Warner Bros. has recently revelaed its latest expansion to the hit online title Lord Of The Rings Online. The Expansion is titled, Riders of Rohan, and introduces a few new elements to the game. The primary element of the game is the ability to rid alongside other players in the Plains of Rohan, which is a new area to the game.
On the expansion, Warner Bros. had this to say –
“2011 was another banner year for The Lord of the Rings Online with consistent growth for the game, a successful unification of our European and North American services and the success of Rise of Isengard, our best selling expansion to date.” said Kate Paiz, Executive Producer of The Lord of the Rings Online. “This is going to be another outstanding year as we celebrate our fifth anniversary and introduce a wealth of new content throughout the year, ending with our arrival in Rohan. One of our largest expansions ever, Rohan is expected to be twice the size of the recent Rise of Isengard expansion and includes the most new game systems and technology we’ve introduced since 2008’s Mines of Moria.”
The following is a list of the new features coming to the game –
NEW FEATURES:
Experience the Riders of Rohan – Join with the Rohirrim and ride across the sprawling Plains of Rohan; witness the breaking of the Fellowship at Amon Hen; forge alliances with the Ents of Fangorn; and aid Éomer, adopted son of Théoden, as he seeks to protect his homeland from the growing Shadow.
Introducing Mounted Combat – Ride into Combat atop your loyal War-steed as you defend the people of Rohan from the forces of Isengard and Mordor. Customise your War-steed’s armour and level its skills over time to aid you in mounted defence of King Theoden’s lands. Mount your steed and gather your fellows to fight against Warbands, contingents of roving warg riders that have been scouted all over the Plains of Rohan! It falls to you to head off and defeat this new threat before they over take the land.
Advance to level 85 – Continue your legend in the next chapter of The Lord of the Rings Online. Experience new adventures in the epic story, and gain new skills and deeds as you face new challenges on your journey to 85!
Be sure to check out the official site and sign up for the (free) game.
That’s right, the dream team of Shinichiro Watanabe and Yoko Kanno have joined forces once again. This time they are teaming up on an adaptation of the popular Monthly Flowers Magazine manga called Sakamichi no Apollo.
Many know Shinichiro Watanabe and Yoko Kanno for their work on the infamous Cowboy Bebop. This new series marks Watanabe’s first time directing an adaptation and will feature Kanno’s trademark brilliant music work.
A trailer for the new anime can be seen below. Sakamichi no Apollo is set to premiere this upcoming Spring 2012 anime season. What do you think of the Cowboy Bebop Dream Team getting back together again? Let us know in the shoutbox and comments section.
Here we are again, MasterAbbott is back for this week’s iOS Game Suggestions. If you missed out on last week’s suggestions, click on the link below and check what cool games you should be picking up for your iOS along with the introduction and disclaimer on how my suggestions work, as I’m not going through the same old intro every week. (suggestions 1 has the disclaimer)
What i’ve also introduced is video game play footage (if it’s possible) on some of the iOS games I’ve suggested, you can check this out at the bottom of the article. Currently video game play footage for this week’s suggestions is Frederic – The Resurrection Of Music, SuperGay, Dungeon Of The Damned, Monster Crush – Demolition, M.U.S.E, Dungeon Crawlers and Smash Cops. Check back in a few days there will be some more added. For now, if you jump into week 2 suggestions there are a few videos to check out.
It’s been a great week on iTunes, so many amazing games were released, I could mention over 20 release but I decided to only share 15. Once again for this week’s suggestions I’ve added a few old games into the mix as they certainly deserve a mention. But of course the focus is still on the newer titles that you should also take a look at to spend your hard earned iTunes cash / time on. This week I’ve focused a little more on the payed titles as there were some awesome and unique games released. These titles are all well worth taking a look at if you can afford it. Now lets get down to business shall we.
For The Cheapskates – FREE GAMES
My Town 2 – Price : FREE – Publisher – BOOYAH (Create the city of your dreams filled with your favorite places from the real-world! Get your town thriving as you buy, customize & upgrade real businesses. Earn coins to beautify your town with awesome decorative items. Grow your population & expand with tons of cool buildings, houses + rare & unique Wonders. MyTown 2 is the incredible sequel to the #1 Real-World game of all time. Life is a story. Build yours.) runs on both iPhone & iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Hero’s Way – Price : FREE – Publisher – Lakoo – Gameislive. (Slay your way through 60 levels of monsters, ghost and ghouls in this action packed arcade-role playing game with fantastic graphics, fluid animation and a very catchy music soundtrack. Choose from a total of 6 different character classes: The Warrior, Witch and Rogue are joined by 3 new heroes classes…Cleric, Demon Hunter and Mercenary.) runs on both iPhone & iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Niko – Price : FREE (option to unlock full game for $1.99)- Publisher -Sulake Corp. (Meet Niko are rare and courageous creature who needs to find his friends that have been captured by a monstrous world beneath the forest. Niko is a fun and highly addictive platform game with a number of unique features that sets it apart from other platform titles currently out on the iOS.) runs on iPhone & iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
Contract Killer: Zombies – Price : FREE – Publisher – Glu Games (Want to blow the crap out of thousands of zombies? Well Contract Killer will be able to help you out, Help survivors, explode some zombie brains and build up some awesome zombie killing weapons such as sniper rifles, grenade launchers and assult guns, take aim and blow away some zombies today.) runs on both iPhone and iPad. GET IT NOW FOR FREE
For The Bargain Hunters – 99c Games
MASTERABBOTT’S PICK OF THE WEEK
FINISHED IT LOVED IT!
SuperGay– Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Klicrainbow. (Supergay & The Attack of His Ex-Girlfriends!
A new hero is born, or rather, is about to be born. Help our brilliant scientist turn into the greater superhero of all modern times: Supergay. Become Supergay and save the world from the evil plans of your ex-girlfriend and her clone army. Just think, if it’s difficult living with a double identity, what must it be like to have a triple life…? Lose yourself in incredible, fun mini-games while fighting your way through the clone army to stop an imminent nuclear war. Games of stealth, races, confrontations and final battles against bosses, contests against the clock, puzzles and… even a dance at a stag party await you! 32 levels of play are waiting for you in this new, fresh and original adventure. ) – runs on both iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Monster Crush – Demolition – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – 628 Games. (Great Puzzle Game – Monster Crush is a combination of “Tiki Towers” and “iBlast Moki”. The game uses advanced physics to simulate the destruction. Whole buildings can collapse to the ground. Windows will break and dust will fill the sky! with 7 cities to liberate 42 unique puzzle levels CRUSHING THOSE MONSTERS has never been so much fun!) – runs on both iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Angry Birds Seasons – Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Rovio Mobile Ltd. (Fireworks popping, lanterns glowing, red envelopes bursting with money – it’s Chinese New Year! This holiday is China’s biggest and longest festival, a time for feasting with family and friends, setting off fireworks, and having fun. The Angry Birds are celebrating the start of the Year of the Dragon, but the piggies are trying to scare them away from their eggs! Luckily the Angry Birds have some help – the Mighty Eagle has transformed into the fearsome Mighty Dragon! ) – runs on both iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Sonics Rabbit– Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Mangoo Games. (Sonics Rabbit is quite similar to Sonic The Hedgehog, its an adventure, platform, puzzle game with a simple to learn control system. The game has a total of 30 unique, original and very addictive levels that will challenge you and keep you busy for hours. ) – runs on both iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Ice Rage– Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Mountain Sheep. (Ice Rage brings the classic 8-bit hockey experience to the 21st century! DARE to take on John Gore, or challenge your friend in the most intense single-device multiplayer you’ve ever experienced. There are 9 different human players to choose from and if that is not enough, try out the Ice Aces, amazing special characters such as lightning fast Santa or heavy-hitting Enviro-Bear. Team up with crazy goalies like Rudolph the Red Wall, and you are sure to get the upper hand. ) – runs on both iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
Dungeon Of The Damned– Price : $0.99 – Publisher – Paul Banks. (Dungeon Of The Damned is an old-school dungeon crawler and classic point & click adventure game combined. It consists of an explorable grid based 3D dungeon, a variety of puzzle types to solve including objects to collect and use, levers to pull and secret passages to find. And of course no Dungeon style game wouldn’t be complete without portals and pressure pads. It also has a rich and immersive storyline to keep you enthralled for hours. ) – runs on both iPhone & iPad. BUY NOW
For The Millionaires – All games over $0.99
MASTERABBOTT’S PICK OF THE WEEK
FINISHED IT LOVED IT!
Frederic – The Resurrection Of Music – Price : $1.99 (Publisher – Forever Entertainment S.A (Step into Frederic Chopin’s shoes, and go on a magical journey. Accompany Chopin in his amazing journey full of humorous events. Battle your opponents in musical duels. Laugh till your stomach hurts with an hour of animated videos. Play through nine catchy arrangements of Chopin’s greatest classics. This game is certainly well worth picking up if you enjoy music rhythm games.) – runs on both iPhone and iPad. BUY NOW
M.U.S.E. – Price : $6.49 – Publisher – Ayopa Games ( M.U.S.E. is a shooter that certainly raises above the competition on the iOS, with RPG-style upgrades, high octane cover shooting and destructible environments and a fast-paced scoring system that rewards quick kills and chained destruction. Take on the role of hard boiled agent Sid Tripp for the government organization M.U.S.E. who must take on a cyborg army hell bent on world domination.) runs on both iPhone and iPad. BUY NOW
SOULCALIBUR – Price : $12.99 – Publisher – NamcoBandai Games ( It’s finally arrived, SOULCALUBUR has made is available on the iOS, enjoy the non-stop action that SOULCALIBUR is famed for with complete arcade fidelity. Relive the eternal tale of swords and souls transcending time and space. A total of 19 characters to choose from and all of them fully recreated for this iOS release.) runs on both iPhone and iPad. BUY NOW
Smash Cops – Price : $2.99 – Publisher – Hutch Games (Want to be the good guys for a change? Then Smash Cops is the game for you. Be the Police in America’s Wildest TV Chases, Pursue and take down felons whilst avoiding civilian traffic and buddy police as you chase and weave through traffic. Smash Cops has one of the largest drivable cities in any iOS game with high quality visuals and rich environments.) runs on both iPhone and iPad. BUY NOW
Dungeon Crawlers – Price : $1.99 – Publisher – Ayopa Games (Want a turn based RPG with a rich story and full of humor, then look no further Dungeon Crawler is the game for you. Take command of the Dungeon Crawlers team as they explore goblin-infested hallways, lava-drenched caverns and other hostile environments in persuit of loot, women, and monsters to crush.) runs on both iPhone and iPad. BUY NOW
There you have it folks, these games should keep you busy for quite some time. I’ll be back next week for another dose of iOS goodness, in the meantime if anyone would also like to suggest their own suggestions, please feel free to share them in the comments section below, or join the discussion in the forums. Check out the link below :
The promotional train has begun for Gravity Rush in Japan (where the game will be called Gravity Daze) with a pretty well-put two minute trailer. In this commercial, a young girl decides to kill the time playing Gravity Rush on the Playstation Vita. As she resumes gameplay (all she does is swipe the screen and she’s back) and activates Kat’s manipulation of gravity, apples from a passing woman ascend to the sky. As the girl gets into the game, using the gyroscope to move Kat, he world around her starts to move around. The trailer also shows off some exciting gameplay footage.
This was part of a promotional package that was sent to Japanese media outlets. 4Gamer took a picture of the box and it included the trailer and also an actual apple, which you can see above. Gravity Rush will be available on the Playstation Vita on the 9th of February in Japan and at launch (22nd/23rd February) for the West.
If you haven’t yet seen one of the many re-tweets, the picture you see above is of course Resident Evil Revelations in all it’s retail glory (North American Version). Notice anything…wrong? It seems Capcom have yet again made a box-art boo boo with this title and put the “I” in Revelations.
Capcom have already commented on the matter, with Christian Svensson stepping in with this comment on the Capcom Unity Forums:
We’re aware that this has affected a portion of the production run. There’s likely to be some news to follow closer to launch on this topic.
After leaving the 360 off the front of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom for the Xbox 360 last year and the ever-classic IGN Okami debacle, it seems the final editors have yet again missed their mark of perfection. Honestly though, it’s the game that matters and for some reason, I feel this is becoming a unintended yet humorous calling card for Capcom’s heavy hitting releases. Once Svensson elaborates further on a fix, we will be sure to bring you an update.
After a long wait, the brilliant little platformer Mutant Mudds has finally globbed onto the eShop. For those unfamiliar, this new title from Renegade Kid puts players in the role of Max as he jetpacks along a 12-bit world, armed with his trusty water cannon. You can snag up this gem for $8.99 as of today on the eShop service, and if the hype is correct, this may be one of the most promising releases we have seen thus far in 2012.
If your still craving something simplistic with some retro flare, Flipper 2: Flush the Goldfish is also available on the DSiWare for $4.99 and features a one-button control method with a level editor in tow. For a mere $1.99, Lola’s Alphabet Train has also pulled in to give younger players a brand new way to learn their words and meet some vibrant characters.
Over on the WiiWare, Newton Vs The Horde lets players use physics to assist scientists in “splatting” monsters for 500 points.
Finally, those who want to get a taste of Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games are in luck, as the 3DS demo has arrived and can be downloaded for no cost.
So, who else now must make room for some Mudds this week? Leave a comment down below of what you’re interested in.
Insomniac Games are no longer the flagship developer of the Resistance series after they have decided that they were finished with the franchise. With confusion and speculation surrounding the decision, it was up to CEO Ted Price to clear some things up. Below is a video message, posted on Insomniac’s Youtube channel, explaining the decision to move on from the Resistance franchise. This video is meant to be an official confirmation of the decision to not continue developing for the franchise.
Mr. Price has revealed that they believed their Resistance tale has reached “it’s logical conclusion.” They are also excited to see the fruition of Resistance: Burning Skies by mentioning Nihilistic Software, the guys behind the game. He has also praised the fanbase for their support throughout the franchise. However, there is no mention of the Ratchet and Clank series in the video, another Sony owned franchise.
What does it mean for the Resistance franchise? More likely than not the console series will be passed onto another developer. Who will it be is anyone’s guess. Nonetheless, this shouldn’t been seen as a dire situation. Resistance is moving on, as are Insomniac is with their first multi-platform release, Overstrike.
Satoru Iwata has revealed more information on the Wii U during an earnings meeting with investors. First up, it has been confirmed that the Wii U will be compatible with Nintendo Network. The Nintendo Network is the new network platform being introduced for the 3DS and Wii U to allow purchases of digital content and cross-platforming communications. In addition to the Nintendo Network, the Wii U will hold multiple personal accounts, similar to the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3, to allow easier sharing of the system with the family. These profiles will be compatible with Nintendo Network accounts.
Iwata has also talked about the Wii U Controller. The Wii U Controller will be compatible with Near Field Communication (NFC). NFC is a type of radio communication usually found in smart card systems such as FeliCa and Mifare. Iwata spoke on the addition of NFC in the Wii U controller:
“It will become possible to create cards and figurines that can electronically read and write data via noncontact NFC and to expand the new play format in the video game world. Adoption of this functionality will enable various other possibilities such as using it as a means of making micropayments.”
Iwata has also made comments on the importance of a successful launch after the underwhelming 3DS launch, as well as why the Wii U will launch in the next holiday season in all major regions.
“For the launch of new hardware, it is regarded as a sort of requisite not to miss the critical year-end sales season. The company is aiming to firmly complete the development of the entire system and prepare sufficient software so that the Wii U will be at its best at the time of the launch.”
“[Nintendo] learned a bitter lesson from the launch of the Nintendo 3DS.”
Iwata has also confirmed what was obvious and that is the retail version of the Wii U will be revealed at this year’s E3. For those who can’t make it to the show (i.e. wholesalers and analysts), Iwata hopes to hold a show in Tokyo during the Los Angelas show.
After a logo appeared on dummy boxarts for Theatrhythm Final Fantasy and Dynasty Warriors VS., Nintendo has finally lifted the lid on the Nintendo Network, the new network platforms replacing Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. The Nintendo Network will be different to the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection as it will offer both cross-platform communications and sales of digital content, including games available at retail and downloadable content. Looking at Theatrhythm, the game will have paid downloadable content in the form of additional music.
The Nintendo Network will only be available on both the Wii U and the 3DS, which means the aging Wii will miss out. This is no surprise, as the Wii U ushers in the eight generation overall in the console realm and the sixth generation of Nintendo consoles. Another reason could be that the 3DS already has the infrastructure built into the handheld, as revealed by Iwata. The Wii U will have the proper infrastructure at launch.
Iwata, however, has revealed that timing for sales of digital versions of retail games has yet to be decided. Nintendo have to consider retailers and wholesalers, considering that they will take a hit should this be a success, and consumers in terms of memory capacity, since Nintendo doesn’t want the memory of consumers eating up due to downloaded games and content.
Continuing their ongoing promotion for the upcoming title, Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, EA have released the next instalment in their ‘Inside Reckoning’ video series. This time EA give us an inside look at the music and sound of Reckoning.
The video which can be seen below, features interviews with the people behind the game’s music and sound production. It provides a nice little bit of insight into what went into putting together the game impressive audio.
Be sure to check out the video below and let us know what you think in the shoutbox and comments section.
