Most Recent: Xbox 360

Kevin Tancharoen talks Mortal Kombat: Rebirth

Posted on January 31, 2011 by John Scalzo

Director Kevin Tancharoen recently sat down with Gamasutra and revealed that his awesome Mortal Kombat: Rebirth short film caught the public’s attention by accident.

“I am not the most technically savvy YouTube person. What came out wasn’t the final product in my mind. I wasn’t done yet,” he told the industry blog. “It was still in its rough phase, but I couldn’t send a 2GB file over email, so my friend said I could create a private page on YouTube and sent it to him to review. It turns out it wasn’t that private.”

The interview also confirms that the web series will be spread out over nine episodes, instead of the previously announced ten, and that they will be between seven and ten minutes long (totalling a feature length running time of 63-90 minutes). All of the actors from Rebirth are currently in negotations to reprise their roles including Michael Jai White (Jax), Jeri Ryan (Sonya Blade) and Ian Anthony Dale (Scorpion).

Tancharoen is not alone in building the Rebirth universe as Mortal Kombat creator Ed Book is working very closely with the director. “We’re working together hand in hand, Tancharoen said. “I’ve got to admit, I had a little fanboy geek moment when I met him. I flashed back to when I was 12 or 13 and played the first game and was obsessed with it. He was very, very happy with the short. He knows it took liberties with the universe of Mortal Kombat, but was okay with that. It blows my mind.”

Filming on Mortal Kombat: Rebirth will begin in February with a “Spring” release planned on digital download services.

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

Hydrophobia Pure half-off this week, downloading enters you in $4,500 sweepstakes

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Dark Energy Digital’s Hydrophobia Pure will be half-off for only 400 Microsoft Points this week from January 31st to February 6th as part of a water-themed Deal of the Week promotion for Xbox Live Gold subscribers. In addition, anyone over the age of 18 who downloads the game will be entered into a sweepstakes sponsored by the developer. First place will be either a $4,500 cruise for a U.S. resident, or a $3,000 beach vacation and $1,500 susceptible to prize taxes and fees for a U.K. resident. 5 additional winners will receive 4,000 Microsoft Points.

Dark Energy Digital sure have been pushing Hydrophobia after it was met with mixed reviews, first by releasing a ‘Pure’ version of the game and recently with their Listening Post to gather more fan feedback. A few of us at Warp Zoned are personally rooting for the team, hopefully they’ll knock it out the park with the next episode of the series.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Mortal Kombat’s new X-Ray feature gives players an inside look, literally

Posted on January 31, 2011 by Ryan Littlefield

Wow. Just wow. As if I didn’t already have enough of a reason to check out the new Mortal Kombat game, NetherRealm Studios showed off their X-Ray fighting technology in a recent video. The X-Ray technology allows players to hone in on critical hits, fully displaying their effective blows. The video showcases spines bending backward and breaking, cracked ribs, shattering skulls, and organs being crushed.

While this addition only ascends the government’s attention to violent video games, it’s high time that Mortal Kombat had this kind of a face lift – through excessive punching of course.

This video also includes the first gameplay footage of Liu Kang from the upcoming reboot. The champ is here and he looks awesome.

Check out the video after the break. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

New Releases: Rock Band Country Track Pack 2, More

Posted on January 29, 2011 by John Scalzo

I hope you’re still busy with Dead Space 2 as this week’s batch of new releases is nearly non-existent. Harmonix plans to bring the Rock Band Country Track Pack 2 to the PS3, Wii and Xbox 360… and that’s about it.

Oh, a Mr. Bean game is coming to the DS and Wii this week. I guess that’s something. Although it doesn’t appear in the release lists for every game retailer, so call ahead before searching for it at the mall.

The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found below.

DS

PC

PlayStation 3

Wii

Xbox 360

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

Mindjack Review: An Intrusive Headache

Posted on January 28, 2011 by Ryan Littlefield

Ever since Square Enix teamed up to publish games by other developers, the quality of the company’s branded output hasn’t been quite the same. This logic is proven with the recent release of developer FeelPlus’ title Mindjack. The attempt to make it a unique multiplayer shooter was well-intentioned, but once Mindjack is put to the test, it crawls like a handicapped, elderly secret agent. (more…)

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

Anarchy Reigns on North America this Fall

Posted on January 27, 2011 by John Scalzo

One day after its Famitsu premiere, Sega has revealed that Platinum Games’ Max Anarchy will be coming to America as Anarchy Reigns. The PS3 and Xbox 360 brawler is scheduled for a Fall 2011 release.

Platinum Games has promised to turn the beat ’em up on its head with Anarchy Reigns. The game will be built around multiplayer with a boatload of different modes including Tag Team battles and Battle Royal. After looking at the game’s first screenshots (which are available after the break), it would be easy to assume that Anarchy Reigns is a colorized version of the developer’s MadWorld. And seeing as how both games star Jack, a chainsaw-wielding beast of a man, that’s an obvious leap to take. (more…)

Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Hydrophobia creators announce “Listening Post”

Posted on January 26, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Dark Energy Digital, creators of the XBLA game Hydrophobia, recently announced a new feature on their site called the Hydrophobia Listening Post. Intended to create an open communication between fans and developers, the questions are designed to help Dark Energy Digital understand what works and what doesn’t from the perspective of their fans.

This isn’t the first time they’ve been open to communication from fans. A few weeks ago, they launched Hydrophobia Pure, a patch for Hydrophobia that incorporated many changes and updates based on comments from both critics and fans. The plan is to move forward in their development with all of this in mind and keep that conduit open. Hydrophobia is an episodic game considered to be a full retail title with a digital price tag. Here’s hoping Dark Energy Digital releases the rest of their vision.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

5th Cell details XBLA shooter Hybrid

Posted on January 26, 2011 by John Scalzo

5th Cell, the developers of the ultracute Scribblenauts and its equally cute sequel Super Scribblenauts, will be branching out in 2011. The developer is hard at work on Hybrid, a “revolutionary” third-person shooter for the Xbox Live Arcade.

Before today, Hybrid’s storyline was a pretty closely guarded secret. But now we know just what the game’s about:

“Hybrid is set in the post-apocalyptic year 2031, after an extinction-level asteroid collided with Earth wiping out billons. A single-celled alien bacterium buried deep within the asteroid spread into the atmosphere, infecting half of the survivors and turning them into the Variant, a genetically altered race. Six years later the Variant began a new world order and waged a massive global war against the immune populace, known as the Paladin.”

Players will be able to take up arms as a Paladin or a Variant in a “persistent online world war.” As players win battles for their faction, territories and countries on the game’s world map will turn Paladin blue or Variant red.

Hybrid will also introduce a gameplay mechanic called “Combat Focused Movement.” 5th Cell didn’t explain what that means for shooter fans, but they did promise to reveal more during the 2011 Game Developers Conference, which runs from February 28th through March 4th.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged