August 7, 2008 – 5:38 pm
Fable II topped my recent list of my most anticipated video games, and it’s still the game I’m practically foaming at the mouth to play. Sure, Peter Molyneux might have fooled me once with Black & White. Or twice with Black & White 2. Or three times with Fable. Or… okay, enough, Fable 2 is going to be awesome. End of story. And now we know exactly when to expect that awesomeness to be landing on the XBox 360.
October 21 is the official release date, and courtesy of the Gamerscore Blog, here’s a rundown of what goodies you can look forward to if you pick up the limited edition:
- DVD with “Making Of” feature
- Extra in-game content, including a new dungeon, an additional weapon, and an “Otherworldly Bonus”
- A special edition Hobbe Qee figure
- 48-hour XBox Live Gold trial code
- Five printed Fate cards
The regular edition will be $59.99, and the limited edition will be $79.99. Both editions will net you a free download code for Fable 2 Pub Games if you place your preorder while supplies last.
Source: Gamerscore Blog
August 1, 2008 – 6:00 am
Soul Calibur 4 hit video game consoles this week and has been wowing fans new and old alike. With as big an established fanbase as the Soul Calibur series already has, you can bet there’s a ton of cool fan art online. Here’s a look at some of the best. Be sure to follow the links back to see the full piece of artwork and to let the artists know you like their stuff! And please note that due to the ridiculous character designs on some of these folks, some of these pieces of art (ie: Ivy and Tira) might not be considered safe for work.
Soul Calibur by DXSinfinite
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July 21, 2008 – 6:00 am
Another E3 has come and gone, and, for better or for worse, we’ve seen the latest on most of the biggest (and smallest) video games for the coming year. In the wake of the conference, here’s a look at the ten games I’m most hyped for. It wasn’t easy to narrow the list down to ten, but here you go.
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July 8, 2008 – 6:00 am
There’s no denying that games like Rock Band and Guitar Hero have become hugely popular and successful over the past few years, due in large part to their wide variety of featured songs and ever increasing music libraries. Since shortly after its release, Rock Band has been adding songs weekly, and the various Guitar Hero games have been expanding their songlists via download and spinoff games as well. Some of these featured songs are the master tracks, taken from the original bands’ original recordings, while others are uncanny soundalike studio bands doing usually faithful covers.
Recently there’s been a trend toward both game series wanting to drop the covers and go for master tracks only in their song collections. This has caused some trouble lately, as The Who’s much hyped full-album released of Who’s Next was canceled for Rock Band and replaced with a greatest hits compilation due to the original master tapes for some of the songs being lost. And most recently, Led Zeppelin has refused to lend their master tapes out to developers for security’s sake, so their songs likely won’t be included in the upcoming masters-only Guitar Hero World Tour and Rock Band 2. Zeppelin is happy to license out their songs for cover editions in the games, though.
So this begs the question: How much do the master recordings really matter in music video games? Is it so essential to have the original master track that the developers should decline including otherwise awesome songs just because they now shun covers?
I, for one, wouldn’t mind at all having a cover of “Pinball Wizard” on my Rock Band. After all, I’ll be the one making the music when I’m actually playing the game, and I have no illusions that I actually am an original member of The Who.
Source: Evil Avatar
June 23, 2008 – 5:00 am
I’ve been pretty hard on Activision and Guitar Hero in the past, from their overpriced downloadable songs to their inflexibility with allowing Rock Band peripherals. But now I think they just might be setting a good precedent for the music game genre with their latest decision concerning the upcoming Rock Band-esque Guitar Hero World Tour. Unlike the Guitar Hero: Aerosmith release, World Tour will allow cross-game DLC. This means that any songs you’ve downloaded for your Guitar Hero III game will work with Guitar Hero World Tour as well.
No details or announcements have been made about the surely upcoming Rock Band 2, but having GHWT feature cross-game compatibility for downloadable content should send up a signal that Rock Band 2 will allow you to play your many Rock Band downloads as well. The folks at Harmonix are good at pleasing their fans, and I highly doubt they’d limit DLC compatibility in their next installment, especially now that the distinguished competition is allowing for it.
Source: Kotaku
June 23, 2008 – 5:00 am
A British gaming magazine called X360 reportedly has a new story this month about Midway’s upcoming fighter that pits the Mortal Kombat and DC Comics universes against each other. Among the details revealed in the article are that the game will contain blood, though likely not copious amounts of it, and that at least some of the characters’ costumes will have destructible parts. A photo in the magazine is said to show Superman shattering part of Scorpion’s mask.
The article also reveals what may be a partial or full character roster:
DC Characters:
- Batman
- Superman
- Robin
- Wonder Woman
- Flash
- Green Lantern
- Black Canary
- Hawkman
- Powergirl
Mortal Kombat Characters:
- Sub-Zero
- Scorpion
- Kabal
- Sonya
- Jax
- Raiden
- Kitana
Source: Neogaf via XBox360Fanboy
June 18, 2008 – 5:00 am
When I was growing up, Sierra On-Line was a cornerstone of my development. Not the current Sierra that makes mostly Xbox Live Arcade games, but the original incarnation of the company, under the nurturing watch of Ken and Roberta Williams. After moving into my new house, I’ve been unpacking boxes and recently came across my old treasure trove of Sierra Animated Adventures. That made me nostalgic and prompted this list of the top ten classic Sierra game characters. And no, Gordon Freeman is not classic Sierra.
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June 11, 2008 – 11:41 am
Florida attorney Jack Thompson has been a thorn in the side of the gaming industry for a long time now, and it seems the Florida Bar has no love for him, either. Thompson has been found guilty of 27 counts of professional misconduct, and last week he had his day in court to receive his judicial spanking. It’s no surprise that the judge recommended an enhanced disbarment and a mandatory wait of ten years before Thompson can reapply. What will Jack do during his period of mandatory retirement since he won’t be able to file ludicrous motions and prance around courtrooms in an official capacity? Most likely he’ll still show up on any conservative news program that wants a vacant talking head to spout inaccuracies, quote flawed statistics, and espouse the evils of gaming. Failing that, he seems passionate about moving furniture, based on the transcript of his June 4 hearing:
JT: May I move the podium?
JUDGE: No. Just everybody leave it in one spot. That’s the way we usually do it in the courtroom.
JT: Can we change that one spot? No?
JUDGE: I’d prefer that you leave it right there.
JT: Nice. Can I pivot it?
JUDGE: Is that what you’d like, sir?
JT: I’m asking you.
JUDGE: Okay. That’s fine.
JT: I was allowed to move it before.
After playing with the furniture, throwing around some paperwork, and getting scolded for not playing nicely, Thompson picked up his toys and went home. GamePolitics has the exclusive transcript of the proceedings, which surely would have been amusing to witness in person. The hearing turned to standard legalese after Thompson’s exodus, a much less colorful affair than when he was in the courtroom. It just proves that every court is more amusing with a jester.
You can see the exclusive transcript here: GamePolitics
June 10, 2008 – 6:36 pm
I got my copy of Ninja Gaiden II last week and dropped it into my XBox 360 with every intention of playing through the game and writing up a thorough review. I played the original Ninja Gaiden games way back on the NES, but I never got around to playing the first XBox version. So this would be my first foray into the 3D world of Itagaki’s slice and dice hero, aside from Ryu’s appearances in Dead or Alive, and I was looking forward to it. My non-review follows after the jump.
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