Sep 18, 2010
Kotaku
Kotaku

Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon Bugs Out In 2011D3 Publisher has made it 100% official—Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon is coming to the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 next spring, a chance to shoot bugs. Giant bugs! Thousands of them!!


Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon touts an arsenal more than 150 weapons strong. Along with "four upgradeable armor sets," D3 Publisher has a six-player Survival Mode and a three-player online co-op mode. Now that the numbers are out of the way, let's take a peek at one more screen shot of Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon in action, plus a teaser trailer.


Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon Bugs Out In 2011


One final note, though. This EDF entry is being developed by Vicious Cycle, not Sandlot. The developer is responsible for Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond—also known as the better Matt Hazard game—and Dead Head Fred. Let's hope the game's creators can match (or surpass) the addictive nature of previous Earth Defense Force games (and maybe keep that frame rate steady).


Here's an all-too-brief teaser trailer for Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon, full of screams!


Earth Defense Force: Insect Armageddon Bugs Out In 2011


Kotaku

Box Scores: Sixteen BagsOnly 15 players have hit four home runs in a single game, a feat even more rare than a perfect game. Three of them are Phillies. If anyone would become the fourth, Chase Utley's a good candidate.


Andrew K., playing a full 162-game season as the Phillies with MLB 10: The Show, received the Reds last week about 90 games through the season. Utley cracked solo shots in the first and third innings at the Bank, went quiet in his fifth inning at-bat, then struck again in the seventh with another solo kong.


"At this point I was pretty jazzed because three home runs in four at bats is something you don't see every day," Andrew writes. He's right, though it has happened 12 times this season alone. "I didn't see any way Utley would get up again in the eighth, but a surprise two hit rally gave Utley another at bat. He didn't let the opportunity pass him by and smacked a fourth home run into the right field stands just west of the foul pole. Easily one of the most exciting video game moments I have ever had."


The only blot on a perfect night in Philadelphia was the fact that douchemaster Scott Rolen went 3-for-5 with a home run of his own. Anyway, here's the box score!


Box Scores: Sixteen BagsRemember, all you have to do to get yourself featured in Box Scores' Game of the Week is take a picture of whatever you've been playing - crappy cell picture will do - write up a couple sentences about why it was so compelling, and email it to me, owenATkotakuDOTcom, with "Box Scores" in the subject header.


Now the Kotaku Sports open thread commences with the sports TV schedule for today and tomorrow. All times are U.S. Eastern.


  • College Football
    Another full slate but only Iowa at Arizona (ESPN, 10:30 p.m.) is a matchup of ranked teams. Others of note: Florida at Tennessee, CBS at 3:30 p.m.; Auburn vs. Auburn-With-A-Lake (aka Clempson) on ESPN at 7; Nebraska at Washington is ABC's regional game if you're lucky enough. Otherwise you might get Alabama at Duke, which would need a time machine to be compelling. This week's Pam Ward Memorial MAC-Big Ten matchup is Kent State at Penn State on ESPN2, kicked off an hour ago.

  • NFL
    You know the drill, regional coverage. Best bets are Miami at Minnesota, CBS at 1 p.m. tomorrow; Patriots at Jets or Texans at Redskins, both 4:15 p.m. on CBS. Giants-Colts, aka Manning Bowl II, kicks off at 8:20 p.m. on NBC. Monday Night's game features the Saints at the 49ers as the Mike Singletary Magical Mystery Tour lurches toward its inevitable midseason dismissal.

  • Major League Baseball
    Funny thing, schedules change, as I found out last week. Fox's games are said to be Braves at Mets, Tigers at ChiSox, or Padres at Cards. All of them feature at least one reasonable contender, but maybe you'll get something different. For masochists, WGN has the Cubs-Marlins at 7 p.m.

    Tomorrow, don't bother. Cubs-Marlins on WGN, 1 p.m.; Yankees-Orioles on TBS, 1:30. No Sunday night game, apparently.

  • Racin'
    NASCAR's Sylvania 300, the first race in this year's Chase for the Cup playoff, drops the flag at 1 p.m. tomorrow on ESPN

Remember, you may send Game of the Week nominations to owenATkotakuDOTcom, and flag it "Box Scores" in the subject header. Please include your commenter handle for proper credit.
Kotaku

Hideo Kojima Once Again Ponders Metal Gear Solid 5 Today during a stage show, Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima briefly mentioned MGS5. "Maybe, I'll do 5," said the game designer.


Kojima then joked that he won't have to quit working at Konami. Kojima was being glib, and this isn't officially confirmation of a new Metal Gear Solid (or that certainly not that he is leaving Konami) by any means. He was just being lighthearted.


This isn't the first we've heard of MGS5. Moreover, it has previously been revealed that Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker was intended to be MGS5. Also, this isn't the first time he's mentioned MGS5 — he was thinking about it in May 2008.


Time after time it seems like Kojima has been vocal about moving on. While finishing up Metal Gear Solid 4, Kojima repeatedly said he was moving on from the series and hoped that younger members of his staff could take the reigns.


At last year's TGS, Kojima told Kotaku, "If you write that 'Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear any more' every day on Kotaku, and write to the CEO of Konami and tell him that, then it might be easier for me to make non-Metal Gear games."


We have been remiss. Apologies. Kojima-san doesn't have to make Metal Gear anymore. He can make Snatcher or Zone of the Enders or anything else.


As we previously pointed out, it's not like the Metal Gear games Kojima is making are bad or anything. On the contrary. However, surely, the man has other stories he'd like to tell, other worlds he'd like to explore.


Kotaku

GameTrailers got the first in-game cutscene from Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2. Not once in 33 years have I ever seen anyone disembark a TIE Fighter, and Star Wars doesn't look like it's gonna start showing that now.


How the hell do you get in and out of those things, anyway, the Force? Oh, and memo to the dude who looks like Jimmy from Mafia II, that little cord going up the barrel of your pistol better mean a super-duper enhancement but even then, you should know better than to draw on this guy.


Kotaku

Ape Escape For PlayStation Move Is An On-Rails Gadget ShooterApes go wild, again, in Furi Furi! Sarugechu—or Ape Escape Shake! Shake!, if you prefer—the first game in the monkey-snatching series to utilize Sony's new PlayStation Move controller. The goal? Grab monkeys! With the Move!


The Move-enabled version of Ape Escape puts things in first-person perspective, the motion controller acting as a floating net—to grab monkeys, naturally—or a slingshot or a folding fan. Cycle through your available gadgets with the Move button. Fire your slingshot by pulling the trigger button and wave the fan to remove debris by... waving the Move controller.


Ape Escape Shake! Shake! is an on-rails, largely guided experience. You'll move through brightly colored rooms filled with monkeys both agitated and preoccupied; they'll run at you, you swing at them with your net. It feels like being a goalkeeper, deflecting apes instead of soccer balls.


Players can use the slingshot to annoy monkeys, destroy objects and shoot banana power ups. By pressing the X or O button, players can shift the camera left or right to spot monkeys and power-ups that exist just out of sight.


While the monkey snatching action in Ape Escape for the PlayStation Move isn't particularly challenging or wildly inventive, Furi! Furi! is a lot of fun. It's a Move game with promise, one that puts the controller's precision to good use, so we'll be keeping an eye on Furi! Furi! Ape Escape.


Kotaku

The Moneysaver: Buckaroo BargainsThe White House wants to know, is everything OK with the alien space craft from Planet 10 or should we just go ahead and destroy Russia?


Coming soon: The Moneysaver Versus The World Crime League.


Before we get started, interesting development in valueland: the digital distribution service GamersGate just opened a full-blown store through Facebook. From there, users can search or browse games and add them to their carts. Product information and screen shots are viewable, and if you want to let folks know what you're buying or playing, there's a social graph to all of this, being that it's Facebook.


This is an application, as opposed to a page. Check it out here.


Hardware

• Dell has new Xbox 360 Elite Consoles + Madden NFL 11 for $299.99, free ship. Would cost $350 separately. [Dealzon]


• Dell also has XBOX 360 4GB Slim Console for $179.99 with free shipping. Although $10 more than last week, it's the lowest price around. [LogicBUY]


• Dell continues to offer the Wii Summer 2010 Bundle (black) with Wii Sports Resort & MotionPlus for $179.99 with free shipping. That's $5 cheaper than the normal sale price and $25 cheaper anywhere else. [LogicBuy]


• Two Playstation Move Motion Controllers for $79.98 at Gamestop (use coupon 20DOWN) [TechDealDigger]


• Xbox 360 Rock Band Fender Stratocaster Wooden Replica Guitar for $113.58 with Free Shipping [TechDealDigger]


• Halo Reach Xbox 360 Controller is $46.99 + free ship from Buy.com through Tuesday. Sam's Club (requires membership) has it for $44.99 + tax
next best is $49 shipped from Provantage and $50 shipped from TigerDirect [Dealzon]


• Logitech G13 Programmable Gameboard with GamePanel LCD (new, dented box) is $45.99 w/ coupon, free ship from Logitech.com. Next best is $67, Amazon. [Dealzon]


• Logitech Harmony Universal Remote Control for Xbox 360 (new, dented box) is $49.99 w/ coupon, free ship from Logitech.com. Refurb sells for $55. [Dealzon]


• Newegg has Logitech G110 Black USB Wired LED Backlighting Gaming Keyboard for $45 after $20 Rebate. Next lowest price is $60 from B&H Photo. [Slickdeals]


• Newegg has Logitech G500 Gaming Laser Wired Mouse for $32 after $8 Rebate. Next lowest price is $50 from Amazon. [Slickdeals]


• Dell has an Alienware M11x laptop w/ Core 2 Duo, 4GB RAM, 320GB hard drive for $879. Upgrading from base config to those specs costs $944. [Dealzon]


• The Alienware Aurora Gaming Desktop equipped with Core i7-930, dual 1GB ATI Radeon HD 5670 graphics is on sale for $1,399 after $200 off. [LogicBUY]


• Dell is offering a 25% off coupon code on a loaded Studio XPS 9100 Desktop with Core i7, 9GB RAM, Blu-ray, 23-inch LCD monitor, $50 Gift Card. Bringing down the price from $1,947.99 - $100 instant savings - 25% Coupon Code = $1,385.99 with free shipping. This is the first coupon discount of its kind for this newly released system. [LogicBUY]


• Dell is offering free 8GB Memory upgrade and $350 off a loaded Alienware m11x equipped with Core i7 [LogicBUY]


• Configure the HP ENVY 15 Core i5 Laptop at $1,199 or more to use $150 coupon code, yielding $1,049.99 with free shipping. Our suggested upgrade includes upgrading the 15.6" LCD panel to 1080p. [LogicBUY]


• The $150 coupon also applies to the HP ENVY 13 Laptop. Our suggested upgrade includes upgrading to 5GB RAM, thus the lowest price is $1,049.99 with free shipping after coupon. [LogicBUY]


• Amazon has for pre-order the new Asus nVidia GeForce GTX460 Overclocking Edition 1GB Video Card for $229.99 with free shipping. Normally $277. [LogicBUY]


• Amazon has Rock Band 2 Double Cymbal Expansion Kit for $20. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Premier Pack for DS Lite for $4. [Slickdeals]


Software

• GameStop is offering $20 off of 360 & PS3 orders of $100 or more using coupon code: 20DOWN or 15% off Wii & Nintendo DS games $29.99 or more via coupon: 15DSWII LogicBUY.


• Dell is offering Madden NFL on XBOX 360 for $43.99 with free shipping. Next lowest price is $53.99 from NewEgg. LogicBUY. The Wii version is also on sale for $39.99 after $10 discount.


• Alan Wake: Limited Edition (Xbox 360) for $39.99 plus free shipping [TechDealDigger]


• Amazon has Club Penguin: Elite Penguin Force Collector's Edition Bundle for Nintendo DS for $10. Next lowest price is $24 from Buy.com. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Bioshock 2 Game for Xbox 360 for $20. Next lowest price is $30 from Best Buy. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Splinter Cell Conviction (Xbox 360) for $24.99 or Limited Edition for $40. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has WarioWare D.I.Y. for DS for $20. Next lowest price is $27 from PC Richard & Son. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Real Soccer 2009 for DS for $5. Next lowest price is $13 from Beach Audio. [Slickdeals]


• Deep Discount has Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3 (Xbox 360) for $10. Next lowest price is $13 from Amazon. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Halo Reach (Xbox 360) + $20 Game Credit for $58. [Slickdeals]


• GoHastings has God of War Collection for PS3 (used) for $16. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Top Spin 3 (Xbox 360) for $11. Next lowest price is $25 from Buy.com. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Mafia II Collector's Edition (PS3) for $60. Next lowest price is $80 from Walmart. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Trauma Center: Second Opinion (Wii) for $11. Next lowest price is $20 from Overstock. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii) for $37. Next lowest price is $45 from Sam's Club. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has MadWorld (Wii) for $7. Next lowest price is $15 from Buy.com. [Slickdeals]


• Amazon has Rayman Raving Rabbids (PC) for $6. Next lowest price is $10 from Buy.com. [Slickdeals]


• Best Buy has Guitar Hero 5 Guitar Kit (PS3) for $60. [Slickdeals]


• Microsoft's Games For Windows Live has Blacklight Tango Down (PC) Digital Download for $4. [Slickdeals]


Digital Distribution

This listing of the Top 25 digital download bargains, all for PC, grouped by distributor and ranked by savings, come courtesy of Deals4Downloads. You can see links to these and more at their roundup.


On Direct2Drive
1. DiRT 2 for $6.00, save 85 percent.
2. King's Bounty: The Legend for $6.00, save 80 percent.
3. Men Of War Red Tide for $6.00, save 76 percent.
6. Arsenal of Democracy: A Hearts of Iron Game for $6.00, save 70 percent.
7. Champions Online for $6.00, save 70 percent.
8. Silverfall for $6.00, save 70 percent.
25. Serious Sam: The First Encounter for $6.00, save 40 percent.


On Impulse
4. Blacklight: Tango Down for $3.75, save 75 percent.
19. Baseball Mogul 2008 for $4.99, save 50 percent.
20. Capitalism II for $4.99, save 50 percent.
21. Nemesis of the Roman Empire for $4.99, save 50 percent.
22. Scrapland for $4.99, save 50 percent.
23. Dawn of Discovery Gold Edition for $14.99, save 50 percent.
24. Tropico 3 for $14.99, save 50 percent.


On GreenManGaming
5. Racing Collection for $23.09, save 72 percent.


On Good Old Games
9. Codemasters Pack for $26.33, save 60 percent.


On GamersGate
10. Tales of Monkey Island Complete Season for $13.98, save 60 percent.
13. Age of Pirates: Caribbean Tales for $4.99, save 50 percent.
14. Tortuga - Pirates of the New World for $4.99, save 50 percent.
15. The Guild 2 Pirates of the European Seas for $8.97, save 50 percent.
16. Age of Pirates 2: City of Abandoned Ships for $9.99, save 50 percent.


OnSteam
11. Star Wars Collection for $49.99, save 50 percent. on Steam
12. Monkey Island: Special Edition Bundle for $7.49, save 50 percent (expires today).


On GameStop
17. Age of Conan: Rise of the Godslayer for $14.99, save 50 percent.


On GetGames
18. Colin McRae DiRT for $7.49, save 50 percent.


Kotaku thanks our coupon partners for providing these and other great deals. Be sure to bookmark and search their Kotaku hashtags (#techdealdigger, #dealzon, #logicbuy, #deals4downloads, #slickdeals and #dealtaku) for updates throughout the week.


Further, to our friends across the pond and north of the border, check the #ukdeals and #canadadeals hashtags and be sure to flag any deals you might have with that.


As always, smart gamers can find values any day of the week, so if you've run across a deal, share it with us in the comments.


Kotaku

The Week in Review: Exciting Game ShowTwo major drops - Halo: Reach on Tuesday, PlayStation Move on Friday - vied with Tokyo Game Show 2010 to dominate the past week. They may have been the biggest news, but they weren't the only news.


Reach went out with some problems, apparently - multiplayer issues on the 4GB Slim Arcade models of the 360, and puzzling disc read errors that Microsoft later acknowledged. You're supposed to call Xbox Live Support if you hit any of those. PlayStation Move arrived, and we gave an assessment of whether it was worth your coin to go get it. A few details on one of Kinect's launch titles also trickled out.


We will have much more to come from Bash and McWhertor in Japan, but for now, kick back and take a recap of the week that was in Kotaku's Original reporting, and get set for another wild weekend on the site.


Kotaku

Boy Band Coming To Idolm@ster 2 Namco Bandai's idol simulator The Idolm@ster features teenage girls. But in Japan, it's not only young girls who are idols. Young boys are, too.


Besides its stable of girls, Idolm@ster 2 will feature a boy band unit called "Jupiter". There is 17-year-old Touma Amagase, 20-year-old Ijuuin Hokuto and 14-year-old Shouta Mitarai.


In the clip, the group performs its tune "Alice of Guilty". It's...not catchy.



Kotaku

Two More Fighters Are Bound For Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 The latest challengers for Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds? Spider-Man and Wesker from Resident Evil. This is certainly not the first appearance for Spider-Man in a MvC title. It is, however, for Wesker.


These are the latest characters in the span of the past two weeks. Earlier, Marvel's X-23 and Capcom's Tron Bonne were added to the roster.


Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds will be out next spring on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.




Character Reveal: Spider-Man and Wesker [Gamespot]


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