If you've been itching to get your greedy hands on Sony's PS Vita before its scheduled February 22nd launch data, GameStop is helping scratch that urge by making playable demos available in over 3,300 of its retail stores starting today.
You'll get to test drive Sony's latest portable wunderkind's beautiful 5" OLED sceen and dual analog sticks for yourselves with high-profile titles like Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Little Deviants, FIFA Soccer, wipEout 2048, among others. Of course, expect to be nagged, nagged, and nagged again to pre-order one for yourselves while doing so.
In the wake of disastrous third-quarter results that saw massive losses and delisting warnings from NASDAQ, publisher THQ has decided to trim the casual fat from their catalog and no longer publish kid-friendly licensed gaming adaptations, instead focusing on more mature content for a different audience. Among the fat is their console-specific tablet peripheral, the uDraw, which let Wii, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3 users add stylus control to uDraw-specific games like Pictionary, Spongebob Squarepants, and Disney Princess: Enchanted Storyboards.
Only the tablet's own story wasn't so enchanted, as disappointing sales of the HD versions failed to impress, leaving THQ little choice but to discontinue production. Like many ports from Nintendo's console, the uDraw failed to find success with Xbox 360 and PlayStation audiences, selling far less than the Wii version's reported 500,000 units sold when it was originally released back in 2010.
President and CEO Brian Farrell said during the company's conference call: "We were looking at uDraw as a bridge to the digital future, and it turned out to be a plank that we walked off of." If only they released a uDraw version of Saints Row: The Third...
Microsoft promised its arrival during last month's CES show in Vegas, and today they deliver: Kinect is now (officially) available for Windows users to tinker, develop, and control their Windows-based computers hands-free.
But don't go thinking that Microsoft is just slapping those 'extra' Kinect sensors in a fancy new Windows box and calling it a day. Not at all. Instead, Windows users are getting a technical upgrade to help make their hands-free future that much sweeter. Read more after the jump!
Read More »That clunking sound you hear right now are the collective heads over at HBO hitting their desks in frustration that Sarah Palin, former VP Candidate, declined to run for president this election cycle. While the media's obsession with Alaska's former Governor still borders on the bizarre, the rest of the political world won't have Palin to kick around (politically) anymore, but that doesn't mean they won't poke when they can in whatever media they can. Enter Game Change, HBO's latest poke at the GOP drama that chronicles McCain's failed 2008 presidential bid at the hands of his VP pick, played by Julianne Moore.
Director Jay Roach (Meet the Fockers) is no stranger to charged political films, having previously helmed 2008's Bush vs. Gore election scandal drama Recount (also for HBO), and the rest of the cast looks surprisingly strong, especially Ed Harris as John McCain. While nobody was and shouldn't be expecting anything remotely resembling fairness or objective reporting from a tele-movie like this, Moore looks great as Palin and the production values seem pretty high.
Game Change is set to launch on HBO this March, and should have less impact on the upcoming election as the producers would have liked. Sorry, guys.
The NeoGeo is back, baby! Well, that's partly true, as SNK Playmore seems to have licensed one of the most popular arcade-friendly lablels to an upcoming portable machine. No, it's not the long-rumored return of the NeoGeo Pocket (thank heavens), but an entirely new machine that's built with the nostalgic (portable) gamer in mind - at least in Japan.
Check out more details about the 'return' of the NeoGeo right after the jump - no Japanese required!
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We typically don't publish box-art for upcoming games (there are billions of other sites that do that just fine), but when you've got one that's so utterly happiness (or seizure) inducing as Nintendo's Marty Party 9, we couldn't resist. The return of the developer's party extravaganza looks to add "80 all-new minigames" to the Party for Wii, and while the artwork itself closely mirrors the Japanese version we saw a few weeks back, the good people at Nintendo of America seem to have added quite a bit more of Mario Galaxy sparkles, sprinkles, and best of all, Luigi (look in the tower).
If you can survive the cuteness overload and are still interested in more, look for Mario Party 9 to return to your Wii on March 11th.
He may have inadvertently pilfered verses when he was running for president earlier this year, but former Godfather's Pizza bossman Herman Cain has teamed up with funnyman Stephen Colbert's bizarre voting rally just before last weekend's primary in South Carolina to make his true feelings known to all - he definitely loves Pokemon.
Whatever your political, gaming, or cable network preferences, having the Godfather of Pizza sing Pokemon is probably the best thing you'll see on the internet today. Enjoy and thanks to the Palmetto Public Record!
It's hard to find any young adult series of novels these days that isn't movie-ready, and few are more ready than Suzanne Collins' The Hunger Games trilogy. As a former television writer, Collins' knows how to keep readers interest without bogging them down, and we'll see how well that style translates to film when The Hunger Games movie explodes onto screens in March. The final theaterical poster is here, and if an extremely airbrushed Jennifer Lawrence (as Katniss) pointing her arrow straight at your heart doesn't convince you to see this, most likely nothing will.
Hollywood has been looking for the next Harry Potter/Twilight for some now, but I'm not sure if this will be it. At the very least, let's hope the final product is less Eragon and more of the former. I guess we'll see if "the world will really be watching" when The Hunger Games begins on March 22nd.
AT&T has been attracting quite a bit of love-hate for their upcoming price hikes for mobile phone users, but it's not just iPhones and Androids that are feeling the bump. Sony's next-generation PS Vita - which also runs on AT&T's network (exclusively) - will also get a slight price-bump come launch day. But that's not only the only thing that's getting increased, as AT&T is also upping the available data with those extra dollars.
Planning on snagging a 3G PS Vita at launch? Keep reading after the jump to see how much that monthly 3G data plan will cost you!
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One of the Dreamcast's best of the best is now available on iOS devices, but your time of destiny may have to wait a little longer. Namco has unleashed the original Soulcalibur to capable iPhone, iPod, and iPad devices, but it's a slightly crippled version. While the game looks fine and has most of the usual modes, including Arcade, Time Attack, Survival, Museum, and Practice, no multiplayer will mean no deal for many. And that's not the game's biggest issue, which really has nothing to do with the actual game itself.
While Soulcalibur's tap-tap-style gameplay seems like it would lend itself well to touchscreen controls, I've yet to sample the game for myself yet, and I imagine the shocking $15 (or $12 intro sale) will keep even the most dedicated fan far away. Why a version that's lacking so many features costs the most is puzzling, and it's a shame that Namco is joining Square-Enix in the "absurdly-priced iOS" club of shackling great games to not-so-great prices. More modes are planned, but I'd suggest waiting for it to arrive - and for Namco to clean up their horribly Engrish-laced iTunes page. Come on, guys...Plactice? Really?
The long wait for our friends across the pond is over as Netflix is finally bringing their streaming goodness to anxious fans in both the UK and Ireland starting today.
Views can watch full television series and hit films now on their compatible gaming console, set-top box, PC, or other smart television by signing up and signing into the world's most popular video streaming service. Even better, new subscribers get a free taste to try things out, though after the initial 30 days they'll have to pick a plan that ranges between £5.99 or €6.99 for monthly access. Even better, Netflix has partnered with Facebook to let friends share with friends recommendation and favorite picks while they watch - enjoying content has never been so intrusive, er, social before!
Check out all the details now at the official Netflix blog right HERE!
The impossible begins next December as Peter Jackson and Crew bring us the first chapter of his Lord of the Rings-injected version of J.R.R. Tolkien's immortal tale with The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, and now we've got the first trailer and poster to share with Middle-earth fans everywhere. While some consider it the 'prequel' to the Lord of the Rings trilogy, I'd like to think the opposite, although I'm going to be in the (vast) minority when the phenomenon begins next year,and which helps explain the utter seriousness of the first trailer and many of the bookend scenes that are sure to follow.
Keep reading after the jump for the full trailer in high-definition, as well as the first adventure-beginning poster!
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And things just get even more curious... Just a week after Microsoft brought a version of Xbox Live to iOS devices, the company behind the Xbox 360 and Kinect is bringing one of that motion-sensing pair's launch titles to Apple's mobile platform with Kinectimals for iPhone/iPad. While the game has been available on their own Windows Phone platform already, Microsoft's willingness to fully embrace the iOS market has been turning heads of late, as many key franchises and services have been popping up in Apple Land recently, including the encyclopedic Halo: Waypoint.
The standalone app lets you play with and unlock even more feline fun, as well as transfer data between your Xbox 360 console and mobile versions. Even better, you can adopt these adorable digital kitties right now by checking out Kinectimals for iPhone/iPad right now at the official iTunes store right HERE!
Am I wrong in thinking that the first trailer for G.I. Joe: Retaliation looks better than everything that was in 2009's weak G.I. Joe live-action movie already? Not only does the tone, look, and music (another Seven Nation Army remix!) feel better, but by focusing on Dwayne Johnson as Roadblock - rather than Tatum Channing's horribly miscast Duke - we've got a sequel of possibly epic proportions on our hands. Jon Chu (Justin Bieber: Never Say Never) directs this time around, with a story that has the recently-formed Cobra taking over the White House and exterminating the Joes.
It already looked good, but throw in some hot Bruce Willis action and you've got me interested. And trust me, after the first movie, I never thought I'd be saying that. Welcome back, Rock, welcome back Willis, and welcome back G.I. Joe. Look for G.I. Joe: Retaliation everywhere on June 29th, 2012.
Glu Mobile may not be the first developer you think of when you think "Gears of War" clone on a mobile device, but that's sort of what you'll get in their new Frontline Commando, which stars a comically stereotypical commando who's been left for dead, which was obviously a mistake because now he's "pissed". And if there's one thing you don't want to do, it's piss off a stereotypical commando on his last day who's been left for dead (trust me). Maybe the Gears of War analogy is stretching it a bit...the game looks a lot closer to the recent Shadowgun than anything, only with more outdoor action and close-up headshots.
Hey, it could be fun, and look for Frontline Commando to invade your capable iOS and Android devices soon!