SEGA announced today that the hit Dreamcast games Crazy Taxi and Sonic Adventure are going to be arriving on both the XBLA and PSN later in the year. The games appear to be unchanged from the originals in terms of gameplay but they have had graphical enhancements and the sound improved to better entice today’s gamers. Then of course you will also be seeing Achievements and Trophies because no game is allowed to be without those now, as well as Leaderboards.
SEGA will be showing these games both at E3 at their booth, and it has been hinted at that these two classics are only the first to come of many Dreamcast releases. Here is hoping that they bring back Skies of Arcadia and adapt that to the XBLA and PSN eh? Which Dreamcast titles would you love to see on the current generation of systems? How about Seaman?
Looks like Atlus is being a bit vague in how they are releasing their news for E3 this upcoming week.
They have showed us that Trine 2 which they are co-developing with Frozenbyte is coming out, though this is hardly a surprise to anyone is it? Considering that they have announced their partnership just a few days ago themselves.
On top of Trine 2 there will also be showings for Etrain Odyssey III: The Drowned City and Rock of Ages. Also they have released Knights in the Nightmare which will be showing up on the PSP only.
There was also the mention of a few secrets that they could be holding back from us that they will unveil at E3. Wonder what these could be? We will see next week when they unveil everything that they have in store for us.
I never thought I would live to see this day, but it seems like Mortal Kombat will receive the same treatment as SFIV: a re-imagination of the classic games for the current generation!
Mortal Kombat (all-new game)
The newest chapter of the iconic fight franchise marks a triumphant return to the series’ mature presentation and a reinvention of its classic 2D fighting mechanic. Driven by an all new graphics engine, the fan favorite Fatality is back and presented in more gory detail than ever before. In addition, Mortal Kombat introduces a number of new game-play features including tag team and the deepest story mode of any fighting game. Players can choose from an extensive lineup of the game’s iconic warriors and challenge their friends in traditional 1 vs. 1 matches, or take on several new game modes.
“We are bringing the Mortal Kombat franchise back to gamers with the talented NetherRealm Studios team creating the game fans long to play,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “Re-establishing the brand with Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, Mortal Kombat innovates on past games while staying true to the brand’s legendary characters and fighting style.”
“We can’t wait for players to get their hands on Mortal Kombat,” said Ed Boon, Creative Director, NetherRealm Studios. “This game really is a response to what players have been demanding: mature presentation, reinvented 2D fighting mechanic and the best, most gruesome fatalities ever!”
Mortal Kombat introduces a number of new game modes as well as the most extensive online experience ever seen in a fighting game. Up to 4 players can battle “tag-team”- 2 players can team up in the new “Co-op Arcade Mode” or compete against another team online.
The game will be coming March 2011, for the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.
Below you can check the game’s first trailer, which shows some of the classic stages remade, the 2D gameplay, the return of our beloved characters, fatalities, it’s just amazing!
FreeJack is a free-to-play parkour racing game developed by Korean developer WiseOn for Windows PCs supporting Windows XP, Windows Vista, and Windows 7. Players race head-to-head across the urban metropolis of New Jack City as one of four hip characters, bustin’ stylish flips and tricks to increase their speed and gain access to hidden pathways and shortcuts. Players can personalize their character with fresh outfits and running gear and even customize their own unique in-game living space with cool furniture and accessories to show off to friends! FreeJack also supports online leaderboards, a club/clan system, in-game friends lists, and more! FreeJack is launching in June 2010 from GamerKraft. GamerKraft. Play Free. To register a free account on Game Bridger Entertainment’s new free-to-play games portal, GamerKraft, visit: www.gamerkraft.com.
“We are proud to announce FreeJack as the second title on the GamerKraft platform,” said Matthew Denomme, marketing manager for Game Bridger Entertainment, “it’s a game with a hip graphical style and unique gameplay mechanics unlike any other title currently in the free-to-play market. GamerKraft is gearing up for FreeJack to launch in North America and Europe in July 2010.”
What’s better then Zombies? Live Action Zombies! What’s better then live action zombies? Killing virtual zombies in a game? I bet you can’t guess what’s better then killing virtual zombies! Yeah! That’s right! PIE!
Check out the live action trailer below. And then get me some PIE!
Rod Ferguson, Executive Producer on the Gears of War franchise, has recently announced that Gears of War 2 will be running a 6 times EXP week. All Next week you will be able to get a whole bunch of gears experience!
According to his tweet: “It’s official, we’re going with 6x XP for the week of E3. So that’s 3 times the current double XP,”
The triple-double XP week starts this coming Monday June 14th at 9am EDT (2pm GMT) and will run all the way through till 9am EDT (2pm GMT again) on June 21st.
So guess what the people who can’t go to E3 will be doing? You got that right!
Remember that live action preview footage we showed you a little while back. Well it turned out that it was for a music video. The music video for Poets of the Falls’ track called “WAR” which is featured on the Alan Wake soundtrack.
The video below is the music video, the picture above is the first screenshot from the first DLC episode, The Signal, which is available July 27th. Free to everyone who bought Alan Wake new. I hope you held on to that game voucher.
The Computer Entertainment Supplier’s Association and Nikkei Business Publications, Inc. will be sponsoring the Tokyo Game Show of 2010 from September 16th to September 19th of this year. And they have also unveiled the focus of this years Tokyo Game Show, and that is the gaming of the future. This could explain a bit about the mascot this year and how she appears to be some sort of android mixed with console accessories.
The Tokyo Game Show itself will be held at Makuhari Messe in Mihama-ku, Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture. Not quite sure where that is myself, but I would definitely not pass up the chance to be there if I could. Now onto what their focus truly means in depth.
Over the past year gaming has begun to evolve. There are so many fields of gaming with smart phones rising to become viable gaming devices, Social Networking Sites such as Facebook partnering with game companies that will take in hundreds and millions of people, there is even the movement from 2D gaming evolving into 3D gaming with the 3DS and the PS3 starting to take steps in such a direction. The Tokyo Game Show intends to ride along with the wave of new ideas and become one of the largest events in the entire world and becoming the top source of gaming information in the entire Asian region.
The visual mascot this year has been designed and drawn by Ippei Gyoubo has drawn the gaming-tan type woman for this purpose. By using the parameters given to him by the Tokyo Game Show, and their catchphrase “GAME goes to a new chapter” he drew an idol who is using various bits of equipment to talk to people all around the world, just like those we use all the time now. She offers the wish that you would fall in love with gaming and resonate the amazement of all the video games in the world.
Quite a unique outlook huh? Anyone can see how involved they are really getting into the advancement of gaming. Plus they have made some very good points about what they have mentioned. I doubt many people could have predicted that Farmville would have taken such a huge chunk out of the gaming marketplace. Or even that there would be the advancement into 3D gaming yet. Will these types of advancements actually help everything? Or will it end up being a simple gimmick that will fall into obscurity? Time will tell.
HD versions of Chess Classics and Brain Challenge were released this week for the iPad:
Chess Classics HD
The ideal chess simulation game for both beginners who want to learn and advanced players looking for expert opponents: Turn your iPad into an amazing HD chess board!
As we all know, two days ago Steve Jobs officially presented the new iPhone 4 to the world onstage during his keynote at WWDC. The response to the new hardware has been overwhelmingly positive, and I for one can’t wait to get my hands on one when it’s released in Australia in July!
When it comes to new features, let’s talk highlights:
A front-facing camera
New 5MP rear camera with a flash that is also capable of recording 720P HD video at 30fps
“Retina” Display – a brighter display at a resolution of 326dpi, a leader in it’s class.
Gyroscope
The new hardware feature I really wanted to focus on is the gyroscope. Everyone knows that the Accelerometer revolutionised handheld gaming on the original iPhone, but the Gyroscope has the potential to take things to the next level.
“A gyroscope is a device for measuring or maintaining orientation, based on the principles of conservation of angular momentum. A mechanical gyroscope is essentially a spinning wheel or disk whose axle is free to take any orientation”
When you combine this with the existing iPhone Accelerometer, what you are left with is essentially a 6-axis controller capable of reading the pitch, yaw, left, right, up, and down movements of the device, along with establishing how quickly those movements are. In the demonstration Jobs also showed how the Gyroscope could also combine with the in-built compass to orient with gravity. Exciting stuff!
This will give the iPhone 4 a massive advantage over it’s handheld competition like the PSP and Nintendo DS, devices that having nothing like this. If anything, the addition of the Gyroscope puts the iPhone into a class more related to the Nintendo Wii with Motion Plus, or perhaps a PS3 Six-Axis controller.
During the keynote Jobs demonstrated the difference between Accelerometer and Gyroscope by showcasing a simple, Jenga-like game. CNET were there and recorded the demonstration, check it out below!
So guys, what sort of games do you see in the future of the iPhone? Nintendo have a new device supposedly coming out (i.e. not officially presented yet) that has elements of this technology, so how do you see this affecting the other handheld gaming devices?
