Eidos Interactive confirmed today that they are working on Battlestations: Pacific, sequel to 2007’s Battlestatins: Midway.  The game will be released on Xbox 360 and Windows PC.  The game allows you to play as the Americans, continuing the war effort where Midway left off, or to play as the Japanese, starting with Pearl Harbor.  It sounds as if the Japanese campaign is more of an alternate history, though, where you take full control of the Pacific.

Personally, I’d find it more interesting if you got the opportunity to play through a campaign on the losing side.  It would provide a very interesting perspective for a change, fighting a more and more desperate battle, and in the end be part of the effort that surrenders.  It’s a perfect opportunity to explore the “tragic ending” in video games, something that is occasionally seen in film.

All other gameplay notes are the same as usual for a sequel.  It’s the first game, only bigger and better.  The game has twice the number of missions as the first title, divided between the U.S. and Japanese campaigns.  Several other new units will appear, as well as the feature to pinpoint troop landing, adding a new layer of strategy to the game.

No release date is currently given for Battlestations: Pacific.

- Chris Cesarano

SouthPeak Interactive has announced X-Blades, an anime style game where you control an acrobatic with a pair of large gunblades.  The game is slated for a release at the end of this year on Xbox 360, Windows PC and PS3.

The team, consisting of a large group of anime fans, chose to go with that visual style as it was the inspiration for the title.  They seek to breathe new life into the hack and slash genre by focusing not only on the character’s blade abilities, but on pistol action and acrobatic manuevers as well.  The game combines a very cinematic style with “endless high speed action”.

The first notable aspect about the heroine: at least her boobs are of a reasonable size.  The second: that’s not a thong, that’s a g-string.  I was a bit shocked to browse other available screenshots and come across this.  I have a theory that game developers aren’t actually a group of undersexed nerds, they just make female characters like this in anticipation of the inevitable cosplay that comes of it.

Feel free to discuss your feminist rage on the forums, or exchange your masculine cheers at more polygonal T&A.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

Sega has just put out some details on the exclusive Extreme Mode that will be featured in House of the Dead 2 & 3 Return for the Nintendo Wii.  The mode is available after you have completed both titles and is a variant of House of the Dead 3.  The enemies are faster and the bullet blast radius has decreased, making action much more frantic.  However, a melee attack has also been added that is capable of striking out at multiple enemies.  Just press the A button to unleash it.  The melee attack can also block enemy attacks, including missiles and boss strikes, but requires a reload after each use. The shotgun can also reload faster than in standard play.

House of the Dead 2& 3 Return fully supports the Wii Zapper and is currently slated for a March release.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

Now a days, you’re either a graphics whore, audio whore, multiplayer whore or the oh so famous achievement whore, among others. Which of the aforementioned whore categories do you fall under? If any.

#18 - What Type Of Gaming Whore Are You [TAKE 2]

-Mike 

This is an interesting an unheard of title. I seriously don’t remember ever reading about this game. Supposedly this game is “a vertically scrolling Japanese arcade shooter” with “cute” weapons. I’m interested in seeing what it is like. Trust me, it was wasn’t the cute anime girl next to the title that drew me in.

DISCUSS

XBLA Game List

-Thomas

The upcoming survival horror Dead Space has just been slated to be released October 31st in North America and Europe, just in time for Halloween. The game will be landing on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 platforms. More details and a new trailer available at deadspacegame.com.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

UPDATE! New Trailer!

Gamerscore blog has reported that you can grab an Xbox 360 HD-DVD player for around $49.99 /€49.99 or equivalent value in most regions.  They haven’t specified where, but given the abandonment of HD-DVD and the player, it can be guessed that most retailers will be dropping.  The deal on getting 5 Free HD-DVD movies is still available as well.

More information available at http://www.thelookandsoundofperfect.com/.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

Sega has recently revealed some new details on their Aliens: Colonial Marines game set to come out towards the end of this year for Xbox 360, Windows-PC and PS3.  You remember that game, right?  They announced it some time last year?  It’s by Gearbox and is a squad-based first-person shooter.

The first bit of news is that the game is being scripted by Bradley Thompson and David Weddle, most well known for writing episodes for Battlestar Galactica and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.  Makes you wonder why the games are getting better writers than the new films.

The game will feature familiar weapons from the films, such as the Pulse Rifle and Flamethrower, but also provide plenty of new weaponry and gear.  The game will take players to the U.S.S. Sulaco, the ship used by the Marines in the second film and featured briefly in the beginning of the third film.  The game will feature dark, claustrophobic and creepy environments, and many new locations for fans of the series to explore.

What will excite most gamers, however, especially in our community, is the feature of four player co-op.  Each player will control a different Marine with different specialties and skills, making for a unique co-op experience.

All we need now is some footage and a solid date and I’ll be set.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)

This Virtual Console update brings back some memories. Kirby 64 is easily one of my favorite Nintendo 64 games. I don’t quite know what makes this game so fun, but it’s there. I’ll end up purchasing this winner sometime soon. How about you guys?

“This week’s additions take players on a psychedelic trip down memory lane. Kirby® is back and armed with a bunch of new talents, including the option to combine abilities. Curious to find out what mixing the Burn and Cutter powers gives Kirby? We won’t spoil that for you here. If the colorful landscapes in the pink sphere’s world are too much for you and you’re looking for straight firepower instead, then try plunging your soul into the mind of a twisted demon. We’ll just see how you fare against wave after wave of bizarre enemy creatures in that kind of environment.

Psychosis: (TurboGrafx16, 1 player, Rated E for Everyone - Mild Fantasy Violence, 600 Wii Points): This is a side-scrolling shooter played in a world created from the mind of a twisted demon. Your soul has suddenly wandered into that evil world that exists in every person’s heart. The only way out is to blast your way past the grotesque creatures that block your path in five “causes” (stages). You must face the dangers of this psychedelic world by making full use of three shot types and the satellite option. With power-ups, you can change your shots to a wide-coverage beam, a satellite-generated laser and more. Each shot type can be powered up to three levels. You can also block enemy fire by rotating the satellites to a desired position. How you use these features will be the key to successfully escaping this strange and surreal world.”

DISCUSS

-Thomas 

If you haven’t been able to see the full presentation of Microsoft’s GDC Keynote, then you haven’t been able to get the full news of Fable 2’s features.  While the video demonstrating co-op certainly shows quite a few new and good things, he fully outlined his big three features in the keynote.

The first note is that being good is going to be more difficult this time, as opposed to as easy as it was in the first Fable.  An essential idea behind being a good person is to make sacrifice, and some of the personal sacrifice is intended to make you sit and think about it seriously for a moment, as you may when approached with a big decision in real life.

The second big feature was a coinciding Live Arcade title to come out, which looks to be some form of a gambling game.  The big bonus to the game is that money made through the game can be transferred into your Fable 2 world, providing an additional way to make money.

This leads into the third big feature.  The previously posted co-op video footage made note that you would need to make money through actual jobs.  The further detail into this is that there won’t simply be gold drops through adventures.  They don’t specify whether you will be monetarily rewarded for completing a quest, which was the primary method of making money in Fable anyway.  However, some of the example jobs provided seem to offer this sort of money making methodology anyway, such as henchman or assassin, while others, such as blacksmith, seem more peaceful.  While you are also joining a co-op game in someone else’s world, you will be paid an hourly wage.

All the details on the game can be found here.

- Chris Cesarano (Grohdinger)