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Σάββατο 30 Απριλίου 2011

Tomb Raider (2011 video game)



Tomb Raider is an upcoming action-adventure video game, the ninth pillar instalment of the Tomb Raider series developed by Crystal Dynamics and published by Square Enix. The first in a third continuation, the game is set to provide no correlation to the entirety of the previous entries in the series; a reboot that emphasizes the reconstructed origins of the culturally influential lead character, Lara Croft.[1][2]
Contents
[hide]

1 Story
2 Gameplay
3 Development
4 Voice cast
5 Music
6 References
7 External links

[edit] Story

Fresh from academy and in search of lost relics, a 21-year-old Lara Croft journeys to an island off the coast of Japan aboard the Endurance, a salvage vessel helmed by Captain Conrad Roth. Before anchoring at bay, the ship is cleaved in two by an unforeseen storm leaving Croft separated from any other survivors and washed ashore. She must endure physical and emotional torture in order to survive the island.[3]
[edit] Gameplay

The game begins with Croft devoid of any weapons, tools or essentials such as food and water, which the player must search for in order to survive.[4] Sections of the island are restricted to the player until Lara is able to perform specific physical abilities achieved via a "skill system", or obtained the necessary equipment to advance.[5] At frequent base camps throughout the world, the player can combine pick-ups to create new items, improve Lara's abilities and/or fast travel to previously discovered base camps to avoid copious amounts of backtracking.[4] There is a "much larger emphasis" on combat, as instead of using a lock-on aiming system akin to previous Tomb Raiders this game will employ a manual "free aim" mechanic.[5]
[edit] Development
A conceptual render of Lara Croft in Tomb Raider. She wields a bow, pistol and climbing axe.

Following Tomb Raider: Underworld, Crystal Dynamics was split into two teams; the first beginning work on the next sequential pillar of the Tomb Raider franchise, while the second focusing on the newly created spin-off Lara Croft series (debuting with Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light in 2010).[6] Following pre-announcement media hype while the game's title was under embargo, in November, 2010, Square Enix filed for trademark of the slogan for the new Tomb Raider game; "A Survivor is Born".[7]

On 6 December 2010, Square Enix announced Tomb Raider had been in production for nearly 2 years; "Square Enix Ltd. is excited today to announce Tomb Raider, the new game from Redwood City based studio Crystal Dynamics".[8] Studio head Darrell Gallagher said, "Forget everything you knew about Tomb Raider, this is an origins story that creates Lara Croft and takes her on a character defining journey like no other".[9] Game Informer website and magazine ran a world exclusive cover reveal in its January 2011 issue, as well as exclusive coverage of emerging details directly from Crystal Dynamics from December 12, 2010.[2] Tomb Raider, anticipated for release in the last quarter of 2011, will be the first game in the series expected to receive a Mature 17+ rating in the United States.[10]

Lara Croft's model is animated using compiled performance capture, a technique used in previous instalment Tomb Raider: Underworld.[3]
[edit] Voice cast

Keeley Hawes will not be returning as Lara Croft for 2011's Tomb Raider, after completing Tomb Raider: Legend, Anniversary, Underworld and Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light. Her contribution spans an unprecedented four years; the longest role of any of Croft's voice actresses. The voice part for Croft has not yet been finalized. Crystal Dynamics is trialling dozens of voice actresses. [11]
[edit] Music

On 21 December 2010, a podcast was released via the exclusive Game Informer media coverage. As well as featuring an interview with the developers regarding selected publicized fan questions, it also included "a sneak peek at a track from the game itself" composed by Aleksandar Dimitrijevic.[11] On the 27 December 2010, tweets from Crystal Dynamics Global Brand Director, Karl Stewart, clarified Game Informer's statement, saying "We're delighted to have such an esteemed composer working with us on our first major Tomb Raider asset",[12] but that "Alex Dimitrijevic is scoring the trailer. We officially haven't announced the composer for the game."[13]
[edit] References

^ Cullen, Johnny (6 December 2010). "Square announces Tomb Raider". VG247. Videogaming 247. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^ a b Makuch, Eddie (6 December 2010). "Next Tomb Raider to be origin story". GameSpot (CBS Interactive). Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^ a b Marie, Meagan. "Tomb Raider Lara Croft Reborn". Game Informer (GameStop Corporation) (2011 January): 42.
^ a b Marie, Meagan. "Tomb Raider Lara Croft Reborn". Game Informer (GameStop Corporation) (2011 January): 51.
^ a b Marie, Meagan. "Tomb Raider Lara Croft Reborn". Game Informer (GameStop Corporation) (2011 January): 50.
^ Walton, Mark (9 January 2009). "Tomb Raider sales fall short, Eidos shares plummet". GameSpot (CBS Interactive). Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^ McElroy, Griffin (27 November 2010). "Square Enix files trademark for 'A Survivor is Born'". Joystiq (AOL). Retrieved 9 December 2010.
^ Baker, Elyas Gorogo (6 December 2010). "The Return of Tomb Raider". World Gaming Network. Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^ Robinson, Martin (6 December 2010). "New Tomb Raider Unveiled". IGN (News Corporation). Retrieved 6 December 2010.
^ Marie, Meagan. "Tomb Raider Lara Croft Reborn". Game Informer (GameStop Corporation) (2011 January): 48.
^ a b Matt Helgeson, Karl Stewart and Tim Longo. Special Edition Podcast: Tomb Raider Game Informer. Game Informer Show. (21 December 2010). Podcast accessed on 21 December 2010.
^ Karl Stewart. "10:01 PM Dec 26th, 2010 via Twitter".
^ Karl Stewart. "6:59 PM Dec 27th, 2010 via Twitter".

[edit] External links

Tomb Raider official website

UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth


UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth is an upcoming Turn-based strategy video game developed by Chaos Concept. It is the sequel to UFO: Extraterrestrials. It is scheduled to be released on Microsoft Windows in April 2011.[1]
Contents
[hide]

1 Plot
2 Gameplay
3 Hardware requirements
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Plot

It is actually a prequel since the story takes place on Earth, before the events that occurred in the original UFO:ET. The game takes place just before the events leading up to the human colonization of the planet Esperanza.[1]
[edit] Gameplay

Some of the announced improvements to the game include dynamic lighting (night missions complete with the need for light sources), and naval forces in the geoscape phase of the game (such as heavy aircraft carrier/cruisers that can launch fighters and defenses against UFOs).
[edit] Hardware requirements
UFO2Extraterrestrials-Shadows over Earth - box and content

Minimum configuration:

Windows 2000/XP/Vista/Windows7 with DirectX 9.0c or greater
1.5 Ghz Processor
128 MB Video Card with DirectX9.0c compatible drivers
512 MB RAM
2.6 GB free hard disk space
DVD ROM, mouse

[edit] References

^ a b c "UFO2Extraterrestrials home page". 2011-03-28. Retrieved 2011-03-28.

[edit] External links

UFO2Extraterrestrials: Shadows over Earth official website

Bleach: Soul Ignition


Bleach: Soul Ignition is an upcoming action game exclusively for the PlayStation 3. It is slated for a June 2011 release.[1] A downloadable demo based on the upcoming Bleach: The Hell Verse movie has been released on the Japanese PlayStation Store on December 24, 2010. [2]

The release date is now confirmed on 2011.6.23 [3]

Rio: The Game


Based on the eponymous movie, centered on a Rio poikilia mini-games that offer fun for one or more paiktes.Odigiste Blu the blue parrot on a fun adventure in Rio as well as participate in various activities and games that will lead him to the forefront of the great feast Karnavaliou.Ena the game for the whole family up to 4 players simultaneously

WSC Real 11


To WSC Real 11: World Snooker Championship brings an authentic simulation of the pool screen 360 sas.Me significant improvements in the optical field and the natural movement of the ball and a variety of options for different types of isolated games or league for a player or online matches with others, the WSC Reall 11 will largely meet the friends of that particular sport.

The Next Big Thing


What if horror movies' monsters were actually played by real monsters? And what if they were now forced to play in movies for kids, romantic comedies or even musicals? And what would happen if, eventually, they
were to rebel? In that context, Liz Allaire, talented journalist who can't count up to 4, and Dan Murray, a tough macho who can't stand beetles, attend the horror movies award ceremony there is the starting point of an incredible story, full of twists and turns Help Liz and Dan solve the numerous mysteries of an amazing adventure that you won't forget any time soon...



The Next BIG Thing is the new, hilarious adventure gem from the creators of Runaway. A great adventure game in high definition, loaded with laughs, tributes, mysteries and wacky puzzles. Thanks to a production worthy of a great animated movie, an awesome soundtrack, delightful dialogue and a altgreat art style, The Next BIG Thing will make you live an unforgettable adventure which brilliantly takes players across the fantastic movie genres of a totally crazy Hollywood.

Xbox Live Arcade Triple Pack (2011)


A collection of 3 games were originally released on Xbox-Live and have great epitychia.Ston same disk, you will find Trials HD, Limbo Splosion Man.To and each has its own style of gameplay that will keep your interest and will entertain you for some time.

Thor: God of Thunder



Thor: God of Thunder is an upcoming third person single-player video game based on the upcoming film Thor developed by Sega and co-written by Matt Fraction, the Eisner Award-winning writer of the comic book series. Thor: God of Thunder marks Thor’s first standalone appearance in a video game and is scheduled for release on May 3, 2011[4] on all major video game platforms (with the exception of the PSP[5] and PC).
Contents
[hide]

1 Gameplay
2 Development
3 Marketing
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Gameplay
Thor fighting a Frost Giant.

Thor battles through the numerous worlds of Norse mythology to save Asgard. Players will wield the iconic Mjölnir, Thor’s legendary hammer, to fight enemies of an immense scale while controlling the elemental storm powers of lightning, thunder and wind to vanquish enemies. Thor must overcome monstrous foes lifted from the pages of the comics, including Ulik, Ymir and Surtur, as well as other daunting enemies.[4].
[edit] Development

News that Sega was developing a Thor video game first leaked to the public in September 2009.[6] Sega officially announced the game in July 2010.[1] At the 2010 New York Comic-Con, Matt Powers the senior producer of the game stated that Thor: God of Thunder will expand on the universe created by the Thor film and will include characters such as Surtur and Ulik.[7] In December 2010 Sega announced that actors Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston who played Thor and Loki respectively in the film will lend their voices and likenesses to the game. Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing at SEGA Europe and SEGA of America stated that, "Bringing in Chris and Tom to star in Thor: God of Thunder gives us AAA talent that will create a truly cinematic interactive experience... [the] Mighty Thor and the trickster Loki will face off with real emotion while giving fans visual and vocal continuity between the video game and film adaptations of the Marvel franchise".[4] In January 2011 Sega confirmed that they cancelled the PSP edition of the game without any explanation.[5]
[edit] Marketing

The gameplay trailer debuted at the 2010 Spike Video Game Awards.[8]
[edit] See also

Thor (film)

[edit] References

^ a b "Thor Gets His Own Game". IGN. 2010-07-20. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
^ http://uk.wii.ign.com/objects/900/900979.html
^ http://www.dvd.co.uk/buy/catth360/thor-the-video-game-xbox-360.htm
^ a b c "SEGA Inks Actors Chris Hemsworth and Tom Hiddleston to Star in the Video Game Thor: God of Thunder". Business Wire. 2010-12-02. Retrieved 2010-12-02.
^ a b Reilly, Jim (2011-01-24). "Thor PSP Canned; 3DS Version Confirmed". IGN. Retrieved 2011-02-25.
^ Ivan, Tom (2009-09-22). "Leaked: Sony's Motion Control Plans, PS2 Emulator For PS3". Edge Online. Retrieved 2009-09-23.
^ Plante, Chris (2010-10-08). "NYCC 2010: The Man Behind Thor Defends His Game". UGO. Retrieved 2010-10-10.
^ Usher, William (2010-12-12). "Thor: God Of Thunder Debut Gameplay Trailer". Cinema Blend. Retrieved 2010-12-12.

[edit] External links

Official website
Thor: God of Thunder at the Internet Movie Database

Τετάρτη 27 Απριλίου 2011

Full House Poker


Full House Poker is a video game poker variant Texas hold 'em developed and published by Microsoft Games Studios and was released for Xbox 360 as an Xbox Live Arcade title and Windows Phone 7 on March 16, 2011.[2] The game is the spiritual successor to 1 vs. 100 and features scheduled tournaments known as Texas Heat.[3] Full House Poker also offers TV-style live poker events with season-long tournaments and more traditional Texas Hold Em' matchups with up to 30 human or computer controlled players.[4]
[edit]Reception

Early reviews of the game were positive. TeamXbox gave the game a 7.7/10.[5] Alex Keen of Crave Online praised the Avatar integration, but noted the lack of voice commentary and experienced a frozen table during a Texas Heat tournament.[6] IGN gave the game an 8/10, praising the game's online mode, while comparing Texas Heat mode to 1 vs 100.[7]

Fancy Pants Adventures


Fancy Pants Adventures is a series of free side-scrolling flash games created by Brad Borne. Two worlds have been released so far, World 1 on 14 March 2006 and World 2 on 9 January 2008. Borne had announced that after the 2009 Comic Con, he would officially start working on World 3. A console version developed by Borne and Over the Top Games was released by EA 2D for PlayStation Network and Xbox Live Arcade on April 19 and April 20, 2011, respectively.
Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
1.1 Menus
2 Development
2.1 World 1
2.2 World 2
2.3 World 3
2.4 The Fancy Pants Adventures (Console)
3 Reception
4 References
5 External links
[edit]Gameplay

Fancy Pants Adventures features Fancy Pants Man as the playable character of the series. He is a two dimensional stick figure with spiky, choppy hair, wearing only a pair of triangular-shaped pants. (original pants' colour is orange). Fancy Pants Man's home is Squiggleville, a small country town run by the Mayor (first introduced in World 2). Players guide Fancy Pants Man through open levels which feature obstacles to overcome and enemies to avoid or defeat.[1] These enemies include spiders, snails, and mice armed with guns. Enemies can be defeated by being jumped upon and crushed by Fancy Pants Man, who can also launch off them to perform an augmented leap.[2] World 2 introduced the snail enemy, which retracts into its shell when jumped on, after which it can be kicked to stun other enemies.[3] Originally the snail shell was merely a novelty feature in the World 2 demo, however during development, BETA testers made a game out of getting the snail shell to hard-to-reach spots. Brad, the game designer, used this as inspiration to incorporate "Snail Shell Golf" which adds replayability to World 2 by allowing the player to gain access to different colored pants for the playable character. It is possible to earn a combo by keeping the snail shell in the air. As Fancy Pants Man runs through the different levels, there are many "squiggles" floating in mid-air. They serve two important functions. Firstly, they refill Fancy Pants Man's life meter by 5% if he has been damaged, and they also give the player an extra life for every hundred collected. In the source code, these "squiggles" are referred to as "coins"; possibly as a reference to Nintendo's Mario video games series. Another possible reference comes in the form of a box which can be jumped at from beneath to release several squiggles, like the coin boxes in Mario.
Both worlds of Fancy Pants Adventures contain small trophies that can be collected while playing the game.[4] At the end of each world of Fancy Pants Adventures players fight a boss. In World 1 the boss is an angry penguin,[5] who Fancy Pants Man accidentally falls upon and wakes from sleeping. This is the extent of the story in World 1, while World 2 has a more significant plotline. In World 2 an angry rabbit steals Fancy Pants Man's ice cream. Players must pursue and ultimately defeat the rabbit in a confrontation at the end of the game in order to reclaim the ice cream.[6]
A secret move, the wall jump, was obtainable in World 1, level 1 as a secret power-up from a pit that you travel to through a cardboard box and was noted by Borne that it was still work in progress. Soon after obtaining the wall jump, you had to employ the uses of it straight away to avoid an inevitable death from the slowly filling pit of ink. The wall jump became an official move available in World 2's increasing repertoire of moves. This was first shown in a demo that was made available by its creator, Brad Borne, on Newgrounds on March 13, 2007.
In The Fancy Pants Adventures for consoles, there are a few new additions to the gameplay. These include the ability to swim, which includes being able to kick off flat surfaces whilst underwater, and the ability to use a weapon later on in the game, which features a chargeable attack. The game features a main story mode, in which the player must save his sister, Cutie Pants Girl, who has been kidnapped by a band of pirates who make her their captain. Each level contains two bonus rooms, a 'Micro-Trial', in which players must quickly chase a line of yellow squiggles, and stars which unlock extra content, including remakes of the first two worlds. The game also features local and online multiplayer for up to four players, as well as various challenges. Playing through the game allows the player to unlock hats, pants and weapons to customize their character's appearance.
[edit]Menus
The menus for each game are interactive. That is, you control Fancy Pants Man through them exactly like in-game levels. The menus contain boxes of which jumped on from beneath to change the pants colors, or to view collected trophies, as well as links to Brad Borne's site and Armor Games's site. They also serve as level selectors for the game.
The player starts World 1 in a dark corridor, then enters the menu through a door. In World 2, before the menu appears, the opening credits and the Armor Games logo scrolls up, with the option to skip the credits. The menu opens with instructions at the top-left hand corner of the screen.
[edit]Development



Fancy Pants Man (left) fights against Newgrounds mascot Pico (middle) and Alien Hominid in Newgrounds Rumble.
The Fancy Pants Adventures series was created by Brad Borne, who had previously created games with the help of Mark Fleig Jr. Fleig provided all of the computer graphics on their collaborations. The previous games provided experience and allowed for more complex designs. Before using Macromedia Flash Borne had experimented with the TI-BASIC programming language on a TI-86 graphing calculator, his first involvement with Macromedia's software was stop motion animation. The stop motion experience was built upon with Flash's action script, used to create video games, which lead to further interest and ultimately Borne felt he "knew enough to make something that I thought was worth playing."[7] Despite not having a background in art, Borne created the graphics for Fancy Pants Adventures himself, resulting in the "sketchy" graphical style.[7] The World 1 penguin boss was originally named "Pauly Penguin" and was created by one of Brad's friends, Paul Downs.[5]
After the release of World 1 Borne began freelancing, but stated in an interview that he views his own projects as a hobby, and that he doesn't "get as consumed by the process as much as I used to".[7] According to Borne "Trophies were my way of giving a nod to a few Flash artists whose work I really enjoyed."[4] In World 1 these trophies are located within standard levels, or at the end of a simple level designed by Borne. Several trophies from World 1 represent Borne's own works in progress, In World 2 however the developer worked directly with the artist each trophy represented in order to design a unique level for obtaining that trophy.[4]
Bornegames is the hub for Borne's work and blog, which quickly became an integral part of the beta testing process. With new betas being released on a regular basis that no other websites had, players visiting the site act as beta testers and report software bugs. It became the central hub for the latest bug-fixes and BETA news. Borne has also used his blog to post question and answer videos to reply to questions sent in by fans, he has also posted a "Behind the Fancy Pants" video as well as an "Official Snailshell Golf Guide".[8] In May 2008 Borne completed a Fancy Pants Man move set and character design for the fighting game Newgrounds Rumble.[9] In Newground Rumble Fancy Pants Man was supposedly invited for free ice cream in the Newgrounds world until he finds out that it was a setup for revenge by the other characters in the Newground universe. Newgrounds didn't appreciate "kiddy" games unlike killing, shooting, violent, etc. games. Fancy later fights characters like S'asshole, Hank, P-bot, Nene, and the Newgrounds mascot Pico.During the Pico and Nene stage, Pico's rival Piconjo joins Fancy's side. Fancy later tries to find whose idea was the setup.
[edit]World 1
The first installment of the series The Fancy Pants Adventures. It was created by Brad Borne, and released March 14, 2006. It is a platforming game with trophies and different colors of the pants (red, green, blue and orange).
Story World 1 doesn't have an original story, other than The Fancy Pants Man going around the world and accidentally giving the angry penguin a rude awakening.
[edit]World 2
This is the second installment of the series The Fancy Pants Adventures. Also crated by Brad,it was released in January 9, 2008. It's a platforming game with circled slopes and new tricks included. It has more levels, trophies and colors than the first installment.
Story Fancy Pants will appear in a type of golf-shell course with his pencil as golf stick and Snail Shell as ball. When he gets the ball inside the hole that says Pants, the mayor of Squiggleville will appear. He will give him an Ice Cream, then the Angry Rabbit appears and steals Fancy Pants Man's Ice Cream. The mayor tells Fancy Pants Man to fight for the Ice Cream, so he enters the golf hole. After beating all 6 Levels and 5 Extra Levels, Fancy Pants Man will enter The Angry Rabbit's Rabitty Hideout. Then they will fight. If Fancy Pants Man wins, his Ice Cream will come floating down slowly.
[edit]World 3
The third installment of The Fancy Pants Adventures is currently in development and although Borne himself is not entirely sure when World 3 will be released, most expected that the game would be in a beta stage by mid-2010. In this installment, Fancy Pants Man's little sister, Cutie Pants Girl, is kidnapped and Fancy Pants Man has to save her. Borne has released some art for the new game and asked followers of his site for feedback. Elements in World 3 that have been confirmed[10]:
Water-based levels and swimming.
The little sister of Fancy Pants Man named Cutie Pants Girl (who wears a dress) will be introduced. She has the ability to swing from ceilings using her pet cat, Kitten Kabootle. It is unknown whether or not she will be able to swim.
A longer, more complex plot involving pirates and ninjas.
Pencil combat. Fancy Pants Man will employ a pencil as he does in Newgrounds Rumble.
Spin attack.
Improved animation, backgrounds, and moves(ie. the character will no longer fall off of wall jumps, just slide).
Special rooms where you perform a string of move combos for points
New enemies including angry ducks, frogs, bats, pirates, and ninjas.
Up to four player multi-player.
[edit]The Fancy Pants Adventures (Console)
On November 10, 2010, series creator Brad Borne released a video on his website and on YouTube announcing a home console version of The Fancy Pants Adventures for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network. The game is a collaboration between Borne Games and development studio Over the Top Games, and was published by Electronic Arts, under the company's EA2D label.[11] New features include a two to four player mode and a brand new set of levels, as well as World's 1 and 2. The game was released on April 19, 2011 for PlayStation Network and April 20, 2011 for Xbox Live Arcade.[12] Borne announced in an FAQ on his website, the console game is not World 3, but World 3 will be something of a devolution of the console game.[13]
[edit]Reception

The Fancy Pants Adventures games received a positive reaction from video game critics and "drew in crowds on sites like Newgrounds and Armor Games".[14] Both worlds have featured on numerous "Best Games" articles; on sites including TechCult,[15] ExtremeTech,[16] and GamesRadar.[14]
As of February 2008, World 2 has been played almost 6.5 million times on Armorgames. World 2 had been played over 9 million times on Addicting Games, and 2 million times on Kongregate. World 1 has been played about 3 million times on Armor Games, almost 3 million on Addicting Games, and over 1 million times on Kongregate. World 2 won the 2008 Newgrounds Tank Award for Best Flash Game,[17] and is the fifth most played Flash game of 2008 in the Mochi Media Flash game advertising network.[18] The game was also nominated for Nick's Most Addicting Games Showdown.
IGN gave The Fancy Pants Adventures a score of 7.5, praising its parkour style gameplay, but criticising the inclusion of weapons and the lack of drop in multiplayer.[19]
[edit]References

^ Bardinelli, John (2006-03-24). "The Fancy Pants Adventure". Jay is Games. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ Haas, Juergen. "Linux Game: Fancy Pants Adventures". about.com. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
^ Psychotronic (2008-01-11). "The Fancy Pants Adventure: World 2". Jay is Games. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
^ a b c Borne, Brad (2007-10-07). "Cameo Levels". Bornegames.com. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
^ a b Borne, Brad; Downs, Paul. "Behind the Fancy Pants". Bornegames.com.
^ Fahey, Mike (2008-01-10). "Hot Flashes: Fancy Pants Adventure 2". Kotaku. Retrieved 2009-02-28.
^ a b c "Brade Borne, developer of The Fancy Pants Adventures". Planet Freeplay. 2007-03-08. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
^ Borne, Brad. "Videos". Bornegames.com. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
^ Borne, Brad (2008-05-31). "Fancy Pants a fighter?". Bornegames.com. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
^ [1]
^ http://www.fancypantsadventures.com
^ http://xboxlive.ign.com/articles/116/1160491p1.html
^ http://www.bornegames.com/games/fpa-for-console/faqs/
^ a b Nagata, Tyler (2008-12-09). "The BEST FREE games to play this holiday". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2009-02-27.
^ Scocco, Daniel (2008-10-06). "The 150 Best Online Flash Games". TechCult. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
^ "The 20 Best Free PC Games". ExtremeTech. Retrieved 2009-03-02.
^ Fulp, Tom (2009-03-07). "2nd Annual Tank Awards". Newgrounds. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
^ Au, Wagner (2008-12-15). "10 Most Popular Flash Games of 2008 — Mochi Network". GigaOM. Retrieved 2009-03-07.
^ http://uk.xboxlive.ign.com/articles/116/1163079p1.html
[edit]External links

BorneGames.com Brad Borne's Website
Play World 1 at Armor Games
Play World 2 at Armor Games
FancyPantsAdventures.com Fancy Pants Adventures

Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water


Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water, often shortened to Dream Chronicles 5 or The Book of Water, is a 2011 adventure and puzzle casual game developed by KatGames and published by PlayFirst. It is the fifth installment in the Dream Chronicles series, the forth sequel to 2007's award-winning game Dream Chronicles, and the middle part of the second trilogy titled Lyra's Destiny. The game continues the story right where it left off in Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air, and tells the strange journey of an extraordinary girl named Lyra who has found her way home only to discover that the Fairy Queen of Dreams, her family's biggest rival, has cast a menacing storm over all of her beloved Town of Wish. The town is completely desolate, her mother is missing, and her father is gravely ill. Embarking on a quest to help Lyra counter the evil spell and seek answers to save her family and hometown.[1]
The Book of Water was first presented limitedly as a beta version on December 3, 2010. Another beta version was leaked on January 18, 2011. It will be released as two editions, Collector's and Standard, though the Collector's one was leaked on April 22, two days ahead of its actual release, April 24. The Book of Water was preceded by Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air and will be followed by Dream Chronicles: The Book of Fire.
Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
2 Synopsis
2.1 Setting
2.2 Plot
3 Development
4 Release and post-release
5 References
6 External links
[edit]Gameplay

Gameplay in Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water is structured much like that in Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air. It is more of a quest-like adventure than a traditional hidden object game, a mixing of adventure and puzzle game. Featuring loads of puzzles and logical quests with different difficulties, The Book of Water still assure that puzzles are well-tricky and tightly blended with the story, which is a typical feature of quest or click-and-point games.
There are no lists of items to find but a huge amount of inventory based puzzles, logical riddles and quests to solve, which have been scattered through the locations in the game. The objects that players find may be used in a scene other than the one they found it in. Objects will stay in inventory until players need to use them. All objects that players are able to pick up will serve a purpose, whether they are used in that scene or not. A lot of times in this game the pieces players pick up may only be used as they get to the next scene. Some items may not become visible in a scene right away, players must perform other tasks first before they become visible.
The hint system is much more evolved and enhanced than all of previous Dream Chronicles games. Players can use "Locator" button on the left edge to highlight objects that they can pick up, including Dream Pieces. The "Locator" needs to be fully charged to work, and it will charge up over time. But if there are not any, the power of hints is not used. Some puzzles have a skip button available, players just have to wait until it is filled to use it. There is also a help system at players' disposal. By clicking on this button, players will be revealed a hint or objective in a board. The hint or objective disappears from the board when is achieved.
The notable feature, which only featured in the Collector's Edition of the game, is that players can play as Faye in the bonus chapter, besides playing as the main character Lyra. Play as Faye in the prequel to Lyra's journey in The Book of Water find out what happened just moments before Lyra's story began.
Like the previous game The Book of Air, Dream Chronicles’ feature factor, Dream Jewels come with four special powers (one ability was lifted). They can be used to light up a dark place ("Illuminate"), reconstruct objects of things broken apart in pieces ("Weld"), reveal invisible things or secret ("Reveal"), and permits seeing someone Lyra love that is far away ("Vision"). In order to activate Dream Jewels, players need to fill them with Dream Pieces which are thrown throughout.
As usual, players earn a high score at the end of the game. The faster how players can complete the game, the more Dream Jewels and Dream Pieces they can find, the fewer times they skip puzzles, the better score they will earn. When players play again under the same name, some of the key items themselves will be in different places the second time around.
[edit]Synopsis

[edit]Setting
For more Dream Chronicles locations, see Dream Chronicles (series)#Setting.
Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water spans several distinct areas that can be traveled to by airship whenever players click the destination on the in-game map. There are twenty-four main scenes and nine large areas featuring in the game:
The Village of Wish: This is the tiny town of Wish, where Lyra lives with her parents, Fidget and Faye, and her grandparents, Tangle and Aeval. It is an insular place, far from cities and civilization. The town is surrounded by tall walls, not to keep the residents inside, for they have no desire to leave the safety and warmth of their community. The walls are there to keep the outside world outside, and are secured with complex weighted locks first seen in Dream Chronicles. The streets are cobbled, lined with colorful dwellings and stores. Beyond the walls of Wish lie lush forests and winding roads that, eventually, lead to other larger towns. But the folk of Wish have little desire to visit those distant places. Their homes are secure in their beloved village where, they believe, no harm can come to them.
The Herbalist's House: The herbalist is a mortal who acquired fairy knowledge and experimented with potions from various plants. Known for his expertise in potion-making, the Herbalist has recipes for very powerful magical concoctions.
The Barge City: This is an enchanting fishing village built over the water, well south of the Village of Wish, is the home of many fishermen and merchants, and where houses float on water, connected by wooden boardwalks.
The Obelisk: This imposing structure holds a magical figurine inside, but it is not easy to access or open. This is also a very arid and quiet place, in the middle of the desert, but people must still live in those houses carved into the rocks.
Merrow's Cottage: Merrow is an inventor who left the fairy realm, but took one of the mystic figurines with him. He keeps it locked up with a special magic gramophone. Merrow's cottage was once a sanctuary for fairies escaping into the mortal realm.
The Clockmaker's House: This is a distant frozen tundra from where the Clockmaker, a powerful if solitary fairy, synchronizes time both in the mortal and fairy worlds. The low temperatures at the Clockmaker's House are useful for slowing any clocks that might consider racing ahead. The eternal snow keeps the Clockmaker’s parts pristine. No plants grow in his frozen wasteland but long ago Aeval brought him flowers from a more hospitable clime, and their image is now pressed into various pieces throughout the Clockmaker’s domain.
The Crater of Time: This barren area holds the seven magic symbols needed to stop the Eternal Storm spell. They are locked inside seven mysterious caves.
The Nexus Gateway: This is the transportation hub that fairies use to travel quickly from the fairy realm to the mortal realm. In The Book of Water, the Nexus only appeared in the bonus chapter, and connects to the Herbalist's house.
The Observatory: The magic telescope is used to convert constellations into molds. Molds are used in the Forge to create Dream Jewels to open new places in the Nexus Gateway in Dream Chronicles: The Chosen Child, or to create magical figurines in The Book of Water.
[edit]Plot
For more Dream Chronicles characters, see Dream Chronicles (series)#Characters.
An eighteen-year-old half-fairy half-mortal girl named Lyra had a strange dream in which she could not seem to wake. A man called the Clockmaker sent her searching through a strange, unearthly realm to find golden keys and return them to the Crater of Time. Now Lyra had found her way home but as she approached her beloved Town of Wish, she found it beset by a terrible storm. Waking up from this dream, Lyra soon realizes her real-life situation, and lands her airship safely from the storm luckily. Entering the Town of Wish, Lyra finds that her hometown is completely isolate, and everyone has left. She enters her house, and sees her father Fidget lying terribly ill on the sofa.[1] Lyra picks up the note left by her mother Faye, and surprisingly discovers that her family's biggest rival the Fairy Queen of Dreams, Lilith, came to Lyra's house with her ten-year-old son, Kenrick. After having been disappeared for ten years, Lilith returned to look for a magic item called "The Book of Water". Fidget managed to send it away to the Barge City, while her fairy grandfather Tangle was distracting them. To punish Fidget, Lilith cast a spell funneling his life essence into the Eternal Storm, which forces Faye to travel to the Herbalist's House to find a magic potion to cure him. Although fairies cannot kill, but Kenrick is half-fairy half-mortal like Lyra. At Lilith's behest, he destroyed Tangle, and Lyra's fairy grandmother Aeval has gone to bury him in the Eternal Maze. Lyra is deeply sorrow, and tries to find a potion that can help her father, but it doesn't work out, and even makes the situation worse. At the last attempt, Lyra travels to the Barge City in hoping of finding her missing mother, a cure for her father, and a way to keep "The Book of Water" from falling into Lilith's hands.[1]
After traveling to the Barge City, retrieving and using the Book of Water, Lyra learns that the Eternal Storm spell can be stopped by the seven magic signs of the Crater of Time. She can find the seven signs inside the seven caves of the Crater, but only if she have the seven corresponding mystic figurines. The three figurines are no longer missing as Faye has forged replacements for them. The Book of Water reveal the locations of the other four figurines for Lyra. The first figurine is in the water at the center of Barge City, Lyra must use a magic fishing pole to fish it out. The second figurine is hidden inside the Obelisk, behind some cryptic symbols that Lyra must decipher. The third figurine was taken long ago by a fairy named Merrow, and he locked it up in his magical gramophone. And only the Clockmaker knows where the fourth figurine is, he might share that secret for the right price. The last, unicorn figurine is buried in the field next to the Herbalist's house. Lyra enters the field and digs to find a chest. After retrieving all of seven magic signs in the Crater of Time, Lyra returns to place them on the Lilith's statue in Wish, and banishes the thunder and lightning. The rain has stopped, Fidget’s strength is returning, but Faye is missing now.
Meanwhile, in the bonus chapter, players play as Faye in the prequel to Lyra's journey in The Book of Water to find out what happened just moments before Lyra's story began. Faye heard Lilith's awful voice once again, then day instantly turned into night. She felt unconscious, and had a nightmare of Lilith and Kenrick. Faye broke free from the dream, but could not wake Fidget. Lilith was after them again, and Faye had to find out why. With the help of the plants, Aeval guided Faye to the Herbalist's house to make a potion to save Fidget. Faye mixed the potion, but Aeval sent her a warning through the plants that a potion to break a water spell can sometimes kill, not heal. Again, Aeval guided her to board a boat to Barge City, and here Faye is told to re-forge three of seven figurines by using three lens hidden here. Three figurines needed to be forged at the Nexus gateway, as Faye returned to the Herbalist to enter it. Faye forged three figurines, and they worked well in the Crater of Time, but something did not seem right. Just as Faye completed the third one, Lilith transported her to a strange Prison of Fire.
[edit]Development

There is a lot stuff in store for players in Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water as it takes the story to a darker place, a place where no other Dream Chronicles game has ventured. Aaron Norstad, the game’s producer, explains: "That isn't to say it is overtly dark in theme, but there was a goal to move this chapter in a direction that is a little more serious in the events that transpire in the mystical fairy realm within the Dream Chronicles world."[2]
Making this chapter was different from the previous ones. While the developer, KatGames, had already planned for some things while making Dream Chronicles: The Book of Air, they were faced with a new challenge of making the Collector’s Edition extra special. "We wanted to make something complementary but also completely playable as a whole game,"[2] Miguel Tartaj, founder of KatGames, says of the development process. "The Collector's Edition brings something from the first trilogy which many fans will probably like... do you remember playing as Faye?"[2]
For those players who experience the Collector's Edition content, they will be treated to a parallel – prequel storyline. Aaron could not help comparing it to other games: "It’s unlike anything I've seen in other Collector's Editions."[2] Players will still get the usual extras as well: the official strategy guide and cool wallpapers.
[edit]Release and post-release

Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water was first presented limitedly as a beta version on December 3, 2010 for the publisher PlayFirst's beta players. The second beta version of this game was also leaked on January 18, 2011. While the content was the same, the latter one featured a whole new ocean creatures-inspired design. On April 22, The Book of Water's teaser trailer was posted on Dream Chronicles Fan Page on Facebook, and on PlayFirst's YouTube profile.
It was officially first released as Collector's Edition on April 24, 2011 by PlayFirst, though it was leaked two days before. The Collector's Edition contains the ability to play as Faye, three extra locations, several mini-puzzles, eight official high-definition wallpapers, and a detailed walkthrough from the developer. The Standard Edition was released shortly later.
[edit]References

^ a b c PlayFirst (2010-12-04). "Dream Chronicles ®: The Book of Water (Windows)". PlayFirst. Retrieved 2010-12-04.
^ a b c d PlayFirst (2011-04-24). "Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water is here!". PlayFirst. Retrieved 2011-04-24.
[edit]External links

Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water on PlayFirst
Dream Chronicles: The Book of Water Collector's Edition on PlayFirst
Dream Chronicles Home on PlayFirst
Dream Chronicles Page on Facebook

Conduit 2


Conduit 2 is a first-person shooter video game developed by High Voltage Software for the Wii video game console. It is the sequel to The Conduit.[4] The developers called the game Conduit 2 because they felt the original name of The Conduit 2 was "too much of a mouthful" so they dropped the "The".[5]
The game makes use of the Quantum3 engine, a game engine designed by High Voltage Software specifically for the Wii. The engine allows effects such as bump mapping, reflection and refraction, and gloss and detail mapping to be implemented. Conduit 2 will support a wide variety of peripherals such as Wii MotionPlus, Classic Controller, Classic Controller Pro, and the PDP Headbanger Headset.[6][7]
Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
1.1 Multiplayer
2 Production
3 Plot
3.1 Characters
3.2 Setting
3.3 Backstory
3.4 Synopsis
4 Marketing
5 Reception
5.1 Pre-Release Previews
5.2 Post-Release
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Gameplay

See also: Gameplay in The Conduit
Conduit 2's single player mode has had many changes from the first game. Players have the ability to flip over objects such as tables, bookshelves and soda machines to use as cover, and shoot off enemy armor and helmets to expose weak spots.[8][9] A sprint button has been added to allow players to charge or flee from opponents.[8] Players can ride on vehicles in certain levels and fire weapons from them.[10] At the beginning of levels, players can choose their weapon loadouts, and customize their character's appearance and ability upgrades.[9][11] The use of iron sights has been implemented, and grenades explode on a timer.[12] Levels are less "corridor-based" in design, with multiple paths to explore.[8] The game's story unfolds during gameplay through triggered scripted sequences instead of through cutscenes as in the first game.[8] Enemy AI has been enhanced; to make them appear more lifelike, enemies will have conversations between themselves when they're unaware of the players presence.[13][14] The enemies can flip and knock over things like tables and filing cabinets for makeshift cover, and enemies will blind fire when players aim at them while they're behind cover.[8][13] The enemies possess randomized weapons. The enemy AI behavior also changes depending on which weapon they have. For example, a foe with a shotgun will attempt to run up to the player to shoot him at close range, while a foe with a rifle will hang back and shoot from afar.[15] Enemy behavior also varies depending on which weapon the player is armed with. For example, enemies with try to search for players who have cloaked invisible with the ARC Eclipse rifle.[16] Enemies will dive out of the way of fragmentation grenades and attempt to suicide bomb the player when stuck with a radiation grenade. Enemies feature randomly selected armour pieces and helmets so that each enemy looks different.[9] Conduit 2 features 23 enemy types, as opposed to the first game which only had 14.[17] While Conduit 2 retains the customizable controls from the first game,[5] the game will support Wii MotionPlus for enhanced precision control and better tracking, though it is not required to play the game.[18] In addition, Conduit 2 supports the use of the Classic Controller and Classic Controller Pro.[19]
High Voltage have stated that they intend to concentrate more on art and story - both areas which were criticized in The Conduit.[20][21] Conduit 2 takes place in many locations throughout the world.[21] The game will be set in Atlantis[22] in addition to Washington, D.C., Agartha, Siberia,[20] the Amazon, England and China.[23] Conduit 2 will feature 16 campaign missions at an estimated 6-8 hour length, as opposed to The Conduit's 9 missions at 4-6 hours.[17] The game will feature boss battles against large aliens, and 21[17] weapons, with additions such as the "Aegis Device" (known as the vortex cannon prior to the Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010) which catches rounds fired by opponents and then fires the collection of ammunition back at them, or a mobile turret that can be picked up and moved to different parts of a level, and remotely fired from behind cover, as well as the Phase Rifle; which is capable of firing through walls. Some weapons will be customizable. Most weapons will have a secondary fire mode.[24] Likewise, some weapons from the first game have been retooled to fire differently.[8] Various weapons and devices will return from the first game with some being improved upon, such as the All-Seeing-Eye or ASE, used to scan objects for use in a wide range of circumstances, such as data logs, force fields, and to discover hidden traps and unlockables.[5][8][22] While in the first game, the ASE emitted a sound in order to indicate nearby scannable objects, Conduit 2 features a manual sonar like "ping" system which helps indicate to players where scannable objects are hidden.[14]
[edit]Multiplayer
Along with a standard single-player and multiplayer online modes, the title will feature four-player split-screen multiplayer with offline and online modes.[4] The online element will feature "increased security" over the first game to prevent hackers.[8] Bounty Hunter mode will be returning from the first game,[22] as well as a new Co-op mode which will feature "Invasion Mode", in which players will combat waves of enemies on the same console in split-screen mode.[25] The game allows up to 12 players to battle online, and will be one of the first Wii games to support the PDP Headbanger Headset, which allows voice chat between players without the need for exchanging friend codes.[4][22] In addition to the Wii's use of Friend Codes, the game will feature an "Ally System" in which a player can send friend requests to other players in the lobby to add to their friends list without having to exchange Friend Codes. Up to 96 friends can be listed.[26]
Conduit 2 will support patching to allow fixes to bugs and glitches in its online multiplayer.[9] Another feature added is the ability for players to revive fallen teammates.[27] The game will introduce different character classes, each with unique attributes, and allow the player to alter their characters appearance as well as unlock over 30 suit upgrades that bestow special skills, such as robotic legs that let the player to sprint greater distances.[5][22] Players will be able to switch between four different character classes during the course of a match, each with different player-defined weapons and upgrades.[5] The multiplayer will feature 12 maps, 14 game modes and 60 player rankings, whereas The Conduit only featured 7 maps, 9 game modes and 25 player rankings.[17] Conduit 2 will also feature female NPC skins for multiplayer, which were absent in the first game.[17] Conduit 2 features a currency system that allows players to earn experience points and medals that can be used to purchase weapons, upgrades and armor pieces to alter their characters look.[9][27] A new voting system will be implemented into the multiplayer which will allow players to choose between two online maps and game types when the player enters the lobby for a specific mode. There will also be a playlist featuring no radar and no lock-on.[24]
[edit]Production

Development of Conduit 2 began after The Conduit shipped in June 2009.[5] The game was announced on March 29, 2010, after months of speculation of a sequel's existence.[4] During the production of the first game, development resources were spread thin as both the gameplay and the game's engine were designed simultaneously. For Conduit 2, the developers were able to devote their resources fully to game design, as the engine had already been made.[15] As they did during the development of the first game, High Voltage Software asked for feedback from fans for what features they wanted to see in the game. Features such as split-screen, sniper rifles and female characters were put in at fans requests.[9] Sean Ratcliffe, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America said, "The Conduit 2 is an enormous sequel. Not only does it greatly improve and expand on the original, the online and co-op play modes aim to raise the bar for Wii war games."[28]
The game will be running at 48 kHz audio. On July 29, 2010, Sega revealed Conduit 2's box art.[29] In September 2010 it was reported that the game would be delayed until Q1 2011 and supports Classic Controller input.[30] In an attempt to improve Conduit 2s story over the first game HIgh Voltage Software hired novelist Matt Forbeck and Jason Blair, the writer of the video games Borderlands and Prey, to penn the games script.[31] In an interview with Keith Hladik, it was stated that all voice actors from the first game will not be returning but the new voice actors have done "a fantastic job making our characters come to life."[32] Agent Michael Ford will now be voiced by voice actor Jon St. John, who is best known for providing the voice for Duke Nukem.[33] Conduit 2 was originally compatible with the Wii Speak peripheral as The Conduit was,[34] but functionality of the device was removed from the title at the insistence of Nintendo. [35] Wii Speak support was dropped as it was incompatible with the PDP Headbanger headset, which support was opted for instead for its lower latency and better sound quality.[36] Motion controls were originally planned to be used for opening doors and flicking switches, but eventually this feature was removed from the game.[9]
On January 18, 2011[37], Sega announced Conduit 2 would be delayed until March in North America. A few days later, they announced it would be pushed back to April 2011 in North America.[38]
At the 2011 Game Developers Conference High Voltage Software revealed a tech demo of Conduit 2 for the Nintendo 3DS. The demo, based on the China level from Conduit 2, demonstrated stereographic 3D effects, as well as the ability to shift into a third person perspective.[39]
[edit]Plot

[edit]Characters
All characters from the previous game will be returning, as well as new characters being introduced. The original enemies, the DNA-created Drudge, will also be returning, along with new enemies.[40]
In addition to this, the developers have also claimed that Ford's character will be developed more, acknowledging that Ford's taciturn nature in The Conduit prevented his personality from showing.[10]
[edit]Setting
The game is set to take place in a wide variety of areas. What has been shown so far is a Trust-owned oil rig, Atlantis, the Lost City of Z, Washington D.C, Siberia, China, and England. In Conduit 2. While in the original game, Washington D.C was shown to be in critical condition and largely damaged, in the sequel the city is in ruins due to the explosion of the Trust Base. Atlantis is the Hub City that Michael Ford uses to get to all areas of the game.
[edit]Backstory
The backstory for the game is told primarily through scan-able conspiracy objects scattered throughout the game. Conduit 2's backstory relies heavily on Sumerian mythology and the Annunaki conspiracy, a conspiracy theory that the Annunaki, a group of Sumerian deities, were actually extraterrestrials who used humans as slaves and entertainment. The progenitors fill this role in Conduit 2, serving as a basis for the Annunaki deities and having since scattered themselves across the world, secretly controlling and influencing the governments and people of their respective areas. References are also made to Tiamat and the Deluge myth.
In addition, Conduit 2 incorporates other conspiracies such as the Dropa stones, Tunguska event, and disappearance of Col. Percy Fawcett.
[edit]Synopsis
The game starts immediately after the events of the first game, with Michael Ford following John Adams through a conduit. Ford finds himself on an offshore oil rig located in the Bermuda triangle and he catches up with Adams, who has arrived full circle at the derrick's conduit. Adams escapes through the conduit shortly before it is destroyed by a massive leviathan. Prometheus is able to have the leviathan hone in the ASE, which results in it swallowing Ford and regurgitating him beneath the sea in Atlantis, an alien spacecraft that was used by Adams, Prometheus, and their siblings to arrive on Earth. Ford soon gains the destroyer exoskeleton suit, and awakens a woman named Andromeda from cryostasis. She reveals that her purpose is to aid The Destroyer, who Ford has become after acquiring the destroyer armor.
Andromeda reprograms the ship's conduit to take Ford to the last conduit used by Adams, which takes Ford to a defunct Cold War bunker in D.C. Arriving outside the Smithsonian, Ford enters the museum and uses several artifacts to discover the locations of two other progenitors who may be able to help Ford defeat Adams. Ford returns to Atlantis, where Andromeda tells him that Adams has begun killing other progenitors and stealing their power to increase his own. Ford takes the ship's conduit to China, where he hopes to warn a progenitor named Li. Li, however, underestimates Adams power and believes Ford was sent to kill him. He attacks Ford but Ford defeats Li, absorbing his energy using the ASE.
Back in Atlantis, Andromeda sends Ford on his way to the base of Kalarina, a female progenitor who is now being held captive by the Trust, located in Siberia. When Ford manages to make his way to her, she sacrifices herself and her energy so that Ford can defeat Adams. Andromeda radios to Ford the location of the only progenitor left located at the Lost City of Z in Central America. Ford arrives there and uses the ASE to absorb the energy from a progenitor corpse. Prometheus then transfers the energy of himself and the three other progenitors from the ASE to Ford's armor so that he will be strong enough to defeat Adams, killing himself in the process.
Ford arrives back in Atlantis only to discover that its security is about to be breached by Adams, who has come to take the remaining progenitor energy and destroy the ship. Andromeda, knowing the ship would be destroyed in the battle, reprograms the conduit's coordinates to Agartha, located in the center of the earth. Ford tackles Adams through the conduit and into Agartha, where they battle. Ford manages to kill Adams, and absorbs the remaining progenitor energy from him. The ASE, sensing that all of the progenitors are now deceased, sends out a signal to a dormant alien spacecraft far out in space. The ship awakens and heads towards Earth as the conduit in Agartha opens and several men in destroyer armor, including George Washington and Abraham Lincoln, arrive, telling Ford that they have come to help him in the upcoming battle.
[edit]Marketing

SEGA and High Voltage Software ran a competition Nintendo created that offered entrees the chance to have a picture of their face onto a wanted poster in Conduit 2. Entrees were asked to write a 25 word letter detailing what they would like to see featured in Conduit 2. [41] [42]
[edit]Reception

[edit]Pre-Release Previews
From the E3 playable preview, Conduit 2 was met with positive expectations from reviewers, praising the many improvements from the first game such as those in the multiplayer mode.[43]
[edit]Post-Release
[hide] Reception
Review scores
Publication Score
Game Informer 6 out of 10[44]
GameTrailers 7.9 out of 10[45]
IGN 7.5 out of 10[46]
Official Nintendo Magazine 84%[47]
Nintendo Power gave Conduit 2 a 7.5/10 stating that it still had some flaws but praising the effort. Official Nintendo Magazine UK gave it 84% criticising the "B-Movie" production values but praising the visuals and level design. IGN gave Conduit 2 a 7.5, stating that Wii owners will be playing this for a long time, even if the multiplayer isn’t too mind-blowing. They also stated that they love the extended value of purchase from the in-game store. Gamespot reviewer Tom McShea who reviewed the previous game, gave it a 7. He states "Conduit 2 overcomes its problems by offering a long and varied single-player campaign with a good sense of humor."[48]
[edit]References

^ "Conduit 2 Delayed to April".
^ "Conduit 2 – Brand New Trailer and Release Date Announced".
^ http://www.sega.com/games/conduit-2/
^ a b c d Reilly, Jim (2010-03-29). "The Conduit 2 Confirmed for Wii". IGN Wii (IGN). Retrieved 2010-03-30.
^ a b c d e f "Interviews: High Voltage Software - Conduit 2". nintendolife.com. March 29, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
^ Craig Harris. "E3 2010: Conduit 2 Supports Wii MotionPlus".
^ "The Headbanger Headset unveiled".
^ a b c d e f g h "The Conduit 2 First Look". IGN.com. March 29, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
^ a b c d e f g "Interview with Keith Hladik on Conduit 2". wegotthiscovered.com. February 14, 2011. Retrieved March 27, 2011.
^ a b Owen Good. "The Conduit 2 Eyes-On Impressions: Re-Rigging the Adventure".
^ "The Conduit 2 sur Wii : plus d'infos et premières images".
^ "E3 2010: Conduit 2 Features More Guns, More Pretty".
^ a b "GDC 11: Siberia Walkthrough Part I". gametrailers.com. March 04, 2011. Retrieved April 9 30, 2011.
^ a b "GDC 11: Siberia Walkthrough Part II". gametrailers.com. March 04, 2011. Retrieved April 9 30, 2011.
^ a b Kevin VanOrd. "Conduit 2 impressions". Gamespot.
^ "Exclusive China Level Walkthrough". gametrailers.com. January 27, 2011. Retrieved April 9 30, 2011.
^ a b c d e "Conduit 2: by the numbers". joystiq.com. February 23, 2011. Retrieved March 19, 2011.
^ SEGA America Blog | Conduit 2 to Support Wii MotionPlus
^ "Conduit 2 hits delay coming in 2011".
^ a b "The Conduit 2 Announced in Nintendo Power". nintendoworldreport.com. March 29, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
^ a b "The Conduit 2 – A Message From High Voltage". blogs.sega.com. April 27, 2010. Retrieved April 30, 2010.
^ a b c d e "The Conduit 2 in Nintendo Power - confirmed". gonintendo.com. March 29, 2010. Retrieved March 30, 2010.
^ "E310 Preview: Conduit 2, Wii Needs More Games Like This". ripten.com. June 24, 2010. Retrieved July 3, 2010.
^ a b "Interview With Bill Sullivan From High Voltage Software".
^ "SEGA :: GAMES :: Conduit 2". SEGA Corporation. March 31, 2010. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
^ Screw Attack Interview with Bill Sullivan
^ a b "First Conduit 2 Screens Indicate There Will Be Lots Of Explosions". nintendolife.com. March 29, 2010. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
^ Reilly, Jim (March 31, 2010). "SEGA Unveils The Conduit 2 For Wii, First Screens". IGN. Retrieved March 31, 2010.
^ Oshry, Dave. "Conduit 2 Box Art Released". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 2010-08-01.
^ "Conduit 2 delayed until 2011, getting new control options".
^ Matthew Reynolds. "Eric Nofsinger ('Conduit 2')". DigitalSpy.
^ http://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/Conduit-2-Interview/Page2/Item2797.aspx
^ Infernal Monkey. "Agent Michael Ford will have balls of steel in Conduit 2". Aussie-Nintendo. Retrieved 2011-19-11.
^ James Newton. "Strap On Your Headset for Conduit 2". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
^ Mark Raby. "Nintendo tells developer not to use Wii Speak". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2011-01-12.
^ Matthew Reynolds. "Exclusive: 'Conduit 2' Wii Speak omission explained". DigitalSpy. Retrieved 2011-04-03.
^ Jim Reilly. "Conduit 2 Pushed to March".
^ "The Conduit 2 delayed again, now coming out on April 22".
^ Spencer. "I Played The Conduit 2 On Nintendo 3DS (It Has A 3rd Person Mode Too". GamesRadar. Retrieved 2011-03-18).
^ http://www.gamingnexus.com/Article/Conduit-2-Interview/Item2797.aspx
^ "Conduit 2 Get Your Head into the Game Promotion". conduit2game.com. March 29, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
^ "Last chance to get yourself into The Conduit 2". vooks.net. May 10, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2010.
^ Sztein, Andrew. "Conduit 2 Preview". GamingExcellence. Retrieved 2010-07-11.
^ http://www.gameinformer.com/games/conduit_2/b/wii/archive/2011/04/19/one-stumbling-step-forward.aspx
^ http://www.gametrailers.com/video/review-conduit-2/713066
^ http://uk.wii.ign.com/articles/116/1162746p2.html
^ http://www.officialnintendomagazine.co.uk/25616/conduit-2-review-wii/
^ http://au.gamespot.com/wii/action/the-conduit-2/review.html?tag=summary%3Bread-review
[edit]External links

High Voltage Software official website
Sega Games Conduit 2 official website
Online Gameplay Footage

Avadon: The Black Fortress


Avadon: The Black Fortress is a single-player role-playing video game developed by Spiderweb Software. It is the first game in the Avadon trilogy. The game was released for Mac OS X in February 2011.[1] Versions for Microsoft Windows and the iPad have an announced release date of Q1/Q2 2011.[2][3]
Contents [hide]
1 Setting
2 Gameplay
3 References
4 External links
[edit]Setting

The Avadon series is set on the fictional continent of Lynaeus, which is divided between two warring factions. There is the Pact, an alliance of five nations, and the Farlands, a loose-knit group of faded empires and barbarian territories. The Pact has banded together for safety and to fend off invasion from the other lands of Lynaeus.[4]
The fortress of Avadon is a force within the Pact, a small army of warriors, spies, and assassins tasked to protect the Pact and eliminate any threats to its safety before they have the chance to grow. The servants of Avadon have great power and are not bound by the laws of the Pact, though this can lead to corruption and abuse.
Avadon is led by Redbeard, a powerful and mysterious figure. The player controls a group of Hands of Avadon, warriors under Redbeard's command who seek out and fight a conspiracy against the Pact.
[edit]Gameplay

Avadon: The Black Fortress is a single-player role-playing video game. The player assumes the role of a Blademaster, a Shadowwalker, a Shaman, or a Sorceress. He or she can then recruit two other characters (from the same set of four classes) and embark on missions assigned by the leaders of Avadon.[5]
Each character class in Avadon has its own set of several dozen abilities. These can be spells to inflict damage or summon aid, blessings and curses, and rituals that heal wounded party members. Avadon features elaborate scripted encounters that are intended to encourage a variety of tactics.[6][7]
Combat in Avadon is turn-based. Creature in battle take turns acting, during which they can move, use abilities, and attack.[8]
[edit]References

^ Avadon Support Page
^ Avadon Main Page
^ Inside Mac Games Holiday Q&A 1
^ Inside Mac Games Avadon Preview
^ Subgamers Interview With Jeff Vogel
^ RPG Codex Interview With Jeff Vogel
^ Gear Diary Review of Avadon
^ Manapool Avadon Preview
[edit]External links

Avadon: The Black Fortress official site

AFL Live


AFL Live is a sports game in the AFL series of Australian rules football video games. It was developed by Big Ant Studios for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows. It was released on 21 April, 2011.[1][2] Another AFL game for the Nintendo Wii, is also currently being developed by Wicked Witch Software, which is set for a May release. Commentary is provided by Dennis Cometti and Brian Taylor.
Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
2 Features
3 Online
4 Stadiums
5 Reception
6 References
7 External links
[edit]Gameplay

The gameplay has gone more in depth with the core mechanics. Some specific improvements include, faster ball movement and a more free flowing game, improved control and camera systems, and more scope for tactical adjustments. The possible addition of obscurities such as "behind the play" incidents will potentially add to the longevity of the gameplay experience.[3]
All 17 officially licensed AFL teams are included in the game. While it also features three extra teams, Victoria, Indigenous All Stars and an All Stars Team (Dream team) from the AFL Hall of Fame Tribute Match. The game also features trophies for the PlayStation 3, and achievements for the Xbox 360.[4]
[edit]Features

Single Match:
An exhibition match, can be played competitively or cooperatively.
Toyota AFL Premiership Season:
Play the 2011 AFL season.
NAB Cup:
Play the 2011 NAB Cup
Custom Season:
Create and play with a personalised team, from the Footy Factory, or compete in a straight knockout tournament.
Custom Finals:
Select 8 teams to play in the AFL Final Series.
Training Mode:
Training mode, include, tutorials on the controls of the game.
Footy Factory:
The "Footy Factory" allows the player to create their own football player and team from scratch. Any created team will start with a 7 million dollar salary cap. With claims that the actual expansion teams have a 10 million salary cap. To offer better balancing for online play, created teams can be used online. The online component offers ranked matches and a detailed XP system, that rewards players for good performance in-game.[5]
[edit]Online

The game will feature online play, with Big Ant Studios stating that they wish to use the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live and Games for Windows – Live to their full advantage. Up to 4 players with Xbox Live, 7 with PSN, will be able to play either cooperatively or competitively online. Online play features a full fledged XP System where players rank up and collect badges for achieving set tasks. [4]
[edit]Stadiums

The game licences all 17 teams, and all twelve stadiums. [4]
States
New South Wales
SCG (Sydney)
ANZ Stadium (Homebush)
Queensland
Gabba (Brisbane)
Gold Coast Stadium (Gold Coast)
South Australia
AAMI Stadium (Adelaide)
Tasmania
Aurora Stadium (Launceston)
Victoria
MCG (Melbourne)
Etihad Stadium (Docklands)
Skilled Stadium (Geelong)
Western Australia
Patersons Stadium (Perth)
Territories
Australian Capital Territory
Manuka Oval (Canberra)
Northern Territory
TIO Stadium (Darwin)
[edit]Reception

[hide] Reception
Review scores
Publication Score
IGN 6/10[6]
MMGN 6.5/10[7]
AFL Live has received mostly average reviews. IGN rated it 6 out of 10.[6] MMGN also rating it 6.5/10 summing up, "The best AFL game to date, and while full of issues, a positive start".[7]
[edit]References

^ a b "Game release date". Game. Retrieved 28 February 2011.
^ a b "Tru Blu release date". Tru Blu. Retrieved 1 March 2011.
^ "Big League". The Age. Retrieved 6 January 2011.
^ a b c "Big Ant Studios profile". Big Ant Studios. Retrieved 27 April, 2011.
^ "PS3 MMGN preview". PS3 MMGN. Retrieved 24 February 2011.
^ a b Daniel Golding. "IGN review". IGN. Retrieved 26 April 2011.
^ a b Ben Salter. "AFL Live Review". MMGN. Retrieved 21 April 2011.
[edit]External links

Developer official website
Publisher official website

Athanaton.Koramgame

Athanaton,is a strategy browser game (MMO-SLG) based on Greek Mythology. Athanaton is Αθανάτων in Greek, which means Immortal. According to legend, it was given to Ganymede to make him immortal.[1]
Athanaton is released as French version, German version, and Spanish version. What’s more, it will be issued by other language versions soon. Due to its creative features and beautiful scenes, Athanaton gets popular soon with lots of players.

Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
1.1 Map-based Campaign
1.2 Customizable Battle Formations
1.3 Hero System
1.4 Stats Wash
1.5 Various Equipments
1.6 Training Ground
1.7 Legion Battles for Prestige and Glory
2 References
3 External links
[edit]Gameplay

[edit]Map-based Campaign
Map-based Campaign is one of Athanaton’s original designs in which gamers need to accomplish all the challenges from one particular Map before moving to the next. Every map contains an array of legendary NPC heroes that have to be defeated in pre-set orders so that gamers can strengthen their characters during the narrative, and prepare themselves for tougher challenges waiting in subsequent Maps. It also allows gamers to recruit these heroes after defeating them, and offers Laurels as battle rewards which can later be used in upgrading Technology and your hero rank.
[edit]Customizable Battle Formations
Athanaton offers 8 historical formations (Testudo, Lochoi, Crescent, etc.) for you to choose from with each having its own pros and cons.[2] Gamers have to strategically deploy troop units taking different roles in a particular formation as 'massive flesh shield', damage dealer, inspirationer or healer to optimize its performance in battle. Judge the hour and size up the situation in battles, choose the right formation is the key to victory, especially when you are faced with enemies that outrank your troops.
[edit]Hero System
As you defeat enemy legions, you may want to recruit heroes from these defeated legions. You can join Zeusian, or Athenian, or Poseidonian upon the defeat of Perseus at the beginning of the game.[3] Thereafter, you can also gain heroes by raising your Prestige. The higher your Prestige, the better heroes you can get.
[edit]Stats Wash
Attribute Wash can improve heroes’ original attributes and thus battle skills. It is accessible to the newly recruited heroes. More Attribute Wash modes will be available for VIPs.
[edit]Various Equipments
In Athanaton, you can choose your own armors, weapons, horses and troops. You may also arrange them differently to make them most effective. The colors of the equipments, listed as white, blue, green, yellow, red and purple, represent different qualities ranging from average to top quality. In addition, you can enhance your equipments to improve their strengths.
[edit]Training Ground
In Training Ground, you can buy more Training Space for your heroes who can be trained offline through different training modes.[4] Having enough Laurels and applying them to activate Fast Track mode will let you save even more time in upgrading your heroes! A VIP can train heroes 24/7 while a regular member does not have such privilege. Furthermore, you can send your heroes to battlefields even when they are still being trained!
[edit]Legion Battles for Prestige and Glory
Every night, each Legion leader can lead his Legion members to attack or defense those large farmlands located in World Map.[5] Whoever seizes a farmland can collect large amounts of crops for FREE!

Ace of Spades (video game)


Ace of Spades is a free-to-play sandbox building, first person shooter indie video game developed by Ben Aksoy for PC.[1] The game notably uses Ken Silverman's Voxlap engine.[2]
Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
2 See also
3 References
4 External links
Gameplay

The game sees two teams, Green and Blue, attempting to capture the opposition team's intelligence whilst defending theirs - through the construction of fortifications.[3]
See also

Dwarf Fortress
Minecraft
References

^ "Ace of Spades: A Minecraft-like FPS Game Interface". N4G. 2011-04-17.
^ "Presenting Ace of Spades, the "Minecraft FPS"". Kotaku. 2011-04-18.
^ "10 Reasons You Need To Play Ace Of Spades". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. 2011-04-13.
External links

Official website
Ace of Spades Wiki

Lego Battles: Ninjago


Lego Battles Ninjago (also known as Lego Ninjago: The Video Game in the US and UK) is a 2011 Video Game for the Nintendo DS and is a follow-up to Lego Battles video game. Both games were developed by Hellbent Games and co-published by TT Games. The game is based on the Lego Ninjago: Masters of Spinjitzu theme.
It was released in April 2011.
[edit]Characters

Sensei Wu
Nya
Zane
Cole
Jay
Kai
Lord Garmadon
Samukai
Nuckal
Wyplash
Kruncha
Frakjaw
Bonezai
Chopov
Krazi
Minifigs which will appear in the game will include Kai and Sensai Wu along side other Ninjago characters. Other well-known Lego characters are rumoured to be in the game, similar to Lego Battles. [2]
[edit]Information

The game will be a sort of mixture between normal Lego games and the Battles series. It was originally called Lego Ninjago: The Video Game before being changed to the current title however, the original name is still in place in US and UK. In Game, a US and UK video game store, the case contained a "limited edition" Jay minifigure. Garmadon and his army will be playable at the end of the game.The game is based on Ninjago:Masters of Spinjitzu.

One Piece: Gigant Battle


One Piece: Gigant Battle! (ワンピース ギガントバトル! Wanpīsu: Giganto Batoru?), previously known as "Project Jet" (プロジエクトシエット Purojekuto Jetto?), is a Nintendo DS game published by Bandai. It was first announced in the second Weekly Shonen Jump issue released in December 2009. It will focus in the Sabaody Archipelago arc, Impel Down arc and Marineford arc, but contain content from previous arcs as well. The gameplay seems to be similar to Jump Ultimate Stars from what has been demonstrated in videos and screenshots. The game was released on September 9th, 2010. There will also be a special edition of this game (seen in the promo scan to the very right) which will come with some cards that unlock in-game content and can also be used in a One Piece arcade game, One Py Berry Match, which is part of Bandai's "Carddas" series of games.
It seems that this game was very popular among One Piece fans and leading to the reason why Ganbarion and Namco Bandai announced the release of One Piece Gigant Battle in Europe on June 2011, however, the exact date is unknown at the moment.

Sonic the Hedgehog 20th Anniversary: Sega Teases New Game


Sega’s famous mascot Sonic the Hedgehog turns 20 this year and as a way of celebrating the character’s 20th anniversary, the company has been teasing a brand new Sonic-themed game. Not only has it been hinted about on Facebook and Twitter, but has also received its own teaser trailer.
As Kevin McGuire over at examiner.com recently noted, the newly released trailer unfortunately does not reveal a title for the upcoming game. However, a recent discovery of domain names obtained by Sega suggests that the new game could possibly be called Sonic Generations.
The trailer begins with Sonic the Hedgehog running through a landscape resembling that of a more traditional side-scrolling Sonic adventure. He is then seen side-by-side with another Sonic, which looks more like the Sonic the Hedgehog character from older style Sonic games.
Although it doesn’t give a specific release date, the trailer – which appears to have created quite a buzz among Sonic fans – ends with the message ‘Coming 2011.’ It also shows that the new game will be available for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Xbox 360 and Xbox Live.
You can view the trailer below this post. Could the two separate Sonic characters in the video be a hint of co-op gameplay perhaps? What do you think of the new teaser trailer?

SSX (2012 video game)


SSX[2] is an upcoming snowboarding video game in the SSX series of video games from Electronic Arts. First revealed at the Spike Video Game Awards in 2010 under the working title SSX: Deadly Descents, the game's trailer appears to show a much darker direction to the series than previous entries,[3] and will include the use of real locations, rather than the fictional courses of past games.[4][5][6]
Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
2 Characters
3 References
4 External links
[edit]Gameplay

In SSX, players take on the role of a member of a team seeking to snowboard down a variety of real-world mountains, such as in the Himalayas and the Antarctic.[4] Gameplay will include helicopter drops, avalanches, and the use of wingsuits.[7]
[edit]Characters

Original SSX veteran Elise Riggs has been confirmed as a returning character. A new character called Jack has been confirmed as well. [8]

Τρίτη 26 Απριλίου 2011

Naruto Shippūden: Shinobi Rumble


Naruto Shippūden: Shinobi Rumble is the seventh installment of the Ninja Council series on the Nintendo DS.
Playable charactersEdit
Deidara
Fukasaku (assisted by Shima at all times)
Itachi Uchiha
Jiraiya
Jūgo
Karin
Kakashi Hatake
Konan
Naruto Uzumaki
Orochimaru
Pain
Sai
Sakura Haruno
Sasuke Uchiha
Shikamaru Nara
Suigetsu Hōzuki
TriviaEdit
The game play in this game is similar to Jump Super Stars, a Japan-exclusive game that featured many characters from the popular magazine Weekly Shonen Jump. A few Naruto characters were included in it.
The spirit of Asuma Sarutobi appears whenever Shikamaru attacks with his trench knives, implying that Asuma is his motivation for fighting.
Kisame Hoshigaki and Tobi appear in the Story Mode, but they are not playable nor can you fight them.
Ironically, despite Fukasaku and Shima being playable characters, they still appear when Jiraiya goes into Sage Mode, although they appear much smaller than their playable appearances.
Naruto Shippūden: Dragon Blade Chronicles is able to connect wirelessly to this game to unlock two Dragon Blade related attacks for Naruto.
There are no voiceclips in versions released outside of Japan.

Δευτέρα 25 Απριλίου 2011

Michael Jackson: The Experience


Michael Jackson: The Experience is a music video game based on Michael Jackson's music and songs. It was licensed by Triumph International, developed by and published by Ubisoft, and was released on November 23, 2010 for the Wii, Nintendo DS, and PlayStation Portable.[2][3] It was also released on April 12, 2011 in North America and April 15, 2011 in Europe for Xbox 360's Kinect and PlayStation 3's PlayStation Move. The PC/Mac version of the game is scheduled to be released in North America in May 2011 and in Europe in July 2011, but will require a webcam. The game features many of Michael Jackson's hits, such as "Bad", "Thriller", "Beat It", "Billie Jean", Rock with You", "Smooth Criminal", "Black or White" and "The Way You Make Me Feel". All initial launches of the game will include a limited edition replica of Michael Jackson's famous sequined glove. The video game was once released after the death of Michael Jackson in 2009.
Contents [hide]
1 Gameplay
2 Kinect features
3 List of songs
4 Reception
5 References
[edit]Gameplay

There are three modes of play in the Wii version of the game. The first is "Classic" where everybody follows the on-screen Michael Jackson avatar. The second is "Duo" which is used for duets (such as "The Girl is Mine") or videos with two main characters (such as "The Way You Make Me Feel.") The player(s) can choose to dance as either Michael or the other character. The third mode of gameplay is "Crew," which features Michael and two backup dancers (five during some songs.) Players can opt to dance as any of the three. After performing songs, players will be able to unlock training videos in the "Dance School" where they are taught some of the more difficult moves from several of Michael Jackson's music videos and stage performances.
Four player multiplayer is available on the Wii and Move enabled PlayStation 3 but the Kinect will be limited to one player at a time. The game will also feature singing on the Kinect version on Xbox 360, and optional on-screen lyrics on the PlayStation 3 and Wii versions. On the DS version of the game there is a cartoon version of Michael on the top screen and the player follows along by tapping the bottom screen with the stylus to the rhythm of the music, a style similar to the Nintendo DS game, Elite Beat Agents. It is also revealed that on the Wii version you can play as Michael or the Back-up Dancers. The game was displayed at New York Comic Con at Ubisoft's booth.
[edit]Kinect features

The Kinect version of the game features full body tracking, and entirely different choreography to the Wii version [4], along with several other changes and additions. This version uses a technology called Player Projection, which puts the player's own image in the game allowing them to star in their own Michael Jackson video. The Kinect version includes two game modes: "Solo" and "Co-op". Solo mode features one player. Co-op mode features 2-4 players. In Co-op mode, there's a option called "Battle", which means players can either team up or go head to head while performing a song, but each player can go one at a time. Several of the songs in the game will not feature any moves to perform, instead becoming "Singing Only" songs, with Earth Song being the first song confirmed as Singing Only. You can either use the Kinect's built-in microphone or an atttached mic/headset to sing.[4] The game does include the option, however, to choose a "Dance Only" version of the song, which means the player won't be asked to sing. [4] The Kinect version will also feature a mode known as Master Performance, which will require the player to both sing and dance to a set of choreographed moves that are harder than the normal moves, and "as close as possible to the videos". It also includes single player, multiplayer dance challenges, dance crew modes and jump-in/jump-out features. A crew of expert backup dancers and a practice mode called Michael's Dance School help take your performance to the next level, which is great for beginners and experienced performers. There are four symbols to represent each player: Michael's glove, Michael's hat, Michael's shades and one of Michael's jackets. [5]
[edit]List of songs

See also: [6][7][8][9]
Please note that the Xbox 360 and PS3 list is tentative; songs may be added or removed as the release date draws nearer. Also, it is assumed that the playlist for these two consoles will be identical, but is not known for sure. A disclaimer in the ESRB rating for the Xbox 360 version implies that downloadable songs may be an option for that console.[10]
Song Album Year Wii DS PSP Xbox 360 and PS3 PC/Mac
Another Part of Me Bad 1987 Yes (only with Wal-Mart or HMV Special Edition) Yes Yes Yes (only with Wal-Mart Special Edition) Yes
Bad Bad 1987 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Beat It Thriller 1982 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes
Billie Jean Thriller 1982 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (only with GameStop deluxe collector's edition)
Black or White Dangerous 1991 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (if unlocked)
Blood on the Dance Floor Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix 1997 No No No Yes Yes
Dirty Diana Bad 1987 Yes No No Yes No
Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough Off the Wall 1979 Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Earth Song HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I 1995 Yes No No Yes Yes (only with Wal-Mart or GameStop special edition)
Ghosts Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix 1997 Yes No No Yes Yes
The Girl Is Mine (featuring Paul McCartney Thriller 1982 Yes No Yes Yes No
Heal the World Dangerous 1991 Yes Yes Yes Yes No
I Just Can't Stop Loving You (featuring Siedah Garrett) Bad 1987 Yes (not playable; plays over the credits) No No Yes No
In the Closet Dangerous 1991 Yes No No Yes Yes (only with GameStop deluxe collector's edition)
Leave Me Alone Bad 1987 Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Money HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I (credited to Blood on the Dance Floor: HIStory in the Mix in the game) 1995 Yes No No Yes Yes (only with Wal-Mart special collector's extended edition)
Remember the Time Dangerous 1991 Yes No Yes Yes Yes
Rock with You Off the Wall 1979 Yes No Yes Yes No
Smooth Criminal Bad 1987 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (only with GameStop deluxe collector's edition)
Speed Demon Bad 1987 Yes No No Yes Yes
Stranger in Moscow HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I 1995 No No No Yes No
Streetwalker Bad: Special Edition 2001 Yes Yes Yes Yes No
Sunset Driver The Ultimate Collection 2004 Yes No No Yes No
They Don't Care About Us HIStory: Past, Present and Future, Book I 1995 Yes No No Yes Yes
Thriller Thriller 1982 Yes No Yes Yes Yes (only with Toys 'R' Us extended edition)
Wanna Be Startin' Somethin' Thriller 1982 Yes Yes Yes Yes No
The Way You Make Me Feel Bad 1987 Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes (if unlocked)
Who Is It Dangerous 1991 Yes No No Yes Yes (if unlocked)
Will You Be There Dangerous 1991 Yes No Yes Yes Yes (not playable; plays over the credits)
Workin' Day and Night Off the Wall 1979 Yes No No Yes No
[edit]Reception

The reviews for the Wii have been mixed. IGN gave it a 3.5 saying that it doesn't give clear instructions on how to dance and also criticized the controls.[11] GameFocus said that they failed at making a masterful game that matches the King of Pop.[12] Metro gave it 10/10, calling it an "incredible game" as it "recreates the experience of Jackson's music and life incredibly."[13] Videogamer.com gave the review a 7/10, stating that the music overplays the responsiveness difficulty. [14] CNET gave the game 5/5, writing that the game is "extremely easy to pick up and play" and "the choreography is amazing"[15] The Escapist gave the game 4/5, noting that the game "is not meant to be played by yourself."[16]
For the DS and PSP versions, the reviews were average, with a slightly better score for the DS version, IGN gave a 6.5/10 for DS [17] and 5.5/10 for the PSP.[18] Destructoid gave a 6/10 for the DS version.[19]
The game has since sold over 3 million copies worldwide, and is on course for matching sales of the Beatles rock band game and it is expected to sell additional millions with the release of the Move and Kinect versions in April 2011.[20]