In a press release issued today, Warner Bros. announced that the Batman: Arkham City Armored Edition is shipping to retailers today in preparation for launch with the Wii-U system on November 18th. Those unfamiliar with Nintendo will scratch their heads at the Sunday release date, however, that is simply how Nintendo rolls as it pertains to system launches. So are you expecting to pick up this refresh of the hit 2011 title with all-new Wii-U functionality? Let us know in the comments below! Full press release below, after the jump.
November 2012
Halo 4 | Review
Posted on November 13, 2012 by Jason Bassett
Halo.
Just the sound of the word has many meanings to many fans around the world. There are bands and there are even ideologies of a “halo”. For many people around the world, it is a major part of life. Spanning fans from many countries around the world, it’s no longer just a video game. It is a universe. The universe of Halo spans multiple mediums from video games, movies, music and reading material. This year, we celebrate the legacy of Master Chief and his AI Cortana for a whole new trilogy, starting with Halo 4.
Halo 4 was released on November 6th, 2012. Admittedly, Halo 4 was completely off my radar. I never thought I would have been writing this review today. I had causally been watching videos of the game and reporting on the news that broke out. I did eventually get an interest and what has transpired in the last week has not only been a hell of ride, but one of the best video gaming experiences on Xbox this generation. Not only is this a new trilogy, but this is a whole new generation of Halo. A refresh, if you will. Gone is Bungie who have left the series into the very capable hands of 343 Industries; the very same people that helped Bungie make Halo: Reach and having played through most of the Halo franchise myself, I know a thing or two about some Halo.Read More
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Mugen Souls | Review
Posted on November 13, 2012 by Les Major
Naturally, your regular NIS game spoiler warning comes into play here. I’ll do my best to keep spoilers very early game focused so nothing major is given away, however there will be some plot points that will need to be explored since through gameplay is how you unlock some of the main features of the game.Read More
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Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams | Review
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Les Major
Giana Sisters: Twisted Dreams is an incredibly challenging platformer for gamers who also enjoy puzzles. It doesn’t seem that harsh at first, you’re bounding through fields, going through the basic game mechanics to learn how Twisted Dreams is played. Then it hits you as you start getting into the castle levels, and only hardcore gamers need apply.Read More
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Will Wright honored at Britannia Awards
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Broken Joysticks
When it comes to video game developers that have found themselves a myriad of awards, names like Gabe Newell or Shigeru Miyamoto often come to mind. However, it is the man behind some of the more ingenious time sinks of all-time that takes the crown. Will Wright of Sim City and the Sims fame acquired himself the Albert R. Broccoli Award for Worldwide Contribution to Entertainment at the 25th Annual Britannia Awards, an awards show from the Los Angeles branch of the British Academy of Film and Television Arts or BAFTA for short. The reason why Wright was selected for the coveted award was for his involvement in producing games based around game design, as well as attracting a genre of game that would be welcomed into modern culture; open-ended non-violent simulation games, much to the likes of the highly successful Sim City and The Sims franchises.
The Albert R. Broccoli Award is dedicated to (who else?) Albert R. Broccoli, the renowned film producer who to a kindling to Ian Fleming’s James Bond series of novels, who then went about an odyssey in bringing the beloved super spy to the silver screen, thus birthing Dr. No in 1962, and igniting a worldwide passion for Bond ever since. Broccoli went on to become the first Britannia Award winner when the awards originated over twenty years ago. The award was first unveiled in 2011, when John Lasseter from Pixar and Disney fame became the first award recipient, but the only difference is Wright is the first video game developer to win not only this award, but to be recognized at the Britannia Awards. Wright has won several awards in his past, including a pair of Lifetime Achievement Awards at the Games Developer Conference Awards in 2001 and PC Magazine in 2005, not to mention the many awards from his game catalog.
To put it in perspective, other Britannia Award winners included Trey Parker/Matt Stone, Daniel Craig, Quentin Tarantino, and Daniel Day-Lewis. It just seems natural to include Will Wright with the lot.
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Mass Effect 4 Powered By Frostbite Engine – Headed New Direction
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Joshua Rust
Mass Effect 3 may have been the end of a trilogy, but that doesn’t mean that EA/Bioware are done with the franchise just yet. In the early stages of development is a new Mass Effect game being labeled as Mass Effect 4 (not the “official” title yet, mind you).
Over on the Bioware blog, Yanick Roy – studio director, has let loose some new information regarding the next installment in the franchise.
“This is the goal we have been working toward for years now, and every member of our team is proud, excited, and humbled to take on the responsibility for the next game,” Roy wrote.
“To ensure a proper and effective transition, we’ll continue to be supported by the Edmonton studio through the game’s development, working with and learning from them on some critical initiatives,” he added.
“On top of that, Casey [Hudson] remains the Executive Producer, but he will have a Project Director under him, working in Montreal, leading our development team and making day-to-day decisions for the game. We all care very much about Mass Effect and make our decisions based on what’s best for the game.”
The studio boss said the new Mass Effect will be respectful of the heritage built over the course of the first three games, however it’s “exploring new directions”, both on the gameplay and story fronts.
“You can still expect the pillars the franchise is known for to be fully intact though, including diverse alien races, a huge galaxy to explore, and of course rich, cinematic storytelling.”
“There is really not much I can tell you about the game right now, except that it will be built with the amazing technology of Frostbite as its foundation, enhanced by many of the systems that the Dragon Age III team has already spent a lot of time building.”
I’m a fantasy lover by nature, but Mass Effect is one of my favorite franchises to come out of this generation of consoles. I’m hoping that the next iteration of Mass Effect lets us pick what race we want to start out as. Possibly giving us different starting locations depending on who we choose and have the storyline alter a bit depending on that choice as well.
Hey…we can all dream right?
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Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition For North America Unveiled
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Joshua Rust
Square Enix has announced today the details of the North American Collector’s Edition for the March release of Tomb Raider. I’m not sure what the deal is with these collector’s editions, but these last few have been looking sweet! (See Assassin’s Creed III & Bioshock: Infinite)
Tomb Raider is a juggernaut when it comes to video game franchises, reaching an amazing 35 million copies sold worldwide. It’s no suprise that with thisTomb Raider “refresh” that Square Enix would do something special for it.
The contents, as seen above, include:
Play Arts -KAI- Lara Croft figurine– Lara Croft has been beautifully recreated as an 8-inch Play Arts -KAI- action figure. The figure comes with an alternate set of three hands, bow and arrow, shotgun, handgun, and an ice axe.
Double-sided island map and poster – Discover Key Landmarks from the mysterious island of Yamatai, where Lara Croft and her fellow castaways were marooned after the Endurance shipwreck, in this 15” x 19” poster. On the reverse is a poster-size image of the box art that epitomizes Lara’s origin story.
Lithographic print – An exclusive 5” x 7” Lara Croft heavy-stock lithograph print with matte frame designed by Crystal Dynamic’s Brian Horton, senior art director, and Brenoch Adams, concept artist.
Experience Shields –Three iron-on badges based on the game’s experience icons: “Animal Instincts,” the “Climbing Axe” and “Fire Arrow.”
TOMB RAIDER Original Soundtrack ‘Survivalist Cut’- A collection of 10 tracks with over 60 minutes of music from the game.
Weapons Pack Downloadable Content – includes a variety of weapons to help Lara survive against the island’s inhabitants.
There are limited quantities of this collector’s edition, so make sure you go out and pre-order this as soon as possible. Tomb Raider Collector’s Edition (for North America) retails at $99.99 and will hit stores March 5th, 2013.
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Nintendo Network Explained
Posted on November 12, 2012 by Jason Bassett
On the minds of many gamers who may indeed be purchasing a Wii U this holiday is it’s online functionality. Many a gamer has been more or less worried about the Wii U’s online capabilities and many are considering this to be the make or break for the system. With that in mind, all of us have been waiting and wondering how Nintendo Network will function and if the dreaded Friend Codes would make their return. Finally, we have (almost) all the information we need. First off, Nintendo Network will not be using friend codes. Instead, users will need to create a Nintendo Network ID, while it’s similar to the Friend Codes, it is believe to be an alpha-numeric code that a user can choose instead of being automatically generated. When using the Wii U, the user will have a seperate Wii U Console name (these are not tied to each other) and the user’s Nintendo Network ID.Read More
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Pachter: Xbox 720 Should Launch Between Oct ’13 and May ’14
Posted on November 11, 2012 by Rae Michelle Richards
Depending on who you talk to industry analyst Michael Pachter is someone who either a wise sage who keeps his eye on the business side of gaming or someone who talks out his ass when it comes to future events. With the year coming to a close GameTrailers TV took a swing at guessing the future of Microsoft in 2013.
After a brief review of the year in everything Xbox 360 host Geoff Keighley posted the question of the next Xbox to Pachter. In response he speculated that the system will be announced either before or around E3 and will be available either in the fall of 2013 or late winter of 2014. He also believes that the system should include a TV Tuner that allows owners access to Comcast/HBO/Verizon and other cable subscriptions they may subscribe too.
Do you think any of this is accurate? For perspective’s sake Microsoft announced and launched the Xbox 360 within 6 months (announced in May ’05 and launched in November ’05). Check out the video below:
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New Trailer for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed for WiiU
Posted on November 9, 2012 by Broken Joysticks
Sega of America released the brand-new trailer for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed, this time specifically dedicated to the WiiU version. While at first glance this game seems to look on par with the current generation consoles’ version, Sumo Digital has made it quite clear to utilize the WiiU Gamepad as much as possible. There might be some exclusive features that may feel a bit too unnecessary, but without revealing too much from the trailer, the idea of five-player multiplayer is on the level for something great.
Regardless of the newly implemented WiiU features, this trailer proves that Nintendo better step up the next iteration of Mario Kart if Sega can continue producing surprisingly competent kart-racing games as such. As soon as they figure out a way to include currently forgotten Sega characters like Greendog and Kid Chameleon, then it would be the greatest racing game ever made, but alas that’s just a personal rant. Anyway, check out the trailer below.
[youtube id=W7b5h7wthYE width=”600″ height=”350″]
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Silicon Knights Ordered To Destroy Copies Of Games After Lawsuit
Posted on November 9, 2012 by Broken Joysticks
For those who don’t remember, Silicon Knights had filed a lawsuit against Epic over the Unreal Engine. Silicon Knights believed that Epic had withheld an improved version of their Unreal Engine 3, while at the same time using the licensing fees to fund development for Gears of War over improving the engine. Read More
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Need For Speed Movie Details Released
Posted on November 9, 2012 by Les Major
Variety is reporting that Dominic Cooper who played Howard Stark in Captain America: The First Avenger, in talks to be co-star to Aaron Paul, most recently known for Breaking Bad, in the Need For Speed movie from Dreamworks. The movie is based on the EA racing series.
Some plot details have also been released! The movie focuses on Aaron Paul as an underground racer who owns his own garage he mods cars in. He’s framed and sent to prison for the murder of his best friend. Upon his release, he sets out to seek revenge.
Doninic Cooper is the other male lead role named Dino. He’s an ex-NASCAR driver who has used his status and wealth to create his own car modding business. Imogen Poots (Amy in the Fright Night remake) is also noted as being included to play an excotic car dealer who does business with the two co-stars.
The movie is set to race into theatres on Feb 7th 2014.
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The Witch and the Hundred Knights Summoning in 2013
Posted on November 9, 2012 by Les Major
While our review for Mugen Souls is right around the corner and we’re going to have quite a focus on NISA soon, I wanted to mention an upcoming title of theirs. The Witch and the Hundred Knights is a Nippon Ichi Software developed game with more wonderful artwork by Takehito Harada!Read More
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Star Wars: The Old Republic Adds Free Accounts Nov. 15th
Posted on November 9, 2012 by Les Major
Like many MMO’s lately, Star Wars: The Old Republic is adding a limited free account to the subscription based game. Some content is restricted or closed off entirely, but if you’re eager to see what The Old Republic is all about, this is a great way to give in a whirl.
Many see this as a step back but I think it’s a fantastic idea. I liked the look of SW:TOR when my MMO gaming friend got into it, but I just couldn’t justify the cost. This way you can personally get in there and see what the game has to offer and if it’s right for you. Are these the droids your looking for? Find out November 15th! Less than one week away.
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The Elder Scrolls Online Gameplay Video Released
Posted on November 9, 2012 by Les Major
Many fans were concerned when the first images of The Elder Scrolls Online were released. It looked and sort of felt more like Warcraft than The Elder Scrolls. I havn’t kept up much on the project since then and the gameplay video recently released really stands out as looking much more like the art style we’ve come to expect from the series.
It really is surprising considering at times it feels more like you’re watching Skyrim third person action rather than the MMO fans were unsure about. This is really something to check out and there are quite a few details released in this developers diary video below. Just for the basics it looks like all of Tamriel is accessable however Cyrodiil (the area from Oblivion) is contested and the location of the games PVP combat.
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