Dragon Age is the game that keeps on giving. Bioware announced today a new downloadable adventure arriving August 10, Golems of Amgarrak. This quest will cost a mere $5.00.

Your objective is to delve deep underground in search of a missing dwarven expedition. They were looking for the ancient secrets to creating the powerful, artificial constructs known as golems. The new adventure features new characters, environments, new storyline, challenging puzzles, and of course new creatures.

You’ll be able to import your Warden character from Origins or Awakening or create a new high-level character. Like the previous DLC’s completing this quest will net powerful rewards that will be available in the Origins and Awakening campaign. Bioware touts that GoA will be “an advanced challenge for even the most experienced adventurers”. Heh…we’ll see about that.

Yahoo! Games reports that President Obama will make a cameo appearance in the upcoming Madden 11. This year’s entry into the pigskin franchise will feature lengthy post-Super Bowl victory celebrations along with team specific commentary.

At the very end, the team travels to the White House to shake hands and present the President with a team jersey. Fans who think President Obama is the Messiah will of course be elated, while those still questioning is birth certificate will accuse EA of liberal bias. The rest of us will likely say, “hey that’s kinda cool” and continue to approve or disapprove of his performance.

The screenshot above shows a Saints victory, but the video posted on Yahoo! apparently shows a strange, alien universe where the Detroit Lions win the Super Bowl.

When Nintendo makes a mainline, non-sports related Mario title, one thing has almost always been a certainty. It’s not a sequel. At least not in the classical, “more of the same, but more awesome” sense. When Nintendo announced Super Mario Galaxy 2, many feared that Nintendo has finally fallen into the sequel trap. Thankfully, that’s not entirely the case.

So what’s the same? Well, Mario’s still in space. There’s still a bunch of stars to collect. Princess Peach is in distress yet again, and yes, Mario still jumps. There’s more similarities, but if you’ve played any 2 Mario games, you know what they are. Probably the most important similarity between Galaxy 2 and Galaxy 1, and is the main reason this game is just excellent as the first, is the game’s ability to constantly come up with new things.

All of Mario’s new abilities are both fun and useful like this Spin Drill

The most number of times you’ll be doing the exact same thing is 3. What I mean by that is that in one level, it’ll be a classic platforming level, but the next level is something completely and entirely different. Maybe you’ll be bowling through the level with Mario’s new Rock Mushroom that turns him into a giant rolling boulder at the shake of the Wii Remote. Maybe you’ll be wall jumping your way up a frozen waterfall. Maybe you’ll be hovering up a tree with Mario’s trusty “steed”, Yoshi, a truly welcomed addition to Galaxy’s arsenal of goodness. It’s basically impossible to know what’ll happen next.

Perhaps that’s the main reason why this Mario sequel is unlike any traditional sequel. Despite the incremented number at the end of the title, the same core mechanics, and whatever else this game may have in common with the first, Galaxy 2 is like a hundred awesome, little 3D, and 2D, platforming games stuffed into one. Each masterfully crafted to be as fun as possible without taking too much of your time. This formula of small chunks of awesome, unrelenting creativity is addictive as hell. Finishing one level leaves you both wholly satisfied and wanting even more all at the same time. Maybe not all the levels have this exact magic. Afterall, they can’t all be winners, but even at its worst, it still has a certain nougat of fun and wonderment like flying from one sphere to the next or sliding down a giant sand ramp while avoiding boulders.

Even Yoshi has his own power-ups seen here dashing up a ramp thanks to the Dash Pepper

Other faults? I could point out a few, but they just seem so trivial compared to everything else. Don’t let that 2 at the end of title fool you. It’s a sequel only in name, but in spirit, Super Mario Galaxy 2 embodies everything that made the first one magical, which is something that other sequels simply cannot say.

Pros:

• New power-ups are actually good
• The diversity just keeps on coming
• The art style, albeit the same, is still just as appealing and colorful

Cons:

• How many times has Peach been kidnapped again?
• The insidious Luigi Purple Coins returns!

Final Verdict:

Enshrine It

Hell, I’m declaring the rest of this month and August as backlog month! We’re seriously not getting a damn thing other than Madden, which I know is a lot of you but I’m not one of them. At least this week isn’t entirely completely devoid of anything though. Take a look.

Remember. Release dates are quite literally made at the whims of the publisher. The following are subject to change without any warning.

Releases To Watch For This Week

BlazBlue: Continuum Shift (Xbox 360, PS3)

Tuesday July 27, 2010

Okay, so BlazBlue: Continuum Shift is not exactly a new game. What we’ve got here is basically Super BlazBlue. It has everything from BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger with new added content: Four new characters including one exclusively for the console release. New moves for all the characters. New modes like Beginner Mode and Tutorial Mode, which goes further in depth into teaching you how to play any given character. Yup, definitely Super BlazBlue. On the character front, there’s Tsubaki, Hazama, ?-11 (Lambda eleven), and ? -12 (Mu twelve). Tsubaki is… uhm… some girl with a hat with an eye on it and a book also with an eye on its spine. Hazama at least looks fairly innocuous. He just looks like a svelte guy in a black overcoat with a matching black hat, until he uses his magic chains to do some pretty crazy stuff. The last two are some kind of alternate forms of the cyborg ?-13 (Nu thirteen), the final boss from the original BlazBlue. With a slightly bargain price of $40, at least you won’t be paying for a full price game for what is essentially BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger with some newer content, but for people who were intrigued by the first one and never got it, Continuum Shift is definitely the way to go.

Coming This Week

Tuesday July 27, 2010

Clash of the Titans (Xbox 360, PS3)

I’d like to think that we’re finally making some headway in the realm of licensed games. See how this game didn’t come out in time with the movie. Who knows. Maybe they actually used the time to actually make this 3D brawler game passable.

Farm Frenzy: Animal Country (DS)

So according to the game description for this farm simulator, farmers have exactly one problem. Bears. They’ll come right up to your farm and steal your precious produce. I’d just like to know which alternate reality Animal Planet programming do they get on their TVs.

Galaxy Racers (DS)

I’ll never fully understand why people like to attach “Save the world/universe” to racing cars/ships. It’s a lot like some supervillain decides to take over the world but first he/she/it wants to compete in the local backgammon tournament in which its outcome shall determine whether or not he/she/it goes forth to conquer the world. Oh no! The scrappy loser/backgammon secret genius has foiled his/her/its plans to take over the world by beating him/her/it at backgammon! Yes Kids! Winning will indeed save the world!

Despicable Me: The Game (PSP)

Games have dabbled with letting you play as the villain plenty of times before. Well, here’s the licensed game version of that idea. Play as Gru as he tries to take down his nemesis, another supervillain, with his outlandish gadgets and his servbot-esque minions. Try not to blow up the world in the process.

LTTP

• Chuck E. Cheese’s Party Games (Wii)
• Hidden Object – Mystery Stories (DS)

Can you tell just how much I hate racing stories involving saving the world/galaxies? Whatever. I’ll just go stare at BlazBlue: Continuum Shift while I decide to get it or not.

This year’s Comic-Con was definitely the place to be. A panel called “Street Fighter IV and Beyond” with SFIV producer Yoshinori Ono was interrupted by Tekken producer Katsuhiro Harada on Saturday. Thankfully the two rival producers didn’t get into a brawl, but instead announced their most exciting collaboration: Street fighter x Tekken, reports Kotaku.

First it was introduced with this teaser trailer in SFIV’s signature sketch and ink style, with Ryu meditating (of course he would do that) when who walks in but his evil Tekken counterpart.

If that wasn’t enough Ono surprised and delighted the crowd with an actual gameplay demo. Street Fighter x Tekken features Street Fighter IV’s gameplay mechanics, with the characters in the 2D plane. Ryu faces off against Kazuya Mishima with the former throwing fireballs and shoryukens. Kazuya counters with some signature moves of his own. To put icing on that fighting game nerdgasmic cake fan favorites Chun Li and Nina Williams were tagged in for some jaw dropping special moves. Just watch this video and try not to salivate:

Just in case Namco fanboys cry foul at the apparent Capcom bias, Harada announced that Tekken x Street Fighter was in development. The game is likely to have the Tekken gameplay mechanic which means heavy button combos in a 3D arena. Both games won’t be out for “a while” according to the producers, but when they do, they’ll be on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

Street Fighter characters playing Tekken style and vice versa? Which do I choose?? Screw it, I want both! Right now!!

]]> http://rrbgames.com/archives/10219/feed http://rrbgames.com/archives/10190 http://rrbgames.com/archives/10190#comments Sat, 24 Jul 2010 04:03:43 +0000 Ron Aquino http://rrbgames.com/?p=10190

Sony will launch LittleBigPlanet 2 on November 16, Edge reports. The PS3 platformer is the sequel to 2008’s original LittleBigPlanet, which has gone on to sell over 3 million copies.

Sony Computer Entertainment America has also confirmed that there will be a collector’s edition to the game.

We’ll have more details about the sequel as we get closer to the date. So go enjoy your Friday night.

]]> http://rrbgames.com/archives/10190/feed http://rrbgames.com/archives/10184 http://rrbgames.com/archives/10184#comments Fri, 23 Jul 2010 05:29:37 +0000 Ron Aquino http://rrbgames.com/?p=10184

According to this Forbes article (via Yahoo! Games), video games can teach valuable leadership and strategy skills. Yeah, anyone who’s picked up a tactical shooter or an RPG knows that to be true. Elliot Noss, CEO of domain provider Tucows trains six to seven hours a week to improve his leadership skills by playing World of Warcraft.

“You have these events [in "World of Warcraft"] that are very leadership-driven,” Noss says. “For example, when you’re in a raid that’s poorly led, it’s really easy to see how valuable are skills like managing the social dynamic, making sure there was the right level of preparation and making sure that there was a clear hierarchy in terms of who is performing what roles.”

He applies something like WOW backdrop for his company. There’s no cosplay, but he does conduct a lunchtime series called “Tucow’s Lore”, in which he plays the company poet and sings the tales of the company’s heroes, villains, and battles with mythological monsters (large telecommunications companies). Not every corporate executive can pull that off without the rank and file employees rolling their eyes, but it seems to be working for Noss. He has seen employee satisfaction rise and turnover decrease.

“We’re finding that the younger people coming into the teams who have had experience playing online games are the highest-level performers because they are constantly motivated to seek out the next challenge and grab on to performance metrics,” says John Hagel III, co-chairman of a tech-oriented strategy center for Deloitte. He has been studying how playing video games affect the performance of young professionals at work.

There are numerous benefits games have on career oriented professionals. The trial and error nature of a lot of games can teach you how to learn from mistakes and not be afraid to take risks. Players also are presented with unexpected challenges that force improvisations or find solutions to problems creatively. As gamers, haven’t you noticed that instruction manuals provide only the bare basics to play and that you seek out new challenges in order to progress? How does that not translate into the workplace? Of course, the competitive aspect helps too.

Entrepreneurship is another possibility with games. In 2004 a man names David Storey bought a virtual island in the online game “Project Entropia” for real world money for $26,500. He now makes $100,000 per year in taxes he charges hunters on the island. That’s $100,000 in real money he’s making on property that only exists on the digital realm.

So go ahead and play World of Warcraft at work. Tell your boss you’re building leadership skills.

Looks like Mark Hamill won’t retire his Joker role at least for the time being. Industrygamers reports that both he and Kevin Conroy will reprise their roles in DC Universe Online as the Joker and Batman, respectively. The pair have famously voiced both roles in the 90’s animated series (one of the best cartoons of all time), in movies, and most recently in the critically acclaimed Batman: Arkham Asylum.

“We’re excited that not only will Mark and Kevin bring their talent back to the DC Universe as part of DC Universe Online, but we’ve hit the jackpot with a full cast that are veterans of movies, TV shows and games that our fans are crazy about,” said SOE VP of Development, John Blakely. “Several of these actors are recognized as the definitive voices for these characters, and will help us in creating an authentic and exciting experience for fans when they get in the game.”

Other sci-fan favorites will be voicing other DC characters with Adam Baldwin from Joss Whedon’s Firefly as Superman, Gina Torres also from Joss Whedon’s Firefly as Wonder Woman, James Marsters from Joss Whedon’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer as Lex Luthor, and Michelle Forbes (True Blood currently) as Circe.

In case you’re wondering, I just wanted to point out the Joss Whedon connection, because Firefly was awesome.

IGN reports that EA Sports is returning with the fifth game in the Fight Night franchise: Fight Night Champion. It will be released for the PS3 and the Xbox 360 in 2011. EA touts it will not simply be an expansion to Fight Night Round 4, but a standalone disc with brand new features.

The developers at EA Canada tout that the biggest innovation in the game will be its single player mode, saying: “Fight Night Champion will break the mold of what is expected in a single-player sports game. Players will be introduced to an entirely new way to step between the ropes and experience the drama, emotion, excitement and tragedy of world championship boxing.”

There will be a final roster 60 to 65 boxers and players will utilize a “Full Spectrum Punch Control”. EA Sports also claims that the new control method will deliver “the most realistic punching system ever seen” while at the same time be “the most user-friendly title in the franchise’s history.” Perhaps that means the option to use the face buttons, rather than the right analog stick as your primary punch arsenal.

I love Fight Night Round 4, and I’m excited to see how Fight Night Champion turns out. Maybe it will be the only way to see that Pacquiao - Mayweather fight.

]]> http://rrbgames.com/archives/10161/feed http://rrbgames.com/archives/10156 http://rrbgames.com/archives/10156#comments Wed, 21 Jul 2010 01:34:44 +0000 Karli Winata http://rrbgames.com/?p=10156

After much speculation and rumors, Microsoft has come right out, through Major Nelson’s blog, and confirmed that Kinect will indeed retail for $149.99 with Kinect Adventures bundled in.

Another Kinect bundle will be available later this year called the Kinect Holiday Bundle (shown above), which comes with the re-designed Xbox 360 with an internal 4GB flash memory, Kinect, and Kinect Adventures for $299.99. If you just want the newly redesigned Xbox 360 4GB console, it will be available August 3rd.

Microsoft is also throwing in some pre-order incentives. If you pre-order Kinect or the Kinect Holiday Bundle, you’ll get a token to download 3 exclusive levels for Kinect Adventures.

Images courtesy of Microsoft