It’s only been two weeks since Mass Effect 2 was released, but Bioware is already rolling out some new DLC for the game.  Starting tomorrow, anyone who’s logged into the Cerberus Network will be able to download the new Cerberus Assault Armor and M-22a Eviscerator Shotgun for free.

Each of these two pieces of equipment will be available at 12PM Mountain Standard Time (February 9th) for the PC and Xbox 360 versions of the game, that way no one feels left out in the cold of space.  For complete descriptions of both pieces of equipment, and to see some screen shots, hit the jump. Read more… »

Over the past few decades, we’ve heard tails of people straining their muscles and injuring the tendons in their hands from not properly stretching playing too many video games for extensive periods of time.  Well, since the Wii Fit’s induction to the gaming world, “Nintendinitis” has evolved to fit this generation of gaming related injuries called “Wiitis.”  It’s extending to the entire body.

That’s right, numerous injury reports are popping up around the globe that are directly associated with the Nintendo Wii.  The truth of the matter is that the Wii doesn’t injure people, it points out how fragile our bodies have become. Read more… »

The current formula used by Rockstar in their Grand Theft Auto franchise has been a staple of the industry for nearly a decade.  Ever since Grand Theft Auto III exploded onto the PS2 in October of 2001, the sandbox genre has never been the same.

Offering an incredible amount of freedom (and controversial content) for the time, Grand Theft Auto III represented a huge departure from the first two titles in the series.  The games that followed built on this foundation, culminating in the critically and commercially acclaimed Grand Theft Auto IV, and its downloadable episodes.

With IV, Rockstar placed a heavier focus on characters and story than ever before, resulting in Niko Bellic, the first character to really elicit emotional reactions and connections from players.  The franchise had really evolved from its early top-down days. Read more… »

It’s the start of a new week, and along with that comes a whole new slew of games discounted for the Xbox Live Marketplace Deal of the Week.  This week’s list consists of a trio of popular arcade fighting games, which are sure to attract some buyers who’ve been hesitant in the past to pick them up.

The lineup begins with everyone’s favorite 3-vs-3 brawler, Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which has been reduced 33% to 800 Microsoft points ($10).  Rounding out the list is TMNT: Turtles in Time Reshelled and Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao.  For a complete list of discounted prices, hit the jump. Read more… »

Hello again and welcome to The Weekly Recap. I see you’ve brought your bubble pipes and smoking jackets with you this week. Congratulations on remembering, but you must have missed the memo about top hats and monocles.

It’s okay, it’s okay; I’ll just take mine off and keep it a little less formal than originally planned. At least we can blow our bubbles in unison and share a sense of superiority over how incredibly refined we are.

As for the past week, well, it was a humdinger! There were some fun forum discussions, fantastic user blogs, intriguing features, and rapturous reviews. So without wasting any more time, hit the jump and get right into it.

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King’s Bounty: The Armored Princess is just one of those games that seems destined to be over-looked. First off, it is a stand-alone expansion to a game that received little publicity and retail success. Second, it was only released as a download, making it hard to find unless you know where to look.

Lastly, it was published by 1C Company, who seems to specialize in lower budget indie games. With all these chips against it, some of you are probably wondering “Why even bother reviewing this game?”. Well sir, because the little guy deserves some time in the spotlight every now and then, especially when the little guy is a generally enjoyable strategy/RPG hybrid. Read more… »

This is the first thing from the mostly ridiculous Dante’s Inferno ad campaign that I’ve seen yet that makes me care about the game.  Why?  Bill Withers’ “Ain’t No Sunshine.”  Makes up for the fake protesters, the fake game, and encouraging game geeks to molest booth babes.

Almost.

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When you think of competitive kart racing games, Mario Kart is the main franchise that comes to mind, with several iterations on all number of Nintendo systems. However, developer Nimblebit is hoping to shake up the kart racing genre with their first offering for the PC, Zero Gear.

It’s hard not to draw parallels to Mario Kart when speaking of a kart racing game, and Zero Gear stays true to the style, offering numerous weapons to use against your opponents in an effort to score an underhanded win.

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Toki Tori was originally released in 2001 on the dying Game Boy Color system. While it didn’t see much success on the platform, mostly due to the growing popularity of the Game Boy Advance, it was a fun little platformer with unique charm, and those who played it seemed to really enjoy it.

Fast forward to 2010 and Toki Tori is back, this time invading Steam and offering up the same puzzling gameplay fans of the original release will love. You might have already played the game on your iPhone or your Wii, as it was released in 2009 for these platforms. However, the new release on Steam brings 31 achievements into the mix, along with Steam cloud and controller support.
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If I had to choose a game with a good story over one with good gameplay, I would pick the former.  There are infinite arguments over the merit of either (story or gameplay), but a good story gets the blood pumping in my brain – and my genitals.

So, when I discovered the Wii would feature the next Silent Hill game, my speculation raged. I assumed it would be another motion controlled fiasco that would further cement my distaste.  I was wrong.  Climax created an excellent entry into the series that proves motion controls can enhance narrative. Read more… »

It’s been a fun couple of days for Sega.  In their most recent financial report, the company indicates a slight uptick in their fiscal year net income.  Spanning the months of April-December of 2009, Sega had some impressive sales, for multiple games.  The most successful of these was Mario and Sonic at the Winter Olympic Games, which over that span moved 5.6 million units.

Perhaps even more surprising than that, however, are the sales numbers put up by sexy action newcomer Bayonetta.  The action/adventure title from Hideki Kamiya, the same creator as Devil May Cry, moved 1.1 million units from October 29th until the end of December. Read more… »

Ever since Sony created and showed off an HD, graphically updated sequence from Final Fantasy VII as a tech demo at E3 to prove just how impressive their new PS3 console was, fans have been salivating over the idea of a full-fledged remake to one of the most popular RPG’s ever created.

However, according to Square Enix’s Yoshinori Kitase in an interview with Ultimania magazine, they currently have no such plans.  In fact, many fans fail to realize just how difficult a task it would be to update FFVII, while simultaneously remaining true to the spirit of the original game.  Kitase believes that if they were to remake the game (and again, they aren’t), it would take quite some time. Read more… »