NBA 2K10: Draft Combine announced for XBLA, PSN

2K Sports today announced NBA 2K10: Draft Combine, a download-only game that ptromises some pre-season fun for basketball fans leading up to the fall launch of NBA 2K10. Planned for release this September on Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network, NBA 2K10: Draft Combine lets players create their own custom player, begin their career at the ATTACK Athletics gym in Chicago.

Gamers build up their custom players by working with a mentor called the 2K Insider and increase their NBA worth through a variety of basketball drills and 5-on-5 games. When you create that player you will allegedly have access to over 300 different signature customizations, including player-specific shooting animations, dunk and dribble packages and more.

Custom built players from NBA 2K10: Draft Combine and use them in the all-new My Player career mode in NBA 2K10 launching this fall. NBA 2K10: Draft Combine is being developed by Visual Concepts, and will be released in North America, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan and India this September on Xbox LIVE Arcade for Xbox 360 (400 Microsoft Points) and PlayStation Network for PLAYSTATION 3 system ($4.99).

For more information about NBA 2K10: Draft Combine, visit www.2ksports.com/games/nba2k10dc.

Konami reveals Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals

Konami Digital Entertainment announced that Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals, a game for Xbox Live, WiiWare, and PlayStation Network is in the works and will be published in North America this fall. In the game Sinister forces have deceived you to believe that your destructive behavior will save an epic hero - when in reality, you’re working for evil.

Players take control of a tornado to tear through open environments, chewing up the landscape and spitting out everything in your path. The more you destroy, the bigger you grow as you work against time based, collection and point challenges in the search for hidden elements and enemies from another world. Zephyr provides sandbox type gameplay with real time destruction in a simple to play game style.

In co-operative multiplayer two players drive through environments picking up and tossing everything standing in their way in an effort to battle against the evil Omegaton. The items in a player’s path range from the usual rusted tractors and rustic farms, to the strange and unexpected as you tear your way through increasingly complex and crowded areas around the world. Through large open worlds, users can take control of how objects are damaged and destroyed with the active destruction game mechanic. For added replayability, players can complete multiple missions and destroy different objects within environments to maximize each level and earn extra points.

Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals is being developed by Loose Cannon Studios.

Hendrix and Queen Coming to Guitar Hero

The start of a new month means it’s time for another batch of songs for Activision’s Guitar Hero World Tour. This month, gamers will be able to rock out to extended set lists with over a dozen new downloadable tracks. Fans will soon be able to experience more music from the likes of rock icons Queen, Jimi Hendrix, and a host of various European superstars and more, which will add to the more than 500 songs already available in the Guitar Hero catalog.

Read the rest of this entry »

Sam & Max Coming to Xbox LIVE

It’s been more than fifteen years since the dynamic duo of smart alec canine shamus Sam and his hyper violent lagomorph sidekick Max first hit the gaming scene in LucasArts’ PC classic, Sam & Max Hit the Road. Now, after a recent return to the gaming world with their episodic adventures on the PC and Wii, the gumshoes are poised to bring their unique brand of crimebusting chaos to the 360.

Late yesterday, Telltale Games announced plans to bring Season One and Season Two of the popular game series to the Xbox LIVE Arcade. Both Sam & Max seasons will be released on Xbox LIVE Arcade as full-season bundles, providing instant gratification to players in one complete meal, rather than in bite-sized chunks. The second season is also scheduled to hit retail for PC and Wii in the coming months.

Like any good pulp novel, the approaching releases will sport catchy new monikers. Season One, which takes the Freelance Police from the New York City streets to Washington D.C. and all the way to the moon on the trail of a hypnotic nemesis, will be dubbed Sam & Max Save the World for all new releases moving forward. Season Two, which involves a baffling series of time paradoxes at the hands of unconventional aliens, has been renamed Sam & Max Beyond Time and Space. The Xbox LIVE Arcade releases will be the first to carry the new titles.

VIZ Brings Blue Dragon Anime to iTunes

When Blue Dragon first hit the 360 in Japan back in 2006, the game was a surprising hit, helping the 360 to begin carving out a niche for itself in the tough Japanese market. The game’s success led to a merchandising bonanza, one part of which included a manga series in Shonen Jump and an anime series, both based on the Microsoft RPG game. Now, thanks to VIZ Media, the anime series has seen its debut here in the states, piching up a Western fan following. Today, VIZ announced that it’s bringing the popular anime series to Apple’s iTunes service, and as a special launch promotion, the first episode will be available for download for free on the iTunes Store until March 10th at http://www.itunes.com/tv/bluedragon.

“We are excited to add the beloved Blue Dragon animation to the growing library of VIZ Media titles now available on the iTunes store.” says Ken Sasaki, Sr. Vice President of Strategy & Business Development, VIZ Media. “VIZ Media is committed to giving fans the best in animated entertainment and we are thrilled to provide the best options in delivering exciting animated content in a high quality digital way.”

Sure, a free episode is a good way to grab some attention for the show. But if you need a refresher on the source material, another option would be to check out Gus Mastrapa’s review of the game to see if Blue Dragon might be up your alley to begin with.

Burnout Legendary Cars Priced to Move

Ever since word first broke about the upcoming Legendary Cars DLC for Burnout Paradise, fans of the game have been eager to get behind the wheel of Criterion’s version of such classic cars as the Back to the Future flying DeLorean, the new Knight Rider, the General Lee from The Dukes of Hazzard, and of course, the Ghostbusters‘ Ecto-1. While the names may be different in the upcoming DLC, all the cars are an unmistakable homage to their film counterparts.

It was announced earlier that, after months of buildup, the Legendary Cars pack was finally ready to hit the PC, Xbox LIVE Marketplace, and PlayStation Store this week, but what wasn’t clear was just how much these cinematic rides would cost. Criterion cleared all that up this morning with a post on its official blog, detailing the pricing for the DLC. For those looking to pick up individual additions to the vehicle roster, the Hunter Manhattan Spirit (Ecto-1), Hunter Cavalry Bootlegger (General Lee), and Carson GT Nighthawk (K.I.T.T.) will each run $1.99 on the PC and PlayStation Store and 160 MS Points on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace. Time travel, though, apparently comes at a steeper price, with the Jansen 88 Special (the Back to the Future DeLorean) running $3.99 or 320 MS Points. Of course, bargain hunters can get the package deal for the collective price of $7.99/600 MS Points.

While waiting to pick up the Legendary Cars pack this Thursday, Burnout Paradise fans can always kill their time with the Burnout Paradise Party Pack, which Criterion released last week. And with Cops and Robbers, toy cars, and the Big Surf Island downloads still to come, it looks like Burnout Paradise still has plenty of gas in its tank for the foreseeable future.

The Maw Gets Its First DLC This Week

I’ll admit it. I’ve got a fondness for Twisted Pixel’s Xbox LIVE Arcade title, The Maw. The game’s got a simple appeal that fans of all ages can get into. Unfortunately, like most great love affairs, my time with The Maw came to an end all too soon. Thankfully, the good folks at Twisted Pixel Games are not one to leave fans heartbroken, and the company announced this afternoon that the first new downloadable content for The Maw will be made available this Wednesday on the Xbox LIVE Marketplace for the easy on the wallet budget price of 100 Microsoft Points (about $1.25 for those of you trying to work the conversion in your head).

This is the first of three upcoming DLC levels that Twisted Pixel Games has been working on ever since development on the game wrapped up last year. “There’s a period of time where we’re not allowed to touch the game because it’s going through certification, but there was more we wanted to do, so rather than calling it a day we threw ourselves into making all new levels,” explains CEO Michael Wilford. “We’ve never done DLC before so it’s a bit of an experiment for us, but there seems to be a lot of excitement for it so I don’t think we can go wrong.”

The new downloadable level, dubbed “Brute Force”, will feature new puzzles, characters, cinematics, and more of the critter gobbling action Maw fans have come to know and love. In “Brute Force”, Frank and Maw have to face off against a new foe: the Brute Soldier, a member of the bounty hunters’ elite strike force sent to stop Maw at any cost. The new level will expand The Maw’s storyline as “deleted scenes set in between the main game’s plot, as opposed to being tacked onto the post game plot.

“As with any production, there are always pieces left on the cutting room floor that you wished could have made it into the final cut,” says CCO and Director Josh Bear. “We had a lot of half-finished story elements and gameplay mechanics, so we are picking the best ones, polishing them up and making new levels that are bigger in size and scope than the ones in the main game.”