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Left 4 Dead 2 sold 2 million at retail in 2 weeks

by Alexander Sliwinski { Dec 1st 2009 at 1:00PM }

Valve apparently threw Boomer bile all over Left 4 Dead 2, because hordes of consumers gobbled up two million retail copies globally since its release a couple weeks ago. Valve won't release the Steam digital distribution sales data, so that's not included in the retail count. According to the developer, sales are currently double that of the original, with "Black Friday" helping to push copies into the hands of players (who now have their hands full with two Tanks, a Spitter, a Hunter, and a Jockey coming in for the kill).

Valve also noted that information about L4D2's first batch of downloadable content would be coming very soon.

Gallery: Left 4 Dead 2

BioWare reveals Samara, Mass Effect 2's biotic bombshell

by Randy Nelson { Dec 1st 2009 at 12:00PM }

With Dragon Age: Origins out the door and making friends, BioWare has switched the Mass Effect 2 hype machine into full gear, inviting us to play the game and provide a peek at some of the new squad mates who'll be joining Commander Shepard on his/her most dangerous mission yet. The latest cast member to make a debut, Samara, should have absolutely no problem taking care of herself -- as well as anything (or anyone) that gets in her way.

Samara is an elite Asari warrior who controls some incredibly potent biotic powers. Forget simply tossing enemies around -- she manipulates dark energy in order to levitate herself, as evidenced in the above video. The footage also confirms that there are still five potential party members yet to be introduced before the game ships for PC and Xbox 360 on January 26 (not March 23 as originally noted by Randy, who's clearly met his recommended daily allowance of paste.)

Gallery: Mass Effect 2 - Samara

Scivelation's year old 'trailer' reveals name and engine change

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 29th 2009 at 6:30PM }

Something we've been saying since TopWare Interactive and Black Wing Foundation first announced their upcoming third-person shooter, Scivelation – what's with the name?! At first we thought it might be a weird play on the word "civilization," but quickly realized it was missing a syllable.

It was an odd surprise then when we spotted a trailer for the game (found after the break) on Russian gaming site Absolute Games 1.5, though rather than a "Scivelation" logo at the end, we noticed one for a game titled "Salvation." So we contacted TopWare Interactive to find out what was up and were told the video we found is actually not the "first official trailer" for Scivelation, but rather an "old trailer that Black Wing [Foundation] did under the name 'Salvation' that has very little to do with the game Scivelation." More accurately, Scivelation started life as Salvation – "a game from last year with a basic premise that we really enjoyed" – though at the time it was running on Source Engine rather than its current game engine, Unreal.

If you're left feeling as hollow inside as we were after finding out that the accented, fairly confusing, and kinda goofy video isn't from the newest build of Scivelation, take refuge in the fact that the game's developers are completely rewriting the story "to give it a solid story arc with distinct and engaging characters that we feel are going to capture the gaming audience." So there's that, right?

Gallery: Scivelation

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Mass Effect 2 vids profile Tali and Adept class

by Alexander Sliwinski { Nov 27th 2009 at 11:30AM }

What is it about BioWare and its dismissive implementation of races starting with the letter Q? Think about it: Tali the Quarian from Mass Effect and Sten the Qunari from Dragon Age: Origins -- on average, did anybody really use either for extended periods of time? It's Qu-acism, we tells ya! Perhaps Tali, who returns in Mass Effect 2, will prove invaluable when the going geths tough.

Head past the break to see a video of the Adept class, which has been granted some flashy new tricks.

Gallery: Mass Effect 2 (11-06-09)

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Scivelation officially announced for 360, coming Q3 2010

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 25th 2009 at 10:30AM }

Good news, 360 owners: The hard-to-pronounce third-person shooter from TopWare Interactive and Black Wing Foundation, known as Scivelation, will be coming exclusively to the platform in the third quarter of next year. Hopefully, by that point, we'll have received some supplemental materials informing us how to properly speak the title of the game. We're considering changing our current position to "Skih-vee-lay-shun."

The press release which divulged this information also revealed a bit more about the game's story. You'll be playing as a member of a rebel faction, fighting against the oppressive, theocratic "Regime." Joining you is a former Regime scientist who has created a "post-human supervirus," and a former Russian special operative who is also a cyborg. It's like three plots in one! What a bargain!

Dark Void film adaptation announced

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Nov 19th 2009 at 3:30PM }

Preemptively cutting off complaints that it strays too far from the source material, Capcom has announced a film adaptation of a game you haven't played yet: Dark Void, next year's promising third-person shooter from Airtight Games. In line with the agreement reached between Capcom, Reliance BIG Entertainment and Brad Pitt's Plan B Entertainment production company, Dark Void is primed as a "sci-fi action franchise and potential starring vehicle for Pitt."

While the parties involved decide whether or not the movie is indeed the Pitt's, someone should probably point out that as far as starring vehicles go, a jetpack is probably the best one. Players will beat Hollywood to the punch and experience it for themselves when Dark Void lands on PC, PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 on January 19, 2010 in North America and January 22, 2010 in Europe.

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New Red Dead Redemption screens showcase the finer things in (cowboy) life

by Ben Gilbert { Nov 13th 2009 at 7:00PM }

A slow trickle of information and media on upcoming Old West-em-up Red Dead Redemption has been coming from developer Rockstar Games for some time now. And if it weren't for the game's somewhat unique setting – as well as our (admittedly strained) faith in the game's developer – we might not indulge the it with so much attention. Alas, these screens, much like the screens and video that came before them, keep impressing us. Call it a predilection for Western-themed entertainment ... we're not sure. Peep the screens below and decide for yourself if the game is worth your time during the busy second holiday release season.

Gallery: Red Dead Redemption (11-13-09)

Empty Clip Studios composing a Symphony with your music

by JC Fletcher { Nov 12th 2009 at 5:30PM }

Empty Clip Studios revealed its followup to the WiiWare/Wii retail Groovin' Blocks, with another game that mashes up a traditional genre with music. Symphony is a music-based shooter, similar in concept to Rez. Unlike Rez, however, it draws its music from your own collection, dynamically generating enemy patterns.

It's also much less abstract than Mizuguchi's masterpiece, as sound is translated into visible waveforms, which then become patterns of enemies. It's a lot easier for us to tell you to just watch the video after the break than to explain it.

Empty Clip plans to release the game sometime next year. No specific platform has been mentioned.

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Dark Void dev diary focuses on that guy in front of the jetpack

by David Hinkle { Nov 5th 2009 at 6:30AM }

For us, the worth of protagonist Will in Dark Void isn't measured by his strengths as human being, but really just his awesome jetpacking. Airtight Games wants us to know there's more to like about the guy and aimed to make Will more in line with the typical Japanese game protagonist -- more believable and less of a "caricature."

The above video diary also shows us how Nikola Tesla ended up in the game. Tesla is just one cool dude, whether he's being played by David Bowie, building super awesome defense towers for the Russians, or -- in the case of Dark Void -- spearheading an entire rebellion by inventing jetpacks and gigantic airships.

Cho Aniki Zero making PSP more manly in Spring 2010

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 23rd 2009 at 3:00PM }

Our somewhat boring day took a turn for the legendary when we received an Aksys press release informing us that the beefcake-infused side-scrolling shooter, Cho Aniki Zero, would appear on the PSP as a PSN download (exclusively) next Spring. The legendary-ness arose not as a result of our excitement for the game (which is immeasurable in its own right), but due to the content of the press release itself. The entire release can be found after the jump, but we've culled our favorite phrases, forming the following poignant, beautiful found poem:

Exaltation. Oiled up and ready to thrust. Epic struggle. Muscle-bounded forces. Manliness. Another dimension of sights and sounds. Heightened experiences of rhythmic action. Man-rageous. Brotherly love. Muscle-on-muscle madness. Man-tastic voyage. Man Protein. The greatest bromances of all time. (Snaps.)

Gallery: Cho Aniki Zero (PSP)

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Namco Bandai introduces gravity-flipping shooter Inversion

by JC Fletcher { Oct 20th 2009 at 3:30PM }

click to fall up into our galleryNamco Bandai and TimeShift developer Saber Interactive hope you'll flip for their new shooter Inversion. Because it literally features the ability to reverse gravity.

The third-person shooter takes place during an invasion by the alien ~~luchadores~~ Lutadore, which happens to coincide with the appearance of random "bubbles" of anti-gravity or gravitational vector change (just go with it). That means that at various times throughout the game, you'll enter an area and start floating, or be flipped over as the ceiling suddenly becomes the floor.

The player, as cop Davis Russel or, uh, cop's neighbor Leo Delgado, is armed with a Grappler weapon that allows the manipulation of gravity to move giant objects around. This permits the player to move enemies' cover or make their own out of items in the environment. Or to just throw stuff.

Inversion will ship sometime in 2010 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.

Gallery: Inversion

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising DLC only 'weeks' away

by David Hinkle { Oct 14th 2009 at 10:30PM }

Ten-hut, soldier -- Codemasters' Sion Lenton reveals in an interview with Telegraph that the company is currently working on DLC for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising and the first round will be available in "a matter of weeks." Lenton also says the company has "ambitious plans" for the game's DLC, though he only mentions the requisite weapon and map add-ons most shooters receive post-release.

The rest of the interview isn't a bad read; Lenton discusses how the idea to bring back the Operation Flashpoint series came about, why Codies went for consoles, the balancing act between keeping it a hardcore, realistic experience without making it too frustrating for gamers and planned Title Updates to keep the game balanced. We're glad he mentioned that last item, because we've heard some folks in the game's forums aren't all too happy with the experience right now.

[Via CVG]

Scivelation announced (but hard to pronounce)

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 11th 2009 at 4:00PM }

If you were listening to this post being read on the non-existent "Joystiq Posts on Cassette" series, you'd probably hear us have a bit of trouble. The press release which we recently received announcing the TopWare Interactive and Black Wing Foundation-developed third-person shooter Scivelation included a number of details about the title, but sadly, no audible pronunciation guide. For the record, we're going with "Siv-uh-lay-shun."

The title features a generic-ish plot dealing with evil dictatorships and stalwart resistance movements in a dystopian future -- we've chosen to turn to the portfolios of the title's creators for more insight into its quality. Black Wing Foundation made Stalin vs. The Martians, which is completely magical. TopWare worked on X-Blades, which committed violent crimes against our intellegence. We expect Scivelation to fall somewhere in between.

[Via Big Download]

Gallery: Scivelation

Hands-on: Quantum Theory (PS3)

by Ludwig Kietzmann { Oct 5th 2009 at 12:45PM }

Aping a popular franchise's mechanics and style may be seen as a safe business proposition, but in terms of critical evaluation, the copy-cat game is likely to face stricter judgment. After all, if you're going to copy the good stuff, you've got to get it right.

Tecmo's PlayStation 3 exclusive, Quantum Theory (just Quantum outside of Japan), certainly succeeds in evoking memories of Gears of War -- at least, if you remember Epic's shooter being a technically unsound and completely unappealing disaster. If the Tokyo Game Show build is any indication, Quantum needs to undergo crucial work before its early 2010 release.

Gallery: Quantum (PS3)

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Infinity Ward has no plans for pre-launch Modern Warfare 2 demo

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 29th 2009 at 12:20PM }

If you're on the fence about your purchase of Infinity Ward's infinitely intimidating shooter, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, you should probably get comfortable with straddling said pickets -- Robert Bowling recently confirmed via Twitter that the title wouldn't receive a demo before its November 10 release. According to the tweet, "the entire team is focused on polish all the way up to ship of the full game."

If you were really hoping to test out the game before it comes out, we suggest playing Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare, and imagining it "kicked up a notch" in an Emeril Lagassi-like fashion.