Scarygirl coming to PC, PSN, XBLA courtesy of Square Enix

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Nicole Kline

Square Enix announced today that they’re bringing Nathan Jurevicius’ graphic novel, Scarygirl, to the PC, PSN, and XBLA. The game, developed by TikGames, is an action platformer, and will be available January 18 for the XBLA, January 24 for the PSN, and “early 2012” for the PC.

Scarygirl, which won the 2009 Aurealis Award for Best Illustrated Book/Graphic novel, features a tough girl who dresses like a pirate and has a tentacle for an arm. A strange man haunts her dreams, and Scarygirl sets out on a journey to find him. Blister the giant octopus and Bunniguru the mystical, kung-fu rabbit help her on her quest against dangerous monsters.

I don’t know about you, but this sounds like one of the most ridiculously adorable games I have ever heard of. Ever.

Want to see how adorable it can be? Check out the trailer after the break.

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

Pachter predicts Wii U launch will have poor third party support

Posted on January 6, 2012 by John Scalzo

My love for this graphic overrides my hatred of Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter, so here’s another article where “The Pach” says something stupid…

Speaking to Industry Gamers, Pachter has once again spouted off on his predictions concerning the Wii U. Not surprisingly, Pachter is betting against Nintendo’s next console. This time, he cites his belief that the Wii U is “all but assured of limited third party launch support,” which will, in turn, lead to poor hardware sales for the system.

By trying to be ‘different’ with the tablet controller, they have complicated game design for developers, who can’t figure out if the Wii U will ultimately support only one or multiple controllers. Nintendo made the device sufficiently different that they are all but assured of limited third party launch support, which ultimately will lead to modest hardware sales.

To be fair, Pachter isn’t the only person questioning the logic of Nintendo’s Wii U launch strategy. And the company’s typical tightlipped tactics aren’t helping that impression any. However, the third party software that’ll be available at the Wii U’s launch makes me wonder if Pachter was paying attention during E3 11.

He goes on to say that Nintendo is in for a rough time if they treat the Wii U the same way they treated the Wii:

They should stop relying upon the strategy that got them here, as it appears to no longer be working. I think their resolution should be to look outside of Nintendo for leadership in the areas of digital downloads, a user-friendly online interface and multiplayer gaming.

Really? Forgive him Saint Miyamoto, he knows not what he says.

Posted in News, Wii U |

Borderlands: The Fallen Review: Spend Some More Time on Sunny Pandora

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Nicole Kline

John Shirley – whose name you might remember from my scathing review of the BioShock novel – is at it again, this time with a novel entitled Borderlands: The Fallen. As you can guess, it’s a novel based on Pandora in the world of Borderlands. It follows Roland, the Soldier, on a mission (see what I did there?) to find an alien ship. After spending several hundred pages with Shirley, I was wary to dive into yet another tepid tie-in. But in a surprising turn of events, the book actually turned out to be not as bad as I’d feared.

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Posted in Etcetera, Reviews, Top Story |

Rumor: PlayStation 4 and Xbox 720 to be announced at this year’s E3

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Nicole Kline

E3 2012 is gearing up to be a big one. According to The Market for Computer and Video Games (more popularly known as MCV UK), Sony and Microsoft are going to be announcing their next generation of consoles at this year’s big video game expo.

The two companies will be close on the heels of Nintendo’s Wii U announcements, determined not to let a competitor get too far ahead of them this time. The article also expressed surprise that Sony will be making an announcement so soon, adding “Execs at the PlayStation firm have made it clear to third-parties that they will not be left behind this time.” This sounds like a great move for the two companies, but an expensive one for gamers, who are already straining under high prices of consoles.

Since there have been rumors this year about both Microsoft and Sony starting production on the new consoles, this doesn’t really come as that much of a surprise. Earlier rumors put the consoles at a 2013 release, with another rumor saying that the new Xbox will be out in 2014, and yet another saying the new Xbox will release alongside the Wii U. No one seems to know the truth, but hopefully we’ll get some answers in June.

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Daily Scoop: January 6, 2011 – A Friday arrives!

Posted on January 6, 2012 by Nicole Kline

It’s Friday, and I couldn’t be more grateful! What games are you looking forward to playing this weekend? I’m going to try to play more Assassin’s Creed or Final Fantasy XIII tonight, and then it’s Dungeons & Dragons the rest of the weekend for me, maybe with a smattering of Blood Bowl… oh, who am I kidding? I’ll probably watch episodes of “Avatar: The Last Airbender” and read comics in my underwear.

Not much going on today with deals. Amazon’s having a sale on Disney games, including Lego Pirates of the Caribbean. Now you can get it on every platform imaginable!

Two more gaming t-shirts today, woohoo!

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

Skyrim, Portal 2, Bastion nab 5 nominations at 12th annual Game Developers Choice Awards

Posted on January 6, 2012 by John Scalzo

The Game Developers Conference has handed out nominations for their 12th annual Game Developers Choice Awards and, prepare to be shocked, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Bastion, and Portal 2 each scored five nominations apiece.

Wait a minute, that’s not shocking at all! Those three games have been sweeping every Game of the Year contest of 2011.

Skyrim and Portal 2 will be joined by Batman: Arkham City, Dark Souls, and Deus Ex: Human Revolution in the coveted GDCA Game of the Year category. Bastion will battle it out against From Dust, Frozen Synapse, Outland, and Stacking for the honor of Best Downloadable Game.

Skyrim, Bastion, and Portal 2 will fight it out in many of the same categories throughout the rest of the awards show. Skyrim and Portal 2 were both nominated for Best Game Design while Portal 2 and Bastion will go head-to-head for Best Narrative and the Innovation award. Meanwhile, all three games were nominated for Best Audio.

Bastion developer Supergiant Games is also up for Best Debut.

The Game Developers Choice Awards will be given out on March 7. You can check out the complete list of nominees after the break.

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Posted in 3DS, Mobile, News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged , , ,

Zelda Producer: Gameplay comes first, where a game fits in timeline is a coincidence

Posted on January 6, 2012 by John Scalzo

You didn’t think the arguments over the Legend of Zelda’s official timeline were over did you?

After revealing the official timeline to the English-speaking world, GlitterBerri has continued to translate Hyrule Historia on a page-by-page basis. Through her (and her team’s) work, she has discovered that the official timeline is not quite the pre-planned story bible that some fans hoped it would be.

Instead, on page 238, series producer Eiji Aonuma falls back on the traditional Nintendo party line. He confirms that the gameplay hook of a Zelda game is created first and where it fits within the timeline is actually just a coincidence:

Chapter 2, “The Full History of Hyrule,” arranges the series in chronological order so it’s easier to understand, but from the very beginning, Zelda games have been developed with the top priority of focusing on the game mechanics rather than the story. For example, in Ocarina of Time, the first installment of the series I was involved in, the main theme was how to create a game with pleasant controls in a 3D world. Or in the DS game, Phantom Hourglass, the focus was having comfortable stylus controls. Finally, in the most recent game, Skyward Sword, we focused on an easy way to swing the sword using the Wii motion plus.

Thinking of that way of developing the games, it may be correct to say that the story is an appendix to that. I even think that setting Skyward Sword as the “first story,” was merely a coincidence.

So the bottom line is that “The Official Zelda Timeline” is nothing more than an after-the-fact creation used to make Hyrule Historia more enticing to fans. And that’s fine. The timeline as stated still fits together rather elegantly.

But I have to admit, knowing that there was never a plan does put a bit of a damper on the timeline. Especially since Skyward Sword had been billed as the “first story” in the Zelda series since it was announced.

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More Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses tour dates

Posted on January 5, 2012 by Chris Urie

If you are like many Zelda fans, tingles run down your spine whenever you hear three simple notes from a piano and the haunting tones of an ocarina. You can’t help but grin with the desire for adventure when your iPod is on shuffle and the Hyrule Field Main Theme sneaks its way into your earbuds. Imagine the majesty of your favorite soundtrack brought to life by an entire symphony orchestra. That’s what The Legend of Zelda: Symphony of the Goddesses tour aims to do when it sweeps into town.

Check out the current schedule:

Jan. 10 – Dallas (SOLD OUT)
March 14 – Vancouver, British Columbia
March 26 – Seattle
March 28 – San Francisco
April 7 – Denver
April 20-21 – Phoenix
May 12 – Atlanta
May 31 – Montreal, Quebec
June 22 – Austin, Texas
July 14 – Orlando, Fla.
Sept. 29 – Toronto, Ontario (tickets go on sale March 31)

More dates and information will be added, so make sure to check the official site and maybe sign up for the newsletter. You don’t want to have to play the Song of Time desperately on your ocarina with tears in your eyes because the show is sold out.

Posted in Etcetera, News |