Q4 2010
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Open up Dead Rising 2: Case West on Dec. 27
Be sure to finish any games you receive as holiday gifts immediately upon receipt. Capcom is calling for your attention in Fortune City on December 27. That's when the XBLA-exclusive Dead Rising 2 epilogue, Case West, will slide down the virtual chimney and appear under the Xbox Live Marketplace-shaped tree. It's priced at 800 Microsoft Points. For that price, you'll get more than just a suddenly sleazier-looking version of Dead Rising's protagonist (it must be those shades). Case West is a new scenario set inside the "Phenotrans Facility," offering co-op gameplay and, of course, the return of the photography mechanic.
Correction: X-Men Arcade coming to PSN in North America on Dec. 14, XBLA on Dec. 15
Konami representatives confirmed with Joystiq tonight that X-Men Arcade will be arriving in North America on PlayStation Network next week on December 14, while Xbox Live Arcade gets it the next day. We originally reported that the game had a two-month window of exclusivity on Xbox Live Arcade, per Konami reps speaking with Eurogamer. It appears that this report is not the case, at least for the game's North American release -- US-based Konami reps couldn't confirm European release dates for X-Men Arcade as of publishing. Furthermore, the game was given a December 26 North American launch date by Konami reps speaking to GameFocus in a recent video interview. Since the interview, however, the PSN launch date has been moved up and North Americans can get their co-op Magneto murdering in a full 12 days earlier. We're just hoping that buying the game won't be as maddeningly difficult as nailing down a solid release date from its publisher.
Young Thor studio unveils A Space Shooter for Two Bucks!
No, Frima Studio didn't receive two dollars to unveil its new game -- rather, the new PlayStation Mini from the Young Thor/Zombie Tycoon developer is called A Space Shooter for Two Bucks! You can guess both the genre and price from the title. Despite the low price, Frima Studio has included full voiceover for both the pilot character and his sarcastic AI companion, as well as every other character who, for some reason, has lines to speak in a shmup. If you have PlayStation Plus, you'll be able to get A Space Shooter For Two Bucks! for free when it launches on December 21.
Frobot hits the WiiWare dance floor Dec. 20
WiiWare will get an unlikely combination of robots, dungeon crawling, disco, and Shaft (shut your mouth) references on December 20, when Fugazo's Frobot hits the scene. Frobot is an action game about an afro-sporting robot -- not a frozen robot, as you might have thought -- who rolls into BotBlocker's headquarters to rescue his five foxy, equally robotic girlfriends. This is represented gameplay-wise by a top-down experience similar to The Legend of Zelda's dungeons, with the addition of pointer-based aiming. If the grouping of all those elements seems too far-fetched for you, you'll be able to get proof in the form of a demo, available the same day. We're so glad to see devs taking advantage of this demo feature, by the way. European gamers will get the game (and, presumably, the demo) in 2011.%Gallery-109593%
X-Men Arcade coming to XBLA on Dec. 15 as two-month exclusive [update]
Update: The release date has been updated by Konami. X-Men Arcade arrives in North American on December 14 for PSN and December 15 for XBLA. Following October's announcement of Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network versions of X-Men Arcade, many of you had just one question for publisher Konami: "When do we get to play it?" (Two if you count, "Did anyone pick Dazzler yet?") In speaking with Eurogamer, Konami confirmed that the game would slice up Xbox Live Arcade in North America and Europe next Wednesday, December 15. PlayStation Network will get the game two months later in February. No price has been put to the partially updated release, but we're hoping Microsoft's exclusivity money bag keeps it squashed.
Neo Geo games coming to PSN with online play
Nine months after the ESRB listed Neo Geo games for PS3 and PSP, publisher SNK Playmore has announced plans for a "Neo Geo Station" on PlayStation Network. Starting December 21, games from the Neo Geo's library will be released on PSN in both PS3 and PSP versions, costing $8.99 and $6.99 each, respectively. The pricing on the PS3 versions is equivalent to the cost of buying Neo Geo games on the Wii Virtual Console. Unlike the Virtual Console releases, these aren't just emulated versions of the originals. SNK has added features like online co-op and versus play on PS3 (and Ad-Hoc Party support on PSP), along with other unspecified enhancements. Check after the break for all ten games hitting PS3 on December 21, and the two PSP games arriving at the same time. The other eight are scheduled to arrive on PSP sometime in January.
Zombie BBQ cooks up DSiWare release next week
Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ never made it to retail in Europe, instead being released as a DSiWare download. Even though it did come out on a cartridge in North America, EnjoyUp is releasing the DSiWare version anyway, giving Zombie BBQ the unique honor of being available both digitally and in a box. Said DSiWare release will occur next Monday, December 13. Look forward to having two convenient options for fulfilling your Red Riding Hood-blasting-the-undead needs. Check out an oddly windowed trailer after the break.
Move! Top Darts soaring to PSN this month
Tighten those wrist straps, friends, and prepare to imagine your PlayStation Move controllers into Top Darts, a new PSN release scheduled to launch in time for Christmas. Developed by Devil's Details, the Move-only game features a host of (uh) top darts games, duh, including 501, Around the Clock and Cricket, with support for up to eight players. Top Darts also includes single-player League and Cup modes, plus simultaneous multiplayer modes, which do away with the traditional wait-your-darn-turn etiquette, while simultaneously making it safer to throw so many "darts" around your game room at once. Just ... again: Mind those wrist straps! %Gallery-108689%
Get early access to ilomilo on Xbox Live ... right now!
Adorable puzzle game ilomilo may already be out (for free, no less) on Windows Phone 7 devices, but did you know you can play it on your Xbox 360 as well, like, right now? A dutiful tipster pointed us to the developer's website, where a "super secret" access page gives out an Xbox Live code that redeems for the trial version of the game. As you probably already put together, downloading the trial version of ilomilo also means that -- if you're willing to shell out the 800 MS Points ($10) it costs -- you can totally buy the full game. More bizarre? The game doesn't have an official release date just yet. So, you can buy it right now and tell your friends you're on that new, new, new ish. That "hasn't even been given a release date" ish, you know? [Thanks blahman!]
DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue coming to PC, Mac this year
The virtuous thongs of DeathSpank's sequel will arrive on PC and Mac later this year, EA has announced. DeathSpank: Thongs of Virtue will launch on PC November 30, with a Mac release following on December 14 (the original DeathSpank will be released for Mac the same day as ToV -- that's a lot of spanking!). Like the console versions, Thongs of Virtue will cost $14.99. DeathSpank: ToV comes with two pieces of free DLC at launch: "Snowy Mountain Dungeon" and "Sidekick Tankko: Half-man, half-spider, and all awesome." If you absolutely can't wait for next Tuesday, a minigame on the DeathSpank website ("DeathSpank: Spank This!") offers you a chance to win free stuff. One grand prize winner will get "a squawkin' chicken, a signed DeathSpank poster, a free copy of DeathSpank, and an Intel Core i7-870." All prize winners, actually, will get that squawkin' chicken, which leads us to believe there's a very large squawkin' chicken population at Hothead. That must make it hard to concentrate on programming.
Fluidity trickles down to WiiWare on Dec. 6
Fluidity, a WiiWare game that might be described as a platformer starring a small amount of water, will be released on the Wii Shop on December 6 for 1,200 Points. First revealed at this year's PAX, Fluidity is a side-scrolling game in which players tilt the Wii Remote to move water through various obstacles, gaining the ability to freeze or boil the water when necessary. While a game like this may not really need a story (do you really need to motivate some water?) Nintendo revealed one in its announcement today: Fluidity is set within an encyclopedia called "Aquaticus," which is apparently under attack from the evil "Influence." Okay, it's not a lot of story. To learn more about how Fluidity works, you'll find a 'How to Play" trailer after the break.%Gallery-101332%
World of Goo iPad (WogPad) out 'as soon as we get approved by Apple'
2D Boy wants you to know that its sticky puzzle game, World of Goo, is almost available on the iPad. Furthermore, the developer says it's perfectly acceptable for you to start referring to your iPad as the "WogPad," per the forthcoming release, even though the game is still pending Apple's App Store approval process. For now, 2D Boy answered some burning questions from fans, explaining what's going on with iPhone/iPod Touch versions. "There's a lot of iGoo to pour in, and we don't want to release something if it doesn't run absolutely buttery smooth." They also detailed the iPad version's multiplayer, which "you can play two handed, with friends, an animal, anything up to eleven fleshy things touching the screen", and confirmed that, yes, you can totally wear a Goo Ball on your head while playing the forthcoming game. Oh, right, and 2D Boy also says that a sequel to World of Goo would be "something we would enjoy working on," but it would have to "feel like a perfect and appropriate continuation of the first game." Whether it would be made for the WogPad or not, we can't say.
PSA: Poker Night at the Inventory starts Nov. 22
If you even think you want to pick up Telltale's Poker Night at the Inventory, you might as well hedge your bets and pre-order it. The game is out Monday, November 22, at which point you will no longer be able to get the pre-order-exclusive poker visor for your Heavy in Team Fortress 2. Yes, it's a really small, minor thing, but getting a free thing is usually better than not getting a free thing. You can also save 10% off the $4.95 price if you pre-order from Steam before Monday. Of course, once you have the game, you have the opportunity to win several more wacky TF2 items, like Tycho Brahe's watch and a Sam & Max-inspired Freelance Police badge.%Gallery-107880%
RedLynx dates Trials HD 'Big Thrills' DLC for Dec. 1, gives away free Trials Legends PC bundle
Come December 1, RedLynx will unleash its latest Trials HD DLC, the "Big Thrills" pack, for 400 MS Points ($5). You'll find a trailer highlighting some of the ten user-created tracks selected for the DLC right after the break. Before Trials HD rocked Xbox Live Arcade, RedLynx was busy rocking the infotron with a series of smaller, free Java-based and paid games called Trials. Today, the Finland-based studio also announced it's making those classic Trials games from the early aughts available to all, free of charge, in one complete PC bundle. All you have to do is hit up RedLynx's Facebook page, give it a "like," then the Trials Legends download link will be revealed to you -- or, if you're too lazy to do all of that, just click this link. Trials Legends includes 33 different tracks ripped from the classic Trials games, six different rides to whip around in, 15 different attainable ranks, a track creator tool, and a brief overview of the history of the series. RedLynx also set up a dedicated forum space for Trials Legends, in case you want to share tracks with others or simply gab about how you narrowly missed that giant shark with the odd mohawk on level 26. Yeah, he got us a few times too.
Spelunker HD brings the fragile explorer to PSN November 23
We know of at least one weirdo who has been patiently waiting for the North American release of Spelunker HD -- because he's writing this post. Those of you who, like me, are looking forward to joining up with five friends and exploring ghost-filled caves as an adventurer who can't fall more than about five feet without dying, will be able to do so on November 23. That's when the long-awaited (again, by me) Spelunker HD arrives on PSN for $9.99. It features both new, updated HD graphics and a "retro mode" which displays the new game in authentic 8-bit style. Check out a trailer after the break -- a trailer that features surprisingly long stretches of death-free gameplay.
Rage: Mutant Bash TV 'should' hit App Store tomorrow
id Software head John Carmack has at least one very important trait in common with gangsta rap star (and gaming magnate) Ice-T: he's really fun to follow on Twitter. When he's not dropping enigmatic missives like, "Closed myself in a 1600 gallon tank for an hour. CO2 rose to 3430 ppm, humidity rose to 71%. No discomfort," he's giving his followers a taste of news before it hits anywhere else. "Rage mobile has been approved," he let his followers know this morning. "It should be on the App Store tomorrow morning!" Rather than directly port the forthcoming FPS, Rage: Mutant Bash TV is an on-rails shooter set in the world of Rage. No price has been set for the game, but id's most expensive iPhone game to date has been the $7 Doom: Resurrection -- another on-rails shooter.
Snail Games launching Ministry of War MMO on November 17
We sure do like Civilization, but a browser-based, war-centric MMO with very similar sounding mechanics? That's something we could really get into. Lucky for us, Snail Games just announced that its free-to-play MMORTS Ministry of War, currently in beta, will launch next Wednesday, November 17. Like Civ, MoW takes human history and drops it into an interactive playground. "Imperial Rome, Persia, Egypt, or China" are all at your disposal for world domination against other folks online, and beta users get a reward for participation with a "special in-game item pack." Snail Games promises that no more server wipes will take place after next Wednesday's launch, so now might be a good time to start plotting your path to hegemony.%Gallery-107315%
Create moving into stores on November 16
Taking to the US PlayStation blog, EA Bright Light producer Justin Manning revealed the imminent release date for his studio's next game release, Create: November 16 (aka: next Tuesday!). We've also confirmed that Xbox 360 and Nintendo Wii iterations of the game will arrive on the same day next week. Given the game's user created level sharing ability via PSN and PlayStation Move functionality, perhaps Create can fill the hole left in your heart by the LittleBigPlanet 2 delay? M ... maybe?
Who's That Flying into a new release date?!
Mediatonic's quirky PlayStation Minis shmup, Who's That Flying?!, was originally supposed to hit PSN in October. In response to a freezing glitch, the developer scrapped the October release plans, putting a question mark (and an exclamation point, why not) on the expected date. Now, having resolved the issue, Mediatonic has announced new dates for the shooter's PSN release: November 16 in North America and November 17 in Europe. So, just a week until we get to definitively answer the question in the game's title -- oh, wait, it's the "Guardian of Earth" (we knew that who that!). Well, we still have playing the game to look forward to.
PSN's Crescent Pale Mist is actually pretty vivid
Next week, Rockin' Android will grace PSN with another of its localized Japanese indie games. However, instead of a shmup, this time the publisher has chosen Crescent Pale Mist, a magical-themed action-platformer developed by Classic Shikoukairo. Rockin' Android has worked with Sony Online Entertainment to spruce up the graphical effects for this ridiculously overblown-looking action game. You can see the result for yourself after the break -- sorceress Yunou runs, jumps, and slashes at super-speed against swirling, explosive backdrops. There's really nothing "pale" about it! It'll be out Tuesday for $5.99.
