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Podcast: Non Playable
By: Joe Sayer & Chris Holmes

Review: Scott Pilgrim vs The World: The Game
By: Matt Purslow

Review: Shank
By: Matt Purslow

Non Playable Episode 5: So Special

Posted by Joe Sayer at 11:15pm on August 3rd, 2010

This time, Massive J Productions and Homez Industries are granted access to a super top secret hands on viewing of the Nintendo 3DS, and thus feel rather special.

Furthermore, the crew take it upon themselves to rage, shortly after offering insightful converse on such topics as Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Donkey Kong Country Returns.

Don’t forget to enter Ramblings of a Madman in a comment below.

Details:

Duration: 37:56

File size: 52.3mb

Non Playable E05 Direct link to file, right click to download.

– Subscribe via iTunes

Web Player:

Non Playable E05 [37:56m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Have a different podcast player/solution? Simply copy and paste this feed URL into it: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NonPlayablePodcast

Your thoughts on this episode will be very much appreciated, please leave a comment below or send feedback to chris@thenpcs.com

Non Playable is co-hosted by Joe Sayer and Chris Holmes. Produced by Joe Sayer.

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3D | E3 | EA | Europe | Hands-On | Harmonix | Industry News | Microsoft | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo DS | Nintendo DSi | Nintendo Wii | PC | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network | Podcast | Previews | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live

Non Playable Episode 4: Algorithms and Poorly Assembled Office Chairs

Posted by Joe Sayer at 10:32pm on July 4th, 2010

On this extra special E3 2011 bonanza episode, Chris and Joe use the power of mathematics to voyage into the future of gaming journalism.

And just what has Joe gone and got tattooed onto his face? Unfortunately you’ll probably have to listen to the show because I’ve forgotten.

Don’t forget to enter Ramblings of a Madman in a comment below.

Details:

Duration: 47:20

File size: 55.4MB

Non Playable Episode E04 Direct link to file, right click to download.

– Subscribe via iTunes

Web Player:

Non Playable E04 [47:20m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Have a different podcast player/solution? Simply copy and paste this feed URL into it: http://feeds.feedburner.com/NonPlayablePodcast

Your thoughts on this episode will be very much appreciated, please leave a comment below or send feedback to chris@thenpcs.com

Non Playable is co-hosted by Joe Sayer and Chris Holmes. Produced by Joe Sayer.

E3 | EA | Microsoft | News | Nintendo 3DS | Nintendo DS | Nintendo Wii | PC | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network | Podcast | Xbox 360 | Xbox Live

No plans for FFXIV on 360

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:12pm on June 22nd, 2010

Hiromichi Tanaka, the producer for Final Fantasy XIV Online has said that “currently there are no plans for a version for the Xbox 360.” He was talking to our friends over at RPGsite, and went on to say that “we are still talking with Microsoft about an Xbox 360 version, but at the moment we are only working on the PS3 version and Windows version.” The game is still on track for a 2010 release for the PS3 and PC.

E3 | News | PC | PlayStation 3 | Square Enix | Xbox 360

Reggie thinks the 3DS will be released by March 31 2011

Posted by Chris Holmes at 1:04pm on June 22nd, 2010

Reggie Fils-Aime, the Nintendo of America boss, thinks that the 3DS will be released in all major territories by the end of the financial year. He was speaking in an interview with Industry Gamers, and said the following:

“The reason we haven’t announced a launch date or pricing is that, first, we wanted to get reaction here. Secondly, we’ll be making individual market decisions in terms of what’s happening in Japan, what’s happening in the Americas, what’s happening in Europe. The one thing, for sure, is that we will launch in all of our major markets by March 31, 2011.”

Reggie went on to say that the 3DS design hasn’t been finalised, and that Nintendo is working with feedback from E3 before the design is finished.

“We have an army of Nintendo representatives out on our show floor talking to attendees, getting reactions to everything in the device: the depth slider, the buttons, the sliding pad that is, essentially, an analog-type stick,” he said.”These are things that we’re looking to get reaction to, including the overall button placement. When we get all that feedback, then we’ll finalise the design.”

E3 | News | Nintendo | Nintendo 3DS

Star Wars: The Old Republic trailer shows Bounty Hunter armour progression

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:05pm on June 22nd, 2010

BioWare sneaked out a cheeky trailer of Star Wars: The Old Republic during E3 that shows the armour progression of Bounty Hunters in-game. Remember folks, loot improves as your level increases. Get ready for some major grinding:

BioWare | E3 | EA | News | PC

Trine 2 announced

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:21pm on June 18th, 2010

Atlus and Frozenbyte have announced Trine 2 during E3. The first game’s characters will be coming back for the sequel, with the knight, the rogue and the wizard all coming back for more. Trine 2 will support online 3-person co-op. It’s not currently known what platforms the game will hit, but we do know it will once again be a digitally distributed title and will be released spring 2011. The original was released on the PC and the PSN.

E3 | News | PC | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network

Child of Eden to support normal controllers

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:13pm on June 18th, 2010

Child of Eden, our personal highlight from the Ubisoft E3 Press Conference, will also support normal controllers on both the 360 and the PS3. Previously, it was only confirmed that the game would support the Move and the Kinect. The game dramatically opened Ubisoft’s conference, with the game’s creator (and maker of Rez) Tetsuya Mizuguchi taking to the stage to show it off. Here’s the E3 trailer for the game:

E3 | News | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Move | Xbox 360 | Xbox Kinect

MoH’s early access PSN beta now live

Posted by Matthew Archer at 7:21am on June 18th, 2010

EA and Dice’s latest re-installment of the hit classic, Medal of Honor, has been on the minds of just about every Battlefield fan since it was first introduced. For those that own Battlefield Bad Company 2 and have preordered the game from retailers, you may have had some issues using the PS3 download codes. It seems there has been a solution to this problem: patience.

Dice’s highly anticipated multiplayer beta is now available on PSN. It would seem that the problem with the download codes not working was simply a result of the download not even being available on the network yet. You have to be a Battlefield: BC2 VIP and obtain a redemption code from participating retailers by pre-ordering MoH. The beta is about 616MB.

DICE | E3 | EA | PlayStation 3 | PlayStation Network | PlayStation Store

New Xbox 360 boot screen

Posted by Matthew Archer at 11:55pm on June 17th, 2010

New box, new kit, new look? With the launch of their new console and Kinect coming soon, Microsoft looks to be rebranding the Xbox 360. Kinect and its Hub, which made an appearance at E3, added more dimension to the Dashboard’s UI, and will likely bring new tweaks to the interface at launch. A revised boot screen made its way into the mix as well. It looks pretty nice, a little more contemporary and upbeat. I wonder if this new boot screen will be included in a future system update to replace the existing boot screen on old Xbox 360 units…

E3 | Microsoft | News | Xbox 360

Valve plans to have cross-platform co-op for Portal 2

Posted by Matthew Archer at 11:36pm on June 17th, 2010

Valve’s Portal 2 presentation at E3 was full of gameplay videos showing off new features and a pretty interesting story line. No co-op gameplay was shown, though, Valve developer Erik Johnson revealed one bit of info: Valve is planning to allow PS3 players to play with Mac and PC players. I guess that means Steamworks on PS3: confirmed. Another Valve developer, Mike Dunkle stated that “The plan is you will be able to play between a console and a PC.”

What is interesting about this, however, is that it could be applied to any of Valve’s online games (ahem, Team Fortress 2…), such as The Orange Box (yep, TF2) and any other games on Steam and consoles. I wonder if this includes Battlefield 2, Modern Warfare 2, etc.?

For Xbox 360 owners… Well, Johnson commented that there aren’t any current plans to bring Steamworks over to the 360, as that’s Microsoft’s decision. I guess Sony is a little more open with their console. Continue reading for a fancy Portal 2 E3 trailer.

Read the rest of this story »

E3 | Mac | News | PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360

Marvel vs. Capcom 3 roster leaked

Posted by Matthew Archer at 6:02am on June 17th, 2010

The full character list for the upcoming title Marvel vs. Capcom 3 has been leaked early. The list emerged via Flash encoding on the Japanese Marvel vs. Capcom 3 site, though it’s since been altered to remove mention of other characters. In any case, it’s an interesting talking point. So here is the character list in full:

Marvel: Spider-Man, Hulk, Wolverine, Mr Fantastic, Captain America, Iron Man, War Machine (alternate Iron Man outfit) Elektra, Thor, X-23, Magneto, Dr Doom, Shuma-Gorath, Emma Frost, Deadpool, Super Skrull, Taskmaster, Juggernaut, She-Hulk

Capcom: Ryu, Mike Haggar, Frank West, Chuck (alternate Frank West outfit), Spencer (Bionic Commando), Dante, Chris, Morrigan, Arthur, Amaterasu , Albert Wesker, Zero, Chun-li, Viewtiful Joe, Trish, Tron Bonne, Hsien-Ko, Akuma, Felicia

E3 | News | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360

New Xbox 360 17% smaller, incapable of RRoD-ing

Posted by Matthew Archer at 5:20am on June 17th, 2010

There was an info sheet released on Microsoft’s new, slimmer Xbox 360. There were a few notable highlights: it now has Kensington lock slots, and the new dimensions. The new “S” console is about 17% smaller than the original, and is physically incapable of getting the red ring of death. Hold your horses, cowboy. That doesn’t mean the console can no longer malfunction or experience systematic failure. The slimmer console lacks red LEDs in the ring of light. If your console experiences a fatality, expect a green… ring… of death.

Yeah, we should probably get ready to coin the phrase “GRoD”. Click the jump for an image containing a comparison spec sheet.

Read the rest of this story »

E3 | Microsoft | News | Xbox 360

Crytek confirms Crysis 2 E3 trailer was real-time PC footage

Posted by Matthew Archer at 5:01am on June 17th, 2010

Turns out Crysis 2’s E3 trailer was real-time rendered PC footage.

Crytek Staff: “After being here a few months now, it is clear to me that it’s everyone at Crytek’s intention to make Crysis 2 and CryENGINE 3 the very best they can be on ALL supported platforms.

Here is some Crysis 2 footage rendered in realtime on a PC:

Crytek | E3 | News | PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360

Five concerns about Kinect

Posted by Matthew Archer at 1:23am on June 17th, 2010

Kinect sure has had a lasting impression on a good deal of us, ever since its introduction into the gaming world as ‘Project Natal’. The technology that Microsoft has put behind this revolutionary motion controller is absolutely astounding. It is the only device I’ve seen that picks up input without any handheld peripherals such as the Move controller or the Wii Remote. However, there are a few concerns about Kinect that probably should be shared before people get too hyped up about it. Microsoft has a little paving to do before this thing is ready to hit the road. Here are five concerns about the Kinect that, hopefully, Microsoft can fix up before it finally makes its debut. Continue reading for more info and five concerns expressed about the Kinect.

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Comment | E3 | Editorials | Microsoft | News | Xbox 360 | Xbox Kinect

Metal Gear Solid: Rising details confirmed

Posted by Chris Holmes at 12:52am on June 17th, 2010

Konami has given out a few details about Metal Gear Solid: Rising at its E3 press conference. The game is set between Metal Gear Solid 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4. It will show how Raiden went through his dramatic transformation to the cyber samurai ninja found in MGS4. There will be futuristic fast-paced stealth, dismemberment and jumping attacks.

You can use the unique cutting ability to take off life, energy, items, information, parts and ammunition off enemies, but you have to be strategic with your cutting angle and what you want to take from Raiden’s foes. Metal Gear Solid: Rising will be released on the 360, PS3 and PC in 2011.

E3 | Konami | News | PC | PlayStation 3 | Xbox 360