2009 Games

We are inching closer to the release of Heavy Rain and Quantic Dream has released a new trailer to keep us occupied for now.

Heavy Rain has been created to invoke emotions in the player and this trailer really helps highlight that point. The trailer was completely built with in-game footage and it looks amazing. The new Heavy Rain trailer asks how far will you go to catch a killer and save your loved ones. That question couldn’t be illustrated better than in the opening sequence of the trailer. One of the playable characters from the game, Ethan Mars, is faced with a really tough decision to save his son that is straight out of a Saw movie.

Along with the new trailer, Quantic Dream has announced that Heavy Rain has gone gold and will be shipping out to retailers soon. Sony followed up that announcement with a release date for the game’s demo. The Heavy Rain demo will be hitting PSN on Thursday, February 11th. It will include two chapters from the game and will allow you to play as Norman Jayden, the FBI profiler, and Scott Shelby, the private detective.

Heavy Rain is going to be released exclusively for the PlayStation 3 on February 23rd. Check out the new trailer after the break.Read more…

Two weeks ago BioWare released and quickly pulled its first DLC pack for Dragon Age: Origins, Return to Ostagar, due to a title update that caused problems with the game. Now, BioWare has annoucned via its Twitter that Return to Ostagar has once again been released for good on the Xbox 360.

Regarding the PlayStation 3 and PC versions of the game, the tweet reported that Return to Ostagar would arrive "soon" for both.

In Return to Ostagar, players travel back to the site of the epic battle with the Darkspawn that left the Grey Wardens beaten and reeling. It will cost Xbox Live members 400 Microsoft Points.

[Twitter]

 A rumor on Kotaku points to the future of the Star Wars: Battlefront series as revived in a title currently in pre-production called Battlefront Online. The project is being developed by the creators of SOCOM Confrontation, Slant Six Games, and, of course, being produced by LucasArts.

Gamers thought they had seen the last of the series after Pandemic, the studio that developed Battlefront and Battlefront 2, was recently shut down, and the former developer of Battlefront 3, Free Radical, was bought out.  However, LucasArts seems determined to make this title happen one way or another.

As the name implies, Battlefront Online is set to be an all online experience, tentatively to be released sometime in 2011. Star Wars fans everywhere are hoping this is the project that succeeds.

[Kotaku]

MAG? Modern Warfare 2? Halo? What are YOU currently pulling the trigger to in online multiplayer shooters? Got room for another? With this week’s release of the Xbox 360 demo, all platforms have now had a chance to take EA’s Battlefield: Bad Company 2 for a spin.

If you had a chance to check out the new Battlefield: Bad Company 2 demo, we’d love to hear your opinion on it. All that and a bag of war-torn chips? Or just another pretender to your current online gaming crack? (Remember: The following direct-feed is for visual aid purposes only. Please judge based on personal gameplay experience from either the PS3/PC betas or 360 demo) Have at it!

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In case you hadn’t heard, BioWare’s epic RPG Mass Effect 2 is damn good. But don’t take my word for it. X-Play’s video review is just a single mouse click away. Click now!

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Also, if you haven’t read Adam’s fantastic written review, then I highly recommend clicking right here and checking it out.

Apple hosted a huge press conference today to announce their newest gadget, the iPad, a super-sized version of the iPhone.

Rumors and speculation have been flying around for months now about whether or not Apple would release a tablet computer and today it finally became official. The iPad has a 10 inch widescreen multi-touch display and will be compatible with all current and future apps in the App store. The screen will support a resolution of 1024 X 768 pixels. The base model will be a 16GB Wi-Fi only tablet for $499 and there will be 32GB and 64GB models going for $599 and $699 respectively. You can add 3G to any model for $130 plus a monthly fee from AT&T to use it. Apple released a SDK today that will allow developers to create specific apps for the new iPad as well as adapt their current ones to take advantage of the new real estate.

So what does the new tablet mean to gaming? Apple brought out EA during their presentation to show off Need for Speed: Shift running on the new tablet. You control the car by turning the tablet like a steering wheel and you can tap the screen to change the camera to an in-car view. From this view you can shift the car by sliding over the gear shift and look behind you by tapping the mirror. We have no doubt that the iPad will affect gaming in some way much like the iPhone but to what degree we’re not sure yet. I’m excited whenever someone creates another avenue for people to enjoy games on and I can’t wait to see what developers come up with.

The Apple iPad 16GB Wi-Fi only model will be available in March with the other models following along in April.

In a recent interview with Rebellion developer David Brickley, currently working on the upcoming Alien Vs. Predator, support was added to gamers’ outcry against game developers charging for DLC that effectively just unlocks content already included on the game disc, like in the case of Capcom’s Resident Evil 5 versus mode. Here’s what Brickley had to say.

"It’s quite simple to explain, but I do think players are entirely right – if the content is on the disc already there’s absolutely no justification for studios to offer DLC which is essentially an unlock key or something. But I guess what doesn’t come across to some people is that when a game hits the shelves, it’s probably been wrapped up for four or five months in any true sense."

"The time between finishing the game and retail is usually spent on debugging – you can spend months and months just fixing errors and glitches to ensure the product is finished and ready for release. Then when you factor in the console approval and the manufacturing process, you’re talking about a substantial part of the game’s overall development time."

"While all of that stuff is going on, it tends to free up resources at the studio, so they can make items that can be added on as DLC afterwards. I think people outside of that process assume that the development of a game and its DLC are executed in parallel, and that’s really not the case."

As expected, gamers everywhere are patting Brickley on the back for being one of few developers to take their side on the issue.  However, as Brickley aludes, there is little that gamers can do if developers decide to charge for content, aside from not buying it (which is clearly not going to happen).  But at least now there’s hope.

[GoNintendo]

As one of the most successful video game development companies in existence, BioWare has adhered to a tried-and-true formula of constructing games that will reach a broad audience and contain the necessary criteria for a smash hit.

Consequently,with the just-released Mass Effect 2 sweeping across the industry, BioWare wants everyone to know that their games — past, present and future titles — are designed to get consoles into the hands of consumers.

During a conference with website CVG, BioWare co-founder Ray Muzyka stressed the accessibility of ME2 enabling non-console players to finally take the plunge.

"It’s the second highest-rated game on the platform, so it’s probably a good opportunity if you don’t have a system to look at getting one if you want a great experience."

Muzyka, who also acts as Senior Vice President for EA’s RPG/MMO Group, remarked on the positive reception the game has received within the Microsoft audience, possibly leading to an upswing in Xbox 360 sales. 

"I think every game we make we try to make a system seller. Because every game we build we strive for 90%+ quality. I’ve gotten a few notes from the folks at Microsoft and they’ve always been great partners with us as have money other groups. They seem quite delighted with how it’s doing… a lot of them seem to enjoy playing it too which makes me happy. It’s interesting to think about that. I would hope it would be a system seller."

[CVG]

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We were super psyched about Apple’s big announcements, but we were even more super psyched when Steve Jobs joined us for a special Around the Net.

Find the direct video links from Around the Net on Attack of the Show after the jump.

Break.com: Grenade vs. Tanker

YouTube: Wookie Window

YouTube: Wookie Nightstand

YouTube: Canada’s T.J. Burke Ruins ‘Pants On The Ground’

YouTube: Hot Sauce on Feet

YouTube: Butt Bongos

Most everyone I know played Twister at least a few times as a kid. Back in those days, you could put your right foot on yellow, twist around and reach over to put your left hand on green, and no one thought anything fishy was going on. At a certain point, Twister was retired and forgotten, but for a few folks at CollegeHumor, that wasn’t the case. For a video on how Twister can lead to innocence lost, an update from Sundance Film Festival, some great unibrows and more, check the weekly links.

• Looking at pictures of cute kitties getting owned never gets old (at least for me). Holy Taco has 25 cat fails.

• CollegeHumor has created a realistic commercial for everyone’s favorite game, Twister.

• FilmDrunk is at Sundance checking out the best and worst indie movies at the show, along with all of the pretentious wannabes who crowd Park City, Utah each January.

• In some parts of the world, they find unibrows attractive, at least according to SuperTremendous. Here’s 21 of the best unibrows you’ll ever see.

• People have been getting lucky with throwing knifes in Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. We’ve even posted some of the videos on our site. Our friends at Unreality Mag have 20 of the best knife kills so far.