In a totally sweet article on Engadget, it has been revealed that firm plans for the Windows Phone 7 on Verizon are coming. Although the leak is targeted at Micrsoft employees, it is fairly easy to imply that it will eventually come for the general public as well. The HTC Trophy will include:
3.8-inch WVGA display.
5 megapixel cam.
16GB of storage.
and 802.11n.
One of the really cool features available on the phone is quad band global networking. This means that the HTC Trophy can roam on CDMA and GSM networks (many networks outside of the USA are GSM.) I am really looking forward to trying out the Windows Phone 7 OS and now that it is probably coming to Verizon, there is no excuse.
Do you want to know why one of the reasons Gran Turismo 5 was taking so long? So do I. One reason is called the course creator Polyphony Digital put in the game. Yes that is right. You can create your own tracks just like if you were in Modnation Racers. So you say, Zach how does this so called course creator work? Well we are in luck folks because we have a video that shows us how. Now I am hoping they have car customization like in some Need for Speed games and I will die happy. For your viewing pleasure.
Need for Speed Hot Pursuit was launched on a variety of platforms today. We already got to share the iPhone launch trailer with you. But we also get to show the launch trailer for the other platforms. Excitement is now speeding everywhere! Are you ready?
With a Need for Speed game launching today, there probably won’t be news of another sequel right? Actually, Electronic Arts has bestowed upon us an announcement trailer for Shift 2 Unleashed. Although Need for Speed is not in the title, there is telltale mark in the logo that makes us think it is connected. If this trailer is any indication, Shift 2 Unleashed will excellent.
In a saddening story, Tom Clany’s Ghost Recon Future Soldier and Driver: San Francisco have been delayed again. The new release date is around April of 2011 or later. However, the beta for Ghost Recon will still be coming, albeit at a date closer to the new release date.
There is one bright spot in this story. Ubisoft saw some astonishing sales on the digital front. During an investor conference call, CEO Yves Guillemot explained “We plan to come with more games for full digital distribution, on XBLA/PSN. Either with current games like Beyond Good & Evil, the first three Splinter Cells, and the Prince of Persia trilogy.” Although we already knew about a Beyond Good and Evil remake, Splinter Cell and Prince of Persia are relative newcomers to the HD remake news front. Initial rumors/reports indicate that Splinter Cell and PoP remakes will be on the PS3, but we will update you on any new stories about these franchises.
Update: Playstation Blog just announced that a Prince of Persia twosome will available in December. Warrior Within and the Two Thrones will be priced at 14.99 on the PSN exclusively in 3D and HD.
Fans of The Witcher are getting double edged news today; the release date of The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings has finally been set by CD Projeckt, but that date is nearly the middle of next year. Set for a release date of May 17th, 2011 The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings will be the direct sequel to the hit first game that stepped outside of the box with it’s content.
The first Witcher contained very dark themes, deep narrative and gameplay, all the while being funny and a bit adult oriented at certain times. There hadn’t truly been a game like it until it’s release and fans have been eagerly waiting for the sequel that was announced quite some time ago. One thing that fans of the series will notice is that the game engine, Aurora, that was used in the first game is no longer being used. Instead a new unnamed system has been incorporated and a combat system overhaul has also occurred.
I played the first game of the Witcher series myself when it came out back in 2007 and I loved it. The entire setup was something new and fresh feeling in a genre where it is easy to fall into the mundane similarities of other 3rd person RPGs. So it is great news to hear that the The Witcher 2 finally has an official date.
Also it just so happens that the Collector’s Edition for the game has just shown up on GameStop. Being listed for $130 may seem a bit pricey at first, until you check out the contents below:
The Vernon Roche Commando Jacket (boosts player’s sword-fighting abilities when equipped).
Making-of DVD
Official Soundtrack
World Map
Art Book
Geralt Sculpture
Temerian Coin
Dice Set
3 Stickers
Playing Cards and Rulebook
Cursed Coin and Pamphlet
Papercraft figures of the “Big Bad” and two game characters
Micrsoft has announced that the Xbox 360 Kinect has sold one million units in 10 days. They have also projected that by December 31, 2010, the Kinect will have sold 5 million units. The controller that loves your body will launch in Asia on November 18 and in Japan on the 20th. By the years end, 38 countries will have the hands off controller.
“We are appreciative of the response we have seen from consumers that has culminated in sales of more than 1 million units in the first 10 days on the market for Kinect for Xbox 360,” said Don Mattrick, president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “This is a great start to the holiday season, and we will continue to work with our retailer partners to keep pace with high demand and deliver against our plan to sell more than 5 million Kinect sensors worldwide by the end of this year.”
A final interesting statistic is that 25 million Gold members play XBL over 1 billion hours a month or 40 hours a month per member.
Just yesterday, Capcom announced that they will bring the Muay Thai master Sagat to Street Fighter IV for iPhone in a coming free update. Sagat first appears in the original Street Fighter as the final boss of the game. Subsequently, he also appears in later releases in the Street Fighter series across various gaming platforms.
In addition, the update includes a new local match making feature that will auto connect players when they get within Bluetooth range of each other. Nearby players will be able to challenge you while you’re playing in the Tournament, Free-Sparring and Training Room. Apparently, “player’s card” will also be included in this future update (as shown in one of the screenshots), which contains information of your personal achievements and battle stats. There is no set date yet for the release of the update, but we will keep you in the loop. In the mean time, check out some of the screenshots below while waiting for Sagat to unleash its power in Street Fighter IV!
Following the great success of Need for Speed: Shift and Need for Speed: Undercover, Electronic Arts (EA) brings another hit to the NFS franchise, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit (App Store Link). This game is just released to the App Store today, with a price tag of $4.99 (and equivalent amount in other currencies). It now shares the same price with the other NFS games on the App Store. The game is also released to the other platforms on the same day, including the Playstation 3, Windows, Wii, and Xbox 360. We don’t know whether the game-play and the length will be the same across platforms, but we’ll see soon enough.
What interests me about NFS: Hot Pursuit is the introduction of Autolog. It is certainly an innovative approach to connect racers from all over the world. Read this excerpt from the official website.
Autolog is the intelligent engine at the center of our most connected Need for Speed ever, keeping you in the middle of the action both in and out of the game. Through Autolog, you can track your career and game stats, check out all your captured photos, brag about your latest accomplishments, and jump directly into challenges recommended by Autolog’s comparison engine based on your friends’ gameplay.
And all of this will be extended to the Hot Pursuit website, as well. You’ll be able to easily upload your Autolog profile picture from your computer, run a side-by-side stats comparison with any of your friends, text-chat directly with any friend in the game, and most importantly, save any Autolog Recommendation for the next time that you’re in the game. This way, if you check the site on your lunch break and see that one of your buddies just knocked you out of first place on a given race, you can make sure it’s all cued up the next time you’re in the game.
With stunning high definition visual made to utilize the Retina Display on the 4th generation’s iPhone and iPod Touch (not forgetting the iPad as well), it offers a different gaming approach from the conventional racing game. You drive as a cop, and pursue the racers. Alternatively, you can drive as the racer, and be pursued by the cop. Of course, multiplayer is also integrated with local wifi and bluetooth for all the racing fun with your friends. It sure looks good from the screenshots and the video trailer. Will you get this? Let us know in the comment!
More details can be found at their official website: Link
Atlus has decided to reward their fanbase with a bit of a sale for the upcoming holiday season. Did I say bit of a sale? Well as you can see in the title that isn’t just a normal sale according to Atlus, it’s a Super-Mega-Ultra sale! This sale cuts the price of 10 PSP games and 1 PS3 game in half in the PSN store. The sale itself will run from now until close to the end of the month on November 29th.
These titles are going to be hard to pass up at these prices. For example we have not just one, but two different Persona titles available for half price; especially Persona 3 Portable which is hard to pass up. There are also a variety of other different games from brawlers to RPGs and puzzle games. I don’t know about the rest of you but I am going to be picking up a couple of these myself. Unfortunately though this deal only extends to the North American Playstation Store.
Catch the full list of games below; and their sales prices!
