Have you guys heard of The Secret World before? You might have heard of it by its former working titles: Cabal or The World Online. It’s an upcoming MMORPG that’s being developed by Funcom, and they just released some new footage.
Funcom put the brand new trailer from GDC 2011 up on their website and YouTube. Hit the jump for more details about this modern-day MMORPG about mysterious secret societies. Read more… »
The Bit.Trip series began nearly two years ago on Nintendo’s WiiWare service with a little title called Bit.Trip BEAT – a colourful and trippy take on Atari’s hit classic Pong. Little did I know it, but that title that I so hesitantly purchased would soon introduce me to one of my favourite series of all time.
In the twilight hours of my time with the series it became apparent to me that this epic finale has been a long time in the planning.
During the Games Developers Conference in downtown San Francisco this past Wednesday THQ partnered with GameStop to promote their upcoming game Homefront. The game has become quite well known in the gaming community for its fantastic viral marketing campaign.
Because Homefront is set in the near-future where the United States is invaded by North Korea, THQ hosted a mock rally against the North Korean government, culminating in the release of ten thousand red balloons. While the stunt garnered THQ with quite a bit of attention for their upcoming title, it wasn’t as positive as they may have liked. San Francisco residents soon began complaining about the flurry of trash polluting their city and public waters.
Hit the jump for a full assessment of the situation and its potential environmental consequences.
The free handouts, the big reveals, the hands-on demos — none of these should be the reason why you’re kicking yourself for not attending PAX East this year. She is the reason. She is the reason many times over.
This woman’s smart, PhD from UC Berkeley smart. She understands + 1 relates to skill or gil or rupees, not some abstract and meaningless mathematical equation. Her name is Jane McGonigal, and it won’t be too hard to pick her out of the crowd in the Boston Convention and Exhibition Center. She’ll be the one on stage giving the keynote speech. Do you need more credentials? Here they are.
Toronto-based indie studio ][ or “Right Square Bracket Left Square Bracket” just released the first footage of their new PSN title Dyad. Little is known about the title other than that it “is an abstract racing/shooter/puzzle hybrid where players move forward by manipulating other vessels on the track”.
It’s fairly reminiscent of WiiWare title Art Style: Light Trax, if that game was rendered with three dimensional high-definition graphics, which is a pretty exciting prospect. Dyad should be landing on the PlayStation Network at some point this year.
Can somebody please announce Kingdom Hearts 3? Between the ending of Kingdom Hearts 2, Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days, and Kingdom Hearts Birth by Sleep, there’s enough evidence of a third official game to fill several books. I can’t decide if the developers are being coy or if we’re in for another Half-Life 2: Episode Three. In the meantime Square-Enix found a way to keep fans busy in the form of a DS release of Kingdom Hearts re: Coded, which originally came out for mobile phones. The game’s phone origins cause it to translate weakly onto the DS and re: Coded seems more like filler than the previous handheld Kingdom Hearts games.
Phones don’t necessarily lend themselves to the most involving stories, just as God of War: Betrayal was scaled down from God of War: Chains of Olympus, and trying to bring re: Coded back up to DS caliber is where the game immediately stumbles. The story chronicles Jiminy Cricket, whose journal has been digitized and found to be corrupted by “bugs”, the primary antagonists. Mickey creates a virtual representation of Sora, who must travel through the journal, essentially living through a slightly modified version of the original Kingdom Hearts.
The time has come! Whether you’re a fan of Origins, Bioware, or Action RPGs in general, odds are you’re looking to check out Dragon Age II. Throughout my two playthroughs, I’ve come across some tips that will be invaluable to those who are looking to complete the game on a higher difficulty, or those who just don’t want to miss anything.
While Dragon Age II isn’t too difficult, feel free to leaf through the below tips if you’re looking to gain an edge on the denizens of Kirkwall. Read more… »
If you’ll be attending PAX East, be sure to check out Fire Hose Games’ Slam Bolt Scrappers. Make your way over to booth 1133 on the show floor with some friends for a fun puzzle-fighting time. While you’re there you’ll have a chance to win a free copy of the game – just make sure you’re wearing a funny hat.
Everyone else is going to have to wait until next Tuesday to pick the game up on PSN. Until then, check out this awesome new trailer.
Today developer Croteam and publisher Devolver Digital announced that the two companies are going to run a little experiment regarding the promotion of Croteams next Serious Sam title. Dubbed the Serious Sam Indie Series, basically Croteam is going to farm out the Serious Sam IP to several indie developers, allowing each one to provide their own vision of how Serious Sam could be done.
The first three developers are Mommy’s Best Games, Vlambeer, and Be-Rad Entertainment. Apparently Mommy’s Best Games is developing Serious Sam: Double-D; a “frantic side-scrolling shooter” for PC and consoles. Vlambeer’s take on Serious Sam is called Serious Sam: The Random Encounter and sees players take on monsters from the Serious Sam world in a turn-based RPG. Lastly Be-Rad Entertainment’s venture is an auto-running game where you guide Headless Kamikazes out Sam’s way, called Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack! Unfortunately no platforms have been announced for Serious Sam: The Random Encounter and Serious Sam: Kamikaze Attack! yet. Read more… »
It’s Spring Fever on the PlayStation Network! Gamers voted and the good folks at Sony are delivering fan favorites at discounted prices. During the promotion PlayStation Plus members will net 50% discounts on the winning titles from the PSN Gamers’ Choice Awards, while standard users will be able to net discounts up to 30%.
Offers go into effect today and last until March 14th, at which point they will be replaced with other titles as Sony’s Spring Fever promotion continues. The full update awaits after the break.
Dragon Age II has worked up a lot of frenzy this past year, after Bioware announced that the series would be going in an action oriented direction. A lot of fans were up in arms that the series had abandoned it’s die-rolling old school Baldur’s Gate roots, but others gave a warm welcome to the Mass Effect 2 style streamlining, and that the series would be better off without being so archaic.
As a huge fan of both Dragon Age: Origins and Mass Effect 2, I’ve been put in a rather interesting position. On one hand, I think the amount of customization of Origins is unparalleled, and the RPG experience is second to none. On the other, I find that Mass Effect 2′s “shut up and play” mechanics are also a force to be reckoned with, and the lack of RPG elements really isn’t so bad given the quality of the narrative. So how did I feel about Dragon Age II? Well, my feelings are a bit mixed.
Read more… »
Shadows of the Damned has the potential to be my favourite game of all time. No, it’s not just because it looks like a cracked out version of Dante’s Inferno. While that is pretty sweet, the fact that the game is produced by the creative minds behind No More Heroes and Resident Evil is even more exciting. Also, the soundtrack will be composed by legendary Silent Hill sound designer AkiraYamaoka. Yeah, I’m absolutely stoked.
Burn the date June 7th into your mind and prepare for the most punk rock psychological action thriller of the summer.
