The wait is almost over. After multiple previews and hands-on at all the conventions earlier this year we finally got all the details on DC Universe Online at this years Comic Con.  So here is a bullet point of all the things you need to know:

Release Date: November 2, 2010: For me it certainly can not come soon enough. After playing the game multiple times I can say this MMO is doing what no other MMO has done well before.

Beta Starts: First Week of August: Now if you sign up for the beta you must understand this,”IT’S NOT HOW THE GAME IS GOING TO TURN OUT!!!” Everybody fails to understand this its not a demo and its not a preview. It’s a chance for the players to give developers feedback on the game and to tell them what you would like to see in the game. If you get into beta just do what your told by the devs and look for bugs for them to fix. Thats what a beta is for. So if you would like to test the game you can sign up for it on their official site: http://www.dcuniverseonline.com/

Platforms: Playstation 3 and PC: In my opinion the game is meant to be played with a controller. Whether you play with a third-party controller on the PC or a PS3 controller you must play with a controller!!!!

Subscription Plan: $15.00: US No announcements have been made regarding international and UK subscription fees.

Trailer: This trailer was made by the people at Blur Studios. The same people who are making the trailer’s for Star Wars: The Old Republic. So you already know this is going to be a epic trailer of epic awesomeness.

Watch

Castlevania is a series near and dear to many fans hearts. As gamers patiently wait for Castlevania: Lords Of The Shadow for consoles later this year. Konami has treated the loyal Castlevania fans with Castlevania: Harmony Of Despair, an XBLA Summer Of Arcade title due to release soon.

Alucard Is Back
Castlevania:HD is an amazing evolution of the classic 2D dungeon crawler type that has been a staple for the series over the many years. It has fun written all over it. Six levels to explore each with its very own unique boss. It allows for player to choose from six different characters that are fully able to use a wide array of magic and weapons as well as armor types which makes Castlevania have plenty of fun factor for the hardcore fans.

Fan Fare
The fans will want to unlock everything in this title as well as try a hand at the harder difficulties, which I suggest taking on with a friend. The game itself is very difficult for newcomers, but if you are a Castlevania purist you will love the title and enjoy every minute of it. It feels that the game was built around the six player co-op ability which is great and makes the levels that much easier. Fans will spend plenty of time trying to find a character that suits their play style.

Coming Soon
So far from what we have had the pleasure to try out, the game has amazing potential to be one of the greatest Summer Of Arcade titles yet. There are so many hours that players can invest. With or without friends you will find yourself knee deep taking on the undead and demonic spirits of Castlevania. Now thats not all that bad is it? Watch out for our full review come Monday for the final verdict on this refresh on a classic.

So I turned on Tiger Woods ‘11 today to have some relax time and disregarded the update yesterday until I looked at my screen and saw something of interest. What is it that I spied my prying eyes? Move directions.

It seems to appear that EA has already patched the title with full move support. So when you pick up a PS Move you can enjoy it right out of the box. I have to admit that this is great news for Tiger and Move fans out there who are hoping their existing library will be compatible. Time to find out what other titles will be patched in the coming weeks leading up to the release of Playstation Move on September 19th in the US and September 15th in the UK.

Looks to appear this will put Move one step ahead of Kinect unless Microsoft gets patching games ASAP. For some reason I don’t see that happening as easily as thought. Now sees the question of which will be superior in the Tiger Woods 11 Online universe. Move users or gamepad/controller users? Time will tell, soon as we get our hands on this piece of hardware we will be sure to let everyone know what we think about it.

Please Do Not Copy The Pictures Enclosed Without At Least Sourcing.

So Blizzard has spent twelve years and $100 million creating StarCraft II. But what they’ve actually done, as you may well be aware by now, is release the first chapter in what is set to be an episodic game. This initial portion, subtitled Wings of Liberty, restricts you to playing a solo campaign as the humanoid Terran, with the Zerg and the Protoss becoming unlocked in two more add-on packs that will arrive in due course. Whether Blizzard will charge a cut price for the expansions or put them out as three complete games is unclear, but I’m pretty certain that StarCraft fans will pay any price to continue this venerable RTS saga, and this new arrival is by no means a third of a game.

Anyone who has doubted the quality of Blizzard’s workmanship can breathe a sigh of relief; StarCraft II is everything an RTS should be, with balanced classes, clever upgrade paths, rewarding gameplay and a difficulty curve that manages to challenge veterans and ease in newcomers. But is it perfect?

No.

The biggest problem facing my immediate enjoyment of StarCraft II is its plot, or more specifically the writing and the way in which it is delivered. After a truly spine-tingling opening cutscene, things start small with hard drinking southern badass Jim Raynor plotting a revolution from a seedy bar. Soon things escalate and he’s back on an intergalactic mission to fight for righteous causes in a questionable manner.

The characters are stereotypical and completely devoid of realistic qualities, with Raynor and his crew made up of sarcastic, drawling members of a slightly distasteful Confederate army. His accumulated allies soon include a Rastafarian criminal who literally has a voodoo doll stuck on the front of his body armour. It’s not exactly culturally sensitive, and when allegiances shift or tough decisions need to be made (and the story does branch at points) then you’ll struggle to muster any emotion about the dramatis personae. In essence, Blizzard could do with some of BioWare’s writing staff.

Once you get command of a spacecraft you can pick missions in a non-linear fashion, with three or four often available simultaneously. This is definitely a strong point, because it lets you choose how to strategise your upgrades based on the amount and type of research points awarded for the completion of each mission. It also allows you to pick a mission that you fancy and leave the tougher-sounding confrontations for when you’ve got more time on your hands. Your spacecraft acts as a hub for upgrades and research, and you can also recruit mercenaries, chat to crew members and see what the intergalactic 24 hour news is saying about your most recent exploits. It all works well, and the character models look great, even if all the men have bear-like arms and more scars than Kratos.

Any StarCraft fan, or indeed anyone who’s played an RTS in the past, will get to grips with the basic gameplay of Wings of Liberty immediately. There are some training missions, but these are so basic that they’re completely unnecessary unless you’re my mum, and you’ll be able to tackle the first missions without any trouble. I’d even go so far as to say that the normal difficulty level actually makes the initial couple of hours a little pedestrian, but since you can alter the difficulty before embarking on any mission it’s easy to adjust it up or down as you progress. There is a relatively good mix of mission types, and the game forces different strategies upon you from time to time because of the tempting secondary objectives and partially non-linear mission selection process, but anyone familiar with the RTS genre will know what to expect.

Now, the multiplayer. You probably know that there’s been something of an uproar over the lack of LAN play, and this is definitely a disadvantage, but I expect that Blizzard might relent and bring it along with the expansions. For the time being it’s not a critical flaw, but it will make an impact on the popularity of the game. The decision was presumably taken so that the Battle.net system controlled by Blizzard would be involved in every aspect of the game, whether playing solo or with friends. The good news is that Battle.net doesn’t seem to penalise you if your broadband connection suddenly goes down. It registered a disconnect in the middle of a couple of my campaign missions, and I was allowed to continue after acknowledging a dialogue box, so don’t worry about game-ending connection problems.

Finding games online is made easy in StarCraft II, and you’ll be able to face players of similar abilities once you’ve got a few matches under your belt. You can even visit a skipable novice section, although that doesn’t mean you’ll face off against novices, as it’s just as easy to get one’s ass handed to one’s self here as anywhere else online. Online play is the only way you’ll be able to gain control of the other alien races, which adds to its appeal, but it can feel a little sterile because of the lack of ingame chat channels, but Blizzard has already announced that these will be included in a patch, so it’s a temporary problem at worst.

The presentation of StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is generally excellent. The corny voice acting is a pain, but the cinemas are rendered and directed well, and there is plenty of personality to all of the ingame units. Graphical details are scalable so that even laptop users can play, but you’ll really want a decent dual or quad core machine to see the game at its best. Sound is top notch, from effects to music, although it does verge into cheesy territory which can be distracting.

It’s well known that Blizzard creates games that define genres, and although StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty isn’t one of them, it’s well designed, addictive and certain to sell in its millions. I’ve had a good time playing it in the first few days since its release, and that’s quite a compliment considering how sceptical I was prior to its launch. It’s not revolutionary, and it’s more than a little similar to its predecessors, but then that’s precisely what the fans wanted. Isn’t it?

Much like Nintendo did with the Wii, Microsoft are touring the UK to sell people on the idea of Kinect, interested? Here are the dates and locations.

• 1-30 August to 30 September 2010 Alton Towers
• 7-22 August 2010 London Zoo
• 11-12 September 2010 The Thames Festival in London
• 21-31 October 2010 Chessington World of Adventures
• 2-8 December 2010 Clothes Show Live in Birmingham (NEC)

Well that kinda sucks for me, I live in Leeds! There will also be a special venue in London and you book your place by clicking this text here. At the events you can expect to play Kinect Adventures!, Dance Central, Kinect Joyride and Kinectimals and top of that you upload a 25 second clip yourself looking like a complete fool here.

Phew, that’s a lot of links. Will you be attending the Kinect showcase? Personally I’m not interested in Kinect down to the name, yeah I’ve still got an issue with it.

Dragon Age Origins hasn’t quite gone in my good books for downloadable content as it stands, let’s face it, it’s going to take a lot to take Fallout 3 off the DLC throne. Regardless, after the surprisingly good Leliana’s Song Bioware have announced Golems of Amgarrak to arrive on August 10th for PC, Xbox 360 and Playstation.

Delve deep underground to save a missing dwarven expedition in search of ancient secrets for creating monstrous constructs. Only you can uncover the gruesome fate that befell them.

Put your Warden back in action and adventure through new environments, meet new characters and defeat never before seen creatures. With an engrossing new storyline and challenging puzzles this is one add-on you don’t want to miss!

• Import your character from Origins or Awakening or create a new, high-level hero!
• Face an all-new terrifying creature
• Earn powerful rewards that transfer into your Awakening and Origins campaign
• An advanced challenge for even the most experienced adventurers

Aw, I was hoping I could bring Shale along. So what about you? Waiting for Dragon Age 2? Not impressed with the DLC so far? Don’t even like Dragon Age? Then something must be wrong with you!

Curve Studios has announced today that they are planning to release Explodemon! the PSN’s next big 2.5D platformer. The game takes heavy influences from platformers of the past. Check out the screenshots and full release below.

UPDATE: Trailer link is at the bottom,Curve Studios has stated that WiiWare is currently not the case. However other platforms are being considered.


LONDON, ENGLAND: PlayStation 3 owners! Hide your treasured possessions and cover your pets in bubble wrap, because Explodemon! will be hitting PlayStation Network with a bang this Q4.

Explodemon! is a 2.5D platform action game brought kicking and screaming into the HD era. Influenced by classic Japanese games from the golden era of the SNES, players use Explodemon’s self-destructive nature to combat enemies and fly through the air, all the while solving a huge variety of physics-based puzzles (and, naturally, causing incalculable collateral damage).

When the peaceful planet of Nibia is attacked by the malicious Vortex forces, the fate of the star system is thrust into the one pair of hands it shouldn’t be: the malfunctioning Guardian robot Explodemon. His comic quest to repel the onslaught and restore peace will take him across three distinct planets over twelve levels, with new abilities and gameplay mechanics introduced throughout.

“We’re really excited to finally be able to revealExplodemon! to the world,” explains design director Jonathan Biddle, from a blast-proof bunker somewhere below the surface of Nibia. “The game is chock full of gameplay nuggets carefully mined from the greatest titles ever to grace our joysticks. Whether you’re experiencing its intense combat, head-scratching puzzles, or classic platforming, you’ll find we’ve combined all of these elements into an addictive and elegantly balanced package.”

Explodemon! is unrelenting, hard-core brain-tickling action for those who grew up playing platformers, as well as those who’ll discover just how awesome they were.

THE SKINNY

• Explodemon! is a 2.5D-styled platform game with a physics-puzzle twist
• It’s out Q4 2010
• It’s influenced by the classic Japanese games of old
• It’s more than a little bit funny, or so our mums said
• Follow us on Twitter! Exclusive things! News! @curvestudios http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JKgnsOrW38k&feature=player_embedded

EA is known for having everyone pay for DLC from holes in golf, or clubs or even upgrade packs to fully unlock everything without doing the work. Well that has come to change. It seems EA and Black Box have snuck up behind us and pulled a fast one! If you put in your Skate 3 Disc and go to where the DLC is (On the PS3 it is in the pause menu then hit Square) and you will see free DLC added.

Picture That, Now Dark

The DLC is the After Dark Pack. Honestly I’m amazed that EA hasn’t really promoted this. It allows you to now skate in the dark for the first time in the series! Not only that but it brings back the classic San Van DIY park.

No word yet if it is available on the Xbox 360. If someone could confirm this it would be great! Happy Skating!

Earlier today Sony announced that Socom 4 has been delayed till 2011. This shouldn’t come as a surprise to people who were following the title seeing that there has not been any new information on the title in quite some time, honestly since the reveal.  Below is the full announcement as reported by IGN.
“Sony broke the news today with the following statement:

“We can confirm that SOCOM 4 will be released in 2011. The team is focusing on additional features which will help to deliver the most compelling and immersive SOCOM experience yet. Please look out for further updates and announcements over the coming months.” ”

TGH: Well that certainly changes a few things. Can Sony’s holiday lineup still be amazing? Yes..LBP2 ‘nuf said.

The Nintendo Wii has a lot of variety when it comes to it’s library. From RPG’s to railer shooters , to sports titles and games that consist of many different mini games. Some can say the Wii is the most diverse system this generation. However there is only one adventure platforming title when the Wii comes to mind in most gamers, and it’s Mario. Well Frozen North is trying to change that and make gamers think of a new hero, Flip. The star of the upcoming twisted adventure game, Flip’s Twisted World. We got a chance to sit down with Douglas Gregory, Lead Designer at Frozen North Productions. Check out the great interview below.

Q.) Flip’s Twisted World shows to put a new spin on the adventure/platform/puzzle genre. What ideas led you to develop such a title?

Our original inspiration was the artist M.C. Escher’s print “Relativity” (It’s the one with people walking up walls and stairs at all angles).  From there we brought-in elements of our favourite games from our childhoods: Super Mario, Legend of Zelda, even a touch of Megaman.  We hope some of the flavour of these classics comes through when players try Flip’s.

Q.) There are a few control schemes at the Wii users disposal. What is the best control scheme that you feel is right for the title?

Flip’s Twisted World always uses the Wii Remote & Nunchuk, but players have a choice in how they want to Twist the World.  They can twist the Wii Remote to make the world twist the same way, following their gesture; or they can simply point with the analog stick.

Q.) Will players have an advantage by using the gesture technique as it is optional?

Personally I prefer using the gestures, because I find it gives me a better feel for how I’m moving the world.  Other players find the analog stick easier, so it’s really up to personal preference.

Q.) Do you feel you have taken full advantage of the Wii or do you look forward to creating future titles to further what you have learned during the development of Flip?

With Flip’s Twisted World we’ve pushed the Wii further than we ever knew it could be pushed, but there are still more tricks we discovered along the way that didn’t make it into the game.  I think our next title on the Wii or similar system will go even further.

Q.) What made your team decide to create this title on the Wii and not on any other platform?

The gesture controls drove the decision.  To be able to hold the world in the palm of your hand and turn it on end with a flick of your wrist – that was an experience we truly wanted to create.  The Wii is also a great system for family-oriented platformers like Flip’s: the players who would want it most own a Wii.

Q.) Is it possible in the future we could see a port to another system?

Absolutely.  We would be very interested in taking Flip to other platforms, through ports or spinoffs.  Ultimately where he goes next is up to the publisher, Majesco Entertainment.

Q.) What can you tell us about the yet to be revealed final boss?

The final boss has all of Flip’s powers: including the ability to Twist the World against you.  To defeat it, Flip will need to use every power he has attained on his journey, and timing will be critical.

Q.) Will there be co-op offline/online play with a friend?

There is no multiplayer in Flip’s first foray, but we have great ideas for the future if Flip gets a second game.

Q.) Roughly how many hours do you say the average user will take to beat the title?

It reliably takes us at least four hours, using every trick and cheat we know.  Most users players probably spend eight to ten hours at it.

Q.) During QA and development what is the best moment that has come up?

The best moment for me was showing Flip’s to students at a school in Toronto, Ontario.  As soon as we Twisted the World to walk up a wall, the crowd went nuts.  People were shouting “Wow!” “That’s so cool!” and “He’s like Spiderman!”  Seeing the gameplay resonate with so many young players was very rewarding for me, and I hope they have fun playing it!
A Special thank you to Douglas and Frozen North for the interview. Don’t forget to pick up Flip’s Twisted World coming September 2010 exclusively for the Nintendo Wii.