It seems like every developer with a well known backlog of games is jumping on the HD collection bandwagon. First there was the God of War HD Collection, then the Prince of Persia Trilogy HD; now it seems that Capcom’s Devil May Cry series will be getting its own re-release.

While Capcom has yet to officially announce anything, the ESRB has rated the first three Devil May Cry titles for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Considering that the DMC series was a PlayStation 2 exclusive, branching out with a HD collection might get some younger gamers interested in the franchise. Read more… »

A new champion is on the horizon and her name is Riven. Riot Games recently announced that a sword-master with a mysterious past will be joining the cast, and the community is all abuzz about what her abilities could be, and her general role in the meta. The top predictions seem to be gunning for a Mage Tank or melee push dps, but of course, we won’t know until she actually drops.

A lot of “fans” are complaining that it looks too “Final Fantasy“, but I for one welcome the design – having a diversified design palette can only mean good things for gamers who are interested in joining the community. One of my favorite things about League of Legends is playing as champions that are appealing to me aesthetically – if I don’t like a champion’s look, I won’t play as him – it’s pretty simple!

Hit the jump for a full look at Riven’s storyline, in picture teasing format. Read more… »

Today Riot Games announced that the Mac version of their extremely popular free-to-play MOBA (multiplayer online battle arena) game League of Legends has been put on the back burner indefinitely.

According to Riot, the reason the project was put on hiatus was due to inconsistencies in the frequent updates and patches. These issues all stem for the fact that, while Riot handles all development on the PC, the Mac version of LoL is being developed externally by TransGaming. While Riot is able to keep up with all the patches and new content, TransGaming seems to be a bit slower, often leaving LoL outdated and unavailable to Mac gamers. Read more… »

For those of you that haven’t yet indulged in an EA Sports Ultimate Team mode — be it in FIFA, NHL, or Madden — it is basically a way for you to build up your own dream team. Play games with your team, earn some currency, buy packs for cards, buy cards from the auction house, or, new to Madden, trade your cards on the trade block. All of this goes towards the end goal of building that perfect team and playing games online against others.

Since its inception as free DLC in Madden NFL 10, Madden Ultimate Team (aka MUT) quickly became my mode of choice. I was that person in World of Warcraft that would reset the market on the auction house. That person you despised who bought low and made a ridiculous profit by reshaping and owning a piece of the market. This, for me, was like a mini-game that brought instant gratification and reward.

As you can imagine, this was a large part of the appeal for me in MUT. The mode in Madden NFL 10 and Madden NFL 11 provided a rewarding and challenging experience. While it was never perfect in the past, it still allowed for a somewhat healthy market and an experience that drove you to perfection. The future of MUT last year was bright and I looked forward to what Tiburon had in store for the mode. Read more… »

Let me tell you a story. It’s a story about a small gold fish and the wacky world he lives in. Don’t write off this pint sized piece of aquatic cuteness, however. That’s what he wants you to do. When your back is turned he’ll pounce. It’s what he’s good at.

This a story of deception and rage. This is Launching Pad Games’ Mighty Fin.

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Be honest, you already have preconceived notions about this game. That’s fine, I get it. After all, it is an annual sports franchise that, for the most part, takes an incremental approach year in and year out. However, last year was no such year with the introduction of GameFlow and Game Planning. Sure, it might not have been a feature for everyone, but the impact it had on the game was as important as the introduction of Focus was to the Tiger Woods franchise.

Fact of the matter is that Madden NFL 11 opened itself up to be much more accessible without taking anything away from the hardcore.  While the game wasn’t perfect, it was innovative and took a necessary step in the right direction. Madden NFL 12, on the other hand, falls right back into that incremental approach. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing though. Read more… »

In its heyday, the JRPG was one of the the most well loved, paradigmatic experiences in the entire medium of videogames. Unfortunately, all empires must eventually fall and the the tale of the JRPG has been one of stagnation and decline. Rapid technological improvements brought many eastern studios into an uphill battle, where all too often gameplay suffered at the expense of modern graphics.

We are left with an aging genre where stories are often absurd and incomprehensible, combat is frustrating and needlessly complicated, and high-definition visuals are prioritized above all else. Luckily, Xenoblade Chronicles proves to be a rare exception.

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As if Deus Ex: Human Revolution wasn’t the cause of enough controversy in the industry, the transhumanist title is now facing accusations of racism. If you haven’t yet met Letitia in the game, check out the video above. Is it racist? Publisher Square Enix doesn’t seem to think so.

“Deus Ex: Human Revolution is a fictional story which reflects the diversity of the world’s future population by featuring characters of various cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds. While these characters are meant to portray people living in the year 2027, it has never been our intention to represent any particular ethnic group in a negative light.”

Regardless of their intentions, it looks like a lot of people disagree with them on this one. I can’t imagine how this managed to get past Eidos Montreal’s quality control, especially considering the touchy subject matter.

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