Focus Home Interactive has announced that Confrontation, the video game adaptation of the fantasy miniature wargame by Rackham, will be released for PC on April 5th, in both retail stores and digital download! To celebrate this upcoming event, new screenshots have been released revealing more of this tactical role-playing game developed by Cyanide (Blood Bowl, Game of Thrones).
Microsoft and 343 Industries have released an interesting new first-look trailer at Halo 4 – enjoy!
Hamburg, March 19th 2012. Mail.Ru Games, publisher of the successful browser games Legend: Legacy of the Dragons, Allods Online and Juggernaut, presents some fresh features for their free2play browser game RiotZone. In the daily mission “Picnic at the lakeside” commanders fight the dictator’s elite sniper unit “Black Panthers”. In addition, the clan interface has received some updates. From now on players have the opportunity to see what their fellow members did while they were away. Finally, Commanders who love shopping can take a look at the boots that have just arrived in the store.
Femmes fatales
Reconnaissance troops have spotted the dictator’s elite unit “Black Panthers” taking a rest at the lakeside of “El Lago”. This all-female squad may consist of beautiful and kind-looking women, but commanders are not easily fooled: these women know neither regret nor mercy. Rumor has it, that even the legendary members Clara and Rosa are taking part in the little picnic. For those successful in defeating the “Black Panthers” tokens promise new equipment.
With the quest “Picnic at the lakeside” all other daily special missions like “Dr. Valentino” and “Anniversary of the revolution” will end. Captured tokens from these quests can still be exchanged for gear.
Fighting for a better world
Two factions fight over supremacy in the new browser game RiotZone. The Red Alliance and the Coalition of the Crown are trying to put an end to the reign of the evil dictator who rules war-torn Merania to establish a new government. As Commander of a mercenary troop, players choose which side they would like to fight on. Missions like laying ambushes and fighting the dictator’s troops in order to weaken his defenses demand exact timing and strategic thinking. The right gear is crucial for winning this war, so players have to account for their troops and expand their camp. From level five on they engage in PvP battles of different kinds: Gathering resources, fighting in teams or raiding enemy territory.
CUPERTINO, California―March 19, 2012―Apple® today announced it has sold three million of its incredible new iPad®, since its launch on Friday, March 16. The new iPad features a stunning new Retina™ display, Apple’s new A5X chip with quad-core graphics, a 5 megapixel iSight® camera with advanced optics for capturing amazing photos and 1080p HD video, and still delivers the same all-day 10 hour battery life* while remaining amazingly thin and light. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G supports ultrafast 4G LTE networks in the US and Canada, and fast networks around the world including those based on HSPA+ and DC-HSDPA.**
“The new iPad is a blockbuster with three million sold―the strongest iPad launch yet,” said Philip Schiller, Apple’s senior vice president of Worldwide Marketing. “Customers are loving the incredible new features of iPad, including the stunning Retina display, and we can’t wait to get it into the hands of even more customers around the world this Friday.”
The new iPad is already available in the US, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Japan, Puerto Rico, Singapore, Switzerland, UK and the US Virgin Islands and will be available in 24 more countries starting at 8:00 a.m. local time on Friday, March 23 through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers, including Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Macau, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.
The new iPad Wi-Fi models are available in black or white for a suggested retail price of $499 (US) for the 16GB model, $599 (US) for the 32GB model, $699 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad Wi-Fi + 4G for either AT&T or Verizon is available for a suggested retail price of $629 (US) for the 16GB model, $729 (US) for the 32GB model and $829 (US) for the 64GB model. iPad is sold in the US through the Apple Online Store (www.apple.com), Apple’s retail stores and select Apple Authorized Resellers. Additionally, the incredible iPad 2 is now offered at a more affordable price of $399 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi model and just $529 (US) for the 16GB Wi-Fi + 3G model.
*Battery life depends on device settings, usage and other factors. Actual results vary.
**4G LTE is supported only on AT&T and Verizon networks in the U.S. and on Bell, Rogers, and Telus networks in Canada. Data plans sold separately.
Apple designs Macs, the best personal computers in the world, along with OS X, iLife, iWork and professional software. Apple leads the digital music revolution with its iPods and iTunes online store. Apple has reinvented the mobile phone with its revolutionary iPhone and App Store, and is defining the future of mobile media and computing devices with iPad.
Bethesda Softworks and Arkane Studios have released some new screenshots from their recently-announced shooter title, Dishonored.
NEW YORK — 19th of March, 2012 — Paradox Interactive and Deep Silver have released a trial version for Defenders of Ardania for Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, bringing the innovative new Tower Defense and Offense game to console conquerors everywhere.
Defenders of Ardania, which made its iOS debut in December, is now available for download via the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for Xbox 360, and includes an epic single-player campaign, as well as bloodthirsty online battles through multiplayer modes.
Defenders of Ardania players must not only manage their defenses against waves of marauding fiends, but deploy their own armies to survive the enemy towers and win the day. Players can pick up Defenders of Ardania on Xbox LIVE Arcade for 1200 Microsoft Points.
Defenders of Ardania has also released a demo for Windows PC and Ipad.
NONE SHALL PASS up the opportunity to give Defenders of Ardania a try!
Play the Xbox LIVE Arcade trial version here:
http://marketplace.xbox.com/
Here you can access the Windows PC demo and the Ipad trial version:
http://www.defendersofardania.
I did not play the previous Avernum titles from developer Spiderweb Software, so I did not have a foundation of details about this game world going in to exploring it, but that did not seem to be required in order to understand the type of game I experienced here. I will start with the opinion that this game is probably not going to be for most younger generation (i.e. new) gamers, having not grown up with older RPG titles in the vein of Ultima or turn-based D&D titles. That being said, if you enjoy a more old-school approach to RPGs, one where meticulously plotting out each of your characters actions in a tactical, slow paced grid, then this might just be the indie game for you.
The game uses text boxes with some images to unfold the story of the land you play in, and these can be quite lengthy – so I hope you enjoy reading. You essentially begin by selecting a party of 4 from pre-made classes (or for advanced users you can build your own). You then begin play, having been cast into the depths of the underworld along with countless others that have spoken out against or defied “The Empire”. A vast underground network of caverns and NPC towns dot the landscape, and very early on the player is set free to explore the land in any direction or path they choose. Each of the various towns the player comes across will have content for the player to explore (in the form of quests and job boards). In standard RPG fashion, you level up the members of your party and select new bonuses and acquire better gear.
The user interface was actually quite good (and much better than I expected from an indie title). It was easy to navigate and figure out in less than 10 minutes, given some RPG experience, and seemed pretty flawless and defect-free. Statistics and selected Traits (improvements selected from a list) were easy to manage, as was a log for quests and the paper dolls for managing gear. Any objects on the ground can be easily reviewed and picked up by simply standing on the item and opening the paper doll (a box displaying items on the ground with drag-and-drop functionality allows easy access at this point). Look and feel of the UI, and graphics in general, reminded me a lot of 90s RPGs, and took me back to a different time.
The audio in the game is relatively simple, with basic music at times, and sound effects when traveling based on the zone (dripping water when wandering a cavern, or crowd noises when exploring a city, for example). Some of these sounds would repeat ad-nauseum, but going into combat made up for this for me, with good attack noises for spells and weapons. All in all don’t expect anything on par with a full mainstream production game, but for this title it worked, and again served to reinforce a different era in gaming for me.
I would recommend this title for anyone looking to revisit turn-based RPG gaming nostalgia from their youth, but it will require more patience than modern RPGs (no hand holding here). I was initially feeling like the 20 dollar price tag for this game might be a bit high – but after playing through a good portion of the game, I believe the 20 dollars is fair, and worth the cost of admission for avid RPG enthusiasts that grew up on MUDs, D&D titles, and Ultima games.
Recently, we got the chance to take a look at Namco Bandai Games new Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations. Generations is developer CyberConnect2’s latest 3D fighting game set in the Naruto IP, and this is easily their most content-rich yet. With over 70 fighters to make use of, the game has more fighters than you can shake a stick at. It is almost obscene – in a good way. The single player game is well-designed, with a system of unlocking new parts of the story (and new fights) as you complete old ones. The stories are not really connected by any one thing, just excerpts from Naruto’s life as he conflicts with his antithesis, Sasuke. I have never been a master at fighting games, but found Naruto Shippuden: Ultimate Ninja Storm Generations to be very easy just to pick up and start fighting. While there were plenty of advanced maneuvers I could learn to exploit, the game was very player-friendly. Visually, the game looks like a 3D version of the manga series – crisp and pretty, with fluid character animations to boot.
Where some gamers might be disappointed with the game is that there is no real immersion into the Naruto IP. Sure, there are plenty of singleplayer stories to watch and that take part in but those are more like snippets from the overall adventure. Past Naruto games have featured some sort of interactive environment for players to explore, even if it didn’t do much, in between missions. While this is lacking in Generations, it makes up for it in character variety and the combat system, which feels a lot more streamlined than past entries.
Should you purchase this game? Yes! If you are a fan of fighting games in general or the Naruto series, you will not be disappointed. Even with the decreased immersion, there are a huge number of characters to unlock and fights are very satisying.
While at the 2012 Wondercon in Anaheim today, we got to take a lot of photographs featuring various exhibits, cosplayers, and more. Enjoy!
Looks like Sony Online Entertainment is bringing Darth Maul back complete with a cybernetic lower-half! Checkout the official press letter below:
Hi there,
A fallen enemy rises! The evil Darth Maul, long thought dead since his defeat by Obi-Wan Kenobi at the Battle of Naboo, has returned to wreak havoc during the Clone Wars! As Maul returns to menace the galaxy in the season four finale of “Star Wars: The Clone Wars,” he also appears in Sony Online Entertainment’s (SOE) Star Wars®: Clone Wars Adventures™.
In addition to seeing the vicious Sith Lord in action tonight on the Cartoon Network, Star Wars players can see him appear in-game in three different missions including:
A new stage in the ‘Dark Side Duel’ mini-game
A holoprojector that allows players to disguise themselves and turn their character into his image
An ultimate boss fight in the Ancient Sith Academy on the surface of Umbara
In order to experience the ultimate boss fight with Darth Maul, players must complete the Sinister Holocron collection to gain access into the ruined Academy where Maul has hidden and retreated to recover his strength, alongside his long-lost brother, Savage Opress. Once there, players should approach with caution as they must first battle Ancient Sith Training Droids and mad Dark Acolytes with dangerous Force mind tricks in order to confront Darth Maul himself in his lava-strewn lair. Gamers be warned: Opress will be close at hand throughout the entire mission!
Players who complete these missions will be given in-game rewards and can earn the new player title, “The Unyielding.”
