The next Dragon Age: Origins Awakening NPC revealed by BioWare is Velanna, an angry Dalish elf. She appears to dislike clothing and has the power to animate trees. Along with Anders, this makes two Awakening NPCs that focus on magic. I’m looking forward to learning more about this angry chick. I’m also pretty sure a bunch of you are wondering, “Yeah, but can I bang her?”
Sony Computer Entertainment of America has announced that the demo for Heavy Rain
This PlayStation 3-exclusive demo will feature two full chapters from the game, in which players will immerse themselves in the roles of Norman Jayden, a FBI profiler brought in to help local law enforcement find and capture the Origami Killer, and Scott Shelby, a private investigator hired by families of past victims to bring their killer to justice. Gamers will finally get the chance to try this psychological thriller where players make choices that will determine their story, all in the hopes of uncovering the mystery of Heavy Rain.
I hope everyone has a chance to download and play the demo on Thursday because Friday is going to be like book report day! I can’t wait to compare experiences with y’all. This is, by far, the most excited I’ve been for a downloadable demo. Is it Thursday yet?!?
THQ has announced that UFC Undisputed will be hitting store shelves on May 25, 2010, sporting Brock Lesnar as the cover athlete. The company claims that its second UFC game is, “Poised to deliver intelligent and intuitive combat, increased fighter customization, robust career progression, challenging new gameplay modes and explosive online offerings.” Hopefully the explosive offerings have nothing to do with gastrointestinal issues (MMA fighters wear skimpy shorts, after all).
The first UFC Undisputed was a huge hit last year. Considering the popularity of MMA and UFC, that wasn’t too surprising. That said, it was a strong return for MMA to videogames and the sophomore effort should be even better.
I’m definitely psyched for this one. How about you?
Last week was pretty dry in terms of videogame releases, but this week more than makes up for it with Bioshock 2
As always, let your fellow RPadholics and me know if you’re picking up any of this week’s new releases.
Sony’s PlayStation 3 console has been performing well since the introduction of the PlayStation 3 Slim and (more importantly) a price cut to $299. ShackNews noted that the PS3 is at 33.71-million units worldwide, while the Xbox 360 is at 39-million. Considering that it came out later than Microsoft’s system and its initial price was a turn-off to many gamers, I was surprised to learn that the global installed bases are so close.
In related news, Endgadget has reported that Sony is currently losing about $18 per PlayStation 3 sold. In November I wrote about Sony Corp.’s CFO saying that the PS3 will be profitable some time in 2010. It will be interesting to see if and when the company reaches that goal.
As always, I’d love your thoughts on the console wars. Do you think Sony can catch up to Microsoft this year? Do you think the PS3 will reach profitability?
Sega of America has revealed that Sonic the Hedgehog 4 will bring the iconic blue speedster back to his 2D roots in a downloadable game for PlayStation Network, Wii, and Xbox Live. Associate brand manager Ken Balough dropped some details on GameSpot:
This game is truly a labor of love. A lot of us grew up on the Sega Genesis console; in fact, I remember vividly the first day I got mine with Revenge of Shinobi and Moonwalker. Ever since Sonic & Knuckles, Sonic the Hedgehog 4 has been a game classic Sega fans have always wanted to see. It was the right people, at the right time, getting together and finally making this game we’ve all wanted to see.
While the game is a brand-new adventure, it will definitely pick up after Sonic & Knuckles. However, what you are looking at is the beginning of a new story arc.
I’m totally down for some 2D Sonic action. How about you?
This excellent clip of 3D Dot Game Heroes
[Updated with video!] BioWare has unveiled new information on a brand new character that will debut in the Dragon Age: Origins Awakening expansion pack (due out in March!). His name is Anders and he’s an apostate (illegal mage). A flippant fellow, Anders seems to heavy a healthy hate for blood mages and the chantry. My initial thought is that he’s Alistair with magic, but I’m sure there’s more to him than that. I can’t wait to learn more about him!
Let me know what you think of Anders when you have a moment.
Coming this Thursday on Sony’s PlayStation Network is Fret Nice from Tecmo, a cute platformer that’s played with a guitar controller. The game is so novel that it deserves its own post (complete with video!). Here’s what Tecmo producer Ray Murakawa had to say about the game’s origins:
The game actually started as a degree thesis project and as that aimed at looking into the concept of adding an unorthodox game controller into an ordinary game genre such as the 2D platformer to see what benefits could be drawn from the new way of controlling the game. Although the game has since evolved to being not so much about the academic side of things, the guitar controller and what it can be used for in its new context has always been the essence of Fret Nice’s design.
I’m probably going to download it this week simply because it’s cool and different. Any of you interested?
PlayStation 3 owners in Japan will get to choose between two 500GB external hard drives from Buffalo to use with the PS3’s upcoming DVR software. According to Andriasang:
PC hardware maker Buffalo is about to take new steps in official PlayStation licensing. The company announced today two external hard drives that have been granted official recognition from Sony. According to Buffalo, this is the first time Sony has granted licensing to hard drive peripherals, a move that comes in anticipation of March’s release of PS3’s “Torne” digital video recorder kit.
Although Torne is a huge step towards my dream console, I’m not sold on the USB 2.0 connection these hard drives will use. That’s more than enough bandwidth for SD recordings, but I’d worry about HD recordings. The likely scenario is the Torne will use the PS3’s considerable power for some aggressive compression. The other choice is leaving the data relatively uncompressed, in which case I’d worry about hiccups in the connection.
Are you ladies and gents interested in using your PS3 as a DVR?
