Hopefully you’ll be familiar with Indie Gala from the recent Push-Start competitions celebrating our two year anniversary. If not, you should really point your browsers over to their official website and grab yourself a bargain, while also knowing that your money is going to both the developers and a good cause through a number of charities. Grab yourself some awesome Steam games and Music from Indie developers and artists.

Today it gets even better, as Indie Gala have announced that another title has been added to their bundles. Unlocking at 8:00pm GMT / 3:00pm EST (right this moment), you’ll be able to grab Fruit Blitz for your Android device! This will be available for new bundles as well as current purchasers through their login. The title will be available in all tiers of the packages, but why not add more to your existing donation to show your appreciation for this great cause.

Fruit Blitz features -
- 90 second games making for perfect mobile play.
- Familiar matching mechanics with some new twists.
- Drop-dead gorgeous graphics.
- Pumpin’ calypso soundtrack.
- Form a team with your Facebook(tm) friends and take on the world through the built in leaderboards.
- Or just stomp each others scores as often as possible.
- No weak storylines or other distractions. Still no birds or zombies!
- Are you ninja enough to trigger the Fruit Blitz feature?

While you can of course donate what you want, the more you give the more you get, though it’s hardly pushing the boat out when you’re getting 13 games and 9 albums for $9.18 or more.

Each tier offers you a selection of PC games (redeemed by Steam) and music albums (downloadable either in 320kbps MP3 or  FLAC formats). This years selection includes awesome games such as – Roboblitz, Greed Corp, InMomentum and Hacker Evolution.

This year marks the first time that music has been added to the bundle, and for good cause…

“We believe that between music and games there is an unbreakable link. Both are two forms of art, which is why we offer a package that due importance to both” says indiegala organizators.

· Light vs. Dark: Team up with other players in Light vs. Dark multiplayer
mode, in which two teams of three are pitted against one another. The ultimate goal
is to empty the opposing team’s health meter, which transforms the last defeated
team member into an angel. The team who defeats the opposing team’s angel wins. This
unique multiplayer mode tests players’ ability to work as a team while keeping the
match exciting as the focus constantly shifts from dealing out damage to protecting
the team angel.

* Free-for-All: In this mode, up to six players (including CPU players) combat each
other in a winner-takes-all match. Winners are determined by high score, heavily
influenced by both the number of kills and the number of deaths.

* Match Set-up: Both Light vs. Dark and Free-for-All multiplayer modes are playable
through local wireless play or online for players with broadband Internet access.
CPU players will fill out the roster if there are fewer than six players in a match.
Duration of the match, CPU difficulty, weapons and team handicaps are all
customizable prior to beginning a multiplayer battle.

* Weapons and Weapon Fusion: The wide variety of weapons a player has collected in
single-player mode can be used during multiplayer matches. Players can also earn
additional weapons as rewards in multiplayer play. Players can choose set
combinations of weapons and powers before entering into a match. This provides
further incentive for players to continue collecting different and more powerful
weapons as they play through the single-player campaign. Players can also fuse
weapons together at the Arms Altar. Fusing two weapons will result in a single, more
powerful weapon that retains some of the key benefits of each, giving players the
ability to customize weapons to match their play style. Fused weapons can also be
used in multiplayer matches.

* StreetPass: Through the StreetPass functionality of the Nintendo 3DS hardware,
players have the ability to share one of their weapons with other Kid Icarus:
Uprising owners. The selected weapon is turned into a Weapon Gem. Shared Weapon Gems
can be converted into real weapons by paying Hearts. Players can also fuse Weapon
Gems together by paying Hearts to create a more powerful Weapon.

Kid Icarus: Uprising launches on Nintendo 3DS across Europe on March 23.

Rhythm Thief and the Emperor’s Treasure combines a thrilling twist-filled challenging adventure, whilst rhythm based challenges utilize the unique functions that the 3DS brings to its users. The action will be taking place in a beautifully rendered anime style Paris, where you take control of Raphael, whose alter ego is Phantom R, an honourable thief who always returns his loot a few days after stealing it! With your canine companion Fondue, you aim to solve the mystery of your father’s disappearance once and for all, by daring THE most daring robbery yet, whilst staying one step ahead of the Parisian police!

Race around Paris by cracking puzzles, finding clues and outwitting foes who are out to stop you from pilfering some of the world’s most expensive art. Along your journey you will be seeing and visiting some of the most famous landmarks Paris has to offer! Raphael never misses an opportunity to boogie whilst solving a mystery and there are over fifty rhythm-based challenged on offer to test how well you can use the touch screen, by sweeping, tapping, button bashing and gyro gyrating skills!

Rhythm Thief & the Emperor’s Treasure will be available across Europe on 5th April
2012 exclusively on Nintendo 3DS. For more information about this and other
features, visit rhythmthief.nintendo.co.uk and www.sega.com

This game will be taking place during daylight, dusk and nighttime, with different challenges and tasks to complete as you go through them. Build your defense during the day as there will be no grock around, this will be a vital point in the game, as you will need to think very strategically, with watch towers and gun towers at your disposal. Collect as many scriffles as you can (turnip like vegetable) as this increases the amount of scrogs in the village.

When dusk falls, the grock will rise from the cracks of the ground and make their way towards the village. This will then test what your defenses will be like, as well as fending them off in battle. From range, your gun towers will hit the grocks but you will need to use Dillon’s fast paced combat moves using the stylus and touch screen!

As nighttime falls the grocks will be gone, but this means you will need to prepare yourself again before dusk the next day. Talking to village folk and earning money will help gain that extra bit of advantage needed against the grock. You can earn money by completing side quest, as well as practicing your attack skills. New and different challenges will be available for you to overcome, and it is up to you, to defend these villages!

So straighten up your cowboy hat and don your chaps as you take on the monsters in
Dillon’s Rolling Western, released across Europe on Nintendo 3DS today.

This game pretty much sets off straight after Super Mario Land 2, where Wario wants a Castle to himself and he journeys out to gather as many coins as he possibly can so he can get this castle. Of course it is no easy tasks, he must journey through many places and gather as many coins as possible, and otherwise he won’t get any and may lose them to enemies!

First thing we notice about this game is the graphics. There is no denying it, it is one of the best looking Game Boy games out there, but they obviously do look outdated now compared to the later Mario and Wario games. It is in standard black/white/grey and admittedly has some nice scenery with it, as it goes on through the game, you see more and more enemies who look both great and bad.

The game play itself is simple, push two buttons, to either jump or attack and that is pretty much your arsenal. Oh how we all love simplicity. This doesn’t destroy the game play; as you want to go back and repeat what ever it is that just beat you so you can get towards the end a lot quicker!

It does last a while, as it has many things to throw at you and has the same aspect as Super Mario Land 2 does, but does not meet to how great the quest is from the previous game. Either way though, it is a great game to play!

Overall 6/10

It is a great game, just lacks that little spark as it did back in 1990’s. But for £3.60, this is a gem worth getting!

Borderlands was a kickass game. What looked like a cel-shaded Fallout 3 ripoff was instead a great experience on its own. Was it original? Hell no. Was it a whole lot of awesomeness? Hell yes!

So when the trailer for Borderlands 2 asks you to  “get ready to joy puke your face off” and tells you that “87 bazillion guns just got…bazilliondier”, you damn will take notice. You’ll also notice that Borderlands 2 will feature 4 player co-op, new rides, more skills (to pay the bills), split-screen (a lost gaming art) and 95.6 per cent more “WUB WUB”The increase in WUB WUB is worth the price of Borderlands 2 alone.

Also pre-order Borderlands 2 and you’ll get Golden Key, Vault Hunter’s relic and Gearbox Gunpack.

This picks the story up of goalkeeper Mark Evans and his football team, one week after their triumphant win at the Football Frontier Tournament, The Raimon Eleven begin a training session when their school is attacked by invaders from outer space, which come from the mysterious Alius Academy. They plan to destroy the world using a destructive brand of football…unless the Raimon Eleven can beat them in a football match! The only way that Mark and the Raimon Eleven can stop the Alius Academy and save the world is to journey across the whole of Japan and recruit the best players they can find for football!

These games bring back the unique blend of RPG elements and exciting football-based action, Inazuma Eleven 2 once again allows you to control the action on the pitch and the movement of your players by using the stylus. Tap and slide your stylus across the screen to change direction of your players, take a shot or press your opponent’s team. Only by creating the most balanced and strongest team will you be able to defeat the Alius Academy, with over 1500 players that you can encounter and recruit.

Both versions of the game feature the same overarching storyline with some unique differences. Each version features over 150 unique characters, unique teams to face off against, as well as unique abilities and special moves, but in order to meet other version characters, you will need to trade and make important decisions such as who to keep hold of and who you shall depart with.

The local wireless multiplayer mode offers players the chance to gain more challenges, where up to four players can challenge each other with their own hand-picked teams, including those who own the first Inazuma Eleven game. You can also trade players using the local wireless communications, and a teamshore mode allows you to trade teams with other players and battle their teams.

This game is those who have a strong love for both RPGs and sports actions. Inazuma Eleven 2: Firestorm and Inazuma Eleven 2: Blizzard launch across Europe on 16th March 2012; exclusively for the Nintendo DS and Nintendo 3DS!

So what do you have to do? Well it’s very simple. Take note of this image of Namco’s very own NAMCO BANDAI UK Community Queen, Hollie Bennett. She’s touched her Katamari so much since starting work here that it comprises all our major releases, half a ton of stationery and loads of Dragon Ball Z figures which had previously started to take over the office.

We want you to build your very own Katamari and touch it every day. We want pictures! We want to see love in your eyes and care in your creations. Touch it. Touch it. Touch it. You know it makes sense. The best picture wins a PS Vita (inc memory card) a copy of Touch My Katamari and a Katamari t-shirt so you’ll never be far away from touching your sticky virtual friend.

The competition closes on 7^th March and all images should be sent via email to uk-competition@namcobandaipartners.com or tweeted to @NamcoBandaiUK with the hashtag #itouchmykatamari.

Good luck!

The Playstation Vita has officially launched in the UK and already there has been a disruption to its launch. I noticed after attending the Playstation Vita launch event that Game in Oxford Street had no Ubisoft titles listed on the shelves. After returning home I decided to try and find out why there were no Ubisoft titles at launch. The website VG247 has managed to find out some information on the matter, which opens a whole lot of questions.

VG247 Writes:  

“At this time we will not be selling the following Ubisoft titles; Lumines Electronic Symphony, Michael Jackson: The Experience, Rayman Origins, Asphalt Injection and Dungeon Hunter Alliance,” the chain said in a statement.

“All customers affected by this decision have been made aware of the situation and we will continue to communicate any updates to customers through our Twitter and Facebook feeds.”

A rep couldn’t confirm a specific reason for not stocking the games. Vita titles from Sony, EA, Codemasters, Namco Bandai, Capcom and Sega will be available in GAME stores from midnight.

Ubisoft has declined to comment on the matter.

Concerns regarding GAME were raised after recent troubles with its ability to raise credit insuranceand acquire new stock.

End

It is an odd situation and may cause a lot of disruption to people who have pre-ordered specific bundles. With no comment from Ubisoft the situation is still not clear on why Game have decided not to sell Ubisofts titles.

We will keep you updated if the issue unravels anymore.

Street Fighter X Tekken will soon be hitting our PS3′s and Xbox 360′s in March.  Street Fighter X Tekken is the newest addition to the Street Fighter family and will rely heavily on player feedback as a way to enhance and evolve the experience. Exciting new features and additions will be consistently introduced, allowing fans of the game to tap into a wide variety of robust Downloadable Content (DLC) options that will breathe new life into the product. The retail version of Street Fighter X Tekken will be the only disc-based version consumers will need to own and all future upgrades will come from post-launch DLC.

Press Release: 

In celebration of the 25^th Anniversary of Street Fighter and the upcoming new product launch, Capcom is in the process of organizing a series of tournaments throughout the year in locations across the globe, providing cash and prizes totalling over $500,000. These high-stakes tournaments feature the upcoming Street Fighter X Tekken game, in addition to previous titles from the highly-acclaimed Street Fightercatalogue. More details on the specific territories and tournament structure will be coming soon.

In order to provide the most intense fighting experience possible, the Street Fighter X Tekken development team is working closely with the tournament community and organizers to offer a post-launch game update that will help streamline the Gem selection process for competitive players. A customized gameplay experience is at the heart of the new game, and the innovative Gem system adds an extra level of depth and provides a pioneering way to experience fighting games.

Also joining in on the 25^th Anniversary festivities, 12 new fan-favourite Street Fighter X Tekken characters have been selected to be introduced in the PS Vita system version of the game when it releases later this year. Fighting their way into the handheld world of Street Fighter X Tekken, from the Street Fighter side… Blanka, Cody, Dudley, Elena, Guy and Sakura will be playable and from Tekken…, Alisa Bosconovitch, Bryan Fury, Christie Monteiro, Jack, Lars Alexandersson and Lei Wulong will all make their debut on the PS Vita system.

Additionally, Capcom is excited to be collaborating with iPlayWinner and Team Sp00ky to deliver the first ever fighting-game-centered internet reality show, completely LIVE. “Cross Assault” begins airing on February 22, 2012 and will feature 10 players (split between Team Street Fighter and Team Tekken) who compete for pride, fame and a grand prize of $25,000. Competing on Capcom’s next premier fighting game, Street Fighter X Tekken, players will receive strategic advice from the coaches and must work together as a team to find the most effective strategies to win team challenges, or risk elimination. Capcom is working closely with IGN to bring this innovative fighting game experience to fans everywhere. Tune in to http://www.ign.com/crossassault/ and… FIGHT!

Street Fighter X Tekken launches in North America on March 6, 2012 and March 9, 2012 in Europe. A PC version of Street Fighter X Tekken is due for release on May 11, 2012 and the PS Vita system version is slated for this autumn. More details on the PC and PS Vita system versions will be announced in the near future.