General gaming

General gaming

Dragon Age II the Latest EA Game Pulled From Steam

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 03:14 PM PDT

Dragon Age II Legacy

Another Electronic Arts game has been pulled from Steam, and EA says that Valve is once again to blame.

Last month, Crysis 2 disappeared from Steam, and the initial assumption was that EA had done it in order to secure an exclusive for the newly-rebranded EA Store, Origin. However, the game was still being sold elsewhere, and EA claimed the removal was not its doing, but Valve's. An explanation for Crysis 2's absence came later from EA's David DeMartini, who stated that Crysis 2 was removed because its DLC was available through Direct2Drive, but not Steam.

Alice: Madness Returns, another EA-published game, wasn't available on Steam at launch, but was added after a few days, prompting EA PR Director Amanda Taggard to say, "EA Partners and Spicy Horse Games appreciate Steam's decision to sell Alice: Madness Returns."

Trade in Your Physical Games at GameStop, Get Digital PC Games on Impulse

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 02:07 PM PDT

Deus Ex Human Revolution

It was inevitable that GameStop would eventually sell digital PC games from its retail stores after it took over Impulse earlier this year. The retailer today announced it will begin doing just that, starting with Deus Ex: Human Revolution.

It might not seem like a big deal on the surface. But doing this in-store opens the door for customers to easily trade in console and handheld games (or hardware) and use that credit to buy PC games on Impulse. That's a decidedly unique feature that Steam, Direct2Drive, GamersGate, and so on can't provide.

"This is a great illustration of how the digital distribution model and in-store experience really complement one another," said GameStop's digital distribution GM, Steve Nix. "We have seen great success selling DLC for console titles in our stores, so expanding on that model and helping customers discover digitally distributed PC games in stores is a natural fit."

3DS Hardware Now a Money Loser for Nintendo - Report

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 12:49 PM PDT

3DS

Thanks to the new 3DS price cut, Nintendo may no longer be making money with each system sold.

For Sony or Microsoft that might not be saying much, as both typically launch their platforms at a loss and only later are able to generate a profit selling hardware once the internal components have gone down in price. But Nintendo always strives for profitability right out of the gate. And while it had that at $249.99, the new price -- $169.99 in the United States and 15,000 yen in Japan (down from 25,000) -- won't provide it with that luxury, according to a report by Bloomberg Japan (as translated by Andriasang).

Janco analyst Mike Hickey and EEDAR's Jesse Divnich both told IGN they believe retail is at least partially responsible for the drop, as they undoubtedly put pressure on Nintendo to make the move.

3DS's NES Virtual Console Games to Feature Multiplayer

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 11:40 AM PDT

Super Mario Bros. title screen

The significance of having Virtual Console titles from a console on a portable system was addressed earlier today by 1UP Editor-in-Chief Jeremy Parish. Before now, portable and console VC games had been kept separate on portables and consoles, respectively. That will change in September when early 3DS adopters get ten free NES games for their soon-to-be-cheaper handheld. They'll be slightly gimped versions initially, but once they begin being sold later this year, early adopters will want to make sure they upgrade the versions they've already downloaded.

With the 3DS dropping in price from $249.99 to $169.99 next month, early adopters are upset. Nintendo is doing what it can to alleviate that frustration by offering 20 free Virtual Console games to those who connect to the eShop before August 12, the day the price cut goes into effect. Ten will be Game Boy Advance titles that aren't planned for release on the eShop. The other ten are NES games that will be sold on the eShop later this year.

Those free NES games will, upon release on September 1, be missing a key feature. Once released on the eShop to the public, they will feature simultaneous multiplayer support, according to a statement sent to IGN. 3DS Ambassadors -- the fancy term being applied to those who connect to the eShop by August 11 -- will be able to update the versions they get, free of charge, once they're released to the general public.

Vita's Fall 2011 Release Date Only Speculation

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 11:03 AM PDT

Vita

A press release for Supremacy MMA distributed earlier today mentioned a Vita version that is set to be released this fall. This seemingly outed that Vita -- which is currently without a release date of any sort -- is going to be out in a matter of months. As it turns out, the game's publisher claims this isn't an inadvertent announcement of when Sony's new handheld will be released.

In a statement sent to MCV, the fall date was said to be "only speculative." In other words, the fall/holiday release is essentially a placeholder in lieu of an actual release date for Vita, something Sony has avoided announcing for any region. As MCV points out, after mentioning the fall date for Supremacy, the press release states that the console versions will be out in September, followed by a Vita release during "holiday 2011."

On the bright side for 505 Games, this is getting attention for its game that it wouldn't have otherwise received.

Resistance 3 Beta Starts Soon for SOCOM 4 Owners

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 09:58 AM PDT

Resistance 3

The upcoming public multiplayer beta for Resistance 3 kicks off quite soon, provided you purchased a new, specially-marked version (or the Full Deployment Edition) of SOCOM 4 earlier this year. For those who did, the beta will be kicking off in one week, on August 4.

Redeeming the code that came with SOCOM will allow gamers to download the beta client from the PlayStation Store and begin playing next Thursday. Besides code giveaways (which will get you in a few days early), the next way to get in is by being a PlayStation Plus member -- those who are will gain access on August 23.

The beta contains two maps -- Seaside (set in Glamorgan, Wales) and Trainyard (set in Bogota, Colombia) -- and two modes: Team Deathmatch and Chain Reaction (leaving out Deathmatch, Breach, and Capture the Flag). Players will be able to upgrade weapons, customize loadouts, unlock multiplayer skins, and level up, but are limited to only the first 20 levels.

Marcus Fenix, Fox McCloud, and Chun-Li Invade Classic Comic Books

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 09:48 AM PDT

COMIC

Marcus Fenix, Fox McCloud, and Chun-Li Invade Classic Comic...

What if video games were around during the silver age of comics?

By 1UP Staff, 07/28/2011      

Page 1 of 4  

VIEW AS: SLIDESHOWLIST

We love comic books here at 1UP. So much so that we decided to see what would happen if we mashed up our two past-times together. You can check out the comic book covers that came about as a result below. This isn't the first time we've tried this either, so there's plenty more where this came from.

The manga classic Lone Wolf and Cub meets Starfox
Art by Rusty Shackles. Click on image to see full-sized cover.

 

Super Mario and Mario Kart 3DS Get Release Windows, New Names

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 09:13 AM PDT

Super Mario Land 3D

As a part of today's announcement that the 3DS is dropping in price to $169.99 next month, Nintendo took to talking about what it believes to be a strong holiday software lineup. Two pillars of that are Super Mario 3D and Mario Kart 3DS, a pair of titles that now each have a new name and release month.

Super Mario 3D is now Super Mario 3D Land and is scheduled for release in November. It'll be followed a month later, in December, by what's now known as Mario Kart 7. Kid Icarus: Uprising, meanwhile, was only pegged as coming "during the holiday season." Star Fox 64 3D, as previously announced, is slated to be out on September 9.

3DS Price Dropping to $169.99, Early Adopters Get Free Games

Posted: 28 Jul 2011 08:54 AM PDT

3DS

As a clear sign that the 3DS has not been selling as well as hoped, at least in the United States, Nintendo today announced it's dropping the price of the 3DS by $80 in August. The 3DS will be available for $169.99 as of August 12, less than five months after launching in the U.S. on March 27.

Besides the $249.99 price tag -- which was said to be partly due to the public reaction to the system -- another major factor that's likely led to slower-than-expected uptake is the overall lack of games. Nintendo's announcement claims 3DS has the "strongest software lineup of any video game system this holiday season." That lineup includes new Mario and Mario Kart games (each of which now has a new name and release window), as well as Kid Icarus: Uprising.

According to Nintendo, over 830,000 3DS systems have been sold in the U.S. since launch. This quick price drop might seem like a slap in the face of them, but to make up for it, early adopters will get 20 free downloadable games from the eShop. 20 Virtual Console games -- ten GBA, ten NES -- await users later this year. To qualify, you'll simply need to have connected to the eShop once by the end of August 11, thereby registering you in the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador program.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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