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Joystiq impressions: Cave Story (WiiWare)


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We played Cave Story at the Nintendo Media Summit, and other than controlling the game with the Wii Remote – old-school sideways, natch' – it's nearly the same as the free PC and Mac game. The retro look and gameplay make this seem like an overlooked garage-sale find, for good or bad. (Usually good.)

Gallery: Cave Story (WiiWare)

Continue reading Joystiq impressions: Cave Story (WiiWare)

New games this week: Fracture edition


LucasArts' big farewell to game development continues this week with the release of terraforming actioner Fracture. Is it as exciting as a terraforming motorcycle? It is not. But if you're looking for action this week, it's pretty much the best you're going to do.

If you're a sports fan though, you've got a double dribble of b-ball action with NBA Live 2009 and NBA 2K9 (thank goodness they're in the same week too, because we just used up all of the basketball lingo at our disposal). Check out the full list after the break.

Gallery: Fracture

Continue reading New games this week: Fracture edition

Neopets Puzzle Adventure gets October release window


When we raved about the Othello-based, Neopets Puzzle Adventure, we couldn't scrub away the sadness of endorsing something built on a Tomagotchi-knock-off. We name-dropped how it's being developed by Infinite Interactive, creators of Puzzle Quest, but that wasn't enough. We shivered for weeks.

Capcom let us know that the PC and DS versions are due by the end of October, while a Wii edition is coming later. So you'll soon be able to share our love of the puzzler (and self-loathing). Check out our original impressions again for the full details.

The Best of Big Download: Sept. 29-Oct. 5


As we head into the month that has both Octoberfest and Halloween we don't know whether to be scared or to get our party on. Ok, we can do both. But first check out Big Download's highlights from the past week:

Exclusive Features

Continue reading The Best of Big Download: Sept. 29-Oct. 5

Crysis Wars free trial coming next weekend


For those who are reading this on a computer that is unable to meet the minimum system requirements of Math Blaster, feel free to skip this post. We won't be offended. For those discerning PC gamers who are still with us, you may be interested in a recent offer from Electronic Arts -- next weekend, the standalone multiplayer expansion to Crytek's demanding shooter, titled Crysis Wars, will be free to download and play online. Starting 11 a.m. on Friday, and running until 11:59 p.m. Sunday, you'll be able to jump on to any of the game's online servers for some nano-suit infused multiplayer combat.

Of course, after you've registered on MyCrisis.com and downloaded the full version of Crysis Wars (right here), you can play the game immediately, albeit offline using a LAN connection. We're assuming you already have a cadre of PC gaming acquaintences with appropriately powerful rigs -- don't you, you sociable so-and-so, you.

Metareview - Silent Hill Homecoming (PC, PS3, 360)


Within the circle of paranoid and traumatized Silent Hill fans, there are two fundamental truths that must be embraced upon the release of each new entry in Konami's survival-horror franchise. The first, and more difficult to accept, is that the core gameplay in Silent Hill is sort of awful. Oh, but that gripping atmosphere! That inescapable miasma of melancholy! That's where the second truth comes in: if series sound maestro, Akira Yamaoka, composed the soundtrack (and he did for Homecoming), then it's probably an experience worth having. What say you, early reviews?
  • 1UP (B): "Homecoming stays true to the macabre Silent Hill atmosphere without feeling stagnant. Exploration's perfectly in line with previous games, complete with tons of locked doors, decaying structures, and doubling back between the real world and its hellish counterpart -- but some little nuances intrigue."
  • Cheat Code Central (84/100): "This game delivers on the experience you have come to expect from the franchise. It will also give you reason to begin clamoring for the next installment. The folks at Double Helix gave me the Silent Hill I wanted: a nerve-racking, scary as hell experience to hold me over this Halloween season."
  • IGN (67/100): "Unfortunately, I admit that the game feels like a bit of a letdown. The gameplay has been reduced from a tense psychological experience fraught with spine tingling jumps and scares to a generic, predictable action title set in the location with good graphics and a great soundtrack."

Dead Space scores 91% in first review


Buhbuhbuh it's EA, Joystiq! Though we'll save our most obnoxious we-told-you-sos for the more comprehensive metareview ... we did tell you so. Our E3 Game of Show has scooped up its first (and hopefully not last) set of review accolades, scoring 91% in the pages of Xbox World 360. The review reportedly suggests that EA could teach Capcom "a thing or three about survival horror," with Dead Space boasting ferocious foes that make others in the genre seem "decidedly average."

Oh, but there is one thing that worries us: the game's "film-worthy" script. Have they not been to the cinema recently? With rare exception, a poorly formatted paragraph describing a pair of voluptious breasts ramping a Porsche over an explosion would have to be dumbed down by a script doctor. Too arty.

[Via X3F and Twitter, which apparently works in outer space]

GameTap Thursday: Dancing with the Stars, Secrets of Great Art


We really don't want to focus on the new GameTap titles this week, so let's look at the good stuff that's recently been added. The first season of American McGee's Grimm is done, with new installments coming soon. Don't forget to check out Fallout 2 (the first Fallout is free to play) before the third installment nukes us later this month.

But If you must know this week's additions:
The one saving grace this week is Sacred Gold hitting the free games lineup. The full list can be found after the break.

Continue reading GameTap Thursday: Dancing with the Stars, Secrets of Great Art

Valve's Left 4 Dead box art, now with more puns

Realizing that the original Left 4 Dead box art was lacking an obvious pun, Valve has "corrected" the error by mirroring the previously right-handed image to the left. To recap: The box art is a Left hand with 4 fingers left, with the thumb likely bitten off by the reanimated Dead. The pun-to-word ratio is now a remarkable 1:1. L4D will take a bite out of your social life November 18.

Dead Space goes gold, free DLC suit for early adopters


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EA announced today that sci-fi survival horror game Dead Space is gold and ready to unleash screams starting October 14th in North America. Xbox 360 and PS3 players who purchase the game within the first two weeks of its release will be able to download console-specific space suits. Pre-orders from GameStop Online, EB Canada Online and "select" European retailers will receive the Scorpion suit. The suits feature a new look (seen above), along with "increased toughness and inventory slots."

Remember, the North America EA Store is also offering the "Ultra Limited" edition (only 1,000 copies) for $150. Those will also begin shipping Oct. 14th.

Gallery: Dead Space

Penny Arcade Adventures Ep. 2 done, priced at $15


The elaborately titled adventures of the webcomic duo, Gabe and Tycho, are set to continue this Fall in Penny Arcade Adventures: On The Rain-slick Precipice of Darkness Episode Two. We're told that developer Hothead Games has just completed the downloadable RPG-adventure, bestowing "Gold Master" status upon the Windows, Mac and Linux versions.

The Xbox Live Arcade and PSN iterations are presumably still being tweaked (much like the PSN's Episode One), but will share the same price of 15 earth bucks. Hooray for subsequent episodic games becoming cheaper!

Gallery: Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 2

Fallout 3 hands-on: Four hours in the Wasteland


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A mere 27 days from now, many of you will – as we've had a chance to – be taking your first steps outside of Vault 101 and into the Wasteland. As your eyes adjust to the unfamiliar, natural daylight, you'll be greeted by a sweeping vista of ... utter ruin.

We spent just over four hours utterly absorbed in the spectacularly bleak world of Fallout 3, sticking purely to side-quests and generally getting a lay of the land; its people, places, and many irradiated things. What you're about to read is our account of what we saw, shot at, and ran screaming from during our (all-too-brief) time with the near-completed game.

Gallery: Fallout 3 (10-01-08)

Continue reading Fallout 3 hands-on: Four hours in the Wasteland

Dead Space team to get a new name, make more games

With all of the excitement surrounding its forthcoming horror title, the Dead Space team must be quite happy to be known as ... the Dead Space team. That is, until it wants to make something else. That's probably one of the reasons for, as Variety reports, the EARS (EA Redwood Shores) team being "re-branded" as something niftier-sounding in the near future (EYES?).

EARS (yep, that has got to go) studio head, Glenn Schofield, says that the name change is part of an over-arching plan to pitch the team to gamers and new hires as one of "creativity, originality, and high quality third person action adventure titles" (our emphasis). So, while it may create another all-new IP after the probable inevitable Dead Space 2, it certainly sounds like the studio has decided on its most favoritest genre, henceforth to be known as the "3PAA" ... at least by us.

Look hard: Bionic Commando box art

bionic commando
Click. Make big.

Not your '80s commando. Gone is the green jumpsuit, the All-American bravado. This tall, dark and handsomygawditsabionicarmedman is pure dude. Dreads. Suspenders. And one smoking hot robotic appendage. *Sizzle*.

Silent Hill: Homecoming's Aussie exile detailed; hopeful release in Q1 2009


Late last week we learned that Silent Hill: Homecoming was essentially banned in Australia after being refused classification by the OFLC. IGN has some more details on the OFLC's issues with the title and has spoken with regional distributor Atari, which hopes (following some edits by Konami) to have the game out by Q1 2009.

The OFLC apparently found several instances of gore in the game to be problematic. One scene involved the protagonist having a drill forced into his eye, while another had him drilling an enemy's skull. There were a few other issues, but nothing we haven't seen in horror films for the last few decades. It's really about time Australia got that "R18+" rating for games.

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