Next EA Sports NBA sim coming in 2012

Posted on April 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

The cancellation of NBA Elite 11 left a big gaping hole in EA Sports’ release schedule last year. And now it looks like the simulation series will be skipping 2011 as well. In a statement released yesterday, EA Sports announced that their next NBA simulation title will launch in Fall 2012.

Interestingly enough, the NBA Elite title is never used in the statement, meaning that EA’s basketball series may receive yet another rebranding, even though a game bearing the NBA Elite name was never released.

“As planned, our next NBA simulation title is in development at our Tiburon Studio in Orlando,” said Peter Moore, President, EA Sports. “We have top talent on the game, and we’re giving the new development team time to deliver a superior experience. We’re making great strides and looking forward to launching a new game next year.”

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Mass Effect: Deception novel coming September 27

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

After three literary adaptations, the Mass Effect universe will see another later this year with Mass Effect: Deception. Scheduled for a September 27 release, the plot is summarized as follows:

Gillian was once the subject of horrifying scientific experiments, but now, after her rescue, she is beginning to master her amazing powers. When she falls under the sway of a radical group who believe their powers make them superior to ordinary humans, she finds herself faced with a choice between her destiny…and her humanity.

The book will roughly coincide with the release of Mass Effect 3 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 this holiday season.

Posted in Etcetera, News |

NBA Jam: On Fire Edition burning up PSN, XBLA in October

Posted on April 6, 2011 by John Scalzo

NBA Jam began its life on the PS3 and Xbox 360 as a downloadable bonus for EA’s new basketball sim, NBA Elite 11. After Elite crashed and burned before it was even released, EA went ahead and brought gave the now expanded NBA Jam a PS3/Xbox 360 retail release. But it looks like the download plan is back on for the sequel, NBA Jam: On Fire Edition.

The On Fire Edition will be added to the PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade this October (presumably with a pricetag that’s less than $50). According to NBA Jam’s producer, Trey Smith, the game will include a ton of updates, many of them driven by fan feedback:

  • Real AI: Featuring the ground-breaking AI system used in the Fight Night franchise that learns your tendencies and throws them back in your face.
  • Jam Arena: Play solo, or team up with friends and take on the world in a new, dynamic online competition.
  • Road Trip: A cooperative online campaign where you can team up with friends and compete in a series of white-knuckle challenges against the current superstars and timeless legends from each of the 30 NBA Teams.
  • Tag Mode and Team Fire Return!: Swap players “on the fly” and ignite your entire team by performing consecutive cooperative moves!
  • More NBA Jam Hotness: Online roster updates, more NBA superstars, legendary NBA players, over-the-top animations, Jam Challenges, secret teams and unlockable characters than ever before!

I’m thrilled that Tag Mode is back, that was my prime annoyance with last year’s NBA Jam.

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Anonymous takes responsibility for PSN outages, calls gamers ‘collateral damage’

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Is it just me, or are hackers more and more everyday starting to sound like villains from “24”? PlayStation Lifestyle just got a highly coveted chance to talk with the members of Anonymous, the “hacktivist” group currently waging jihad cyber-war against Sony. Although most already figured it out, the group has taken responsibility for the service outages over the PlayStation Network. When confronted with the counter-intuitive nature of their methods, a member stated:

The consumers in this are as one might call, collateral damage. We are very cognizant of the fact that we are not making friends nor allies among the average consumer with our attack. This is unfortunate as a concern should always be, will the very people we seek to support not see what it is we are trying to achieve. In this case, many don’t. There has been a lot of hate spread throughout the internet and over forums that we are being reckless and simply punishing consumers more than Sony.

I think I speak for many PSN users when I say: Really? With all of the efforts being made in retaliation to ongoing lawsuits against members of the hacking community, I can only imagine the judge (or jury if this goes past summary judgment) having a field day when deciding the remedies to grant Sony.

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Awesome new trailer for Wii RPG Pandora’s Tower

Posted on April 6, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Earlier in the year, Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata teased a new RPG coming exclusively to the Wii, called Pandora’s Tower. That’s pretty much all the information we got, but now a new trailer for the game has been released. We also know the game is coming out May 26 in Japan, developed by Ganbarion, the team behind the DS’ Jump Super Stars.

The official site has been updated with the trailer and release date, but no other information has been provided. You know, like if this game will ever come to the United States.

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StarDrone, Red Faction Battlegrounds added to PSN

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

It’s Tuesday and Sony has added two new games to the PlayStation Store along with a huge batch of PlayStation Plus content and other discounts.

This week’s featured release is StarDrone, a “high-speed action thriller with a mix of arcade action, pinball, breakout, physics and collect-the-objects — and it supports PlayStation Move.” Whew. The game should win awards just for the awesome description. Also available this week is Red Faction: Battlegrounds, a vehicular combat spin-off of the popular Red Faction series.

PlayStation Plus users will get a free download of one of the greatest games of all time, Sonic the Hedgehog 2. And lovers of discounts can get the excellent Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light for $7.49.

More information on this week’s releases can be found after the jump and more details on all the new add-ons added to the PlayStation Store can be found at the PlayStation.Blog.

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Capcom celebrates 15 years of Resident Evil with five games

Posted on April 5, 2011 by John Scalzo

Capcom is resurrecting a ton of games for the 15th anniversary of the Resident Evil series. Not only that, but the publisher is injecting some new blood into the series with a pair of original games. And they want to get that blood pumping with the new trailer above that showcases all of these titles.

First up there’s Resident Evil: The Mercenaries 3D, a multiplayer 3DS game based on the “Mercenaries” mode found in previous games in the series. And speaking of previous games in the series, the trailer also includes another look at the PSN/XBLA HD versions of Resident Evil: Code Veronica X and Resident Evil 4.

Capcom plans to bring out the new stuff later in the year including the return of Chris Redfield and Jill Valentine in Resident Evil: Revelations (also for the 3DS). And capping the celebration is a return to the RE2/RE3 era in the brand new Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City (which is coming to the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360).

That is a lot of Resident Evil and this is a pretty neat trailer.

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

Warp Zoned Wish List: What We Want From Killzone 4

Posted on April 5, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

After four intense games, it’s time to give the Helghast and ISA forces a break. Indeed, Guerilla Games has already hinted that they are preparing to move on to a new IP. However, the universe is still expanding with the live action short that recently released, as well as the novel Killzone: Ascendancy. It would be a shame to leave the game side dormant for too long, so we look ahead to the future with what we’d enjoy seeing in Killzone 4.

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