Heroes' Paradise Hi-Res Screenshots

As VorpalBunny let us know last week, they announced that they are making ports of the original No More Heroes game for both the PS3 and Xbox 360. They also announced that the game will be shipping in Japan on Feb. 25th; however, they still have yet to say when it'll be available for the rest of the world.

In the meantime, they've already launched the Japanese website for the new ports, now know as No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise. On the site you can see a number of hi-res screen shots from the game that show a glimpse of what fans will be getting on the higher resolution ports of the game. I decided to include a small gallery below to let you truly behold some of the video eye candy that will be cranked out for fans. At the same time, they've still kept the lovely 8-bit graphical interface that was part of the charm of the original title, so no worries about the developers selling out their souls to look pretty.

Danish Anti-Domestic Violence Awareness Gone Awry

Well, leave it up to the Danish to stir up controversy when it comes to facing issues head. This time it doesn't come in the form of satirical comic strips featuring a famous religious figure, but in the form of a flash game that tries to teach about the brutality of domestic violence. The game, called Hit the B*tch, basically sets a woman in from of the player and allows the player to use the mouse to slap the woman. The game rates your slaps from '100% pussy' to '100% gansta', and with each hit the bruises and marks on the woman's face increase in severity. When the player finally knocks the woman to the ground with a blow the screen displays "100% IDIOT!" and shows the woman sobbing on the floor while mournful music plays and a message appears in Danish in the background.

I have to admit, without knowing what the message is at the end it slightly ruins the overall experience, but the flash game itself has many questioning if it really helps in reaching a anti-violence goal. There's always a thin line between a game that'll make the violence seem disconnected from real actions and actually getting the message across to users. Well I definitely hope it is more of the latter, and at the very least the game has accomplished the goal of getting people to talk about the issue more. Unfortunately, due to high traffic to the game, the creators have blocked all non-danish IPs from accessing the game, so unless you live there, you really can't see the game for yourself just yet.

All I can say is that it's a lot better than the gay-hunting flash from the summer, and actually trying to get a good message across.

Anti-Violence Flash Game Lets Users Beat Woman [GamePolitics]

Video: Star Trek Online Space Battle

Well, a picture is worth a thousand words, so I'm banking on the fact that this footage of actual Star Trek Online space battles is worth well over a mint. That's right, the folks over at Cryptic Studios finally decided to release some battle footage from their upcoming MMO, Star Trek Online, which they picked up last year from their fallen brethren, Perpetual Entertainment. I have to admit, with both this MMO and the Old Republic MMO looming on the horizon, I'm one happy Sci-Fi camper.

In the video, the designers reveal that there are basically three different types of starships that you can pilot in the game, each better suited for a different role: tank, damage dealer, or support; however, there are many ways on top of the basic structure of the ship that you can further customize each ship, such as weapons, deflector dish, impulse engines, consoles, and even your bridge officers. Apparently your bridge officers act like your abilities and powers during combat, and all the other aspects let you tweak and configure your ship to behave in a variety of ways.

After looking at the combat in action, I have to say that this definitely blows the pants off anything we've seen before in online space combat (though as far as MMOs go, we really only have EVE Online to look at). Hopefully the upgrade and leveling system used in the game will add further to the combat system that they are displaying boldly here. Eager fans of the game can hopefully start beaming themselves into the Star Trek Online universe next Groundhog's Day, Feb 2nd, 2010.

Video: Mass Effect 2 Vanguard Gameplay

While Mass Effect 2 may have the unfortunate malady of not coming out until AFTER Christmas, that doesn't mean that we aren't still wetting our pants to see what the sequel will be bringing to fans everywhere. Last week Game-boy brought you some of info on the game through interviews done by the Retronauts, this week we're getting some videos straight from the mother's teat.

One of the big areas in which the first game shined was the array of different combat techniques that your party could use. In the video above, Bioware shows us some of the moves that the Vanguard player class brings to the table. I have to admit that the variety of weaponry available to use in the class is pretty sweet, but the part that looks the best is the focused dash that your character can do quickly from his current position into a targeted character, instantly bridging the gap between you and your foe, plus stunning them for a short time once you get there. Check out the full video for some awesome gameplay battle moments.

I've linked another video after the jump that shows that Bioware is just as committed as ever to bringing fantastic characters and personalities to life, which can be seen in a dialogue sequence Shepard has with an alien doctor the team encounters; poor guy almost sounds as cold and analytical as me when stressed out. PC and Xbox 360 players can expect to see Mass Effect 2 out around Jan. 26th, 2010, but we'll be be bringing you plenty of news on the game between now and then.

Full Sgt. Pepper's For Rock Band

A few weeks ago Harmonix let us all take a walk across Abbey Road with downloadable content that gave anyone with Beatles: Rock Band the ability to play all the songs on the infamous Beatle's album. Well next week they'll be doing it again when we all get to become members of Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band.

On Nov. 17th, Harmonix will be putting up for download the rest of the songs from Sgt. Pepper's that are currently not in Beattles: Rock Band. The songs that were included in the game are: "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band," "With A Little Help From My Friends," "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," "Getting Better," and "Good Morning Good Morning"; all fantastic songs and a good pick of the litter; however, next Tuesday everyone will be able to get these tracks:

• Fixing A Hole
• She's Leaving Home
• "Being For The Benefit of Mr. Kite!
• Within You Without You
• When I'm Sixty-Four
• Lovely Rita
• Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)
• A Day In The Life

As those of you that are Beatles fanatics (or are just good at math) will note with those extra eight songs that'll be all 13 songs from the two-disc album that was released way back in 1967. The individual songs can be bought on the 360/PS3/Wii for the normal 160pts./$1.99/200Wiipts. price or all eight new songs can be purchased together as a pack on the 360/PS3 for 1080pts./$13.49. Harmonix also reminded us that next month we'll be going back in time a little bit further and getting our hands on all the songs from the Rubber Soul album. Rock on!

Video: Saboteur Escalation Gameplay

With the launch of the action, espionage, and Nazi-filled game, Saboteur, coming out in less than a month (Dec. 8th to be exact) on PC, PS3, and 360, looks like the developers are starting to release a bucket load of gameplay trailers to help whet our appetites and open up our preorder-making wallets.

First up we got one of the developers showing us how the escalation system works in the game. Basically the more that our hero is seen doing his job of destroying Nazi targets and bases, the more resistance he is met with. While this is pretty standard fare for espionage games, the way in which the opposition ramps up is quite impressive and has come a long way from the waves and waves of enemies that would spawn in droves in the old Golden Eye game if you were seen. After the jump, we also got another two videos with one of the developers going through a lot of the normal gameplay mechanics you get to use in the game, which is a really great starting point for anyone wanting to see what differentiates this game from your other games out there.

On top of all of this, they also released a little teaser trailer that shows what you'll get for pre-ordering the game. Turns out you'll get an exclusive Nazi-knife, stolen right out of the pockets of one of your enemies, which will make using it to quietly slice their throats that much more enjoyable. Be sure to looks for Saboteur on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC on December 8th, and we'll be sure to let you know any more goodies coming with the game in the meantime.

Halo Legends Anime Release Date

Well it looks like the anime Halo project we told you about a few months back, Halo Legends, final has a set DVD/Bluray release date for Feb. 9th of next year. The project itself tells seven stories from the Halo universe over eight different episodes, and as Wootini explained previously, they got some of the best anime studios working on the project such as Bones (Cowboy Bebop: The Movie, Fullmetal Alchemist), Casio Entertainment, Production I.G. (Ghost in the Shell, Blood: The Last Vampire), Studio4*C (The Animatrix, Batman: Gotham Knight), and Toei Animation (Dragon Ball, Sailor Moon, etc).

The project is going to be released in three different ways. There will be the 1-disc DVD version clocking in at $19.98, a 2-disc DVD version that has a few extra features and behind-the-scenes footage for $29.98, and a Bluray version that will have everything the 2-disc has plus a complete overview of the of the Halo universe, all for the price tag of $34.99. Here's a more detailed list of what you can get by buying the bigger sets:

"Halo Legends - 2 Disc Special Edition" version will have several hours of incredible bonus features, including:

• "The Making of Halo Legends" - An introduction to Halo Legends followed by a making-of segment for each episode.
• "Halo: Gaming Evolved" - Explaining the Halo phenomenon from its inception as an Xbox video game to a present day entertainment franchise.
• Audio Commentary with directors Frank O'Connor and Joseph Chou.
• Widescreen (1.78:1)

"Halo Legends Blu-Ray" versions will be loaded with bonus materials, including all the great extras from the 2-disc Special Edition as well as "Halo: The Story so Far," an overview of the Halo universe up until the end of Halo 3.

Overall, I have to say I'm pretty excited about this anime project, and I'm not even a big fan of the Halo universe. These studios just always seem to flesh out some interesting back stories in these projects, much like they did with the Dark Knight one, and the Animatrix. Plus I guess I'm a big sucker for good anime. So keep your eyes open for this DVD/Bluray on Feb. 9th.

LEGO Mario Stands Tall, Helps Families

That, my friend, is the world's largest Mario built of LEGOs clocking in at just under 5' 9" (180 cm) and made from over 40,000 Lego bricks, which luckily makes him only weigh 110 lbs. (and I know plenty of 6' guys of that proportion that only wished they weighed a buck ten). Apparently he was built for the LEGO World Fair this year to showcase there, well that and it was a promontional stunt for the upcoming New Super Mario Bros. Wii game due out later this year.

The really cool part is that after the fair, they actually put this little guy up for auction on eBay. Turns out it was a charity auction with the proceeds going to help the Ronald McDonald House charity, which helps provide housing to families of children that need specialized medical treatment far from their homes. In the end, this life-sized Mario ended up raking in 3,500 EUR which is over 5,000 US dollars. That sure is a lot of coins that Mario is helping bring in, and definitely more than enough for a few extra lives.

World's Largest LEGO Mario Up On eBay [Geekologie]

Deal: League Of Legends Pre-Season

Well, sometimes the best of games sneak into to get you late at night, like Michael Meyers in Halloween: creep in silently but you know they've made a mark once the movie is over. Well last week a game that I covered both at E3 and PAX finally went public for all to play, and the best part it's FREE. That game, my friends, is League of Legends.

League of Legends is what they are classifying as a Multiplayer Online Battle Arena (MOBA for short) that comes from the creative minds that worked on the precusor to most MOBAs, the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III. Each player in the game gets to choose a champion hero that they summon to the battlefield to play alongside other player's champions against 3-5 live opponents. The dynamic strategy and play style that comes from varied human controlled opponents truly does make this game a battle arena that forces you to rethink your strategy each time you play.

Since the last time I wrote about the game, they've actually added almost 10 more champions to the roster, added in a tutorial section for new players, reworked the user interface both in-game and for the PVP.net system, and added a whole other map to the lineup. They've really been pulling out all the stops to add more content to the game before it launched, and it really shows. They also promise to continue to add more champions, maps, and items to th game as the seasons progress, and all for a very reasonable price.

Best part about all of this is that the game launched last week, and all for that lovely price I talked about of FREE. As part of the launch celebration, too, everyone that signs up and downloads the client can play any of the 30+ champions for free until Nov. 19th when the store is set to open, and will be earning Influence Points (IP) and EXP for playing matched games. This means you can play for free with any hero to see how the game plays and give you a leg up on in-game currency (IP) during this pre-season.

I've been playing the game for the past two months in beta, and am still playing it now that it's live, and it really quick and dirty fun. Matches last 20-40 minutes (sometimes longer depending on the match up) and the matchmaking system is actually fairly robust. There is a bit of grind to the leveling system, and currently the rune system is unavailable since the game's store to purchase runes/boosts/champions won't be open until the season starts on the 19th, but there are plenty of rewards to keep you excited while leveling up. I will admit that I can't fully guage how the end-game of LoL will play out without the pricing model of the store setup, but you'll be sure to hear all about it from me once we get more firm information on how much champions cost to unlock, what custom skins are available, and how the rune system works.

Well enough of my gushing about it, if you got some free time and an alright graphics card in your PC, download the game and see for yourself. Won't cost you any money, and I promise you'll have a good time.

League of Legends Download

Project Sackway: Birthday Edition

Well it looks like Tiny Dancer isn't the only one with a birthday recently. Some of you might remember that a year ago you went out and set down a nice chunk of change to adopt a lovable little Sackboy and let him make his way into your heart, even if you did change what he looked like 100 times in the process of learning to love him (not to mention all the fiery deaths those boys died to).

That's right, LittleBigPlanet has turned one year old, and Media Molecule is celebrating the best way they know how, by giving you free sackboy costumes to dress up your own sackboy for this momentous occasion. The first costume is one that proves that it is a piece of cake to bake a pretty Sackboy. That's right, in true birthday tradition, one of the costumes is that of a piece of pink frosted cake with a single candle on the head. The other outfit is the one that has a number of people excited, since it has been unavailable at the store for over a year now. That's right, spaceboy is making a comeback for one week only, which means that you can make your sackboy don this fantastic spacesuit anytime you wish.

The best part about this birthday celebration? These two outfits come at the lovely birthday price of "Free". So on Thursday, Nov. 5th, make sure to hop onto the LittleBigPlanet Store to get your two free costumes, and we'll keep our eyes peeled for the other upcoming specials coming from Media Molecule in the next couple of weeks.

Happy Birthday LittleBigPlanet! [Media Molecule]

Milla Shows Us How To Be A Badass Mommy

Milla Jovovich, everyone's favorite kickass heroine of the Resident Evil movie series and the perfect being from Fifth Element is also a loving mother with a 2 year-old girl named Ever. While working on the movie The Fourth Kind, Parade magazine decided to ask Milla some questions on her movies, her child, and her influence.

Some questions included asking why her Resident Evil movies do so well in Japan, and a movie (.45) that never made it to the big screen but with which Milla really conected; however, the most interesting question of the lot was Milla's advice to how parents should deal with their children seeing violence and sex in the media:

"I think parents need to take a lot more responsibility than they do about whether it's OK for their children to go to Resident Evil or any other movie with violence or sex or whatever. It's really easy to blame Hollywood for violence having an effect on kids, but movies would have no power if parents would just set their own standards. And it's the same with video games."

What a novel idea, parents actually taking an interest in what their children see and play. A good portion of what children interact with can be effected by talking to them about the standards you want in your house. Then again, all of that actually involves "parenting" your children, and I think sometimes it's just easier to let the videogames and the TV play the babysitter. In the end, I'm just glad she has what seems like a level head on her shoulders, maybe that's why all the zombies want it.

Milla Jovovich: 'It's Really Easy to Blame Hollywood For Violence' [Parade]

Jedi Knights Make Their Old Republic Debut

While we all knew it was coming soon or later, the highly anticipated MMO coming from Bioware, Star Wars: The Old Republic, announced the Jedi Knight as one of the Republic's playable classes. This announcement alone will probably draw many people towards the game that want to wield lightsabers and use the force to vanquish foes. This also marks The Old Republic MMO as being very different from the Galaxies one of years pass, since you don't have a long list of feats to do to become a Jedi (well before they completely overhauled the class system), but I think most fans already realized this MMO incarnation of the Star Wars universe is not aiming to be like the last.

So over on the game's site, they have a number of goodies up now about the Jedi Knight, from a quick background of the Jedi's role in the Republic's battle, to info on how the Jedi's can be outfitted, to some videos of common combat tactics. It's fun to watch the Jedi Knight use his lightsaber to ward off incoming blaster fire and use the force push on enemies, but the lightsaber boomerang has to be the coolest feature yet. Overall it looks like the classes that Bioware is adding to the game are going to be exciting, with the Jedi being the icing on the cake. I leave you with the dream of what the Jedi Knight can bring:

For many, the Jedi Knight is the guardian of a precious dream; a dream of peace, a dream of justice, a dream of a brighter future. The fate of the galaxy depends upon the Knight's ability to keep this dream alive.