before we get this party started, Major Nelson has announced the prices and release dates for all of the games in this year’s Xbox Live Arcade House Party.

We knew that Hard Corps: Uprising would lead things off on February 16, but now we know it’ll be followed by Bejeweled Blitz Live on the 23rd, Beyond Good & Evil HD on March 2nd, Torchlight on March 9th and Full House Poker on March 16th.

You can find all of the release dates in list form right here, along with each game’s price:

  • February 16: Hard Corps: Uprising (1200 Microsoft Points [$15])
  • February 23: Bejeweled Blitz Live (800 Microsoft Points [$10])
  • March 2: Beyond Good & Evil HD (800 Microsoft Points [$10])
  • March 9: Torchlight (1200 Microsoft Points [$15])
  • March 16: Full House Poker (800 Microsoft Points [$10])
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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.

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