“The custom Collector’s Edition retail box of Enslaved contains a hard-backed high quality artbook featuring concept art and exclusive images documenting the development process of the game at the studios of Ninja Theory in Cambridge, UK. Music fans will be treated to a separate CD containing the original soundtrack from the game, written and produced by internationally renowned composer and musician Nitin Sawhney.”

No news on a price yet.

Furthermore, Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has a demo on PlayStation Network plus out now.

The new game is released on October 5th in North America, Oct. 7th/8th Worldwide. The demo will be available exclusively for one week from PSN+, but will be widely available on the standard PSN service from September 29th. Konami will also be releasing an Xbox 360 demo via Microsoft’s Xbox Live Arcade service, with dates to be confirmed.

The collector’s edition features a 30-40 page artbook and a soundtrack that has roughly 20 tracks from the game! It will set you back $80 CDN.

]]> http://gamenorth.ca/2010/09/22/enslaved-and-castlevania-lords-of-shadow-demos-out-now-on-psn-later-on-xbl/feed/ 0 http://gamenorth.ca/2010/09/08/zalazanes-fall-and-operation-gnomeregan-now-live-on-world-of-warcraft/ http://gamenorth.ca/2010/09/08/zalazanes-fall-and-operation-gnomeregan-now-live-on-world-of-warcraft/#comments Wed, 08 Sep 2010 20:27:08 +0000 Dana Russo http://gamenorth.ca/?p=5610 By the time most of you read this, you’ll have probably done both of these special pre-Cataclysm events in World of Warcraft.  Yesterday’s Tuesday maintenance saw the addition of two brand-new quest chains that involve your player character – depending on their faction – either taking back the lost gnomish city of Gnomeregan or reclaiming the Echo Isles for the trolls.  These quest chains set up major story points for World of Warcraft’s upcoming expansion, Cataclysm.

When you log in, you’ll notice you will have mail waiting for you from either Vanira or High Tinker Mekkatorque.  The mail includes instructions on where to go to begin these quest chains.  For the Horde, you’ll want to seek out the troll Vanira down in Sen’jin Village in Durotar.  If you’re Alliance, you’ll want to head to Tinker Town in Ironforge and speak to High Tinker Mekkatorque.  Both quest chains involve a few side quests and then an event that is very similar to the Battle for the Undercity quest chain, which most level 80 players should be familiar with.

At the end of both events, players will be given a purely cosmetic cloak to wear as a reward.  There have been a couple bugs reported, at least during the Gnomeregan event, and hopefully Blizzard will take care of those soon.  The events understandably raise plenty of eyebrows and questions from those wondering if this is a sign that Cataclysm will soon be upon us.  It’s September and we’re already seeing some lead ups to Cataclysm, so I would say that a release date is probably not too far behind, especially with Blizzcon only being a month away.

Presuming Gamebuzz.ca has actually sent my copy today like they said they would and haven’t run off to Mexico with my $100, I won’t get it until sometime tomorrow sadly. Luckily there are many many events planned and streamed to assuage my thirst. Do you know where your copy is? Do you have it already (we won’t tell anyone)?

In addition to preparing yourself with some basics from our guide (Part I, Part II, Part III), there is a huge party being hosted by SCII’s premiere caster, Day[9], which of course will be streamed. The party and the culmination of a Razer-sponsored tournament will start at 19:00 EST and remain live for a whopping 12 hours. I haven’t even heard of any Superbowl broadcasts that go on that long! Unfortunately, our local talent HuK was eliminated from the tournament in an earlier stage, but check out his interview with us anyway.

Another news item of particular interest is the Electronic Sports League (ESL) World Challenge. This tournament has a massive $15,000 prize pool for a tournament that only involves 16 players and is the largest one for StarCraft II to date. In addition to the gigantic pot of gold, this tournament will also be covered on cable television by Eurosport, which as I understand is Europe’s version of TSN. That’s great news for eSports and gaming in general, but how long will it be before we get to see coverage in North America?

As for other news, I’ll just direct you to GosuGamers. They’ve got your back. Share your launch day plans, general enthusiasm, or even your in-game ID below!

“There really is tons of analytical data that we need to derive from the beta test with regard to the network and back-end systems, [and] we needed our fans to provide feedback. We needed a very large audience to hammer on this game, which allows us to use the data that really helps shape the final product,” said Creative Director Marcus Lehto.

This is Bungie’s last Halo related game. This is going to be big. We know Bungie will go and take things to another level, so with E3 and the Tokyo Game show coming up we can hope to see some new features for this game.

Everyone mark your calendars for September 14th.

The special WoW pet that comes with all tickets, DirectTV and Internet stream purchases have yet to be announced.

Now, one note: if you plan on buying the expansion packs individually, you will still need the Steam version of Civ IV to use them, so I’m guessing in most cases people (like me) will just shell out for the Complete Edition for $10 USD. The Complete Edition includes Civ IV, both expansion packs (Warlords, Beyond the Sword), and the less intensive Civ IV: Colonization. So even though I have the Special Collector’s Super Dragon Retail Edition of Civilization IV – complete with fancy box – already, I still bought the Complete Edition.

And who do we have to thank for this great gift? Civilization V, apparently. (Is this how “pay it forward” works?) In any case, Civilization V will have a Steam release in September and use the full Steamworks suite for saved games, multiplayer, and achievements. But until September, enjoy Civilization IV!

• Jim Raynor USB key
• An in-game pet (mini-Thor) for World of Warcraft
• A prequel issue to the StarCraft comic series
• Obligatory art book, behind-the-scenes DVD, fancy box, and soundtrack
• Exclusive in-game content such as a visually unique Thor unit(!) and custom portrait

You can still pre-order the standard edition from retailers such as Best Buy, Futureshop, and EB Games, of course. The standard edition runs $60 and just comes with the game itself.

Wings of Liberty is the first part of a trilogy that will unfold the entire StarCraft II storyline. In each part of the trilogy, the single player campaign will tell the story from the perspective of each of the three races, with the first taking the viewpoint of the Terrans (humans). This model has caused some controversy as previous Blizzard real-time strategy (RTS) games have always included the perspectives of all races, with expansion packs adding on to the story later. However, now consumers will have to buy three full priced games to experience the full story. Personally, I am not too worried as Blizzard has always provided value and quality, and I’m really enjoying the Beta so far.

With this release is also the launch of the new Battle.net, which still has no subscription fee confirmation or denial attached to it, but is really slick from what I’ve seen in the Beta. There is cleaning up to do, but that’s what the Beta is about.

There are a host of changes, and I encourage you to just read about them all here.

For any of our readers that play, what do you think of this expansion as compared to The Burning Crusade? Sunwell Plateau was an epic finale with a very small minority of guilds being able to even get beyond the first boss. Will heroic Icecrown Citadel be the same?

At least Blizzard isn’t really following a trend though. They pretty much invented this trend. But all will be forgiven once we’re too busy figuring out how to defend the zergling rushes and how to mass zealots faster than the other guy. Can we at least have another Battle Report to keep us going?

Next up, the Wii MotionPlus-enabled sequel to Red Steel will also be delayed until 2010. As probably the only title worth anticipating for the Wii remaining in 2009, I suggest you go play a real console. Just kidding Wii, we only hurt because we are sad.

Finally, Ubisoft comes back up to bat with a pair of home runs, announcing both I Am Alive and Ghost Recon 4 are delayed until sometime in fiscal 2010. I wonder how Quantic Dream feels about all this after having delayed Heavy Rain’s release to 2010 in order to avoid crowding during the holiday season.

Siren in the Maelstrom is mentioned in a press release from Telefilm Canada, a lovely Crown corporation that’s only too happy to spill the beans on new Canadian stuff, completely stealing everyone’s thunder in the process.  Other than the title being available for “console or handheld console” and falling sometime during 2009-2010, we’ve been given no other details.

Could it be the second game in the Too Human trilogy, or a break to work on something new?  And will it change the world for St. Catherines and the Niagara region?

Source: Telefilm Canada

“Fans of Mass Effect are going to be pleasantly shocked by the events of this comic,” says Marc Walters. “We worked with Dark Horse to make sure this story was built into the Mass Effect 2 story arc, right from the ground up. Reading the series won’t just add to your experience of the universe, it will change the way you look at Mass Effect 2…and beyond.”

Dark Horse Comics has had many successes adapting other franchises such as Aliens and Star Wars into the comic universe. It looks to be a must read for fans when the first issue in the four part series hit shelves in January 2010.

EA is promising a multitide of innovations being added to the Command & Conquer gameplay, while at the same time managing some sort of balancing act that keeps fans happy.  A new class-based focus and persistent player progression are offered as examples of these innovations.  I’ve always been a sucker for anything persistent in games, so I’ll be keeping my eye on that in particular.

And yes, emphasis has been put on this being the final game in the  Tiberium series (the main branch of the C&C games).  The game will take place after the events in C&C3: Tiberium Wars.  Humanity is on the brink of extinction.  There’s only six years left until Tiberium, a mysterious crystalline structure, renders the earth completely uninhabitable.  The Global Defense Initiative and Brotherhood of Nod are working together towards a common goal, but Kane is undoubtedly going to pull out some jerk move at some point.  We’ll learn what on earth he’s been thinking for the past ten years, and also the fate of GDI, the rest of Nod, and Tiberium itself.  Sources indicate it may be epic.

We’ll be getting those two campaigns, plus the expected assortment of multiplayer goodness.  Among these is a new five-on-five objective-based mode, which we’re told will promote teamwork, co-operation, and deliver a social RTS experience never seen before.  There’s no mention of the name of this new mode, so I’m going to refer to it as “Herding Cats Mode”.  Ten people in an RTS game is just going to be delightfully chaotic.

Is it almost 2010 yet?

EA has set up a Twitter account so we can get updates straight from the development team, 140 characters at a time.

In addition, Steam has released Trine, an independent action-puzzler with realistic physics and an appealing visual style. Check out our preview here. We’re working with the publisher of the retail PC version, Sanbox Strategies, on getting a review copy soon.

Powered by the same engine that drove Battlefield: Bad Company, 1943 looks to be a remake of a number of maps from Battlefield 1942: Wake Island, Guadalcanal, Iwo Jima and Coral Sea.  The game supports up to 24 players in a single match, as well as an assortment of vehicles, planes and boats.  As far as I can tell, this is an online-only game.

EA decided to do something a little unusual with one of the maps:  Coral Sea will remain locked across all platforms until the community of players is able to achieve a total of 43 million kills.  Really though, that’s just fine with me, since I still get to play Wake Island, which is the best map in BF 1942.

Like Bad Company, it sounds like the game is going to be really good at blowing a lot of stuff up.  Playing on classic 1942 maps, but with the ability to blow through cover, will undoubtedly change some of the strategies.

I’ll be picking this up next week for sure.  Maybe I’ll even finally figure out how to fly those fighters!

So be sure to check back here for some free stuff we think you’ll enjoy. What are your traditions for celebrating July 1st? Tell us in a comment!

Worms 2 Armageddon looks to take the most popular PC version in the series and give it a rehaul for Xbox LIVE Arcade.  This release includes a new graphics engine more faithful to the original, a 30 mission single-player campaign, four player online multiplayer (although offline multiplayer is available too), and additional customization options.  Such as worms wearing hats!  Hats make everything better.

Most importantly, Worms 2 includes more than 40 weapons, including the return of the Holy Hand Grenade.  Oh my goodness!  Do you doubt your courage or your strength?  Then come no further, for death awaits you all with nasty, big, pointy teeth!

King of Fighters ‘98 Ultimate Match is a 2007 remake of SNK Playmore’s 1998 release, King of Fighters ‘98.  It saw Japanese arcades (on non-Neo Geo hardware) and a PlayStation 2 remake.  Confusing?  Yeah, welcome to the King of Fighters series.  It looks like we’re getting the Japanese arcade release.  Ultimate Match takes place outside the King of Fighters storyline, so deceased and otherwise departed characters make appearances, providing an extended roster (the arcade release saw no less than 64 characters and variations, although I was only able to count 45 from a screenshot of the XBLA roster).

The series is best known for its 3-on-3 fighting system.  Choose a three-character team, put them in an order, and fight it out.  Defeat the other team’s members first and claim victory!  I’m really looking forward to this one, even if the Cheapest Man Alive (Geese Howard) is in it.  Naturally, there’s Terry Bogard as well.  There’s online support too, so everyone can go online and spam Reppuu Kens and Rashoumons.  Try not to be that guy, okay?

Source: majornelson.com

Garou: Mark of the Wolves, known in North America as Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves, was released for the Neo Geo arcade system back in 1999, with a later Dreamcast release in 2001.  It was SNK’s entry into their ongoing 2D fighting game war with Capcom, and their answer to Street Fighter 3.  Featuring 14 characters, a parry system, a strategic Tactical Offensive Position (T.O.P.) system, Garou is a highly anticipated cult hit.  Seriously, it’s one of the greatest 2D fighters ever.  Terry Bogard makes Ken and Ryu look like Dr. Boskonovitch and Gon.  Get them out of here.

No details as to which version we’re getting, although the screenshots show the game running in 4:3 mode, with some game-relevant art along the sides.  Expect the original art to remain intact.  Yes, this means huge honking pixels.  Hopefully the Neo Geo emulation engine that powered Samurai Shodown II will be used, so that awful pixel-smoothing effect can be turned off.

What is known is that this version will see two-player online support.

Droplitz is a puzzle game developed by Blitz Arcade, whose previous Xbox 360 efforts include Powerup Forever and Spongebob Squarepants Underpants Slam.  They’re also the company that was responsible for the Burger King games a few years back.  Details are sketchy at this point, but it is believed that Terry Bogard does NOT make a cameo appearance.  Oh well, one for two.  Reminds me of a little of the Alchemy puzzle from Puzzle Pirates.

Four different game modes are available, although the game only has support for a single player, with online interaction being limited to leaderboards.  Still, to the game’s credit, odds are the game is 100% Ken and Ryu free.

Source: Major Nelson

WoW.com 1.0 Patch Notes

• The graphics have received an improvement
• Players in the US can now sign up for accounts and post their own WoW blog (EU support coming soon)
  
• A new add-on has appeared for players to quickly post to their blog and upload screenshots while in the game

I’ve been reading their site for over a year and it definitely looks better, so head on over and check it out!

In the upcoming entry to their ongoing series, EA will add a new first-person fighting engine (questionable), factor in intimidation based on physical play and pressure (yay), allow more choices along the boards, such as shielding the puck (okay), and add post-whistle scrums (questionable).

However, despite all of the focus on physical play, one small detail excited me the most: “players will be able to lift a leg to fake a shot on goal”. Now that’s authentic.

Here are some screenshots, courtesty of EA: