Square Enix has released a new trailer for its upcoming expansion for Final Fantasy XI, titled ‘A Shantotto Ascension: The Legend Torn, Her Empire Born’. The expansion will be released exclusively on the Playstation Network and cost $9.99.
Author - Jerry Paxton
Namco Bandai have released some new screenshots for their upcoming Dead to Rights: Retribution. Retribution is due out in the first quarter of 2010 and will continue the story of Jack Slate and Shadow.
Check out the new screenshots, After the Break!
The mobile gaming mouse market is rather sparse these days, what with the best-selling laptops actually being netbooks that usually don’t have any gaming potency to speak of. Most laptop mice are of the Bluetooth variety and designed for casual or business usage – not gaming.
Razer has unleashed a new challenger to the mobile mouse market with their Orochi mobile gaming mouse. The Orochi features an all-black plastic design with rubberized buttons and some minor lighting effects which fit in well with the unit’s small form factor. The Orochi measures roughly 4-inches long and 1.4-inches tall making it perfect for carrying about in your backpack or messenger bag.
The Orochi features a 3G, 4,000 dpi laser sensor which rivals any standard-size gaming mouse in performance. As with all of Razer’s mice, the Orochi can be used with or without the included configuration software. The software is really a necessity if you plan to game using the mouse as without it you cannot get the Orochi into 1Ghz ultra-polling mode which allows the mouse to transmit location/state updates to the laptop every millisecond.
Playing games with the Orochi is pretty much just like playing them with and of Razer’s gaming mice so I won’t talk about the mouse’s responsiveness and 4,000 dpi sensitivity – you should just know it works very well. Something to note, however, is that the Orochi’s form-factor does allow for ambidextrous usage, although don’t expect to use the two side buttons located on the opposite side of the mouse as your thumb as their position makes it difficult to move the mouse and buttons at the same time. The two buttons on the thumb-side of the mouse work very well, however, and I know quite a few lefties who will be picking this up thanks to its versatile shape.
Unfortunately, in what otherwise would be a stellar review, a little rain must fall. In this case, it is rain made of a a micro USB Bluetooth receiver, which Razer DID NOT include with the mouse. Their reasoning is that most laptops include built-in BT receivers. Well, mine doesn’t and it would be nice to use the Orochi in wireless mode when necessary. Thankfully, Razer includes a cable for those of you like me without built-in BT on your laptop which works just as well and doesn’t eat up the two AA batteries used by the unit to power its BT transmitter.
Overall, the Orochi is well worth the $80 dollar price tag should you have a powerful gaming laptop in need of an equivalent human interface device or just can’t find a left-handed laptop mouse of comfort. For those of you who NEED a Bluetooth mobile mouse and don’t have a built-in receiver, or just don’t game a lot on your laptop – chances are that the Orochi is not for you.
The Razer Orochi Official Product Page
If you are a Southern California haunted attraction-fan, you may remember last year’s The Haunted Cellar, located at the Anaheim Garden Walk outdoor mall complex in Anaheim, CA. This year the fine folks from The Haunted Cellar have returned with The Empty Grave haunted attraction.
Last year, The Haunted Cellar consisted of four theatrically-staged rooms – each with their own narrative followed by scary encounter. This year they have utilized the full indoor space of their rented suite, which equates to over 50,000 square feet – more than some attraction’s entire outdoor scare zones!
The talent inside the maze was very excited and one could tell they were really putting themselves into their assorted characters. From grave diggers to creepy little girls, I could not get one to break character in the least. Even more interesting is that this very dedicated group of guys and gals is made up, mostly, of high school students volunteering their time to make the event successful.
The biggest issue I had with The Empty Grave was its use of open space within the attraction. At first, you are just overtaken by its sheer size and potential, then as you progress onwards you begin to feel that some of the space was not used as well as it could have been. Some areas which could have been utilized by additional props and scenery just feel bare. According to The Empty Grave’s creator, Mike Talarico, the original plan was for a much more detailed, complex layout, however the tricks he had up his sleeve were squelched by the city, which had to approve it prior to build.
The Anaheim Garden Walk is a beautiful, open mall complex housing a multitude of shops and eateries, making it a great setting to grab some food with your friends after experiencing the terror of The Empty Grave. There is even a gastro pub across the way which makes for a great after-scare pint.
Mike Talarico told us that, on a regular night, you can expect to see 25 to 30 monsters roaming the large indoor space as well as some outside in the Anaheim Garden Walk itself, scaring ‘innocent’ shoppers and beckoning people into the fun. Both Mike, and his wife, were very approachable and friendly – each oozing the kind of welcome enthusiasm you see in people doing what they love to do. The Empty Grave is definitely one to add to your ‘must-experience’ list for this Halloween season.
A ticket to The Empty Grave will cost a very reasonable $13 dollars and the event continues on various days throughout October and even on Sunday, November 1st. You can find more information on The Empty Grave, including full dates/directions, at the attraction’s official website.
*Also, for $3 dollars off the price of a ticket, bring in this flier.
The Forza Motorsport 3 team has released the official launch trailer for the title, which is set to hit retail stores on October 27th – only on the Xbox 360 console.
Due out in February of 2010, SouthPeak Games’ Crime Scene for the Nintendo DS promises some super-challenging sleuthing puzzles for gamers to sink their dental records into. The company announced today, however, that the game’s official website is now live and features a plethora of details about the upcoming title. It even features a sleuthing quiz to test your investigative abilities.
The also released some new screenshots, which you can see After the Break!
Electronic Arts has released a new trailer commemorating the Need for Speed series selling over 100,000,000 units worldwide over its 16-year history.
While at Spike TV’s 2009 SCREAM Awards, which was filmed last Saturday, Megan Fox took time out while accepting her Best Sci-Fi Actress award to address critics of her personal opinions on the Transformers movie franchise.
We had a reporter at the event and will have our photo blog up in just a short while, so check back soon!
TopWare Interactive has released four new screenshots from their upcoming RPG, Two Worlds II. Due out this Winter for major consoles, PCs, and MAC computers – Two Worlds II will feature an all-new GRACE graphics engine, which these screens showcase.
See all four screens, After the Break!
Logitech has announced a replacement gaming keyboard for their venerable Logitech G11. The Logitech G110 will feature enhanced lighting effects, a number of useful pass through ports including audio and USB, as well as a very thin form-factor. It retails for $79.99 and will be available this November at their official product page.