Playstation Vita Impressions December 10, 2012
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Twitch has a brand new white model Playstation Vita. From the moment we plugged it in, we recorded his initial impressions of it. What does he think of it? How long does the firmware update take? Does it pass the pocket test? Take a look.
Assassin’s Creed Playstation Vita Bundle Unboxing December 10, 2012
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Twitch picked up the Assassin’s Creed Playstation Vita Bundle yesterday. He’s been talking about picking one up for quite a while and the white model Vita release was what pushed him over the edge. He’s been interested in games like Gravity Rush, Uncharted: Golden Abyss, Silent Hill: Book of Memories and of course Assassin’s Creed Liberation.
So, what did he get for his $249 US purchase? Quite a bit. The bundle did include a white Wi-Fi model Vita, 4GB of Vita memory, Assassin’s Creed: Liberation, a USB transfer cable, and AC adapter. Knowing this, Twitch also picked up a Vita carrying case and screen protector, and we unbox those as well.
Sony has released a new bundle which includes LEGO: Batman 2 for the Vita, which comes with an original black Vita but no memory was included with it. Sony could be phasing out the AC bundle for this Batman one as I noticed that the AC bundle is becoming a bit harder to find in stores.
The Last of Us Spike VGA Trailer and Release Date December 10, 2012
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Since its announcement, a lot of people in the industry have been looking forward to Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us. Created by the same development studio that brought us Uncharted, arguably one of the strongest franchises for the Playstation 3 platform, The Last of Us had a brand new trailer which premiered at the Spike Video Game Awards Show on Friday.
Up until this point, we’ve seen only glimpses of the game’s story, and only the briefest teases about the enemy that humanity finds itself battling against (when not battling each other). Now, prepare to get a good look.
The Last of Us is coming May 7th, 2013 exclusive to the Playstation 3.
Halo 4 Spartan Ops Episode 6-10 Trailer December 10, 2012
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Spartan Ops has been a fantastic addition to the Halo franchise. It has offered a whole new cooperative campaign where you can take your multiplayer character, join up with friends, and tackle an entirely new story which bridges the gaps between Halo 4 and Halo 5. After Episode 5, Spartan Ops is taking a bit of a mid-season break, but 343 Industries promises that it will be back in the new year. Just what do they have in store for us? Well, the original trailer premiered at the Spike Video Game Awards Show. If you missed the show, take a look at this trailer for yourselves.
Spartan Ops Episode 6 is coming January 21st, 2012. Halo 4, which is out now for the Xbox 360, is required.
Oh and by the way, the Crimson Map Pack is out today for Halo 4 as well.
Wolfenstein Podcast December 7, 2012
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Maniac releases the most requested podcast for gamexcess.net! That’s right we’re going to be talking about Wolfenstein, from id Software. In this podcast, I’m going to mostly be talking about the history behind the original game, the games in the series, and finally where I think the series is headed.
Wolfenstein is probably one of the first major PC gaming action franchises, and to this day its the game most old-school PC gamers recognise as the first FPS they ever played.
Note: I made a small error during the recording of the podcast that I was not able to fix in post production. I accidentally stated that Return to Castle Wolfenstein was created by Splash Damage, when in fact it was created by Gray Matter and Nerve. Splash Damage made the Enemy Territory games.
Lets Play Metal Gear Rising Revengeance Demo December 6, 2012
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Konami is releasing the next game in the Metal Gear franchise in February, and just like with Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty, they’ve included a demo for it with a Zone of the Enders game. Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance was developed by Platinum Games, creators of Bayonetta, and published by Konami. It is the first game since Metal Gear Solid 2 to feature Raiden as the game’s protagonist, and follows after the events of Metal Gear Solid 4.
As you can see from this Lets Play, the game is ANYTHING but what we’ve seen before in a Metal Gear game.
Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance is coming Feb 2013 to Xbox 360 and Playstation 3. You can currently play the demo yourselves with purchase of the Zone of the Enders: HD Collection.
Do We All Live in the Pokémon World? December 5, 2012
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With the release of Pokémon Black 2 and White 2 to the Nintendo DS last month, the Pokémon ‘Bridged Series, the AWESOME regular review series by the dude formerly known as That Dude in the Suede (now known simply as Suede), or the Pokémon Rusty series on dorkly.com, everyone is talking about Pokémon again!
Since the original games were released, many new Pokémon games have shipped over the years to commercial success. While the platforms they have appeared on have been updated with Nintendo’s hardware, they are still some of the biggest selling games in Nintendo’s library. It has become clear that Pokémon, with its wide appeal across tons of different mediums ranging from animated movies, playing cards, books and a TV show is one of the most successful gaming properties in the world.
But what is it that has made this series so popular and helped it to endure for so long? That’s what we’re here to find out! Maniac is coming at you with a brand new essay exclusive to gamexcess.net, where he breaks down everything he knows about the Pokémon game world and tries to figure out why its been such an enduring franchise for over ten years.
However, this essay was just too big to fit here, we had to dedicate an entire webpage to it. So please enjoy our newest site essay:
Second Wii U Firmware Update Released December 5, 2012
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On the first day of the Wii U’s release Nintendo also released a massive day one firmware update. The update brought in very important features to the Wii U which were not included with the system. For the most part, so long as the user followed Nintendo’s instructions and didn’t pull any plugs, the firmware update would go in without a hitch during the Nintendo Network set up process.
Today, Nintendo has released the second Wii U firmware update, and the rules for updating it are a lot different. The Wii U will automatically download the firmware update in the background, so you can still play Wii U games or mess around on the Miiverse as the download progresses. If you want to check on the status of the download, just hit the Home button on the Wii U Controller and select Download Management from the touch screen. This is another pretty big update and depending on your connection will take quite a while to download.
Once the firmware update has finished downloading, the user simply needs to quit any programs they may be running and return to the Wii U Dashboard. From there, they will be prompted about the system update and given the choice to install it. The new Wii U firmware installation should only take about 5-10 minutes if you already have the first firmware installed. I haven’t tested the update on a brand new Wii U which didn’t have the day one firmware installed, so it might take longer to install for new users.
No patch notes were included with the update, and it is currently unknown what was included with it. It is likely the update simply contains bug fixes and optimizations. I had read some players comments the new update did decrease load times in some programs, but not all of them, and I haven’t personally been able to confirm that yet.
Do not unplug the Wii U system during the update.
Nintendo 3DS Firmware Updated Today December 5, 2012
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Pull out your Nintendo handhelds, Nintendo released a brand new firmware for the Nintendo 3DS and 3DS XL today. No patch notes were included with the release, so it is likely that the new firmware simply did some bug fixes or behind the scenes optimizations.
You will likely be prompted about the firmware update if you try to access the Nintendo eShop. You can update the firmware from the eShop or manually update it. If you need help how to update the firmware on your 3DS manually, check out this handy video.
Depending on your connection, the 3DS firmware update shouldn’t take more than a minute or two.
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Released to DVD and Blu-Ray Disc Today December 4, 2012
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For those of you (like me) who was disappointed that the Halo 4 Limited Edition featured only a downloadable code for the Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Director’s Cut and not a physical copy of the game on a disc can breathe a sigh of relief.
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn was a five-part live-action web series that was released in October and November of this year. It expanded the story of Halo and told the backstory of some new characters in the Halo universe, including one of which who had a major role in Halo 4. In a lot of ways, this could be the closest thing we ever get to ever seeing a Halo movie.
The new physical disc release includes a brand new Special Edition cut of the series, giving it more of the editing of a movie than an episodic web series. I think this is really important because as I watched the series progress episode to episode I felt that I should have been watching it as one continuous story instead of in weekly twenty-minute episodes. If I ever planned on reviewing Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn, I wanted to review it in the format of a movie. Now, the Special Edition release makes that possible.
The Blu-Ray Disc sports a DTS-HD Master Audio surround sound track for those with HD surround sound receivers. It also includes over an hour of behind the scenes documentaries, featurettes, a live-action Red vs Blue PSA, two commentaries, and there’s even some easter eggs.
Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn has been released to DVD and Blu-Ray Disc today.
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