Posts Tagged “PS3”
Warner Brothers Announces Guardians of Middle-earth For Xbox 360, PS3
Warner Bros. recently announced via press release Guardians of Middle-earth, a Lord of the Rings MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena). It is being developed by Monolith for PS3 and Xbox 360, and is being released exclusively for download. Read On »
Dark Souls: As It Once Was, So Shall It Be
They’re not ready for this…or are they?
As someone whose gaming career began in the days of the 2600, I have borne witness to a shift in the arc of game design. Now, most everyone will agree games are ultimately about entertainment. What changed was the root of that entertainment. Games now tend towards providing a bit of escapism for the player without them having to put much effort in. Think of it as an interactive movie where the obstacle, be it a giant monster or arcane puzzle, is merely a plot device moving you on to the next scene. Those who wish for a greater challenge have the option to increase the difficulty, but rare now is the game where the difficulty simply “Is”. Dark Souls, like its spiritual predecessor Demons Souls, is such a game.
Damn kids, in my day this was considered a mid-boss.
Some of you already get it, others of you require a frame of reference (due to my advanced age, no doubt) to really understand what this means. The entertainment value in many games of the 8 and 16 bit eras was drawn from the challenge they posed. Battletoads, Ninja Gaiden, Zillion, TMNT, Ghouls and Ghosts, Shinobi, and R-Type come to mind. Read On »
Happy Birthday Sonic the Hedgehog!
Today, we celebrate one of the most iconic video game characters in the history of the industry. Nemesis to Nintendo’s Mario, this character launched the first console that would rival the Atari crushing juggernaut. 15 million copies of his first game were sold to catapult SEGA’s console market share to a staggering 65% when it was bundled with the Genesis, outselling the Super Nintendo by a staggering 2 to 1.
Sonic the Hedgehog would go on to spawn dozens of sequels and spin-offs to sell over 80 million units worldwide. Ten years after his creation he would arrive on his first foreign console, Nintendo’s GameCube having outlived SEGA’s ill-fated hardware line. Ever since, Sonic the Hedgehog has appeared on every major console since 2001, and today he turns 20 years old.
Here are some of Sonic the Hedgehog’s milestones over the years:
June 23, 1991 – Sonic the Hedgehog is released for the Sega Genesis (known in Japan as the Mega Drive)
November 21, 1992 – Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is released for the Sega Genesis in Japan. Introduces Tails as a playable character. Features cooperative and competitive multiplayer modes.
June 1993 – The Sonic the Hedgehog comic series’ first issue is released by Archie Comics. It is currently at issue #225.
September 6, 1993 – The Adventures of Sonic the Hedgehog animated series is launched on ABC. Jaleel White (Urkel) voices Sonic. The show runs for one season (65 episodes).
November 1993 – Becomes the first video game character to have a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.
June 19, 2001 – Sonic Adventure 2 releases in Japan. Introduces Shadow the Hedgehog to the franchise.
December 10, 2001 – Sonic Adventure 2 releases for the GameCube.
November 2007 – Appeared on the same video game cover as Mario for the first time (Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games)
January 31, 2008 – First appearance on Super Smash Bros. Brawl.
To celebrate, SEGA is releasing Sonic Generations on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo 3DS on November 22, 2011. Generations will feature a collection of levels derived from some of the classic favorites across games of the past. Sonic will be playable in both his modern look, as well as his 90’s counterpart as a mysterious enemy has created time holes which pull Sonic and friends back into the past. Help both Sonics as they work together to find out who the evil mastermind is and save their friends.
So while we’re all waiting for his new adventure, let’s all bake a cake and wish a very happy birthday to Sonic. Here’s to another 20 years!
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Console News For Monday, December 20
Only a week left until Christmas. Have you gotten your shopping done? Dragon Quest VI: Realms of Revelation Coming To A DS Near You Dragon Quest fans rejoice! The 1995 continuation of the Dragon Quest series is finally coming to the States on the Nintendo DS handheld console. Originally released on the Super Famicom (Japanese Version of the SNES), DQVI was never brought over to the US for commercial release. No release date yet however,… Read On »
A Parent’s Guide To Video Games For Your Kids
This story never gets old. A few weeks ago, I was at BestBuy picking up some goodies for my wife. While I was in line, a mother walks up with her son that had to be no more than eight or ten years old, and clutched in his hot little hands was a copy of Call Of Duty: Black Ops. I’ve seen this more than once this holiday season mind you. But for some reason,… Read On »
Kinect’ing For The Holidays
Well, it’s officially winter in Southeastern Michigan. The flurries are coming down. My car is grumbling on the slick roads since I’ve effectively doubled it’s horsepower. No fast driving for me for the next three months. What to do…
In previous years, this has usually been the season where I stay indoors as much as possible, crawl under a blanket, and gain an extra 15-20 pounds from all of the holiday turkey and ham and fixins’. Of course there’s also the holiday shopping, which I try to get done as early as possible to stay away from the hordes of last minute shoppers.
But this year is a little different. Since I received my Kinect sensor, there’s been quite a bit less time on the couch, and much more moving around. Unfortunately, I’m on a spending freeze for personal goodies since it is the holiday after all, and being married means that I have to leave something for my spouse to purchase for that wonderful day, December 25th.
So right now all I can do is dream. And what am I looking forward to?
Video Games
Dance Central – Yes. I’m looking forward to playing this one. Behind closed doors and with the windows shut, of course. But this looks to be a very fun game.
Kinect Sports – This is an exceptionally fun game. I could see myself spending many hours playing Table Tennis, Soccer, Boxing, And Volleyball.
Assassin’s Creed II – Yeah, I know. It’s been out for a while. But with a pile of other games topping my list this last year, I just haven’t had time to sit down with it. But now it’s on the top of the stack. And as soon as I get done playing Mass Effect 2 for the billionth time (this time with all the DLC), I’ll be popping that in the tray.
Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood – As soon as I get done with ACII, this’ll be next on my pile.
Halo: Reach – Of course! With the new Noble Map Pack out, I’ll be sprinkling some death from my DMR here and there throughout the winter.
Movies
Tron: Legacy – This is definitely my holiday topper. I feel like I’ve been waiting 25 years for this movie to come out!
MegaMind – Going to see this on Saturday actually. Can’t wait!
The Tourist – I’m intrigued by this one. I’m a huge fan of Johnny Depp and I’m hoping this one is better for Angelina Jolie than Salt was. Such a disappointment…
DVD/Blu-Ray
Despicable Me – releases on December 14th. I saw this twice in the theatres and I still want more. I’ll probably watch this a few hundred times over the next couple of months.
Red Vs. Blue: The Recollection – If you don’t know of Red Vs. Blue, then you don’t know what you’ve been missing. Reliving the last three seasons is certainly going to be a treat. Unfortunatley, there’s no Blu-Ray option yet, but I’ll still be enjoying this in all it’s DVD glory.
Back To The Future Box Set – Yeah. It’s kind of nostalgic. But hey, that’s me.
And of course, planning the next car project to make it better, stronger, and faster.
Kinect vs. Move – Round 2 – FIGHT!
Hot off the presses. Microsoft has apparently sold 2.5 Million Kinect Sensors in 25 days (which is apparently better than the first month of iPad sales). That’s an average of 100,000 Kinect devices sold per day. Per Don Mattrick, President of the Interactive Entertainment Biz at Microsoft, “We are thrilled about the consumer response to Kinect, and are working hard with our retail and manufacturing partners to expedite production and shipments of Kinect to restock shelves… Read On »
October Sales Data – Christmas Season Predictions
Nintendo down 50%, Sony Leads The Month Sony led the month of October with over 990,000 unit sales pulling ahead of Microsoft by almost 230,000 sales in the last two weeks. Two contributing factors to Sony pulling ahead were most likely the launch of the Playstation Move, Sony’s motion controller, and anticipation of Microsoft’s Kinect for Xbox 360, with people opting to pre-order the Xbox 360S 4GB and 250GB bundles with the Kinect device. More… Read On »
Console News For Monday, November 8
Microsoft Bundles Alan Wake – Forza 3 In Holiday Bundle
For those of you who don’t want to be Kinect’d, Microsoft is releasing this year’s holiday bundle with core gamering goodness. The new bundle will come with a copy of Forza Motorsport 3 and a token to download Remedy’s hit thriller, Alan Wake. This bundle will launch at the $299 price point leaving gamers to decide, get Kinect? Or go with a couple of core games?
Source: Major Nelson
Mass Effect 2 For PS3 To Receive Free Extra Content, Missions
PS3 users will finally be receiving Mass Effect 2 on the Sony console with some extra goodies. It will be including all of the DLC missions that Xbox 360 users had to purchase this last year, as well as a new mission worth about six hours of gameplay and an interactive comic to walk them through the events of the first game, making key decisions that affect the outcome of Mass Effect 2.
It will be interesting to find out if Xbox 360 fans will have access to this extra six hour mission as later downloadable content. It would probably be a good idea for EA to release it to appease the 2.12 million fans of the Xbox 360 version may feel a bit left out and disgruntled if it isn’t the case.
Source: GameRant
Kinect Technology Could Have Gone To Apple First
Apple Inc., a company whose dedication to innovating arguably stands above any other company could have had Project Natal, now known to the world as Microsoft’s holiday hopeful, Kinect, first. But why would Apple, king of new technologies miss out on this huge opportunity to bring something unique to their own line of products?
Because, “Apple is a pain in the ass,” according to PrimeSense CEO Inon Beracha.
In an interview with Cult of Mac Editor, Leander Kahney, Beracha said that when Apple was introduced to the technology, it was the stack of legal agreements and NDAs that turned Beracha off to the partnership.
Interesting.
Source: Cult Of Mac
Microsoft Giving Away Free Xbox 360s With Purchase Of Win7 Phones In Toronto
As you know, Windows Phone 7 launches today. And what better way to celebrate this event than getting a free Xbox 360 with your purchase of an HTC 7 Surround or LG Optimus 7? People shopping at the Toronto Eaton Centre can get just such a deal. But you better be quick, word is that numbers are limited.
Source: Wirelessly Obsessed
Coming This Week
I’ll be taking Microsoft Kinect For Xbox 360 for a test drive and writing down my thoughts, as well as with the new 360 Dashboard. Also, my holiday sales predictions after last week’s numbers are posted. Stay tuned.
~W75
Video Games Live Comes Back To The Motor City
I am a huge fan of Video Games Live. And in Detroit, I’ve now had the pleasure of working as a volunteer at both concerts, this year and the one in 2008. If you haven’t yet been to see this awesome concert in person, I urge you to go right now to their website and check for the soonest date that they will be in or around your city. Conceived in 2005 by founders Tommy… Read On »