Namco Bandai is sticking true to their Dragon Ball game legacy, for they are releasing Dragon Ball: Origins 2 for the DS on June 22nd. This is the sequel to the first game bearing the same name obviously and will continue to follow the story of young Goku as he searched for the dragon balls and comes across many different foes and new allies.
In this sequel you will be doing battle against the Red Ribbon Army saga of Dragon Ball’s long storyline throughout both it’s Anime and Manga. Here gamers will be introduced to Upa, a young boy from a native tribe that guard Korin’s Tower from anyone who they may deem unworthy. Not only that but games will be able to play through the game as a variety of different characters throughout the game and also even play with a friend through co-operative missions.
Check out all of the various screenshots from the game below:
The video below was linked to us from a guy at remedy. He saw the almost final cut and posted a snippet online for all to enjoy before the full version is released. More information will be available Wednesday.
Some details from the video:
That is the clicker in his hand at the beginning and end.
That may be Alice he is protecting with the flair.
That manuscript page is the bit when he is talking about “To her, darkness wasn’t merely’ the absence of light, but something far more sinister and malign”. I don’t know the exact wording, but from what I could read, it is located in that general manuscript.
Soccer Sudoku 2010 Platform: iPhone Publisher: Avanquest Software
Release Date: 31st May, 2010
Genre: Puzzle
Price: $0.99(US) BUY NOW
‘Soccer Sudoku 2010’ provides a soccer style spin on the world renowned number puzzle game of sudoku, just in time for the FIFA World Cup which is nearing ever closer and before we know it, will be upon us like a rash. Soon you won’t be able to find anything without an image of a large ball or a world cup emblazoned on it, and this is definitely one for those of you who catch the world cup fever.
The game lets you pick from a choice of 32 national teams, and this choice is reflected during the game, with the team’s kit and name displayed on the Sudoku puzzle. This is merely a quirk and doesn’t affect the way the game plays at all, although die-hard fans may appreciate their favourite teams jersey showing in the background. The same cannot be said for those people who’s teams were left out- I can only imagine how I would feel if I found my national team left out. In contrast, some of the other animation features, rather having little impact, have a negative impact. For example, the moving animations that play during the game can be very distracting, and in my experience with the game, I found them to be very off-putting. Sudoku benefits from an organised and static game board, so to have small icons and graphics around the puzzle can affect you concentration.
There are three different game modes:
Relax mode:Â play without pressure; stop and resume as you like
Arcade mode: complete the puzzle and win the game before the final whistle
Challenge mode: compete against online opponents from around the world and influence your team’s world ranking.
They offer a variety of play modes, with Arcade mode and Challenge mode enabling a increase of tempo if you feel it is necessary. In my experience, the game is more enjoyable when played at a slower and more tranquil pace. This is where ‘Relax mode’ comes in handy. In theory, Sudoku is usually played on a piece of paper, so a mode where you can take your time, and come and go as you please, is generally much more satisfying. The game’s features, which allow you to exit, then come back later and resume where you left off, aid this mentality, and accomodate for a user who may only have time to pop on for short bouts of time.
The game gives a good degree of difficulty with the three traditional levels of difficultly; easy, medium and hard. The puzzles themselves can be tough, one of the games good qualities, and would present a challenge to even the most hardened sudoku players.
In summary, the game isn’t bad, with challenging sudoku puzzles, but with the option of help for less experienced players. However, it is let down by a few small niggles which can have a substantial impact on the game, such as small icons moving on the screen which can be irritating, diverting your attention from the task at hand. For those of you immersed in the FIFA World Cup, who also have a soft spot for sudoku, this soccer themed puzzler may be for you, just bear in mind that there are many sudoku games on the market, some of which are undoubtedly better than this.
In World At War Treyarch let people play the campaign in co-op. Yeah, you couldn’t get any achievements, and you had to deal with small screens and a nasty border around the screen but at least it was co-op.
It seems in Treyarchs latest title, they are going the way Infinity Ward went, and are releasing seperate modes for Co-op.
Treyarch Studio Head Mark Lamia said, “”Single-player is the epic, cinematic, seat-of-your-pants thrill ride that you star in. Then there’s multiplayer, when you want to play competitive with your friends and really chisel and hone your skills and do that addictive experience. And then co-op is for when you want to have a blast with your friends, just sitting on the couch and having an awesome co-op experience. We’re crafting unique co-op modes around that experience, but it is different than what people think.”
Lamia went on to state “it is different than Spec Ops.”
So it isn’t spec ops (which I for one was a huge fan of) but at least there is co-op. Co-op is always good, even if none of my friends have the attention span to crank out the achievements with me.
Luckily, this time around I have a bunch of adoring readers that will gladly aid me in my achievement quest. You will be hearing from my agent if the time calls.
Remember that arcade game that Microsoft announced a long time ago. The one that would let you race around as your avatar and it would be free? Well guess what! It is no longer free.
Let me say that again: JOY RIDE IS NO LONGER FREE! Well, there went the hype. As you read these, your excitement for the game is slowly decreasing. Why? Because it is no longer free. Free stuff makes people happy. Hey! have the free XBLA code!
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I’ll wait as you hurriedly try to redeem it before everyone else reading this.
…
…
…
Yeah, it doesn’t work, I lied. If you want the real code you’ll have to pay me for it. Microsoft is doing it, why can’t I?’
Hopefully, I can cheer you up, because supposedly it is now becoming a game for Natal that is going to work perfectly with the driving function. It will be available on release and will be much better then the current game build. They are improving Joy Ride to be better. Big Park Studios are currently putting the finishing touches on the game. Hopefully we will here more at the special Natal event at E3.
You are happy now right? No longer mad about that code up there that didn’t actually work? please… Please be happy.
Through some twist of fate –Â or the fact that the Major has finally lost all track of time as he quickly plummets down the route of a hobo –Â Major Nelson has announced next weeks Xbox Live releases this week. Savor the beauty! Courtesy of Major Nelson’s Blog, and you can read my thoughts on the deals and XBLA release.
Thoughts:
Serious Sam HD… Peggle… Duke Nukem 3D… battlefield 1943… COD: Classic… and oh yeah, Worms 2… What are you waiting for!! Go buy some points, because in 2 days you are gonna be spending them! A lot of these are repeat deals; however, and a lot of people who wanted these games already have them. But if you have been holding out on any of them, now is the time to splurge.
Thoughts:
I loved the game is well received and an instant buy for the people online posting comments (DATA collected from a number of comments on both Major’s blog and other gaming sites). Supposedly NeoGeo Battle Coliseum was announced for Japanese XBLA, so it may or may not be coming to the US and other locations.
Oh and don’t forget that the LEGO Harry Potter demo will be available on June 7th
Remember, any information above is subject to change and may not be available in all regions.
Bit of a small post but hey at least we know what Dead Space 2’s box art looks like now. With this we know at least Isaac Clarke will be returning with his suit. This will be coming out next year for all major platforms, minus the Wii, with this boxart being for the Xbox 360. Of course it is subject to changes, and honestly I wish they would change it a bit. The original Dead Space’s cover was nice and gory which reflected the game itself.
What do you think they should have done this time around? Put another dismembered body part? Or should they have done something involving the necromorphs? Still should be interesting to see if this changes at all in the period of time between now and release.
Graphics:
Cooking Mama’s graphics are nothing delicious but the bright colors and the design of Mama herself equal out to be quite an appetizer. The game is not graphically impressive as you cook your meals. Everything looks as good as you would expect on the iPhone/iTouch and rivals the Cooking Mama you will find on the DS. The close ups of the finished foods as you finish your recipe however are sometimes fuzzy and cooking exercises with the skillet can sometimes cause the ingredients to suffer from the activity happening, becoming rough in appearance.
This is relatively excusable thanks to the happy go lucky appearance of the rest of the game. Mama herself is very endearing in her cartoonish appearance, and all the actual cooking utensils and most of the ingredients look as their real life counterparts would. On top of that there are visual hints provided consistently through cooking. Lines are drawn on where to slice, or what actions to take and in the deep frying and skillet methods of cooking you will see a hint of color change as the items become cooked.
Gameplay:
Hmm what could a game called Cooking Mama involve? Is it cooking grenades? Nah of course not it is all about the kitchen and there are tons of activities and recipes to take advantage of. There are a total of fifteen different recipes, though only four are available on the start of the game, with the rest unlocking as previous recipes are completed.
There are two options to choose from to cook with Mama. One of which is the cooking contest which contains nearly every activity in the game in the form of a mini game challenge. They are a great way to practice out your cooking skills if you are having trouble with a specific action.
Speaking of practice; the other game mode is Let’s Cook which is essentially what Cooking Mama is all about. In this mode you have a selection of recipes to choose from and each one will have a specific set of mini games which you must complete in the order given to you; but then again you do not have a choice. In this mode you have the Make option and the Practice option.
By practicing you can pick and choose which activities you would want to try, and each one is explained to you in case of confusion. It is not entirely essential, but it is helpful for the Make mode. In make mode you will be graded upon how fast and well you performed the tasks assigned to you in either a gold medal, silver, or bronze. Bronze is a failure while gold is completing the task 100% before time runs out or falls below the half way point.
After the recipe is made completely you will then be given a full grade out of 100 points and given a medal as such for the entire recipe. Unfortunately though the grading does seem a bit skewed as the only way to receive a gold is 100%, while even the smallest mis-step will result in a silver.
The activities themselves have been well adapted to the iPhone/iTouch’s movement sensing capabilities. While some of the touch controls are a bit finicky and inaccurate. There are various methods of cooking which will require you to do full motions using your iPhone/iTouch, such as tilting to cover a pan with butter, or sliding it side to side to pack meat. These are enjoyable and although may look a bit odd in public are a highlight of the cooking.
However there are problems with the finger recognition in some of the finer points of cooking. Folding dough and adjusting heat both have tough issues in registering finger swipes and can result in a loss of time and a mess up that was not your own fault, but the lack of recognition in the system. These can be frustrating but as most of the recipes can be finished in about a minute doesn’t usually hurt the overall experience.
Overall:
Despite some recognition issues Cooking Mama has made the transfer to the iPhone/iTouch just as good as Mama would. There are a decent amount of recipes and costing only $6.99 it is quite a deal as the first game we saw Mama in is currently still running at $20. Meaning that if you want the full Cooking Mama experience, but want a deal then Cooking Mama for the iPhone/iTouch is definitely the way to go.
After running for two years at a pay to play system, Warner Brothers and Turbine are changing the way the internet will see Lord of the Rings. By making the online MMO Lord of the Rings Online free to play this Fall. You may ask though how either company will profit off of the game now that it has become free to play?
The answer is quite simple the original game is free to download and you as a player are more than welcome to join and play for free. On the other hand, any expansions you wish to purchase; including quest packs, items, and other items which will be added to the new LOTRO Store designed for the new free to play MMO will cost you your money. Also players have the choice to stay a VIP member and have unlimited access to special game content. This content is your basic first priority in server access, more character slots totaling 5, banks that can be used between characters, and also credited points in the LOTRO store contest.
If you wish to take part in the new beta that Turbine will be starting on June 16th, you can sign up here.
This is quite a bold step, as many free to play MMO’s are currently thriving on the market today and use the same relative principles but none on the same level as LOTRO in design or fan base. It will be interesting to see how the servers will take the stress load of so many new players coming on at once. Then there is the matter of whether or not the game will remain balanced if paying members receive such a higher amount of benefits and potential equipment.
Even though it’s just a CG trailer, this new Deus Ex: Human Revolution’s trailer is an amazing experience for anyone looking for a new cyberpunk game, as it’s not every day you find a new one too.
Check out the trailer below, and let’s hope they fulfil all expectations and honor the original game.
