fall-2011
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WoW TCG: Fall 2011 Class Starter Decks available Dec. 6
Cryptozoic has announced the release date for the World of Warcraft Trading Card Game Fall 2011 Starter Decks. These decks will feature 10 unique heroes (five Horde and five Alliance) for players to collect and will be specially designed so that a new player can purchase a single deck and be ready to play. Each deck will also contain a World of Warcraft in-game item (such as the Party G.R.E.N.A.D.E., the Spectral Kitten/Spectral Tiger Cub, or the Dragon Kite), a War of the Elements booster pack, and a reprint of a previous fan favorite card. The decks are are projected to be available on Dec. 6, 2011, and will retail for around $10.99. For more information, visit Cryptozoic's website.
Reel in Prope's Fishing Resort this fall
XSEED is continuing its cozy relationships with both Bandai Namco (which has resulted in Retro Game Challenge, among other things) and developer Prope (whose Ivy the Kiwi? was published by XSEED), announcing a North American release of the Wii fishing game from Yuji Naka's company, Fishing Resort. It's a third-party Wii game in 2011, and thus a rarity. The Wii game puts equal emphasis on both the "fishing" and "resort" aspects -- of course you'll be able to cast for over 200 varieties of fish (and play fishing-related minigames), but you're also given the choice to explore your island surroundings at your leisure, finding spots in different locales from which to fish. And should you develop some skill at the art of virtual fishing, you can take part in competitive play for up to four, and tell the world an incredibly accurate fish story via the leaderboards.%Gallery-128972%
Burnout Crash! spins series off to XBLA, PSN, and into traffic this fall
We first heard about "Burnout Crash" this spring through ESRB and Australian ratings, but EA has kept mum about the downloadable racer -- until now. The publisher officially announced Burnout Crash! for PSN and XBLA, coming fall 2011. The downloadable top-down racer is based on previous Burnout games' Crash Mode, and offers rewards for "causing traffic chaos by crashing into cars, triggering explosions and destroying everything in sight." 18 different "crash junctions" will challenge players' ability to wreck stuff. And should you desire a new way in which to wreck stuff (like your living room), Burnout Crash! will include a Kinect mode on XBLA, in which "two teams use gestural controls to play on one television in a party battle!"%Gallery-127936%
Cooking Mama 4 goes to 3DS, Camping Mama goes to DS this fall
Mama has a very busy couple of months ahead of her. Majesco's patron matron has 60 more recipes to make with your help in Cooking Mama 4: Kitchen Magic! For the first time, her culinary creations will be three-dimensional, because Cooking Mama 4 is headed to 3DS. The minigames in this new version will use both the touchscreen and the 3DS's gyroscopic tilt controls. Also this fall, Mama will return to her roots on the regular DS to take a hard-earned vacation in Camping Mama: Outdoor Adventures, where she'll get a break from all those cooking minigames with ... 100 new outdoor minigames, set in "38 different levels that span forests, mountains and seas."
Persona 2: Innocent Sin coming to PSP this fall
As hinted by a time-lost relic of a newsletter sent last week by Atlus, the PSP remake of Persona 2: Innocent Sin is on the way to North America, with a release scheduled for sometime this fall. Persona fans have extra reason to get excited about this particular release, as the PlayStation original was never localized. Even if you have already played the original, in Japanese or through a fan translation, this one offers new content in the form of new sidequests, a new interface, and an optional new soundtrack by director Shoji Meguro. This post also offers new content: screens in the gallery below, and a trailer after the break. Persona 2: Innocent Sin was the first game in Atlus's Shin Megami Tensei series to drop the traditional first-person dungeons in favor of a third-person viewpoint. Like the other Personas, it's all about cool high school kids negotiating (and fighting) with demons and discovering their powerful "Persona" alter egos. In this one, students at Seven Sisters High School find that rumors start mysteriously coming true in their hometown of Sumaru City, including the rumor that if you call your own cell phone number, a demon called the Joker appears and grants a wish. Being teenagers, the kids decide to wisely avoid tempting fate. Just kidding.%Gallery-124302%
Age of Empires Online launches this fall
Age of Empires Online's march to retail will conclude this fall, the game's official Twitter announced, with a Microsoft rep informing us a specific launch date is expected to be revealed May 31. After launch, the freemium title will have "a parade of Premium Content" at under $20. The additions include two more civs to keep the Greeks and Egyptians company by the end of 2011, along with a "Premium 'Pro' Civilization" pack that will advance players immediately to level 20 for "expert play." Check out our Age of Empires Online preview for what to expect from the initial experience.
Jurassic Park delayed to fall on PC, pre-orderers get free game
Dinosaurs are usually known for their timeliness -- think of people being referred to as "dinosaurs" when they're ahead of the curve on trends -- but the dinosaurs of Telltale's Jurassic Park game aren't going to make their appointed release date. Telltale CEO Dan Conners sent an email out to people who had pre-ordered the adventure series, informing them that the PC and Mac release of the first episode would not occur in April as planned. "The game's mechanics and storytelling have come together in such a way that we see great potential," he said, "so much so that we feel we can push these elements to the next level if we spend some extra time working on them." That means that the PC and Mac releases will now take place simultaneously with the console versions this fall. In addition, Telltale is issuing full refunds to those who pre-ordered, and throwing in a free Telltale game of the user's choice. Can we put Telltale in charge of PSN customer service? [Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Centipede: Infestation invades 3DS and Wii this fall
This is one of those times when we'd normally bemoan the "re-imagining" of classic games, but Atari's freshly announced rebirth of legendary trackball-based shooter Centipede, for 3DS and Wii, has us holding onto hope because of its developer. Due this fall, the title has been placed into the (capable) hands of WayForward Technologies, which has brought us the likes of Contra 4 and A Boy and His Blob. Granted, Centipede: Infestation is definitely more of a reinterpretation of the original than either of those titles. It's evolved into a story-driven action game with dual-stick shooter mechanics, casting players as a orphaned boy in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. He's joined by a female partner character who possesses the ability to make plants grow -- exactly how that ability will translate into gameplay hasn't been fully revealed. Two-player co-op is planned on console and handheld, with the latter supporting local wireless play and StreetPass functionality. Based on the first gameplay footage released by Atari and WayForward's track record, we're unusually optimistic about this one. Check it out for yourself after the break.
Platinum's 'Max Anarchy' coming to the west as 'Anarchy Reigns' this fall
Platinum Games' new multiplayer online brawling game, announced in Japan as "Max Anarchy," won't have as punchy a name when it hits North America and Europe, but at least it'll have the same punchy ... punches. Today, Sega announced that the game is being released this fall as Anarchy Reigns, on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360. Anarchy Reigns "challenges the boundaries of the conventional brawler genre" with its simultaneous online multiplayer, Sega says. The announcement reveals that several different multiplayer modes will be available, including tag team and "Battle Royal, where players can challenge others in a full-on fight for victory." So it's violence as sport? Sounds a lot like MadWorld -- whose main character, coincidentally, appears in this game.%Gallery-115237%
