Category: PS3

EA and Random House Team Up for Dante’s Inferno TPB

Electronic Arts has announced that it will be teaming up with Random House for a special trade-paperback of Dante’s Inferno in order to promote the videogame of the same name. (Hit the full story for a picture of the cover!) Today’s press release stated:

Electronic Arts and Del Rey Books, an imprint of Ballantine Books at the Random House Publishing Group announced that a trade-paperback edition of the classic poem Inferno, part one of The Divine Comedy, will be distributed to booksellers nationwide on January 19, 2010. This special edition of the canonized poem commemorates the launch of the highly-anticipated Dante’s Inferno video game from Visceral Games. The new edition features an introduction written by Dante’s Inferno Executive Producer, Jonathan Knight, who offers insight into the process of adapting the dark masterpiece into the interactive medium. The book also features a 16-page, full-color art insert showcasing the evolution of characters and environments from the classic poem to the video game.

I know some of you are irked by Visceral’s…unique take on Dante Alighieiri’s work, but if the game gets kids to The Divine Comedy then that’s totally cool. That said, it is kind of weird that a classic will come with 16 pages of pictures. *shrug*

This Week’s Videogame Releases

It’s still a light week in the videogame-release department, but there are a few titles of interest that you might want to keep an eye on. EA brings back its brothers of destruction in Army of Two: The 40th Day. That is, by far, the biggest release of the week. Outside of that, there’s an interesting DS RPG and a game for fans of winter sports…and that’s about it. As always, let me know if you’re picking up any of this week’s video releases.

PlayStation 3
Army of 2: The 40th Day — I’m pretty sure Kane and The Undertaker would wreck these guys.
Vancouver 2010: Offivial Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games — I totally forgot that the Olympics are happening this year. I guess I pay more attention to the summer games than the winter games.

Xbox 360
Army of 2: The 40th Day
Vancouver 2010: Offivial Video Game of the Olympic Winter Games

Nintendo Wii
Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces
Walk it Out — Base on the hit song by The Beatles…oh wait, it’s not.

PlayStation Portable
Army of 2: The 40th Day

Nintendo DS
Daniel X — A interactive retelling of one of the most powerful civil rights leaders in America. Okay, I totally made that up.
Sands of Destruction

Dragon Age: Is Duncan Still Alive? (Plus, a Poll!)

IGN recently conducted a fantastic interview with BioWare online produce Fernando Melo on Dragon Age: Awakenings. Aside from providing outstanding information on the expansion pack, Melo hinted that Duncan, the Grey Warden that recruited your character in Origins, is still alive. Melo said:

We also kind of hinted at it in the trailer — you do run into the actual ogre that killed the king and potentially killed your mentor as well.

Potentially killed, eh? Of course he’s still alive! This is a classic case of “if you didn’t find a corpse, then he’s not dead”. Duncan’s voice actor sounds old and wizened in Origins, but I’ve always thought that he’d make an awesome heel. I can’t wait for his full heel turn where he leads the darkspawn in Dragon Age: Duncan’s Revenge!

Let me know what you think and please leave an answer in this poll.

[poll id=”17″]

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Five Screens from Dragon Age: Awakening Expansion

Here are five screens from the upcoming Dragon Age: Awakening expansion pack. Highlights include a shot of The Architect and a spectral dragon. The new dragon looks totally cool. Based purely on looks, The Architect looks like a tool. There’s nothing menacing about a grinning undead dude. Hopefully his deeds are more dastardly.

Coffee Talk #60: Most Wanted Games of 2010 #2 FFXIII

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, Gilbert Arenas getting the banhammer from David Stern, your favorite sandwich, or CES 2010, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

The second game of my “most wanted” of 2010 list if Square Enix’s Final Fantasy XIII. This shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone that knows me or reads my stuff. RPGs — especially Japanese ones — are my favorite kinds of games. Square Enix is one of my favorite developers. With games like Final Fantasy Tactics, Crisis Core, FFIV, FFV, and FFX being among my all-time favorites, of course I can’t wait for FFXIII!

I’m really hoping that this is a return to glory for the series. I loved FFX. FFXI wasn’t my thing. FFXII was disappointing, especially because I’m a big Matsuno fan and wanted him to do well on the “big” series. My friends that aren’t Wired’s Chris Kohler are digging the Japanese version of FFXIII. I’m sure I’ll love it too. The only downside is that BioWare totally screwed my March 2010 by announcing that the Dragon Age: Origins expansion will be released that month.

On a related note, does anyone else consider the Xbox 360 version to be the “fake” version? I don’t have a good or real reason for viewing things that way, but the PS3 version of FFXIII is the only “real” one in my head. *shrug*

Now for the fun part! What’s #2 on your most-wanted list?

Japan Getting Michael Jackson “This is It” PS3 Bundle

Japan is getting a Michael Jackson This is It PlayStation 3 bundle on January 27, 2010. It sounds weird, but this is Japan, where they bundle everything. An RPad.tv bundle is due out in May (not really). This special edition PS3 will support the DVD and Blu-ray release of This is It. Kotaku has reported:

Priced at ¥33,500 (US$366), the bundle includes a 120GB Hard Disk Drive “Charcoal Black” PS3, a Blu-ray copy of This Is It, a wireless DualShock 3, a power cord, one AV cable and one USB cable.

At last, a Japanese special edition PS3 that I don’t want. Ha!

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PSA: Xbox Live One Year Gold Subscription for $34.99

Amazon has the Xbox 360 Live One-Year Subscription Gold Card on sale for $34.99 until January 16. That’s a great price and it’ll help out the site if you use one my Amazon links, so have at it (please)!

Update: PS3 gamers might want to check out God of War: Collection, which is on sale for $29.99

Dragon Age: The Awakening Spotted on GameStop.com

It’s a total bummer that the Return to Ostagar DLC for Dragon Age: Origins has been delayed, but the silver lining is that details on The Awakening expansion have been revealed. The following is from the expansion’s listing on GameStop:

From the Makers of the Best RPG of 2009, Dragon Age: Origins, comes the first official expansion pack. For centuries, the Grey Wardens — the ancient order of guardians, sworn to unite and defend the lands — have been battling the darkspawn forces. Legend spoke that slaying the Archdemon would have put an end to the darkspawn threat for centuries to come, but somehow they remain. You are the Grey Warden Commander and have been entrusted with the duty of rebuilding the order of Grey Wardens and uncovering the secrets of the darkspawn and how they managed to remain. How you choose to rebuild your order, how you resolve the conflict with “The Architect”, and how you determine the fate of the darkspawn will be but some of the many complex choices that await and shape your journey as you venture to the new land of Amaranthine.

The Awakening is listed for $39.99 for consoles and $29.99 for PC, with a ship date of March 16, 2010. Man…between this and Final Fantasy XIII, March is going to completely rule!!!

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Dragon Age: Origins Return to Ostagar DLC Delayed

Bad news Dragon Age: Origins fans — the Return to Ostagar downloadable content has been delayed. Bioware’s Chris Priestly posted the following on BioWare Social Network:

We’re sorry but the planned Return to Ostagar downloadable content scheduled to launch on January 5th has been delayed for all platforms.

All of the sudden, I’m not in a rush to fly back to California. Anyone else bummed by the delay?

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Demon’s Souls Video Walkthrough #3: The Tendency System

Atlus just sent over this fine video of Demon’s Souls, one of the sleeper hits of 2009. RPG fans looking for a challenge on the PlayStation 3 should definitely give this game a look. As for the video, it discusses the “tendency system” feature. Here’s the official description:

The final entry in the Demon’s Souls walkthrough video series is here to explain the intricacies of the World Tendency system, the impact of White versus Black, and some basic strategies on making the most of each.

Check out the vid and share your thoughts if you have a moment.