UTV Ignition Announce ‘Swarm’

UTV Ignition announced some big titles at E3, with one of them being  Swarm. However, due to the chaos that is E3 the UTV Ignition have announced it … today.

Swarm lets the player take control of 50 utterly fearless Swarmites, hence the title.  You will be able to take control of the Swarmites by using them to Run, bash, huddle, boost, stack, jump, push and throw your way through gauntlets of death and destruction in an attempt to collect valuable DNA and ensure that at least one Swarmite survives.  If your finding it hard to picture we are categorising it as a "worms” spinoff title except with out the worms.

“UTV Ignition is delighted to be able to partner with Hothead Games to bring this title to market” commented Nigel Fox, President European Publishing for UTV Ignition Entertainment. “Swarm is a high quality and incredibly creative title, and it is that level of quality and creativity that is the basis of our digital download strategy.”

"Swarm is very special to Hothead¾it’s an idea we’ve nurtured for a while,” added Joel DeYoung, Director of Game Technology for Hothead Games. “We are excited to work with Ignition to make sure everyone hears about and ultimately gets a chance to play Swarm, Hothead’s next great game."

“UTV Ignition is delighted to be able to partner with Hothead Games to bring this title to market” commented Nigel Fox, President European Publishing for UTV Ignition Entertainment. “Swarm is a high quality and incredibly creative title, and it is that level of quality and creativity that is the basis of our digital download strategy.”

"Swarm is being developed by Hothead Games and will be available early 2011 across multiple platforms.

Legend Of Zelda Skyward Sword with Multiplayer?

Eiji Aonuma, the Zelda series Producer has revealed to us that the team behind the game are debating over the idea to have Downloadable content for the game Skyward Sword, with the possibility of Online Multiplayer.

This is a new idea for the Zelda Franchise on the Wii and the only online we have seen is the Four swords I believe. This new addition can boost the amount of fun coming from a game with a lot of challenges and hours of arm swinging fun.

Looks like we will be seeing these similar enemies from Twilight Princess

Eiji has thought about this and it’s been a theme he would of liked for a while now but getting it incorporated into the game is difficult to think of.

He came up with this :

“”Let’s say a player does something in their game that affects an area, and then that is communicated back to another system, and that would introduce new elements to your game. I find that sort of communication really interesting.”

This would be quite interesting indeed seeing your own world affected by another’s doing. I’d still question to if the multiplayer would involve story-line play like the Four Swords, or the tactical play like on Phantom’s hour glass.

If they decide to mix them up or something else thanks to the style of the Wii and it isn’t limited as much as the Nintendo DS or the Gameboy, we could be in for a treat.

Source :MyNintendoNews

New Donkey Kong Game

What a massive surprise at Nintendo’s E3! I couldn’t believe what I thought was coming when I heard the music. Finally ever since Donkey Kong Country 3 on the SNES an all new DKC game is here. I’m just as excited as you are, this is (for me) tying with the new Zelda as the best game at Nintendo’s E3.

Yet again as in DKC1 you play as Donkey and Diddy Kong running through 2.5D levels, the level design looks like the classics but while incorporating new ideas such as action happening in the background, the beautiful looking silhouette levels and of course new enemies and gimmicks. The graphics look very polished and use of the silhouette in hopefully a few levels is very nice. As in NSMB. Wii you are able to play the game in multiplayer, this tie there are two ways to play with two people. Firstly if you’re with a beginner then he/she can be Diddy Kong and ride on Donkey Kong’s back while using the jet pack and peanut gun to help him out. Then the second way to play is playing separated from each other, (so Diddy is not on Donkey’s back) this is obviously for more hardened players. You can expect this brilliant game to come out This fall.

Sonic Colours Preview

Publisher: Sega Developer: Sonic team Multiplayer: No Platform: Wii

After the release of Sonic Heroes the Sonic franchise we all knew and loved died in front of our eyes. Sonic and the secret rings, Sonic and the black night and Sonic Unleashed. We were promised so much more but we were let down time after time. What different will colours be huh? Why can Sega throw in the towel!

While Sonic had slipped away from the video gaming world for the past 5 months Sega was working hard. But we all know what is going to happen right? They release very promising screen shots and then they announce the twist on the release date which ruins the entire game. The Werehog, The Sword. Why will colours be any different? Your about to find out…. 

Instead of telling us what is in the new Sonic game Sega have shown us look at some of the beautiful screen shots that have been released. This Sonic game isn’t 3D! Running, Jumping in a 2.5D environment looks amazing as much as you doubt, Sonic 4 will be the one, the one that rises from the ashes schedule for winter release, who isn’t looking forward to this cracking title!

Sega have once again promised that Colours will take sonic back to his routes and this time.. dare i say i believe ‘em. Why Colours? The main feature of the game is the Wisp’s there are multicoloured wisps and when sonic collects them he will get a power up but it doesn’t transform sonic into some weird blue pigs thankfully, for example the blue wisp allows sonic to climb walls and enemies its called “Lazer Envy” another example is the “Drill Bill” the yellow wisp allows Sonic to drill through Platforms.

Some of the screenshots look 3D this is confirmed to be a few fancy camera angles and most of the game plays out in 2D or 2.5D clever eh?

You wanted Fast didn’t you well this is it you see the gauges in the bottom left of the screenshots well by holding the B button you will travel stupidly fast at never before seen sonic speeds.

Using the Wisp lazer ability also allows Sonic to travel incredibly fast as he is in Lazer form. However you wont be able to control sonic very well in this form as he is going way to fast. The drill works a lot like is does in Super Mario Galaxy 2 you can use this power up to find an alternative route to the ending and I’m assuming this will add replay value.

Summary

Sonic is finally back and he is faster than ever, As long as the levels play like Sonic Unleashed day stages I’m as happy as the next crazed Sonic fan boy.

Star Wars Force Unleashed 2 Trailer Analysis

This week at E3, Star Wars The Force Unleashed got its second trailer and my god did it cause some outrage. Has the franchise run out of ideas in using such a basic idea for why Starkiller has returned?

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Legend of Zelda Skyward Sword Preview

Today at E3 Nintendo announced there new Zelda title that they have been hard at work on and it was none other than the Zelda Wii scheduled for release next year due to control and game issues. Skyward sword uses motion controls to both use the sword and shield and the demo demonstration was preformed by non other than Mr Nintendo him self. The game has an anime style background and looks pretty good but the game isn’t been released until next year so i except a big improvement from the demo and i hope the motion controls don’t crash. The demo showed of some new items including a flying beetle and a whip. The level that they showed evolved you slashing enemies in a certain  way that it would break through there blocks like swordplay in Wii sports resort i hope you don’t have to do this all the time because i can see it getting boring fast. Unfortunately the demo didn’t show any signs of story and was just a combat tutorial i really hope Nintendo can put there finger down and get this game in stores early next year and release more footage. Skyward sword? by raising the wiimote up your sword begins to glow as it receives power from the heavens charging your slashes to be even more powerful.

Zelda Skyward Sword looks like it could go to ways. The Demo looked super fun and the control issues were apparently due to “Interferences” but the demo will be playable on game stage which will determine which way it is going but with another year of development this game will be perfect

FIFA 11 Screenshots

One of the criticisms of EA’s behemoth FIFA series has always been some of the graphics – of the crowds, and of the close ups of the players.

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EA’s E3 Conference 2010

Last night EA had an hour long Conference at E3, let’s get down to the business.

They have shown a few of their major announcements and a few minor announcements which I’ve came around to enjoy after having a look. It wasn’t as much as a fail as Microsoft I can tell you now because all that chatter coming from Microsoft talking about Voice Recognition which most of us should know.. it failed horribly.

So first on our agenda, Need For Speed Hot Pursuit which will be released this year November 16th. We are told there will be more wild chases and you will be able to play as not only a driver but as a cop too! So not only driving and running away from cops and pursuing the dare-doers. After they talked about this game we are shown some game footage about the game, BUT we have a nice black loading screen , how nice.

After our loading screen we are greeted with a pretty cool cut scene of a chase which is then followed by the game play that was anticipated. And trust me, this game does not disappoint as glance. With the cop getting a pretty awesome car perked up with some Nitrous and another pimped up car taking all kinds of corners to get away from Justice. I’d like to play this game when it is released purely because once you bust the suspect by crashing into him/her at full speed they end up showing us a big crash scene which looks pretty cool.

Sadly that is all we got to see, except some more notes from another person telling us that they are here to show us  10 great games from 10 great producers. And this is a nice game to be shown for E3, Dead Space 2.

Dead Space franchise is a horror genre with Anime, Comics, Games delivering great terror. Dead Space 2 is now bringing action to the enemy with a great arsenal or mining tools and weaponry,

So with that out of the way, let us move onto the game play. We are shown an area where a mission is started I believe and just taking your first few steps can start your adrenaline rushing because of monsters launching at you. The demonstration is quite complex with a quite a bit of monster clobbering fun, another thing we get to see is the weaponry, what happens if you are attacked from behind and aspects of the horror within this game itself.

As the demonstration advanced we are greeted with just the same old of the beginning.. Walking shooting, being ambushed and exploring. That knocks off a few points but gains a few for some nice action and being creative.

So right now I’d say alls well. But now going into the elevator we will find “the new nightmare”, walking into a eerie room you are starting to be blasted by something that starts to pull you out of the ship but you end up dropping down. And that Nightmare is HUGE, but left as a cliff hanger.. But tomorrow on the Sony show we shall find out the rest of Dead Space 2 Demo! The game is scheduled to be released on July 25th 2011.

Two of the companies that are sided with EA have put this game out of commission for a while now but Medal of Honour is coming back but instead of World War 2 it is now even more deadlier in Vietnam.

Ha-ha, this part was good I think.. We are shown the Multiplayer side with a live 24 player match on the stage which is pretty cool instead of being online. The map that is being played ( I missed the name sorry) has a lot of rooftops stairways, building and camping areas. But instead of Camping you can always be smacked by a random RPG killing you. The odd thing is, you start out and you’re already firing round at the enemy team wreacking havoc on the battle field. Of course because this is by DICE and another company you will have various Medals to obtain and quite a few guns to choose from to slaughter the enemy. If you can’t wait for this then June 21st will be the Live Multiplayer Beta for Xbox Live and PS3.The Full Game however will be released on October 12 2011. I must say, the trailer is pretty epic with complimenting music, Weird Mobile Phones/Explosives. The interface in the game looks a little similar to that of Battle Field Bad Company 2.

Next on EA’s announcements is Gun Club which gives you access to news, events and many other goodies. These rewards look pretty nice because you obtain some weaponry for BFBC2 and EARLY access to the Beta.

Not only this but BFBC2 has a new DLC expansion pack due for release as well, this is shown pretty well in a trailer. It is called BFBC2 Vietnam which looks pretty sweet, because the trailer shows purely fire all over cities.

Now onto EA  Sports..

The guy announced about a new franchise called EA Sports MMA, which is a fighting type of franchise.

This looks pretty amazing as it uses the fighters actual fight styles instead of generic. It has a lot of fighters to use and a lot of styles. It apparently has complex controls and tactics. It talks about EA  Sports Live Broad Cast, you can get your picture place on a fighter and many people can watch you from their own homes. It’d be great funs for friends but they really have liked to use the word “you” a lot.

This is a nice innovative game which I wouldn’t mind trying but not keeping as I am not a big fan of this. It will be out in stores October 19th.

Next with EA sports we are introduced to active2 which is a promotional way to keep you fit and healthy being active. It’s based on Flexibility, Endurance, Muscular Strength going wireless. It’s Natal/Kinect again..

Although it’s just copying the Eye-Toy/Wii it looks slightly more impressive than the Wii. It is out on November 16th.

Still talking about Active2 we are shown some models from Vancouver showing us how this is good with their Heart Beat Monitor which tells you what’s happening on the inside and the outside. Because this is released for most consoles. The Kinect actually look pretty good as it uses your whole body, and it gives you your results online too!

Could this be the new way to lose weight with out leaving the house or Bedroom? I hope not, because nothing beats fresh air.

Random trailer afterwards talking about Evolving with some comedy involved. Talking about MADDEN NFL 11, it’s most authentic game ever and how it is simpler, quicker and deeper with it’s CO-OP 3v3.

It gives you all the drama of the game in half the time with an engine named Game Flow. It will be as fun playing with your friends as it is being against them.

They demonstrate their engine and how it works talking about how it works to an extent. Colts and the Saints were playing off and you are given strategies from the coach and what you should do. But this tells you in the headset which makes it more interactive as if you’re there. Joe one of the champions that joined EA talked quite a lot but I didn’t understand because I’m not into the sport. You can make your own game tactics for the games or just listen to the commands given which is kind of plain.

Closing thoughts for EA sports from the commentary is hands on after the show and will show you many examples to the core of interactivity with the industry of fitness.

That’s all for EA Sports, Phew i’m glad that’s over with.

Uhh, what? Some guy ended up walking onto the stage looking confused. But he is showing us Sims 3 that is the slogan “Play with life”. MySims 3 can make thousands of people with any tattoos and see what could happen if you were something else. It’s like messing with your timeline.. virtually. I found it funny to see how you can make a town full of the same person. MySims3 has randomness added in with it which makes it unpredictable NO matter what.

The world is amazing with everything programmed into this game. Well going from simplistic-ness they just changed to the human brain talking about reactions. This world is finally being brought to Console which will allow great online Interactivity and many more odd things to occur. Now for the trailer, it looks pretty amazing. It’s just like real life all over with everything you could think of. Your Average tramps, teenagers, growing up and much much more. I like the fact you can take on the role of Ghost Busters.

If I recorded these trailers you’d probably think a lot more of my thoughts.

Next up, we have Partners with EA. Talking about how they have teamed up with people such as Respawn. One of the FPS games we are told about is apparently great and is hosted in the greatest city in the world, NYC.

Crysis 2 is pro because you can many things that can change between life and death. You are the ultimate super soldier with the aim to save NYC. As you are in a sandbox game with all the gear to break,grind and annihilate anything. The game play has a lot of things suited up. You are given the ability to have thermal sight and quite a few others. Not only this but the enemies will use the area to it’s advantage. The monsters look very sci-fi and have a lot of High Pitched noise which gave me a bit of ear-ache because all you heard were noise that sounded like a vacuum with a higher pitched screaming at you.  Now with Crytek we have.. 3D glasses? This will be surprising. No release date what? Well I can’t say much because it’s all odd. The character looks pretty good and imagining this trailer in 3D would be awesome. This game definitely deserves credit for their use. Of course they would have the epic scary part at the end where something ends up making you jump somehow.

Next game, BulletStorm. It’s an over the top Shooter where you are encouraged to play with your enemies like a cat playing with a mouse or a kid playing with cake! it’s coming out on 22-2-2011. So we are told, “You do cool shit, you unlock cool shit.” It’s Vibrant and very colourful on this game. Now we get a sneak peak into one of the first levels in the games. Which is on about a robot that is running out of power that nearly dead. The voice acting sounds pretty funny. But non the less it’s like Mirror’s Edge meets Gears Of War first person style. You get to kick the ass of many enemies. And you get a lot of explosions booming in the background and your very own surroundings.

This game easily is on my list for buying and we get a nice boss battle against “ a giant dick” according to the guy you play as. The battle looks fairly easy since you can defy all logic by gravity defying people into the air.

After the boss battle you are then put onto the train which takes you out but BIG FINISH! Mass explosions and everything going wrong it looks like.  And then the Conference froze on me and apparently Mirror’s Edge 2 was up.

Sadly not, we got Bioware game, Star Wars the old republic, This game starts off with some dude talking about the republic being weakened and the empire came. They brought the place down. The trailer was of epic proportions with all the epic red light sabres flying around but no others. Just gun fire. The cities military failed and the leader was soon to die. But a new jedi steps in? With a dual sabre that’s blue and she can pull down trees? The trailer looks pretty amazing with all the destruction going on but it was the same thing over an over from the other games which made it less impressive.

That is all from EA, and for closing thoughts. Most of the games shown here look quite impressive although some of the games had their downsides for very generic things. But hey, a lot of games have had that and are very successful because other things within those games have evolved. I encourage you get hands down with this content when you can because the Conference was a great night for me but some of the content was boring me for example EA sports. I’m not so keen on but it looks like it may benefit us gamers later in life right? So I would say EA was a success with showing us exactly what they needed too with little flaw.

Thank you for reading this and I hope you enjoy this review. Sorry if I didn’t get the full coverage as there were a few buffering problems.

[E3 2010] De Blob 2 On The Way From THQ

THQ announced that de Blob 2: The Underground, the sequel to the 2008 sensation, will debut on high definition consoles and in 3D for the first time ever in Spring 2011 and is set to deliver a fun-filled, creative gameplay experience for players of all ages. de Blob 2: The Underground features new moves, more friends, free-form painting activities, and is currently in development for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and Nintendo DS.

“We are thrilled to expand the world of de Blob into high definition and 3D gaming with an entertaining and immersive experience that brings back the adventures of the fun-loving, free-spirited hero,” said Danny Bilson, Executive Vice President, Core Games, THQ. “In addition to the release of de Blob 2: The Underground, THQ will extend the reach of its most colorful owned intellectual property with an upcoming Syfy partnership and de Blob-branded consumer products.”

Below we have some key information for any De Blob fans.

About de Blob 2: The Underground

In de Blob 2: The Underground for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and Wii, Comrade Black is back and so is his war on color. Disguised as Papa Blanc, Comrade Black rigs the city’s election in order to win and take control of Prisma City with his brainwashing new cult. That is, until de Blob bounces back in full color-spreading force with his revolution to restore color and life back to the city and its residents. In the colorful sequel, de Blob will paint his way through the enormous and pollution-filled Prisma City accompanied by a fantastic new interactive soundtrack and an arsenal of new tricks to confound his enemies. Joining de Blob will be a new robot sidekick, named Pinky, who will help him blast enemies, disable traps, and negotiate the challenging levels of Prisma City. The game will also present players with new side quests, which allow players to upgrade de Blob’s abilities. de Blob 2: The Underground will feature an in-depth single-player campaign with all-new power-ups and challenges, as well as multiplayer modes that support co-operative and competitive play.

In de Blob 2: The Underground for Nintendo DS, The war for Chroma City is over and Comrade Black and his forces are long gone. Peace has been restored and de Blob has returned to lazy days basking in the jungle sun. Meanwhile, in an underground facility deep in the jungle, Dr. Von Blot has been continuing his research on a new type of Mutated Ink. Unaware of Comrade Black’s demise, Dr. Von Blot has been studiously carrying out his experiments on unsuspecting creatures. de Blob goes for a bounce around the jungle one day when he mistakenly stumbles across the underground facility and Dr. Von Blot captures his final test subject. In the game, players will take de Blob through areas of 2D side-scrolling gameplay that will introduce a variety of new moves for the humorous and mischievous hero, such as Wall Jumps, Slingshots and a Sticky Mode for performing gravity-defying moves and smashing through enemies. The game will also introduce new friends and enemies and will immerse players in a rich, story-driven environment.

“Two Turn Tables And A Microphone!”

DJ Hero 2, the follow-up to the massively popular DJ Hero, is now picking up where the award winning soundtrack left off. DJ Hero 2 spins together the hottest tracks currently in the charts and legendary club anthems from the biggest artists in pop, dance and hip hop including Dr. Dre, The Chemical Brothers, Kanye West, Metallica, Rihanna and over 85 others. Fueling the party will be a host of all-new social multiplayer game modes and unique freestyle gameplay giving you virtual DJ’s out there the ability to crossfade, scratch and sample in over 70 speaker-blasting tunes from the hottest DJ’s and Producers from around the globe.

DJ Hero 2 will deliver a host of new multiplayer modes including DJ Battles that pit DJ against DJ in mixes produced specifically for battle mode. You will also be able to invite vocalists into the spotlight with integrated on-screen singing and rapping of lyrics and rhymes.  Further immersing players into the music, the game offers a heightened quality of creative input which will allow everyone to add their own touch, directly impacting the beats they’re spinning with freestyle scratching, crossfading and sampling.  The game will also feature an all-new career-based Empire Mode where players start out as an up-and-coming DJ on their road to becoming the head of a major entertainment empire.

Making the drop this Autumn, DJ Hero 2 will invite a new wave of digital disc jockeys to the decks as the game will be available as a Party Bundle which includes a copy of the game, two turntable controllers and a microphone, offering the ultimate “party-in-a-box.” Also for gamers who have the first title, there will be a Turntable Bundle featuring one turntable controller and a copy of the game or as standalone software.  The game is currently in development by FreeStyleGames and will be available to blast out tunes on the Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii.