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Preview: Dead Space Ignition
By now you know that Dead Space Ignition is, essentially, a downloadable motion comic recounting the events immediately leading up to Dead Space 2. It's made interactive via the inclusion of three hacking minigames, one of which, Trace Route, I tried out at EA's Studio Showcase yesterday. As we mentioned in our original news post, it's a play-alike of Nintendo's Light Trax for WiiWare with the exception that it features slightly deeper gameplay -- and is really pretty challenging. It's also going to support leaderboards and two players when released, and will unlock content (including a new suit for protagonist Isaac Clarke) in Dead Space 2. %Gallery-97880%
EA Sports Active goes to NFL Training Camp this November
The rumors were true: The latest version of EA Sports Active is going to get you ready for some football! EA Sports Active NFL Training Camp for the Wii uses Active 2.0's heart rate monitor and the Wii's motion interface to lead players through "authentic NFL football drills." Guided by a virtual coach, players will perform more than 70 drills and challenges in an effort to "improve strength, power and conditioning, as well as reaction skills, agility and first step quickness, which are key areas NFL players focus on." Trainees will be able to work out in their favorite teams' stadiums, alongside recreations of their favorite players. And then, on game day, when the real players take the field, you get to rest! Or play Madden! NFL Training Camp will touch down November 16 for $100.
Dead Space Ignition detailed at EA press event
At an EA press event today, a Dead Space 2 producer showed the first footage of the downloadable interactive comic Dead Space Ignition. The story, a prequel to the sequel, is delivered via lightly animated comic book-style art and follows an engineer on the Sprawl space station. Between the uniforms, the voices and the semi-animated look, Ignition reminds us of Sealab 2021 -- bizarro! The engineer's job, of course, is to fix electronics, and that's where the main interactive part comes into play, in the form of three minigames: "Hardware Crack," "System Override," and "Trace Route." Only Trace Route was shown today -- a hacking-themed riff on the abstract line racer, Light Trax. Ignition is coming to Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network this fall.
Shank dated for late August, priced at $15; adds co-op mission [update: new screens, video]
One half of EA Partners' downloadable duo has already been released -- DeathSpank came out last week and was greeted by Joystiq with open arms-- and now we know when the second half will be released. Klei Entertainment's slick arcade brawler Shank will be released on PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on August 24 and 25, respectively, for $15. In addition to those pesky details, a press release also reveals a new gameplay mode: "a special co-operative mission, designed to be played with a friend locally [...] This prequel mission allows players to play as Shank or his partner-in-crime Falcone, with deadly double-team moves and gameplay that encourages teamwork." It sounds like the co-op is limited to a single, "prequel" mission, which is a bummer; however, Shank's charm has always been its good looks, and you can enjoy that all by yourself. Update: By way of Shack, it looks like the official Shank site has added some details about the co-op campaign, which they say has levels and bosses really designed around cooperative play. The official site also dates the PC release as "fall 2010" so, that's something, right PC gamers? Check out some co-op screens in the gallery below. %Gallery-97867%
The Sims 3: Late Night Expansion takes your Sim out on the town this fall
Looking for a virtual metropolis in which your Sim can par-tay down? EA just announced the next expansion for The Sims 3, called the "Late Night Expansion." The add-on will include an "active downtown scene" where players can "become a local celebrity, member of a music band, mixologist, director, and more." You can also apparently become a vampire, but if the announcement trailer past the break is any indication, you'll just loiter around a lot of alleys. We imagine it's kinda like being a teenager ... forever. The Sims 3: Late Night Expansion launches this fall. %Gallery-97857%
Preview: Darkspore, Maxis' 'Spore meets Diablo' action RPG; coming Feb 2011
Last week saw the release of DeathSpank, a game I wasn't alone in likening to "Monkey Island meets Diablo." Presumably in an attempt to avoid missing the "meets Diablo" bus, Maxis is preparing to give the PC gaming world Darkspore -- a.k.a. "Spore meets Diablo" -- in February 2011. It's a new Spore game, albeit one focused on combat. It's described by publisher Electronic Arts as a "sci-fi action-RPG," but you might describe it as "not really what you were hoping for from Maxis." Still, the studio Will Wright built (and later left) seems to be trying its best to work the idea – an idea it's had since wrapping the original Spore, we're told – into something that will satisfy a more hardcore, multiplayer-focused PC gamer. %Gallery-97777%
'Alice: Madness Returns' revealed [update: new screens, video]
Twitter account @thewhiterabbit is teasing news related to "the mad world of Alice," a note that EA's own Twitter account relayed. This is about 100 percent likely to be the announcement of Alice: Madness Returns, the sequel to American McGee's Alice. For one thing, the background of the Twitter page includes the "alicemadnessreturns.com" URL, which currently redirects to EA.com/alice. "Alice: Madness Returns" was trademarked earlier this year by EA, and an Alice sequel was announced way back at DICE 2009, followed that year by an "unofficial" Alice-related video produced by someone with ties to developer Spicy Horse. EA is holding a press event in about ten minutes to announce several games, so we'll find out soon enough! Unless, like the White Rabbit, EA is late. Update: It's official, and the game is coming in 2011 for Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. Catch the terrifying teaser after the break, and the press release here. %Gallery-97858%
