Daily Scoop: July 20, 2012 – Not-so-daily edition

Posted on July 20, 2012 by Nicole Kline

My Daily Scoop should really just be called the Sporadic Scoop at this point. I’ve been so busy that I can’t even keep the days straight. But whatever, I’m here now! Sadly, there are no deals going on at all. None whatsoever. I can’t think of a single…

Oh, right! The Steam sale! I almost forgot about it. Except every single person on my Facebook friends list, and instant messenger list, and in real life, cannot shut the hell up about it. So it’s impossible for me to have forgotten. Throw all of your money at Valve right now – I’m not even going to bother listing the stuff on sale. Just go there, give them your bank account number, and play games until your eyes bleed.

Three shirts today, including a board game reference!

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Minecraft becomes bestselling XBLA game ever with 3 million copies sold

Posted on July 20, 2012 by John Scalzo

Minecraft creator Markus “Notch” Persson has just shared some milestone news relating to the sales figures of Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition. Posting to Twitter, the developer confirmed that the XBLA version of the popular open-world game has sold three million copies:

By itself, that’s pretty impressive. But according to XBLA Fans, Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition has become the bestselling XBLA game of all time. According to their quick and dirty math, this new total pushes Minecraft past Castle Crashers, which has sold 2.9 million copies over a period of four years.

Minecraft: Xbox 360 Edition did it in two months, almost to the day.

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Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters added to 3DS eShop as part of Nintendo’s 8-Bit Summer

Posted on July 19, 2012 by John Scalzo

After Nintendo launched the Game Boy, they used their new handheld to resurrect some of their (then) long-forgotten franchises. That’s how Samus Aran jumped back into the limelight and that’s how gamers got their last taste of Kid Icarus until this Spring’s 3DS seqeul, Kid Icarus: Uprising.

Before Pit was brought back in 2012, he starred in Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters. The black-and-white game is now available on the 3DS eShop as part of Nintendo’s 8-Bit Summer. It’s joined by another Game Boy game from long ago, the vacuum cleaner shooter Tumble Pop.

Four other games make up this week’s Nintendo Download. You can hit the jump for more information on all of them.

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Double Dragon: Neon high fives PSN/XBLA in September

Posted on July 18, 2012 by John Scalzo

It’ll slightly miss its promised Summer 2012 release window, but Majesco has announced that Double Dragon: Neon will be available on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this September. Owing to their online store update schedules, PSN players will get it one day (September 11) before XBLA players (September 12).

You know what, I guess those dates technically fall within the Summer season.

The Brothers Lee will return in their first all-new beat ’em up in nearly two decades courtesy of developer WayForward. Best of all, the game will only set you back 40 quarters (that’s $10 or 800 Microsoft Points).

High five bro!

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XBLA Today: Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD

Posted on July 18, 2012 by John Scalzo

Microsoft’s annual Summer of Arcade promotion begins today with the addition of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD to the Xbox Live Arcade.

Combining some of the “best elements” of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater and Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2, this high definition re-release can be yours for just 1200 Microsoft Points ($15):

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD is a downloadable title for Xbox Live Arcade that takes the best elements of the classic THPS games and gives them a fresh update to create an all new skateboarding experience. Tapping into fans’ muscle memories, the gameplay returns to controllers and focuses on the satisfaction of linking sick tricks for maximum points. Combining sharp visuals with the best controls ever in a Tony Hawk game, the feel is cutting edge yet timeless. The game was rebuilt and polished by Robomodo using Neversoft’s original code and includes the best seven levels from THPS and THPS2 (Warehouse, School 2, Mall, Phoenix, Hangar, Marseilles and Venice). There is a combination of new school and old school pros (Nyjah Huston, Chris Cole, Eric Koston, Andrew Reynolds, Rodney Mullen, Lyn-z Adams Hawkins Pastrana, Riley Hawk and Tony Hawk himself) and the soundtrack is half classic THPS tracks and fresh ones. Multiple online multiplayer modes round out the action!

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Square Enix leashes eclectic voice cast for Sleeping Dogs

Posted on July 18, 2012 by John Scalzo

When Square Enix and developer United Front Games were putting together the Sleeping Dogs cast, they pulled out all the stops. According to the publisher, the game brings together the “finest vocal talent from modern Hollywood movies [and Asian cinema].” I don’t see Mark Hamill listed among the cast, so that’s not entirely accurate, but they certainly cast a wide net in assembling the Sleeping Dogs cast.

Will Yun Lee (Die Another Day) will star as Wei Shen, “an officer sent deep undercover into one of Hong Kong’s most feared Triad gangs.” He will be joined by Tom Wilkinson (as Police Inspector Pendrew, his supervising officer) and Edison Chen (as Jackie Ma, a low level thug) in this undercover operation. Their main target is Winston Chu (played by Parry Shen), a lieutenants in the Sun On Yee gang.

During the course of Shen’s undercover duties, he’ll run into an absolutely astounding group of actors including Emma Stone (The Amazing Spider-Man, Zombieland), Robin Shou (Liu Kang from Mortal Kombat), Lucy Liu (Charlie’s Angels), Yunjin Kim (Sun from Lost) and Kelly Hu (Lady Deathstrike from X2). Terence Yin, James Hong, and Tzi-Ma will round out the cast.

Sleeping Dogs will be available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 on August 14.

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Dyad, Crysis 2, Resident Evil Chronicles added to PS Store

Posted on July 18, 2012 by John Scalzo

It’s a slow week for the PlayStation Network as only two new games (along with three re-releases) were added to the PlayStation Store yesterday.

The highlight of the week is Dyad, a psychedelic tube racer that’s also part puzzle game. If that description didn’t blow your mind, watch the trailer above. I can wait.

The second new addition to the PS Store, Record of Agarest War 2, is just as wild, but in a different way. The latest game in the sexy RPG series includes a revamped battle system and Move-based minigames.

Finally this week, Sony has added a trio of re-releases to the PSN. The two games included with the Resident Evil Chronicles HD Collection, Resident Evil: The Umbrella Chronicles and Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, are now available separately. And Crysis 2: Maximum Edition goes the other way, bundling the first person shooter together with its two DLC packs, “Retaliation” and “Decimation.”

More information on all of these games, as well as a list of this week’s new game add-ons, can be found at the PlayStation Blog.

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The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim – Dawnguard Review: Skyrim, Bloody Skyrim

Posted on July 17, 2012 by Adam Woolcott

It’s been roughly seven months since The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim hit store shelves, and chances are most players of the game have not seen everything there is to offer in it. However, that’s not stopping Bethesda from plopping the very first “expansion” into our laps… and no, it’s not horse armor related this time. Dubbed Dawnguard, this content adds a new wrinkle to the overall plight of Skyrim and puts even more of an emphasis on one of the more popular aspects of the franchise: the supernatural.

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