The WWE Smackdown and Smackdown vs Raw games have always had some of the most open character creation in gaming (with a host of other ever-evolving creation types). This has even expanded beyond Create-a-Superstar to things like Create a Taunt (which, oddly enough, hasn’t been around for a while), Create a Finisher, heck, even Create a Storyline. But a couple things has been missing that could really help flesh out the whole creation process. Titantron videos have always been pretty limited to what the game included, or, as in SVR 2011, a ‘highlight reel’ created by replays from a single match. With the release of WWE ’12, the next title in THQ’s WWE franchise, that seems to have changed, as intro videos seem that much more interactive (as you can see from the trailer above). As to how they got other background videos to run with it, I am not sure if that’s from stock footage they have included with the game or if you’re allowed to upload your own, but it’s still great to see more options (I’ll shoot them an email for clarification). Another requested feature, THQ has also included Create an Arena. This allows you to design things from ringside barriers, to rope color, to ring aprons, to the lighting (and probably more). A good example from the trailer is the NWO/WCW ring. This would go great with Create a PPV, with a bunch of downloaded superstars from the ’90s, trying to recreate what you might see on Raw is War and Warzone or something. Yeah, I can be nerdy like that. The game releases on November 22nd.

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Upping the Ante: WWE ’12 Creation Suite Adds Long Requested Features

Over a year after it’s release worldwide sales of Quantic Dream’s interactive drama, Heavy Rain, have reached the two million mark. Such an achievement for a unique new IP in this crowded market of shooters is noteworthy but according to studio co-founder Guillaume de Fondaumiere, Heavy Rain’s sales could actually be much higher. “We basically sold to date approximately two million units, we know from the trophy system that probably more than three million people bought this game and played it.” “On my small level it’s a million people playing my game without giving me one cent. And my calculation is, as Quantic Dream, I lost between €5 and €10 million worth of royalties because of second hand gaming.” Fondaumiere blames the state of the economy for the increase in used gaming sales as consumers look for more affordable means to buying games. He also warns that if the situation continues will “stop making games if they can’t recoup a profit”. Source. GameIndustry.biz

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Heavy Rain Sells 2 Million Copies Worldwide But Second Hand Sales Eat At Quantic Dream’s Profits

And then the light started to shine over the monolith under the gaze of the shooting start unicorn… and more and more releases started to pop out that should be added to your collection! PS3 RETAIL RELEASES You Can Buy God of War Origins Collection Right Here! You can buy NHL 12 Rigth Here! You Can Buy White Knight Chronicles II Right Here! You Can Buy Penguins of Madagascar: Dr. Blowhole Returns Again Right Here! PSN RELEASES You Can Buy Bulletstorm Right Here! minis PSOne Classics God of War Origins Collection is a great option for GoW fans that don’t own a PSP since now they’ll get to experience two very fun games in HD and with trophy support! And who doens’t enjoy some penguin lovin here and there every other month? Renegade Ops from SEGA is a game that takes me back to Jackal on the NES which will allow it to take my money this tuesday. And then we’ve got Cyberbots: Fullmetal Madness, a fighting game from CAPCOM that is part of the Japan Import line of PSOne games that, thanks to the wonders of technology, can be enjoyed by PS3 users worldwide! How much are you willing to spend this week?

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Releases for the Week (September 12th-18th)

Ugly Americans is a game based on the Comedy Central show by the same name. It’s set on a bizarre world where demons and abominations far outnumber the human population, and everything from the Apocalypse to a giant ape with OCD can happen, all in a day’s work. The game is very simple and straight forward: it’s a brawler with two-stick shooting mechanics, so as you kill man-birds (a half human, half pigeon thing), zombies, and some rocker demons, you’ll be making your way to the right side of the screen. Levels are packed with enemies and it’s not particularly difficult to get overrun by them if you’re not careful. Luckily every character has a special attack that will deal a great amount of damage to all enemies; you can do this every once in a while when the special bar is refilled. Since this game works out as a shooter, you’re better off keeping your distance from everything else on the screen, because you don’t have a melee attack (and that basically means you’re screwed if something gets to close). You have a nice selection of weapons (more like projectiles) that have different properties like exploding or piercing, so you should plan accordingly before entering a level. I wish you could carry at least two at the same time, in order to safely manage all situations. You’ll also be able to carry babies around, each provide you with different bonuses. You can play as one of the four main protagonists of the show, each one has a different special move, but play like all the others. As you kill things (this is a word you’ll see a lot in the game), you’re awarded with experience, and every so often, you’ll level up. You get one point to spend for every level, but you can only choose which attribute you want to raise after the level is done (by finishing it or dying). In this modern day of leveling, where most games allow you to raise every stat as you see fit, there’s an interesting old school feeling to this game, because every character has different caps for each attribute. This means that while one of them might have a super strong attack and lots of health, his special bar refill time and movement speed will be extremely slow. It’s a feature that works well once you find out your preferred play style. Since you’re part of the Department of Integration (something to do with all the different species living together), your missions are referred to as case files, however there are not that many. This is an extremely short game (easily finished in 2 or 3 hours) that should be played in short sessions, because it gets repetitive pretty fast. Levels aren’t particularly difficult (if you’re careful) but boss fights are a pain, it takes many tries with various strategies (alternatively you can grind a lot) in order to get past them. Every case has a hidden file that unlocks everything from more powerful weapons to videos. Graphics are the same as you’ll see on TV, but animations are inexcusably terrible. For a game based on a TV show I’d expect great cut scenes (they show up in between missions to explain the story), but I was greatly disappointed. Mouths stay closed as the characters speak and body parts move just because it’s not supposed to be a static image. The original voice actors dub the game, but I honestly had a hard time getting past the obvious lack of dedication put into the animations to really pay attention to it. On the comedy side, this is fortunately still funny at first, but the too often repeated one liners and the defecating man birds with overgrown penises get old fast. Cut scenes aren’t as funny as the original show, but they’ll suffice; reading all the information the game provides can also guarantee a laugh or two. One thing this game does very well, better than most actually, is how it handles on-line co-op. It’s so simple, all games should be like this. If you’re connected to the PSN, as soon as you start your game, it automatically looks for other players, no need to go trough various menus or anything, simple as that. However, I couldn’t find a single game to get into, but it also has local co-op, which should be just as fun (possibly more). In the end, Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon feels like a disposable game, not because it isn’t fun (it can be if you enjoy half hour sessions of gaming), but because of its poor design choices. This game could improve tremendously if only a little more effort had been put into it. I have really enjoyed the simplicity of the game, but simple does not mean the game should ignore obvious choices that would make it fifty times better and that’s the worst thing: when great potential falls too short. Review Pros Cons Simple gameplay mechanics Easy to navigate Great online co-op system Captures most of the essence of the show Overly repetitive One can only endure so much juvenile humor Lack of polish Way too easy to erase your saved file Unbalanced boss fights Rating 65%

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[Review] Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon

Commencing on Thursday 1st September at 12:00 AM (PT) there will be a daily giveaway on Warhammer 40k: Space Marine’s Facebook page until the 5th September at 11:59 PM (PT). This ‘Five Days of 40k’ promotion will include money-can’t-buy objects as well as digital content and other Space Marine collectibles. Users can enter after they ‘like’ Space Marine on Facebook. Daily prize information is available below: · Thursday 1st September – 1000 Xbox LIVE® Avatar Props On Thursday we have 500 Bomb Squigs and 500 Servo Skulls to give to 1000 lucky winners · Friday 2nd September – 10 Collector’s Editions Featuring an art book, soundtrack, Purity Seal, collector’s cards and limited edition box, this is the ultimate edition for a true Warhammer 40,000 fan · Saturday 3rd September – 500 Xbox LIVE Premium themes Decorate the background of your Xbox 360® with this theme inspired by the universe of Space Marine · Sunday 4th September – Space Marine Xbox 360 Featuring a custom design from world renowned Colorware this one of a kind console isrecolored and wrapped with game art making it the ultimate addition to your gaming set-up · Monday 5th September – Life-sized Chainsword Replica Measuring over 130cm / 51 inches this is a super limited edition ornamental replica of Captain Titus’ in-game weapon complete with Ultramarines heraldry and battle damage Open to legal residents of the fifty (50) United States and the District of Columbia, who are eighteen (18) years of age or older. There is no purchase necessary to participate, and the sweepstakes is void where prohibited. Go to www.facebook.com/spacemarine and enter daily!

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WIN BIG With Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine

After such a long journey that has taken us from here to there and everywhere in between … how will it all end? Doc went missing and was stuck in the past where he “allegedly” burned down a speakeasy, we changed things just a bit and all of a sudden the Tannen Family owns Hill Valley in the present, changed the present AGAIN by messing with the past and making it more future than present and even tried to cure a severe case of puppy love between a poodle and a vicious pitbull. Did it all work? The Hill Valley Science and Technology Exposition is the main setting available for this episode (not just any Expo…this IS the Expo of the Future!) and you’ll spend about 80% of your time going from stand to stand, marveling at all the technological wonders mere inches away from you. After all we’ve been though in this series the final episode feels a bit more streamline (which is good) and you won’t run into a real “scratch your head” problem until you’re in the second half of it and that is only if you’re going for a trophy that requires you to be very specific about the order in which you do things. Edna Strickland starts things off by accusing Marty of being an agitator, a spy, a communist and so on after she had a very interesting conversation with Mr. Carl Sagan (Future Doc this time around and not our Doc Doc as was the case back in Episode 1) the night before the Expo was set to begin. Wonder what they could have talked about and how we can find out about it so we can fix any problems they might create? You thought Edna was a crazy girl? Wait until you play THIS Episode! She’s baaaaaaaaaad news, all kinds of bonkers and a psycho. Some people can eventually change and grow up after a troubling experience but Edna just puts more gasoline into the fire and watches as the flames reach the sky! It’s no wonder how she ended up alone in the original timeline since just 5 minutes can show you how high maintenance she is and how many screws are missing from that loosely bolted in head of hers. Your main objective during the last episode is making sure that Young Emmet gets a chance to participate in the Hill Valley Science and Technology Exposition even if Edna and Future Doc are trying to end his scientific career before it gets a chance to get of the ground… literally. Emmet goes missing just as the Expo gets started and we all know that if he doesn’t get a chance to participate as a young inventor then he’ll never grow up to be an adult inventor. No inventor means no Doc. No Doc means no DeLorean time machine. No DeLorean time machine means no time travel. No time travel means… it’s time for Marty to start disappearing and cease to exist! There are several clever puzzles to solve this time around and I think that the trophies make more sense by the time we’ve hit episode 5 than they did all the way back on episode 1. Maybe it has more to do with being used to the UI and the controls than it has to do with the way the finale is presented to us? Too many variables! Michael J. Fox is part of the game this time around and provides the voice for some of the cast. You’ll know who when you run into them and if you’re a fan of the movies (which you should be) it will definitely bring a smile to your face. It’s always nice to see the original cast be part of the game based on the movie based on awesome source material.. especially when that game is actually fun and not a quick cash-in developed in 3 months with a colorful case cover! Back to the Future: The Game has been a great experience for the last couple of months that gives us several “what if” scenarios as to what could have happened had a fourth movie been developed. Episode 5 allows the series to go out with a bang and leaves the door open for a Season 2 if you guys go out and buy a season pass RIGHT NOW. Your $19.99 purchase will deliver to you 12-20 hours of fun and nostalgia all wrapped up in a digital bow that sparkles when you smile. Now let’s start preparing for Jurassic Park and Walking Dead… Review Pros Cons Nice surprise at the end for fans of the movies so stay until the credits start! Good closure to the series It’s over! Rating 91% Published by Telltale Games Developed by Telltale Games Cost – $19.99 (Full season pass) Available on PSN Want to get this game? Then you can: Buy a Season Pass for Back to The Future: The Game! Buy a $20 PSN Card! Buy a $50 PSN Card! Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was supplied by the publisher for this review. – Game was completed before writing this review. – Total amount of time played: 3 hours.

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Back to the Future Episode 5 Review

Battlefield 3 is easily one of the most anticipated games this year. It is the direct sequel to the 2005 hit, Battlefield 2, and arguably the eleventh installment in the Battlefield franchise. Developed by the Swedish company Digital Illusions CE (DICE) and published by Electronic Arts , the game will run on the new Frostbyte 2 engine. Frostbyte 2 will offer more destruction, advanced sound, and incredible graphics. A new character animation technology called ANT, used in games such FIFA, will be implemented into the gameplay. ANT will offer a more realistic player movement mechanics; for example, the ability to transition into cover, turn head before body and mount weapons on almost any surface you encounter. The battlefield series was always known for the huge multiplayer battles, allowing players to pilot a variety of vehicles and engage in team-based combat. Battlefield 3 will offer all of the previous … and more. The Campaign The Campaign: Set in the year 2014, You will take control of Sgt. Blackburn and his five-man squad on a mission to locate and return a second squad that had disappeared while investigating a possible chemical weapons site in the Iraq-Iran Boarder. The last known location of the investigation squad is a market controlled by a local militia group named People’s Liberation and Resistance (PLR). The second playable character in the campaign is Corporal Jonathan “Jono” Miller, a tank operator seen in the famous tank battle video from E3. Miller will be part of a tank assault operation on a PLR rocket battery site before advancing to what appears to be a burning city. Don’t expect much use of Vehicles during the campaign though, as they will be limited. In a pre GDC 2011 interview for GamesOnNet, DICE general manager Karl Troedsson mentioned that the campaign will be within the 12-hour figure. A lot of people don’t want to jump straight into multiplayer. They want to feel around a bit and they’re ready to move over to online. We’ve also learned why you can’t shoot civilians in Battlefield 3. In an interview with RockPaperShotgun.com , Battlefield 3′s executive producer Patrick Bach talked about the level of authenticity in the game, and he mentioned that players won’t be able to shoot civilians accidentally or intentionally. Co-Op Co-op Mode: A co-op debut demo with the mission “Exfiltration”, a mission with the task of snatching an informant and escorting him out of the city, was shown in Gamescom 2011. As far as we know, the mode will consist of ten maps with Six missions available at launch. The missions will have different difficulty levels and achievements and Each map should take between 20 and 50 minutes depending on the difficulty. Players will be able to revive their downed partner, and downed players will still be able to defend themselves with the secondary weapon and possibly crawling to cover. It is worth mentioning that the driven co-op missions will benefit your multiplayer career, as there are a number of weapons that you can unlock in co-op and take with you to the multiplayer mode. In an interview with Gaminglives.com , DICE GM Karl Magnus confirmed that co-op won’t support split screen play, however DICE noted that their new “FREE” Battlelog network will be connected to co-op matches and will allow players to check their friends score and track their performance. Multiplayer Multiplayer mode: The console version will feature 24 players battles with Four classes available to choose from: Assault, Support, Engineer and Recon. The assault class will be able to equip defibrillators and medkits. The engineer class ‘ primary role is to engage tanks and armored vehicles with an array of rocket launchers or anti tank mines (and to repair team vehicles). The recon class will be able to install a radio beacon anywhere on the map for other players to spawn on and call in artillery strikes, and, finally, the support class will provide heavy fire from a Light Machine gun and resupply teammates with ammunition. Several BF2 maps will return with “Back to Karkand” DLC (Available for free upon pre-order). The maps are: Strike at Karkand, Gulf of Oman, Wake Island, and Sharqi Peninsula. As for the game modes, we can confirm Conquest, Conquest 64 (PC only), Rush, Squad Deathmatch, Squad Rush and the new/old mode to the series, Team Deathmatch. Battlefield 3 will offer more weapons and customization than Bad Company 2. For a full list of the weapons and vehicles available in Battlefield 3, refer to this post , but note that unlocking some of the weapons will depend on your rank progression throughout the multiplayer mode, as you won’t unlock all weapons before reaching med-rank, which was the case in Bad Company 2. Killcam will be available in Battlefield 3 and you will be able to turn it on and off, depending on the server settings. The Beta The Beta: The open beta is scheduled to start this month on all platforms. 48 hour early access will be granted to those who bought Medal of Honor: Limited Edition or Tier 1 edition. The exact date of the beta will also be announced this month. For more info and common questions regarding Battlefield 3 beta, check out this link . The game is set to be released on October 25, 2011. For more information on the pre-order exclusives check out our other post .

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Battlefield 3 [What We Know So Far]

The world needs saving… again. But this time, it needs protection from an alien invasion right in the middle of a zombie outbreak, in a fantasy land somewhere in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with World War II also involved somehow! And there’s just one hero who can save us all. Unfortunately, he has something better to do, so it’s all up to you now! Become one tough action hero, choose your favorite weapon and get ready for a thrill ride bursting with action – Race through all the levels. Kill everything and anything. * 5 worlds you have definitely seen before in other games! * Story mode, challenges, free run mode and over 30 awards to unlock! * Great graphics and a pumping soundtrack. * Tongue-in-cheek story and humor. We’ve already talked about this game before and we even provided you with the announcement trailer for it so be sure to check that out and come back to the review. Glad to see you value your life and are back with us now. Gaming cliches seem to be the thing that will finally end civilization as we know it: “An alien invasion right in the middle of a zombie outbreak in a fantasy kingdom, somewhere in a post-apocalyptic wasteland, with World War II also involved somehow”. That’s how the bad, bad boss man wants to kill all the gamers in the world and it’s why we must stop him at all cost! The main menu has several game modes available for you which are “detailed” below: Story Mode (with Story): This tale is told as it it was established in the prophecy oh so many years ago – by non-animated scenes where several lines of dialogue are exchanged between those involved in the game’s story. Watch them interact in five different environments and collect all of the gaming cliches placed here and there and there and here and everywhere! Free Run (without Story): Here is where all the challenges come into play. Once you’ve completed the game what is left to do? You can challenge your skills with the Challenges that challenge you to challenge-ly challenge specific situations placed before you. Challenge. When trying to complete them you should always select the gold requirement as it does stack and you’ll get recognized for the other two as well. Saves you time in the end! Hall of Fame: This space right here is sorta like the trophies we’ve gotten used to from PS3 releases. There’s even one extra special one for getting all the others, just like a platinum! You’re running non-stop and can’t stop at all (hence why I just said you’re running non-stop) and you’ve got only two commands to use: pressing any direction on the D-Pad or the L button makes you jump. The longer you hold it the longer you jump. On the other hand, Square, Triangle, Circle, X or R buttons make you shoot (yes, any one of them). Two buttons makes this sound like a very simple game and while that is somewhat true there is more to the game than running and jumping and shooting. Well, not much really… but that is great news! To bring some stategy to the table (to go along with the ham and the salad), you’ve got several pickups at your disposal: Weapon power ups (being hit by and enemy or hitting an obstacle will reset things back to your main single firing pistol): Machine Gun = Better than your regular gun but that’s about all that can be said. Rocket Launcher = Too slow to be of any real use. Does pack a punch and can kill a group of enemies with one shot but that’s a rare scenario. Shotgun = Avoid at all cost! Too slow to shoot, to small a burst. Laser = Shoot one laser that can kill all enemies in it’s path, even those that are behind obstacles! Flamethrower = NEVER LET GO OF THIS WEAPON! Constant shooting over a long and wide area that can obliterate any enemy on it’s path. Do look out for friendly units as once you let go of any of the “shoot” buttons it still takes a second for the fire to go away. BFG = Rare weapon that destroy everything on screen. Not as great as it sounds as it takes a while before you can shoot again. Other non-weapon pickups are as follows: Health pick ups Your Hit Points are represented by big red hearts on the upper right corner of the screen so getting this will give you back one of those if you’ve lost it for some reason. Score pickups: The higher your multiplier, the higher the number of points awarded for it so you better keep that chain going. Green and Red Arrow pickups: First one increases your overall speed and the second one slows you down. Sometimes they’re placed in spots where you NEED them to make a jump and sometimes they’re there just to throw you off and make you wonder if they will make you not be fast enough/be running way fast as to make the next perfectly timed jump. Jet Pack pick up: Hold any jump button to fly away into the velvet sky. Works only for a limited time so don’t think you can hover all you want. If you’re hit this will be instantly canceled. Once the tutorial is over you’re given specific goals for each level that must be met or else you won’t be able to ever get to the finish line! First objective? Kill 30 enemies. Another objective could be to get X number of jump kills, to complete a level without killing enemies, killing ONLY marked enemies or just as simple as reaching the goal at the end of the never ending road. If you’re Epic enough as to Kill enemies one after the other (what you youngsters call “in a row”) without being hit you’ll start up a tab and marvel at the sight of a combo chain. You can even jump on enemies to get a jump kill to go along with your chain and after every 5th enemy you kill like this you’ll get back one of your hearts (should you need it) which is a nice bonus. The bigger the chain the higher your score multiplier which makes it easier to reach specific level goals or to get a high score in the free run mode. Each environment features obstacles, enemies, falling pieces of ground and friendly characters you MUST NOT DAMAGE or else you loose your score multiplier and your kill chain. Not all obstacles are 100% bad for you as you can walk on top of some if you time your jump right and you actually HAVE to do so during some parts of a level as it is what the developer wanted from you. Will you humor them? And just to be clear… as much fun as it would seem, DO NOT SHOOT THE COW! Checkpoints are available on longer levels which saves your chain, score multiplier and weapon in case you die and since you die a LOT in this game it’s great that once you restart at said checkpoint all is well as you’ll be here and I’ll be there, by your side. Checkpoints are something to be grateful of when going for the awards (un-trophies!) that the game keeps track of as making a mistake or dying gives you an instantaneous second chance. One Epic Game is a fun and inexpensive experience you will greatly enjoy on your console or your portable of choice (unless that choice is the Wii, the 360 or a member of the DS family) for a small investment that is easy, midget horse and simple to justify. Better to play this on the go as you can just put the PSP into sleep mode and carry on wherever, whenever for a minute or two… or maybe more? Minutes are hard to keep track of! Review Pros Cons Non-stop action… literally! Enough fun for your buck What, no dancing game mechanics in all this cliches? Rating 91% Published and Developed by Grip Games Cost – $3.99 Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was provided by the publisher for this review. – Game was completed before writing this review. – Total amount of time played: 6 hours. Want to get this game? Then you can: Buy One Epic game Itself! Buy a $20 PSN Card! Buy a $50 PSN Card!

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One Epic Game Review (minis)

Chris Rhinehart, project lead at Human Head studios, gives us some developer commentary for Prey 2′s early trailers. This game was honestly my biggest surprise at E3. Watching the presentation for the game there, quickly moved Prey 2 up to one of my most anticipated games for next year. Part 2 and 3, which show some amazing gameplay, are below.

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Prey 2 Trailer Developer Commentary Parts 1-3

I’m not sure how I missed this one a couple weeks ago, but here is the final video in the six part behind-the-scenes series for RAGE. “In “The Sound and Art,” take a look at the sound design of RAGE with the team at id Software to find out how music, sound effects and voice acting come together to create an unforgettable, immersive experience.” RAGE features intense first-person shooter action, breakneck vehicle combat, an expansive world to explore and jaw-dropping graphics powered by id’s revolutionary id Tech™ 5 technology. Set in the not-too-distant future after an asteroid impacts Earth, you emerge into a vast wasteland to discover humanity working to rebuild itself against such forces as bandit gangs, mutants, and more. RAGE promises an experience like no other. RAGE is slated for release on October 4th, 2011.

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Rage Behind the Scenes Part 6 of 6