When the guy on the other side of your multiplayer game runs a chainsaw attachment for the umpteenth time, you're going to want to make sure he hears what you call his mother clearly and succinctly. Mad Catz's Gears of War 3 audio range is here to help.
In preparation for the release of Gears 3 later this year, Mad Catz slaps the game's logo on a trio of high performance audio devices and calls it a product line. There's the Tritton Gears of War 3 Dolby 7.1 Surround Sound Headset, featuring $180 worth of controls much more complicated than I'm used to using with my Xbox 360.
My personal favorite of the three, however, is the Gears of War 3 throat communicator, because it only costs $29.99 and has sproingy red wires. I'm a big fan of all things sproingy.
"Gears of War 3 is one of the most anticipated titles arriving for holiday 2011, surpassing 1 million pre-orders to date," said Darren Richardson, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Mad Catz Interactive, Inc. "We are convinced that gamers will appreciate the competitive advantage achieved via our high-quality audio products and that the range will be highly sought out this holiday season."
We loved, lovedAnomaly Warzone Earth when it came to the PC. What's to stop us from loving this backwards tower defense game when it hits the iPad and iPhone?
Due out in the coming weeks, Anomaly Warzone Earth is an anomaly of a tower defense game. Instead of controlling the placement of towers, creating a meat-grinder tunnel of flame-belching, laser-pewing, machinegun-shooting turrets, you control the hapless ground units forced to trudge through the death alley.
Chillingo calls it a tower offense game, I think it's a genre that really needs to be explored much, much more on the iPhone and iPad.
Check out the gallery for a whole slew of screenshots and art for the updated release . With eight more characters to announce, there's still hope for Squirrel Girl!
Popular comic artist Chris Bachalo breathes life into the 19 space marines doomed to die this September in Sega and WayForward's Aliens: Infestation for the Nintendo DS.
We knew it was coming; now we know what it is. Developed in collaboration with Aliens: Colonial Marines developer Gearbox Software, Aliens: Infestation is a 2D side-scrolling shoot-em-up in which players can recruit 19 different marines and face them off against the alien hordes. They'll do battle in classic Alien series locations, including the Sulaco, the Derelict ship, and LV-426, upgrading their equipment and gathering collectibles, because there is nothing aliens hate more than tchotchkes.
"In contrast to our other Aliens title in the works at the moment, Aliens: Infestation delivers a game that focuses more on exploration of the expanded universe," comments Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing, SEGA West. "WayForward really put all their passion into making Aliens: Infestation the definitive Aliens experience that you can fit in your pocket."
WayForward have proven themselves time and time again in the 2D gaming space with games like Contra 4 and A Boy and His Blob. Combining that two dimensional talent with the art of the amazing Chris Bachalo (his run on Marvel's Generation X in particular was awe-inspiring) can only result in good things.
Look for Aliens: Infestation to drop in September for the Nintendo DS.
Burnout Crash seems to be a wonderful party game, the sort of title you pop on and pass and play with a group of rowdy friends. That it includes Kinect support only makes the experience better.
All three of Burnout Crash's game modes has you controlling a car viewed from above. You're high enough up from the action that you can see the entire gameplay area as you steer your vehicle into the main intersection of the map. While each mode has different objectives, they all are based around the idea of causing as much mayhem and damage as possible with your exploding—and re-exploding—car. The car's explosions are triggered by the damage you inflict on passing traffic, nearby buildings and landmarks. The more damage you cause, the more quickly you recharge your cars ability to explode.
I started my time with the game by checking out the "Road Trip" mode, a game that can be played with or without Kinect support on the Xbox 360.
If you're using the standard controls you just direct your car with the thumbstick and press a button to make it explode. But if you're playing with Kinect things get a bit silly looking.
You start by holding your hands in front of you, as if gripping an invisible steering wheel. Once you've driven your car, which has no brake or gas controls, into the thick of track and crash, you can stop pretending to grip that wheel. Now to play you need to move around on the floor to direct the direction your car will go when it explodes. To blow the car up you need to hop.
A yellow arrow near the car tells you which way you're trying to nudge the car during an explosion and an icon pops up on the screen when you're able to trigger an explosion with a jump.
As you can see by the video, the results are apparently designed to make me look stupid. But that's OK! Because it's also sort of fun. While playing the game mode with standard controls was just as enjoyable, it wasn't quite as challenging. I think once this game lands at my house, I'll probably find myself playing with motion controls more often then with the standard controller.
The Road Trip mode is built around a timer, so once you've run out of time, the car sort of super explodes, triggering a chain of explosions (if you properly set up things up during play) that can wrap around the screen and bring down buildings. Then you get your score and, hopefully, a chance to mock the people waiting to play next.
Next I checked out the game's "Rush Hour" mode. In this mode the goal is again to cause as much damage as possible, but this time instead of worrying over a timer, you need to make sure that you don't let vehicles travel across the map without crashing. If enough of them get through the game is over.
In this mode you can unlock special power ups, like the ability to call out a row of cop cars that form a barricade across a single road, or an ambulance that will remove one of the strikes against you.
Even though the game's mechanics were essentially the same, the twist made this mode different enough to feel like it would add quite a bit of life to the game.
EA wasn't yet showing off the game's final mode, "Pile Up Puzzle", but the chief difference, developer Richard Franke told me, was that the crashes have a puzzle element to them, so you need to be more thoughtful in the way you explode the cars and move the wreckage.
Another important thing to note is that the game is going to include the Autolog that was so popular in Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit. This add-on will let you know when online friends have topped one of your scores and will even let you set up one-on-one challenges (complete with a little digital trophy) with a rival.
While this certainly isn't a full-blown Burnout title, it's not really meant to be. Franke likens the game to pinball, telling me that he expects that as with pinball, players will need to play and replay a map to learn its intricacies.
When you start playing one of the 16 maps, he said, you'll be concentrating on making it through to the end, but eventually you'll start to pick up on how best to play the field and massage your score.
Burnout Crash is slated for release on PSN and XBLA sometime this fall.
It seems today that all you see are quick and dirty browser-based tie-in games for popular shows on TV. 20th Century Fox is bringing Seth MacFarlane's animated comedy online, giving fans a chance to make their pop culture laden flashback dreams come true.
Part of a Fox initiative to reach consumers on whatever platform they choose to be entertained on, Family Guy Online plunges players into the virtual town of Quahog. There they'll interact with classic characters like greased-up deaf guy and that crazy pedophile, play interactive games with friends, or just spend a little alone time, quietly contemplating how far the franchise has come since being cancelled and resurrected. What a long, strange trip it's been.
Right now fans can head over to the official Family Guy Online website and create a character. Choose a class (Stewie, Peter, Lois, or Chris — Brian is locked), dress yourself up, and then stare at your 3D avatar. Maybe rotate it a little. Share it on Facebook. There's not much else you can do until the game goes into open beta later this year.
Once the game fully launches, be sure to be on the lookout for the shocking Fox News report on how the game corrupts children.
Commenter GiantBoyDetective has the drive, the limited resources, and the low-cost manpower to create the ultimate low-budget video game documentary. Now he just needs a subject. Let's brainstorm in today's Speak Up on Kotaku.
So since I love making movie and videos and I also love video games I think I may do a documentary next summer on something video game related. I don't know what though...
I'd love to do one of me going to E3...but you have to be invited. Maybe part of the doc could be me figuring out how to get there. But if I didn't make it the whole thing would be ruined.
Assuming Pokémon nationals are in Indianapolis next year I guess I could do that.
Any ideas? Take in to account that I don't have a lot of resources here. A camera, some friends, and a summer. That's about it.
About Speak Up on Kotaku: Our readers have a lot to say, and sometimes what they have to say has nothing to do with the stories we run. That's why we have a forum on Kotaku called Speak Up. That's the place to post anecdotes, photos, game tips and hints, and anything you want to share with Kotaku at large. Every weekday we'll pull one of the best Speak Up posts we can find and highlight it here.
In early 2010, Xbox Japan launched a new mascot, Sanrokumaru (literally, "360"), a businessman with an Xbox logo for a head. A year and a half later, he seems to have vanished. Poof!
As part of a then new commercial campaign, Sanrokumaru was part of the fictional "Xbox Mission Department". In each of the subsequent ads, the businessmen went out and wrangled big name titles for the Xbox 360, such as Final Fantasy XIII.
The adverts, with their dry portrayal of Japanese business culture, do seem reminiscent of SEGA's Dreamcast commercials.
The Sanrokumaru character even inspired cosplayers at last summer's Comic Market in Japan.
But by this summer, the link for Xbox Mission Department website on Xbox.com is no longer operational, and the character is M.I.A. However, there is an asset link that still seems to work. That's strange!
The last commercial on the asset link is from fall 2010. The "next game" for the Mission Department still hasn't been updated. Maybe they're still trying to wrangle up a title for Japan!
Or maybe it's that Xbox Japan is more focused on Kinect and Let's Dance.
Kinda hope he comes back—crossing a salaryman with an Xbox logo face was brilliant. Kotaku is following up with Microsoft and will update this post should the company comment.
Racing—real racing—is all the line, finding the best approach to a turn, the best route through a curve and into a straight away.
iPhone and iPad game DrawRace 2 is also all the line: tracing arcs with your finger along the race course as quickly as possible without marring your route with a bad turn or bad approach.
Due out in the coming weeks from the developers behind Xbox Live Arcade darling Trials HD, DrawRace 2 promises to take the best bits of the original DrawRace and add a new career mode, leader boards and leagues. DrawRace 2 comes with 30 tracks, 180 challenges and 16 cars. You can also play it with up to three friends.
Ah Wrestling. The noblest and most realistic of the Pay-Per-View programs. Anyone else feeling nostalgic for Andre the Giant? While I go watch Princess Bride, howsabout you all chat about video games?
Big thanks to our submissions veteran Incursor for today's testosterone-fueled TAYpic.
To get your TAYpic featured here, be sure to submit your images to #TAYpics, and please keep submitting until you're out of good ideas, at which time, we recommend you keep submitting anyway. If you still need more instruction, check out this thread for details on how you can be a TAY superstar.
When the guy on the other side of your multiplayer game runs a chainsaw attachment for the umpteenth time, you're going to want to make sure he hears what you call his mother clearly and succinctly. Mad Catz's Gears of War 3 audio range is here to help.
