Do you own a Wii and like random bargains? Amazon’s daily grouping of lightning deals are all products for the Nintendo machine today. As usual, deals will run for a limited time period or until they run out of an item. And all we have to help us guess what the items will be is a series of clues. Here’s a rundown of what those clues are:
The videogames industry has a complex: it relies, perhaps too much, on the concept of genre, but being “generic” is an offense of grave proportions. Being “innovative” is, naturally, antithetical to being generic. According to Matt Goldman, art director for BioWare’sDragon Age II, being generic was an actual design principle for theDragon Age: Originsart team. While Goldman didn’t direct the art department that worked onOrigins, he’s familiar with the instructions the former team was given: “Actually, the design creative was ‘it’s generic,’ which isn’t the most inspirational direction that you could give a team....
TheDuoGroup has released its unofficialAssassin’s Creedanimation project, called “Initiation,” and it’s worth the next nine-minutes of your day. The short follows the training and initiation of Altair, prior to the events of the originalAssassin’s Creedwhere he’s already been dubbed “Hashshashin.” As an unofficial project, the work isn’t sanctioned by Ubisoft and its narrative may not fit into the backstory the publisher had in mind, but it’s impressive nonetheless. TheDuoGroup’s previous work has included aMetal Gearanimation, as well as givingShadow of the Colossusthe Hollywood blockbustertrailer treatment....
I told myself I wouldn’t buyCall of Duty: Black Ops. I need a break from first-person shooters for a while, that’s all. But between the new presidential zombie mode and now this, it’s going to be a struggle. First off — and I shouldn’t even need to say this — do not start up the video if you don’t wantBlack Ops‘ ridiculously neat menu UI (if you’re able to even call it that) ruined....
Big shock —Bully: Scholarship Editionis released today for the Wii and Xbox 360 and right on cue, here come the parade of prehistoric scaremongers whowant to see it bannedunder that age-old veil of protecting the children. Oh save the children, because it’s not like they invented bullying in the first place! Various groups representing a collective four million teachers worldwide have united to try and stop retailers selling Rockstar’s controversial game in which schoolboy Jimmy Hopkins tackles bullies in a way that actually works, instead of telling ineffective teachers who have no power to stop kids being the nasty little shits they actually are....
Yesterdaywe brought wordthat yes,Beyond Good & Evil 2is in preproduction and waiting for a green light from Ubisoft. The French magazine in which creator Michael Ancel was interviewed also brings to light the game’sintended platform— the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Remember, this game still hasn’t been officially approved by Ubisoft, so we don’t know if it will ever definitely reach those platforms yet. Now that the gaming public knows a sequel is being drafted, however, I wouldn’t like to be the Ubisoft rep that has to tell them it’s not happening if things went that way....
The 3DS is quickly become a must-have console for fighting game fans. BetweenSuper Street Fighter 4: 3D,Dead or Alive: Dimensions, and nowBlazBlue: Continuum Shift II, I can’t think of a time when a console had so many fighting games announced before launch, let a lone a handheld. Out of those three, I may be most excited aboutContinuum Shift II. I still can’t make sense of theBlazBluestoryline, but it’s still one of my favorite fighting series going right now....
A new PSP bundle has been announced among the other big news from Sony. TheGod of WarEntertainment Pack will consist of the red PSP with Krato’s face silkscreened on the back,God of War: Chains of Olympus,Superbad, and a free download ofSyphon Filter: Combat Ops. All this will retail for $199.99 and will be released in June. The bundle is a great value. The PSP normally is $170,Syphon Filterlooks to be going for around $40 still,God of Warwill be $40, and theSuperbadUMD is around $20....
It sounds dirty, but that’s what you’d probably do right before biting into the 7 ounces of 100% milk chocolate candy bar known as NESQuick that iscurrently selling on eBay. Shaped like an NES cart, this item makes me wonder, “What will rabid Ninty fanboys/girls do next?” It would be nice if they weren’t in such limited supply (count ’em, THREE ever made), so you could order one for your gamer girlfriend every time you really mess up, andhave to apologize....
I loveBurgerTime. The surreal world where the game exists has fascinated me for years. In case you don’t know,BurgerTimeis a game where you control a chef who has to trample across giant burger-parts in order to form (you guessed it) giant burgers, presumably to be eaten by giant people. These burger parts have been strategically placed on a giant scaffolding by forces unknown, though many theorize it was the giants that set them up as such....
Donkey Kong Country Returnslaunches in the United Kingdom this Friday, and GAME has cooked up what may be the most brilliant marketing strategy in history. The first twenty customers to purchase the game will be able to leave their credit cards at home — as GAME will accept real fruit in exchange for the title! You’ll need to be in the right place and get in early, as this is quite a limited offer....
RAGEwill not be instituting an online pass, but itwillfeature codes for brand new buyers that will provide extra content. id Software’s solution happens to be agreatidea and an example of the sort of thing companies should be doing to positively counter secondhand sales. The code that comes withRAGEunlocks a variety of hatches in the game world. Without the code, these hatches will remain shut and you’ll never get the goods inside....
For those of you still plugging away atCall of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, Infinity Ward has said to expect one of its lovelyDouble XP weekendsduring the weekend of September 12-14. “I’m currently working on getting everything organized and together for an upcoming Xbox Live / PSN promotion we have coming up the weekend of Sept. 12th – 14th,” states the developer on itsblog.“I will have exact details on what it is in the near future but I have a gut feeling it’ll have Double XP attached to it for all those hungry for some power-levelling onCall of Duty 4....
