EA Sports has released FIFA 12 and the NBA Jam to the masses today on Google Play.
FIFA 12 features top of the line graphics, famous footballers like Kaka and Rooney, 32 real stadiums, major football leagues such as MLS and La Liga, and daily challenges to keep you playing. NBA Jam is also released, bringing the classic game to 2012. Featuring the biggest stars from each of the 30 NBA teams playing 2 on 2 arcade basketball and Tim Kritzrow’s return as the announcer, NBA Jam has three modes of play and unlockable legends from the classic arcade game and crazy cheats. FIFA 12 and NBA Jam are both available for $4.99 on the Google Play store.
The first 2 Marathon games by Bungie are both up for download on both iPad and iPhone, but even better they’re both as cheap as free. Ported by Daniel Blezek, each game is the entire original experience, but with additional improvements available for download at $0.99 each.
The additional improvements are an HD mode, which matches the games to the HD remake for Marathon 2: Durandal released for XBLA; Master Chief mode, named after Bungie’s later Halo protagonist which gives cheats to the player; and lastly Enhanced Reticules.
Players that have played Halo will see the inspirations Bungie pulled from their earlier work from a chargeable fusion pistol to a double-barreled rocket launcher. Those that loved the overpowered Halo 1 pistol will probably equally enjoy Marathon’s .45 Magnum Mega Class, which can be conveniently dual-wielded after you find another for even more ridiculous power.
You can download Marathon 1 here and Marthon 2: Durandal here for your iOS devices.
Think you know what Pong has been missing all these years? Then enter Atari’s Pong Indie Developer Challenge and tell them how you would make it even better. As Nolan Bushnell explains in the video, this challenge is a way of celebrating Pong’s 40th anniversary with a burst of creativity from the game community. Entrants have until April 15th to submit a design document and even a link to a playable demo, if you got it.
Those entrants that make it to the semi-finals will then submit a short playable demo and video by May 29th. Then those that are selected to be finalists will be tasked with actually completing their game before July 6th.
All finalists will receive a cash prize in addition to revenue, but first through third will receive $50,000; $37,500; and $15,000 respectively. So, get cracking on perfecting all those crazy ideas you’ve had building since the first time you played Pong.
Even though Binary Domain was released earlier this month on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, the console one would most expect it to be released on never saw a single announcement. That is until today when Sega revealed that they will be bringing Binary Domain to the PC in April.
Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at Sega revealed that an “increasing numbers of players asking for a PC version” so the team thought it best that they deliver. Just don’t come crying to me when your PC starts having a mind of its own and starts reaching for that pistol you keep in your drawer…
We haven’t heard much about Arkane Studios’ upcoming steampunk shooter, Dishonored but today Bethesda has revealed a slew of brand new screenshots that will help satisfy a little bit of your curiosity. In these screenshots we see even more of the unique art style that will be used in the game as well as plenty of less than honorable ladies.
Check out the screenshots below and bear witness to some action shots and plenty of examples of what most characters will look like. Dishonored is still set to be released sometime later this year on the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 but there is no narrower release window at the moment besides “2012.”
CyberConnect2 has been very busy over the past month, at least in North America as a number of their games have recently been released, such as Asura’s Wrath and Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. However what about other game’s that fans would want?
President Hiroshi Matsuyama sat down in an interview and he revealed that a possible localization for the currently in development .hack game and a possible sequel to Solatorobo would require more fan support.
Hiroshi Matsuyama stated “”As long as we can get more requests from fans, there’s a possibility. It’s not that people don’t know about it… But I think it’s more that Namco Bandai Games America is not interested in the typical JRPGs and that’s why they’re not looking to pick it up.”
This statement rings especially true when one remembers that Namco Bandai America never brought the original Wii version of Tales of Graces over, keeping fans in the dark until Tales of Grace F was announced on the PS3. Either way… you’ve heard the man! If you want to see the new .hack games or a Solotarobo sequel then you have to be just a little more vocal with your requests!
There are two things you can count EA to do whenever a game has an online mode of any kind. One, they will charge you $10 unless you activate the online pass to play it and two, they will shut down the servers on that game after a few years because, despite the “necessity” these online passes served, obviously it wasn’t enough to keep the server running.
Today EAhas revealed a slew of games that they will be shutting down the online servers for on April 13th, so if you play any of the games below it would be best to try out the online mode while you can:
BOOM BLOX Bash Party
Burnout Revenge
EA Create
EA Sports Active
EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp
FIFA 10
The Godfather II
Need for Speed ProStreet
The Saboteur (Midnight Club access)
Spare Parts
Also revealed today was a slew of online services for iPhone games that will go dark on March 31st, though this list is substantially smaller:
BATTLEFIELD™ 3: Aftershock for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch
Oh ratings boards, you just love to leak game information before it was ever meant to be announced don’t you? Today it has been revealed by the PEGI ratings board that Dragon’s Lair will likely be showing up on the XBLA sometime in the near future.
Well… not that there aren’t already a hundred different platforms to play the game on already as a version of the game has been released on practically every gaming system, smart phone and calculator (not) that has been released in the past six years. Of course this rating isn’t an official announcement so this could still be considered a rumor, however rating’s boards rarely lie.
Over the past few months anime localizer and distributor Media Blasters has experienced quite a large number of downfalls. First they let go of a large amoutn of staff and they had even canceled the re-release of the classic anime series, Record of Lodoss War last week.
Amidst all of this bad news it only makes sense that fans would be concerned about upcoming releases, especially one that many fans hold dear to their heart, Squid Girl (Shinryaku! Ika Musume). Today on Facebook Media Blasters responded to a fans question about the licensing and distribution of Squid Girl’s second season (Shinryaku!? Ika Musume) and they responded with “We have it planned.” Doesn’t get too squidding clearer than that.
A few days ago we brought you news from Codemasters that they had signed with Formula One to develop future games in the franchise and now they have announced that F1 2012 will be released in September on XBox 360, PS3 and PC sporting a brand new Young Driver Test Mode. To celebrate the announcement they have released a video of F1 Creative Director Stephen Hood, broadcasting from Yas Marina Circuit, quizzing young new drivers about the realism of the new addition to the franchise and whether the game was any benefit in their preparation for readying themselves for a new season.
The new F1 2012 will introduce the Young Driver Test Mode, designed to teach players the intricate details of preparing for a real life Formula One season from scratch, right from basic vehicle handling through to having to earn your right to race for a team in the FIA Formula One World Championship. The game has had some positive feedback from many Formula One drivers such as rising star Sam Bird who stated “I think Codemasters have done a super job of giving regular people a proper insight into what a FORMULA ONE car is like.” Stefano Coletti, representing Scuderia Toro Rosso added, “When I came to Abu Dhabi I couldn’t go to the simulator so I switched on the videogame and started to play. It actually worked because when I got here I felt like I’d already driven [the circuit]. It was my first race in GP2, first ever time in GP2, and I won in my first race so it actually helped.”
Alongside this new mode, F1 2012 will also feature tweaking to the technical aspect of gameplay and a huge variety of multiplayer options for those who wish to annihilate their friends. Every official team, driver and circuit from the FIA Formula One World Championship has been included as well as the debut of the United States Grand Prix in Rattlesnake country and the return of Germanys famous Hockenheim circuit to the tables.
