THQ today announced a range of pre-order incentives for its upcoming title Darksiders II. The game’s scheduled to release on 29th June, 2012, for Xbox 360, PC and PS3, and if you pre-order before then you stand to get some goodies for your loyalty.
Players who pre-order the game from GAME, Gamestation (and Gamestop in Ireland only) will receive the ‘Death Rides’ pack. Featuring multiple exclusive side-quests, this pack allows the most fearless adventurers to explore more of the Maker’s Realm and Dead Plains and earn additional experience and loot. Aid an ancient Construct, battle The Bloodless and retrieve Karn’s lost treasure in around two hours of unique game play content.
The ‘Angel of Death’ pack will give you an edge with a unique set of enhanced armour with an angel inspired design as well as a pair of upgraded matching scythes and a exclusive visual trail for your companion crow Dust. This pack will be available in UK & Ireland – retailer tbc.
People who pre-order the game from Amazon.co.uk will get to ride into battle with increased speed thanks to the ‘Deadly Despair’ pack. This pre-order offer adds an additional speed boost for Death’s trusty steed Despair, allowing players to travel across the vast world even faster than before. This perk is a permanent increase that will last throughout the game.
This Autumn comes Mad Riders, for the Xbox Live Arcade. This Adrenaline fuelled racing game will be off the road!
The game is being developed by Techland and published by Ubisoft. The game will feature over 45 different tracks, each with their own hidden shortcuts and sections that will require precision boosting to allow the player to take the lead and come out on top.
The title will also feature online capabilities, with drop-in multiplayer, leaderboards and online races for up to 12 players. Be sure to check out the official website and trailer embedded below for more details.
Ubisoft have unveiled a new trailer for Ghost Recon Online, one which talks you through the three classes that feature in the game: Assault, Specialist and Recon.
Given the Ghost Recon series is renowned for its tactical shooting prowess, these classes should serve to please fans of the series who have yet to see the substance behind the shooting from assets and details about the game so far. Perhaps those veterans doubtful of the console return of the series on Xbox 360 with Kinect support, Ghost Recon: Future Soldier, could have their needs met with this game for PC and Wii U.
Without further ado, let me introduce the trailer which explains the three classes and how to put them to use effectively on the battlefield.
The demo for Bioware’s highly anticipated Mass Effect 3 is available to download today for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. The demo showcases both the game’s single-player and multiplayer aspects. With the Earth under attack by the ancient alien race know as the Reapers, Commander Sheppard must “Fight or Die” to save the galaxy.
Currently, Mass Effect 3’s ‘Galaxy at War’ multiplayer mode is available to those who have their Battlefield 3 online pass. For everyone else, the multiplayer co-op portion will become available to everyone else a few days later on February 17. And as an extra bonus for Xbox 360 players with Kinect, the Mass Effect 3 demo also fully supports voice recognition (one of the first pre-launch demos to do so).
Mass Effect 3 is set to be released on Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC on March 6.
Since the release of Resident Evil 6’s first trailer a while back, we have all been full of speculation and wonder of just what Capcom has in store for this year’s most anticipated sequel (sorry Halo). Luckily, Capcom have opened up a bit and answered some questions on just what this plot holds for Chris, Leon, and the new protagonists such as Helena Harper.
Taking place in 2013, this narrative will begin with Chris Redfield, who is now the leader of the BSAA, re-joining up with his fellow agents to investigate a bioterrorist attack at the coastal town of Lanshiang.
The main threat this time around are known as J’avo and have the ability to understand speech, work together as a group, use weapons, and regenerate their bodies from damage. This means that the player will now need to use new forms of strategy to defeat each enemy as this is without a doubt the most unpredictable foe to date.
As for Leon, well…he’s on the other side of the map serving a new president by the name of Adam Benford. After running into secret service agent Helena Harper, he soon learns that a new zombie outbreak was her doing. To make matters worse, it seems that these zombies will pack more of a punch as well, now being able to jump, run, and use weapons.
We still don’t have much information on the third man in the trailer, other than the fact that he is the key to save the world and is looking to make a buck of his new responsibility.
2013! No Ashley announced (yet). Three separate stories. It all sounds phenomenal, but I now feel like I have 100 new questions. I guess all that will come in time though, but you can at least rest easy with this dab of details until the game is given a (hopefully) grander stage at E3. To get a more detailed rundown of these events through Capcom’s official website. It’s going to be a long wait til November.
Have an old guitar laying around, just collecting dust? Well, you may very well be interested in what Zivix is preparing to unleash. Today, JAM Live Music Arcade was announced for both the PSN and Xbox Live Arcade. This title is as it sounds and will let players enjoy playing with tunes of all sorts, but with more of a sandbox styled experience.
JAM Live Music Arcade lets players choose to be a DJ, band leader, and producer and have total control of their own experience. As far as actually playing the arcade portion of the game goes, you get to take the role as a guitarist, bassist, drummer, singer and synth player and play one of 30 tracks from the start, or your own custom built songs, but with more of an emphasis on “exploring” music..rather than just trying to accumulate a high score.
“JAM Live Music Arcade builds upon years of our music experience and some of the successes we had with previous iterations of the JAM franchise, but takes it to an entirely new level allowing creative freedom and a closer connection to the music,” said Chad Koehler, vice president of Zivix LLC. “The world loves music, and this product provides immediate accessibility in a totally new way. If you’re looking to jam out, turn the living room in to a live show and experiment with a near-infinite bank of sounds, effects and rhythms, then this is the experience for you. If you’re interested in a more traditional follow-the-leader type of play, then we’ve included the Arcade Mode just for that purpose. With the great songs and artists we have and the wide variety refreshingly creative different play modes, JAM Live Music Arcade is the breath of fresh air the music gaming genre needs.”
JAM Live Music Arcade is a completely new approach to the music genre with a real-time live music sandbox that allows the player to immediately build and customize their very own tunes. Starting with any one of the 30+ licensed songs featured in the game (including hits from Modest Mouse, Fallout Boy, Fatboy Slim, Rise Against, Atmosphere and more), players jam with and remix all aspects of the song – guitar, bass, drums, synth and vocals – to experiment with the song and re-create it to their own personality. All of this is done with any one of the compatible guitar gaming peripherals – the entire band is in your hands! Accessible and easy to get started, yet deep and almost endless to master, everyone can touch real music across a broad range of sonic tastes. JAM Live Music Arcade offers an immersive level of musical interaction that’s inspiring, powerful and contagious.
Features of JAM Live Music Arcade include:
Allows the player to experience music in a different and creative way by controlling and remixing all aspects of the song – it’s an entire band in your hands!
Players have complete creative control over the music and are rewarded for their sense of timing by getting into the flow of the music and beat
Featuring 32 tracks from major artists to top-touring indie bands designed specifically for the JAM platform, JAM Live Music Arcade offers a wide variety of musical stylings
Compatible with any of the millions of gaming guitar peripherals on the market today
JAM’s Arcade Mode not only engages a new type of follow the leader pathway and gameplay style, but also incorporates more controller actions from an up-strum to the whammy bar, creating even more of a challenge
Dynamic visuals respond to your every move, ensuring your visual jam is just as unique as your musical one
User created content: Create a mix, replay or challenge it in Arcade Mode
With the complete death as of late to arcade music titles, JAM seems to be something rather refreshing from the sound of it and if these promises of creative control hold up, we could very well be looking at a new door opening for the genre. As of now, JAM Live Music Arcade doesn’t currently have a release date or pricing details, but those wanting to find out more can check out the official website here and the new trailer down below.
Images have leaked online revealing the character selection screen for the hotly anticipated Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations thanks to some lucky fans at CyberConnect2’s showcase event for the title. Crunchyroll leaked the images of the character select screen online earlier which caused Namco Bandai followed up the leak by revealing the entire character listing, which has brought the number of playable characters in the title to over 85.
The following characters and their transformations are playable within the game:
Naruto (with 4-Tails Awakening)
Naruto (with Tailed Beast Chakra Mode Awakening)
Sage Naruto (with 6-Tails Awakening)
Mei
Ay
Onoki
Sasuke (with Susano Awakening)
Sasuke (Akatsuki)
Sasuke (with CS2 Awakening)
Sakura
Sai
Kakashi (Adult)
Yamato
Danzo
Tobi
Karin
Jugo
Suigetsu
Neji
Lee
Tenten
Guy
Tsunade
Deidara
Sasori
Hidan
Kakuzu
Shikamaru
Choji
Ino
Asuma
Jiraiya
Itachi
Kisame
Konan
Pain
Kiba
Shino
Hinata
Hashirama
Tobirama
Hiruzen
Orochimaru
Kabuto
Gaara
Temari
Kankuro
Chiyo
Killer Bee
Kakashi (Teen)
Obito
Minato
Naruto (Part 1)
Sasuke (Part 1)
Sakura (Part 1)
Neji (Part 1)
Lee (Part 1)
Tenten (Part 1)
Shikamaru (Part 1)
Choji (Part 1)
Ino (Part 1)
Kiba (Part 1)
Shino (Part 1)
Hinata (Part 1)
Gaara (Part 1)
Temari (Part 1)
Kankuro (Part 1)
Kimimaro
Haku
Zabuza
Darui
Cee
Chojuro
Ao
Kurotsuchi
Akatsuchi
Fu
Torune
Kurenai
Shizune
Anko
Jirobo
Kidomaru
Sakon
Tayuya
That is a mighty big list, which pretty much covers the majority of the characters to ever appear in the series which makes this game the most complete Naruto video game to date. Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations is set for launch on the 30th of March, 2012 for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
As the title states, there will be a strategy guide to accommodate the launch of the oceanic servers for The Old Republic from makers Bluemouth Interactive/ Prima Games. Titled the Explorer Guide, this book will be the ultimate compendium to the Star Wars The Old Republic player.
The book is set to include the following and possibly more –
Within the 256 pages, readers will be able to find the location of every hidden Datacron to augment stats, reference hundreds of maps packed with critical information to guide them through their adventure and see tactical readouts on enemy locations, from Korriban’s deserts to Ilum’s icy plains.
Each custom-made, world map includes every taxi, bind point, vendor and more – plus readers will be able to see a planetary survival guide for classes, from Jedi Consular to Sith Warrior.
That’s right, custom made maps as well as hidden secrets and more! If you’re a massive Star Wars fan and already have the game, you should pick this book up when the game officially launches over here on March 1st. If you’re a new player, you should definitely pick up this guide alongside your purchase of the game.
Be sure to check out the guides official site for more info.
The HD re-release of the arcade classic The House of the Dead 3 is now available for download on Playstation Network. Originally released into the arcades in 2002, the game has been reworked in HD, fully supports Playstation Move and trophies.
The third game in the series, The House of the Dead 3 introduced a few new features to the series such as interactive rescue events, creature-shooting roots and a ranking and grading system.
The House of the Dead 3 can be played with both Playstation Move and regular Playstation controller and is available exclusively on the PlayStation Store for $6.99.
The Australian Federal Government has finally introduced legislation to establish an R18+ category for video games in Australia, and about time too. For those of you who don’t know, Australia does not currently have a R18+ category for video games.
This means that any video game that doesn’t fit the current maximum MA15+ rating will be refused classicisation by the Australian Classification Board, thereby effectively banning the sale of the game in the country.
Banned: 2011’s Mortal Kombat
Video games such as Mortal Kombat, Manhunt and Syndicate have been banned in Australia as their content exceeds the guidelines set by Australian Classification Board.
Similarly, video games such as Left 4 Dead 2, Fallout 3 and Grand Theft Auto IV were edited down to fit the MA15+ criteria.
The heavily edited Australian version of Left 4 Dead 2 featured little to no gore
However after years of debate, negotiations and public outcry, amendments to the Classification Act 1995 and Broadcasting Services Act 1992 have today been made by Parliament, which finally brings brings gaming in line with the already existing categories for film and television.
The new R18+ Adults-Only category is expected to come into effect by January 2013.
