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Amazing Spider-Man also coming to Wii U, DLC in tow

Spider-Man, in addition to doing whatever a spider can (catching thieves just like flies, spinning webs of various sizes, etc) will also be swinging his way onto Nintendo's forthcoming flagship console this spring when The Amazing Spider-Man is released on the Wii U.

Announced during Marvel's New York Comic Con panel earlier today, the port leverages the WiiPad's unique stable of features by integrating optional motion controls and menu navigation functionality via the touchscreen. As is the case with that other Wii U reissue of a current-gen superhero game, all of Amazing Spider-Man's DLC will come packed in, including the Stan Lee Adventure Pack seen above.

Metro: Last Light dev removes multiplayer, focusing resources on single-player

Metro: Last Light will no longer include a multiplayer component when it launches early next year, developer 4A Games announced today on the game's official blog. Multiplayer had previously been revealed soon after the game's 2011 announcement, something the blog notes was "probably a mistake."

"Throughout the development of Metro: Last Light a small, dedicated team had been working on a number of multiplayer prototypes," the entry reads. "After E3, we decided to fold this multiplayer team back into the main group and focus 100% of the studio's resources on the single player campaign. As a result, Metro: Last Light will not ship with a multiplayer component." 4A Games believes that the game's single-player campaign is "what the fanbase cares about the most."

Whether multiplayer will be added post-launch as DLC or an update is uncertain. "Right now we're 100% focused on the single player campaign and not thinking beyond that. We don't like throwing away work though, it's a project we could potentially return to after Metro: Last Light ships."

Puddle spills over onto Wii U

Puddle spills over onto Wii U
Neko Entertainment has announced plans to port its PS3/Xbox 360/Vita puzzle action game Puddle to Wii U. The Wii U version features the HD graphics and 60 frames-per-second visuals of the console versions, with the tilt controls of the Vita version. "So basically it is the perfect compromise between the two important things in Puddle : graphics/physics and controls," Neko QA manager Sébastien Chipot-Delys said. The framerate is consistent even when playing fully on the GamePad.

The levels have also been tweaked to be a little easier to finish. "Not getting the gold medal easily, of course," suggesting that the challenge is still present for higher-level play. The Wii U version is due on eShop sometime near the console's launch.

ZombiU trailer tries to get to the chopper

Image How does one get to a chopper when a whole city of zombies is standing between you and the whirlybird? In ZombiU, you get it done with the help of friends – and some choice weaponry. ... Continue Reading

Tekken Tag Tournament 2 brings back Tekken Ball on Wii U


Tekken Tag Tournament 2's Wii U version has more than Nintendo-themed costumes and weird powerups to distinguish it from its PS3 and Xbox 360 iterations. It also features the return of Tekken Ball, the sport from Tekken 3 that has players attack one another with a giant ball.

But we don't want to downplay those costumes. There are even more Nintendo costumes in the above trailer, and they're ... magnificent.

An ode to Assassin's Creed 3's arsenal

Image For a guy at risk of being killed by Connor at any moment, the narrator in this Assassin's Creed 3 trailer seems awfully impressed. Sit back and let him regale you with the tale of How Many Weapons are in Assassin's Creed 3. ... Continue Reading

NPD: Hardware sales up, Borderlands 2 beats 1's sales by 234%

NPD Hardware sales up, Borderlands 2 beats 1's sales by 234%, Madden takes top spot
According to the latest report from NPD, sales of the DS, 3DS, PS3, Vita and Xbox 360 are up on an "average sales per week" basis compared with August, suggesting momentum heading into the holiday season. The Wii U "has the potential to reinvigorate retail sales of hardware" when it drops on November 18 in the US, NPD analyst Liam Callahan says.

Madden NFL 13 was the top-selling game in September, with an 11 percent increase in its debut month than Madden NFL 12 saw last year. Borderlands 2 takes second, exceeding 2009's Borderlands first-month sales by 234 percent. September software sales at retail are down 13 percent year-over-year; September 2011 saw major games such as Gears of War 3 and Dead Island. September sales are up 67 percent from August's light haul. PC sales are up 12 percent year-on-year.

Nintendo 3DS software is up 89 percent year-over-year, spurred by 3DS XL hardware sales and Super Mario Bros. 2, which sold 295,000 units in its second month. However, combined 3DS and DS software sales are down 18 percent. As Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter says, "That's not a good trend."

For Microsoft, Xbox 360 sold 270,000 units in September and remains the top-selling current-generation console, with 49 percent of the market, Major Nelson tweets.

EA has five of the top 10 games for September, all of which are listed in order below:

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Approaching Wii U's GamePad like a 'toy' in Madden NFL 13

Madden 13 Wii U  Approaching the Gamepad like a 'Toy'
Madden NFL 13 on Wii U may lack the Infinity Engine, which brought stronger collisions and dynamic animations into the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions of the game, but the console's gamepad fills that void with a tablet-drive, play calling system. The only problem, EA tells Joystiq, was getting players to want to use the new control system.

"A challenging thing at the beginning was getting people to actually want to touch the screen," says Yuri Bialoskursky, lead designer on Madden 13 for Wii U. "They would just stare at it blankly and not interact with it. We had to come up with a way to make it like a toy, essentially – make you want to mess around with it."

The Wii U GamePad lets players navigate their playbook through the gamepad's touch screen, allowing them to tap and drag to the right play. More importantly, players can draw offensive and defensive hot routes right on the screen. Offensive and defensive linemen are represented by yellow circles, while the hot routes you draw are represented by a red line. You can also play in "detached mode" and play Madden entirely on the WiiPad, freeing your television for any other piece of entertainment, like watching real life football.

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Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate footage and screens captured

Image If you're at New York Comic-Con this week, you can try out Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate on Wii U at Capcom's booth. Even if you're nowhere near New York, you can see what it looks like in this new media. It looks ... a lot like a port of a Wii game. ... Continue Reading

NintendoWare Weekly: Mario Golf, Last Blade 2, LEGO LOTR demo

Nintendo downloads
This week's Nintendo downloads are a bit more subdued than last week. There are still some gems to be found however, most notably the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf for the 3DS Virtual Console. The 3DS also gets platformer Crazy Kangaroo, number puzzler Nurikabe by Nikoli and a demo for LEGO The Lord of the Rings.

The Wii, meanwhile, picks up Neo Geo fighter The Last Blade 2 on Virtual Console. Finally, DSiWare nabs Robot Rescue 2.

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Joker and Green Lantern confirmed for Injustice: Gods Among Us [Update: Now with screenshot]

Joker and Green Lantern confirmed for Injustice Gods Among Us
Joker and Green Lantern have been confirmed as members of the Injustice: Gods Among Us character roster, which shouldn't be a terrible surprise to anyone. The announcement was made through a series of tweets by NetherRealm creative director/founder Ed Boon. Screenshots should arrive sometime before the end of the day.

We can't wait for a few months from now, when Boon and crew have burned through all the obvious character choices and start announcing some weird deep cuts. "They announced B'wana Beast for Injustice," someone might say near/around a water cooler one morning. "Yeah, I don't know either."

Update: As promised, the above screenshot was indeed delivered before the end of the day. A high-resolution version awaits your scrutinizing inspection here.

Death Jr. developer Backbone sees layoffs

Layoffs at Backbone
Backbone Entertainment, the Foundation 9-owned developer of many HD re-releases and retro collections including Sonic's Ultimate Genesis Collection – as well as the Death Jr. series – has suffered layoffs, Foundation 9 CEO James North-Hearn has told Gamasutra.

"Due to a lower demand for conventional console development, the studio has made some difficult but necessary adjustments in both its capacity and services, with the goal of matching the changing needs of today's market," North-Hearn said. "The dedicated development staff at Backbone has put together some of the studio's best work for our partners in the upcoming fall releases, Dance Central 3 and Midway Arcade Origins."

The scope of the layoffs was not revealed.

Mass Effect 3 multiplayer adding Challenge system, replacing weekend operations

For everyone still out there defending Earth from the Reapers and/or Cerberus, we've got some news: 1) Shepard took care of that, like, months ago. What are you guys even doing out there? 2) The way you're rewarded for your hard work and service to the Alliance military is about to change, albeit not drastically.

At some point in the future, BioWare will implement a "Challenge" system in Mass Effect 3's multiplayer. Players will be able to complete "hundreds of new multiplayer challenges" that sound a lot like mini-achievements. Successfully completing a challenge grants Challenge Points (think high-score, not in-game currency) and personal progression through said challenges can be monitored both in-game and on a forthcoming N7 HQ website. Additionally, gold-level challenges grant an exclusive title and banner upon completion, and can also be completed an unlimited number of times.

The existing bi-weekly "Operation: Enter-code-word-here" events will be replaced by weekly Challenge events that grant their prizes to individual players immediately, rather than granting global prizes on a delay as the current system does. No word on when these changes will be implemented.

Now Playing: October 8-14, 2012

Now Playing October 814, 2012
Defend humanity against the alien invasion with XCOM: Enemy Unknown...

Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:

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Prepare for the Retro City Rampage with this trailer

Image What does it look like when one man devotes most of a decade to a single game? We'll find out tomorrow when Retro City Rampage launches on PC, PS3, and Vita. ... Continue Reading

Rayman Legends delayed to Q1 2013 worldwide

Rayman Legends delayed to Q1 2013 worldwide
Rayman Legends was on track to be a launch release for the Wii U in Europe, but Ubisoft has moved it back to Q1 of 2013, which we suppose keeps it inside Nintendo's ridiculous six-month "launch window."

"Rayman Legends will launch worldwide in the first quarter of 2013," Ubisoft told Videogamer. "We're happy that fans are excited about the game, and we are taking the time to make sure we deliver a game that lives up to and hopefully exceeds their expectations. We'll have more details to share soon."

Being Ubisoft, the publisher still has a ton of games prepared for launch day in North America, including Assassin's Creed 3, ESPN Sports Connection, Just Dance 4, Rabbids Land, Your Shape, and ZombiU.

Sony, Kevin Butler actor in lawsuit over breach of contract

Sony sues Kevin Butler actor
Sony filed a lawsuit implicating Jerry Lambert, the actor who plays Kevin Butler, Sony's high-energy, aggressive spokesman and fake VP of whatever happens to be relevant. Sony's claims are based on violations of the Lanham Act, misappropriation, breach of contract and tortious interference with a contractual relationship, senior director of corporate communications Dan Race writes in a statement to VentureBeat.

Early in September, images and video of Lambert in Bridgestone Tires' "Game On" promotion gained traction online, wherein Lambert is playing a Wii and over-acting in a style similar to his Kevin Butler character. Lambert appeared in Bridgestone commercials as early as February. On September 11, Sony filed a lawsuit against Bridgestone Tires and Wildcat Creek, an advertising agency for which Lambert is actually president.

Since the filing, Lambert has been removed from the most recent Bridgestone ads. The Game On promotion ended on September 30.

"We invested significant resources in bringing the Kevin Butler character to life and he's become an iconic personality directly associated with PlayStation products over the years," Sony's statement says. "Use of the Kevin Butler character to sell products other than those from PlayStation misappropriates Sony's intellectual property, creates confusion in the market, and causes damage to Sony."

Lambert and Sony reached an agreement on September 26, and Sony has until October 12 to officially withdraw the suit or announce it will continue forward. NeoGAF member Takao has a detailed breakdown of the entire lawsuit.

Below find a few of Lambert's most memorable Sony advertisements.

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New Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate screens and video are a load of shaka-laka


As if Thursday's screens of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate weren't enough, Capcom is roaring back with more images of the Wii U version.

Additionally, the cute video above explains the differences in the multiplayer offerings between the Wii U and 3DS versions of the game. The trailer also illustrates the game's ability to transfer save data between the two Nintendo consoles, allowing players to hunt enormous beasts on the go.

Both versions of Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate are due to arrive in March 2013.

Nielsen: Consoles bridge TV gender gap

Nielsen Consoles bridge TV gender gap
When you boil the American people down into a set of television-oriented numbers, women spend more time on average in front of the ol' tube than men, according to Nielson. Specifically, women between the ages of 18 and 34 watch an average of four hours and 11 minutes of TV per day, whereas men in that same age bracket watch an average of three hours and 34 minutes.

That's a disparity of 37 minutes, but factoring in the amount of time spent playing console games reduces that gap. Average daily console usage for women -- in this case, time spent with a 360, PS3 or Wii -- clocks in at 22 minutes, with guys pulling down more than twice as much, playing an average of 48 minutes a day. Combine all these figures together, and the gap between daily male screen-time and daily female screen-time drops to just 11 minutes: Four hours, 22 minutes a day for men and four hours, 33 minutes a day for women.

There's a lot to glean from this research, like the fact that time spent watching TV still far outweighs time spent gaming in the average American household. More importantly, however, is the fact coach potatism is a gender-neutral phenomenon, and we should all probably go for a walk or something.

Injustice: Gods Among Us comic book currently underway

Ed Boon has announced that NetherRealm Studios' take on the DC universe, Injustice: Gods Among Us, is "for sure" getting its own comic series sometime in the future, according to Polygon.

"We're working on an Injustice comic book to carry the story and tell the events that came before the game," Boon said at the EB Expo in Sydney, Australia. "Obviously the extreme version is it would spawn a lot more things, but I know for sure we are making an Injustice comic." Boon hopes that DC fans will accept the new Injustice universe as they have the Arkham Asylum/City canon.

You guys remember back in the 90s, when they made a Street Fighter movie starring Jean Claude Van Damme and then later made Street Fighter: The Movie: The Game? Well, this is like that, but here's hoping that Comic Books: The Video Game: The Comic Book works out a lot better.

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