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Welcome to New Releases for the Week!
Highlights this week include Just Cause 2 , MotoGP 09/10 , Red Steel 2 , The Settlers 7: Paths to a Kingdom , Zhu Zhu Pets: Special Edition with Baby Hamster , and how could we leave out Build-a-Bear Workshop: Welcome to Hugsville .
Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of March 22, 2010 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC! As always, release dates are subject to change, slip, slide, and be fairly unpredictable.
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 I know that it is only Q1, but I have to say that this is shaping up to be the BEST YEAR EVER in gaming. Usually, Q1 is a barren wasteland that is devoid of any games worth your attention. But this year, in no small thanks to Modern Warfare 2, a lot of really great titles were held until after the Christmas season. We are barely through month three and the list of big games released so far are mind blowing; God of War III, BioShock 2, Mass Effect 2, Dark Siders, Heavy Rain, Final Fantasy XIII, Bayonetta...need I go on? If you think that this is a fluke brought by publisher's fearing MW2, then think again. By the end of Q2 we will see Super Mario Galaxy 2, Red Steel 2, Just Cause 2, Crackdown 2, Splinter and Cell Conviction. Hopefully this is a sign that publisher's are waking up to the fact that gaming is a year round form of entertainment. Man, it's a good time to be a gamer.
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I avoided the Kratos Sex Therapy video as long as I could, but what can I say, it's LOL funny!
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So, I didn't really feel that an exploit was something that HAWTwired readers wanted on thier news feed, but Carlos talked me into it, so blame him if you want someone to blame.
In Chapter Seven, in the city of Palumpolom, at one point you reach Hope's house. Shorltly after, the militray attacks, and you're engaged into some battles within the domicile. The house is basically shaped like a loop, and inside are two enemy groups, two item chests, a Save Point, and an Activation Point.
The enemy groups both regularly drop Incentive Chips, a component item that has a selling value of 2,500 gil (I got the drop roughly 3 out of 5 battles). Kill the enemies, run the loop, and the enemies will respawn as soon as you break line-of-sight with their spawn point. Kill them again, bag Incentive Chips, and repeat. The scene doesn't end until you use the Activation Point, so as long as you just don't click "Okay" there, you can farm it until you're tired of it.
You can use the shops at the Save Point and sell the Incentive Chips for a buttload of cred (not metric buttload, because this is America), and turn that money around to buy components to upgrade your weapons and accessories to max level. I only spent a half-hour farming, and I had enough money to upgrade all of my battle party's accessories to Star Level, as well as gaining some good levels on my weapons. I'm sure someone out there has patience enough to farm out the loop until their entire inventory is starred-out, so have fun.
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"Mark the calendars now! April 2nd - 5th marks the first Double XP weekend on for worldwide. New Maps + Double XP = No sleep." That is a tweet from Robert Bowling of Infinty Ward. Considering all of the turmoil that Infinity Ward has been involved in as of late, it is really nice to get some good news from the camp that brought us Modern Warfare 2. No word on whether or not PS3 owners will get this digital blessing, but stay tuned, hawtwired is on it.
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Ok, I have seen a lot of off the wall game concepts, but developer A2M has definately gone off the deep end with Naughty Bear (in a good way). Naughty Bear is about a sociopathic teddy bear that goes on a killing spree because he was not invited to a birthday party thrown by his fellow teddy bears. No, really. Your ultimate goal is to terrorize the other bears and create pure havoc on the Island of Perfection. I am not sure what else I can say besides that this game can't come soon enough.
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Sprint has FINALLY released their carrier specific version of Windows Mobile 6.5 upgrade for the HTC Touch Pro 2. Now that everyone is moving on to Windows Phone 7, it may not matter to most. It supposed to fix a few bugs and improve the user experience over all. I am about to upgrade right now, so I will post my impressions asap.
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BBleaks.com is reporting that it has received a leaked screen shot of the upcoming Blackberry OS 6.0 from a VERY reliable source. While we all know that the Balckberry is waaaaay over due for an OS overhaul, make sure to take this with a grain of salt and not get too excited...ok now get excited!
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If you are a fan of games like Ico or The Last Guardian (and who isn't?) you will want to watch the trailer for Majin and the Forsaken Kingdom:The Fallen Realm. The release of this Japanese developed game here in the states was previously in question, but now that Namco Bandai has committed to the West we can all rejoice! The trailer shows off both a mix of combat and the bond that the games hero shares with his mystical magical super cool creature buddy. Enjoy :-)
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Or...don't. We have the link to the "secret" site you're linked to after obtaining the elusive Platinum trophy for God of War 3 right here. No need to go all masochist on us if you don't want to.
What do you guys think of the site? Rain drops be fallin' and a funky-looking symbol is stapled to the upper right-hand corner. Sources indicate that it may be of Greek origin. Lambda, say you?
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So, Joystiq got the scoop earlier today that the Xbox 360 will allow gamers to use, by now ubiquitous, USB memory sticks to use for saving games, installs, etc.
All good, right? Well, it may sound great but Microsoft will be limiting the storage capacity via USB sticks to 32GB max. That means that: no matter what size USB drive you use, you may only use up to 16GB for storage...per device connected. Still, it's nice to see Microsoft loosening up a bit on the HDD front but, as Joystiq pointed out, this is mostly a move to rid themselves of their tiny Memory Units not towards giving the consumer purchasing freedom over their proprietary hard drives.
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Gamefly Top Queued!
For the week of March 15, 2010, God of War III takes the top of the cross-platform Gamefly 'Most Queued' list. Battlefield Bad Company 2 slips to number 2, while Final Fantasy XIII slides into third.
Queue up the Gamefly Top 10 most requested list:
Most Popular Games Cross-Platform:
|
Rank |
Title |
Platform(s) |
Category |
Publisher |
|
1 |
God of War III |
PS3 |
Action Adventure |
Sony Computer Entertainment |
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2 |
Battlefield: Bad Company 2 |
PS3, Xbox 360 |
Shooter |
Electronic Arts |
|
3 |
Final Fantasy XIII |
PS3, Xbox 360 |
RPG |
Square Enix |
|
4 |
Just Cause 2 |
PS3, Xbox 360 |
Action Adventure |
Eidos |
|
5 |
Metro 2033 |
Xbox 360 |
Shooter |
THQ |
|
6 |
Heavy Rain |
PS3 |
Action Adventure |
Sony Computer Entertainment |
|
7 |
Dante's Inferno |
PS3, Xbox 360, PSP Games |
Action Adventure |
Electronic Arts |
|
8 |
Tom Clancy's Splinter Cell Conviction |
Xbox 360 |
Shooter |
Ubisoft |
|
9 |
BioShock 2 |
PS3, Xbox 360 |
Shooter |
Take Two |
|
10 |
Aliens vs. Predator |
PS3, Xbox 360 |
Shooter |
Sega |
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Joystiq did us the huge disservice favor of posting this trailer of Power Gig:Rise of the Sixstring. It is sooo ridiculously lame that you have to like it. It shows no gameplay at all, but you do see a guy stop playing the game, plug the guitar "controller" into an amp and proceed to rock out. The jury is still out on this one.
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If you have not seen the Hakan Reveal Trailer for Super Street Fighter IV, then you have not had your good laugh for the week. This trailer is zany and unorthodox, but oddly, it made me want the game. I really wasn't interested in what I considered a quick franchise upgrade, but seeing the originality of this new character has me very curious about the rest of the cast additions. Take a peek and let us know if you agree..."Looks like it's time to OIL UP!"
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 Engadget Mobile posted a video today of a game called The Harvest that was running on a Windows 7 Phone prototype. The graphics looked incredibly detailed and the frame rate was silky smooth. Pay close attention to the first "super jump" and you will see the fine texture details when the landscape crumbles. Who said Microsoft wasn't getting into the handheld gaming market?
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The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Sprint is set to unveil it's first 4G handset next week at CTIA. This handset has been sneaking around the internet for weeks, and is called the HTC Supersonic. It's a beast of an Android OS phone. It has a 4.3" screen that is begging for some finger action! Just think the HTC HD2, except minus WM6. Now breathe...
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First T-Mobile, then Verizon, then ATT, now pulling up the rear is Sprint. The Google Nexus One, perhaps the most powerful Android phone in the US market, has been announced for the country's best priced carrier. Unfortunately, this is yet another phone that does not have the capability to ride the magic 4G carpet that Sprint offers. Pricing and availability are yet to be determined. So far, google has chosen not to sell this handset in brick and mortar locations (it's only available through the Google store) and it looks like that may not change for Sprint customers.
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Highlights this week include God of War III, Dragon Age: Origins- Awakening, Metro 2033, Perfect Dark (XBLA), Infinite Space and Command & Conquer 4.
Check out the full list of new video game releases (USA) for the week of March 15, 2010 on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, and PC! As always, release dates are subject to change; they can slip, they can slide, and can be fairly unpredictable.
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 Every time a new Final Fantasy releases, the clones are soon to follow. From production values to straight ripping the latest landmark's combat system, Square Enix has been there to pave the way. And, this time, with Final Fantasy XIII it looks to be no different.
Role-playing traditionalists would be quick to point out: "But, well...it plays itself!" and "Where, Square, might your overworld be?!"
Quibbles that, while valid in certain respects, become only apparent when you sit down with FFXIII and decide to dissect every piece and fiber of its existence. In a lot of ways the game lays down the ground work for a more accessible RPG.
Essential in a post-Mass Effect 2 world where the fun is in the mechanics of playing the game, not in finding the perfect sword/magic combo/whatever to defeat Chaos. Or his antagonist follow-ups.
While Western RPGs have been liberal with changes to their presentation and mechanics, it's surprising that a Japanese company would play with the tried-and-true format they've been employing for the last 20 years.
Sure, every iteration of the Final Fantasy franchise has had a new combat system to play with, but none let you "Auto-battle" your way through it. FFXIII sets up actions in the most effective way to take down your foes...and you can mash on "X" through all of them.
The combat boils down to -- mostly -- staggering your enemy, managing your health, and changing your party's offensive/defensive formation, or "Paradigms," according to how the battle unfolds.
Action games? Shoot, manage health, and adapt to the dynamic of the battlefield.
There's still strategy in FFXIII but it is boiled down to its most essential functions. Not to mention that most non-event battles are optional. Grinding? For. The. Lose.
Further down the changing route, Square Enix strips away a sense of "downtime" with the lack of sleepy town hubs. RPG fans treat this as a hindrance on the game and its "kind," but I contend that when the action is as constant as it is in FFXIII, the break comes in saving and shutting off.
I understand you want a break during your hours-long stretches of playing the game, but there comes a time to breath and step away, no? As wrong as I may be in the minds of some RPG fans, I appreciated the brisk pace FFXIII took me through its linear world-saving trek.
Now, the combat and pacing I can defend in regards to FFXIII. The story, on the other hand, is typical of what you can expect from Final Fantasy.
"I told you, didn't I? Moms are tough."
Shortly after, the mom in question meets her untimely demise. Very tough, indeed.
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Last time, as part of our Semi-Regular Game Giveaways(tm), we presented you the God of War 3 demo pre-Sony-giving-it-away-via-PSN-and-ruining-the-high-importance-of-our-own-raffle.
This time around, we're giving away a Blur beta code (Xbox 360). How to win? Simply follow @HawtWired and RT any of the feed's tweets. We'll randomly select an RT'ing follower Sunday night promptly in time for the winner to start the week right.
Good luck!
[Update] Originally, we received one multiplayer beta code to give away for Blur, but! As luck would have it, we have 3 more codes to give out. Four in total. Keep those RTs coming!
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