Here is a bit of exciting news for fans who are kraving even more Mortal Kombat. NetherRealm & WB Games have officially announced Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection, which will include the arcade versions Mortal Kombat, Mortal Kombat 2 and Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 for the Xbox Live Arcade, Playstation Network, and PC. If you remember, Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 was on the XBLA, but was removed when Midway went under so this Kollection couldn’t have come at a better time with the fantastic release of Mortal Kombat last month.
Ed Boon has also released a statement for this new Kollection:
“We are very excited to finally have the first three Mortal Kombat games available in one download package for long-time and new fans to play,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “With the release of our 2011 Mortal Kombat, and its return to 2D game play, players have been asking for these classic titles and we are happy to deliver them.”
While this collection will be true to the arcade releases, it will also feature online play, leaderboards, achievements and trophies, which is more fantastic news and all at a low price of 800 Microsoft Points ($9.99 for the PSN). Gamestop are also getting in on the action and will be offering Mortal Kombat Klassic Fight Sticks for $129.99 which you can pre-order now at any location or on Gamestop.com.
So who is ready for some animalities, klassic fatalities, and…Rain? It doesn’t look like all our Aussie friends will not have any trouble this time around obtaining this collection thankfully. For now anyway. Mortal Kombat Arcade Kollection is set to hit all three platforms “late summer”.
In a disappointing announcement Nintendo has pushed back the launch date for the 3DS eShop. The release of this feature has already been delayed from the initial time it should have been out which brings up the question as to why this feature has been delayed so many times. Originally what should have been included in launch, the 3DS eShop will now be delayed until June 7th in Japan and June 6th in the U.S according to Andriasang.
The eShop will offer DLC, from new titles to classic games from the GameBoy and Game Gear. Unfortunately due to this delay again the feature has been something 3DS owners have been waiting quite some time for. The fact of the matter is that the feature should have been included when the hand held was launched, and the fact that it wasn’t is a bit of a slap to the face to all the 3DS owners who wanted to buy the handheld as soon as it came out. Instead what was offered can be seen as half finished.
With it being nearly a month since the PlayStation Network was taken down after the security breach, it seems a lot of fans of Sony’s PlayStation 3 are looking to get their game on elsewhere. It seems that some gamers would rather pay for their online service and play on the Xbox 360 rather than not have any online interaction at all.
In a report from Edge Online a number of UK retailers have stated that the amount of people trading in their PlayStation 3’s for cash or for an Xbox 360 console has doubled. One store manager stated,”In the first week of downtime we did not really see any major change in sales or trades. However from the second week onwards we have seen an increase of over 200% on PS3 consoles being traded in, split almost 50/50 between those trading for cash and those taking a 360 instead.”
This also seems to be the case with a number of people bringing in their PlayStation 3 version of Black Ops or Modern Warfare 2 and trading them in for the Xbox 360 version instead. This is a very drastic move by consumers as it is obvious that eventually the PSN will come back online at some point. But there is an extremely large demographic of people who own their console simply to play online with their favorite FPS and with the lack of online support on the PlayStation 3 at the moment, the Xbox 360 is the only way to go. Though it will be interesting to see how these numbers will change once the PSN actually goes back online.
If you are a fan of Supercross then you should know who Jeremy McGrath is. If you aren’t then don’t worry, he will soon be gracing your home console with a game of his very own. Developer 2XL Games is set to release Jeremy McGrath Offroad for the PSN and XBLA this Summer but unfortunately not much else is known about the title at the moment besides it’s existence.
Being published by D3, more information for the title will be released within a month. Not at E3 mind you but at an event known as the Lucas Oil Off-Road Racing Series in San Bernardino, CA on May 21 and 22, making it perhaps the oddest area to debut a game, though perhaps also the right environment to do so.
While Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights will not be gracing the 3DS for some time, Konami have decided to release the first developer diary labeled “Birth of a New World” for the anticipated mystery title. In the clip, Producer and Director Noraiki Okamura sets the scene for the game and explains a bit of the story and locales featured with a bit of information on Lautrec’s motives for beginning this quest as well as showing off the beautiful recreation of Paris and the underground caverns players will explore.
I know many have deemed this title to be a “Layton Clone”, which it very well might be, but I am starting to really take up interest on what is looking to be a fantastic mystery with a quite a vivid world to explore. You can check out the developer diary for yourself below. So what do you think so far, do you think Doctor Lautrec and the Forgotten Knights can stand on it’s own?
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is an RPG currently in development by 38 Studios and is being published by EA. Now at Pax East last March it was shown off to those in attendance and given a chance to try it out for themselves. Unfortunately for the average gamer there hasn’t been a whole lot said about the game yet, that is until now.
EA and 38 Studios have released a gameplay video that walks viewers through the first few minutes of the game and explains most of the basic elements of the game, including combat, chain attacks and even the Fate Shift abilities that the game will include. Lead designer Ian Frazier provides the voice over for the five minute gameplay demonstration. Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning should be relased sometime in 2012 for the PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.
SHMUSICUP, the rhythm-inspired shoot em up from Tzai Entertainment, has received quite a bit of attention lately for its custom soundtracks, music based bullet patterns, and all around badassery. That makes it even more exciting to finally announce that today SHMUSICUP has finally left its beta stage and is out for full release.
Players who pre-ordered the game can download the PC client here and get right to dodging bullets to their favorite tunes. For those who have yet to purchase SHMUSICUP, there’s no time like the present. If you head over to the official SHMUSICUP site you can still pick it up for the special pre-order price of $9.99, for now at least. The developers at Tzai have also promised that although the game is in full release status now, they will continue to support it with patches and updates according to feedback and bug reports, so make sure to speak up!
Executive director Suda51, creative producer Shinji Mikami (director of Resident Evil) and music composer Akira Yamaoka, have crafted the insane, ‘very unique’, psycho-punk action thriller known as Shadows of the Damned. Players can get a taste of this latest instalment from Suda51in the form of the game’s full soundtrack, available for anyone that’s pre-ordered the game at selected retailers (GAME, JB Hi Fi, EB Games and the EA STORE). Players will receive a digital download of twelve original tracks by critically acclaimed composer Akira Yamaoka (sound director of Silent Hill). The soundtrack takes inspiration (much like the game itself) from grindhouse exploitation cinema of the 1950-70’s.
The 12 hell-raising tracks include:
1. Theme of Shadows of the Damned (featuring the English gothic punk band, The Damned)
2. Shedding Stars
3. Walk if Off
4. Last Stop, Windows Up
5. This Way Comes
6. Fathomer
7. Smile for a Broken Dawn
8. Showdown at High Moon
9. Cold Turkey
10. Broken Bones, Broken Promises
11. Dropped Off Between Stops
12. Clawing at the Veil
So expect the unexpected, which one must always take when entering a Suda51 game. Shadows of the Damned will be available June 23 in Australia and June 24 in New Zealand for Xbox 360 and Playstaion 3.
More news has been recently speculated about the newest Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 game. Activision is yet to announce new details on the title however they have confirmed it is coming.
News sites have reported the proposed title for Modern Warfare 3 will be ‘Project Colossus’ following more rumours the game will feature as a prequel for Ghost.
Accompanying this breaking news is a proposed cover (below) featuring the famous and well known three green letters ‘MW3’.
Activision is yet to confirm but many people believe Soap MacTavish, Captain Price and Russian informant Nikolai will return following on from the second instalment.
Taking inspiration from EA’s Battlefield series, Modern Warfare 3 will reportedly feature destructive environments and larger maps. Also check out our previous article on MW3 here.
Sick of the no-nonsense macho attitude of CoD, Homefront, and Generic War-Themed Shooter #37? Well, the long-retired Duke of exaggerated manliness is on his way to fix that, but if you can’t wait until June for some comic relief in your gaming, here’s our list of games with a sense of humour.
No combat. A female protagonist. A bland laboratory setting. A potentially confusing core mechanic. A three or four hour completion time. Present this list of features to a publisher, and you probably won’t get far. From a marketing point of view, backing Singstar: Justin Bieber is a safer bet. And yet the entire gaming world is currently obsessed with Portal 2. It goes to show that the annual exploitation of tried and true formulas (I’m looking at you, Activision!) isn’t always the best business practice.
The idea risked attempting too much, subverting too many conventions, and collapsing in a pile of its own pretentiousness. But in Valve’s very capable hands, the original mechanics from this clever indy project were combined with an unexpected sense of humour. The end result is an undisputed classic game.
Most of the humour comes from the deadpan delivery of thinly veiled threats, from GLaDOS, the creepy AI voice guiding the player. As her disposition changes from nurturing, to slightly homicidal, to full-blown homicidal, she earns herself the title of one of gaming’s most interesting characters.
The sequel’s addition of Stephen Merchant’s voice as Wheatley, the emotional, rambling personality sphere, serves to complement GLaDOS’ deadpan hostility. I haven’t had the fortune to play Portal 2 yet, but from the unanimous feedback, and the videos I’ve seen, my expectations are high – and I’m not worried about the game not meeting them.
Grim Fandango (1998, PC)
Every game from the mind of Tim Schafer deserves a mention on this list, but Grim Fandango is the standout one for me personally. Never one for point-and-click adventure games, I’m not sure if ingenious puzzles are characteristic of the genre, or if those in Grim Fandango are particularly clever. Either way, they are the perfect balance of being challenging without being too obscure, so thinking logically about a situation usually results in success.
But of course, the setting is where the game shines. With characters and narrative elements from classic film noir, and set in the afterlife as imagined by the Aztecs, there really isn’t any other game visually comparable. Players take the role of Manny Calavera, a reaper/travel agent who picks up souls from the land of the living and tries to sell them the best travel package for their journey across the land of the dead.
Despite a rather “grim” setting (sorry, couldn’t help it) the dialogue is light and playful. The demon Glottis, Manny’s driver, is particularly entertaining. With the appearance of a large demon, but the innocence and impressionability of a child, getting Glottis away from something fun or into something scary is the basis of several puzzles in the game.
If you haven’t had the opportunity to play this game, track down a copy. It didn’t perform too well commercially, but maintains a strong cult following regardless. It doesn’t seem to be available on the usual download services like Steam or Xbox Live, but look on Amazon or eBay. It’s well worth the effort.
Destroy All Humans! (2005, Xbox, PS2)
Another fantastic example of fun gameplay made better by a great sense of humour and sharp dialogue. While the two later games declined in gameplay quality, the only element left intact was the humour and dialogue.
The first game is set during the UFO hysteria sweeping America in the 1950s, as players control Cryptosporidium 137, a Furon sent to Earth to harvest humans to replenish their degrading DNA pool. This involves using all the classic sci-fi clichés; abduction, body snatching, anal probing, brain scanning, and of course, taking off in your flying saucer and causing massive damage from above. It both parodies and pays homage to classic alien movies, and delights in breaking the fourth wall, drawing attention to and questioning video game conventions. For example, after being asked what happens to the bodies of his many, many victims, Crypto admits, “I don’t know. I thought they just disappeared when I went round the corner.”
Each game takes place in a different period of history, as the Furons slowly take over Earth. The first is set in the uptight, UFO-obsessed ’50s, the second in the swingin’ ’60s, and the last two in the ’70s. Each game sends up the cultural and political climate of each era, and although the series has been dormant for a few years now, I would love to see them take on the ’80s.
The banter and bickering between Crypto and his leader Orthopox, who advises the player from the mothership in orbit, is a rich source of cheap laughs as well. All up, if you can endure the unpolished turd that is the third game, and the buggy mess that is the fourth, I recommend a playthrough of the whole series. Or at least the first two – their awesomeness is undisputed.
The Simpsons Game (2007, Every platform known to man)
Games based on licenses are often disregarded immediately, and rolling a cynical eye at The Simpsons‘latest interactive adventure is understandable. And while the gameplay may not be more than standard third-person platformer fare, the story and dialogue more than makes up for it. But that is to be expected, with several writers from the show penning the script, and the entire cast on board.
The Simpsons Game has our favourite yellow family realising they’re in a video game, and after initially using their newfound powers for their own selfish deeds, realise only they can stop an invasion of Earth by Kang and Kodos. They venture into other Simpsons games, and attempt to speak to the “Creator” – Matt Groening, playing himself.
The game parodies many classic games, with levels such as Grand Theft Scratchy, Medal of Homer, and mini-games reminiscent of Frogger and Space Invaders, all with a familiar Simpsons-esque twist. It even sends up the games industry itself, with elements like sequelization (the characters rush to save 8-bit versions of themselves from becoming obsolete), excessive violence (Marge cleans up a GTA-style game to make it family-friendly) and portrays creators as boss fights, including Will Wright (creator of The Sims, Sim City), Matt Groening (creator of The Simpsons)and finally, the characters face off in a game of Dance Dance Revolution against God himself.
Strangely, companies like Rockstar actually complained about their games being parodied. And if a company as apparently cool as Rockstar has issues with commentary on the games industry, that’s a sure sign that not enough comedy is being done in the video game world. Unfortunately, I just found out that a planned sequel was cancelled, as recently as last month. Let’s hope someone else picks up the slack and gives the industry the grilling it needs.
