A 3DS Perspective
I was one of the many that stood in line on March 26th, awaiting the midnight call. Like many, I had saved up money for some time to purchase a 3DS. Though I have yet to actually purchase a 3DS title, I have not grown tired of my portable entertainment device. I am still playing the games that were pre-installed to this day, and that’s just fine.
There’s something very rewarding about the Streetpass green light that comes on when you pass someone with a 3DS. It’s like a secret that you’re sharing with someone new, and you both have at least one common interest. Find Mii is especially rewarding because it levels up your frequent passersby up to level 7 and they help vanquish the ghosts that plague your kingdom. There is even the option to go through again and unlock more head accessories for your Mii to wear (or hats, so I’m told).
Face Raiders and AR Fishing are really something that have to be played in person to understand just how fun they are. The cameras on the outside of the 3DS take in the colors of your surrounding environment so it really gives you a sense that the games are really more than they appear.
Am I disappointed in the launch titles and they’re lack of appeal to me? Yes. Am I disappointed in the 3DS as a portable entertainment device? No. Gamers everywhere eagerly await the month of June, anticipating the unveiling of the 3DS Store and the release of the Ocarina of Time remake has us on edge!
New Information About Star Fox 64 3D
Okay so I’m sure most of you out there are as excited for the new remake of Star Fox 64 as I am, but some awesome news about the upcoming game has just been dropped that you may not know about.  You probably already know that the game is set to officially drop on July 14th, but in a recent retail briefing Nintendo gave away some juicy tidbits about the game which the retailers in attendance were more than happy to toss onto the interwebs. One such retailer in particular, the Tsutaya store in Shibuya, Japan, released some information from the event on their Twitter page. According to Tsutaya the game is set to contain a traditional N64 mode as well as a new 3DS mode which is set to allow you to use the system’s built in gyroscope sensor to control your ships movement. Also, in the form of multi-player the game is set to have a local 4 player battle mode which will support DS download play but will not offer online Wi-Fi battles. This is a bit of a letdown considering the last portable Star Fox title did contain online multi-player.  That’s all the news we have to report on the topic right now but keep checking in with us because we’ll bring you updates as they come to us.
Source: Andriasang.com
First Round of Brink Updates; Free DLC
A new update was pushed today for 360 & Steam users (PS3 update available upon service restoration), promising to fix a multitude of issues reviews complained about (none of which are issues actual users are having).
All Campaign and most Freeplay matches have been sliced from 8vs8 down to 4vs4, but 16 player battles will continue to be supported via a “Big Teams” playlist and through custom settings in private matches.
Also big news (for those with refined enough tastes to enjoy Brink), Splash Damage & Bethesda have decided to let the first scheduled Brink DLC pack to drop for FREE, promising new maps and “new content for players”. In an effort to remain even more vague, the publisher has declined to announce a date other than “June” or even the title of the download pack. An excerpt from the official statement follows:
We would like to thank you for supporting Brink and for your continued feedback. To show our appreciation for your support of Brink, we will be making the first DLC for Brink available for free when it is released. This DLC is planned for June and will offer additional maps and new content for players. We’ll continue to provide announcements about the next title update, as well as the first DLC release as that information becomes available.- Splash Damage & Bethesda
Soul Calibur V Trailer
“Transcending history and the world, a tale of souls and swords, eternally retold.”
New details were given on the newest addition to the “Soul Calibur” series. The Soul Calibur V debut trailer was shown on the Namco/Bandai youtube page which leaves the viewer wanting to know more about the game:
Soul Calibur V is set to take place 17 years after the fourth game and focuses on the children of Sophitia; Patroklos and Pyrrha. According to IGN:
Soul Calibur V will take place 17 years after Soul Calibur IV and represents a “generational shift” in the series. As you Soul Calibur fanatics might already know, Patroklos and his sister Pyrrha were touched by the evil of Soul Edge as children and might now be bound to the sword’s fate. Perhaps one will fight for good and the other for evil? Additionally, both Soul Edge and Soul Calibur have new designs and are now short swords as opposed to two-handed weapons. The story of Soul Calibur V will touch on this change in some way.
3DS eShop and Browser Launch June 6th
The Nintendo 3DS has not seen an update since March 24th. (Which as you may remember was their 1st update, other than on release day.) An addition to this system update will be the ability to transfer content from the DSi to the 3DS. On top of the addition to the eShop and Internet Browser, there will be a 3D Pokédex as well. Yes, a 3D Pokédex at the tips of your stylus; free of charge.
Not really sure what else this update will entail on the business home-front, but it is a start. And if this doesn’t spike the sales of the 3DS, the release of Legend of Zelda 3D OoT on June 19th, Star Fox 64 3D on July 14th, and the upcoming Paper Mario 3D probably will.
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GenGAME @ E3!
It’s official, we can finally announce: GenGAME will have it’s first E3 presence this year!
We’re committed to our community of loyal readers and we’ve decided the best way to demonstrate that is by listening to you! You’ve seen the list of games we’ve confirmed for E3, what do YOU want to see?
GameStop Drops PS3 Prices, For Some
GameStop has a very nice deal on the PlayStation3 console right now offering customers a $100 USD discount when they purchase a new 160GB or 320GB. The catch? Not everyone is getting that deal. GameStop has emailed a few members of its subscription-based Power-up Rewards program to receive the $100 golden ticket (Not really golden but still sounds cool). You do not need to pay the yearly $14.99 subscription to receive this.
I happened to be one of the very fortunate ones to get this deal, and picked up my 160GB Sony PS3 this afternoon (I actually just activated my Rewards card this morning).
Email a lucky subscriber should look for:
Currently, the Playstation3 sells for $299.99 USD for the 160GB model, $349.99 for the 320GB model.
It certainly sounds like there is a possibility of a PS3 price drop looming in the future; But if not this really is a brilliant marketing strategy by Sony and GameStop while the PSN is still down.
New models of the PlayStation 3 have been registered with the FCC and word of a new bundle for the console with Call of Duty: Black Ops packed in may point to other possible reasons for the drop.
Good luck and happy hunting!
Xbox Live Marketplace Deals of the Week: May 10th
Xbox Live Marketplace Deal of Week is focused around three games; Mafia II, Bioshock II, and Borderlands. All discounted items are 50% off on select DLC and an avatar item. On-Demand will also be adding 4 more titles to its library, all of them priced at under 40 dollars. All sales are good until May 16th, and are available to Xbox Live Gold Subscribers.
Microsoft Buys Skype for $8.5 Billion
As long as Microsoft leaves this alone, it seems like a very good purchase. $8.5 billion may seem like a ton of money, but to keep it away from Zuckerberg and Page this had to be the price tag. Let Skype stay as is on computers everywhere, and maybe throw it on the Xbox 360. Now there may be a real reason to go out and buy that Kinect you’ve always thought of buying. It may not be worth it for the sub-par games that the Xbox 360 is offering on it; But for Skype, that may be a different story. Now to look at what some of the more important people in Microsoft had to say about these events:
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Live Tournament Coverage for May:
Bummed out that PSN is still down? Take solace in suckling GenGAME’s list of upcoming tournaments, the next of which is the CoD: Black Ops Double Elimination Tournament May 20th @ 8pmEST (5pmPST), with the losers bracket to take place the following day, time TBA. Be sure to stop by http://gengame.net/live and check out all the action as it unfolds. As always, all CrossEyedArena Tournament’s are brought to you live by the GenGame.net staff.
Metroid: Other M (Review)
Let me start off by saying that Metroid Other M is a good game, however, I can see how hardcore Metroid fans might be disappointed. The game is extremely different from it’s predecessors. It’s similar to Metroid Fusion in that you aren’t able to explore freely, and I feel it’s actually worse than Fusion in this respect: In Fusion, you had a much larger map to explore and you were able to take whatever path you could find to your objective. Other M is comparably linear, with few chances to stray off the beaten path. That alone makes Other M very different, but what really pushes it over the edge are the cut-scenes scattered throughout the game. Yes, cut-scenes often accompanied by a monologue delivered by none other than Samus herself. The game is heavily story driven, taking the differences from previous games to the extreme. There’s one more huge difference between Other M and the rest of the series, but unfortunately I can’t that without saying what I feel to be a spoiler. That said, I will be including spoilers in this review. I will try to keep them to a minimum, but do not read further if you do not wish to know until you play the game for yourself.
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