Daily Scoop: February 13, 2012 – Frightful weather

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Nicole Kline

This was one cold weekend!! It was so cold yesterday I had to bust out my long underwear and my fleece-lined hoodie. And there’s snow on the forecast for the next few days. What better way to spend Valentine’s Day than cuddled up, watching the snow?

What do we have for deals today? Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games today is the Glossy Black Xbox 360 Wireless Controller, on sale for $36.99 from $49.99. There are also two Lightning Deals – one is an Xbox 360 controller for your PC, and the other is a Razer Gaming Headset. Scoop ’em up!

Don’t forget about Amazon’s new weekly gaming deals, either. This week they’ve got:

Whew. That’s a lot of deals. And to top it off, I’ve even got a t-shirt for you today!

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Disney’s game-inspired movie Wreck-It Ralph looks adorably promising

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Disney’s got an 8-bit video game-inspired film slated to come out later this year entitled Wreck-It Ralph, and it looks… well, not very much like a typical Disney film, to be sure.

Wreck-It Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) is the villain in an 8-bit arcade game, and he gets tired of his lot in life – namely to destroy buildings that Fix-It Felix (Jack McBrayer) then rebuilds. Felix then gets all the glory, too, of course. Wanting some glory of his own, Ralph jumps into newly installed first-person shooter Hero’s Duty, determined to be a hero. Accidentally releasing an enemy that threatens the entire arcade, he must team up with Vanellope von Schweetz (Sarah Silverman) from Sugar Rush to save the day.

Director Rich Moore (“The Simpsons,” “Futurama,” and “The Critic”) had this to say about the movie: “I love the idea of a very simple 8-bit video game character struggling with the complex question: ‘isn’t there more to life than the role I’ve been assigned?’ In his quest for the answer, we journey with our hero through three visually distinct video game worlds. It’s unlike anything anyone’s seen before, and I’m thrilled to be to creating it here at Walt Disney Animation Studios.”

Wreck-It Ralph is due out December 26. Hit the jump for some sweet screenshots from the movie, which look decidedly un-Disney-like. Expect the video game tie-in to be announced any time now.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in Etcetera, News |

Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing 2 revealed at Toy Fair

Posted on February 13, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Get ready to rev your engines – there’s a Sonic & Sega All-Stars Racing sequel in the mix for this holiday season.

According to Kotaku, there were some toys related to the game on display at this weekend’s Toy Fair in New York. An attendant there confirmed that Sega was working on the sequel. New characters and vehicles will be revealed later in the year.

Does this mean there might be a 3D version for the 3DS and a whacky touchscreen version for the Vita? Maybe! Be sure to update your list to Santa!

Posted in News | Tagged

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron toyline begins with Bruticus

Posted on February 13, 2012 by John Scalzo

Transformers: Fall of Cybertron is set to roll out for the PS3 and Xbox 360 this Fall. And with the addition of Grimlock, it’s got plenty of gamers excited. But there can’t be a new Transformers game without some new Transformers toys. And with an announcement at this year’s American International Toy Fair, Hasbro hopes to get gamers excited about those too.

Over the weekend, the toymaker revealed Bruticus to the masses. For those not up on their Generation One lore, Bruticus is a combiner that merges Blast-Off, Brawl, Onslaught, Swindle, and Vortex into one super Transformer.

Each figure will be sold separately, and will be available in stores this Fall alongside the game. Hopefully that badass new version of Grimlock gets a toy version as well.

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

Super Mario Crossover 2.0 released – now with more characters!

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Nostalgic nerds rejoice! Super Mario Crossover 2.0 has been released into the wild. Watch the trailer above for some of the highlights.

Don’t know what Super Mario Crossover is? I’ll give you a moment to get over your shame.

You can play through an old school Mario game while shooting Goombas as Mega Man. You can jump around as if you were playing Ninja Gaiden, filling enemies with shuriken. In short, SMC is a Flash recreation of Super Mario Bros. with other characters you know and love along for the ride – including Simon Belmont, Link, and Samus. And you can do all of this while listening to your favorite tunes from those old Mario games.

Read all about what went into 2.0 over at Exploding Rabbit, written by creator Jay Pavlina. Then go play it for hours.

Posted in News, PC |

BioWare planning more Mass Effect after ME3

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Nicole Kline

In a move surprising to no one, producer Casey Hudson expresses certainty that there will be more Mass Effect even after the trilogy ends on March 6 with Mass Effect 3.

Hudson – who said they’re too busy to feel sad right now – expressed that he thinks this third chapter is going to be the best in the series, according to Computer and Video Games.

Hudson said, “We had ambitious goals, but to make a whole series that spans recessions, BioWare’s independence, different publishers… Well, we did it in the end… We don’t know exactly [what happens next], but there will be more Mass Effect for Mass Effect fans, I’m sure.”

This is interesting – but unsurprising – news, especially on the tail of Mike Gamble’s announcement for fans to hold onto their Mass Effect 3 saves. Not for any reason, you know. Just in case. You digital hoarders you.

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

Epic to unveil Unreal Engine 4 this year

Posted on February 12, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Mark Rein, the vice president of Epic Games, told G4 TV to expect to see more of the Unreal Engine 4 this year.

Rein said, “People are going to be shocked later this year when they see Unreal Engine 4 and how much more profound an effect it will have.”

I think the picture I chose says what’s on my mind: when will there be a new installment of Unreal Tournament? How about if they release Unreal Tournament 4, simultaneously showing off their ludicrously amazing engine and making all of my dreams come true?

Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 |

Blizzard: Diablo III is now a Spring release

Posted on February 12, 2012 by John Scalzo

After missing a late 2011 launch, Blizzard announced that Diablo III would be released in early 2012. It looks like that release date is also no more as Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime revealed that the game’s new launch window is Spring 2012. The devil must have made them do it!

The news emerged from Activision’s most recent quarterly conference call and is likely due to the extensive changes Blizzard wanted to make to the game after receiving feedback from the Diablo III beta. Here’s what Morhaime had to say about the delay:

Given the popularity of the Action/RPG genre and the keen interest in Diablo III, we expect this launch to be a big opportunity for Blizzard. We can also confirm that we are targeting a Q2 launch for Diablo III. We expect to announce more details about the release schedule in the coming weeks.

So it’s coming in the Spring now. And this time they really really mean it! I guess we’ll see.

Posted in News, PC | Tagged