Source: videogamesblogger.com

Just Cause 2 has been delayed until sometime in 2009.

The game, which will be published by Eidos, is the sequel to developer Avalanche Studios’ previously game, Just Cause, that was released on last-gen consoles (and Xbox 360). It was an open-world action game and Just Cause 2 will continue in that vein while upping the ante considerably.

In Just Cause 2 Rico Rodriquez is back to wreak havoc once again, this time with a new destination, the huge playground of the South East Asian islands of Panau. The sequel features more stunts, vehicles and weapons than ever before and an incredible overhauled grappling hook system (the original let you grapple onto almost anything from anywhere). Panau itself is an incredibly detailed and vast 1000 sq km game world of different climates and ultra-realistic weather effects. Leap from your plane and skydive from 10,000 feet down into a tropical jungle, tear across an arid desert in a dune buggy or climb your way up a snowy mountain in a 4×4. The vast open-ended, unique gameplay is back, allowing you full freedom once again to free roam and explore the massive world of Panau and tackle your assignments however you want.

Additions and changes from the first game include: The removal of side missions (which have been replaced by “chaos activities” that reward destruction with increased influence in your associated factions), reworked artificial intelligence, a new lock-on system that allows you to target individual limbs on enemies, bigger and more devastating weapons and improved vehicle controls.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Square had Dissidia: Final Fantasy playable at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show. Dissidia does not have an announced release date outside of Japan (where it hits on December 18th) but Square Enix would be foolish not to release this celebration of the Final Fantasy series 20th anniversary stateside.

If you haven’t heard of Dissidia, it is an upcoming PSP “fighting” game where you use everyone’s favorite characters from the entire Final Fantasy universe and fight in one-on-one duels with other all-star characters. You can think of it as Square Enix’s answer to Nintendo’s Super Smash Bros. Brawl (although it’s apparently only a single or two-player game, no hint of online support).

Major characters that you can play as in Dissida include: Titus from Final Fantasy X, Squall from Final Fantasy VIII, Kefka from Final Fantasy VI, Sephiroth from Final Fantasy VII, Zidane from Final Fantasy IX, Cecil from Final Fantasy IV, Garland from Final Fantasy I and, of course, Cloud from Final Fantasy VII (although he’s yet to be fully revealed), among many others. The group of heroes and villains is truly an all-star cast.

And like Super Smash Bros., the game does not play like a traditional fighting game. As you can see in these gameplay trailers from the 2008 Tokyo Game Show.

And here are the previously released Characters trailer and the second released trailer for the game.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Here’s a list of this weeks U.S. game releases. The most popular games are Saints Row 2 on Xbox 360 & PS3, Dead Space on Xbox 360 & PS3, Rock Band 2 on PS3, SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation on PS3, and FIFA Soccer 09 on multiple platforms. On the downloadable games front we’ve got today’s Wii Shop titles World of Goo, Art Style: Cubello, Secret of Mana, Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition, as well as Age of Booty on Xbox Live Arcade (updates Wednesday). No word yet on any games for PlayStation Network or GameTap Gold (both update on Thursday).

Monday:
Art Style: Cubello - $6 (Wii Shop)
Avatar: The Last Airbender - Into the Inferno (Wii, PS2)
Bratz: Girls Really Rock (Wii, PS2, DS)
Blitz: The League II (Xbox 360, PS3)
Secret of Mana - $8 (Wii Shop)
Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition - $8 (Wii Shop)
World of Goo - $15 (Wii Shop, PC)

Tuesday:
Battle of Giants: Dinosaurs (DS)
Boogie Superstar (Wii)
Brain Training for Dummies (PC)
Cesar Millan’s Dog Whisperer (DS, PC)
Combat Wings: Battle of Britain (PC)
Dead Space (Xbox 360, PS3)
Disney Sing It (PS3, PS2, Wii, Xbox 360)
Dokapon Kingdom (Wii, PS2)
FIFA Soccer 09 (Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP, DS, PC)
Golden Axe: Beast Rider (Xbox 360, PS3)
Littlest Pet Shop (Wii)
Littlest Pet Shop: Garden (DS)
Littlest Pet Shop: Jungle (DS)
Littlest Pet Shop: Winter (DS)
Lovely Lisa (DS)
My Dress Up (DS)
My Japanese Coach (DS)
My Secret Diary (DS)
Naruto: Path of the Ninja 2 (DS)
Penny Racers Party: Turbo-Q Speedway (Wii)
Poker for Dummies (PC)
Rock Band 2 (PS3)
Rock Revolution (Xbox 360, PS3, DS)
Saints Row 2 (Xbox 360, PS3)
Sam & Max: Season One (Wii)
Smart Boy’s Toy Club (DS)
Smart Girl’s Party Game (DS)
Smart Kid’s Party Fun Pack (DS)
SOCOM U.S. Navy SEALs: Confrontation (PS3)

Wednesday:
Age of Booty - $10 (Xbox Live Arcade)
SafeCracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure (Wii)
Space Trader: Merchant Marine (PC)
Tak: Guardians of Gross (Wii, PS2)
Tak: Mojo Mistake (DS)

Friday:
Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (PC)

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Capcom saw fit to release a new trailer for Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia at the 2008 Tokyo Game Show, as the game’s release date is nearly upon us. It hits U.S. shores, exclusively for Nintendo DS, on October 21st (two days before it hits Japan).

Order of Ecclesia is the newest game in the Castlevania series and is the follow-up to the last DS title, Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin (which was a sequel to Castlevania: Dawn of Sorrow) and takes place after Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in the Castlevania timeline.

In Order of Ecclesia players take on the role of Shanoa, female member of the Ecclesia, which is an organization that has sworn to defeat the evil forces of Dracula. By using the new Glyph attack system, gamers will be able to unleash over 100 different combinations to battle Dracula’s minions throughout 20 explorable areas.

Here is the newest trailer for the game, which shows off some nice, stylish cut-scene animation, with interesting artwork, and then cuts to actual gameplay.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

StarCraft II’s opening cinematic set the BlizzCon 2008 crowd afire when Blizzard unveiled a teaser video of the intro to their highly anticipated RTS sequel. Even though the scene was simply a teaser, and not the entire sequence.

But once again Blizzard impresses with some mighty fine CG that is quite simply as top-notch as you can get. Although the opening cinematic isn’t as action packed as I thought it would be, given that this is StarCraft II. But regardless, the teaser video definitely has a very cool, Aliens-esque cinematic feel to it that is definitely worth checking out. And fans will be in for a treat.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Today Nintendo adds new/classic games to the popular Wii Shop Channel. The games go live at 9AM Pacific time. Wii owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at stores like Amazon (see Card above).

We’ve included videos of each of today’s games for nostalgia’s sake or so you can see if it’s to your tastes.

This week’s new WiiWare games are:

World of Goo (2D Boy, 1-4 players, Rated E for Everyone—Comic Mischief, 1,500 Wii Points = $15): World of Goo is an award-winning, physics-based puzzle/construction game made entirely by two guys. Grab living, squirming, talking globs of goo to build structures, bridges, cannonballs, zeppelins and giant tongues. The millions of Goo Balls that live in the beautiful World of Goo are curious to explore—but they don’t know that they are in a game, or that they are extremely delicious. World of Goo Corporation is contractually obligated to state that everyone is a winner, and is enthusiastic to celebrate everyone’s Goo building opportunities equally.

Art Style: Cubello (Nintendo, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone, 600 Wii Points = $6): Art Style: Cubello mixes the strategy and feel of a traditional puzzle game with the precision and reflexes required in a shooter. As each stage begins, various colored cubes form into one large object called a Cubello, which floats and rotates as you play. Launch additional cubes from your magazine and try to connect four or more of the same color, removing them from the Cubello and eventually leaving only its core. Take on the challenge of either Stage or Endless mode and watch what happens when Bonus Time is activated. The straightforward controls and goal ensure that anyone can play, while offering enough depth that even advanced players will find themselves quickly addicted to the unique world of Art Style: Cubello.

This week’s new Virtual Console games are:

Secret of Mana (Super NES, 1-3 players, Rated E10+ for Everyone 10 and Older—Mild Fantasy Violence, Mild Suggestive Themes, 800 Wii Points = $8): Good and evil battle for a young warrior’s heart. There is one force in the universe that keeps good and evil in perfect balance. It is called the tree of Mana. But a magic sword has tricked a young warrior into upsetting this balance, spreading evil throughout the land. Thus, the warrior must undertake a dangerous journey to find the seeds of the Mana tree, which have been hidden for centuries. Only then can perfect harmony be restored. In this incredible adventure, things are not as they seem. Magic swords release evil as well as fight it. Treasure chests hold booby traps. Monsters are friends and friends are enemies. Potions give power, black magic takes it away. Dragons fly, weapons change. It’s a world turned upside down that you must help the warrior make right. And the only way to succeed is to solve the Secret of Mana.

Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition (Sega Genesis, 1-2 players, Rated T for Teen—Violence, 800 Wii Points = $8): Street Fighter II’: Special Champion Edition was the first Street Fighter game released for the Sega Genesis console. The Street Fighter series can be considered one of the first fighting games to popularize competitive video game fighting. This version of the game contains both the Champion and Hyper rule sets, from the two editions released in the arcades. It also introduced an exclusive Group Battle mode that is now a general feature in most fighting games. Play as one of 12 different characters, each with their own distinctive fighting style. Try single-player mode or challenge a friend in this legendary, classic fighting game.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

About a month after the release of the PC life sim Spore, the first Spore expansion has been revealed by Electronic Arts as the “Creepy & Cute Parts Pack”. The pack isn’t so much a gameplay expansion as it is an item add-on pack. It will set you back $19.95. You can pre-order it for digital download via the EA Store for its release date on November 18th, 2008. It’ll be available at retail stores as well.

I don’t know if you’ve seen Spore’s YouTube upload page or the Sporepedia, but editing together new creatures keeps proving to be really popular with nearly 37 million creations so far.

It’s expected the second Spore expansion pack will be for a Flora Editor.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

In the bold and often-bloody Dead Space gamers step into a third-person sci-fi survival horror experience that delivers psychological thrills and gruesome action. Set in the cold blackness of deep space, the atmosphere is soaked with a feeling of tension, dread and sheer terror.

In Dead Space, players step into the role of engineer Isaac Clarke – an ordinary man on a seemingly routine mission to fix the communications systems aboard a deep space mining ship. It is not long before Isaac awakes to a living nightmare when he learns that the ship’s crew has been ravaged by a vicious alien infestation. He must fight through the dead silence and darkness of deep space to stay alive.

How scary can zombies in space really be? “Very” according to this Dead Space video review.


To quote the IGN video review: “Call it science fiction survival horror, but Dead Space does the genre proud with an engaging story; action that’s tense, fast-paced and extremely violent; as well as atmospheric qualities that will get under your skin and make you jump. It may be a newcomer, but the seeds of an incredible franchise have been sown, and EA’s in a great position to reap a phenomenal franchise full of scares. If you like survival horror, action or sci-fi, Dead Space needs to be on your radar.”

Presentation — 9.0
Graphics — 9.0
Sound — 9.5
Gameplay — 8.5
Lasting Appeal — 8.5
Overall — 8.7

Source: videogamesblogger.com

There’s a comic series based on the upcoming original survival horror Dead Space video game. These six animated comics are set in the Dead Space universe, and serve as a prequel story for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC game that will be released on October 14th in time for Halloween 2008.

The comic is written and illustrated by Ben Templesmith and written by Antony Johnston. This series tells the gut-wrenching tale of a deep space mining colony that unexpectedly pulls an ancient and vicious alien life force from the dark rock.

Sh*t hits the fan amidst colony-wide panic in the last part.

EA previously released the first part of an animated Dead Space comic, 2nd animated Dead Space comic, 3rd animated Dead Space comic online a while back. As well as the 4th Dead Space Animated Comic and 5th issue of the Dead Space Animated Comic recently.

Source: videogamesblogger.com

Warhammer Online developer Mythic have said more than 750,000 people have registered accounts for the MMORPG. Although actual subscription numbers won’t be known until people begin paying to play, when their 30-day free trial runs out next weekend.

Interesting fact is that most of the registered accounts are for the Destruction faction. Mythic is promising to correct the unfair population imbalance. As a result starting last weekend 13 servers will apply 20% bonuses to Order characters gaining both experience and renown.

Good Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning impressions:

Click on the bottom-right corner arrow to view it fullscreen.

Via Eurogamer and 1UP