EA shutting down more multiplayer servers

Posted on July 14, 2011 by John Scalzo

Electronic Arts is planning to perform another of their periodic server shutdowns next month. On August 11th, online play for nearly a dozen games will be retired. Two more shutdowns will follow in October. About half of the titles are EA Sports games that have long since been replaced by newer editions. But if you still play action games like Army of Two or Battlefield 2: Modern Combat, your online time will be coming to an end.

And sadly, any multiplayer Achievements/Trophies associated with these games will be forever unobtainable very soon.

The full list of server shutdowns can be found after the break.

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Posted in News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360 |

Daily Scoop: July 14, 2011 – A hoax is better than a Horcrux

Posted on July 14, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Sadly, it seems as though yesterday’s too-good-to-be-true deal was… well… too good to be true. Overstock was experiencing glitches in their system, so anyone who ordered a $9 3DS or a $20 Wii was sorely disappointed. Well, not really sorely disappointed, considering we all knew it was too good to be true. Still, though… it would have been awesome if they had to honor them. And they could afford to drop some Moves for $9, am I right?

Anywho, Amazon’s Deal of the Day in video games is Konami’s Karaoke Revolution! It’s $14.99 on the Xbox 360, $19.99 on the PlayStation 3, and the bundle for the Wii is $27.99. I love singing games, so even I’m considering getting today’s deal! There’s also one lightning deal at Amazon: Medal of Honor, which is $14.99 for PS3 and Xbox 360!

Paltry!

We’ve got a gaming t-shirt for you today, too! It’s a lot like the amazing “Poked to Death” shirt, but it’s “Death Portal” instead, and it’s over at Ript:

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Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 |

Nintendo Download: Netflix app added to 3DS eShop

Posted on July 14, 2011 by John Scalzo

This week’s Nintendo Download adds the free (for current subscribers that is) Netflix streaming application to the 3DS eShop. In light of the company’s recent woes over a 60% price hike and the unbundling of their Instant Watch service, they could use the good news.

“The new Netflix application looks great, plays great and is a fantastic consumer experience,” said Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime. “It gives Nintendo 3DS owners access to an amazing wealth of movies and TV shows, which they can watch conveniently from thousands of free Wi-Fi access points across the country. Nintendo 3DS truly offers something for everyone.”

This week’s update also includes a bevy of games including…

  • Game & Watch Gallery (3DS) – A re-release of the Game Boy classic, which was itself a re-release of Nintendo’s popular Game & Watch handhelds.
  • Baseball (3DS) – One of the first Game Boy games ever released gets the 3DS Virtual Console treatment.
  • Extreme Hangman 2 (DSi) – Another round of hangman excitement.
  • AfterZoom (DSi) – Turn your DSi’s camera into a microscope.
  • Puzzle Fever (DSi) – A puzzle game with actual puzzle pieces.
  • Just Sing! 80s Collection (DSi) – A music game that goes back to the decade that brought us Madonna, A-ha and Rick Astley.
  • 3D Pixel Racing (Wii) – Pixel graphics, 3D gameplay, retro cool racing.

You can read more about all of this week’s new releases in the latest Nintendo Download Newsletter.

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, Wii |

Dead Island shambles into stores September 6; Comic-Con panel includes zombie experts

Posted on July 13, 2011 by John Scalzo

After months of teasing, Deep Silver has finally announced an official release date for Dead Island. The first person zombie game will be available for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 on September 6.

To help celebrate the game’s pending release, Deep Silver plans to hold a master class at Comic-Con to explore “society’s fascination with the Zombie genre as a whole, and demonstrate how creative talent are harnessing medical science to define and explore horror entertainment in more realistic (and therefore more frightening and engaging) ways.” The panelists represent some of the foremost experts in the field of zombology and will surely provide a lively (so to speak) discussion:

  • Max Brooks, universal zombie expert and author of The Zombie Survival Guide, World War Z and The Zombie Survival Guide: Recorded Attacks
  • Haris Orkin, writer of the anticipated video game, Dead Island
  • Steve Schlozman, M.D., author of The Zombie Autopsies and assistant professor of psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
  • Bradley Voytek, Ph.D., Post-doctoral Fellow: Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco
  • Andrew Groen, freelance journalist and editor of GamePro Magazine’s “Real Science” column
  • Bruce Geryk, M.D., Resident Physician, Department of Neurosurgery, University of North Carolina Hospitals

The panel, titled “The Science of Zombies,” will be held at the San Diego Convention Center – Room 8 on July 22 at 7:30 PM.

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

Catherine Hands-On Preview: Move Over, Freddy – There’s A New Nightmare in Town

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Japanese company Atlus is no stranger to both developing and publishing unusual games – they are, after all, the creators of the Persona series. Their latest game, Catherine, has been dubbed an infidelity simulator, and fits right into their niche of the weird and wonderful. Even after everything we’ve written about Catherine, I still wasn’t sure what to expect from the demo. I tried not to have high expectations, but even as elevated as they were, I was definitely not disappointed with what the demo had to offer.

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Posted in Previews, PS3, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Nintendo Video application launches for 3DS

Posted on July 13, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

The European 3DS eShop has been updated today with the new Nintendo Video application. This gives you another avenue to get free video content, through the Spot Pass feature on your 3DS. Spot Pass activates and downloads new content whenever you come across a Wi-Fi access point, even if the 3DS is in sleep mode.

Initial content includes Oscar’s Oasis, a cartoon that’s very popular in Europe, and 3D episodes of Magic Tricks (optical illusions and card tricks). I know it doesn’t sound like much right now, but it can only be a matter of time before we’re using this to get Chris Rock stand up clips and episodes of Transformers, right?

But if you’re expecting to see the Nintendo Video application on the North American eShop soon, don’t hold your breath. Nintendo of America’s Senior Director of Network Business, Tony Elison, told 1UP, “Nintendo’s short-form video service that delivers special video content for Nintendo 3DS systems will launch in North America later this summer.”

Posted in 3DS, News |

EA buys PopCap for $750 million

Posted on July 13, 2011 by John Scalzo

PopCap Games, the casual gaming powerhouse behind such franchises as Bejeweled, Plants vs Zombies and Zuma, has been acquired by Electronic Arts for $750 million ($650 million in cash and $100 million in shares of EA common stock). PopCap had recently been mulling a public IPO, but it looks like EA swooped in and made a better deal.

“We picked EA because they have recast their culture around making great digital games,” said David Roberts, CEO of PopCap. “By working with EA, we’ll scale our games and services to deliver more social, mobile, casual fun to an even bigger, global audience.”

Executives on EA’s end also sound thrilled with the PopCap purchase.

“EA and PopCap are a compelling combination,” said EA CEO John Riccitiello. “PopCap’s great studio talent and powerful IP add to EA’s momentum and accelerate our drive towards a $1 billion digital business. EA’s global studio and publishing network will help PopCap rapidly expand their business to more digital devices, more countries, and more channels.”

I hope the marriage between PopCap and EA works out for the best. Now, can I have a sequel to Heavy Weapon?

Posted in 3DS, DS, News, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360 |

Asssassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, Summer Sale now on PSN

Posted on July 13, 2011 by John Scalzo

This week’s PlayStation Store update includes a downloadable version of Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, a demo for Atlus’ wild RPG adventure Catherine and a whole lot of DLC expansions. Some of the games getting expanded today include L.A. Noire (“Reefer Madness Vice Case”), LittleBigPlanet 2 (“Killzone 3 Minipack”) and MotorStorm Apocalypse (“Queen of Hearts Event Pack”).

However, this week’s update also marks the kickoff of the PSN Summer Sale, a weeklong festival of savings on some of the PlayStation Store’s biggest games including Pac-Man: Championship Edition DX, PixelJunk Shooter 2, Hard Corps: Uprising and Dead Space: Extraction.

A complete list of everything added to the PlayStation Store today can be found at the PlayStation.Blog. Happy gaming!

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