Making of BEYOND: Two Souls – Gameplay Featurette July 24, 2013

BEYOND: Two Souls is one of the top unreleased PS3 exclusives on my radar.  With previous games from the company (Heavy Rain, Indigo Prophecy/Fahrenheit) being personal favorites for me, I’m really looking forward to getting to play BEYOND: Two Souls.

I know that a lot of people who witnessed the Tribeca Film Festival preview of the game had a lot of questions about the game’s interface and just how you would control the game.  From a viewer’s perspective it almost looked as if the player would have very little control, and it was hard to differentiate what was a gameplay moment and what was a cutscene.  Quantic Dream explains in this newly released Behind the Scenes Featurette, that they have been evolving their interface with each of their games to make them more intuitive for the player, with a focus on minimizing the interface to better immerse them in the story.  Take a look for yourselves to see how they are able to do this.

BEYOND: Two Souls is coming October 8th, 2013 exclusive to the Playstation 3.

Mario and Luigi: Dream Team Commercial July 24, 2013

Continuing Nintendo’s tradition of releasing awesome and unique television commercials for their upcoming games, Nintendo has released their TV commercial for the latest game to be released in Nintendo’s Year of Luigi, Mario & Luigi: Dream Team.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team is the first game in the Mario & Luigi series to be released to the Nintendo 3DS.  In the game, you take control of Mario and Luigi as they navigate through Luigi’s dreams in order to save the Princess.  I know, this time it’s not Bowser’s fault!  I think even he was surprised too.

If you would like to see some other great Nintendo commercials from over the years, check out my Top Ten Video Game Commercials Video!

UPDATE:  Nintendo has posted some bloopers from filming the commercial.

Mario & Luigi: Dream Team is coming August 11th, 2013 exclusive to the Nintendo 3DS.

EarthBound Released on the Wii U Virtual Console July 20, 2013

Nintendo jumped the gun a bit early.  I wasn’t expecting to make this announcement until the end of the year, but Nintendo has re-released its most fan-requested title for download, the SNES cult-classic, EarthBound.

EarthBound, also known as Mother 2 in Japan, is the second game in the three-part Mother series, and has been considered by many to be one of the best Role-Playing Games of all time, and one of the best games of the Super Nintendo.  Sadly, unlike many of the other Super Nintendo favorites, EarthBound has not been re-released in any format in the West since its original debut.  Nintendo had originally planned to release the first game in the Mother series (coincidently, it would have also been named EarthBound), but cancelled the game’s release after it had already been fully translated.  Sadly, the timing on it just wasn’t right, as that would make a very expensive to manufacture NES game come out just around the time of the Super Nintendo’s release.  Nintendo also refused to release a western version of Mother 3 (which would have been EarthBound’s direct sequel) to the Game Boy Advance, despite the numerous requests from fans.  Once again, the timing on it wasn’t right, as by the time Mother 3 would hit shelves in the West, the Nintendo DS would have gotten close to release.

If you’re interested in hearing all about EarthBound’s history, check out Roo’s 16-Bit Gem history of the series from Clan of the Gray Wolf.  It’s a great watch which has a ton of history about the entire Mother series, and is very well researched!

You can download EarthBound through the Wii U’s Virtual Console right now for $9.99 US.  This is not currently available to download on the Wii or through the Wii Shop Channel.  Now bring on Mother 3, Nintendo!

Oh and a quick reminder, the NES version of Donkey Kong is only 30 cents US on the Wii U’s Virtual Console right now!

Mario Warfare Part 3 July 17, 2013

After a brief hiatus, Beatdown Boogie has posted up the third part of their highly-anticipated follow up to Modern War Gear Solid, Mario Warfare.  Expect a few cameos from across the Nintendo franchises to make an appearance in this new episode, including one that I never saw coming!  Check it out below!

Club Nintendo Elite Prizes Now Avalible July 15, 2013

If you’ve purchased any new Nintendo handheld, console or game in the past few years you’ve probably noticed a leaflet was included with the product advising you to sign up for Club Nintendo.  Club Nintendo is Nintendo’s exclusive membership rewards program which offers their customers exclusive prizes in return for purchasing new games and consoles.  For those die-hard Nintendo fans who have been redeeming Club Nintendo codes all year long, Nintendo has just announced that a wide array of special prizes can now be redeemed for this year’s Elite Status gift!

Gold Status Prizes:

• Warioware D.I.Y Showcase (Wii Downloadable Content)
• Super Smash Bros (N64) (Wii Virtual Console Download)
• Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening DX (3DS Virtual Console Download)
• Super Mario Land (3DS Virtual Console Download)
• Sakura Samurai (3DS Downloadable Game)
• 2014 Club Nintendo Calendar

Platinum Status Prizes

• Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask Soundtrack CD
• Three-Poster Set

Don’t worry if you don’t think you have enough points to redeem these exclusive prizes.  If you had redeemed a grand total of 300 or more Club Nintendo points from June of last year to June of this year, you have earned Gold Status.  If you redeemed 600 or more points, you also redeemed Platinum Status.

Platinum Status users will be able to select any prize from either the Gold or Platinum selection.  Gold Status users can only select a Gold-level prize.

What are you waiting for?  Log in to Club.Nintendo.Com right now and redeem your prize!  You must select your gift by August 15th, 2013.  Anyone who redeemed a downloadable prize should receive a redemption code immediately in their e-mail.  Just be aware that these codes can only be redeemed on their respective console.  Nintendo promises that they will ship any physical prizes before December 31st, 2013.

Halo 4 Champions Bundle Trailer July 8, 2013

The next map pack for Halo 4 has been announced, and it’s going to be offered with a bundle with several new armor sets that have never been seen before called the Infinity Armor, Steel Skin, and Bullseye Packs.  If you want to see the new armor for yourself, check out this new trailer.

Halo 4 Champions Bundle is coming August 20th, 2013 through the Xbox Live Marketplace for $10 US.  Halo 4, which is out now exclusive to the Xbox 360, will be required to play.

The Last of Us 1.02 Patch Notes July 2, 2013

Naughty Dog has released version 1.02 for The Last of Us this week.  Most of the things changed were multiplayer tweaks, but as promised, Naughty Dog did slightly alter a texture file which turned out to have a real phone number listed on it.  They have said that was simply an error and the number should not have worked.  The rest of the updates were related to multiplayer and you can read the official list of the patch’s changes here.

You will be able to update The Last of Us to version 1.02 automatically the next time you start the game while connected to the Playstation Network.  The patch shouldn’t be more than 77MB in size.  The update is required to play the game online.

The Last of Us is out now exclusive to the Playstation 3.

Playstation 3 Firmware 4.46 Released July 1, 2013

The latest required update for the Playstation 3 has been released.  Following in the footsteps of a failed firmware update which had to be pulled quickly after release, Firmware 4.46 did not brick my PS3.  Instead it adds the ability to disable trophy notifications.  Some game developers (like Quantic Dream’s David Cage) have felt trophy notifications (or achievement unlocked notifications for Xbox 360 players) distract players from the gaming experience.  Oh don’t worry, you’ll still acquire trophies during gameplay, you just won’t be notified about them the second you acquire them.  Once downloaded, you can enable the feature manually from the PS3’s options menu.

You can download Firmware 4.46 using the PS3’s update feature.  It is required to access to the Playstation Network.

Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection Trailer July 1, 2013

Eight of some of the greatest games ever made in the past 25 years are getting updated for a current gen console and bundled together.  Metal Gear Solid: Legacy Collection will not only include the updated HD versions of Metal Gear Solid 2: Substance, Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistance, and Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker, but the updated trophy edition of Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, the two digital graphic novels, updated versions of the original Metal Gear 1 and 2 games for the MSX, and download codes for the original PS1 games Metal Gear Solid and its expansion Metal Gear Solid: VR Missions.

Oh and did I mention it’s also coming with a massive art book as well?

Metal Gear Solid: The Legacy Collection is coming July 9th, 2013 exclusive to the Playstation 3.

BEYOND: Two Souls E3 2013 Presentation July 1, 2013

Quantic Dream had a 40 minute presentation at the Sony E3 booth this year where they not only showed the complete demo of their real-time PS4 demo The Dark Sorcerer, but a never before seen level from their upcoming PS3 exclusive game BEYOND: Two Souls.

This new level for E3 2013 shows a very different level than what I saw at the Tribeca Film Festival.  Jodie and her spirit companion Aiden are now in the army.  As the scene opens, she has been given a mission to assassinate a warlord who has been violently oppressing a country.  Armed with a ghost on your side, as David Cage put it, this is no Call of Duty.

BEYOND: Two Souls is coming October, 2013 exclusive to the Playstation 3.