Tag Archives: Nearing
Postcard from PAX: Skulls of the Shogun is Finally Nearing Release
It seems like Skulls of the Shogun, a slick 2D strategy game by Haunted Temple studios, has been a faint-but-intriguing blip on our radar for ages now. But according to producer Jake Kazdal, the game is nearing the final stretch, with a target release date shortly after the holiday season.
Skulls was looking better than ever in its PAX Prime 2011 showing. It’s packed with bold, colorful art that really matches the game’s unconventional mechanics. Despite generally resembling a strategy title like Shining Force, Skulls has a highly simplified interface and a resource-gathering-free design that Kazdal describes as having been inspired by ’90s-era Capcom brawlers. It’s an unexpected matchup, but it definitely works.
PSN Nearing Relaunch as Internal Testing Reaches Final Stages
Sony may have missed its target of bringing “some services” back online on Tuesday but we’ve still got our fingers crossed that it doesn’t take much longer. (There’s Mortal Kombat to be played!) After staying quiet on the subject for the past few days, Sony has announced it has begun “the final stages of internal testing of the new system, an important step towards restoring PlayStation Network and Qriocity services.”
PSN has been down for more than two weeks, having been taken offline on April 20. That move was made after Sony noticed an attack on the service which ultimately resulted in the theft of users’ personal data. Sony said last week that it expected PSN to begin being brought back online on Tuesday.
Over the weekend, a “welcome back” program was announced to make up for the downtime. It’s unclear exactly when that will go into effect and what content will be made available for free.
Today in Gaming – 3/10/11: NPDs, GTA IV Nearing 20M Sold
As much as I enjoyed Grand Theft Auto IV — and I blindly purchase each and every GTA game (even one that isn’t particularly spectacular like Chinatown Wars I purchased three times) — I missed the previous games’ less-serious tone. Even if I’m not alone in that sentiment, it apparently was the right way to go: Rockstar has announced it’s close to hitting the 20 million units sold mark and the series has exceeded 100 million units.
Today’s highlights:
- The February NPD results have come out with Black Ops on top again.
- It was a very good month for Microsoft — record-setting, in fact.
- Capcom is evaluating some of its games for Case Zero potential.
- Action could be taken against those who used stolen Microsoft Points.
- PlayStation 3 imports are no longer being seized in the Netherlands.
- Help improve Xbox Live, get new Avatar items.
- Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony explain how they save their games.
- Epic Games’ next-gen plan.
And here’s what else happened today:
Grand Theft Auto IV Near 20 Million Copies Sold
FMV Adventure Starring MST3K Cast, Peter Graves Nearing Release After a Decade
A bit of living history will become available to PC gamers in November. Strategy First is preparing to release Darkstar: The Interactive Movie, an FMV adventure game that has been in the works for roughly a decade.
Billed as an adventure game in the style of Myst featuring 360-degree panoramics and more than 13 hours of video, it stars a good chunk of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 cast as well as actor Peter Graves in his final role.
The story is set 300 years in the future, with the main character awakening from a lengthy hibernation. MST3K creator Joel Hodgson stars as the commander, with Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff and J. Elvis Weinstein also filling roles. Graves, who was a frequent targets thanks to appearances in films such as Attack of the Eye Creatures, serves as the narrator.
