Just in time for the Halloween season, XSEED Games has announced that their upcoming ‘haunted house simulator’, Ju-On: The Grudge, will be released on October 13th. The game is based on the films of the same name in Japan and promises to provide plenty of scares for the Nintendo Wii gamers.
One of the more interesting games coming down the pipe in the near future is Positech Games’ Gratuitous Space Battles. GSB allows players to customize various space craft types and pit their fleets against others in various combat scenarios. But in this seemingly simply concept, there is quite a bit of complexity.
Customizing your ships begins with selecting what ship chassis you want to load out. Ships are classified into three categories (the retail game may add more, time will tell): Fighters, Frigates, and Cruisers. Even different chassis in the same ship class will differ with regards to numbers of hardpoints and other bonuses such as hull or shield modifiers. After choosing your chassis you will begin loading out the ship with various technologies. Will you create a dedicated missile platform, or perhaps an anti-fighter ship? The choice is really up to you and makes for many fun hours of tinkering to get it just right… (cont.)
(cont.) Battling enemy fleets is mostly a hands-off affair. After you setup your initial fleet composition and formation you are just along for the ride. While some might feel this is boring – not being able to interact with your ship captains at all, I enjoyed the idea that my fleets were operating independently of my control. I could sit back and enjoy the fireworks, as it were. So many times did one fleet come back from near defeat or pull some very surprising maneuvering to out flank the enemy – it really is exciting to watch. On the other hand, my fleets also got their chronometers cleaned several times as well.
Visually, GSB is crisp and detailed. Weapon effects are really snappy and unique dependent on the type being fired while the shield effects provide a useful cue as to their status. You even get some nifty motion blurs and camera shaking where appropriate as battles unfold. As previously mentioned, ships come in three flavors: fighters, frigates, and cruisers. No word yet on if we can expect larger/different types in the final product but we will keep you posted. Also the only playable faction in the beta version is the Federation – the final version will undoubtedly have more to choose from, as can be seen in the factions of the enemy fleets you fight against in the beta version.
The in-game audio is very well done, which is really saying something, as with all the ships on your screen at once there are a ton of sound effects running simultaneously. Also, all of the weapon types have their own sound effects (blasters sound different than phasors, etc), so you can imagine Positech Games has put a lot of effort into the audio of the product.
Overall, Gratuitous Space Battle is already a blast to play with very little in the way of bugs and we can’t wait to see how the finished product turns out.
LucasArts and Tt Games have released a new trailer for their upcoming LEGO: Indiana Jones 2. Due out on November 17th for all major consoles and handhelds, Indy 2 will allow gamers to play through various scenes from all four Indiana Jones films including the latest where you can re-enact the infamous fridge-nuking scene.
EA Sports has released an iPhone/iPod Touch application that will let you keep up on the latest happenings with your Madden 10 online franchise. The Online Franchise Companion app is free and also allows you to accept and propose player trades as well as interact with other franchise owners.
Konami has released a few new collaged shots from its upcoming soccer game, PES 2010, showing off player likenesses from a few teams around the world. Pro Evolution Soccer 2010 is due out in November on the PS2, PS3, PSP, Xbox 360, Microsoft Windows, Wii, and various mobile devices.
See the screens, After the Break!
Electronic Arts has released a slew of launch trailer variations for their new racer, Need for Speed Shift. In this one, called ‘The Zone’, we get a look at what its like to be in ‘the zone’ when the intensity peaks during a race. Need for Speed Shift is out now on all major platforms.
Today we have some new screenshots from the long-thought to be vaporware Gran Turismo 5. Due out in Japan next March, no word has been released on a North American or European release.
In the meantime, check out the new screenshots, After the Break!
It is rare to find a quality 5.1 channel surround sound system for under a hundred dollars. Those that are under that price point tend to sound ‘tinny’ and are generally of low-quality construction. Thankfully, the Creative Labs Inspire T6160 5.1 channel surround sound speaker system breaks with tradition with is quality materials and performance.
The T6160 keeps with the simple black design seen in the rest of the Inspire series, featuring five 6 watt satellite speakers and a 20 watt sub-woofer which is elevated on four legs. This will help keep the bass from vibrating your floor and potentially-disturbing any downstairs neighbors. I write this because I get a strong feeling that the T6160 was designed for the person looking for a quality, yet inexpensive surround sound system for their apartment, home office, or dorm room.
Sound quality is good, with very crisp and clean channel separation. In our tests with BioShock and Crysis, the effect was well-pronounced and it greatly enhance our gaming experience. In movie watching, the T6160 performed nicely, but we did notice some crackling when volume levels increased. Of course, we were stress-testing at the time with full volume levels (rattling our walls and floor), but I digress… In the normal range of volume the T6160 worked perfectly.
Each of the satellite speakers feature what Creative calls an IFP (Image Focusing Plate) that essentially places the driver in the middle of a flared chamber in order to project the sound better than traditional setups. Another interesting piece of technology in the T6160 satellite speakers is a small conical object called the ‘Creative Phase Cap’, which is said to help reduce distortion by separating the mid and high-end frequencies. The effect of these features is noticeable, with my ears definitely picking up on the crisp-nature of the sound.
While the T6160 does not have the same kind of quality bass as, say, the SLAM sub-woofer on the Gigaworks T3 (which is way above the T6160’s price point) it does provide respectable bass response that will fill a home office or dorm quite nicely. It accomplishes this through a megaphone-like, flared bass port. Its only 20 watts but sounds a lot more powerful. Also a real benefit to the consumer is the T6160’s online price point of $80 smackers.
We would wholeheartedly recommend the T6160 for anyone looking to get quality 5.1 channel sound on a budget or in a smaller space. The Creative T6160 is on sale now at retailers such as Amazon.com
LucasArts and BioWare announced that they were officially accepting applicants to test their upcoming MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. No word exactly on when the testing will take place, but we do know that in order to sign up you must first create a community account and then opt-in to test at the ‘My Account‘ page.
So get over there, and may the force be with you!
We are a bit late on posting this but wanted to make sure you faithful readers got the chance to see it. 2K Games has released the debut trailer for their upcoming 2K PLAY title, The Misadventures of PB Winterbottom. The 2D, silent film-style, platformer just wreaks of awesome. It is due out early next year on the Xbox 360.
