Videogames highlights - February-May 2010
I could continue to speak ill of the never too much abused downloadable contents (DLC) and video games digital delivery with my own words, but this time I will leave to Sony management official statements the task to chill the continuous, boring, stupid and annoying hype about an exclusively downloadable gaming future and other crap of this kind: 1) “I want it on the disc, that way when they buy it, they get it” - Rob Dyer, SCEA vice-president while commenting on the state of the DLC market; 2) The gloomy and failing UMD-free PSPGo “was introduced in a mature lifecycle to learn more about what the consumer wanted and we’ve definitely learnt a lot. Is that measured by success in sales? I don’t think it is” - words of Andrew House, SCEE president.
DeathSpank
After 2 years and too much months of waiting, the new announced masterpiece by Ron Gilbert is about to reach the digital networks of the main consoles and the [REDACTED]. As the designer himself says on his blog, DeathSpank will be released for PlayStation Network on July the 13th, for Xbox Live Arcade on the 14th and for [REDACTED] on the [REDACTED]. In these four months Gilbert found the time to leave Hothead with which he made the game and make a press mega-tour while showing off its features.
Therefore, waiting for the release of the [REDACTED] version, let’s just enjoy the following introduction trailer focused on the, hum, charismatic figure of this odd “dispenser of justice, vanquisher of evil, hero to the downtrodden“. P.S. The joke about the [REDACTED] version of the game is Gilbert’s himself, so if it isn’t funny just blame him ok? 
Diablo III
Ok, maybe releasing unfinished games is just “devastating” for who makes them as Blizzard’s CEO Paul Sams says, but with Diablo III the Californian developer is going too far. The much awaited sequel to the PC hack’n slash historic saga was announced on the 28th of June 2008, it still lacks an official release date and Blizzard just spreads out some update from time to time introducing very tiny news while waiting for the next BlizzCon. And then for the next one? Bah…
Anyway the updates shown here include the female version of the Monk class (unveiled during BlizzCon 2009), the male version of the Wizard class (I still prefer the female one though) and again the female version of the Witch Doctor class. And just to say, Blizzard’s yearly report provided to the USA Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) confirms the company’s will to make new Diablo episodes after the third one I’m talking about here. Obviously we’ll have to wait another 10 years to play them, being positive about the fact that Blizzard will continue to support Diablo III even then as it is already doing for Diablo II with the release of the 1.13c patch. Is someone surprised? Me not at all, after all we’re talking about Blizzard here…
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge
What can I say, I was wrong: the next LucasArts remake won’t concern Day of the Tentacle as I was writing the past summer but the sequel to The Secret of Monkey Island that was already renewed for old and new Caribbean adventurers’ pleasure. Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge will arrive this summer, LucasArts announced, and more exactly the 7th of July on PC, Xbox 360, PS3, iPhone and iPod Touch.
Likewise the first remake, MI 2 SE will feature completely remade graphics, an orchestral soundtrack and the chance to switch from the game’s original version to the more modern one at any moment. Furthermore, MI 2 SE will offer a commentary by creators Gilbert, Schafer and Grossman in selected scenes of the game. The comparison between the pixels of the graphics from 20 years ago and the current one is merciless as usual, while players who missed TSOMI SE can get it for free (on the PC) thanks to the special preorder offer available on Valve’s Steam.
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands
While Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time (the movie) scored record results at the box office, during May and June Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands (the game) arrived on all the main gaming platforms (Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PSP, DS and PC). The title resumes the storyline of PoP: The Sands of Time (the game) and tells the Prince of Persia life events happened between the end of the aforementioned Sands of Time and Warrior Within. The evil of cursed sands threatens the kingdom of Malik, the Prince’s brother, and in the end the two will have to confront the powerful Solomon Army made up by sands creatures, demons, zombies and other ghouls. The Prince will be able to count on his usual superhuman acrobatic skills, a sword (or even more than one) and new sands powers with which he will control the elements besides the flow of time.
Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 1
Mystery solved for the so called Project Needlemouse: the game that will bring Sega’s beloved mascot back to the gaming market will be predictably named Sonic the Hedgehog 4, will be episodic and will be released starting from the second part of 2010. Sonic will return to jump around and run like an insane hedgehog - an insane blue hedgehog - on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii and - oh the horror! - iOS devices (iPhone, iPad, iPod Touch, that kind of trash…).
Super Mario Galaxy 2
The sequel to the much praised Super Mario Galaxy for Wii has been finally released between May and June 2010. Super Mario Galaxy 2 builds up new ideas from the 3D platforming set with the first chapter, offers a more serious challenge to hardcore gamers and it’s the result of a refining work that Nintendo and Miyamoto-san carried forward for two years and half. Maybe it’s because there is Luigi aside from Mario, but the new game from the Nipponian publisher sold hundreds of thousand copies worldwide - 650,000 just in North America during the month of May - while collecting unanimous appreciation from the critics.
Trine
Developers of Trine, the 2D action platform with a taste for puzzle solving that in 2009 surprised many players (including myself) for the beauty of its graphics and the fascinating co-operative gameplay among its three characters (in single player mode), have recently given away the additional level “Path to New Dawn” to game owners (PC version) with the release of patch 1.07. ALL publishers should behave like this, forget this “paid DLC” kind of nonsense…
Related posts
- Videogames highlights - October 2010-April 2011 part 2
- Videogames highlights - October 2010-April 2011 part 1
- Videogames highlights - September 2010
- Videogames highlights - August 2010
- Videogames highlights - July 2010, Underdogs Edition
- Videogames highlights - June 2010, E3 special
- Videogames highlights - September-December 2009
- Videogames highlights - June 2009
- Videogames highlights - February 2009
- Videogames highlights - October 2008 (part 1)
Comments
Leave a Reply
-
· Subscribe to Sir Arthur's Den ·
-
· © Some Rights Reserved ·
The exclusive contents of Sir Arthur's Den are distributed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License, and must be ascribed to Alfonso Maruccia as the sole owner of the related copyrights.
