RIOT GAMES: 二月 2012

2012年2月24日星期五

Twinbee confirmed for 3DS 3D Classics

Twinbee - a classic upscrolling shooter - will be the next game to arrive in the 3DS' 3D Classics range. Originally released in Japan in 1985 by Konami as a coin-op arcade title, it was later ported to the Famicom (Japan's NES) but never saw a release outside the Far East. The most unique aspect of the game is its item system - you shoot at clouds to reveal floating bells that change colour as you shoot them. You juggle them with your bullets, trying not to let them fall off the screen until they turn the desired colour before collecting them to receive a specific power-up - all while trying to dodge bullets and kill enemies (check the video below). Nintendo Japan has confirmed that the title will arrive on 3DS with new 3D effects on August 10, but will lack the two-player option featured in the original. It's also unclear if the game will come to western regions considering the original's Japan-only release. To be honest, we wouldn't be too bothered if it doesn't. We're hoping to see some better games come out of the 3D Classics range. And there's already an upscrolling shooter in there (Xevious). If it was the Super Nintendo sequel, Pop n' Twinbee, we'd be a lot more excited. That game was MINT. Mike Jackson

Criterion making an open-world racer

Burnout and Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit developer Criterion Games may be working on new open-world racer, if a current job advert is anything to go by. An opening for an AI programmer at Criterion listed on EA's recruitment website is seeking a candidate capable of creating "believable, open world AI Racing Drivers".Although the studio's most recent game, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit, was quite a linear affair, Criterion is a dab hand at open-world racers, with Burnout Paradise serving as the most obvious example.The next game in the Burnout series. Burnout Crash, is a top-down arcade game set for release on XBLA and PSN later this month. Tamoor Hussain

Namco Bandai responds to Pac-Man perma-sa

Namco Bandai has sought to calm the fan flames over its decision to include the same permanent save feature into Pac-Man & Galaga Dimensions that had Resident Evil: The Mercenaries fans foaming at the mouth. "There is no way to erase the save from within the game itself without misusing the hardware, causing corruption," it said, without actually explaining why this was the case, although it explains that all the games in the bundle save to a single save file. The publisher plays down the importance of a need to delete the game's memory in saying it would take the average player a long time to max out everything in all the included games."It takes a very long time to get high scores on all the games to fill up the rankings as each game is a stand-alone title," it told Shacknews, adding that bundle contains multiple games and each one "would take an average person 8-10 hours depending on skill level to max out. With 6 games, that's 60+ hours to fill up everything with good high scores."So it's saying you're not likely to max everything out so you shouldn't need to want to delete your progress. That doesn't really address the issue faced by second-hand buyers who want to start fresh. NB went on to say that it "could not comment" on the decision to restrict the game bundle to use a single save file because it's unaware of the specifics that "contributed to the decision".

2012年2月23日星期四

Deus Ex Human Revolution PC gets free On

If you buy Deus Ex: Human Revolution on the PC you'll get a download code for the OnLive version completely free. The US offer was revealed via the cloud platform's official Twitter account with the following message: "Look what we found in the PC retail box of Deus Ex: Human Revolution! A FREE @OnLive COPY!!!"Deus Ex: Human Revolution has wowed critics with stellar review scores this week. If you're not a PC gamer and you're not yet sold on the cloud, have a look at our Deus Ex: Human Revolution PS3 vs. 360 comparison video. Tom Pakinkis

2012年2月22日星期三

Resistance 4 'could be made by another de

Resistance 1, 2 and 3 maker Insomniac Games can definitely see another studio making the fourth entry in the PS3 series. That's according to creative director Marcus Smith, who told Gaming Union the developer's "not currently slated to do Resistance 4".Asked how the franchise fits into the studio's future plans, he said: "We've got three different games with very different focuses. We're kind of going in a lot of different directions. Ted Price, Alex and Brian Hastings, the owners, have been doing this for a long time - something like 15 years of doing Sony exclusive games - and they're just interested in doing other things... I think we're thriving and branching out in a lot of different directions."We've done Resistance 3 and we're really into it and proud of it, but we're not currently slated to do a Resistance 4," he added. "We've got a lot of different places for the universe to go, so I could certainly see the series going to another developer. I'm sure Sony would want to find a high calibre developer to do a good offering. I don't think they'd hand the franchise over to somebody who is going to screw it up."Yesterday we posted a video interview with Insomniac's Brian Allgiar, creative director on new multiplatform IP Overstrike. Tom Ivan

2012年2月21日星期二

New Black Wii Bundle Features A New Model

New Super Mario Bros. WiiNews (25)Previews (2)ReviewVideos (31)Screenshots (14)Cheats and Walkthroughs (25) Super Mario GalaxyNews (9)PreviewsReviewVideos (25)ScreenshotsCheats and Walkthroughs (17) Nintendo is releasing a new Wii bundle featuring the sexy looking black Wii, but this bundle has more than just a pretty face to it. Not only are NewSuper Mario Brothers Wii and the Super Mario Galaxy soundtrack included, but the actual console in the bundle is a new model that is designed for horizontal use. Instead of standing your Wii upright, you'll be able to rest it on its side with easy access to the ports and buttons. Sweet, right?The new BlackWii Bundle will hit stores on October 23 for $149.99.Wait, who still needs to buy a Wii?

2012年2月13日星期一

Space Marine video interview with actor M

The latest Space Marine footage comes from a video interview with actor Mark Strong,福州装修, who voices hero Captain Titus and,福州装修公司, we have to say, brings a tonne of class with him. Strong, who's usually associated with villainous roles in the likes of Sherlock Holmes, Kick-Ass and Green Lantern, talks about the Space Marine story, his heroic character and what he's bringing to the role.Maybe it's the well turned out British accent as opposed to the usual American beefcake approach, but both Strong's interview and the snippets of in-game dialogue feel really refreshing. See for yourself: Watch in HD No comments yet, be the first! For more revealing info on Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine, take a look at the latest developer diary from earlier this month. Tom Pakinkis

2012年2月12日星期日

Early Access Langrisser Schwarz

By Darren Henderson (DizzyPW), OnRPG Editor-In-ChiefLangrisser Schwarz was the second stop on our tour of Gamania's Game Show. Now to be honest, I had never heard of this game until last Thursday when Gamania released their show's teaser trailer. One week later.. and I can say I am enthusiastically looking forward to reviewing this game at launch in person and might even consider bringing my guild on board to play it long term. This is truly the hit sleeper game of the show and I'm going to explain just why I'm so excited for it.Developers Jacky Chung and Roy Huang explained their game through a series of trailers and a clear cut resounding message. Langrisser Schwarz skimps on customization and crafting and instead focuses its fully development dollars into providing highly difficult content,福州装修, immense class selection, and an emphasis on raw uninterrupted action at a level I have only seen in console games.To truly understand a game you first need to consider the available classes and how they interact. In Langrisser Schwarz this can be a daunting task! The beginning of the game throws you into the Goddess' test which decides your starting class (out of 6 possible) and your alliance (dark, light,福州装修公司, or empire). But you aren't bound by this class and can freely change between any of the starting 6 classes so long as you have the armor to make it effective. As you level up and acquire TP from completing missions, each of these classes allow you to spend your TP to unlock one of two new classes. Those each lead to 2 more classes and then 2 more classes after that. From wizard to berserker to ninja to infighter to templar... players should never feel bored of their class in this game.What's even more interesting is that when changing classes, you don't fully lose access to the skills acquired from your previous class. In this way you have even more variety in that you can create hybrid classes with skills from two separate jobs, though it seems the hotkey is currently limited to about 6 skills which should add even more strategic depth to each battle.The actual action itself plays out as a sort of real time chess match. The camera is in third person and the game plays out similar to Diablo in that directional aiming is important. You won't just be able to click on a monster and automatically spam skills at them, each attack requires timing and aim to land successfully. A majority of the skills available also have a charging system in place to add more strategic depth. Against agile foes you might spam your skills rapid fire to ensure you can land hits, while more stationary foes require well placed charge shots to deal noticeable damage to. This system still needs some refinement though as some charge shots (like the archer's basic attack) are too wonky to use effectively. There's no reason an archer shouldn't be able to change the direction they are aiming while charging for an attack and I think this better get changed in the final release.Before entering a mission, players are able to customize their 'mercenaries' to accompany them in combat. Mercenaries act as mini soldiers that you can command in battle to offer extra damage and tanking ability to your character. If they die in combat you can easily revive them between fights, encouraging you to use them as expendables to speed up each quest.On the alliance versus alliance PvP side of things, mercenaries become more more important. A system is in place in which some mercenary units are more adept as defeating other mercenary units similar to the Fire Emblem series. In fact the example given felt straight out of Fire Emblem with cavalry units gaining the advantage over soldiers, soldiers being more effective against pikemen, and pikemen countering calvary. As you level up, your mercenaries gain strength as well, so don't expect tedious grinds to collect armor for both your mercenaries as well as yourself.Tedious grinds seem to be pretty optional in general in Langrisser Schwarz. Players will be able to acquire most of what they need in the battle arenas fighting for the honor of their chosen faction. After each match you will receive two types of currency: team points and personal points. Team points are rewarded based on whether you win or lose and how good of a fight your team put up altogether. Personal points exist to reward players that might have carried decently well but faced insurmountable odds due to baddies in their party. Currently the maximum combat consists of 5v5 though with the number of mercenaries added to the mix, this can have the look of a full out war zone.Besides armor sets, collectors will rejoice at the detailed card collecting system featured in Langrisser Schwarz. Through grinding or the cash shop players will be able to obtain 100s of cards, featuring buffs, traps, and summons to support you in battle. Players will then be able to take 3 cards into battle (I'm not positive but I believe the 3 cards are randomly selected from a larger deck each time you enter an arena). These cards shouldn't be mistaken as fluff nonsense that only collectors will be interested in. The effects of these cards are truly devastating, often dwarfing any skills your character has at their disposal, though with the incredibly long cooldown time it is to be expected.From our brief playthrough yesterday I can say with full confidence that his is not a pick up and play MMO. The dungeons are well thought out, difficult, and require a full team of competent players to ensure PvE success. Most monsters mobs consist of a central leader and a group of protecting mercenaries, ensuring that the PvE battles don't just become gang bangs. The AI is adept at controlling their mercenaries as well, as an archer I often found myself receiving major damage for sending my mercenaries to the front line to fight instead of keeping them on the defensive to act as a buffer from getting flanked.Langrisser Schwarz also utilizes hazards such as siege towers and monster ambushes to prevent players from slowly crawling through a dungeon one group at a time. In one situation we were forced to fight through 2 very powerful siege towers and, one we were fully committed to the battle, a lich rose up and began summoning hoards of skeletons to protect saidwarham towers. Another boss, a spiked lizard, summoned tons of mini lizards while he continually dug under ground and popped up under our squishy players to deal massive damage. This fight truly forced us to perfect the timing and aim of our skills to deal even a scratch against him.Finally we party wiped in less than 10 seconds against Ominous Eyes, the dungeon raid boss. Ominous Eyes shoots out armor shredding hyper beams from any direction his eyes gaze, reducing even fully speced tanks into dust in 5 seconds flat if you are unable to evade it. Our team foolishly ran in like a like of British Red Coats and was incinerated the moment our tank landed his first hit and drew the bosses' attention. Speed and armor boosting cards were vital to stay alive in this match and my two Canadian journalist teammates died repeatedly for not paying close enough attention to the boss' wandering eyes. After a long drawn out battle and much ridicule from the Empire booth girl/cheerleader we were finally able to claim victory!The overarching faction versus faction versus faction conflict is similar in setup to Warhammer Online. Through PvP and, to a lesser extent, PvE players will be able to acquire faction points to obtain unique buffs for their side while stealing the same benefits from their enemies. As a griefer I was sad to hear that players will be unable to communicate with members of the other alliances.If you are one of those nerdy gamers like me who adore gaming storylines, Langrisser Schwarz is the game that will truly shine out of Gamania's 5 on display. Each alliance features a unique storyline from start to finish, pulling you in to a world of destruction and chaos and forcing you to understand the motivations behind each alliance.A last item of note in Langrisser Schwarz is the game features controller plug-in capabilities for console gamers who feel a mouse and keyboard are too foreign. This controller set-up plays out extremely well, with the various control pads allowing you to command your character and your mercenaries on the fly. Skills and card activation is also a breeze with the L1 button acting as a scroll navigation bar to quickly flip through your line of skills. The only true downside I found to the system was this scrolling made defensive skills far too unwieldy to access on the fly. By the time you have scrolled to the mage's teleport skill you will have already been knocked on your ass and 1 shot by a boss. Hopefully they realize this during testing and alter the currently useless R2 and L2 buttons (currently assigned as hotkeys for help menus...) into fast cast assignable skills to allow players a quick draw button for vital dodge skills.This game might not have all the refinements of most typical MMOs but it certainly has enough focus on fun to keep me interested. If you want to catch the Schwarz fever yourself I'd suggest heading over to the Langrisser Schwarz website (http://corp.gamania.com/products/langrisserschwarz/en/index.htm) and taking the Goddess' test to see which starting character and alliance is for you!

2012年2月10日星期五

Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine's Co-Op DL

Warhammer 40,000: Space MarineNews (13)Previews (9)ReviewVideos (23)Screenshots (94)Cheats and WalkthroughsWarhammer 40,000: Space MarineNews (13)Previews (9)ReviewVideos (23)Screenshots (94)Cheats and WalkthroughsWarhammer 40,000: Space MarineNews (10)Previews (9)ReviewVideos (21)Screenshots (89)Cheats and Walkthroughs Warhammer 40K: Space Marine was released last month but it shipped without the coveted co-op mode option. THQ has announced that co-op fans will finally be getting what they want on October 25th with EXTERMINATUS. The free DLC will allow up to 4 people to play together in two scenarios. Relic has more DLC planed for Space Marine in the future.

2012年2月8日星期三

PSN Extends Registration for Free ID Prot

The time to collect your PlayStation Network welcome-back freebies has come and gone — twice, even — but Sony has extended one component. Registration for identity-theft protection will run through July 31, the company's top spokesman said on PlayStation's official blog.AllClear ID Plus, a service of identity protection firm Debix, Inc. is available to PSN subscribers free for a year beginning from the date of their registration. Originally, June 28 was the deadline for ID protection registration.AllClear ID Plus is one of a package of free incentives, courtesies and gestures made to more than 77 million PlayStation Network account holders who went without the online service for 23 days in April and May, following a massive cyberattack and data breach."AllClear ID Plus" Identity Theft Protection Offer Extended Through July 31st [PlayStation Blog]

2012年2月7日星期二

New Kinect bundle includes Child of Eden

Microsoft has revealed a new 'limited' Kinect bundle that includes Tetsuya Mizugchi's Child of Eden at no extra cost. The new bundle includes both Kinect Adventures and a code that will let you download a digital copy of Tetsuya Mizuguchi's wicked rhythm-action shooter - and spiritual sequel to Rez - for the same price as the regular bundle, which usually only comes with Kinect Adventures. This probably comes as part of Microsoft's plan to have Kinect dominate Christmas again this year.This new offer will start appearing in shops everywhere (except Japan) from next week with specially-labeled boxes (pictured), but MS says it'll only be made "in limited quantities and while supplies last". Which means you don't have time to dilly-dally. Get on it. Mike Jackson

2012年2月6日星期一