Mass Effect Goes Gold

Microsoft and BioWare announced today that their new Action RPG, Mass Effect, has officially gone gold. The game will come in 2 varieties including a standard edition as well as a limited collector's edition for a few bucks more.

The collectors edition will be available at certain retails and includes the following bonus material:

• Mass Effect fiction book titled "Galactic Codex: Essentials


• Mass Effect art book titled "A Future Imagined"


• Bonus DVD of Mass Effect background material and additional content

Oct 22, 2007 - 4:53 pm | 11 comments

Virtual Console Monday - 10.22.2007

Another Monday, another announcement on new VC games from Nintendo. This week's gems include Lunar Pool for the NES, Ninja JaJaMaru-kun for the NES, and Golden Axe III for the Sega Genesis. Lunar Pool will only set you back 500 Wii Points whil Ninja JaJaMaru-kun is 600 and Golden Axe III is 800.

Hit the jump for the full description of this week's games.

Lunar Pool (NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 500 Wii Points): Lunar Pool takes the historical game of billiards and reinvents it with a unique and futuristic flair. The rules are simple: All you need to do is use your cue stick to hit the white cue ball, causing it to hit the other numbered balls and make them go into the pockets. You can enjoy nearly unlimited game play with 30 tables, two different ball arrangements, and the ability to change the degree of friction on the table. You can play against a computer or another human player, so try challenging someone once you've got the hang of the game.

Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (NES®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points): Take on the role of a ninja called JaJaMaru and rescue the captured Princess Sakura from the evil Namazu Dayuu in this action-packed game, previously unreleased outside of Japan. JaJaMaru must use his throwing stars to defeat the monsters lurking in each of Dayuu's many hideouts. JaJaMaru has to be careful though, as each monster has its own unique weapon and method of attacking. The only way for him to advance is to break the floor bricks above him and move up and down between the levels of each round, defeating monsters as he goes. To help him, broken bricks sometimes reveal items that JaJaMaru can use to his advantage, possibly leading to the ultimate power-up: a ride on Gamapakun, the giant frog. Throw in some bonus stages and you've got a game with a style all its own.

Golden Axe III (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated E10+ for Fantasy Violence, 800 Wii Points): The once-peaceful kingdom so familiar to fans of the original Golden Axe is under threat once again. The Prince of Darkness has stolen the invaluable Golden Axe, taken over the kingdom and rendered its warriors harmless with an evil curse. One warrior breaks free from the curse and must defeat the prince and regain the Golden Axe to save the kingdom. In this one- or two-player action game, play as a giant, a panther or a sword-wielding human and fight your way to victory once again.

Oct 22, 2007 - 4:36 pm | 2 comments

New Dementium and Insecticide Screens

Dementium - The Ward is a horror themed title headed for the DS just in time for Halloween. Gamecock is expecting demand to outstrip supply at retail stores so they are offering a direct to consumer preorder campaign if you order the game directly on the Dementium website. They also sent over a new set of images for the upcoming PC and DS title Insecticide which is slated for a January 8th release.

New Dementium Screens

New Insecticide Screens

Oct 19, 2007 - 3:37 pm | 1 comments

New Fury Trailer

Gamecock's first release went down this week with the release of Fury, developed by Auran. To commemorate its release, Gamecock sent over the following trailer:

Oct 19, 2007 - 3:15 pm | 0 comments

Aksys Games Announces Super Dodgeball Brawlers For DS

Aksys Games just announced that they had a nwe game slated for Spring 2008 for the Nintendo DS titled Super Dodgeball Brawlers.

"Super Dodgeball Brawlers maintains the great pick up and play feel of the classic Dodgeball series while adding in over 100 new super throws, as well as melee combat--a first for the series," said Akibo Shieh, President, Aksys Games. "Fans of the original will be pleased that the fantastic versus mode of the original game has returned along with an all new 8 player ‘Brawl' mode. If you're a fan of the old-school Super Dodgeball, you have a lot to look forward to in Brawlers."

Super Dodgeball Brawlers features a whole bevy of new features including over 100 special attacks, a custom team creation system, and even the ability to beat up the opposing team.

As a far of Dodgeball in general, this has the possibility of being one heck of a good time.

Aksys also sent over a set of screenshots of the upcoming game:

Oct 19, 2007 - 3:09 pm | 5 comments

Win My Copy: Soul Nomad and The World Eaters Edition

Our friends at NIS America sent over a copy of Soul Nomad and The World Eaters for us to cover. It just so happens that we already had the game covered so instead of throwing that game up on eBay we are going to make one of you very happy by giving it away.

The rules are quite simple. The giveaway officially goes down on Wednesday at 4pm CST. To qualify you have to be a registered forum member with at least 10 posts. These have to be legit posts. I am letting you know about this contest well in advance so you have plenty of time to hit the required number of posts.

Also, this is limited to 18 and older in the US and Canada. Sorry to everyone overseas.

Oct 19, 2007 - 1:09 pm | 28 comments

NBA Live 08 Simulation Predicts Suns As NBA Champs

EA just wrapped up their simulation of the 2007-08 NBA season and are predicting that the Phoenix Suns will walk away victorious. The playoffs breakdown like this:

The West
RD 1: Phoenix defeats Golden State (4-2)
RD 1: Houston defeats Denver (4-1)
RD 1: Utah defeats Dallas (4-3)
RD 1: San Antonio defeats LA Lakers (4-2)
RD 2: Phoenix defeats Houston (4-2)
RD 2: San Antonio defeats Utah (4-2)
Conf Finals: Phoenix defeats San Antonio (4-3)

The East
RD 1: Boston defeats Milwaukee (4-1)
RD 1: Detroit defeats Cleveland (4-2)
RD 1: Miami defeats Washington (4-3)
RD 1: New Jersey defeats New York (4-3)
RD 2: Boston defeats Detroit (4-3)
RD 2: New Jersey defeats Miami (4-1)
Conf Finals: Boston defeats New Jersey (4-2)

NBA Finals: Phoenix defeats Boston (4-3)

I can say with some certainty that the events they simulated do in fact have a chance of occurring. I have my own preference on how they would play out, but they do represent a very real scenario. Dallas did get beat in the first round this past year, but I doubt that Utah has the power to repeat that event. It would also be highly embarassing for Cleveland to fall to Detroit after such a stellar playoff run last year. I would also like to believe that my Spurs can once again overcome the Suns and maybe get that back to back that we have been trying for year after year.

Only time will tell how accurate this all ends up being and unfortunately we have to wait until next year to see it all unfold.

Oct 18, 2007 - 12:46 pm | 0 comments

SCEA Confirms 40GB PS3 For US

Sony officially confirmed the release of a 40GB version of the PS3 in the US this morning. This new SKU has dropped backwards compatibility and carries with it a $400 price tag. At the same time, its 80GB sibling will see a drop in price from $600 to $500.

The new model is set for release in the US on November 2nd. After it's release in the UK and subsequent price drop for the 60GB model, the PS3 saw it's third highest selling week in the UK since it's release late last year.

The move to drop backwards compatibility was attributed to Sony's stance that BC is a "secondary consideration" for gamers. They plan to utilize the PS2 to appeal to PS2 gamers and use the PS3 to appeal to PS3 gamers. What then Sony if someone happens to like BOTH of your systems, as wacky as that may sound?

Here's to hoping at some point in the future there is a low priced fully BC PS3 coming.

Oct 18, 2007 - 10:03 am | 15 comments

GameTap TV Kicks Off Fall Season

GameTap, the leader in digital game distribution, has announced a few of the highlights from the Fall Season of GameTap TV. GameTap TV is online on-demand tv programming and this season's programming covers music, animation, movies, and video games. Here are a few of those programming highlights:

Artist of the Month (AOTM): This campaign devotes a month of exclusive and original programming to popular artists and encompasses live performances, music videos, top ten lists, interviews, and more.

GameTap News: This award-winning weekly news program showcases everything you need to know about what's happening in the games industry.

Plug and Play: Tune in to this show for daily previews of the hottest trends and news in entertainment.

Re\Visioned: For its premiere season, GameTap enlisted the animation and comic book industry's hippest talent to create an animated series based around Tomb Raider's Lara Croft. For Season Two, GameTap brings to life a host of characters spanning some of the most enduring games of all time.

Tapped In: Get the story behind the video game industry's most iconic games, consoles and people. Recent episodes spotlighted the best-selling Myst franchise, the Atari 2600, and Ultima creator Richard “Lord British” Garriott. Upcoming episodes feature the work of Warren Spector, SNK, the Virtua Fighter series, and more.

Retrospective: Learn the past, present and future of gaming's greatest franchises. New episodes will spotlight Command & Conquer, Sonic, and Hitman franchises.

For what it's worth, GameTap seems to be doing things right. Free content when you want it and you get to pick what you want to watch. Sounds like a winner to me. I personally think Tapped In sounds like it could be pretty interesting to tune in to.

For more information on GameTap TV, head on over to the official GameTap website.

Oct 17, 2007 - 11:37 pm | 0 comments

First Impressions: Spider-Man: Friend or Foe

I've been a little behind on some of my gaming recently. Spider-Man: Friend or Foe shipped back on 10/2 and I am just now getting to it. That is the life of a parent I suppose. At any rate, I finally dove into SMFoF yesterday and I was pleasantly surprised by what I found inside.

SMFoF is inspired by the recent Spider-Man trilogy and the classic comics featuring the web slinging hero. It's a far cry different from the other Spider-Man games that I've played in that it features 2 player co-op and it allows you to play side by side with some of Spidey's most dastardly enemies.

The game reminds me a lot of X-Men Legends in the way it feels. It's not really anything like XL, but that's the first thing that came to mind when I got started.

Graphics are solid and the game is downright fun to play, despite the lackluster scores that many places are giving it. The game carries a price reminiscent of last generations games at $50 instead of $60 and that should help it move.

The game is not all that deep, but I think it's simplicity is what makes it fun. As I played, I kept checking to see what other buttons did and I was almost stunned to find out that all you need are the 4 face buttons and the left analog stick. I shouldn't be surprised that someone still makes games like this, but I was. I mean, have we gotten so used to games that are overly complex that when a truly simple game comes along we are disappointed by it's lack of "depth"?

Without giving you a full fledged review of the game, since that is not my job, I think you should ignore the bad press Friend or Foe is getting and give it a second look.

Oct 17, 2007 - 3:20 pm | 3 comments