Satelight anime studio has let the ANN know that it plans to re-launch Basquash!, an anime featuring basketball played in large mecha suits. This is good news for both casual fans of anime and sports fans, because the reason for the re-launch of the show is that Satelight plans to change the target audience for the show, to a more shonen type show. Shonen show’s are roughly described as being developed for teenage men and feature lots of action and fighting. Which means that the new Basquash! will feature more sports and less breasts.
The prior release of Basquash! focused only slightly on the basketball aspect and also only featured a bit of true action, while it also heavily featured fan-service, as well as it’s sponsor Nike. This is great news because the first showing was literally clogged with unnecessary fan-service and featured little of what you were hoping for when watching the anime. I personally can’t wait to see how they are going to change it up. This release will take quite some time though as Satelight has not announced any new anime projects for this year of 2010, but may show up in 2011.
The first dlc for Modern Warfare 2 multiplayer hits exclusively first on Xbox Live. It’ll be coming to other platforms at a later date as well, but tomorrow morning you’ll be able to download the 5 new maps including Bailout (seen above), Salvage, Storm, and my favorite classic maps Crash and Overgrown.
Double XP
Originally planned to do it this weekend, but we’ve decided to throw the Double XP switch early when the new maps hit. So jump online with the new DLC and check out the two new DLC specific playlists.
Stimulus and Hardcore Stimulus Playlists
These two playlists are 100% dedicated to the new maps, and are Double XP enabled. So jump on and experienced the new DLC you downloaded, get double XP, and experience all your favorite gametypes along with some hardcore variants of them.
Ranger maps added to HCHQ
We’re adding a few maps to the Hardcore Headquarters Pro playlist on Xbox Live, allowing you now play all the Ranger maps in this gametype, something I know a lot of users have been asking for! These maps include Highrise, Invasion, Skidrow, and Terminal.
Title Update
Along side the DLC, but something ALL of our users will get, is a title update for Modern Warfare 2. Included in this update is support for the DLC (if you choose to purchase it), as well as some tweaks to the One Man Army perk, some matchmaking updates that will help our international users find more locally hosted games thanks to how ping is now sorted, and various other code updates that will help improve the overall quality of multiplayer on Modern Warfare 2.
So there you go. When can you expect it? Early in the morning for the US, sometime tonight for us here in Australia! Isn’t it the best we get double XP straight away – thanks IW!
Have fun everyone! I am so looking forward to playing with green bars just about every single game, those dirty connections are I hope, going to be a thing of the past!
AUSSIE AUSSIE AUSSIE !! Australia just have just announced their SUPER HOT Lost Planet 2 Collectors’ Edition, jam-packed with all sorts of awesome content. Here’s is what you get inside, check out the list below of the goodies:
– Lost Planet 2
– Akrid figurine
– XBOX Live Avatar
– 4 Postcards
– Making of DVD
– Contents packaged in a special edition packaging in a 3 deep DVD sized box
Lost Planet 2 fans in Australia can get your copy reserved right here from EB GAMES Australia for only $118 AUD
Don’t Delay these will go like HOT CAKES !! …. mmmmmm hotcakes.. I’m Hungry now
I would like to add some my own thoughts to The Radical one’s post on Stress, Health, and Video Games which must say is a great read. Click on the link back that way and check it out.
Now what I’d like to share with you all is something of a thought of the day or words of wisdom:
Remember that patience is the key to success in video games. If you fail pick yourself up and try again .. don’t throw the controller because if you do the machine wins. You lose both mentally, emotionally and financially as you’re the ony thats gonna have to go out and buy yourself a new controller
Just keep focused learn from your mistakes and overcome the challenge in front of you. Just like in life there are hurdles that need to be overcome, and with the right mindset and discipline nothing is impossible.
Video games are meant to be enjoyed not stressed over. When we sit down to play them it’s meant to be a time of relaxation and release from the STRESS of the outside world. If you STREES even while playing then whats the point in even turning on the machine in the first place.
As a wise Monk once said. Find Peace within your soul, let your mind go, focus on the task at hand and release your inner power and nothing will be able to stop you.
You want to watch something that will blow you away !! Then you’ve come to the right place… Ubisoft have unleashed the latest trailer for Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. Let me tell you this trailer has a lot more detail in it than the last one did and it’s shaping up quite nicely read the press release info then click play and be prepared to be blown away !!
March 29, 2010
Directed by Ben Mor of Little Minx, a company of Ridley Scott and Associates, was created in collaboration with visual effects creators Asylum, who are known for its high-calibre work on Terminator Salvation. The live-action video game trailer marks the highly anticipated return of the elite Ghosts with a visceral and immersive experience that showcases the explosive action of future warfare.
Illustrating the realism that the Ghost Recon brand is known for, the ”Future War” trailer features the Ghosts on the hunt for a wanted war criminal in Moscow. Using weapons and advanced technology based on real-world military prototypes in research and development today, and which fans will soon be able to experience directly in the game, the Ghosts strike down an entire army before vanishing from sight.
Separately, Oscar winners Hervé de Crécy and François Alaux of Little Minx, a company of Ridley Scott and Associates, are working with Ubisoft on a short film based on the Ghost Recon brand arriving later this year.
These children are from the Gifford’s Children’s Choir sing “Still Alive” from the credits of Portal in an quite an interesting fashion. We’ve all seen various renditions of the song being sung in various ways, but this one by far is the oddest, if not the best.
Chances are though, that the children themselves no nothing about the game in which they are singing from. And one can wonder on how their parents first took to the idea of singing such a song once they saw the lyrics. Either way the performance turned out amazing.
Jack Senzig, the choir director, posted on his blog saying:
I have spent the last 10 hours transcribing and arranging Still Alive from the video game Portal for GCC to sing at our spring concerts. This is going to be so cool. I can’t stop giggling. The piece lends itself amazingly well to our choir. It is fresh and interesting and will captivate the young people at the Case Area Choir festival and around the world for that matter.
He also addressed parent’s fears about singing such a song in a later blog posting:
We live in a modern world and “Still Alive” has a modern text. The kids will be singing “Sir Eglamore” as part of Caiman Chorus. A line in that song says “Out came a dragon from her den, Fa la lanky down dilly, that killed God knows how many men.” The computer in the Portal Game is just a modern day dragon.
This is quite an amazing age we live in now, and perhaps a few more people would become interested in choir if they sang different songs such as various pieces from video games? A lot different than from what it used to be back when I was a child and everyone did the same thing.
This deal is only available to Xbox Live Gold Members and isn’t available in all countries.
Arcade Title This week
Mega Man 10 will be available march 31 for 800 Microsoft points. The game now includes an “easy mode.” Because this game existed back when the arcade machine wanted you to lose a lot, and put more quarters into it continue.
DLC this week
2 DLC is being released, Magic the gathering add-on, and Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package.
Magic The Gathering Add-On Coming to Xbox Live this Wednesday is aMagic: The Gathering Game Add-on that will cost 400 points. So if you have any games planned make sure to download the free compatibility download, so you can continue to play online without hassle.
Modern Warfare 2 Stimulus Package
Available Tuesday, March 30th for 1200MSP ($15 USD). This DLC gives you 3 new maps and 2 remakes to play online with. Perfect for double XP weekend starting April 2nd.
Below you will find a video of the alleged hacker showing off his supposed ‘Victory’ over major nelson. The video is NSFW.
A group of hackers that call themselves Fear have hacked into Larry Hyrb’s, also known as Major Nelson, Xbox Live account yesterday night (PST). Some Twitter snippets from the Director of Policy and Enforcement for Xbox LIVE Stephen Toulouse via twitter:
Thanks for the heads up folks. we have gotten Major’s account back. We’ll investigate what happened.
Looks like this was very specific and very targeted to Major. I’ll look into the details and report back later.
But for now everything’s back to normal.
~~
Don’t worry, this was an extremely focused attack at a very famous person. The hacker just wanted some quick fame before getting into trouble.
The odds of you getting hacked (unless you are famous) are extremely slim. But remember, the internet is a very unsafe place so follow internet safety rules at all times, Xbox Live is no different.
Metro 2033 Publisher:THQ Developer: 4A Games Platforms: Xbox 360 (Reviewed), PC Release Date: March 16th, 2010
The year is 2033. An entire generation has been born and raised underground, and their besieged Metro Station-Cities struggle for survival, with each other, and the mutant horrors that await outside. You are Artyom, born in the last days before the fire, but raised Underground. Having never ventured beyond your Metro Station-City limits, one fateful event sparks a desperate mission to the heart of the Metro system, to warn the remnants of mankind of a terrible impending threat. Your journey takes you from the forgotten catacombs beneath the subway to the desolate wastelands above, where your actions will determine the fate of mankind.Set in the shattered subway of a post apocalyptic Moscow, Metro 2033 is a story of intensive underground survival where the fate of mankind rests in your hands. In 2013 the world was devastated by an apocalyptic event, annihilating almost all mankind and turning the earth’s surface into a poisonous wasteland. A handful of survivors took refuge in the depths of the Moscow underground, and human civilization entered a new Dark Age.
Metro takes place within the train tunnels of the post apocalyptic Moscow. Metro 2033 is a single player first person shooter that blends together features of other successful titles all into one nice package. It has an atmosphere of darkness and despair as your constantly struggling to survive by any means necessary. Looting and scavenging for anything that will give you that little bit more of an edge. It’s first person perspective also adds even more to the desperation with the element of surprise and fear as you will never know what is lurking around the corner.
4A Games have created an excellent single player experience that will keep you on the edge of your seat as you make your way through dimly-lit, claustrophobic tunnels and walkways that will have you wondering about what’s around the next corner. One thing I would like to note and bring to your attention is that Metro is quite linear in level design, this could be because 4A Games wanted to give you the feel of fear and horror in close combat situations. Another thing I found that reminded me of Resident Evil was the Survival Horror aspect of ammo conservation and making sure you use you ammunition wisely. It’s a great little touch I must say as it fits perfectly in this sort of environment where bullets, weapons and food don’t grow on trees.
To add further fear and realism, 4A Game have removed any sort of Heads Up Display (HUD) from the screen, there is no health bar, no ammo details and certainly no MAP !! Which brings me to the next really neat feature. If you’re wandering around the dark tunnels and all of a sudden become disorientated and a little lost. You can pull out your trusty compass, which will appear on the screen while you’re walking around in real time, this way you can get your bearings once again and move on. Your Compass is attached to a clip board which also contains your current list objectives, something I found really neat, if you’re in a dark area and you can’t see where you’re going or what to do next, you can take our their trusty lighter that’s in the shape of a bullet, flip open the top and light it so that you can see what to do and where you’re going. Remember that all of this is happening in real time so if a creature decides to make an appearance and begin to start mauling on your head you’ll need to switch back to your weapon and defend yourself as quickly as possible.
Searching for loot plays a major role in your quest for survival. This can be done in a number of different ways, bear in mind as the game play is quite linear, you don’t have much freedom to go everywhere. The player normally has only one way to go to reach their next objective, there is however possibilities to explore your surroundings, and it pays off to look around, searching dead bodies and also ammo crates will result in you finding a very valuable resource which is regarded as currency in the game and that is ammunition. With survival being the most important aspect of the game in these desperate times, what else could keep you safe from what lurks in the darkness than bullets and ammo. It makes perfect sense and this is what the traders in the game will want as payment when they sell you weapons.
The sound and atmosphere in Metro 2033 focuses on the dark and depressing state of the world after its destruction, the music is meant to convey to the player a feeling of sadness, touching on their emotions and creating an even deeper gaming experience.
Now with good stuff out of the way, let’s focus on a few issues with the game. Metro 2033’s biggest disappointment is the combat system. When taking down monsters you have no indication that your actually making any dent in them as they do not show any sort of animation that they are taking damage. Usually in other first person shooters you’re used to shooting something in the chest and it would move back in pain or shooting them the leg and they’d fall to one knee. But unfortunately this is lacking in Metro 2033. At certain stages in the game I’d unload a full clip into a monster and thinking to myself if I was actually harming it or not.
Other little things that I believe were designed into the game for reason but were a little off-putting was the specific types of weapons having to be pumped to put pressure in them before they can be shot. I also found the right thumb stick was a little unresponsive, items such as flashlights will need to be recharged when they run out of energy. With the emphasis on a realistic experience these little issues could be overlooked as 4A Games are only trying to create an experience that is different from other FPS, and if you take that into consideration and keep an open mind then these little issues can be overlooked.
If you enjoy first person shooters with a great storyline then Metro 2033 is a perfect game for you. The single player experience is brilliant, the atmosphere, realism will make you feel that you are really there. Combat is the only drawback to the game with the creature animations.
Now remember this is an Australian Community Event. Further details will be made available on Community Dashboard of your Xbox 360 console closer to the date. For now start adding the following gamertags to your friends list MasterAbbott, Deathdude222, Kingroc69, xI ROCK Ix
