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Unannounced 'Pinnacle Station' Mass Effect DLC now available
by Griffin McElroy 
{ Aug 25th 2009 at 10:00AM } 
click for more photographic proof!
As we all know, the first and second rules of Fight Club are that you do not talk about Fight Club. Appropriately, Microsoft and BioWare haven't talked much about their Palahniuk-inspired Mass Effect DLC, Pinnacle Station; despite the fact that it hasn't even been formally announced, it's now available on Xbox Live Marketplace for 400
($5).According to the DLC's online description, Pinnacle Station will force you to "test the limits of your combat prowess aboard a remote, top-secret Alliance space station," brawling through 13 new "combat scenarios," and adding 2 to 3 hours of play time to the soon-to-be-sequeled space opera. We plan on picking it up ASAP, if only to see if Meat Loaf and spliced-in images of genitalia make an appearance. (We're thinking no.)
[Thanks to everyone who sent this curious item in!]
Gallery: Mass Effect - Pinnacle Station DLC
Final Fantasy XIII's battle system explained
by Jason Dobson { Mar 26th 2009 at 11:30AM } 
Much like the "Active Time Battle" system seen elsewhere in the series, XIII's gauge-heavy combat will likely tread familiar territory for series vets. Here different actions -- such as casting a spell or smacking an imp upside the head with a giant sword -- each siphon off a different amount of "time" from a meter, with more powerful attacks demanding a greater sacrifice of patience. This all sounds interesting, though like mom and apple pie, Final Fantasy and combat just go together. And while the series' battles may lack a flaky crust, their mix of spiky hair and androgyny can be just as filling. Well, maybe not as much as mother's rhubarb pie -- that stuff's to die for.
Spider-Man: Web of Shadows combat preview looks astonishing
by Griffin McElroy { Jun 22nd 2008 at 1:30PM }
We've had a love/hate relationship with past iterations of titles featuring our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, though one aspect of every title that we felt was never quite right was the manner in which the beloved web-slinger placed the beatdown upon unsuspecting thugs. Sure, certain games have had entertaining, intuitive combat systems, but none truly captured the way the arachnid protagonist whips up on baddies as he does on ink and paper.
However, a recently released video from Shaba Games, developer of the upcoming Spider-Man: Web of Shadows, has boosted our spirits significantly, displaying the kind of aerial acrobatics and swift brawling we've always hoped to see in a Spidey title. Now, as long as they can avoid any glaring graphical issues or frequent cutscenes showing Peter Parker bawling his eyes out, Web of Shadows could be one of the better adaptations of the Spider-Man comics to ever hit the market.
More details on monsters in Tales of Symphonia
by Candace Savino { Apr 28th 2008 at 9:00PM }
After you battle monsters, you'll often have a chance to negotiate with them and have them fight for you. It's not as simple as "catching" them all, though, since some monsters will refuse to join your party if they have a grudge against one of your other allied creatures. Since the game provides 200 different species of monster that you can fight with, which we think this can add a lot of depth to this Tales rendition. As long as you don't become obsessed with collecting them, that is, because then you might as well be playing something else.
Drawing more similarities from Pokemon, these monsters also evolve. However, you can cause their evolutions by serving them certain foods, so the cooking system in the game should be pretty interesting. We're not sure yet, though, whether these are true, outward-and-inward evolutions, or just stat alterations (as we reported before).
Those of you who are looking forward to this title still have a long wait ahead of you. The RPG is set to hit North America in Q4 of this year.
Sonic Chronicles website releases new screens showing off battle system
by David Hinkle { Apr 4th 2008 at 12:45PM }
Sega has gotten around to launching the official website for upcoming DS title Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood. And, most perplexing to us here at DS Fanboy is the battle system for the game. Since we have nothing but screens to look at, it's kind of hard to estimate exactly how these new targeting rings (that's what we're assuming they are) will mesh with the turn-based battle system.Sure, we've seen in-battle screens before, but none of them had these weird rings. We're assuming they'll work with the stylus (uh-duh), but wonder if they'll be anything like the rings you must tap in Ouendan and Elite Beat Agents, or if they'll work in some other manner? We know the battle system for Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood utilizes combos, so maybe the rings will work with that in some way?
Oh well, looks like we'll have to wait and find out. In the meanwhile, see the new screens in our gallery below.
Battalion Wars 2 hits the open water, land, air
by David Hinkle { Oct 18th 2007 at 2:15PM }
It's only a few more days until this game hits the streets and we can't wait to get our grubby little blogging hands on it. So, it's with pleasure that we present the video above, which is a short, but very sweet, which looks at some naval combat. The fun doesn't stop there, though, as we have tucked some other videos behind the break that focus on land and air combat, as well.
Gallery: BWii
Assassin's Creed gameplay video in three parts
by Alexander Sliwinski { Oct 12th 2007 at 6:00PM }
Everything looks good until the third part when you see the combat. Sure, the cutscene killings look cool (a la Heavenly Sword), but the combat appears a bit slow and awkward (one guy fighting when there are ten other people standing around). As we learned during our hands-on time with the game, there won't be a demo for gamers to experience the "different" style of Assassin's Creed before its release. Eh, they've got a couple months to work out the combat kinks ... or longer.
Air Combat: new Tom Clancy franchise takes to the skies
by Jason Dobson { Sep 25th 2007 at 4:57PM }
We don't know much about the game at this point, though Ubisoft's managing director hints at the game's online focus, stating that the company is confident that Air Combat will be "an instant online multiplayer hit." Like other Tom Clancy games, Air Combat will be set in the near future, as players will fly a variety of jet fighters, complete with hi-tech piloting assistance to help players shoot down bad guys. In addition, as players get better at the game, Ubisoft notes that they'll be able to shed the assistance, no doubt offering more challenge for seasoned flyboys. I feel the need, the need for speed!
No More Heroes site updates
by Alisha Karabinus { Jul 3rd 2007 at 4:35PM }
The No More Heroes site continues to leak bits and pieces of information -- just enough to keep us drooling -- and this latest update covers some of the ground already tread by this morning's video. Our hero Travis and his beam katana are the center of the new information, which is all about combat and the tools of the assassination trade. The beam katana can be used to deflect bullets (where've we seen that before?), but it's not a never-ending source of bloody awesome; like any gadget, it can run out of juice. Luckily, there are battery packs scattered around, but in the event you can't find one and find yourself in need of a good cutting edge, you can always get your waggle-charge on. Charging the katana is as simple as jerking the Wiimote up and down.
The updates also show off something we've already seen -- Travis's penchant for wrestling moves -- and a shot of a fight brought to a grappling standstill. The image isn't terribly clear, but it seems that with a turn of the Wii remote, it's possible to break free and beat your opponent down.
We couldn't possibly want this game more, but at this point, all we really want is to find out just what's up with the tiger indicator on the upper part of the screen. In videos, it can be seen wiggling around, and in these screens, it looks like he takes a little tiger-journey across the top of the image, but for what reason? We can wait for the game, but we must know the secret of the tiger! Perhaps he's like a pet, feeding on the blood of your enemies. It's either that, or he's linked to all the tiger rugs we keep seeing in the game.
Midway to develop Aqua Teen Hunger Force combat golf game
by Ross Miller { Mar 21st 2007 at 8:10PM }
Licensed games, with some exceptions, generally fare badly in terms of quality. There is a glimmer of hope in that ATHF creators Matt Maiellaro and Dave Willis will be "working closely" with Midway, but we're not getting our hopes up.
The game is due out this fall on PlayStation 2. If there is any parallel to be drawn between the game and the movie, Aqua Teen Hunger Force Colon Movie Film for Theatres, however, some sensationalist event might cause the game to expand its horizons to newer generation consoles.
Even more Fire Emblem video
by Alisha Karabinus { Feb 26th 2007 at 4:55PM }
While this video suffers from some pretty severe watermarking issues (everyone just has to leave their mark, eh?), there's still a lot of amazing awesomeness that Fire Emblem fans won't want to miss. And yes, amazing awesomeness is a very technical phrase used to identify everything that's happening here in combat. You can thank us later for expanding your vocabulary. For now, just go watch the video, and if you missed the ones we put up last week, check 'em out.Why you want Vice City Stories: the interview
by Andrew Yoon { Sep 9th 2006 at 1:45PM }
Ever since the official trailer for Vice City Stories dropped on us, Rockstar has been very actively hyping this PSP-exclusive follow-up to the insanely successful Liberty City Stories. (Of course Rockstar doesn't have much of a choice: this game may be the only thing that saves the company from financial ruin.) IGN recently had a chance to talk to Gordon Hall from Rockstar, and Mr. Hall (obviously) has a lot of good things to tell us:
- Game features twice the number of polygons and a new radiosity lighting model.
- A new way to have the CPU and GPU communicate to each other was developed so that improvements could be made across the board. A new streaming process and lossless animation streaming allows the game to load more data at once.
- "With the Jet Ski you can dive under water and come bursting back up, you can really feel it bounce off the waves as the weather conditions change, you can turn on a dime and really send the water spraying." (Sounds like they packed in an entire water racing game in our GTA!)
- "The combat system has more depth to it than any other Grand Theft Auto game." Targeting and combat has been tweaked just a bit: you can now fight unarmed and do grappling moves and throws.
- "The soundtrack has over 100 tracks, and is probably the best, deepest collection of songs ever assembled for any one project -- TV, Film, or Game." (But the game includes Custom Soundtracks too if you don't like retro music.)
Apocalyptic Auto Assault competition
by Jennie Lees { Mar 29th 2006 at 12:30PM }
Are you prepared for an apocalypse? That's
the question asked by this promotional site for upcoming car-combat MMO Auto Assault, and like other promotions before
it, there's a competition involved. By taking photos or video of your apocalypse prevention methods, you could win
copies of the game and 6-month subscriptions.Hopefully there will be a gallery of submissions available later, to demonstrate whether this attempt at viral marketing works or not. It's an interesting premise, but the disaster-prevention-spoof theme might prove too realistic for some people.
[Via Broken Toys]
Blitz Games joins the Revolution
by David Hinkle { Mar 15th 2006 at 11:00AM }
IGN reports that UK developer Blitz Games, who is responsible for the enjoyable Fuzion Frenzy (and many
other not so enjoyable titles such as Bad Boys 2 and Bratz: Rock Angelz), has officially claimed they
are in cahoots with an undisclosed, yet assuredly big-named, publisher to bring a game to the Revolution. We
personally hope it's another entry into the dangerous world of equestrian combat starring everyone's favorite
spy Barbie. We're not being sarcastic at all, really.
