Are you still giddy from Game-Boy's Puzzle Quest 2 hands-on? Well fans of the unique pairing of puzzle and RPG mechanics will be happy to hear that Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes HD will be making its way to Xbox Live Arcade and the Playstation Network later this year.
Not content to simply port one of the best handheld games from last year, Capybara Games is updating the visuals with beautifully drawn HD characters and environments, new four player co-op and versus online multiplayer modes, re-balancing of some of the DS version's overpowered artifacts, and the ability to revisit previously completed chapters in the single player campaign. I'm not always a fan of developers replacing perfectly good pixel art when bringing their games to HD, but after seeing Capybara's upgrade in motion it's hard to raise an objection.
With no price or date set yet for Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes HD, I can only hope that there's a decent gap between it and Puzzle Quest 2. I don't think I could handle two addictive timesink puzzle RPGs at the same time.
Price Updates
- Chessmaster: The Art Of Learning Sale (now $9.99, original price $19.99)
- Tom Clancy's EndWar Sale (now $14.99, original price $29.99)
- Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 Sale (now $9.99, original price $19.99)
- Cellfactor: Psychokinetic Wars Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
- Far Cry 2 Fortunes Pack Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
- Tom Clancy's: HAWX: Supremacy Pack Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
- Age of Booty Sale (now $4.99, original price $9.99)
Downloadable Games
- Mega Man 10 ($9.99)
The original 2D classic Mega Man returns in a new adventure! This latest Mega Man title continues to bring the series back to its old school roots with retro action, platform game play and classic 8-bit style graphics and sound. Rediscover the Mega Man experience with classically inspired new boss characters, each with their own unique weapons and vulnerabilities.
- Feeding Frenzy 2 Shipwreck Showdown ($9.99)
Become the biggest fish at the top of the food chain with Feeding Frenzy 2 Shipwreck Showdown, now on the PlayStation Network! Start as the little fish in the ocean and get your 'eat' on! Feast upon fish smaller than you and you'll grow bigger and bigger. Avoid predators, or you'll become THEIR meal. Feeding Frenzy 2 features 60 levels of underwater fun and above water challenges and local multiplayer Party Games and Frenzyfest modes
- THE EYE OF JUDGMENT LEGENDS ($29.99)
THE EYE OF JUDGMENT LEGENDS packs a vast world of magic, mystery and strategic battles in your hands! Discover a fantastic journey through a new Story Mode full of intense digital card battles. Collect 300+ cards of creatures and spells that you duel with and trade to save a world! Each card has unique traits and must be chosen wisely to win battles against the computer, or head-to-head online against other players.
- Rock Band Unplugged Lite ($4.99)
Rock Band Unplugged creates a full band experience in the palm of your hand by mixing beat match gameplay with key elements from the Rock Band series. Try out the entire game in this full featured, reduced song version, including five top hits. Purchase more songs in the fully-featured in-game music store. For more details, visit http://www.rockband.com/games/unplugged.
PSP minis
Game Demos
- MLB 10 The Show Demo
Experience a taste of The Show!
- Feeding Frenzy 2 Shipwreck Showdown Demo
Become the biggest fish at the top of the food chain with Feeding Frenzy 2 Shipwreck Showdown, now on the PlayStation Network! Start as the little fish in the ocean and get your 'eat' on! Feast upon fish smaller than you and you'll grow bigger and bigger. Avoid predators, or you'll become THEIR meal. Feeding Frenzy 2 features 60 levels of underwater fun and above water challenges and local multiplayer Party Games and Frenzyfest modes.
- Mega Man 10 Demo
The original 2D classic Mega Man returns in a new adventure! This latest Mega Man title continues to bring the series back to its old school roots with retro action, platform game play and classic 8-bit style graphics and sound. Rediscover the Mega Man experience with classically inspired new boss characters, each with their own unique weapons and vulnerabilities.
Add-on Game Content
- MAG Raven Industries - Spyder Uniform (free)
Stealthy yet defensive, Spyder defense materials are designed by Raven Industries top field weapons researchers. Our materials increase our operatives' ability to dominate against lesser-equipped foes.
- MAG S.V.E.R. - Hazard Uniform (free)
Hazard is our way of life. S.V.E.R. operatives live for the chance to achieve the honor we deserve. The Hazard design is ideal for instilling the fear we are so used to administering on the battlefield.
- MAG Valor Company - Bulldog Uniform (free)
For a Valor Company operative, donning the battle tested Bulldog uniform communicates a level of preparedness and induces intimidation in the enemy.
- Resident Evil 5: Untold Stories Bundle ($12.49)
This bundle pack features "Lost in Nightmares" and "Desperate Escape", two new episodes not available in the original version of Resident Evil 5. In addition, there are 8 new playable for The Mercenaries Reunion, as well as two new costumes for both Chris and Sheva.
- Dragon Age Origins: Return To Ostagar ($4.99)
Your memories of the battle of Ostagar will haunt you for years to come. It laid waste to your order and claimed the lives of many great men and women, including the brash young King Cailan and your mentor, Duncan. The time has come for the Grey Wardens to make their return to Ostagar and exact their revenge upon the darkspawn.
- GRID Prestige Pack ($9.99)
The Prestige Pack for GRID adds 10 sensational high performance cars to the game and a brand new race track, the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, Australia.
- BioShock 2 Sinclair Solutions Tester Pack ($4.99)
Opportunity Awaits! Expand your BioShock 2 multiplayer experience with a rank increase to 50 with Rank Rewards including a 3rd set of weapons upgrades. Plus, enjoy 20 new Trials, 2 new playable characters and 5 new Masks. Yes! We'd thought you'd like the sound of that!
- Guitar Hero 5
- OK Go Track Pack ($5.49)
- "Do What You Want" by OK Go ($1.99)
- "Get Over It" by OK Go ($1.99)
- "Here It Goes Again" by OK Go ($1.99)
- Rock Band
- The White Stripes Pack 2 ($5.49)
- "Fell in Love With a Girl"-- The White Stripes ($1.99)
- "Seven Nation Army"-- The White Stripes ($1.99)
- "You Don't Know What Love Is (You Just Do as You're Told)"-- The White Stripes ($1.99)
- "Decent Days and Nights"-- The Futureheads ($1.99)
- "Hounds of Love"-- The Futureheads ($1.99)
- "Walk Away"-- James Gang ($1.99)
- "All of This"-- Shaimus ($0.99)
- "Tie You Down"-- Shaimus ($0.99)
- "The Hockey Theme"-- Neil Peart ($0.99)
- Roadrunner Records Pack 1 ($8.49)
In case there weren't enough games out to play, Fragile Dreams: Farewell Ruins of the Moon is due out on the Wii next week, too. Ever since I saw it at E3 last year, I've been really psyched to get my hands on this moody adventure, and have patiently been waiting for XSEED to finish the translation. If any of you are also eagerly anticipating the release of Fragile Dreams, I offer you this small little gallery of screenshots and artwork to enjoy in the meantime. So pretty...
Over at Capcom's blog, they're running an Ace Attorney Tribute Contest, and one of the categories is for cosplay. It's a shame they didn't get that many entries, because I love a good Phoenix Wright costume! (Not that I would've entered myself if I'd known about it ahead of time, but still...) Oh, and there's also categories for arts and crafts, which you can also vote in.
Personally, I voted for David, because while not the most elaborate costume, I thought his setup was rather clever. Hope he wins!
Ace Attorney Tribute Contest: Cosplay Category [Capcom-Unity]
Mama just keeps showing off her talents! Our favorite kerchief-bedecked game heroine is making an explosive comeback this fall, as the very same character who showed us she can cook with the best of them, create plantlife from raw soil, and shop for groceries like she don't even care--is finally breaking out the arts and crafts.
Players will be taken on a rollercoaster ride of creative mayhem as at least 40 different crafts projects seek to take Mama down. But like any good woman, she just cocks her hips and gets to work on everything from kaleidoscopes, birdhouses, aprons, and, presumably, gluing macaroni to paper. There is no challenge too great for Crafting Mama!
Majesco seeks to take the world by storm this fall and totally redefine your perceptions of Mama. So break out your Nintendo DS/DSlite/DSi/DSiXL and be prepared for some intense crafting action!
Majesco cooks up Crafting Mama for DS [Joystiq]
Rock Band continues it's bid to be the top of the rhythm/music game heap (and I would say they've pretty much reached it) with the announcement of Green Day Rock Band. Much along the lines of Beatles: Rock Band, the Green Day version of the game will feature likenesses of the band's members and three part harmonies. The game will follow the career of the band and will include exclusive video clips, band images and a whopping forty seven playable tracks.
However, unlike the Beatles game, you will be able to export the Green Day songs to Rock Band 2 and the upcoming Rock Band 3. The current Green Day songs available in the Rock Band Store will be made available to the new game with enhancements like the three part harmonies.
The pricing structure will go like this:
- Green Day: Rock Band standalone game for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 - $59.99
- Green Day: Rock Band standalone game for Wii - $49.99
- Green Day: Rock Band Plus for Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 - $69.99 - Includes special packaging, export and six Green Day DLC tracks ($22 total value)
Go, go, Green Day!
With the release of Final Fantasy XIII, it comes as no surprise that people have a few questions for Motomu Toriyama, the game's director, about the game and what is in store for the series. Gamasutra has had such an opportunity at GDC and reports that we can expect more content in the future--possibly in DLC, but definitely in future titles.
Citing the difficulties of the switch to HD, Toriyama explains that now that they have the Crystal Engine, they can more readily and easily add content. Since they did not have that option this time around, they relied on his strengths, which he declares to be storytelling and progressing a story. This would be why there are no towns around which you can aimlessly walk, minigames, et cetera. He refers to the ability to throw those elements into the game as a bento box system, where everyone on the team was able to provide input into what made it.
Of course, he is also of the mind that all these elements are not necessary:
Now that we have that base technology... The next time you see a Final Fantasy, we might be able to pack in more of those elements that existed in the past. And I also think that a game doesn't need to have all of those items in the future. We can create additional downloadable content for people to add, too. It doesn't have to come with that game itself.
While this hints at possible DLC, it also hints at the possibility that as a director, if he believes certain elements detract from the overall experience, he may well cut them. Only eleven hours into the thirteenth installment myself, I cannot say how much I miss the towns, for instance. The game is pretty well streamlined thus far, and while it brings to mind previous Final Fantasy games, I do not necessarily see this as a weakness. Perhaps my opinion will change after some more tens of hours.
Minigames, though? Minigames I don't miss. If those are DLC, I think my debit card will be happy to not see the light of it.
Along with the announcement of Sony's new motion controller comes the news of a series of games designed to take advantage of the new technology. These titles include Motion Fighter (working title), Eye Pet, Move Party (working title), Sports Champions, TV SuperStars and The Shoot (working title). TV SuperStars will allow players to map their face onto computer generated avatars that will then be able to compete in a series of mini-games, Move Party looks to be a series of party games of the mini game variety and The Shoot is a future space themed FPS style game. Motion Fighter and Sports Champions are pretty self explanatory and most folks are familiar with the Eye Pet concept.
You can get a peek at the new titles in the various galleries below.
TV SuperStars
Sports Champions
Motion Fighter
Make the jump to check out galleries for Eye Pet, The Shoot and Move Party
Puzzle Quest was one of the biggest surprises of 2007. Initially launching on handhelds and spreading like wildfire across console and PC platforms soon there after, the "just right" mixture of puzzle fundamentals and RPG storytelling struck a chord with casuals and core gamers. In making the true sequel (remember, Galactrix was a spin-off), Infinite Interactive has the challenge of finding ways to improve the game for both audiences while maintaining the careful balance between the two. Going by the demo they showing off at GDC, the developers behind Puzzle Quest 2 did a fantastic job of accessing what they needed to be reworked and what should remain untouched.
In the "reworked" category, you'll notice a total revamp of the story presentation. No longer will players move a little marker around on a map. Instead they'll move a character around the world through a Diablo-like isometric perspective. The overall art style has moved away from an anime inspired look into something I would describe as "Heavy Metal" fantasy. It sounds like a small change, but seeing your character and their environments up close really helps set the stage and new look is definitely an improvement.
The simple "match 3" styled puzzle game remains largely the same, but a few new additions keep it fresh. For starters, character information that doesn't have much to do with the battle (experience points, gold, etc.) have been removed from the screen, allowing the grid itself to be a little bit larger. Your character will be able to use weapons this time around once they've cleared special "Gauntlet" gems. Weapons work similar to spells, but help balance out the differences between the game's 4 character classes. For those that want to fully customize their character, the sequel also features stat modifiers that can give your characters enhanced attacks or buff your defenses.
Infinite Interactive's demo did a great job of looking at what other have done with the genre since they entered the scene in 2007 and added their own twists. From adding smaller elements of visual flair to reworking how story progresses, the game feels like a true sequel in every way imaginable. The only bad part about it was that it ended and now I have to wait until late spring for the 360 or DS release.
Yesterday's Sony press conference at GDC brought further confirmation of the imminent arrival of the company's motion control device now dubbed "Sony Move." We've all sen the photos of the black stick with the little red ball on the end, but Sony reveled there would be a second wireless "sub controller" that would allow for easier navigation in some games. The whole contraption is wireless utilizing blue tooth and has a rechargeable battery. All the tracking for the device is done via the PlayStation Eye camera and all three parts of the puzzle will be sold as a bundle (as well as individually) when the product launches this fall. There is already a long line of developers (see after the jump) who will be supporting the new device which includes EA, Capcom, Disney Interactive, Namco, Square Enix and many more.
So this begs the question: How will consumers react to this new controller and how much will developers actually support it? Sony themselves will of course be supporting it with titles like EyePet and a few other titles that were shown yesterday and Warner Bros. has already announced the release of The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn's Quest which will support the new device. The long list of developers seems full of big names, but how will they use the technology. Will we end up with another long string of family party games and a few interesting innovations like the Wii?
This question of course leads us to the elephant in the room. What is Nintendo thinking about all of this? I mean, let's face it, they came up with this idea first and have implemented it to varying degrees of success over the last several years. Is Sony coming a little late to the party, or will they be able to take this technology to new levels? And where does Microsoft fit into all this? We've seen the beginnings of Project Natal which will presumably give us all these same functions but without the actual controller, but when will we see it come to fruition. The race for motion control dominance started years ago and Nintendo is far ahead of the competition. Will Sony and Microsoft be able to catch up?
So, what do you think of the Sony Move? A great new addition to the PS3 or another gimmicky controller. Do you plan on picking one up right away or will you wait until that game you really want to play come out and requires the special controller to function? Tell us what you think in the comments!
You knew this was going to happen sooner or later, right? After the huge success Lucasarts had with the first Monkey Island Special Edition last year, it was pretty much inevitable that Guybrush Threepwood's second adventure would get the HD remake treatment as well. Of course, this means that the orchestrated soundtrack, voice acting, and ability to swap between HD and classic graphics at any time will be in tact from the first Monkey Island Special Edition. There will also be a slew of new enhancements for the sequel, such as:
- All-new direct control option allows players to control Guybrush directly if they choose.
- Revamped hint system highlights objects of interest in the environment.
- In-game audio commentary from the game's creators gives players direct insight into select scenes of the game.
- Bonus art viewer lets players view original and new concept art used in the making of the game.
- Character voiceover available in both Special Edition and Classic modes.
I'm a little embarrassed to admit that I missed out on all of the Monkey Island love the first time around, so I absolutely loved the first Monkey Island Special Edition. I've also heard from many fans that LeChuck's Revenge is even better than the original, so I am very excited.
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition will be coming later this summer to Xbox Live Arcade, PC, iPhone, Mac, and PSN. Wait, but the original never came out for Mac or PSN. Lucasarts plans to rectify that as well, though no word yet on when.
Regular readers of this site know how I feel about Wii Fit, but you might not know that recently I purchased EA Sports Active just to have a little variety. Having played both, I have to admit I still prefer Wii Fit in general, but EA's title does have its pluses. And things might get even better now that EA has revealed that they're continuing the franchise with the fall release of EA Sports Active 2.0.
The sequel will feature a completely new wireless control system that uses new leg and arm straps with motion sensors, and a heart rate monitor (pictured above). This is a major step up from the previous title which had you using the Wiimote attached to the Nunchuck that you would periodically insert into a leg strap for lunges, squats, running and the like. Not having your arm connected to your leg by a too-short cord is a major plus. And it looks like they're trying to beat Nintendo to the punch with the whole heart monitor gadget thingy.
Additionally, EA Sports Active 2.0 will have an online component, something I've felt all these fitness videogames have been lacking. Through an online hub, you'll be able to track and share all of your workout data, joining a global community to keep yourself honest and motivated.
Even more interestingly, the title is not a Wii exclusive like its predecessor. No, the sequel is going to also appear on the PlayStation 3 as well as the iPhone and iPod Touch. Now, the press release had no details on the iPod/iPhone versions, but I'm going to assume that they're just going to be stripped-down portable versions with very limited functionality. The PS3 version, on the other hand, will have the added benefit of extra workouts and exercises that you can download to keep things fresh.
EA Sports Active had its limitations, but it looks like some of them are being addressed in the sequel, and I'm going to have to keep an eye on this one. I'm intrigued.
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