July 2012

Japan Gets Donkey Kong By Downloading NSMB2


Posted on July 23, 2012 by Seung Lee

New Super Mario Bros. 2

North American Club Nintendo members who plan on downloading New Super Mario Bros. 2 can look forward to receiving double the amount of coins to use on the site than those who don’t download the game. The download bonus for the people over in Japan, however, will be a free copy of Donkey Kong: Original Edition. Yes, the 1981 arcade classic will be an incentive for the Japanese to start buying more games digitally. Nintendo plans on making games available with purchasable physical and digital copies, and a promotion like this one will help spread the word.

Donkey Kong: Original Edition is special because it includes an extra stage that the 1983 Famicom version of the game was originally intended to have. This edition of the game has never been sold, and it was only included in the Mario 25th Anniversary red Wii bundle back in 2010 for the European market. Sadly, there’s no information on when, or if, Donkey Kong: Original Edition will ever make it here to the states. Read More


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Hyper Dimension Neptunia MK 2 Heads To PSN This August


Posted on July 23, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

NIS America’s follow up to last years quirky console war inspired Hyper Dimension Neptunia, Mk2, is scheduled for release onto the PlayStation network on August 7th in North America and August 8th in Europe.

The original Hyper Dimension Neptunia is one of my favorite RPGS from this console generation. MK2 improves on the original by including a brand new combo and improved battle system. The Neptunia franchise is just as much about geek-culture humor and Anime stereotypes as it is a stats driven RPG, designed to fill a specific niche.

If you grew up playing the N64, or even something later, Neptunia is filled with cute anime girls, hilarious references and some pretty good voice work. We’ll have more on MK2 in the future, hopefully.


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Jest Set Radio Lands On Mobile Devices This Fall


Posted on July 23, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

Sega’s is unrelenting when it comes to their push to see Jet Set Radio on every platform conceivable. Originally announced as an HD remake, featuring several of the original tracks from the Dreamcast classic, for the Xbox Live and Playstation Network the game has now been confirmed for mobile phones.

For all of you worrying whether or not the game will be a faithful recreation, or will even run on your particular favorite flavor of mobile device shouldn’t be too worried. JSR will be coming to both Android and iOS alongside the other four announced platforms.  Even cooler, in the iOS/Android builds of the game you can use your camera to create custom in-game graffiti.

The mobile version of JSR shares the same vague summer release date as its other siblings. We’ll update this story as soon as we get a more specific date.

 


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Meet the Mechromancer In Borderlands 2


Posted on July 23, 2012 by Seung Lee

Mechromancer

The fine folks over at Gearbox Software have been diligently working on Borderlands 2, one of the most anticipated games of the year (for me anyway). Thanks to their hard work, Borderlands 2 has just gone into certification for release. Now, while the on-disc content may be finished, that doesn’t mean that the downloadable content isn’t. The Mechromancer class is just one of the many pieces of extra content that players can expect in the future.

I know what you might be thinking right now: “Why are the developers already thinking about DLC? Why can’t they just include this stuff on the disc?” Well, no need to fret, the Mechromancer will be available for download when it’s out, for the low, low cost of absolutely free. Those who pre-order Borderlands 2 will receive the class about 60-90 days after the initial release. When the Mechromancer will be available for those who don’t pre-order the game is still unknown. It’s refreshing to see a company actually be generous enough to give its customers extra content for free when it has no obligation to do so.

Read More


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Microsoft and Fez Creator Clash Over Patch


Posted on July 22, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

Microsoft and Polytron, the developers behind the recently released Fez, are at a standstill when it comes to issuing a patch to correct a save-data corrupting glitch. Now that both companies have issued statements on the matter we have a clearer picture about their disagreement, namely that while it may have centered on the funding for a second patch Microsoft was willing to negotiate.

The save game glitch only affected 1% of users Polytron informed the gaming public in a statement earlier this week. They stressed that such a patch made no sense from a financial point of view, given the costs outlined by Microsoft. Polytron took a further jab at Microsoft by stating that the game would have been patched on Valve’s Steam service just weeks after releases with no cost to the developer. Polytron took a stab at both Microsoft’s rumored $10,000 minimum price per title update to developers and the certification process for games/updates that is known to take weeks or months to complete.Read More


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The Music of Video Games – Volume 3


Posted on July 21, 2012 by Jason Bassett

Hello again, one and all. Welcome to another week of video game music. Last week, I mentioned that I would be giving you a great treat. I told you all that you will be all winners and today, you will be. I have played Final Fantasy for a long time now. About 12 years ago, I played Final Fantasy X as my first Final Fantasy; a late bloomer. Since then, video game music has become a major part of my life and with that, came music from a legend in the industry: Nobuo Uematsu. Since the beginning of the Final Fantasy days, Nobuo Uematsu has composed and produced many soundtracks in this amazing industry.

Today, we take a look at some of his work. Not to mention other’s like Masashi Hamauzu who has recently took the helm of the Final Fantasy game music. Not only was Final Fantasy XIII’s music great, but it was the bright spot of the entire game. His work also carried over to Final Fantasy XIII-2 with another unbelievable soundtrack

Back on point, the reason is you are all winners, is because we are going to take a look at the various Victory Themes the music team over at Square Enix has produced over the years, starting with very first games going into the newest.Read More


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Paradox to Live-Steam War of the Roses Tourney


Posted on July 20, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

As part of their announced of the Rock In’ Roll Tour, featuring several of their games, Paradox Interactive has also tapped several prominent internet personalities such as Angry Joe, TotalBiscuit and many others.

If you want to check out all of the medieval third person combat Paradox will be live-streaming the whole thing on their twitchTV channel on July 27th from 4PM – 8PM PST.

The Rock In Roll tour is a coast to coast showcase for all of Paradox’s upcoming games including  War of the Roses, Starvoid, Dungeonland and more. For more info on the event why not check out our previous coverage?


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Is Final Fantasy Versus XIII Done For?


Posted on July 20, 2012 by Jason Bassett

Remember that game that was announced back in 2006 that was part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series? Well, it appears that Square Enix has canned the game. While this is just speculation as of now, it appears Square Enix has secretly cancelled the game to so that they’re stock prices would not go down.

Final Fantasy Versus XIII has been under a lot of scrutiny for it’s long time in development, lack of updates, and non shows at gaming events like E3 and the Tokyo Game Show. As of now, it is also being reported that Final Fantasy XV will now be getting a the full treatment. Final Fantasy XV was said to be under development and will contain elements from games like Final Fantasy XII for it’s open world setting and Vagrant Story which may or may not contain body targeting.

Square Enix, of course, will not comment on speculation or rumors. So, fans will just have to wait in limbo to see if Versus will become vaporware or will be outright publicly cancelled.

What do you think? Sound off on our comments!


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Hard Reset Digital Artbook Released For Free


Posted on July 19, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

Wild Hog Games, developers of the cyber punk FPS title Hard Reset have released an online art collection of renders from the game. Clocking in at over 120MB this digital art book features several high quality renders from in-game art assets.

Hard Reset is currently 75% off during the Steam Summer sale and the first DLC package for the game Exile launched for free and will be available in Steam in the coming days.

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Steam Summer Sale Deals for July 19th


Posted on July 19, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Well, yesterday’s plot didn’t work out so well, and the Steam Sale marches on. I’ve been thinking about ways to stop this ravager of wallets. Perhaps I’ll start a Kickstarter project to bring an end to these deals. The basic concept is that I will build some sort of giant magnet as well as a “mancannon.” We’ll suck out Valve employees with the magnet and shoot them into the Puget Sound with the mancannon, forcing Gabe Newell to end this madness. I’m estimating that this will cost several million dollars and can only hope that EA’s Senior Vice President of Global Ecommerce, David DeMartini, will donate a few million to help get this started.

That being said, you may see today’s deals below.Read More


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Black Ops II Behind The Scenes Trailer


Posted on July 19, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards

Activision has lifted the veil a bit to show us the behind the scenes work that is going into Black Ops II. In a brand new trailer featuring Nine Inch Nail’s Trent Reznor and the co-write of The Dark Knight  David S. Goyer.

If you’d like a look at the creative process behind of the of the biggest FPS franchises in gaming history, this is a great place to start. The Villains trailer from two weeks ago will be shown in select theaters before The Dark Knight.

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QuakeCon 2012 Registrations Begin


Posted on July 19, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Registrations have begun for Quakecon 2012. As always the annual bring your own computer LAN party will be free to attend, though there are a few paid options, including a swag pack (featuring both an official QuakeCon 2012 and a Dishonored t-shirt). In addition to the LAN party, the event will feature the annual keynote address by John Carmack, opportunities to play both Dishonored and Doom 3: BFG edition. Additionally, there will be panels featuring people like Marty Stratton from id Software, Ted Price of Insomniac Games, and Chet Faliszek and Tom Leonard from Valve Software.

 This year’s event, hosted at the Hilton Anatole hotel in Dallas, TX, will kick off on the morning of Thursday, August 2nd and last until noon on the 5th. We’ll let you know when we find out more details about the panels and panelists. In the meantime, you can register for the event here.

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Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD | Review


Posted on July 19, 2012 by Jesse Lord

Oh, 1999.  You held so much promise.  I started my sophomore year of college, got settled in my dorm room, and started the school year off right – in my friend’s room playing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater on the Playstation.  From that moment on my love affair with the series began, and unlike my move away from skateboarding in real life after college, I remained faithful to my virtual skateboarder avatars for a long time, until the series just got plain silly (noseblunt grind on a dinosaur’s tail over a helicopter gap, anyone?).  So you could imagine my glee to discover that the original, the legendary, the amazing Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater was being reskinned in HD (cleverly titled Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater HD) and was set to be released on XBLA as a part of this year’s Summer of Arcade, the little skater punk fan in me did cartwheels.Read More


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Rock Band Blitz Release Date Announced


Posted on July 19, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Harmonix has announced the release dates for Rock Band Blitz (or as we like to call it, because it uses a controller rather than instrument peripherals, Frequency 3/Amplitude 2). It arrives on the PlayStation Network on the 28th of August and will retail for $14.99. Blitz will roll onto Xbox Live Arcade on the next day and retail for 1200 Microsoft Points. Rock Band Blitz is apparently compatible with thousands of songs in the Rock Band Music store and all of Blitz’s songs will work with Rock Band 3, which is promising if you are a fan of the Rock Band franchise (and Amplitude). Read on for a trailer and a list of all tracks announced so far.Read More


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Carrier Command: Gaea Mission Teaser Trailer Released


Posted on July 19, 2012 by Daniel Shannon

Bohemia Interactive just released a nebulous teaser trailer for their upcoming real time strategy game/ vehicle simulator hybrid Carrier Command: Gaea Mission. As the name suggests, this is a remake of 1988’s Carrier Command. The basic gist of the game is that the players’ main base is an aircraft carrier used to launch assaults on various islands and, naturally, the enemy carrier. In addition to playing it like an RTS, you can assume direct control over any individual unit dispatched from your carrier.

You wouldn’t learn any of this from the teaser trailer below, so we’ve also added a link to the more informative demonstration from E3.

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