Saints Row: The Third coming Holiday 2011

Posted on March 3, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Fans of the over-the-top, open-world crimefest that is the Saints Row series will be pleased to know the latest entry, Saints Row: The Third, will be available this Holiday season for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC.

The game will take a turn for the series, as the player will begin as already being the head of a criminal organization, with all of the benefits that go along with it, instead of starting from the bottom. “There’s no delivering pizza, no shuttling family members about in a long series of taxi missions. Instead, you take all the power of the Third Street Saints and you take the world by storm,” said Executive Vice President of Core Games (what?) Danny Bilson of THQ. We could take it a step further and say it’ll take video game forums by storm, as after the last two iterations of each franchise, many hold that Saints Row has surpassed Grand Theft Auto.

More information will be available when the April issue of Game Informer hits subscribers’ mailboxes soon.

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XBLA Wednesday: Beyond Good & Evil HD

Posted on March 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

The Xbox Live Arcade House Party rolls on with Beyond Good & Evil HD, an HD remake of the 2003 game. Hailed as one of the greatest games of the GameCube/PS2/Xbox era, it’s now available to download for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). Often compared to The Legend of Zelda, here’s what gamers have to look forward to if they missed it the first time around (or want to play it again):

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Genre: Action & Adventure
Beyond Good & Evil, the award-winning action-adventure game is back! This time play through this innovative thriller in full high-definition graphics. Play as Jade, a young investigative reporter, and expose a terrible government conspiracy. It is up to you and your loyal pig friend Pey’j to save your planet and its inhabitants.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged

Dead Space: Ignition Review: Devilishly Puzzling

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Nicole Kline

Visceral Games has been really busy lately with the release of Dead Space 2, the port of Dead Space: Extraction, and the development of their recently released DLC entitled Dead Space 2: Severed. Back in October, they released Dead Space Ignition, which came free with Amazon pre-orders of Dead Space 2. I finally had a chance to play this devilish puzzler, and while it was short, it was enjoyable and gave yet another viewpoint of the Dead Space universe.

Press Start to Continue →

Posted in PS3, Reviews, Top Story, Xbox 360 |

InFamous 2 allows you to make your own missions, beta coming in April

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

Sucker Punch really doesn’t want you to stop playing InFamous 2. “No matter how many missions and mini-missions and systemic opportunities and branching story lines we add to the game, eventually the story ends,” said Development Director Chris Zimmerman (not Kris Zimmerman). To make sure the game never leaves your PS3, they announced today at GDC that InFamous 2 will provide the means for you to play, create, and share user-generated missions. The interface looks similar to the creation wheel in ModNation Racers as you can select props, enemies, and determine how the mission will play out. The trailer showcases defending and escort scenarios, and the developers tease that you’ll be able to create pure stealth objectives and even disc golf by substituting frisbees with cars.

A limited beta will begin in early April which you can sign up for starting March 14. Some of the best created levels during this time will even show up on the final version of the game. InFamous 2 launches on PlayStation 3 June 7, with an insane special edition.

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3DS getting new Super Mario Bros., Netflix, and free access to AT&T Hot Spots

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

At the Nintendo GDC keynote today, President Iwata announced a triumvirate of features that greatly increase the value of the Nintendo 3DS. The first won’t surprise anyone: Shigeru Miyamoto will be making a new Super Mario Bros. title for the handheld. Slightly surprising is that the Super Mario Galaxy team is working on it, so expect a high quality (and high reviewed) adventure from everyone’s favorite plumber.

Secondly, Netflix will be available for the platform, in much the same way it operates on the Wii. Finally, and possibly most important, all 3DS users will receive automatic and free access to AT&T Wi-Fi Hot Spots across the country when they use the SpotPass service after a May update.

Also part of the May update will be the eShop, which will grant access to a lot of the features we’ve been hearing about like 3D Hollywood trailers, the internet browser, classic Nintendo titles updated in 3D, and Game Boy/Game Boy Color games. Two things we didn’t expect are titles from TurboGrafx-16 and Sega’s Game Gear, the latest development in the ongoing love affair between the two prior rivals. The Game Gear was the first handheld Sega tried to go up against Nintendo with. While clunky and requiring tons of batteries, it offered impressive graphics in full color. Hopefully some Shining Force Gaiden games will show up on the store.

The 3DS is already a technical powerhouse with a fairly solid launch lineup, but these three new announcements make it even more appealing. You may want to pre-order yours soon for the March 27 release date, as it may sell out here just as fast as it did elsewhere.

Posted in 3DS, Etcetera, News | Tagged

New Battlefield 3 gameplay trailer takes us through a bad part of town

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

EA and DICE released a new trailer with some nice gameplay from the upcoming Battlefield 3.
Some of this appears to be the snippets we saw from the premiere gameplay trailer, but in longer, uninterrupted segments. Seeing the Frostbite 2.0 engine in motion for a longer duration is actually kind of breathtaking. DICE has always made great-looking games but this propels them to the top of technical studios if you ask me. Granted, this is the PC version as seen by some of the control hints, but I’m sure the console versions won’t be too far off.

Battlefield 3 will release for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 Fall 2011. The second part to the “Fault Line” trailer will be revealed March 16.

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

iPad 2 coming March 11, priced at $499

Posted on March 2, 2011 by John Scalzo

As expected, the second generation iPad was announced today at a press conference in San Franciso spearheaded by CEO Steve Jobs. Priced at $499 and available March 11, the tablet, which is officially named the iPad 2, improves on the original iPad thanks to its “thinner, lighter, faster” design.

The “faster” claim is bolstered by the iPad 2’s new dual-core A5 chip architecture (which makes it perfect for gaming). According to Apple, this makes the device nine times faster than the previous iPad and, along with its dual camera setup, makes FaceTime video calling possible. The cameras will also be able to record HD video. Even with these advanced specs, the iPad 2 is 33% thinner and and nearly 15% lighter.

In addition to beefing up the iPad’s inards, the new Smart Cover makes the device more mobile than ever. Snapping into place with magnets, the Smart Cover protects and can be folded to use as a stand.

You can also head on over to Apple.com to see a video of the iPad 2 in action.

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‘Find Makarov’ countdown is not Modern Warfare 3 (but an awesome Fan Film)

Posted on March 2, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

You may remember an enigmatic countdown at findmakarov.com which Activision later called a hoax. The countdown has finished, and the site now redirects to the trailer you see above for a fan film tentatively titled “Live Action Modern Warfare.” Created by Toronto viral marketing company We Can Pretend, the trailer captures some of the most iconic scenes from the Modern Warfare series in live action. The final scene of Call of Duty 4, the end of Modern Warfare 2 at Rust, and even the intense showdown at the aircraft boneyard in MW2 are all adapted with shocking accuracy. Two original scenes are included, one where presumably protagonist Soap MacTavish is saluting General Shepherd. The other is in Nikolai’s aircraft above the inevitable U.S. invasion of Moscow, where Captain Price states “The objective is simple: Find Makarov, end this war.” Either Soap or an undisclosed Russian character agrees, “Aye, let’s write some history.”

It’s strange to see the whole thing in first person, as Infinity Ward’s use of the perspective always seemed as something gaming could accomplish that film could not. Either way, we’ll be sure to follow this ambitious fan project as it progresses.

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