Because why the world wouldn’t they create a Battleship video game? Anyways… Activision and Double Helix have revealed that they are currently working on creating a lovely video game adaptation of the Battleship movie which is set to be released in a few months… The movie itself is an adaptation of the board game Battleship so…
The game will combine aspects of the classic board game alongside FPS gameplay and is being developed for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. There will also be “uniquely designed versions” released for the Wii, DS and 3DS. So what is next… Chutes and Ladders the video game? Or how about Candy Land? Perhaps a treasure hunting game where if you Connect 4 you will save the world…
Competition in a marketplace usually ends up benefiting the consumer and it seems that Nintendo is ready to throw a curveball at Sony’s PlayStation Vita launch. If a consumer were to go to GameStop right now and pick up the Nintendo 3DS it would only cost them $149.99 rather than the normal price of $169.99.
This $20 price drop is currently only lasting for a week and GameStop is the only retailer selling the handheld at this discount. But it is interesting to see such a deal occurring right before the launch of another dedicated gaming handheld. Will things get a bit more viscous between the two companies in the coming months? We shall see.
It will come as no surprise that Turtle Beach have been confirmed as the highest selling gaming headset manufacturer in Australia for the year of 2011. Figures from NPD Group Australia show that the amount of Turtle Beach headsets sold equates to over $12 million, with the brand outselling even first party manufacturers.
If you take all gaming peripherals into account rather than just headsets, then only Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo outstrip Turtle Beach – it’s become the leading third party manufacturer based on value sales. In fact sales of the headsets have seen the ‘Gaming Audio’ genre grow substantially in 2011, no doubt thanks to the release of several critically acclaimed sets and a partnership with Activision for the release of Modern Warfare 3.
2012 looks to be no less successful, with the brand promising six new headsets this year for both console/PC and mobile gamers.
If MMO’s aren’t your thing and you need a bit of a Star Wars fix, here’s the latest from LucasArts and Microsoft. To mark the release of Kinect Star Wars on April 5 a limited edition ‘Kinect Star Wars’ console bundle is being released, which will retail at $549. As you can see the bundle is themed after everyone’s favourite droid duo, with an R2 D2 styled console and C3PO controller. Of course a copy of the game is included, and there’s even some extra bonus content too – an exclusive C-3PO unlockable for Dance Mode.
Dance mode (Galactic Dance Off mode to give it’s proper name) is one of three new modes also announced for Kinect Star Wars. Somewhat horrifyingly it allows players who want to take a break from their Jedi training to dance along to Star Wars themed pop songs – want to bust a move in a dance off against Darth Vader? Well Star Wars fans, now you can.
Also joining the already announced Rancor Rampage and Podracing modes are Duels of Fate and Jedi Destiny: Dark Side Rising. Duels of fate provides a series of one to one battles to sharpen your lightsaber skills, and Jedi Destiny comes packed with ride-able landspeeders and speeder bikes, space battles and brand new opponents such as Count Dooku and Darth Vader.
If you can’t see yourself waiting until April, then Star Wars Episode I : The Phantom Menace 3D is released in cinemas today.
How would a console game’s marketplace look if it tried to make use of Valve’s policy of selling character customization items? Well it would probably look a lot like Gotham City Impostors. While the game is set to be released tomorrow on the XBLA, the downloadable content is available today. There are over a hundred different items to be purchased and each one is simply a character customization piece.
The prices for these packs range from 80 to 320 MSP. However don’t get too worked up about this situation as Monolith has explained that all of the costume pieces for purchase are available in the game itself and can be unlocked for free. Meaning that if you are desperate for a certain in-game item, maybe you should play the game a bit more to unlock it.
While the PlayStation Vita won’t be out yet in North America for a couple of weeks, or next week for those who purchase the pre-launch bundle, it seems Sony has chosen to place certain games on the PlayStation Store a bit early. You will need to search for them however, and when you find them there will be five games available for download.
NeoGAF has found that these games are Uncharted: Golden Abyss for $49.99, Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational for $35.99, Wipeout 2048 for $35.99, ModNation Racers Road Trip for $26.99, and the PSN-only Super Stardust Delta for $9.99. This is a nice little preview on how some games, minus Uncharted, are cheaper on the PSN and also a way for those who bought a Japanese PS Vita to get some easy to download games.
Today a few of us here at Capsule Computers were lucky enough to be invited along to try out EA’s latest sport’s title. I am of course, referring to Grand Slam Tennis 2, the follow up to the highly rated Grand Slam Tennis. This game marks the first time that all four major tennis championships will feature in a next gen game, and has exclusive rights to the Wimbledon championship.
The venue was kitted out like a miniature tennis court, with plenty of Wimbledon themed refreshments being served – thanks for the strawberries and champagne guys! Some of the staff were lucky enough to be wearing their best tennis whites, including one gentleman sporting a dress. He seemed quite comfortable with his giant tennis racket…
Also on offer (as if cross dressing wasn’t enough) was a Grand Slam tournament and an appearance by Australian tennis legend Pat Cash.
There were several stations dotted around showing off the impressive looking game in glorious HD. The PlayStation 3 version of the title has Move support, so there were plenty of wands getting waggled in attempts to hit that perfect serve.As well as the standard TV stations, one setup was hooked up to a huge screen on one wall, clearing the way for some large scale versus matches.
Things quickly got competitive when a tournament began, with the winner lined up to take on tennis champ Pat Cash (in the flesh that is) and take home some great prizes. As the strawberries and champagne began to dwindle things drew to a head, and finally the man himself made an appearance.
In case you’re not familiar with your tennis legends, Cash is an Australian player who was at the top of his game in the eighties. Out of the numerous titles he won he is perhaps most famous for his win at Wimbledon in 1987, where he kicked off the tradition of climbing up into the player’s box to celebrate with family and friends. He’s known for always wearing a checkered headband and earring when he plays, and of course for having something of a brash on court personality.
Grand Slam Tennis 2 was fortunately nowhere near as stressful as a major tournament game, so despite some protests that the camera flashes were putting him off (of course), Cash behaved himself. Snatching victory from Cash in the final game, the lucky winner went home with some signed goodies courtesy of EA and Wilson.
Grand Slam Tennis 2 hits stores tomorrow, and you can check out more pictures from the event below.
Cloudberry Kingdom is the debut title from the up and coming independent game developers – Pwnee Studios. The title is an interesting platformer that creates procedurally generated levels for players to enjoy and solve.
The game is also scaled to a players skill level, so that they will always find it challenging, but not too challenging. This seems to be a new technology as we have yet to see a title that can do both of these things together. The developer says that there are something like ’1096 ‘ potential levels in the game.
The most interesting aspect of this game seems to be the way that it was developed. The developers claim to have taught an AI how to play platformer games (I’d love to see it beat Megaman 2 at some point), here’s the quote below –
Instead we spent the last two years teaching an Artificial Intelligence how to design and play platformer levels. Afterward we caged it in a box of software and called it a game.
The developers seem like really witty guys and we would love to see their stuff on as many platforms as possible. So be sure to check out their site for more info and the video embedded below on their games gameplay.
Upcoming survival game, I Am Alive, has had a new trailer released for it from publisher Ubisoft. The trailer showcases many of the environments that players must traverse in order to stay alive and advance through the game.
The unique looking and sounding title is set to be released on the 7th of March and is set in the post apocalyptic city of Haventon, USA. Of course, this is a fictional city, but it is a very interesting set-piece for the kind of game that this is.
Fans of survival movies and games are sure to love this game when it is released for the Xbox Live Arcade. So be sure to check out the official site for more info.
Klei Entertainment and EA released the newest game in the Shank series, Shank 2 earlier today. Shank 2 is described as a cinematic two-dimensional brawler and is now released for the PC, Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network.
For a game in this region, it appears to be reasonably priced at AU$15.95 (or NZ$15.90) and 800MS points for the Xbox Live. However, Xbox Live users will have to wait until tomorrow to purchase the game (only a few hours to go at the time of writing).
So be sure to pick up this title at the nearest opportunity and make sure to check out the official site to determine if this is the right game for you.
