Nominees for Game of the Year are Assassin’s Creed 2, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, Left 4 Dead 2, and Uncharted 2.
In an odd twist, however, one of the contenders for PC Game of the Year is Popcap’s Plants vs. Zombies. This is the first casual game to ever make it into this category. PvZ will be going up against heavyweights Dragon Age: Origins, Left 4 Dead 2, and The Sims 3.
It’s a sign of trends in the industry. We’ve long been saying that casual gaming is mainstream, and the numbers prove it; still, enthusiasts and those who consider themselves “hardcore” gamers, generally shun casuals as being colorful pap for their aunts, their young cousins, and the bored office worker. Plants vs. Zombies, and Peggle before it, made huge strides in shattering that image, however. A quick look at even hardcore Steam groups will generally reveal several people playing a quick round of Plants vs. Zombies.
As with any medium, eventually there is one piece of work with great crossover appeal. The fact that a casual game from a casual game company made it into the running for PC Game of the Year proves that, for this year at least, Popcap has provided that crossover hit.
Sony has announced that they will soon be bringing 3D gaming to the Playstation 3.
The company wants to offer the technology for all versions of the PS3 currently on the market, and is also planning on releasing a stable of 3D titles to accompany the change.
Three-dimensional gaming on the PS3 has been considered before, with Sony demonstrating 3D versions of Gran Turismo Prologue and Motorstorm at the 2009 CES in January, but this is the first official announcement for the console as a whole.
Sony hasn’t yet released a firm date for the 3D capability, but says that it will come at some point in 2010.
Plan B Entertainment, Reliance BIG Entertainment and Capcom have come to terms on film rights relating to “Dark Void”, a new property from Capcom. The theatrical version of Dark Void is being developed as a sci-fi action franchise with a potential starring role for Brad Pitt.
Capcom will release Dark Void on the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC in January. Capcom describes the new game as, “an adrenaline-fueled blend of aerial and ground-pounding combat which centers on Will, a pilot who crash lands in the Bermuda Triangle following a routine mission.”
“Will wakes up to find himself in ‘The Void,’ an alternate world resembling a primitive earth where aliens with superior technology are planning to take over civilization. Together with a faction of humans who have disappeared into the Void, Will takes on the alien race using their own advanced technology including a high-powered jet pack to defeat them and keep order in the civilized world,” Capcom says of the game’s setting.
Plan B Entertainment is actor/producer Brad Pitt’s production company. It has produced films such as the The Departed, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, A Mighty Heart, and this summer’s The Time Traveler’s Wife.
We’ve been waiting over two decades for a truly co-operative Mario Bros. platformer, and it’s finally here. New Super Mario Bros. Wii drops this week, and we were at the release party in New York. The gameplay for this title is very similar to New Super Mario Bros. for the DS, with the only notable addition to the basic experience being Yoshi, Mario’s loyal dinosaur friend. Otherwise, the big deal is the addition of up to three of your friends in co-op mode. Work together with your friends as you leap from platform to platform, solving jumping puzzles and stomping Goombas. Play as Mario, Luigi, or one of two Toads. Players can work together or compete for coins through the completion of the levels.
Left 4 Dead 2
For the PC and Xbox 360 this week, we’ll receive Left 4 Dead 2. Try to escape the zombie apocalypse with a small team of civilians in this sequel to the much loved Left 4 Dead. This time players will need to traverse the southern United States from Savannah to New Orleans. If the first game is any indication, the frantic, never-the-same multiplayer tactical combat will be enough to keep the most expert FPS players on their toes. New zombie types are being introduced, along with a few new weapons, with a particular focus on giving the player lots of options for melee combat
Assassin's Creed II
The major cross-platform release this week is Assassin’s Creed II. The first game left off with a cliffhanger. Altaïr’s story in the middle ages was complete, but Desmond’s story in the near future seems to have only just begun. This game picks up the story right where it left off for Desmond and Lucy, but the flashback portion of the story shifts forward to The Renaissance, where another of Desmond’s ancestors has joined the order of assassins. This game will feature hundreds of missions, with twice as many mission types, several new weapons, improved parkour, and a more advanced health and healing system. This last one is an interesting change that also effects the context of the plot. In Assassin’s Creed, it seemed that Altaïr in actuality completed every mission without being injured, and that it was only Desmond’s weak connection to him that made it seem as if he was missing steps, and getting hurt—meaning that all he had to do to “heal” was take a moment to resynchronize. In this sequel, it seems that our new assassin character wasn’t perfect, even when he completed the tasks the first time back in the past, because the player will need to guide him to a hospital to get patched up if he hurts himself too badly. Overall, the game looks like more of what people liked about the first one, so anyone who enjoyed that game should check into this one.
Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
For horror survival fans, the newest game in the Resident Evil franchise, Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, drops for the Wii this week. This newest entry to the Resident Evil franchise brings with it customizable weapons, lots of collectible items, the ability to play classic RE levels—like Raccoon City—and 2 player co-op, which seems to have been put into place as a solid part of the franchise going forward.
Gyromancer
Our spotlight release this week is the PC and Xbox 360 release Gyromancer. This game is the product of collaboration between the best RPG developers and the best casual games developers. Square-Enix and Popcap have teamed up to create a title that capitalizes on the still new RPG puzzle genre, made popular by Puzzle Quest. Players will take on the role of a monster summoner who must trek through a magic forest, pitting his own monsters against those of the wilderness, fighting by way of a grid-of-gems puzzle board. Throughout the game the player can learn new spells, and gain the ability to cast as many as fifty different monsters. From the descriptions and screens, it actually seems a little simplified compared to Puzzle Quest. Perhaps that’s Popcap’s influence showing, but the graphics are super-slick, and with Square-Enix on board, you can expect the plot, and the role-playing elements to be unique and fun.
Retro game series making the transition to 3D on modern systems is hardly something new—Zelda, Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog, Contra, Bubsy (I kid, I kid)—all had a dance in the 3D limelight. Some were successful, and some utterly failed (can we PLEASE keep Sonic 2D already?). No matter the outcome, they all tried to bring a modern look with them as they moved to 3D. One must wonder though—what would have happened if those games made the transition to 3D, yet the visuals remained the same as their 2D retro sprite-based counterparts? Atlus grabs that question by the pixels with 3D DOT GAME HEROES.
A tip of the hat to a simpler time
3D DOT GAME HEROES (3DDGH) is essentially a love letter to retro games. It plays just like a classic adventure game with simple map layouts, colorful, repeating graphic elements, and squares everywhere. The game takes this classic style and moves it to 3D, like so many have done before, but developer From Software was hardly satisfied with the standards of modernizing such a game. In a completely clever and unique twist, 3DDGH maintains the look of a classic retro game while being presented in 3D space. Characters are made of small blocks. Trees are box-shaped and full of sharp edges. Environments are clearly made up of simple tiled objects. 3DDGH then puts the icing on the cake by splashing modern technologies into this classic look. There is a real-time lighting model with dynamic shadows, depth of field and camera effects, and even fancy bloom shading on highlights. It’s a paradox of visual styles.
Atlus announced recently that 3DDGH will be released on May 11th 2010 for the price of $39.99. The title is to be a PS3 exclusive. Preorders are now open, and purchasing information can be found on the 3D DOT GAME HEROES website.
3DDGH looks to be a wonderful game full of nostalgia. It will be a great way to revisit the game style of old—remaining completely fresh and unique while breaking every status quo that would come with a title like this. If you own a PS3 and miss the days of dark lords overtaking a kingdom and one hero rising to the challenge of stopping them, then 3D DOT GAME HEROES looks to be a must-play. Just be sure to enjoy the pretty shadows while you’re at it.
Who needs Left 4 Dead 2 when you can play the original game on the NES? Forget HD resolutions and graphics—you can have it all at 256 x 240 resolution with 16 colors and a 4 channel audio.
Taking the concept of modding a Valve game to a completely new, 8-bit extreme, indie game designer Eric Ruth is re-making the original Left 4 Dead into an NES title as part of his series of games dubbed ‘The PixelForce NES de-makes’.
Left 4 Dead is being reborn in that classic top-down style that we all know and love from an age when gaming was still in its infancy. All four characters from the original game will be playable, all five of the special infected are present, and all four campaigns will be re-imagined from the NES perspective.
Eric stated on his YouTube page that Left 4 Dead is the flagship NES de-make title, which can only lead us to speculate what games are next to recieve the 8-bit treatment. Splinter Cell? Beyond Good and Evil? Deus Ex (BRB reinstalling…)? After seeing Left 4 Dead, and earlier in the year the NES ROM release of D-Pad Hero, no game could be outside the realm of possibility.
Currently, the game is slated for release on January 4th, 2010. It will be free to download and play, and offers single player and two-player modes.
The latest addition to The Beatles Rock Band, Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band DLC, will hit the Xbox360 and Wii on November 17th, and PS3 on November 19th. Rounding off the complete album with tracks such as “When I’m Sixty Four” and “She’s Leaving Home,” fans of The Beatles will now be able to play the entire album within the game.
Price is set at 200 Wii points per track ($2.) Xbox 360 owners have the option of buying each track individually for 160 MS Points ($1.99) or the “Complete the Album” pack for 1080 MS Points ($13.49)
And Futuremark looked down among the throngs of gamers and said, ‘we told you so’.
Shattered Horizon is a game still very much in its infancy. Released on November 4th, the game brought a remarkably fresh take to the FPS genre, pitting combatants against each other in the anti-gravity of space. Its unique premise and gorgeous visuals left the game with a lot of potential, and almost everyone who played the game spoke positively of Shattered Horizon.
Many gamers that sat on the fence with purchasing the game, however, voiced concerns that only having four maps and one gun was simply not enough content to keep their interest. Futuremark promised DLC to expand the game, in the same fashion that Valve had done with Left 4 Dead and Team Fortress 2, and not even two weeks after the game’s release, they have announced plans to fulfill that promise.
In a press release issued today, Futuremark announced the Shattered Horizon “Moonrise” DLC pack. This extra content consists of four new maps—effectively doubling the amount of maps in the game. Like the maps currently in the game, the “Moonrise” maps will also focus on combat around shattered chunks of the Moon. They will be released for free for all that own Shattered Horizon.
A release date has not yet been set, but if you preordered the game, you are eligible to play test the map pack. Futuremark stated that the release date for the DLC will be dependent upon the results of the playtesting.
The “Moonrise” DLC pack is only the tip of the iceberg for Shattered Horizon. If you were concerned about buying the game due to lack of content, be encouraged by this release and future potential for the game. It just may be the best $20 you’ve spent in a good long while.
In an e-mail to customers of the Xbox / Windows LIVE service, Microsoft has announced that they will be adding social networking to the Xbox 360.
The motive behind this move is unclear. The services Microsoft intends to support, which include Facebook, Twitter, and Zune, are already easy to access from any internet-enabled PC or cell phone. Additionally, the new features will only be available to Xbox LIVE “Gold” subscribers. A gold subscription to Xbox LIVE costs $49.99 per year, in addition to any internet service charges the customer may be paying their ISP.
The update will be released on November 17th, at which time any Xbox 360 that connects to the LIVE service will automatically patch itself.
Gamersgate announced today in a press release that it has a new partnership with Runic games, and will now be selling their titles. The first game up for grabs is Runic’s brand new “Torchlight,” an action-RPG.
“It is a top priority for us to identify key retail opportunities as a growing publisher,” said the CEO of Runic Games, Max Schaefer. “GamersGate offers a quick and easy solution to purchase games and we’re happy to be on board.”
Gamersgate is similar to Steam—it has a large online selection of downloadable games, and also offers rewards to frequent and helpful customers on the site.
On Saturday, November 14th, Nintendo will be holding a launch event for New Super Mario Bros Wii at the Nintendo World store in New York City.
As probably the single most iconic video game character in history, Mario has some serious star power (in b4… ah, never mind). In addition to the store being transformed into a fully decked-out Mushroom Kingdom motif , there will be a life-sized Warp Pipe to walk through, competitions, a DJ, and a Mario Museum which covers almost 30 years of Mario history.
We got to play New SMB Wii at E3, and came away impressed with the co-op play. The game hearkens back to the roots of what made Mario so wildly popular. As CB Droege said in his article about Nintendo’s new direction back in June:
I’ve got to tell you: playing through a classic Mario platforming adventure co-operatively with my buddies sounds like just about the best thing ever.
Ready to 
Voting has begun for Spike TV’s Video Game Awards for 2009.
Sony 
VE service, Microsoft has announced that they will be 
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