I am a freelance writer with aspirations of becoming a games journalist. Therefore I will post mostly games reviews but I will also throw in some film, book, and tv reviews from time to time. I'll even write the occaisonal article. I am mainly doing this for practice and for constructive critisicm so feel free to let me know what you think, good or bad.
On June 22, 2010 Wipeout: The Game hit casual party gaming platforms (that is to say Wii and DS) everywhere. Here we are more than a year later and now that all platforms have embraced this market Wipeout 2 will coming to them all. Thank the gaming gods for providing us with Kinect and Move.
Above: Sounds like an 80's version of The Wizard of OZ.
Wipeout 2 will offer updated courses, obstacles, and events taken from the show's recent winter and summer series. The classics like the Sucker Punch Wall and Big Balls will be back and so will announcers John Anderson and Henderson.
Above: A whole new kind of teabagging.
The developers are taking the time to focus on making the experience unique to each platform by adding console specific actions and options. The Wii and DS (and by extension 3DS) controls have been revamped and of course the 3DS will offer 3D. The PS3 and Xbox 360 Kinect versions on the other hand will offer players the opportunity to taunt, and even throw objects at other players.
The game is rated E10+ by the ESRB (Everyone 10 and older). It will launch this holiday season on all platforms and will release at the bargain price of $49.99 US.
Did you play the original Wipeout: the game? Will you play this one? Is the budget price an incentive to pick it up? Do you like the inclusion of the rating, price, and release date in the final paragraph? Let me know in the comments.
Are you a kid on planet earth between the ages of six and twelve? Then Activision has a treat for you when the global children's brand Moshi Monsters comes to Nintendo DS! Now you can have portable pet monsters on your Nintendo DS....oh wait.
Above: How can you not love a game with font this adorable?
The online social game launched in 2008 and has seen an immense amount of growth with currently boasts 50 million users in over 150 territories worldwide. North America alone sports an impressive 15 million users. That massive fan base should be excited about experiencing Moshi Monsters in an entirely new way on the Nintendo DS.
Moshling Zoo features brand new content including new locations and an exclusive Moshling that has yet to be revealed. There will be 52 collectible creatures in the game spanning all levels of rarity including the elusive Ultra-Rare. Finally, there will be mini-games and puzzles to play for awards and trophies that players can bring back to their zoo.
Do you play Moshi Monsters online? Are you in the noted age bracket? Are you a DS owner considering purchasing this? Let me know in the comments.
Do you enjoy slaughtering countless civilians in open world games? Have you ever wondered what it would be like to kill yourself? Well thanks to Activision and Gamestop you can now find the answers to both of these questions in Prototype 2. Gamers in the U.S. and Canada who pre-order Prototype 2 (and are over 18) between now and September 1rst will be able to enter a draw to become a citizen in the game.
Above: Now you can be a body in that torrent of death.
The winner will receive a trip for two to Radical Entertainment in Vancouver, Canada where they will meet the developers, see previously unseen game footage, and have their likeness copied into the game. In addition to being able to murder your virtual self in Prototype 2 you'll also be able to shape-shift the games protagonist, Sgt. James Heller, to look like you.
Radical's studio head Ken Rosman is quoted as saying "Radical wouldn't be where it is today without our fans, and this is just another way for us to thank them for all their support". Once you've pre-ordered a copy of Prototype 2 from your local Gamestop you will need to go to your country's corresponding website to enter the draw (where you can also find the contests full rules and regulations),
Are you looking forwardto dragging your own flailing body up a building? Do you find the idea of random gamers assuming your form and performing depraved acts unsettling? Let me know in the comments.
Every red blooded American wants to decimate the wilderness of Alaska right? Well now you can thanks to Cabela's latest game Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai. The game will come packed with the Top Shot Elite Peripheral and will take gamers through the daunting Alaskan wilderness in order to complete a mysterious mission.
Above: I gotta say, I don't think that knife will help much.
The game will kick off with a plane crash and players will then take control of survivor bush pilot Logan James. Gamers will then find themselves injured and isolated in a remote corner of the hostile Alaskan wilderness. Logan will have to battle against deadly predators and frigid elements of nature with nothing but firearms and scavenged gear if he hopes to survive.
Above: This is your weapon, epic huh?
Cabela's Survival: Shadows of Katmai will be available on Wii, 360, and PS3 on November 1, 2011. The game will be sold alone or bundled with the Top Shot Peripheral (shown above) on all three platforms. The game will launch at the budget price of $39.99 with the bundle selling for $79,99 which should help move some units.
Are you looking forward to struggling your way through the Alaskan wilderness or is this not your thing at all? Have you ever played a Cabela's game or do you steer clear of the series? Let me know in the comments.
The day has arrived, Black Ops's lastest map pack Annihilation has hit PSN and PC. I've already posted all about the contents of the map pack and how it's identical to the earlier release on XBLA. You can read all about it in my earlier post from when they announced the release date.
Above: Not the first time someone's fired one off at the drive-in.
To celebrate Annihilation coming to PSN and PC developer Treyarch has decided to run a Double XP event this weekend. It will get underway tomorrow morning at 10 am pacific time and will run through Sunday, July 31rst. The best part about this is that it stretches across all platforms so Black Ops players on 360 and even Wii (if there are any) will benefit as well.
Are you glad to finally be getting this on your platform of choice or are you glad that you've already been playing it for a month on 360? Are you going to take advantage of the double xp event to do some leveling? Or maybe you play Black Ops on Wii and you just want to let me know you exist? Well do so in the comments.
Despite what the majority of the Internet may want you to believe, Activision isn't a giant evil empire looking to conquer the galaxy through fear and annual releases. As part of an effort to prove this to the rage filled masses Bobby Kotick set up the Activision Independent Games Competition. Today they announced the winners of the first annual competition and handed out $250,000 in cash prizes. First place and $175,000 went to Peter Angstadt for his game "Dstroyd" with the second place prize of $75,000 going to Engient for his game "Rigonauts: Broadside".
Above: A guided tour of the latest version of Dstroyed.
The competition was open to all U.S. based indie developers, be they an individual or a team, and submissions were for completed or in-development games (including game concepts/proposals). Activision plans to use this competition to hand out a total of $500,000 to help support indie game development. This was only phase one of the competition and they plan to hand out another $250,000 in phase two (more details to come).
The best part about the Activision Independent Games Competition is that despite awarding these talented indie developers all that cash Activision holds no ownership or publishing rights over their games or companies. Activision's simply providing them with funds to help them make their games and access to all the resources at Activisions disposal if they want it.
So do you think this is all on the up and up or does Activision maybe have sinister motives for doing all these great things? Let me know in the comments.
Well I suppose it shouldn't be a surprise but Activision is bringing Goldeneye 007 back for another go round, this time on the current generation HD consoles. The new game, titled Goldeneye 007: Reloaded, will launch on PS3 and 360 this fall and will feature Move and Sharp Shooter support.
Above: Nice to see "The Dam" again.
This latest attempt at recreating the magic of the N64's Goldeneye 007 is built on a brand new engine and is being touted as the complete James Bond experience shooter-fans have been waiting for. In addition to the HD visuals and Move support the game will run at 60-frames per second and feature a brand new "Mi6 Ops Missions" game mode which will work like Modern Warfare 2's Spec Ops.
Above: This is what we always wanted right?
Of course it wouldn't be Goldeneye without multiplayer so developer Eurocom made sure to not only include 16-player online matches but also four-player split-screen games in classic Goldeneye fashion. Multiplayer will feature more maps, weapons, characters, and game modes than any past Goldeneye iteration.
So what do you think? Do you think the third time will be the charm or will this version fall on mostly deaf ears like the Wii one did? Post your thoughts in the comments.
More Activision news from Comic-Con 2011, this time in the form of a new Prototype 2 trailer and a solid release date of April 24, 2012. The sequel to 2009's Prototype, Prototype 2 will feature Sergeant James Heller as the new playable protagonist.
Above: "Honey, I'm...shit."
Heller is an ex-soldier who returns home from overseas to find that his wife and child have been murdered by the first games protagonist, Alex Mercer. Therefore, in true video game fashion, he embarks on a quest for revenge. He is aided in this quest by the fact that Alex Mercer has infected him with the Blacklight virus giving him similar powers to Mercer's. He then proceeds to tear across a post virus New York (yes, another destroyed New York) in search for Mercer and the means to kill him.
Above: That will ruin your day.
Are you excited to play Prototype 2? Did this new trailer do anything for you? Did you play/like the first game?Post your answers in the comments.
Activision has announced the voice actors for both of their upcoming superhero games and once again they've brought out the big guns. They kicked off San Diego Comic-Con 2011 with the big reveals concerning both Spider-Man: Edge of Time and X-Men Destiny setting a solid tone for the rest of their presence at the show.
Above: Book a flight right now and you might make it in time.
Spider-Man: Edge of Time will be headlined by Val Kilmer (who once played Batman on the big screen...odd) who will portray Walker Sloan, the main villian. Laura Vandervoot of Smallville and V will play love interest Mary Jane and the Black Cat will be voiced by Battlestar Galactica's Katee Sackhoff. Top level voice acting and just the right women to please the fanboys, someone knows how to cast a superhero game.
Above: Some pretty kick ass box art if I do say so myself.
X-men Destiny's voice cast is nothing scoff at either as it's also sporting a lineup of big names that speak directly to the comic book audience. Milo Ventimiglia from the (now-cancelled) NBC series Heroes, Jamie Chung from Sucker Punch and The Hangover Part II, and Friday Night Lights Scott Porter are all taking up the role of their own playable mutant. The game features three brand new playable mutants (Grant Alexander, Aimi Yoshida, and Adrian Luca) all with their own powers and choices. Each of them will be played by a corresponding voice actor (Ventimiglia, Chung, and Porter respectively).
All of these stars will be featured on the Activision Marvel Video Games Panel at Comic-Con along with Stan Lee, Marvel writer Peter David, and Beenox Studio Head Dee Brown so expect more news to be coming soon.
So did these names pique your interest or do you just not care? Do you even play super hero games? Let me know in the comments.
The long wait (one whole month) is almost over for PS3 and PC gamers dying to get their hands on the latest Black Ops map pack. The official release date has been announced as July 28th, a mere 12 days away, and will cost $15 (the equivalent of the cost on XBLA).
The PS3 and PC release of Annihilation is identical to the 360 version. It contains 4 new multiplayer maps and 1 new zombie map. "Hangar 18" is a tribute to the famous hangar from the mysterious Area 51 and features an SR-71 in the middle of the map. "Drive-In" is a tight map in a 1960's drive-in theatre which is ideal for close combat. "Silo" is a more traditional COD map which turns a secret Soviet missile base into a multilevel warzone. "Hazard" is probably the most interesting of the new multiplayer maps as it not only takes place on a Cuban golf course but is also based on the World at War map "Cliffside".
Lastly, there's the new Zombies map "Shangri-la". It takes place in a lost temple in the middle of the jungle. The map itself is constructed like a labyrinth which features deadly traps, underground caverns, and many new kinds of zombies. Of course like all Zombies maps (and most other things Treyarch does) it is sure to contain some hidden secrets.
So what do you think? Did the month wait make any difference to you at all? Did you already buy it on 360 or are you maybe going to buy it again? Or are you simply not interested at all, maybe a price thing? Let me know in the comments.
Well the day is finally here, the Call of Duty Elite beta officially started in Black Ops on Xbox Live today and COD fanboys the world over now have one more ruler with which to measure their "game".
The new digital service will act as a community platform for any and all COD fans. As the beta started today (July 14th) it will focus exclusively on Black Ops but the full launch will occur on November 8th with Modern Warfare 3. The beta will be releasing in stages in order to tune and test specific elements of Elite.
Call of Duty Elite itself sports many features which will most likely thrill any hardcore COD players or anyone with a hard on for statistics as it will track every imaginable element of COD multiplayer. This will include K.D. ratio, heat maps, loadout proficiency, successful enemy tactics, etc. (if any of that was gibberish to you then Elite may not be for you). There are also some features in Elite that will be more appealing to novice COD players like the ability to compare stats with friends, find like minded players with similar interests, and form groups/clans with those players. All of these features will be offered on any mobile device you might have so you COD data is always with you. No matter what it's worth checking out as the standard experience is free.
On that note, it's not all a free day in military happy land (Activision is a business after all). Elite standard is in fact free (a very customer friendly move actually) but there is a premium form of the service which members get all Call of Duty DLC free of charge. Not a bad incentive really considering that COD map packs alone cost $15 a piece and never seem to drop.
My advice is to jump online and give it a shot. I mean what have you got to lose, it's free. What do you think? Is this an awesome new service, a total waste of time, or something in between? Let me know in the comments.
here we are again. I've decided to start up my blog again as the flow of freelance has slowed for the summer season. It's not going to be anything major, mostly game industry news as I am now on many publishers e-mail lists. I might throw in some reviews or articles from time to time depending on what comes up and I'll post links to any of my freelance articles which get posted on other sites. Mainly this revival is meant to keep me sharp during this downtime.
One big thing you can look forward to is plenty of news from PAX Prime at the very end of August as I will be there all weekend covering everything I possibly can.
Thanks for keeping an eye out for my return,
Zeb364
