Rumor: Will We See A New Side Side Of Kane And Lynch?

According to a tip placed into Kotaku, a level in Kane and Lynch 2: Dog Days might be rather revealing for the two main characters. Minor game spoilers ahead:

According to a potentially spoiler-filled e-mail--yes, spoiler alert in effect!--from a regularly reliable tipster, Messrs. Kane and Lynch will be on the run entirely in the buff for one of the game's levels. That's for the whole level, supposedly. How does this happen? According to our tipster "they wind up naked because in the previous level they get ambushed and are about to get sodomized." Oh, my.

Ah yes, the ubiquitous "running around naked after an attempted rape" level. Almost as popular as fire or ice stages. Kotaku labels the tipster as reliable, and I just can't see why anyone would make this up, even in their slashiest dreams. It also seems to gel with the mysterious promo video that showed up last week. No word on whether they'll blur out the goods or if we'll be getting the Lost and Damned experience, but I'm sure fans of mullets and/or scars are crossing your fingers already.

Rumor: Kane and Lynch 2 has a very NSFW level [Kotaku]

Casual Gamers Scammed By Web Game Apps

Yesterday when I logged onto my Facebook account I noticed yet another invitation to Farmville: The Farming Game! I let out a winded sigh and proceeded to delete the invitation. When I first signed up for Facebook, I quickly began to notice the incessant flow of ads for games and applications. Now, I can understand the practicality behind use of a localized arena to reconnect with old friends and the obvious networking factors but Facebook for gaming? Something seemed fishy to me and it sure wasn't the picture with you and your friends wearing sushi rollers as nipple clamps this past Halloween. After some more research I discovered some of the more delicate facts about this "free" addictive gaming craze and what it is doing to empty your wallets with out you even realizing it.

At a glance the major games are flowing from the hands of Zynga (Farmville) , Playfish (Pet Society), and Playdom (Mobsters). The games pull you in with their free game play offers and social networking (who wouldn't want to start a multi-million dollar crime syndicate with their friends?!). The majority of these games are well designed with a variety of classes and jobs all worked into an item based economic info structure that rewards you with in game cash incentives. At first this seems harmless enough until you realize that progress, dictated by leveling up is hindered by the amount of time not playing the game and certain items are only made available by using your real world credit card or mobile phone. Far be it for me to condemn a company for developing a brilliant way to make money. If the product is satisfying, (as several of my friends will evangelize to no end) and people are willing to pay money for said product then I applaud you. But here is the fishy part. For those squeamish about parting with their hard earned cash they can opt into the broad world of lead generation surveys to bolster their in game cash flow.

Have you ever loaded a website and got bombarded by ads promising free ipods or HDTV's if you just completed a simple survey often times requesting personal information? These are lead generations. Lead Gens are used by ad companies to generate sales potential based on local demographics and are used to develop cold call lists. These are responsible for much of the spam in your inbox and is a key way games like Farmville are using sneaky ways to siphon money from you. In one Farmville lead gen when you complete the survey you are told your results must be sent to you via text message and you are prompted to enter your phone number. What you are not told is that you have now officially signed up for a monthly subscription for 9.99. As you can see the ad tells nothing of a subscription fee resulting in those less Internet savvy falling prey to this heinous scheme.

I will be the first to tell you I am in favor of anything lucrative and game related. These casual game applications become a wonderful arena for the shrewd entrepreneur to step into the light, make some cash, and possibly add to our lexicon of game play sensibilities. Spore Islands is a gem (check out my review tomorrow). What I cannot condone are the shady, under handed dealings that lie, and all but steal from it's consumers while subsidizing the gambling addictions of thousands of housewives across the nation.This nastiness places mistrust in the very demographic these companies are trying to influence and would surely stifle any curiosity I might have as a web based game consumer. When push comes to shove and the product is quality (as it very clearly is in some instances) tell me what to expect up front and you will not simply have me as a sucker for the month but rather a customer for life.

Wootini's Weekly Animal Crossing Diary

Dear Diary,

Big doings in Narnia this week! It was Halloween, which was a lot of fun, but then things took a sad turn. Make the jump and I'll explain it all...

The Game Boy Is Awesome
(But We Knew That Already...)

For its innovation in taking videogaming on the road, Nintendo's Game Boy has now been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. I mean, there had been some handheld gaming devices, but the Game Boy really took it to a whole new level. And it continued to expand and basically take over. I'm pretty sure that we've all owned at least one iteration of the device, whether you were playing it in black and white (well, green, really), or color.

The National Toy Hall of Fame at Strong National Museum of Play recognizes toys that have reached a certain level of renown, so the Game Boy was inducted alongside the ball and Big Wheel, and joins such memorable products as the Atari 2600, Barbie, Candy Land, Easy-Bake Oven, Silly Putty and the Teddy Bear, among others.

A well-deserved honor for the Game Boy, which will now go down in history as the most iconic handheld gaming system ever. (Too bad they had such a jank Mario at the induction ceremony!)

Video: New Spirit Tracks Trailer (Also Zelda's A Ghost)

Just in case you weren't already excited for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks, Nintendo's marketing department is ready to release a calculated delayed tidbit of information just for you, exactly one month before the game's release: The game's sidekick is Zelda, and she's kind of dead! Interestingly, when I played an earlier build of the game, places where Zelda's ghostly apparitions 'should' have appeared (as indicated by this trailer) were 'edited out' and replaced with slightly different animations. I had mentioned in my preview that you're sidekick's dialog has more of a "laid back and modern" tone of voice rather than a "stoic and reserved" tone. That dialog must've actually belonged to Princess Zelda whose personality in this game seems more similar to her spunky Wind Waker personality than her uptight Twilight Princess personality.

If you watch the trailer it pretty clearly spells out Zelda's transformation from Princess to ghost Princess to giant suit of armor. It seems pretty similar to Full Metal Alchemist's Alphonse's situation. Actually now that I think about it, Gonzo also looks pretty similar to a State Alchemist in this trailer. Observant players will remember Gonzo from Tetra's pirate crew and from a painting in Hyrule Castle of Princess Zelda's care takers, implying that Gonzo (and the rest of the pirates) are repeatedly reincarnated as guardians of Princess Zelda, which is a role he seems to be playing in this scene too. You'll also see an old lady who looks similar to Impaz in some kind of wheelchair and she's apparently suggests that Zelda accompany Link on his journey.

The trailer also shows an evil train that looks remarkably like a hybrid of Ganondorf and Thomas the Tank Engine, which may be the primary antagonist of the game. You'll also see the train tracks magically vanish causing Link's train to skid off road. This makes sense, considering that you're allowed to lay your own tracks later in the game.

There are also scenes of the Zelda-controlled Phantom in action. You see the Phantom shriek like a '60s sitcom actress at the sight of a mouse and falling limp to the ground when Zelda's spirit pops out to talk to Link. Having Zelda as both a playable character and a speaking sidekick for an entire game will probably bring a lot to her character. The imagery of her flying alongside the train is also pretty cool. Now I'me even more excited for this game! Are you excited?

Next ShinMegaTen DS Game Gets Western Confirmation, Release Date

While its existence is old news, the latest game in the Shin Megami Tensei series, featuring a sci-fi setting and a return to form by going back to direct negotiation, coercion, and bribery to convince a host of demons to your side, will now definitely be seeing Western shores and bringing happy smiles and determined grimaces to English-speaking gamers.

For those RPG fans unfamiliar with the concept, the SMT series started on the SNES and has kept a familiar theme throughout. Seemingly ordinary (but customizable!) protagonists often find themselves in the midst of a crisis with but one tool to help their survival: the ability to summon, control, or negotiate with myriad demons and folk creatures, often with their own personalities and motivations, who are infinitely collectible with the bonus of being able to be combined to form a new, upgraded demons. Think Pokémon, but with 100% more sacrilege, interesting battle systems, and around half a dozen endings per game.

The latest offering by Atlus, Shin Megami Tensei: Strange Journey, has already been pretty thoroughly examined here, but it's only recently that we've gotten a solid promise to see the game in English, possibly because of how well other recent games sold. SMT: Strange Journey will let Western gamers start making first contact with the demonic dimension on March 10th of next year.

Weekend Deal: Mass Effect For Ten Bucks!

Not ready to dig into Dragon Age this weekend but still in the mood to play a Bioware game? You're in luck! The folks over at Steam often have great games at discounts on weekends. This week it's Mass Effect, last year's amazing space RPG starring Commander Shepard. The price? Ten Dollars, at least for the weekend. Normally it would cost you twice that to purchase this gem. So if you haven't had a chance to play Mass Effect yet, consider this the perfect time to get it. (or gift it to a friend)

Mass Effect 50% Off [Steam]

Video: L4D2 Iteration (More News Besides)

The above video is an interview with Dario Casali of the L4D2 team, talking about the iteration of level design and how it has progressed from the first game. While so far it is nothing like this entry from L4D (perhaps my favorite developer blog entry of 2008), it gets more behind the design process and theory of how to maneuver both the director AI and players--particularly how to do so beyond what was done in the first game.

Of particular interest is how different maps scale better to different modes of play, such as versus. The idea of mazes and larger maps to navigate, so that the director AI has more with which to work, sounds like it could either be overkill or make for a more tense experience (knowing Valve, I'd expect the latter).

Also of note, via Kotaku, is that Left 4 Dead 2 preorders four times the first. It's not really a surprise when one considers how strong the first game was, and how it was an untested IP, but this was said anyway:

"As we get closer to launch we see the reaction to the demo, pre-orders are four times what Left 4 Dead 1 was, people's excitement, the boycott itself and how it's changed... I think people are just excited now," he said.

Count me among the excited; though a large part of that is the ability to play Rochelle, as there aren't too many black female protagonists in games as yet.

More videos, covering Realism, Scavenge, and Survival mode are available at the G4TV blog.

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.

The Wheel Of Fate Is Turning: BlazBlue Coming To PSP

Were you one of those people that wanted to give BlazBlue a try earlier this year, but then remembered you don't have a PS3 or 360? Maybe you're the type that just couldn't get enough of the fighting action? Either way, Arc System Works is hoping to solve both of these issues with the release of BlazBlue Portable for the PlayStation Portable.

According to a scan from Famitsu and delivered to us by Siliconera, the PSP version of the over the top fighter will be available on February 25th next year with a UMD and PSN release. Players will be able to throw portable punches at each other with ad-hoc multiplayer and will include a new "Legion mode," which will have folks fight their way across a branching map. The best part of all is the fact that they'll be squeezing all twelve playable characters found in the original into this tiny brawler. Hopefully Arksys Games, the console version's original publisher in North America, will be encouraged by its fervent fan following and bring this over here.

[Arc System Works Bringing BlazBlue To PSP (Update)] Siliconera

Weekly Xbox Indies - 11/06/09

Hey all you closet indie fans, why not come out and show your indie pride? Check out the new Xbox Indies app on Facebook and show off your favorite indie games to friends. It's a great way to show indie game support, as well as get back at your friends for clogging up your news feed with pointless personality quizzes.

Yay

• Squid Yes! Not So Octopus! - 80 MS points. In my mind, the name alone makes the game well worth a look, but there's actually a very solid shooter here. Unlike the modern trend with shooters, SYNSO! does not use a dual stick control scheme. Instead you fire in whichever direction you are facing, making for a feel that is both familiar and refreshing at once, and just all around fun. There are also a ton of options in the game, ranging from difficulty level changes to how psychedelic the graphics will be. SYNSO! has actually been around for quite a while on PC, for free I might add, so you might also want to check it out (and it's sequel SYNSO!: Squid Harder).
• Antigrav Racing Championship - 400 MS points. Do you wish that the Xbox 360 had a futuristic racing game like F-Zero and Wipeout? Well now it does thanks to Antigrav Racing Championship which boasts 8 vehicles to choose from on 20 well-designed tracks. Anyone looking for their futuristic speed junkie fix need look no further.
• Space Milkman - 240 MS points. Space Milkman is a platformer with cute graphics and a nice selection of power-up abilities. Unlike other platformers, you can't just jump on an enemy's head. Instead you need to whip enemies in front of you, or use a move where you jump and slide into the enemies. This jump and slide move also becomes integral to navigating the levels since it is the only way to fit into smaller passage ways. The jumping physics felt just a little off to me, but it never caused a death in-game, and overall the game is just so fun that I can't not recommend it.
• Mirror - 80 MS points. Mirror is a unique puzzle game. Each level gives you a line that acts as a mirror, and you are challenged to predict where objects will appear when reflected on the other side of the mirror line. It's a simple and surprisingly fun concept that I highly recommend for people to go out and give a try.

Playstation Network Update 11/06/2009

Updates

• Mercury Bundle 2 Sale - Includes Archer Maclean's Mercury and Mercury Meltdown (now $9.99)


• This is Shane Bettenhausen from Ignition Entertainment with a quick heads-up about a killer PlayStation Store promotion that kicks off today. For a limited time, you'll be able to snag two great PSP games-the classic Archer Maclean's Mercury and its supercharged sequel, Mercury Meltdown--for the shockingly low total of only $9.99. Check out this video!


• TV Show King Price Drop (now $6.99)


• X-Men Origins: Wolverine Weapon X Arena Pack Price Drop (now $4.99)

Downloadable Games

• Military Madness: Nectaris ($9.99)
  The Military is back for a new generation of recruits! The classic turn-based strategy series Military Madness, a.k.a. Nectaris, is exploding onto PlayStation Network. With an all-new graphical barrage, an all-new commander unit, online team and vs. multiplayer, and a platoon of other new features, this is the maddest game in the series yet!


• Numblast ($4.99)


• Prepare yourself for a number puzzle game that's easy to play, totally addictive and laced with dreamlike, surreal undertones: are you ready for Numblast™?


• Ben 10 Alien Force ($19.99)


• Ben 10: Protector of Earth ($14.99)


• Crimson Room: Reverse ($7.99)


• Class of Heroes ($39.99)


• Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground ($14.99)


• Creature Defense ($7.99)


• Numblast PSP ($4.99)


• Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron PSP ($29.99)


• Star Wars Clone Wars: Republic Heroes ($29.99)


• Dissidia Final Fantasy ($39.99)


• Ghostbusters The Video Game PSP ($29.99)

PSone Classics: PS3/PSP

• Gex($5.99)
  Gex, the lovable couch-potato lizard, has been sucked into the wild worlds of the media dimensions! Help him escape in this classic side-scroller from Crystal Dynamics.
  

Game Demos (free)

• Trine Demo
  Download the Trine demo which contains the first two levels. You can play in solo or with friends in co-operation. Adventure, Action and Contemplation await you in the world of Trine. Lots of traps and an army of skeletons are waiting for you!
  

• Military Madness: Nectaris Demo


• The Military is back for a new generation of recruits! The classic turn-based strategy series Military Madness, a.k.a. Nectaris, is exploding onto PlayStation Network. This demo features four single-player campaign maps and local multiplayer for 2 people on one 2-player-specific multiplayer map. The full game also showcases online team and vs. multiplayer and a platoon of other new features, making this the maddest game in the series yet!


• MotorStorm Arctic Edge Demo (free)