General gaming

General gaming

Shenmue Social Game Closes After Only a Year

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 04:02 PM PST

Shenmue Gai

The Shenmue spin-off social game launched in Japan in late 2010 has already been killed off. A message posted on the Shenmue Gai website recently thanked players for playing and noted the service was being closed.

The game was known by a variety of names in English -- Shenmue Town, Shenmue City, and Shenmue World -- despite it never being available in English-speaking countries. It was first announced in 2010 shortly before its launch in December of that year. The unexpected game was developed by YS Net, the company led by Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki, and was published by Sega for the Yahoo Mobage social game service.

The Old Republic Bans Were Not Handed Out for Visiting Ilum

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 02:12 PM PST

Star Wars: The Old Republic Ilum

Star Wars: The Old Republic players were understandably concerned when a post on Reddit over the weekend revealed that BioWare was seemingly banning players for visiting a certain planet and looting containers found there. As it turns out, the matter is not quite so simple, and no permanent bans were handed out as a result of this.

The planet Ilum is intended for higher-level players (40 and above) and, as such, has loot containers meant for those players. Just because the game recommends you only visit once you've reached level 40 doesn't mean you can't go there sooner, but it appeared doing so and collecting loot could result in a ban for a Terms of Service violation. That would be bad under any circumstances, but when you throw in the fact that players pay a subscription to play, it seemed even worse.

God of War IV Confirmed by Composer

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 12:39 PM PST

God of War III

There have been numerous rumors and reports about the existence of the next game in the God of War series over the past year. While Sony continues to go about its business without confirming any of it, as you would expect, one of the composers working on God of War IV has confirmed the game does indeed exist.

The resume of Timothy Williams was discovered by Siliconera to contain a listing for God of War IV, described as an upcoming game from Sony. This isn't a matter of someone typing "III" instead of "II" or some other honest mistake, either; while Sony would only issue the typical "no comment," Williams did tell Joystiq the listing was not a mistake. He noted he is "working on it in the capacity of orchestrations and some additional music" but pointed out Tyler Bates is the game's main composer. The resume, and for that matter his entire website, has since been removed.

The Best of 1UP 2011: Retrospectives

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 11:35 AM PST

Feature

Header

The Best of 1UP 2011: Retrospectives

Prepare yourselves for the final entry in our look back at content from 2011.

By: 1UP Staff January 3, 2011

Welcome to the last chapter in our series of features that looked back at some of 1UP's best content from 2011. And what better way to end a year-end retrospective series than by rounding up the best retrospectives on the site. Seriously, 2011 was no stranger to anniversaries, as many games (and even platforms) celebrated new milestones in the age department. But, in classic 1UP style, we strove to do more than just gloss over these affairs by bringing you new insights into some of your favorite games of yesteryear. We spoke to Takashi Tokita -- director of Final Fantasy IV -- for a fascinating retrospective; we uncovered all the reasons why Metal Gear Solid 2 is the video game world's greatest con job ever; and we celebrated all the reasons why Quake is the most influential shooter of all time. 1UP continued to bring you new perspectives in 2011 and it's a tradition we look forward to continuing in 2012.


Jump to: Best of News | Best of Podcasts | Best of Blogs | Best of Previews
Best of Features | Best of Community | Best of Guides | Best of Video
Best of Reviews | Best of Retrospectives


  • When Mega Man Ruled the World: An Anniversary Tribute

    Most people know Mega Man as a platformer, but for a while there, it was also "a collection-heavy portable role-playing game," according to 1UP's Jeremy Parish. And in the wake of Mega Man Legends 3's cancellation, he looked back upon the Mega Man Battle Network spin-off series with an in-depth retrospective highlighting the games than many overlooked, but kept Capcom's franchise going for many years.

  • Silent Hill 2: The Last Survival Horror Game

    1UP's Bob Mackey takes a deep, long look into the horrifying world of Silent Hill 2 and sifts through layers of subtext to reveal why its the most remarkable survival horror game ever.

  • What's So Great About Final Fantasy IV, Anyway?

    In this in-depth retrospective feature, Jeremy Parish talks to FFIV director Takashi Tokita and dissects this classic role-playing game to shows us all how groundbreaking it really was.

  • Kid Icarus: A Retrospective

    Prepare for 2012's Kid Icarus Uprising by learning how the 25 year old NES original managed to nest in the subconscious of gamers across the world. The game introduced some new mechanics to the platforming genre that really placed it ahead of its time. The Kid Icarus Retrospective is just one of the many amazing articles on 1UP that originated from the debut issue of 1UP Presents magazine.

  • 16-Bit Defined: 20 Years of Super Nintendo

    Can you believe the Super NES is two decades old? Once we shook off our own disbelief (and a looming sense of mortality), we threw together this in-depth look back at the system's legacy for the second issue of our experimental 1UP Presents magazine. Everything you could want to know about the Super NES, from its technological underpinnings to its most essential games, is contained right here.

  • Castlevania Chronicles: We've Been Killing Dracula for 25 Years

    It's hard to believe, but we've been chipping away at Dracula's extra life stockpile for 25 years now. Join 1UP's Jeremy Parish as he celebrates a quarter century of introducing the dark lord of the Castlevania series to his maker.

  • East and West, Warrior and Quest: A Dragon Quest Retrospective

    Though it's a bigger hit in Japan than within these United States, the Dragon Quest series can't be ignored. And your friends at 1UP certainly couldn't let the series' 25th anniversary pass without some sort of celebration! Don't feel like reading? But thou must!

  • Why Wario Land 4 Remains the Best Portable Mario Game

    With Wario Land 4 recently gifted to 3DS ambassadors, a whole new audience can discover why the game is secretly is the best portable Mario game. Jeremy explains the 10 reasons why the game is a true classic in the palm of your hands, especially for those of you who prefer your Stones to your Beatles. Amazing music, inventive mechanics, and an overall surreal tone make for a strange trip of a game that just somehow works.

  • Metal Gear Solid 2: Gaming's Greatest Con Job

    When Metal Gear Solid 2 arrived ten years ago, it was wildly different from the game fans had been led to expect. But that was no mistake; deception was woven into the fabric of the game's existence from the beginning. We look past the disappointed hyperbole that surrounds the most controversial Metal Gear game to explore the deeper meaning behind Hideo Kojima's sneaky creative shenanigans.

  • Why Quake Changed Games Forever

    Everyone talks about Doom, Halo, and so forth as being the most influential shooters. But nope, we spend six pages telling you why Quake is the most influential game of all time. Of all time!

3DS Sales Surpass 4 Million in U.S.

Posted: 03 Jan 2012 10:58 AM PST

3DS

The 3DS is still not even a year old and already it has sold over 4 million units in the United States alone.

It was not long ago that Nintendo revealed the 3DS had surpassed first-year sales of the original DS, selling over 2.37 million units as of the beginning of December. We know 795,000 3DS units were sold in November, and it seems December was another big sales month for Nintendo's newest handheld gaming system, though we won't get NPD sales figures until later next week.

Posted by Shri Krishna

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