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Microsoft’s Summer of Arcade

Fairly recently Microsoft announced its lineup for its Summer of Arcade, and now we finally have the release dates for these exciting new titles as well as a nice little bonus.

July 21st -
Limbo: A stylistically innovative black and white platformer that was nominated for awards in both Art and Technical Excellence in the 12th Annual Independent Games Festival.

July 28th -
Hydro Thunder Hurricane: A hidden treasure from Dreamcast’s days of glory, a water based racer guaranteed to remain a fan favorite for years to come.

August 4th -
Castlevania: Harmony of Despair: A brand new Castlevania game? Seriously, do I have to say anything else? A six player co-op based platforming-rpg similar to Symphony of Night in both style and difficulty.

August 11th -
Monday Night Combat: A six-on-six third person shooter set in a horrific future where killing is a sport and athletes go head to head on a nightly basis, similar in style to Team Fortress, this arcade title is designed for pure fun.

August 18th -
Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light: A co-op adventure which is a far cry from previous Tomb Raider titles, we’ll just have to see how it compares in terms of playability.

All of these titles will run you 1200 Microsoft Points, buying all five will get you a 1200 MS point refund, and buying four will get you 400 MS points.

For $15 each, these games are well priced and designed specifically for Summer gaming.

So go get em.

Medal of Honor 360 Beta Delayed… Again.

Unlike it’s PC and PS3 counterparts, which were released on June 21′st, the Xbox 360′s version of the Medal of Honor beta is still missing in action.

Due to unknown issues EA and DICE decided to delay the Medal of Honor 360 beta, at first it was assumed that it was the folks over at Microsoft who were to blame, but with the latest delay just announced nobody really has any idea what the cause is.

The developer had this to say on the subject,

“As for the Xbox 360 version of the beta, we are delayed and we apologize. To the Xbox 360 community, we say thank you for your continued patience. We are working to fix the issues that have caused this delay and, like you, we’re eager to get the game up and running at quality.”

Supposedly the beta will be extended for 360 users so that everyone has enough time to play before it officially comes out in October.

Unfortunately since we have no idea what the reason is behind the delay we don’t know how long it’s going to take to fix it, this is the kind of thing the folks over at EA seriously need to tell us.

-Dr Strange Lulz

The New Face Of Xbox

The first thing you’ll notice about the new Xbox 360 is that it is noticeably  shorter and thinner than its predecessor, so you’ll be able to set it up in slightly smaller areas, and with its shiny new finish you’ll want to show this beast off as often as possible.

The new built in 250 gig hard drive is, funnily enough, located at the bottom of the system. Honestly, the fact that the hard drive is built in really has no effect on the system overall, how often do you take your hard drive off anyway.

The system has a port specifically for Kinect, which I suppose is what Microsoft was referring to when they claimed the system was “Ready for Kinect”. They’ve also done a good job of adding more USB ports, there are now a total of five (Two in the front, and three at the back) and with the new ability to store game saves and profile data on USB drives they are a welcome addition.

Aside from slightly shorter load and startup times, the system’s major improvements lie in cooling, sound and wifi. The system is clearly designed to improve airflow and reduce the need for additional cooling units. As for the sound, the system truly is whisper quiet. I have a particularly loud Elite and upon starting the new 360 up for the first time almost cried tears of joy over how quiet it was.

The new Xbox 360 boasts the fastest Wi-fi available on any system to date, 802.11n. While I don’t use Wi-fi, I’ve heard mixed reports regarding the speed on the new system. A few people claimed that the connection was slower while the vast majority say that it’s a drastic improvement.

All I can say is this, the system is beautiful and performs like a  dream. While the changes are nice, they aren’t strictly necessary… so unless you’re a die-hard 360 fan who needs to have the latest and best, the decision to pick up the new system will really be up to you.

E3 Best In Show- Part I

For the past week the Los Angeles Convention Center has been home to the biggest event in gaming, the Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3). Apart from World Cup matches I’ve spent this entire week looking at every piece of footage, every interview, and every demo in order to get some idea of which games were going to astound and which would disappoint.

Best RPG: Deus Ex Human RevolutionOn any other day I would give this to Fallout, but the variety of ways you can complete a mission and long term consequences depending on how you do is far more important to me than the name of a developer (The same reason I’m not falling all over myself about RAGE). Fallout: NV looks nice but it’s the exact same engine as Fallout 3, gameplay hasn’t really changed, and to me it just seems that they’re playing this one safe.

Best Sports Game: NBA Jam

Best Racing Game: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit.

Best Shooter: Medal of Honor

Ok Ok, don’t shoot me, let me explain myself. The guys over at Treyarch displayed a decent amount of footage at E3, the problem I found was that none of it actually looked fun… at all. It just seemed like they were trying to one up Infinity Ward and coming up short (“Modern Warfare 2 had a nuke? Ya… well… we nuked the whole planet, this game takes place on a terraformed Mars, booya! Ya we went there!”) So you’ve got a chopper, sweet. But I know from experience with every one of your games that the gameplay footage shown was on the easiest mode possible, and that you almost died… every time you showed it off. Anyone who’s ever played World at War will tell you that Veteran mode is one of the hardest things they’ve ever done.

Medal of Honor footage was entirely multiplayer and frankly, 30 seconds of multiplayer footage looked a hundred times more fun than the idiotic chopper level in Black Ops. Medal of Honor seems like it will be the perfect balance between COD and Battlefield, while maintaining some of the scope of the Battlefield games they’ve also managed to introduce the close quarters intensity of COD. Take a look at the beta on June 21st.

Best Platformer: Kirby’s Epic Yarn

Best Fighting Game: Marvel vs Capcom 3

Best Action Game: Assassins’ Creed: Brotherhood

Take one-part Assassin’s Creed add one-part Multiplayer and you’ve got a winner folks. The multiplayer for AC: Brotherhood remains true to it’s origins, allowing players to do all the things they would normally be able to do in singleplayer and then using those abilities to kill your friends. Scarily awesome.

Unfortunately I actually forgot to get my press registration in on time this year otherwise I would have been there, luckily I’ve learned my lesson and I guarantee I’ll be there next year.

XCOM Trailer

The X-Com series started off with a bang, 1993′s UFO: Enemy Unknown (Also known as X-Com: UFO Defense) was a massive hit that has truly stood the test of time, having been named the #1 PC game of all time by IGN… twice (Most recently in 2009). After three successful turn based strategy games Microprose decided to change the formula behind their game by making a space based combat/strategy game, followed by a run of the mill first person shooter… effectively killing the franchise.

Caddies and Aliens? Yes please. Check out the Trailer.

Now nine years later 2K games, specifically 2K Marin (The developers who brought us Bioshock 2) are making a play to revitalize a PC classic by bringing XCOM to the next-gens.

In 2K Marin’s latest game, you take on the role of FBI Agent William Carter and are charged with studying and defending against the alien threats that have begun to plague the US. In stark contrast to the horror of Rapture, XCOM takes place in picture perfect 1950′s America.

In an attempt to incorporate both of their previous gameplay styles XCOM will be a mix of strategy and combat. The strategic element comes into play in the form of Research. Using a camera and a similar mechanic to Bioshock 2 players will take photographs of the aliens and their technology, this in turn will reward the player with new weapons and information about the alien threat to aid in your investigations.

Take a gander at the XCOM website, it sure is swell.

Investigation plays a large role in XCOM, you’ll track down leads and eventually enter a large area in search of alien phenomena, once in the map players will scour the area for clues that will hopefully lead you to the alien menace.

From what we’ve seen of combat it seams like a HUD is non-existent, but we’ve only seen a single trailer so it’s unclear whether one will be in the final product. In another parallel to Bioshock, it appears that the player will be treated to a variety of weaponry, ranging from a standard pump-action to a grenade in the form of a “Blobatov” which is used to burn the ink-like blob creatures we’ve seen so far.

Hopefully 2Khas what it takes to bring a PC classic into the future… or the past, and judging by their previous games it’s safe to say they have a good chance of pulling it off.

Killzone 3 Teaser

Check out the teaser over at the official website

So we’re finally getting our first glimpses at Killzone 3. The teaser trailer shows brutal hand to hand combat between a member of the I.S.A and a Helghast trooper, the trailer ends with I.S.A agent picking up the iconic Helghast helmet and putting it on. What this alludes to is only speculation at this point. The third installment in the series will once again be developed by Netherlands-based Guerrilla Games, who have so far delivered two outstanding titles, and having seen the amazing new teaser, I cant wait for the third.

- Nick Barker
(Dr Strange Lulz)

Mass Effect Movie

So I had scheduled today’s post to be the Red Dead Redemption review but as I’ve said before, I wont write a review unless I’ve finished the whole game. Unfortunately I’m exactly 4 missions short of the end and just shy of my 100% completion (I like sidequests.) So you’ll be getting the full review on Monday instead.

Now to the real news.

Three words that could either make or break my decade…

Mass Effect Movie.

Legendary Pictures has acquired the film rights to the EA-Bioware epic.  While normally I’d be freaking out over the possibility of them ruining my favorite game, there are a few hints that this might just be the one we’ve been waiting for.  Jon Jashni (Ninja Assassin, Where the Wild Things Are, The Hangover) and Thomas Tull (The Dark Knight) have signed on along with Avi Arad (Spiderman, Ironman) and his son Ari to produce the film, while the co-founders of Bioware, Ray Muzyka and Greg Zeschuk will be executive producers.

“We are thrilled to be working with Legendary,” said producer Avi Arad. “EA and BioWare are terrific partners who have created a brilliant piece of fiction with a universe filled with amazing aliens and technology. More importantly, though, they created a parable whose conflicts mirror the ones we currently face in our own world. This story emphasizes the need for all cultures to learn to work together. All this magic is presented in a fast paced action-adventure that makes for the best kind of movie experience.”

Who will direct? Your guess is as good as ours.

I’m hoping for J.J. Abrams.

So Red Dead Review on Monday.

- Dr Strange Lulz

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