A Weapon of Truly Epic Proportions: Alice’s Vorpal Blade
Posted by Drea Avellan Categories: Culture, Electronic Arts
I may not be a blood-thristy twisted Alice, but I do enjoy beautiful things. In commemoration of the original Alice, Epic Weapons, in collaboration with Electronic Arts, have created a replica of the Vorpal Blade from American McGee’s Alice. It is adorned with etched molds which replicate this weapon in all its beautiful detail. Since this is a high quality replica made from Japanese stainless steel and standing at 18 5/8 inches in length, Epic Weapons is offering only 1,000 of these commemorative Alice knifes. They are now available on the Epic Weapons website for $89.95, so get them while they are still available! Stand is not included, but available for purchase for $19.95. And while you are at it, I think you should send me one too.
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Epic Citadel teases Unreal Engine on iOS
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Casual, Downloadable Content, Portable/Mobile, Screenshots
While waiting to get their hands on Epic Games’ (Gears of War, Unreal Tournament) iOS only game - Project Sword - Apple gamers will be able to explore just how well the Unreal Engine runs on their iOS device. Compatible with iPhone 4 and 3GS, 3rd and 4th gen iPod touch, and the iPad; the Unreal Engine tech demo, dubbed Epic Citadel, lets gamers explore a castle interface with all the bells and whistles of the Unreal Engine. Such as: bump offset mapping, real time lighting, texture mapping, global illumination, and more. Epic citadel was created in eight weeks and can be downloaded for free from the App Store.
More screenshots after the jump.
Click to continue reading Epic Citadel teases Unreal Engine on iOS
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| Epic Citadel
Xbox 360 wireless controller with transforming D-Pad coming November 9th
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Hardware, Release Dates, Xbox 360
Microsoft is set to release a newly redesigned Xbox 360 wireless controller with a transforming D-Pad this November. It’s no secret that the D-Pad on the Xbox 360 isn’t exactly popular with gamers, so the company supposedly went back to the drawing board, and came up with a D-Pad can be changed from disc-form to “plus” form just by turning the D-Pad itself. In addition to that change, the controller also has concave analog sticks, matte silver color, and gray A, B, X, Y buttons as well.
The catch? While the controller seems like it would be awesome, you can only get it as part of the new Play & Charge Kit which will be available on November 9th for $64.99. Yeah, even if you don’t need another Play & Charge Kit, that’s the only way you’ll be getting this controller, as Microsoft won’t be making it available as a standalone product. $64.99. Microsoft is definitely doing all they can to get more money out of Xbox users these days.
Gallery: Xbox 360 wireless controller with transforming D-Pad coming November 9th
Xbox LIVE membership fee increasing $10 per year—lock in lower price now
Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Corporate News, Microsoft, Xbox Live
If you haven’t heard by now, Microsoft is going to be increasing the yearly cost of Xbox LIVE membership by $10 per year starting on November 1. This comes after 8 years of the service remaining at a steady $50 per year, and kills rumors that the service would actually go free sometime soon. On November 1, a year of Xbox LIVE Gold will cost you $59.99, one month will cost $9.99 (up from $7.99,) and the three-month subscriptions will go from $19.99 to $24.99. They say it’s to support new features like Kinect, ESPN, and Hulu Plus coming to Xbox LIVE (despite the fact that Hulu Plus costs $10 a month in the first place.)
The one silver lining here is that you can currently buy yourself a one-year Xbox LIVE subscription for just $39.99, locking in that $20 savings for a year. It will just get tacked on to your current subscription if you already have one. If you want multiple years of savings, you can always find Xbox LIVE discounts on Amazon.
Read More | Xbox LIVE Price Lock
Grand Turismo 5 sparks Italian controversy
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Culture, Driving, PlayStation 3
Gran Turismo 5 is causing some controversy in the beautiful Italian city of Siena. How can a racing game spark controversy you ask? Does GT5 feature a new crash mode where tires fly off of vehicles and decapitate prostitutes and police officers? Nope. The reason for the controversy is GT5’s use of Siena’s city Piazza del Campo as a track in the upcoming game, and more specifically, using the flags and colors of the Palio di Siena without permission. Due to this Siena is threatening to stop the game from seeing the light of day.
Whether or not the flags will be removed is still up in the air, but Kazunori would like to see them remain as they heighten the aesthetics of the Italian course. Gran Turismo 5 designer Kazunori Yamauchi lamented via twitter his hesitation to remove them, “We can remove them in an instant…[though] erasing them is somewhat regrettable.”
Read More | Kotaku via Twitter
Metal Gear future will be multi-platform
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Action, Konami, PC, PlayStation 3, PSP, Wii, Xbox 360
Bringing the Metal Gear Rising series to the Xbox 360 and PC in addition to the PS3 is only the start of Konami’s multi-platform approach. In a recent interview with VideoGamer.com MGR creative director Shigenobu Matsuyama stated, “I think it’s very important for the future of Japanese publishing. We see publishers — Capcom have started a little bit earlier than us — and I can say most of the Japanese studios have seen the importance of going multi-platform, and our studio as well.”
This can mean that Konami will start to embrace the Wii with less profound Metal Gear exclusives in the same vein that Capcom has done with its Resident Evil series, and continue bringing it’s more hardcore Metal Gear titles to the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3.
“I think we’re now really ready to go multi-platform at once, I mean development cycle wise. I think this will be a normal trend for Japanese studios in the future,” Matsuyama continued.
A hard blow to PS3 users hoping to keep future Metal Gears to themselves.
Read More | Kotaku via Video Gamer
Best Buy and Target to start selling used games
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Corporate News, Culture, PlayStation 3, THQ, Wii, Xbox 360
Taking a controversial page from Gamestop’s book, Best Buy and Target both are in the beginning stages of implementing a trade-in program for used videos games in exchange for store credit. Best Buy has revealed that it will start offering a trade-in program this week in 600 locations, and will begin selling used games “soon”.
Target’s Electronic Trade-In department is currently open in North Carolina, and will increase to 850 stores by December 2010. Unlike Gamestop where you can only trade in video games and their accessories to buy more video games and the like; Target comprises a much larger trade-in spectrum, allowing customers to trade in cell phones, iPods, and video games to receive store credit. This store credit can net you the many different items sold in Target, and is not just limited to digital devices.
This all comes much to the dismay of video game publishers, namely THQ CEO Cory Ledesma who recently discussed how used games “cheat” the video game industry. Despite this, it seems that Best Buy and Target intend to get away with some heavy duty cheating this holiday season.
Look for the Best Buy on Columbia Heights 3100 14th St NW to start accepting trade-ins by December.
Read More | Target
PS4 won’t be download only; digital future still a decade away
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Culture, PlayStation 3, Sony
Usually around this time in a console’s lifespan we would already be knee deep in talks about the succeeding console, if not already playing it in our homes. However, with the constant updates and improved network capabilities the need for a new console every five years is no longer necessary. Though, Sony’s Kaz Hirai did mutter some words about the eventual Playstation 4 system, stating that a “digital future is over ten years away”, and the PS4 will definitely not be a download only console à la PSP Go. Hirai noted that this is because “we do business in parts of the world where network infrastructure isn’t as robust as one would hope, [and] there’s always going to be a requirement for a business of our size and scope to have a physical medium.”
Read More | Eurogamer
Pokemon done Call of Duty-style
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Culture, Internet, Nintendo
I frequently ask myself the question, “what if Modern Warfare 2 was like Pokémon?”, and at last all quandaries have been put to rest courtesy of Blastedroof.com. The new gaming community has fused the two unlikely gaming franchises into what can only be described as utterly brilliant. Included in the seven minute video are some memorable internet personalities such as the British gamer who “played 7hrs straight”, the senior citizen bum from the bus fight video, a MW2 guru who makes video walkthroughs, and a nod to Infinity Ward’s own Robert Bowling. The video pokes fun at noobs, and different styles of play (rushing vs. camping) as well.
Microsoft prepares ban hammer for Halo: Reach pirates
Posted by John Kilhefner Categories: Bungie, First Person Shooters, Microsoft, Xbox 360, Xbox Live
Though the temptation may be great to jump online early, perpetrators of downloading early copies of Halo: Reach better think twice before firing up their illegally attained games online. Microsoft is no stranger to banning as many users as they see fit suspected of playing pirated copies of their games. A representative for Microsoft had this to say:
“We are aware that an unauthorized copy of “Halo: Reach” has leaked. We are aggressively investigating the matter. We have no further details to share at this time.”
Sounds like Microsoft is pretty pissed at the whole situation, and we all know what happens when Microsoft feels slighted. Last fall, gamers playing pirated copies of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 prompted Microsoft to ban up to a million players to get their message across. And that message is that pirating will not be tolerated.
“We are aggressively pursuing the violators. Microsoft’s commitment to combat piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the 25 million members of the Xbox LIVE community remains a top priority. All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and modifying their Xbox 360 console violates the Xbox LIVE terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox LIVE.”
Read More | Kotaku
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