Results tagged “PS3” from Tech-Out

So it's another year of holiday gaming as parents try and figure out just what they should get their kids (or themselves), and I'm willing to bet that a console might be on the minds of those willing to camp out storefronts in Black Friday or battle each other for the last copy of Super Mario Bros. Wii left on the shelves.

With Sony's new pricing policy for their PS3, Xbox 360 bundles, and the Wii joining the moneymaking fracas, it's as if it were launch day all over again.

A few days ago while browsing, couple had asked me what kind of games they could get their thirteen-year old daughter on the Xbox 360 and told me what kind of titles she loved to play. They were buying an Xbox for her because her brothers were living elsewhere and wanted to keep her connected, but were wondering what she could play on her own.

After hearing them gush about Guitar Hero, I pointed out Beatles Rock Band. They said she already had it for another system. I asked if she liked to play first-person shooters or sports games and they said no.

I didn't know what to tell them, only that it was tough finding something for their daughter's tastes on the Xbox 360 that wasn't a first-person shooter or a sports game...both of which they said she was not interested in it, but her brothers were. In the end, they opted to get a flat screen TV instead. But if she had been a huge shoot 'em up fan like her brothers, she'd find more than enough to be happy about on the system.

Her particular needs were very specific, but the question remains the same for many parents and newcomers unfamiliar with all of the gaming jargon that kids, and perhaps as many adults, speak as a second language.

So here's a little help from Tech-Out on what to look for when you head out into the busy shopping season!

It's nearly winter here. The trees are mostly bare, cold winds rustle dried leaves, and everyone is getting ready to deal with the ice and snow that it inevitably brings. Around these parts, it's a yearly ritual that brings both pain and joy to our particular corner of the world.

Demon's Souls comes off as the season of winter pressed onto a blu-ray disc with the freezing rain, white outs, and ditched cars stuck on the side of the road that help define it. It's usually below freezing and salted ice forms up on your mudflaps like barnacles before breaking away to leave behind a surprise for the person following you, just as an eighteen wheeler did for you a few miles earlier. Many loathe it with the kind of hate that would defrost their cars on their way in to work.

But it's also the favorite time of the year for others that love snowball fights, ski trips, snowmen, and warming up with a mug of cocoa. I loved it when I heard that my school was one of those closed, usually because the roads had gotten so bad or that the same water main that had broken the year before had done the same thing again. But in our small world, it was a temporary reprieve, and Demon's Souls is filled with just enough of these to find joy within its brutal season of gameplay.

Gamers rejoice, the much anticipated Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 game is finally out. Over 150 people waited out side the Best Buy store in San Bernardino for the Midnight release.

Dominic Diaz of Highland waits outside the San Bernardino Best Buy for the midnight release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Lines wrap around the Best Buy in San Bernardino during the Midnight release of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2.

Cool guns have become as much a part of gaming's fabric as health packs and life meters. Whether it's a Barrett .50 caliber sniper rifle or a machine gun that fires heat-seeking bullets, many gamers have their favorite brands of fire-spitting, death-spewing hardware. For some, it's even an obsession.

That's where the true power of Gearbox's Borderlands lies. It's the "Guns & Ammo" of gaming, appealing to our inner firearms enthusiast. Not only does it stroke our urge to search for, collect and play with new toys that go bang, it gives us the ultimate playground. Sure there's a plot and a story, but who cares when you have a high-powered rifle that shoots electric rounds?

I love Sony's new ads featuring Kevin Butler, the VP that wears as many hats as Sony needs him to and with plenty of style to boot.

On that note, and in view of Red's review of the amazing Uncharted 2 (I've played it,too), here's a little example of what I'm talking about. Enjoy!

And don't forget, it's also fun for the whole family!

I'm Batman.

Not the most eloquent thought, but there it was in all its unshakable glory as it kept racing through my head while I was playing Batman: Arkham Asylum. Rocksteady's take on the Caped Crusader not only faithfully emulates and represents its subject matter -- it practically bleeds it. Many hero games promise to "immerse" you in a character's world, but this is one of the few that actually pulls it off.

One of the reasons Batman stands apart from so many other superheroes is because we think he is one of us. He wasn't blessed with the ability to fly, or with claws coming out of his hands -- his defining trait is a tragic memory which he has used as the driving force behind everything he does. He's trained his body and his mind to their absolute peak, and the result is, really, our very own American ninja.

Devout fans of the comic mythos already know this, but for the masses who know Batman though mostly movies, games and television shows over the years, you can find more than a few mixed signals. That's led to confusion, and the result is a range of work that paints Batman with various brushes: He was a campy detective (the early '60s show), a brooding, silent crimefighter fighting a circus of crime (the Tim Burton movies) and in the best examples, the ultimate badass with a brain. He would be noble enough to support wholeheartedly, but also have enough edge to satisfy any darker needs we have for our heroes. In other words, Batman has way of making us feel that a simple beatdown of a serial rapist and killer is enough.

To me, the bodies of work that best emulate the ideal are Batman: The Animated Series, Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. And now, I want to add Batman: Arkham Asylum to the list.

Sony's seemingly apparent lack of an ability to prevent the spread of crazy rumors that later turn out to be true hasn't stopped it from poking fun at itself while playing the innocent bystander.

For a long while now, everyone had been speculating that the PS3 would become smaller (like the slim PS2) and that a price drop was imminent. To many, this made sense in order to help bolster its numbers against its rivals and to give consumers another reason to choose it instead.

The only question was when and it didn't help that Sony's poker face held up in the face of rampant speculation and scrutiny. Even at their past news conference at E3, SCEA President and CEO, Jack Tretton, had joked with the crowd in saying that they at least kept one thing quiet with the surprise announcement of Final Fantasy XIV, taking it all in stride. But with the news of the new price drop at Gamescom, Sony's starting to come out swinging with a nicely sized funny bone.

A clever commercial celebrating the new price point has come out along with another piece reminding everyone that it does everything aside from being able to launch satellites (although I'm sure someone is thinking of how). I like the approach that they're taking with these and hope to see what else they'll do. It's certainly head and shoulders above their previous artsy attempts that were almost as disturbing as finding the Burger King in bed with you.

Update 9.7.09: I had a feeling that saying "Nigerian millionaire" was going to ruffle a few feathers, even though it was a clear hint to the advance-fee scams made infamous via e-mail. The new commercial replaces the line following the part where he says you can't believe everything on the internet with "That's how World War 1 started."...which is bizarre. That makes as much sense as saying "That's why Caesar was stabbed.". I guess in this case, retroactive humor is hard, but you can still watch the original below.

Polish developer Techland's Call of Juarez was a western-styled shooter filled with plenty of spaghetti-styled trappings and action that told of a story between outlaw-turned-preacher, Reverend McCall, and Billy Candle whose mixed Native American ancestry had made him something of an outsider on both sides of the fence in the Wild West. Centering around the legend of the treasure ransom paid by the Aztec Empire in the sixteenth century for Montezuma to Cortez, everyone was convinced that they would find it first...as long as they survived the standard curse that accompanies such vast amounts of loose change.

Bound in Blood is the prequel to the first game, telling the story of the three McCall brothers and how a crack shot and vicious bastard like Ray had turned to religion, although you needn't have played the first to get an idea of what is going on here. Putting you in Ray's shoes as a Confederate sergeant in 1864 defending a series of trenches against the Union army, it's clear that Techland will be spinning as much of a western yarn as it will put six shooters and rifles into the player's hands.

Being bad is often good fun, but when gameplay problems plague would-be conquerors with issues keeping their pawns from their appointed rounds, it quickly becomes a case of where if you want something done right, you have to do it yourself.

Don't cross the streams. Go get her, Ray! Back off man ... I'm a scientist.

If you remember those lines, then you might be ready to believe "Ghostbusters: The Video Game" is the perfect title for you. But if not ... the experience will haunt you.

I shouldn't have been surprised at the treatment of the film after the first Godfather game from EA, but in playing through Godfather 2, I found myself impressed yet again with how they have continued to pillage the venerable film for ideas. If you're a fan of the films, I'd advise you to stay away, but if you're remotely curious about the game and are willing to stomach what it does to the franchise, then read on. This isn't going to be pretty.

If you have played an FPS, then you know how often that you have had to deal with that annoying little baddie dug in behind a column, corner, or wall while taking potshots at you with impunity. So you can imagine how satisfying it was to blow away the obstacle along with the trooper for a change in Red Faction: Guerrilla.

I'm not what you'd call a hardcore fan of the UFC, but I've seen enough of it to know who the major players are, how it generally works and how fights can range from long, technical grindfests to flash knockouts within 20 seconds. I have a ton of respect for MMA because it requires its fighters to be in outstanding shape or to train endlessly (and opposed to some of the sloths one can sometimes see in a lower-level boxing match).

I've put just a couple of hours into UFC: Undisputed, and I'm hooked. Aside from the visceral rush of catching your opponent (computer-controlled or not) off guard and then raining fists on his forehead for the knockout, I also enjoy how it retains a lot of the basic tenets of good fighting games -- the mixture of knowledge, practice and technique needed to become a better fighter.

I've found Quinton "Rampage" Jackson to be the most beginner-friendly fighter since he's the strongest dude in the game and practically has wrecking balls for hands. He's got one of the more impressive character models in the game, with his trademark "God's Street Soldier" tattoo adorning his right arm. All of the character models are well done, with the slight exceptions of Brock Lesnar, who looks a little on the small side, and Andrei Arlovski, who looks like an action figure.

The personalities and mannerisms of the fighters are also close to spot-on, with B.J. Penn licking the blood off his hands after a win or Rampage's slightly insane gaze into the camera during intros as well as his post-win werewolf howl. Forrest Griffin always seems to be bleeding and sweating, and Anderson Silva's kicks are as lethal as they are in real life.

I'm trying to get my standup game up to par, but there are a ton of moves, holds, guards, throws and other techniques to figure out, so I'm running into a little paralysis by analysis sometimes. You even have to think about transitioning from one position to another, defending punches and submissions, and even getting the ref to initiate a seperation when the match goes to the ground. It's good stuff all around.

I'm also getting into the career mode, where I build a fighter and have to manage his time among training, matchmaking and publicity work. It's actually more in-depth than I expected, so I'm not sure how far I'll get by the time I have to file the review, which should be coming out in the next week or so.

All right, that's all I've got for now. I'll be in the virtual Octagon.

Lots of superhero games can be enjoyed by kids and their families. X-Men Origins: Wolverine is not one of them.

As the blood sprays and limbs get liberated in this brutal interpretation of the new Hugh Jackman movie, you find that while Wolverine may not be the best superhero game out there, it's certainly among the angriest.

Less than two weeks away from Capcom's release of Bionic Commando due out on May 19 for the Xbox 360 and PS3. Here's a little teaser for the online mulitplayer game.

Zombies are more popular than bacon right now and Capcom, the masters of undead gaming have taken this opportunity to release the trailer for the sequel to their incredibly popular new franchise.

Volition has released a demo for their mega-demolition FPS, Red Faction: Guerilla, for the console crowd and being the curious sort, I downloaded the Xbox 360 version which proceeded to blow my expectations out of orbit with a mass driver. PC players have, so far, been left out of the goodness even though the game is coming out for that platform, too.

But the promises? They're true. They really are. The whole destructibility thing is absolutely, without question, awesomely fun.

Aside from the news that Obsidian and Bethesda have teamed up to create a new Fallout adventure, New Vegas, screenshots that drop off a few hints as to what fans can expect from the latest DLC for Fallout 3, Broken Steel, have also made it into the wild.

Along with the pics, more info concerning what players will have to look forward to have also been leaked:

• Level cap moved from 20 to 30 with new perks added in
• New weapons, including something called a "tri-laser" and the ominous Tesla Cannon
• Battle across the DC Wasteland against the forces of the Enclave
• New monsters including the Ghoul Reapers and a new Super Mutant

It sounds like there will be plenty to keep players busy over the four to five hours of estimated playthrough for the DLC and with new toys, quests, and perks, it could be a lot of fun.

The Pitt might have given me pause, but Broken Steel sounds like it could sweep the problems I had with it far behind me.

More pics after the jump!

And not the kind that EA had sent out, even if they were brass.

Namco Bandai have released a slew of new screenshots and art renders celebrating the planned upcoming release of Tekken 6 in the Fall giving console brawlers on the 360 and the PS3 something new to scrap over.

The newest iteration of the fighting franchise will be packed with everything from the arcade version plus a raft of enhancements courtesy of "the Bloodline Rebellion" update that it had received in December of '08. Assuming that players will finally be exhausted from beating each other senseless in Street Fighter IV by the time it comes out, Tekken 6 will be stepping into the ring to keep the adrenaline flowing into every character listed on its massive roster and throughout each multi-tiered stage, day or night, off or online.

Check the rest of them out below.

A little late to the party, but I finally found some time to let you know about one other April Fools entry that tickled my funny bone. In this one, Konami introduces the newest character to arrive for MGS4 multiplayer. Get ready, because he's as Solid as they come.