Microsoft has confirmed that Dead Space Ignition, prequel to the upcoming Dead Space 2, will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace from 13th October onwards. A date and price has yet to be confirmed for the PS3 version, although it will cost 400 Microsoft Points to download for Xbox 360.
Dead Space Ignition is set after the events of the first game and similarly to Dead Rising: Case Zero, will offer a bridge to the next game in it’s series. The prequel sees you attempting to control a necromorph outbreak on the abandoned space station you are on, which, as fans will know, is called ‘The Sprawl.
Game Name: Bubble Bobble Double Platforms: Apple iPhone Publisher(s):TAITO Developer(s):TAITO Genre(s): Action, Arcade Release Date: October 1st, 2010 Price: $4.99 USD
Bubble Bobble has finally made it’s way to the Apple iPhone !! Anyone who’s as old as I am would of spent HOURS and HOURS in front of the TV playing Bubble Bobble when they were young and hands up the few of you out there who made it to the 100th round and actually finished the game ?? (Puts hand Up). Well if you think you’ve got what it takes then pick up your iPhone browse the App Store download Bubble Bobble Double and take up the challenge once again as you will not be disappointed. TAITO have brought back this beloved classic in all its arcade glory. If you’ve ever wanted to sit down and play the original Bubble Bobble adventure once again, then you’ve come to the right place. Everything you remember from playing this game back at the Arcades is right here in the palm of your hands. Everything from the classic 8 bit style graphics to the legendary music score which sounds even better now than it did all those years back is waiting for you to master all over again.
That said, fans of the series will also be glad to know that TAITO have also included another mode called NEW STYLE, that offers a completely new kind of experience which will keep you entertained for hours. New Style consists of two modes ; Normal and Challenge Mode. (This is discussed in greater detail in the video review below). Normal mode and Challenge mode work pretty much the same way. You must defend Bubblun from waves upon waves of approaching enemies by trapping them in a bubble by touching them on the screen then touching them again to burst the bubble and destroy them. The gameplay is quite simple but can become very tactical as you advance through the branching zones that lead you through the game determined by your performance and skill ranking at the end of each zone.
At the end of each zone you get to take on a boss enemy that will test you skills and reflexes. The video review will go through in further detail how trapping, flicking, and popping bubbles to destroy other enemies to set off bubble chain reactions to score you higher point bonuses which can then be posted online on Open Feint in the worldwide leaderboards.
New STYLE also consists of Challenge mode that has you battling against the clock in either 2 or 5 min challenges for the best possible high score so you can brag to the world how great you are (Currently MasterAbbbott is ranked 10th in the world in the 5 min challenge) See the bragging has already begun. Challenge mode is also covered in the video review in further detail. In a nutshell challenge mode is all about the high scores and getting the recognition you deserve online in the leaderboards.
The NEW Style also has an ITEM Library. Once you destroy enemies in either Normal Style or Challenge Style items appear on the screen. Touching them will add them to your collection, examples such items are the classic bananas apples and watermelons which appear if take out an enemy without performing any chain pop kills. There are also other items which will be harder to get and will need you to fulfill special in-game conditions before they appear. In total there are 80 items to collect and 2 achievements associated to them on Open Feint so for all you die hard collectible / achievement junkies out there this will keep you busy for quite some time.
The Classic mode is what all us hardcore Bubble Bobble fans have been waiting for. 100 levels of fast paced relentless arcade action with fluid and intuitive controls, fantastic music and most of all Unlimited continues !! Gameplay in classic mode is amazingly accurate. TAITO have not re-programmed or modified the original in way what so ever. If you still remember or used to have a specific strategy to take out the enemies on each level it will still work. The game runs exactly the same as the original arcade machine. As all iPhone games the onscreen controls still take a bit of time to get used to but once you have the hang of it and the speed of the game then this becomes second nature.
With the written review completed please enjoy the video review below. This does go through in greater detail all the modes and features of the game including Open Feint.
Bubble Bobble Double is great mix of old and new. Classic mode will bring back great memories where NEW STYLE will create new ones. Being able to take this classic game anywhere you go with the added bonus of unlimited continues will surely have anyone who wasn’t able to finish the game when they were a kid to go back and do it now. Pick this up from the Apple iTunes store for only $4.99 USD.
Yes, it is a bio about “The Pit” Level. Yes, it is quite interesting. Yes, there is tons of gore. No, I am not going to explain to you what “The Pit” level in Mortal Kombat is. Just watch the video, if you don’t get it all hope for you is lost.
Ubisoft is proposing to resetting the Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter leaderboards in preparation for the release of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier in 2011.
“Ok guys so this subject has been up for much debate and truth be told we decided the best thing to do was ask you all what you would like us to do.
With the GRFS release a little way off the suggestion of resetting the GRAW leaderboard has come up for discussion, the question is whether you would like us to or not?”
To register your vote, hit the link to the Forums, sign in or register a Ubisoft Forum login and then have your say.
If the leaderboard reset does happen, you’ll have another chance at those leaderboard based achievements within the game. Currently they are impossible without millions of hours of boosting.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood’s Multiplayer wouldn’t be any fun if everyone looked the same. The more character options, the better. Ubisoft has recently revealed two more of the characters that will be available in the retail version of the game.
Below, you will find two videos. The “Footpad” (weird name) and the “Smuggler”. Right now I’m leaning towards the smuggler.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood will be dropping in for the kill on November 16th, 2010 in North America and on November 19th, 2010 in Europe.
Game name: Green Farm Platform: PC (Facebook) Publisher: Gameloft Developer: Gameloft Release Date: Out now Genre: Flash/Background/Facebook Game Price: Free to play, option to buy in-game cash.
We are all familiar with the revolution of Facebook and gaming, especially with a little well known game called Farmville. One farm themed game may knock Zynga’s Farmville off its pedestal though: Gameloft’s Green Farm.
Story
One of the major concept differences between Gameloft’s Green Farm and Farmville is the addition of environmentally friendly organic crops and the use of windmills on buildings (hence the name Green Farm). The organic crops are more expensive, but yield more money and provide seeds that you can replant. I worked on an organic farm over the summer and this concept is true in real life as well. While you may think “wouldn’t non-organic crops provide seeds also?” you would be correct, but many companies have this weird policy where they do not allow their contracted farmers to reuse seeds, and instead buy new seeds from the company for each season. Crazy, right?
Gameplay
The concept of Green Farm is not unlike Farmville’s at all. You have a farm, you click on plots to plow, then to seed, then you wait a length of time to harvest. You can buy chickens and trees, and customize your avatar. It is essentially Farmville, just with better graphics and a few different concepts thrown in.
If you are one of the few that have held out on the constant urge to see what Farmville is about, the gameplay in Green Farm is pretty simple: you have a farm, you click on plots to plow, then to seed, then you wait a length of time to harvest.
Sarcasm aside, it is a game I like to call a “background game.” Whenever you choose and plant a vegetable crop, there is a predetermined amount of time until it harvests. It can be anywhere from ten minutes to several days. You keep in mind about when you have a harvest due, or keep it running in the background while you do some work or whatever else you want to do (like I am doing right now).
I do appreciate some of the improvements over Farmville though like a more customizable avatar, and they gave you the ability to even name your animals. My chicken is named Cutie Patootie right now. Oh, and your animals? They actually grow from being a baby to an adult. I have yet to find out if they die of old age, but I will let you know. You feed them as they get older, and eventually you have the option to collect from them, or else you can sell them. You can pet them too, isn’t that sweet?
There are still pop-ups letting me know that I don’t have any friends who play Green Farm, and I hate spamming friends with neighbor requests. When you do have neighbors though, there is a lot more social interaction than most social network games. You have the ability to see if your friend is also on their farm in real time and even have a chat with them (I guess in case you have yet to discover the chat feature on Facebook). You also receive the normal “help out!” prompt, but it is also a bit more interactive. Instead of just clicking yes and immediately receiving your reward, you actually have to scare off the bear or do whatever else your neighbor needs help with. You can also pet the animals for extra rewards, and the animals are pretty cute. So pet them.
Gameloft also included achievements in Green Farm. For instance, I received level 1 for the achievement “Big Spender” today. I have never really cared about achievements in games, so I don’t really care again here. Not to say that achievements are bad, I am just too lazy to go above and beyond in most of my games to receive them.
Like Farmville and other Facebook games, there is the ability to buy in-game cash. While I don’t mind there being the option, my biggest disappointment is that most animals require this in-game cash to buy. I am used to having unlimited amounts of chickens to buy, but you still have the option of winning them from the daily lottery.
Oh, and there is a daily lottery. It is as simple as it sounds. You receive three credits a day to try to win items like some seeds, an animal, or some money.
Overall, the gameplay and features are not especially original, they just work better than they do on Farmville.
Graphics & Audio
When I was told to review Green Farm, my first thought was “this game is never going to load.” Farmville is stupidly laggy on my older laptop, especially after they began adding all of the “extra” stuff, and having in game popups reminding you that you don’t have other friends who play Farmville (or was that just me?). Well lo and behold, Green Farm loaded like a dream, and it even plays like a dream. No more lag for me! Remarkably, they did not sacrifice the quality of the graphics for better loading time. In fact, the graphics are better than Farmville’s! The colors are much richer, and even have a little bit of a 3D feel. Your avatar is a little more detailed, and your animals look happy.
There is a nice, joyful loop of music that is reminiscent of The Sims’ music, except one octave higher and sped up. I also have the enjoyment of hearing my duck quack and my cow moo from time to time. Whenever my crops are ready, there is a nice little pop to let me know.
Overall
Green Farm is essentially a better Farmville. I hate to compare a game that way, but it is honest. There are some nice features to encourage environmentally friendly decisions, but really, they are only in a game and probably will not make a big real-world difference. All in all, there is not much innovativeness in the game play or even the design.
That being said, I like Farmville, so having a better version is great to me. It is a fun game to run in the background, and another way to connect with friends on Facebook. Unless you are me, and fail at being social on a social network.
The latest trailer to be released from Activision for Goldeneye is now available for your viewing pleasure. The trailer shows off many of the multi-player maps such as Facility, Nightclub, Jungle and many others that have been added or completely re-hauled from the classic for this brand new installment. I had yet another nostalgia trip just watching these newly detailed maps in action and cannot wait to try out the new and the old maps included.
You can check out the trailer below and also tell us what was your favorite map to play on in the classic Goldeneye title in the comments section.
All of the mobile farming market can now be put to shame as Mama is now on the App store to show everyone how to properly harvest their crops. Majesco and Taito have now announced that Gardening Mama is now available on the App Store. he App is an extension of the Cooking Mama franchise that has sold nearly 7 million units in North America and lets iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch users nurture 18 different flowers, fruit trees and vegetables across 20 different mini-games.
“We are thrilled to make Gardening Mama available on the App Store,” said Jesse Sutton, Chief Executive Officer, Majesco Entertainment. “This release ensures that the Mama franchise continues to grow and reach new players.”
The Gardening Mama App for the iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch lets players grow exclusive plants including: Durian Fruit, Eggplant, Chamomile, Basil and Lavender. Budding green thumbs use the innovative Multi-Touch user interface to control all aspects of their garden, from planting, watering, fertilizing and eliminating pests to harvesting what they’ve grown. Beyond growing, players can also “Make it Fancy” by using unlocked bonuses to dress up and accessorize Mama in fun new ways.
For those who haven’t had a chance to play the DS version or fans of that game or any of the Mama series, this looks to be a perfect app to practice your farming on the go for a low price of just $6.99. For additional information on the Cooking Mama franchise please visit www.cookingmamaus.com.
The team at Razer have been working non-stop, producing some of the best PC gaming peripherals on the market. It was recently announced that the the launch of a new suite of Razer Naga Special Edition gaming mice – the Razer Naga Maelstrom Special Edition and the Razer Naga Molten Special Edition will be available in November of this year.
“After the phenomenal response we received for the Razer Naga, we’ve decided to create two collectible versions to offer our fans even more ways to dominate their game,” said Robert “RazerGuy” Krakoff, president, Razer USA. “We took the same functionality of full button remapping and macro capabilities of the original Razer Naga and rejuvenated the aesthetic design for a more immersive MMO gaming experience.”
The original Naga received incredible reviews from users and reviewers alike and became a dream come true for WoW players all over the world.
Razer is going one step further with the announcement of the Maelstrom Special Edition, inviting MMO gamers to submerge into the heart of the vortex. Featuring the same 17 MMO-optimized buttons with unprecedented macro functionality, this mouse has a whirlpool of entrancing blue light emanating from its swirling core.
In addition to the Maelstrom version, Razer also introduces the Molten Special Edition which glows a wicked and fiery red hue. Along with the lava-red fissures cutting a jagged path across the mouse, the MMO-optimized buttons glow a blazing crimson color. No matter what version you choose, with a Razer Naga SE you will Get Imba!
Product Features:
Glowing vortex design and blue backlighting
17 Fully-programmable MMO-optimized buttons (including 12 button thumb grid)
5600dpi Razer Precision 3.5G Laser Sensor
1000Hz Ultrapolling™ / 1ms response time
Zero-acoustic Ultraslick™ feet
Optional MMO-specific software AddOns
Unlimited character profiles with AddOns
Approximate size: 116L x 69W x 41.6H (in mm)
The mice are not just eye candy, but some of the most comfortable equipment on the market allowing for precise and customized control. The price set for each is $149.99 (AU). For more information, check out www.razerzone.com.
Over the years we have seen MANY video game characters make the crossover to their own cartoon. Mario, Kirby, Donkey Kong, Viva Pinata…I could list these all day. Today it was announced that Ubisoft’s Rabbids would be getting their very own show. I know what you are thinking, but Ubisoft did seem to get a respected creator for the series, Aardman. Aardman have already created successful animated hits such as the Wallace & Gromit and Shaun The Sheep so it’s good to know the talent will be on board. I think it was only a matter of time considering the commercials and branding the Rabbids have been garnering since 2006.
Here is an official statement from Aardman and Ubisoft on the new Rabbids series:
Miles Bullough, Head of Broadcast at Aardman, says, “When the opportunity arose to work with Ubisoft on the Rabbids we leapt at it, we absolutely love the characters and can’t wait to help bring them to a television audience.”
“The not-so-subtle humour of the Rabbids has made them into icons in and beyond video games,” states Xavier Poix, managing director of Ubisoft’s French studios. “Aardman perfectly understands that humour and we are extremely excited to be working with them to bring the Rabbids to a new medium and a new audience.”
Ubisoft and Aardman’s in-house digital agency, Aardman Digital, already worked together on the Raving Rabbids brand by creating the website dedicated to the upcoming video game Raving Rabbids Travel in Time, which launches in November.
The Rabbids were not available for comment at this time.
This will certainly be a project to keep an eye out for and we will bring you more updates about the series as information is released.
