Archive - 2012/04/13

Pink Coming to Rock Band 3 Music Store

2012/04/13
Jerry Paxton
News

Cambridge, Mass. – April 13th, 2012 – Harmonix today announced that four tracks from P!nk are headed to the Rock Band 3 Music Store of downloadable content for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system and Wii™.

Rock Band provides the deepest and best selection of artists, songs and albums through the Rock Band music platform, which features more than 1,400 artists and more than 3,500* tracks via disc and download purchase (complete list of tracks at www.rockband.com/songs). Rock Band’s gigantic music library dwarfs that of any other rhythm video game on the market. More than 100 million songs have been sold through the Rock Band Music Store since its launch on Nov. 20, 2007.

Tracks downloaded from the Rock Band Music Store are compatible with the award-winning full-band Rock Band 3 experience, as well as the upcoming controller-based Rock Band Blitz, coming summer of 2012 for Xbox LIVE® Arcade and PlayStation®Network!

Rock Band DLC Additions for Xbox 360 and PlayStation®3 system

Known for her powerful voice and edgy style, P!nk has had no problem dominating the charts worldwide with her infectious pop-rock sounds. Four of the singer/songwriter’s biggest hits are headed to the Rock Band Music Store on April 17th as “P!nk Pack 01”!

“Get the Party Started,” from 2001’s M!ssundaztood, leads off the pack; a Pro Guitar and Pro Bass upgrade will be available for this chart-topping hit. Three tracks from 2008’s Grammy-nominated Funhouse round out the pack: “Sober,” “Please Don’t Leave Me,” and the album’s fifth single and title track, “Funhouse.”

Available on Xbox 360, Wii and PlayStation®3 system (April 3rd, 2012):

  • P!nk – “Get the Party Started” O X
  • P!nk – “Sober” O
  • P!nk – “Please Don’t Leave Me” O
  • P!nk – “Funhouse” O

Tracks marked with “O” feature support for keyboards; tracks marked with “X” will offer Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions for $0.99 per song.

Price:
$6.99 (560 Microsoft Points™, 700 Wii Points™) for “P!nk Pack 01”
$1.99 USD (160 Microsoft Points™, 200 Wii Points™) per song
$0.99 USD (80 Microsoft Points™, 100 Wii Points™) per song for eligible Pro Guitar/Pro Bass upgrade

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change. **

*Available on-disc, via download and disc export. Internet connection and export key purchase required. Wii™ Shop Channel has more than 1,500 song tracks available for purchase on the Rock Band platform on-disc, via song import, and download. Not applicable to Nintendo DS™.

Wargame: European Escalation Free DLC Pack Announced

2012/04/13
Jerry Paxton
News

PARIS – April 13, 2012 – War goes on! Wargame: European Escalation, the new real-time strategy hit praised by critics and players alike, today offers its first DLC “New Battlefields,” which is not only generous with the content offered, but also entirely free! This is a way to thank the already large community of players who make of Wargame one of the most played and most downloaded strategy game on the Internet since February.

This announcement comes with 3 exclusive images, illustrating one of the novelties brought by this DLC free for all Wargame players.

This first free DLC for Wargame: European Escalation offers 7 new multiplayer maps! These brand new battlefields will challenge the veteran commanders! Two of these maps are built asymmetrically, in order to offer Attack/Defense games by giving a natural role to each team. Hold or take that position at all cost!

The DLC also introduces a new skirmish AI, allowing 1 up to 7 players to face the computer. Willing to test your Clan’s newest tactics? Or just have some quick fun with friends without the pressure of the competition? Team up with other players and jump into the action against a computer-controlled opponent!

Lastly, communication, coordination and all your team tactics are optimized, thanks to the new Flare system! Get the attention of your teammates by firing one of the preset Flares, or one with a custom message, which you can see on the 3 screenshots we invite you to discover today!

This is also the occasion for us to announce that Wargame: European Escalation is now the subject of an exceptional offer on Steam, with an incredible discount of 40%! From today until Monday 16th of April, this is the perfect opportunity for everyone who was still hesitating to step forward and acquire this exceptional strategy game!

Dark Legends Launches on Both Desktop and Mobile Platforms

2012/04/13
Jerry Paxton
News

AUSTIN, Texas — Spacetime Studios, working closely with Google, is introducing the world’s first MMO to launch simultaneously on mobile and desktop platforms. The mobile MMO Dark Legends is now available exclusively for a two-week period on Google Play for Android devices and on the Chrome Web Store for PC, Mac and Linux.

The commercial launch of Dark Legends across both mobile and desktop simultaneously is another industry first by Spacetime Studios and furthers their goal to create a ubiquitous social gaming experience. The company’s Legends series are the only 3D MMOs in the world that allow people to play the same game together on desktop computers, smart phones and tablets.

Gary Gattis, CEO of Spacetime Studios, feels recent moves by Google to unify the gaming and social experience across its platform ecosystem are a powerful validation of his own company’s long-standing corporate mission to allow people to play with anyone, anywhere, anytime.

“Google Play and the Chrome Web Store allow us to upload and update our online, multiplayer games instantly. Their immediate and unified environment fits perfectly with Spacetime’s ability to push global content to our suite of games on-the-fly across mobile and desktop,” said Gattis. “We’re both at the forefront of creating cross-platform gameplay that connects players in a much deeper online experience, anywhere and on any device.”

Set in a gritty modern-day urban environment in which humans are aware of vampires’ existence, players assume the role of a recently sired vampire who must battle to survive in a world which fears and hates their kind. In the struggle, players must face gangs of well-armed humans, hordes of the undead, packs of werewolves, covens of warlocks and legions of demons.

Dark Legends is the third title in the highly popular Legends franchise of mobile and desktop games. The first two titles, Pocket Legends and Star Legends: The Blackstar Chronicles, are the world’s largest mobile MMOs with more than seven million downloads.

Dark Legends is free to download and play. The game features optional microtransactions and virtual currency that enhance the play experience with vanity items, health packs and premium revives.

After the exclusive period the game will also be available for iOS devices.

For more details visit http://www.darklegends.com.

Anomaly Warzone Earth – A Review (XBLA)

2012/04/13
Judgeman
News, Reviews

11 Bit Studio has finally brought the popular PC and mobile device hit game Anomaly Warzone Earth to Xbox Live Arcade.  What can only be described as a “reverse tower defense” game, Anomaly Warzone Earth pits your convoy versus a series of stationary alien defense towers that will try to prevent you from your goal on each map.  While Anomaly Warzone Earth does nothing to really push its generic story, the gameplay and action of the game really help to set it apart from its competitors.  We already know that Anomaly Warzone Earth is a great game based on its appearance on other platforms, but how does it translate on a console?

Story:

The story of Anomaly Warzone Earth can pretty much be described as a cliched alien invasion plot.  The game is set in a future city of Baghdad, with an alien craft crashing within the city.  The aliens then begin to bubble off areas of the city, and it is your job as commander of the 14th Platoon to investigate than eradicate the alien threat.

There is little here to push the narrative and really capture the player into the world of Anomaly Warzone Earth.  This is where the game really feels like a mobile device port, because it feels like it is supposed to be played in between stops during your day of errand running.  The voice acting and music do nothing to help this problem, and we will hit more on that later.

Game Play:

Anomaly Warzone Earth plays just like a reverse tower defence game.  You command a column of heavy APCs, lightly armored missile launchers, and shield generators.  When the level begins, you are able to plan your route and decide which direction your column will take at each intersection.  You can plan to take the most direct route, which usually takes you through the most heavily defended areas of the city, or you can choose to avoid much of the conflict by moving your column to the back streets, but you will miss the opportunity to collect more money.

As you proceed through the level, you earn cash to upgrade and buy more units.  Upgrades help keep your units alive longer and make them hit harder, while buying more units helps you reach the goal for that map.  The types of units and upgrades that you can purchase change as you move through the game, but are pretty generic types of units.  You also earn special equipment as the commander to use during the map.  The first couple of items are equipment, the healing aura and smokescreen, really help throughout the game.  These items are then airlifted to you throughout the level, which is great because you will need them as the levels get harder.

I was very worried that the controls for Anomaly Warzone Earth was going to be bad, being that this is a mobile device and a PC port.  Surprisingly, 11 Bit Studio got the controls down right.  I never once felt that the controls were awkward in any way or that they felt rushed.  The best way to describe the control scheme for Anomaly Warzone Earth is “natural”.  It just felt right.
Aesthetics:

Visually, Anomaly Warzone Earth is nice looking.  It has all the right features in the right places to do the job on the Xbox 360, while not being the best looking game on Live Arcade.  The visuals are from a top-down angle, like most tower defence games out there.  I never noticed any type of frame rate dip during the action, which is great.

The voice acting, again, fits in the “serviceable” category.  I had heard the voice acting described as a “bad Jason Statham movie”, and that I believe is the best way to describe it.  It serves the job, but just barely.  It’s funny how I have gotten two games in a row with bad United Kingdom voice acting.  Seems fairly popular to use these voice actors in gaming right now.

The score for Anomaly Warzone Earth is just as forgettable as the voice acting.  I honestly cannot remember a single note from the game, and I’ve played it all week.  The music just serves as background noise and fails to bring the action to life for the player or help to promote the story in any way.

Final Thoughts:

Reading through this review, it may seem like I didn’t enjoy my time with Anomaly Warzone Earth, but that couldn’t be farther from the truth.  Sure, I picked on the voice acting and the music, but the gameplay truly shines and the controls feel natural.  The only time Anomaly Warzone Earth feels like a port is with the depth of the story, which makes the game feel like it needs to be played in small chunks, like any good mobile device game.  Anomaly Warzone Earth is a unique game experience in the tower defense genre  and 11 Bit Studios did a very good job in porting this game to the Xbox 360.  I really recommend Anomaly Warzone Earth for any fan of the tower defense genre, and for anyone who is looking for a unique game experience.

DUST 514 Keynote from EVE Fanfest 2012

2012/04/13
Jerry Paxton
News

CCP Games has released some new assets for their upcoming PlayStation 3 shooter, DUST 514, including this video of the keynote from last month’s EVE Fanfest in Iceland. DUST 514 is set to be released later this year and will integrate with CCP’s popular MMO, EVE Online.

Keynote

iBuypower to Sell PCs at Best Buy Stores in North America

2012/04/13
Jerry Paxton
News

El Monte, CA – April 12, 2012 – iBUYPOWER, a leading innovator in gaming PCs, is excited to announce a partnership with Best Buy who will carry a wide range of custom built, high performance gaming computers. Twenty-three iBUYPOWER desktop systems are immediately available at the well-known consumer electronics retailer online store.

“Partnering with Best Buy has been a longtime goal and marks a significant milestone in our company’s history,” said Darren Su, Vice President of iBUYPOWER. “This partnership aligns iBUYPOWER with Best Buy, the premiere consumer electronics retailer in North America.”

iBUYPOWER currently offers more gaming PCs at Best Buy than any other manufacturer. The iBUYPOWER systems range in price from under $500 to $1429.99. The line includes six configurations based on iBUYPOWER’s award winning Chimera 4, which all feature the unique fiery case design inspired by the mythical fire-breathing beast.

Customers with more specific gaming needs can configure a fully customizable gaming PC at iBUYPOWER.com. All iBUYPOWER systems come standard with 1 year limited warranty and lifetime technical support.

Follow iBUYPOWER at facebook.com/iBUYPOWERPC all the latest news on all of iBUYPOWER’s systems.

Director of Nuclear Dawn Reveals Sequel in Reddit QA

2012/04/13
Jerry Paxton
News

The managing director of InterWave Studios, developer behind the FPS/RTS title, Nuclear Dawn, announced a sequel to the game today in a Reddit Q&A. You can checkout the full QA over at this Reddit link – enjoy!

From the QA:

[–]Spazzo965 1 point ago

What are your plans for the future of Nuclear Dawn?

Really been enjoying ND, and looking forward to what you guys have got in mind next, as long as it is a PC release.

[–]tcviper[S] 3 points ago
For the current version of Nuclear Dawn we will keep adding updates with more features, bugfixes and new maps. We also have a sequel planned and some other games but that’s all i can say for now.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Game Update 1.2: Legacy Released

2012/04/13
Jerry Paxton
News

Austin, TEXAS – April 12, 2012 – Create a family legacy that can rival the Skywalkers! BioWare™, a Label of Electronic Arts (NASDAQ: EA) and LucasArts today released Game Update 1.2: Legacy, the highly anticipated content update for Star Wars™: The Old Republic™. This massive update delivers an incredible amount of new high level gameplay content for players and also includes the evolution of the Legacy System, a feature that ties all of your characters together into one family, regardless of class or faction, and allows them to unlock custom new abilities. Game Update 1.2 will also include some of the communities’ most sought-after game enhancements including user interface customization and guild banks along with gameplay and balancing fixes.

To celebrate the release of Game Update 1.2 and thank fans for their support, BioWare also announced that it would offer Star Wars: The Old Republic players a number of in-game rewards*:

  • All subscribers with active game accounts on April 12, 2012 or April 21, 2012 will be rewarded with an in-game Legacy Reward: the Tauntaun Ram Pet via in-game mail.
  • New players who subscribe to The Old Republic before April 21, 2012 will also receive the Legacy Tauntaun Ram Pet.
  • All active subscribers who have achieved a level 50 character by April 12, 2012 will receive 30 days of game time at no charge as a reward for their loyalty to the game.
  • Former subscribers with inactive accounts are invited back to play Game Update 1.2 for up to seven days at no charge starting April 13, 2012.

Game Update 1.2:  Legacy is a huge milestone for The Old Republic and clearly demonstrates what we mean when we talk about this game being a full-fledged, ongoing service,” said Dr. Greg Zeschuk, General Manager of the BioWare Label’s MMO Business Unit and Co-Founder of BioWare. “Not only is Game Update 1.2 the largest update for The Old Republic, but it also addresses a lot of the game features and enhancements our players have been asking for since we launched a little over three months ago, We are incredibly proud of the team for being able to deliver an update of this size and quality, in a relatively short amount of time.”

Game Update 1.2 is highlighted by the next evolution of the Legacy System, giving players the ability to give all of their characters a strong familial bond in the form of bonus abilities and character customization. Players will link their different characters together into a single family tree, giving them the power to unlock and share special Legacy-only abilities, and new convenience items for player ships including the Galactic Trade Network terminal. The Legacy System will also give players the ability to unlock new races for new characters and will be advantageous in strengthening companion characters affection and moral alignment through bonuses.

In addition to the Legacy System, the Game Update 1.2 will introduces other game features, including improved UI customization, Guild Banks and valuable new in-game items.  This game update will also introduce challenging new high-level content for both experienced and new players to enjoy:

  • Flashpoint: Lost Island continues the story of Flashpoint: Kaon Under Siege from Game Update 1.1 – Rise of the Rakghouls. Players must survive a menacing island of mystery on Ord Mantell as they hunt for clues to the Rakghoul virus outbreak that ravaged the Tion Hegemony. But the answers to this riddle may prove fatal! This flashpoint is for groups of four Imperial or Republic  players with characters at level 50.
  • Operation: Explosive Conflict sends players to a new zone on the planet of Denova, where traitors and mercenaries are selling the rare explosive mineral baradium to the highest bidder. Players will battle through hordes of droids, mercenaries and deadly creatures all fighting for control of the planet and its valuable resources. This Operation is for groups of eight or sixteen Imperial or Republic players with characters at level 50.
  • Warzone:  Novare Coast pits two teams in an epic battle to control multiple mortar locations and use them to bombard vulnerable enemy bases. Like the Huttball Warzone, Novare Coast can be played Republic vs. Empire or with players of the same faction fighting each other in a thrilling contest of wills to determine each side’s greatest champions. Like all Warzones, Novare Coast is available for characters over level 10.

The Old Republic is set thousands of years before the classic Star Wars movies, with the Galactic Republic and Sith Empire locked in the middle of an epic, galactic war. By choosing one of eight iconic Star Wars characters, including the Jedi Knight, Jedi Consular, Smuggler, Trooper, Sith Warrior, Sith Inquisitor, Bounty Hunter and Imperial Agent, players become the hero or villain of their own personal Star Wars saga. Players team up with friends online, fighting in heroic battles reminiscent of the films, immersing themselves in a galaxy full of vibrant characters and planets, while experiencing visceral Star Wars combat.

For more information on Star Wars: The Old Republic, please visit www.StarWarsTheOldRepublic.com, follow the game on Twitter® at http://twitter.com/swtor or “Like” Star Wars: The Old Republic on Facebook® at http://facebook.com/starwarstheoldrepublic. Press assets for Star Wars: The Old Republic are available at www.info.ea.com.