Arrowhead Game Studios, the wacky folks behind the PC exclusive RPG Magicka are at work on a new game. It was announced this week by the Publisher,Paradox Interactive, but the details won’t be fully unveiled until the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco in March. We do, however know the title: “Project JKF“.
If you ever doubted that the PC version of Skyrim was better than the Xbox 360, now’s the time to think again. Bethesda Softworks has finally released the official modding tools on Steam, which when downloaded will allow you to create your own quests, dungeons and more, whether you’re a beginner or an experienced modder. Steam has also released the official Workshop, meaning you can easily discover, rate, and download Skyrim mods created by other people, directly through the PC-only Steam.
With every online shooter that over-shadows its preceding iteration, there’s always the fear that the hard earned 60 bucks you spent on last month’s shooter has finally run out. This is especially true if you’ve paid for any of the recent, much-reviled, online passes. But Treyarch isn’t letting their mysterious, emotional, Vietnam drama drown in obscurity quite yet. That’s why the developers are starting up another Double XP weekend for Call of Duty Black Ops for everyone who hasn’t quite moved on to Modern Warfare 3 yet.
Tim Schafer is a brilliant man, his games of the last few years prove it, Grim Fandango was a romp through an after-death 40’s noir setting, Psychonautswas a journey through a summer camp of psychics and their minds and Brutal Legend was an exploration of a world conjured from heavy metal dreams and ambitions. Notch, or Markus Persson, the man behind Minecraft is also a pretty crazy dude. Creating Minecraft and already being heralded as the greatest independent game developer of the generation, these two men have some pretty heavy pedigrees behind them.
The high-flying snowboarding game will be back on February 28th, and it comes packed with music, featuring 36 licensed tracks and 10 additional tracks laid down solely for the purpose of the game. Some of the artists include Foster the People, Skrillex, and DJ Shadow, and the 10 originals come from the likes of The Qemists, Camo & Krooked, Raffertie, and Amon Tobin.
Kinect Star Wars and its associated bundle have been officially announced, and they’ll be hitting shelves on April 3rd. The game alone will run you $49.99, while the bundle, which features a special edition Xbox 360, Kinect, controller, the game, and a unique C-3PO character, will cost $349.99.
The game has 5 modes including Jedi Destiny: Dark Side Rising, Podracing, Rancor Rampage, Duels of Fate, and the much anticipated Galactic Dance Off.
Final Fantasy XIII-2 is a perfect example of the many reasons why developers should pay attention to their fans. Square-Enix took many fan complaints to heart after their extremely linear 13th entry in their fabled series. The result is a game that is improved in many minor, often inconsequential ways. It’s also a game that tends to ignore one enormously important facet of role-playing games: the story. It’s almost inconceivable that the same company that developed some of the most iconic story arcs in the industry could also produce such an unrequited cop-out. Final Fantasy XIII-2 might play better than its predecessor, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it’s a better game.
