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Finally, a $9,000 watch that attaches to your Apple Watch
California-based (where else?) watch-maker Nico Gerard has announced a timepiece that has an Apple Watch lodged within a pretty typical analog watch strap. Yep: a watch for your Apple Watch. Oh and preorders start at $9,300 -- although that includes the black steel analogue face and a 38mm stainless steel Apple Watch on the other side of your wrist. If you want to upgrade your status beyond that of a mere one-percenter, then there's the $112,000 18-carat gold option. With gold Apple Watch Edition. (It's not even the first double-watched solution to a problem no-one's ever had.) Irony be damned, the watch has been named Pinnacle. But there's one question we need answered: which one is the watch, and which one is the accessory?
Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is now taking donations through Patreon
Brad McQuaid has apparently started a new Patreon to fund Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, the third crowdfunding source that the game has employed. Let's recap: The game was first announced by the former Vanguard lead with a Kickstarter campaign that failed to meet its target goal. That was followed by an on-site fundraising campaign that abruptly ended when McQuaid admitted (against a backdrop of worrisome rumors) that there was no more money to pay the studio employees, at which point he told fans that development was starting again with an all-volunteer team. So what do you get for backing the game's development? Videos. The current funding goals are $1,000 increments for monthly development videos through January; they'll show the volunteer team's progress on the game. Those who donate large amounts of money will also be granted exclusive screenshots of the in-development version of the game (so far those we've seen include placeholder assets) and a spot in the credits of a development video. The page claims that any and all funds raised will fund the team as well as defray hardware and server costs.
'Men's Room Mayhem' rated for Vita in Australia
A Vita game called "Men's Room Mayhem" has been rated by the Classification Board in Australia. It's the work of developer Sawfly Studios, a group of four former Sony Liverpool employees.Sawfly hasn't officially announced its game yet, but on the studio's website, art director Jon Eggelton said "We take a lot of inspiration from games like That Game Company's Journey, and Playdead's Limbo." Maybe Sawfly is working on two games? It's either that, or we're heading to a future in which something called "Men's Room Mayhem" surprises us with subtlety and beauty.We've asked publisher Ripstone just what this is, because there's no way we can read that title and not have questions. Ripstone confirmed its existence, but is still waiting to make an official announcement. "What I can say is it's a game about mens rooms and what goes on behind closed cubicle doors (but not in a dodgy way!)" the publisher told us.
Metal Gear Rising DLC includes robot dog missions, Solid Snake as a sword
Metal Gear Rising Revengeance was already pretty crazy, being a sci-fi character action game about a cyborg cutting people up into pieces, based on a military stealth game. New DLC announced by developer Platinum Games brings the insanity into uncomfortable new levels.For example, "VR19: Unarmed Combat Training" contains side-scrolling, unarmed brawling gameplay. That's part of 30 new VR missions, including one set in a dark room. These are the PS3-exclusive missions we'll be getting in North America."Soul of the Snake" is a special wooden sword ... that speaks in Solid Snake's voice when used. "Passionate feelings are alive and well for the cardboard," according to the Google Translation of Platinum's post. We'd translate it more naturally, but that's too wonderful to change.The second announced DLC puts you in the shoes of enemy cyborg, and sneering jerk, Jetstream Sam. And the third DLC lets you play as LQ-84i ... the robot dog. Platinum didn't offer a timeframe for these, except for the DLC missions due in Japan in April, and noted that all the images were of content currently under development. All we know is that Platinum won't be accused of saving cut content from the main game for DLC, since we don't know where that "and now you're the Blood Wolf" chapter would have fit in.
Santa Seaman's implications cannot be fully ascertained
Yup, that's a Santa Seaman all right, and we're just as desperately curious to find out why it exists as you are. The weird thing was tweeted by Seaman creator Yoot Saito, who also said that it was time to begin thinking about the end of the year, according to Andriasang's translation.We have so many questions. Is Saito hinting at some kind of holiday announcement, or even better, some kind of holiday release? Do kids these days even remember Seaman? Is this related to that Nikkei report? Was this whole post just an excuse to publish that picture of Santa Seaman?Answers, in order: We hope, probably not, maybe, and definitely.
Karaoke Joysound finds its way to North American Wiis this fall
Konami has announced plans to release Karaoke Joysound, four years after its Japanese release, on the Wii in North America. We're sure everyone else who remembers this old Hudson game is as shocked as we are.Joysound uses a streaming library of over 1,000 songs, access to which can be rented for one or three days, or one month, at a time. Contents of the library have yet to be announced, and we don't know the cost. For reference, the Japanese version was 300 Wii Points for one day, 500 for three, and 1,000 ($10) for a month.The North American version ships this fall, and includes two microphones.
Mists of Pandaria: 'What has changed?' makes class changes more palatable
One of the sharpest double-edged swords in Blizzard's arsenal is the constant iteration to class and play design that comes with each World of Warcraft expansion. On the one hand, players like innovation and new mechanics and spells to keep their favorite class fresh. On the other hand, players could reject the changes as too severe or too different from the class they originally set out to play, as was the case with Alex Ziebart and myself with paladins in Cataclysm. It's a risky move to change up the core mechanics of a class, and the introduction of the "What's New" window helps streamline this occasionally daunting issue. New and old players alike will benefit greatly from the "What has changed?" tab. Simply open up your spellbook and click on the last tab at the bottom. You'll be greeted with a new screen giving you the run down on some of the biggest changes to your class coming in Mists of Pandaria.
Final Fantasy XIV teasing players with a rideable goobbue
Every so often, there are pieces of information put out that are transparently false, stories so insane you know they simply must be fabricated... like the idea that Final Fantasy XIV would promise the introduction of a new mount and that said mount would be one of the toothy monsters known as a goobbue. It's the sort of thing that could be immediately ignored as being a series of enterprising photoshopped pictures if not for the fact that it's being passed along by the official site. Yes, apparently, the lumbering beasts that terrorize players in both Final Fantasy XI and Final Fantasy XIV will be added to the stable of mounts alongside chocobos. The preview video itself (embedded just after the break) states that they'll only be available for a limited time before version 2.0; the lore article claims that the very idea seems absurd even in the game world, but there it is. Hopefully players can learn how to obtain the mount soon, with the added caveat that we'll probably have to believe it's a real thing at that point.
All WiiWare demos return to the Wii Shop Channel
In late 2009, Nintendo put five demos for WiiWare games on the Wii Shop Channel. Inexplicably, it was a limited-time deal and they all went away on January 31. Then, in late 2010 (and also inexplicably) the program returned, and WiiWare demos started trickling in at the rate of one a week. These were also intended as limited-time offers, which continued not to make any damn sense. Now, in the crowning moment of weirdness for the service, all 50 demos that were previously offered in North America are now available on the Wii Shop in a "demo" section found within the selection of WiiWare "genres," with no explanation at all. Of all the bizarre moves related to this service, this is the one we can most wholeheartedly support. Go try some demos! Lilt Line, And Yet It Moves, Bit.Trip Beat, and more are there to sample. Use your downloads to send Nintendo the incredibly obvious message that people like demos.
Capcom, Method Man, and Creed from The Office unite to bring you a Sour Patch Kids game
Capcom just announced a Sour Patch Kids tie-in game for PSN, XBLA, and PC. You know, Sour Patch Kids. The candy. World Gone Sour is the adventure of a lost Sour Patch Kid running and jumping its way from a movie theater's sticky, filthy floor, past the concession stand, and out into the world as it seeks its home in a candy lover's stomach. Yes, this is a game in which the goal -- the ideal situation -- is a person accidentally ingesting candy that's been on the floor of a movie theater. This is a game concept that Sour Patch marketing believed would increase the appeal of the candy. That's what is happening here. But wait! Your $4.99 doesn't just get you a protracted, off-putting Sour Patch ad. World Gone Sour also includes that new Method Man jam, "World Gone Sour (The Lost Kids)," and Creed Bratton, whom you know as Creed from The Office, narrating your heroic journey. We suppose it's only appropriate that a licensed game based on candy would come from the developer of Yo! Noid and The California Raisins.%Gallery-140662%
Dancing Eyes: the Namco Generations revival nobody asked for
Namco's Generations series started off with Pac-Man Championship Edition DX. Pac-Man seemed like a good starting point for the retro revival series. Then it expanded into Galaga Legions DX, and then Pac-Man and Galaga Dimensions. Things got a little weird when Namco announced that it would remake the semi-obscure running game Metro-Cross as Aero Cross. The series' slow turn into weirdness just accelerated into a powerslide with the next announcement: a PS3 remake of the virtually unknown 1996 arcade game Dancing Eyes. It's a sort of 3D Qix game about a monkey cutting rectangular routes around idols' clothing. The new version will feature PlayStation Move compatibility, so you can guide that pervert monkey with motion. After the break, you'll find a trailer showing some gameplay and a very sad monkey. Dancing Eyes currently has a "TBA" release date in Japan; we wouldn't be surprised if this were the one Namco Generations game not to be announced elsewhere.
Report: Pac-Man reality series in development
Certainly, this must be one of the signs of our inevitable doom. According to Deadline Hollywood, Merv Griffin Entertainment is planning video game-themed reality series where contestants compete in a series of loosely game-related challenges for a chance to win a job as a video game tester. Just kidding! Unfortunately, that just makes too much sense. No, the company supposedly plans on adapting Pac-Man as a reality series. Wait, what? "The idea we have is to take what Pac-Man is and bring it to life, to bring what is essentially the world's biggest game of tag to television," Merv Griffin's Roy Bank told Deadline, presumably while wiping some brownie crumbs off his face. The pitch, inspired by ABC's Wipeout, comes in time for the mascot's 30th anniversary. At least there's some reason behind this madness. We can only assume that the end result will look exactly like this fan-made movie adaptation. And if Pac-Man: The Reality Series manages to find an audience, who knows what other game franchises we'll see adapted for the TV screen? Cho Aniki, perhaps?
XtendPlay extends your Xbox 360 or PS3 controller, vertically
Your Xbox or PS3 controller is okay the way it is ... but it could be so much more boogie board-shaped. The XtendPlay attachment adds a big block of foam to the bottom of your controller, apparently to both make your grip on your controller more comfortable and allow you to rest the whole thing in your lap more easily. Or something. Creator Xwerx likens the development to the invention of the baseball glove. "So the question we put to you is: why are you still bare-handing your controller?" "Stallion83," who has over 500,000 Gamerscore, likes the device (or likes his endorsement deal), and he knows a thing or two about holding a controller for way too long. The $20 ... things ... ship "in 2 weeks," according to the website, and are available for pre-order now. Still not convinced? Check out a trailer after the break. You really need to see this in motion.
Silly Bandz for DS seems like a stretch
Zoo Games has announced a DS game based on ... some rubber bands. This December, Zoo will release Silly Bandz, the official game of those rubber bands in the shape of animals and Justin Bieber. Silly Bandz tasks players with freeing Bandz from capture by launching other Silly Bandz at the structures in which they are trapped. Screenshots found on Amazon show an Angry Birds-esque experience: a side-scrolling game where players knock over colored block-structures and ... is that a giant magnet? Of course, the actual game content doesn't matter at all, because it ships with a set of twelve video game-themed Silly Bandz -- and the office supplies are the real selling point here. In July, Zoo announced that this game would be released on iPhone as well (without free Bandz, of course), but that version has yet to be dated.
Confused Joystiq writer immortalized in Art Academy promotion
The review copy of Art Academy sent to me by Nintendo included a bit of example art saved in its gallery. Specifically, this portrait.
Yakuza: Of The End designed to bring shooter fans to Yakuza
Yakuza: Of The End was ... unexpected. Not in that it's another Yakuza sequel -- we can pretty much count on those being at least annual -- but in that it's a zombie shooting game. Why would Sega take a series built around realistic criminal organizations, known for its accurate (if fictionalized) representation of Tokyo, and fill its latest entry with zombies? Where do people even find all those guns in Japan? At TGS, we asked producer Masayoshi Kikuchi about this seemingly inexplicable decision. "We want to essentially use the Yakuza universe to try our hand at different genres of games," he said. "In that effort, one of the games that hasn't been released [outside of Japan] yet, but that we've done, is a samurai-based game called Kenzan. That is our foray into utilizing the mythology and universe of Yakuza to branch out into different gameplay. The other one, obviously, is Of The End." "For us, it's a way to hopefully attract more fans to the Yakuza franchise by widening the gameplay styles that we create," Kikuchi added. In other words, Of The End hopes to attract people who love zombie shooters, and who might then discover there are other Yakuza games; albeit ones about punching street punks and running orphanages. But what about the people who already love Yakuza? Are they to simply stare at this spinoff in disbelief? "From my point of view," Kikuchi told us, "I feel that -- if you have 100 Yakuza fans, it's not going to be the case where all 100 of them will be receptive to the new direction. But however, we feel that by making something that is very enjoyable, we will be able to capture as many of the existing fan base who enjoy the games we create." [Pictured: Yakuza: Of The End TGS booth models]
Duke Nukem Forever coming '2011' on Xbox 360, PS3 & PC, courtesy of Gearbox
It's finally, really, actually ... maybe going to happen at this point. The rumors are true: Gearbox Software and 2K Games have taken on the Herculean task of completing and releasing 3D Realms' unfinished Duke Nukem Forever. The project was officially unveiled today at PAX during a livestreamed presentation at the 2K Games booth and announced for Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. "It's coming out in 2011," Gearbox president Randy Pitchford said during the presentation. (Of course, we're skeptical about any release date associated with this particular title.) Gearbox began finishing Duke Nukem Forever in late 2009, according to The Wall Street Journal. "Clearly the game hadn't been finished at 3D Realms but a lot of content had been created," Pitchford told WSJ. "We're in the polishing phase now. This is a game where we can not make a promise we can not fulfill," Pitchford added. "We need to get past the shock and awe, and then we can go to all the retailers and first parties and work out a launch plan." Duke Nukem Forever is a sequel to Duke Nukem 3D and will feature both a single-player campaign and multiplayer. "Aliens come and say they're going to be our friends, and Duke knows this isn't going to work out," Pitchford revealed of the plot. "Duke once again is in the pivotal spot and it's up to him to save the world." [Image credit: Kurt Miller]
Majesco's Babysitting Mama includes your very own baby
The "WiiWaa" doll introduced us to the concept of cramming a Wiimote into a doll's mouth and using that to interact with a game. Majesco is bringing that same idea to a much more mainstream game: the previously trademarked Babysitting Mama. Using a plush baby into which you have tucked a Wiimote -- and also using the Nunchuk that is somehow hanging out of this plush baby or something -- you play 40 minigames in the usual Cooking Mama style; representing tasks like feeding and changing a baby, or rocking it to sleep. The game will feature six different virtual babies with unique personalities, though you'll be using the same proxy doll to manipulate all the e-babies. Babysitting Mama is due out this holiday. Unfortunately, Majesco has yet to release an image of the doll, so we can't yet gauge how creeped out we're going to be by this game. %Gallery-93595%
Get stoked for 'My Fireplace' on Wii
Those fireplace DVDs are alright for creating a mood (specifically, the mood of wishing you had a fireplace) but they aren't very ... interactive, you know? That fire just sits there on the screen, faux-smoldering forever in an endless loop of artificial atmosphere. Wouldn't it be perfect if that were a game? Korner Entertainment S.L. thinks so. The ESRB just logged a rating for "My Fireplace," a Wii game (a WiiWare game, we hope) "in which players can tend to a virtual fireplace. Players can add logs to the fire, add decorations to the mantle, and pump air into the fireplace to keep the flames burning." This sounds like a hot property, but with nothing but an ESRB content description to go on, we can't shed any light on details like release date or price.
The retro-style Linkin Park iPhone game you've always wanted
Nu-metal band Linkin Park is craaaaaaaawwling into an 8-bit skin for a bizarre new iPhone game. Called Linkin Park 8-Bit Rebellion, the app is a side-scrolling fighter with social networking features in which players, in customizable chibi avatars, assist a retro-styled Linkin Park in fighting an evil corporation. Along the way, you can unlock both original and chiptune versions of Linkin Park songs, including one unreleased track. This game is absolutely baffling -- for example, some of the characters are 8-bit, while others are relatively high-resolution caricatures for some reason. An even more baffling aspect: it's a video game about, and designed with, Linkin Park.
