Category: Xbox 360

BioWare Announces Star-Studded Cast for Mass Effect 2

BioWare has announced the large and star-studded cast for the upcoming Mass Effect 2. There are some big stars and sci-fi favorites here (I’m more excited about the latter). Today’s press release stated:

BioWare, a division of Electronic Arts, today revealed the voice actors performing in Mass Effect 2, the second act of the award-winning science fiction trilogy. The game features Emmy and Golden Globe Award-winning actor Martin Sheen (“The West Wing”, “Apocalypse Now”), 2009 Emmy Award-winner Shohreh Aghdashloo (“House of Saddam”), comedic actor Seth Green (“Austin Powers”), “Chuck” stars Yvonne Strahovski and Adam Baldwin, Keith David (“Crash”) and sci-fi favorites Michael Dorn (“Star Trek: Deep Space Nine”) Tricia Helfer (“Battlestar Galactica”), Michael Hogan (“Battlestar Galactica”) and Carrie-Anne Moss (“The Matrix”).

Tricia Helfer

I’m totally geeked out by the cast. The dude from Robot Chicken meets Worf from Star Trek meets Goliath from Gargoyles meets Trinity from The Matrix meets 6 from Battlestar Galactica. Awesome!!!

Dante’s Inferno Developer Diary: Violence is Golden

The Dante’s Inferno development team discusses the use of violence in this action-packed videogame from Electronic Arts. Included in the mix are gameplay engineer Tom Wilson, art director Ash Huang, and lead designer Steve Desilets. Check it out and let me know what you think (please)!

EA Details Brutal Legend DLC, Hammer of Infinite Fate

Brutal Legend slider

Double Fine’s excellent Brutal Legend (as opposed to the excellent Psychonauts) is getting its first piece of downloadable content on December 17 — Hammer of Infinite Fate. The DLC will cost $4.99 for PlayStation 3 and 480 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360. Here are some details from the press release:

The Hammer of Infinite Fate pack allows players to upgrade Eddie Riggs with three new outfits including the Mountain Man, Black Metal and Zaulia Threads, as well as seven more back patches to slay the tainted coil in style. Eddie’s trusted hotrod, The Deuce (aka The Druid Plow), will also get a face lift with four brand new paint jobs and four more upgrades that players can purchase including the Oculus of the Lost, an all-seeing GPS for the world, and the Eye of Sorrow, a weapon that harnesses the power of the Sea of Black Tears and launches black projectiles of doom at enemies, in addition to The Disgorger and the Coiling Maw.

Players will also be able to unlock 9 new achievements and trophies in Brütal Legend which are based on the latest additions of the Hammer of Infinite Fate expansion pack. Mount Rockmore will also see six more heads for players to purchase and unlock, including Rima, Razputin, Dadbat, Hunter, Kage the Kannonier and Tim Schafer himself.

Any of you buying this DLC? As a Double Fine fan, I plan on supporting the company.

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Yoshitaka Amano’s Take on Final Fantasy XIII

Amano FFXIII

Here’s a fantastic illustration by legendary artist Yoshitaka Amano, best known as the original artist and character designer for the Final Fantasy series. As some of you know, Tetsuya Nomura has been handling art for many of Square Enix’s games, including FFXIII. It’s super cool to see Amano’s take on Nomura’s character designs.

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WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010 Community Contests Start Today

Smackdown vs Raw 2010 slider

THQ has announced details on the first community contest in a ten-week series for its game WWE Smackdown vs. Raw 2010 for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. (You might know it as the videogame with the best writing in the history of videogames.) The company is challenging its customers to create the ultimate WWE Superstar and/or Diva. Here’s a snippet from the press release:

The first community contest begins today, encouraging site members to use the game’s Create-a-Superstar Mode to construct and name their ultimate Superstars and Divas. Consumers will also submit brief written descriptions to further tell the stories behind their creations. All entries will be received via PlayStation Network for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox Live Marketplace for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft. The entries will be judged on character design, character name and the written description. The winner will receive his or her choice of a WWE sweatshirt and WWE t-shirt from www.wweshop.com (subject to availability).

As a videogame lover and WWE fan, I encourage all of you to participate in these contests. If you happen to win with an original Superstar based on me, I’ll get you something special. The storyline can start off with something like this, “Cast off from the place he called home due to dubious circumstances, a lonely Superstar goes back to his roots to fight the battles he loves, the only way he knows how.” Ha!

Pachter Says Xbox 360 Price Cut Coming in Early 2010

Due to increasing pressure from Sony’s PlayStation 3, Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter believes that Microsoft will announce another price cut for the Xbox 360 to ring in the new year. He told Joystiq:

We think that the PS3 will again outsell the Xbox 360 in November and December, prompting a price cut some time early next year.

Xbox 360 controller

That seems a bit crazy. Microsoft’s most recent price cut went into effect in September — a little over three months ago. I can’t imagine the company slashing prices again a few months later.

What do you think of the predicted price cut? Too soon? Or a smart way to establish who’s the boss (Moan-a! Samanth-a! Angel-a!) in 2010.

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This Week’s Videogame Releases

This is probably the last week of the year that “big” games are being released. For PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, there’s The Saboteur, which has been getting mixed reviews and some interesting attention for its unlockable nudity. On the Nintendo DS, Link returns in The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks. Finally, the Nintendo Wii gets a dose of frights 38 days after Halloween with Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

The Saboteur

Any of you guys and dolls planning on picking any of these games up? I have my eye on Spirit Tracks, but will probably wait until it goes on sale.

Final Fantasy XIII Suntory Elixir Commercial

Here’s the latest commercial for the Final Fantasy XIII “Elixir” beverage by Suntory. Yes, Japanese videogames get their own beverages — reason #348 you should be jealous of Japanese gamers. And also, for relaxing times…make it Suntory time.

Just for kicks, here are some old Elixir shots from my archive. Check ’em out. There’s some cool stuff below the fold.

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Jimmy Kimmel Talks About Dragon Age’s Bi Elf Assassin

Zevran is getting some major airtime, as Jimmy Kimmel did a spot on Dragon Age: Origins‘ bisexual elf assassin. Even though the game is being used as a joke, I’m psyched that a BioWare product is getting mentioned on network television.