Daily Loaf

Yarr, mateys! It be Talk like a pirate day, in case ye not be knowin’. To give ye some fun on this day o’ international piracy, LucasArts and Telltale Games be offerin’ up the first episode in their new restart of Tales of Monkey Island.

All you need to do to pick up your free copy of the game is to head on over to http://www.playlikeapirate.com, plug in your email address and a password (they mail an activation code to you, so don’t fake it – although do be sure to uncheck the “add me to your mailing list” option if you don’t want further emails) and enjoy some time adventuring on the high seas – for free!

Keep in mind, this is only good until midnight tonight (Saturday, September 19th) so don’t wait if you want a copy.

There were several enormous bombshells dropped today at Microsoft’s E3 press conference. Among the various expected and unexpected game titles was the news that Microsoft will be integrating Twitter, Facebook, and Last.fm into their LIVE services, as well as looking to improve their current Netflix and streaming video offerings. When you consider that Microsoft is attempting to pull in the entire family to using their consoles – as well as attracting non-gaming families – this is a move that makes a great deal of sense.

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Based on the first season of the Spike TV modern ‘anime’ series (which is in turn based on the manga) by the same name, Afro Samurai has just about everything you would expect from something with Samuel L. Jackson’s name on it. There’s violence; blood; (cartoon) gore; revenge; and half-naked women. Just add in the word ‘fuck’ liberally, stir to taste, and you get the general idea. That’s okay, because the core demographic this game (and indeed the Spike TV channel itself) is geared towards will likely eat this game up with a spoon.

With a cel-shaded style that is becoming more and more common in games these days, the look of Afro Samurai doesn’t disappoint. Backgrounds are lush in the earlier levels, becoming starker as Afro makes his way through the dark revenge story-line. The voice acting by Samuel L. Jackson, and soundtrack partly performed by RZA (the rest is “inspired by”) is nothing short of awesome. I definitely couldn’t say playing wasn’t a hell of a lot of fun – at first.

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If you’re all about spending your holidays vacationing in Azeroth, battling the Zerg in StarCraft or slaughtering demons in Diablo, then you’re in luck! Blizzard has announced today that they’ll be bringing back the immensely popular BlizzCon this year, which will be held on Friday, August 21st and Saturday August 22nd at the Anaheim Convention Center. (That’s Los Angeles, CA for those of you not sure of the locale – you know, where the other Disney is.)

“We’ve been amazed by the incredible response to each of our previous BlizzCon events,” said Mike Morhaime, CEO and co-founder of Blizzard Entertainment. “We’re pleased to be bringing the convention back to Anaheim this year, and we look forward to this new opportunity to meet Blizzard gamers from around the world.”

While there is no currently announced price, tickets for BlizzCon in previous years ran approximately $100 each. Further, they generally tended to sell out nearly immediately – when Blizzard’s store servers didn’t burst into flames and crash due to the sheer amount of people trying to buy tickets. However, along with the announcement of dates comes the news that Blizzard will be expanding the space they use in the convention center from the previous three (enormous) halls to four for 2009. This should not only help crowding, but additionally allow more people to attend this year.

Gamers will be treated to hands-on gaming time with several upcoming Blizzard games, discussion panels featuring Blizzard developers, tournaments, community contests, commemorative merchandise, a silent auction, and much more. So if you’re a devotee of Blizzard, start saving now! It should prove to be a hell of a party, just as the last few years have been.

Not content to rest on their hot-frying-pan-to-the-face laurels, Capcom has announced today that brains, blood, guts, and more are coming to the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC with an all-new sequel to their 2006 zombie-stomping favorite, Dead Rising with Dead Rising 2. Now it may just be because I’m reading through World War Z at the moment, but I await the slaughter of a new zombie horde with gleeful anticipation.

For those not familiar with the original Dead Rising, the government was meddling with genetics, thereby causing a rather nasty breakout of zombies. In the first game, the ending leaves some doubt as to whether or not the infestation has been contained. This time, the story is set several years after the Williamette shopping mall invasion, and sure enough – the zombies were not wiped out at the end. Set in an adult casino haven called Fortune Falls, players can expect “a host of new in-game objects that can all be used as deadly weapons to stave off the zombie assault” in Dead Rising 2 – and apparently a giant human sized light-up hamster ball to travel in.  Another interesting bit is that Keiji Inafune returns as the producer for DR2, although the game is being developed in partnership with Blue Castle Games from Canada this time around as opposed to an all in-house Capcom team.

Curious to see a taste of the braaaaaaains to come? Check behind the cut for the tasty Dead Rising 2 trailer.

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For a while now the Wii gamers have been left behind the Xbox 360 and PS3 crowd in terms of extra downloadable tracks for Rock Band and Rock Band 2.  If you’re one of the people who have bemoaned your lack of classic Canadian rock versus the other versions, today heralds the release of yet another chunk of DLC that should elicit a cheer.

This week’s Wii Rock Band DLC brings the entire best-selling Rush album, Moving Pictures, to the Wii tomorrow, including fan favorites YYZ, Limelight, and more. As an added bonus, this isn’t the cover band that has mangled Rush Rock Band tracks (’in the style of’) previously – these tracks are copied directly from the master album recordings. That’s right – 100% more Lee, Lifeson and Peart than before!

The other nice bit of news was today’s statement from Harmonix & MTV Games about what Wii Rock Band players have to look forward to in terms of downloadable content for the future. Read the rest of this entry »

Okay, so maybe heading out for all the craziness going on at Gasparilla isn’t really your cup of tea. Or perhaps you’d just like to relive our yearly invasion from the comfort of your own home – you know, once that rum-soaked hangover wears off. Whatever your reason may be, if you’re in the mood for some adventure on the high seas without a high price tag, here’s five pirate games that won’t leave yer wallet walkin’ the plank, mateys.

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If you’ve been looking forward to getting your Sim on later this month, I’m afraid EA has some bad news for you. The February 20th release date originally announced last year at the Leipzig Games Convention has now been pushed back to June 2nd.

Several interesting changes are coming to Sims 3, evolving the game play from previous iterations. According to Ben Bell, Executive Producer of the game:

“The Sims 3 is an incredible game that lets you play with life, create art and show off your creations. In the game, players are inspired by endless creative possibilities like the new Traits and Lifetime Wish features which allow players to create Sims with real personalities and destinies. Players can then take their Sim into town to interact with other Sims in the game and capture the action on video to show off online.”

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