Games Cheats and Reviews

Coming this holiday season for all major platforms is James Bond 007: Blood Stone.

Tales of Monkey Island is making the jump to the PlayStation 3, joining Sam & Max on PSN.

Telltale Games and LucasArts are releasing a package that will include the entire first season of Tales of Monkey Island next week. The third episode of Sam & Max: The Devil’s Playhouse will be available the following week.

The release is good news even if you aren’t a PS3 owner. Tales of Monkey Island is getting a major discount across all available platforms, dropping down to $20 until the end of the month. You can find the discounted version of the PC game on Telltale’s website.

Tons of gamers are enjoying Red Dead Redemption following its release earlier this week, but it looks like more than a few are having their experience hampered by some screwy glitches. Gamers are reporting issues, particularly in multiplayer games, where a player’s gun, horse, or even entire character disappears from the screen. Now Rockstar says (via Kotaku) they’re aware of the issues and are working to resolve them.

“[We're] really happy with how well Red Dead Redemption has been received by the community on both platforms so far. We’re aware of the issues some people are experiencing on multiplayer and we’re working hard to fix them,” a Rockstar rep said. “If you’re having issues please email RDRSupportteam@rockstargames.com. We are also actively on the forums helping people with any questions they may have about the game. Thank you all for your support and we look forward to getting a fix out as soon as we can.”

There are already various YouTube videos documenting these glitches, which would probably be a lot funnier if they weren’t so annoying for players who just bought their brand-new $60 game. In addition to disappearing horses and characters, some players have also reported being attacked by invisible cougars.

Having played Car Jack Streets on the iPhone, I can say that having real buttons to press can only be a giant step forward. Virtual d-pads seem cool, until you’re barreling down the street, trying to escape the cops or catch another crook and beat him down. Then, they kinda suck. So this announcement about the release of the game for PSP, today, for $5, is SWEET! Also, since it’s a “mini,” it can be played on the big screen on your PS3. Super double plus good for console/portable integration!

Paul Farley, Managing Director of Tag Games, said, “We are delighted to launch Car Jack Streets as our first ever PSP and Playstation 3 title. The Mini’s platform is a perfect fit for Car Jack Streets and we know that the Sony fanbase are going to really enjoy the mix of retro and action game-play that Car Jack Streets provides. CJS is currently Tag’s most successful title and has been a hit across each of the platforms we have launched on to date. We fully expect the Mini’s launch to continue this trend and perhaps pave the way for a larger PSN release in future months.”

Check out these new release screenshots and stay tuned right here for any new details as they appear.

Sharing: It’s Win/Win

There are a few games which help to define an entire generation of gaming. So far this generation, we have seen games such as Crysis, Gears of War, Uncharted, Metal Gear Solid 4, Call of Duty, and others lead the games industry on its respective platforms. Here we will take a look at one of the games that defined the last generation of gaming (about 2000-2005) and see how they hold up in terms of todays expectations, in one of a series of articles to come.

A good friend of mine is quite the enthusiastic hunter.  His idea of a good time is sitting in a tree stand, in the rain, in the dark, hoping that a buck will wander by.  He’s tried to convince me that if I only try it just once, that I’ll be hooked.  Not gonna happen, Sparky.  But he might convince me to try Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt.  He’d love it for the thrill of tracking down a moose.  I’m sure I’d enjoy it because of the accessory.

Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt will be available on several platforms this June including Xbox 360 and Windows.  But I would have to pick it up for the Wii.  That’s because Nintendo users will also enjoy an exclusive firearm peripheral, the Hunting Controller, which rests against the shoulder like a rifle and allows for more accurate shooting.

“Last year’s great response to Bass Pro Shops: The Strike proved that developing the software and peripheral simultaneously is a solid strategy,” said Chip Pederson, director of gaming at Psyclone Games. “We listened to the enthusiastic consumer feedback on our first title, so in addition to offering realistic single player gameplay in Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt, we’ve added dangerous encounters, more arcade mini-games, multiplayer and have plans for DLC.”

Mini Games, including Duck Hunt – naturally, break up the hardcore hunting.  Bass Pro Shops: The Hunt will be available the first week of June 2010.

Sharing: It’s Win/Win

Recently an employee over at Bungie was asked about the companies consideration for PS3 support. While the company will be independent after the completion of Halo Reach, this now means that they don’t have to stick with Microsoft. Again, Brian Jarrard was asked again about where the companies interests lie when talking about developing for other platforms. He said " I know these things are still pending topics in the studio." and "We definitely have plans in the works, and I think we’re really close to understanding of what is next and who, what, when , where" but most importantly for those hoping for Bungie titles to be available on other systems than the Xbox 360 " All options are open right now, so long as we find the best possible fit for our creative vision and what this project is going to be."

GamerZines: Valve has revealed the latest set of features to hit their Steamworks service, the tool which allows game developers to add their wares to Steam, including support for in-game microtransactions.

The latest brochure – linked after jump – shows what Steam updates gamers can expect in 2010 including a new look games library which will allow easier tracking of achievements in a more ergonomic fashion, and the ability to buy downloadable game content without having to go back to the desktop.

This brings Steam’s content delivery and user interface more in line with similar online platforms like PSN and Xbox Live.

This Sunday Xbox Live’s Major Nelson released his weekly podcast. One of his guests this week was Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling. In the interview Bowling addressed Modern Warfare 2’s recent achievement of 25 million unique users claiming that the "the majority of these users are from Xbox Live". This could give some insight as to why the Xbox 360 players might get access to the upcoming downloadable content ahead of gamers on other platforms.

In recent news Media Molecule, the once independent studio and developer of LittleBigPlanet, was acquired by Sony for an undisclosed amount. Many hailed the move as a great one by Sony, because now the only Platforms we’ll ever play said title and the others the studio will undoubtedly forge will be Sony’s.