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The sequel to Ska Studio’s 2009 sidescroller hit will be coming on April 6 when The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile releases for Xbox Live Arcade. With 13 campaign levels, 50 challenge levels, and stereoscopic 3D, this game is a pretty good deal at 800 MS Points.
The full game will also be available at PAX East this weekend in Boston, featuring the entire game’s campaign, co-op, and arcade modes to check out. You’ll be able to find Ska Studios at booth 607 in the Expo Hall.
Ah, PAX. It’s so close! But announcements like these make it seem so far away. The first public discussion of BioShock Infinite will be taking place this Friday from 5-6 PM in the Manticore Theatre at this year’s Penny Arcade Expo (East). Irrational Games’ Creative Director Ken Levine, Art Director Nate Wells, Lead Artist Shawn Robertson, and Senior Effects Artist Stephen Alexander will sit down to discuss the highly imaginative setting for Bioshock Infinite, the floating city of Columbia. The team will be spilling the beans on the creative process, how they arrived at a floating city, and inspirations for the game. I’d imagine they’d be taking questions as well.
If you want to be heard, be sure to line up early as this one’s expected to fill up almost immediately. You can also stop by the Irrational Games booth in the north lobby of the convention center (they might just mean near the 2K section, which is 950 and 936 at the Expo Hall) to get yourself some free swag, talk to the devs, and get them to sign your stuff. From 10-11:45am on all three days you can enter a raffle to win one of three splicer masks. It’s certainly going to be a special event, but if you ask me, floating cities are so 90’s Final Fantasy.
Now into its fifth generation of games, the Pokemon series is not losing any steam. Nintendo announced that day one sales in the U.S. for Pokemon Black Version and Pokemon White Version total over a million units when they released on March 6. That surpasses the previous Pokemon sales record in the U.S., which incidentally was the debut of the last generation, Diamond and Pearl.
Charlie Scibetta, Senior Director of Corporate Communications for Nintendo of America said, “these sales numbers illustrate the continued strength of the Nintendo DS family of systems. Already established as the nation’s best-selling video game platform of all time, the installed base of more than 47 million makes it the ideal hand-held for developers to reach a huge gaming-focused target audience.” While the DS is already firmly established as one of the strongest platforms of all time for quality titles, I’m not sure if I would say the target audience is “gaming-focused.”
Radiant Historia is a steampunk, time-travelling RPG created by Atlus. At least, that’s how it’s marketed. But deeper than the gearpunk, deeper than travelling through the timelines, there’s that traditional Japanese story of environmentalism mixed in with sentiments of loyalty and the general idea of good versus evil. And beyond the depth and immersion of the story is even more: brilliant character development, a challenging and satisfying battle system, a plethora of sidequests, and a gorgeous soundtrack. This is not just a successful game; this is a game that should be used as an example for what a successful RPG is really all about.
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Whether Insomniac likes it or not, Resistance 3 is at the center of the shooter genre war going on right now. Being a platform exclusive doesn’t help, either, as all eyes are on the latest chapter in the sci-fi military shooter saga to see if it will deliver or not. I know I was worried that the devs might be missing the point with their multiplayer progression, but right now, I really don’t care – I just want to play the damn thing.
The game looks phenomenal, with visuals in multiplayer that look just as great as they did during campaign in the VGA reveal trailer. Insomniac’s strength in animation are possibly at their best. The weapon wheel also carries over into the online mode, with players switching between Sniper Rifles, Chimeran Assault Rifles, and the much beloved Rossmore Shotgun. Killstreaks also make a debut, with pulling off a string of frags earning you series trademarks like cloaking or the Auger shield. Most importantly for me, the auto aim seems toned down so it’s not a “who sees who first” contest like in the second game. Honestly, this looks like an argument for developers to get off the two year cycle that plagues this industry and put in that extra year of effort. It appears to have gone a long way.
It’s not the war they wanted, but the war they must fight. After the Marines were dispatched to suppress an insurgency force in Tajikistan, they now have to go toe to toe with China’s infamous People’s Liberation Army. What began with your stereotypical contemporary American operation now has our forces “confronted by a foe equal in technology but vastly superior in numbers.” Some of the animations may look a little dated, but the game certainly delivers on its promises of realistic and immersive gameplay. Check out the new trailer for Operation Flashpoint: Red River above.
Deus Ex: Human Revolution, the latest entry in the critically acclaimed series, has finally been given a release date by publisher Square Enix. North American gamers will be able to pick up the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 title on August 23 while UK gamers will have to wait until August 26.
The news comes courtesy of developer Eidos Montreal’s Twitter feed. Ironically, if the game had met it’s original release date, it would have arrived on store shelves today, March 8.
The results are in, and a record 19,000 professionals made the pilgrimage to San Francisco for the 2011 Game Developers Conference. The world’s largest and longest running developer event hosted five packed days of over 450 lectures, panels, summits, tutorials and roundtable discussions. Event director Meggan Scavio said, “the past week of GDC truly embodied the passion and spirit of the video game community. From seasoned game veterans to aspiring game professionals in areas spanning social and online games through major console titles and beyond, we are honored to continue to serve the industry – and hope to see you all next year.”
If you decide to take her up on that offer, the event will return to the same venue, the Moscone Convention Center in San Francisco, when the madness begins again on Monday, March 5 to Friday, March 9, 2012. The festivities aren’t quite over yet, as a lot of the trailers and details are now trickling down to the press, so stay tuned to Warp Zoned to catch all the happenings you may have missed last week.
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