In the first 2 days after launching Pokemon Black and White 2 have sold over 1.6 million units in Japan. Pokemon Black and White 2 is now in third place for having the best launch week in Japan. Dragon Quest IX holds second place at over 2.3 million while Pokemon Black and White holds first place with over 2.6 million.
Dragon Quest IX and Pokemon Black and White also had 2 day launch weeks as all 3 games were released on a Saturday. Pokemon Black and White 2 are the 29th and 30th games in the franchise will be available in North America and Pal regions this fall, and can be played on DS as well as 3DS. Will you be picking up Pokemon Black and White 2 when it is released in your area?
Beloved name in the gaming community, Atari are celebrating their 40th Anniversary on June 27th! But instead of asking for presents, they’ve decided to give out presents to their fans which is just about the best way to celebrate a birthday ever.
So, for their birthday, they are giving away their Android version of Atari’s Greatest Hits Pro for FREE! So, don’t hesistate, go grab their Greatest Hits for your Android phone HERE.
But that’s not all, they are also doing a 40 Giveaways in 4 Days Sweepstakes in which you can win Atari T-shirts, hats, Flashback 3s, Atari Arcades, and more! Plus, if more than 2,000 people share the message through the entry form then it will unlock a mega prize – a freaking awesome Asteroids poster signed by Nolan Bushnell! So head on over to the site now and fill out the online form for your chance to win some Atari swag!
Atari also want to see your Atari gaming spirit! So if you have an Atari shirt of some sort, then make sure to post your photos to the Atari Facebook page HERE. And keep an eye out on the Atari Facebook page throughout the day to see any exciting announcements and celebrations. Or you can join in on the celebrations on Twitter just by adding #HappyBirthdayAtari to your tweets!
Eastasiasoft have released 2 gameplay videos for their upcoming Playstation 3 RPG which available July 4th in Pal region, and in North America July 10th for $14.99.
The videos show off the combat system which is similar to that of Fire Emblem and Disgaea which is nice because tactics RPGs have been lacking this over the last while. The second video is an introduction to the overall game.
The main story will last 40 hours while the side quests will take you over 100 hours to complete them all. The game looks great, and could be a lot of fun. But what do you think about the game, and will you be picking it up?
There is certainly a lot to look forward to as far as game releases go throughout the rest of this year and into 2013. Many restless gamers are playing the waiting game now as they count down the days until whichever title they have been obsessing over has finally made the long journey to their console. Something to think about at this time is whether or not you want to shell out the extra cash to make release day count. If you are a real fan of God of War and want to show it, what better to have sitting on your living room table than an 8 inch tall statue of Kratos! Gathered here are 5 upcoming collector’s editions that will give you the opportunity to showcase your devotion.
>Darksiders 2 — Release date: August 14, 2012
The Darksiders 2 collector’s edition will retail for $99.99 and feature a life sized replica of Death’s Mask! Also included will be a unique in game armor set and scythe, a digital copy of the soundtrack and a hardcover art book.
>Borderlands 2 – Release date: September 18, 2012
There will be two different collector’s editions released for Borderlands 2. The smaller and cheaper of the two will be called the ‘Deluxe Vault Hunter’s Collector’s Edition’ and can be yours for $99.99. It comes with a Marcus Kincaid bobblehead doll just like the one seen on the bus in the beginning of the first Borderlands. Also you will find a map of Pandora, a code for a digital comic, a hardcover art book and four stickers.
The more expensive option is aptly named the ‘Ultimate Loot Chest’ and at the cost of $149.99 includes everything mentioned in the cheaper version plus a replica loot chest, lithograph (see ‘fancy’) post cards, field notes from Sir Hammerlock, a steel book case, a large ID chart that lists information on all the creatures in Pandora and finally a high quality cloth map. Both collector’s editions will also include a premium membership that gives access to DLC on launch and a future fifth class.
>Halo 4 – Release date: November 6, 2012
The Halo 4 collector’s edition is a little more to the point. At $99.99 you will receive a steel book case, early access to six specializations and nine maps, a ‘UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet’, Xbox Live digital content such as avatar items and in game skins and the special edition of a live action series called ‘’Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn”.
>God of War: Ascension – Release Date: March 12, 2013
Here’s where the 8 inch Kratos statue comes in. As if you could want more, there is also a steel book case, game soundtrack and access to future DLC. This collector’s edition is also the cheapest of the 5 listed here at only $79.99.
>Resident Evil 6 – Release Date: October 2, 2012
Last but DEFINITELY NOT LEAST is the Resident Evil 6 limited edition that retails for… 1,293 US Dollars. You may be asking yourself how this is possible, the answer is this: Leon Kennedy…well, not him but his jacket. For the low price of almost $1300 Capcom will provide you with a copy of Resident Evil 6, four tablet covers (yes tablet covers) and most importantly, a real leather jacket that is an exact replica of the one Leon wears in game. This bundle is only available through Capcom’s website e-capcom.com. If you’re in Europe and $1300 is out of your price range, there is a collector’s edition that may be a better fit for you. An EU exclusive at this time, the price has not been announced but it is sure to be cheaper than the limited edition and will include a steel book case, a very interesting collector’s box, some emblems from groups in the game, an art book, a hoodie and digital extras.
Happy spending.
Wearing this jacket will not make you as cool as Leon Kennedy
We’ve all heard how the new Lara Croft will sound in Square Enix’s next Tomb Raider game, but we haven’t actually heard who will be playing her voice actress. Sure a few people could have guessed correctly, but now we know for sure as Square Enix revealed today that Camilla Luddington of Californication and True Blood fame is voicing the young adventurer.
Square Enix stated that after using international talent scouts Luddington “stood out as delivering both a depth of emotion and the youthful tone” that they wanted Lara Craft to have when the game is released on March 5th next year. Though perhaps they should have warned her that most of her dialogue would be pain filled cries as she gets the hell beat out of her in this brutal looking installment to the franchise.
Today 2K Games revealed that not one, not two, but three NBA superstars will be gracing the cover of NBA 2K13. The three stars are Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant, Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin and the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose (my favorite, being from Chicago and all).
All of these stars are up and coming in the basketball world and they are certainly happy to be gracing the cover of this basektball game, as Derrick Rose states that “It’s a dream come true to be one of the cover athletes for NBA 2K13. I’ve worked closely with 2K Sports since NBA 2K10, and I’m honored to follow in the footsteps of Michael Jordan as the latest Chicago Bull to be featured on the cover.”
Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom Developer: Beeline Interactive Publisher: Beeline Interactive Platforms: iPad (Reviewed), iPhone, iPod Touch Release Date: June 21st, 2012 Price: Free Available Here
Overview
Beeline Interactive’s latest game is Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom. The game smartly mixes the traditional time based world building type games such as Zynga’s Farmville with the Shrek franchise, great graphics, and strong audio. Beeline attempts to keep the game fresh by allowing players to relive the events of the movies with simple storyline quests and creative mini-games. However, the biggest downfall of Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom may be the game’s monetization strategy.
Story
Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom loosely follows the plot of the Shrek films. Considering the films themselves are great fun for the whole family, and most games like these have zero plot, this is a great thing.
Gameplay
Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom is not a cookie cutter clone of Farmville like many iOS games that litter the App Store. Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom takes the general idea of Farmville and removes to farming aspect of the game and instead allows players to build Shrek themed objects that generate money over time. In addition, characters like Shrek and Donkey can be sent out to complete quests for coins and experience.
One of the most irritating things about the questing system is that if the character is left too long after the quest is complete, they become angry and refuse to share the quest rewards with the player unless the player expends several wishes in apology. Magical wishes is the premium currency in the game that can be rarely found during quests. Although the game is designed to be playable with no in-app purchases of extra wishes, the game can be extremely difficult and needy without an ample supply of wishes. As a video gamer, I play games when I have the opportunity to relax and enjoy myself. A game that requires me to spend premium currency unless I take care of a quest within a certain time frame sounds more like work.
It is extremely challenging to create a game that strikes a balance between fun to play and profitable and unfortunately Shrek’s Fairtytale Kingdom misses the balance by a fair distance. If iOS device owners are planning to give this game to their children, they need to be extremely attentive to the large warning on the description of the game and lock out the in-app purchases. I can easily see an impatient child quickly racking up a large iTunes bill on Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom. Although I applaud Beeline Interactive for plastering warnings everywhere, the fact of the matter is, a game that is extremely child friendly but hinges on in app purchases to get from point A to point B quickly will risk having a un-tech savvy parent getting a surprise credit card bill.
Audio and Visuals
Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom mixes together great graphics and audio. The game uses an art style that would be right at home in a child’s story book. Many of the films’ famous characters make appearances in the game and the colourful themes of the movies makes an excellent transition to the small screen. The game seems to be optimized for the New iPad’s Retina screen and manages to look great on the iPhone’s small screen. The music fits well with the fairy tale setting and there are plenty of sound effects to keep things fresh. Overall, the presentation of Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom is top notch.
Overall
It is unfortunate Beeline Interactive missed the mark on balancing Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom. The game has a lot of potential for being a lot of fun. The graphics and the audio are great, there are fun mini games, and enough of a twist on the tried and true Farmville formula to create a winner. Unfortunately, the game pushes the premium currency just a bit too much. Reducing the amount of wishes to get something done and removing the need to spend wishes after leaving a character for too long after a quest is a good place to start to steer Shrek’s Fairytale Kingdom back onto the right path.
James Swirsky and Lisanne Pajot shed some light on what independent video game development entails in their debut documentary film, Indie Game: The Movie. The first full length movie released on Steam, Indie Game is a rare look at how mentally taxing the process of creating a game actually is for independent developers. From the pressure of the audience to the sacrificing of any personal life to completely exposing their feelings through the characters and story of their games, we are shown that at times there is more grief than joy involved with the creation of great indie titles.
Throughout the documentary, Jonathan Blow speaks of his experience making Braid, being inspired by his own creation and the odd depression that followed immediately after Braid was released. This narrative gives an idea of the big picture, the before, during and after of the entire process. It also provides a backdrop through the film as it follows Edmund McMillen and Tommy Refenes of Team Meat as they finish up Super Meat Boy and Phil Fish as he struggles to bring Fez into the light after years of quiet development.
“It’s not just a game, I’m so closely attached to it, it’s me. It’s my ego; my perception of myself is at risk. My identity is Fez. I’m the guy making Fez. If that doesn’t work out well then…” Phil Fish trails off and is then asked by the interviewer, “What would happen to you personally if you couldn’t finish the game?” to which Phil responds, “I would kill myself.”
Indie Game: The Movie has been very well received and is available through the website, indiegamethemovie.com and can also be purchased through Steam or the iTunes store.
Is your Kinect collecting dust after you bought it a few months ago thinking you would try to jump onto the slow moving train that is the Kinect’s gameplay library? Well you can now expand that library by at least one title fore free because if you happen to own a Kinect you can now download NanaOn-Sha’s Kinect-based haunted house adventure, called Haunt, for free.
The game is only free if you download it through the “Kinect Central” app on the 360’s dashboard and the deal will disappear after July 2nd. It is unfortunate however that at the moment no one outside of North America will be able to take advantage of this free deal.
While Dead or Alive 5 has seen the return of a number of characters from past titles including a couple of characters from the Virtua Fighter series, there have been no new characters added to the roster so far. Well it seems that is about to change as Famitsu this week will be revealing a number of details about a character named Rig.
All we currently know so far is that Rig will be a male character that is voiced by Hiroki Touchi. Also detailed in Famitsu is the returning character Bass Armstrong, though considering he was already revealed at E3 earlier this month, all eyes are on Rig. Stay tuned for more information later today when Famitsu hits shelves.
Beloved name in the gaming community, Atari are celebrating their 40th Anniversary on June 27th! But instead of asking for presents, they’ve decided to give out presents to their fans which is just about the best way to celebrate a birthday ever.
Today 2K Games revealed that not one, not two, but three NBA superstars will be gracing the cover of NBA 2K13. The three stars are Oklahoma City Thunder’s Kevin Durant, Los Angeles Clippers’ Blake Griffin and the Chicago Bulls’ Derrick Rose (my favorite, being from Chicago and all).
