Axe shredding rockaholics, virtual mix maestros and all of their friends will come together and party this holiday weekend with new downloadable content for Guitar Hero and DJ Hero. Available today and featuring some of the biggest hits from global pop sensations such as Lady Gaga, Pussycat Dolls, Rihanna, Duran Duran and Maroon 5, the Pop 1 Track Pack for the Guitar Hero Music Library.
Setting the ones and twos ablaze today, the DJ Hero Dance Party Mix Pack delivers a trio of new mixes – Lady Gaga’s “Poker Face” Mixed With “Girls On Film” by Duran Duran, Pussycat Dolls’ “Buttons” beat juggle and Rihanna’s “S.O.S.” beat juggle – that will have digital DJ’s spinning, scratching and battling as they take their 4th of July parties to the next level. Guitar Hero fans looking to pick up their axes, grab their drum sticks or rock the mic right are in for a treat this weekend. A trio of hit pop artists in the Pop 1 Track Pack for the Guitar HeroGuitar Hero will be available on Xbox LIVE Marketplace for 440 Microsoft Points, on the PlayStation Store for $5.49 and for Wii for 550 Points. All songs in the track pack will also be released as downloadable singles for the Xbox 360 for 160 Microsoft Points, PLAYSTATION 3 for $1.99 and Wii for 200 Points each.
The DJ Hero Music Library that will have these budding musicians rocking out with all their friends to Lady Gaga’s club anthem, “Just Dance,” Maroon 5’s hit single, “This Love” and the Synthpop hit, “Fireflies,” by Owl City. The Dance Party Mix Pack will be available on Xbox 360 for 640 Microsoft Points and PLAYSTATION 3 system for $7.99. All mixes will be released as downloadable singles for Wii for 300 Wii Points each.
Usually a grown man would shed a tear during his wedding day, maybe even when their first child is born but not this man. When I heard the announcement that the Need For Speed series was taking it back to its roots, back to a time where it was at its prime, this man right here shed a tear… Now that Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit is not only planning on making its return this year but by Criterion games, its no wonder the game was a secret for this long. I managed to get a hands on demo on the show floor at E3 and let me tell you the experience was good.
Interceptor was the game mode at hand, pitting players in a cat and mouse race with one as a Lamborghini and other a Reventon. The premise is simple enough, do anything to get away in the open world which is the games new setting or completely destroy the one trying to get away. The nostalgia was imminent right when I put the controller in my hand. The game textures and landscape were similar to some of my most pride gaming experiences from the original Hot Pursuit and Hot Pursuit 2. During a race, points can be awarded enabling you to perform actions that either help you escape or capture your opponent. Things like a radar jammer for the escapees and roadblocks for cops are to name a few.
It is quite hard to tell that Criterion made this game, being so far from their successful racing franchise, Burnout. Graphics looked great and the cars had good handling from what we could tell. We were told replays would be back and Criterion is focusing on the online component of the game. Their Autolog system will interact players and friends like never before. The idea is to update stats, information and suggestions on the fly with what other players and friends are doing online.
The game will pack plenty of features, full online play and that cinematic feel that the originals had. We can’t wait for the games release this fall but look for more info in the coming months.
During the hype around Microsoft’s controllerless camera Kinect over the course of its announcement last year, a lot of facts have surfaced. One of the more important facts is that the camera could indeed be filled with better hardware for processing, that up until this point is being handled by software to keep costs low. Well if what we’ve witnessed and heard at E3 is of any fact, then the limitations to the camera are starting to display before the device is even released.
When a lvlone staff member demoed Game Party: In Motion for Kinect on the show floor they received some facts that might have been unknown before. When we asked the rep how many players will the game support they told us that the Kinect camera can only handle two complete skeletons simultaneously but will support four players over Xbox Live. We were shocked to hear that to be the case. Now news is springing up on hardware specs indicating the same thing, what does this mean for Kinect? The big thing to note is that he told us two complete skeletons and since most games are being made for Kinect’s launch they have taken full advantage of the entire body.
This doesn’t rule out a game, lets say where it’s four people playing a buzzard type scenario as seen at Microsoft’s Press Conference of 2009. At that point only half the players body at most is being read, so it could possibly read more the two simultaneous people in that sense. However this does not sit well for the camera’s future if more limitations start springing up. Not to mention before it’s release in the Fall.
Fans of puzzle-platfomers, prepare for lift off! Frima Studio, a leading Canadian multiplatform game developer based in Quebec, announced today that Widgets Odyssey will be landing on the PlayStation Store for download in North America on July 6th.
As a PlayStation Mini title, playable on both the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and PSP system, Widgets Odyssey will take players on the first of two interstellar puzzle adventures that will continue in Widgets Odyssey 2, also launching later this summer.
“Both installments of Widgets Odyssey will give players a chance to enjoy what has become our love letter to the puzzle-platfomer genre, something many of us on the Frima team grew up playing for countless hours on end,” said Steve Couture, CEO and co-founder of Frima Studio. “We’ve had a tremendous amount of fun creating this colorful cast of robotic characters with heart, and blasting them off on an epic journey that will take more brains than brawn to help them save the universe.”
In Widgets Odyssey, five robots aboard the ‘S-Space’ vessel have just one simple mission…to save the universe from the tyrannical Yagor and his evil henchmen! Armed with the abilities of Spad, Cosmo, Bruce, Helmut, and Monk, players will guide each robot along their exciting adventures filled with puzzles, mazes and minigames when it launches on the PlayStation Store July 6th for only $1.99 USD. Players can also look forward to the continuing adventures of the ‘S-Space’ crew in Widgets Odyssey 2 when it launches later this summer.
With the newer age of gamers getting younger, we will soon start hearing hardcore gamers as young as 17 years old saying “what’s a Super Nintendo?”, thats why we here at LVLONE say to those kids “Hey! It’s time to know your roots.”
The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, is an action-adventure video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System video game console, and the third installment in The Legend of Zelda series. It was first released in Japan in 1991, and was later released in North America and Europe in 1992. Shigeru Miyamoto and his team were solely responsible for this game’s development. A Link to the Past’s plot focuses on Link as he travels on a journey to save Hyrule, defeat Ganon and rescue the seven descendants of the Sages.
A Link to the Past uses a top-down perspective similar to that of the original The Legend of Zelda. It added mechanics and concepts to the series that have become commonplace, including multi-level dungeons and new equipment (such as the hookshot and the Pegasus Boots), as well as establishing the concept of an alternate, parallel (and sometimes far more dangerous) world. It was well-received since its release, and has been listed by GameSpot as one of the best installments of the series, as well as one of the greatest games of all time. To date, A Link to the Past has sold more than four million copies, and has been re-released for the Game Boy Advance and the Wii’s Virtual Console.
With the release of the next Zelda in 2011, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. We thought it was time to educate the player.
Since it’s announcement at this year’s E3 convention, PlayStation Plus, has been a hot topic subject amongst PS3 owners. Some new features granted unto those gamers who don’t fine it too much of a burden spending $50 a year (identical to Microsoft’s Xbox live premium gold service) or $18 for 3 months to include:
• %50 discounts on PSN titles Access to betas previous withheld from the public
• Hour long demo times on select games and titles
• Free Subscription to Qore online magazine
• Automatic download of these products
• And users who choose to get involved in the PS-plus experience will have a shiny golden plus sign next to their name on the XMB buddy dashboard.
We’re pretty sure there are tons more goodies in store for us gamers involved with the new PlayStation Plus experience, and if your willing to take the plunge you can get involved .. right now! The service should be available so let us know your thoughts?
Not to many new ATV games make the rounds on consoles, the major player before was the ATV Vs. offroad series. The developers for Nail’d are going a different rout in delivering a pure arcade racer that is sure to capture the ultimate amount of speed while behind these ATV’s and motocross bikes as well.
Lets make one thing clear, this game is bending the laws of physics giving ATV’s and motocross bikes alike the biggest jumps and speed you won’t find anywhere else. Nail’d focuses on pure fun, giving players plenty to do with vertical and outrageous tracks. The two stages we played had some really big jumps, 90 degree turns and trains on multiple occasions. The sense of speed felt good with the opponent A.I. providing a good challenge but not overwhelming. There will be distractions in every turn, from planes crashing, to trains like some we’ve witnessed, all in the middle of your race. The sounds for the ATV’s were good and the graphics seem to pop. We’ve witnessed great terrain deformality while hugging turns on the muddy area’s.
A boost meter will let you really gain speed on the courses as you’ll need to in order to win. Building the boost meter can happen in a number of ways. High jumps and rings are the ones we’ve witnessed. There is one thing to note, when speaking with one of the developers they let us know that you won’t be able to perform tricks while in the air on big jumps. This is due to the fact that they wanted to focus on the pure speed and high jumps in the game. Nail’d will ship with roughly 14 different tracks on 4 different zones around the world. Vehicles are fully customizable, with parts that are unlocked as you progress through the game. Online will also make its way onto the final build and the team is looking into 12 players.
Overall our experience with the game so far was rather fun but definitely could use some work. Graphics were colorful and the game holds up well when dealing with a hefty amount on screen. However the dead space from not performing tricks in the air is unescapable and the ATV’s will need some balancing tweaks. The game is shaping up well before its release in the fall but it will have to give some heavy punches to compete with the likes of Pure and ATV vs MX series.
Declare your own kingdom in the one-of-a-kind free-to-play MMORPG, King of Kings 3. With the start of the game’s closed beta testing phase today, June 28, 2010, gamigo will be opening up the world of King of Kings 3 to players from North America and Europe. Players can cover the incredible depth of the game and the many types of warfare available against others and guilds. They can also register via the official website.
King of Kings 3 is an online RPG, expanding upon it greatly by letting people join together to form a guild, later they can band together with other guilds to form a legion and complete an epic quest to create their own kingdom. Every guild, legion, and kingdom is leveled up by the players, earning it more access to features of the game. More specializations become available during the course of the game, with a total of 27 classes available to choose from. The hunters and gatherers among the players will have a wealth of equipment available for their characters. An added appeal is the ability to build cities with a wealth of buildings and other objects available. Houses can also be built and decorated to suit each player’s taste.
The features of King of Kings 3 at a glance:
Brilliantly designed fantasy world full of variety
Comprehensive PvE content with loads of quests and minigames
Epic RvR warfare between kingdoms and intense PvP combat
Multi-leveled guild system with guilds, legions, and kingdoms
I’m going to say this once, I pride myself for being pretty damn good at racing games. I’ve reached impossible feats, beaten racers on their most difficult options and even ran Le Mans 24 hour tracks. Boy does Blur kick my ass sometimes. Not only have I gotten a whooping on the career campaign but online as well. This isn’t saying Blur’s not a good game but when I say that I think its the Mario Kart for adults, I mean it in more ways then one.
Bizarre Creations has taken a totally different route then their previous games, the Project Gotham Racing series to be exact. They have used a complete arcade experience as their canvas and have delivered Blur. To some it up the game uses exotic locals with a variety of licensed cars to not only tear up the streets but to launch and avoid power ups as well. Much like another racer that was played when I was a youngster, cars in this game can pick up power ups that can be hurled at opposing opponents to advance you. Track fans are awarded by attacking opponents, race placement or objectives that are met.
The career races are set up in groups of rivals that own a set of races before competing against them. There are a variety of races such as regular power up, destruction which is attacking opponents for more points and objective races. All get more extreme as you further in the career. The enemy A.I. can be brutal, leaving no room for mistakes and can keep you on your toes at all times. While you can change the difficulty, the game on normal feels more like hard mode and easy feels to easy to get any challenge at all. Our problems were the tracks and cars themselves at times. Some tracks go over the top with the obstacles set in them, falling overboard on the sides of a boat, having to maneuver between dead stop objects or having to jump onto narrow platforms seems to sometimes get in the way of the already hectic racer. The sounds are on point, power ups feel unique and pack a lot of punch. While the music offer some variety, but start to get repetitive after awhile.
The online component for Blur is done well with plenty to do. Players have to unlock different modes of play by raising their level from fans that get rewarded. You can customize your power up and car load out to become aggressive or more defensive. Everything is a clean slate online, which we’ve found to be pretty redundant and have to unlock all the vehicles we did in the career mode all over again online. The modes work well with some being more fun then others as you unlock them, however once players reach matches that pit them with 19 other players, shear chaos will commence. Going from first place to twentieth place in a race is almost imminent but you do learn the ins and outs as you go along.
There is something for everyone in Blur, whether you like to take the race online or keep it offline, players won’t get bored here but can get frustrated. Some of the track layouts get to busy and cars can get destroyed rather quickly, letting you pummel vehicles with stacks of power ups. We’re not particularly fond of some of features that Bizarre Creations has abandoned from previous racers like their excellent replay mode from Project Gotham as well but hopefully we’ll see these returns in the next one. The nice car progression, level progression, social networking integration, robust multiplayer modes and more are things you don’t want to miss from this racer.
Capcom has confirm today that one of it’s highly anticipated titles of the Fall, Dead Rising 2, is set for release across North America on September 28, 2010. Sequel to Dead Rising, and set in the gambling paradise of Fortune City, Dead Rising 2 introduces a new main character, Chuck Greene, and 1000’s of new zombies in this action title. Be sure to check out the prequel “Case Zero” dropping sometime in summer for a totally new adventure with out newest hero.
