With Microsoft’s Kinect out for less than week here in Australia, the amount of people getting off the couch and starting to having some fun by moving, punching, kicking and scoring goals has been phenominal. Gone are the days of lounging around eating potatoe chips and drinking beer. Now you’re standing in front of the Kinect fighting for your life, trying to kick the living crap out of your opponent in Fighters Uncaged or trying to score that winning goal in Motion Sports.
Getting in on the fun, the cool dudes over at UBISOFT Australia have created two funny Kinect Videos aimed at breaking the family friendly mould. Hopefully this sort of stuff is happening in your house 😉 Check them both out below.
As if Popcap didn’t need another reason to get us to buy their addictive games, they are now having a sale on all downloadable titles cutting the prices if half! Bejeweled, Plants vs Zombies, Insaniquarium, Zuma, I could go on and on about how many great titles are listed, but you can check it out for yourself by clicking HERE to be taken to PopCap’s official website.
This sale is like many holiday sales, is for a limited time only and excludes game bundles, but either way, if you have been holding off on grabbing any of these titles, now is the time to cash in and get a great deal!
So sometimes Google translations pay off. Please treat the following as “unconfirmed” rumour that more or less appears to be correct, as EUROGAMER.dk is reporting a bizzare incident where one of their journalists sat behind one of the guys from Bethesda working on the game. It appears that a direct sequal to Oblivion is indeed, in the works:
“On a trip by plane today was one of our editorial staff at an incredible event behind a person involved in the game project.
He not only confirmed the role of the game’s current production, but also spoke briefly about the content – that is part fantasy scintillating words of like Dragon Lord, anything with Blades, and voice acting for the characters in the game is on in these weeks.
The same source confirmed with official game documents in hand, this will be a direct sequel to The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion, which is the latest game in the now 16 years old Elder Scrolls saga and of itself one of the last years of better RPG for PC and consoles.”
I could copy and paste broken English all day, especially the word ‘scintillating’ but the gist of it is, that the game will be out for PC PS3 and 360 and features possible returning voice actors? Also note the word Dragons…
For all intents and purpose it makes sense, as the handover of Fallout went smoothly enough and this rumour has been around for a while, here’s hoping for something more concrete soon (like pics!)
So as the bombs fly over in Korea, another kinds of world domination is afoot with Bungie Activision wanting you! to help them come ever closer to their goal of ‘taking over the world’. Yes, their next big thing in under way and Beta testers are required as soon as possible.
All that’s required is that you dust off those Bungie.net accounts we all know you secretly keep under your hats (it’s the Playstation players dirty little secret) and check in with a valid email address. There is an option to be notified of any potential beta positions under ‘edit profile’
“Making great games is no small endeavour,” reads the post over on Bungie.net. “Today we ask you, our community, to officially put your name on the list of those willing to lend a helping hand. Service requires only a Bungie.net account and a valid email address.”
“Not all who enlist will be selected,” the post continues. “But hundreds of thousands of gamers will likely be needed before all is said and done. March with us, and together, we will bask in the glory of World Domination.”
Bungie also has a slew of jobs apparently up for grabs as well, that is if you have the credentials (and sheer talent ) to back it up so it might be time to stop pretending you never played Halo and go check it out.
Recently I reviewed Shaun White Skateboarding and noted some of the interesting ideas the game uses in skateboarding, such as magical powers, air-skating (awesome) and creating your own rails/ramps.
Obviously the realism factor goes way out the window performing these moves in game, but this is an extreme sport, so a total lack of realism is expected and even enjoyable.
Well apparently I was wrong, these sorts of tricks can be performed in RL, but only if you’re professional ofcourse. If you’d like to see the wacky mechanics of the game without even playing it for yourself, you should check out some of the clowns in the videos below. They’re attempting to re-create some game mechanics in RL for the sake of your amusement.
Story “Experience Castlevania: Lords of Shadow from Kojima Productions and Mercury Steam in this third-person action game. The Earth’s alliance with the heavens has been threatened by a dark and malevolent force and it is the end of days. Play as Gabriel, a member of the Brotherhood of the Light, and experience an all-new Castlevania game unlike any other.”
Earth and Heaven have been separated and it is up to you to banish the evil and enable the departed souls of the dead to finally enter heaven. A prophecy has revealed that the dead have a message for you, and you have to head off to Pan’s domain in order to communicate with the dead and learn the message. I would continue, but I’m afraid of giving any more spoilers and you’ll just have to find out where the dead send you when you play the game; though I’m sure the title gives some of it away.
Gameplay The gameplay strays completely away from what you would expect from a Castlevania game, but this doesn’t mean it is bad.This Castlevania is quite linear and the new gameplay involves exploring vast levels, and killing a lot of things with your combos and magic. Puzzles are scattered throughout the game, but none of them are actually that difficult and can be solved after a bit of thinking.
Throughout the game you will use devastating combos to dispatch your enemies. On easier difficulties it may get boring because you just spam the attack buttons, but on harder difficulties you have to dodge and time everything well in order to land a few attacks in. Magic is also in the game, the first of which is Light Magic which pretty much is just used to heal yourself. There are a few offensive uses for light magic, but healing is usually the primary use especially on harder difficulties. Since you have to kill enemies without getting hurt, or find magic fountains (that’s not what they are called, but they supply magic and it just kind of got stuck in my head; kind of like “Health Fountains”) to recharge your magic; and since you only have so much magic, healing is the first priority.
There are many massive boss battles that require you to figure out certain patterns and in the end defeat the boss. Discovering the patterns might take a few attempts, but once you figure it out most bosses can be beat pretty easily. The real annoyance I found is that there are checkpoints in the middle of a boss fight. Some people might feel that this is a good thing, but you don’t get full health again between checkpoints. If you hit a checkpoint with almost no health, you are going to have a very hard time progressing farther.
The game is split up into a whole bunch of bite-size levels. Each Chapter has levels within it, and the bite-size formula has good aspect and bad aspects. Since you can jump back to almost any part of the game without having to replay a massive level, you are able to enjoy your favorite moments immediately. The problem with this formula, is the levels seem slightly disjointed since you always return to the menu screen. I got used to it after awhile, but in the beginning it was slightly annoying; it was as if someone kept pushing me off my bike and I had to get back on and continue riding.
There are tons of things to unlock within the game, mostly upgrades but you need to purchase them with experience. As you progress through the levels you will gain experience. You can spend this experience to learn new combos and new spells. As you progress through the game, more combos and spells will unlock for you to purchase. There are also bonus items that don’t help you within the game that you can purchase with experience; however, it is mostly just artwork. There are also a bunch of weapon upgrades and hidden objects hidden throughout the levels. Usually there is one upgrade per level and a few gems and scrolls hidden around. The gems are used to increase your health and magic meters, and the scrolls reveal some backstory. You can’t always get the items on the first attempt through a level, and they may require you to return with a better spell or new move. This detail here, almost calls back to the old Castlevania gamestyle, but it is rarely required to turn back for those items. The entirety of the game is pretty linear.
Audio & Graphics The soundtrack is superb. The epic music creates a perfect atmosphere while you are playing. This is the kind of music you would hear in a big movie title. The big boss battles are stunning, with music to match the pace of the battle almost perfectly. The only downfall in the audio is the melodramatic lines that the voice actors had to read; the voice actors were superb, but there lines were somewhat disappointing.
The graphics are sunning as well. The levels are massive, and the game is simply beautiful to look at. Every chapter is unique and carries its own mood as you play through it. The only problem I had was the fact that the game had a bit too much light. There weren’t many moments where I felt the dark embrace of a shadowy corridor, or the spookiness of a deep cave. I’m not completely complaining about it, because I hate games where the entire thing is dark and a pain to see; but this game could have done with just a bit more.
Achievements The achievements are nice and will have you playing the game in its entirety. A lot of the achievements require you to pretty much buy everything within the game with your experience points. There are also levels to beat, collectables to find, weapon upgrades to discover, and a whole bunch of secret achievements that aren’t actually story based. I usually reveal the secret achievements if they are story based and don’t give any real spoilers, but in this case I cannot do that; so no achievement list for you. But I can tell you this: “you will be playing this game a lot, and quite a few times in order to get all the achievements.” In order to get some of the higher scoring achievements you need to beat each level once, then beat the trial you unlock on that level as well as beating it on the hardest difficulty (which are both unlocked by beating the level once). You can do both the trial, and the hardest difficulty the same time, but I wouldn’t advise it. Luckily, the disjointed level setup helps with the achievements a lot. Since every single section of the game is split up into bite-sized chunks, you can pretty much get back to any part extremely quickly.
Overview The real problem that lies in this game is the fact that “Castlevania” is in the title. A lot of people expect a totally different kind of game and a different gameplay style all together. The story doesn’t even follow that closely either; aside from the vampires, werewolves, and skeletons. Once you get passed the fact that this game doesn’t play like the more popular Castlevania games you will be able to enjoy it a lot more. The game easily makes up for straying from the Castlevania formula by providing beautiful scenery, an epic soundtrack, fun gameplay, and a massive game with tons to explore and even more things to kill.
I give Castlevania: Lords of Shadow
While Radiant Historia has already been seen on shelves in Japan, the rest of us are sitting and waiting for another great RPG for the DS to hopefully make its way across the seas. Thankfully we won’t be waiting in the dark anymore as we have a relative release date now from Atlus. Because today Atlus USA announced that Radiant Historia will be released on February 22nd 2011. Which means we have around four months of waiting to do. Compared to how long some localizations take, this is great news.
But for those who do not know what Radiant Historia is even about, we have a little bit of information for you. In the game you control Special Intelligence Agent Stock who uses a magical book called the White Chronicle that allows him to travel through time to alter history and prevent the destruction of the world. The game will be sporting a gridlike battle system where players can create combination attacks depending on their move order and where the enemies are located. But beyond the fighting, there are multiple endings too depending on what the player decides to change in his travels through time.
That isn’t all though because Atlus will also be releasing a music CD that will include the game’s original soundtrack including music from composer Yoko Shimomura as a bonus for those who buy the game. Catch the full trailer for the game below.
Now in Japan Pokemon Black and White have already been out for two months now and everyone has grown accustomed to the starter Pokemon that you see above. The names that they were given in the Japanese release of the game was Tsutarja, Pokabu, and Mijumaru. However that won’t be the case when the game is brought overseas to everyone outside of Japan.
Instead these starter Pokemon will have their names changed entirely. Rather than Tsutarja we have Snivy, instead of Pokabu we have Tepig, and there will not be a Mijumaru but a Oshawott. But that isn’t the only thing that is getting a name change in the end. The region that the new Pokemon adventures will be taking place in will be called Unova instead of Isshu.
While fans of the original names can easily give their starter Pokemon nicknames that match their old names from Japan but I doubt many people will be to worried about the name changes, as some of them match their Pokemon appearance better. No news of a specific release date yet other than sometime next year, but at least we know now why our starter Pokemon won’t be called the same thing as we thought they would when we do have a chance to play the game. You can even get a little preview of the Starters’ stats on Pokemon Black & White’s official website.
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This Expires midnight Sunday so get in now and take advantage. The voucher can only be used once per person – so make sure you get everything on your list on one order – This is an early Christmas present from team Fishpond. The voucher code to use is : GH3KXP
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If you want the Xbox 360 Kinect Console Bundle 250GB click on the image below. Happy Shopping !! 🙂
Have you played Super Meat Boy recently? You may very well want to do so if you have not. Today, the developers behind the game (aka Team Meat) released a free DLC pack that tells the story of Gish. If you bought the game, you must unlock “teh internetz” by collecting 20 bandages. You can then play the add on called “Sewers of Dross.”
Keep in mind that this is the first of many similar packs to come along for the game, so keep trying to beat every level so you won’t get too far behind when they release the next pack. Team Meat says that these packs, “allow us to make chapters that no other character could beat except the one in question, a very fun restriction that allows us to make totally fresh levels that almost make the game feel like a whole new platformer.”
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