Duke Nukem: Critical Mass dated for North America
Duke Nukem: Critical Mass just got married to a release date by Apogee Software today, we see any news about the Duke is good news and its always great to see him spreading his “love” across the handheld market, Sticky?
In Critical Mass, Duke is sent into the future (awesome if it was with a monster truck time machine) where mankind is on the brink of extinction and all the babes have been taken up as slaves by those pesky aliens. So there’s a mighty objective, save mankind and bang some babes and not in that order.Spanning over seven game modes and three difficulty setting, two player coop and fifteen weapons, taking place on 30 new levels covering nine locations and to fill those areas are tons of oversized bad guys and plenty of T&A. Lets just hope the Boobtube looks good on the DS, maybe make use of some 3D?
Duke Nukem: Critical Mass will be released on May 25, 2011 in North America. As for us Europeans it is already on our store shelves!
This week’s new releases! May 16th – 22nd
It’s another exceptionally thin list of new titles this week, but what it lacks in quantity it more than makes up for with quality thanks to L.A. Noire and The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings, both of which have seen large contingents of hype wagons deployed in their favor for the the last month or two.
This weeks new releases! May 2nd – 8th
Well it looks like it’s going to be yet another slow week across all formats, which is sadly somewhat of a tradition leading up to the summer months; publishers being under the highly misinformed opinion that most gamers, particularly those of summer vacation age, would rather expose themselves to the vicious dangers of the outside world in order to bask in lethal solar rays rather than just stay inside and play video games all day.
FIFA 12 Details emerge
The first set of FIFA 12 details have been leaked thanks to the French version of Official PlayStation Magazine.
According to the magazine FIFA 12 will be having a new ‘Impact Engine’ which realistically tracks player contact and injuries, plus “more human” player AI.
We received the first screenshot earlier this month and now thanks to the French we have some bullet points:
- FIFA 12 introduces the ‘Impact Engine’ which properly tracks and formulates contact between players, including their hips, knees etc.
- The AI will also keep track of areas of the body players have been injured during a match. Players can also become injured off the ball if abused too much, especially late in the game.
- FIFA 12 also introduces ‘AI Vision Game’ (rough translation), which promises to make passing more realistic. If you try to complete a pass to a player that’s not within visible range, for example, it’s less likely you’ll complete the pass. EA hopes this will get rid of “blind passing”.
- Personality Plus is more developed and should influence AI players’ passes this time.
- AI is said to be “more human”, with each player acting more or less according to his abilities. One example given is when an AI player sees Fabregas coming towards him with the ball, he’ll act more carefully.
- OPM describes “new presentation” of matches in FIFA 12, which are said to be very much inspired by English football crowds.
- The game includes three new arenas, this time with integrated benches along the sidelines and “impressive lighting effects” according to OPM France.
- Integration of a new short dribble with the left stick.
- The game features a new camera that’s noticeably closer to the ground.
- There’s also a new menu interface that appears to be simpler and more ergonomic than before.
Sony announces the S1 and DSP S2 gaming tablets
Once again proving that they’re on some sort of holy quest to have their mitts in every hardware market available, Sony have now announced they’ll be releasing not one, but two separate Android powered tablets this Fall. Much like their previously released Xperia Play smartphone, Sony’s S1 and S2 are “PlayStation Certified” which basically means they will have a fairly heavy focus on gaming and be able to (legally) run PS1 games and other Sony published apps not available on other Android devices.
Specs are a little sketchy at the moment as, in their usual style, Sony are being rather tight lipped about the whole thing. What we know so far is that they will both run Android 3.0 (known as “Honeycomb” in android hipster speak), have access to wi-fi/3G/4G networks, be powered by a Nvidia Tegra CPU and feature a single 9 inch screen on he S1 model, while the S2 will sport a pair of 5.5 inch screens with a resolution of 1024×480 each and a “clam-shell” design. Even more sketchy is what sort of price range we can expect for either device, but if tradition holds true then it’s fair to assume they’ll both be ridiculously expensive. Click below if you want to see both devices in action, and by that I mean watch a pre-rendered CGI facsimile of what the tablets might look like in action if you’re lucky.
After watching this video I can’t help but feel there’s something a little bit off about the S2. Hmmm… gaming handheld….. dual screens….. touch sensitivity….clam-shell design…. Yeah something is definitely familiar here. Perhaps if we could get a shot of someone holding the S2 in a gaming stance it might jog my memory a little. Ah, here we go!
Oh. Oh no. What have they done…..
This week’s new releases! April 25th – May 1st
Once again there’s not a huge number of new titles coming out this week, but to compensate we have a much more desirable ratio of crap to quality than usual. Much like last week this is likely due to a significantly lower than normal output of shovelware from the Wii and DS markets which is always welcome, and for my sanity’s sake is a trend I really hope is here to stay.
Highlights
Darkspore (PC)
This one is a bit of an oddity. Remember Spore? Will Wright’s incredibly ambitions God sim from 2008 that was meant to revolutionise gaming but got more or less forgotten once the initial hype died down? Well this is that, but DARK. Instead of creating cute Pixar-ish creatures you’re working on bladed terrors of unrelenting carnage, and rather then helping them cultivate a civilized high tech society in via a quasi RTS interface, you’re instead going on a Diablo style action RPG rampage where you carve up anything that moves until it drops shiny things that make you carve things up better than you did before.
While the original Spore was indeed multimillion seller, it proved to have very little staying power within the hearts and minds of gamers as a whole. So given that decent Diablo style games usually have the opposite kind of reception, it should paint a very interesting comparison when it hits the market this week. If it is actually decent that is, the jury is still out on that one.
Thor: God of Thunder (PS3/3DS/Xbox360/Wii/DS)
Normally I wouldn’t bother wasting more than a handful of words on a game like this. We all know the score: movie tie-in games are released on just about every available platform every other week, and they’re all nearly guaranteed to totally suck even if the film they’re based on doesn’t. But what I though was interesting about Thor: God of Thunder wasn’t the game as such, but more what it was being released on: PS3, 3DS, Xbox360, Wii and DS. Notice anything missing? No PSP version! It seems to have been replaced by Nintendo’s impressive but content starved 3DS.
This could perhaps be a sign that 3DS will be the new dumping ground for the “better than DS but not console standard” movie tie-in games, which would in turn cut off one of the few lifelines the PSP has left outside of Japan. However, given that the NGP is on the horizon and the 3DS has only a handful of games (quality or otherwise), it’s easy to see which camp is more in need of this sort of crap.
Shutter Island (DS) & Beastly (Wii)
Again, normally I wouldn’t give this stuff the time of day, but I was just so struck back by how weird a choice these two films are for video game adaptations. For one thing Shutter Island came out well over a year ago now, and even then it was hardly video game material. But at least on some crazy level I can see how you could somehow turn it into point and click puzzle game or something, although the twist ending is going to be rather predictable if you’ve seen the movie.
Beastly on the other hand? Seriously WTF. Do you know what happens in Beastly? It’s a Twilight-ified remake of Beauty and the Beast where a generically handsome douchebag is turned into a tattooed goth by a witch and is then given one year to make Vanessa Hudgens fall in love with him if he ever wants to be turned back. That’s it. That is the entirety of the material that the developers had to work with in order to make this video game. So what the hell is this thing then? A dating sim? Puzzler? First Person Shooter? A tycoon sim where you make millions just by endless manufacturing Twilight style movies? The mind boggles.
Full schedule
Multiplatfrom
Virtua Tennis 4* (PS3/Xbox360/Wii)
Thor: God of Thunder (PS3/3DS/Xbox360/Wii/DS)
DS
Natalie Brooks: The Treasures Of The Lost Kingdom
Jewel Master: Double Pack – Cradle Of Rome & Cradle Of Egypt
Shutter Island
PC
Darkspore
Stray Souls: Dollhouse Story – Collector’s Edition
King’s Bounty: Platinum Edition (Includes Armored Princess, The Legend & Crossworlds)
Mythos
Wings Of Prey: Collector’s Edition
Wii
Beastly
Dance Dance Revolution: Hottest Party 4
Musiic Party: Rock The House (No that’s not a typo, they really did spell it with two “i”s. Rad.)
PS3
Zumba Fitness*
*PlayStation Move/Kinect Compatible
This week’s new releases! April 18th -24th
Wow. It actually looks like a fairly solid line up this week, if a little thin on the ground due to a shockingly unusual lack of new DS titles other than the much overdue 3DS launch title Puzzle Bobble Universe (curiously not under its usual European name of Bust-a-Move). Perhaps the shovelware DS money well has finally run dry? HAHAHA. But seriously, it’s back to boatloads of garbage after this so enjoy the quality titles while you can!
Highlights
Portal 2
A game that should need little introduction. The long awaited sequel to Valve’s 2007 landmark physics defying first person puzzler is finally hear. New features include a fully independent Co-Op mode, a much longer duration (one of the few complaints with the original) and a “gel” painting mechanic that adds an extra level of lateral thinking to the puzzles. Hopefully (but not definitely) it will also have a few more story hooks to the currently sleeping Half-Life franchise, this being the first game set in that universe in over 3 years.
Unsurprisingly you can obtain Portal 2 on the usual triumvirate of PC, Xbox 360 and PS3, but for once the PS3 version might be the ideal console platform of choice. Not only will the PS3 version directly integrate into the Steam PC servers for use with multiplayer (essentially isolating the 360 players from everyone else) and cloud saves, but every copy also comes with an exclusive code that unlocks the PC version for free! So even if you’re part of the “PC gamer master race” it might be worth picking up a copy for the PlayStation triple instead, at worst you can just flog it as a quick trade in and save yourself some money overall.
Mortal Kombat
What can i say? It’s Mortal Kombat, and its BACK. And by “BACK” I mean no more kidyfying the violence to appease publishers. This is a return to the savagely gory origins that turned what would have otherwise been a fairly standard fighting game into a buzz word for brutality. Oh! And it’s a pretty good fighting game too, just in case you were wondering.
Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection
Another year, another remake of a SNES classic Final Fantasy game, and this time it’s Final Fantasy IV on the PSP. At the very least this is the EIGHTH time this has happened to FFIV, so what makes this one so important? Well the reason this is known as the “Complete Collection” is because it it features IV’s 2008 sequel The After Years, which had previously only been available on Japanese mobile phones and the Nintendo WiiWare store in a ridiculously expensive episodic format. Not only that, but the game features a(nother) major graphical enhancement over the original version as well as a brand new scenario called “Interlude” that helps bridge the 17 year gap between IV and The After Years.
Yawwwwn…. yeah it’s far from everyones cup of tea, but by the sound of it the legion of RPG fans who are, for some bizarre reason, absolutely crazy for IV will likely view this as the definitive must-have edition of the title. At least until Square Enix announce a 3DS/NGP remake anyway…..
Full schedule
Multiplatfrom
Mortal Kombat Xbox360/PS3
Operation Flashpoint: Red River PS3/Xbox360
Portal 2 PS3/PC/Xbox360
Virtua Tennis 4 Wii/PS3/Xbox360
PSP
Final Fantasy IV: The Complete Collection
PC
Majesty 2 Collection
Black Mirror 3
Heroes Of Might & Magic Collection
The Next BIG Thing
Black Mirror III
Wii
Conduit 2
PS3
SOCOM 4: U.S. Navy SEALs
3DS
Puzzle Bobble Universe
Capcom shows off some new titles
Courtesy of Capcom’s annual “Captivate” event we’ve got a slew of footage from a bunch of new games on the horizon. Some of them we already knew about, but others totally took us by surprise! None more so than………..
Dead Rising 2: Off the Record
I’ve got nothing against Dead Rising 2’s Chuck Green, but there’s no way he was ever going to fill the giant boots left behind by macho photo journalist Frank West. So Capcom, realising their mistake, have decided to create a remake of Dead Rising 2 but with good old Mr West as the protagonist once again, thus officially making possibly the strangest/most awesome remake in gaming history.
It promises to be a lot more than just a quick pallet swap, Frank will supposedly follow a radically different story path to Chuck and will once again be able to use his photography skills to gather PP much like he did in the original Dead Rising. Plus, he’s covered wars ya’ know?
I assume this is going to be a stand alone expansion in the style of Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare rather than a giant DLC add on to Dead Rising 2, but don’t quote me on that until we have some official word from Capcom.
Asura’s Wrath
From CyberConnect2 (the makers of .hack and a shit-ton of Naruto games) comes……..uh… apparently some sort of cross between God of War and anime? It’s been quite a while since we’ve actually seen anything significant from this title so I’m glad to see its going strong, because whatever it is, it looks awesome and I want it.
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition
Capcom are treating this as some sort of surprise announcement, but must of us heard about this a good while back. Basically it’s a DLC patch that turns any copy of Super Street Fighter 4 into the updated arcade version that’s been knocking around in Japan for a good while. Changes include four extra characters and a bunch of gameplay tweaks that only die hard fans are likely to notice or understand.
Street Fighter X Tekken
Not sure what else to say about this one other than YO TEKKEN IS GOING TO GO FIGHT STREET FIGHTER IN THE STREET FIGHTER UNIVERSE! Not to be confused with Tekken x Street Fighter, which for some crazy reason is separate game where Street Fighter goes to go fight Tekken in the Tekken universe. If you’re having a tough time imagining what this particular crazy mash-up looks like, I direct you over to my good colleague Gabriel’s article.
Dragon’s Dogma
Newly announced today, Dragon’s Dogma is supposedly the beginning of an all new PS3 exclusive franchise. Judging by the brief press release and this video, it looks to be equal parts Monster Hunter and Demon’s Souls. I really hope Capcom don’t think that this in any way redeems them for transferring development of Monster Hunter Tri from the PS3 onto the Wii…….
Resident Evil: The mercenaries 3D
I’m not sure where I stand on Capcom trying to flog an old minigame as a fully fledged title, but what I am sure of is that my lovely rather expensive 3DS currently has near to naff all worth playing on it right about now. In the words of Philip J. Fry, shut up and take my money!
For the full details on all these titles head over to Capcom’s official blog.
This week’s new releases! April 11th -17th
Well it seems like we’re still in a bit of a rut as far as new releases go. Yes, it’s another week of re-releases, ports and casual gaming all round. Yaaaaaaaaaaay! Oh, and for the absolutely minuscule number of people who would care, this week also sees the release of Super Robot Wars Z2 part 1 over in Japan. I bet you’re all very exited! What just me? Bah, philistines!
Noteworthy titles
Michael Jackson: The Experience (Xbox360/PS3)
Experience the resurrection on the king of pop in his new (slightly creepy) digitized form! In a way this rhythm action game has been out for quite a while, specifically on the PSP/Wii/DS since November last year. The response from critics wasn’t exactly enthusiastic back then, perhaps indicating that Nintendo’s post Kinect/Move motion tracking tech just doesn’t “wow” like it used to and that portable versions of console games still kinda suck. Not that it matters though, those versions still went on to sell well over 3 million copies in total. Considering the feedback from this new HD console edition has actually been rather positive so far, one can only assume that number is going to rise quite fast in the coming weeks.
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable (PSP)
If you’re lucky enough to live across the pond in the USA then you’ve probably had easy access to this game since early July last year. Man, isn’t living in Europe awesome? Anyway, this re-release/make of the PS2 classic RPG features numerous improvements over the original: an optional female protagonist, the ability to control your teammates in battle (No, you couldn’t do that before. Yes, it was stupid.) new music tracks, two new difficulties and a cameo appearance by Vincent, the protagonist of the hotly anticipated Xbox 360/PS3 title Catharine. However it’s far from the “definitive” version of Persona 3, a lot of stuff has been scaled back in order to get it onto the now rather antiquated PSP: all the anime cutscenes have been removed, various graphical elements have been massively simplified (and they weren’t that great to begin with) and worst of all it lacks the extra story campaigns added in the PS2 “FES” expansion pack. Hopefully once the NGP hits we can say goodbye these sorts of compromises.
Patapon 3
The world’s best (likely only) rhythm action strategy game returns after a short hiatus, finally giving PSP owners who don’t live in/import from Japan something new to actually play on their device that isn’t a port or remake. Again though, it’s not exactly a “new” title as such; much like Patapon 2 it’s exceptionally similar to the original but now with a much bigger emphasis on multiplayer and RPG mechanics. That’s not exactly something to complain about as the original Patapon was really badass, but I have to wonder how much longer they can keep this up without any major changes….
Full Schedule
Multiplatfrom
Michael Jackson: The Experience (requires PlayStation Move/Kinect peripheral) (PS3/Xbox 360)
WSC Real 11: World Snooker Championship 2011 (X360/PS3)
PSP
Shin Megami Tensei: Persona 3 Portable
Patapon 3
DS
Midnight Mysteries: The Edgar Allan Poe Conspiracy
LEGO Ninjago: The Videogame
Bookworm
PC
Elements of War Online
Men of War: Assault Squad
Wii
Spongebob Squigglepants (requires uDraw peripheral)
Xbox 360
Dead Rising 2 (Classics re-relese)
Kinect: Fantastic Pets (requires Kinect peripheral)
DS will continue to dominate sales even though the 3DS will sell 11.6m in 2011, predicts research company
According to a research company known as Screen Digest has predicted that the 3DS will sell big, but wont outsell the DS.
With the estimated sales of 11.6 million for the 3DS Screen Digest highlights that in the first year for the DS,DS lite and DSi accumulated 13.1m.
It seems that the 3DS will be trailling behind its predecessor by only culminating in a total of 69.9m 3DS units by the end of 2014, compared to the DS that had sold 90.9m by the same stage in its lifecycle.(2004-2010)
Screen Digest also pointed out at the plethora of mobile devices now available, such as iPods, smart phones and tablet computers, as the reason 3DS will fail to outsell it’s predecessor, which had racked up worldwide sales of 136 million units by the end of 2010.
Via: MCV http://www.mcvuk.com/news/43908/3DS-sales-will-reach-116m-this-year?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter&utm_campaign=Feed:+mcvuk/oXMK+(MCV:+games+industry+news)
