VGTribune

3D Dot Heroes still looks Amazing

Will T. — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 12:21:43 +0000

Retro chic meets modern sleek in this retro themed homage to games past. 3D dot hereoes seamlessly fuses new and old eras of gaming for an experience that hasn't been had since the late early 90's.

For those of you who don't know about the game. An evil demon has captured the 6 wise men and 6 orbs that protected the kingdom of Dotnia, which now stands on the verge of destruction. You control a young knight who freely explore the vast world, to fight off monsters, and solve puzzle your way through many dungeons to restore peace to the kingdom. Eye-popping visuals capture the nostalgic charm of pixel graphics in cutting edge 3D.

Trailer of the Week: Resonance of Fate

Will T. — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 02:43:36 +0000

Has anyone heard of a little title known as Resonance of Fate, or End of Eternity in Japan? It's a PS3/Xbox360 game that was developed by Tri-Ace a solid game company who makes exceptional Role Playing Games. However, the most surprising fact about this game is that it was released today in the US and I haven't heard a word from Sega about this game nor have I seen any other game websites covering this game.

It's almost like Sega wants this game to fail? I don't know why since it looks exceptional, and usually don't publishers want games to do well? If you played this game or even heard about it let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Crossfire Pistol Elegantly Designed, but Misfires

Sean Buckley — Tue, 16 Mar 2010 21:00:50 +0000

Wii owners are long since familiar with the "Plastic Plague" of crappy gaming peripherals that have come our way. Even Nintendo themselves are guilty, creating a plastic wheel, and the infamous "zapper," both little more than plastic molds to cram your remote into. For me, the former always left something to be desired - the official plastic shell places the trigger at the front of the weapon, and moves most of the remote's buttons out of the player's reach. Why didn't they do a better job? Why doesn't somebody else do a better job?

Well, somebody did. Well, sort of.

Penguin United's Crossfire Wii-Remote pistol is no mere plastic mold - it's a full wii-remote pistol - all of the technology you find in your regular remote, molded into a comfortable pistol shape. It boasts not only the form factor of a pistol, but full motion capability. It has a smarter design too - placing most of the buttons within instant reach. The trigger of course, takes the place of the "B" button, while 1, 2, A, and the D-pad can all be reached with relative ease on the pistol's grip. The plus and minus buttons are still out of reach, making games such as The Conduit or Metroid Prime Trilogy difficult to play, but it's still an improvement over reaching to the top of the "Zapper" for button access. Overall, the design of the controller is quite pleasing - it's comfortable to hold, it looks like a pistol, and it's expanded button access is a delight. Unfortunately, the difficulty of access to the plus and minus buttons make it difficult to play some games, and although the trigger is a marked improvement over the physical lever used in many of the molded plastic alternatives, it lacks the "springy resistance" of the NES Zapper that so accurately replicates the feel of a real firearm trigger.

When it comes to gameplay however, your mileage may vary. I tested two different Crossfire units, and each had a different problem. The first unit I tested had remarkable motion control - during tests with "The Force Unleashed," the Crossfire proved to be at least, if not more effective at registering some moves than official Wii Remote. Sure, jumping by pulling a trigger was a little awkward, but the motion sensitivity was great. Unfortunately, the first unit I had suffered a fatal flaw - it's IR pointer was woefully inaccurate: In trials with House of the Dead 1+2, I found the controller unable to calibrate for the games "no cross-hair" mode - the IR receiver was off by nearly half a foot on both of the televisions I tested it on. Despite I solid delivery on motion, I had to mark the first unit a failure in performance - but that didn't seem right - How could a gun peripheral fail to function as intended? I contacted our PR rep to ask about the error, and was quickly informed that the first unit we received was a pre-production unit, and the flaw hadn't come to the production team's attention until it was already sent out. A new unit was on the way.

The second unit arrived with an added bonus - an adaptor that rotated extension port to a position compatible with motion plus accessories. The IR problem was gone - the new crossfire calibrated without issue, and proved itself a solid, comfortable, and thoroughly enjoyable implement of Zombie pacification. Unfortunately, this unit was also flawed - although the motion control for forward, left, right, and upward movements were still quite good, all downward movement seemed to register as an "up" movement. In most "waggle" games this flaw would go unnoticed, but in a directional specific game like "The Force Unleashed," this kind of performance was unacceptable. This time around, I opted to write to customer support, as a regular consumer might have to, to find a solution. Regrettably, I never received a response, despite waiting several weeks after sending Penguin United's Customer Support an email detailing my controller's issue.

The verdict? Again, your mileage may vary. I still like the Crossfire pistol a lot, if for no other reason than they took the time to design a Wii "Zapper" that actually made sense - I never liked the official Zapper, or any of the third party alternatives that isolated the player from the majority of the controller's buttons. Even though I really like the idea of the crossfire, I simply can't recommend it whole heatedly. The units I tested clearly had build quality issues - and while the second unit still functions perfectly for on-rails-shooters, the products is advertised as a "fully functional" Wii controller. If you're a die-hard purist fan of on-rails titles and you want a controller that makes a little more sense - look into this product - but keep your receipt - you may have to play return roulette.

Halo: Reach will not be using Project Natal

Wii Motion plus set for June 8 launch

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New Face on VGTribune

saint123 — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 21:52:13 +0000

Hello everyone,

I'm Mike. I am a newbie to VG Tribune! ^_^ Alexis has kindly given me the job of blogger . . . I think that is what he said, lol. Anyway, I started playing video games when I was about 5 years old, it started with the Super Nintendo, Donkey Kong Country and Mario. Now I'm onto the more Hard Core games. Video games are a huge passion of mine, and I'm even going to college for Game Design where I hope to work with one of the top development companies in the world, but time will tell. It is nice to be apart of a website dedicated to games and what not, and I hope to be here as long as I am needed and wanted. ^_^

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Video: Medal of Honor Announcement Trailer

Kieron Craggs — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:54:59 +0000

Contains scenes of War and Violence, PEGI 18+

Fall 2010

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VGTribune After Hours: Final Fantasy XIII Edition

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:36:23 +0000

Alan, Will, Sam and Matt get together to talk Final Fantasy XIII. Their likes, their dislikes and . . . well, everything else under the sun about Final Fantasy XIII.

You can find the podcast on iTunes by clicking here or you can download and listen to it below.

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Monday Morning Blues: Farmville Podcast

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:35:09 +0000

No, this isn't some cruel prank or an April Fools joke gone horribly wrong, it's real. There is an official Farmville podcast. Yes, let all that laughter out.

Don't know what Farmville, or Facebook for that matter, is? It's a farming game on Facebook. Yes, disbelief, surprise and lots of laughter were our reactions too.

We never thought we'd see the day a Farmvile podcast would get off the ground. We should have known better. This is the Internet. Get those seed vaults ready. The apocalypse nears.

This is just SCREAMING to have a parody of itself made. Any takers?

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Image Gallery: MegaCon 2010

admin — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 04:15:03 +0000

[View with PicLens]

12 3 4 ►

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Green Day Rock Band coming June 8th

Kieron Craggs — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:29:35 +0000

A full standalone Green Day themed version of Rock Band will be shipping worldwide June 8th according to a release from Electronic Arts earlier this week, the game will feature 47 exportable tracks, rare access to the Green Day media vault with over 40 minutes of footage, artist likeness and more.

The game will feature the three-part vocal harmony technology Harmonix introduced in The Beatles: Rock Band, an incredible 47 strong list will be playable which spans the career of the band. Tracks include 'Brain Stew' , 'Jaded', 'American Idiot' and 'Wake Me Up When September Ends'. All 47 tracks are fully exportable into Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and Rock Band 3. Green Day DLC already available in the Rock Band store will also be playable in the new game.

Green Day: Rock Band will be released on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii everywhere on June 8th and is Rated T for Teen.

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Rock Band DLC goes Gaga this week, South Park cover also available.

Kieron Craggs — Sat, 13 Mar 2010 21:28:57 +0000

This weeks DLC announcement for Rock Band is a little more exciting than usual not only do we have songs by Grammy Award Winning artist Lady Gaga we also have songs by 3 Doors Down, Mute Math, The Subways and South Parks own Eric Cartman.

Oh and if you have never seen the South Park cover of Pokerface here's a shiny You tube link.

Available on Xbox 360 and Wii (March 16) and PlayStation 3 system (March 18):

• Lady Gaga – “Bad Romance”
• Lady Gaga – “Just Dance”
• Lady Gaga – “Monster”
• Lady Gaga – “Poker Face”
• 3 Doors Down – “It’s Not My Time”
• Mute Math – “Control”
• South Park – “Poker Face (Cartman version)”
• The Subways – “Oh Yeah”
• The Subways – “Rock & Roll Queen”

(All tracks are original master recordings)

These tracks will be available for purchase as “Lady Gaga Pack 01” as well as individual tracks on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 system, and as individual tracks only on Wii. Tracks marked with “+” are also available for download in the family-friendly LEGO® Rock Band Music Store.

Price: £.99 UK (160 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) per track
£3.49 UK (560 Microsoft Points for Xbox 360) for “Lady Gaga Pack 01”
(200 Wii Points™) per track

** Dates for Rock Band game tracks are tentative and subject to change. **

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