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The latest Wii-kly update features a new musical rhythm game, Groovin’ Blocks as the WiiWare offering. Groovin’ Blocks will have you solving the action puzzles to the beat of the music for extra points. You and a buddy can play head to head even if you aren’t equals on the field thanks to the golf-style handicap system.

There are also two classic TurboGrafx64 shooters available as the virtual console titles. Final Soldier is a single player vertical scrolling shooter from the Soldier series. Pit yourself against aliens in super high tech fighter to save the Earth’s future. If you’re in the mood for a fantasy shooter in space try Cho Aniki. The title was fairly controversial in its day, and still is for many people. Who knew players would feel squeamish about consuming protein from their fallen opponents to power up. Maybe it was the two muscle bound homo-erotic avatars Adon and Samson that disturbed gamers.
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Akella is a fun group of Russian developers who make decent games, and they are definitely one to watch in the future, if not already. Today they showcased another one of their upcoming titles, Scorpion - originally titled Showdown: Scorpion.

The basic premise for Scorpion’s backstory is that the world in 2028 has become a place without mercy, compassion, or sympathy. Drastic changes that followed a sudden crisis split society into several parts – all of them opposing each other. You are offered to wear the shoes of a special agent who has to penetrate the Umbrella Corporation Zenith Corporation that breeds monsters, initiates killings and, actually, rules the world. Full of monsters, zombies, and dangerous dungeons Scorpion seems like it will be a mix between your basic FPS with a bit of survival horror thrown into the recipe. For gaming features and a more in depth look at the backstory, continue on after the break. In the mean time, please take my advice above to heart regarding the dying cat they recorded as background music. Dear God it is hideous. Sorry Akella.

After several major economical and political crises the world as we know it ceased to exist. Only few major states survived 2020s, while the lesser authorities have collapsed, leaving behind anarchy and pollution. The power vacuum was filled by key international companies which acquired control over derelict territories, forming Free Commerce Areas (FCAs).

In early 2030s ruins of unknown origin were discovered in Sudan. Several artifacts possibly of alien nature were quickly revealed and soon major dig has started. But few months of work as well as the bulk of the dig team were lost to the underground explosion followed by contamination of the region. To prevent diseases from spreading a series of nuclear strikes were made to completely annihilate the site. These events have caused major resonance and soon a treaty limiting the usage of dangerous technologies and weapon systems was signed between the FCAs and UNO. As a result the International Committee of Technology and Warfare Supervision (ICTS) with its own military and intelligence units, was created.

Same time few survivors of Sudan Incident emerged as founders of newly formed Zenith Corporation. This institution with HQ in Zagreb FCA quickly established itself as a notorious player on weapon, pharmaceutics and IT markets. But in 2028 several instances of Zenith weapon systems together with samples of unidentified biological weapons were discovered during the liquidation of the extremists’ Albanian group in Kosovo.

ICTS immediately started investigation. It was planned to infiltrate Zenith as a customer with clear ties to one of the terrorists’ organization and get a proof of its illegal activity. One of the best ICTS field agents, codename Scorpion, has been assigned to this mission…

• Intense action in cyber-punk styled Earth 2028
• Futuristic storyline supported by multiple cut-scene
• Combination of first-person combat and stealth action elements provides unique gaming experience
• Impressive arsenal of upgradeable weapons
• Characters can gain access to several paranormal psychic powers including the ability to subdue the will of enemies for a short period of time
• Advanced squad-oriented combat AI creates a strong challenging opposition
• Elite opponents possess supernatural powers similar to those of the player’s character

I am unsure when the game will be released for the PC but I am sure we will know exactly when bythistime tomorrow.

You can view more screens from E3 for the game here.

College Humor is a pretty fun site and while looking through it today I found this hilarious little gem comparing women to characters from Mario. Normally a female might take offense to being compared to a Toad, Goomba, Bowser or Warp Pipe, but in this case it is pretty damn hilarious and after reading each description I realized that I knew a real life counterpart of each example. Pretty sad.Anyway, here is just one example from the list which you can view in its entirety after you hit the link.

The Pirahna Plant: Most every women, at some point, to some man, will play the role of the Pirahna Plant. This is the girl you may date for awhile, and quite frankly actually like. One day things change, you break up, and she suddenly becomes a blood sucking “biatch”. Because you once trusted this woman, and she knows it, she has the ability to make you feel incredibly small. In both the video game and real world, the Pirahna Plant has been known to cause men to punch holes in the wall. She can not be destroyed with conventional attacks, and her ability to conceal the time and manner in which she will strike, makes her possibly the most dangerous foe you will encounter. The Pirahna Plant’s powers of manipulation are palpable. She will coax you into thinking you are safe to move past her, then strike when you least expect it. These females are almost immune to destruction unless you possess some sort of rare unexplainable power, (immense ability at manipulation, iron clad balls or flaming sunflower seeds). If you do not have any of these rare powers, simply cut your losses, and avoid any contact with her.

Via: College Humor

Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core

Developer: Square Enix

Publisher: Square Enix

Price: $39.99

Platform: PSP

Category: Action RPG

ESRB Rating: T for Teen (Blood, Mild Language, Mild Suggestive Themes, Violence)

Release Date: March 25

Of all the people that have written about Final Fantasy VII: Crisis Core, I think I’m one of the few with a very unique perspective on it: I’ve never played the original FFVII. I was never much of a Final Fantasy fan up until last year when I began trucking through the old games that had been ported to PSP, and as Crisis Core is a prequel, I’m getting to enjoy a fantastic game that simultaneously holds up well as a standalone game and also manages to flesh out the story of the classic PlayStation RPG. (Or so I’m told.)

Crisis Core is in almost every way unlike any Final Fantasy game you’ve ever played. There’s no party, the action isn’t the strictly turn-based affair you normally get, and the cutscenes rarely run on for too long. In other words, it’s a game perfectly adapted to the platform it’s on. Among its many achievements, that is perhaps one of its greatest accomplishments.

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cdv Software Entertainment and Fireglow Games today shipped their WWII RTS Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory to North American retail. Sudden Strike III drops players into some of the biggest and most furious battles of WWII with new campaigns, massive battles, and historically modeled units, along with significantly expanded gameplay so players can wage war across a variety of terrains and environments.

For more information about Sudden Strike 3, please visit the official website and our previous posts.

Via: Press Release 

Now that the writers strike is over, Hollywood can start focusing on its important projects again, like getting that Metal Gear Solid movie rolling. At the Las Vegas premiere for 21, the film’s producer, Michael De Luca, mentioned that he and Columbia Pictures were now looking at moving forward with the video game adaptation by first selecting someone to adapt it. They’re expecting to meet with Kurt Wimmer in the next few weeks to discuss him writing a screenplay and possibly directing the movie. Wimmer is known for directing Equilibrium (good movie) and Ultraviolet (terrible movie). He’s also done script adaptations for The Thomas Crown Affair and Sphere. Does anyone else smell that? *sniff sniff* God, it smells like doom all of a sudden. Still, this could lend a bit more credence to the rumors of Christian Bale starring as Solid Snake, since he was also in Equilibrium.

Via ComingSoon.net

Stranger was suppose to hit shelves on March 3rd, but word coming straight from cdv this morning states that the RTS/RPG will be released on March 17th instead. To make up for it, or just for the fun of it, they sent us some new screens of the game.

In other cdv news, just in case you are interested, in the same announcement they also mentioned the following release dates for some more of their games.

• Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory (PC)- March 24
• Sacred 2: Fallen Angel (PC, Xbox 360) - September (tba)
• Theatre of War (PC) - May 12

For more information on Stranger, check out our previous posts.

More Screens Here

cdv Software and Fireglow Games have announced that Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory has gone gold and will be shipping to retail outlets on March 10th. The latest installment in the Sudden Strike WWII RTS games features new campaigns, massive battles, and historically modeled units, along with expanded gameplay so players can wage war across a variety of terrains and environments.

Sudden Strike 3 will simulate joint operation of ground, naval and air forces on vast areas. The new user interface paradigm will allow player to control these forces avoiding unnecessary micro-management, while allowing controlling individual units, if player would so desire and si styled for both the beginner and experienced player. The player will choose the best way of controlling the game situation, thus it will be interesting to play same company several times using different tactics or control level.

Gameplay will include land and sea operations, with aviation acting as a support force for both. Sea forces will also be supported by submarines that can, for example, hunt down an enemy supply convoy. Carrier-based aviation will support both naval and land operation when possible. It will be possible to develop in depth coastal defense, thus, careful control of player naval and air forces will be the key to successful land operations. Harbors and airfields will play an important role in the gameplay, as gates for transports providing supplies and reinforcement. Land operations will cover vast areas, making reconnaissance an essential part of gameplay.

Sudden Strike 3 has a new 3D engine that utilizes the most recent versions of DirectX and OpenGL APIs, thus taking advantage of modern graphics accelerators power. The engine is targeted for RTS games mainly, utilizing a bird’s-eye view of the battlefield, with free camera control and close-ups supported. Game engine is capable of rendering large-scale maps with mountains, forests, water, with a huge amount of units. It supports realistic-looking dynamic shadows and special effects on a close-up view allowing the player to effectively manage both large armies, and individual units.

For more information on Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory, look over our previous posts which includes a link to the demo.

Via:Press Release

I really like the folks over at Akella. They produce decent games and they are a great bunch of people with a solid work ethic who absolutely love making video games. However, I have to disagree with their choice of soundtrack for the trailer they sent us this week. Originally titled Showdown: Scorpion, the trailer shows off what can only be described as a fragfest with good graphics and frightening surprises around each corner. With that said, the scariest thing about the trailer has to be the woman singing - if she is not Yoko Ono, she sure as hell is related to her. Take my suggestion, and listen to it about 1/3 of the way through the trailer just so you will have an idea of what I am talking about - then turn your sound off lest your ears start to bleed.

Coming to the PC this Spring, the basic premise for Scorpion’s backstory is that the world in 2028 has become a place without mercy, compassion, or sympathy. Drastic changes that followed a sudden crisis split society into several parts – all of them opposing each other. You are offered to wear the shoes of a special agent who has to penetrate the Umbrella Corporation Zenith Corporation that breeds monsters, initiates killings and, actually, rules the world. Full of monsters, zombies, and dangerous dungeons Scorpion seems like it will be a mix between your basic FPS with a bit of survival horror thrown into the recipe. For gaming features and a more in depth look at the backstory, continue on after the break. In the mean time, please take my advice above to heart regarding the dying cat they recorded as background music. Dear God it is hideous. Sorry Akella.

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The Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory add-on pack is live and ready for download on FileFront. not only does the patch contain bug fixes and tweaks, it features two multiplayer maps (all control points can be captured only one time) and a single-player mission.

You can grab this patch here:

via FileFront

If you haven’t had the chance to check out Sudden Strike 3: Arms For Victory, the demo can be found HERE.

The above trailer shows how the Micro AI works in the Suddent Strike Next7 engine. You will have the ability to give units a single command to unload, and they will be left on their own to take care of defending and supplying without having to be constantly managed.

This engine has a lot of promise to it and I’ll be keeping a close eye on future developments.
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Coming to stores at the end of the month, is Fireglow Games’ latest installment in the Sudden Strike Series. Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory features historically authentic models built to scale, fully interactive giant maps and full 3-D state-of-the-art graphics in the popular Sudden Strike style. Featuring a new Sudden Strike Next7 graphics engine for large-scale air and naval battles and large numbers of units. This edition also features new units, fully redone AI and pathfinding, an improved interface, and more complex multiplayer modes across four campaigns — two in the Pacific Islands and two in Europe.

Features:

• Fully interactive landscape (all objects can be destroyed, all buildings and pillboxes can be used as shelter)
• Massive operations on big maps, strategic scale of the maps (front line can be a few kilometres long)
• Thousands of units fighting in the real time
• More than 300 tanks, ships, soldiers, guns and planes with original weapons built to scale
• Great sounds, 5.1 supported, nations speak native languages
• New feature - advanced Micro AI-behaviour allows to your troops to act exactly as you plan
• Joint naval and ground operations, air raids, artillery strikes etc.
• State-of-the-art technology to render 3D landscape, realistic lines of sight and fire
• Spectacular visual & lighting effects
• Multiplayer mode: up to 8 players
• Five campaigns playable for American, British, German, Japanese and Soviet sides

Want to try out this WW2 game before you decide to lay down your hard earned allowance or cash stolen from your mother’s purse? Then click on the badge below for a demo of Sudden Strike 3: Arms for Victory.

A few years back, I purchased a cheap, somewhat obscure PS2 game called “Katamari Damacy.” It’d gotten good reviews and it was only $20, so I thought I’d give the strange, cutesy game a shot. I was living with four roommates at the time, and they all mocked me relentlessly for playing such a ridiculous looking game. Nevertheless, I eventually beat it and got caught up with some schoolwork, which pulled me away from my PS2 for the time being. Then one day, about a week later, I came home to find my entire household crowded around the TV, taking turns playing the game. These included both people who loved video games and people who hated them. The game was simply that fun and addicting for everyone.

In that regard, very little has changed in this latest iteration of the quirky franchise, “Beautiful Katamari,” as I suspected. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but the persistent deja vu is hard to ignore. Did you ever see that South Park episode where they displayed a counter for every time someone said the “S” word? Well, I’m going to do an homage to that episode (read: complete blatant rip-off) by counting off every time I reference “the first game” during my review. Let’s begin, shall we?
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Avast, me hearties! Blackbeard’s Revenge is a new arcade action game for the PC from Tri Synergy and Fireglow Games. Set on the high seas, this real-time action game rewards successful pirates with money and resources that are looted from defeated enemies’ sunken ships. At your island base, you can use these resources and treasure to build better ships, weapons and cannon balls to turn the tides in your favor for future battles. If you’re lucky enough to obtain an enemy ships’ design plans you can build faster ships with better armor and equip them with more powerful cannons. Then, you’ll be capable of shooting further, faster, and inflicting more damage. Blast your way to victory and riches or ye be takin’ a deep sea nap! Yar!

Blackbeard’s Revenge will hit stores in September. Until then, stay tuned for more information and check out these other screens.

Features:

• 35 Single player missions.
• Fierce naval battles.
• 4 Buildable ships.
• Night, day, and weather effects.
• Multiplayer LAN & internet play.
• Weapons and ships upgrades.

via: Press Release

FULL PRESS RELEASE AFTER THE BREAK

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Going to New York on vacation is an exciting proposition. The sights and bustle of the city feel almost alien in nature to your normal life. Where buildings touch the sky, and trees are scarce, I happened upon something incredible. Nestled in a corner of Rockefeller Center, you will find the Nintendo World store.

You may not notice it at first glance. With the madness that comes with a day in New York, an unassuming glass building hardly peaks interest. The building is practically an aquarium, but as with most aquariums, it’s the inside that counts. If you listen closely, the sounds of excited children echo through the spinning doors, hinting as something unseen that somehow provides unrelenting joy. My mind raced as I recognized the magnitude of what I had discovered. Will I finally find it? Will my quest for a Nintendo Wii finally be complete? Surely here, at the center of New York, in one of the largest Nintendo stores in the world, they will have a Wii for sale. What that in mind, I eagerly jogged across incoming traffic, ignoring the angry honks of speeding cab drivers.

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Originally titled Raiders of the Lost Casino - Evil Days of Luckless John, a mix of adventure, arcade shooter and fighting- is coming to a PC near you in September. It looks like a wacky little PC game with loads of humor and fun. Here is the synopsis of the game:

“John is indeed luckless. Everything he ever started turned out to be a major disaster. Until one day a distant relative dies, and the only heir of his profitable casino is – of course – John. Is he going to be lucky this time? Already thinking about the money that is supposed to pour in, already thinking about spending all his future riches, suddenly reality strikes back at John - again. The Mob wants to get their hands on John’s Casino. Being already responsible for the death of the former owner, John’s appearance makes them very unhappy. It looks like John is in big trouble…At this point, the player of this beautifully designed graphic adventure takes control. He has to make sure that John will lose his nick name, or die trying.

Evil Days of Luckless John, developed by Centauri, is in the best tradition of classic and fun graphic adventures, mixed with today’s 3D technology. The main character can be moved around in an almost open 3D environment, with a simple and intuitive user interface. Luckless John is appealing to fans of the adventure genre, while adding the modern look and feel to attract a wide audience of gamers who like to follow a humorous storyline.”

Features

• quaint mix of action, fighting and adventure genres with eccentric parody elements
• humorous non-linear plot
• comics type stylization of graphic part of the game
• completely 3d graphical performance
• original characters with distinctive facial features in cartoon and caricature style
• about 30 various locations from factory, museum, farm till prison, cemetery and even canalization
• “dense population” includes 26 active NPCs and about 10 animals
• more than 15 cut-scenes in the best traditions of modern comic 3d movies

We have more screens and quite a few trailers for your downloading pleasure on FileFront so go check them out.

Recently I was thumbing through the latest collection of Penny Arcade comics, titled Birds are Weird, when I came across this comic from four years ago. Suddenly I felt an almost blinding sense of déjà vu…because I realized the same goddamn thing was happening all over again with the Wii.

The last game I bought for the Wii was Super Paper Mario, back when I first got my system at the beginning of April. The next game I would even consider buying would be Mario Strikers Charged, which isn’t due out until July 30. So let’s see: I bought my last Wii game at the start of April…April, May, June, July…that’s four months between two good games all over again! Read the full article

Fireglow Games, best known for the Sudden Strike series, has just released new screenshots for its newest game, Stranger for the PC. Touted as a blend between RPG and RTS elements, the game casts you in the role of one of three heroes commanding a squad of units. These newest screens focus on Steiger (shown above), a former spy who weilds a crossbow and an axe. He also possesses several magic abilities that mostly center around healing his squad. If they manage to pull off an interesting mix of genres like this, it should be something definitely worth chicking out.