2011年11月30日星期三
US Nintendo downloads Pac-Man
There's something for everyone to download from the 3DS eShop today, especially if you're one of those fabled 3DS Ambassadors. If you are, there are 10 free NES games waiting for you in cyber space. They are: Metroid, Open Tournament Golf, Wrecking Crew, Yoshi, Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber and The Legend of Zelda. They're a little tucked away though - here's a guide on how to find and download them.If you're not an Ambassador, then you should think about grabbing Pac Man. It's the Game Boy version, which is a small shame, but it's still a classic. Here's the full list:Nintendo eShopPAC-MAN - PAC-MAN has arrived on the Nintendo 3DS system. Navigate through mazes and eat Power Dots while simultaneously avoiding the Ghosts. See how many mazes you can clear before losing all your lives. (For Nintendo 3DS)WiiWareTrenches Generals - Command Royal British Expeditionary Forces as the defender of the free world. Your troops must take to the field to defend your bunker and use trenches located on the battlefield to hold their ground. (For Wii)Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWareHouse M.D. - Blue Meanie - When an abrasive chef's body turns blue, you must join Dr. Gregory House and his team to track down the correct diagnosis by interviewing and examining the patient, running lab tests and even performing surgery. (For Nintendo 3DS / Nintendo DSi)Nintendo 3DS AmbassadorsIt's the day Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors have been waiting for! Find out how to download your 10 free NES Virtual Console games. (For Nintendo 3DS)Also new this week: GO Series Fishing Resort (Nintendo eShop / Nintendo DSiWare)Screenshots, trailers and info are through the link below. Mike Jackson
Bethesda vs Notch Publisher makes legal
Bethesda has allegedly sent Minecraft creator Markus 'Notch' Persson a legal note claiming that the name of his new game infringes on its trademark. The Nordic developer wrote on Twitter moments ago: "Just got a letter from Bethesta's [sic] lawyers. They claim "Scrolls" infringes on their trademark and everyone will confuse it with Skyrim."[Update: Notch has added: "I still CVG Staff
Halo 4's Master Chief in high-res art
Here's a nice high-resolution piece of 'teaser art' of Master Chief as he will look in 343 Industries' Halo 4. It was actually much bigger than this, but we had to crunch down its immense resolution to a size more suitable for the internet than a banner for the side of the Empire State building. Halo 4 will, in case you missed the news, be the first game in the main series NOT made by Bungie, instead being handled by Microsoft studio 343 Industries. That studio talked of the pressures of gamers' expectations in this recent developer diary. Mike Jackson
2011年11月29日星期二
NintendoTV Post-E3 showcase
The latest edition of NintendoTV is now available to watch for free on your Wii. Coming up in this week's NintendoTV News, the team relive the high life of the E3 adventure at an exclusive post-E3 showcase, which Nintendo held in London.Along with that are brand new hands-on previews with the likes of Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Luigi's Mansion 2. Check out the trailer below.NintendoTV is available exclusively on your Wii's Nintendo Channel. If you don't already have the Nintendo Channel, download it for FREE from the Wii Shop and make sure you never miss another episode.
iPad 2 has 'half the power of consoles' -
id's master of all things technology has sought to beat down misconceptions that iPad 2 is equal to current-gen HD games consoles in performance, saying it has "about half the performance power". He starts off saying how impressively powerful Apple's mobile device have gotten recently, and how that helps developers spend less time on optimisation. "We have an embarrassment of riches when it comes to mobile development," he said (thanks Kotaku). "We have more power than you can afford to take advantage of," he added, explaining however that developers are much more likely to earn their money pouring big budgets into console releases rather than in creating huge iOS games. But while considerably powerful, devices like iPad 2 still aren't quite up there with dedicated games machines yet. "There's been incorrect hyperbole about the power of these devices, where people are saying that they have console-level performance. The iPad 2 has about half the performance power, and that's a ballpark estimate," said Carmack. On a more positive note, he added: "But that does mean that mobile devices coming out, certainly next year, will be flat out more powerful, and they'll probably be powerful enough where you don't even need the hyper-optimizing, that you could do a fairly easy port-over of your technology and assets."iPad 3 has recently been rumoured to feature twice the screen resolution of the iPad 2, which is 2048x1536, which is - in case you're unsure - insanely high for a screen of that size if true. Mike Jackson
UK police arrest Anonymous, LulzSec suspe
British police arrested two men yesterday as part of a trans-Atlantic investigation into cyber attacks committed by hacking groups Anonymous and LulzSec. Scotland Yard said it picked up a 24-year-old and a 20-year-old from two separate UK addresses and seized a computer, Yahoo reports."The arrests relate to our enquiries into a series of serious computer intrusions and online denial-of-service attacks recently suffered by a number of multi-national companies, public institutions and government and law enforcement agencies in Great Britain and the United States," said detective inspector Mark Raymond from the Metropolitan Police's Central e-Crime Unit.Police also confirmed that a further two suspects were yesterday charged in relation to denial-of-service attacks carried out by Anonymous. They'll appear in court on September 7 alongside two others previously charged with the same offence, which carries a maximum sentence of ten years in prison.Anonymous was heavily linked to a hack attack on the PlayStation Network in April, which resulted in 77 million users' account details being compromised. Speaking yesterday, Sony CEO Howard Stringer said the PSN "is more secure and better than ever". Tom Ivan
Criterion making an open-world racer
Burnout and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit developer Criterion Games may be working on new open-world racer, if a current job advert is anything to go by. An opening for an AI programmer at Criterion listed on EA's recruitment website is seeking a candidate capable of creating "believable, open world AI Racing Drivers".Although the studio's most recent game, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, was quite a linear affair, Criterion is a dab hand at open-world racers, with Burnout Paradise serving as the most obvious example.The next game in the Burnout series. Burnout Crash, is a top-down arcade game set for release on XBLA and PSN later this month. Tamoor Hussain
Games are too expensive (but Skyrim isn't
Games are too expensive and the industry would benefit from lower price points, reckons Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim director Todd Howard. Speaking in the latest issue of PSM3, the Bethesda designer argues that $60 is "a lot of money for entertainment" - but insists that Skyrim is one title that's truly giving gamers their quid's worth."I've thought for a long time that games are too expensive," he said, adding that "I don't put us in that category of course - for what we give you, for sixty bucks or however many 'quid' it is. "That's a lot of money for entertainment, so I think the good news is that in certain markets - PC, iPhone, mobile - we can see prices coming down."But I do think industry-wide we would benefit from more games out at $19 or $29. I would try more games. Because I'm not going to try a game for $60. It's a tough decision."That's why people read reviews and previews, because it's not only a money decision, it's a time-investment decision. It's not like going to a movie."Howard's comments echo those of Namco Bandai Partners VP Olivier Comte, who said in an interview he thinks the £40 price point is fair for developers but for the consumer it is simply too much."From September to December there are three new blockbusters every week, and consumers just can't afford to buy all that," he said. "I feel all the big video game companies need to join together in a worldwide summit to discuss the future of our industry. I think we have to pull our thoughts together."Buy the new look PSM3 online and have it delivered to your door. Andy Robinson
2011年11月28日星期一
RuneScape Clan Citadels expansion launche
Jagex has released the massive Clan Citadels expansion for its popular free-to-play MMO RuneScape.The update allows RuneScape's clans to build their own floating citadel, a customisable castle in the sky for players to meet, socialise and develop their own games using a new sandbox battlefield editor.Any clan with five or more members can take ownership of their own citadel and start creating user-generated combat scenarios and multiplayer games."Clans can create any activity, including simple capture-the-flag games, deathmatches, ball games, mazes, and any combination of these," Jagex says. "Once the battlegrounds are fine-tuned, players can challenge other clans to participate in large-scale battles and competitions."Each clan's Citadel can be upgraded through seven tiers, unlocking more space, skilling hotspots, impressive elements and special features. These include skilling zones, portal grounds, meeting areas, a senate, dragon perch, and party room." RuneScape VP Daniel Clough adds: "Today is a historic day for RuneScape, as we release the biggest expansion of the year and our largest ever community update. We have been looking for a unique and innovative way to provide new multiplayer features to the game, and we are hugely excited to see what the community makes of this update."The popularity of our in-game clans is staggering, with more than 1.3 million players signing up since our last clan update in April and, as you would expect, the level of anticipation for this update is unprecedented. Our ambitious plan has always been to make RuneScape's clan support the envy of the MMO world, and we are confident that Clan Citadels can do just that."
PSN maintenance tomorrow
The PlayStation Network is to undergo maintenance tomorrow, Thursday September 8, between 5pm and 11pm UK time. During that period PlayStation Store, account registration and account management services will be unavailable.If you are already signed in before the beginning of the maintenance, you should be able to remain signed in and continue with your gaming session. Trey to sign in after the work begins and you'll be presented with a maintenance notification page.Sony said earlier this week it was surprised by the level of audience engagement with PSN following April's cyber attack on the service. Tom Ivan
Jurassic Park The Game dated
Jurassic Park: The Game has a target release date of November 15 PS3 and PC owners will be able to download all chapters of the episodic title at launch, while Xbox 360 players will have to purchase them on one retail disc, IGN reports.An iPad version of the game will arrive at a later, unspecified date, and will be released episodically.The game was originally expected to be out earlier, but was delayed in April so that Telltale could 'move in a new direction'. Tom Ivan
2011年11月27日星期日
Prius Online I Choose You!
By Vincent Haoson, OnRPG Journalist Prius Online is a 3D fantasy MMORPG from CJ E&M. The game circles around your character, the only remaining survivor of a team of racially diverse soldiers who were annihilated. You have lost your memory and through that you start off (once again) in your adventure to regain your memories and return to your "pre-amnesia" state of greatness.Starting off in Prius Online is a pretty surprising (and welcome) change in terms of MMORPGs. The game tries hard to establish your origins story where it is explained what happened to you prior to your Amnesia. The game tends to really ham it up which seems to be the game's bread and butter (more on that later) aside from being visually attractive since the game seems to borrow heavily from the anime art style.Prius Online has your typical array of classes; you have the ranged attackers in the guise of the Hume female gunslingers and for the male Humes the occultist class. The Lon Race on the other hand has the berserkers for the male and the huntresses for the female. The third race in Prius is the Ayin which is separated to the Legionnaire for the male and the Shadow Templar for the Female. Finally, you have the Beriah race which has the support class, the Minstrel.The game has the usual bells and whistles you'd find in a lot of MMORPGs these days. Prius has the title system which basically works as both a source of awkward character name extensions and very useful character buffs. The game's character growth is anchored heavily on the job class you choose. While the base stats growth is determined by your chosen race/job class, customization in the form of skill allotment allows you to differentiate yourself from your peers.The game also has the automated player check-up system in place where you have to key in the proper image to check if you are a human "player". Failure to click said image will force the game to transport your character to the nearest town.Prius also has a mount system where you can acquire cute bunny-like creatures or dark horse-like ones as your trusty steed. The Cerelo system is also a handy way of travelling long distances without the tedium of having to control a mount yourself. The game also has a Coliseum and PK system in place which follows the usual system in most MMORPGs. Most PvP happens within the "coliseum" which is viewed by the community as the honorable source of combat amongst players. Those seeking to grief instead of obtain glory will be glad to know the freedom to PK the living daylights out of other players also exists. Of course, to counter balance the abusive players, the game has the bounty system in place so that players can "report" abusive PKers so that other players can have a go at them for rewards.Prius also has the guild system set, however it's not yet active as of my review.Prius Online’s defining feature is its 3C game system which comes from the concept of controlling three characters. Aside from your main unit, you also have an "escorts" in the form of a small girl called Anima. The Anima can dish out spells against the monster you are targeting or support you. You have complete control on the type of Anima you are controlling which is then dependent on your preferred playstyle. On rare occasions you will also be able to gain control of a Gigas. These Gigas are robot-like creatures under the control of Animas (based on the game lore), that deal out massive damage to enemies for a short amount of time since controlling a Giga is limited. The Animas tend to be more like a little kid that tags along on your journey. I think the best parallelism I can think of between the Animas and you to other games would be Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow. There will be times that you need to actually talk with your Anima and in-between fights there will be pop-ups that allow you to interact and grow your relationship together.Although the gameplay itself and elements of Prius Online are solid, the story telling really let me down. I mean the elements are already there including beautiful graphics and a gigantic rich world to explore. Prius just needs to take what it has and clean it up a little better. I know I shouldn't really bank on the story telling attempts of MMORPGs in general, but there are a few key points I would love to see the developers iron out. The animations need a bit of work to make me really feel attached to the characters. The out-of-sync voice acting also was a barrier that kept me from feeling the same attachment I felt towards Pikachu in Pokemon Yellow. I guess this might not be a huge issue to most MMO players but as a writer it nagged at me constantly. All in all I can say that Prius has a lot of potential as an MMO. It looks good, plays great and even the community is decent enough that the usual headache I get from communicating in world chat never surfaced. However the game tries hard in presenting a dramatic story theme and doesn’t quite get it right.For a more indepth look at the game features, be sure to check out ColbyCheeze's video impressions.Graphics - 4/5 Controls - 5/5 Features - 4/5 Customization - 3/5 Community - 3/5
EA 'relaxed' about heavy demand on Old Re
In light of record pre-orders for Star Wars: The Old Republic, EA has assured investors and analysts it has the capacity to ensure a smooth launch period for Star Wars: The Old Republic. EA Games Label boss Frank Gibeau said on an earnings call last night: "We've got a very aggressive plan to be able to scale multiple millions of users coming into the Star Wars franchise and service this fall. We're looking at pre-order campaigns and telemetry coming in from retail as well as online to get a sense of the overall base, and it's very strong."We're pretty relaxed about what we're going to be able to achieve there," he added (via Seeking Alpha). "We'll be able to scale up and light up new servers on a fairly quick basis. And we've got a plan to do that over the months following ship, and we have a lot of capacity built into that."So far EA has only confirmed a holiday 2011 launch for the BioWare MMO, and Gibeau said we're unlikely to get a solid release date for at least another month."As we get through the bulk of the summer, we're going to be ramping up our beta campaign. And by the time to get around September, we'll be in a position to be able to really call the ball and give you the hard ship date."
Video What's the best RPG game of the ye
Have you voted in the GamesMaster Golden Joysticks 2011 yet? The Joysticks is the only annual UK awards that is voted for by gamers - the people who go out and buy the games. With that in mind, check out the nominees in the RPG category below... and then go forth and elect your favourite over on the official Golden Joysticks site.And while you're at it, why not have a gander at the GJ Facebook and Twitter pages?This year's event will take place on October 21st at the Westminster Bridge Park Plaza. Watch in HD No comments yet, be the first! CVG Staff