Duke Nukem Forever Release Date January 21, 2011

A moment I have been looking forward to for well over 12 years has finally come to pass…

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you, the OFFICIAL release date trailer for Duke Nukem Forever.

In this heavily censored trailer (likely due to YouTube restrictions), you can see a lot of new gameplay footage, weapons, enemies, and a nice few tidbits of story.  I have to say I do like opening voice over a lot, about Duke disappearing after the events of Duke Nukem 3D, coupled with the obvious parallel when the aliens toppled over his statue (anyone have an Iraq War flashback there too?).  The art style reminded me a lot of Prey mixed with SiN Episode 1 (Prey came in whenever things looked organic, especially with the organic doors, the SiN Episodes whenever I saw building exteriors, especially rooftops).  Now since these were my two favorite PC games of 2006, I am really psyched about that.

I can’t believe I’m actually typing this out.  Duke Nukem Forever is coming May 3rd, 2011 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Portal 2 to Support PS3/PC Cross-Platform Multiplayer January 19, 2011

Big news for cross-platform fanatics.  Portal 2 has been confirmed to be a cross-platform multiplayer title.  Due to the new Steamworks integration to debut in the PS3 version of the game, PS3 owners will be able to link up with PC owners and play multiplayer games through Valve’s Steam Network.

Anyone who purchases a copy of Portal 2 for the Playstation 3 will get a free copy of Portal 2 for the PC simply for linking your Steam account to your PSN account.  So you PS3 owners, get to setting up those Steam accounts now, you never know what games might find your way if you do!  And if you’re a Mac owner, fear not, Steam’s Mac client will also support Portal 2 when it comes out.

Portal 2 is coming April 21st, 2011 for the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.  The Xbox 360 version will not support cross platform multiplayer.

3DS Release Date March 27th January 19, 2011

Nintendo’s highly anticipated next handheld, the 3DS, finally has a definite release date and a retail price.  It will be released March 27th, 2011 for $249 US.  The handheld’s major innovation is in its glasses-free 3D screen.  It will also have an analog stick, tilt sensors, 3D camera, and a built-in pedometer.

Two colors will be at launch, aqua blue and cosmo black.  They will also come with a 2GB SD card for memory.  It will also be compatible with SDHC cards (which you can buy separately).

The system will be backwards compatible with DS and DSi games.  Also, the system will be able to connect to an online store where you’ll be able to purchase downloadable versions of classic Game Boy and Game Boy Color games (something I’ve wanted them to bring to the Wii Shop Channel for a while now).  For those of you who already have DS or DSi software, system transfer of your data will be supported after launch.

Killzone 3 Gold January 17, 2011

“Gold Master” is an older term which was coined around the glory days of PC CD-ROM.  A gold-master of a game was quite literally the finished product, which would have a gold finish to it, and would be the disc sent out for mass duplication.

Today that term lives on, as the Playstation Blog has confirmed that the heavily anticipated Playstation 3 game Killzone 3 has gone gold, and will be coming soon.  Killzone 3 will support Playstation Move.

Amazon.com, Best Buy and GameStop have their own exclusive pre-order incentives for the game.  There is also a collector’s edition of the game coming called the Helgast Edition which comes with goodies like a figurine, a helmet replica, and various DLC.  That will retail for $129.00 US.

Killzone 3 is a Playstation 3 Exclusive coming Feb 22nd, 2011.

Bulletstorm Demo January 25th January 17, 2011

For those of you interested in the next major release from Epic Games, Bulletstorm, an unapologietic First Person Shooter which harkens back to the glory days of the genre, is getting a demo release on January 25th for the PS3 and Xbox 360.  Unfortunatly, there have been no announcements about a PC demo for the game, although a PC release of the game is coming.

The Bulletstorm Epic Edition for Xbox 360 will include an invite to the Gears of War 3 Beta.  Bulletstorm releases Feb 22nd, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.

Mortal Kombat to Get Webseries January 15, 2011

A long time ago I posted about a viral video which hit the web and overnight had a million hits.  It was a more realistic take on Mortal Kombat, and starred big name actors/actresses like Michael Jai White and Jeri Ryan.

Normally these kinds of projects are considered fanfilms, independently made videos which were produced only for online distribution, however the fact that big named actors appeared in it made it stand out as something more.

It has been confirmed that a 10-part Mortal Kombat webseries is coming, due in no small part to the reception of the original video.

Unfortunately the original video has been taken down a while ago, so I can’t repost it here, but if you had seen it on my site earlier I invite you to picture it in your minds now.

Portal 2 Has a Theme Song January 14, 2011

Fans of “Still Alive”, the theme song to 2007’s Portal, will be very happy to know that Jonathan Coulton, the artist behind the hit song, is recording whole new one for Portal 2.  He has confirmed in his twitter account that he is in the process now of recording this song for it’s use in the game.  No details on the song yet, it probably will be a suprise strictly for anyone who finishes the game.   Knowing that Coulton was involved, you can probably rest assured there will be a comedic twist to it.

Jonathan Coulton has many other hits to his credit including “Code Monkey” and “Re: Your Brains”.

Dead Space 2 Launch Trailer January 13, 2011

This trailer was just so awesome I had to show it to all of you.

Looking back, if there was a list of bands whose sound defined my generation, Smashing Pumpkins would be on that list.

Dead Space 2 launches Jan 25th, 2011 for PC, Xbox 360 and PS3.  GameStop is now offering the Rivet Gun, first used in Dead Space Extraction, as an exclusive weapon if you preorder the game there.

What’s Going on With Planet Moon? January 12, 2011

Planet Moon Studios is another one of the classic game development houses that I followed a lot over the last ten years.  In a generation of overcrowded PC faceless action shooters, they were able to mix up gameplay in a way that had never been seen before.  They added a pretty funny story to the mix, with some pretty zany characters in a wild fantasy setting.  Copies of Giants: Citizen Kabuto, Armed and Dangerous, and Infected, all have permanent places on my shelf.

However, after releasing Infected, Planet Moon dispatched with a lot of their game style as they knew it, and released a lot of games that were unlike the style they had previously established.  An action oriented company with a focus on humor was releasing handheld ports, puzzle and family oriented games.

Today they announced that thirty-seven of their employees have successfully been transferred to another company to work on a different project.  These employees were working on an unannounced game for Planet Moon, which after December got defaulted on for an unknown reason by the funder, and someone apparently owes them a lot of money.

Obviously this is just an event that sucks for everyone involved, but it could’ve been a lot worse.  Those thirty-seven developers could’ve been left entirely without a job.  Obviously lawsuits are being filed against all parties by Planet Moon, and things are probably going to be hush-hush until that clears.

Xbox Rewards Program Invites Being E-Mailed January 8, 2011

Microsoft is now e-mailing Xbox Live members to participate in their own rewards program.  Since the program is currently invite only, you have to choose to opt-in in order to be a part of it.  However, if I got an e-mail about it, likely so has everyone else on Xbox Live.

The program will be avalible to anyone using Xbox Live Free or Xbox Live Gold accounts, although the rewards are greater for those who are currently Gold Members.  The reward is quite literally money, in the form of Xbox Live points.  For doing things such as renewing your Xbox Live account (by month, several months, or year) or completing a monthly survey, you will get free Xbox Live Points you can spend on whatever you want, like Avatar Items, Xbox Live Arcade Games, Gamer Pictures, DLC, or Themes.

So if you see an e-mail from Xbox titled “The Rewards Program is here” make sure to click on it and opt-in.