Perhaps one of the most popular and simple games on the iOS marketplace, even more so than Angry Birds is Fruit Ninja. That little mobile title was developed by the company known as Halfbrick and have even expanded beyond the mobile game and created a Kinect version of the title on the Xbox 360 for those who want to chop fruit with their own hands.
Fans of the game can now even have their own little sliced watermelon or even the game’s Sensei in plush form. To be more exact, Halfbrick has created their own online store and are selling the Sensei plush for $15.99 and a sliced Watermelon that can be stuck together with velcro for $14.99. Currently only the Sensei plush is available but if you keep an eye out I’m sure the watermelon will be available soon.
Nintendo has come out and revealed that at the moment there is a game ending glitch many hours into The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. To be more specific, a certain quest called the “Song of the Hero” can cause a glitch that will completely lock out the rest of the quest and halt all progress in the title forever unless the player has an earlier save.
Nintendo revealed this fact to Zelda Informer and even went about explaining exactly how the glitch could occur and how to avoid it. If the player completes the quest’s desert leg first and speak to a certain Goron not once, but twice, the game locks out completion entirely and halts the game. This can be avoided by not talking to the Goron more than once, or simply perform the desert part of the quest last.
After much touting, marketing and other hollerin’, the expected Xbox Live update that was supposed to happen early this morning was delayed. Now it is evening time in the United States and it appears that Microsoft is now able to release the anticipated update. According to Major Nelson’s Twitter, certain users of Xbox Live should be able to update their consoles now, or in the next couple of hours. The update will be become available to the rest of us sooner rather than later. If you have the update, what is your favorite feature so far?
There are plot spoilers within this article. If you have not played and completed Uncharted 3 Drake’s Deception – you read on at your own risk.
The Uncharted series has sold 13 million units worldwide and is probably responsible for the deaths of countless more digital mercenaries. Nathan Drake and his half tucked shirt are Sony’s biggest exclusive, and developers Naughty Dog seem keen to keep the ball rolling:
“There are a ton of Drake adventures out there and we haven’t told all of them yet, and as long as fans want the games and as long as we find something that’s interesting and will push the medium forward, we’ll continue to make them.”
Uncharted 3 game director Justin Richmond, in a quote from Official Playstation Magazine UK
So what’s next for Uncharted? And what should change? Assuming that the world doesn’t go crazy and give us Uncharted Team Racing, here are a few thoughts….
The Setting There are a myriad of mythologies and countries still to be explored, but where should Drake go next? It has to be somewhere with a rich history and culture, one that is preferably dead or no longer dominant. Jungles and deserts have been done to death, so what about leaving the tropics behind and heading north?
North America is ripe for the picking and could finally let us in on the secrets of Drake’s personal life. The rich cultures of the indigenous people could provide the adventuring back drop, and weaving in a Viking connection would have a lot of potential too. If you’re not up on your Scandinavian history, Viking Leif Eriksson landed on North America long before Christopher Columbus did, and Erik the Red discovered and settled Greenland. Just to sell the Viking idea even more, the community of some 3000 Vikings established there disappeared after 500 years, with the reason behind it apparently a great mystery.
Or take in the vast wilderness that is Russia, the Celtic history of the British Isles, the ice caves and glaciers of Austria. Why should adventuring be stuck in the tropics?
Ultimately the developers have nothing to worry about when it comes to Drake’s next adventure – in terms of historical set up and setting at least. The world is packed full of cultures and mythologies not yet explored, and there are enough lost cities out there to keep Drake and co. busy for decades. But that’s just the set up, the source of all the action and the artefacts – what about how it’s used?
The Story
The life span on Uncharted’s formulaic story is growing short. You can’t get away from it – when you pick up an Uncharted game you know exactly how things are going to turn out – there’s an artefact that leads to an artefact that leads to a forgotten evil power conveniently nestled in a long lost city that won’t survive past the end chapter. The minutiae along the way help distract from the pattern but ultimately nothing changes, not for the characters, not for the Uncharted world.
The best example of this? Near the end of Uncharted 3, Drake sees Sully shot and killed. Having completely forgotten about the hallucinogenic water that Drake had just downed, I was genuinely taken aback by what I thought to be a real occurrence. I was furious at the villains, sad for Drake, and ultimately really impressed that the developers had had the guts to knock off one of their main characters.
But no. It was all a dream. Why do that? Sully is a great character and the relationship between him and Drake is entertaining, but what better end could there have been to a game that began with the very beginning of their relationship? It would have marked a new chapter in Drake’s life, and a chance for the game to change gear. After all Deception is littered with sequences that make Drake question the way he lives – the desert being the obvious stand out. Taking this disillusionment together with Sully’s death would have made the final reunion with Elena all the more poignant, and opened up an ideal way to have Drake back off from his adventures – if only for a little while. There’s a lot of drama to be had dragging a broken man back to his former self – perhaps on a quest to save a certain someone rather than a certain something?
As it stands, Uncharted 4, when it undoubtedly happens, will begin on the same footing as every other Uncharted game. Drake and Sully hang out. Drake and Elena kiss and make up. Yes, the current formula works, but we all know that if something is repeated and repeated and repeated, it gets old.
The Set Pieces
Uncharted 3 Drake’s Deception had some of the best moments of event gaming in recent memory, and the scale and style of the spectacle define the series. Uncharted wouldn’t be Uncharted without some big action scenes, but with so many of them in Drake’s Deception, have Naughty Dog backed themselves into a corner?
Where Among Thieves had its train sequence, Deception had a plane crash, a sinking ship, a crumbling city, a blazing inferno, horseback chases, a sandstorm, and the bold emptiness of the desert. What’s left? What natural disaster has Drake not survived, what vehicle has he not fallen out of? A tsunami is too much like a sinking ship, an earthquake echoes the already overused crumbling city, a small avalanche or two crept in to Among Thieves. In going all out with the third instalment Naughty Dog could have exhausted Uncharted’s potential – the story is already repetitive, and if the set pieces head that way as well…
The Future?
Now there isn’t exactly a new Uncharted game every year, but the last thing anyone wants to see is a new game that’s just a repackaging of the old one – we know that doesn’t sit well! It may sell, and it may still be of some quality, but it damages the brand. With Uncharted Golden Abyss heading to the Vita in the new year and a movie adaptation of Drake’s Fortune in the pipeline, there’s already more than enough Drake to go round. Whilst ‘Drake in Space’ is a ridiculous idea, the next entry in the Uncharted series is going to have to take that one giant leap to keep itself at the top of it’s game.
But what’s the best way to avoid repetition? Stop. At least for a little while.
Being constantly hunted down by the Empire of Men might put a damper on your life expectancy. As an orc and goblin, you must be fearless as the Emperor of Men rages war against your people. The only way to end this conflict is to take down the Emperor himself.
Focus Home Interactive in junction with Cyanide and Spiders presents a new trailer for the 2012 RPG Of Orcs and Men. In the first teaser trailer, you get to see the two heroes of the story in active gameplay. Each character presents two very different playing styles. The orc offers an aggressive style of combat where he vaults himself into a fray of soldiers. On the other hand, the goblin acts more as an assassin preying on enemies from the shadows.
Check out the trailer below, and get ready for the rebellion in 2012.
Ladies and gentlemen… big purple dildos covering baseball bats have officially claimed the lives of 2 million residents of Steelport. However, this figure is small when compared to the figure of lives lost in the carnage that is Saints Row: The Third. A total of 5.8 billion lives have been lost from gang and senseless violence. May all of those who have departed rest in piece.
In addition to the above figures, THQ has compiled a report on what else has been going on in Steelport:
Players have spent a cumulative total of two years in their birthday suits.
In Whored Mode, 44 million pimps, gimps and prostitutes have been dispatched.
650 hot dog mascots have been overcooked to death by players using a flamethrower.
In other news, THQ have announced a new way to map the chaos you create in Saints Row: The Third. By logging on to SaintsRow.com, there are a number of applications that allow you to track the carnage you have created in Steelport and compare them to your fellow players. This is what you can do on SaintsRow.com:
Saints Row: The Third Stats and Achievements Tracker
With the new in-depth tracking features on SaintsRow.com, you can now quantify the crazy. Check out your stats page for a list of your most devious accomplishments, from total time surfing moving vehicles, to number of pedestrians you’ve run over. See how you rank against the rest of the community, or drive by a friend’s profile page for a head-to-head comparison.
Big Picture Map of Steelport
Some maps show directions. This map shows indiscretions. Check out a top-down map of Steelport updated in real-time with a feed of all in-game activity. In addition, tag an area on a map and leave hints for the rest of the community. Know the location of a hidden secret? How about a tip on completing a mission? This is your time to share. Finally, upload your favorite screenshots and tag them on the map to create your own cherished memories from Steelport.
So, what are you waiting for? Head to SaintsRow.com to start tracking your carnage.
It has been no doubt one of the biggest series of games in the seventh generation. So it is no surprise that the Uncharted series has sold 13 million copies worldwide. An achievement deserving for Naughty Dog and Sony. This figure was revealed by Asad Quizilbash, who happens to be the product marketing manager for Uncharted 3, in an interview with Industry Games.
Now, even though Quizilbash mentioned 13 million copies of all three games combined have been sold, he does not mention which side they he is talking about. He could either be talking about the sales to consumers or the sales to retailers. But, at the end of the day, does it really matter? The Uncharted series is one of the best series of video games in recent years. To reach such a feat is an achievement it its own right. Congratulations to the Uncharted series. Now, can this momentum stream through the first portable iteration, Uncharted: Golden Abyss for the Playstation Vita? We shall see.
It looks like the cricket from Pinocchio is getting an expanded role in Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance. Jiminy Cricket will be a companion of Riku, if the above screenshot is anything to go by. Riku will encounter him in a world entitled Prankster’s Paradise. This happens to be the homeworld of Pinocchio and possibly other characters from the Disney animated movie. It is unknown what purpose Jiminy will serve if he does not retain his role of official journey writer.
Kingdom Hearts: Dream Drop Distance will also use the Deck Command system that was developed and implemented in Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep, for the Playstation Portable. According to Siliconera, a few of the abilities have been revealed. Ice Breaker, Dark Breaker and Blizzaga will be in the final game. The 3DS game will be release in the spring in Japan. No release date has been revealed for other territories.
Well… Saints Row: The Third is certainly a strange and crude game. Of course, if you have the game, then you already know that. For those who haven’t, maybe you should check out this… wacky video. Entitled “Some Asshole Is In My Pool,” it divulges into some dance moves with Michael Jackson in the background, gunplay, skydiving and full frontal pixelated nudity. Yeah…
The video was posted by XBLStallion83. It is somewhat entertaining, but the crude humour in Saints Row: the Third has been debatable to say the least. Saints Row: The Third is available right now for the Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and PC.
Sony Computer Entertainment Europe boss Jim Ryan has revealed that the Playstation 3 might be targeted at a younger, family friendly audience in the future. He also revealed that the £199 is still considered too high in an interview with Official Playstation Magazine. He considers that, with the still considered high price point in place, may Playstation 3 units will not be sold.
Here is what Ryan had to say:
“If you look back at the history on PS1, PS2 the vast majority of the business that we did on both those platforms was done at the sub £129 price points. Now we’ve only got to £199 in the UK a couple of month back so you can see there’s still a lot of PS3’s potentially to be sold.”
The change of demographic will not effect the core market, Ryan has revealed. Sony Computer Entertainment has been applauded for their support of the hardcore market. Here is his opinion on the shift of demographic:
“I think you’ll see us taking the console more towards a slightly younger demographic. More family market. The core gamer will absolutely not be neglected. There’s going to be tons of great stuff for the core gamer but from our own studio, third parties there’s some quite interesting stuff happening in a number of areas which would allow us to open up a market that we accessed pretty successfully on both PS1 and PS2 but haven’t yet got to on PS3.”
