Gamernode: Latest Game and Console News

Fear and hatred: A cross-platform experience?

I recently played Atlus's Summon Night: Twin Age for the Nintendo DS, and while it was neither breathtaking nor abysmal, it did manage to ignite a tiny flame inside the dark, cavernous recesses of my mind. It got me thinking about themes common to videogames, movies, literature, and the real world; specifically "tension between races, propagated by fear and manifested in hatred."

Even if we were all some freaky, multi-armed Spore creations, it'd be impossible to count the number of videogames that address this theme on some level. According to my calculations, nearly every RPG since the dawn of time has been an interracial affair, and if not, there have at least been multiple tribes, nations, or townships involved. Without even branching into other genres, instances of interracial tensions ...

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Rick Moranis missing from Ghostbusters game

Looks like the Ghostbusters game will have all of the original film stars back to do the voiceovers with the exception of Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis.

As to why Rick Moranis is missing from the game, Ben Borth of Sierra said,

"He made so much money off of Honey I Shrunk The Kids that he retired. He just doesn't want to work anymore."

But in an interview with USA Today in October 2005, Moranis gives his reasons for leaving the entertainment industry.

"I pulled out of making movies in about '96 or '97. I'm a single parent (Moranis' wife died in 1991 of liver cancer), and I just found that it was too difficult to manage raising my kids and doing the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I f...

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Cliffy B says no upgradable weapons in Gears 2

Gears of War fans have dreamed about making their Lancer rifle and other weapons better. Wouldn't it be great to be able to upgrade with better ammo or a more powerful chainsaw? With the coming of Gears of War 2, some of us hoped that upgrades for the weapons would be possible.

But those dreams have been fragged by Cliff Bleszinksi, lead developer for Gears, as he stated flatly that this would not be happening in Gears 2.

Cliffy B said, "We're not really that kind of game. We're not going to allow you to bling out your gun. The Lancer's a Lancer, Gus is Gus, and Marcus is Marcus. Those are the identities we're sticking with."

Then he switched gears, so to speak, to say a few words about how Gears of War 2 is shaping up.

"Just the other day I was driving in this icy level with a tank and power-...

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Dead Space has "strategic dismemberment," grav gun...

This new gameplay clip of EA's Dead Space explains just how we can expect to combat the Necromorph invasion aboard the Ishimura when the game is released later this year. According to the narrator, "the only real way to take these creatures out is to completely tear them apart, rip them to shreds, and make sure you finish the job." It looks and sounds great. What's more is that the game will include a "telekenisis gun" that will allow you to use your enemies body parts against them, a la Half-Life 2's gravity gun. It honestly looks like a complete rip of the concept, but I am in no way complaining. Check it out:

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Daily Q: How much do you spend on games?

So how much do you spend on games? We're all gamers so one thing we have in common is the immediate compliance of forking cash over for a spiffy new videogame.

GameStrata conducted a survey of North American video gamers and found that on average, the amount spent on games and hardware is $765 a year, which is a total cost of up to more than $30,500 spent from ages 18-48 -- those years being the "peak gaming years."

The results also noted that the Xbox 360 is "the preferred console for the consumption of digital content." 40% of all respondents said they play 6-10 hours online per week.

Barry Dorf, COO of GameStrata, said, "The overwhelming majority of gamers are spending their time online with friends, building their reputation and online personas. Video games are becoming so much more than ...

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It would have been a shame if BioShock failed for ...

Chris Kline, the lead designer on the game BioShock (perhaps you've heard of it), recently spoke in Paris at a game developers conference.  During his talk he told everyone that BioShock should have been a magnificent failure but wasn't. "It did fail a lot, over the course of time. A series of big mistakes and corrections and slipped ship dates, but all of these helped make it a good game."

What failures cropped up, you ask? Everything from the original concept being a remake of System Shock 2 to missed ship dates to their initial idea that the world should interact with itself and not the player.

And what did all those failures get you? Dozens of Game of the Year awards. "Some people think that constantly messing up, and pushing dates isn't a good way to make a game, but as far as I'm conc...

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Castle Crashers gets rated!

I'm not sure how long this knowledge has been available to mankind but I'm going to say at the very most only 2 weeks. I just popped over the ESRB site to see if anything I'm looking forward to has a rating and I was adequately rewarded for my efforts.

It seems that everyone's favorite and oft-delayed XBLA game has a rating! That's right kids, Castle Crashers has been officially rated by the Entertainment Software Rating Board. That means someone not on the dev team has actually played it. I'm slightly jealous of that person.

We already knew the game was complete, but I assumed that like most XBLA games it would be months before it got through Microsoft certification. Now that the game is rated it should mean that the certification process is over... right?

Using my deductive reasoning I...

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Frank Klepacki returns for Red Alert 3!

The news that many Red Alert fans have been waiting for has finally arrived. Frank Klepacki is officially returning to the RA franchise to help work on the Red Alert 3 soundtrack.

Klepacki is best known for creating the iconic Hell March, the theme music for Red Alert, and later, in the form of Hell March 2, the theme music for Red Alert 2.

Fans of the game, along with Klepacki himself, were initially worried that he might not have been able to work on the soundtrack, due to him no longer working at Electronic Arts as well as possible contrctual issues arising because of his current position at Petroglyph Games. Thankfully though, it looks like everything has been cleared up

In a video shot from his private studios, Frank talks quickly about his involvement in the game, thanks the fans for t...

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Sony takes a huge beating on PS3 research

So we can all agree the PlayStation 3 has swallowed the most money out of our pockets for a gaming unit. Sorry PCs you don't count. One would think then, Sony would be rolling in the dough.

Think again. Turns out Sony has actually lost money, in the billions of dollars, for the past two years since the PlayStation 3 has been on the market. In 2007 it was $2.16 billion dollars in the hole and in 2008 a mere $1.16 billion.

The PlayStation 3 has cost Sony over three billion dollars and thanks to the slow uptake due to the initial high price of the console, Sony doesn't look like it is recouping the loss as quickly as it would like. The majority of the money was lost in research and development. In order to create a machine which could last for years, give developers mountains of power to wo...

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Atari blasts website because of low review score

It sounds as if Atari is playing its own version of its classic game, Missile Command, by trying to blast a German gaming website for publishing an advanced review of Alone in the Dark.

The controversy surrounds 4Players. The site gave the game a dismal 68% in its review of the game.

How did Atari react? It immediately withdrew an advertising deal with the site and also accused the German website of piracy because it reviewed a pre-release copy of the game.

Atari lawyers told 4Players, "With this [review] you are breaking the law and violate the rights of our client [Atari]."

It seems that 4Players has an insider source that releases games ahead of time to the gaming website for review purposes. 4Player says it does this because of the "surprising lack of distribution channels" for the retai...

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Let's Play: Blood Omen: Legacy of Kain

Welcome to another exciting edition of Let's Play! This time, we shall explore the dark recesses of Nosgoth. We shall become vampires and prey on the pathetic humans. We shall be gods!

As some of you have already figured out, we'll be playing Legacy of Kain this time around, one of my favorite games series. It's one of those games that I think doesn't get as much praise as it should.

Why should it get praise? Well, it has some of the smartest dialogue I've heard in a game, its storyline is awesome, and it always manages to bring something new to the table in terms of gameplay.

Blood Omen for the PC and PS1 is the game in this series that we will play. It's the first game in the series, so it should be a great introduction to the series if you've never played an LOK game. You may even...

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StarCraft II coming December 3rd?

The Entertainment Software Rating Board (ESRB) recently took steps to reduce the frequencey of information leaks regarding future releases, but when will videogame retailers appease publishers and follow suit?

Not today, apparently.

According to Best Buy, Circuit City, and GameStop, StarCraft II, for which Blizzard has yet to announce an official release date, will be shipping to stores on December 3rd of this year.

With no confirmation from the publisher, these listings are about all that the drooling masses of StarCraft fans have to go on at this point. I'm sure that plenty of internet message boards will be alive with buzz during the next few days, but whether the data is accurate or not, of course, only time will tell.                                                                      ...

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June 23rd WiiWare/Virtual Console releases

Another Monday, another round of WiiWare and Virtual Console updates.

Whether Nintendo adds one game, ten games, or none at all, GamerNode will be here every Monday with the official details - titles, platforms, ratings, pricing, and even a taste of some corny marketing copy - keeping you up to date with everything from the online Wii scene.

Without further ado, the games:

WiiWare

Gyrostarr (High Voltage Software, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone-Mild Fantasy Violence, 700 Wii Points): Gyrostarr challenges you and up to three additional players to pilot your ships through a series of twisting, turning technoplasma tracks while battling a variety of deadly alien foes at ever-increasing speeds. While fighting and maneuvering, you must collect enough energy to activate the ancient warpgate ...

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Next Halo 3 map revealed, another remake

Bungie has finally figured out what it takes to keep fans happy. Additional content is always great, but it is even better when the nostalgia factor is thrown in. The Halo following is incredibly loyal, with players dating back to 2001 when the original Xbox was released. We love all the maps we've played with over the years, and sometimes we want to revist those late nights with two TVs, three couches, oatmeal cream pies, and cold pizza. For some it was rough. Maybe they sold their Xbox, or couldn't find a big enough following to set up an old LAN for friends. It's sad but it happens.

Luckily, Bungie has recognized this and has been making sure to include fan favorite remakes of old Halo/Halo 2 maps for Halo 3. The poster children for this design movement are Blackout and Avalanche, remak...

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OWR: World of Warcraft

Welcome to One Word Review, GamerNode's unique take on videogame critique. Every Sunday, we will present a single game, reviewed with but a single word from each of a handful of reviewers.

You may not always find our words in your standard dictionary, but we have faith that you will catch our meaning, nonetheless. Videogames are so often rated, reviewed, and discussed to exhaustion, so while some may call OWR a creative way to be lazy, we call it succinct, sincere...and fun. We love reader input at GN, so be sure to throw your own OWRs in the comments section, too.

The free-to-play MMORPG Mythos was on the receiving end of a large-scale retooling this weekend, moving from an almost entirely instanced gaming experience (save for hub towns and safe locations, a la Guild Wars) to a persistent ...

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Call of Duty: World at War trailer

With Call of Duty 4 leaving a sweet taste in all of our mouths, Activision will certainly be cranking out plenty of future Call of Duty titles. While Treyarch has handled most of the console exclusive Call of Duty titles over the years, Call of Duty: World at War will be heading to PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii sometime this year. In addition, this game had a two-year development period, unlike Call of Duty 3.

World at War will feature new aspects like swimming and expanded aspects like more destructible environments and improved physics and lighting. Enjoy the debut trailer below.

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First Spider-Man: Web of Shadows combat footage

Where Spider-Man has dominated in the movie industry, he has done the same for videogames. Without a doubt, Spider-Man has enjoyed the most success when it comes to titles focused soley on a single superhero. The first Spider-Man game showed us a superhero game can be done correctly, while Spider-Man 2 gave us the first real iteration of an impressive web-slinging mechanic which dominated the majority of player's time.

While it's true Spider-Man 3 did not meet expectations, overall the quality of Spider-Man games have been higher than most. Now we are at the dawn of a new Spider-Man title known as Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Not based on any of the movies (which to some severly handicapped the progression of the previous games), and bringing to life a new combat system, Web of Shadows may ...

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ESRB cracks down on game leaks

The ESRB website has always been a good place to spot upcoming games before they're officially announced. The two most recent examples I can think of are when the ESRB revealed the existence of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the DS and when they told us that EarthBound would be coming to the American Virtual Console.

So it comes to pass that another good thing must end. When submitting a game to the ESRB for a rating, developers and publishers can now specify whether or not they would like to have an embargo placed. How this works is that when they submit a game's information, they simply list an embargo date and only when that date comes will the ESRB list the game on their website.

It's worth mentioning that companies have the option NOT to list an embargo date, so the leaks may still ...

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Daily Q: What's your most hated type of game packa...

I realized something today while opening some recent acquisitions: there's a lot of packaging that sucks. Blister packs, triple taped games, multi-disc titles with all the discs on the same spindle and one in a paper envelope tucked to the side; the list goes on and on.

In the last century man has invented the Internet, the car, satellites, space exploration, computers, countless pieces of medical equipment, and more. We've cured diseases, explored previously unexplorable areas, and can now communicate with anyone on (or off) this planet within seconds.

Yet packaging still sucks. Go figure.

What's your most hated type of game packaging?

Is there a general type? Or perhaps you've had an ER-ending experience trying to pull your controller out of a blister pack?

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Older gamers prefer PlayStation 3?

According to a new study by Experian Consumer Research, Sony's PlayStation 3 seems to have captured the eldest end of the gaming market, apparently being the most popular videogame console among customers 45 and up. The Xbox 360 leads in the 35-44 year-old range, and the Wii has claimed the youngest demographic in the study, gamers between 18 and 24. For the 24-34 year-old crowd, all three consoles are relatively equal.

Among other things, the study examined Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 owners' leisure activities outside of gaming. While 360 owners were shown to be far more likely than PS3 owners to read gaming magazines and equally as likely to play board games or read books, PS3 owners spend more time attending antique shows and doing needlework.

This is all compelling data, but one must als...

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