This morning, Electronic Arts revealed a brand new intellectual property in “Facebreaker”. This new game which is under development at EA Canada will bring back arcade style boxing to next-gen consoles. In the style of Super Punch-Out!!! EA hopes to bring a brand new boxing experience by using cartoon-style graphics ala Team Fortress 2. You’ll fight a handful of funny characters including Romeo, a Latin lover known for his pelvic thrusts, and Molotov, an oversized Russian demolitions expert with a penchant for fighting dirty. You’ll be able to use the Photo Game Face to create a likeness of yourself when creating a character.

“We’re very excited to announce FaceBreaker, an all-new franchise from EA SPORTS that is fun, fresh and innovative,” said Peter Moore, president, EA SPORTS. “FaceBreaker reinvigorates one of the great genres in sports video games. Arcade boxing takes me back to my roots in this industry, and this game signals our shift to adding more approachable fun to our product lineup. In no time at all, you’ll be picking up the controllers and knocking your opponent around the ring, smashing faces, and having a riot.”

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 Finally, a remake of Rez is out! For 800 points ($10) you can try out the new title, and hopefully enjoy it. Chessmaster is out too, so stop nagging the devs for a chess game already! Overall, this was a great week for the Live Arcade.

DISCUSS

XBLA Release List

-Thomas 

Since the release of GRAW 2 earlier in the year, Ubisoft has released a steady stream of (now free!) content, making GRAW 2 one of the best multiplayer games out today. Adding to the growing list of content and features, Ubisoft has just released the Co-op Collection pack for 800 MS points.

This download pack includes a whole new co-op campaign consisting of five co-op missions, nine new adversarial maps, and nine new achievements for a total of 125 points. As an added bonus, a free “more guns pack” is also available, containing 7 new additional weapons for the Single Player Quick Mission mode.

Even after the holiday blitz we experienced during the holiday period, I still consider GRAW 2 to be one of the best looking and supported shooters on the market today. So download this map pack, enjoy one of the best co-op games around, and share your experiences on our forums!

-Mike Skiles

Information after the jump:

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Don’t you just love it when companies announce titles for the first time a second time?  A recent press release from Eidos does just that, reminding us of Monster Lab for the Nintendo Wii and DS coming in 2008.

For those of you that don’t recall, the basic premise is to build your own monster(s) out of 100 million+ available parts.  However, new detail is now available on other aspects of the game.  The player will be able to use the monster they built to explore an overworld, search out other monsters to fight, find new monster making pieces and ingredients, and even stumble upon side quests.  The combat is going to be gesture based, and will have an online mode available for both system versions.  There will also be a trading mode to share uniquely built monsters or monster parts.

All in all, it seems like a unique take on the whole “monster train, trade and fight” style of game.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

Eidos announced today the sequel to their 2006 title Just Cause to be released in 2008 for Xbox 360, PC and Playstation 3.  Playing again as Rico Rodriguez, the player will be visiting the South East Asian islands of Panau.  The total play area will be approximately 1000 square kilometers, and offer various different climates and weather-effects.

The game will feature a new and improved stunt system, enhancing Rico’s parachute and grappling hook capabilities, as well as plenty of new vehicles to do more advanced tricks in.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

Those in the PAL regions of Europe, New Zealand and Australia can now download and play the demo for Beautiful Katamari, released on their marketplace today.  That is, if they haven’t already downloaded the U.S. versions.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

Nintendo of Japan has just released some financial documents listing out a number of titles to be released over in the Land of the Rising Sun this year.  Among them are an unnamed Kirby project and a new Animal Crossing title for the Wii.

Alongside these titles are the already announced Disaster: Day of Crisis and Super Mario Stadium Family Baseball.  Also mentioned is Minna no Joushikiryoku Terebi, roughly translating to “Everyone’s Common Knowledge Channel”, bound to be a new channel to hit the Wii soon.

It should be noted that these are dates for Japanese versions, so they may not hit Western shores until 2009.  It is also best to keep in mind that Nintendo is known to delay games…a lot.

Thanks to community member Olly for pointing this out.  Information from palgn.com.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

So for those who didn’t want to shell out the $5 for a reservation in order to get a demo, the time has come to obtain it for free.  The Turok demo has finally been released in the North American region on Xbox Live marketplace, as well as Mexico and Canada.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

 That well-rated snowboarding game for the Nintendo 64 is out on the Virtual Console as of now. It is going to run you a nice 1000 points, which is reasonable. The only problem this week is, one game? One measly game as compared to the usual two or three? At least it’s a good game.

“Traverse the half-pipe from the comfort of your living room. With this classic game, it’s Winter Break all the time. Freestyle through white powder, and school your best pal with your new trick! Did you get air?

This new classic game goes live at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Nintendo adds new games to the Wii Shop Channel every Monday. Wii™ owners with a high-speed Internet connection can redeem Wii Points™ to download the games. Wii Points can be purchased in the Wii Shop Channel or at retail outlets. This week’s new game is:

1080°® SNOWBOARDING (N64®, 1-2 players, Rated E for Everyone, 1,000 Wii Points): Hit the slopes for some serious shredding in one of the first truly realistic snowboarding games ever created! Start in the lodge and select from five characters, each with his/her own particular attributes and special tricks. Then take a look at the wide assortment of available boards and choose one that best suits your rider and style. Once you’ve got the gear, six different modes of play, including Match Race, Trick Attack, and 2-Player Versus, await. Pick a course and get ready to experience a sensation of speed that’ll make you forget all about the cold–but it might just send a shiver down your spine. Throw in hidden characters and boards, varying weather and snow conditions, multiple paths through each course, and a variety of tricks to master–topped off with rock-solid play control–and you’ve got a recipe for winter fun that you can enjoy any time of the year. It’s all the fun and excitement of the sport, without the bruises and frostbite!”

DISCUSS

VC Game List

-Thomas

Curious to see what our staff thinks of 2007’s games? Wondering why EarthViper hates BioShock so gosh-darned much?!? Bored out of your mind??? Take a look at what we have to say about the games of 2007.

LINK

-Thomas