I’m pretty sure I’m going to pull the trigger on today’s Xbox Live deal of the day. A bunch of my friends raved about Castlevania: Harmony of Despair and I never got around to playing it (actually, I kind of forgot that it existed). It’s currently slashed (whipped?) down to 600 Microsoft Points. Any takers? Perhaps this could work as an RPad.tv Invitational game. What do you think?
With Apple making huge strides in mobile gaming with groundbreaking titles like Infinity Blade, Microsoft and Sony are looking to up their mobile phone offerings. Windows Phone 7 features Xbox Live capabilities with limited gaming functionality. The upcoming PSP Android phone will also have limited PlayStation Portable capabilities. Which mobile gaming phone interests you more? Kindly vote and discuss!
[poll id=”91″]
Electronic Arts has announced that the “Epic Edition” of Bulletstorm will include early access to the highly anticipated beta for Gears of War 3. Here’s a clip from the official press release:
Epic Games and EA are blowing out the launch of Bulletstorm with access to the public beta for Gears of War 3, the spectacular conclusion to one of the most memorable and celebrated sagas in video games. Players that purchase the Epic Edition are guaranteed early access to the Gears of War 3 beta. Pre-order now to reserve a copy of the Epic Edition which will be available on Feb. 22, 2011 for MSRP $59.99, only for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system, while supplies last.
Well, I guess the Xbox 360 version of Bulletstorm will trounce the PlayStation 3 version. Ha! Seriously though, will any of you buy the  Epic Edition to get Gears 3 beta privileges? Pretty tempting, hey? (Also, pre-order from Amazon using the link above!)
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment has revealed information on the special editions and retail exclusives for the upcoming Mortal Kombat, as well as details on Kratos (God of War) appearance in the game. Here’s the skinny on the Kollector’s and Tournament editions:
And because I know how much you guys love retail exclusives, here’s what you can snag at GameStop, Best Buy and Amazon:
Last, but definitely not least, is a bit of information on Kratos appearing exclusively in the Playstation 3 version of Mortal Kombat:
Mortal Kombat will feature Kratos as a playable character, as well as be in Stereoscopic 3-D exclusively in the PS3 version. The brutal warrior from the acclaimed God of War franchise will have his own customized move set, fatality, and fighting arena, available to all original purchasers when Mortal Kombat hits stores.
All of this sounds very awesome. I’m definitely high on the PS3 version and I’d probably buy it from Best Buy for classic Sub-Zero. How about you? What permutation of Mortal Kombat interests you the most? Name your preferred platform and retail exclusive (please)!
According to Eurogamer, X-Men Arcade will hit Xbox Live Arcade on December 15, 2010 and PlayStation Network in February 2011. X-Men Arcade is a port of the classic Konami coin-op arcade game. I pumped tons of quarters into it during college and am excited to play it online. Anyone interested in playing with me? It would be cool to get some four-player cooperative games going…but one of you has to agree to be Dazzler. *snicker*
Tomb Raider’s Lara Croft will grace the cover of Game Informer’s January 2011 issue. The new Tomb Raider game will reveal the earliest tales of Miss Croft (the adventuring tales, not her discovery of womanhood). In a recent press release, Crystal Dynamics studio head Darrell Gallagher said:
Forget everything you knew about Tomb Raider, we are exploring things that have never been done before in this game. This is an origins story that creates Lara Croft and takes her on a character defining journey like no other.
Tomb Raider was one of the most influential franchises in modern gaming, but the series has hit several bumps on the road. I wanted to see if you still care about Tomb Raider and Lara Croft. Do you think younger gamers even know who she is? Are you interested in learning about her origins? Speak now or forever hold your piece peace!
The holiday rush has slowed down, but there are still some big games left in 2010. I usually don’t include PC games in the mix, but World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is too huge to ignore. Tying into the movie, TRON: Evolution hits every platform known to man…and robot. Technically, this game comes out next week, but Super Mario All-Stars hits Sunday with all sorts of excellent bonus goodies.
Any of you guys and dolls picking up new games this week?
Sony Computer Entertainment engineer Anton Mikhailov recently gave an interesting critique of Kinect for Xbox 360. Obviously he has a vested interest in PlayStation Move succeeding, but his critique was more interesting than the typical pissing contest between sales-and-marketing executives. He are some of the things he told Videogamer.com:
We feel like Move has more applicability across more genres so it fits better with what we try to do.
Also I think the tech is a bit, not so much immature, but not quite up to spec in what we think. Like the PlayStation Eye camera runs at 60 frames per second so it can track you very quickly whereas the Kinect and other depth camera are only 30 frames per second. So they are more suited for slower motions. Dancing is still kind of okay and then the yoga stuff that they were doing, it fits that very well, whereas if you want to do quick punches it’s harder to do that just because you can’t see the player as quickly.
The fact that it runs at 30 frames per second instead of 60, that’s a common problem with all those cameras. It’s actually hard to fix because you have a lot of data to transport. Sort of working with that image is expensive computationally-wise. I think they quoted something like 10-15 per cent of the Xbox resources, plus like 50 megs of memory or something like that. The Move takes less than 1%, and like 1 megabyte. So, you know, that’s just a bunch of numbers but to developers that means like Killzone 3 can just put in Move and not have to worry about it, whereas something like Kinect you have to make significant game changes to actually fit that into your game.
Whether you believe him or not, superior technology doesn’t necessarily win console wars. Look at the Nintendo Wii, for example. Furthermore, from what I’ve gathered, Microsoft’s marketing budget for Kinect makes Sony’s Move budget look like lunch money. People will buy into hype and purchase products that seem different.
What do you think of Mikhailov’s views on Kinect? Are they honest and legitimate? Or is he just touting his product’s technological superiority over one that’s outselling his?
Microsoft has opened up the Xbox Live Rewards program to all users. The company tested the program in early November and worked out some kinks. Now all of you can take advantage of it! Check out some of the goodies:
Microsoft has opened up the Xbox Live Rewards program to all users in the United States and United Kingdom. The company tested the program in early November and worked out some kinks. Now all of you can take advantage of it! Check out some of the goodies:
Did any of you sign up? Are you excited by the program? Do you think it makes Xbox Live Gold more valuable than PlayStation Plus?
Eurogamer posted a hot rumor that the original Halo is going to be remade using the Halo: Reach engine. When asked about this rumor, Microsoft PR responded with the following:
Right now our focus is on supporting Halo: Reach. We have nothing to announce at this time.
In my head this is the PR equivalent of *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*, “It’s coming!” What do you think? Is a Halo remake in the works? Would you buy it?
