Still wondering about to go gold or not on Xbox? Well Microsoft is giving you a taste of the gold life, and giving gamers who don’t already have a gold Xbox live account a test drive this weekend. Well there go your plans, and as for family, just tell them you got sick and can’t share your controller and can’t be around people.
Go Gold All Weekend
Double XP Long Weekend!
It’s July 4th weekend and what’s better than spending it in front of your couch on some Call of Duty Black Ops? To celebrate our independence, Nuketown 24/7 is back! As if our little nuclear neighborhood wasn’t missed. Starting today and ending 7/5 (long weekend remember?!) Black Ops will be the place to be, Xbox 360, Playstation 3, nor PC, whichever console or system you’re on just remember… look for the double rainbow and don’t be a wiener, they tend to get lit up!
Uncharted 3 Multiplayer Beta Code giveaway
So we’ve been hearing alot of hype for this new game Uncharted .. 3 I believe. We played it a bit at E3 this year, yea its pretty awesome. After the announcement that there would be a Multiplayer beta for the game to be released, we thought we’d share the love to you guys and girls out there. So today we’re giving out a number (it’s alot!) of Uncharted 3 Beta codes and maybe your one of the lucky ones that will get one. All you have to do is comment below on what your most excited about for the game itself.
We will choose at random later today but PS your chances are better the earlier you comment as we’re giving the codes out in spurs. Be sure to be signed up to lvlone.com as we are sending them out to the attached emails of users. Also if you think you have no chance, think again cause we got plenty of codes to give out.
Limbo Comes to PS3, Now You Just Gotta Wait…
Limbo the supposedly exclusive Summer of Arcade 2010 game for Xbox will be coming to PSN soon. Playdead’s CEO and co-founder Dino Patti stated “Limbo is production for Steam and PSN, and is coming very soon.” Unfortunately not much information has been posted about the release nor has the pricing been announced, but as soon as it does we will keep you informed about this blockbuster indie game.
Steam Summer Camp Wants You!
From June 30 to July 10 Steam will be offering a lot of games for cheap. Steam will also have sales on different bundles, and publisher catalogs but that’s not the important thing. The important information is that the games that are purchased have achievements that give you tickets. If you collect three tickets you’ll be able to trade them in for different gear for certain games, different missions, and even possibly full games! Every ticket you earn also places you in a raffle to win the top ten games in your wishlist. Well what are you waiting for… get playing and enjoy summer!
7-2 Gamers Win!
Today in the United States Supreme Court, the case of Brown vs. The Entertainment Merchants Association was heard. Out of nine Justices seven of the nine deemed that the Constitutionality of a California state law which banned the sales of “violent” video games to minors unconstitutional. The Justices referred to video games as a form of communication to express ideas, such as books, music, and movies which is expressed through a medium or interaction. The esthetic and morals judgements for the medium is for the individual to make and not government since they are protected as a form of art or a form of speech that falls under the First Amendment. What does this all mean? It means that seven of the nine Justices see that games are a form of art, whether they be violent or not. The banning of games being sold to minors is unjust and isn’t be constitutional. Violent games can only be monitored by parents whether they are sold to minors or not, and not by government/law.
Summer of Arcade 2011 Announced
The snow has melted, the shorts and t-shirts are back out, and that means summer is finally here. Warm weather usually means more time to go out, but for some of us that aren’t as UV friendly or are creatures of the night, it just means we finally get to put the A/C back in the window so our consoles don’t become molten hot. Major Nelson today popped the cap of this summer’s Summer of Arcade for 2011. To kick off the summer in a big way, come July 20, Xbox 360 owners will finally be able to get their hands on the first Summer of Arcade game Bastion. The list in it’s entirety has been added, and if you buy all the games from the SoA 2011 package, gamers get the game Crimson Alliance for free!
| Date | Title | Price (MS Points) | |
| July 20 | Bastion | 1200 | |
| July 27 | From Dust | 1200 | |
| August 3 | Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet | 1200 | |
| August 10 | Fruit Ninja Kinect | 800 | |
| August 17 | Toy Soldiers: Cold War |
1200 |
[Source Major Nelson]
Preview: Ninja Gaiden 3 hands on
Ninja Gaiden was one of those games that made a huge splash upon its return back in 2004 for the original Xbox. It’s been 7 years and we are taking a look at the third with a new direction and director at its helm. LVLONE got a chance to get hands on with the game at E3 2011 and we’re surprised to find out that some things have changed.
One of the biggest things to note about this is that it is not a sequel to Ninja Gaiden II, it is a new story with some new mechanics to boot. Now I’ve always been a fan of the franchise and could not wait to see what Team Ninja was going to come up with next but as a seasoned player it felt like diving into a new game of sorts? While we didn’t know much about what was going on, we do know that his energy and crazy moves come from the blood/curse that surrounds his right arm.
What the arm allowed us to do was these hard stab techniques that feel like they came out of anime films like Ninja Scroll. Massive amounts of blood spewing from these hard stab then slice moves. We’ve noticed that some of the moves we’ve grown to love are gone like the roll which has been replaced with a slide. The slide is not a big difference as it does nearly the same thing but can possibly be used as an intro to engage enemies with your moves. The other is the Flying Swallow which allowed you to engage multiple enemies, staggering them so they don’t overwhelm you. It took some time to get used to but it came together.
The game is looking good and while some might not like the fast to slow style from the new cut-through-enemies mechanic I actually thought they looked really slick. One thing I didn’t understand was the lack of dismemberment. Throughout the entire demo I was nearly cutting people in half but nothing was flying off, not even heads. While it would seem minor, it was one of the things that made Ninja Gaiden a bad ass.
The game seems to be coming along ok. There is some work and tweaks it can use but graphically has been bumped up a bit. Team Ninja has some time before the games release so promise is definitely something I see here, dismember in the final build? I certainly hope so.
Preview: Wii U hands on
With Nintendo announcing the 3DS at E3 last year it almost didn’t come as a surprise that they unveiled their newest console to be making its way into homes soon. Officially named Wii U, the focus is not on the console itself but on the controller. They had playable tech demos along with some games to be arriving for the consoles launch next year, we got a chance to check out what this new device is all about at Nintendo’s booth at E3.
The controller boasts a 6.2″ touch screen, a gyroscope, accelerometer, microphone and speakers. It has a camera on the front, triggers in the back and standard buttons on each side making the whole thing resemble a tablet. The first thing we noticed was how light it was, weighting in at no heavier then the 360 controller. The idea is to have a seamless interaction between the TV screen and the controllers touch screen. We here at LVLONE played some of the early tech demos showcasing what the controller can do.
Shield Pose
Pirates on a boat are trying to hit you with plunger tipped arrows and the only way to block them is by using your shield at hand. The concept behind this was to show and call out a set of actions on the TV screen which will then be executed while holding the control tablet. The pirate shouts out commands of where he is launching the arrows from at which point you need to place the control tablet in that section to reflect them, all at a timed beat. With the help of the controllers gyroscope you will almost get a 360 degree view of your surroundings which is how it allows you to block the attacks. As you progress it gets faster, harder and even asks you to dance. This showed an array of promise to games that would have you perform actions to neutralize enemy attacks and so forth.
Chase Mii
This demo played like tag giving all the players the task to chase and catch one person. All of them were dressed like toad with mushroom hats, as the one being chased was dressed like mario. The concept here was how five players can play on one console effectively, while not all having the same experience. Everyone played with Wii-motes looking at the 4-player split screen, while I played with the Wii U controller. When I played the character that needed to be caught on the Wii U controller I not only had my own screen but it also had a map of where everyone was. Everyone was to communicate to catch me while I do what I must to stay away and survive. I don’t remember the last time I had five people play a game in my house at the same time if ever!
Battle Mii
This demo had a Metroid style to it and it was a two vs one battle. The people holding the Wii-motes were these Samus styled shooters split screen on the TV, while the one holding the Wii U controller is a spaceship trying to gun them down in the air. Being the shooter on the ground first your able to collect power ups and turn into the ball to navigate around the arena easier while also trying to find the ship to shoot down. Being the ship with the Wii U controller felt a little awkward as you had to use the accelerometer to control the ships navigation. I got somewhat used to it but still felt clunky at the end.
Since the announcement of the Wii U at Nintendo’s press conference some people including myself had been skeptical on how this thing would play out. I see the promise and ideas of where Nintendo is trying to go with this. It is to early to tell if all gamers will accept the concept but expect more info and news of games to surface in the future. I’m thinking this is only the tip of the iceberg for the Wii U and the avalanche is coming soon!
Team Fortress 2 Goes Free to Play
Team Fortress 2 has been around for a long long time now, about four to five years. Throughout the lifespan of TF2 it’s seen many updates (for the PC at least, sorry Xbox) and many add-ons such as different hats, weapons, and specialized holiday items as well. This week Valve implemented a new Uber update for the Medic class, and also announced that TF2 will be going to the free to play route. Players who’ve already purchased the game previously obtain a special hat and much more perks from the game. Perks being being able to craft all items, trade items, larger slotted backpack to own more items, and lastly obtain rare and cosmetic items. If you haven’t played TF2 what are you waiting for? Here let me help you… Here’s the link to download it.
