Hard Corps: Uprising Review: A Contra Game By Any Other Name…

Posted on February 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

The definition of a “shooter” game has changed greatly since the days of the NES. In those days, a “shooter” was a game like Contra: a side-scrolling, brutally hard, assault on wave-after-wave of enemy soldiers, followed by a screen-sized baddie that flashed red when you shot its weak point. Today, a “shooter” more likely means a first person shooter as visions of Halo, CODBLOPS and Gears of War dance through your head.

But Konami has shown that the old ways don’t have to fade away as the publisher has taken great care to bring the Contra series into the 21st century. Recognizing the franchise’s trademark stlye, the most recent Contra games have been 2D side-scrollers that specialize in controller-throwing difficulty. There was the grittiness of the PS2 entries, the portability of Contra 4, and the 16-bit stylings of Contra ReBirth. Now, there’s the anime-inspired Hard Corps: Uprising, the first game in the series not to carry the Contra name.

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

Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood leads BAFTA noms with seven

Posted on February 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

Somebody alert the world, a Brotherhood of assassins has infiltrated the British Academy Video Games Awards. Ubisoft’s stealthy sequel, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood, garnered seven nominations, more than any other game, including one for Best Game.

Other big honorees from this year’s Video Games Awards include Call of Duty: Black Ops, Heavy Rain (six nominations apiece) and Mass Effect 2 (four nominations).

Awarded annually by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA), the winners of this year’s Video Games Awards will announced in a ceremony on March 16.

The full list of every nominee and every award up for grabs can be found after the break.

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

Arcana Heart 3 gets punched onto PSN this spring

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Ryan Littlefield

Wow, okay, that sounds kinda painful. No, but really. Hot on the heels of Marvel vs Capcom 3‘s recent release, Arcana Heart 3 may accidentally get overlooked, though it shouldn’t. Aksys has localized the game for release on the PlayStation Network, due out sometime this Spring.

The game will utilize 23 fighters, which includes three newcomers to the series. Ironically but not unintentionally, there are 23 unique arcana types as well, which will be used to match each player’s specific fighting style. Arcana Heart 3 will also be implementing “Simple Mode,” where casual players can get a leg up on the combat. The game will offer a full arcade-style story mode, training mode, and online multiplayer – replete with online leaderboards and ranking systems.

Posted in News, PS3 | Tagged

Daily Scoop: February 16, 2011 – Welcome to Castle Grayskull

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Nicole Kline

I am not joking when I say nothing was going on yesterday. And I was off Monday, so yesterday felt like a Monday, but it was more like revenge of the Monday. It was bad.

Today’s Amazon Deal of the Day in video games is Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable for the PSP. It’s $29.99 today down from $39.99. This comes right on the heels of the Atlus digital sale which ended yesterday. I guess this is so you can still grab it cheap, though not as cheap as you could have…? Oh, and some little game called Call of Duty: Black Ops (or as I affectionately refer to it, “CoDBlOps”) is $39.99 on all platforms on Amazon. Pick it up if you didn’t buy it with most of the planet back in November.

Despite the fact that this is completely unrelated to video games, my love of old school Guns N’ Roses leaves me powerless to keep today’s Tee Fury from you:

I’ve been rendered speechless by the sheer awesome of this.

Posted in Daily Scoop, Etcetera, News |

PlayStation announces first ever PSN Gamers Choice Awards

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

From February 22 to March 1, you can vote for your picks for best downloadable titles of 2010 on the PSN. By downloading a free XMB theme for the game, you can vote for each of the four categories: Best PS3 Downloadable Game, Best PSP Downloadable Game, Best PS3/PSP Mini and Best PSN Exclusive Game. The winner in each character will go on sale for 30% off for regular PSN users and an ill 50% off for PSN Plus subscribers. It seems they want to keep every category mutually exclusive, or else I have no idea why Dead Nation and Soldner-X2 are not up for Best PS3 Downloadable Game.

While most Game of the Year awards have been done for a long time now, it’s pretty awesome for PSN users to have one with free themes and big discounts all along the way, and for some of the best games at that.

Hit the break for the full list of nominees.

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Hard Corps: Uprising shoots its way onto the XBLA

Posted on February 16, 2011 by John Scalzo

Microsoft has kicked off their 2011 Xbox Live Arcade House Party promotion in an explosive way as Hard Corps: Uprising is now available to download.

Priced at 1200 Microsoft Points ($15), the game is a prequel to the Contra saga as a whole and to 1994’s Contra: Hard Corps in particular. Developed by Arc System Works, the game also brings an anime-inspired flavor to Contra’s signature run-and-gun routines for the first time.

In addition to the main game, Konami has made two bonus characters for Hard Corps: Uprising available to download (priced at 200 MS Points each) along with a whole closet full of Avatar items.

Check back later today for our review of Hard Corps: Uprising.

Posted in News, Xbox 360 | Tagged ,

George R.R. Martin overseeing A Game of Thrones: Genesis for PC, new screenshots

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Mike Gutierrez

If you’re a fan of the fantasy series A Song of Ice and Fire, or one of the inevitable hipsters who is now because there’s an HBO series about it, there’s a Real Time Strategy game based on it coming out for PC this summer (with a story supervised by author George R.R. Martin). A Game of Thrones: Genesis from Cyanide Studio allows players (I love it when games give us permission) to experience 1000 years of Westeros history, from its founding up to Aegon the Conquerer’s invasion and the War of the Usurper, which sound totally awesome.

The game seems to be more in line with Civilization than Age of Empires, as you can use economic and diplomatic tactics to crush your opponents instead of sending a thousand knights on horseback their way. I might have to check this out if my laptop can run it, judging by just how cool the screenshots below are.

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Posted in News, PC | Tagged

Disney raises the 3DS sail with Lego Pirates of the Caribbean

Posted on February 16, 2011 by Ryan Littlefield

Ninajas will be stealthily sneaking into the world of Lego soon, but its pirates that will invading the 3DS and staking a claim for minifigs everywhere. That’s right, a version of Lego Pirates of the Caribbean will be sailing to the upcoming 3DS handheld.

Not only does Lego Pirates feature all the fun Lego gameplay that the previous titles did, but most interesting is the Street Pass feature. Street Pass allows players’ sleeping 3DS systems to interact with each other, where players will involuntarily be involved in “Pirate Duels.” Players will be able to select attacks and blocks to be used while the Street Pass mode is on. This makes the Pirate Duel feature seem like a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, but with more wit involved. Winners of these duels will be rewarded with experience points, which will unlock additional health and power-up bonuses for their in-game characters. This feature is exclusive to the 3DS’ version of the game.

Lego Pirates of the Caribbean will be simultaneously released on the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PC/Mac, PSP, and 3DS in conjunction with the new Pirates of the Caribbean film, due out May 2011.

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