You have to love Halfbrick, not only did they make a very addictive and enjoyable title that makes great use of the Kinect’s motion tracking system, but now they are supporting it with some free DLC. The DLC which has been released today is completely free and is Christmas themed. You can pick it up for free right here.
With this DLC you will be able to check out Santa’s Workshop, slice fruit with a Candy Cane Blade and even turn your silhouette into a snow globe. Sound amazing right? All the new items are available under “Christmas Present” in the Sensei Swag menu in case you can’t find them once they are downloaded.
With many video games, it usually benefits the consumer to wait a little bit before buying the title with most first runs of a game containing bugs that need to be patched or DLC to be released. Then usually the company will release a GotY edition or, in Capcom’s case, a special edition with a few new features for full price.
This time however Capcom has chosen to create something a bit new, and that is create a collection of a multitude of digital releases. The publisher has revealed that they will be releasing the collection as the Capcom Digital Collection and it is expected to be released next Spring. The Xbox 360 exclusive will contain 1942: Joint Strike, Bionic Commando Rearmed 2, Final Fight: Double Impact, Flock!, Rocketmen: Axis of Evil with “It Came from Uranus” DLC, Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, and Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando 3. Quite an amazing package if I say so myself.
Well, it seems like Infinity Ward really doesn’t want anyone cheating or even performing various bad things in Modern Warfare 3. You know… besides shooting each other. Infinity Ward has recently revealed, as discovered by MP1st, that they have been recently levying 5000 day long bans against offensive and offending Modern Warfare 3 players.
These are pretty much permbans, as 5000 days equals out to 13 and a half years. Creative Strategist at Infinity Ward Robert Bowling himself said that if you see the above message “it means you’ve been Permabanned (for something bad).” Seems like the best way to deal with cheaters and offensive players is to simply remove them permanently from the game. I can dig it.
Despite the fact that Alan Wake may have been released a couple of years ago now, it seems that Remedy has finally gotten around to making a PC port of the title. This comes as rather surprising news as it was originally stated quite some time ago that there was no plan for a PC version of the title in the works. Of course, times change and with the release of Alan Wake’s American Nightmare coming sometime next year on the XBLA, this is the best time to push the Alan Wake franchise.
PC gamers can expect to see Alan Wake on the PC sometime early 2012 and the DLC add-ons The Signal and The Writer are going to be bundled with the PC version free of charge. No price has been announced yet, but whatever price it is, it won’t be enough to steer me away from picking up this amazing story once again.
While some rental companies such as GameFly and BlockBuster have been distributing rentals for the quite a few years now, the simple to use Redbox system had just begun offering game rentals this year. To commemorate the first finished year of their kiosk video game renting system, the company has revealed what games have earned thm the most money. Actually, I meant to say which ones have been rented the most from their kiosks this year.
You can see the full list of their top ten rentals below topped off by Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, Just Dance 3 and Dead Island. It is interesting to see that three of the top 10 rentals have only been out for a month, meaning that those Redbox kiosks must have been packed with those titles in anticipation.
Welcome to the Sims 3 Showtime, the sixth expansion pack for EA’s the Sims 3. As you would guess, Showtime is all about getting your Sims up on stage and performing for the masses, whether as a DJ, musician, singer or acrobat. Performance happy Sims will be able to jet off to the new neighborhood of Starlight Shores, which is packed with all sorts of clubs and venues to let Sims test out their new skills.
Will your Sim rise to fame or make an idiot of themselves? Let’s face it, it’ll probably be messy for a while.
EA have just release a couple of new screenshots for the acrobat performer path, showing off some of the different venues and tricks. Want to juggle fire whilst a harlequin bear looks on? Or how about balancing on a ball in an ice cream obsessed world? Now you, via your customised bundles of pixels, can do that. No doubt there will be plenty of chances for some Sim style disasters, and with the new social options in the pack, you can even post the evidence to a ‘social wall’ or send your Sims to another players game for a gig or two.
Starting off a
The Sims 3 Showtime will be released on March 6 2012.
It seems that not everything can stay the same and while a major graphical overhaul is of course necessary for Tony Hawk Pro Skater HD, one thing that should not be changed is the music that would play while you skated through those various levels. Unfortunately it sounds like those same memorable tracks won’t be returning in the HD remake when it is released next year.
In a statement from Activision’s Dan Amrich, One of Swords has learned that the songs will “probably not” stay the same. “Right now, everything is unknown, and there’s a lot more work to do before things are final.” While it could save the company some money going for newer, unpopular music, Activision really should shell out the extra cash to license fans’ favorite songs from the classic titles don’t you think?
TeePee Games, a portal platform for social, mobile, and online Flash games announced today that through a partnership with iQU (a marketing technology platform), they now provide several high-quality MMOs via their service at www.teepeegames.com and their Facebook application.
Among the first few free-to-play MMOs being featured on the service are Age of Conan: Unleashed and Battlestar Galactica Online. Age of Conan allows players to travel through Conan the Barbarian’s world of Hyboria, in all its violent and sexually uncensored glory. The Battlestar Galactica MMO involves a browser based galactic war between the humans and the cylons.
Also included on TeePee are the MMOs: Bounty Bay Online, a 15th century nautical world created for exploration and discovery, and Monkey Quest, which allows players to create their own monkey and fight monsters together.
Tony Pearce, CEO and co-founder of TeePee Games commented:
We’ve always acknowledged that MMO games would be a great fit on TeePee Games, so it was only ever a matter of time before we expanded our service to support these titles.
Twentieth Century Fox has released a trailer for the upcoming film, Chronicle.
In the movie three teenagers discover a mysterious substance that gives them all superpowers. Filming their experiences, they begin to strengthen their powers through simple, harmless pranks. However as their powers grow, their individual moralities are called into question and they must decide where to draw the line. Check out the awesome trailer below.
2K’s The Darkness was a critically acclaimed first-person shooter released in 2007 based on the popular comic book about mafia head Jackie Estacado, who is possessed by a chaotic entity known only as The Darkness. So when 2k announced earlier this year about the upcoming 2012 release The Darkness II, gamers knew they were in for something special. We took an in-depth look at at the co-op multiplayer aspect of the game last week, but for all those out there unsure of what the heck is going on, here’s all you need to know about The Darkness II.
Um, Did I Miss Something?
In the last game we met Jackie Estacado, the Don of a big bad crime family who did all sorts of bad-guy mafia stuff. So being the type of dude who kills people for a living, Jackie was obviously thrilled to learn he had become a host of a dark and evil entity that gave him all sorts of superhero powers. But when the mob turns on him and kills his lady friend Jenny, all hell breaks loose and the game ends with Jackie learning to control The Darkness, thinking after avenging her death he can live happily ever after. But can he? Check this out for the official video recap of The Darkness.
In The Darkness II, you play as the head of a Mafia crime syndicate. Not badass enough? He’s also possessed by an evil dark entity that can rip you apart in less than a second. Chew on that one, John McClane!
So What Now?
Keep in mind, this is a video game, we’ll always find a way to ruin the heroes’ day so we can play yet another action-packed sequel! Enter the upcoming The Darkness II, the next instalment in the series that will show us a much deeper insight into The Darkness universe. It’s been two years since the last game, and Jackie still hasn’t gotten over Jenny’s death. Meanwhile a secret society known as “The Brotherhood” attacks Jackie, wanting to unleash The Darkness to control it for themselves. With all that pressure on his back, The Darkness that has been bottling up inside breaks free, wanting nothing but destruction and chaos. The Darkness II is all about stopping “The Brotherhood” from killing Jackie and taking The Darkness for themselves the only way a first-person shooting game knows how-by going all out with guns blazing baby! Check this out for the official video recap of The Brotherhood.
Oh yeah, and The Darkness is also voiced by Mike Patton, former vocalist of the popular alternative metal band Faith No More. I told you The Darkness was badass!
Come At Me Bro!
So now we’ve got a reason to fight, so now let’s go get em’! Unlike many FPS games that completely ignore the campaign and focus mostly only on the multiplayer (I’m looking at you Battlefield 3 and Mordern Warfare 3!) The Darkness II has a strong focus on the single player campaign, bringing a dark, story-driven experience to the player. Featuring pick-up-and-play mechanics and a unique system of Quad-Weilding gameplay where players can slash, grab and throw enemies and objects whilst also firing their guns at a target. This means you can wreck havoc with ease by using one arm to throw and grab objects like parking meters and cash registers, while the other arm is all about slashing and severing enemies in half. Nice and gory, just the way we like it! Other options such as online co-op are also included, and players are also given a variety of other options such as the Hit List, which allows the player to repeat their favorite campaign moments and access brutal new scenarios.
Jackie gets all sorts of crazy dark powers, including powers that let him shoot people through walls, some can distract enemies and make them vulnerable for attack, and some can help out his ammunition and gunplay. The game also features player progression, meaning there are various upgrade trees to help advance Jackie to the player’s preferred style of play. Like shooting people? Upgrade your Hitman tree. Wanna rip people in half with The Darkness? Upgrade your Execution tree. Your gonna have to kill a lot people, so you may as well do it the way YOU want to! The only problem is, The Darkness has a weakness-light. While in the first game your powers became limited in light, in the Darkness II your vision will also become blurry and will feel uncomfortable for the player as well as Jackie with audio disorientation and sometimes even complete blindness. So stay away from the light!
These guys aren’t just gonna beat you up for your lunch money. They’re a secret society who want The Darkness, and these guys play for keeps!
Who The Hell Are You Guys?
As we previously discussed in our in-depth preview of the co-op multiplayer, the game features a co-op mode called “Vendettas” that introduces four new characters who are each effected by The Darkness in different ways; Inugami who uses a mythical Japanese sword, Shoshanna who wields the Arm of Night, Jimmy Wilson uses a Dark Axe and can summon darklings he calls “Little Jimmies”, and J.P DuMond who has the Midnight Stick and can toss his Box of Tricks which can pull enemies into an anatomy-crushing vortex. Each character also has their own back story which enhances the narrative-driven missions and if you’d rather play alone or offline you can choose each Vendettas character for individual solo missions giving you a nice variety of levels to choose from. Check this out for the official video recap of the Vendetta Co-Op Mode.
The Darkness II is one heck of a stylish game, mixing influences of graphic novels, film noir, and photo-realism together to create a ‘graphic noir’ look to it. Layered with themes of dark verses light, The Darkness II is filled with gorgeous stylistic violence that is visualized through a hand-painted graphic noir art technique, keeping it true to the game’s comic book origins. Taking full advantage of the game’s new Evolution Engine, The Darkness II is filled with high-quality ambient light that is looking very impressive, and is sure to provide a lot of eye candy. Better hope your eyes have a sweet tooth!
Jackie wins! FATALITY! Oops, wrong game! But hey you get the idea-it’s nice and violent!
Shoosh! You Talk Too Much. When Can I Get It?
Alright! Geez, calm down! It’s being developed by Digital Extremes and published by 2K Games. The Darkness II is set for a February 10, 2012 release on Microsoft Windows, Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Also keep an eye out for the upcoming film adaption of the comic book from Mandeville Films. Don’t forget to check out the official release date trailer as well!
But remember: You don’t own The Darkness. The Darkness…owns you!
