What can I say about The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim that hasn’t been said by almost every other gaming publication out there? I mean the game has it all; story, visuals, immersion, gameplay. Aside from the few bugs I encountered, there really isn’t aspect of the game that I found disappointing. I’ve dumped tons of hours into Skyrim leveling up my skills, slaying monsters, and just wandering around the wilderness waiting to see what’s in store for me around the next corner. If it wasn’t for my childish desire to be a pro StarCraft II player, I may have taken up permanent residence in Skyrim.

I think what I found so impressive about Skyrim was its accessibility. I have plenty of friends who play games, but very few of them are into “hardcore” RPGs. They have no problem picking up games like Street Fighter, Madden or Call of Duty, but something that involves wizards, warriors and other fantasy elements?

Yeah right! But for some reason, Skyrim was able to pull them in. Maybe it was the stunning visuals or the massive world, but whatever it was it turned my semi-gamer friends into full fledged nerdlings (which is a good thing). Just because it allowed me to open a whole new world of gaming to my friends, Skyrim is without a doubt my game of the year.

As a game reviewer, I occasionally comes across an indie game that just strikes a chord with me. Either the art style captures something from the past, the story resonates with me on some level, or the gameplay is a refreshing take on an old genre. I have to say that I was extremely lucky to find a game that has all three of these, in this case the game is Gemini Rue.

Gemini Rue is a little indie game made by Wadjet Eye Games that combines the retro art style of games like Flashback and Out of this World with the great gameplay from classic Lucas Arts adventure games. To make it even better, the story comes across like a Phillip K. Dick novel with it’s neo-noir elements and mind bending discussion of identity. Long story short, if you’re a fan of science fiction or adventure games, you need to check out Gemini Rue.

The game follows Azriel Odin, a former assassin turned cop who is looking for his brother who has been captured by the corrupt Orwellian government and sent to a hidden prison colony. This prison colony take political prisoners, erases their memory and then reprograms them to do the government’s bidding. As you’d expect from a Phillip K. Dick inspired story, the world of Gemini Rue is heavily intrenched in all the classic hard-boiled detective elements: perpetual rain, slums, back alley shootouts, etc. I don’t mean to make it sound like Blade Runner is the only inspiration for Gemini Rue, there are a wide variety of science fiction based Easter Eggs, references and shout outs. In fact,  at one point I got a little stuck so I just started exploring as much as I could. I was surprised to find Ed and Ein from Cowboy Bebop hiding on the top floor of an apartment. They didn’t have any bearing on the gameplay or story, but it was a nice way to put a smile on my face during a slightly frustrating moment.

The game plays like any classic adventure game. You click on the screen to move your character around, to interact with objects and with people. You’ll need to combine objects and utilize your environment to solve puzzles. For example, at one point in the game you’ll need to break into an apartment to gather some evidence. The doors are locked with an electronic card reader, so picking it is out of the question. Luckily the neighbor isn’t so concerned with security, so you can pick his lock, go out onto the back balcony, jump across to the next apartment, and break in the glass door with a metal pipe. Before you get upset about spoilers, please realize that this is just one small example from the dozens of puzzles you’ll need to solve.

As I mentioned above I did get stuck a few times, however you should understand that I rarely play adventure game. Asking me to play an adventure game where I don’t get stuck is like putting someone completely new to StarCraft in a game versus Jaedong or Flash. I don’t have the finely honed instincts and nose for trial and error that adventure game veterans have.

On top of the adventure game mechanics, there is also a shooting mini-game. Throughout the game you’ll find you character in shootouts. The game handles this by putting your character in cover and presenting you a new set of controls. ‘A’ and ‘D’ will make your character peek out of cover while ‘Space Bar’ fires your gun. Sure you can just peek out and spray bullets hoping to hit your target, however the more efficient way to score kills is with the aiming mechanic. While in cover you can hit ‘Control’ to bring up a little breath meter. Time your shots with when you’re holding your breath to score a one-hit kill. While this shooting mechanic may not be as thrilling as getting tons of killstreaks in Call of Duty, it’s a satisfying way to reward  patient and skillful gamers.

One thing that makes Gemini Rue so interesting is that you not only play as Azriel but also his brother,  known as Delta-Six, in the prison. As almost any point in the game you can switch between the two characters and work on their own objectives, a nice way to keep players busy if they hit a dead end on one character.

Overall Gemini Rue is an amazing game that deserves a look from anyone who likes science fiction stories, adventure games, or is feeling slightly nostalgic for games like Flashback and Out of this World. Gemini Rue should take you anywhere from five to eight hours to complete depending on how quickly you can solve the puzzles. That said, I have to admit that there’s little replay value in the game. The only incentive for a second play though is to listen to the developers commentary, which is very interesting and a great little addition, although it may only be for people who were really into the Gemini Rue world. Also note that Gemini Rue is an independent title that can be purchased on Steam for $9.99, so it’s not like you’re spending $59.99 on a game with little replay value. If you find yourself sitting around looking for something interesting to play, pick up Gemini Rue; its by far one of the most interesting, engaging games of this year.

The tower defense genre has always been one of my favorite ways to kill time when gaming. There’s something that is just so satisfying about building the perfect line of defense and watching your maze of death take care of everything. While this genre has previously been relegated to modifications and other derivative works (WarCraft III custom maps, etc.), now digital distribution services like Steam allow game developers to create fleshed out, full fledged titles. Orcs Must Die is one of these full fledged tower defense titles.

As the name implies, Orcs Must Die involves building a series of traps so that wave after wave of oncoming Orcs meet a grisly end. This sounds entertaining on paper but, as gamers know better than anyone, the proof is in the play. To see if Orcs Must Die is worth your money, hit the jump.

Long story short, yes. Orcs Must Die is a great little title that effectively combines the joy of building traps and mazes with the non-stop action of a third-person shooter.

The story of Orcs Must Die is pretty basic. There is a world full of Orcs and other beasts that is sealed off from the Human realm. There are portals that allow passage from one world to another, and it is up to an elite group of “War Mages” to keep the Orcs out. Unfortunately, these War Mages have been falling left and right to Orc hordes leaving only your character, the prototypical douchy bro who, despite his immaturity and ignorance, is the one person standing between the Orcs and the Human Realm.

In order to defend the Human Realm you need to set up a series of traps between the Orcs and the portals. Lucky for you there’s a wide variety of killing machines at your disposal. Spiked floors and Arrow Walls are just the basics. As you complete each level you’ll unlock a new tool of destruction. Expect to see some wacky devices like spring-board floors that send Orcs into pits of lava or a wall of blades that dice up any poor monster that steps too close to it. Unfortunately, these traps aren’t cheap.

The way the game works is that after each kill you get a small amount of money. In addition to these bounties, every time you clear a wave of monsters you get more money. Additional funds can also be found on the bodies of larger monsters like Ogres.

Speaking of larger monsters, there are a whole slew of beasts that want in on the Human Realm. On top of the basic Orc, which is relatively slow and pretty easy to put down, there are armored Orcs, fast but fragile Gnolls, Orcs with cross bows, giant Ogers that can stun your character with a bash from his club, and a whole host of other standard fantasy monsters.

One thing I really liked about Orcs Must Die is the third-person shooter aspect. I always get stressed out playing standard tower defense games because if there’s one hiccup in your tower line you lose the game. Orcs Must Die gives you a sense of urgency. If a few Orcs slip through you can put them down yourself thanks to a pretty hefty arsenal. You start the game with a crossbow (which can insta-kill most monsters with a head shot) and a sword. As you get further in the game you’ll unlock new weapons like the Wind Belt, which allows you to summon a gust of wind sending the Orcs into a pit of lava, or the Fire Bracers, which lets you cast a devastating fireball. Each weapon also has a secondary fire option allowing you more ways to stop the horde. For example the crossbow’s alternate fire stuns a small area of Orcs.

In addition to traps and weapons, you can also hire mercenaries to help the cause. Elven Archers and Paladin Guardians will eventually be unlocked when you hit a certain level. These mercenaries deal a decent bit of damage to the Orcs, but be careful. If you put them in a dangerous spot the Orcs won’t hesitate to bum rush them and take them down.

To add more depth to the gameplay, Robot Entertainment has included two systems for upgrading. First, at the end of each level you will be given a rating of one to five skulls based on your performance. If you don’t let a single Orc though the portal you’ll be taking home five skulls. These skulls can be used to upgrade your traps, mercenaries and weapons. For example, I upgraded my Elven Archers for fourteen skulls and in turn they now cost less money to deploy on the battlefield.

The other upgrade system is not persistent like spending skulls. Basically you can hire Weavers, magical sorceresses that will upgrade specific stats for your character and traps, once per level. There are two Weavers to choose from; Elemental and Steel. The Elemental Weaver will allow you to pay a certain amount of gold to have specific elemental damage upgraded. The Steel Weaver upgrades physical things like how much damage arrows do or how much money you get if an Orc dies in a trap. While these two upgrade systems are nothing new to gamers, they do add an additional level of strategy to the game.

My one complaint about Orcs Must Die is that there’s no multiplayer. I understand that the game is suppose to be an arcadey title with a heavy focus on leaderboards, but I can’t help but imagine how much fun this game would be with other players. It could be something as simple as co-op or a last-man-standing type of game mode, just something so that I can play with my friends. To be fair, Orcs Must Die is a $15 title, so the exclusion of multiplayer is totally justifiable. I just hope that Orcs Must Die sells well so that Robot Entertainment makes a more in depth sequel with multiplayer.

All in all, Orcs Must Die is a fantastic budget title with more than $15 worth of entertainment. Available on both Steam and Xbox Live Arcade, you should do yourself a favor and check it out. It’s a great way to kill time while killing Orcs.

Today Electronic Arts made a surprising announcement; the game publisher has teamed up with four athletes from the NFL to help promote the upcoming shooter Battlefield 3.

The promotion, dubbed “GTTV Presents Battlefield 3: Operation Gridiron,” is a series of webisodes (posted every Tuesday on the Battlefield Facebook page) featuring Drew Brees, Clay Matthews, Larry Fitzgerald, and Jared Allen training for and then running a simulated military operation. Each webisode will showcase the football players working with Special Operations trainers gearing up for a live simulated scenario to air on October 24 on Spike TV at noon EST.

Drew Brees stated “Taking to the battlefield in these real life war settings was really exciting and eye-opening. Every day men and women face challenges similar to what we tackled in this show but with potential dire consequences. Filming this show once again reinforced my respect for the soldiers who fight every day for our freedom.”

I don’t know about you guys, but this all just seems a bit ridiculous to me. I mean, on one level it makes sense. EA has a close relationship with the NFL so it wouldn’t be too hard to get something like this show together. On the other hand, I find myself asking “why?” Why spend the resources doing putting something like this together? Battlefield 3 is going to be one of the biggest games of the year with out without Operation Gridiron. I really don’t see this pulling in new gamers. But then again maybe I’m out of touch. I’m not really a big football fan so this promotion obviously isn’t for me.

What do you guys think? Are you more interested in Battlefield 3 because of this promotion? Will you be tuning in? Let us know what you think with a comment below.

Source: Shacknews

Hockey is a big part of my life right now. I work from home and live with my girlfriend, so I don’t really get out of the house much. The one thing that does get me out every week is playing defense for my hockey team, the Crystal Lake Slasher, every Monday and Thursday night. As a defenseman I have to understand the game at a relatively high level. I have to know positioning, how plays develop, how to break out of our zone, how to keep the puck in their zone, etc. I’m even considering taking a class on coaching with USA Hockey so I can help out kids who want to learn the game. I feel safe saying that I know hockey better than most videogame reviewers.

With that in mind, I’m confident in saying that NHL 12 is the most faithful representation of hockey ever made. This shouldn’t come as a surprise considering the franchise boasts over twenty two sports game of the year awards, and it has improved with each new iteration.

While the gameplay has essentially been left unchanged from NHL 11, there are a few new features. The big draw for NHL 12 is the new physics engine. Hits are now more than scripted animations. When you put someone into the boards they react like it’s real life. EA wasn’t kidding around with their tagline “size does matter.” I was amazed when, in the opening tutorial (which is actually the 2011 Winter Classic between the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Washington Capitals), I put a massive hit on a player and actually sent him over the boards and into the bench. To top that, the hit was so hard that it actually knocked my own player off his skates.

Skaters aren’t the only players affected by the new physics engine — goalies can get in on the action, too. In previous NHL games, goalies were essentially untouchable. Sure you could get in their way and try and screen them, but that’s as far as it went. Now in NHL 12, you can actually run into the goalie knocking him out of position, and in most cases, drawing a penalty. While this may seem like a burden if you’re not playing goalie (it is easy to lose track of your player in the heat of the moment and run into the net) it does allow for another new feature; goalie fights. While it doesn’t happen too often in real life, it is nice to have the option to make the big man in pads drop the gloves and lay down the law.

Another important change from NHL 11 to NHL 12 is that the puck no longer does the work for you. In NHL 11 you could pass in the general direction of a player and 90% of the time they’d receive it no problem. In NHL 12, where you direct the pass is where the puck goes. This means you need to actually practice where you place your thumbs while playing. Sure it adds a new level challenge to the game, but it also makes it feel that much more real.

To go along with this point, another thing I noticed is that the puck drifts when taking slap shots. If you’re not quick on the stick, the puck will drift away causing your shot to be much less accurate or even roll off the heel of your stick. While this adds a level of realism to the game, I wish there was a way to stop the puck drift. When I’m on the ice playing real hockey, I’m able to settle the puck down so it stays in place. There should be some mechanic in the game that allows you to do something similar.

The game also boasts “newly improved AI”, i.e. computer controlled players will actually react to how you play the game. In theory, if you’re taking shots from the point with your defensemen, the AI will try and get a forward in front of the net for a screen or a rebound. However, in reality, I’ve had mixed results.

When playing by myself, the AI does a pretty good job of adjusting to my style. When playing with my roommate in co-op, the AI just seems to get in the way. For example, if I’m taking shots from the point with a defense-man, my roommate will try and get in front of the net to set a screen and get a rebound. Almost every time I’m in this situation, the AI will pull another forward in front of the net, meaning my shot has an even smaller chance to get through and I have one less player to pass to. If my roommate decides to sit back and look for a pass, the AI is nowhere to be found in front of the net. It seems like the AI can’t adjust to multiple people playing. This isn’t a game breaking feature, but rather a minor annoyance.

One thing I really like about NHL 12 is that grinders now play a major role. In hockey not everyone is as fast and dexterous as Alexander Ovechkin. There’s a whole host of players who’s job is to get in the way and tie up defenders. These players are called grinders. In NHL 12 you can actually tie up defenders by running into them, allowing your finesse players to skate around and look for a shot. It’s a fantastic step taken by EA Canada to help bring a more realistic representation of hockey to your home console.

Other additions to the game include an improved “Be a Pro mode”, where you’re given mini-objectives every time you get on the ice, and the new “Be a Legend mode.” Legend is essentially the same thing as Pro, the only difference is that you don’t create a skater, but rather select one of the 9 “legends” — players like Jeremy Roenick, Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux. What bugged me about this mode is that it’s the exact same thing as Be a Pro. You don’t even play on the correct teams that made these players legendary. I was expecting something like playing for the 92 Penguins as Mario Lemieux, not the 2012 roster.

For those of you who are into online play, all the same great game modes from NHL 11 make a return. There haven’t been any massive changes, but the new game mechanics do make for some interesting online battles.

All in all, NHL 12 is the best iteration of the series, which isn’t too surprising considering every new version has improved on the last. EA Canada has made the most realistic and faithful representation of hockey to ever hit consoles. It’s so nice to finally have a hockey videogame that actually rewards players who play real hockey.

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.

Again, Capcom has yet to officially announce anything, however the company has recently opened up a fan art contest “promising the winners would be featured in an unannounced Capcom game.” Also it is coming up on the 10 year anniversary of the DMC series, making a re-release all the more plausible.

What do you guys think about this? In your opinion, does the evidence add up? Would you be interested in a DMC HD collection? Let us know what you think with a comment below.

Source: Shacknews

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.

The official quote from Riot reads:

We are regretfully going to shut down the Mac Beta client indefinitely starting 12:00 AM PT on September 6, 2011. We realize our current approach regarding the Mac platform won’t guarantee the quality and frequent updates we deliver today on the PC and are expected by our player community. We will continue to investigate the opportunity to provide player access on the Mac Platform in the future that aligns with our service and content update standards. We are committed to building a solution that will work on the Mac in the long run, but it will take some time.

If you are one of these Mac gamers and you’ve spent realm money on items from in in-game store, all is not lost. You can either transfer your account to the Windows edition or have Riot shut down your account and give you a full refund.

[Source: Joystiq]

Without a doubt Valve is one of the most dedicated development studios when it comes to external media related to their games. Just one look at their “Meet the…” Team Fortress 2 shorts or the Left 4 Dead comic “The Sacrifice” and you’ll know what I mean. Today Valve announced that it has teamed up with Dark Horse comics to release all of their free online comics in a print form.

Produced under the title “Valve Presents: The Sacrifice and Other Steam-Powered Stories,” the comic collection will hit stores on November 16 for $29.99.

While some people may complain about the price, especially when they are all online for free, it’s important to note that it will be hardcovered and over three hundred pages. The book will contain every Valve comic including Team fortress 2, Left 4 Dead and Portal.

As I’m sure you guys already know, I’m absolutely thrilled about this. I’m a huge Valve fan and a pretty big comic book nerd. Combine the two and I’m in heaven. But enough about me raving over this. What do you guy think? Will you be in line along side me at the local comic book store on November 16? Let us know with a comment below.

Source: Shacknews

A large part of my childhood was spent in basements and libraries playing the collectable card game Magic: The Gathering with my brother and our friends. Sure it may have been a nerdy pastime, but I can honestly say some of my fondest memories are drawing the right card and just the right time to secure victory.

Thanks to Wizards of the Coast and Stainless Games, I can relive my former glory in the newly released Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012, a follow up to 2009′s Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers.

For those of you who may not be familiar with Magic: The Gathering, allow me to try and explain it. Basically it’s a collectible card game like Pokemon or Yu-Gi-Oh. You and the other players take on the roles of powerful sorcerers who draw power from lands to summon creatures and cast spells. The way the game actually works is pretty complex, at least it can be to newcomers. Basically, each player has a deck of cards consisting of lands and spells. Lands are used to generate “mana,” the resource needed to cast spells. What makes this tricky is that mana comes in five colors: Red generated from Mountains, Black from Swamps, Blue from Islands, Green from Forests and White from Plains. Different cards require different combinations of colored or colorless (mana of any color) to be cast. Spells can be anything from sorceries which have a one-time effect, to summoning creatures which can attack and defend. Players start the game with twenty life points and alternate turns playing land cards, casting spells, and attacking opponents. This goes on until all but one player’s life total is reduced to zero.

While this may sound complex, the good thing about DotP 2012 is that it takes care of all the rules for you. The game features one of the best tutorials for learning how to play Magic that I’ve ever seen (keep in mind I’ve been playing and teaching my friends to play since the mid-90s). If you have never played Magic but would like to learn, DotP 2012 is by far the best way to get into the scene.

Once you have the basic rules of the game down, you’ll quickly realize how much strategy and depth the game has. DotP 2012 features ten playable decks, all with a different theme and strategy behind them. For example the “Apex Predators” deck revolves around getting weak creatures out early and then buffing them through various enchantments. If that doesn’t fit your style, there’s the “Unquenchable Fire” deck which uses sorceries to inflict direct damage to your opponent and their creatures.

One thing that bothered me about DotP 2012 is that you can’t make your own deck out of the cards you have available. You can only use their pre-made decks. From my experience with Magic, half the fun was going through all your cards and trying to make your own unique deck. I understand that the purpose of this game is to pull gamers, who may not be familiar with Magic, into the scene so they will start playing the real card game. It wouldn’t be the best business decision to let gamers get the full Magic experience with a $9.99 videogame as opposed to having them spend $4 for a pack of 12 cards or $20 for a starter deck.

I should mention that you are able to edit the decks, however only in a limited sense. You can only modify your deck with cards that you’ve unlocked for it (16 unlockable cards per deck). You unlock cards by defeating your foes in the singleplayer campaign. For example, if you keep using “Apex Predators” deck, you’ll start unlocking new cards for it the further you get in the campaign. My only complaint about this is that you cannot remove lands from your deck. There were many time where I would be drawing land after land after land as opposed to the powerful card I actually wanted. It’s a minor complaint, however it really does get annoying to be twenty minutes into a game and end up losing because you kept drawing lands that you should have been able to remove before the game started.

The singleplayer portion of the game features three campaigns, each with eleven duels. There’s the standard campaign where you defeat your enemies to unlock new opponents, cards, decks and puzzles. The puzzles are similar to Chess puzzles, where you are put into a certain scenario and have to think of a way to use your cards creatively to win. After you beat the campaign you’ll unlock the “Revenge” campaign. Essentially the same thing as the standard campaign, Revenge features the same opponents however they’ve upgraded their decks making the duels substantially harder. After the Revenge campaign, you’ll unlock the completely new and unique “Archenemy” mode. Basically, you and two AI allies will be going against one super powerful AI opponent. While it can get frustrating when your AI allies make a stupid move or miss an obvious card combo, it doesn’t happen as often as you’d expect and doesn’t really negate any of the fun.

After you’ve completed the singleplayer portion of the game it’s time to take it online with the three multiplayer modes. There is a free-for-all mode where up to four players can duke it out (you can limit it down to two players if you just want a straight up duel). There is also the “two-headed giant” mode which is essentially a two vs. two team game. The last multiplayer mode is the Archenemy mode from the singleplayer, except this time it’s you and two buddies versus that buffed up AI.

DotP 2012 is a drastic improvement over the original DotP (which I liked quite a lot). Everything from the music to the interface has been given a complete overhaul resulting in a slicker, more user-friendly experience. There are more cards, more options, more game modes and generally more content than the previous game. There is even a better sense of balance to game making for a more interesting metagame (my opponent uses this deck so I’ll counter with this one as opposed to making one unbeatable deck).

Priced at $9.99, I have a hard time not recommending this game to everyone. It’s a great way to introduce new gamers to the world of Magic the Gathering while also providing enough of a challenge and new game modes to keep the old veterans entertained. DotP 2012 is available on Xbox Live Arcade, The PlayStation Store and Steam.

Today word got out that Activision will be launching a new subscription based service called Call of Duty Elite in conjunction with the launch of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 this fall. Activision is still trying to determine the right subscription pricing for the service which is said to “provide extra content that isn’t offered on game discs sold in stores, including downloadable map packs.”

Aside from extra content, Elite will also provide gamers with stat tracking tools that analyze their performance and tendencies in game, in hopes of directing the player to guides and tutorials on how to improve. “These can cover things like the best way to employ a certain weapon, pros and cons for their attachments, or how to make the best use of different perks. Video tutorials will also be part of the package.”

Elite will have some features that are available to everyone, even those who don’t subscribe to the service. For example there will be a social media aspect that allows gamers who share similar interests to meet up online and blow each other away.

Gamers will be able to access Elite in several ways. Primarily, it will be built into Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 as well as future CoD titles, so you can access the information in game. You will also have access via the CoD Elite website as well as on iOS and Android phones and tablets.

What do you guys think about this? To be honest, I haven’t played CoD in a long time and generally stayed away from the multiplayer. Maybe I’m a gaming hipster or whatever, but I just always stuck with my old favorite Counter-Strike for multiplayer FPS action. I’d be curious to hear what the hardcore members of the CoD community think about this.

If you’re a big CoD fan, leave a comment below letting us know what you think.

Source: Shacknews

Today table-top games giant Wizards of the Coast released some new details about the up coming sequel Magic: The Gathering Duels of the Planeswalkers 2012. Slated to arrive on June 15 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, Duels 2012 features a whole slew of improvements over the previous iteration. These changes include:

• Improved Deck Editing
• Enhanced Co-Op Game Play
• All New Multiplayer Game Mode “Archenemy”
• New Planeswalker Opponents
• New Decks and Puzzle Challenges
• Integration between the digital and paper product offering – Duels players get the first look at cards from the upcoming Magic 2012 Core Set releasing July 15, 2011

It is also said that Duels 2012 will feature “strategic single player campaign game scenarios” as well as “competitive play, robust community features and un-lockable content.”

As a long time Magic: The Gathering fan, I really look forward to checking this game out. I played quite a bit of the original Duels of the Planeswalkers on the PC and had a great time with it. My biggest gripe with the game was the limitations on deck edition, however seeing as how that issue will be addressed in Duels 2012 puts a smile on my face.

What do you guys think about this? Are there any Magic: the Gathering fans out there? If so, what do you think of the Duels of the Planeswalkers series? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below.

Today the National Basketball Association (NBA) announced that it’s extending its partnership with both EA and Take-Two Interactive. These multi-year agreements ensure that both publishers have the rights to use NBA teams and players in their games, and to associate their game marketing efforts with the NBA license.

NBA global merchandising executive VP Sal LaRocca stated, “We have had successful and longstanding relationships with both 2K Sports and EA Sports. Extending our agreements with the top sports video game developers continues to maximize our presence in this category, while ensuring our fans the best selection of NBA video games.

Take-Two will be able to continue their NBA 2K series, plus they now have the option to developer other NBA licensed titles. The press release hints at possible online and mobile games coming from Take-Two in the future.

EA, on the other hand, is still working on an untitled NBA game slated to debut Fall 2010. The untitled game is being developed by EA Tiburon, the development house that was working on EA’s NBA Elite 11 before it got canceled. This extended partnership also allows EA to continue making NBA Jam titles.

Source: Shacknews.com