LeeLovesHotTrends.com » gaming

StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in Stores Tomorrow

Admin — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 03:18:01 +0000

StarCraft is probably one of the most played PC game ever to be released that even it took 12 years before Blizzard released it’s sequel, the game is still being played anywhere.

Only a few hours away and we can get a hold on the most anticipated follow-up to the 1998’s epic real-time-strategy game. Finally, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty will be released on Tuesday, July 27, 2010.

Set in the 26th century in the distant part of the Milky Way galaxy, Starcraft II has three chapters; the first is Wings of Liberty which will be released in less than 24 hours. Later on, two expansion packs will add on to the game, fleshing out the fate of other races from within the game’s universe. “Heart of the Swarm” and “Legacy of the Void” doesn’t have a concrete release dates yet.

There will be three species: the Terrans, human exiles from Earth; the Zerg, a race of insectoid genetic assimilators; and the Protoss, a species with vast psionic power. StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty is said to continue the epic saga where it left off in StarCraft: Brood War.

Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty is being sold for $60. A Collector’s Edition is also available.

Fans in Asia and Europe can now enjoy the new Starcraft game as well as it goes live in these countries. Although they will only be available in digital download where gamers have to pay to monthly or daily fess to play.

Starcraft II is expected to sell about 6 – 7 million copies within it’s first fiscal year. It’s already top seller video games in Amazon pre-order.

Also, Blizzard released this expanded trailer for Starcraft II and it is pure awesomeness.

Click here for more Starcraft II Unlockable Contents.

Update: StarCraft II: Wings of Liberty in stores now. Hurry!

World of Warcraft Realm Status, WoW Server Updates

Admin — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 05:03:52 +0000

The World of the Warcraft (WoW), currently the world’s most-subscribed and the highest rated massively multiplayer online role-playing game MMORP, seems to have little problems with their server for their latest version of WoW: Wrath of the Lich King.

Blizzard, the developer of World of Warcraft, announced that they will be implementing the WoW authentication system so servers or realms of WoW have gone down for maintenance since last night. This went on for 24 hours. Though not all the realms are down, users are still aren’t able to log in into their account. According to Blizzard:

We are aware that login to several realms is temporarily unavailable due to an unforeseen technical issue. We are unable to provide an estimate on when these issues will be resolved, but please check back here for any updates.

Maybe it has something to do with WoW patch 3.3.5. Blizzard made a list of the known issues that players might come across. So far, patch 3.3.5 for the Mac and PC versions, and will only work with North American versions of WoW. The European and international versions of the patch are coming next week.

Download World of Warcraft patch 3.3.5 here.

For more information about the World of Warcraft Realm Status, check out Blizzard and the WoW Forums.

Nintendo Revealed 3D Video Game Console, Nintendo 3DS

Admin — Thu, 17 Jun 2010 05:21:27 +0000

Nintendo won’t let Microsoft and Sony steal the entire spotlight at the E3 2010 in Los Angeles. The video game company chose to wow their audience by announcing about their Nintendo DS successor.

Nintendo’s upcoming portable game console that can produce “3D effects without the need for any special glasses”, the Nintendo 3DS. What does the trick is a built-in 3-D camera.

“This is the first time any such 3-D content has been demonstrated without the need to wear glasses,” Nintendo President Satoru Iwata said. “It’s also, it seems, one of the first times such content will be commercially available for a mobile device.”

Like its predecessor, the Nintendo DS, the 3DS features two screens. The bottom is a touch panel, but unlike the DS, the top is a 3.5-inch 3-D display. A slider on top of the device allows players to adjust the depth of the 3-D effect.

“Nintendo 3DS is also capable of displaying 3-D Hollywood movies,” Iwata explained. “We are not announcing any specific plans [this week], but at our booth, you will find demonstrators showing you [examples] from Disney, Warner Bros. and DreamWorks. You can see DreamWorks’ ‘How to Train Your Dragon,’ Warner Bros.’ ‘Legend of the Guardians’ and Disney’s ‘Tangled,’ all playing in 3-D.”

The 3DS also has two cameras on the back for users to snap 3-D digital pictures and view them also in 3-D.

“It’s a mass-market device that lets you take and enjoy 3-D digital pictures,” Iwata said at Nintendo’s E3 press conference.

Nintendo did not announce a price or ship date for the 3DS yet, BUT, Square-Enix announced four titles that will be coming to the Nintendo 3DS. These include Chocobo Racing, Final Fantasy, Kingdom Hearts and Dragon Quest.

PlayStation Plus, PlayStation Move Announced at E3

Admin — Wed, 16 Jun 2010 06:06:53 +0000

Sony has finally revealed a pay subscription service for the PlayStation Network during their E3 press conference.

Sony Computer Entertainment of America President and CEO Jack Tretton came to announce on stage the PlayStation Plus, a new service that for $50 a year or $18 for three months.

“For those customers who want to further enrich their experience, we’ve created a subscription package that will live on top of the currently available PlayStation Network offerings,” Tretton said. “The official name of this service package is PlayStation Plus.”

And what do subscribers get for their money? Just a bunch of premium content, including “hundreds of dollars of products” throughout the year, early access to betas, and Qore, a wide selection of new downloadable titles, automatic patching services, discounts on things from the PlayStation Store, and more. The first month of service will feature Wipeout HD for free, a trial of inFamous, two PSP minis and the PSOne classic Rally Cross. In the second month, Qore will be added.

Well, it would be foolish not to subscribe to this service if you ask us.

And then there’s also the news about PlayStation Move, a motion-sensing controllers for PlayStation 3 videogame consoles.

Based on handheld motion controller wand, PlayStation Move uses the PlayStation Eye camera to track the wand’s position, and inertial sensors in the wand to detect its motion.

“We think the PlayStation Move is the device that will bridge the gap between core and casual gamers,” Sony vice president Peter Dille said during a press conference at E3 2010.

Move wands will debut in the US in September for $49.99. A smaller “sub controller” wand for use navigating characters in shooter games will be priced at 29.99 dollars.

Sony will combine Move controllers with Eye cameras and a videogame in bundles sold for 99.99 dollars. Adding a PS3 console to that bundle raises the price to 399.99 dollars.

Star Wars: The Old Republic Trailer Revealed at E3 2010

Admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 04:43:24 +0000

A five-minute cinematic trailer for BioWare and LucasArts upcoming game, Star Wars: The Old Republic has been released.

At E3 2010, BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk announced that every player, regardless of their chosen class, will be able to earn their own personal spacecraft in upcoming, most anticipated MMORPG, Star Wars: The Old Republic.

Zeschuk also described the player’s ship is both an “expression of your personal style” and a base to explore the galaxy from. Zeschuk went on to introduce the game’s PvP system, which pits Empire versus Republic in dedicated “warzones” on the ground.

Then, to satiate the thirst of those who attended the press conference, a trailer was unveiled to leave the audience’s mouth wide-open.

The impressive animation and graphics shows a veteran leading a company of Republic soldiers in a valiant fight against battle droids and Imperials. What makes the trailer oh-so-sweet is the duel of the female Jedi, who is using a double lightsaber, against the Sith. She also uses the force a couple of times until finally blasting the Sith ka-me-ha-me-HA style into an outcropping of rock.

Unfortunately, there’s still no launch date for Star Wars: The Old Republic yet. But rumors say it would be sometime after March 2011. Until then, we’ll be patiently waiting.

The New Xbox 360 Slim Ships Today for $299

Admin — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 01:19:12 +0000

Each year, gamers eagerly wait for the Electronic Entertainment Expo, commonly known as E3, where the latest gaming innovations are being unveiled and showcased.

One thing that got fans really excited was the new Xbox 360 Slim console. We already know that somewhere out there, Xbox 360 “Slim” exist because info about this was already leaked from Europe earlier this week. What we don’t know is that Microsoft is shipping the new device to retailers today.

Microsoft’s Interactive Entertainment SVP Don Mattrick revealed the new console at the E3 today promising it has been “completely redesigned for the future of entertainment”.

The “Slim” features a 250 GB hard drive, a built-in Wi-Fi connection that supports the more recent (and faster) 802.11n protocol, five USB ports, and, like all other Xbox 360 models, support for Microsoft’s upcoming motion-sensing, controller-free device Kinect. The new box is in glossy black with touch-sensitive buttons and it is also “sleeker, smaller, [and] whisper-quiet.”

Mattrick also announced that those who attended Microsoft press conference this morning are going to receive a complimentary device and are getting theirs shipped today, lucky for them.

Xbox 360 Slim begins shipping to retailers in North America today, and should arrive at stores this week. The new Xbox 360 will cost $299. It will be available in UK on July 16, 2010, at £199.

Now, E3 2010 will remain at the LACC from June 14 to June 17. Stay tuned for more updates.

Telltale To Make Back to Future and Jurassic Park Games

Admin — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 01:33:13 +0000

It was already announced on Tuesday that Telltale Games will create a new series of video game based on Universal Studios’s Jurassic Park. Today, Telltale has added Back to the Future trilogy into their series of episodic games. These two trilogy franchises that are popular in the 80’s and 90’s are going into the digital world.

“I think it’s a prime time to reintroduce these properties in the digital world,” said Dan Connors, CEO at Telltale Games. “Telltale Games has always set out to be a great storytelling company. We’ve been honing our chops over the past six years, and we’re ready to take on these two iconic properties and continue to advance storytelling in games.”

Telltale has not yet specified the gameplay styles but Conners just added that the “Back to the Future” games may include a DeLorean time travel back to the 1970s while the “Jurassic Park” games would be intense and add new backstories to the series’ man-versus-dinosaur mythology.

“‘Jurassic Park‘ and ‘Back to the Future’ are two of our broadest and most beloved properties,” said Bill Kispert, interactive vice president at Universal Studios. “We were very interested in bringing them into the interactive space, but they’re not exactly the kind of properties that lend themselves to the stereotypical shoot-’em-up style of gameplay.”

“The games are going to exist within these worlds,” Telltale CEO Dan Connors explains. “I wouldn’t call these games sequels per se, but a new interpretation of their worlds for a new medium. For one generation, it’s an introduction to these series. For another generation, it’s a thing they can look back on and something they can share warmly with their family and friends.”

The Back to the Future game episodes is expected to be available for download this winter on the Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PC, and Mac. And first Jurassic Park episode is coming before the end of the year.

Mortal Kombat Rebirth?

Admin — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 04:07:55 +0000

Is this for real? We certainly hope so.

The last Mortal Kombat film was in 1997, Mortal Kombat: Annihilation, a sequel to 1995′s Mortal Kombat. The movie was so bad that production of the second sequel entitled Mortal Kombat: Devastation was halted.

On Monday, June 7, a new trailer of Mortal Kombat has appeared on YouTube under the username MortalKombatRebirth and its spreading fast. Also, Devin Faraci of Chud.com received the same video of the new Mortal Kombat film in his email inbox and even he believes that the reel is most likely the real deal.

The thing that we know now is that it is directed by Kevin Tancharoen and the fights are choreographed by Larnell Stovall. The trailer features Michael Jai White as Jax, Jeri Ryan as Sonya Blade, Shang Tsung, Matt Mullins as Johnny Cage, Reptile, Lateef Crowder as Baraka, Ian Anthony Dale as Scorpion and Sub Zero remain a mystery. It’s a bloody clip yet awesome. Fans speculate that this trailer could be a reboot movie or a tie in for the next Mortal Kombat game.

We will continue to speculate until an announcement will be officially made at the E3 next week. Until then, tell us what you think about the trailer.

Update: The trailer is for the upcoming Mortal Kombat movie.

Check out the trailer here.

Tickets for BlizzCon 2010

Admin — Thu, 03 Jun 2010 09:31:00 +0000

Planning on attending the BlizzCon 2010? The annual convention held by Blizzard Entertainment to celebrate their three major franchises: Warcraft, StarCraft and Diablo.

Blizzard is about to sell the first of two batches of tickets to the October 22-23 event in Anaheim, California to the general public. The bad news is those coveted BlizzCon 2010 tickets that were released at 10:00 pm EDT on June 2 are already sold out. They were on sale for US$150 (S$210) each and only up to five tickets per mailing address can be bought.

This two-day event will contain Q&A panels featuring Blizzard Entertainment developers, social events for players and developers to meet one another, hands-on gameplay featuring your favorite Blizzard Entertainment games, gets an early hands-on to new Blizzard games, casual and competitive tournaments, and more. Blizzard fanatics will surely love this event.

Now, the second and final batch of BlizzCon 2010 tickets on Saturday, June 5 at 10 a.m. Pacific Time. Be sure to buy your tickets quickly if you don’t want to miss this event because they sell extremely fast. If you’re really desperate and doesn’t mind spending much, there are tickets being sold on eBay for around $500.

Is Super Mario Galaxy 2 A Must-Buy Game?

Admin — Mon, 24 May 2010 04:37:09 +0000

Our most favorite plumber is back in another out-of-this-world-adventure. Super Mario Galaxy 2 has finally hit the shelves today, the sequel to Super Mario Galaxy.

It is given that Super Mario Galaxy is awesome but gamers were left with the feeling of wanting more. Thus new galaxies filled with minor planets and worlds were created. To make the game even more exciting are the updated gravity effect and new power-ups.

Then Mario gets to team up with his dinosaur buddy Yoshi. Yoshi will help Mario pass each level with his abilities such as swinging hi tongue across gaps, as well as eat fruits that give him various powers, such as speed boosts, the ability to inflate like a balloon, or the power to reveal secret paths. It’s Super Mario Galaxy plus more.

There is also “new” in Super Mario Galaxy 2. A mobile planetoid in the shape of Mario’s head called Starship Mario. The ship was created by Lubba, a mechanic from Luma. It gives users that ability to launch into a World Map to move from level to level.

Also, the new streamlined interface is more efficient to allow users to see all planets available in the world, and which how many Power Stars can be obtained from each planet. The level-end boss planet includes a Grand Star which is required to blast to the next world.

The review so far? We’d say pretty good. IGN gave this game a perfect 10, their first since 2008′s Metal Gear Solid 4, and called it “absolutely amazing.” GameSpot, Edge and GameRadar also gave Galaxy 2 a perfect 10, GameTrailer 9.7 which is definitely not bad at all and 1UP an A. The verdict, it’s a recommended game.

So if you have a Nintendo Wii, you need to get a hold of this game If you don’t, then what are you waiting for? Go and buy yourself a Wii and a Super Mario Galaxy 2. It’ll be worth your every penny.