We really were a bit un-enthusiastic about bringing you news that Discovery Channel's fishing documentary Deadliest Catch was spawning a video game. But then we thought of a witty "catching crabs" blog title and that gave us enough of a boost to finish our blogging duties. Anyway, Deadliest Catch Alaskan Storm will feature crab fishing on the deadly Alaskan waters where you'll command some rickety old crab boat to make a year's worth of income in a few weeks. Now that's the life we hope to live. And if that description doesn't get you enthused, we advise watching the video above where Captain Sig Hansen introduces the game and tells us what inspired him to search for someone to code such a piece of work. Or you could always come up with your disgusting crab jokes. It worked for us.
During the dog days of summer in 2006, EA Sports released their first console sports management simulator to great success. That's commercial success, not critical. While NFL Head Coach was initially popular the game and it's many exploits turned many players off. Well, in a move that seems incomprehensible, EA waited a few years to work on a sequel and has just announced NFL Head Coach 2009.
With two-time Super Bowl winner Tony Dungy, head coach of the Indianapolis Colts, gracing the cover, the EA Tiburon developed title makes the jump to the Xbox 360 and PS3 with an expected summer release. We (Read: Just me, Xav) are actually pretty excited about playing a revamped version of NFL Head Coach. Let's just hope EA was actually working on the title and not investing in more 19-0 hat factories.
Rubicon Development, the creators of the XBLA title Novadrome, announced that they would be bringing two new titles to the Arcade, Shotest Shogi & Basement Pool. Though XBLA already has a billiards game, Basement Pool thinks it can offer the Arcade something new, with the main selling points being the variety of tables, and the physics and graphics. The game will only ship with 5 game modes however, and Bankshot Billiards 2 is already on the Marketplace, and it has 9 modes. The Basement Pool website promises that we'll more game modes as DLC, but is that DLC likely to free? Doubtful. If the game can hit at the same price as Bankshot, with camera support (which is unknown at the time) then it has a chance. But otherwise, it seems as though it's being sent to die.
Shotest Shogi on the other hand seems to have a good chance. Shogi as a game is as old as the hills, and is more popular in Japan than chess is in the west. As a chess variant, Shogi is actually a bit more complex than chess, and with a digital form of the game coming to XBLA, complete with tutorial, this could bring one of the oldest and greatest strategy games ever to an entirely new audience. Hey, we'll definitely be buying it.
Today, D3Publisher and Infinite Interactive sent out word that the latest in the Puzzle Quest franchise, Puzzle Quest: Galactrix will be releasing to the Xbox Live Arcade sometime this Fall. Details are light, but D3Publisher revealed that Galactrix will take the franchise into the sci-fi genre, nearly opposite of its older brother Puzzle Quest: CotW. D3Publisher also promise to include a "rich and detailed storyline and fresh gameplay elements" into the mix. Which is a good thing, we wouldn't want Galactrix to have a non-existent storyline or stale gameplay elements ... that gets a thumbs up from us. Feel free to browse the Puzzle Quest: Galactrix concept art, renders and screenshots in the super awesome gallery below.
Just moments ago, towards the end of their GDC08 press conference, Epic Games and Microsoft officially announced that Gears of War 2, the sequel every 360 fanboy has been waiting for, will release November 2008!
In an instant, this massive GDC announcement put to rest a year full of speculation and rumors that has kept the Gears community on the edge of their seats. A year long Gears of War 2 rumor mill encompassing events including Cliffy B hinting at a Gears sequel, seeing Amazon.com pre-orders come and go, reporting on Cliffy's brother knowing something, hearing about a GamePro cover, reading about SurferGirl chiming in and we even sunk as low as to analyze GDC floor plans. All these rumors were reported because we were in search of an elusive GoW2 announcement and now, we have it. We finally have confirmation that GoW2 is real and we can put to rest a year full of rumors. It was fun while it lasted, but we're way more satisfied and relieved knowing that the veil has been lifted. More Gears of War 2 details to come.
After the release of the Naruto game, did you just expect the graphical style of the game to be dead outside of DBZ fighters? We here at X3F certainly didn't, which is why we're not surprised at the recent announcement that there will be an Afro Samurai game. Which is great because the show's plot is almost tailor made for a video game, i.e. the story revolves around fights. Play magazine was given a preview of the game, and it appears to match the "hand drawn" look characteristic of cel-shaded-anime-licensed games (such as Naruto). If the gameplay is there to match the look, we could be looking at the beginnings of a very nice 3D action game. Not only could this end up a good game, but this news might just turn on a few folks to the (excellent, if derivative) anime mini-series.
The new game from the newly-acquired-by-Valve studio Turtle Rock Studios, Left 4 Dead has had a fair bit of press from the PC side of the gaming press, but we've heard relatively little in relation to a console version. Well that's over, as OXM recently revealed that the game will not only be appearing on PCs, but that the 360 version will be the only one appearing on any console. The folks from OXM got to play two scenario's (read: levels) on PC and one level on a 360 dev kit. As a minor point (but a good sign) the names of those levels recall the game's horror roots: "The Hospital" and "Cornfield."
The second part to this news is the identity of the developer who will be handling the 360 port (Valve and Turtle Rock won't be working with it hands-on). That dev is the creator of Halo 2 DLC, Certain Affinity. The 16 man team with former Halo team members will be "handle(ing) 360-specific elements like matchmaking, Live support, console customization, and 360 gameplay tweaks."
Racing games are broken up into various sub-genres to help differentiate the appeal they'll have to different demographics of gamers. Simulation, arcade, kart, destruction, clown-car and off-road are all standard in the racing world and Disney has just announced plans to jump into the fray. Introducing Pure, an off-road experience that's promised to "redefine" the off-road sub-genre. However, with the recent releases of Dirt and the PS3 exclusive Motorstorm off-road racing has been getting a strong push for quality releases.
While the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC title isn't slated to hit shelves until late 2008 it's unclear how Disney's Brighton, England studio Black Rock, formerly known as Climax Racing, is going to wow audiences. While we're sure the studio is passionate about the possibilities new hardware offers, the buzz-word promises they threw at GI.biz of "breakneck racing" and "jaw-dropping aerial tricks," just invoke memories of Black Rock's previous franchise ATV Off-Road Fury. But hey, here's hoping they'll prove us wrong.
Again, our trusty friend the ESRB has come to the rescue in fulling our insatiable appetite for upcoming (and totally unannounced) XBLA games with their latest listing for Wits and Wagers.
Wits and Wagers will be a title developed by the crew over at Hidden Path Entertainment and solely for the Xbox 360. In general, Wits and Wagers is a board game where players answer trivia and place bets on which guess is closest to the actual answer. Simple enough. Though, we're curious to see how well Hidden Path can pull off a game like Wits and Wagers seeing that their only experience on the 360 is an XNA demo and creating a trivia game isn't the easiest genre to make entertaining. It doesn't really matter though. We're just proud that we discovered another upcoming XBLA game long before its announcement. We so cool!
Activision just made it official today that the next Guitar Hero incarnation will in fact be called Guitar Hero: Aerosmith and will feature songs exclusively from ... well, the band Aerosmith.
GHAero (that's the official X3F abbreviation from now on) is scheduled for a June release when gamers will be able to play alongside Steven Tyler and truly embrace their inner Aerosmith fanboy. The number of tracks, what sort of bundle, pricing information and word about whether or not the GH franchise has been whored out have yet to be confirmed, but one could expect all the specifics to be in line with previous Guitar Hero releases. Yah dig?
Activision also revealed that in celebration of their "groundbreaking" GHAero (man are we love that abbreviation) announcement, they will be releasing Aerosmith's "Dream On" to the XBLM as a free GHIII download. The free DLC will be available from February 16th through the 18th, so be sure to gobble that up before it disappears.
SouthPeak Games just revealed that they will be taking their first adventure into the murky development bogs of the Xbox Live Arcade with the announcement of Roogoo.
We'd love to kick off the Roogoo talk with us gushing about the game's art style, but we guess we should explain what exactly Roogoo is. Simply put, it's a puzzle game where players try to help settle the battle over planet "Roo" by rotating floating discs (which look a lot like those rolling shape baby toys) so that the falling shapes can land on the planet below. Simple enough. Now, since that's out of the way, allow us to gush over the game's art style. It's delicious! So friendly, so welcoming, so ... overly fun! We dare say yum'alicious times four! SouthPeak also mentioned that a Roogoo XBLA release will be happening sometime this April when they promise to bring the colorful falling shapes and the happy too.
The first Red Faction was one of the few FPS games last generation that was console-exclusive to PS2. This was made even more interesting by the fact that the game was well-known for its physics and destructible environs. The sequel saw release on all of the last gen systems, and the third game looks to be on the way to 360 and the PS3. Announced last week, Red Faction III is being developed by Volition Inc, (the developers of the first games, as well as Saints Row) and published by THQ.
Not much is known about the title at this time. Whether the story will be continued, how current-gen tech will be utilized, etc, is all up in the air. Though we were teased with the idea that the tech will allow for "More exciting destruction technology," the only other real facts taken from the announcement were the news that the game is running (albeit in early form) and that THQ's target release date is April of 2009.
Ah, reality. It can get pretty boring sometimes. Especially if you live in a place like Tulsa, Oklahoma (sorry Richard). Thankfully Midway knows your life is as boring as clicking refresh on X3F all day and announced This is Vegas. Combining Grand Theft Auto, Second Life and, well, Vegas, This is Vegas allows players to experience the wild desert wonderland and find out what people mean when they say "what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas." According to the official site, This is Vegas puts players in the role of a business man visiting the strip who will have to rise to the top and create a vast empire by reigniting the adult playground, drive the fastest cars and prove your power with weapons or via fisticuffs. The open world playground is being developed by the in house Midway team at Surreal Software and is slated for a Winter 2008 release on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. Also, always double-down on 11.
Wanna play a game? Well, that's exactly what Brash Entertainment is asking as they just announced a brand new game based on the Saw movie franchise. Saw (the video game) will have its own unique story based in the Saw universe as Brash works closely with Lionsgate and Twisted Pictures to make it oh so authentic. Specifics aren't available, but we do know that Saw will release sometime in October 2009 and utilize teh awesomeness that the Unreal Engine 3 can bring. Now, let's hope the game can be better than the movie sequels they've been churning out lately. Zing!
Developer Load Inc. and publisher SouthPeak announced today that they're jumpin' back into the XBLA ring for another go with this Summer's release of Things on Wheels. An RC racer that takes your racing adventures through the house and into the toilet. Sound like Mad Tracks? Well, it sounds like Mad Tracks to us too, but Load Inc. (who, wouldn't you know, did make Mad Tracks) promises that Things on Wheels will be its own fresh racing experience. We'll see about that. One good thing Things on Wheels has going for it is its art-style which can be previewed in the single teaser screenshot above. Enjoyable, no?
During the dog days of summer in 2006, EA Sports released their first console sports management simulator to great success. That's commercial success, not critical. While NFL Head Coach was initially popular the game and it's many exploits turned many players off. Well, in a move that seems incomprehensible, EA waited a few years to work on a sequel and has just announced NFL Head Coach 2009.
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Again, our trusty friend the ESRB has come to the rescue in fulling our insatiable appetite for upcoming (and totally unannounced) 
Activision just made it official today that the next 
