Yes folks, it is that time of the year again. Time to show that special someone you love them with greeting cards and teddy bears. Well, you’re going to need a card, right? EA are here to help.
In order to promote their new game, EA have offered some nice little valentines, with each featuring the a quip from one of the characters within Fuse. The image above features all eight cards, and let your printer do the rest of the work. Fuse comes out later this year, but for now – it may get you lucky on this lovely day.
Crysis 3’s latest trailer brings the action. In this final episode of “The 7 Wonders of Crysis 3”, Prophet shows off one of the best sniping in spots New York City before getting down and dirty in some absolutely stunning regular gameplay. Using a combination of all of the suit’s powers and a number of weapons including of course the Composite Bow, Prophet cuts through both CELL and Ceph ranks like there’s no tomorrow. Which there really isn’t if we believe the gripping monologue of the man himself as he cites the end of the world and a final battle for Earth.
Crysis 3 will be out for PC, Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 on the 19th of February in North America, 21st in Australia, 22nd in Europe and 7th of March in Japan. Check out the video down below.
The long wait is finally over for PlayStation 3 owners of The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim who want to purchase DLC for the game. Today gamers throughout the world can now turn on their PlayStation 3 and access the PlayStation Store to download the most recent piece of DLC for the game, Dragonborn.
For the first week of the DLC’s release it will be sold at a 50% discount compared to the normal price tag. The rest of the game’s DLC, Hearthfire and Dawnguard are going to follow shortly after this DLC with Hearthfire arriving on February 20th while Dawnguard will be released on Febraury 27th.
We’ve seen plenty of Western based super heroes appearing in movies, comics and television series, but what about a super hero oriented anime? Well Viz Media is bringing one such series to a store shelf near you next week in the form of Tiger & Bunny which focuses on an aging hero being paired with a younger hero who possesses the same super power as him. Viz Media will be releasing the first half of the Tiger & Bunny anime series, which contains episodes 1-13 of the 26 episode anime season.
It is worth noting that Tiger & Bunny Set 1 will be released on both Blu-ray and DVD and interestingly enough, the Blu-ray version of the series will contain a special bonus feature called the “Making of Tiger & Bunny” which is not available on the DVD release. The DVD version will be selling for $44.82 while the Blu-ray will cost you $54.97.
While the English dub of the series has already debuted on Viz’s Neon Alley service, the company also has provided the entire first episode of the series in English which you can check out below. It is also worth noting that the company is currently running a special promotional contest that will run until March 5th where those who enter have a chance to win a 16GB iPad Mini or the Tiger & Bunny Set 1 Blu-ray version.
With Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance set to be released next week on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 throughout the West Konami has released yet another gameplay trailer to show off some of the unique weapons that you will be able to get outside of Raiden’s basic sword.
These weapons can be obtained from the game’s bosses and are a Pole Arm, a set of Tactical Sai and Pincer Blades which all can be upgraded individually. You can see which boss provides which weapon and how each one will function in combat in the video below and if you pay close attention, you’ll notice another reason why that weapon is called a “Pole Arm.”
EA and Firemonkey Games have released the realistic racing thrill ride Real Racing 3 on the iOS platform in Australia and New Zealand. The game will be hitting the Android platform next month at some point.
Real Racing 3 features some Australian race tracks, specifically the legendary Mount Panorama race track and the Melbourne CBD which was meticulously detailed by the Firemonkey Games Studio.
You can pick up Real Racing 3 on the iTunes store here for the insane price of absolutely free. What do you think of Real Racing 3? Will you be picking up this awesome racing experience? Let us know in the comments section below.
We’ve all heard the jokes about Aquaman and how he probably shouldn’t be included in Netherrealm’s upcoming super hero fighting game Injustice: Gods Among Us. However it seems that they have taken the jokes and ran with them because today the company has revealed that the Aquaman will be a playable fighter in the title.
Currently Netherrealm has only shown the trailer off on IGN and his moves look to be focused around his trident, though his finishing attacks and storyline abilities obviously make use of his ability to speak with marine life, including Great White Sharks, Giant Octopus and some very strange looking crustaceans.
If you were hoping to pick up Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us on May 7th then you better hold your horses because the game has just been delayed. Naughty Dog has announced that The Last of Us will now be released on June 14th this year.
In their statement to the press, the company stated the following as to why the game has been delayed:
The Last of Us is an ambitious project. In many ways it may be Naughty Dog’s most ambitious project to date – brand new universe and cast of characters, brand new tech, brand new genre, not to mention it’s easily the longest campaign Naughty Dog has ever made.
As we entered the final phase of development for The Last of Us, we came to realize just how massive Joel and Ellie’s journey is. But instead of cutting corners or compromising our vision, we came to the tough decision that the game deserved a few extra weeks to ensure every detail of The Last of Us was up to Naughty Dog’s internal high standards.
As a team we pride ourselves on setting a very high quality bar for every aspect of our games – gameplay, story, art, design, technology and more. We want to make sure The Last of Us raises that bar even further – for ourselves, and most importantly, for you, our fans.
The extra wait will be very short and your patience will be rewarded. Update your calendars. You won’t even have to change seasons. The Last of Us will be available June 14th, 2013. Until then, know that we will be working extremely hard to deliver an experience that matches your high expectations.
The latest issue of Weekly Shonen Jump has announced that there will be an announcement regarding a new Hunter x Hunter anime project in the next issue of the magazine. The announcement is said to be rather ‘shocking’, although no further details were given.
In terms of speculation, one can ponder a few ideas of what the announcement could be. Such as more details regarding the second anime film which is slated to focus on Hunter Association Chairman Netero. Or perhaps it could be another video-game, perhaps based upon Greed Island? Maybe it is in regards to the 15th anniversary of the Hunter x Hunter series? A lot of food for thought for Hunter fans.
What do you think the big announcement for Hunter x Hunter could be? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.
After a massive day of presentations on the 6th, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wasn’t about to let the pace slip. There was one less presentation on the 7th to allow for the awards presentation at the end. A strict ‘no denim rule was applied for the awards, which I’m assuming would cut the attendance in half simply because these people own nothing other than jeans and slack fittings tees.
Gabe Newell had the opening keynote on day two, following his opening keynote on the previous day which he had co-hosted with J.J. Abrams. He had two core theses he wanted to explore, the first being the integral role of the PC for driving innovation in gaming. He followed that analysis with several predictions on how digital distribution platforms alongside new methods of consumption was going to alter the forms that games currently take, bringing in new formats for games that have yet to be explored.
Microsoft Games’ Executive Producer Kiki Wolfkill (who easily has the most appropriate name for working in gaming) and Franchise Development Director Frank O’Connor focused on communication when approaching the presentation on ‘Changing the Universe.’ Using their experience taking over the Halo franchise as a touchstone for the importance of transmedia was a big point in explaining the significance of having the community on board from day one (just count how many times they say ‘New York Times Best Seller).
President and Co-founder of Gearbox Studios Randy Pitchford used his childhood love of illusions to explain how game designers should be using the logic of magicians to give the audience a view into an implausible world they can involve themselves in. Randy used a bunch of psychological papers to explain the impact of choices and how designers can guide people’s long term impressions by composing the choices players can interact with.
Warren Spector, having just witnessed the demise of Disney Interactive under his brinkmanship, honestly spoke of the need to consider the aging market of gaming. Using his own personal preferences of games, Warren seems to have captured the zeitgeist for the 50+ crowd which grew up with games. Now they have different demands that frame what they can practically engage with and how they want to meld their tastes with these types of games.
Wargaming CEO and founder Victor Kislyi covered the ‘Evolution of Free To Play Games’ looking at the economics of free to play and how to make the marketing machine do the leg work for your company, your brand and of course, your game. Funnily enough he didn’t seem to think the game had to be particularly good in order to generate millions in income required to get to the point where your branding is making a significant proportion of your money.
For Jenova Chen, of thatgamecompany, the emotional core of games is attached to the sense of achievement that is unique to the gaming medium. From here, he believes you can analyze the market for emotions that are being displayed as well as those that are absent and from there you can develop mechanics that generate real emotion. This is a must for anyone who appreciates narrative construction or fiction writing in general.
Unfortunately ‘The Age of the Mobile Blockbuster: Launching Angry Birds Star Wars’ from Rovio’s Petri Järvilehto is missing from the presentations that were posted online to my knowledge. If you find it, point it out in the comments so we can complete our coverage.
Next was David Ting, General manager of eSports at IGN, a term he personally hates. Trawling through the kinds of stats that sport fans generally love, David looked at the massive growth in eSports as well as his personal endeavors to keep pushing that growth. He moved to the example of poker’s massive success of late and drew parallels between virtual gaming and card gaming.
The final presentation from the conference was Dan Connors of Telltale Games whose massive success with the Walking Dead operated as a platform to discuss episodic gaming. Differentiating ‘episodic’ from ‘appointment,’ Dan utilized a lot of the marketing strategy from television to describe how people’s comfort with this form of consumption can used for the greatest success. The end of this one is intense and has spoilers so watch out.
Then there were the awards! Before we get to the winners check out the promo video because it is epic.
The Nerdist’s Chris Hardwick hosted the event with a whole bunch of charisma. It’s good to see a gaming event that is hosted by some one who actually cares about the medium as opposed to over hyped celebrities that are disconnected from the people who are turning up.
You can find a list of the various award categories and the games that won the award below:
Action Game of the Year: Borderlands 2
Mobile Game of the Year: Hero Academy
Handheld Game of the Year: Paper Mario – Sticker Star
Outstanding Achieving in Original Music Composition: Journey
Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design: Journey
Outstanding Achievement in Story: The Walking Dead
Outstanding Character Performance: The Walking Dead – Lee Everett
Downloadable Game of the Year: The Walking Dead
Casual Game of the Year: Journey
Web Based Game of the Year: SimCity Social
Family Game of the Year: Skylanders Giants
Role-Playing/Massively Multiplayer Game of the Year: Mass Effect 3
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Outstanding Innovation in Gaming: Journey
Sports Game of the Year: FIFA Soccer 13
Racing Game of the Year: Need for Speed Most Wanted
Fighting Game of the Year: PlayStation All-Stars Battle Royale
Outstanding Achievement in Online Gameplay: Journey
Outstanding Achievement in Connectivity: Halo 4
Outstanding Achievement in Animation: Assassin’s Creed III
Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction: Journey
Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering: Halo 4
Outstanding Achievement in Gameplay Engineering: XCOM: Enemy Unknown
Adventure Game of the Year: The Walking Dead
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction: Journey
Game of the Year: Journey
That’s everything. There was a lot of technical talk in the summit however a lot of these guys managed to inject some humor and real insights for you. I hope you enjoyed our coverage of this event and if you are curiosu about what happened on day one of the D.I.C.E. Summit then you can find coverage of that day here.
