q4 2011
Latest
Nintendo planning November system update for 3DS, adding 3D video capture
If you're anything like us, you've been snapping 3D photos since day one on your Nintendo 3DS. We've got some pretty cramped up pointer fingers as a result, but that's all going to change come November. During Nintendo's pre-TGS 2011 press conference, company prez Satoru Iwata announced that the 3DS will get a system update this November that adds "3D video capture," among other things. What "other things," you ask? Nintendo isn't saying just yet, though the company's American Twitter account specifically notes the update will add "more content to StreetPass Mii Plaza." So, uh, hats? Hats!
You are the fishing pole in Rapala for Kinect
Activision Publishing's latest Rapala Fishing game doesn't come with any kind of fancy fishing rod controller. Instead, the Kinect title tasks players with pantomiming the actions of setting the fishing hook, casting, and reeling in fish. You'll also engage in boat races from spot to spot, miraculously not scaring all the fish away while doing so. The emphasis here is definitely not on realism: you can capture an image of your face to place on one of the game's "boss fish," Seaman-style, and you'll constantly be subjected to "hilariously entertaining jibber jabber" from your lures. Even so, it's still possible to extract a convincingly real (but, by design, not immersive) experience out of Rapala for Kinect when it comes out this November. Just say the magic words: "Game Boat."%Gallery-132989%
Guardian Heroes dated on XBLA -- for real this time
We've already reported a Guardian Heroes XBLA release date once, which turned out to have been an error on the part of Microsoft's Major Nelson. Sega announced a new October 12 release date for the updated Saturn brawler today, and we hope it sticks this time. Guardian Heroes will be available on XBLA for 800 Microsoft Points ($10). For those of you who got into Treasure games post-Saturn -- or, gasp, have yet to discover the rewards of the Treasure fanatic lifestyle -- you can get a glimpse of what you've been missing in the above trailer. And that trailer doesn't mention the 12-player online play.
Space Marine gets 'Exterminatus' co-op DLC in October, free for everyone
Warhammer 40K: Space Marine may be pushing its meaty shoulders into retail this coming week, but its co-op mode won't arrive until "early October" says THQ. The mode, with the Latin-derived name "Exterminatus," will be made free as a download to "all players" according to THQ's release. Exterminatus contains two separate "scenarios" in which four-player groups can maneuver their bulky trio of classes around, chainsawing through everything in their path. Global leaderboards are also included, posing "dynamic challenges" to players and supporting additional "score modifiers" (read: Skulls). Some confusion was raised over the game's co-op back in August when a GameStop advert pinned the co-op mode exclusively to GameStop pre-orders, but today's announcement clearly refutes that information.%Gallery-132494%
Radiant Silvergun comes to XBLA on September 14
We hope you didn't just buy a copy of Radiant Silvergun on eBay, because Treasure's XBLA shmup remake is coming to Xbox Live Arcade soon. On September 14, you'll be able to download Radiant Silvergun for 1200 Microsoft Points ($15) like it's no big deal. In addition to the classic vertically-scrolling shooter, the XBLA version includes online 2-player co-op, "Saturn" and "arcade" style game variants, multiple graphical modes, and an optional "Ikaruga" scoring system. And when you get that wrapped up, Guardian Heroes is coming sometime this fall. It's a great time to own the Saturn Xbox 360.
WWE All Stars enters the 3DS ring
WWE All Stars, THQ's arcade-style wrestling game, is leaping from the top rope onto another platform: the 3DS. There, the exaggerated wrestlers will get to be exaggerated into a third dimension. The 3DS game will come pre-packed with the 13 rasslers offered as DLC for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions, and two exclusive gameplay modes, Gauntlet and Score Scramble. Gauntlet is a survival mode in which players have to take on every wrestler in the game. Score Scramble challenges players "to either reach a specific point total or to finish a timed match with the highest point total." The 3DS version of All Stars arrives on November 22. Unfortunately, we don't expect a BrawlStick release for this one.
Kirby returns to Dream Land on Oct. 24, after a stop at PAX
Nintendo's announcement of its PAX offerings includes a surprise bit of news. Kirby Wii has officially had its name changed to Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and it's been given a release date of October 24. Hey, another Wii game to look forward to -- how about that! Nintendo will be showing off Kirby's latest Wii outing at PAX, along with Kirby: Mass Attack, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, Fortune Street, Dragon Quest Monsters Joker 2, Super Mario 3D Land, Mario Kart 7 and Kid Icarus: Uprising. Nintendo's PAX lounge sounds pretty amazing even without the games: the two-floor lounge in the North Galleria will offer giant Pokedex 3D cards, a Dragon Quest-themed "monster friend mash-up" photo booth, and a fully Kirby-themed area with Kirby beanbags and pink cotton candy.
Just Dance Kids 2 shakes it all about this October
This October, Ubisoft will release Hokey Pokey: The Game for Kinect, PlayStation Move and Wii. Well, officially it'll be called Just Dance Kids 2, but make no mistake: this is an interactive Hokey Pokey simulation, in which motion sensing technology will judge whether you've properly internalized what it's all about. To pad out the high-tech Hokey Pokey, Ubisoft also including Kidz Bop-style covers of pop hits like "Love Me," "Whip My Hair," "Just The Way You Are," TV and movie songs, and other children's standards. The announcement makes a point to mention the inclusion of "the YouTube hit song, 'I Am A Gummy Bear (The Gummy Bear Song).'" We'd never heard of it, but now we have, and we're sorry to be the ones to do this to you. And on the subject of inflicting things on you, how about that Comic Sans UI? How about those South Park fruit icons?%Gallery-131333%
PS3 Wireless Stereo Headset heads to retail September 6
Sony's chunky, weirdly attractive new wireless stereo headset for PS3 will arrive in North America on September 6, Sony announced today. The device was previously given a September release window. In addition to just being bigger than most headsets we've seen, the $100 wireless (with a USB dongle) headset offers virtual 7.1-channel sound, a retractable mic, and on-screen headset status messages when used with a PS3. You don't really need to see a video to understand how a headset works, but we have one anyway. As a nice bonus, you can see a bit of Uncharted 3 footage!
Music to our ears: Rayman Origins coming this November
!-- This new trailer for Rayman Origins treats us to a release window for the lovingly animated 2D platformer: November 2011. It also treats us to a sweetly serene moment of diegetic music ... followed immediately by a scene of what appears to be Rayman assaulting an angry neighbor with her own husband's head. The included Ubi fact sheet doesn't specify which platforms will see their version of Rayman in November; Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, and 3DS seem like safe assumptions ... but probably not PlayStation Vita, since that system won't even be out in North America or Europe by then.%Gallery-130912%%Gallery-130911%%Gallery-130910%.
The Last Story, Pandora's Tower due in Europe in 2012, more Euro releases dated
The Wii does have a lifespan beyond 2011 -- in Europe. Nintendo of Europe sent out a list (PDF) of upcoming titles today, including the two other games for which Operation Rainfall is campaigning: Mistwalker's The Last Story and Ganbarion's Pandora's Tower. Both are slated for 2012 in Europe now, and have yet to be announced in North America. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will be released in Europe November 18 while Kirby's Adventure Wii is coming in December. The release list also provides November and December windows for Super Mario 3D Land and Mario Kart 7 on 3DS, respectively. Super Pokemon Rumble will also be released in Europe this December. On DS, DQ Monsters Joker 2 is coming October 7, Kirby Mass Attack is due October 28, and Professor Layton will answer The Spectre's Call in November. Cave Story will finally come to DSiWare in Europe in Q4. A few standout downloads listed: in Q4, the 3DS Virtual Console will see releases of Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Metroid II, and the Game Boy Bionic Commando game. Nintendo previously blocked the NES version from Virtual Console.
The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword out in North America on Nov. 20
Nintendo's latest Zelda adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword for Wii, will fly to North American shelves on a giant bird November 20th. That date falls within the "Holiday" timeframe announced at E3, making this the rare occasion that a Zelda game hasn't been delayed recently. Nintendo's announcement did not mention whether the game would be packaged with a Wii Remote Plus. MotionPlus-only games typically ship either with the MotionPlus attachment or the Wii Remote Plus, which has the extra motion sensor built in. The Wii Remote Plus has been in all hardware bundles since November.
Bosses clash in Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes DLC
Prepare to begin lining up soldiers and mythical creatures once again. Ubisoft and Capy are preparing a downloadable expansion to the PS3, Xbox 360, and PC releases of Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, called "I Am the Boss." In I Am the Boss, you are ... one of four boss characters, Azexes, Count Carlyle, Ludmilla or Azh-Rafir, now playable in Quick Battle and Multiplayer. Ubisoft didn't mention a release date for this expansion -- but it did provide Eurogamer with a release date for the PC version of the main game: September 22. We'd heard it was coming sometime before the end of September, previously. If you order the PC game from the Ubishop (currently in Europe only), you'll get the DLC for free.
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures launching on Nov. 15 (watch out, Halo!)
Kinect: Disneyland Adventures promises to bring Walt's whimsical park right into your living room, a quiet place devoid of souvenir shops, crowds and eternally smiling helmets. Disney says the embellished recreation of the park, constructed by Frontier Developments, will be available on November 15. (That'll be almost seven months after you last visited the real Disneyland -- you remember it because an errant, underarm fat-swing knocked the ice cream cone out of your hand.) When you're not safely navigating the park with Kinect, you become a participant in several minigames that re-imagine famous Disney attractions. In the Pirates of the Caribbean ride, for example, your boat careens through caves while you deflect bombs with an on-screen oar. Another secret, unlockable minigame has you jumping and swinging your arms wildly as Walt Disney, moments after he's woken up and shown 10 minutes of Chicken Little.%Gallery-126304%
Max & the Magic Marker DS version penciled in for this holiday
Max & the Magic Marker, Press Play's indie platformer in which players control both a young boy and a free-floating marker that can draw platforms and objects, is headed to the DS after releases on WiiWare, PC, Mac, iPhone, iPad, and Windows Phone 7. Basically, if it's a game platform with some kind of pointing device, this game will eventually end up there. The DS version will be released as a retail cartridge in North America "Holiday 2011". The port is being published by Easy Interactive, who also re-released the WiiWare game as a Wii disc in Europe.
Modern Warfare 3: Defiance heading to DS from mobile CoD vets, n-Space
The scrappy contractors at indie dev N-Space are once again creating the Nintendo DS version of the latest Call of Duty, this time titled Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3: Defiance. The DS game -- which we will never again refer to by its full, double-coloned name -- was discussed by Activision Social Media Manager Dan Amrich on his One of Swords site. This marks the fifth CoD-branded project being completed by the stuidio for Activision. Meanwhile, IGN discovered the "Defiance" subtitle, and spotted an especially interesting note on N-Space's Facebook page that offered a bit of explanation as to why Defiance isn't being made for Nintendo's newest handheld. "You guys all need to understand that we make the games we are hired to make," a company representative said. "It is not our call to decide which platforms to support. Obviously we are big 3DS fans and supporters as we have three titles in development." Defiance will likely arrive around the same time as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, on November 8.
Minecraft's 'MineCon' convention set for November 18 - 19 in Vegas
Rather than setting its convention in the icy grip of its home country's chilly November, Sweden-based Minecraft studio Mojang Specifications is holding what it dubs "MineCon" in Las Vegas. "For me, MineCon is about celebrating the full release of Minecraft," Mojang head Markus "Notch" Persson told PC Gamer this week. Apparently the delayed title will see its full launch in grand style, with Notch "getting up on stage and pushing the button to upload the final build." When he first spitballed the idea back in May, voters overwhelmingly responded, "No, definitely not" when asked whether they'd attend such an event. That said, the minority's 42,000 votes were assuredly enough to convince him of demand for such an event. Speaking of, Las Vegas' Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino will host MineCon on November 18 and 19, and the ticket registration site is set to go live next week -- apparently Notch will announce as much on his Twitter account, so keep an eye out. That is, if you can tear yourself away from building that to-scale replica of Hogwarts. Update: This year marks the second MineCon.
Cabela's Hunt: Shadows of Katmai is still a hunting game, even if it sounds like an RPG
Survival: Shadows of Katmai. Just give that title, discovered in web registrations back in June, a second to conjure up an image. Let it open your mind to the possibility. Take a trip through your imagination and settle your thoughts. Now, add "Cabela's" to the front of the game's title. Snapped that image like a finger with frostbite! Yes, the game with the very RPG-like name is just the latest Cabela's hunting game. Set in the area around Alaska's Mount Katmai, players take the role of Logan James (because "Jager Gunnerson McWhitey" was already trademarked) who survives a plane crash and now must survive rampaging caribou and varmints of unusual sizes. The game will be available November 1, 2011, for all the major consoles. Also, why is Logan being hunted by the Gmork? See, there we go again, imagining a game out of nothing.
Rising Star picks up KOF XIII, Dodonpachi Resurrection for PAL territories
Those of you in Europe hoping to pick up King of Fighters XIII won't have to make the awkward decision of which region to import it from. You'll get your very own release of SNK's latest HD fighter this October on either Xbox 360 or PS3, thanks to Rising Star Games. Rising Star Games is also bringing something to Europe that, to date, hasn't been announced in North America: the Xbox 360 port of Cave's shmup Dodonpachi Resurrection. That'll be out in November. Find the rest of Rising Star's slate of upcoming games after the break.%Gallery-129437%
Child of Eden purifying Japan this October on 360, PS3
Japan's deluge of rogue digital viruses is about to come an end: Ubisoft has announced that Child of Eden will arrive on Japanese shelves October 6. According to the official Japanese site, both the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game will be available for ¥6,279 ($80). Child of Eden has fared (very) poorly in North America thus far. It will be interesting to see how this title does in its home country.
