As you can see, Europe already has it’s own Edition, with the zombie figurine. But Capcom seems to be spoiling the european consumers (including me! =) ), because, according to some online retailers, the “pill-popping” edition will be coming to Europe, also, but it will be dubbed down, and will contain only the Zombrex syringe-pen, “Making of” bonus disc and the shiny steel case.
At UK retailers, this Limited Edition costs £59.99, and will be available on October 1st, 2010.
Got an iPAD ? Don’t have much games on it ? Well nows your chance to grab some Ultra cool titles from Gameloft for only $1.19 AUD (.99c US) each. Details links and description for both Iron Man 2 and Brothers In Arms 2: Global Front HD.
PLAY WITH IRON MAN OR WAR MACHINE
Play as Iron Man for speed and agility or suit up as War Machine for maximum firepower. Both suits offer easy-to-learn controls and the ability to run, hover and fly at will. You’ll also have the chance to jump into the Mark IV, Mark VI, Stealth and underwater suits. Whether you prefer to pound your foes in melee combat with your fists or to lay down the destruction from a far with your weapons, you can upgrade your suit after each stage with improved weaponry and abilities to devastate your foes.
A FIGHT ACROSS THE GLOBE
Experience every front of the war with battles raging across 5 locations and 13 levels: Pacific, Normandy, North Africa, Germany, Sicily.
WAR MACHINES
Take control of 3 different vehicles including a tank, 4×4 or glider to overrun your opponents – or to make a daring escape. You can even jump behind the vehicle turret to lay waste to foes with the machine gun.
–
Both titles games for only $2.38 (AUD) or $1.98 (US) is a complete bargain especially for iPAD titles. Grab them now as they are only on special for a limited time.
For all you Dirt fans out there Codemasters has released the Colin McRae: DiRT 3 2010 trailer via ESPN America Live.
The trailer doesn’t show actual gameplay but, geeze it looks nice especially the truck explosion part 😉 (image shown above). Looks like Codemasters are on a real winner here.
Colin McRae: DiRT 3 will be coming out on the following : Playstation 3 , Xbox 360 and also PC. There is no release date yet, but it shouldn’t be too far away.
Let us know what you think of the trailer, leave a comment below 🙂
Game Name: Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies Platforms: Nintendo DS Publisher(s):Nintendo Developer(s):Square-Enix Genre(s): Role-Playing Release Date: July 11, 2010 (U.S.) July 13, 2010 (EU) August 19th, 2010 (AU) Price: $34.99 (USD)
After being a huge phenomenon in Japan, Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies has finally crossed seas. Dragon Quest IX is also apart of one of the most successful and most loved RPG franchises from Nintendo and Square-Enix which some may also know as the “Dragon Warrior” series.
Story
Dragon Quest games are known for their compelling story and classic RPG feel. This title sticks with that formula and delivers all the way through. The story is like most classic RPGs out there, except you must create your own hero from the start. After you finish with customizing of your new hero, you then take control of the silent protagonist and dive straight into the heavens. The story starts you out as an apprentice to Aquila, and your job is to watch over the town of Angel Falls and gaining Benevolessence. What is Benevolessence you may ask? Gratitude from the humans for offering protection and help creates Benevolessence which is needed to make the Yggdrasil tree blossom for Yggdrasil’s blossoms are essential to take the Celestrians to the realm of the Almighty. Soon trouble erupts and your character is thrown from the heavens to Earth and stripped of his or her halo and wings and now must set out on a journey to find the reasoning behind this and how to stop the being that was behind it.
The story is told through cut-scenes and text-dialogue throughout the game, which really played out well and gave it an old school feel during my playthrough which should be nice to any fan of the older games of the series. You of course have your main quest, but you also have many sub-quests that you can do to earn nice rewards to better yourself and your journey. The heart of this game lies in customization though. After you reach the second town, you can create your own party. By create I mean literally mold the gender, height, looks and the vocation of each team member. 1-3 members at a time can go with you at once. The only downside is your party really doesn’t play a big role besides following you and battling alongside you as you journey throughout the game but the story is so strong it really didn’t effect anything in the game and anyone with an imagination should be able to kind of create their own personality for each created character like I did.
Gameplay
Dragon Quest IX like I mentioned is standard fare for most turn based RPGs out there. You must battle to gain experience and level yourself and your party up to earn new abilities. The thing is while it plays like most like the other games of the genre, it doesn’t quite stay true to the formula which does not hurt it, but puts it above others for the many added features.
First thing I should mention, NO RANDOM BATTLES! Every enemy on the screen can be easily seen right off the bat and you can easily avoid danger by just quickly moving out of the way. This doesn’t mean that the enemies are stupid as some will chase you down until a battle is engaged. Moving from town to town following the story, you must keep battling to grow stronger or else battles will quickly end badly. When a party member dies, the game has a funny way of letting you know. Instead of the character still following you around instead you will get a nice casket to take their place. Irony at it’s best to motivate you to get to a church and resurrect any downed team members for sure.
Leveling is simple and quite easy but you really must grind a lot at times to get strong enough to face bosses and harder enemies as the story moves on. Each party member can get new clothes and weaponry at just about any town. The additions show on their sprites as well so you can always change the appearance and your character while making them stronger, which brings me to the next topic of gameplay, Vocations.
With every character you create, you can also assign a vocation to. A vocation is like a job class, from a Mage,Thief, Warrior, ect.. This adds a HUGE element of strategy for the way you play as you get to customize yourself how your team will play. The more balanced a team is, the better off the player is in the long-run. Every vocation has 5 different skills that can be leveled up as your character gets stronger. For instance my main character is a Minstrel, Which allows for 3 weapons, a shield and litheness to level up. Each time you put ability points on these skills you level them up and gain new abilities related to that particular skill. I don’t understand why some are saying that grinding is a bore because to me with each level I reach something new always came out of it. This system is extremely rewarding and really is one of the most in depth and easy to use formula I have played in a long time.
Multi-player
I am making a separate section for Multi-Player alone due to all of the features included. Co-op is included in DQ9 and allows for up to 4 DS systems to be linked together. I really didn’t use this feature yet as I have been busy in single player, but I really like the idea and feedback this feature has received so far. Tag-Mode or “canvassing” is also very useful and may be why the game was such a hit in Japan. It allows the player to put their DS in sleep mode and will look for other Dragon Quest IX games and exchanges data with them. A clone of the character will be put into each game and have an item which can be treasure maps, rare items and even new equipment. I have been using the Wi-Fi shop the most, which has unique items and maps. Square has updated this every week since release and I hope it continues for quite some time. This is sure to keep players who have already finished the game coming back to see what’s new online. I do wish co-op over wi-fi was included but hopefully we can see that feature in future titles.
Graphics & Audio
The graphics in Dragon Quest IX are great for the Nintendo DS. Each area usually takes full advantage of the capabilities of the system. The colors pop out and you can easily get lost in the huge world this title has to offer. The key to Dragon Quest games are of course the monsters. There are a huge number of enemies in the game, and it feels so good not having to fight the same design over and over. Nearly every new monster I seen, I fought just because I wanted a closer look. Each have their own unique name and style, many with a bit of humor tied in. Dragon Quest fans will be pleased as many of the monsters will look familiar, but some have gotten complete redesigns and all of the monsters maintain the feel for the game and environments you are located in.
The sound effects were pretty standard but all seemed to work. Entering doors, the sound of the enemies chasing after you, and casting attacks in battle all just kind of fell into the background in the longrun but worked and were not annoying at all which is a good thing. The music however was wonderful. I found myself humming some of the games themes many hours after play later on. When a game can take music from being just cheap tunes for background noises to something you actually remember and relate to that title or series, it is something special and one reason I look for RPG titles to start with.
Overview
Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies is an addicting and fun addition to the series. It took a simple formula of a classic RPG and added so many new elements to keep relevant with the times that the finished product was nearly a masterpiece. Deep customization, fantastic music, and a lot of charm and humor all on top of a solid gameplay engine. Each character and enemy also had personality and a different feel that felt true to the series and added something new to mix things up. If you don’t like old school RPGs, this may not be for you but I still recommend for any gamer out there to at least give it a try. If you are an RPG fan, you know about the staples of the genre: Final Fantasy VII, Chrono Trigger, Earthbound, ect.. Games that all live on for many years as the favorites of generations. In my opinion I will be adding Dragon Quest IX to that list for myself as I went in expecting a standard generic role-playing game and I got a game that is literally customized to the player and one of the best titles on the Nintendo DS.
I give Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies:
Smith’s Chips in Australia is currently running a “make an ad” competition for Doritos which Stars our very own “MasterAbbott” and we need your help and your votes!!
To vote for the AD, click on the following link :http://www.doritos.com.au/#/gallery/week-8/id/3099 watch it (only 29 seconds), and click the “Vote for this Ad” sign. You have to register with yourREAL first and last name,REALe-mail and so on. Then you will receive an activation e-mail, and that should be the last thing to do for the registration process. By voting for the ad, you go into the draw to win a Bloggie camera valued at $271, and aFREE XBOX 360 PAL RETAIL GAME (Capsule Computers will be issuing the free game).
You can vote up to 5 times a dayand you MUST use valid information.False information automatically leads to disqualification of your entry to this Capsule Computers competition and you WILL NOT win anything.
This competition is open to AUSTRALIAN residents onlyas a result of other country residents being not allowed to vote.
On Wednesday 4th of August, Capsule Computers will announce the winner of theFREE XBOX 360 PAL RETAIL GAME!
Remember, the more you vote, the more chance you have of winning aFREE XBOX 360 PAL RETAIL GAME!
Once you vote come back here and leave a comment that you’ve done it, plus tells us from what part of Australia you’re from.
NOW GET VOTING !!! LETS GET MASTERABBOTT and his UGLY MUG on AUSTRALIAN National TV !! 😉
Just a quick post to give you guys the heads up – EB Games have a great promotion going at the moment which could see you winning one of ten copies of the upcoming game Rugby League Live!
SingStar Chart Hits is the latest in the SingStar franchise, allowing you to sing along to your favourite songs in the privacy of your own home.
If you’ve played any of the previous SingStar games you know what you’re getting with this latest edition, with the object still being to sing the songs and match the rhythm and pitch to the original as well as you possibly can. Based on your performance you’ll be given a score.
Much like the Guitar Hero franchise, the only thing that really changes from title to title is the tracklist, and your decision to purchase will come down to whether or not you like enough of the songs on offer.
This time around the focus is on “solid gold hits” – a subjective term which depends largely on your taste (or lack thereof) in music, featuring a mix of mostly recent tracks, around half of which are by Australian artists:
1. 3Oh!3 – Don’t Trust Me
2. A.R. Rahman feat The Pussycat Dolls – Jai Ho! (Your Are My Destiny)
3. Alex Lloyd – Amazing
4. Ben Lee – Catch My Disease
5. Colbie Caillat – Fallin For You
6. Empire Of The Sun – Walking On A Dream
7. George Michael – Outside
8. Guy Sebastian feat Jordin Sparks – Art Of Love
9. Kate Miller Heike – The Last Day On Earth
10. La Roux – Bullet Proof
11. Lady GaGa – Poker Face
12. Lady GaGa – Love Game
13. Michael Buble – Haven’t Met You Yet
14. Mika – We Are Golden
15. Natalie Bassingwaighte – Alive
16. Nelly Furtado – Turn Off The Light
17. OneRepublic – All The Right Moves
18. Pixie Lott – Boys And Girls
19. The Living End – White Noise
20. The Presets – This Boy’s In Love
21. The Pussycat Dolls – Hush Hush
22. Vanessa Amorosi – This Is Who I Am
23. Vitamin C – Graduation (Friends Forever)
24. Wes Carr – Feels Like Woah
25. Wes Carr – Yeah
Additional tracks exclusive to the PS3 version of the game:
1. Lady GaGa – Bad Romance
2. The Pussycat Dolls – When I Grow Up
3. Natalie Bassingwaighte – Someday Soon
4. Milli Canilli – Blame It On The Rain
5. Wolfmother – New Moon Rising
If that tracklisting has you salivating then get out there and buy the game immediately! For me though, it feels like a lot of the Australian songs aren’t really “hits”, they are just there because they are local. It’s also strange how most of the songs are reasonably recent, but then there’s an inexplicable throwback to a 20+ year old Milli Vanilli track, along with older tracks from George Michael, Alex Lloyd and Ben Lee. I can understand why Alex Lloyd and Ben Lee get a run, and those songs were unquestionably popular in their day, but the apparently random inclusion of the other two tracks just seems careless, almost like the thought process was “chuck in some Aussie artists and fill the rest up”.
The SingStar mechanics are still very good, so in summary: if the tracklist appeals to you, this game will be an 8 out of 10 AT LEAST. But if you’re like me and this tracklist doesn’t appeal to you at all, then give the game a wide berth! 4 out of 10.
Note:this review takes into account changes applied by the first patch released by THQ on June 28 2010
When UFC Undisputed landed with its first installment in 2009 I remember thinking to myself “this is the best game EVER”. As the novelty of having a MMA game slowly wore off the deficiencies in the game began to emerge and the honeymoon came to an end. In the face of renewed competition from an upcoming MMA title from EA, UFC Undisputed 2010 genuinely attempts to improve on its strengths and rectify the flaws from the previous version, with varying degrees of success. To cut a long story short, UFC Undisputed 2010 is a far better game than its predecessor, but it’s by no means perfect.
The visuals in UFC 2010 have been ramped up to a new level from those in the original version. While there are still some fighters that look much better than others, by and large the fighters are immediately recognisable as their real life counterparts. A negative though is the rendering of some of the referees and legendary announcer Bruce Buffer, both of which suffer from being far less detailed. Honestly THQ, would it have taken THAT much longer to get another half-a-dozen characters up the highest level? For me it really detracts from the overall presentation when you see an almost photorealistic character like Quinton Jackson standing next to a cartoonish Bruce Buffer.
Most of the action of course occurs inside the Octagon, and there’s nothing to complain about there. Whether it’s pristine to start a match or covered in blood at the end, the Octagon stands up!
The movement of the characters in UFC 2010 feels more fluid and realistic this time around, and it’s impressive to see the amazing amount of attention to detail that has been paid to the styles and moves of each fighter. Even unorthodox fighters like Jon Jones fight in their immediately identifiable style, and it provides a true reason to use more than one fighter.
Veterans of UFC 2009 will be able to jump straight back into the action and pick things up where they left off, as the control system is mostly the same as the original version of the game. UFC 2010 adds some new twists though with the addition “swaying” to avoid incoming strikes, and also allowing fighters to use some moves specific to an “against the cage” scenario. It all adds up to make the combat experience more realistic this time around.
The Create A Fighter (CAF) mode has been expanded and refined this time around, but I still find it to be an overall boring mode to play for any length of time. The process begins when you create your fighter, and there are many more options for customisation in UFC 2010. Once you’ve specified your fighter’s physical appearance, fighting style and general stats you then begin your career as an amateur. During this time you can gauge your abilities against fighters of varying difficulty levels, and once you get a feel for your skill level you can then move forward at that level.
When you choose to turn pro you begin your career in the fictitious WFA (why they didn’t use the UFC-owned WEC organisation I don’t know), and if you’re successful it won’t be too long before Dana White comes calling to sign you up in the big leagues, the UFC itself.
This early creation process is quite fun, and so is the early part of working your way up through the ranks. It is definitely a buzz to finally get into the UFC and begin the climb to the title shot.
Now for the downside.
What follows is an incredibly repetitive and unexciting juggling act that happens leading up to each fight. You train your core attributes, you train your techniques, you visit fight camps to learn new techniques. You spend a lot of time making appearances on television shows and UFC cards to boost your fighter’s profile. All of this is great the first time around, but when you are doing it for fight after fight after fight it really does get boring.
The other downside is the constant juggling of your fighter’s stats. Between fights you’ll notice things decaying, and it is a nightmare sometimes to keep your fighter’s stats stable in the areas you value most. I am all for realism, but surely a 23 year old fighter is not going to forget how to throw a kick over a period of 11 weeks like he has Alzheimer’s disease! It takes a good concept WAY too far and turns your fighter into the lead character from ‘Memento’.
The fights themselves are great, and it really is satisfying to knock out guys you’ve watched on pay per view for years! I do find however that the title fights are of a much higher difficulty than anything leading up to them. Case in point: I blasted through every heavyweight contender with Brock Lesnar, finishing all of my leadup fights in under a minute…. until I came to the title fight, when Frank Mir took me down as his FIRST MOVE and then submitted me with his SECOND! I had taken zero damage, and the match was barely 20 seconds old!
That leads me nicely into talking about what is probably the biggest negative in the game – submissions. The submission system this year has been updated, and although you initiate a submission the same way, to lock it in and force your opponent to tap requires the use of a technique THQ call “the Shine”. Shining (on PS3) involves you rapidly rotating your right analog stick with the palm of your hand. It’s the button mash of the new generation. Look around online and you’ll see tips on how to get a “clean shine”, because apparently speed is good, but accuracy (hitting the points on the rotation) is better.
With practise, shining becomes easy, if only that was all if took to submit someone. I’ve used fighters like Demian Maia who are BJJ GODS against people who have no ground skills whatsoever, and it still took a massive effort to make them tap. Often it becomes a matter of beating your opponent around the midsection (not the head, you don’t want to knock them out!) so badly that you can knock them down with a body punch and lock on an armbar. Even then you’re not a sure thing. Technique aside, the AI involved in submitting someone (and defending yourself against a submission) is WAY off and needs to be toned down a bit. Especially when you consider that you can charge across the Octagon and knock Cro Cop out with three punches using Brock Lesnar.
When it comes to online, there’s a lot of new features that sound amazing on paper, such as getting your friends together to start your own fight camp. These features are cool, but when it comes to just getting on and playing a ranked match, the game fails to deliver again. I can’t speak for the Xbox 360 experience, but on PS3 it can be so difficult to connect to a match that it has turned me off from the whole experience. THQ released a patch with a few fixes, and online was meant to be one of them. In my experience though, the online is better, but not “fixed”. The team seem to be committed to getting it right though, so hopefully future patches can make the experience worthwhile.
In conclusion, UFC Undisputed 2010 is a great, if flawed experience. The roster of fighters available is incredible, and the single player modes have enough depth to keep you going for a very long time – if the lack of stable online and the overly-complex submission system doesn’t have you throwing the disk out of the window!
If you’re a massive UFC fan like me and are happy to play through single player or with some friends, then the game is great, a solid 7 out of 10, but if you are a die-hard online gamer who places a lot of weight on being able to flex your muscles on a global leaderboard, then at this stage I could only give the game a maximum of 6 out of 10. I have great hopes that a future patch will make the current issues disappear, and when that day comes you can add another point to the total.
All-Star Supergroup Blasts Out Grinding Riffs and Scorching Vocals for the World’s Fastest Off-Road Racing Game
nail’d is the off-road racing game where speed, risk and adrenaline combine with insane track design to deliver the ultimate thrill ride. Only one thing is missing from this picture. Throw your horns brothers and sisters, because that thing is METAL.
Deep Silver have finally revealed the all-star group of metal luminaries that will be responsible for creating the exclusive soundtrack designed to melt faces and fuel the madness needed to succeed in a game where fearlessness and aggression are virtues
nail’d’s original soundtrack features songs written and performed by Raymond Herrera and Christian Olde Wolbers (Fear Factory, Arkaea), Pat Lachman (Damageplan), Wayne Static (Static X), Jamey Jasta (Hatebreed), Stephen Carpenter (Deftones), Jed Simon (Strapping Young Lad), and John Boecklin (DevilDriver).
“nail’d’s very existence is defined by the act of giving a giant middle finger to the laws of physics and boring realism,” said Deep Silver’s Jon Schutts, while practicing power chords on a guitar made of human souls. “When you’ve got a game like nail’d where you take every edge of your seat moment you’ve ever experienced and cranked it up to eleven, you need a killer soundtrack. We got the best musicians out there to help define the sound of nail’d and they literally blew us away.”
In addition to the original songs, nail’d also features licensed music from Slipknot, Queens of the Stone Age, Backyard Babies, Rise Against, American Sixgun, Aggressive Chill and Slaves on Dope.
Developed by Techland, nail’d will be released for the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft® and Windows PC in the fourth quarter of 2010.
The game of slots, many of times I have lost it all playing them but the addicting gameplay and will to win draws me to the machines whether I am in Celedon City or driving by a local casino. Slot lovers will now be able to play anytime when Fantasy Slots hits the WiiWare download service.
Players will be able to win big jack pots, earn access to VIP suites, discover six exciting adventure based bonus games, and use your winnings to purchase items for your suite. Players can win awards and achievements to put on display in their suites. Enjoy two classic three reel slots, Diamonds and Cherries. Five reel multi line bonus games include Gold Rush, Pirate Cove, King Arthur’s Excalibur and many more.
Features Include:
High Roller Suites: Live like a VIP while customizing your own high roller suite with paintings, pool tables, furniture and much more.
Bonus Games: Six great games to challenge your nerves. Once the bonus games are unlocked you will have unlimited access to play and add to your winnings.
Unlockables: Achievements are tracked and awarded for exceptional play
On August 2nd, Fantasy Slots will be available for the Nintendo WiiWare download service for 700 points. You can also check out the trailer below.
