CBS Interactive partners with TwitchTV and MLG to join the growing eSports community

Posted on April 18, 2012 by Melissa Niedringhaus

CBS Interactive has announced exclusive partnerships with video game broadcasting network TwitchTV and eSports league Major League Gaming (MLG) to add coverage of competitive gaming to their portfolio of consumer media.

Jim Lanzone, President of CBS Interactive, thinks eSports, or competitive gaming, is one of “hottest trends in video”. In recent years, mainstream news sites are starting to regularly provide coverage of competitive gaming events in the US and Europe.

TwitchTV attracts 12 million unique viewers a month, and will receive exclusive advertising support from CBS Interactive with this deal. In the same monthly period, MLG broadcasts 750,000 game matches, and streams them to hundreds of thousands of people in more than 170 countries. These numbers will only grow thanks to the deal’s promised support from CBS Interactive’s other Internet destinations including CNET, GameSpot, and TV.com.

CBS Interactive hopes this partnership will allow them to provide coverage of eSports to an “engaged” audience, and grant them better access to the 18-25 male demographic.

Posted in News, PC |

House of the Dead 4, StarDrone Extreme, more lumber onto PS Store

Posted on April 18, 2012 by John Scalzo

It has taken seven long years, but The House of the Dead 4 has finally come home, courtesy of the PlayStation Network. The light gun shooter features both DualShock 3 and PlayStation Move support, so you get to choose how best to dispatch the zombie menace.

If blasting zombies isn’t your thing, a few other PlayStation Store titles are new this week including StarDrone Extreme, a Vita release that promises “a mix of arcade action, pinball, breakout, physics and collect-the-objects,” and Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention, a Vita remake of the formerly PS3-exclusive strategy RPG. Two new full PS3 games are also being added to the store this week: Dead Rising 2: Off the Record and NHL 12.

For more details on all of these titles, hit the jump. And for a complete list of this week’s new game add-ons, shamble over to the PlayStation Blog.

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Posted in News, PS3, Vita | Tagged , , ,

rComplex Review: Intrigue and Mystery on the Go

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Nicole Kline

For someone who doesn’t play a lot of games on her iPad, I’ve been doing a lot of gaming on my expensive little toy. One of the games that I’ve been playing a lot of is rComplex, a fun and mysterious game that tests your reflexes… or your patience, depending on your reaction time. Are you the kind of gamer who would enjoy the challenge? Read on to find out if this game is worth your time and money.

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Posted in Mobile, Reviews, Top Story |

Theatrhythm Final Fantasy Hands-On Preview: Tapping to Familiar Tunes

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Say what you will about Square Enix; they know the recipe for what their fans like. They know if they take equal parts cute and fun and mix in a sprinkle of nostalgia, they’ve got our money before we even know we’ve given it up. They’ve got a seemingly never-ending supply of resources in their library, with a huge list of popular franchises. So it’s no surprise that their new rhythm game for the 3DS, Theatrhythm Final Fantasy – still mocked for its ridiculous name – was a big hit at PAX East.

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Posted in 3DS, Previews, Top Story | Tagged ,

Daily Scoop: April 17, 2012 – A billion and one t-shirts

Posted on April 17, 2012 by Nicole Kline

It’s another beautiful Tuesday! I’m exhausted from playing in the Diablo III beta all night. I know, I know, I’m late to the party, but I don’t care. It’s so much fun that I can’t put the mouse down!

Amazon’s got a bunch of deals going on right now, like:

  • Games and accessories that are at least 25% off, including PlayStation 3 DualShock controllers for $39.99, Mass Effect 3 for $39.99, and Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception for $39.96;
  • At least 50% off Wii games and gear, including Resident Evil 4 for $9.99, James Bond 007: GoldenEye for $14.63, and Sonic and the Black Knight for $15.06;
  • And at least 50% off video games and gear, including Resident Evil 5 for $14.99, Resistance 3 for $27.98, and Driver: San Francisco for $20.39.

Now is a good time to stock up on some cheap games to keep you busy through the gaming droughts!

Lots of great gaming shirts today…

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

More on Mario for Wii U; Pikmin 3 to debut at E3 too

Posted on April 17, 2012 by John Scalzo

After confirming that Mario would make his Wii U debut at this year’s E3 Expo, Eurogamer has dug a bit deeper, revealing a not-too-surprising detail about the game.

According to a Nintendo representative, the Super Mario Bros. game for the Wii U that the publisher plans to bring to E3 2012 will be heavily based on the New Super Mario Bros. Mii tech demo they displayed at E3 2011. If you recall, New Super Mario Bros. Mii was very similar to New Super Mario Bros. Wii, but it added Miis as playable characters and bumped the graphics up to HD quality. Not exactly groundbreaking, but if it’s half as fun as New Super Mario Bros. Wii, I’ll take it.

Pikmin 3 will also appearing at this year’s E3 Expo for the first time. Originally announced by Shigeru Miyamoto as a Wii title back in 2008, the game has been kept hidden by Nintendo ever since. With the jump to the Wii U, it looks like they’re finally ready to show if off.

Posted in News, Wii U | Tagged , ,

Halo 4 to be released on November 6; Red vs Blue helps you save the date

Posted on April 17, 2012 by John Scalzo

Halo 4 is just a few months away and we still don’t really know all that much about it. But we learned one very key piece of information today as Microsoft has announced a November 6 release date for the game.

To prevent this news from slipping your mind, 343 Industries has recruited the team at Rooster Teeth to ensure we all remember. “Red vs Blue,” the floor is yours (that means watch the video above).

Oh, and in case the video doesn’t help you remember Halo 4’s release date, there’s another red and blue battle taking place on November 6 that might be more memorable: the 2012 Presidential election.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Bethesda would consider it a great honor if you watch this awesome Dishonored trailer

Posted on April 17, 2012 by John Scalzo

Do you love steampunk? Or futuristic depictions of Victorian England? How about oppressive stormtroopers in power armor sticking it to plague-ravaged peasants? That’s always fun. Good thing there’s a supernaturally-gifted assassin in a supersuit running around to even the odds.

Let me repeat that, Bethesda’s Dishonored stars a supernaturally-gifted assassin in a supersuit.

Check out the trailer above to watch him in action and be on the lookout for the Arkane Studios-developed game on the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 later this year.

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