Project Ten-Dollar, Online Pass, inconvenient junk, whatever you want to call it there has been a decent amount of backlash to developers that have included these codes in their games that limit gamers buying used games or renting titles from accessing the full title. Now hear is the icing on the cake for some gamers, those who purchase DiRT 3 right now on the PlayStation 3 cannot play their game online even if they bought it new.
The reason for this is because Sony’s PlayStation Store is still down and there is no way to redeem these online pass codes. Another title had this same issue, Mortal Kombat but thankfully Warner Bros. waived anyone from having to redeem their pass for the next few weeks. CodeMasters on the other hand isn’t doing that.
Speaking with Eurogamer, a Codemasters representative said: “We’ve looked into doing something similar for Dirt 3 but it’s not technically possible. It’s hard-coded into the game.” Meaning that it would require the developers to patch the game to remove the VIP pass requirement which they believe would take longer than waiting for the PlayStation Store to come online. So… you punish your paying customers in an effort to reduce used game sales, only now DiRT 3 owners on the PS3 may just trade your title in and buy something else, creating a larger used market for your title. Sounds like a win right there…
DeathSpank and his thong will be showing up once again this summer season in the third DeathSpank game set for release on the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network, the PC and Macs. HotHead has so far only released a teaser trailer revealing the actual name of the title, which is going to be called DeathSpank: The Baconing. The title will be the last chapter of DeathSpank’s quest, bringing a conclusion to the trilogy.
No assets have been released at this time, which is curious to say the least. The development time is a good thing though in my opinion. The first two DeathSpank titles were released within nearly a month of each other, though both games were very well done the longer development time can mean good thing for fans of the series. Catch the teaser below. Bacon!
Oddworld Inhabitants has announced that they will be bringing Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath to the PlayStation 3 this summer season. As long as the PlayStation Store is up by then of course. The title will feature HD graphics and a whole bunch of unlisted new features. No price was given with the press release so we can only guess as to how much the game will end up costing in the end.
Munch’s Oddysee is also on its way to the PSN this fall, though this is a bit of a curious move as far as licensing goes. Munch’s Oddysee was an Xbox exclusive launch title, but there has since been no word about any of Oddworld Inhabitants’ games making their way to the Xbox 360. This could be because it was previously it was mentioned by Oddworld themselves that Oddworld: Stranger’s Wrath can’t be released on the XBLA due to restrictions in the size of downloadable games by Microsoft themselves.
Valve has always been good to their customers (nevermind Half Life 3) and they are rewarding their fans by giving them something from Portal 2 for free. No unfortunately it won’t be the game itself and it also won’t be anything tangible but you will be able to remember all of those great times while you were testing in those chambers.
That is because it is the entire soundtrack for Portal 2 for free. There are 22 songs from the game on this Volume 1 of Songs to Test By as well as six different ringtones that you can use if you have an Android or iPhone phone. You can pick up the soundtrack and the ringtones here. Even if you aren’t a fan of Portal 2, at least you can pick up some extra music for the price of bandwidth.
Announced very recently by EBGames is the latest package exclusive to their stores, the Ocarina Edition of the upcoming 3DS remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time.
The package for the legendary game includes –
EXCLUSIVE Tri Force Branded Ocarina
2 x Zelda Song sheets for playing on the Ocarina including Zelda’s Lullaby
Copy of Zelda Ocarina of Time 3DS
This is definitely a must have item for any hardcore The Legend of Zelda fan. My Pre-Order is going in ASAP. I suggest you do the same.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time follows the adventures of Link as quests to save the land of Hyrule from the evil Ganondorf and his evil minions. Along the way he must gather various artifacts to awaken the Master Sword from within the Temple of Time in order to do battle against his nemesis.
It has finally come upon us, the day that a lot D&D gamers have been waiting for, the release of the latest video game set in the Forgotten Realms module – Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale!
In Daggerdale, players are summoned by a mysterious Mage figure to defend their homeland against the incoming evil Zhentarim Cleric, Rezlus, who seeks to unleash the Black Lord Bane upon the land of Daggerdale. Travel across mines and towers to a final confrontation against the evil Rezlus.
Players will have choose an avatar that is one of four archetypes – Human Fighter, Elven Rogue, Dwarf Cleric and a Halfling Wizard. The game also features standard Dungeons & Dragons leveling, so things like feats,spells and attribute points can also be picked up by the player.
Daggerdale is currently released on the XBOX360 Arcade for 1200MSP, with the game releasing later this year on the PC.
Be sure to check out the launch trailer embedded below,
as well as the official website.
Please note that this article may not apply to all regions.
Jagex, publishers of the exceedingly popular MMORPG Runescape, have very recently launched their latest title – Herotopia. The game has been released in a partnership with Herotainment, who have developed the game, with the title allowing children to play as a superhero in a safe, fun and vibrant environment.
On the game, the Jagex CEO had this to say –
Mark Gerhard, CEO at Jagex, commented: “Herotopia offers a fantastically rich and fun experience which we know will appeal to the superhero in everyone. Herotopia is our first under 12 title and, with today’s substantial update making Herotopia even more compelling, we are certain that the game has what it takes to be a huge hit with kids all over the world.”
The game features real world locations, such as New York, Paris, Beijing and more that children/players can travel to and from, quests and other challenges at famous landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower; and even secret bases for players to customise and enjoy with their buddies in-game.
Herotainment joint CEOs on the games development –
Caryn and Wade Teman, joint CEO’s of Herotainment said: “When creating Herotopia, we as parents ourselves wanted to empower kids to be their own heroes and to get something more out of playing an online game than just a high score. The content update launched today is our largest to date and we are very excited to be teaming up with Jagex to make Herotopia the leading virtual world for children everywhere.”
Herotopia is a free-to-play MMORPG that can be run on almost any internet compatible system. There is also an optional All-Access Superhero Membership fee of $5.95 (which a portion of will be donated to childrens charities as voted on by the community), which allows players to buy additional customisation features for their hideout, as well as obtain an Orangutan companion and even access additional powers and vehicles. Members can also unlock and access a hidden and imaginary location, Herotopia Island.
The following is a list of features available in the game –
KEY FEATURES:
Fully customizable Herotopia alter-ego, from super hero cape and costume, choice of Super power, items to decorate your Secret Hideout and more.
25 fun and informative mini-games, including the just released Power Puzzles, featuring trivia and brain teaser quizzes for a daily reward.
Story driven Mission system that empowers players to keep Herotopia free of bullies and their bad behavior.
19 international landmarks and locations for players to visit and learn about, from the Eiffel Tower to the North Pole!
A safe online venue for kids to socialize in, as players communicate through pre-determined phrases, words and charming animated “Heromotes”. Kids truly become Super Heroes, as a percentage of
Herotopia memberships will be donated to the Global Heroship Fund to help kids do their own good deeds in the real world.
Pucca Power Up Publisher: Rising Star Games Developer: Barunson Creative Platform: Nintendo DS Genre: Platform/Adventure Released: 13th May
Despite starting out as a Japanese children’s television character, Pucca’s simple speech bank of usually no more than a couple of chirpy exclamations and cheerful yelps has broken down language barriers to make Pucca something of a brand. But given that the game’s target audience is small children (whom, for some reason, are often believed by developers to not be worth the effort of making a good game) this could have easily been overlooked as another piece of flimsy kids merchandise. This must be why it is such a pleasant surprise to play it and realise it’s actually quite a fun 2D platform game.
To start out with, you play as Pucca, a 10 year old with a crush on the slightly older ninja-in-training Garu, aged 12. Pucca persists in chasing Garu around in an elaborate game of kiss-chase spanning many different levels and themed worlds. Garu, of course, doesn’t feel the same way about Pucca, which is why he tries to run away and hide from her, instead preferring to focus on his goal to rebuild his family in accordance with his father’s will and become a great ninja. However, regular role reversals mean you get to play as Garu and for these sections lead the chase, although you constantly switch back and forth throughout the game’s six worlds.
That’s not to imply there are the time pressures of a chase situation; in fact, the game is suited for kids thanks to its moderate level of difficulty initially, with the guiding hand of the eternal deity Master Su teaching you the controls and mechanisms in place for the first few tutorial stages. Pucca Power Up then gently develops in its challenge as you progress with the story, because although you start out maiming kitty-cats with your steel handbag and arrows in your quest for a your crush, taking control of Garu means you must fend off impromptu attacks from rival ninjas, and as the story unfolds Garu’s kidnapping calls for Pucca to rescue him. A number of sizeable boss battles during the game help to add some variation to level structure too, as do the mini-games which occur from time to time.
The layout of Pucca Power Up is much like that of New Super Mario Bros DS – even levels are presented in the same format of 1-1, 1-2, and so on. Star Coins have been replaced by gingerbread men, of which there are 3 each level and collected gingerbread men can be spent in the shop on upgrades for your maximum health and ammo limit for projectile attacks, or buying the in-game cut scenes and mini-games you’ve encountered so you can watch/play them freely from the main menu. There’s only a handful of mini-games to play, but they are all fun, stylus-based score challenges that are easy to get sucked into if you try to top your high score.
Certain aspects of the graphics look like they were made with the 3DS in mind – despite the game being launched on DS – such as the cut scenes made up of 3D characters, and some visual effects like when a ninja-star-spitting box flies towards the screen after you have clobbered it. It may be a 2D side-scrolling adventure, but there’s an element of depth to the levels visually, as well. On the whole, the visual presentation of the game is cute and colourful, with some grainy textures as a result of the DS’s shortcomings, but it can’t detract from the playful world full of quirky characters.
The game comes across as very Japanese, but I’m thankful Rising Star Games made the effort to bring it to Western regions, because while it may not be of the same calibre of the New Super Mario Bros game it models itself so closely on, it’s only a notch below and there’s some solid, simple platforming fun to be had. It doesn’t pretend to be something it’s not; it’s so beautifully basic that it works well and is easy to pick up for youngsters, but with enough challenge in the later levels to provide something for more experienced players. Mini-games, boss-battles and quirky characters provide a break from adventuring when needed. The only major drawback is that it would have better being longer, because as it stands, even with the occasional bonus level purchased from the shop, the story mode is over fairly quickly with around 3, 4 or 5 levels each world, contained inside 6 worlds in total. Longevity-aside though, it’s wacky but it’s well worth it due to straight forward, satisfying platforming.
Pros
Textbook platforming
Cute characters and cut scenes
Mini-games and boss battles provide change of pace
Accessible for kids but challenging enough to be enjoyable for all
Massively Multiplayer Online Role Playing Game, Rift, is going to feature free character transfers for all players from server to server. The feature is set to be implemented in the upcoming 1.3 patch, and will also allow players to transfer all their equipment and levels. Guild leaders will also be able to move their guild.
The feature looks like it’s going to be a permanent feature, judging by what the executive producer had to say about the subject –
“MMOs are all about playing with your friends no matter which server they’re on, and that’s why we’re offering this as a free service to our subscribers,” said Scott Hartsman, Executive Producer. “RIFT is both a game and a service, and adding free server transfers is just one more way we can make this the best possible MMO experience available.”
Subscribers will be able to initiate the move once the patch is live and will be able to move characters freely without much of a restriction.
For those of us who cant escape the wife, jobs or school and make it to the London MCM expo to get a hands on experience with Tecmo KOEI’s third addition to the Dynasty Warriors Gundam series, heres a teaser trailer and new box art for PS3 to wet your appetite for its impending release. The game was released late last year but only in the Japanese market, and has finally been localised for the rest of the gaming market, so now all you US and European fans of the series can finally enjoy the fast paced action synonymous with the franchise.
