The developers over at Two Tribes received their 3DS dev kits a few months ago, they want fans to pitch some ideas, and anything is possible they say. If you’re a budding game designer, this looks like a good chance to flex your talent towards the open door.
The 3DS was just released in Japan and kicked off with a bang, selling around 400.000 units on it’s release. In a few months, a download service will be added for 3DS players to purchase new games from. Since Two Tribes games are digital distribution only, the prospective game will be through this service.
Two Tribes are uncertain of what the audience for Nintendo’s 3DS will be like, so they’re adopting an approach of experimentation, which is always good for the industry. The download service may also end up being a good incentive for purchase if it pushes out the goods for the new platform. The details about what will happen if they pick you idea are sparse, but I guess you’ll just have to submit an awesome idea to find out!
As a result of Two Tribes brave experiment, they’ve posted the question on their site “What should we make for 3DS?” There’s already alot of comments for suggestions, you can check it out on their blog here and post your idea. If there isn’t a suggestion about a Charlie Sheen game already, I’m sure there will be soon.
As of March 1st, Electronic Arts have extended their Partners Program through Chillingo and Playfish, offering publishing services to both mobile and social gaming platforms to the independent development community.
“The EA Partners program has proven to be a phenomenally successful model. It is an all around win-win situation. The program allows EA to partner with some of the world’s best console, PC and digital developers while providing those independent developers with a global distribution/publishing partner,” said Bryan Neider, EA Games Label COO and General Manager of EA Partners. “We’re excited to be able to offer current and future partners the mobile and social expertise of Chillingo and Playfish respectively. Like EA Partners, Chillingo and Playfish work with the best development talent in the mobile and social gaming space.”
Established in 2002, and acquired by EA in 2010, Chillingo is responsible for cult iOS games such as Cut the Rope™, Angry Birds™, Helsing’s Fire™, iBomber Defense™ and iDracula™ to name a few. Chillingo is the world’s leading independent games publisher on numerous digital platforms and now thanks to EA can continue their tradition of producing innovative gaming.
Established in 2007 and acquired by EA in 2009, Playfish is the world’s #2 publisher of social games on Facebook with popular titles like Pet Society™, Restaurant City, FIFA Superstars, Madden NFL Superstars and MONOPOLY Millionaires. Playfish will now immediately begin partnering with independent studios to enable them to maximize the full potential of their social games on the Facebook platform.
Both Chillingo and Playfish are now supporting third-party independent game development through EA’s Partners Program, which can only end with exciting results for game consumers. Over the past few years EA as expanded their interest into numerous gaming channels, resulting in EA becoming the worlds leading wireless entertainment publisher. With the addition of Chillingo and Playfish, EA and continue to expand into mobile and social gaming.
It seems that the best time to release a horror game is going to be when it is mostly sunny, outside at least in the United States. EA has announced that they will be releasing Alice: Madness Returns on June 14th this year for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. This game is the sequel to the previous re-telling of Alice in Wonderland from American McGee which was called American McGee’s Alice.
Players will step into the role of Alice after she returns to the twisted ruins of Wonderland, both mentally unstable and seeking an answer to what really happened to her parents in the real world. Players will be able to use the Vorpal Blade, Teapot Cannon and Hobby Horse to name a few of the weapons Alice will have at her disposal to stop the horrors of Wonderland.
If you worried that the trademark Silent Hill fog wouldn’t return in a game that involves mostly raining screenshots then you have no reason to be worried anymore. In the latest batch of screenshots released we see the return of the classic fog effects that help provide the scary atmosphere of Silent Hill. With fog and rain put together it certainly is going to end up being one soggy game.
But I digress hopefully this is a good sign of things to come. A few bits of concept art were also released with one picture showing a monster crawling out of a manhole behind Murphy Pendleton and another showing a broken off cliff face with two humans staring off into the abyss.
With the 3DS available in Japan right now and the release of the first ever 3D handheld coming closer and closer in the U.S. it seems that Tecmo Koei thought that it was time to make their Dead or Alive Dimensions character roster a bit more fancy looking. You can currently view the entire roster of fighters at the game’s Japanese website, unfortunately the text itself is in Japanese but you should easily be able to tell who is who. Also available on the website is a few images of the stages you will be fighting your friends and enemies on.
Dead or Alive Dimensions may not be a launch title for the 3DS in Japan it will be available for purchase when the handheld is released overseas in Europe and the United States. The cost of the game will most likely run the same $40 price of Nintendo’s first party games.
According to Major Nelson it appears that Microsoft is currently in the process of deleting old Gamertags out of their memory banks. This means that these old dead Gamertags will be able to be used again by those who are interested in using them of course. Now what exactly makes a Gamertag “dead” has not been detailed yet but it is suggested that any account that was linked to an original Xbox will be removed.
Of course this also means that you can now spend the 800 MSP to change your gamertag to whatever you want it to be if the feeling grabs you to try and get a name that you have always wanted, but for some reason was always gone despite all of your efforts to track it down.
So the cat is out of the bag according to Atlus and Catherine is now officially set for a release date some point this summer. Now what can you do after not only teasing fans by saying you wouldn’t release the game overseas, to a few teasing images and then a full blown announcement? Well you release an announcement trailer of course.
Though the trailer itself is in English now there isn’t any voice work, or dialogue in general besides English text so it is currently unknown as to whether or not Catherine will be subbed or dubbed after the localization is completed. The trailer itself shows off some previously seen bits of gameplay and the anime cutscenes that Catherine has been known to feature.
Who, when they heard that Duke Nukem Forever was actually coming out, even thought that it would be receiving anything less than a Mature rating? If so then you certainly don’t know Duke very well considering the fact that many were worried the game would be hit with an Adults Only rating. Thankfully it avoided this stigma but boy does the ESRB have an extremely long summary of all the naughty things that occur during Duke Nukem Forever.
Listed today the description is the longest that I have seen in recent memory from the ESRB and some of the highlights include over the top violence, lap dances, suggestive sexual content and nudity. Oh strippers and sex toys as well. It certainly sounds from the description that Duke Nukem Forever will retain everything that it was known for back in the day and personally I couldn’t be happier. Check out the full description below.
This is a first-person shooter in which players assume the role of Duke Nukem, an action hero who must save Earth from invading aliens. Players use pistols, rail guns, shotguns, explosives, and Duke’s bare hands to attack and kill the alien enemies. The majority of gameplay involves destroying these enemies in frenetic gun and laser battles in order to move on to the next section. Aliens are often decapitated or dismembered when hit, sending large splashes of blood across the ground, surrounding walls, and players’ screen. Some sequences depict more ‘over-the-top’ instances of violence: aliens getting stabbed in the head or impaled; a human soldier bursting into bloody gibs after being tossed through propeller blades. In one sequence, players have the ability to shoot human characters that are trapped in pod-like alien webbing; bodies explode into pieces upon impact. During the course of the game, players enter a strip-club level and view several topless dancers and receive lap dances. A couple of missions within this level require players to recover sex toys and pictures of topless women.
A few sequences strongly imply sexual acts: two women appear to perform fellatio on the central character (e.g., raising their heads from his lap)—though there is no actual depiction of the sex act; Duke moans and leans up against the wall of a bathroom stall (furnished with a hole)—it is implied that a sex act (not depicted) occurs. The game also contains several sexual references and innuendo in the dialogue (e.g., ‘I have hungry—you have big egg ro’ for me, Duke,’ ‘If you supply the dancing, I’ll supply the pole,’ and ‘I’ll need something naughty to play with.’). Duke’s comments range from jokes about colon cleansing to several one-liners about sex and female body parts. Bathroom humor includes the ability to urinate in toilets or urinals and/or pick up feces from toilets and throw it against walls. Players can use both steroid pills and beer as power-ups; when beer is consumed, the screen temporarily blurs. The words ‘f**k,’ ‘sh*t,’ ‘c*ck,’ and ‘a*shole’ appear in dialogue and on-screen text.
Alien Breed 3 Descent concludes the Alien Breed Trilogy that has already been released on the Xbox Live Arcade Marketplace. Recently released on the Playstation 3, this game is the definitive version of the series and the pinnacle of Team 17’s gritty franchise.
The spaceship Leopold has jumped out of hyperspace and collided with a strange vessel. Engineer Theodore J. Conrad and his Artificial Intelligence, Mia, find themselves in a sticky situation. The two spaceships are hurtling to nearby planet’s surface. They have 6 hours to rescue their lives. Complicating this task is the alien invaders who decimate anything that moves. But that is just the story told in the first two games.
Alien Breed 3 starts out with a bang. You have found your nemesis: a human that is now a self created AI and who has offered you immortality. Plus, he has corrupted Mia. You can no longer rely on her expertise to help you. Unfortunately for him though, Theodore Conrad is not interested in this kind of science fiction crap dream of immortality.
Of the series, this game probably has the best story of them all. Although the first two games had interesting plots, this is the game where everything starts to pick up. Although it is just a basic alien shoot’em up with limited character depth, it is still an enjoyable run through a fantasy universe. All in all, this game provides a fantastic conclusion to the trilogy. If you have not played through the first two games, the game will include a cutscene that condenses the two games. When your first start it up, you will be able to view this video and learn all about it, so no worries there. Nevertheless, one of my main complaints about the first two games is still a problem. The monochromatic coloring of the comic book cutscenes are a huge annoyance. They are still in this game, but it seems as though they have been replaced with a bit more actual animated scenes.
Alien Breed 3 Descent is presented in an overhead isometric camera view. One stick controls the body of Conrad; the other one controls your laser sight on a gun. Of course, there are the usual grenades, stun grenades and the like. Some unique weapons are also introduced. While patrolling the halls of a cavernous ship, you must kill all the aliens that surprise attack you. Finding credits to upgrade your weapons or health will benefit you. You can even loot dead bodies to find health packs or credits. Although some camera issues do present themselves, they seem to have been improved slightly from the previous two iterations. On the other hand though, awfully long loading times for respawns have not been addressed at all. A tepid co-op storyline rounds out some of the game’s disappointing aspects.
The game design is lazy, but addictive. For the majority of the game, you will be running around to various computer consoles specified on your map. When you reach them, you have to press X and wait for a few seconds. Other than that, most of your time is merely spent doing the things mentioned above: collecting stuff and shooting aliens. Yet, somehow, I managed to eke out some real fun playing this. It was like a drug – go to a waypoint, tap X, shoot aliens, find stuff, repeat.
A more balanced difficulty curve and some gunplay damage tweaks make this feel more like a game that belongs to this generation. Other advancements to the game include some minor interface changes that create a much less annoying experience. For example, instead of holding down “X” for 5-8 seconds to loot a a body or access a console, the time has been shortened to about 3-5 seconds. That may not seem like a huge deal. However, when you are being besieged by a large creatures, it helps a ton. It also makes the gameplay flow together smoothly. The darkened atmosphere and superb graphics make the atmosphere of the game stand out. It did feel like I was playing in a spooky ship filled with nasty inhabitants and smelly cabins.
Compared to the others, Alien Breed 3 Descent looks like it had a slight graphical overhaul. Nonetheless, Alien Breed has never really had a problem with graphics. Each game uses the Unreal Engine to the full, producing crisp environments and detailed artwork & character models.
In summation, Alien Breed 3 Descent is more or less the same game as its predecessors. There are not any stunning changes to the gameplay, nor are there are radical departures from this generation’s normal style of game. However, Descent is the best of the three. It fixes some of the problems that held the others back. A more thrilling story is also told. For a miserly $10.00, this game will keep you entertained for quite a few hours, but it probably won’t stick with you for much longer after you finish.
Hudson’s sports series is making its first foray onto the 3DS, through Deca Sports Extreme (or as it’s otherwise known elsewhere, Sports Island 3D). As such, the game has been giving a trailer showcasing each of the ten sports on offer. That’s right ten sports: Soccer, Tennis, Basketball, Ice Hockey, Snowball Fighting, Sumo Wrestling, Bowling, Snowmobile Racing, Sport Blowgun and Trampoline.
It will allow players to customise their teams, and as the game progresses new venues will be unlocked. The game promotes a competitive spirit with a four-player mode facilitated either via wireless play or download, with a number of competitive modes offering the chance to compete against each other or work together in teams.
Depending on your area, you can expect the game to come to 3DS in May or June 2011.
