Flower
This year had a number of terrific downloadable games (this list is a testament to that), however no game — retail or digital — connected with me like Flower. Jenova Chen’s flOw was an interesting experiment, but Flower is an actual game. In fact, Flower is one of the few experiences I can think of that show the true potential of games as a unique storytelling medium. No other non-interactive art form will ever be able to replicate what thatgamecompany has managed to create.

Continue reading Best of the Rest: Andrew’s Picks of 2009

Best of the Rest: Andrew’s Picks of 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 02 Jan 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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For those of you wishing to recreate the ear-biting banality that is a boxing match between Mike Tyson (please don’t hurt us!) and Evander Holyfield (the poor guy!), EA Sports is enabling just such a possibility with this week’s DLC for Fight Night Round 4. Titled “Rivalries,” it’ll be adding three new fighters as well as some new game modes.

The DLC’s trailer (found after the break) details all the new additions, as well as giving us our first in-action look at the new fighters. We’ll be re-imagining Holyfield’s fateful fight with Tyson getting pummeled into the ground when the DLC arrives on December 3 – call it virtual retribution.

Continue reading Fight Night Round 4 gets ‘Rivalries’ DLC this week, you get a new trailer right now

Fight Night Round 4 gets ‘Rivalries’ DLC this week, you get a new trailer right now originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 29 Nov 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Pugilists looking to beef up their stable of brawlers in Fight Night Round 4 will be able to do just that when EA offers up three new fighters in a DLC pack for 360 and PS3 on December 3. For the price of 160 ($2) and $1.99, respectively, you’ll be able to add boxing greats Evander Holyfield, Sonny Liston and Bernard Hopkins to your virtual lineup of potential pulverizers. In addition to the new DLC, EA will also bring in the cut man to fix a few issues fighters are having with the game — you can find the full list of fixes after the break — and will add Old School Rules and Ring Rivalry mode. Here’s the fight card:

Full bundle (Xbox 360/PS3) – 800 ($10) / $9.99

• Evander Holyfield, Sonny Liston and Bernard Hopkins
• Ring Rivalry game mode (allows players to choose from over 20 different match options recreating boxing’s most famous matchups)
• Old School Rules game mode (simulates the common rules of boxing prior to the establishment of the Marquis of Queensbury Rules)

Three boxers (Holyfield, Liston and Hopkins) — 160 ($2) / $1.99

Old School Rules mode — 320 ($4) / $3.99

Ring Rivalry mode — 160 ($2) / $1.99

Continue reading Fight Night: Round 4 gets new fighters, modes, major update Dec. 3

Fight Night: Round 4 gets new fighters, modes, major update Dec. 3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 24 Nov 2009 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Three new fighters will be offered in the latest round of downloadable content to be offered for Fight Night Round 4, Electronic Arts announced on Monday. Bernard Hopkins, Sonny Liston and Evander Holyfield will join the game.

Furthermore, the game’s suggested retail price drops another $10, to $39.99, just in time for the holiday retail season.

The DLC pack will release “early December,” nothing more specific, and will be $9.99 on PlayStation Network, 800 points over Xbox Live.

New Fight Night Round 4 DLC and Price Cut Announced [IGN via VG247]

Electronic Arts has announced that it’s first downloadable boxer pack will be made available for Fight Night Round 4 in late August for $9.99 (800 MS Points). The pack will feature Oscar De La Hoya, Vitali Klitschko, Wladimir Klitschko, and alternate versions of George Foreman and James Toney. 

Additionally, as previously reported, a free game update will be made available at the end of August. The update will include additional gloves, trunks, and shorts. But possibly more importantly, the addition of a "face button" control scheme will be added as well.

An updated demo will be made available in early September that supports the new button controls. Players can take Mike Tyson and Muhammad Ali for 12 rounds to get a feel for the added controls, which may sway their purchase decisions. 

I’ve been casually playing Fight Night Round 4 since its release, and while I’ve been doing fine with the analog stick controls, I look forward to the simplified face button scheme. Why? Because I like to mash buttons and piss people off on Xbox LIVE. That’s why.

It should come as no surprise that Harry Potter has become the UK’s top selling game this past week. Despite being a poorly written children’s book, and later a rather boring movie, JK Rowling’s tale of a bespectacled little magic sh*thead has become an icon among fully-grown adults and the original target audience alike, for reasons that I’ll never comprehend. Ah well.

Outside of Harry Potter’s debut, there really isn’t anything else. Transformers is still there, as is Wii Fit, Fight Night, World at War. You know the drill by now. Hit the jump to read the latest UK Charts.

1. Harry Potter & The Half Blood Prince
2. Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen
3. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10
4. Wii Fit
5. Fight Night Round 4
6. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood
7. The Sims 3
8. Virtua Tennis 2009
9. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare
10. EA Sports Active
11. Mario Kart Wii
12. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
13. Prototype
14. Fifa 09
15. Call of Duty: World at War
16. UFC 2009: Undisputed
17. Grand Slam Tennis
18. Wii Play
19. Pokémon Platinum
20. Guitar Hero: World Tour

EA beats Acitivision’s DJ Hero to the punch, launching its own DJ game as part of Club Fight Night, the newly-opened addition to the EA Sports Complex in PlayStation Home.

While the Club DJ mini-game looks rather entertaining, the real action is in the main ring, where two giant, player-controlled robots rock and sock each other senseless. One shall stand, and one shall fall, with the winner treated to exclusive virtual items to help punctuate their accomplishments.

Once you’re done beat other players senseless, head to the DJ booth for the Club DJ mini-game. A simple rhythm game, hitting the buttons to the beat causes your avatar to get his or her groove on, with the club lights pulsing and throbbing to your heavy beats. It may not be DJ Hero, but it’s free, which counts for something.

As if all of this weren’t enough, EA also plans on opening the EA Sports Complex Pro Shop on July 30th, where customization is just a little bit of money away.

The Club Fight Night addition further solidifies the EA Sports Complex’s position as the most fully realized location in PlayStation Home. Log on and check it out for yourselves!

Tiger Woods Pro Tour 10 and Fight Night Round 4 dominated UK sales charts for the second week in a row (albeit in a different order), taking first and second place, respectively. In total, Electronic Arts software accounted for four of the top 10 titles for the week ending July 11, according to Chart Track.

Top 10 chart mainstay Wii Fit fell to number six, while Ubisoft’s Western-themed Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood climbed ahead to number five. Activision Blizzard also scored big with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (#3), Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (#9) and Prototype (#10) in the platform-combined top 10 list. With Transformers sneaking into the third spot, we’re content to find out that, for all the cred British people get for being classy, they still make as many terrible decisions as North Americans. Cool, innit?

Continue reading Tiger Woods and Fight Night top UK charts again

Tiger Woods and Fight Night top UK charts again originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 14 Jul 2009 01:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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You clamored for it, and EA listened. We previously heard that EA was considering adding to Fight Night Round 4 the face button punching controls that were present in Fight Night Round 3, and now that has been confirmed through a press release that was sent out earlier today (check it out after the jump). It details the first two pieces of downloadable content for the well-received boxing game, both of which will be released at the low, low price of free.

The first DLC pack is set to come out in early August. It will add a new training venue, a bunch of new equipment, and additional gameplay sliders. (According to this Inside EA Sports Q&A with Producer Mike Mahar, you’ll be able to mess with the Counter Punch Window, Boxer Stamina, and Punch Accuracy; new clothing will comprise All American Gloves, All American Shoes, and Jordan Brand Trunks). The content will be available for PS3 and 360 users, but in addition to it, 360 gamers alone will get an “alternate version” of Sugar Ray Leonard on Pizza Hut’s dime. (I guess that’s why he was delivering pizzas at E3.)

In early September, the second batch of content — which sounds like a patch rather than DLC per se — will bring back FNR3’s face button controls for regular punches as well as hooks, uppercuts, and even haymakers. It does sound like it’s being done somewhat begrudgingly: Senior Producer Dean Richards says in the press release, “We strongly believe that the refined Total Punch Control is the most intuitive way to throw punches in Fight Night Round 4, but we also want fans of the franchise to have an option.”

Keep your eyes peeled for our video review of Fight Night Round 4, which will hit this week.

EA REVEALS FIRST DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT PLANS FOR FIGHT NIGHT ROUND 4

Free New Game Content Coming by Early August; Button Controls Included In Additional Summer Update

July 7, 2009 – Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) announced today its initial Downloadable Content (DLC) plan for Fight Night Round 4. Recently named the Game Critic Awards “Best Sports Game of E3 2009”, Fight Night Round 4 has been winning over reviewers since its release on June 23rd.

The first DLC pack, which will be available for free to both Xbox 360® and PlayStation®3 users by early August, will include a new training gym, new gameplay sliders, as well as a host of new equipment that can be used for outfitting boxers. Xbox 360 users will also receive an exclusive alternate version of Sugar Ray Leonard in their first DLC pack, courtesy of Pizza Hut.

EA SPORTS™ will also be releasing a free downloadable game update by early September that will allow gamers to use face buttons on the Xbox 360 and PS3 game controllers to throw punches, hooks, uppercuts and haymakers.

“The depth and variety of new content we have planned this summer is going to make one of the most critically acclaimed games on the market even better,” said senior producer, Dean Richards. “Among the new content in development, our new button control scheme will give fans a choice for how they want to throw punches in the game. We strongly believe that the refined Total Punch Control is the most intuitive way to throw punches in Fight Night Round 4, but we also want fans of the franchise to have an option.”

Fight Night Round 4 is currently available for the PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360® video game system from Microsoft. This game has been rated T for Teen by the ESRB, and 16+ by PEGI. For more information, log onto http://fightnight.easports.com.

Following calls from fans critical of Fight Night Round 4‘s current control options, EA is bringing a free alternative — and some other new content before that.

EA Sports announced two upcoming free releases of downloadable content for Fight Night Round 4 today. The first, slated for early August, will add a new gym, “new gameplay sliders” and new equipment plus an alternate version of Sugar Ray Leonard exclusive to the Xbox 360 version.

An early September release may be even more well-received as it will offer face-button control for all of Fight Night’s punched. That update, for PS3 and Xbox 360 will be free.

The announcements follow the June 23 release of Fight Night Round 4, which won praise for its graphics and gameplay but took knocks — see comments here — for forcing players to only use the tilts and arcs of a controllers’ right stick to throw punches and not offer a button-press option, as had been made available for Fight Night Round 3. (A DLC option was recently rumored.)

“We strongly believe that the refined Total Punch Control is the most intuitive way to throw punches in Fight Night Round 4,” the game’s senior producer, Dean Richards, said in a press release, “But we also want fans of the franchise to have an option.”

EA sent Kotaku further information about the “new gameplay sliders” being offered in August. Those sliders will allow gamers to “tun and tweak the following attributes: Counter Punch Window, Boxer Stamina, Punch Accuracy.”

Looks like EA is addressing much of the feedback from gamers. And promptly.