From the creators of the 80s-tastic Retro Game Challenge comes XSEED’s latest foray into 8-bit historical homage: Half-Minute Hero, the world’s first thirty-second RPG.

Instead of the meandering pace of most current (and past) RPGs, HMH throws a unique curveball at you: each quest (level) must be completed in thirty seconds or less. It forces the game to be frantic and fast, but is it fun?

Yes. Yes it is. In the words of Half-Minute Hero‘s Time Goddess, “Has any RPG ever let you advance the story by saying no?”

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There’s always been something alluring and ambitious about city building games. From the first time Sim City graced my SNES, I was in love with the intricacies of zoning, water grids, and controlling air pollution. Insane, maybe, but there’s nothing more enthralling than creating a beautiful, working, sprawling metropolis.

Which is why I followed the reasonably long and detailed development of Cities XL, the second attempt at the genre by Paris-based Monte Cristo Games. Promising simple yet powerful creation tools, hefty possibilities, and an online persistent multiplayer economy, is this city-maker the one we’ve all been waiting for?

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The Gears of War 2 Title Update 5 has officially passed the certification process, and gone live.

There are some nifty little updates coming this time around, such as the ability to view grenades that your allies have planted in your Tac/Com, roadie-running has been reverted to the original GoW camera movement, and several glitches have been attended to.

Read on for full patch notes, and more about the Double XP Weekend.

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It seems that Australians just can’t get enough of highly anticipated games being censored. This year has already seen a host of titles take on the OFLC and fail.

Today, it has been revealed that the Australian PC version of Borderlands contains an aptly named “borderlands_low_violence.ncf” file.  Sources within 2K stress that the mode is optional, and that the file has been included “accidentally”.

Read on to find out what 2K Australia had to say on the matter.

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As previously predicted, Assassin’s Creed 2′s Lineage premiered today on YouTube. While we’re not so surprised that Ubisoft are investing quite a bit of moolah on AC2‘s marketing campaign, a mini live-action series is something else. For a 14-minute viral video, it’s pretty damn epic. It’s not going to win any Oscars, but as it is, there’s an impressive level of commitment shown for Ezio and the franchise.

Sneak inside for the official short movie. Read more… »

You may have heard of a little game called Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the seldom-mentioned sequel to an obscure niche FPS from a few years back.

Did you also know that you could play the game in third-person?

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The new Bioshock 2 trailer, titled “Siren Alley,” was released today, and the game is shaping up to have much more of a shooter feel than the first.  Think more Unreal, less Metroid Prime.

Still, more Big Daddy is always a good thing.

Note the second-to-last title card – a preview embargo?  You’re sure to hear more about that in just a few short days…

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The long awaited PC version of Borderlands has hit the digital avenues of Steam… if you’re in the US. Unfortunately for UK and AU users, the release date was marked incorrectly until the very last hour.

Thus, instead of ticking over to an unlocked game, the release date simply changed to the 30th of October, 3 days away. Europeans and Australians have long been used to being used and abused, but this was a first in the realm of digital downloads.

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Today developer Futuremark announced that its free floating multiplayer FPS Shattered Horizon will arrive as a downloadable title on November 4.

For those of you who don’t know, Shattered Horizon has players duking it out in zero gravity. Players will have complete freedom of movement allowing for tactics and strategies that have never been seen before. Read more… »

If you’re old enough, you probably remember one of the greatest role playing games of all time, Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars. Developed by Squaresoft (now Square Enix), it combined the best of turn-based RPGs with the best of Mario to create a unique, undeniably fantastic experience.  Unfortunately, Nintendo has attempted to recreate the experience multiple times without the help of Square Enix.

Flash forward 13 years later, where Mario and Nintendo have tried their hand numerous times in the role playing genre, unable to completely recapture the magic of their Super Nintendo predecessor. However, major strides were made in classic Mario RPG ways, culminating with Nintendo’s most recent and simply quite amazing endeavor, Mario and Luigi: Bowser’s Inside Story. Read more… »

Today Rockstar Games announced that it will be holding a contest where gamers could win the chance to be a character in the upcoming Western shooter Red Dead Redemption. In order to participate, all you have to do is grow a badass mustache like Wyatt Earp or Doc Holiday and send in pictures of it.

Why is Rockstar Games promoting mustache growth? You see, Rockstar is a major sponsor of Movemeber, “the annual, month-long celebration of the moustache, highlighting men’s health issues, specifically prostate cancer.”

To find out more about this bizarre contest, hit the jump. Read more… »

Suspense horror, whether in movies or games, is extremely difficult to deliver. However, having recently seen Paranormal Activity in theaters, Ju-On: The Grudge served to be my blind hope to keep the chills coming.

With just a flashlight in hand, the game, based loosely around the Japanese horror films, sets out to provide an extremely unique experience. With a dark and ominous feel at all times, it is truly about the spooky and bone chilling sensations, as you move through various environments. But does this game make your hair stand on end and deliver the unique gameplay it promises?

Usually this is where I would say, “Hit the jump to find out.” Not this time though. To give it to you straight, this game is bad. Really bad.

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