Capcom announces Dead Rising 2
After a viral video showed up on youtube last week, gaming news was abuzz with debate over its legitimacy. Well debate no longer as Capcom now confirms that the dead will rise again with Dead Rising 2, promising more details to come soon. The new installment will be helmed by several of the first staff with production being handled by Blue Castle Games. Taking up the producing reigns will be Keiji Inafune.
Check the break for more photos and details.
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iPhone (iPod Touch) apps guide
I am planning on getting an iPhone this Christmas and I have been wondering what I should get in the way of apps. So I stole (ok not really, just borrowed) my friend’s iPod Touch for a week and went crazy on getting some apps. Here is what I found out:
There are a lot of apps in the app store. Let me repeat that: There are A LOT OF APPS!!! I mean there are so many apps that I just about got lost looking around. This guide is just meant to point out a couple that I thought were really cool.
Starting off the bunch is a neat little app called Backgrounds. You do need to be connected to the Internet to use the app, but you don’t need to be online to use what the app gives you. The app is free and all it does is pull backgrounds for the iPhone and iPod Touch from Flicker. Now, I know you are saying, “but I can just do that myself.” That is true, however I found it cool that I could just open up the app and… presto… some really cool backgrounds that are constantly being updated from Flicker. You can find backgrounds much like finding apps in the app store. You can either look up the top backgrounds, search by a title, or you can look up backgrounds by category. Personally I like the space category, but that is just me.
Secondly, for anyone who wants an app that they can play with a friend, look up Touch Hockey: FS5. This app gives you the ability to play “ice” hockey with a friend on your iPhone or iPod Touch. I have played it with friends several times and it gets pretty intense. The app is free, which is nice due to the fact that it is a little hard to play on such a small screen, however it is definitely worth a download.
Tap Tap Revenge was the first app I downloaded and it is pretty fun. If you like playing guitar hero, you will probably enjoy this little app, which is really a simplified version of guitar hero. You have the ability to either play by yourself or with a friend, and you can download more songs once you have finished the preloaded ones. If you have an iPod Touch or iPhone go download this now.
If you don’t like books skip this part.
There is a plethora of on-screen books in the app store and with the books only being about $2 a pop why not. I got Pride and Prejudice (go ahead call me a pussy) and the entire works of Shakespear (which was free). I found these to be a good passtime, and gave me something to do when there was nothing else to do.
Ok, back to the games. If you like side scrolling fighters then the next app is for you. It is free which is always a plus and it is pretty fun. Space Deadbeef is a side scrolling shooter where you are flying a ship, and well blowing the living hell out of other ships. I have not gotten very far in it as it was my latest download but it is really fun, if sometimes slightly frustrating for its unforgiving difficulty.
Finally, I will talk about the game that I think is so far the best in the app store. If you liked Starcraft, Command and Conquer or even Supreme Commander, this is the game for you. It is a little game called Warfare Inc. and it cost $5, but man is it worth it. I have been playing all week and I still have not finished which means that it is a decent length. The game follows the common story line of “Ooh we found stuff that will make us rich, alien artifacts”. Things then go wrong, and you have to fix them. The controls are good enough that you are not trying to fix them, but trying to select a unit on that tiny screen is going to be hard no matter what. Despite that, Warfare Inc. gets a high rating in my book.
Well there you go, just thought I would whip that up for you guys, hope you liked it. I know there are many many good apps that I did not even mention here, but these were just a couple that I thought were really cool and did not cost a lot. I hope you guys have a good Christmas, and if you don’t have an iPod Touch or iPhone, maybe you should go get one, they are pretty cool!
Tits, ass, and a steel bikini
Well I guess I have to give my 60-second shpeel on the whole thing about Faith (that girl from Mirror’s Edge) and the images that showed up around the Internet.
Ok, here we go.
First, I have not played the game, and I do not intend to buy the game and play it. Nothing against the game, it just ain’t at the top of my list. Secondly, I really don’t see what the huge deal is. Yes I understand that the images are just enforcing some of the stereo types people have of gamers, but to me this is nothing more than just fans and their fan art. You can find art that portrays women (and men) any way you want. I don’t agree that the new images are what Faith or any women in a video game should look like, but for some people all they want is just what the images were showing: young girls, big tits, tight clothing. I have to agree with Edie from GameHounds when I say that I hope we can move past the point where all women in games are just there to show off for the guys. Gaming needs more characters like Faith that show us that everything is not just tits, ass, and a steel bikini. WoW: I am looking at you!
The New Xbox Experience
Yes it is new, and it is still Xbox so you don’t have to worry about that. What you do have to worry about though is if you will be able to use it. Lets get started.
Downloading was not bad, it took about seven minutes for it to download and then boot back up, and for a whole new interface seven minutes is not terrible by any stretch of the imagination. There was a cool little intro video that played on the first start up of the box once the new “experience” was downloaded. It was very much like a Mac OS intro. Anyway, you get in and then… you feel like you started playing the Wii. Not that this is a bad thing, I mean I like the Wii, and I like Miis but the new Xbox Avatars are almost exact copies. The only real difference is that you can pick clothing and they have a higher pixel count. Ok, let’s keep going!
My first thought… well that is neat. Yes, it is very much a new experience. If you have had an Xbox 360 and are used to its old interface this may take a little time to get used to. I spent about 10-15 minutes just looking around at the new stuff. They have simplified things down a bit and made things flow quite well. Most things are now allocated to items on a list, and really the only important ones are the fist four which are going to give you your stuff, the games shop, the video shop, and your friends.
Now this brings us to the one (and really only) complaint that I had. I like the way that you can now see which of your friends are in parties, and who’s online by if their Avatar is awake or not, but I really don’t like the way in which they ordered the new friends list. You can no longer see all of your friends at once, and you have to scroll through all your other friends if you want to see if someone at the end of your list is online. There is a way to get around this. When you hit the guide button it brings up practically the old dashboard just on a smaller scale.
The guide brings back the blades and does let you see a list of all your friends at once. Other than the problem with the friends list everything is pretty cool. I don’t have Netflix so I did not get to try the new video features, but with this new service I might just have to go out and get it. Many things have changed, but I think that is for the better. I like the new look and feel, and I think that most others will as well.
Oh and one last thing, if your Xbox decides to just crap out and freeze, just give it a couple minutes and it will sort itself out, you are not the only one having problems.
The New Guy
Hey guys I am the new guy here…well kind of new. I am going to be writing here when the need strikes me, and I might also…well we will see if anything comes later. Hope to get some ideas up here soon. Talk to you all later!
The Xbox 360… It calls to me
I often get labeled as a fanboy for my seemingly blind devotion to one platform or another. And to a certain extent it’s true. I love my Macs, for example, and pretty much any piece of tech with an Apple logo on it will eventually find its way into my house. I’ve also been rather rabidly devoted to Nintendo over the years, waiting in line to snap up the last three Big N consoles on launch day.
With those credentials, you probably think that I would just automatically reject the thought of owning anything made by Microsoft. But really, that’s not true at all.
The fact is that I owned an Xbox during the last generation of consoles. It was a great machine and I had more than 20 games for it at one point. I didn’t buy it at launch, mind you, it took a while for me to warm up to the idea. Like many people, it was a few particular exclusive games that finally made me take the plunge.
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Breaking News- Nintendo reveals the Nintendo DSi
Affirming recent speculation as to the release of a new iteration of it’s DS platform, Nintendo has announced the release of the Nintendo DSi. Little is know as of yet. For now we know it will be thinner, omit the GBA slot completely, and have camera and music playback functionality. I plan to keep you all posted.
[Update!]
Further clarification of the DSi’s features: It has SD compatibility and, more importantly, will be compatible with a service called “DSi shop” which will allow users to purchase and download content over WiFi connection using Nintendo points. It will also provide a free browser application.
Enjoy more photos after the jump…
Mega Man 9 embraces its dark past
With Capcom’s upcoming Mega Man 9 celebrating its return to roots, many fans were surprised at the lengths Capcom went to recreate that classic retro experience, even adding a sprite flicker option to enhance the experience.
In an effort to really go the extra mile, Capcom hired Gerald de Jesus from I-Am-8-Bit to make an intentionally shitty psuedo-cover for the upcoming sequel in memoriam of the original covers. Check for pictures after the break.
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Read the rest of this entry »Mirror’s Edge continues to deliver
The above video speaks for itself. Shown at Leipzig this gameplay footage reinforces the unique path this game is taking for what is essentially an FPS game. Announced in February, Mirror’s Edge has yet to be given a release date, though by the polish shown by this video and its E3 showing, a holiday season release isn’t just wishful thinking.
Details are still scarce but hopefully with DICE having a wealth of online experience with the Battlefield series, then online parkour rooftop racing isn’t out of the question. Obviously it’s too early to call, but if the gameplay lives up, Mirror’s Edge could be just as satisfying a gaming experience as Portal was, mixing FPS, puzzle and action genres into a unique experience. Fingers crossed.
Mirror’s Edge E3 showing embedded after the jump.
PSP 3000 unveiled…..who really cares?
Seeing as it worked so well a year ago to boost sales, Sony has again decided to realease an updated PSP for the fall season. Staying mostly true to the PSP 2000 (Slim), the PSP 3000 adds a new PS Button, a new anti-reflective LCD screen and an internal microphone. Whoop-de-doo I’m sold!
The new(ish) handheld is still rockin a UMD drive, so overall this PSP update is a minor one. So it begs the question, who is going to buy this? For sure the Sony Defense Force will be all over this one, and even a fair amount of people still with a PSP 1000 may pick one up. Sony seems to be banking on the dispensible income of those who bought the PSP 2000, who will be willing to shell out another $200 for 2 new buttons and a newer screen?!
