Konami has unveiled its ambitious plans for Pro Evoluton Soccer 2012, a title which is due to be released in Autumn 2011 on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, and PS2.
PES has always been known as the real football simulator, and PES2012 aims to provide a truly realistic, immersive, and playable take on football. The game’s AI engine has undergone a major overhaul, and will take an open approach: gamers will be able to dictate the pace of movement and make dummy runs, and zoning marking and positional defending have been enhanced to force players to work harder to split opposition defence. PES2012 draws on a team-based approach to the game, where players will need to use attacking play, freedom of movement, creation of space, and working together as a unit as key elements for a win.
And it’s Messi for Argentina…Oh wait, that’s not the real guy.
While PES2012 sounds absolutely exciting, it’s interesting Konami hasn’t added the Nintendo 3DS to their lineup announcement – especially considering Pro Evo 2011 was one of the launch titles for the 3DS. EA have already announced a 3D Fifa 12, and it’s going to be another big battle to see which football game can win over Nintendo 3DS fans.
We’ll have to wait until Autumn 2011 for the final verdict, but stay tuned for more updates on both PES2012 and Fifa 12!
Spitfish AG, creators of the controller/mouse hybrid the FRAGFX SHARK 360, have announced that their controller will be available at the end of August this year. It’s basically the first peripheral of its kind for Xbox 360, but will also work with PC and Mac to provide a control scheme built for First Person Shooters.
Spitfish worked closely with designers and gamers for the FRAGFX SHARK 360 during the device’s development. As well as it’s clearly alternate organisation of buttons, it will also feature programmable buttons for ease of access to gamers to make the controller suit their needs.
Key Features:
· 2 AA batteries (not included)
· NEW 50h + play time
· NEW 500h + power save standby
· Play with the mouse on the XBOX 360 as you would do on a PC
· Full XBOX 360 PC and MAC support, either as a gamepad or mouse/keyboard control
· Fast access to special features (eg macro, rapid-fire, button swap, stick swap, etc.)
· Brand new wireless technology to 2.4 GHz
· Plug and Play
· On the fly dead zone adjustment wheel
· SixAxis support
PlayStation Network will be going offline later today for scheduled maintenance. Account management series and log-in access to the PSN website will be unavailable from 4pm until 00.01am GMT tomorrow.
It has been suggested that players who wish to play online during this period are recommended to sign into PSN before the maintenance begins. In addition, all Trophies unlocked during this period will be reinstated on user profiles once the service is back online.
So what do we all think? Could the PSN Store be making a comeback? Is anyone bothered? With the string of downtime and stolen personal details of late, I imagine most people don’t really have a great deal of interest in less than a day’s downtime.
Japanese filmmaker Takashi Miike suggested he is at working on a film adaptation of Capcom’s Ace Attorney series on Nintendo DS
Speaking to the Huffington Post at the Cannes Film Festival, where he is currently promoting Hara-Kiri: Death Of A Samurai, the director revealed that his next project would be something completely different
“It is a very light comedy that I am filming now,” he said, adding that it was “a court drama, based on a videogame, the Nintendo game DS.”
It’s a real change from his gory works in the past like Ichi The Killer, although Miike’s CV does contain a wide range of genres. Plus, he has previously worked with videogames, having adapted the Yakuza series for 2007’s Ryu Ga Gotuku Gekijoban.
Pokémon fans will finally get the chance to buy the Pokémon: Zoroark: Master Of Illusions DVD on 29 August in the United Kingdom.
The limited edition version will also come with a bonus Pokémon Trading Card Game card featuring the Mythical Pokémon Celebi, given that the animated filmcentres around this legendary pokémon.
It’s the 13th feature-length movie for the series, and refers to the Pokémon Black/Pokémon White generation of Pokémon.
Will anyone be picking this up and following Ash and pals latest adventure in the world of Pokémon. The limited edition bonus Celebi trading card is a nice extra for people who play the card game too.
Pre-orders for Deus Ex: Human Revolution Collector Edition is now available in Australia and New Zealand. The Collector’s Edition of the game is extremely limited with each unit individually numbered. The pack includes a highly collectible Adam Jensen action figure designed by Play Arts Kai, 40 page art book, DVD which includes a 44 minute ‘making of’ video and motion comic by DC comics as well as extensive in-game content including an extra mission, exclusive weapons and 10,000 extra credits.
This extremely limited Deus Ex: Human Revolution Collector Edition is available for pre-order now at EB Games, JB-HiFi, GAME and Mighty Ape for Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC.
Storm in a Teacup Developer: Cobra Mobile LTD Publisher: Chillingo Genre: 2-D Platformer Platform: iPhone/iPad (universal app) Release: May 19 Price:$0.99
Overview:
I have to admit, Storm in a Teacup is a pretty ballsy name. It basically boils down to a small event exaggerated out of proportion. It begs the question, does Cobra Mobile have a severe case of narcissistic overconfidence? The problem with a name that implies that it’s something special is it backfires if the expectations it creates aren’t met. So, does Storm in a Teacup live up to its name? Or does it fizzle before it pops? Well faithful reader, I guess you’ll just have to continue on to find out.
Gameplay:
Storm in a Teacup is a pretty standard 2-D platformer. In-fact, if you’ve played just about any platform game in the past 20 years you basically know what to expect. You control Storm, as he rides around in a Teacup, for reasons unbeknownst to us, moving from left to right, all while avoiding obstacles such as clouds with angry faces, spikes, buzz saws, barrels and the occasional boss thrown in for good measure. There are 40 levels to navigate through and if you can manage to finish a level without dying and finding all the items you’ll earn a “perfect” and get to see your best completion time. There’s also Game Center and Crystal integration which provides you with leaderboards and a list of achievements.
The on-screen controls work pretty well, if a bit floaty. You have a left/ right arrows for navigation and a single button for jumping with a meter that depletes the longer you hold the button down. You’ll have to learn to feather the jump as the game progresses a single burst doesn’t always get you to where you want to go.
Littered throughout the games standard level affair are a few shooting segments, which I really wish there were more of. These small bursts really felt fresh to me, mixing things up and paying homage to classic games all while the overall platform level design came off a bit mundane.
If you get tired of the main campaign, Storm in a Teacup has 5 survival levels. These wind up being a small distraction more than anything else, but the overall mechanics of the game are fairly solid and they do provide some fun, if short-lived.
Graphics and Audio:
Graphically, this will be polarising. Personally I appreciated what the team was going for but I feel they missed their mark. Everything in the world seems derivative. The design is certainly very Nintendo inspired with lots of vibrant colours and settings. However, it lacks the charm and nuance of Nintendo’s typical art direction. The main character has the least amount of character in the game. Aside of some small hair movement he doesn’t have any animation which makes him feel very lifeless. The clouds with their angry faces have more animation and character than Storm, which is a severe misstep.
The music matches the overall setting pretty well with a light and friendly vibe. Unfortunately, there really isn’t much verity with the same couple of tunes repeated throughout the campaign. The game is fairly short, clocking in at around 3 hours so it’s a short lived complaint at least.
Conclusion:
I certainly have some issues with Storm in a Teacup. Mostly because I feel it’s just a bit half baked. If Cobra Mobile let the game cook for a little while longer and really worked on the art direction and polish they really could have had something special on their hands. But as it stands, the game is rife with mediocrity, which is a shame. However, at the end of the day, it’s at an appropriate price point and is a solid effort for what you’re paying for. I just wish it were more.
Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars has been out for a couple of months, adding yet another chapter into the growing franchise. Today LucasArts released a small treat for fans as Youtube animator Jordan Johnson, aka FancyPants, has created a new trailer for the game using stop motion animation with the Lego-counterparts inspired by the series.
Of course we all know that stop-motion animation is a tricky and tedious task and requires more patience than I will ever have, so to give a bit more insight on how this trailer came to be, a “Making of” clip was also released which follows Johnson as he creates animations for the characters, frame by frame. Quite an interesting clip and if you have ever been curious to see how stop motion works, I highly recommend you check it out below as well as the finished product which turned out to be a spectacular production.
For those who cannot attend E3 to see just what Nintendo’s anticipated console reveal will be, you are now covered as Nintendo are now offering live streaming coverage of the full presentation at http://e3.nintendo.com.
I know “Project Cafe” will surely top the list of what Nintendo have up their sleeve, but I also predict quite a bit of news on 3DS, Wii, and DS titles for the future, so Nintendo could very well steal the show. Live coverage begins 9 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, June 7, and afterwards additional Nintendo Network coverage, such as interviews, game trailers and special video segments will be readily available on the site. The Nintendo Channel on the Wii will also have “exclusive content” released on the day of the event as well. Now mark your calenders and get ready, as this will surely be an event not to miss.
There are few things better in life than stabbing aliens with a knife. When that knife is attached to a gun, well, then it is just unthinkably amazing. Thankfully, REALLY THANKFULLY, Epic Games gave us that experience. Now, NECA has kindly provided us with a replica of the knife-gun, the Retro Lancer.
With an up to scale measurement of 3.5 feet in length, the lovely, uh, toy, plays sound when a trigger is pulled.
In North America, these omgIfreakinwant are exclusive to GameStop and can be obtained as a bundle with the game or a standalone item. Get it starting Spetember 13. Unfortunately, MasterAbbott’s burgeoning, creepy excitement will have to be reined in. No plans for international distribution have been revealed as of yet. Don’t rule it out quite yet though. Apparently, these deals just need to be hammered out.
And it’s Messi for Argentina…Oh wait, that’s not the real guy.
