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Today, EA lifted the mysterious "yet to be announced games" curtain unveiling their latest sci-fi horror IP, Dead Space.
Dead Space is a somewhat stereotypical third person survival horror game where you play Isaac Clarke, a space engineer, who sets out on a job to fix a communications ship, but soon finds out that the whole crew has been taken over by some sort of alien infestation and that he's next. Somewhat un-original, yes, but maybe the leaky screenshots will help bring the game into focus. Gamesradar just posted twelve leaked screenshots that are supposedly in-game assets and, as you can see above, it's bloody. And anything bloody or disgusting piques our interest. It's way to early to pass judgment on Dead Space right now, but we'll keep it in the back of our melons for when the game releases onto the Xbox 360 and PS3 Fall 2008. Until then, check out the flash-extravaganza that is the official Dead Space website and see what mischief you can get into.
Hot off the wire is that this week is that we're in for another Xbox Live Arcade twofer this Wednesday, with the release of Space Giraffe, as well as Street Trace: NYC. The former of the titles is from Llamasoft, and designer Jeff Minter, featuring 100 levels of gameplay, and completing them unlocks a new game mode (as long as you have a high enough anal score).
On the Street Trace side of things, you get get your fill of arena battles and racing across the futuristic wastelands of New York City, Marty McFly style. You have your choice of up to 8 player multiplayer over Live or 4 player splitscreen locally across the four arena stages. Space Giraffe will run you 400 MP and Street Trace clocks in at 800 Microsoft Points, and will be available 9:00 AM GMT or 2:00 AM PT and 5:00 AM ET.
Yesterday, Id Software made an announcement from the comforts of QuakeCon confirming that Quake Arena is being developed for the Xbox Live Arcade. A release date wasn't announced nor any other details were talked about other than the fact that Pi Studios was working on the port.
So fanboys, you already have your Arcade Doom and it'll only be a while until you have your Quake too ... you're so spoiled.
Previously thought to only appear on the PS3, developer Koei announced that Dynasty Warriors 6 will be headed to the Xbox 360 too. Today, Koei confirmed the news saying that DW6 is scheduled to appear on the PS3 and Xbox 360 simultaneously this Fall. And if you don't know, the Dynasty Warriors franchise is teh hawtness over in Japan with a few fans sprinkled in North American and Europe (we kid, we kid!) and its release on the 360 should make for another even "we have this game too" playfield with the PS3.
During the final day of Comic Con, Rare held a Viva Piñata panel discussion and made a surpeise announcement that Viva Piñata will be heading to the Nintendo DS. So, it looks like Shane Kim's talk of bringing the franchise to the DS making sense ended up being one of those sly hints of things to come. Viva Piñata on the DS is being developed by Rare and will be very similar to its lovably fun Xbox 360 version featuring the same core gameplay elements. Nothing more about the DS version was mentioned other than it'll be teh awesomeness, but we'd like to hear when the DS version will hit retail, if it'll incorporate the DS's wireless features and how pretty it is.
So, there you have it fanboys. Viva Piñata will be on the Nintendo DS and Horstachio will have a new condo to call home. Touch screen and all!
This Wednesday we'll be treated to another Xbox Live Arcade twofer offering which includes Super Contra and Wing Commander Arena. And just as we predicted a few days ago, Wing Commander Arena will be available for 800 Microsoft points and include 16 player multiplayer craziness as well as a plethora of space combat weapons. The other half of our twofer bundle is the previously ESRB announcedSuper Contra which will be available for 400 Microsoft points and include old-school or updated graphics as well as online co-op. You know, these twofer Wednesdays are really growing on us and are so much better than those dark days where we were dying to get at least one a week. My, how far we have come.
Yesterday, Rockstar announced that its semi-controversial classroom game Bully will be headed to the Xbox 360 this Winter. Bully: Scholarship Edition will expand upon last October's PS2 release by including enhanced visuals and adding additional content, although Rockstar has yet to talk about any specifics.
We're pretty sure 360 owners will embrace what Bully has to offer, seeing that it received rather favorable praise last year and with the promise of additional content we can't help be somewhat Bully'ish. Get it? Bully'ish ... bull, bully ... yeah.
Today, Eidos Interactive has announced that they have partnered with Strawdog Studios to create their first XBLA game exclusively for the 360, GEON: emotions. GEON: emotions is a 3D platformer game where you play as one of eight emotions (rage, passion, fear, envy, rapture, courage, bliss, and melancholy) and roll your cube to collect little pellets and achieve goals. The game features various gametypes, multiplayer modes, lots of colorful joy and should be released to the Arcade sometime this Summer. For oodles of more information check out the official website and take a look through the emotional screenshot gallery below.
Coming straight from E3 is confirmation of another Xbox Live Arcade double header next week with both Bomberman Live and Yie Ar Kung Fu releasing Wednesday, July 18th. Bomberman Live will feature (literally) tons of bombing excitement and fully customizable bombers for only 800 Microsoft points, while the mysteriously missing from Xbox.com Yie Ar Kung Fu will be available for a more modest 400 Microsoft points. And please fanboys, please pray to God that Hudson didn't muff up our classic Bomberman as we all can agree that Act Zero was a horrible attempt at entertainment.
Konami just announced (another) dance game-o-fun titled Dance Dance Revolution Universe 2 which will land exclusively on the Xbox 360. DDRU2 will feature beefed up visuals, songs from the 70's through the present and a new freestyle mode that'll be perfect for the "kids" who don't want to follow the onscreen arrows and just want to jump on the dance mat. Dancing fans will also be glad to hear that DDRU2 will be keeping everything you've loved about DDRU in the sequel including Xbox Live support and Workout/Quest modes. Konami has yet to announce a release date for DDRU2.
Spark Unlimited unveiled their latest project which features a Pandora's Box full of mythological creates titled Legendary: The Box. The game is based around the idea that you play a thief who is hired to steal a special box from a NY museum and when you're curiosity gets the best of you, you open said box and unleash what could possibly be mankind's destruction. This Pandora's Box brings griffins, werewolves, and other monstrosities to Earth and it's your duty to shove them back into their box or send them to hell. It's a very interesting concept and quite the interesting trailer as it'll be something we'll keep our eye on in 2008. View the E3 trailer above and read through IGN's hands on preview after the jump.
Today, Bethesda announced that this September they'll be releasing a new compilation of our beloved Oblivion ever so lengthily named The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Game of the Year Edition. The GotY edition doesn't have a price-tag attached to it yet, but we do know that it will include all the previously released downloadable content including Shivering Isles and Knights of the Nine. And, we hope, it'll include the horse armor too.
So, this GotY edition surely won't woo Oblivion fans who've already purchased all the DLC content, but for those who have yet to experience all the RPG fun, this September looks to be the time to jump in.
3D Realms just announced their latest sci-fi/horror/suspense based game and is being tight lipped about the all the juicy details. Over on their blog, 3D Realms talks about Earth No More being their latest project and only teases about the details, because all the goods will be revealed in the July 2007 issue of Game Informer. Though, they did throw us a bone by posting a few quotes from the Game Informer article including details on a gun that works like a reverse proton pack called the Linker and how enemy AI will group together to take you down. They also mentioned that the team is pulling inspiration from movies like 28 Days Later, The Thing, Invasion of the Body Snatchers and Aliens to nail the kind of suspense and horror that these movies bring to the table. But that's about it as any other details will have to come from Game Informer. Patience friends, patience.
Another game has lost its big announcement thunder as the USK (the German video game ratings board) posted confirmation that an XBLA game called Tetris Splash exists. What is Tetris Splash and why is it so splashy? We aren't sure, but we know that the game is coming to the XBLA and should be a relatively simple form of Tetris. Cheap Tetris rocks. And while we're at it, we should totally keep track of how many times the ESRB and USK have tipped us off to Arcade games before they officially get announced. The total has to be in the hundreds ... or at least it feels that way.
While Ubisoft may have spilled the beans in regards to Prince of Persia Classic's releasing this Wednesday, Microsoft has caught up and officially confirmed that announcement, as well as price point. The updated title, with its snazzy new mazes, traps and graphical enhancements, is going to run you 800 Microsoft Points. We suppose that could have been expected, but it still may turn a few off from the title. We'll have to wait and see if the demo pulls us in, nostalgic memories notwithstanding. What's your take on the game and price?