Tag Archive: news


Capcom Searching for Participants for Street Fighter X Tekken Reality Show

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January 26, 2012

THE BUZZ: Capcom has announced they are looking for participants in an internet reality show dubbed “Cross Assault” that will center around a Street Fighter X Tekken tournament with the winner receiving $25,000.

EGM’S TAKE: Announced over at Capcom-Unity.com, Capcom’s official forums for everything about their brand, this internet reality show is looking for 10 participants, five to represent Tekken and five to represent Street Fighter. The participants will compete over the course of a week in late February with the finalists fighting it out on stage at fighting game tournament Final Round 15 in Atlanta in mid-March.

The show will require contestants to participate in various team and individual challenges on the way to eliminating the competition. Along with this, they will likely be a part of the reality show staple “confessionals” as well as have many of their team practice sessions taped for the sake of the show.

In order to enter, you need to create a video blog and submit it to Capcom by February 5th, and let them know why you deserve to be a part of one of the respective teams. It is highly recommended for fighting game veterans only as the competition for both the show and tournament looks to be fierce. For all the details and to sign up, here’s a direct link to the “Cross Assault” page. http://www.capcom-unity.com/go/crossassault/signup

With all the hype that e-sports and video game tournaments like those held at EVO have been getting in recent years, it is always great to hear about more and more events like this as video games continue to work hard on being accepted by the main stream. I think this is also a great move by Capcom as they are sure to know that Street Fighter X Tekken will likely be featured in many of those fighting tournaments in the years to come. Building your fan base early is also always a smart business move, although with Street Fighter and Tekken already having pretty established fan bases, this may just be stirring the pot before the March 6th launch date. And, of course, $25,000 isn’t exactly chump change for a couple of weeks worth of work if you win.

What do you folks think? Is this something you’d be interested enough in to post a vlog on YouTube, gushing about your love of Street Fighter or Tekken? Are you anticipating Street Fighter X Tekken’s March 6th release? Is this a show you might actually watch? Let us know your thoughts with comments below!

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XBLA “House Party” 2012 Lineup Detailed

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THE BUZZ: Microsoft announces the full lineup, prices, and “extra incentive” if you purchase all games for their Xbox Live Arcade “House Party” promotion for the first-quarter of 2012.

EGM’S TAKE: Similar to their “Summer of Arcade” promotion, Microsoft is looking to make a splash this first quarter on Xbox Live, keeping up the trend we are seeing of major releases coming out shortly after the New Year instead of sitting on them.

The “House Party” promotion will start on February 15th with the release of Warp from EA for 800 Microsoft Points. Here you play as Zero, a lovable orange alien killing machine with a score to settle. Captured and imprisoned in an underwater facility, you must use stealth and your wits to overcome the harrowing puzzles and lead Zero to freedom.

Next comes a very highly anticipated game here in the EGM office, Alan Wake: American Nightmare for 1200 MSP on February 22nd from Microsoft and developer Remedy Entertainment. Jump back into the shoes of horror writer Alan Wake as new enemies, games modes, and firepower highlight one of the creepier experiences you’re likely to face on your Xbox 360. For our full preview on American Nightmare, click here.

After that you can celebrate the Leap Year on February 29th with Nexuiz from THQ for 800 MSP. This arena based first-person shooter has you take on your opponents in ever-changing hostile environments and mess with the laws of physics.

Finally, wrapping up the event is I Am Alive from Ubisoft on March 7th for 1200 MSP. A year after a worldwide apocalyptic event wipes out most of the world, a man struggles to find his missing family while battling against other survivors in this desolated, dog eat dog world laid out before him. For our full preview on I Am Alive, click here.

Coming to a total of $60 dollars (4000 MSP) for all four games, you’re looking at a pretty quality haul here if you should decide to purchase them all. And if you do, again, much in the same vein as the “Summer of Arcade” promotion, Microsoft will throw in an extra bonus, this time of a credit on your account for an additional 800 MSP that you can use in any way you see fit as an extra reward.

It’s great that Xbox does things like this to really highlight the online marketplace and the fact that they can do it twice a year now shows how much developers are taking it seriously as well. And by putting out such high quality titles like this on a consistent basis, it implores the gamers to actually explore and check out the marketplace a bit more often for those hidden gems that sometimes fall under the radar of events like this. All in all, this looks like a winning lineup for everyone who takes part in it.

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SOPA Officially Dead, Bill Pulled From Congress

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THE BUZZ: The SOPA and PIPA bills, at least in their current forms, are dead after being pulled from the floor of Congress.

EGM’S TAKE: House Judicary Committee Chariman and the chief sponsor of the SOPA bill Lamar Smith (Republican-Texas) said Friday that he is pulling the bill “until there is wider agreement on the solution”.

This of course came quickly after Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (Democrat-Nevada) said he was postponing a test vote for the bill that was set for Tuesday due to recent events. These recent events that Reid alluded to when he announced the postponement were the blackout of Wikipedia for one day and an online petition started by Google that garnered well over seven million signatures (you see what happens when you threaten our porn!).

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell was all for Reid’s decision of postponement saying that it would “prevent a counterproductive rush towards flawed legislation”.

Not willing to accept defeat with some humility, Smith alluded that the bill may reappear in another form at another time as he released the following statement after pulling SOPA:

“We need to revisit the approach on how best to address the problem of foreign thieves that steal and sell American inventions and products. The problem of online piracy is too big to ignore. American intellectual property industries provide 19 million high-paying jobs and account for more than 60% of U.S. exports. The theft of America’s intellectual property costs the U.S. economy more than $100 billion annually and results in the loss of thousands of American jobs. Congress cannot stand by and do nothing while American innovators and job creators are under attack.

The online theft of American intellectual property is no different than the theft of products from a store. It is illegal and the law should be enforced both in the store and online.

The Committee will continue work with copyright owners, Internet companies, financial institutions to develop proposals that combat online piracy and protect America’s intellectual property. We welcome input from all organizations and individuals who have an honest difference of opinion about how best to address this widespread problem. The Committee remains committed to finding a solution to the problem of online piracy that protects American intellectual property and innovation.”

Harry Reid, much in the same vein as Smith, said he was optimistic about a compromise being reached after the concerns with the bill raised by the public were resolved. Markham Erickson, executive director of NetCoalition, the group that represents Google, Yahoo!, and Amazon.com commended Congress for coming to their senses.

This just goes to show you that when people in this country band together, change can truly be affected. It is just a shame that often things have to be pushed to the very brink before that happens. Although pirated media is a problem, the drastic measures proposed in SOPA were clearly not the answer.

The flaws of SOPA were put into perspective recently as a prime example being thrown around Facebook and other social media sites was that if you were to pirate music by Michael Jackson, SOPA as it stood, could condemn you to five years in prison. The man who was convicted of the manslaughter of Michael Jackson only received four years in prison.

And the crew here couldn’t be more thrilled about Congress’ decision, and to show off our joy, here is a picture of the crew after hearing about the death of SOPA.

(The EGM crew is in no way related to in likeness or personality to the Happy Tree Friends. We also hold no rights to this image and are merely using it in satire and to prove a point and therefore it is public domain. Try to get us now SOPA.)

What do you folks think? Did Congress make the right move? Did you partake in any of the protests this past Wednesday? Is this the last of SOPA or will Lamar Smith come back to haunt us like a cheesy comic book villain? Let us know with comments below!

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Adrian Gonzalez’s Cover Image for MLB 12 The Show Revealed

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THE BUZZ: Sony has revealed the official cover of MLB 12 The Show with Boston Red Sox first basemen Adrian Gonzalez.

EGM’S TAKE: I first covered the news of when Gonzalez was announced as the cover athlete for this year’s version of The Show HERE and my position still stands for the most part that Sony seems to have a Boston bias when it comes to their cover athletes. That aside, the cover does aesthetically seem pleasing, but let’s see if we can’t smack the cover off the ball when MLB 12 The Show hits store shelves for the PS3 and the Vita on March 6th.

What do you folks think of the cover? Are you fans of The Show? What new features would you like to see implemented this year? Will you get it and if so, for PS3 or Vita? Let us know with comments below!

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Interactive Achievement Award Finalists Revealed

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THE BUZZ: The Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences have officially announced the finalists for the 15th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards.

Over 100 games were played across all platforms by select panels that were dedicated to coming up with the nominees and winners in 26 different gaming related categories. From the music to the controls to the cinematic cut scenes and finally to the coveted Game of the Year Award, every nuance that can make a game great was broken down for this year’s IAAs and will be celebrated when the awards are given out on Thursday, February 9th, during the 2012 DICE Summit in Las Vegas, Nevada.

“Our industry has really outdone itself this year and continues to exceed expectations with its creativity and craftsmanship,” said AIAS President Martin Rae.

Of course, some games were able to rise above others and transcended into multiple categories. Leading the pack were Portal 2 with 10 nominations followed by L.A. Noire’s nine and then six each for Batman: Arkham City, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and Battlefield 3.

The awards show will once again be hosted this year by actor, comedian, and fellow game enthusiast Jay Mohr.

Some of the nominees and categories are below, but if you’d like the full list, you can click here: 15th Annual IAA’s Full List of Award Nominees

Game of the Year

  • Batman: Arkham City
  • Portal 2
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
  • The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword
  • Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception

Outstanding Innovation in Gaming

  • Bastion
  • L.A. Noire
  • Portal 2
  • Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure
  • The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

 
Action Game of the Year

  • Battlefield 3
  • Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3
  • Dead Space 2
  • Gears of War 3
  • Saints Row: The Third

EGM’S TAKE: The IAAs have become like the Oscars of the gaming industry and every year they put on a spectacular show that highlights the year in gaming like no other. It should be interesting to see just how many awards the heavyweights like Portal 2 and Batman: Arkham City come away with though with their multiple nominations.

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Out with the Old, In With the New with DC’s NEW 52

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January 15, 2012

THE BUZZ: DC Comics has announced that there will be a decent sized shake-up to the 52 title line up in this coming May. Although the number of monthlies they will be putting out there will still be 52, you will see six new comics come in and six of the launch titles get cancelled.

Amongst the new titles will be Grant Morrison picking Batman, Inc. back up. Also, we will see a re-imagining of a cult classic with the new Dial H for Hero, based off a DC comic from the 60s. Earth 2 and Worlds’ Finest will re-open DC’s thoughts on parallel universes, while The Ravagers will have a feel close to the Teen Titans book. And rounding out the new six will be G.I. Combat, a book that is a throwback to the old military and wartime comic books of years gone by.

Getting the axe to make room for these new titles though is Men of War, Static Shock, O.M.A.C., Hawk and Dove, Blackhawks, and Mister Terrific as they will disappear from store shelves after their eighth issues. This has caused some uproar in the African-American comic book reading community as now the only black superhero to seemingly have his own line now will be the Batman, Inc. spin-off Batwing.

EGM’S TAKE: We knew that Batman, Inc. was going to be returning sooner rather than later, especially after that epic recap one-shot to set it up just two weeks ago. And it is no surprise really to see Hawk and Dove and Static Shock to get the axe as they’ve failed once before, long before the New 52 re-launch was ever a possibility. Throw in Mister Terrific, who has always been in more of a support role in everything he’s ever done, it’s no surprise that unless it has a bat symbol on it that the DC Universe just won’t respond to it usually. Now if we can just get word on when Batman Beyond will hopefully come back.

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New Facebook ‘Marvel: Avengers Alliance’ Game Announced

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THE BUZZ: Disney, along with their social games division Playdom, have announced the plan to launch a new Marvel inspired game for Facebook in the next three months.

The game will feature many of the most popular heroes and villains from the Marvel Universe and will be titled Marvel: Avengers Alliance. In the game, you will play as a new agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. tasked with assembling the greatest team of Avengers yet to battle many of the villains from the Marvel Universe who are converging on Manhattan after a galaxy wide event known as “The Pulse”.

Aside from following this story, the game will also feature PvP battles for players to test their social standing and feature a leveling up system for each individual hero.

EGM’S TAKE: No surprise really to see Marvel and Disney trying to get a game into the social market in time for the Avengers movie release, but the game would likely appeal to fans of the comics anyway no matter when they released it.

From the screens below and the fact you can level up, the game looks to be shaping up into an old-school RPG with the enemies on the left and villains on the right.

It also looks like your character will fight alongside the heroes at the top of the screen in traditional S.H.I.E.L.D. garb. Nick Fury has also been mentioned as head of S.H.I.E.L.D. for the game so the story will likely be less tied to the comics and more to the movies. It should be interesting to see if they use the traditional comic book version of Fury or the Ultimate version portrayed by Samuel L. Jackson like in Marvel’s recent slew of movies though.

The first big question I thought of when I saw this though was when are we going to get a full blown Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3 for a console?

To check out the trailer and to get the latest updates on when the game may go to open beta, you can check out the game’s Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/avengersalliance

What do you folks think? Is this going to just be propaganda for the new Avengers movie or will it be a legit foray for Marvel and Disney? What villains and heroes do you think the game should feature? Let us know what you think with comments below!

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Star Wars: The Old Republic Collector’s Editions Lacking Product Keys

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Originally Published: December 20, 2011, on EGMNOW.com

THE BUZZ: One of the most highly anticipated MMOs of the year, Star Wars: The Old Republic is set in a time period rarely explored in the fiction of this darling sci-fi universe. And Star Wars fans have always been some of the most diehard no matter what galaxy they may be from. So it wasn’t a surprise that when a Collector’s Edition of SW: TOR was announced that pre-orders came in by the bucketful. But now that players are starting to receive their Collector’s Editions, they are finding a starting mistake made on the part of EA and Bioware.

Many of the product keys are missing from the boxes and therefore players are being denied access to the game they have for so long been waiting to be a part of. As seen on a thread dedicated to the issue on the Bioware forums, this problem is happening all over the world as you can see for yourself here: http://www.swtor.com/community/showthread.php?t=37565

This was originally brought to our attention by consumer Dan Fabrizio, who had bought two of the Collector’s Editions, one for himself and one for his girlfriend (lucky gal), but only received one product code. He had this to say on the subject after waiting on hold from customer service for nearly three and a half hours and only receiving several automated responses from a Bioware bot: “I am very frustrated by the lack of customer support we’ve received from Bioware and EA. I am still a huge fan of Bioware, but you can’t help but lose a little faith after something like this happens followed by the subsequent treatment we have received as fans.”

EGM’s TAKE: It’s one thing if this was an isolated incident, but considering that it seems to be happening to dozens of these Collector’s Editions, someone clearly messed up and the consumers are suffering for it. And the fact that Bioware has been slow to respond, if at all, to many of these consumers is just poor business practice and surprising from someone like Bioware who are typically so fan-oriented and friendly. It could just be an issue falling through the cracks, but for those affected by this debacle, it’s like as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I guess this is what happens when you focus more on cosplaying at the stock exchange than customer service, though.

What do you guys and gals think of this? Have you had problems with the collector’s edition of Star Wars: The Old Republic? Do you think it should be a top priority for BioWare to fix this? Leave your thoughts in the comments below!

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Warner Bros. Montreal Working on New DC Games

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December 14, 2011

THE BUZZ: In an interview with Peter Nowak of Canadian Business, Warner Bros.’ new Montreal studio’s head Martin Carrier and VP/Executive Producer Reid Schneider let loose that there are plans for more DC Comics inspired games on the way.

“We’re definitely working closely with DC on different titles, yet to be announced. It’s one of the reasons we talk to Geoff Johns and Jim Lee on a regular basis,” said Carrier. “It’s a good time to be working with DC. There’s so much energy going on there. So yeah, we’re in the triple-A space and the casual online space.”

Schneider and Carrier also alluded to these games not being movie tie-ins due to the success of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Arkham City showing that fans want more original stories based in the rich lore of the DCU and not just other media spin-offs.

EGM’S TAKE: Look out EA and Ubisoft, it looks like you’ve got some new gaming neighbors up there in Montreal. It’s no surprise really that Warner Bros. would be looking to devote a large force of employees to working with the DC Comics license considering the potential there and the fact that they’re working with Jim Lee and Geoff Johns, guys who drew and wrote some of the more prolific Batman and Green Lantern stories of the past decade and have moved up the DC management hierarchy, only bodes well for future titles. With plans to double the studio’s 150 employee work force by 2015 as well might mean a lot of work in the near future for these guys, which is good news all around for any and all DC Comics fans.

What games and heroes besides those that are Batman related would you guys like to see? Where does Warner Bros. go with Batman from here? What more for online could they do with the DC brand? Let us know your thoughts with comments below!

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