It’s no surprise that there is a PSP2 in the making. There have been rumors about this handheld for YEARS, running the gamut from using unicorn horns to power it to having a touch panel. Aside from these rumors, developers have recently been claiming to have the device already for development purposes, so you know the release and more information has to be close.
Close to this year’s Tokyo Game Show, Sony held a private meeting at its HQ to show off the PSP2. According to a few reputable people, it does indeed have a touch panel on the back of the device. The touchpanel has been described as similar to a giant trackball for a computer. It was also be sporting a larger screen, roughly one inch larger and will be apparently be capable of displaying in HD. Quite possibly the biggest and most interesting news it that it will have the long awaited dual analog, something both developers and fans alike have been clamoring for.
Rumor has it that it will release sometime in fall of next year, so expect to hear more official, non-rumor news shortly!
If you want to get a taste of Criterion Games’ Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit then you better be quick. Because tomorrow (Wednesday for UK) the demo will be hitting both the PSN and the XBLM, but rather than staying available forever like most demos do this one will be taken down on November 9th for an unknown reason, so better be speedy eh?
This demo will feature the game’s Autolog function which will be fully functional in the demo which will allow players to get a taste of exactly what it is. Inside of the demo players get to experience the cop side of gameplay in the Dark Horse Hot Pursuit event, and if players happen to invite a friend to play they can race on the Roadster’s Reborn event.
Players who do access the demo will receive 500 bounty points that will be accessible when the full version hits shelves on November 16th in the US and the 19th in the UK.
Interested in seeing what the three new maps for Halo: Reach will look like in action? Then you are in luck because today Bungie has released a new trailer that displays Anchor 9, Tempest, and Breakpoint in action with fights taking place on each one.
Breakpoint looks to contain plenty of Banshees and Falcons for airborne combat, the space station that players defended during the campaign in Anchor 9, and Tempest which appears to be an extended Forge map. One of these maps looks to also be usable for Invasion playlists.
The pack itself will cost 800 MSP ($10) and will be arriving on the XBLM November 30th.
2k Games announced the release date for Mafia II’s third DLC, Joe’s Adventures will be released on 23rd November.
Joe’s Adventures stars Vito Scaletta’s childhood friend Joe Barbaro, a brash and unpredictable wiseguy who loves to live the sweet life of money, fast cars, and faster women. When Vito gets sent to prison, Joe uncovers the truth behind his friend’s sentence, and it sets the stage for his own story to unfold.
This DLC features new missions, new locations not seen before in Empire Bay, new clothing, new collectables, and more excellent music from the 40s and 50s.
With the gaming frenzy that has been October, it has been tough to even think about next month’s just as large array of titles coming out. Ubisoft has released some dates on what to expect from them for November. So let’s get to it and start listing these off, shall we?
November 11th
H.A.W.X. 2 (PC/Nintendo Wii)
First up is a title that needs no introduction as it was already released for the Xbox 360 & Playstation 3 back in September (you can check out our review here). The sequel to the much praised aerial combat title H.A.W.X. will be hitting Nintendo Wii and PC on November 11th.
November 18th
Fighters Uncaged (Xbox 360) KINECT REQUIRED
One of Ubisoft’s highly anticipated titles exclusive to the Xbox 360 and Kinect is Fighters Uncaged. Fighters Uncaged is the Kinect’s first full-body combat game takes full advantage of the Microsoft’s Kinect to let players experience the authentic fighting style of Thai boxing in over 21 different environments.
Motionsports: Play For Real (Xbox 360) KINECT REQUIRED
Another Kinect Exclusive title from Ubisoft, Motionsports uses the Kinect to let players experience 6 different sports with precise motion controls. Sports include football, soccer, skiing, boxing, horse back riding & hang gliding head-to-head events with live commentary to voice over the action you create on-screen.
Your Shape: Fitness Evolved (Xbox 360) KINECT REQUIRED
With all of the Kinect releases for the 18th comes one that promises to keep gamers in shape for the holiday season, that being Your Shape: Fitness Evolved. The game contains workouts included a martial arts class lead by celebrity trainer Michael George, and a special weight loss class lead by Michelle Bridges, trainer for all 5 seasons on Australia’s “The Biggest Loser”.
November 25th
Michael Jackson: The Experience (DS/PSP/Nintendo Wii)
While there is no solid date for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the highly anticipated tribute to the King of Pop, it is great to know that the Nintendo DS, PSP, and Wii versions of Michael Jackson: The Experience will arrive on the 25th. Players on the Wii can experience a tracklist of some of Michaels biggest hits while reliving the memories of the music videos that helped MJ shoot to stardom and dominate the charts for nearly two decades. While not motion controlled like the Wii version, the portable versions are still looking just as good with a rhythm-action set-up to test your timing and skills in the same kind of nostalgic set-up featuring the gloved one himself.
Puzzler World 2011 (Nintendo DS)
With over 1000 puzzles included, Puzzler World 2011 hits the dual-screened portable on the 25th. Featuring classic favorites from Hangman to Sudoku and even handwriting recognition, this little title is looking perfect for anyone wanting some quick puzzle action on the go.
Prince of Persia Trilogy (Playstation 3)
Not to leave our Sony friends out, the Prince of Persia Trilogy will release on the 25th and features fully remastered versions of The Sands of Time, Warrior Within, and The Two Thrones.
Raving Rabbids Travel In Time (Nintendo Wii)
The Rabbid return to the Wii on a whole new adventure. Plunge into the past and revisit the greatest moments of history like the discovery of fire, the broken nose of the Sphinx or the 1st step on the moon. Uncover how Rabbids wreaked our past and decide if the course of history needs to be changed or play with friends with the over 20 new mini-games allowing up to 4 players to play simultaneously.
CSI: Fatal Conspiracy (Xbox 360/Wii/PS3/PC)
Fans of CSI will be sure to enjoy the newest entry into the game series, Fatal Conspiracy. The game lets you team up with the cast of CSI in Sin City to solve gruesome and intriguing crimes.
Quite a line up! It looks to be a bit of something for everyone with these titles. Below in the comments section, let us know which one of Ubisoft’s November releases you are most interested in.
Com2us have just open BETA testing for their upcoming music rhythm game “Touch The Beat“. If you own an iPhone and have a fair knowledge and understanding of iPhone games and why not apply to participate in the beta testing. All you have to do is fill out the form located at :
These are just some things you can get when you reserve Fable 3. Some of you may say “*yawn* old news buddy” but, some still do not know so, lets give everybody a chance. Reserving with Gamestop or GAME you can have a chance to create your own villager that will be inside the game. If you happen to run in to the villager you created it will have a unique quest. You will get experience points for it also. Gamestop is also giving a code for the Inquisitor sword and tattoo. Here is a fancy video from Gamestop explaining the details.
Game Name: Vanquish Platform: Xbox 360 Publisher(s): Sega Developer(s): Platinum Games Genre(s): Shooter Release Date: 10/19/2010 ESRB Rating: M (Mature) Price: $59.99 (USD) Demo:Add the Demo to your Instant Queue
Story The game takes place on an orbital space station called Providence. The Military have been dispatched to this station in order to get rid of a Russian extremist group known as the Order of the Russian Star. The station uses microwave energy to basically boil all water and the extremists have turned it onto San Francisco, instantly boiling all the water that is present (including the 70% found in the every human body nearby). It is up to the military to stop the extremist group before they do more harm. You play as a DARPA operative by the name of Sam Gideon. He is tagging along for two reasons: to test out the new ARS battle suit in the field, and to also save Professor Candide who is being held captive by the extremists.
Gameplay You can pretty much consider this game a 3D bullet hell game with third person shooter aspect thrown in just for fun. The entire game screams insane, and tons of missiles flying everywhere creates and adrenaline pumping experience. It isn’t only missiles either, debris and scenery will break all the time and you have to adjust your gameplay style to accommodate. The underlining gameplay includes: dash, get behind cover, focus, dash some more, and hide behind cover some more. I forgot to mention “shoot” didn’t I? Yeah, you’ll have to do a lot of shooting as well. A LOT!!
The screen literally fills up with missiles at every possible moment. Every enemy is trying to kill you and there are a lot of enemies. Not only missiles, but also bullets, debris, scenery, and more are coming at you at all times. The game is literally a 3D bullet hell and these are the bullets you need to avoid. Not only that, but you also have to shoot back at the people shooting the bullets at you. Luckily you have a few tricks up your sleeve that you can utilize in order to gain the upper hand. Since you are equipped with the ARS battle suit you have the ability to dash around really fast. This helps maneuver quickly while so many bullets are flying. There is also the ability to focus, which allows you to slow down everything that is happening around you and get better accuracy and also the ability to dodge bullets easier.
There are neat little extras in the game as well. There is a slight powerup system in place that lets you upgrade your guns. These upgrades can either be acquired by picking up an upgrade or by picking up the same gun 3 times while you are full ammo. These upgrades come in handy, but sadly you lose the upgrade if you die a lot. On the harder settings, your guns never get that strong because you die a lot and this in turn makes the game harder. It basically beats you down while you are already down on the ground. An arcade style scoring system is also within the game. This scoring system was nice to see how I did, but eventually I just skipped over it. Some people who go for leaderboard scores will like this but everyone else will look over it like a pointless gimmick. Finally there is the ability to smoke (we in no way condone smoking, but this is actually pretty nifty). During the cutscenes, the main character is a pretty hefty smoker. The developers decided to let the player themselves take a smoke break at a press of a button. Since the robots use heat to detect enemies smoking a cigarette while behind cover and then tossing it aside draws the enemy fire while you jump out and take them all out.
Challenges are also within the game and are unlocked by beating certain levels. These challenges are basic enemy wave scenarios, but they are used to recreate the most hectic moments in the game instantly. These moments are pretty much the craziest and hardest parts of the game without the story, or level progression attached. While it is just a whole bunch of enemy waves, it is still fun and adds more gameplay value to the game.
Audio & Graphics The audio easily fits in with the pace of the game, and the voice acting isn’t that bad either. The only annoying aspect within the audio is the one liners that everyone spits out. At first I found it amusing that whenever someone on my team got in my way, Sam would yell at the person and tell him to “move out of the way”; it felt like he was saving me the trouble of yelling it myself. Sadly, after a while it just became annoying and I wish they would all just shut up; but it doesn’t really take away from the fun of the game that much.
The graphics are superb. There are so many missiles on screen that I am amazed that I rarely saw any frame rate issues at all. The game seemed so smooth, and fast. The levels blow up around you, missiles come from everywhere, and robots blow up in a beautiful array of sparks and metal bits. What is even cooler, is when you focus and slow down everything around you. When you do this, you can see the bullets flying past you and the missiles slowly traveling towards you. Another nice little addition is that smoking in the game isn’t just something the main character does during cutscenes, there is actually a button that lets you take a smoke break.
Achievements
The achievement list is pretty easy. A majority of them can be achieved by simply playing the game. There are two sets of difficulty based achievements: one for beating each level and the game, and one for doing the same thing on hard or above. Then there is the statue achievements, which requires you to find all 112 statues in the game. This is the obligatory hidden item achievement, that seems to be necessary in every game. They don’t even do anything, other then add to your overall score if you find them. Other than those, the rest can be obtained by doing certain tasks or beating a certain boss in a certain way. Luckily the game is broken up into a whole bunch of levels and chapters, so doing any level specific achievements only requires you to load that level back up (if you have unlocked it through story progression).
Overview While Vanquish never really sucks you into the story and most of the characters are easily forgettable; the gameplay easily makes up for all of that. Bullets flying, robots blowing up into a million pieces, epic boss fights; the game yells “FUN!” and lives up to its word. Most third person shooters are pretty slow paced and require a lot of cover and shooting, Vanquish speeds everything up and cranks the insanity up a notch. There is even a button that lets you take a smoke break in the middle of all the insanity. Since it is so fun; however, the game seems pretty short and calls for about 6 or 7 hours of playing time based on skill level and difficulty. The “hard” and “god hard” settings will take a lot longer if you aren’t that good at the game though. Luckily, there are challenges to complete and the “God Hard” Difficulty that you unlock after beating the game on Hard. These additions are nice for a bit of replay value.
I give Vanquish
NOTE: I do not condone smoking in any way, form, or fashion. I just found it to be one of those neat little additions that fit in so perfectly while at the same time not being required at all for the overall gameplay experience. Small touches like that are rare in games these days.
Radiangames, a developer that strives to create a game a month for Xbox Indie games, has released their new game, Fluid. Players must collect all the dots while avoiding enemies like jellyfish. Collecting power-ups like power pills, vortices, speed pads, and teleporters will help you across the 35 levels available in the game. You can try Fluid right here or you can buy it for 80 MS points ($1.)
Luke Schneider of Radiangames says,“More than any game I’ve made in the series, Fluid has to be played to be properly appreciated. The fluid controls, intuitive gameplay, and flowing graphics combine to form a gameplay experience that feels unique and familiar at the same time.”
It all started on 8 December, 2006: the launch date of the Nintendo Wii. It was quite literally an overnight success with people queuing for days outside stores, sprawling across the streets with their deck chairs and sleeping bags in tow, almost like a group of disorientated campers who had got lost and ended up in the city.
70 million. That is the total number of Wii consoles sold as of March 31, 2010. But these are just the overall sales. It’s sales for the first week are equally impressive if not more so, and afterwards this prosperity for Nintendo only continued, with the Wii remaining sold out for months. It became a rarity, and if people happened to come across some that were in-stock, Wii’s were so sought after, people often picked them up and in turn, flogged them online at inflated prices for a tidy profit.
Naturally, Nintendo’s rival companies, Sony and Microsoft wanted their share of the success. They saw the opening to the new marker of casual gamers, as well as the appeal to their more experienced fans, and decided to seize the opportunity with their respective technology.
Sony had experimented with motion control in the past, with the various EyeToy games for PlayStation 2, and even the age-old Dualshock controller, when integrated with the PlayStation 3, had the added feature of tilt-sensitive controls. However, it was only when they announced the PlayStation Move, that Sony revealed their hand and truly entered the battle for superiority in motion control.
Moreover, after Microsoft witnessed Nintendo’s success with the Wii, they too followed suit and entered the motion control competition in the form of Project Natal. This, of course, was soon renamed Kinect for retail purposes and looks reminiscent of EyeToy, only with much greater capabilities due to advances in technology. It’s release is inbound and I will reserve my judgement until then, though things remain unchanged.
Here we are now, the calm before the storm, a moment of stasis before a frenzy of motion. What will this movement mean (pun intended)? Whichever way you look at it, gaming has a new direction, one of motion control. You only have to glance at some Wii sales figures to see that it appeals to the masses. Not only this, but motion control promotes a healthier and more active lifestyle which society craves. The question that remains is whether or not, as a result of the development in motion control, the controller as we know it will disappear? How would you all feel about controller-free gaming in the near future? Or will there always be a place for the control pad in the gaming industry?
Feel free to voice your opinions via the comment section below.
