It’s now official, Fable 3 is being developed at Lionhead Studios.You play as the son or daughter of your Fable II hero.Albion has changed a bit with no details yet on how the worlds landscape has changed. you will spend most of the game gaining support so that you might lay claim to the throne.A release date of 2010 has been announced.
Get ready to storm the battlefield! DICE, an Electronic Arts Inc. studio, today announced that Battlefield: Bad Company™ 2 will be available March 2, 2010 in North America and March 5, 2010 in Europe. Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will deliver a level of destruction, vehicular warfare, squad play and open world environments never before experienced in a modern warfare action game. By pushing destruction to new heights and delivering a host of land, sea and air vehicles, players will soon witness the best-in-class online warfare experience.
“The variety of weapons, choice of vehicles and scale of destruction in the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sandbox environment generates countless unscripted and unforgettable moments,” said Karl Magnus Troedsson, Executive Producer Battlefield Franchise, DICE. “When Battlefield: Bad Company 2 ships in March, it will deliver the best online multiplayer experience ever.”
Whether online or in the single player campaign, players use every weapon and vehicle to survive and conquer. Players choose from 15 authentically modeled vehicles, each providing a tactical advantage and offering a variety of gameplay options. The new UH-60 transport helicopter can ship an entire four-player squad directly into battle, while allowing two additional team members to wreak havoc with its two mounted rail guns on board.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 players will have a selection of 46 weapons that they can customize into over 200 different, high-powered firearms. There are over 15,000 kit variations possible in the game, giving each squad member the ability to choose the weapon upgrades and combat enhancements that best fits their playing style. Between the weapons, kit combinations and deadly vehicles, players will be equipped with a wide range of gadgets, accessories and character specializations to give them the edge in the heat of battle.
The DICE signature Frostbite™ engine delivers Destruction 2.0, adding a new layer of strategy to the all-out warfare. New to Battlefield: Bad Company 2 is the micro-destruction mechanic that allows players to be more strategic on the battlefield by chipping cover away bit by bit or taking down an entire building and watching it collapse with enemies inside.
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 will be available on the Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system, the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and the PC. For more information on DICE, please visit www.dice.se or www.ea.com. For more information on the Battlefield franchise please visit: www.battlefield.com.
During the GamesCom 2009 Activision recently announced that Blur for the Xbox 360, PC and PlayStation 3 will be arriving in North America on November 3rd and in Europe on November 6th.
The game will feature fast-paced racing action, split-screen for offline play and up to 20 players for online competitions.
According to the press release, as featured on Blend Games…
Blur is the ultimate powered-up racing experience, where players collect addictive and intense Power-ups throughout each course, including the ability to blast other cars out of the way with huge bursts of energy, boost speed with Nitros, drop Mines and even generate defensive shields to fend off other racers. Blur features an intense single player campaign filled with over 50 fully licensed cars to unlock and intriguing characters to earn the respect of,
Blur will primarily be an arcade racing title suited for both hardcore and casual players. Damage, traffic and multiple routes are also present in this Need For Speed meets Mario Kart racer. More information on the game can be viewed at the Official Blur Website. Be sure to stay tuned in for more gaming industry news and updates.
Gamerscore News has made a new post: Rock, Race and Rumble with Games on Demand and Avatar Marketplace on Xbox LIVE This August.
We’re not wasting any time! Just one week after the Xbox LIVE® update, you can stock up on newly released Games on Demand titles and deck your Avatar out in brand new duds all through the month of August.
Refresh your Avatar and emulate your favorite famed guitarist with “Guitar Hero” gear – the newest Avatar Marketplace collection launches today, August 20! Also hitting Xbox LIVE Marketplace are several new Games on Demand titles to add to your collection, providing convenient, 24 x 7 access to a growing online library of popular game titles. This month, at the touch of a button, download a great selection of full Xbox 360 games including:
“Saints Row” (North America, Asia, Australia and New Zealand): The game earned praise for its action-packed quality and production, and now you can conveniently download and dive into Stilwater as a low-level thug on a money hungry mission. Muscle your way to the top in this original release in the series!
“Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis” (Japan): Get ready to rumble the table tennis court with your skilled shots and smash hits. Enjoy multiplayer mode via Xbox LIVE and match up exhibition and tournament style with up to 12 other players. “Rockstar Games Presents Table Tennis” is available for download.
“Need for Speed™ ProStreet” (North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Asia): Compete at the highest level of street racing with Need for Speed ProStreet. It’s no longer good enough to simply rule your local neighborhood, you need to dominate on a global stage. Build the ultimate battle machine, take it to multi-disciplinary showdowns and pit your skills and reputation against the world’s best street racers. This is your chance to prove that you have what it takes to be crowned the next street king. Download “Need for Speed™ ProStreet,” on August 25 for all its street racing glory.
“Burnout Revenge™” (North America, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand and Asia): Strap yourself into the fastest, most dangerous racer on the road. Built for unprecedented destruction, Burnout Revenge challenges you to exact your revenge on rush hour traffic, vindictive rival racers and anything else that gets between you and the finish line. “Burnout Revenge™” joins the Games on Demand library on August 25.
“LEGO® Star Wars™: The Complete Saga” (Australia and New Zealand): “The Complete Saga” delivers the thrill of the blockbuster “LEGO® Star Wars™” series and gives you the chance to play through legions of Star Wars events from all six of the memorable movies. Get your hands on “LEGO® Star Wars™: The Complete Saga” on August 25.
All of these games will be available for quick and convenient download, 24 x 7. You can purchase Games on Demand titles via credit card or Microsoft Points. To purchase using Microsoft Points, just push the “Y” button when you’re on the purchase screen and you can buy and download your favorite games instantly!
Yes Ubisoft is excepting applications for their latest RTS that pits gamers into command of world conflict. This game premises to have players take control, more like a chess game, using your body and hand gestures for commands. Get the your hands on a key before their all gone.
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It’s amazing how a game can be so good and so memorable, that you keep playing it over and over for more then ten years, and never get bored of it. For me, ‘Banjo-Kazooie’, is one of those games.
‘Banjo-Kazooie’, created by Rare, was originally released in 1998 for the Nintendo 64. Ten years later, the original that we have come to love is back, this time on the Xbox 360’s arcade service, and it’s better then ever!
For those of you unaware, Banjo, our protagonist, is a honey loving bear that wears bright yellow shorts and a blue backpack. He’s good-natured and genuinely nice to the characters that the pair meets throughout their adventure. Our other protagonist, Kazooie, however, is an entirely different story. Kazooie is a bird, a Breegull to be exact, that lives in Banjo’s backpack. She’s rude, outspoken and knows how to ruffle the feathers of the other characters in the game. Both must work together if they should succeed in their adventure. Other notable characters in the game, Bottles the Mole, who teaches most of the pair’s abilities, and Mumbo Jumbo, the shamen, who transfoms the two into various creatures, for a price of course, more on that later.
‘Banjo-Kazooie’s story is typical for a fairy-tale like adventure. Gruntilda the witch, our antagonist, is imformed by her cauldron, Dingpot, that there is a girl prettier then Gruntilda. This girl turns out to be Tooty, Banjo’s sister. Gruntilda, intent on stealing Tooty’s beauty, swoops out of her lair on her broomstick and snatches Tooty. Banjo, sound asleep, gets awakened by Kazooie who has heard the commotion
outside. Banjo and Kazooie walk out their front door and their adventure begins.
‘Banjo-Kazooie’ has always been known as a collect-a-thon. Not demanding like ‘Donkey Kong 64’, not in the least. It’s resembles ‘Super Mario 64’ so much more. Instead of stars, Banjo and Kazooie collect golden jigsaw pieces, also known as ‘jiggies’. These are used to open the nine worlds in the game, ten are found in each world, including Gruntilda’s lair, one hundred total. Other items the duo collect include musical notes, which are needed to open Gruntilda’s magically sealed doors throughout her lair, each with a different amount of notes required to pass. Eggs are used for ammo. Mumbo tokens are given to Mumbo Jumbo, to transform Banjo and Kazooie into various creatures like a termite, a bee, and a crocodile. Jinjos, five little bird-like creatures that must be saved in each world to earn a jiggy. Empty honeycomb pieces, twenty-four in the game total, used to expand your health bar. Lastly, red and gold feathers, the red are used for flight, the gold for invulnerability. It may sound rediculous, the amount of items you’ll collect while playing the game, but I can assure you, it’s not. Everything is intelligently layed out to not overwhelm the player.
For those of you wondering how ‘Banjo-Kazooie’s control scheme pans out, well, you’ll be happy to hear it’s control scheme is layed out quite nicely on the Xbox 360 version of the game. For example, the ‘B’ button on the Nintendo 64 controller, and the ‘X’ button on the 360 controller are both in the same proximity of their respective ‘A’ buttons, so naturally the ‘X’ button serves as the Nintendo 64’s ‘B’ button controls. The left trigger, as well as the right trigger, serves as the Nintendo 64’s ‘Z’ button controls, and so on. For the eighteen moves, most taught by Bottles the Mole, had to be layed out in a way that’d work, and luckily, it does.
The gameplay holds up really well, for a game that is now eleven years old. The controls are really responsive and precise, especially compared to the original release. The game is also so much more enjoyable to play, thanks to the comfort that the Xbox 360 controller offers. It makes the game a bit easier to play as well, and as an added bonus, no Nintendo 64 joystick, therefore, no sore thumbs!
The visuals are still the same as they were years ago. Blocky character models, limited weather effects and the same impressive textures, which was a feat for its time. Everything also just looks much sharper and cleaner. Never in ten years would I have imagined this game could look so good.
Do you remember the occasionally annoying sound effects in the game like Kazooie’s Talon Trot move? How about the characters’ unique speech effects that we hear when their text bubbles pop up on screen? Well, none of this has changed. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Changing too much would lose the game’s nostalgia. Everything in the game as far as sound effects and music goes is the same, for the most part. All of the music and sound has been remastered. So parts of some songs, like Mad Monster Mansion’s music, does sound a tad different, but it isn’t a huge deal. The only real drawback I found to remastering the game’s sound, is a couple of the sound effects can be ear piercing. For example, that ‘ting’ sound you hear when you surface any body of water in the game, is one of them. Collecting a honey comb, is another. Clearly a result of the remastering process, so those of you with sensitive ears, you’ve been warned.
Many noticeable changes have been made throughout the game, some for legality reasons, others are just gameplay adjustments. The walking Nintendo logo you see upon booting up the game, is no more. This is an obvious change, but certainly a noticeable one nonethless. The Nintendo logo on Mumbo’s zylophone during the intro has been changed as well, and now says ‘Microsoft Game Studios’ instead. Surprisingly, Banjo’s Game Boy in the file select screen is still there, minus the Game Boy’s boot up sound effect, strangly enough.
Major changes have also been made to the game, and they are all quite welcome. The framerate runs at a very smooth sixty frames per second, no hiccups at all. The draw distance has been fixed too, so if you’re missing a couple musical notes, chances are, you’ll find them a bit easier now. The note system has also been completely redone, so as to not frustrate players as much as the original did. Instead of having to re-collect all the notes in a level if you died or left the level, now, the game saves each of the 900 notes individually upon collecting them. So if you die or leave the level, whatever you collected previously, will not magically reappear, it is gone permanently.
Achievements and leaderboards have naturally been added, as these are requirements for any Xbox 360 release. All in all, ‘Banjo-Kazooie’ proves to stand the test of time. The game is dated, sure, but it doesn’t mean it isn’t a fun and enjoyable game. It’s just as much fun to play now as it was when it came out so many years ago. It’s a classic, and it deserves a spot with the other greats on the Xbox Live Arcade service. As of this writing, ‘Banjo-Kazooie’, as well as its sequel, ‘Banjo-Tooie’, are both in the top ten in the ‘Top Rated’ section in the Xbox Live Marketplace, under Xbox Live Arcade. The ratings don’t lie. Download the trial or full version, and I can guarantee you, you will not be disappointed.
9.5
Capcom is releasing the demo of Dark Void, a sci-fi action/adventure third-person shooter with jetpack-booster aerial dog fighting at GamesCom 2009 in Cologne, Germany. A truly unique game indeed. Utilizing Next-Generation graphics and power, Dark Void has a unique vertical combat system allows players to dangle from thousand foot drops as they take cover and hurl enemies to their doom, bringing a whole new sense of immersion to the player. The main character Will, is equipped with a powerful jet pack which allows for intense in-air combat, hurtling through the Void at blistering speeds while destroying all in his path.
Dark Void is set to make a debut this week at GamesCom 2009 in Cologne, Germany where the game will be one of the highlights of the Capcom GamesCom line-up. A new exclusive demo will be available for Capcom’s European community at the show along with an outdoor skydiving booth and an impressive advertising campaign throughout Cologne.
Dark Void, Capcom’s highly-anticipated sci-fi action/adventure game for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC, will be ringing in the New Year by launching on January 12, 2010 in North America and January 15, 2010 in Europe.
Will There Ever Be a Sequel? That is the Question a lot of people ask themselves after beating a satisfying R.P.G such as ‘Vagrant Story’, a solo dungeon crawl, in which the player controls Ashley Riot from a top down third-person perspective while exploring Leá Monde and the catacombs underneath.The protagonist is Ashley Riot, a male member of the Valendia Knights of the Peace (VKP) in pursuit of a cult leader named Sydney Losstarot. Sydney, leader of the religious cult Müllenkamp, laid siege to Duke Bardorba’s manor in search of a key and kidnapped Bardorba’s son, Joshua. Ashley’s partner is Callo Merlose, an agent of the VKP Inquisitors. Also attempting to capture Sydney is Romeo Guildenstern of the Crimson Blades, whose mission was undertaken without the approval of the VKP.
What I have just summarized to you my Lvlone friends? Well this is what we call a classic story. Even after its release nine years ago, its memorable events and great game mechanics will also not be forgotten. ‘Vagrant Story’ does not dissapoint, because it has met or surpassed all of my expectations. None the less, we really won’t see a sequel to this game, even if ‘Final Fantasy XII’ contains several references to ‘Vagrant Story’. Terms such as ‘Riskbreaker’, ‘Leámonde’ and ‘Kildea’ (albeit with different spellings in the localizations), are commonly used in both games. Yasumi Matsuno, the creator of ‘Final Fantasy XII’, was interviewed by Joypad, a French gaming magazine, in 2004 on ‘Final Fantasy XII’ and the game world he conceived, Ivalice, when he joined Square in 1995. He describes Ivalice as a complex world with a very long history and the stories of ‘Vagrant Story’, ‘Final Fantasy Tactics’, and ‘Final Fantasy XII’ are said to unfold quite close on the Ivalice map.
In October 2007, during an interview with the development team responsible for the remake of ‘Final Fantasy Tactics’ for the PlayStation Portable (PSP), the Executive Producer Akitoshi Kawazu was asked on the possibility of a remake or port of the title to said console. Kawazu mentioned that it is “the next natural candidate for such an update”, although there would be difficulty in porting the game due to its large technical requirements. Kawazu also remarked that bringing the titular character Ashley Riot into other Ivalice titles would be difficult since even in ‘Vagrant Story’, “there’s really not that much learn(ed) about Ashley Riot. It is a shame that we’ll never see a sequel to the game. We can only hope that it comes into fruition down the road.
Leading video game developer BioWare™, a division of Electronic Arts Inc. today revealed new plot points in the epic sci-fi fantasy Mass Effect 2™. Once again stepping into the role of the heroic Commander Shepard, gamers will command their crew on a suicide mission in space. Players will strategically select each member of their squad, all of whom have a direct impact on the direction of the story and the squad’s chances for survival. Players will select from a motley cast of characters including the newly revealed ‘Grunt’ – a blood-hungry Krogan.
Once players have assembled their squad from amongst the galaxy’s most powerful mystics, geniuses, and convicts, they must lead them on a suicide mission to discover why humans are vanishing from the galaxy. The success of the mission hinges on the squad recruited and their loyalty to the mission. Shepard’s future depends on it.
“The Mass Effect trilogy is an epic saga with consequences that will carry through from chapter to chapter” said Dr. Ray Muzyka, GM and CEO BioWare, VP EA. “Building out a diverse and loyal party is one of the features that makes the Mass Effect series unique. “The characters Commander Shepard recruits are not only pivotal to the storyline but essential to the players overall success.”
The new character revealed in the Mass Effect 2 squad is ‘Grunt’. A violent and unpredictable Krogan fighter, Grunt has never faced true defeat. His unsurpassed physical strength makes him a strong asset to Commander Shepard’s team, if he can be tamed, and if he can be trusted.
Grunt is the second party member to be revealed in the Mass Effect 2 universe following ‘Thane’ a deadly assassin who was first introduced in June. More details about the rest of Shepard’s crew will be revealed in the coming months.
The Mass Effect trilogy is a masterful science fiction adventure set in a vast universe filled with dangerous alien life and mysterious uncharted planets. Mass Effect 2 is scheduled for release on Xbox 360® videogame and entertainment system and PC in early 2010. The new recruitment gameplay video and screenshots can be found at info.ea.com.
[Source news: Press]
EA and Double Fine Productions Inc. today announced that gamers nationwide will get a sneak peek at this Rocktober’s heavy metal action game Brütal Legend™, when the demo launches in September. In just one month, players can download the demo and experience first-hand the face-melting action that G4 Networks honored with the coveted “Best of E3” award. For complete information regarding the availability of the Brütal Legend demo please visit www.brutallegend.com/demo.
Brütal Legend is an epic action game from visionary developer Tim Schafer. Jack Black stars as Eddie Riggs, a legendary roadie summoned to a heavy metal world where he must fight for the liberation of humanity from the demon Emperor Doviculus. In this wild world, mountains are made of amplifiers, killer spiders spin guitar strings and rock legends roam the landscape. In the demo, players get a preview of the game’s non-stop hack n’ slash action and mayhem. The demo opens as Eddie awakes in the age of metal where he must quickly learn how to use the powerful ancient axe, ‘The Separator’ and electrifying guitar ‘Clementine’ to unleash combo moves that destroy the demons of darkness. As he comes face-to-face with zipper-faced nuns and devilish druids, Eddie encounters the beautiful and tough-as-nails Ophelia, an ally and would-be love interest. Together, Eddie and Ophelia use double team attacks for more powerful combo moves to defeat the rock demons that are after them. Luckily, they are bestowed with a super-charged, druid-destroying vehicle, ‘The Deuce’ that can be upgraded with weapons and armor throughout the game. From the bowels of the druid dungeon to the tops of corpse mountains, the Brütal Legend demo is just the beginning of an epic journey.
”We just couldn’t wait,” said Tim Schafer, President of Double Fine Productions. “Villagers have surrounded our offices with torches, demanding the game. So we’re releasing a demo and hope that this taste of metal will keep the mob at bay until Brütal Legend comes out this Rocktober.”
Brütal Legend will launch on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and has been rated ‘M’ for Mature by the ESRB, 18+ by PEGI and 15 by the BBFC. The game is set to create headbanger whiplash when it ships on October 13th in North America and October 16th in Europe.
For more information on Brütal Legend and to sign up for the Brütal Legend newsletter, please visit www.brutallegend.com. To follow Brütal Legend on Twitter please visit http://twitter.com/brutallegend.
