2011年11月30日星期三
New Black Wii Bundle Features A New Model
New Super Mario Bros. WiiNews (25)Previews (2)ReviewVideos (31)Screenshots (14)Cheats and Walkthroughs (25) Super Mario GalaxyNews (9)PreviewsReviewVideos (25)ScreenshotsCheats and Walkthroughs (17) Nintendo is releasing a new Wii bundle featuring the sexy looking black Wii, but this bundle has more than just a pretty face to it. Not only are NewSuper Mario Brothers Wii and the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack included, but the actual console in the bundle is a new model that is designed for horizontal use. Instead of standing your Wii upright, you'll be able to rest it on its side with easy access to the ports and buttons. Sweet, right?The new BlackWii Bundle will hit stores on October 23 for $149.99.Wait, who still needs to buy a Wii?
Deus Ex clothing line is awesome but pric
If you've seen Deus Ex: Human Revolution you'll be well aware that main character Adam Jensen is one cool cat. Now, thanks to Square Enix and Musterbrand, we can kit ourselves out head to toe in Deus Ex: Human Revolution inspired clothing to try and be as cool as him.Obviously the item everyone will probably have their eyes on is Adam's rather stylish trenchcoat, which has a "detachable vest inside, customised printed lining, cyber-renaissance inspired shoulder/sleeve design, decorative dull black eyelets, twi front pockets and one inner chest pocket". Here's the kicker though - it'll cost you €189. Also available is a long-sleeve shirt with jell print on the chest, pigment print on the sleeve and embossed print on the neck for €29, five-pocket denim jeans for £69 and a bandana with Deus Ex-customised pattern design for €19.99.There are three t-shirts too, each with a different Deus Ex themed design for €24 a pop. If you're interested, you can pre-order items through the link below. We like the look of that bandana, but the coat is probably a bit too expensive...Deus Ex: Human Revolution hits the UK later this week. Check out our review round-up to see if it's worth your time (spoiler: it is) and have a look at the Xbox 360 vs. PS3 comparison video to see which version takes your fancy. Tamoor Hussain
Sony's Free Games Offer Closes Down [Upda
All good things must come to an end, and after thirty days of offering PlayStation Network users free games and free access to PlayStation Plus, Sony has shut down its "Welcome Back" program.Brought in to appease PS3 users who were unable to play online games for over a month after hackers brought down the PlayStation Network, the "Welcome Back" promotion let people download games like LittleBigPlanet, inFamous and WipeOut HD, as well as having thirty days access to the normally paid PlayStation Plus subscriber service.Since the thirty days PS Plus access counted from when you signed up, if you're already in, you're in until your thirty days are up. If you hadn't yet signed up, though, sorry, you missed out. Likewise, if you hadn't downloaded your two free games, time's up.Note: Jeff Rubenstein is Social Media Manager for Sony Computer Entertainment America.UPDATE - Good news everyone! The offer has been extended to 9am Tuesday morning Pacific Time. So it's NOT CLOSED DOWN. Not yet, anyway.[Twitter]
2011年11月29日星期二
FIFA 12 Kaka video interview
EA's launched a new FIFA 12 video interview with Kaka.We'd have preferred some fresh gameplay. Instead we get to find out what his favourite goal is, how he relaxes and more.He also says he's honoured to be on the cover of the game (we're not sure in which country). EA unveiled the UK box art for FIFA 12, featuring Man Utd's Wayne Rooney and Arsenal's Jack Wilshere, late last month. Tom Ivan
Fighting Words Wednesday Night Fights Par
Super Street Fighter IVNews (39)Previews (12)ReviewVideos (57)Screenshots (128)Cheats and Walkthroughs (106)Super Street Fighter IVNews (42)Previews (12)ReviewVideos (57)Screenshots (128)Cheats and Walkthroughs (109) This time on Fighting Words, we join Ernie Moreno with Level Up's own Alex Valle and Andy Huynh, a.k.a. AndyOCR, in a game of Super Street Fighter 4. We've been down at Level Up's Wednesday Night Fights before and the place is busting with some of the best street fighters around. If you haven't check it out, WNF is every Wednesday night at Super Arcade and features some great competition. Now let's check in and see who wins between Alex Valle and Andy Huynh in this all out brawl withSuper Street Fighter 4. Check out Part 1 of Fighting Word's Wednesday Night Fight special too. Fighting Words Episode 8: Wednesday Night Fights Part 2 »
EA on $1 billion lawsuit 'meteor hit wou
A California District Court judge has denied EA's motion to dismiss a potentially costly class action lawsuit over player likenesses. The case in question was brought against the publisher and sports association NCAA two years ago by former Nebraska and Arizona State quarterback Sam Keller and ex-UCLA basketball player Ed O'Bannon, who allege EA unlawfully used athletes' likenesses in its games without their consent.According to USA today, based on the potential number of athletes that could be attached to the lawsuit, were EA to lose it would be hit with $334.5 million in damages. However, the Indiana publicity rights statute says the award could be trebled if EA's violation was "knowing, wilful or intentional".EA's not stressing about the case though, with spokesperson Jeff Brown offering the following statement: "We could lose billions more if a giant meteor hits the earth. We're not planning for either outcome."Last year, approximately 6,000 retired NFL players brought a lawsuit against EA over the "unlawful" use of their likenesses in Madden NFL 09's historic teams. Tom Ivan
New Ninja Gaiden 3 shots battle cloaked g
We've got a bunch of new screenshots of Ninja Gaiden 3. These have come fresh from the latest update to the official Japanese website. You may recognise a couple of them from previous media releases. Rather than whip them out we'll just give you the lot. Team Ninja head Yosuke Hayashi has said recently that the developer will look at the prospect of doing a Ninja Gaiden game on Vita after work on NG3 is complete. Mike Jackson
Carmack Games help 'reduce aggression'
id man and Doom mastermind John Carmack believe videogames can actually help reduce aggression rather than cause it. "People just play games now and I never took seriously the violence in video games debate," he said in an interesting chat with Industry Gamers. He went on to recall an E3 where reporters would bombard him with questions over the violence in games debate. "In the end it didn't matter, it didn't make any impact on things. I never felt threatened by it and it turned out not to matter," he said. "And I really think, if anything, there is more evidence to show that the violent games reduce aggression and violence," added Carmack. "There have actually been some studies about that, that it's cathartic. If you go to QuakeCon and you walk by and you see the people there [and compare that to] a random cross section of a college campus, you're probably going to find a more peaceful crowd of people at the gaming convention. I think it's at worst neutral and potentially positive."The Call of Duty series has recently once again come under fire after Oslo mass-murderer Anders Behring Breivik called Modern Warfare 2 a "training simulator" for his distressing actions. But according to clinical psychologist Christopher Ferguson - an expert on video game violence and mass killings at Texas A&M International University - those who seek to make the connection between games and violent acts aren't just wrong. They might well be racist. Why? Read his explanation here.
2011年11月28日星期一
Dragon Nest The Start of a Revolution
By Thomas vonWolffradt (SomePlatypus), OnRPG Tech WizardCo-Written by Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-in-ChiefNow it's rare that I go out of my way to spend 30 hours in a game to write up a game review. Normally these time intensive projects are given out to one of OnRPG's writing staff to do over the course of a month. However, in Dragon Nest I see the potential of a new way to play MMOs that prior to it has never been fully perfected. Dragon Nest represents the beginning of a new horizon in MMO gaming in which MMORPG fans and action console players can unite under one banner of gaming greatness. And since many of its brethren in the action revolution are still quite some development time away from release, Dragon Nest gives us an opportunity to experience the future of MMO gaming today!Dragon Nest takes place in a world that has been ravaged by war many years ago and has just recently reestablished peace. Although everything seems calm on the surface, a hidden war rages in the shadows between the Dragons and their Cultists and a small group of freedom fighters known as the Adventurer's Guild. Though the Adventurer's Guild is nearly powerless against the Dragon Cultists, an ancient elf with a bad attitude named Argenta stands alone as the only warrior with the power to prevent their aims. That is, until you enter the fray! Now you must enter an uneasy alliance with Argenta to save a descendant of the ancients from the clutches of the Dragons.There are currently four starting classes you can choose from. In terms of PvE prowess, they are all virtually equal and yet specialized enough to make each unique and fun to try. At level 15 you are able to take a test to unlock your second class upgrade and further specialize yourself into one of 8 total classes.Sorceress: These AoE masters bring immense pain to the battlefield but require meticulous timing and aim to do so effectively. Some of their long channeling times with long cooldowns make it important that they have protection so as not to waste their potential. At level 15 they may become Elementalists or Mystics. Elementalists specialize in harmful status effects like slow and wield unimaginable destructive AoE power. Mystics can follow the path of light or darkness, gaining insane armor piercing damage and gravity controlling AoE spells that can decimate an entire battlefield in one spell.Cleric: This isn't your dad's cleric. Clerics in Dragon Nest have a nasty bite in addition to their support magic. They fight on the front line with weapons like maces, dealing holy light magic that stuns their hapless foes into submission. Those who go the path of the Paladin will become nearly invincible tanks that sacrifice some of their support status in exchange for rendering enemies useless in battle. Priests on the other hand take support spells to an entirely new level, making their allies invulnerable and bringing massive AoE holy magic down around the battlefield.Archer: Archers are medium to long range dps that are effective at sweeping the enemy off their feet. While also specializing in AoE damage, theirs tends to be higher damage than mages but with a smaller range of effect. At level 15 they can follow the path of a Sharpshooter or Acrobat. Sharpshooters gain immense mobility, range, and are one of the most active classes in the game for attacking an enemy while in mid-air. Acrobats abandon their range safety and instead become a localized whirlwind of damage, knock ups, and knock backs.Warrior: What warriors lack in damage, they make up for with impressive comboing abilities. They can run, dodge, roll, and slam to keep on top of an opponent until they die. Though restricted to only melee weapons, said melee weapons have such large hit areas that you practically can't miss. Mercenaries are the most heavily armored character in the game, specializing in one-on-one confrontations in which they simply outlast any opponent blow for blow. Those seeking more active combat can follow the path of the Swordsman, engaging in long damaging combo attacks that are nearly impossible to break free from. At higher levels, Swordsmen can also learn wide sweeping AoE skills to give them range damage as well.The world of Dragon Nest is broken down in a similar fashion to another action game published by Nexon called Vindictus. In hub towns you learn about the story, adjust and enhance gear, pick up quests, and learn skills. Then you set out, alone or in groups of up to 4, into the instanced outer world in which you can pick up further quests, break down gear into crafting material, and select instanced dungeons and difficulty settings.The dungeons themselves start out simple and then grow progressively more challenging. Simple run and stab goblins eventually lead to sword and board goblins that will actively blow against attacks. Slow casting lightning mages eventually become fast teleporting massive AoE casting ice mages that can really ruin your day should you fail to dodge a single spell combo. And then in the expansion, Saint's Haven, you will face fire mages that bring a whole new meaning to the term DoT.So what makes this all so revolutionary? It's 100% based on your reaction speed, knowledge of your character's skills, and aiming every attack FPS style. Every class is provided enough utility to get through just about any situation thrown at them, assuming you know your class well enough to do so. Acrobats with fast reactions can jump and roll through a barrage of spells to disable the caster. Mystics can hold off legions of goblins with a few well placed gravity wells. Mercenaries can stand toe to toe with heavily armored ogres and break their defenses with a few well placed rolls and axe slams. Or you can get your face smashed in after a 5 second duration of enemy combos that leave you sitting in the corner frantically drinking potions.Where this system of combat really shines in the boss battles. Some of the best designed bosses can usually fly or teleport, have unique defensive abilities, and are able to smash your attempt to combo them apart with strong AoE skills. A gargoyle you face early on will zoom around the map, constantly summoning goblin minions to delay you. After shooting blasts of homing energy orbs he can land and turn into stone, increasing his defense infinitely and rapidly regaining hp until you stun him out of the stance. A later boss hovers over the arena out of reach and sprays the battlefield with poisonous stingers. Just as you think you've dodged them all he slams down on top of you dealing massive damage, forcing you to divide your attention between dodging darts and timing a jump to get out of the combo alive. I can honestly say I have never had so much fun fighting bosses in an MMO, and even in console games bosses were rarely as exciting as this.A downside to Dragon Nest that I have seen all too often on the forums is people who claim 'I got bored and quit at level 2x.' Even with a game as fun as this, inevitable boredom will always set in for some people. Oh wait that never happened to me because I played with my friend DizzyPW every time. If you aren't playing Dragon Nest with a friend, you are depriving yourself greatly of the true experience Dragon Nest has to offer.By teaming up with friends, not only do you have someone to share the experience with, you can take on the harder challenges in Dragon Nest much earlier. There is just an insane thrill taking on Abyss mode dungeons with your friend when you are level 19 and 18 and the recommended difficulty is four level 21s. Teamwork is put to the test as you constantly rescue each other from hordes of enemies, and set up ultimate team combo attacks to devastate a legion of monsters with a 500 hit combo. Our best example was our Mystic Acrobat team. DizzyPW would roll-jump into a group of 40 monsters and hit Marionette to shoot out a string of arrows that pulls enemies towards him. I would then cover the ground with poison and begin opening up a massive gravity well above DizzyPW as he danced around the legion of mobs.Once the gravity well opened I would blow all my cooldowns launching every magic spell in my possession as the enemy's were pulled into a central point. DizzyPW would blast then with a fan shaped archer skill and then proceed to bounce on top of the heads of enemies, culminating in the extremely powerful Acrobat skill 'Eagle Dive' in which he flies to earth at maximum speed dealing huge damage figures to all in the area upon landing. Seeing the ground covered with a legion of loot where a legion of zombies formerly stumbled is intensely satisfying.Besides the intangible satisfaction from zombie hunting with a friend, there are also many benefits offered for teaming up. The most particularly important is the PWR system. PWR is a system that allows casual players to not fall as far behind hardcore players by giving you experience bonuses for the first few dungeons you run in a day. If you team up with friends and run multiple dungeons successfully in a row, the game gives you discounts on how much PWR is spent on each dungeon run to keep you going at this bonus level longer. Also players running Abyss mode will only have to spend one key to unlock the bunny chest at the end, providing very useful goodies such as NPC gifts.This game goes beyond the call of duty to give players tons of things to keep them occupied. Every dungeon has a dozen or more achievements to be obtained, some giving titles with special stat bonuses. In addition billboards reside outside every dungeon to give players additional challenges (and rewards) for performing certain actions like collecting skulls from graves. An addicting side quest exists in which you can make friends with NPCs and improve relations by running quests or giving gifts to them. Eventually the NPCs will start to give you gifts back to help with your equipment strengthening. Also by befriending NPCs you gain faction points with one of three groups that can later be traded for all kinds of goodies in Saint's Haven. Various recipes exist for mixing lesser gifts you obtain to make greater gifts as well, and it really adds some flavor to the side quest when you have an item that two NPCs both love and you have to decide who to befriend and who to ignore.A circus also exists in which you and your friends can take part in crazy mini-game events to earn tickets. Some notably fun ones include a treasure hunt in which you and your friends are locked in separate rooms and must battle until united in the main room to face a super boss. Another epic circus event is the Goblarta Goblins in which Xerxes orders you to destroy the 300 Goblarta goblins in an arena style death match! DizzyPW is working on bringing a video of this epic event to OnRPG in the near future.Most MMOs would consider this enough for a launch title. Dragon Nest pushes the envelope further. You can take part in the arena to face other players in PvP battles or the Temple of Darkness where you team up with 3 friends to face an endless gauntlet of increasingly strong monsters, with prizes waiting for the heartiest of adventurers.I wouldn't be able to talk about Dragon Nest without mentioning the arena, considering this game won E3 2011's best PvP award. Personally I have some gripes to say about the arena.At E3 things were fantastic because it was essentially a LAN party, and when everyone shares the same ping the PvP in Dragon Nest is tough to beat. Each class is really well balanced at most levels, and artificially increased defense and HP helps prevent people who cash shopped to power or hardcore power levelers from dominating the game too heavily. Team PvP is especially fun because, as explained earlier with the Mystic Acrobat super combo, you can really perform some impressive combos on your hapless foes. Also in team PvP certain classes like the Mystic and Priest become much more viable as they require teammates to effectively unleash some of their greater attacks.Now enter the officially sanctioned ladder matches, that are fought only on a one-on-one basis. In this situation the paladin and swordsman classes hands down destroy almost any opponent with their superior combo abilities, endless knockdowns, and overpowered stuns. This only gets worse when you introduce ping issues and classes like Mystics and Acrobats with hard to land attacks are aiming at a shadow of where an enemy actually is. The swordsman and mercenaries especially have such large hit targets with their melee swings and fast movement speed that you will often begin to fly through the air from the opening of a combo attack long before the actual melee fighter is visually within range to harm you. Not to mention you better bring some heavy hitting skills if you even think you are going to stun these opponents as they charge haphazardly through a barrage of fire with little care for the tiny amounts of damage it inflicts.As such I recommend players stick with the team battles. As long as you have a teammate to interrupt, endless combo attacks aren't possible. With more targets on the battlefield, you will also have an easier time of landing attacks, and the fun factor increases for support classes as well. Best of all is you still earn medals from non-ladder matches that are used to upgrade weapons with special enhancements!Dragon Nest has so many nuances going for it that it's impossible to sum all its parts up in a single review. I will just mention that the crafting system is quite in-depth and will ensure players spend hours in every part of the game to build the greatest weapons and armor possible. Even after 30 hours in the game I'm still discovering new features like this and at level 25 there is plenty more to be seen in this game.Graphics are simple enough and customizable enough that almost anyone should be able to experience the joys of this game. The cutscenes, side quests, and main quests are also some of the best written in MMO history and should keep all but the most hardcore power levelers delayed a bit to read through them. The cash shop doesn't present too much of a power gap to players though I would recommend picking up some inventory and bank expansion slots before anything else or you will go mad trying to manage all the nick knacks you pick up in this game. If you are one of the few that haven't experienced Dragon Nest yet, then grab a friend (or three), divvy up the class selection, and get to cracking some Dragon Cultist skulls!Graphics – 3 (Watered down character models are balanced by impressive spell effects) Controls – 5 (For a front runner in the action MMO genre, Dragon Nest controls flawlessly) Features – 5 (I never felt wanting for more things to do in this game) Customization – 4 (While graphical customization is minimal, skill trees and armor crafting balance things nicely) Community – 4 (While I didn't talk with the community much, there always seemed to be things going on around me)
BioShock Infinite video Voice acting sn
If the new screenshots that came out Gamescom last month got you pumped up for BioShock: Infinite, you might want to check out this little snippet of gameplay showing some nifty voice acting. It shows how the emotional performance of the game's voice actor for Elizabeth converts to the game, and offers an insight into the close relationship the player will have with a clearly deeply traumatised Elizabeth. If you haven't already, check out the intriguing Ken Levine video Q&A that arrived at the beginning of the month. The Irrational boss discusses Move controls for BioShock Infinite, its plot, the PlayStation Vita and how he's toying with expectations.There's also plenty of gameplay footage over here. Mike Jackson
Wii U price, release date to be announced
Nintendo won't announce the price and release date for Wii U until 2012, president Satoru Iwata has confirmed. Speaking to investors following the company's disappointing first quarter financial results, the executive said: "Since the Wii U we showed you at the E3 show in June was still in the development phase without very specific proposals on the software titles, we are going to announce the release date and the price next year when we are able to explain the specific proposals."All we know for certain at this point is that Wii U is planned for release next year after March 31.Iwata also admitted Nintendo is concerned about the possibility that the drastic 3DS price cut barely six months into the system's lifecycle could make potential early Wii U adopters hold out in the hopes of something similar."With regard to the influence on the Wii U, what we have to take most seriously is that the price markdown could damage the trust of the consumers who bought the Nintendo 3DS just after the launch," he said. "I feel greatly accountable for it. Our decision of the price markdown this time has a side effect that, at the launch of the Wii U, people may feel that the price might drop in the near future if they wait. What we will be able to do to recover the consumers' trust before the launch of the Wii U is very important to us." Tom Ivan
2011年11月27日星期日
Burnout Crash Video Features David Hassel
When B-list actors like David Hasselhoff appear in a video game trailer, I feel a sacred obligation to present them to you. The trailer in question is the new video forBurnout Crash! and features ex-Baywatch head lifeguard Hasselhoff wearing a chicken suit and playing Burnout Crash! on a Kinect. You don't see that everyday...unless you do the wrong drugs. Burnout Crash! "Chicken David Hasselhoff" Kinect Trailer »
Vote in Golden Joysticks 2011, win an Ali
Fancy winning a dream gaming PC? Of course you do. And you could, if you vote in this year's Golden Joysticks - all courtesy of hardware demon Alienware. To celebrate Alienware becoming the headline sponsor of the event, the firm's giving one lucky reader and four runners-up the chance to win a M14x Alienware Laptop.All you have to do to be in contention is vote in all 14 categories on the GamesMaster Golden Joysticks website.One lucky winner will be bestowed with GamesMaster's 'Ultimate Gaming Prize', which includes an M14x Alienware Laptop, a bunch of games consoles (including PS Vita and Nintendo 3DS), Golden Joystick-nominated games and some very cool peripherals. But that's not all - four runners up might not get the ULTIMATE prize, but they will earn the very nifty Alienware laptop and a bunch of games all the same.The competition is open to UK and US residents. More terms and conditions of entry through here.Best of luck, friends. CVG Staff
Diablo 3 Auction House Good or Evil - S
The internet has spent a lot of time talking about the Diablo 3 auction house already, and of course G4 is no different. On this week's Soapbox, Adam Sessler will weigh in on what he thinks real money transactions in-game could mean for the industry as a whole and what the future might bring if this turns out to be a success. Will you hand over your hard-earned cash for some epic loot?Or will you do it the old fashioned way and grind your way to greatness? Sessler's Soapbox: Diablo 3's Auction House » Subscribe to G4's WEB SHOWS Video Podcast: