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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.

Gallery: Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

[Via VideoGamer]

Soldner-X flies again on PSN

by JC Fletcher { Sep 14th 2009 at 10:08AM }

Eastasiasoft, the publishing branch of import retailer Play-Asia, released its first PC game in late 2007, a horizontal shooter called Söldner-X: Himmelsstürmer. It came out on PSN a year later. The company has just announced its second game, this time exclusively for the PS3's PlayStation Network: Söldner-X 2: Final Prototype. Unfortunately, the lack of a PC version means no huge limited edition box!

The Sidequest Studios-developed shooter is expected out this winter, but then the PSN version of the first game missed its original release date by a year. If you're really in the mood to punish yourself with a shmup, may we suggest the downloadable PS1 classic R-Types in the meantime?

Gallery: Soldner-X 2: Final Prototype (PS3)

PAX 2009: Red Dead Redemption lets you kill ... everything

by Kevin Kelly { Sep 8th 2009 at 8:00PM }

Red Dead Redemption's promised Wild West sandbox came to life in a build shown off to attendees at PAX over the weekend. One of the first things we noticed is that you can end a life whenever you want. What kind of lives? See a bunny bouncing by? Kablam. Attacked by a wild bear? Kapow. Angry at your horse and want to put him down? Kablang. You can kill literally every living thing in the game and, in some cases, skin them and sell their hides to the furrier in town to make some dough. We doubt he deals in horse skins, however.

There's more beyond the break, just mind you don't get shot.

Gallery: Red Dead Redemption (PAX 2009)

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Impressions: APB

by Griffin McElroy { Sep 7th 2009 at 9:30PM }

It's been a long time coming, but the first gameplay of Realtime Worlds' pseudo-MMO APB has been shown to the public. PAX attendees who stopped by EA's booth were allowed to view a 15-minute long in-game video demo of the title -- just for kicks, the player/commentator for the demo was none other than Epic's Mark Rein, creator of the Unreal Engine 3 upon which the title is built. Rein, who was playing as an Enforcer, was joined by Realtime's Chris Collins, who effectively played the Crockett to Rein's Tubbs.

What we saw looked less like an MMO, and more like a persistent online multiplayer cops-and-robbers game. Action isn't slow and meditated, it's fast-paced and twitchy. If you were expecting skill-filled hotbars, you're going to be disappointed -- APB is a third-person shooter, through and through.

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Modern Warfare 2 footage leaked from retailer convention

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 28th 2009 at 11:01AM }

Video previews for Modern Warfare 2 have been few and far, far between -- thus, we could be satisfied with moving pictures of the lowest quality, provided they depict the highly anticipated shooter in action. Footage of just this caliber recently came to us from a Game Crazy employee convention, where a cadre of overjoyed retailers got an early look at one of the game's single-player missions. Someone captured it on camera, and now it waits for your trembling eyes after the jump.

A word of caution: The video shows off a really cool moment from the game that you may want to save till you're the one holding the controller. We won't ruin it for you here, but we'd be remiss if we didn't offer some insightful commentary on said moment: Holy crap! Sweep the leg Johnny!

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Dead Space: Extraction trailer takes a look at the story

by David Hinkle { Aug 7th 2009 at 1:30PM }

In this latest trailer for Visceral Games' Dead Space: Extraction, we're given our first glimpse at the initial outbreak of the infection and how it spread across the colony. Shortly after, our team of protagonists find themselves commandeering a shuttle and setting a course for the USG Ishimura. It's quite a content-heavy look at the game, so check it out if you want to learn more about what's going on or, like us, just feel like watching Necromorphs meet the business end of a Plasma Cutter.

MAG trailer requires your inspirational battlefield speech

by Griffin McElroy { Aug 7th 2009 at 10:00AM }

Do you frequently find yourself filling the role of an inspirational leader amongst your group of friends? Do you utter phrases such as "once more into the breach" and "screw your courage to the sticking-place?" You sound like a likely candidate to win a recently added contest on PlayStation.Blog -- all you need to do is write an "inspirational battlefield speech" for Zipper Interactive's upcoming plus-size shooter, MAG.

Winners may hear their speech included in an upcoming trailer for the highly anticipated title, and will receive an ambiguous "fantastic MAG prize" to boot. Unfortunately, the contest's rules hamstring entrants by prohibiting cursing and quoting other legendary leaders. You'll have to save your profanity-laden Churchillisms for your Anachronistic Civil War Re-enactment Club.

Space Invaders Infinity Gene propagates to iPhone today

by JC Fletcher { Jul 28th 2009 at 11:30PM }

The latest evolution of Taito's prehistoric Space Invaders franchise, Space Invaders Infinity Gene, has moved from Japanese mobile phones to the iPhone/iPod Touch App Store as of today. At first glance, Infinity Gene seems to be the same kind of flashy techno Invaders found in Space Invaders Extreme, but the new game takes a different route that offers a customizable experience.

Starting out as classic Invaders, Infinity Gene changes over time, adding new graphics, abilities, levels, and gameplay to an "evolutionary tree." The game even allows players to move up and down on the scrolling screen. Infinity Gene also generates levels from songs stored on the iPhone or iPod. It's the freshest idea to hit Space Invaders since, well, Extreme, and it's available now for $5. We're just a little excited. See the trailer after the break.

[Via Touch Arcade]

Space Invaders Infinity Gene (Taito, $4.99):

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Miner Wars, an MMO for PC and ... XBLA?

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 16th 2009 at 8:45PM }

File this one under the "We couldn't have seen it coming from a mile away" category: Keen Software House announced today its forthcoming game, a space shooter MMO named Miner Wars, for release on PC and Xbox Live Arcade. Yep, that's right folks, an MMO could quite possibly hit the Xbox 360's Live Arcade service before landing on the console proper, as this one's billed for an "Autumn 2009 World Premiere."

Wait, does that mean a fall release? KSH's Marek Rosa told Joystiq, "World premiere means game release, but it's possible we will move this date to Q1/2010, because we don't want to fight with games like Call Of Duty, etc., but the official date right now is Autumn 2009." And will Miner Wars support cross-platform play between the Xbox 360 and PC? Hmmm?

"Cross-platform PC and Xbox is something I would like to have -- there will probably be some compromises, but I will fight for it," Rosa told us. He says since the game is being developed currently using the XNA development tools, a PlayStation 3 port is unlikely, though a 2D iteration of Miner Wars is planned for the PSP and iPhone following the completion of the XBLA/PC game.

[Via Big Download]