Remember how Bioshock Infinite will include a free copy of Bioshock in the same Bluray ? Well, now Assassin’s Creed Revelations is doing the same as it will include a free copy of the first Assassin’s Creed for no extra charge thanks to the extra space provided by Bluray! Will this make it easier for you to purchase Revelations? Free is free and free is great! Only the first print run for the game will include this bonus so be sure to pre-order here! Wonder what other games will do this…

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Assassin’s Creed Revelations on PS3 Has a Great Bonus!

I’m a huge fan of the top-down fantasy RPG genre made popular on the PS2 by the Baldur’s Gate and Champions of Norrath games. There were two in each series, and I’ve played the all. I’ve actually played through Champions of Norrath several times, and I still hold that game as the pinnacle of the genre (on consoles at least – Diablo is on the PC). The current generation hasn’t brought us many of these games,. The two I know are Untold Legends and Sacred 2. Untold Legends came out pretty early in the PS3′s life cycle, and I bought and played the whole thing co-op with a friend. It was alright, but not really anything special. Champions of Norrath was much better. Sacred 2 was much larger in scope, and held lots of promise. But it was very buggy, and these bugs prevented me from doing several things in game that I think are crucial to the experience, like swapping items with friends. It claimed that I was cheating, when I wasn’t. I tried wiping all my data and doing it again, but got the same result. This was really quite frustrating, and I eventually gave up on the game. Now Gameloft has ported Dungeon Hunter to the PS3, and I’ve been playing it online with some friends. How is it? Well, if I wasn’t such a big fan of the genre, aching to play a game like this, I’d probably give it a fail and move on. But because I really like games like this, I’m enjoying it in spite of its failings. What can I say? I love slaying orcs and wizards and big fat beasts with knives for hands. What has this game done right? Well, it has a lot of content for only $13. You get three character classes, inventory management, and skill trees. You level up and buy and sell things at shops. Standard stuff, and enough to make the game enjoyable to someone like me. Torchlight on the 360 did all these things better (much better), but did not have co-op. So I get to play Dungeon Hunter with two friends, which is great. What has the game done wrong? Lots of stuff. First of all, you’ll notice that the load times are terribly long. Like really long. Long long long. For a game stored on the hard drive, that’s deplorable. The game is buggy. It has hung or crashed several times. Last night my friend had to reboot his PS3. I had to quit the game and re-enter it. This has happened three or four times now in our fifteen hours of play so far. As well, as you play through the game, fairies join your quest and you can use their powers. Well, unless you’re Steve, in which case you can only see the default fairy and not the others. Then there’s the monster-off-the-map problem. One of the bosses was sitting out on the black nether region of the map, and we killed him from the sidelines. Lastly, there was also a problem with one person seeing quest completion while the rest of us didn’t. We had to kill the same boss twice! The game tries to make distribution of treasure fair by colour-coding the treasure drops. Only the character of the appropriate colour can pick up a treasure. All fine and good, except that my two friends and I are playing the three classes available, so we’re constantly swapping loot. It would be nice if they colour-coded the treasure according to which character can use it most. Another big problem is the level design, which is uninspired. Boring even. I just saw some video of the Crimson Alliance game that was recently released on the 360, and I felt shame for the Dungeon Hunter creators. The Crimson Alliance levels are so much nicer, it’s hard to make a comparison. When my friends and I are done Dungeon Hunter, we’ll turn to Crimson Alliance. There are lots of little annoyances in the game, many of which I haven’t mentioned, but the worst are the loading times and bugs. My friends and I are plugging our way through the game, and having some fun. But I think we’ll have more fun once we turn our attention to Crimson Alliance.

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Dungeon Hunter – My Impressions

If there isn’t another big home console for a few years, and the Vita delivers the roughly PS3 level hardware performance that Sony is claiming, why would people stick with home systems? Console gaming is the last non-portable holdout in the entire consumer electronics industry. Years ago, desktop computer users swore they would never trade in their desktops for laptops because they were so accustomed to laptops being so much worse than desktops. But as soon as laptops were good enough, desktop users did exactly that and made the switch. In the past and the present, portable consoles have been dramatically worse for most types of games than home consoles. Most people view them as completely separate industries where people play completely different types of games. Today, home console gamers play tons of FPS/TPS type games, and while those games exist for portables, they are basically garbage that almost no one plays. The Vita seems like it will be the first device to really change this dynamic and you will actually be able to play the same types of games at nearly the same quality that you would play on a non-portable system. A big trend is the rise of smartphone and tablet devices. While some gaming is definitely going in that direction, particularly games that work well with touchscreen/tilt controls and don’t need cutting edge technology, there is still a need for dedicated gaming hardware. Some games really benefit from gaming-centric controls (analog sticks, face and shoulder buttons, d-pad, motion wands, and soon VR type head tracking). Additionally, gaming centric hardware provides higher gaming optimized performance at mass market price points and has less fragmentation than the smartphone/tablet space does. But with the Vita, you have the benefits of a dedicated gaming platform, but also the portability that consumers want. If Vita really does let you play the big console games of 2012 at roughly the same quality that you would experience on a home console, why wouldn’t consumers migrate towards the portable option?

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Is Console Gaming about to go Portable?

Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon, a four-player, side-scrolling, co-op, shooter based on Comedy Central’s animated series is coming to the PSN on August 30 for a retail price of $9.99. Here is the newest “Making of” trailer straight from GamesCom. Hit the jump for more info. “It won’t be too much longer until gamers everywhere can get their hands on the first COMEDY CENTRAL branded arcade game,” said Dan Yang, general manager, 345 Games. “We’ve been working hard to infuse ‘Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon’ with a combination of addicting gameplay and the comedic sensibilities that has made the show such a success. We feel that we’ve created an original and memorable game play experience.” With four-player top-down co-op gameplay that hearkens back to such classics as Gauntlet and Robotron, “Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon” features four playable characters, each with their own unique abilities, weapons and strengths. Players must comb the streets of New York City and pacify raving demons, delinquent man birds and zombies by lactating fire or hurling wacky objects like flying demon skulls, fish, baseballs and wrenches. Investigate case files from the Department of Integration and battle devastating and distinctive bosses at the end of each mission, each bringing you one step closer to finding out who is trying to bring about the end of days! “Ugly Americans” Airs On Thursdays At 10:30 P.M. On COMEDY CENTRAL. Source: Press Release

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“Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon New Making of Trailer and Release Date

First of all, be warned, as this is a long post and its many inquiries might feel unanswered at end, but if you also feel like the industry is increasing the size of the cookie factory and you keep getting the same batch of bland chocolate chip cookies, you might like it. Without further ado, let’s begin: What is the most innovative game you’ve seen lately? That’s a question I won’t try to answer at this point, I’ll let you guys think about it for a couple of minutes… OK, so what is the first thing that came up on your mind? Not so simple, isn’t it? I’ve noticed (and probably most others have) that the most noteworthy titles these days are sequels, and that got me thinking, is that all we want to see? I own a very small collection of PS3 games (about 16) and astonishingly, 50% of those games are sequels to games featured in the same platform; if I consider sequels to a series, that number jumps to 70%. It’s incredible how many developers we’ve seen lately seem so scared of trying something different. If you just think about your “top 10″ most expected titles this year, you’ll see what I’m talking about. Probably 90% of those games are sequels. Just as alarming is the time frame those sequels are being released. A good example is the Assassins Creed franchise. The first game released November 2007, the second, greatly improved, November 2009, the third, which brought nothing new except multiplayer, came a year later, and yet, another sequel is coming this November. This is debatable, but there isn’t that much difference between the titles and the story (which started strong) just felt rushed on the 3rd title. Who’s to blame? Should we not buy rushed titles or should they not be released? As a (industrial) designer I’ve come to accept the concept of a collective imagination, where people from the same society or group come to think alike and have similar ideas and references. I think games are very much similar. If we just go back a little and think about the time when inFamous came out, you’ll all remember a similar game called Prototype, both games shared many ideas, from story to gameplay (I haven’t played Prototype, so I’m speculating based on what I’ve seen and read about it). Many other games share mechanics just like those two, for example Bioshock and Mass Effect both feature the capacity to wield powers and guns at the same time (released September and May 2007 respectively). In the same way games share concepts, mechanics that worked for a title will be seen in many games. Sneak attacks, silent take downs, and cover are most sure to play a part in any shooter (and many other genres as well) these days, but this wasn’t the case not that many years ago. Multiplayer and creation tools are also becoming more and more common, but most of the time, it might feel rushed and shallow. Mere numbers used to measure the “greatness” of a game. It would be unwise not to mention Little Big Planet, a game where all kinds of crazy things can happen. This might be one of the most creative games of the last 5 years (that I’ve played at least), and it came as a fresh breeze to one of the oldest game genres of all times. However, that by itself isn’t as impressive as what became of it, with support from thousands of players worldwide creating content for it and therefore it came the be one of the most creativity inducing games I know. The funny thing here is, it’s not really the game that’s awesome, but what we players make from it. In a recent post, people discussed the importance of small developers to the market and I would say huge. With online stores like the AppStore or XBLA and PSN “anyone” can release a game, and what really separates those is how different they feel and how unique they are. An easy way to look at it is just think about how many “artistic” titles we can find on those places, games like Journey, Flower or Sword & Sorcery (iOS) are most definitely a “work of art” and that’s an “easy” way to make a statement of each game’s uniqueness. We’re going though stale waters and I really believe it’s time to stir things up. The small fishes can only do so much to move this giant boat. We should rely on the big developers to turn on their engines and venture into unknown waters. Instead, they seem to prefer keeping their big whales in captivity and extracting every single ounce of Ambergris from them (those who like Futurama should understand). I guess we should ask ourselves, is it worth the risk? I can tell you for sure it does, if it wasn’t for brave men who would cross the oceans looking for the unknown, we might not be here today (this ends my navigation metaphor). So, my friends, I’ll ask again, what is the most innovative game you’ve seen lately? All I can tell you is I have no idea and I believe no one does, so I invite you to discuss this question (and this overly inquiring article) here and we might even come to a conclusion (though I very much doubt it). I’ll leave you to the following thought: true innovation might be gone but imagination has always been (and will always be) the gamers most important resource when experiencing a game, so at least as long as we can hold on to it, we will always have something new and fresh to look for.

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Is There a Place Left for Innovation ?

This week SCEE announced plans to release special PS3 collections of Uncharted, Ratchet & Clank, and Resistance for $39.99. Included in the Uncharted Collection will be Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Uncharted: Among Thieves, plus a dynamic PS3 theme and avatar. The Resistance Collection will be packed with Resistance: Fall of Man and Resistance 2 and will include an exclusive skin for Resistance 3. The Ratchet & Clank Collection will feature Tools of Destruction and A Crack in Time, plus four avatars featuring Ratchet, Clank, Qwark, and Nefarious, and a Ratchet & Clank: All 4 One PS3 theme. All 3 collections will go on sale at the same time next month. What do you think? Good deal? Via: CVG

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Collections Announced For Uncharted, R&C & Resistance

Thatgamecompany has confirmed over Twitter that they will be kicking off a “very limited, private Online Beta” for the studio’s third PSN game, Journey. No other details were given as of yet but be sure to check out TGC’s FaceBook page or/and the PlayStation Blog on Monday ( June 27th ) for more information.

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Online Beta Announced For Journey

One relatively surprising announcement to come out the the conference yesterday was for this neat piece of hardware. Starting this Fall, retailers will be selling this new 24″ PlayStation-branded display for use with the PS3. It’s a 24″, 1080P 3D television that also showcases a feature Sakinah talked about in February, and that’s using the same display for two players, giving each player his or her own view on the display. This is possible because of the shutter glasses; one pair will show one person’s view and another pair will show the other (where, normally, either lens would display one part of a 3D image and quickly alternate between the two to give a 3D effect). This, essentially, does one side on both lenses per person to allow 2 different views on the same display. Of course, this sacrifices the 3D, but it does exploit it in a way that 2 people can play a 2 player game, and not have the annoying split screen (which got even worse with the advent of widescreen TVs I think). These glasses will work on many different TV brands as a pair of 3D glasses, but this particular feature will only work on this display. As far as the bundle goes, you can pick up the display, along with a pair of glasses, an HDMI cable, and a copy of Resistance 3, for $499, which isn’t too bad a deal. Extra pairs of glasses will cost about $69, and include rechargeable batteries, which I would assume hook up to the PS3 via USB like all their other accessories. Hopefully we may see larger display sizes further down the line because I can’t really see myself playing on a 24 inch screen at this point . Maybe Sony’s Bravia line will have that kind of support built into them later? Also, you have to question, which games would support the feature? Source

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[E3 2011] New 3D Display and Accessories for PS3

(all screenshots were taken by me using the in-game screenshot feature. full gallery here ) In one sentence: The best arcade racing game. Compared with Split/Second: Split/Second was a recent arcade racer with the same exploding city theme. That was a great game, but Motorstorm Apocalypse is better; it simply has more creative tracks and racing. What makes the Motorstorm series great: Intensely creative tracks are the cornerstone of the series. Diverse racing surfaces (rock, sand, dirt, grass, asphalt, water) that feel and behave like you’d expect. The vehicle classes (motorcycles, ATVs, buggies, big rigs, etc) each give the player a distinctly different race experience and aren’t just stat tweaks. This game keeps all of that and adds more… What does Apocalypse Change Tracks: When Apocalypse announced urban racing, I was worried that it was going to be all bland asphalt road racing and lose the charm of the diverse racing surfaces, jumps, branching paths, and creative geometries. Not even close. The tracks are as wildly creative as ever if not more so. One good example is the track that takes place almost entirely on the damaged roof tops of buildings. Expanded single-player campaign: The races are more like fully designed missions rather than combinations of track/objective/vehicle class. The story is much more fleshed out, but it’s largely just entertaining window dressing. Multiplayer: Perks, leveling, way more unlockables and achievables, betting system. It’s the same competitive racing at its heart, but there is way more polish. Stereoscopic 3D: Stereoscopic 3D was made for this game. The effect is amazing and is a perfect fit for a game that is mechanically about maneuvering the environment. Music: The series is known for exceptionally good licensed music picks (maybe that’s just because I grew up in a similar time frame as the devs?). This game uses original music including movie soundtrack style music and some techno. Summary In my opinion, nothing has topped the Motorstorm series in providing amazing, creative racing fun. This improves the formula and pushes the racing genre farther than it’s been taken before.

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Motorstorm Apocalypse Impressions

2D! Always great news, always fun (might not be true for 100% off all cases. Please check table of contents and warnings before blindly making such wild statements). Like what you saw? OK then, let’s carry on. This is a very old school (a valid term, unlike how hardcore has been made the bastard child of “new gen” hype campaigns) game where your main goal is to start at one point and get to another. Sounds simple, right? Well, it starts out with seamless tutorials on your first level and just a couple of enemies, but things get hectic… and fast. Can you survive the onslaught all by yourself? Shouldn’t you ask for the help of others to reach your objective? You have the option of enjoying the game in single player, local multiplayer, or online multiplayer, and even have the advantage of starting a game with just yourself and have others drop in and out without a problem, just with the press of a button. Up to four players can be in action at the same time, and we’ll soon learn how useful that can be. Before we continue, let’s see what Square Enix has to say for the game: Features • The Diver System allows players to jump in or out at any time, for a maximum of up to four players total. Guest players are awarded experience points for helping out. • Combos increase in power and intensity according to the number of players. Collect new combo moves by picking them up on the map or fulfilling certain requirements. • Adjust the difficulty level at any time with the Chaos Accelerator. Higher levels are rewarded with enhanced visuals and greater experience points. Players setthe challenge ratingas theysee fit. • 12 stages to explore and master. • Up to four player local and online co-op. • Online multiplayer. You have three special bars available to you that help keep track of three veeeery important elements: Hit Points (HP) that allow you to have a general idea about how many hits you can take before dissolving in a magic light; Magic Points (MP) that carry with them the responsibility of sacrificing themselves so you can use several abilities available in this noble quest; and Experience points(Exp), for your leveling pleasure (my, how RPG of you!). Now, how do we start this? Look, what is that making it’s way towards you? An enemy… kill him. Quick, kill another one! Mmm, now another. And oooone more. Doing this continuously will increase your chain kill count. If you reach 50, you get a free full HP and MP recharge. There’s also a trophy if you manage to reach a 100 chain kill, so practice, practice, practice. You can even charge your main attack, which helps you get rid of more enemies at the same time, BUT it gives you less experience than if you had defeated them them with regular attacks. As for a tip on HOW to get your 100 kill-count trophy? Well, here you go! Troooophy! Now, let’s remember how EXP works in pretty much every game that has this element. You obtain EXP, you gain a level. Simple, right? Well, in Moon Diver, when you level up, a small explosion envelops your character, which ends up damaging and defeating the enemies that are nearby, while at the same time filling up your HP and MP gauges. Get 1 Customize Point (CP) for every level and use that to increase the HP, MP or Attack Power (POW) of your character. You can only do this after completing a level (or dying in the process), as the game will automatically prompt you to allocate said CP. The game is separated into three acts, and each of them contains 4 levels for a total of 12 levels… but wait, there’s more! Most of the levels have several sections (each with it’s own distinctive name) and some feature branching paths that make you reach some, but skip others, thus increasing the replay value of the game, especially if you like trophies, since there’s a silver one you can get for visiting every single one of the areas. To add up on that, there are SECRET areas you reach by breaking some rubble on the ground, a big stone block that is trying to change your course or just by falling down at certain places. You can equip 4 different abilities for your character between levels and these will make everything better, because abilities are meant to do JUST that. There’s a total of 60 in all, and you obtain them by collecting a yellow glowing item in each of the levels… which, in turn, encourages you to actually visit every single path in a level since going one way will prevent you from visiting the other. You only need 50 for the trophy to pop out (thaaaaaaaanks!), but finding all of them will give you more options for your MP sessions. Something you must consider when playing with others (remember, up to 4 players at the same time!) is that whoever picks up the MC is the only one that gets to keep it when all is said and done, which can be a bit of a pain when hunting for that special one that will greatly help you once you go back to single player hacking and slashing. Same goes for when you decide to level up another of the available characters (that we will describe a couple of lines below us) since they’ll start with a full clean slate, unless…. Leveling up, EdEN style! If you’ve got a character that is, say, level 50 (as was my case when I got to level 12), and an extra controller, you can use controller #1 to pick up your level 50 character with 4 Two-Player MC (Stealth, Attack Wave, Healing and Enemy Freezing are good options) so you can select every level up to level 12 and then use controller #2 to pick up your next character to level up to 50. Play level 1 again so you can get the hang of “controlling” two characters at the same time since #1 is for using MC and moving every now and then so the screen doesn’t anchor itself, and #2 is for gaining all the experience needed to bump up that single digit number next to their name. Best level to obtain a lot of experience would be 6 or 9, but that’s just how it’s worked for me. So, any other suggestions? But you have to be careful when looking for extra areas, because if you go too low, you’ll eventually reach a layer of purple haze that will continuously damage until you reach a bitter end… so you should be extra careful. See kids, don’t do drugs, like, ever! And as if that wasn’t enough, some levels feature extra hazards you need to watch out for, such as sporadic explosions, huge walls of fire, lasers, gun turrets, etc. Luckily, you can at least get rid of most of them by destroying the source, but they do contribute and help you die easily. There’s also blue and green glowing items you can obtain by defeating enemies or simply by running into them on your adventure, and oh what a great help they are. Blue ones recover your HP and green ones recover your MP, and having a full bar of each will ease things for you since enemies are plentiful and require different strategies, so you can maximize your killing spree. Before you set out on your adventure, you must choose your character… and you must choose wisely. They all share the same move set and potential for wielding all MC powers, BUT they develop differently on each level up and for each CP you add to one of their attributes. They’re also a different color, and that helps to quickly locate your character during MP sessions. Here’s the list so you can start to make up your mind about your first run: Seyfert (Red): HP and MP will develop well (This is who I used to play the whole game). POW is something you’ll need to pour CP on to make up for the slow Attack Power development. Hitori (Blue): MP will develop particularly well. This is what we could call a “magically heavy” character in a regular RPG. Low HP and POW but a great way to make the most of the MC you find… and you better find some FAST! Tolby (Yellow): All stats will develop equally. Your balanced “Ryu” character. Great for beginners but won’t really excel on any particular path. Ourion (Green): POW will develop particularly well. Your tank type. Develop HP to round up his usefulness and rely on using MC with others during MP sessions to compensate for his low MP. There’s a lot of enemies on screen at once.. and they all look the same most of the time, having just variations in color for a bit… until you reach your first boss fight. Really good art style choices for the bosses, and you must look away for a second and get back on the action, since discovering their attack and movement pattern is something that will separate you from the piles of dust, stone, and metal all around (as old school based 2D games are required to do so). The game’ story is told with static 2D artwork and written words… and I honestly couldn’t make much sense out of it. Maybe it was just me, but apparently humanity is doomed, Moon Divers are the only thing that exists with a chance of survival, and the Moon itself plays some part in the big plan of what we can consider to be the bad guy of this adventure. If anyone has other theories, let me know. I must take a break to make a small comment: Moon Diver has really good music that complements the experience and gets you into the action (remember how you read reviews because you want to see what other people think about a game you might want to get? Well, this is MY opinion so your mileage may vary). Pump it up to the max! You’re on fire! Getting back on track, I must now tell you that in this game, you’ll die… a LOT. Why is that? Well, for me the levels have this “MP heavy feel” most of the time and when you die in single player you go back to the character screen so you can use any CP you might have earned, choose any new MC you might have run into and start again aaaaaaall the way back at the beginning of the level. But on MP, things change drastically. Other players can rescue you (or you can in turn rescue them) if your HP goes down to 0 by breaking your chain, chain, chaaaaaaaaains… thus reviving the character in the process. If this doesn’t happen you’ll eventually be given the opportunity to hit X and join the game in progress and continue to contribute towards completing the adventure. It’s at this point that you feel that you’re being punished for playing Moon Diver all by yourself, since if you die, it’s game over and you have to restart the whole level. It IS great that you get to keep any MC, levels, and experience gained before going kaput, since it would have been too cruel to have to restart the level AND have the last 10-30 minutes be a complete waste. Took me about 2 hours to go past level 8 but once you do, you get a such a great rush… At several points in each stage the screen will stop moving and purple bars will appear to the left and right sides. What is this all about? Well, it means that you must first defeat all the enemies that will drop/run/fly in and try to destroy you before you’re allowed to move on. It is here that the MC you picked up for your character will play a crucial role in your chances of survival. Stealth and Regeneration are your best friends, since the first one makes it so enemies can’t see you and therefore don’t attack you and Regeneration helps you recover part of your HP bar. And there are up to 4 versions of each MC, which increases the desired effect but also costs more MP… BUT more people can join in and use it for free! This is called a MoonSault Combination and it can be activated with other players to unleash a powerful ability/attack that doesn’t deplete the MP of those that help the player that is using it. Once someone holds down the circle button, the others can join in and share the effect. How many can join in? Depends on the level of the MC, which is represented by a solid square below the MC image. A single square is only for single player, 2 squares is for couples, 3 squares is for threesomes, and 4 squares is the key to swingers-land. It will take you 10 to 20 minutes to complete a level, which makes single or MP runs be fast and fun. Well, except for level 12, which is the last one and can take you up to an hour and a half if you don’t plan things just right. Oh and it’s plain out murder in single player unless you’re at 70+ AND have the appropriate MC… AND have allocated CP in the best way possible. Enjoy! New DLC has just been made available for Moon Diver, and for only $0.99 you can play as a new character and get access to a new mode called Score Attack (I’ll give you three guesses so you can figure out what that one is all about). More DLC is set to follow, one for the same price that will feature two more Score Attack stages, and one for free that will give us a new Chain Kill mode… and you really can’t complain about free! Moon Diver is a very fun game that gets even better when played with others, either locally or with the magic of the internet, and all that the 1s and 0s give to us in this day and age. The price is right for what is available on the main download, and the price for the DLC is something that won’t break any wallets. Get used to the single player experience for a while and then open yourself up to the wonders of having four people co-op in the same room, just like we used to do it back in the day… OK, OK, you can do play online with others. You and your fancy new ways! Review Pros Cons 2D, what a marvelous idea! Branching paths increases the content without feeling wrong MP Heavy focus can make single player runs a bit frustrating Rating 84% Published by Square-Enix Developed by Feel+ Cost – $14.99 Available on PSN Other Information Disclaimer – A copy of the game was supplied by the publisher for this review. – Total amount of time played: 20 hours.

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Official Review: Moon Diver