In the future your mind is not your own as technology has been developed that can allow anyone skilled enough to be a hacker slip into your mind and take control of your entire body. That is exactly what has happened in the world of MindJack which is being developed by Square Enix for the Xbox 360 and the PS3. Today they have announced worldwide release dates for their upcoming futuristic third person shooter.
Everyone in the United States will have the chance to purchase the game on January 18th while those in Europe and Australia will have to wait a couple more days for their release date on January 20th. In MindJack players will be taking control of a mind hacker and have the ability to enter the minds of both allies and enemies and use them for your benefit. But in a world where anyone can be not who they appear to be, who can you trust?
Assume the role of a Mind Hacker hacking into and controlling the minds of enemies to turn the tide of battle.
Acquire XP to expand your hacker’s Arts abilities. Increase a character’s strength or improve your hit-rate – players can strategize according to their combat style.
Hack or be hacked! Players can slowly alter their gaming universe – or have it altered by other online players – one hack at a time.
Utilize futuristic weapons and real fighting techniques, like Krav Maga, in your virtual playground.
Upon the success of Real Racing, the developer has announced the sequel of its popular car racing game on the 11th of November, 2010. The peoples at Firemint’s office are working as hard as they can to release the game as they have promised to bring this out by Christmas this year. The game will be available for iPhone and iPod Touch, and the game will grant one of the most wanted requests by real racing fans around the world. The sequel will feature real cars, starring 2010 Chevrolet Corvette C6.R, 2006 BMW Z4 M Coupe Race Car, 2010 Ford Shelby Mustang GT5000, 2010 #33 Jaguar RSR XKR GT, and 2010 Nissan GT-R (R35). They are not done yet though, so more cars will be announced later. Also, there will be at least 10 hours of gameplay, with some very extensive career mode and car customization.
Now, sit back and enjoy the preview video that was just released hours ago.
Game Name:Lil’ Pirates Platform(s): iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad (iOS 3.0 or later) Publisher(s): Capcom Interactive, Inc. Developer(s): IUGO Mobile Entertainment, Inc. Genre(s): Simulation, Freemium Release Date:4th November, 2010 Price: FREE (GET IT NOW!)
Overview
Yo-ho-ho! Ahoy matey!! Welcome to the land of pirates and treasures! Capcom Mobile and IUGO Mobile Entertainment have worked together for the first time ever to bring you their latest freemium game. They are both great publishers and developers of games for the Apple handheld devices, with many great titles at their disposal. To name a few, Smurf’s Village, Capcom Arcade, Cliffed XL, Toy Bot Chronicles, and so on.
Gameplay
As the name suggest, you are a pirate in the land of no-where. You are now the captain of your ship (which is tiny to begin with), and you are to develop your crew and expand your ship crew to dominate the beautiful blue sea. There are a total of 12 maps and literally hundreds of locations for you to explore at the moment. More locations are accessible as you become higher level. Also, there are objectives available to set your goals and directions in the game so you are not lost in the sea of information. These objectives are of four categories, namely the basic, short-term, long-term and special objectives.
When you first started, you will be greeted by Captain Admiral. He will be the person-in-charge to guide you through the basics of the game. Simply said, the main thing to do as a pirate captain is to find treasures. Aye? Apart from that, there are plenty of mini games to keep you busy while you are waiting for your crew to come back from their exploration. You can catch the rats on your ship when you sent all your crews to look for treasures, do ship battles, play with your crew members, etc. These mini-games might be fun to begin, but it tends to get a bit boring later on as it is repetitive and easy once you get the hang of it. Other than that, you can also enjoy the beautiful scenery surrounding your ship. If you are lucky, you might even spot a pretty mermaid waving at you!
One of the thing that annoys me a lot is the turtle walking speed of *myself* on the ship. It is very irritating when I have to walk from one end to another, especially when I have a big ship. I’m pretty sure i can walk faster than that.
Furthermore, the social aspect is a bit lacking in my opinion. Twitter is not integrated, only Facebook. At the beginning, you will need to set up your Lil’ Pirates’s account to link with Facebook and add more friends from there. There is also an alternative for non-Facebook users where you add friends with their email (Seriously, how many of them don’t use Facebook?). But this is much more tedious as you can only add one email at a time. Besides, you can only accept one gift at a time. I could not imagine if I have 20+ friends to add or 200+ gifts to accept. Perhaps integration of Twitter and Game Center in future updates to improve the social aspect of the game.
On the upside, they have included a great feature to exchange titles with your friends. Earning a title from your friends could give you some very nice reward to help you throughout your pirate-ty journey. You can invite your friend to join your crew too!
Titles available for exchange with your friends
First mate – get a chance to gain 25% more fame when completing a job
Quatermaster – get a chance to get 25% silver when completing a job.
Sailin master – increased the chance of getting extra treasure after a job
Appraiser – get more silver when selling any treasures
Graphics/Sound
The graphical presentation of Lil’ Pirates is very well done. I especially enjoy the loading screens; it’s so pretty that I’d love to have them as my iPhone’s wallpaper. Not to mention that it also gives you a preview of what to expect later in game, such as the different themes of your ship, premium items available to decorate your ship, etc. In addition, I also like the fact that the different type of clothing are reflected on the avatar itself. (Such as the pirate-ized clothing or the cowboy hat!) These little touches are things that made this a great game.
As for the audio, it complements the game well. It comes with a nice and cute background music that will keeps you happy while you play. The sound effects of the surrounding is also well designed, it feels like what you will really hear when you are in the middle of an ocean. There is also voice-over for some simple phrases when you tap each of your crew. Nothing fascinating, but it does the job.
Conclusion
All in all, I like the idea of being a pirate and explore the land. There are plenty of things to do and look forward to, which is very important in these genres of games. I’m sure that fans of Farmville or Restaurant City on Facebook would love to have this on their Apple mobile devices. Like the other freemium games, in-app purchases in this game are optional and available for peoples who want to speed through the game. With a free price tag, this one will worth your precious time and space on your iDevices.
Sid Meier’s Pirates! Platform: Wii Genre: Action/Adventure Developer: 2K China (Firaxis Games) Publisher: 2K Games Released: 5 October
Sid Meier’s Pirates is a game that has seen plenty of ports during its time in circulation. From the notable PC version, to some of the other ports on various home consoles, it is a game that has seen a lot of action over the past decade or so. So how does this venture for the series on Nintendo Wii compare. Does it live up to the reputable reputation built up by its predecessors on the PC, or has there been mutiny aboard the 2K Games ship, and this is the result of the new captaincy.
The story is a classic tale of revenge. Kick-starting with a cutscene, the game sees a boy sitting down with his family for a hearty meal, a celebration in fact, as after being indebted for years to Marquis Montalban, the luck was finally due to change with the arrival of their fleet tomorrow. Close-knit family cheer is the meal of the day here, as the entire family celebrates the end of their austerity, and the start of their prosperity. However, their feast is brutally interrupted by a band of men, the Marquis himself bearing awful news: the fleet is no where to be seen and the debt is due. As there is no way to pay them to sort out their debts as the family is poor, the unwelcome debt-collectors see only one way of settling the debt: imprisoning the family as slaves. Fortunately, it doesn’t end here, because not only would it be the shortest and least active game of all time, but somehow, the young boy manages to struggle free and escape this horrible fate. And so the vengeance motif behind the storyline is born. The young boy promises to himself to rescue his family by freeing them from their unjust enslavement.
The plot then fast-forwards some years later, seeing your young boy now grown into a young man. It is here where your journey starts, cast as this young man as he seeks out a suitable ship to join as part of the crew. This is one of the many choices, and ultimately customisation, options available in the game, in this instance choosing to join one of four nations: the French, the Dutch, the Spanish, or the English. This choice isn’t just cosmetic. Your choice will correspond to the strength and size of your fleet, the missions you are involved in and the amount of ports you will have control of, and in a slightly indirect way affects the difficulty of the game, as by picking up one of the more built-up nations, you leave yourself less work to do. There is, however, the normal difficulty settings which outline the level of challenge in black-and-white terms. The difficulty is actually one of the strong points of the game, catering for all kinds of skill levels, from the very inexperienced with the lowest setting, to the absolute veteran who can amplify the difficulty to the full, as well as picking the hardest nation.
Although it is a work of fiction, the story stays true to the 17th century setting, with period details and even some infamous pirates from history such as Blackbeard and Captain Kidd making appearances. While it’s hardly historically accurate, they’re thoughtful additions that help to add to the authenticity of the experience on the whole. The game actually starts in 1660, but plenty of time elapses as you sail the sea. This is partly because it is highly uneventful and, for that matter, boring, much like I imagine real sea travel used to be for pirates. Most time is spent sailing a barren sea, with only the occasional encounter with other ships to engage. These sections are entertaining, introducing you to some on the classic mini-games from prior iterations in the series, as well as the Wii-exclusive new ones. In total there are five different mini-games in this Wii version. These are:
– Dancing
– Sword Fighting
– Ship Combat
– Bombardment (Wii-exclusive)
– Lock Picking (Wii-exclusive)
‘Ship Combat’ is by far the best, purely for the opportunity to live out those dreams of being a swashbuckler of old yourself. It’s responsive and the controls for this particular section are simple but well-mapped out on the controller nonetheless. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for some the other mini-games. Such as ‘Sword Fighting’; it is clumsy and unenaging. The swordplay isn’t precise and for this reason, the result is an unsatisfying, wrist-flailing experience. Or one of the new additions, ‘Lock Picking’, which is just too awkward to warrant any kind of fun.
On the other hand, one of the positives of Sid Meier’s Pirates is the colossal customisation on offer. It dwarfs any other game on the Wii for detail with it’s PC-level of depth. Honestly, it has to be one of the most in-depth Wii games out on the system, with everything represented as a choice or changeable. From changing the design of your ship, to changing the outfitting of your character, to even altering your character’s traits, it has to be one of the most in-depth Wii games out on the system, with everything represented as a choice or changeable. You can even change your personality which is then reflected in-game. Choosing your speciality as romance will improve your prospects of wooing the ladies. Or perhaps you’re military-minded and want to develop your skills on deck. Simply choose one of the options that relate to this and you can have such benefits as increased accuracy, or better speed sailing against the wind.
Overall, Sid Meier’s Pirates is a slightly odd choice for a Wii game. Almost every inch of it feels like a PC game, and it possesses a level of detail unparalleled by any other Wii game. However, it is for this reason why it doesn’t really work on Wii. The customisation offered is impressive, but most will find it too in-depth and as a result, boring, especially considering the average Wii owner. The controls for the most part are lifted from keyboard and mouse and plonked onto the Wii Remote, using little/no motion control elements, and the parts that do feature motion control just feel gimmicky. It’s got a decent level of variation in regards to difficulty, which could entice Wii gamers looking for a more ‘core experience, and as one of the only pirate games on Wii, punters may have no choice but to pick this up in order to fulfil their fantasies of becoming a pirate. Still, I can’t help but recommend the far superior PC version of the game.
In preparation for the new expansion, Cataclysm, Blizzard is doing a crazy promotion for the original World of Warcraft game and it’s two first expansions:
For a limited period of time, until November 30, you can grab World of Warcraft for U$5 (U$19.99 original price), the expansion “The Burning Crusade” for U$5 (U$29.99 original price), and even their most recent expansion “Wrath of the Lich King” is available for a special price, U$10 (U$39.99 original price).
It’s the best chance you have to try the game and see if you still can keep your social life active, huh? Just kidding.
Gameloft has just released a teaser trailer for its upcoming 3D action shooter. As the masculine and handsome shadowy guardian (hence the name, “Shadow Guardian”), you will need to prevent the enemies from laying their hands on an ancient, precious and powerful relic. We are not sure how are you going to do that yet, but most probably you will need to do some running, jumping and climbing, and kill lots of peoples somewhere in an ancient temple. The setting looks amazing in the video, and it looks like they going with the typical joystick and on-screen button control. Though, the crisp clear graphics and fantabulous game-play already makes me drool.
We only have a “coming soon” from Gameloft, but we will keep you updated as soon as we find out about its release date. Enjoy the trailer while you wait and some screenies for all of you to drool at!
Disclaimer: Read this at your own risk. We are not responsible for any spending disease outbreak upon reading this article.
There is only one thing left for me to say to our beloved game publishers/developers. I LOVE YOU ALL! 我爱你们！みんなはだいすき！(Variation of “I love you all” in Chinese and Japanese) *uh hum* Alright, without further ado, I shall present you another list of sales on the App Store. Enjoy the sales frenzy! Personally, I don’t see these games go on sale very often. So, make sure you pick up these deals before it is too late!
Chillingo
Defender Chronicles – Legend of the Desert King $2.99 -> $0.99
Billabong Surf Trip $2.99 -> $0.99
Fiona’s Flowers $1.99 -> $0.99
Radio Flare REDUX $2.99 -> $0.99
Master of Alchemy $2.99 -> $0.99
Cogs HD $4.99 -> $1.99
Radio Flare REDUX HD $4.99 -> $0.99
Parking Mania HD $2.99 -> $0.99
Master of Alchemy HD $4.99 -> $0.99
Gameloft
Hero of Sparta II $6.99 -> $0.99
Let’s Golf!® 2 $4.99 -> $0.99
Asphalt 5 $4.99 -> $0.99
Brothers In Arms® 2: Global Front $4.99 -> $0.99
Iron Man 2 $4.99 -> $0.99
NFL 2011 $4.99 -> $0.99
Shrek Kart™ $4.99 -> $0.99
The Settlers $4.99 -> $0.99
UNO™ $4.99 -> $0.99
Real Golf 2011 $6.99 -> $4.99
GT Racing: Motor Academy HD $6.99 -> $0.99
Hero of Sparta 2 HD $6.99 -> $0.99
Let’s Golf! 2 HD $4.99 -> $0.99
Shrek Forever After : The Game HD $4.99 -> $0.99
Splinter Cell Conviction™ HD $6.99 -> $0.99
The Settlers HD $9.99 -> $0.99
Brothers In Arms® 2: Global Front HD $4.99 -> $0.99
Iron Man 2 for iPad $4.99 -> $0.99
Shrek Kart ® HD $4.99 -> $0.99
Glu
Paperboy: Special Delivery $4.99 – $0.99
Build-a-Lot 2: Town of the Year $2.99 -> $0.99
Deer Hunter 3D $2.99 -> $0.99
World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend $1.99 -> $0.99
World Series of Poker Hold’em Legend for iPad $4.99 -> $0.99
Build-a-Lot 2: Town of the Year for iPad $4.99 -> $0.99
Deer Hunter 3D for iPad $4.99 -> $0.99
Super KO Boxing 2 for iPad $2.99 -> $0.99
Deer Hunter: African Safari for iPad $6.99 -> $2.99
I honestly am a bit late on this news, but if you were like me and didn’t hear yet, the final roster has been revealed for Mario Sports Mix. For some odd reason I didn’t think about since Square-Enix were developing the title that they would obviously use characters from Dragon Quest and the Final Fantasy series as well, but I am excited to say that this has came to be.
The Final Roster includes:
Mario
Luigi
Peach
Daisy
Koopa
Koopa Jr.
Wario
Waluigi
Yoshi
Toad
Donkey Kong
Diddy Kong
Ninja
White Mage
Black Mage
Moogle
Cactuar
Slime
Mii
Along with the reveal comes a press release stating how each stage works and a bit more of what to expect within the title.
Play as famous Nintendo characters or challenge your own personalised Mii character to a match against of the likes of Mario, Peach, Yoshi or Toad. However, choose your stage carefully as it will affect gameplay in challenging ways changing the way the ball and your surroundings behave. During each game you will also find items that will scupper the opposition and coins that increase your score, so that the final result is never certain until the very end. For example allowing you to slip up your opponents with banana peel or shoot a green shell to stun another player for a couple of seconds so that they lose possession of the ball. Each character in the game also has a different special move, like filling the opponent’s side with flowers for Daisy or throwing a yellow “bomber shot” for Wario.
Mario Sports Mix can be played in single player mode or in up to four player matches in every sport where you compete for three different cups: Mushroom, Flower and Star Cup. Play as your chosen Nintendo characters and pit your skills against your opposition of 8 teams to become champion of each fast and furious sport, where additional stages and characters will be unlocked upon victory.
To ensure your experience will never be the same, when replaying a tournament, an alternative path may appear where you will be faced with special challenges or a mini game from the party mode to complete. Four different mini-games can be played, each inspired by a different sport. In the Basketball mini-game, Feed Petey you must grab low-hanging fruits from the ceiling and aim them directly into the mouth of Petey the piranha plant… In Smash Skate, you must push other players off a ledge using hockey sticks to perform charged shots and Bomb-omb Dodge requires you to dodge bombs that are shot by cannons at each corner of the Dodgeball court. In the final mini-game Harmony Hustle, different coloured volleyballs are thrown in line with the music onto the court – you must catch the one of your own colour and avoid a multitude of traps and balls to win combo points.
Dodgeball still is my first sport I must try in Sports Mix but after seeing these new characters and modes, it will be hard to choose. Moogles, Slimes, Mages, and more make up what looks to be one of the most promising Mario Sport’s titles in years and it will be an agonizing two months two wait until the game launches in late January.
Fluidity, also known as Aquaticus, will be arriving to the WiiWare in a couple of weeks and Nintendo have revealed a rather short yet interesting video of how the game is actually played. The video pretty much features how waggle and tilt control works within the game to slosh the water back and forth. It is interesting to see Nintendo behind this rather obscure title, but Fluidity may be one of my most highly anticipated title for the WiiWare in quite a while.
Along with the video, Nintendo have also released this statement to explain some of the powers and abilities within the game:
Players tilt, twist and flick the Wii Remote controller to splash and gush past challenging obstacles in Aquaticus, an illustrated encyclopedia. Players can unlock additional powers, such as the ability to freeze into a slick ice block that can shatter. Or players can boil the water and become a menacing vapor cloud with the power to shoot lightning. Players need all these abilities to conquer the dangerous chapters within Aquaticus.
Fluidity isn’t scheduled to hit the Wii until December 6th for 1200 points, but you can check out the new video below to get a nice refreshing sip of what to expect in the clip for this liquid physics- based puzzle/adventure.
