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Orcs bleed in new Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor trailer
Pop quiz: What color is orc blood? Buzz. Time's up. We're not going to tell you the answer, but if you still don't know, watch the latest trailer for Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor. Just 20 seconds or so will do. [Image: WB]
Infinite Crisis recruits Blue Beetle
Infinite Crisis has recruited a new warrior in its fight against property damage and excess jungling: Blue Beetle. Blue Beetle, aka Jamie Reyes, came across a blue scarab that wrapped him up in battle armor. The sentient armor and Jamie came to a mutual understanding to fight for whatever player was controlling them that session. Blue Beetle comes equipped with an energy cannon, a scarab scanner, a dash, and even an infiltrator mode. Bad guys get too close? Time for a little mandible taser, am I right? Turbine touts Blue Beetle as a highly mobile champion that can sneak up and smack down solo targets. Check out Blue Beetle in action after the jump.
Lego: The Hobbit isn't setting off for Wii U just yet
Warner Bros. revealed it's pushed back the Wii U version of Lego: The Hobbit until April 22 in North America, despite releasing the game on other platforms this week. According to a press release sent to Joystiq, Warner Bros UK is releasing the Wii U version alongside other platforms on April 11, while Vooks reports a May 7 due date for Nintendo's home console, in contrast to April 16 on other systems. WB didn't explain why it's holding back Bilbo and his dwarven pals from Wii U adventures, but the publisher does have a bit of a history with the Nintendo console. The Wii U didn't get mulitplayer content or campaign DLC for Batman: Arkham Origins, and that version was also delayed in the UK. Add in the recent week's delay for the Wii U version of Arkham Origins: Blackgate in Europe, and then there's the year or so Europeans had to wait for Scribblenauts Unlimited on Nintendo systems. As for Lego: The Hobbit itself, the game chronicles the first two films of the trilogy based on Tolkein's beloved book. Reportedly, dev Traveler's Tales is bringing There and Back Again to the game as DLC, with plans to release it when the third film hits cinemas in December. While Wii U owners have to wait a little longer, if you fancy a halfling with the latest Lego game you can get it now on Xbox One, Xbox 360, PS4, PS3, Vita, 3DS and PC. [Image: Warner Bros.]
Seen@GDC: Gauntlet needs food truck badly
A Gauntlet food truck can be found vanquishing hunger around the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco this week. Branded with the natural hashtag #NeedFoodBadly, the mobile food dispensary is serving smoked turkey legs, candied apples, old fashioned root beer and water. The truck also has buttons with each character's symbol. If you're hanging about the convention, you can track the truck at @PlayGauntlet. The game's reboot was announced earlier this week and is scheduled for PC on Steam this summer. Now, just don't let any elves shoot near the foodtruck or they'll ruin it for everyone.
The World of Magic aims to take over for the Harry Potter MMO
Last week, we heard news that the Harry Potter MMO was put on hold by Warner Bros. while they decided "if the production would be a good investment or not." But the development team at Bio-Hazard Entertainment decided to show WB what they're made of with a side project named The World of Magic. TWoM doesn't look to be a direct Harry Potter game, but instead an MMO inspired by the IP. "We think that this MMO will be exactly what you guys wanted and more!" a dev blog states. "Our new site is will soon give you more info, images, videos, and options that will allow you to see how similar it will be to HP. It has broken our hearts that HP is on hold but maybe this gives us the opportunity to show WB that our new company can do it and not matter what obstacles get in our way, we can overcome them!" While further details aren't available at this time, the project's new website already has 600 members and plenty of gallery images to get any Harry Potter fan excited. [Thanks to Viturino for the tip!]
Infinite Crisis hits open beta on March 14
Turbine has announced that its Infinite Crisis MOBA will launch its open beta on March 14. Former Lord of the Rings Online and current Infinite Crisis executive producer, Jeffrey Steefel, commented on the game's growth since closed beta began: "We now have three maps, three modes, a huge amount of different ways you can play the game. Twenty-seven characters and, in fact, we are adding a new character every three weeks." The game is said to include new costumes for each character, a digital comic, and action figures in the near future.
Infinite Crisis brings Star Sapphire into the fold
Just in time for Valentine's Day, Turbine has announced that the "champion of love," Star Sapphire, is coming to Infinite Crisis. Star Sapphire wields her namesake's ring, able to channel love and keep the Predator entity in check. In the game, she's a ranged damage dealer who's best kept out of immediate harm's way. She can choose to unleash the Predator to do damage or to keep it attached for a speed boost. Star Sapphire will be added to the game on February 26th. You don't have to wait until then to check out her moves, however, as we've got her champion spotlight video after the break! [Source: Turbine press release]
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate appears on Xbox Games Store
Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is lurking in the shadows of the Xbox Games Store, a month after it was caught sneaking around Steam. The Armature Studio-developed 2.5D platformer came to 3DS and Vita alongside the main Origins game, and now it's listed to hit Xbox 360 in an HD "Deluxe Edition," with the release date noted as March 25. Let's work what this means by channeling the spirit of Adam West. Hmm,... Steam. Take the "s" out of Steam and you get "Team." Teams... soccer teams... soccer teams get the ball into the penalty box to score a goal. Box! And as we all know, X marks the spot. X... Box. Xbox! The clues all point to a multiplatform arrival in the near future, although we're still waiting on official word from Warner Bros. on any of this. Quick, to the Announcement-mobile! [Image: Microsoft]
Infinite Crisis travels to Russia
Russian-speaking DC Universe fans across the pond will be able to play Infinite Crisis in their native tongue thanks to the combined efforts of Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and Fabrika Online. The MOBA will be available in Russia, Ukraine, the CIS countries, and Georgia with full Russian language support. David Haddad, Senior VP of Digital Publishing at WBIE noted that this was just the first step toward delivering this competitive experience to gamers around the world. Regarding the collaboration with Fabrika Online, Haddad stated, "We are very excited about the launch of Infinite Crisis in Russian and are especially thrilled to be working with Fabrika Online. The company has a huge footprint in the local online gaming market with the ability to activate the community and provide customer support." The Russian closed beta is available now; interested players can sign up on the language's official site. [Source: WBEI press release]
Batman: Arkham Origins story campaign DLC canceled on Wii U
Wii U owners won't be getting the upcoming Arkham Origins story campaign DLC, after Warner Bros. made the decision to cancel it due to a lack of demand. WB confirmed the news in a statement given to VG247, after GoNintendo published a supposed Nintendo of America email spilling the bat-beans. The Nintendo system and the latest Batman haven't been a dynamic duo, starting with WB not bringing multiplayer to the Wii U version for similarly quantitative reasons. WB's belated call to not give the Wii U further single-player content is curious, especially since there's other DLC from the game on the eShop, such as skins and challenge packs. The one ray of good in today's news is that, going by the email published by GoNintendo, Nintendo of America is issuing a full refund to those who bought the season pass, despite some of the DLC it covers already being out. Whether that decision is WB's or Nintendo's, it is at least the right one.
Infinite Crisis reveals the Man of Steel as a champion
Modeling Superman in any video game is kind of problematic, since his whole schtick is that he's faster than anything, invulnerable, and strong enough to fling the moon into the sun if he really wanted to. This already presents some problems when balancing for a single-player game, but in a game like Infinite Crisis, how can you make sure that the Man of Steel feels like himself without making him massively overpowered? The video past the cut shows off Turbine's take on the character. In essence, each of Superman's skills gives him a damage shield, with subsequent skills improving the shield, making him much harder to take down. His iconic abilities are all in place -- super-speed, strength, heat vision, and the like -- all adding up to a character that hits hard while being difficult to take down. Take a gander at the video to see just how the Last Son of Krypton will perform in the arena. [Source: Turbine press release]
Infinite Crisis adds Atomic Poison Ivy
A new villain has joined the Infinite Crisis lineup, and she uses her nuclear-imbued powers to protect friends and entrap her enemies. Atomic Poison Ivy, created when a nuclear fallout withered and mutated her world's plant life as well as transformed her into a human/plant hybrid, is none-too-happy with humanity for causing the destruction. Her skills, Poisoned Earth, Bramble Rapture, and Wall of Thorns, deal power damage. Atomic Poison Ivy's passive, Toxic Growth, marks opponents for additional damage and her ultimate, Secrets of the Forest, provides an AoE stealth and power armor buff for allies. Check out all these skills in action and get a few tips and tricks for playing Atomic Poison Ivy in the video below. [Source: Turbine press release]
Lego: The Hobbit trailer is looking to share in an adventure
Coming just after the second Hobbit film hit cinemas, this trailer reminds us how very much we've seen of the Lego and Lord of the Rings properties in recent years. Then we see the bit with the washing machine and the pig, and we're ready for a bit more. Lego: The Hobbit is based on the first two films in Peter Jackson's trilogy of adaptations, and it ventures onto a teeming fellowship of systems in spring 2014, including the Xbox One, PS4, Wii U, PS3, Xbox 360, Dreamcast*, Vita, 3DS, PC, Mac, and Atari Lynx*. *What, were you expecting a disclaimer saying these ones weren't real? No, they're real. They're really real** **Alright, no they're not.
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Infinite Crisis trailer introduces Robin
While full of plenty of superheroes to play, Infinite Crisis has not forgotten about the sidekicks that fight alongside them. The latest playable hero to join the MOBA's roster is none other than Robin, based on Tim Drake. Cast as (what else) a melee support role, Robin benefits his team with skills such as This Guy, Bo Master, and Dynamic Duo, each skill offering various team buffs and enemy debuffs. Robin's ultimate, Emergent Leader, combines AoE damage with team buffs. Gather some hints and tips for utilizing Robin in the reveal trailer below. Folks interested in playing Robin -- or any of the other heroes -- for themselves, can sign up for closed beta on the official site. [Source: Turbine press release]
A Mild-Mannered Reporter: Superhero games across November
After a couple of very active months, November was a bit calmer for superheroic games as a whole. It makes sense, of course, since pretty much every game is calmer during November and December aside from sales and holiday events. But there were few big Kickstarter campaigns, a lot of updates that everyone knew were coming, and of course a very poignant anniversary for pretty much everyone reading this column today. That having been said, the entire month was not a slow funeral dirge for the loss of City of Heroes. In fact, one game apparently decided that the otherwise quiet month was a great time to make some big changes right off the bat, so that's pretty cool. Venture on past the cut with me and we'll take a look at the superhero news from November in review... and possibly bow our heads briefly in respect for the departed.
Infinite Crisis brings out Mecha Wonder Woman
She may be metal and gears, but underneath that she's all woman too. She's Mecha Wonder Woman, the newest champion to come to Infinite Crisis. Mecha Wonder Woman originated as a diplomatic robot for Queen Hippolyta, but decided to get into the superhero vengeance game when the queen was assassinated. The Justice Consortium upgraded her, giving Mecha Wonder Woman the ability to dispense justice with an iron fist. We've got your first look at Mecha Wonder Woman in a video after the break, so check it out and see if this MOBA champion might be calling to your own sense of justice. [Source: Turbine press release]
Lego: The Hobbit confirmed, sets off for lots of systems this spring
Warner Bros. has officially announced the Lego: The Hobbit video game, after promotional material leaked last week. It's based on the first two movies in Peter Jackson's adaptive trilogy, and it's due in spring 2014 on Xbox One, PS4, PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, Vita, 3DS, PC and (pause for breath) Mac. Lego: The Hobbit looks to follow developer TT Games' much-tried-and-tested formula, with players guiding the film's myriad of characters, large and hobbit-sized, as they solve puzzles and explore some of the "key locations from the films," including Bag End, the Misty Mountains, Hobbiton, Goblin-town, Mirkwood, and Rivdendell. And since he stars in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug, we get to say that Lego-las will probably feature too.
Lego Marvel Super Heroes to make Xbox One launch in US
The Lego Marvel Super Heroes assemble alongside the Xbox One next week in the US after all, while in Europe they're due a week later on November 29. Warner Bros. told Game Informer the Xbox One version of TT Games' hero-stuffed platformer will hit US retail shelves on November 22. When approached, a Warner Bros. UK representative confirmed the information with Joystiq. Just like its variety of super-people - WB says there are more than 100 playable characters - Lego Marvel Super Heroes is available on an assortment of other platforms, starting today. You can pick it up alongside a super fresh PS4, or on PS3, Xbox 360, Wii U, 3DS, and Vita.
Humble Bundle includes LotRO Steely Dawn pack
For the next five or so days, Warner Bros. is participating in a new Humble Bundle that includes a special package for Lord of the Rings Online. Humble Bundle allows players to name their own price for a collection of games, and as long as customers pay more than the average amount (currently $4.62), then the Steely Dawn pack will be tossed in for LotRO players. The Steely Dawn pack includes a unique cosmetic armor set, the Evendim quest pack, five XP boosts, and 500 Turbine Points. To use the pack, you have to access LotRO through Steam.
Lego: The Lord of the Rings wants to be found on iOS
Some things that should not have been forgotten were lost - until now(!). That's because Lego: Lord of the Rings ventured onto the App Store today, a year after it was first released. While it's unconfirmed, history tell us the $5 iOS version is probably a port of the handheld fellowship on 3DS and Vita. The App Store notes there are over 90 playable characters, two control systems, and Game Center achievements, but there's no mention of co-op.
