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First details on Mortal Kombat for Vita: 60FPS, touchscreen fatalities and more

by Salat on January 19, 2012 · 0 comments

Having a scorpion in your pocket isn’t usually the kind of experience people rush out and pay for, but Mortal Kombat progenitor and NetherRealm Studios creative director Ed Boon doesn’t seem too worried about that. In fact, the Vita port of Mortal Kombat is starting to sound pretty legit: The title will include all of the characters and modes from the PS3 version, run at 60 frames per second and support both local and online 1-on-1 multiplayer via wifi, according to an interview with PlayStation Blog.

The handheld homage to hemorrhaging also includes a second, brand-new Challenge Tower that takes advantage of the Vita’s touchscreen and accelerometer in 150 new challenges. While unable to speak specifically on how the Vita’s tech has been implemented in these challenges, Boon teased being able to tilt your Vita in order to change gravity’s orientation during a hypothetical mission.

The touchscreen will also be used for activating X-Ray attacks and swiping direction inputs to initiate fatalities, but beyond that no Ultimate MvC3-esque touch controls have been implemented. “We goofed around with ideas like that,” said Boon. “It was an interesting novelty at first, but literally everybody who tried it said ‘Oh, that’s cute,’ and then went right back to the normal control scheme.” Mortal Kombat for the Vita is set to tear out tiny, adorable spines sometime this spring.

First details on Mortal Kombat for Vita: 60FPS, touchscreen fatalities and more originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 19 Jan 2012 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Source: Joystiq

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When MMO Meets Real-Time Strategy RPG, You Get Red Zebra’s First Game ‘Raid Leader’

by Salat on January 16, 2012 · 0 comments

Red Zebra Game’s Raid Leader reminds me a lot of Mika Mobile’s Battleheart [$ 2.99]. Like that game, it’s a real-time strategy RPG hybrid that seamlessly blends these two styles of play into a series of trying instance-based conflicts. Where the two depart the most dramatically is in the name: raid.

In Raid Leader, you’ll be taking a knight, a mage, and an archer, against a variety of damage-eating, MMO-like bosses that all appear to have special mechanical hooks. For example, there’s a yeti-like monster with a freeze spell that turns its target into a block of ice. In order to break out, you’ll have to tap on the screen. There’s also a worm that, much to the archer and mage’s chagrin, spawns mobs of life-sucking blood leaches all over the battlefield.

Speaking of the battlefield, battle is pretty simple — just click and drag. When you click on a character, you’ll be able to assign actions like healing or attacking to friend or foe. Some monsters have area of effect attacks, and for those, you’ll have to move the party around all over the screen, or figure out intricate formations to lessen the blows. It’s tactical-light, but effective as Battleheart proved.

One noteworthy thing I’ve learned in my time with Raid Leader is that you can’t go into auto-pilot during fights. You can wipe, and wipe pretty fast, if you (a) don’t honor things like blood leaches, (b) keep all of the party alive, and (c) master the game’s skill system, which lets you take two different skills per character into fights.

The latter point is particularly noteworthy: as you progress you’ll earn currency to buy new skills, and those skills will be essential to countering specific bosses actions and battle needs. Skills, then, are more of a mechanical extension of recognition and exploitation, as opposed to being strictly about preference. It’s a neat and entertaining change of pace.

In my preview session, I didn’t push too far into the main campaign — which of course, revolves around a princess and her need for three heroes to defeat a great evil — but I get the sense that balance might be Raid Leader‘s biggest hurdle. Hard and fun is great, but hard for the sake of it isn’t. MMOs seem to screw this up all the time, so Red Zebra needs to be extra careful here.

Raid Leader is being published by Crescent Moon Games as a Universal app, and it’s expected to be released “soon.” It’s currently in beta.

Source: Touch Arcade

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UK charts: FIFA 12 becomes 2012?s first number one

by Salat on January 9, 2012 · 0 comments

FIFA 12 has remained at the top of the UK charts for a third week, becoming the first number one game on the chart in 2012.

Battlefield 3, Modern Warfare 3, Just Dance 3 and Skyrim make up the top five.

Zumba Fitness rockets up the chart out of nowhere to six, with RAGE also doing the shuffle dance at nine.

Full top ten for the week ending January 7 is below. Last week’s data is here.

FIFA 12
Battlefield 3
Modern Warfare 3
Just Dance 3
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
Zumba Fitness
Need for Speed: The Run
Saints Row: The Third
RAGE
Assassin’s Creed: Revelations

Source: VG247

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Binding of Isaac’s First and Only Expansion Will Add 50 Percent More Content

by Salat on January 8, 2012 · 0 comments

Super-cheap rogue-like hit The Binding of Isaac is getting an expansion in the next few months, and that will be the end of that — but the expansion will be a substantial one, the game’s creator says.

The expansion will be called “The Wrath of the Lamb,” and will feature about 50 percent more content, including new bosses, chapter, characters, game mechanics and all the other great stuff that makes The Binding of Isaac so fun. The game’s creator, Edmund McMillen, say the expansion to the PC title will be done in some three to four months, but that’ll be the last he does with it.

McMillen is also in talks with a publisher to bring the game to the Nintendo 3DS, although the deal is still moving through negotiations with higher-ups at Nintendo.

If Isaac doesn’t make its way to Nintendo’s handheld, however, it’s possible it’ll wind up somewhere else. McMillen’s publisher wants to find a home for the game, which could mean a port to the Playstation Network, Xbox Live or a mobile platform.

All good news, I say. The Binding of Isaac is a great little $ 5 gem on Steam that brings hours of challenging enjoyment along with it, and it’s disturbing. Can’t wait to get my hands on more of that.

Via Joystiq.

Source: Gaming Today

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News: Razer raises $50 million in first VC round

by Salat on December 30, 2011 · 0 comments

Razer, the US peripherals manufacturer, has netted $ 50 million in its first round of venture capital funding, which was headed up by IDG-Accel.

“We took a long time raising our first VC round as games like Battlefield 3 kept us pretty busy recently,” said CEO Min-Liang Tan.

“More importantly, we took our time selecting an institutional investor as we wanted to find a partner that understood our commitment to gaming and our no-compromise attitude to designing products. Plus these guys didn’t freak out when we disappeared for a week in the middle of the deal when Skyrim launched.”

VGAs 2011: Zelda Franchise First Ever Inductee Into The Video Game Hall of Fame

by Salat on December 12, 2011 · 0 comments

Spike TV has created what some may argue is long overdue and some may feel is a dangerous move toward ossified irrelevance*, the Video Game Hall of Fame, and the first indctee is the, ahem, legendary Legend of Zelda franchise. Shigeru Miyamoto made a charming appearance to accept, and reminded me of why I was such a super Nintendo fanboy for so many years. Seriously, there’s just something kind of wonderfully wholesome about the culture of Nintendo, right? One thing he did not talk about was the rumor, since denied, that he would be stepping down. So don’t ask!

*I confess. I feel this way. BOOO Hall of fames! They turn living culture into museum fixtures! That’s bad! But if we have to have a hall of fame, then I support this selection if only because it’s a perfect depiction of how lackluster Miyamoto’s output has been in recent years. The man is a genius and undeniably one of the all-time most important figures in gaming, but he’s been essentially reiterating past successes for more than a decade.

This being the first ever inductee, we can’t say for certain, but it appears the VGHoF is going the Rock and Roll hall of fame route by requiring a 25 year span since original publication in order to qualify. If true, then there’s a lot of old, forgotten games that seriously deserve the recognition. Let us know in comments what you’d like to see, or if you’d even like to see any.

Source: Gaming Today

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First Trailer for ‘Trenches 2′ from EA and Thunder Game Works, Launching December 1st

by Salat on November 20, 2011 · 0 comments

Thunder Game Works‘ Trenches [99¢/Free/HD] was originally released on Christmas Eve of 2009. It had all the core components of a solid side-scrolling field battling game, though the challenge was a bit out of balance and the campaign was a little too short. Over the next year or so, Trenches received an insane amount of update love, adding new modes, additional campaign elements and length, and robust cooperative and competitive online multiplayer modes through Game Center. What started as a good core concept that lacked finesse blossomed into a feature-rich strategy game with a near-cult following.

So, now that Trenches has lived a fruitful and full life, it only makes sense that a sequel is on its way. Thunder Game Works has teamed up with EA to publish Trenches 2, and it’s coming sooner than you might think. The aim of this new entry in the Trenches series is to take everything that people loved about the first title and make it bigger and better. There’s an impressive amount of features coming to the new game, which I will attempt to touch on.

Trenches 2 will launch with 3 factions, Britain, Germany and France, with American and Russian factions coming down the line in updates. Each of these nations will have an in-depth perk system with around 45 total perks each across 3 categories: Offense, Defense, and Support. These perks will offer things like additional vehicles and weaponry, troop stats, increased income, and more, allowing you to customize your chosen nation to your liking.

Thunder Game Works has listened intently to player feedback from the original Trenches, and is looking to address much of that in Trenches 2. One of the most requested features was additional unit types, so this time around you can look forward Cavalry, Spies, Medics, and Tanks all making an appearance, adding more depth to your nation’s army. There will also be new off-screen support systems like an powerful railgun, a far-reaching cluster bomb, and aircraft support.

Of course, multiplayer is a huge aspect of the Trenches experience and it will be getting its own set of improvements in the sequel. Much of this will come from the additional unit types and customization options which slowly unlock during the course of single player. You’ll be able to take your perk-laden army online to battle against other players worldwide, meaning no two armies will be exactly alike which should make for some dynamic showdowns.

Finally, the single player campaign in Trenches 2 has opened up include a non-linear world map. You’ll be able to choose which specific cities to attack and try to overcome, and if you end up not being quite powerful enough to come out on top, you can choose to go after a less heavily defended city. Conquering cities will unlock perk points, which in turn allow you to access new features and weapons for your army.

Thunder Game Works has stressed that they’re really trying hard to create a sequel that will appeal to their huge fan base, but still feel fresh and different, and introduce a whole new group of gamers to the Trenches world as well. It looks like they’re on target to do just that, and we’ll be eager to check out the final version of Trenches 2 when it launches on December 1st.

Source: Touch Arcade

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