Daily Scoop: May 10, 2012 – Today is my Friday

Posted on May 10, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Well, technically today is Thursday, but it’s really my Friday, as I’m off from work after today until Tuesday. Woo! I’m going to get some much needed R&R, as well as do some massive cleaning in my apartment. Oh, and play Dungeons and Dragons, and celebrate Mother’s Day with my family, and write, and read, etc…

No new deals today, so I thought I’d point everyone in the direction of Amazon’s bonus offers page, which has all of their current offers in video games. Get a $10 credit and the Deadly Force Burst with Max Payne 3, $10 credit and access to the Borderlands 2 Premiere Club with Borderlands 2, and the exclusive High Seas Fortress stage with Resident Evil 6, among others.

Just one gaming-related shirt today, and it’s for Zelda fans…

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Slow down time and watch the Max Payne 3 launch trailer

Posted on May 10, 2012 by John Scalzo

It has been nine long years since Max Payne last graced our game consoles and PC monitors. That’s nearly two lifetimes in the video game world. But all that changes next week when Rockstar releases Max Payne 3 on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Yup, Max is back, and he’s got the launch trailer to prove it.

So check out the trailer above and if you’re holding out for the PC version, remember that it launches on May 29.

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

World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria on track for 2012 release

Posted on May 10, 2012 by John Scalzo

During Activision’s latest quarterly financial report, Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime revealed that World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria is on track for a 2012 release. The expansion was previously given a “when it’s done” release window by the company.

After talking a bit about the expansion’s beta test and the steady subscriber numbers of WoW, Morhaime casually mentioned that Mists of Pandaria will be out by the end of the year:

At the end of Q1, global subscribership for World of Warcraft remained at 10.2 million. Maintaining our subscriber levels puts us in a great position as we drive toward the launch of Mists of Pandaria later this year. We opened the beta in late March and have rapidly expanded testing through a good portion of our community, including the 1.2 million players who signed up for the World of Warcraft Annual Pass.

Two Blizzard games in one year? That’s madness! But in case you were wondering, Morhaime didn’t have anything to say about StarCraft II: Heart of the Swarm other than that the development team is still working on it.

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Hitman: Absolution targets November 20 release; Sniper Challenge officially announced

Posted on May 10, 2012 by John Scalzo

Square Enix has unleashed a double tap of Hitman: Absolution information today. First, they’ve tagged the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 game with a November 20 release date, putting Agent 47’s next mission at the tail-end of the Fall gaming frenzy.

But to assuage fans for that far-off release date, they’ve also officially announced Hitman: Sniper Challenge. The GameStop pre-order incentive was leaked a few days ago, so most of the details are already out there. But we now know that the fabulous prizes gamers will be competing for include in-game perks for Absolution such as “Controlled Breathing” and “Extended Clip.”

Oh, and a trip to Denmark to meet the team at IO Interactive (and have their likeness digitized into the next Hitman game) will be awarded to the top sniper. In-game unlockables are cool and all, but that’s a prize.

The Hitman: Sniper Challenge will be available to download on May 15 for anyone who pre-orders the PS3 or Xbox 360 version of Hitman: Absoluton from GameStop. PC players will be able to download it from Steam on August 1.

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Nintendo will chop the price of DSi and DSi XL on May 20

Posted on May 10, 2012 by John Scalzo

In case you’re looking to buy another DS system, then Nintendo has a deal for you. They’re slashing the price of both models, the DSi and the DSi XL, on May 20.

A DSi is priced at $129.99 today, but starting May 20, potential purchasers will be able to walk into a store and plunk down just $99 for the handheld. This is traditionally known as the pricing “sweet spot” for game systems. At $99, it becomes less of an investment and more of an impulse buy. It’s also proof that the DSi won’t be around much longer as Nintendo is making the jump into completely supporting the 3DS.

However, if you prefer the bigger size of the DSi XL, that will still require $129.99 to purchase on May 20. But that’s still a huge discount from the previous retail price of $169.99 (coincidentally, the same price as a 3DS).

Even with the 3DS taking store shelves away from the DS family, Nintendo still has a few DS games planned for release this year including Pokemon Conquest and Pokemon Black 2/White 2.

Posted in DS, News |

Scarygirl’s Transformation From Graphic Novel to Game

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Scarygirl is a project by Australian artist Nathan Jurevicius. Ambitious and haunting, the graphic novel follows the charming but strange orphaned girl raised by a giant octopus. The graphic novel is full of colorful, trippy illustrations – everything is very dreamlike yet whimsical. One of the most beautiful things about Scarygirl is the complete lack of any dialog whatsoever – speech bubbles have images, and thoughts and feelings are expressed through facial expressions and body language (as much as this can be done in a graphic novel). But everything about it just works – which is sadly not true for the video game adaptation recently released on the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade.

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

Daily Scoop: May 9, 2012 – Oh So Fine

Posted on May 9, 2012 by Nicole Kline

It’s Wednesday, and it’s the last day of this season of Dungeons and Dragons Encounters. I am a little sad to see it go, but I’m eager to start the next season. I want to play as a kobold and be a necromancer so I can be Johannes Kobold: The Necromancer. Don’t get it? You should!

Amazon’s having a digital deal on Double Fine’s games, and they’re calling it the Oh So Fine Bundle. For just $9.99, you can get Costume Quest, Psychonauts, and Stacking, or you can get each one separately at a discount, if you don’t need them all.

Today is a fantastic day for t-shirts and a terrible day for my wallet.

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PC |

Play as Stan Lee with Amazing Spider-Man pre-order bonus

Posted on May 9, 2012 by John Scalzo

Stan “The Man” Lee is about to star in his greatest cameo to date… as a playable character in The Amazing Spider-Man. Players who pre-order the PS3 or Xbox 360 version of the game from Amazon will receive a code to unlock the “Stan Lee Adventure Pack.”

The “Stan Lee Adventure Pack” will send the comic creator webslinging across Manhattan, searching for the lost pages from his latest script. Lee will provide some of his trademark witticisms (“Excelsior!” and such) to make the bonus level even more authentic (Stan Lee has spider-powers, right?).

GameStop has also announced a pre-order offer of their own for The Amazing Spider-Man, a special missions starring The Rhino. “The Rhino Challenge” stars the hulking villain and asks players to rampage through New York trying to cause as much damage as possible. Like the Stan Lee Adventure Pack, the Rhino Challenge is also limited to pre-orderers of the PS3 and Xbox 360 version.

Sadly for GameStop, I think I know which mission gamers will be much more interested in and it ain’t The Rhino Challenge.

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