Now although Australia’s rating system can be looked at with derision, sometimes it is worth taking a second look at what exactly the are rating. Earlier today the Australian rating board put out a rating for Dissidia Duodecim Prologus which is the playable prologue (see demo) of Dissidia 012 [duodecim] Final Fantasy. Now there hasn’t been any official word that Prologus would actually be released in the West but this is a good sign of things to come.
Of course this doesn’t mean a definitive release but why else would they have produced a rating for the game. Now Prologus itself was a PSP demo that allowed players to get a small taste of what Dissidia 012 [duodecim] had to offer. The prologue cost $3.64 (300 Yen) and allowed players to unlock Aerith from FFVII for an assisting character in the main game. We have contacted Square Enix to see if they will be willing to reveal more.
Mass Effect 2 was recently patched on the PlayStation 3 and with this patch came an updated trophy list which has revealed information on upcoming DLC for the space opera called Arrival. There currently is know information regarding as to what the Arrival DLC will contain other than in the Trophies themselves which mention Dr. Amanda Kenson who recently got an update in the Cerberus Network to give her more information which you can see below:
“Historians and astronomers alike are abuzz tonight over a new paper published by Dr. Amanda Kenson of the University of Arcturus. Her team claims that by testing the dust trapped in the gravity wells around a mass relay, and comparing its composition to that of dust clouds in the same system, scientists can create a timeline of when the relay passed through the dust. Her conclusion? “Only a small fraction of the mass effect relays date back 50,000 years,” she writes, “The majority are far older, indicating they were created by a species predating even the Protheans.” Dr. Aurana T’Meles of the University of Serrice met the information with skepticism: “While Dr. Kenson’s methods appear sound, the asari tried a similar procedure centuries ago and discounted it. What civilization could have spanned the galaxy for not thousands, but millions of years? If this were the case, we should have found mountains of evidence of their passing. Where is this species now?”
EA and Bioware have yet to mention anything about this DLC but it is obviously going to be coming down the wire within the next few days unless they release another patch to take down the trophy information. The trophies themselves talk about saving Amanda Kenson without being caught, surviving waves of enemies and even an ultimate sacrifice.
Online trading card game, ‘Alteil’, has new additions to its card shop based around one of its more popular characters Cassandra.
They have released four new EX packs to the online store in relation to the Cassandra back story –
One of the greatest heroines on the surface of Lavato, Cassandra, fights against the evil Galdirea with her dual magic swords: Arken the holy sword and Difora the Soulblade. But fifteen years ago she was just a little girl, raised by her sister Rosa until a fateful encounter with the evil Ork King Grebados. On the run, she was saved by the most legendary mercenary of the age, Black Dragonfly Francis. So begins her story, and the story of her legendary swords.
There are many things that can be said and have been said about Atlus’ Catherine since it has been officially released in Japan. Unfortunately the main thing being said by most of the games’ players is the fact that it is punishingly difficult and players are unable to even make it past the first few levels even on the easiest difficulty of the game.
Apparently the nightmare segments are extremely difficult on Easy Mode and because of this many fans have become upset with the fact that Atlus created such a difficult game. But Atlus has taken these complaints to heart and are working on fixing the issue. Katsura Hashino wrote on the game’s blog that they are currently working on a patch to make the game easier for players and stated that the reason for the difficulty was so that players would feel as if they were truly in a nightmare and would feel accomplished once they overcame them.
Based on the massive success of the Nintendo DS, you can expect that Nintendo 3DS will sell about as fast as Mario on crack. If your dying to get one on day one, you should probably preorder. And if you are gonna preorder, you might as well get a discounted price, right?! Well, if you order from the Big W, you can get a whopping $30.00 off plus free delivery on RELEASE DAY!!! This offer also comes with a stylus, 2 gigabyte SD memory card and pre-installed software (hopefully that means games.) Get the Cosmos Black or Aqua Blue Nintendo 3DS here and glide into the next dimension. Offer only valid in Australia.
EA Sports Active 2 Developer: EA Canada Publisher: EA Genre: Fitness/Simulation Platform: Wii (Xbox 360 Kinect, PS3 Move) Released: Out Now
There’s been umpteen fitness games appearing on all home console formats lately, although as Nintendo were by far the first to delve into motion control with the Wii, their flagship console has been around a lot longer and therefore has received a lot more in the way of fitness titles. It’s a genre that didn’t really exist before the Wii as it was all too gimmicky and each game would have required a new set of peripherals, but now, with this latest offering EA are looking to take the fitness genre a step further, calling their game not just a fitness game, but a ‘Personal Trainer’.
It certainly looks the part, it’s undeniable, with a Heart Rate Monitor that straps onto your arm, a Wireless Motion Tracker which straps onto your leg to detect movement in you legs on top of your arms already being tracked through the Wii Remote, a plug-in USB receiver to allow for this new equipment to link up with your Wii, and finally, most impressively, the game comes with a Resistance Band. There is even the option of making use of the Wii Balance Board if you have one, which will unlock specific extra exercises relating to this piece of hardware. Where all other fitness games thus far have used only the weight and movement of your own body to help get you fit, EA Sports Active 2 provides an element of resistance which considerably ups the intensity and variety of your workout.
Although it may be hard to imagine yourself getting a good workout by standing in front of your television and moving around, there’s a remarkable intensity to the range of exercises on offer. There is a huge variety of exercises crammed onto the disc, giving a mixture of frantic activity and endurance challenges, also not forgetting that exercise should be fun too with a pinch of mini-game style sports-based exercises added in for good measure. The sports-based challenges give activities based on popular sports such as football heading and shooting hoops in basketball and add a sweet side-order of light hearted fun to go with the tough physical exertion of the other exercises.
The game kicks off with you selecting your mentor and designing your fitness character. The latter is a bit of a gimmick, so although there is a lot of different clothing to sift through, it is up to you whether you make your on screen counterpart look life-like or not. You have a choice between two different mentors, Devon, a strength and conditioning coach who knows that “staying fit is a balance between hard work and fun”, or Niki, a fitness coach specialising in nutrition and aerobics who tries to work on your discipline, motivation and focus. Ultimately, who you choose from the start doesn’t have a massive impact on the game that follows and can always be changed later, but it decides who you will have yelling encouragement at you to help motivate you. It remains important that you pick someone you don’t mind listening to as a lot of the exercises come with a fair bit of instruction.
Where EA Sports Active 2 stands out from its competitors is in the complex structure that surrounds the workouts. It’s all well and good providing a Heart Rate Monitor in the box to show you’re serious, but without making use of it then it’s just a novelty knowing how fast your heart is beating. The developers completely understand this, which is why they have offered up one of the most in-depth fitness tracking systems in a game to date. The Heart Rate Monitor constantly tracks your heart rate – even in the menus – meaning it can draw accurate data from your resting and working heart rates, and using this information to estimate the amount of calories that you are burning. All this data is then represented in in-game charts and graphs which help to visualise your progress. What’s more, the game even has a website dedicated to it which allows you to upload all your data and see a more detailed overview of your results on the PC, as well as playing host to a social networking system called Workout Groups which grants you the ability to compare fitness programs with other friends.
It’s a very comprehensive fitness simulation that should be seen as more of a program than a game, and if the previous point about the detailed data-recording isn’t proof enough, then the sheer wealth of certified exercises should be enough to sway you. It lays out a fitness program over a week, including rest days as is crucial for exercise of this level, so each of your exercise days you are asked to check in and do the laid out fitness regime. The game gives you a set of default goals to reach that can then be edited to suit your personal targets. The workouts can also be edited with the option to check and uncheck certain exercises depending on your likes and dislikes, adding or removing them from the timetable accordingly. To make the game a complete health package, it features a lifestyle & nutrition survey too, the results of which are reflected on through advice aimed to further improve your fitness. Being healthy is not just down to the exercise – your lifestyle and diet is a large factor as well.
Overall, EA Sports Active 2 has to be one of the most complete fitness games ever released, with the peripherals included indicative of this. While the Heart Rate Monitor and additional leg strap sensor may seem excessive, the impressive data recording somewhat justifies their inclusion, as does the game’s in-depth website. There’s a blend of gruelling physical workouts and fun sports challenges to have you exercising, but also getting some enjoyment out of it too. The exercises are in full supply with an expansive list of different sets and reps to choose from – all to a surreal desert holiday-resort backdrop. It only loses marks because the peripherals take the price up a peg, and when you factor in costs for a Balance Board if you want to get absolutely everything out of the game, then it soon becomes a beefy investment.
Pros
A good source of exercise that will actually improve your fitness
Range of different exercises
Accurate new peripherals
Impressive data logging
Cons
Added peripherals increase the price tag
Demanding schedule encourages you to exercise, but could prove impractical for some
Jurassic Park the film captivate audience worldwide when it was released in 1993, and is still to this day highly regarded as one of the classic movies of the 90’s. Numerous Jurassic Park video games have been made, but none have really captured the sense of awe that the film so greatly achieved until now. Telltale Games have ambitiously set out and have created an all new Jurassic Park adventure game.
Fans of the original movie will be pleased to know that Jurassic Park: The Game’s story will be told in five episodic parts and will run in parallel with the film. The game sheds light on what exactly happened on that stormy night when Jurassic Park fell apart, and what really happened to the Barbasol can full of dinosaur embryos that ‘the fat guy’ Dennis Nedry stole.
The world premier trailer is viewable at the game’s official site,www.jurassicparkthegame.com. Customers who pre-order the game will also receive $5 off the full $34.99 retail price.
Jurassic Park: The Game is set for an April 2011 release date
With the impending release of Epic Games’ latest first person shooter instalment, Bulletstorm, scheduled for release on the 24th of February, gamers with access to the downloadable demo have been given an opportunity to test and see if it lives up to the standard that we’ve come to expect from the creators of ‘Gears of War’. How does their venture into the realm of first person shooters deviate from their previous experience with third person? And does it stack up against the myriad of FPS titles already available?
When accessing the demo, player are provided with access to a score-attack game type mode called ‘Echoes’. You take on the role of a self-proclaimed infamous space pirate (and Marcus Fenix doppelganger) named Grayson Hunt. To get a feel for the basics of gameplay, the good Mr Hunt walks players through some of the basics in terms of controls, and how to score points by disposing of enemies in the most creative, or gruesome ways possible. The purpose of this gametype appears to be to have players shoot, kick, leash and blast their way through the ‘Collapsed Building’ stage in an effort to rake up as many points as possible. The points collected are uploaded to international leaderboards where players will be able to compare carnage with their friends. But how does one ideally increase their score?
During the introductory video, Grayson makes the claim that he wants to see the players “Kill with Skill.” Sure, you might be able to simply fire your weapon at an enemy to kill him… But why do that when ALTERNATIVELY, you can use your energy leash to pull an opponent towards you, kick them into the air and fire a charged shot from the Screamer, which then turns the hapless mid-air suspended sucker into a living firework? Then, having the resulting explosion fling his nearby allies off cliffs, into sharp impaling debris, or into the path of an oncoming train? As you can imagine, the latter strategy is the one that rakes in the big points. The best players will use every weapon, tool and environmental aspect to their advantage.
Too often it has been found that no matter how well refined a modern First Person Shooter is, the ways in which players are able to kill opponents are limited, and games can quickly get bogged down in a cycle of repetition. Bulletstorm however takes a different approach by providing multitudes of ways to kill off waves of mutant freak-shows. It must be said that there is something gruesomely satisfying about kicking an enemy mutant into wall mounted spikes.
This is not to say however that this demo is without its own respective flaws. Immediately players will notice that the game is lacking a “jump” function, which many consider to be a standard move for FPS games. Instead the ‘A’ button function acts as the “dash/slide” command. Coming from a company whose major success was in the third person shooter genre, it is understandable why the developer may have chosen to omit this function. After all there was no need to make Marcus or Dom jump around during the Gears of War games. However, in a first person shooter, this gravity bound player feature will take some gamers a while to get used to.
Whether you’re 100 per cent devoted to buying the full release of the game or not, the demo is certainly worth a try. It definitely achieves the purpose of providing a satisfying sampler of gameplay without spoiling too much of the upcoming story, gameplay features, multiplayer capabilities or levels yet to come. If you are simply eager to get into some ass-kicking, Bulletstorm is a game for you. The full game is scheduled for an Australian release on Febuary 24th. (Available on Xbox360, the PS3 and PC)
The zombies are coming for us, and developer Techland is leading them. With a focus on first person melee slaying, Deep Silver will be publishing this awesome game. You can find out more about the game here.Now, watch the trailer below. After watching it, come back to this article and tell us if you would like to see a full length movie based on this franchise. If so, you will be encouraged to hear that Deep Silver has the exclusive rights to create such a film, and they want to do it right, not like a certain *cough*Uncharted movie *cough.*
“We are looking for quality above all else for a movie based on Dead Island. We want to do it the right way as film realizations of games (or vice versa) usually fail to deliver what the fans were looking for. We will not go down this route with Dead Island. Deep Silver profoundly believes in the quality and value of its Dead Island IP,” says Klemens Kundratitz, CEO of Deep Silver’s parent company Koch Media. “We would therefore be honored to work with someone who already has a proven track record with blockbuster movies.”
Ever wanted a game where you could immerse yourself into the world of …valet parking? With such an odd concept of a 1989 set valet parking title, I think the subject alone is definitely original. That however is the name of the game in Valet Parking 1989 which will soon be headed to the DSiWare thanks to developers, Zordix AB. Zordix AB have released a lot of information about this title though, and I am starting to think that this oddball title may be a winner. Valet Parking 1989 throws gamers back in the time of bright colors, big hair, and a neon lit California. The concept of the game is quickly park cars for impatient clients. In a way, you can think of it as a Diner Dash, but with…valet parking (of course) instead.
Here is a full list of features for the title:
Park and return cars to patience impaired guests.
One evil bossman! intense and manic gameplay.
Set in a neon lit California 1989.
12 story mode levels all with their own challenges.
Shoulder pads galore.
30 characters that you may or may not (n)ever have heard of.
Mullets, mullets everywhere! 15 songs (quite but not like, anything you heard before)
Two words, handcuffs and ice cream.
15 cars, big and small with their own quirks. Never ending play, with or without a teen movie story.
A nice ambulance, you will need it!
A trailer was also released for the title, which you can check out below. The clip doesn’t show off too much really, but if the music and setting are any indication, this title really looks to be an awesome addition to the DSiWare and a bit addictive to boot. Valet Parking 1989 reminds me of some of the offbeat titles the DS has seen in it’s lifespan that are packed full of clever and humorous dialogue all the way through, which is why the is a must buy for myself. No date has been given yet but I would expect to see this game parking its way to DSis sometime later this year.
