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Limbo, Red Dead Redemption lead 2011 Game Developers Choice nominees
The nominees for the 2011 Game Developers Choice Awards, which will be handed out on March 2 during the Game Developers Conference, have been announced.
The monochromatic XBLA puzzle-platformer Limbo took seven nominations, more than any other game. But Rockstar’s cowboy opus Red Dead Redeption was close behind with six while BioWare’s Mass Effect 2 received five.
Other big nominees include God of War III, Heavy Rain and Minecraft, all of which received three nominations. Minecraft’s inclusion among the nominees marks the first time a game has received a GDC Award nomination and was selected as a finalist in the Independent Games Festival.
Hit the jump for the full list of nominees. (more…)
Posted in DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged God of War III, Heavy Rain, Limbo, Mass Effect 2, Minecraft, Red Dead Redemption
New Releases: Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded, DC Universe Online, Ghost Trick, More
Do you love RPGs? If you said yes, then you’ll definitely want to head to your favorite retailer this week.
On the DS, Square Enix plans to release the latest entry in the Kingdom Hearts series, Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded. And over on the PS3, Sony’s MMORPG DC Universe Online will cross over into stores (its coming to the PC as well).
Also available this week is Venetica (PS3, Xbox 360), an RPG where the Grim Reaper’s daughter hunts down a necromancer. And finally, there’s Prinny 2, the latest Disgaea spin-off from Atlus.
If RPGs aren’t your thing, Capcom will be releasing the latest game from the Phoenix Wright team, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective on the DS
The full list of the rest of this week’s new releases can be found below. (more…)
Posted in DS, News, PC, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged DC Universe Online, Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective, Kingdom Hearts Re:Coded
Hudson Entertainment bringing TurboGrafx-16 games to Playstation 3, PSP
Hudson Entertainment recently announced that they’ll be releasing some of the original TurboGrafx-16 games for the PlayStation Network to be played on the PlayStation 3 and PSP this winter. The ten games are Alien Crush, Bomberman ’94, Bonk’s Adventure, Dungeon Explorer, Neutopia, New Adventure Island, Soldier Blade, Super Star Soldier, Victory Run, and World Sports Competition. Hudson – who originally developed the TurboGrafx-16 with NEC in 1987 – will be announcing even more games in the coming months.
Michael Jackson: The Experience moonwalks onto PS3, Xbox 360 on April 12
Michael Jackson: The Experience was a big hit for Ubisoft this holiday season. How big? The game sold two million copies across the Wii, DS and PSP in North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. But Ubisoft was quick to point out that those numbers don’t include Japan, “which has one of the largest and most passionate concentrations of Michael Jackson fans anywhere.”
The publisher also revealed that the King of Pop will be moonwalking his way onto the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 this April. The Kinect and Move-enabled Michael Jackson game will be released on April 12 in the US and April 14 in Europe. It will include several bonus tracks not found on the Wii version including “Blood on the Dance Floor” and “I Just Can’t Stop Loving You.”
Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot is very excited about the upcoming PS3 and Xbox 360 version of Michael Jackson: “As the leader in the dance game genre, our teams have worked enthusiastically to build an experience that recreates the magic worlds of Michael Jackson’s videos and performances. We’re looking forward to bringing Michael Jackson The Experience to Kinect for Xbox 360 and PlayStation Move so an even bigger audience can enjoy playing the game with their friends and family too.”
GameFly reports 2010’s best, raises questions on 2011
Early Wednesday morning, GameFly released several Top Ten lists, documenting the rental service’s most popular titles of 2010. As expected, GameFly’s most-rented games closely match up with the most purchased games of 2010, logging titles like Take Two’s Red Dead Redemption and the latest game in Activision’s ever-popular Call of Duty series, Call of Duty: Black Ops. GameFly’s co-founder Sean Spector states: “The GameFly community is comprised of active and dedicated gamers and we view their preferences, requests and favorites as a great barometer for what’s hot in gaming.”
Though the aforementioned shooters dominated consoles in 2010, GameFly’s handheld rental numbers seemed to thrive with RPG titles such as Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Dragon Quest IX: Sentinels of the Starry Skies. Could this predict an emergence of the RPG genre exclusively among handheld systems, leaving consoles solely for action games?
The cross-platform list and all of the platform-specific lists can be found below. (more…)
Posted in DS, News, PS3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Tagged Call of Duty: Black Ops, Red Dead Redemption
Sony CES 2011 Keynote: 3D, TV, and Qriocity, oh my!
Sir Howard Stringer, Kaz Hirai and the gang presented Sony’s unified strategy going forward in 2011, with bold claims that it will be the premier consumer electronics manufacturer in the US by 2013. As the title suggests, the highlights were 3D, Bravia televisions, and Qriocity, Sony’s video and music cloud-based service. The company is implementing 3D into every device imaginable, from TVs and PS3s (including Gran Turismo 5 and Uncharted 3 demos) to camcorders, Vaio laptops, and Ericsson Xperia smartphones. Consumers looking for a new TV will have many options with the Bravia line, including choices in 3D and/or Internet TV, the latter of which includes partnerships with Google and Time Warner. Qriocity also takes a multiple device approach, allowing you to sync your music library across multiple devices to take with you.
Notably absent from the keynote was any talk of the all but officially confirmed PSP Phone or PSP2. The PSP Phone is rumored to have the Xperia branding, but all that was shown was an extremely slim Android-running phone. Hopefully when these devices do get announced, they’ll carry some of the 3D, Internet, and Qriocity features we heard of tonight, provided Sony can maintain some pricing discipline.
THQ has the power (to make games based on Mattel toys)
Like two action figures that come together to form an even bigger action figure, THQ will raid Mattel’s toy chest in a multi-year deal to create games based on many of the company’s biggest properties.
THQ currently has multiple Mattel-inspired games in the works, with the first scheduled for release this Fall. The deal will ultimately result in new THQ-published games based on many of Mattel’s biggest toy lines, including Barbie, Hot Wheels, Fisher-Price, Monster High, Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots, Polly Pocket and He-Man: Masters of the Universe.
THQ wasn’t ready to talk about specific games on specific platforms, but they did confirm that the agreement allows them to create games for consoles (both disc-based and downloadable games), handhelds, PCs, mobile devices and social networking platforms. However, THQ did reveal that at least one game will support the publisher’s uDraw GameTablet on the Wii.