Trooping Through The Oblivious Enemies of The Old Republic [Hands-On]

Much has been made about Star Wars: The Old Republic and its “next generation storytelling” driven by volumes of spoken dialog. But what’s it like to play the game? More

Blur Multiplayer Hands-on

Blur (X360) Bizarre Creation’s arcade racer returns in spectacular fashion – and your chance to play the game early.

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Blur Multiplayer Hands-on

Subtitles or Dubbing, Which Does Japan Want? [Only In Japan]

Not every Western game is subtitled. Remember the irritation from Japanese gamers over the dubbing Modern Warfare 2 got? Japanese gamers wanted to play the game with its original voices. But do all Japanese gamers want that? From April 2007 to December 2009, Japanese game company Spike polled over 6,000 users via postcards included with Spike titles. Here are the results: Which do you want to play — Western games with subtitles or dubbing? • Subtitles — 49 percent (3,277 votes) • Dubbing — 47 percent (3,139 votes) • Other — 4 percent (240 votes) The breakdown by genre is especially interesting. For FPS games, 31.9 percent of players want subtitles, 59 percent want dubbing and 9.1 percent want literally “other”, but more likely here it refers to “no preference”. For action games, 37.4 percent want subtitles, 46.5 percent want dubbing and 16.1 percent want “other”. For role-playing games, 54.4 percent want subtitles, while 45.6 percent want dubbing. Hardware-wise, 54.4 percent of Xbox 360 owners want subtitles, 45.6 percent want dubbing and 1 percent want “other”. Regarding the PS3, 45 percent want subtitles, 52 percent want 52 percent and 3 percent want “other”. 海外ゲームは字幕 [Spike]

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Subtitles or Dubbing, Which Does Japan Want? [Only In Japan]

Behind The Scenes With LEGO Harry Potter [Clips]

How do you combine a magical, best-selling series of children’s novels with the magical, best-selling series of children’s imagination toys? I suppose game development magic would do the trick. I’ve read maybe two chapters of a Harry Potter book, and I’ve seen maybe two and a half of the movie adaptations. So no, I’m not a big Harry Potter fan. So why the hell am I eager to play LEGO Harry Potter: Years 1-4? I’ve complained about being burned out on the LEGO adventure games in the past, but something about this one just rings a bell with me. Perhaps it’s the new split-screen multiplayer feature, or maybe those two chapters and two and a half movies resonated with me on some strange, subconscious level. I might as well pick it up. My older brother is a huge fan, so I’ll have someone to play the game with and someone to explain the parts I don’t understand.

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Behind The Scenes With LEGO Harry Potter [Clips]

The Emotion, And Humor, Of Mass Effect 2’s Romantic Interludes [Me2]

While chewing over people’s various endings for Mass Effect 2 the other day , one thing that struck me was how many different romantic options you guys had been pursued. And it got me all curious. **SPOILERS AHEAD** See, I played the game once, and that was it. The way the story unfolded was “My Story”, and is now the way I feel events in the Mass Effect universe have taken place. Shepard is a man, and he did the deed with Miranda, and that’s how it went. To play it again would feel like going back in time and screwing everything up, Marty McFly style. So I’m not going to do it. That means I won’t get to punch a woman, I won’t get to bring Mordin back from the dead and I’ll never see Yeoman Chambers get her freak on. It also means I’ll never get to see any of these numerous romantic interchanges between the main characters, some of which are hilarious (Tali), others surprisingly touching (Thane). But you? You can watch these to your heart’s content. MALE SHEPARD With Jack With Tali (Mordin’s Handy Advice) With Tali With Miranda With Kelly FEMALE SHEPARD With Jacob With Thane (Mordin’s Handy Advice) With Thane With Garrus It makes you wonder how BioWare approached these scenes. The male ones are either heavy on awkward humour or, in case of Miranda’s, get straight to the boot-knocking. The female Shepard romantic approaches, however, are a little heavier. Thane’s in particular, with some great writing there at the end. You could say BioWare was making the female approach a little more emotional for their idea of what female gamers wanted, but did they have any idea how many men would play the game as a woman ?

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The Emotion, And Humor, Of Mass Effect 2’s Romantic Interludes [Me2]

G-Switch Runs and Flips [Hot Flashes]

We need more mash-ups in video games. You know, like when a DJ takes two great songs, or two awful songs, and turns them into something all together different, but still recognizable. Take for instance G-Switch. It plays an awful lot like the bastard child of forever-runner Canabalt and gravity-flipper VVVVVV. And it’s pretty great fun. The developers also added the ability to play the game on one keyboard with up to six players, which is insanely confusing, but still fun. G-Switch [Newsgrounds, thanks Vasco]

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G-Switch Runs and Flips [Hot Flashes]

MAG Is Live, Are You Buying It [Mag]

I’ve got a copy of MAG sitting right here on my desk waiting to be cracked open. I’ve managed to never play the game at any of the events leading up to its launch, so I’m not sure whether I should be anxious. As a big first-person shooter fan, am I going to be disappointed or will the massive battles live up to my (and your) expectations? Yesterday, Zipper Interactive’s Jeremy Dunham walked readers through the differences between the Beta and the final game. The beta version only had six maps and two modes, he says, while the final version has five modes and 15 maps. The retail game is also getting a day one patch that will add the ability to knife enemies while reloading, increased sprinting and tweaks to framerates and lighting effects. Here’s the full patch 1.01 breakdown: Gameplay · Added ability for player to use knife during a reload animation. · Applied significant tuning adjustments for all weapons and armor. · Increased sprint duration before tiring by 30%. · Lowered XP requirements for levels 2 thru 4. · Lowered level-entry restrictions for Sabotage from Level 3 to Level 2. · Lowered level-entry restrictions for Acquisition from Level 5 to Level 4. · Lowered level-entry restrictions for Domination from Level 10 to Level 8. · Enabled proper level requirements for unlocking headgear, facegear, and uniforms. · Fixed problem with recoil/firing animation that kept playing for a few seconds after the player fires an automatic gun and uses knife swipe simultaneously. Interface · Fixed bug where incapacitated players’ nametags would occasionally disappear. · Repositioned onscreen weapons for improved field of view. · Armory items (facegear/ headgear/ uniforms) reordered. · Removed helmets from “Loadout 3″ for all factions. Graphics · Made significant increase in framerate during player-heavy games. · Changed light settings for all environments. · Polished recoil effect for better realism. · Fixed offset muzzle flash effect. · Tuned camera to shake more realistically when hit by bullets. · Adjusted “blur” effect for both normal sights and iron sights. · Added alternate reload animation. · New “light scatter” treatment for all skies. · Repaired various “weapon clipping” issues. · Enacted several particle fogging adjustments. Audio · Switched first-person weapon sounds to true stereo. · Moved first-person character interactions and weapon switches to true stereo. · Tweaked sounds effects relating to landing on surfaces. Technical · Added error display and queue panel updates to notify player when they’ve encountered a “join game” failure. · Made various server stability fixes and tweaks. MAG Beta vs. Final Game

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MAG Is Live, Are You Buying It [Mag]

Play Tekken 6 Online Co-Op Next Week [Update]

Tekken 6 gets even more online play next week, with a free update that will allow two players to play the game’s Scenario Campaign mode cooperatively via the magic of the internet. Tekken 6’s Scenario Campaign mode is pretty much your standard beat-em up, and everybody knows that beat-em ups are better with a friend. Namco Bandai finally acknowledges and addresses this, with a free update coming on January 18th for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that allows two players to team up online for some serious ass-kicking action. The update will also introduce a co-op leaderboard, so folks can see how compatible they are with various partners, at least as far as Tekken is concerned. This is the update I’ve been waiting for. With someone chatting in my ear constantly, perhaps I can finally finish Scenario Campaign mode instead of falling asleep.

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Play Tekken 6 Online Co-Op Next Week [Update]

Play Tekken 6 Online Co-Op Next Week [Update]

Tekken 6 gets even more online play next week, with a free update that will allow two players to play the game’s Scenario Campaign mode cooperatively via the magic of the internet. Tekken 6’s Scenario Campaign mode is pretty much your standard beat-em up, and everybody knows that beat-em ups are better with a friend. Namco Bandai finally acknowledges and addresses this, with a free update coming on January 18th for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 that allows two players to team up online for some serious ass-kicking action. The update will also introduce a co-op leaderboard, so folks can see how compatible they are with various partners, at least as far as Tekken is concerned. This is the update I’ve been waiting for. With someone chatting in my ear constantly, perhaps I can finally finish Scenario Campaign mode instead of falling asleep.

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Play Tekken 6 Online Co-Op Next Week [Update]

Play Modern Warfare 2 With a Machine Gun [Ces10]

CTA Digital , makers of Wii bowling balls, tennis rackets and pool cues , aren’t content with cornering the market on bizarre Wii peripherals, they’re bringing their line of unorthodox controllers to the Playstation 3 too. While stalking the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Center this week during the Consumer Electronics Show, past women in evening gowns playing snowboarding motion games and people getting Tased, I was stopped in my tracks by the sight of a man holding a full-sized plastic automatic rifle pointed at an LCD displaying Modern Warfare 2 . The controller, packed with buttons, thumbsticks and a tiny speaker, lets you play the game while armed with a bit of plastic weaponry. The prototype is awkward to hold while playing and the speakers and rumble were so weak as to be unnoticeable on the show floor, but it certainly drew looks from the usually jaded CES goers.

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Play Modern Warfare 2 With a Machine Gun [Ces10]

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