DC Comics Edition Of Scribblenauts Unmasked

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment announces Scribblenauts Unmasked - A DC Comics Adventure, a new game that melds the boundless creativity of the award-winning video game franchise with thousands of DC Comics™ characters and objects across DC Comics worlds -- all drawn in the classic Scribblenauts art style. Created and developed by 5TH Cell, the game will be available for the Wii U™ system, Nintendo 3DS™ hand-held system and PC in North and South America and Australia this fall.

Scribblenauts Unmasked features a story where players embark as protagonist Maxwell on an imaginative and comical quest, taking them through GOTHAM CITY™, METROPOLIS™, ATLANTIS™ and other iconic locales from the DC Comics universe. In the game, Maxwell comes to the aid of BATMAN™, SUPERMAN™ and the rest of THE JUSTICE LEAGUE™ as they face the mightiest DC Comics Super Villains, such as THE JOKER™, LEX LUTHOR™ and SINESTRO™. Fueled by the player's imagination, Maxwell must use his magic notebook to put a stop to the villains' evil schemes and save the day!

Expanding on the video game franchise's innovation, Scribblenauts Unmasked features for the first time dynamically created puzzles called Heroic Feats that increase the game's replayability by continuously generating original scenarios requiring different solutions with each visit.

 

"Scribblenauts Unmasked includes action-packed missions with fan favorite DC Comics Super Heroes adding to the players' puzzle solving experience as the beloved Maxwell," said Samantha Ryan, Senior Vice President, Production and Development, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. "Challenges in the game encourage broader player choices all set in well-known locations of the DC Comics universe, interacting in new and inventive ways with a wide range of popular DC Comics characters."

 

"Fans of both DC Comics and Scribblenauts can really let their imaginations run wild with the Super Hero Creator in Scribblenauts Unmasked," said Jeremiah Slaczka, C.E.O. and Creative Director of 5TH Cell. "Players will be challenged to craft new and never-before-seen characters such as Wonder Joker or Bane Lantern and use them to solve puzzles or share them with friends."

 

A new Super Hero Creator tool available on Wii U and PC elevates the game's creativity by giving players the ability to produce their own Super Hero or Super Villain using any item from the DC Comics universe and then setting properties for how it behaves, changing its appearance and powers. Players can then share their creations with the community and download others.

 

LEGO Batman: The Movie Clip Released

When Bruce Wayne receives the man of the year award, fellow billionaire Lex Luthor becomes jealous and decides to run for President. To create the atmosphere for his type of fear-based politics Lex recruits the Joker to perfect a Black LEGO Destructor Ray which wreaks havoc on Gotham. As Lex destroys Batman's tech, Batman reluctantly turns to Superman for help!

Set for release on May 21, 2013.

Red-Band Trailer for Sony and Naughty Dog's "THE LAST OF US"

From the publisher that brought you "Shadow of the Colossus", "God of War", "Sly Cooper", and "Killzone" and the developer of "Uncharted 2: Among Thieves", "Crash Bandicoot", and "Jak and Daxter" comes this summer's "The Last of Us".

See the Extended "red-band" TV Spot that was released in April for ths summer's mighty PlayStation 3 Exclusive. 

Survive an apocalypse on Earth in The Last of Us, a PlayStation 3-exclusive title by Naughty Dog. Here, you will find abandoned cities reclaimed by nature. Here is a population decimated by a modern plague. Here, there are only survivors killing each other for food, weapons, or whatever they can get their hands on. Here, you find no hope.

Joel, a brutal survivor, and Ellie, a brave young teenage girl who is wise beyond her years, must work together if they hope to survive their journey across the US.

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes Game Trailer

Prepare to Hero Up this fall, when LEGO® Marvel Super Heroes™ puts players in control of their favorite Super Heroes from the Marvel Universe. With more than 100 memorable characters to choose from, each with their own unique powers and abilities, players are in for a brick-smashing adventure. In a new video released today, you’ll get a sneak peek at a few members of the Amazing, Mighty and Uncanny (hint) team who join forces to stop an array of Marvel villains.

Marvel Heroes Beta Coincides With FCBD

Via Comic Book Resources:

Promising a cameo by Stan Lee himself and 22 Marvel heroes available as player characters, Gazillion Entertainment announced a free beta weekend May 3-5 for its new massive multiplayer online game, Marvel Heroes.

During that weekend, some of the Avengers -- Black Widow, Thor, Captain America, the Hulk and Iron Man, whose third film also opens that weekend -- will be available as playable characters for free. Steven Reid, Gazillion's director of community and customer support, made the announcement at C2E2 this weekend.

The full game launches in early access mode May 28, and then officially June 4. After the beta weekend, the roster of free characters available to players changes to Daredevil, Storm, Hawkeye, Scarlet Witch and the Thing. Other characters are available for purchase in pre-launch founders packages ranging from $19.99 for a starter pack to $199.99 for the ultimate pack that includes all heroes.

The game itself blends role-playing game depth with massive action in an isometric game view, Reid said. Video highlights showed massive action, battles raging among literally dozens of heroes, super powers everywhere and the Hulk smashing Iron Man with a very satisfying metallic thud. "I think I am going to put that one down as a one-nil victory for the Hulk," said Reid.

Marvel Heroes associate producer Matt Group said the game features three platforms: a town setting in which character gather information and goods, a massive public combat free-for-all section, and smaller group combat settings. All settings scale to fit the action. Cosmic threats play alongside modest squabbles as the game progresses.

"Marvel is a story-driven universe, and we all love the stories that they tell, so we wanted to make sure that we got that right in our game., Group said. "So, what better way to bring out the writing than to bring out one of the biggest writers in the Marvel universe, kind of the Marvel super scribe, if you will. He's written everything under the sun, Brian Michael Bendis. He's writing an original story for our game. You won't find it anywhere else… it's 100 percent an original story written just for our game."

The game tells the story in comic book fashion, and then drops characters into the action. "We wanted to take the approach of telling the story from the comic book roots that Marvel grows from," said Group. The team decided upon "motion comics," sort of a hybrid between full animation and the two-dimensional page. "We really wanted to make sure that we go through the authentic comic book process," he said.

Initially, 22 heroes will be available as player characters, and players can join in groups online or play individually. If everyone decides to play as Wolverine, well, "We really don't care," said David Brevik, Gazillion's Chief Operating Officer and a co-developer of the game "Diablo."

Players gain experience and power based upon game action. The initial character stats are based upon the same stats used in the 1980s TSR Marvel role-playing game. Characters can also gain new suits, with Iron Man and Spider-Man having seven or eight suits each, and every hero having at least two, including one found through game play and experience boosts only and not available for purchase.

Having the strongest powers and largest measurables will not be enough, said Brevik. "It won't all be about powers and numbers and all that. Skill will matter, and your ability to move around and see how fast you can click the buttons, which is always near and dear to my heart."

The roster of voice talent stretched past 75 actors, including perennial favorites such as Keith David as Nick Fury, Nolan North as Deadpool, Steve Blum as Wolverine and Clark Gregg as Agent Coulson. Group said that he examined every audible appearance of each character he could find and expects that voices will match what fans are used to hearing. Group "has literally scoured the planet trying to find everyone who's ever played a Marvel character in a previous project," said Reid.

The voice cast includes one special guest.

"I personally will be making an appearance in Marvel Heroes," said Stan Lee, appearing in a video at the panel. After seeing Marvel Heroes in action, he said, "The only thing that could make it better: Me!"

The game will remain free "unless you want to pay us something," said Reid. It is possible to acquire characters, suits and powers as "loot" through game play, making it entirely possible to play the full game all the way to conclusion without paying a dime. Some suits and powers are actually only available as in-game loot.

Brevik said new stories would be added for as long as the game remains active –- so the initial story and endgame is just the beginning.

Microsoft is Determined to Hand Next-Gen to Sony; 6 Months Behind on 'Nextbox' Production

In another stunning report that further solidifies Microsoft's downward spiral in the build-up to the next-gen console war, sources told Kotaku today that Microsoft an exciting exclusive possibly lined up; but that's about all they have.

We've heard from other sources that Microsoft is not where they want to be at this point in the pre-launch development of Durango. A reliable source—one who was not part of our reporting about the Respawn game—tells us that Microsoft is as much as six months behind in producing content for the new console, despite an expected late-2013 launch. Another tells us that Microsoft recently cancelled several internal next-gen projects because they were not coming together as hoped. These sources have told us that, comparatively, Sony is in better shape and further along with hardware and software development for PlayStation 4.

Yikes. That's not all though, Kotaku went on...

We'd also heard from an industry insider that Microsoft was aggressively trying to sign exclusive games for Durango. Given the lack of internal development at Microsoft—their internal studios, while talented, are outnumbered by those of Sony and Nintendo—and given some of the apparent recent stumbles and slowdowns internally, signing an exclusive Respawn-EA game would suit the Durango quite well.

Between it's rumored "always online" functionality, it's money sucking X-Box Live membership, and almost no exclusives, it was also strongly hinted by many that the next X-Box would also be a more focused entertainment centre than an actual gaming console.

Even if you don't care for Nintendo or the Wii U, it's a sad time when even Nintendo might be doing something.

Expect more details during Microsoft's "Reveal Event" set to air online May 21 at 1:00 p.m. ET.

"The Evil Within" to give True Horror; Dirty Underwear in 2014.

 IGN revealed the first trailer and screenshots to Bethesda/Tango Gameworks' "The Evil Within" (formerly known as "Zwei") the new survival-horror from Shinji Mikami, creator of "Resident Evil", "Devil May Cry", and "God Hand" 

From the official website:

Shinji Mikami, the father of survival horror, is back to direct The Evil Within™ – a game embodying the meaning of pure survival horror. Highly-crafted environments, horrifying anxiety, and an intricate story weave together to create an immersive world that will bring players to the height of tension. The Evil Within is in development for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, the PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, PC and next generation consoles and is slated for release in 2014.

The plot has been somewhat hinted at in a press release from Bethesda:

When Detective Sebastian and his partner rush to the scene of a gruesome mass murder, a mysterious, powerful force is lying in wait for them. Witnessing the killing of fellow police officers one after another, Sebastian is then attacked and loses consciousness. Waking up in a land where monsters are wandering about, Sebastian has to fight his way through a world of death and its close friend madness in order to understand what’s going on. Sebastian has to face his fears in order to survive on a journey to discover what lies in the shadows of that mysterious force.

The game, which has been under-wraps and in secrecy, was first shown back in April 2012 with the site going live, with a screenshot and message, part of which read:

As a master of the ‘survival horror’ genre, Shinji Mikami is committed to making a game that is the realization of pure survival horror, an experience which he defines as one that pushes the limits of fear and exhilaration. He and his team at Tango are committed to attaining this vision.

Mikami promises fans "The perfect blend of horror and action" with this title, dropping in 2014 and running off of the powerful id Tech 5 engine .

IGN will be going into full detail on Monday, April 22 at 7 am Pacific Time. with an early demo of the title.

Go Back To The 80's With "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon"

In December, Ubisoft's "Far Cry 3" was released to great sales and near-universal critical acclaim- shipping over 4 million units as of February, and sitting at a 90% on review agitator Metacritic.

So what do you do after that if you're Ubisoft? Make an ultra-violent, corny 80's sci-fi-throwback DLC for it!

"Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon" is an upcoming DLC slated for a May 1st launch on PS3, X-Box 360, and PC. "Far Cry 3" will not be required, and the game with feature an 8 hour campaign, as well as a singular fully explorable island. "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon" will feature Michael Beihn (Aliens, Terminator, The Rock) as Sgt. Rex 'Power' Colt.

Rock Paper Shotgun's Craig Pearson had a hand's on with 'Blood Dragon' and confirmed what the launch-trailer basically inferred:

Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is stupid. It has a terrible story, one-dimensional characters, and there’s no emotional value in playing it whatsoever. I can’t even criticise it for all those things, because that’s everything Ubisoft wants the game to be. They think they’ve found a loophole in any criticism by deliberately aiming low. Hah! The joke’s on them! Blood Dragon is pretty good.

Marty Silva of IGN got a good 30 minutes in with 'Blood Dragon' which also confirmed robot lizards with eye-lasers. You read that right.

 If you don't tread carefully near the laser-firing lizards, you'll quickly find yourself torn to shreds. But using the various cybernetic hearts that you cultivate (read: rip out) from the bodies of your enemies, you can take control of the beasts and use them in a variety of tactical ways.

It might be too early to call; but i'd wager "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon" will sweep any and all DLC awards that it's nominated for, unless we get a phenomenal DLC for "Bioshock: Infinite" that makes the game good.

Injustice: Hal Jordan vs Parallax Video

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment have released an all-new trailer for the upcoming DC Comics fighter Injustice: Gods Among Us – set to launch on April 16 – which focuses on the Green Lantern’s role within the game’s story and his struggle to defeat his ultimate foe. A sworn intergalactic defender of the innocent, within the story of Injustice: Gods Among Us, Hal Jordan is forced to clash with a carbon copy of himself. As he summarizes in the trailer, “My oath says that no evil shall escape my sight. So what happens when that evil is me?”

"Batman: Arkham Origins" Announcement Featuring First Screenshots

The Arkham video game series has driven gamers into a frenzy the past several years and a slew of information has dropped today regarding the next installment. Warner Bros Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment finally revealed the upcoming video game will be a prequel called Batman: Arkham Origins.

"Eight of the best assassins in the world have come to Gotham City for one night, Christmas Eve of all nights, to kill the Bat."

The company also unleashed the official website BatmanArkhamOrigins.com

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today announced Batman: Arkham Origins™ and Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate™, the next installments of the blockbuster Batman: Arkham videogame franchise. Batman: Arkham Origins will be available for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation®3 system, the Wii U™ system, and Windows PC. Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate™ will be available for the Nintendo 3DS™ handheld system, and PlayStation®Vita handheld entertainment system. Both titles are scheduled to release worldwide Oct. 25, 2013.

Developed by WB Games Montréal, Batman: Arkham Origins features an expanded Gotham City and introduces an original prequel storyline set several years before the events of Batman: Arkham Asylum and Batman: Arkham City, the first two critically acclaimed games of the franchise. Taking place before the rise of Gotham City’s most dangerous criminals, the game showcases a young and unrefined Batman as he faces a defining moment in his early career as a crime fighter that sets his path to becoming the Dark Knight. As the story unfolds, players will meet many important characters for the first time and forge key relationships.

Batman: Arkham Origins Blackgate is a 2.5-D game developed by Armature Studio that brings the Batman Arkham experience for the first time to Nintendo and Sony handheld systems. A companion game to Batman: Arkham Origins, players can continue the storyline of the console version and discover more details of the Dark Knight’s past.

“Batman: Arkham is a huge triple-A videogame franchise and we are delighted to expand the experience with Batman: Arkham Origins,” said Martin Tremblay, President, Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. “WB Games Montréal has an incredibly talented team building upon Rocksteady’s award-winning gameplay and technology to deliver a deep, immersive, quality experience fans will love.”

“WB Games Montréal is honored to have the opportunity to create Batman: Arkham Origins, a new chapter in this amazing franchise,” said Reid Schneider, Vice President and Executive Producer, WB Games Montréal. “We are huge fans of the franchise and are committed to creating an experience that offers players more of what they love, as well as the chance to play as a younger Batman within a fresh storyline and expanded world.”