Razer’s Chimaera headphones are shipping to customers soon. First announced at CES last year, they are now nearly ready. The 199.99 headset is wireless for Xbox 360 and features 5.1 surround sound. Plus, there is 129.99 headset that will have 2.1 surround sound. Each headset comes with fairly similar design and charging station complete with an equalizer, audio out jacks (on the station) and microphone. You cannot pre-order them yet, but when you decide you want to shell out some clams for these bad boys, head on over to http://www.razerzone.com/thenextchapter/ You can also sign up for updates on when you can order it. Read to rock out?!
One of the best mobile games in history is coming to a living room near you. Announced at CES, Mattel is working on this adaption. As far as we can tell, each player will draw “Mission Cards” that depict instructions of buildings you can use to protect your plastic pigs. And then you can use a mini catapult to destroy it! Or, you know, shoot rocks at your neighbor’s dog. The game will cost a lousy 14.99 when it arrives on on the world scene this summer. All I really want to know is, “Where can I pre-order this?!” Now lets see if we can get a board game of ‘Cut the Rope.’
After just releasing the news that Professor Layton & the Mask of Miracle will be one of the titles launching with the 3DS in Japan, we now have a new gameplay video that shows around 30 seconds of the new Layton title and there is a lot in the clip that shows that this Layton title will be quite different from previous games in the series.
The first thing you will notice while watching the video is that the environments are all rendered in full 3D, which of course is fitting since the title is on the 3DS. All the artwork still has the 2D shine we all love as well so it is great to see how well this is looking to blend together. A cursor is also shown which is interesting to see as in the past games, the bottom screen was used to search environments with the stylus and it appears that the new analog pad will replace that method, keeping even clue-hunting in 3D.
Of course we will also see a new story and with flashbacks in the mix as well, if you couldn’t already tell by Layton’s huge mane in the end of the clip. Check out the video below for yourself and get ready as it looks like this month will be full of even more game reveals for the 3DS as we get closer to the official launch.
Along with the leaked details for Skyrim we now have the leaked information containing Silent Hill 8 from Game Informer. First it has been officially given the name Silent Hill: Downpour which looks to make use of water as a major role. This includes water running upside down on a ceiling and water playing pivotal points in gameplay.
Also revealed is the fact that the town that the game takes place in this time is so huge that you must use a Subway system to get around it. This includes a never before seen area of Silent Hill, the mysterious Southeastern side. Take that as it may but it seems like Silent Hill may be a bit more open world this time around as they are also including optional side quests in these new areas.
It also appears that combat will be similar to the earlier Silent Hill games, where it is possible to avoid most enemies and by and large this is the best route to take. The reason for this is that there is no longer a weapon inventory like in Homecoming, instead you will only be able to use one melee weapon at a time (at least an axe has been shown so far). To raise the tension further enemies will be tougher to kill and your weapon can break easily. Meaning that it may be better to simply incapacitate your enemy instead of finishing them off for the sake of surviving.
The usual staple of puzzles will also return in Downpour and they will have a separate difficulty level that can be adjusted in case you love survival horror but hate puzzles. To me it sounds like the Silent Hill franchise is going back to its roots as far as gameplay goes. But the inclusion of a possible open world is definitely something worth taking note of.
America may still be in the dark for a release date and launch info for the 3DS, but over in Japan, Nintendo have announced all of the launch titles players can expect when the portable launches over there on February 26th. At Nintendo World eight launch titles were shown (10 if you count the other versions of the Nintendogs titles) and I am digging most of them.
Here is the full list of launch titles which will hit Japan when the 3DS releases:
Winning Eleven 3D Soccer
Super Street Fighter IV 3D
Samurai Warriors Chronicle
Tobidasu! Puzzle Bobble
Nintendogs + Cats
RidgeRacer
Battle of Giants: Dinosaur Strike
Professor Layton and the Mask of Miracle
While this now throws into question the eventual release dates of titles such as Kid Icarus, Paper Mario and many other titles that were shown at the 2010 E3, it is good to at least see titles like Street Fighter IV 3D and Layton already making their appearance on the system a bit earlier than expected. Without a doubt not all of these will be present in the U.S. or U.K. when the 3DS launches so now I guess the main question for us is what will be our launch titles. If I had to guess, I would say Nintendogs would be a front runner at launch here as well as maybe Street Fighter but until Nintendo announces anything, the rest of the world will have to go on pure speculation. Keep checking back though as when the U.S./AU/EU line-up gets released, we will be sure to cover it. Until then you can check out a video of the Japanese announcement below.
Looks like we finally have some more details about the mysterious Skyrim. You won’t have to wait until February to find out the details that will be discussed in that month’s Game Informer because all of the details have been leaked and are available for your reading pleasure.
First of all we now know that Skyrim will be set 200 years after the events that happened in Oblivion and you will be playing as one of the Dragonborn. Your main objective in the story is to stop the dragon god Alduin who is the world eater mentioned on Game Informer’s back cover.
Quests have changed as well, at least the way that you will be given them. Something that developers are calling a dynamic quest system will make it so that players may only receive certain quests if they have a certain level of proficiency in that quest-specific skill, or on your actions throughout the game so far. This means that you won’t be having any vanilla playthroughs of the same quests happening again and again in the same ways.
Also changed is the leveling system. The more you use a specific skill will level it up overtime as it did in Oblivion but the amount of skills to level has been cut to 18 which is down from the 21 used in Oblivion. But in a more interesting update, the Perk system from Fallout 3 will be returning as you level up your main character you will have the ability to unlock perks.
As you leveled up your player in the Oblivion you may have noticed that enemies leveled up just as much as you did. Meaning that a measly rat could pose just as much danger to a high level character as a Xivilai daemon. But that isn’t going to be the case anymore. Enemies will only be scaled up to when you first entered the area and then remain that same level even as you advance. Plus this will only happen in critical areas of the game which means that leveling up will help immensely this time around.
So we know about the story, the change in quests and the change in levels, but what about the combat? Well there is a new duel wielding weapon system as well. This means that you can assign any weapon or spell to each of your hands. This means that you can use two swords at the same time, or an axe and a sword, or a sword and a lightning bolt. The combinations are of course endless and a welcome addition to the game.
Beyond these changes there will be a weapon creation system, better graphics of course, better character creation, the ability to run faster, finishing moves for the brutality feel, and an NPC dueling system which allows you to hold a duel with any NPC that accepts. Now all of these changes and enhachments sound like exactly what fans of the series have been looking for, and I am most certainly excited to see all of these changes coming when the The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim releases on November 11th 2011.
Fresh from Tokyo -more specifically the Nintendo World 2011 event- details relating to the 3DS’ battery life from Nintendo themselves are beginning to emerge.
Reportedly, the system is said to able to last three to five hours whilst playing a 3DS game with the backlighting turned down. This figure could be even less with all the lighting settings maximised.
However, that figure increases to inbetween five and eight hours if you’re playing a standard DS game. Once out of juice, it then takes 3.5 hours for a 3DS battery to fully charge.
So what do you all think of this battery life? It hardly makes the handheld highly portable. Is this the cost of 3D gaming – a handheld that isn’t great on long journeys? That said, the DSi does about the same in terms of play-time, but the 3DS is a much more powerful machine.
Animal Crossing for Wii got a series of item downloads before the year was out, courtesy of Nintendo. And now, it looks like the set out to start 2011 as they ended 2010: with plenty of downloadable items.
The latest addition is this rather stylish Gold Bed. Items in the Golden Series cannot be bought or grabbed from anywhere else, so this is your one and only chance to get hold of a gold bed with a chunky, embellished headboard and cosy golden quilt.
All you need to do is bump into Pete The Postman between now and 31 January to get hold of this new item, making sure your WiiConnect24 settings are enabled. Also, as with all Animal Crossing downloads, the gold bed won’t count in your favour when it comes to having your home assessed by the good people at the Happy Room Academy.
Having a save game file of the original Dead Space on your hard drive will unlock the original plasma cutter in Dead Space 2 right from the beginning, as confirmed by a member of the programming team in a recent tweet on their twitter.
It is not yet known how this will differ from the Dead Space 2 plasma cutter. Whether it’s simply a cosmetic change or whether there’s more substance, such as it’s more powerful. The save file doesn’t have to be anything special. You don’t need to have completed the game, even.
Who’s going to benefit from this bonus then, or if it turns out to be useful, who’s going to get a Dead Space save file especially?
Xbox Live mourned the loss of 1 vs 100: we were all sad when it was announced 1 vs 100 wasn’t going to be returning for another season – if only for the unfinished achievements that would blemish some gamer’s gamercards forever.
However, it seems 1 vs 100’s metaphorical shoes are going to be filled, and the currently empty interactive live show slot busied with a Full House Poker season. Already, players have begun to receive invitations to join a Beta version. It looks like you better start practising that poker face.
Anyone excited by Full House Poker? By the sounds of it, it will be Texas Hold ’em rather than Blackjack, but will it have the accessibility of 1 vs 100?
