New Releases: Mortal Kombat Vita, Tera, More

Posted on April 28, 2012 by John Scalzo

Possibly the weakest month ever for new video games comes to a close… but the new games we can look forward to on May 1 aren’t much more impressive.

However, that’s not to say there’s nothing new this week. For example, if you’re a fan of the best fighting game of last year… and your Vita needs a new game… look no further than Mortal Kombat on the PS Vita. Or perhaps you’re looking for a new PC game. There’s the MMORPG Tera and the Quake III-like team FPS shooting of Nexuiz. And don’t worry, there’s one new console game as well. players will be able to get a bead on their targets in Sniper Elite V2 for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

And that’s it. If there’s something for you, great. If not, there’s just two more weeks until we’re all blown away by the new releases of May 15.

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

John Scalzi teams up with Industrial Toys to make mobile games for core gamers

Posted on April 27, 2012 by John Scalzo

Your hero and mine, John Scalzi, has revealed that he’s working on his first video game with mobile developer Industrial Toys.

Details are still scant, but Scalzi is the world-renowned author the Old Man’s War series, Fuzzy Nation, The God Engines, and the upcoming Redshirts. So naturally, he’s working on the storyline for this untitled game as well “other things.” The video game world is a natural fit for the author as he’s an unabashed fan of first person shooters and uses video game themes in a lot of his work (for example, The God Engines is built on a world that is just ripe for an RPG conversion).

Industrial Toys is a new team, but they’ve dropped a few hints on what their Scalzi collaboration could entail in the latest edition of their online newsletter. First of all, their motto appears to be “mobile games for core gamers,” so don’t expect any birds or words or fruit. There will also be guns. Hmm, I guess that’s it. Helpful bunch, ain’t they?

However, it was also revealed Scalzi won’t be done dabbling in this world after he creates it. Maybe that means a book, who knows? But this is from the above-mentioned newsletter:

Welcome Hugo-Award-winning science fiction author, John Scalzi. […] Cuz next, he’ll be turning his high-powered imagination on the storyline of our first game, and it won’t just manifest itself IN the game.

Posted in Mobile, News | Tagged

The Cross and The Controller: The Darkness II Shines a Light on Religious History

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Joshua Wise

On the face of it, The Darkness II, by Digital Extremes, simply doesn’t seem like the kind of game I should be praising for its use of religion. It stars a character, Jackie Estacado, who is, by all rights, a very bad man. He wields a living weapon known as “The Darkness” that hates God and light in order to maintain his control of his New York-based mafia family. The game features other demonic characters as well as brutal and wildly graphic violence.

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

Daily Scoop: April 27, 2012 – Lady Day!

Posted on April 27, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Hooray, it’s Friday! And it’s a day to celebrate your geek ladies. Tonight is Girl Geek Dinners Philadelphia’s one year anniversary! To celebrate, we’re having a fun talk and then a happy hour. Also, I’ve been listening to Ladytron all day. Coincidence? I think not.

So, what deals are going on today? Well, there’s a lot of hubbub around Torchlight II – we found out yesterday that, depending on where you pre-order it from, you can either get access to the Neverwinter beta, or a free copy of the original Torchlight. Steam’s also got an additional bonus: order four copies and get them for $60 instead of $80. (In case you were wondering, yes, Ryan Littlefield and I have already partaken in this.) GameStop also has a few deals going on – though the page is advertised as “50% off,” there’s not really much there that is actually that cheap.

Amazon’s got the same old boring deals going on:

Only one shirt today, but it’s a good one…

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

See how many systems Nintendo has sold since they started selling systems

Posted on April 27, 2012 by John Scalzo

Nintendo has been in the video game business for a long time. Longer than Sony, Microsoft, Sega, Activision, Electronic Arts… nearly everybody actually. So it stands to reason that the company has sold a lot of systems and a lot of software. How much? Well, I’m glad you asked.

During their most recent quarterly financial briefing, Nintendo revealed lifetime-to-date sales figures for all of their consoles and handhelds. Some of the numbers may surprise you:

Hardware Sold

  • DS: 151.52 million units
  • Game Boy/Game Boy Color: 118.69 million units
  • Wii: 95.85 million units
  • Game Boy Advance: 81.51 million units
  • NES: 61.91 million units
  • Super NES: 49.1 million units
  • Nintendo 64: 32.93 million units
  • GameCube: 21.74 million units
  • 3DS: 17.13 million units

All Software Sold
(Includes Nintendo-Published and Third-Party Titles)

  • DS: 900.31 million units
  • Wii: 818.46 million units
  • Game Boy/Game Boy Color: 501.11 million units
  • NES: 500.01 million units
  • Super NES: 379.06 million units
  • Game Boy Advance: 377.52 million units
  • Nintendo 64: 224.97 million units
  • GameCube: 208.57 million units
  • 3DS: 45.42 million units

All sales data is based on worldwide totals and is accurate as of March 31, 2012. Italics indicates currently available system.

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Google does a “Zerg Rush” on your search results

Posted on April 27, 2012 by John Scalzo

Those wacky Googlers are at it again.

First, they added the Konami Code to Google Reader. Then, they created a Google Doodle to celebrate the 30th anniversary of Pac-Man and the thing turned out to be playable, which ended up costing the worldwide economy over $120 million in lost productivity. After that, they induced us all to “do a barrel roll,” even though most of the world had no idea what that meant (some thought it was a dig at Apple’s iOS, a competitor to Google’s Android platform). And just a few weeks ago they added a “Quest” filter to Google Maps that was clearly modeled after Dragon Warrior. But their latest trick tops all of these.

Go to the Google homepage, and search for “zerg rush.” And then watch as your search results are destroyed by an overwhelming swarm of red and yellow Os. Hovering over an O will bring up a targetting reticule to take the little buggers down, but the swarm will always win (and taunt you with a “GG” after it’s over).

Good show Google. Do something Mario-related next!

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Pre-order Torchlight II, receive original Torchlight or access to Neverwinter beta

Posted on April 27, 2012 by John Scalzo

Torchlight II still doesn’t have an official release date. Developer Runic Games will only say that it’s coming in the Summer and that they’re shooting for June or July. But that hasn’t stopped Steam and Perfect World from offering plenty of pre-order loot to RPG-hungry gamers.

If you pre-order Torchlight II from Perfect World, you’ll receive access to the Neverwinter beta. However, Perfect World was quick to point out that the “exact date of access will vary.”

If you go the more conventional route and pre-order from Steam, you’ll receive a copy of Torchlight absolutely free. That’s right now! No waiting!

Both online shops have priced the game at $19.99, but if you buy a four-pack of copies from Steam (one copy for you and one copy for three of your friends), you’ll only pay $59.99, meaning that one copy was free. And you’ll also receive four copies of the original Torchlight on top of that.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Wii U launch date, price won’t be announced at E3 2012

Posted on April 27, 2012 by John Scalzo

During their most recent quarterly financial briefing, Nintendo reconfirmed that the Wii U will appear in its “final form” at this year’s E3 Expo. The publisher also revealed that the system’s launch lineup will be announced at the big show.

Nintendo itself has yet to announce any launch titles for the Wii U, but third party publishers such as Sega (Aliens: Colonial Marines), Ubisoft (Assassin’s Creed III), THQ (Darksiders II), Tecmo Koei (Ninja Gaiden 3), and WB Games (Batman: Arkham City) all have games lineup up for the system’s launch.

However, those attending E3 (and all of us watching at home) won’t hear anything about when the Wii U will launch or how much it’ll cost during the show. Nintendo is saving that information and will announce them sometime after E3 but before the system’s “year-end sales season” release.

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