General gaming

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• Saving the System: Where Failed Consoles Went Wrong Instead of Right
• Weekend Deals: Tropico, Batman, and Dead Space 2
• Watch Super Mario 3D Land Live
• The Madden Curse? Peyton Hillis Could Miss His Third Game in a Row
• Original Zelda Game in Development for 3DS
• Winter of RPGs Brings Chrono Cross, FFV, and FFVI to PSN
• PSN Purchases Can Now Only be Used on Two Systems
• Ten New Things in Skyward Sword, and Three Interesting Variants on the Old
• Playing Modern Warfare 3 Early Actually Can Get You Banned

Saving the System: Where Failed Consoles Went Wrong Instead of Right Posted: 04 Nov 2011 05:53 PM PDT Feature Share it: Tweet Saving the System: Where Failed Consoles Went Wrong Instead of Right Thanks to the power of hindsight, find out what could have rescued doomed hardware from retail death. By: Todd Ciolek November 4, 2011 Consoles only get one chance in the game industry, and that chance isn't always a good one. Theirs is a crowded playing field where third place is last place and there's no mercy for the unsuccessful. It's tempting to wonder just how some failed systems could've done better, especially in the turbulent 1990s. What follows is a look at just how three consoles might have survived if they'd been marketed, funded, and supported better. To keep this little exercise from descending into an embarrassing stretch of game-system fan fiction, we're not going to change the systems themselves and redesign them into things they never were. Instead, we'll consider how they could've fared with different approaches in the North American market -- and then we'll remind everyone of the depressing reality that took hold.

Weekend Deals: Tropico, Batman, and Dead Space 2 Posted: 04 Nov 2011 04:23 PM PDT After all of the big Halloween sales last week, things aren't nearly as exciting this week. Amazon is offering L.A. Noire on 360 for $19.99 (the PS3 version is $29.99) and a PC download of Battlefield 3 for $50.99. It's also got the PC versions of a handful of recent Need for Speed games on sale, including last year's very fun Hot Pursuit for $10. The Tropico series -- including Tropico 4 -- is on sale at several places. Tropico 4 came out at the end of August and its $40 price has been slashed to $26.77 at GamersGate and $26.79 at Steam.

Watch Super Mario 3D Land Live Posted: 04 Nov 2011 02:19 PM PDT Update: Thanks for watching! Don't worry if you didn't catch it live. We'll have an archived version of the broadcast embedded in this page as soon as we can. We're going to play Super Mario 3D Land live today from 4:00 PM PST until approximately when our camera man passes out from exhaustion. Come back to this page to check it out. Even if you miss our livestream, we'll have a recorded version up for you to enjoy. Watch live video from 1UP Live on TwitchTV/JustinTV on Justin.tv

The Madden Curse? Peyton Hillis Could Miss His Third Game in a Row Posted: 04 Nov 2011 12:44 PM PDT Peyton Hillis was a surprise choice for the cover of Madden NFL 12, yet that's who the fans voted for over the likes of Aaron Rodgers, the controversial Michael Vick, Chris Johnson, and Seattle's 12th man. Each year it seems like the so-called Madden Curse negatively affects that year's cover star time and again in a variety of ways. Peyton Hillis appears to be no exception. Hillis, who is a running back for the Cleveland Browns, has missed the team's past two games and had not practiced since last week. During practice today, he reportedly re-injured his hamstring, prompting him to slam both the ball and his helmet to the ground.

Original Zelda Game in Development for 3DS Posted: 04 Nov 2011 11:27 AM PDT The first big release for 3DS was The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time 3D. That wasn't available at launch, and for many it wasn't even noteworthy because it isn't an original title. It's taken until this month for a big-name, original Nintendo game to be released on the platform in Super Mario 3D Land. While 3DS-owning Zelda fans are left to wait for something new, Nintendo reportedly does have plans to give those fans what they want. In an interview with Portuguese website MyGames (as translated by Nintendo Everything), longtime Zelda director and producer Eiji Aonuma indicated Nintendo's desire to avoid releasing two remakes in a row.

Winter of RPGs Brings Chrono Cross, FFV, and FFVI to PSN Posted: 04 Nov 2011 10:47 AM PDT Three Square Enix RPGs have been given firm (re-)release dates on the PlayStation Network. While none of them come as a surprise thanks to ESRB leaks from earlier in the year, fans should be excited about the chance to play this selection of classic titles on PS3, PSN, and (starting next year) Vita. Square Enix is labeling these three releases as the Winter of RPGs campaign. Despite what the name would suggest, you won't have to wait for winter to officially begin to start playing any of them -- in fact, all three will be out weeks before winter even begins.

PSN Purchases Can Now Only be Used on Two Systems Posted: 04 Nov 2011 10:00 AM PDT Starting later this month, you'll have to stop sharing content with others and/or become more selective about which PlayStation 3 or PlayStation Portable systems have access to your downloadable game content. In an announcement on the PlayStation Blog today, Sony announced plans to make game content accessible on only two activated PS3 or PSP systems at any one time. Should you download the game on two systems and want to bring it to a third, you'll have to deactivate one of the first two before doing so.

Ten New Things in Skyward Sword, and Three Interesting Variants on the Old Posted: 04 Nov 2011 09:45 AM PDT With the finished version of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword in hand at 1UP Headquarters and the game's release mere weeks away, we're putting the wraps on our preview coverage of the game by taking a look at what new ideas and elements Skyward Sword actually brings to the table. I've seen plenty of sarcastic remarks about how Zelda games are ultimately just iterations on Ocarina of Time and A Link to the Past, which isn't entirely untrue... but it's hardly the only series to maintain a consistent set of mechanics and rules over the years. What makes each new Zelda game interesting (or not) is how effectively it recasts familiar elements in new directions (or not). And while Skyward Sword is definitely a Zelda game, with all that entails, we've seen more than enough new features to keep us interested. It also a features a few surprising renditions of elements from previous games -- including one we expected to hate, but don't. 1. Motion controls This is a big one, isn't it? The use of Wii motion isn't completely new to the series, but the way they've been integrated here is radically different -- and better -- than the simplistic waggle of Twilight Princess. Sure, it seemed pretty novel to pretend to swing a sword five years ago, but once the newness wore off it didn't bring much to the game besides the occasional flurry of motion when tackling a big bad guy. Skyward Sword's Wii Motion Plus support is completely different, not only because of its precision but also because -- unlike Twilight Princess -- the game was built around the technology from the ground up.

Playing Modern Warfare 3 Early Actually Can Get You Banned Posted: 04 Nov 2011 09:11 AM PDT Contradicting what we learned yesterday, those who decide to play Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 before release on Xbox 360 apparently are risking their Xbox Live accounts. Xbox Live director of policy and enforcement Stephen Toulouse stated on Twitter yesterday that those who obtained a legitimate copy of the game -- which went on sale at certain stores ahead of its planned November 8 release -- were safe to play on Live. Since then, he has written a follow-up tweet stating Activision doesn't want people playing early and that doing so puts your account at risk.

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