Sep 02
There was no shortage of great games this month (except on PC), but August belonged to football. Even if you weren’t tossing the virtual pigskin around during the last couple weeks, you had plenty to get excited about. Well, on the last day of the month, at least…. Game of the Month on August 2010 is a coveted award, and it’s not given out lightly. That’s why you’ll see some gaps on the list below. There were some decent games for the blank platforms in August, but nothing blew our minds. We’re positive that next month will be a different story.
PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Madden NFL 11 |
| The perennial all-star reigned supreme once again in August, bringing a slew of gameplay refinements and changes that helped deliver some of the best videogame football of this generation. Even though we weren’t huge fans of GameFlow’s automated playcalling mechanic or the lack of feature additions, that doesn’t mean that this year’s Madden didn’t pack plenty of punch in the gameplay department. Not only that, but the new Online Team Play provided some of the best virtual football experiences we’ve ever had. There’s something incredibly rewarding about getting two friends to play on your team with you and run up the score on some poor fools across the country. It’s a feeling that only Madden NFL 11 can provide. |
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written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, games, Nintendo, PC, PS3, wii, XBOX360
Aug 18
Sony announced during its gamescom press conference that the PlayStation 3 system is to be offered in North America in two new bundles. Shipping to retailers now, a 160 GB model will be replacing the 120 GB model currently being sold at $299.99 MRSP, and come the launch of the PlayStation Move on September 19th a PS3 Sports Champions Move bundle is to introduce a 320 GB PS3 (a increase on the previously largest 250 GB system) including one PlayStation Move controller, a PlayStation Eye and a copy of Sports Champions for $399.99 MSRP.
“With the launch of PlayStation Move just around the corner, we’re expecting many new consumers to join the PlayStation family. The PS3 Sports Champions Move bundle provides those families with everything they need to get into motion control gaming at a great value, with the 320 GB model PS3 system as the centerpiece of the package,” said Scott A. Steinberg, Sony’s vice president of product marketing.
written by cimaul
\\ tags: games, Playstation 3, PS3
Jul 15
Previews
Before you hunker down for multiplayer stabbing at Comic-Con, here’s some advice to help you not get stabbed a lot.
Early on in Assassin’s Creed 2, you run across a room full of, er, “Animii” (shortly before his departure, former Ubisoft creative director Patrice Desilets confirmed that this is the proper plural form of “Animus”), and because at that point you’re simply running away, there’s little-to-no explanation as to what this room full of Animii is for. Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood finally answers that question: said room is a gigantic training room for Templars to learn how to be Assassins.
If you’re curious about the single-player and the lore stuff that happens in this follow-up to AC2, then check out the video below for a quick tour of stuff like improved villas and having a fully rendered Rome as your open-world playground. If you’re curious about what it will be like to play a multiplayer version of Assassin’s Creed, you actually have a chance to do just that — provided that you hit up San Diego Comic Con next week. For those of you who will, here’re some advanced tips so that you don’t suck as much as I do when playing. Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: PC, player, PS3, Ubisoft, Xbox 360
Jul 14
While titular character DeathSpank attempts to convince an orphan girl to get into his bag (there’s context to this, which I will leave for you to discover for yourself in-game), she demands that he find her a cell phone. You then have to choose from a bevy of adventure game dialogue-style options, one of which expresses confusion with, “What does an orphan need a cell phone for?” To which she replies, “To update my blog, of course!”
That is the kind of humor that peppers DeathSpank (the game): a sort of deadpan absurdity where pretty much anything — no matter how anachronistic or fourth-wall-breaking — gets said as naturally as we would discuss the time of day. The unflinching delivery of some of the most surprising and out-of-left-field (yet flowing and not at all awkward) dialogue makes DeathSpank simply one of the funniest games to watch and listen to. The script, filled with references and quips covering topics from fantasy RPG tropes to the secret history of felt to the value of unicorn excrement to even sly references to other games, positively shines with classic designer Ron Gilbert’s influence. The jokes hit on so many topics that something is bound to make you chuckle — multiple times even. Even the diverse color palette, the Animal Crossing-esque “on-a-hill” perspective, and the visual gags, along with the voiced dialogue, all make DeathSpank a charming standout compared to other games of its ilk. Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, PC, PS3, RPG, Xbox 360
Jul 07
One of Ubisoft’s smaller but more delightful announcements at E3 last month was Rayman Origins, a return of their original mascot in a gorgeous new 2D episodic platformer. And now we know a little bit more about the game thanks to an FAQ Ubisoft released just prior to the holiday weekend kicking off.
According to the FAQ, the first episode of Rayman Origins will be released over Xbox Live Arcade and the PlayStation Network this Christmas, with the rest of the episodes (how many in total hasn’t been announced) naturally following in 2011. Interestingly, although the game was only listed for the 360 and PS3 when it was revealed at E3, the FAQ also states that versions for the Wii, 3DS, PC, and iPad are all “to be considered.”
Rayman Origins is being created on Ubisoft’s UBIart Framework, a collection of tools designed to make it easier for small teams to make games. Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, PC, PS3, wii, Xbox 360
Jul 05
True PC Gamers would define playing a first person shooter with a gamepad as blasphemy, but the creative folks over at Penguin United think they finally have a way to even the odds. The hefty but still portable “Eagle Eye” USB hub acts as an interface between the PS3 and any standard USB keyboard / mouse, finally bringing WASD gaming to the unwashed console masses.
The box itself will allow for a limited amount of customization if you need to change the key bindings a bit, but it’s doubtful you’ll be able to use the full spread of keys for messaging given the input limitations of the gamepad they are emulating. The company plans to ship the accessory later in the year for approximately $60, but it’s unclear at this point if they have Sony’s blessing, or if this will be an “unofficial” add-on.
Disbelievers can watch the Eagle Eye in action after the jump, along with a series of testimonials from the E3 show floor.
written by cimaul
\\ tags: playing, PS3
Jun 18
I stopped by Square’s booth for a quick look at Final Fantasy XIV, currently approaching its beta release. And while the MMO genre is hard to gauge accurately at an E3 demo station, what I saw today showed promise.
I started off by experimenting with character creation, which according to my tour guide had been completely revamped since the alpha release. The character creation allowed me to quickly piece together a character from an impressive variety of pieces, often previewing them side-by-side at each junction. I was told that there were many more customization options than in the alpha, and that more should be added by the time the final game is released.
After playing around with the nuanced character customization, I was given pre-made characters and dropped into the vast world of Eorzea, specifically the Cedarwood region of La Noscea, outside the port city of Limsa-Lominsa. The world seemed as enormous as it was beautiful, with rolling hills, caves and bridged crevasses and an ominous-looking mountain looming in the distance. Continue reading »
written by cimaul
\\ tags: game, PC, PS3
