Those gamers who have been dreaming and hoping for a shooter on Kinect should keep a close eye on Microsofts Vancouver Studios over the next upcoming months. Art Director and Senior Artist for Zipline Studios, a division of Microsoft, has stated via his blog “…our studio strategy has changed and now focuses on delivering a core AAA shooter experience using the Kinect”. Microsoft Vancouver Studios original purpose was to create “social microtransaction games”, with a move more towards pushing the limits of the technology available on the Xbox 360 and through the Kinect peripheral. The Studio has also announced future projects across Xbox 360, LIVE and Kinect, with an emphasis on experimental gameplay. Personally I’m looking forward to being able to hide behind the couch with the cat, peering around the corner to take out an enemy. Im not sure how the concept will work so keep an eye out for future releases.
Earlier today we reported that Sony Online Entertainment had shut down their servers in response to an intrusion into their system. A few hours after Station.com went down Sony has now released a statement about the actual intrusion and it seems that things can only get worse for the company. After the recent intrusion Sony has stated that they have lost 12,700 credit card numbers due to this attack and the servers were taken offline because of this.
Nikkei of Japan reports that Sony first learned of the attack last night and that 4,300 of the credit card numbers were originally from Japan but the rest of them could be from anyone around the world. There is no exact information yet as to whether this hacking is connected to the recent problems associated with the PlayStation Network hacking, but news is not good for Sony. Expect an official announcement with more information from Sony soon.
A game like Catherine deserves a special edition and fans probably were expecting something to be in the cards at Atlus headquarters. Of course fans may not have been expecting them to double down either. They announced today that Catherine will indeed be getting a special edition release but this one will contain more than a handful of special features you won’t be able to get anywhere else.
Titled the Love is Over Deluxe Edition it will contain everything a fan eagerly anticipating the release of Catherine in the U.S. could want. The entire package will be delivered in a Stray Sheep pizza delivery box straight from the game itself. The contents of the box will include the Xbox 360 or PS3 version of the game you purchased as well as a Catherine Pillowcase, a large shirt such as the one she wears in the game and a pair of Vincent’s boxers similar to the ones worn in the game.
The package will sell for $79.99 which places it at only $20 more than the standard $59.99 price that Catherine will sell for on July 26th when it releases to stores. Then again you should probably pre-order this Deluxe Edition because it is going to be of limited quantity. Also if you happen to pre-order the title you will also recieve an 11-track music CD as well as a 36 page Catherine art book similar to what you would always get from a premium edition.
Sony may be bringing back the PSN some time this week but that doesn’t mean that they aren’t still having some problems. Sony Online Entertainment previously issued a statement saying that there was no reason for their users to worry about any personal information being stolen or credit card information being released but now it seems that they have some troubles of their own.
Sony Online Entertainment’s Station.com has been taken down for now due to an intrusion of some sort. There are little details about the actual intrusion but in light of recent events it is best probably to overreact than to let things sit idle. Currently you can check this page to find out whether or not the service is back and running but SOE has stated they will release more information on the intrusion later today.
El Shaddai: Ascension of the Metatron has been in development for quite a few years now. And during that time it apparently also had a name change because it was originally called Angelic: Ascension of the Metatron according to a 2007 video of the original prototype of the game. This news comes out of UTV Ignition themselves placing a locked video on their website which was then broken and placed on YouTube for everyone to see.
You can catch the video below and see that actually not a whole lot has changed besides the name. Enoch looks relatively the same compared to now and uses the same type of weaponry to help dispatch his enemies. Its always interesting to see a title change over the years as it turns from an idea into an actuality and this one sure has had a lot of time to become what it is today.
Assassin’s Creed has always been a game that contained a certain amount of mystery inside of it. Whether it is the hidden puzzles that must be deciphered or wall paintings made of blood that can only be seen with Eagle Vision the series loves it’s puzzles. Now Ubisoft has decided that their next Assassin’s Creed game needed a bit of mystery that was supposed to be released slowly over their Facebook.
But it seems a bit of a mistake has let that information slip early and of course the internet was quick to grasp a hold of it. The third in the series of videos shows what appears to be Altair but could easily be another assassin or merely mentioning his existence, but it is very interesting to see such a cryptic way to tell fans what the next game could be about. Either way, you can catch all three currently released teasers below and take your guess as to what they all mean. Besides that another Assassin’s Creed game is coming out of course.
The Gears of War 3 beta has been available for those with codes for quite some time now, and recently BulletStorm owners were allowed in on the action when it was opened up for them. But now, many people are having friends who don’t have BulletStorm or couldn’t obtain a code feeling left out…until now. Epic Games are running a promotion known as ‘Never Fight Alone’, giving you the opportunity to earn up to five codes to distribute to friends so they can join in on the action (at least it’s 5 if you’re in the US – for others you can receive a maximum of one for completing one of the challenges).
It sounds like a great way to get friends involved. Will anyone be making use of this offer? Who has completed which challenges so far?
What is the Gears of War 3 beta Never Fight Alone program?
Starting today, everyone who’s played at least one game in the beta will have a chance to receive a “buddy token” to share with a friend on Xbox LIVE, giving them access to the “Gears of War 3” beta.
In the U.S., beta participants can earn extra buddy tokens by completing the following tasks or challenges (one token for each task), with a chance to earn up to five tokens total:
• Purchase any “Gears of War” content from Xbox LIVE Marketplace (including a “Gears of War” Game Add-on, a “Gears of War” Games on Demand title, or a “Gears of War” Avatar item)
• Play 20 or more hours of the “Gears of War 3” beta (any time already spent in the beta will count toward this challenge)
• Add a 12-month Xbox LIVE Gold subscription to your existing account (purchased from retail or online)
• Play more than 100 hours of any “Gears of War” title, lifetime to date
** Multiple token chances are limited to U.S. residents due to legal restrictions; however, every beta participant worldwide has a chance to unlock one buddy token to share with a friend on Xbox LIVE.
How long do I have to earn extra beta keys?
Players will have until this Wednesday, May 4 to complete the challenges and earn extra buddy tokens.
What do I do after I’ve completed the tasks?
The Xbox LIVE team at Microsoft will automatically keep track of everyone’s progress, so players won’t need to take any additional action to retrieve their tokens.
After completing the tasks, when and where do I receive my extra beta keys?
The buddy tokens will be distributed via e-mail starting May 8 when the “Never Fight Alone” phase begins, giving beta participants and their friends a full week to enjoy the multiplayer mayhem together.
What maps and modes will be available during the “Never Fight Alone” period?
New players entering the beta on May 8 will have a chance to cross chainsaws with their buddies in three new “Gears of War 3” competitive modes (Team Deathmatch, Capture the Leader and King of the Hill) on four stunning multiplayer maps (Thrashball, Checkout, Trenches and Old Town). Additionally, beta recruits can unlock an array of exciting content such as exclusive medals, weapon skins and character variants like the fan-favorite Thrashball Cole, which they can carry over to their retail copy of “Gears of War 3” when it launches on Sept. 20. For additional details, please refer to the official Epic Games FAQhttp://forums.epicgames.com/showthread.php?t=767359.
A new trailer has come to light from Ubisoft for their upcoming next instalment in the Driver series, Driver: San Francisco.
Ubisoft has confirmed that the game will be released in the US on August 30, September 2 in Europe, and September 1 in Australia and New Zealand. The game was originally set to release sometime last year, but was delayed because of “the competitive market at Christmas”, according to Ubisoft.
It will come to Xbox 360, PC, PS3 and Nintendo Wii, and more information on the game can be found at the game’s official website HERE
Is anyone looking forward to this? I have fond memories of the older Driver games so let us hope this is a return to form for the series.
You can always count on Goichi Suda, head of Grasshopper Manufacture, to think outside the box when promoting his games. This is the guy that stood outside of shops in Akihabara waiting to hand out No More Heroes toilet paper to lucky customers. The first developer diary for Shadows of the Damned shows off the typical Suda 51 flair. Both he and Shinji Mikami, creator of Resident Evil, Devil May Cry, and Viewtiful Joe, do their best at putting together a campy, pseudo-spooky video detailing some of the mechanics of Shadows of the Damned. It even starts off with Mikami being strangled by an all too giddy Suda, as if that weren’t reason enough to watch.
Perhaps my favorite part of the video, however, is the use of two incredibly grim and gravely narrators to interpret the two Japanese developers’ words. The guy who translates for Mikami isn’t too over the top, but Suda’s voice over goes just as overboard as the developer, complete with Jack the Ripper cockney accent. To see how darkness and light will affect this horror-action title, or to hears two very out of place voice actors, check out the video below. Shadows of the Damned is scheduled for a June 21 release on both Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Gameloft’s EPIC MMORPG for the iPhone & iPad : Order & Chaos Online has been out for a few days already and so far it’s very entertaining and lots of fun to play. MasterAbbott’s been playing around causing all sorts of trouble with his Monk character on the Asia server (Eye Of The Swamp).
Today we have some gameplay from the game and we run you though the BASICS. It’s a 15 min video which might sound feel like a long time, but it doesn’t even scratch the surface. It will however give you a fair understanding on how the game plays and what you can expect if you decide to pick this up.
If you are a HUGE fan of WOW or RIFT and you have an iPhone then Order & Chaos is the game you must own !!
Pick up the game from the iTunes store here. Stay tuned for our official review in next few days.
Check out the video below, leave a comment and let us know what you though of it.
