Guild Wars 2 is something off in the near future, but their closed beta is getting amped up and readied to be downloaded soon. The closed beta signups were open for a mere 48 hours, but within the span of the 48 hours, masses of Guild War lovers about 4,000 per minute signed up. I have a hunch that NC Soft has another sleeping giant on their hands.
UPDATE: Double Fine Adventure Get’s Kickstarted
Head honchos Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert over at Double Fine are getting things Kickstarted on a new project. Last night, within eight hours of posting a Kickstarter project, Shafer and Gilbert raised over $400,000 to fund a new project. With 33 days left to go, and already hitting over $700,000, Double Fine is doubling up on their donations. Donating a certain tier will get you different benefits. the minimum of $15 will get you the PC game in it’s entirety and any DLC, and the premium if $150,000 or more, Tim Schafer (that’s me) will give last four remaining Triangle Boxed Day of the Tentacles, in original shrink-wrap.” (Limit of 1). To see the full items offered check out the Kickstarter page and the Double Fine website.
UPDATE:
Almost three weeks have passed and the money keeps rolling in for Double Fine Adventure on Kickstarter. Hitting over sixty five thousand supporters and over $2.2 million, Double Fine Adventures is well on it’s way to create a great game since the additional funding will give the developers deep enough pockets to hire voice actors. To increase the donation incentives, Tim Schafer has added more rewards to the already long list. For $30 you also get the digital soundtrack of the documentary, for $100 special edition box containing both the game disc and a DVD or Blu-Ray of the documentary, and The Double Fine Adventure Book ($60 reward tier for a digital PDF, $500 reward tier for a physical copy). There’s only 15 days left of the Kickstarter donations, let’s see if we can break the 4 million mark by then!
Medal of Honor: Warfighter Announced
EA has officially announce the sequel to 2010’s Medal of Honor, Medal of Honor Warfighter. Warfighter will be developed by the same studio Danger Close, that developed the 2010 Medal of Honor. Warfighter’s storyline is said to follow the Tier 1 Ops, and will also be using the Frostbite 2 engine Battlefield 3 is currently using. MoH: Warfighter has current release date of October 2012, so be ready to grow those beards again.
Sega Announces Jet Set Radio Returning to XBLA and PSN
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Sega announced today that Jet Set Radio or Jet Grind Radio, will be hitting XBLA and PSN soonish. The news came was released on Sega’s YouTube Channel. No firm release date has been announced yet, but sure enough it shouldn’t be long till we start downloading it.
SSX Demo Out Now For 360, Later for PS3
Nothing like a fresh coat of powder on the slopes, but what’s even better is to see a reboot of the SSX series. The demo plans on having players go big or stay home with two different modes, Race it and Trick it. Players will be able to play as Zoe Payne, but if you send a demo invite to friends you’ll unlock Mac Fraiser. The Playstation 3 demo comes out later today. The full version of SSX hits shelves February 28.
Time to shine for 38 Studios with new game
Currently based out of Providence, RI (though they do have another location, Big Huge Games, in Baltimore, M.D), 38 Studios was founded by former Boston Red Sox pitcher Curt Schilling in 2006. They are a company that excels in the development of a broad range of products, including online and console video games, toys, novels, comics, film, TV and other forms of digital media. The true test of the studio comes in the form of Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning, their first console game. There will be no middle ground for the game, which was released last Tuesday. It will either be great or flop. So far it seems to be the former.
Ken Rolston served as the lead designer for the game, a man who has worked on other greats such as Elder Scrolls III: Morrowmind and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion. He, along with author R. A. Salvatore and Spawn creator Todd McFarlane worked together to create the game. With that in mind, one can only imagine the style of gameplay this game will have. Well, some of the reviews are in and here is what some online publications are saying about the game:
Kotaku
It’s an extremely well-crafted action role-playing experience with all the bells and whistles fans of the genre crave and countless hours of quality hack-and-slash entertainment in a fully-realized new fantasy world.
G4TV
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning is nothing if not ambitious. The game is the initial point of entry into a new fantasy world that promises to span various media and game genres.
Gaming Nexus
Deep, polished gameplay wrapped around an interesting and engulfing universe with all of the bells and whistles RPG and action game lovers crave spread across enough content to keep you busy for months.
Joystiq
Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning presents a world that is immaculately crafted and beautiful, yet still simple and accessible. Every corner reveals a person in need, a treasure to collect, a secret to uncover, a battle to wage. I don’t know how much more time I’ll spend in Amalur (dozens of hours? hundreds?), but I plan on savoring every minute.
Be mindful, however, that these are only some of the reviews available out there. Don’t take these for granted as it seems the game is well worth the time and effort to play. It even scored an 80 on Metacritic, which combines and averages review scores from various sources. Read more reviews and read user reviews to get a feel for the game. Go on and play the demo if you must, just remember, all games are innocent until proven guilty.
Ghost Recon Future Soldier Trailer Is Hot!
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Although the release date of Ghost Recon Future Solder was pushed back, it doesn’t mean we can’t enjoy some eye candy before it comes out. We’ve all seen the game play footage from E3, and it definitely gave me a craving for more. Ghost Recon Future Soldier will be available May 22nd in the US.
The Next Gen Console
For the past two years, there’s been rumors and speculation over what the next gen console will have and what it will be capable of doing. Also who will break the silence and be first to announce the next big monster that we’ll all throw our money at? Some information on the next Xbox has already been leaked (keep in mind it can all be speculation), such as what type of video card will be used and the power that it will have. Already boasting an impressive processing power that’s supposed to be six times greater than the current Xbox 360, the XBox 720 might also be capable of multi monitor configurations, 3D, 1080p output, and have DirectX11. All this packed into a little console!? The hardware we know will be very impressive in the 720, and we know that Xbox Live will be compatible with Windows 8/Games For Windows, but what really impresses me is that the experience will be rolled up with Kinect and be on Window mobile phones. Microsoft is bringing the big guns out this time around, one thing I’ll be excited to see is what type of format they’ll use for their game discs.
Sony on the other hand has always been on the forefront of technology (+1 for blueray!). The current PS3 is already using blueray discs, 3D capable, and boasts really incredible graphics, so what more will the PS4 have to offer? Being economic of course! At the age of recycling and being green, all the electronics we own definitely run up the electric bill. The new PS4 will consist of 60% of recycled materials and have a type of smart start system where the game starts from your last saved position rather than booting up the entire start up sequence. Power consumption already being lowered in the new PS3 systems will most likely be carried over to the PS4. I can see the gaming benefits from the fast start, and the greener machine, I mean after all, who really wants to pay a big energy bill at the end of the month?
Within the new two or three years we should be getting a real sneak peek of the systems and with more more detailed specifications and images of what they will look like. As for now everything can change. What would you like to see in the next generation console? Controller specifics, hardware specifics, or system capabilities let us know!
Feeling left out of the Grand Theft Auto train on your tablet
Have your friends had the luxury of playing GTA III on their iOS or Android devices while you’re sitting around with your Medion Lifetab or ASUS Transformer Prime tablet that can’t run the game? Well, it sure is your lucky day. The most recent update to the game’s software is now allowing the Transformer Primes to run the game.
The update comes with more than just support for the tablet as the video settings, immersion haptics and the ability to take the game and install it onto your tablet’s SD card are the added features. Engadget notes that the update comes with a rework of Xperia Play will add “full support for GameStop’s wireless controller.”
Go grab yours on the Android Market!
MW3 Map Pack Drops Today! (For Elite… On Xbox….)
For those who have invested money, blood, sweat, tears, and some other bodily fluids (ya nasties) into Modern Warfare 3, you’ll be happy to know that the first DLC of this year is live! On Xbox Live that is… and only available to Elite members. The new content will include two new maps Liberation and Piazza. Liberation takes place in Central Park, New York where snipers will tag you over and over again. Piazza takes place in Italy in a small seaside village, where close quarters combat will fill the streets with corpses to teabag. Non Elite members and other MW3 console gamers can expect the DLC to release at a later date. Well what are you waiting for? Get fragging noob!
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