Today Playlogic released the first of three Developer’s Diaries explaining the story behind the Fairytale slasher “Fairytale Fights”
You can purchase Fairytale Fights from our Amazon affiliate store for PS3 and Xbox 360.
Whoa, wait. what? Seriously?
Epic Games is giving away the full Unreal 3 engine SDK for free. The entire professional development framework is being offered for free to give users real tools for developing cutting edge games. This is an incredible move by Epic Games. And here we thought they wanted to abandon the PC platform…
Epic has launched a web portal for the Unreal Development Kit (UDK) where you can download the toolset, read documentation on the engine, see examples and showcases, and access the community, among many other things. The UDK comes weighs in at 563MB and comes with… well, everything.
The UDK is meant for non-commercial use, and is aimed at professionals and students alike who don’t have access to high-level game development toolsets. This is music to the ears of anyone who wants to dig into the likes of game development, character animation, digital filmmaking, 3D viz, asset creation, shader programming, and who knows what else—the possibilities are incredible.
If you’ve been wanting to dig into a high-end game engine and learn the trade of video game development, this is an excellent place to start. Everything you need to get started can be found at the portal. Now is your chance to make something Unreal.
GG Epic, GG.
Blizzard Entertainment, long opposed to the exchange of real currency for in-game items, has added World of Warcraft mini-pets to their online store for $10 a piece.
A mini-pet in World of Warcraft, for those who don’t play the game, is essentially a cute little companion. These non-combat pets offer no practical advantage to the user; they simply follow the player for vanity’s sake. However, now that Blizzard has established that they’re willing to take your money for a useless in-game pet, who knows where they might end up going with this?
Careful, Blizzard. Your zero-tolerance policy on gold sellers is now on awfully shaky ground.
Atlus has announced today an impending replacement program for the official strategy guide included with the deluxe edition of the publisher’s Demon’s Souls title.
The program comes after reports of unusual wearing or fading of the ink used in the guide’s cover.
“While it seems that not every copy of the guide is affected, and the specific cause of the issue remains unclear, Atlus always strives for nothing less than the full satisfaction of our customers. Therefore, we will soon launch a program to replace defective strategy guides,” reads the official release.
Atlus says users will be asked to ship the first page and cover of their strategy as proof of purchase, leaving buyers with a usable book while the replacement claim is processed.
The publisher advises affected users to visit their official forums where full details regarding the program will be posted next week.
Something strange may happen today when you log into Team Fortress 2…
Quietly, and without fanfare, the guys at Valve started a promotion bundled with pre-orders of Left 4 Dead 2—you will receive a special hat if you own Team Fortress 2. The promotion, attached to both Xbox 360 and PC, was announced yesterday.
The other interesting thing mentioned in this announcement is a subtle allusion to a tenth class in TF2. First hinted at in Left 4 Dead, it has slowly faded into the background as time has passed.
It is also worth mentioning that this is the first official cross-IP content in any Valve game. Valve’s tactics of subtlety and humor continue as Left 4 Dead 2 launch day approaches.
Lego Rock Band
Our first feature this week is the cross-platform release Lego Rock Band. This title essentially serves as a new engine through which one can interact with their Rock Band library, in addition to coming with a great, classic rock library of its own. Players will be able to move all the Lego Rock Band songs into their playlist for Rock Band 2, or they can play their entire Rock Band 2 library within Lego Rock Band. Some of the differences are obvious, like the addition of Lego-based avatars, but there are also some differences that make Lego Rock Band easier for younger players. While anyone will be able to play at the same Hard and Expert difficulties that they would be able to in Rock Band 2, there will also be a super easy mode available which is just like easy except that any button or pad can be hit for any of the notes, and a auto-pedal mode for players who cannot reach the bass pedal. In addition, while it will still be possible to fail a song, one will never “fail out”, no matter which difficulty they are on. Instead, players who fail will simply lose the Lego coins that they need to customize their avatar, instruments and digs. Finally, many songs played through Lego Rock Band will now have a radio-version mode to shorten them to a length that may be more comfortable for people with short attention spans, or who may not have the endurance for a long solo. Seems like this game would be perfect for any adult who wants to introduce a young person to the world of rhythm games without dumbing down the experience for themselves.
Battle of Giants: Dragons
For the DS this week, we’ll see Battle of Giants: Dragons appear on the shelves. Choose from one of four dragon types and explore the world of Tammabakku. Customize your dragon, find secret treasures, and engage in epic battles against other majestic giants in this unique RPG/brawler. If you have a DSi, downloadable content will become available over the coming weeks adding new dragons and levels, starting with the Bronze Age pack, which hits at release.
Band Hero
Another Band game, the cross-platform Band Hero will also be hitting the stores. This game is a boiled down version of Guitar Hero 5’s party mode. Allow the game to play during a party, and let players pick-up whatever instruments they want, and just start playing. Any band combination is possible, as long as one has the instruments. Want three singers and a drummer, four lead guitarists, three drummers and a bass player? Great. The game also comes with an all new playlist of top-40 pop songs featuring Taylor Swift, so that everyone in your party who owns a radio will already know all the words to the songs.
Dragon Age: Origins
Finally, our Spotlight feature this week is the major cross-platform release Dragon Age: Origins. This single player game is a party-based RPG with pause-and-play combat, similar to Bauldur’s Gate, its spiritual predecessor. Players will explore and fight their way through the turbulent kingdom of Ferelden on the continent of Thedas. Each character will start as one of three base classes, and specialize as they go, with rules of advancements similar to Bauldur’s Gate. The visuals and story line are purported to be gritty and dark, against a bloody and ruined backdrop. Decisions that the player must make will not always be clearly along one alignment or another, and the world, the characters, and especially the ending sequences can change dramatically based on the decisions made. This one is shaping up to be a must-try for RPG fans, especially those who felt that NWN had too much focus on multiplayer content. If this game is successful at all, expect it to be only the first of the Dragon Age franchise.
As always, if you’d like to purchase any of these games, you can do so through Icrontic’s Amazon game store and help support the site.
Following is a list of this week’s announced releases for North America: (more…)
Apollo skin only available to pre-order customers
Sony announced today that pre-ordering God of War III or God of War III Ultimate Edition from select retailers will not only net you early demo access, but also an in-game Apollo skin.
Of course, the Apollo skin will only be available after a complete play-through of the game.
While pre-ordering just the game will still net you the early demo and the Apollo skin, the Ultimate Edition looks to be full of amazing swag:
God of War III is the kind of game that will sell systems, and if you have the cash and are a fan of the franchise, the Ultimate Edition seems to be… well, Ultimate.
You can order either the standard or Ultimate edition through our Amazon store link.
As we reported back in May, American McGee has been hard at work on the sequel for Alice in his new Shanghai studios. EA Games unleashed the teaser site called “Return of Alice” and trailer over the weekend.
In yet another new game mechanic, Valve is releasing a “haunted” King of the Hill map for the weekend and other goodies for the Terrifying Team Fortress 2 Hallowe’en Special.
From October 29th to November 2nd, there will be the KOTH Harvest map available, with special holiday achievements, exploding pumpkins, and the ghost of Zepheniah Mann…
There are five new achievements and five hats available for the weekend.
Get in and play TF2 while it lasts; chances are that after the holiday, the hats and achievements will be gone.
The mega addictive casual flash game Bloons Tower Defense, which we’ve covered in the past, has been upgraded to version 4 today. Besides improvements in all general Tower Defense areas, Bloons TD4 has the most awesomest ad banner ever –>
Check it out over at NinjaKiwi. Pre-emptive warning: The site is absolutely inundated with ads. All their wages have to come from somewhere, you know…
Fairytale Fights
First up this week, Fairytale Fights has arrived for Xbox 360 and PS3. This third-person hack-and-slash has a deceptive storybook style, but it’s anything but nice and happy. Play the part of a fairytale character who has fallen out of the limelight, and can only regain his/her former glory by going on a murderous rampage through fairytale land. Slice and blast your way through lumberjacks, gingerbread men, pointy-hatted gnomes, and many other classic characters. The sweet gimmick here is in the control scheme. Instead of using button combinations to execute different attacks, the player controls the movement of the character’s weapon directly with the right control-stick, meaning that there are as many different attacks as there are ways to move the stick. Another feature is a dynamic slicing system, which goes along with the innumerable attacks. The thing here is that each character figure in the game is fully rendered, inside and outside, so that slicing the characters into different shaped pieces, and in different directions will expose their insides correctly along the cut that you make.
Tekken 6
The cross-platform release Tekken 6 may look on the surface like just another Tekken game, but this newest entry to the franchise is full of new features. In addition to having 40 different fighters to choose from–a new high for the series–players will be able to customize the look of their fighters beyond the three or four costumes that are usually available per fighter. Mixing and matching parts of the costumes, and then customizing the style and color of the fighter’s hair means that it’s unlikely that any two players will have exactly the same fighter, which is important because this edition is introducing Global Online play, over the internet. The game also features dynamic stages that change as you punch and kick your opponents through the walls floors and ceilings, and a campaign mode that plays like a side-scrolling brawler, so that you can take your Tekken character up against hordes of foot soldiers.
Painkiller: Resurrection
For the PC this week, we’re getting Painkiller: Resurrection. This Painkiller Sequel will put players into the role of William Sherman, a CIA operative who dies in the line of duty, and due to a mistake on his part, takes out lots of civilians with him–despite his heroism he is sent to hell. However, heaven’s warriors spot him, and decide that they can use his skills. They rescue him from hell, and send him into the fray on their side. The new FPS campaign features graphic-novel-style cutscenes, 4-player co-op play, and all the strange weapons of the original with some still stranger additions. The revamped Painkiller Engine has added weather effects and more robust physics simulation in addition to the expected improvements in visual fidelity.
Torchlight
The Icrontic Spotlight Release for this week is Torchlight for the PC. This dungeon crawl with a unique, crystal-steam-punk visual style, and a magic system based around alchemy, looks like it has a lot of promise. Many of the folks who worked on this game also worked on the original Diablo 14 years ago, and many of the basic workings of the game seem very similar to that franchise progenitor. The main feature here for me is randomized levels, which if you’ve been paying attention, you know is a sure-fire way to grab my attention, but that’s not all it’s about. The game also features an intuitive interface, in-game fishing, customizable pets, and a retirement system, which allows players to deactivate their high-level characters in exchange for a bonus to a newly created character. Further, the developers decided to embrace a possible modder community by releasing an editor that will allow fans to make their own adventures. Just how much editing can be done in a game with randomized levels is yet to be seen, but it’s certainly an interesting decision. Despite all this, it is a relatively small game, with no multi-player modes, and only about 25 hours of gameplay per run-through. However, the cost will also be pretty low compared to other games of this development quality.
We’re implementing a new feature: The Icrontic Gaming Amazon store. If you’d like to purchase any of the games you see featured here, please shop our store!
Following is a list of announced releases for North America this week: (more…)
Today the International CES organization announced that showfloor space given to gaming exhibitors will be increased to 13,000 sq. ft. at CES 2010, up 50% from last year.
According to show organizers, Microsoft and Sony will be showing their latest hardware, and Lego Universe will have an exhibit. In addition, attendees can expect to see displays from D-Box, DDR (Dance, Dance Revolution), Guillemot, Iron Will Creations, Microsoft – Games for Windows and Tritton.
Last year’s gaming exhibit was not incredibly impressive. Icrontic visited with EA Games, Novint Technologies, NVIDIA, Peavey, and Razer. There were more small exporters showing a myriad of ways to play NES and Genesis games than there were major video game technology companies. With the global video game industry generating approximately $23 billion in 2009, it’s good that exhibitors and organizers are making a stronger push to feature gaming technology at CES 2010.
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