Reminder: Resident Evil 5

Don’t forget fellas, RE5 releases in a few short days, those of you planning a day one purchase, great on ya. I probably won’t be the reviewer, chances are Zucas will handle this one.

“We didn’t start the fire, it was always burning since the worlds been turning”.

Tyson Vs. Ali On The Fight Night 4 Cover

“There will be plenty of butterfly floating and bee stinging in the ring this summer, as EA announced that Muhammad Ali will be one of two cover athletes for Fight Night Round 4. The boxing legend will share the space with powerhouse and controversy magnet Mike Tyson. We just hope Ali knows to duck out of the way should Tyson’s eyes flash red before schooling “Iron Mike” in a lesson of sweet science.

Both will be playable in the upcoming title, which is currently in development at EA Canada. Also, eager players who lay down a pre-order for Fight Night Round 4 at GameStop will net early access to the game’s demo, giving them some extra time to live out pugilistic dreams before the rest of the world laces up.”

Source

House of the Dead: Overkill Review

Quite Possibly “The Most Hardcore Game Ever”

Of course when I mean hardcore, I mean an entirely different definition than the gaming world has adapted.  House of the Dead: Overkill was announced last year on the Wii to be one of its most mature titles to date.  Most of its Public Relations was built around this notion of being unique in gore and suggestive themes.  No doubt, it achieved that and not just on the Wii but any console.  The question is, “Does the rest of the experience equate to an enjoyable light gun shooter?”  Without a question, it does.

Mass Effect 2 Debut Teaser

This will Certainly be a surprise for some.

How long can it go on?

 

Last generation of consoles was a failure for Microsoft. Some will argue with me about that to a great extent and I could not say their opinion was wrong. But in all honesty, they stunk. At the end of its lifetime, it had cost the company about $4 billion. While establishing themselves ahead of Nintendo in sales, they fell behind deeply in profit. Only selling about 24 million units compared to about 100 million (at the point of 360 launch), things were looking poor for Microsoft. People were already writing them off as done for the next generation and Sony domination would continue.

Along the way, a rock hit Microsoft in the head. They thought that they could buy their way to victory with the vast funds available to them. With a vast amount of money available to them and willing to spend, they developed the Xbox 360 and started to buy exclusives. With help from Sony’s arrogance and a poor PS3 launch, Microsoft looked like they were in pretty good shape. They began snatching up Sony’s exclusive games like it was nothing. Sony had an approach of not paying for exclusives, while Microsoft did not care at all. While being exclusive to Playstation last generation, games such Resident Evil, Final Fantasy, Devil May Cry, Tekken, Star Ocean, Grand Theft Auto, Virtual Fighter, and more found themselves on the Xbox 360. They payed for exclusiveness of Bioshock and others. And what had it earned them up to 2008? A 5 million lead after a year head start launch from Sony. In 2008, Microsoft was losing the sales war to sony until around September, when they made the 360 free with coffee at 7-11. Nah, just kidding. But they did drop the price to a low of $199. This allowed a lead of another 3 million for Microsoft at the cost of losing more money on the Xbox 360. Sounds like a good idea right?

Now, what I’m trying to present here is this. When does it end? I mean, they have to run out of money eventually, right? I haven’t even mentioned the $1 billion lost on the RROD issue. Microsoft can’t keep doing this forever. They’ll eventually dry up on cash for their games division in next generation at this rate. What I present to Microsoft is to keep the $50 charge for Xbox Live. Yes I know, its really frustrating for us consumers. But it seems like a necessity for Microsoft to keep this money flow coming in or else. Well, I hope that it doesn’t to that point. For the next generation, Microsoft should not focus on buying up companies or exclusives and should instead continue to focus on their online service and in-house development. Make Rare good and not just release another Halo. Turn a profit. Become the best.

 

tapout

EA Announces Dead Space: Extraction for the Wii

We mentioned earlier this year that EA was going to bring the Dead Space series to the Wii.  Now they have announced what the name will be and things about it.  Although some have been disappointed by the move, it will be an on rails prequel to the series so that you can live the horror up to the first one.  Here’s first screens, details and video:

Guildford, UK; February 18, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) today revealed Dead Space™ Extraction, an all-new chapter from the studio that delivered the award-winning action-horror Dead Space game. Built from the ground up and developed exclusively for the Wii™, Dead Space Extraction is a prequel that reveals the events leading up to Isaac Clarke’s mission on the USG Ishimura in the original Dead Space game released in 2008. Dead Space Extraction will marry the innovative motion controls of the Wii Remote with a frenetic first person perspective to create a new action-packed horror experience.

Dead Space Extraction tells the story of a handful of space colonists desperately struggling to escape from a horrific infection on the Aegis VII mining colony deep in the furthest regions of space. The game introduces a new heroine to the fiction and as the crew fall victim to a mysterious contagion aboard the ship, it becomes clear that protecting her may be their only hope for survival. Dead Space Extraction introduces all new characters, weapons, enemies, puzzles and co-operative multiplayer gameplay.

“We could not be more excited to extend Dead Space into an experience exclusive to the Wii. Nintendo has a wonderful history in the horror genre and we are thrilled to build on that tradition with Dead Space Extraction,” said Glen Schofield, VP and General Manager of EA Redwood Shores studio. “As we were developing Dead Space, we realized that there was so much of the story going untold. Dead Space Extraction tells that story with all of the intensity, blood and gore that fans would expect.”

Dead Space Extraction is an EA Redwood Shores title and is scheduled to ship in Autumn 2009. This product has not yet rated by ESRB or PEGI.

Source

More Screens

Zucas

The Greatest Features of the 7th Generation

We are currently more than three full years into the 7th generation.  Although it doesn’t feel like it has been that long, the 360 released in November of 2005 in the Americas to start the frenzy.  Since then the Wii and PS3 have all released and essentially the consoles have been able to reach the majority of the world.

The question is how do you define a generation?  What things in a generation separate it from the previous?  Usually gaming journalists will give out primitive answers such as design and hardware changes.  However, there has to be more to defining a change in the generations.  Maybe not in the literal sense but in a sense the gamers notice.  In the 5th generation these noticeable changes were 3D graphics, analog sticks, introductory of epics such as OOT and FF7, and so on.

The 7th generation has been no slouch for such defining features.  These select five features may not be on every console or they may be on all three.  They could even be on all three but only one of the three really defines this generation by being the greatest.  After you hit the jump, I present to you the five greatest features that definte the 7th generation.

E3 Coming Back To Life?

There are a lot of adjectives I’d use to describe past Electronic Entertainment Expos (Exciting! Exhausting! Odoriffic!) but “Glamorous” isn’t one of them. That’s all going to change this year. ESA, the people who put on the show, promise a return to the sizzle and glamor of the past.”In response to the glamor and sizzle of 2005 and 2006, there are certainly going to be components of that show,” Dan Hewitt, senior director of communications at the ESA, told GamesIndustry.biz.

But this doesn’t necessarily mean a return to the excess of previous years:

“Is it going to be the over-the-top excess that you’ve seen in years past? No – but that goes back to learning what is manageable and what is sustainable, and hearing from attendees what it is they want, and creating something that meets their needs,” Hewitt said.

Full article and source