If you haven’t picked up a Nintendo 3DS yet or your current 3DS has broken somehow, then you will soon have yet another color to choose from when you go to the store. The recently rumored Midnight Purple Nintendo 3DS has been officially announced today and the company has set the release date for the new color as May 20th.
It is interesting to note that Mario Tennis Open is also released on that same day, coincidence? Probably not. It is also worth noting that this purple 3DS is exclusive to Western countries as it has not yet been revealed for Japan.
Battlestar Galactica Online has almost reached 10 million players after it’s initial release one year ago and to celebrate Bigpoint have announced that players can receive bonuses and free in-game gifts for logging in every day this week. Until May 6th both sides, Humans and Cylons, can log in and collect their prizes, as well as enjoy an increased Daily Merit Cap and have the chance to purchase special in-game items.
Bigpoint also released some interesting data about Battlestar Galactica Online’s first year:
– This year, there have been 9.2 million mining ships called.
– This year, 11.5 billion loot items dropped.
– Each month, 3.7 million rewards were earned.
– Each month, 16,000 new ships were bought by players.
– Each week, PvP tournaments had 55,000 players participating.
– And each week, 1 million player ships were destroyed, almost 50/50 between Humans and Cylons.
So, be sure to celebrate Battlestar Galactica Online’s big day by checking in every day this week to see what’s going on.
Islands of Diamonds Lite has been released on the iOS AppStore, letting you sample six of the thirty islands included in the full game. Islands of Diamonds is a family-friendly physics platformer, with a selection of control methods, allowing you to play in whatever way is most comfortable to you.
You control Seamus the coconut, rolling him around the levels to collect all of the available diamonds before the timer runs out. Like the sound of that? Then get on over to the AppStore and download the lite version for free today! And be sure to look out for our review of the full game, coming soon!
Insane 2 Developer: Targem Games Publisher: Game Factory Interactive Platforms: PC (Windows XP+, Steam) Languages: English, German, Russian Release Date: January 24th, 2012 Price: $29.99 USD (BUY NOW)
Overview
Insane 2 is a nicely-made racer, with the now standard trappings of a boost and destructible vehicles. It brings some interesting additions to the genre, however, and reuses the dusty modes of old, making them new and fresh.
Story
It’s a racing game. If you want story, watch Talladega Nights.
Gameplay
The game is pretty much as you’d expect, really. There are championships, there are arenas, there are races within those arenas. There are cars of all shapes and sizes, put into different categories, with certain championships requiring certain classes of vehicle to enter.
You can use keyboard controls, or a controller to play. A boost meter sits on the bottom-left of the screen, which fills up over time, and can be used by holding the boost button. While you boost, the camera shakes, and the controller (if compatible) rumbles, adding to the sense of speed and excitement. The physics are pretty good, although some sections are particularly bumpy, meaning you’re pretty much in the air most of the time, leaving you at the mercy of the terrain below and how you land.
At first, the shaky cam and bouncy suspension can grate a little, but after a few races, you get used to it okay.
Each arena is looped (Matrix trans-station-style), so that if you go in one direction long enough, you’ll end up on the opposite side of the map. This is pretty useful in some of the modes, as I’ll discuss later; but it can play havoc with your sense of direction. There is a map you can view by holding a button, but as there are no set “tracks” per se, it’s pretty much useless.
Each arena has a set of checkpoints. The one you should be aiming for will be shown by a green star on the minimap, and it’s lights will also show green. This is how a “track” is made up; a series of checkpoints which light up, one after the other as you progress through the level. There will often be an orange star shown on the minimap also, showing you where the next checkpoint will be in relation to the current one. This is a nice, straightforward system that makes everything easy to see and understand; although getting used to this no-so-familiar setup does take a little time.
There are 10 modes, and they are varied, making sure anyone who plays will find something they enjoy. There are capture the flag style modes, where you have to get to the flag first, or slam into the flag holder to pick it up. There are modes where you have to reach the randomly selected checkpoint before anyone else, or even go through as many checkpoints as you can as fast as you can make it. There’s even a mode where you have to stay in the spotlight that a helicopter is shining on the ground, making for a bustling free-for-all with everyone trying to be in the same place at the same time.
While some of these modes will frustrate you no end (and I dare say which modes will cause most frustration will be unique to each player), overall they’re pretty fun. Once you get into the mechanics of each mode of gameplay, you’ll start figuring out how to better beat it next time. For example, once you pick up a flag, you’ll find that your steering goes right out the window, as if the flag was almost as heavy as your vehicle in some cases; so you’ll learn to use bigger, heavier vehicles and cautiously control your steering so as to not roll quite so much.
Every event you complete will earn you some XP, which you can then spend on upgrading different parts of your unlocked vehicles. You can also pick up skin tokens you can spend on buying new paint-jobs. Certain cars can only be unlocked by completing particular races, and as you progress, you’ll be unlocking bigger and faster cars, adding to the overall fun you can have playing.
The AI works pretty well most of the time, but being in the middle of a huge bundle of cars all trying to smash into you at the same time can be a little on the overwhelming side; though for a spectator watching over your shoulder, it’s great fun to watch the chaos unfold.
You can play multiplayer online, or locally with split-screen, a rare sight nowadays, and a much appreciated feature. The frustration tends to melt away when you’re up against a friend in the same room as you who’s having just as much trouble as you. At the time of playing there were no servers, so I wasn’t able to play online, but I’m sure as the words spreads there will be plenty of interested parties looking to play against you.
Audio & Visual
The graphics in this game are great. It doesn’t quite reach Motorstorm quality, but it’s pretty close. The environments are well made, and detailed. The models for buildings, burned out cars and other minor parts like tree trunks and signs are also nicely detailed, though some of the heavier items can make you get stuck on or in them at times.
As I said before, the boost shaky cam can be a little off-putting; it just feels like everything’s wobbling about the place, rather than feeling the force of the uneven ground beneath you. But overall, this game is really nice to look at, if your PC can take it.
Other graphics, like the minimap icons and such are very clear, and make finding where you’re meant to be going simple. The menus are just as simple, and very much feel like the menus of other racing games like Disney’s “Pure”, but there are a few oddities that leave them feeling functional, but not quite finished.
The audio in this title is just as well made, giving each vehicle a unique sound. And the music is cool, too. it’s pretty much your standard fare of original rock-type guitars and such, but it does a good job setting the mood and getting you ready to do some racing!
Overall
All in all, Insane 2 is a very fun game to play. While it has a tricky start for new players, once you get used to it’s different way of doing things you’ll have a great time playing the different modes and exploring all the arenas included in the game. And while there are some areas that could use some work, you’re sure to have a good time flying around the arenas, mastering the many modes, and playing with friends.
Gamelion Studios, the developers of Monster Shooter and Doodle Fit, has announced their newest game releasing for iOS will be coming out May 1st. What’s the game? A z-scrolling platformer called Crazy Kangaroo, featuring a kangaroo named Barney who’s out to make his way home after escaping some poachers. But, it’s not a merry journey back as Barney needs to avoid the dangers of the wild, including hunters and drowning.
Crazy Kangaroo covers three different worlds, power-ups like Sugar Rush and Multi-Score, more than 50 levels, and leaderboards so players can see how they stack up. The game controls entirely by tilting, both forward-and-back and left-to-right, to guide Barney’s hops from object to object. If you like unique platformers with fun graphics, check out Crazy Kangaroo for the iPad, iPod, and iPod Touch when it releases HERE.
Steel River Games have released their first commercial indie game, The Court Jester. The Court Jester is a story-driven 2.5D sidescroller, with plenty of magic and action to keep you entertained.
Domitian is a disgruntled court jester who has decided he should be emperor, however, after some not so fortunate happenings, he makes a deal with a fallen god to get some powerful magic to help him take on his enemies and clear his route to emperor position. The Court Jester has an in-depth storyline, with some pretty dark humour that just makes the whole thing more hilarious.
With over twenty levels spanning over six diverse environments, a quirky little story line with some memorable characters, an unlockable higher difficulty mode, boss rush, and survival mode, Court Jester is sure to be a fun little indie game.
Check out the trailer for the game below!
For a free online demo head on over to THIS SITE. The game is available NOW for Mac and PC for the low price of $2.99 – Get it HERE
Some news reminiscent of the great Montgomery Burns complaining of getting screwed over $3 in taxes despite all the corporate and financial loop holes his creative accountants have devised, except replace the great man with our beloved producer of world dominating gadgets, the wonderful Apple. While noone can be criticised for trying to keep as much of their hard earned money away from the taxman as possible which is fair enough by all standards, Charles Duhigg of the NY Times has released a report questioning many of the companies latest, albeit completely legal tactics. He describes Apples tax avoiding practices as “spectacularly creative”, resulting in the company having a global tax rate of 9.8%, allowing them to save 2.4 billion dollars, being less than half that of Walmart at 24% and most other major corporations.
According to Duhigg some of the more creative practices employed by Apple include finding ways to allocate up to 70% of its profit margins outside the US, despite the majority of its executives and product designers residing there. The article in the NY times reports Apple using offices in Nevada to house a company named Braeburn Capital to collect cash generated in the US by the company, thus avoiding Californias tax and falling under the zero corporate tax jurisdication of Nevada and its laws. All the while that Apple are claiming low cash flows in California they are collecting tax credits for Research and Development purposes there to the tune of $400 million over the last 15 years.
Internationally, Duhigg says Apple have pioneered an ingenious scheme nicknamed Double Irish with a Dutch Sandwich that many accountants from other major firms have said they learnt from Apples methods. It involves routing money generated from US inventions through subsidiaries in Ireland and the Netherlands and then through to the Caribbean. The extent to which Apple use this method can be explained by the fact that from an accounting perspective, Ireland accounted for 30% of Apples total revenue, which is a little hard to fathom unless Bono is downloading billions of copies of his own music to hear his own voice. All of this is done to take advantage of the exceptionally low rates of tax in many of these regions. Even salespeople working in high tax regions act on behalf of Apples subsidiaries in low tax regions making them eligible for that countries rates. Apple themselves have noted that many iTunes sales occur legally in Luxembourg as they offer tax incentives for any company that processes its transactions there, a simple process when selling a digital product.
While not having to answer to anyone due to the company breaking absolutely no laws, they have responded to the NY times report, which you can read in full here, although it doesnt really address the question asked of the company.
Grumpy Mouse have decided that Christmas has come early, because they’ve made their game, Stunt Mouse available for free in a Lite version. The original app is still available, with additional levels not in the Lite version.
Stunt Mouse is an action puzzle game, with fast and furious game play, as well as cute cartoon graphics and a funky soundtrack. You get to take control of Stunt Mouse as he makes his way though each level, avoiding obstacles and collecting coins for his little mouse-y self. The point of the game is this: use different strategies to try and win as many trophies as you can, with five available in total.
With ten levels in total, and over twenty Game Center achievements, this all will make a fun little play through. Plus, it’s Facebook integrated so you can brag on your friends’ News Feeds about how awesome you are as a stunt mouse.
Check out the trailer below!
Stunt Mouse Lite is available NOW for iPhone, iTouch and iPad for FREE – Get it HERE
Publisher: EA Sports Developer: Platform: Xbox 360 (reviewed), PS3, PC Release Date: Available now for download for FIFA 12 owners! Price: 1800 Microsoft Points ($15.99 US)
Overview:
So after controversially deciding to release EURO 2012 as an expansion to FIFA 12 rather than a separate game, EA Sports have unleashed the DLC into the marketplace for download, essentially adding three modes and 53 (not all licensed) teams. Expedition mode is the main attraction for the release, yet does it live up to it’s hype? Keep reading to find out.
Gameplay:
In terms of the actual matches, match engine, control system etc. it’s identical to FIFA 12. To be honest I don’t see why you would expect anything different if it’s an expansion to FIFA 12, so I’ve got no complaints there. If you wanted the bugs fixed from FIFA 12 you’ll just have to wait until FIFA 13.
Expedition mode was the one thing that really caught my attention for this release, adopting a mode similar to World Tour in FIFA Street but with way more players to build your team with and using real reserves instead of created characters as your initial team. It sounded like a really good idea and I was pretty excited, yet skeptical. Unfortunately my skepticism was more appropriate as the end product was rather disappointing. Your matches are limited to 2 minute halves, which I didn’t really mind given the amount you have to get through to unlock players. My first issue, which I anticipated, was having to play many lowly ranked teams. When you unlock a “road” to a semi-decent team, you have to beat them three times just to get one of their stars. It all gets too laborious for my liking, especially when you lose matches. The overall goal of collecting “mosaic” pieces also seems a bit dull and I felt there could have been a greater incentive to beat all the teams….three times each…
Another issue I have with the release is the fact that some of the teams aren’t licensed. Notable examples include the Welsh national team who contain superstars such as Gareth Belth, Aaron Rumsey, and Craig Belmont. Whilst I realise it doesn’t matter that much, the price of the DLC doesn’t seem quite justified, especially given the full licensing we usually enjoy with EA Sports.
Audio and Visual:
In terms of audio, there hasn’t been that much done to the game. The soundtrack that accompanies the mode is just the FIFA 12 one. It would’ve been nice if they included a few new songs to freshen it up a bit, given the amount of hours (or more solid months) that I’ve spent listening to the FIFA 12 one whilst playing. The commentary has been marginally altered, with a few (and I really mean a few) new comments about the tournament, but no real difference. It would’ve been nice to have a bit more history and stats integrated into the commentary to acknowledge the EURO tournament and just provide some more entertainment to spruce up the unaltered gameplay.
The menu design and graphical elements of EURO 2012 is very contrasting to the subtle style that FIFA 12 has, and in does somewhat give the sense that you’re playing a different game, until you get on the pitch of course. The one bonus is the addition of the eight official stadium from the tournament, which are adequately represented and definitely give the game a much needed point of difference. Even with these however the atmosphere is bland and doesn’t feel much different to a regular league match (or even 3rd division match) in FIFA 12.
Overall:
EURO 2012 is still a solid extension pack for FIFA 12, and to be honest I don’t think having it released a full standalone title would have been that much better. The addition of all the EURO nations is always fun (even with the odd lack of licensing for some), and the new stadiums help spice things up a bit. Expedition mode is a neat idea and is fun for a while, however I can’t see many people bothering to complete it (unless you’re really into your 360 achievements..).
At the end of the day, EURO 2012 is nothing spectacular and whilst it does add a bit more longevity to FIFA 12 (not that it needed an excuse), it stil falls a bit short. The pack, especially the online part, will probably be much more useful once the hype starts for EURO 2012, but it’s up to you to decide if the price tag is worth it.
Elite Systems Group have released three new retro games, for all of you retro game fans out there who love them some 8-bit goodness. And there is nothing quite like getting nostalgic on your iOS device – be it iPhone or iPad. The apps are near-100% original, just getting a bit of an update from their 1980s versions.
First off, there is Summer Games HD. Which is basically the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games version before anyone even dreamed that the Wii could exist. With the classic old school controls, including a virtual joystick, Summer Games is sure to bring back some fond memories of pretending like you cold totally be an Olympian. Get Summer Games HD HERE for $0.99
Next, Pitstop II HD, where you get to race against another car on a racetrack as you try to prove that you are the most skilled speedster on the track. As with Summer Games, there is a virtual joystick, and you can customise the layout of the controls. Race head to head, and bring pride to your pit stop! Get Pitstop II HD HERE for $0.99
Finally, Leaderboard HD, the game that preceded all those Tiger Woods games. Brought to you from 1986, Leaderboard is a game in which you take on an opponent on the green and see who can get that ball in the hole faster. Get Leaderboard HD HERE for $0.99
Each of these apps are also available as in game purchases through Retro Games – Available HERE for FREE
What do you guys think? Any of these retro games that you’re keen on, or feel all nostalgic about? Are any piquing your interest? Let us know in the comments section below!
