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Uwe Boll is adapting everyone's favorite video game, Bloodrayne 3

by Griffin McElroy { Nov 22nd 2009 at 11:30AM }

At the risk of being repeatedly pawnched, we think we can accurately describe all of Uwe Boll's video game-based films as "wretched." However, we've got a theory for why that is -- his attempt to adhere to the plot of these games limited his otherwise limitless directing potential. Fortunately, that won't be a problem on his next film project: Bloodrayne 3: Warhammer, a film based on a video game which does not exist.

We'll contact Majesco to find out if this means another Bloodrayne title is secretly in the works -- but let's be honest, now. This sounds a lot like some good ol' fashioned Bollnanigans. Bollshines. Bollduggery.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

Hands-on: Dawn of Heroes (DS)

by David Hinkle { Nov 12th 2009 at 3:30PM }

You might expect Dawn of Heroes, a tactical, turn-based RPG from Wicked Studios and Majesco, to be super serious. It seems games in this genre seldom stray into the territory of slapstick and humorous banter, but here's Dawn of Heroes, doing just that -- and doing it well!

Gallery: Dawn of Heroes (DS)

Continued →

Interview: Wicked Studios president Yves Bordeleau on Dawn of Heroes (DS)

by David Hinkle { Nov 10th 2009 at 10:45AM }

Dawn of Heroes is a tactical RPG from Wicked Studios and Majesco. You'll be able to check it out for yourself when it releases next month, but Majesco was kind enough to offer us a preview build, as long as a brief interview on the with Wicked Studios president (and executive producer on Dawn of Heroes) Yves Borderleau. While we're still hammering out our preview (look for it tomorrow!), have a look at our Q&A session after the break.

Gallery: Dawn of Heroes (DS)

Continued →

Joyswag: Cooking Mama 3 and Cake Mania 3 (DS) [update]

by David Hinkle { Nov 4th 2009 at 2:15PM }

Update: That's it, folks -- the contest has come to a close! Keep an eye on your email's inbox to see if you won!

In our latest Joyswag, we're hooking one lucky reader up with a pair of new Majesco DS titles: Cooking Mama 3 and Cake Mania 3. Keep 'em to yourself or pass 'em along as a gift this holiday season. See how you can enter to win below:

Leave a comment telling us whether you prefer to bake or cook
You must be 18 years or older and a resident of the US or Canada (excluding Quebec)
Limit 1 entry per person per day
This entry period ends at 2:59PM ET on Tuesday, November 10
At that time, we'll randomly select one winner to receive Cooking Mama 3 for the Nintendo DS ($30 ARV) and Cake Mania 3 for the Nintendo DS ($20 ARV)
For a list of complete rules, click here

Majesco publishing DSi augmented reality game 'Ghostwire' in late 2010

by JC Fletcher { Oct 27th 2009 at 1:30PM }

Ghostwire, A Different Game's DSi-only title that uses the camera to fill players' real surroundings with virtual ghosts, looked quite promising when it was unveiled. The only problem: without a publisher, it was nothing but an apparition of a game. Today, Majesco announced that it is publishing the augmented reality title (which was originally intended for Nokia phones) with a projected late 2010 release date, under the title Ghostwire: Link to the Paranormal.

Using the mic and camera on the DSi, as well as in-game tools like the "EMF tuner," players search around them for hidden ghosts, and then attempt to give them peace by solving puzzles. Some ghosts will require items before they appear and interact with you, and some will apparently be malevolent and less receptive to your efforts. At which point, we assume, you have to solve their problems despite their lack of help, instead of just leaving them to go about their ghostly business.

Review: A Boy and His Blob

by David Hinkle { Oct 13th 2009 at 4:00PM }

A Boy and His Blob tells the story of an extra-terrestrial, amorphous lifeform and his young handler as they combat an evil emperor, hellbent on doing what all evil emperors want to do: kill most and rule over what's left. The only thing standing in this extreme evildoer's way is the boy's willingness to feed the Blob different jellybeans, which cause him -- it? -- to transform into different shapes, thereby overcoming the game's many obstacles.

After playing the game for a bit, it became clear that I was going to have to give up my need to solve the game's puzzles unsupervised. See, A Boy and His Blob thought that I would be far better off if it held my hand.

Gallery: A Boy and His Blob (Wii)

[Note: This review also comes with this "complimentary" video. Enjoy!]

Continued →

New Serious Sam HD trailer is anything but serious

by Richard Mitchell { Oct 9th 2009 at 8:30PM }

If you were to ask us to what sort of modes we expected to see in Serious Sam HD, "Super Happy Fun Time Mode" wouldn't even be on the list. Much like the first time you heard the bewildered Mortal Kombat announcer utter the word "Friendship," the video above is likely to fill you with unexpected glee. Don't be surprised if you emit giggles, chuckles or maybe even a guffaw or two. Of course, we still have to wait and see if Serious Sam's punishing gameplay has withstood the test of time.

For now, just enjoy the video.

A Boy and His Blob gameplay video is remarkably huggable

by Griffin McElroy { Oct 4th 2009 at 4:00PM }

You know what more games need to have? A hug button.

This inspiring innovation is introduced in the gameplay demonstration for A Boy and His Blob seen above. Okay, so maybe an "embrace command" wouldn't pan out too well in, oh, say, Gears of War. Perhaps hugs are rarely appropriate in a video game context, requiring the presence of anthropomorphic gobs of slime to be considered acceptable. We don't really care about all that stuff -- all we know is that our hearts have been warmed to a point where eggs could be scrambled on our bare chests.

Cooking Mama 3 trailer, fresh from the oven

by JC Fletcher { Sep 11th 2009 at 1:15AM }

Majesco's first trailer for Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop features one aspect of the Cooking Mama series we don't expect to see in the actual DS game: the voice acting, which is as endearing as ever.

The trailer features the first look at the game's new shopping mode, which appears as a top-down RPG-style presentation. It also features flashes of the familiar cooking gameplay, including the return of the most ridiculous recipe from Mamas past -- instant ramen. Really?

For the most part, it looks like Cooking Mama, which we've yet to become tired of, so we don't mind. And now with the addition of food with faces, we don't think we will ever get tired of it.

A Boy and His Boy-Shaped Blob in a new trailer

by JC Fletcher { Sep 5th 2009 at 5:00PM }

WayForward has done something fairly magical with its gorgeous remake of A Boy and His Blob -- it's made the game look appealing even to someone who has played the NES game recently enough to remember the abject frustration, untinged by nostalgia. In fact, we think this game is lovely enough to attract players who don't even know there was another game.

This 'launch' trailer (though the game isn't out until October) includes some animated story sequences, the use of which shouldn't be much of a surprise in a hand-drawn game. It also includes a quick look at some delightful jellybean-granted Blob abilities, like a mech and some kind of "boy" shape.

ESRB reveals Data East arcade collection on Wii and more

by JC Fletcher { Sep 3rd 2009 at 1:16PM }

A bit of a news roundup from the ESRB today. First off, the ratings board revealed a collection of Data East arcade games for Wii, called Data East Arcade Classics, containing Bad Dudes vs. Dragon Ninja (!), Burger Time, Caveman Ninja, Street Slam, Secret Agent, Magical Drop III, and more, published by Majesco. It would appear that Data East (or G-mode, the company that holds the rights to Data East's games) doesn't feel like charging 8 bucks for each game on the Virtual Console Arcade.

Other surprises include Crash 'N The Boyz: Street Challenge (which was known as Crash 'N The Boys: Street Challenge on the NES), the Kunio (River City Ransom) sports game, and Tomena Sanner, the intriguingly quirky-looking one-button WiiWare running game from Konami!

[Image credit]

Preorder A Boy and His Blob, get a blob

by Randy Nelson { Aug 24th 2009 at 5:15PM }

Now here's a novel idea: Preorder A Boy and His Blob at GameStop and receive ... a blob. Well, at least something that looks like the blob from the game's title. In actuality, it's one of those foam rubber stress-relief balls. Only shaped like a the blob -- and far more cute.

Note that -- thankfully -- the bonus is just the blob and does not include a boy, foam rubber or otherwise. Girls who preorder the game also get the blob, but are able to claim they're "a girl and her blob," which would probably make a good title for the sequel.

A Boy and His Blob is out on October 13 and looks gorgeous.

Majesco bringing more Tetris to DS and Wii

by JC Fletcher { Aug 20th 2009 at 1:15PM }

Tetris is currently available on the Wii in the form of Tetris Party, and sort of available on DS (if you don't mind eBay) as Tetris DS. Today, Majesco announced that it will add to the Tetris selection with the release of new Tetris games for Nintendo platforms in spring 2010. No specific details or media have been released, so we don't know about any theme or gameplay variations that may be included -- though we can be quite certain that it won't be based on classic Nintendo characters. Tetris Online, Inc. is working with Majesco, suggesting that these are downloadable releases.

Between the release of Tetris on iPhone and announcement of a PSP mini Tetris game from EA, and these two upcoming releases from Majesco, it's suddenly a wonderful time to like Tetris. Which is just a different way of saying it's a wonderful time to be anyone on the planet Earth.

Cooking Mama 3: Shop & Chop your troubles away

by JC Fletcher { Aug 13th 2009 at 7:10PM }

Today, Majesco released new screens and the box art for Cooking Mama 3, revealing the subtitle Shop & Chop. Unfortunately for us, that subtitle, meant to reflect the new grocery shopping element in the minigame sequel, sounds kind of like "Slap Chop," and now we've got the "Rap Chop" remix stuck in our heads. We're going to be in a great mood all day, apparently!

The "Let's Shop" game, in which players dodge distractions to pick up ingredients at a grocery store, leads to the other new mode, "Combine and Create," which somehow allows players to invent their own recipes based on ingredients used in existing in-game recipes. It's an iterative upgrade, sure, but here's a secret: Cooking Mama continues to be fun even when it's just new recipes.

Gallery: Cooking Mama 3: Shop and Chop (DS)

Get your one-liner in Serious Sam HD by using Twitter

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 15th 2009 at 11:00PM }

(click to Sam-size)

Here's the thing -- we already told you pretty much everything you need to know in the headline up top. Sure, we could expand on it a bit and tell you that the company producing Serious Sam HD, Devolver Digital, will be accepting entries via its Twitter account from July 15 to July 30. We could remind you that the producers are Gamecock and Gathering of Developers veterans Mike Wilson and Harry Miller -- known for storming Ken Levine and spawning Hail to the Chimp.

We could even let you know that the only way to find out if your one-liner is going to be voiced by Serious Sam voice actor John J. Dick is to follow the aforementioned Devolver Twitter account or the game's publisher's account, Majesco, in "early August." But why would we do all that?

... Dammit!