While many other third-party publishers are still wary over which direction Nintendo’s 3DS is heading, Ubisoft are very happy with the current price drop, reporting an eight fold sales increase. Ubisofts European marketing and sales director Geoffrey Sardin reported to Gamesindustry that the company was “very pleased with the development.” The same could be said for managing director of Ubisofts German division, Ralf Wirsing who attributes the increase directly to the price drop.
Despite Ubisofts enthusiasm, many other third party publishers are not, with an anonymous source saying the 3DS success rests on the shoulders of Nintendo’s first party titles such as Mario 7 and Super Mario 3D Land. Retailers have also responded to the lack of interest in the 3DS, being very cautious with initial and repeat order quantities. The anonymous source boldly goes on to say that if Nintendo fail to sell this holiday season the 3DS is finished as a hand held device.
In last weeks UK sales charts the 3DS platform had one game in the top forty despite the device being sold at up to half price in many retailers following its international price reduction.
Earlier this weekend Sega revealed when gamers can expect to see the futuristic human vs robot squad based shooter. The company revealed on the game’s official website that the title will be released on February 14th of next year in North America and February 17th of next year in Europe. The game will be available for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.
Binary Domain places the gamer in charge of a team of military specialists and will make them face off against an army of advanced robots that will continue to fight even after having their limbs blown off by gunfire, and also have some of the best looking enemy damage mechanics I’ve seen in a long time for a third person shooter.
Perhaps in commemoration of Gears of War 3 going gold, or perhaps because the game will be released in a month, Epic Games and Microsoft have revealed what the opening cinematic will be for Gears of War 3. You could either choose to wait until the game comes out on September 20th, or you can catch the video below now and catch a little bit of insight as to what has happened in the Gears universe since the second game.
The video is voiced over by Anya Stroud and she tells the account of everything that has happened in Gears of War since the first title, all the way up until she explains that the rest of humanity is now on the run and either choosing to escape back to the mainland or stay on the boats as they battle against the Lambent.
While the deadline to have purchased and connected your Nintendo 3DS to the eShop has long since passed, potential 3DS Ambassadors never actually received any notification that they managed to be registered as such. These early adopters were sitting relatively blind, hoping that their 3DS was registered without a hitch and that they would be eligible for 20 free games.
Well you won’t have to be blind any longer because Nintendo has recently launched a tool that they are calling the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Eligibility checker. Users will need to type in the serial code on the back of their Nintendo 3DS into the required field on the website and then push enter. The checker will then verify whether or not you are a currently registered Ambassador. You can find Nintendo’s 3DS Ambassador Eligibility checker here.
After experiencing a dry month for the eShop, it appears a brighter future is on the horizon. Nintendo have now announced two original Game Boy games that will be headed to the 3DS Virtual Console in Q4 of 2011, and they are none other than Metroid II: Return of Samus and Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins.
Since the launch of the eShop, I have now had 2 out of the four titles I craved either announced or released on the Virtual Console (those being Kirby’s DreamLand and now Metroid II), and now I am just patiently waiting for the arrival of Shantae and Warioland to be fulfilled. Even though it wasn’t on my list, Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins still was a fantastic title for the Game Boy, and it looks like the eShop is finally starting to pick up a bit. Once Nintendo release an official date for both, we will sure to bring you an update so stay tuned!
Mark it, Dude. Another one bites the dust as part of my achievement challenge in which I am doing one game’s achievements to 100% each month. Nine months gone and I’m sorry to say it’s a bit of a soft one this month: Googly Eyes.
For those of you who don’t know what Googly Eyes is, it’s an innovative piece of (free) software for Kinect as part of the Kinect Fun Labs hub for these snippets of light-hearted entertainment. It allows you to transform your belongings into puppets by rendering them onscreen, adding a pair of googly eyes and giving your lifeless objects some more personality. You can then jump around and move to make them move. Of course, the novelty wears off quickly, but at first it’s a great laugh. The downloadable game has 8 achievements for a total of 50 gamerpoints, and although it is a fairly easy one for me this month, acting as a stop-gap and a rest while I am preoccupied by other things, it’s surprising how quickly you run out of items to turn into goofy bean-bags onscreen for the 25 puppets achievement!
Hopefully next month for September I should be back with something a little more substantial. Here’s how my progress so far sits with this months triumph added to the list:
December 2010 Harm’s Way 200/200
January 2011 Faery: Legends of Avalon 200/200
February 2011 Spare Parts 200/200
March 2011 Fist of the North Star: Ken’s Rage 1000/1000
April 2011 Doritos Crash Course 200/200
May 2011 Ghostbusters: Sanctum of Slime 200/200
June 2011 TRON: Evolution 1000/1000
July 2011 Lazy Raiders 200/200
August 2011 Googly Eyes 50/50
As always, let me know how your achievements are going in the comments if you have any recommendations, tips or support. Currently, I am eyeing the full 200/200 on Hexic HD, a beloved puzzler of mine. However, although I am only one achievement away, it’s a real toughie: surrounding a single piece with a flower of Black Pearls. This won’t make any sense for those who haven’t touched the game which comes free on all Xbox 360 hard drives, but those who have played it a bit will understand just how difficult this is.
While Gamescom is finally winding down, Konami certainly made an impression with all of their upcoming titles. One of the many upcoming projects that is in the pipeline is Frogger 3D, which is set to bring back the famous green mascot into the third dimension.
A new trailer was revealed for the game at the event, showing off what our froggy friend is ready to bring with him in this newadventure. Now at first glance, this title looks to be just Frogger with a new coat of paint. Luckily though, we also see a few new features mixed in such as new allies that can assist the player from being roadkill, as well extra stages that allow for a bit more exploration. I personally am digging this new concept for the classic, as if any franchise could use a reboot, it is the iconic Frogger series. Check out the new trailer below and let us know how you feel about this reboot.
Bastion Developer:Supergiant Games Publisher:Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment Platform:Steam PC (also on Xbox Live Arcade) Genre: Action/Adventure/RPG Price:$15 (US) Released:16th August
Sometimes there’s man – and I’m talking about the Kid here. Sometimes, there’s man, well, he’s the man for his time and place. He fits right in there. Waking on one of the few piece of world left after the ‘Calamity’, an event which tears the world apart, the Kid heads for the Bastion. Only, this safe haven isn’t as developed or populated as he expected, given all the people displaced by the destruction were supposed to have moved there. Empty lands mean you act as a scavenger, taking drinks from distilleries to keep yourself going and finding weapons on the floor, but after meeting a stranger by the name of Rucks, you agree to help him build up the Bastion by retrieving cores and shards from distant lands to help develop the infrastructure in the order you want to build it.
Less than a month after its release on Xbox Live Arcade as part of the ‘Summer of Arcade’ promotion, Supergiant Games’ Bastion makes its way onto Steam with other PC portals to follow, opening the game up to the PC audience, to those players who don’t necessarily have access to a Xbox 360. How does this PC version of the indie action RPG differ from the console version? Almost not at all. Does this matter? Not by any means.
There are some minor differences; a PC-friendly control scheme was a must, and Supergiant Games seem to have pulled it off, with clicks of the mouse initiating either your long or short range attacks, movement on the isometric plane operated by a WASD layout, and further controls located within reach of these keys. For example, mid-battle you will often need to replenish your health on the fly, making the designated ‘F’ key well thought-out, much like the use of the ‘shift’ key for reachable auto-aim targeting controls. As well as an adjusted control scheme, the graphical superiority of a top of the range PC compared to a Xbox 360 means the already stunning visuals have the potential to come out even crisper, plus the added bonus of a new hidden skill and new achievement tying in with the Steam service help to distinguish it a little more.
Bastion behaves like an interactive storybook, not only through the picturesque range of fairytale environments, but through the unorthodox delivery of the narrative. The stranger has a mysterious air of wisdom about him, like a wise old cowboy sitting with his hat over his eyes. Despite seeing his human form of an old bearded man during face-to-face encounters, his omniscience remains distant and all-knowing in the way his words of guidance stay with you throughout your adventure. Barely half a minute goes by without him chiming in with some comment, usually something related the story triggered by where you’re walking, or an input based on the weapon you’re using. He adds an odd sense of companionship to your lonely travels, to a point where there’s a small adjustment period when playing a different game for the first time where you suddenly seem uninvolved in the world without someone addressing you directly during every free moment.
The sound on the whole is a commendable effort, because as well as the voice acting work on the monologue of the stranger (the game’s protagonist, the Kid, is silent), the music does well at creating an atmosphere. The emotive songs help you to feel how you are supposed to feeling at that time, with the soundtrack being an example to others of the benefits having a great soundtrack in a game.
The game’s levels also contribute to the mood, in that each has a different theme, each more impressively presented than the last. Levels form on the fly, meaning as you are running the ravaged world forms beneath your feet, along different kinds of beasts showing up and trying to hinder your progress. This keeps the levels unpredictable, as you can never clearly see the terrain in front of you. The platform only shapes itself within several steps of the Kid, and to top things off, is a hovering entity in the middle of nothingness. You can even run off the edge and plummet into the nothingness, reappearing on solid ground seconds later, with the vast emptiness giving both a sense of scale and keeping your journey structured with clear aims and directions to go. Bastion is both long enough to please, but short enough to avoid dragging on.
Bastion rests as one of this year’s finest downloadable releases for Xbox Live Arcade, and gladly, the same is true for the PC. The Steam version has minor differences of little importance, but most importantly retains the magic witnessed on Xbox 360, providing a new group of people with the indie gem. The music and visuals are beautiful, and the narrative tool of the stranger is genius.
As the Playstation Vita nears its launch, it is inevitable that some of the finer details will be revealed. During Gamescom, Sony debunked the rumours of a cut in RAM, confirming that the 512MB of RAM is the correct amount, alongside the 128MB of dedicated VRAM. Now, there are images of the user interface circling the internet.
Each screenshot shows different aspects of the Playstation Vita, minus any games. It focuses on LiveArea, the Playstation Store, cross-game chat and trophy comparing. The user interface (UI) does look very pretty and well designed. With a powerhouse that is its hardware, expect a smooth running user interface. No lag, no nothing.
It looks like those who just own a Playstation 3 will not be getting cross game chat at all. This was confirmed in an interview with Sony Worldwide Studios President Shuhei Yoshida over at Eurogamer. What’s the reason? According to Yoshida, when the system is running the game, the 256MB of RAM available is actually being used.
“Once a game gets RAM we never give it back,” Yoshida told Eurogamer. “It’s not possible to retrofit something like that after the fact.”
Unlike the Xbox 360, which bundles its entire amount RAM into one, the Playstation 3 has split RAM; the system RAM is at 256MB while visual RAM is also 256MB. If Playstation players want cross-game chat, then they may want to consider the Playstation Vita, which will support the feature due to the extra amount of RAM the portable machine has.
