To coincide with the release of Wreckateer, Microsoft has launched "Avatar Famestars," a cross-game promotion that allows you to earn "Fame" and unlock Avatar-related bonuses.
In addition to Wreckateer, other games to support Famestar include Full House Poker and A World of Keflings. Future games planned include Avatar Motocross Madness, Fire Pro Wrestling, and Homerun Stars.
I'll admit a fair bit of trepidation in approaching Wreckateer. The Kinect has had a few fine moments in its life so far, but the device has lost steam and some sour experiences -- like the absolutely dreadful Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor -- have made me wary towards Microsoft's motion controller. Despite all that, I was happy to find that Wreckateer is everything a Kinect game should be: accessible for newcomers, hard to master, and genuinely a blast to play.
Harmonix's third entry in their popular Kinect dancing franchise will be available on October 19th. Dance Central 3 promises more than 40 tracks on the disc, and some of today's revelations will be quite surprising.
The expanded tracklist includes Kpop song "I Am The Best" by 2NE1, as well as classics like "Everybody" by the Backstreet Boys, and "YMCA" by the Village People. Even newer songs, like "Moves Like Jagger" by Maroon 5 make an appearance.
Hey, kids! Science is fun, and space is cool! So come up, fire up your Xbox 360 and play Mars Rover Landing, a free Kinect Fun Labs game which lets you land NASA's wicked sick Curiosity rover on that gnarly red planet. Parents, please, encourage fondness for sciences in your spawn.
Read more: Speed through the atmosphere and deploy the sky crane »
This year, one of the world's most beloved trilogies comes to an end. The Dark Knight Angry Birds Trilogy will be available on PS3, Xbox 360, and 3DS this holiday.
Teased at E3 as "Angry Birds HD," the Trilogy puts the original Angry Birds, Seasons, and Rio on one retail disc/cartridge. "Built from the ground up" for HDTVs, this enhanced remake will include "new cinematics" and extras presented in HD.
Microsoft's "Kinect PlayFit" has launched today, tracking your fitness goals across a broad range of Kinect games. The application is a free download and available now in the US. As previously reported, it tracks your cumulative fitness progress for a more all-encompassing solution than the single-serve fitness counters of individual games.
Activision announced a new Wipeout game, not to be confused with that other Wipeout series. This one is based on the (baffling) popular TV series of the same name. Wipeout 3 is due this fall for the Xbox 360 with Kinect, Wii, and 3DS. But if you haven't played the first two, the plot probably won't make any sense.
Want a free game for your Xbox 360--one that isn't quite as terrible as Yaris? You're in luck! From now until July 2nd, you'll be able to get the Kinect-exclusive XBLA game Haunt for free by logging onto the Xbox Dashboard. To find the game, you'll have to find "Kinect Central" on the homepage. Click through and get your free game.
An AP shell hits our right-side leg, and I hear steel bend and warp at the force. I start to prepare a shell to fire back, but I have bigger problems now. My VT is filling up with smoke. Visibility is poor, and we're all starting to cough. My eyes and lungs burn. I reach for the ventilation lever, only moments to spare before we all suffocate in a hot metal box. I pull back, hard, venting the cabin and saving us all -- but enemy VTs are still bearing down on us. Allowing only a brief sigh of relief, I try to withdraw my hand, only to find it won't obey my commands. Instead of holding the yoke, my hand flips open the Self-Destruct compartment. I remain perfectly motionless, terrified that the slightest touch will reduce us to smoldering rubble. I can't trust my own hands, so I'm left unsure of how to keep myself from hitting the button that will immediately kill my entire crew. I slowly, deliberately try to pull my hand away, but it disobeys me again.
My hand presses the button.
We explode.
Ubisoft has announced the next entry in its popular Just Dance franchise, and in the process may have set a new modern record for the shortest time between a game announcement and its release. Just Dance Greatest Hits is coming to the Xbox 360 for Kinect and the Wii on June 26. It will cost you $39.99 to boogie down again.
QUICKTAKE: Lionhead Studios promises it "hasn't f---ed up" the Fable franchise with The Journey, a Kinect-exclusive on-rails adventure. In fact, because you move through the world so quickly, it is being called the biggest Fable game ever, featuring the largest game world and soundtrack in the franchise's history. The Kinect controls take some getting used to, but when it works, it does feel like magic.
THE DEMO: I got hands-on (off?) demo with a 15 minute taste of the various gameplay mechanics featured in The Journey, from horseback riding and casting magic to a boss battle.
QUICKTAKE: It's difficult to imagine how much Harmonix could improve upon the Dance Central formula. The sequel vastly improved upon the original by introducing full body tracking for two players versus one. Dance Central 3 manages to one-up its predecessor by giving gamers the ability to create their own moves and free style without mirroring a set routine.
THE DEMO: I got paired with Dance Central 3's producer, Naoko Takomoto, in a Crew Throwdown battle against another journalist and a Harmonix choreographer. Crew Throwdown allows teams of four to compete in a series of challenges, including Keep the Beat and Make Your Move--two brand new modes that emphasize dancing freedom over mimicking existing routines.
Harmonix debuted Dance Central 3 at Microsoft's E3 press briefing, with an extended look at a song from Usher and a mini-concert staged in the middle of the conference. A separate press announcement announced a partial track list and a few dances you can look forward to grooving with.
Earlier, Microsoft had announced that The Pirates of the Caribbean director Gore Verbinski was working on a new game for Microsoft. Today, the company announced what that game is--and it's got us all puzzled.
Wreckateer was shown off at Microsoft's E3 press briefing today, along with a narrowed release window. The game with more than a passing resemblance to Angry Birds is set for this summer.
The gameplay demonstration showed a variety of weapon types being flung at a castle to topple it. These were all Kinect-commanded, including flinging a slingshot, splitting the shot into four pieces, and one special flying shot controlled by raising the player's arms.
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