Left 4 Dead 2 Banned from sale in Australia

Left 4 Dead 2's plans to go adventuring down under have come to a quick halt thanks to a ruling by the Australian Classification Board, the company in charge of giving games their official rating for the country. Their website shows that the game has received the rating RC (refused classification), however initial information did not reveal why this rating was given. As long as the game keeps this rating, it will be illegal to sell or rent the game in Australia. The original Left 4 Dead game was given the maximum rating of MA 15+.

A statement was made by the Classification Board to clarify the reason for the ban.

Quote: "the game contains realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence which is inflicted upon 'the Infected' who are living humans infected with a rabies-like virus that causes them to act violently. However, it is the use of the 'melee' weapons such as the crowbar, axe, chainsaw and Samurai sword which inflict the most damage. These close in attacks cause copious amounts of blood spray and splatter, decapitations and limb dismemberment as well as locational damage where contact is made to the enemy which may reveal skeletal bits and gore."

This is the fourth game to be banned in Australia so far this year, alongside Sexy Poker, Risen, and Necrovision, however two of these titles have been allowed for sale after modifications were submitted.

The ban has been confirmed by An EA spokesperson, however they did not comment on what actions the company will take to get the rating changed.

Quote: "We're still working through the submission process with the Classification Board, we want to explore all opportunities before we can make a comment."

Posted in Gaming by Locke on September 18th 2009 at 9:04am 1 Comment

Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers Coming This Winter

We have known for a while that Square Enix has planned for Final Fantasy: The Crystal Bearers to be released in Japan on November 26th, but it is now clear that the North America release of the game will come one month later, on December 26th, 2009. Yes that's right, the day after Christmas. Bummer.

This Final Fantasy game will be exclusive to the Nintendo Wii and has some 2 player co-op areas that might be interesting. I have provided a few pieces of artwork from the official fan kit, available at the FFCC: TCB website, which can be seen by clicking to view the full article.

Quote: A thousand years have passed since the events of the original Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. The destruction of the Yuke Crystal during the Great War had at once brought the victorious Lilty Tribe prosperity, the defeated Yuke Tribe apparent annihilation, and the world a new age of science and reason. In this new era exists a rare breed of powerful beings called "crystal bearers", whose seemingly magical abilities have led them to be feared and scorned by the public. The young mercenary Layle is one such crystal bearer, who has been hired to escort the new passenger airship Alexis, the pinnacle of Lilty technology and a symbol of their current dominance. However, when the Alexis is suddenly besieged by a horde of monsters, Layle comes face to face with an adversary thought to have vanished from the pages of history, on a quest that may threaten the future of the world..

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Posted in Gaming by Locke on September 15th 2009 at 6:27am 1 Comment

Final Fantasy XIII Japanese release date confirmed, Dec 17

Remember, back in April, when I posted about some speculation surrounding the FF13 release date? It started with the FF13 PS3 demo that had just landed, and by finishing the demo you were treated with a screen that said "Coming Winter 2009". Don't remember? It's okay, I didn't either. Also, remember how some of the professional gaming media, 1UP at least, were betting the release date to be either 24th or 31st of December... you know what, why don't I just quote you the relevant part of my original news post.

Quote: According to 1UP, the second half of December, more specifically the two last Thursdays of the year, have been kind to Square Enix in the past, and those crazy Japanese guys are just all about tradition and things like that, right? So, 1UP's quick glance at the calendar seems to confirm that the release date is either 24th or 31st of December. Now, I personally think that those two dates are pretty crazy to release a game on, so I'm going one week back in time and say it's going to be 17th of December. How's that for speculation?

Well, guess who totally called it? Yep, that's me. In the Final Fantasy XIII Premiere Party, held in Japan during last week, they confirmed the Japanese release date to be 17th of December, 2009.

The Premiere Party was a pretty big event, along with the release date announcement they revealed some other tidbits of various things. First and foremost, there will be a PS3 Bundle with the game. Whether it's Japanese only isn't clear at the moment, so I guess more info on that will eventually surface. Secondly, a Japanese beverage company Suntory, is producing a 30,000 unit limited edition Final Fantasy XIII Elixir drink. Details on the drink are a bit vague at the moment, but it probably doesn't have any alcohol in it. And lastly, the game's theme song is performed by Sayuri Sugawara. The track is called Kimi ga Iru Kara and if I remember correctly, it's Uematsu's work. I personally haven't heard of the singer before, but I guess that's on par with every other FF game theme's and their singers.

In the event they also performed Masashi Hamauzu's work from the game's score (I wonder when that is coming out, I kind of want it right now) with an orchestra, had a big food sculpture, and sampled the Elixir drinks. And that is all from the event, I will post a few pictures in the end of the article of the Elixir.

In other FF13 related news, the Square Enix Members Community Manager (I think), confirmed few weeks ago that the English voice over work for the game is done. And I think in an interview, after the Dec 17 was confirmed, someone, perhaps Yoichi Wada or Yoshinori Kitase, said that while they don't have a firm release date for the rest of the world, they are firmly aiming at Spring 2010. I think this was actually known since E3, but it's good to know that they still think it's possible. I have heard doubts from gaming media around the internet, but I think it sounds reasonable. Considering that the voice over work is done, and that the 360 version is 70% done, I think they can make it, no problem.

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Posted in Gaming by Kilu on September 11th 2009 at 10:07am 4 Comments

Kingdom Hearts Palooza!

It's September and that means Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days is closer to come on the Nintendo DS! This game will be released in September 29, 2009.

In the first Kingdom Hearts game, Sora turned his Keyblade onto himself in order to save Kairi, whom gave her heart to him. This lead to the creation of Roxas, with no memory of his past. He joins Organization XIII and slowly discovers the truth of his existence as well as the Organization. He meets and befriends the XIV'th member of the Organization, Xion, who questions herself after one fateful mission and also cannot remember her past. Both Roxas and Xion, who are friends with Axel, form a friendly trio. The story takes place in the 358 days Roxas spent, while Sora was in Castle Oblivion for 2 days (hence Kingdom Hearts: Chain of Memories.)

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Posted in Gaming by Marona on September 05th 2009 at 9:00pm 5 Comments

New House MD Game in Production

Yes, House is getting his own video game, coming to the Nintendo DS, Nintendo Wii and PC. This news was actually announced back in June, however it has just come to my attention, and with Season 6 starting up in just a few short weeks, I thought it was worth a post!

The game will consist of five different, rare and complex cases to solve, which will involve becoming part of the diagnostic team alongside Thirteen, Taub and House himself. The cases are based on complex illnesses and are solved using actual medical procedures, questioning patients, breaking into houses, all the medical practices that we know and love from the show.

Legacy Interactive took on the challenge of developing this game, and fans are going to have high expectations, hopefully they are up to the task. Although the actual cast will not be voicing for their characters, sound-alikes will be used and the developers promise they will be top notch. The Nintendo DS and PC releases are expected to be ready for this holiday season, as where the Nintendo Wii version may have to wait up to a year longer.

Although not mentioned, I do hope Wilson is also part of the game, as he is one of my favourites from the show! I will be keeping my eye out for this release during the upcoming season.

Posted in Gaming by Locke on September 03rd 2009 at 9:55am 2 Comments

Free Internet Channel on Nintendo Wii and Free NES Virtual Console Game

For this news post, the credit goes to one of our lurkers in our chatroom: Sir-Sabin

Following after September 01, 2009, the Internet Channel download on the Nintendo Wii can be downloaded for free. That's right. F-R-E-E. 0 Wii Points. So for those who wanna grab the channel to browse the internet on their Nintendo Wii or just for the heck of it, go grab it now!

But wait! I already spent my 500 Wii Points on the Internet Channel. No problem. Nintendo Wii will offer you an opportunity to download one free NES game if you already spent your Wii Points on the Internet Channel.

Also, the Internet Channel has been updated to Flash Lite 3.1 (similar to Flash 8).

Well this update to me seems like a win-win situation for all, unless someone has something against NES games or just doesn't like them at all.

Posted in Gaming by Marona on September 01st 2009 at 10:57pm 3 Comments

Dissidia: Final Fantasy has been released!

If you didn't grab Dissidia: Final Fantasy, then go out to your local game store and buy it, exclusively for the PSP!

Dissidia: Final Fantasy is the story of two sides: The heroes who fight for Cosmos, the Goddess of Harmony and Chaos, the God of Discord. An endless battle is continued between them and when the destroyers broke the balance, the world is consumed by Chaos. The only hope for the world is for the 10 warriors summoned by Cosmos.

Sorry but it's not turned-based like the old classic Final Fantasy games. It's more of a fighting game. In order to defeat your enemy you must unleash two attacks. The first type of attack is Bravery and when the player attacks the opponent, the player gains Bravery points. The second attack is HP (Health Point) attack, which damages the opponent. The more Bravery points you have, the more damage you do. If your opponent's HP reaches 0, you win!

There is also 'EX Mode', where the character can transform and have stronger attacks and higher speed. They can also use a powerful special move as well. In order to go into 'EX Mode', the characters collect EX Cores in order to boost the EX Guage. Once it's full, you can go into 'EX Mode'.

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Posted in Gaming by Marona on August 29th 2009 at 10:07pm 4 Comments

Left 4 Dead 2 Playable at Penny Arcade Expo

Who doesn't love shooting zombies as they try to eat your brains? I recently completed playing the original Left 4 Dead game, and news of an upcoming sequel caught my eye. Our team escaped four separate situations in the first game, what could be next?!

More weapons, more items, and more monsters of course! Valve has been hard at work getting ready to have the third campaign, "Dark Carnival" ready to be played at the Valve and Microsoft booths during the Penny Arcade Expo next weekend. The game will be available as both PC and Xbox 360 versions. Who wouldn't want to go slaughter some maniac clown zombies? Just don't forget the cotton candy!

Left 4 Dead 2 will have five available campaigns, as well as new weapons, boss types, and campaign-specific monsters. The AI will also change around some of the layout of the level each time you play, to add some replay points to the score. Some of the new weapons displayed so far include an assault rifle, charger and for those who love melee slaughter, the axe. You can check out a few preview videos of these new weapons over at 1UP's site.

I love the random messages written on the walls of each safe room, as well as the comic sound bytes from the main characters. Hopefully the second game will not be a let down.

Posted in Gaming by Locke on August 28th 2009 at 9:41am 2 Comments

Xbox 360 Elite price drop official, 60Gb Pro SKU phased out

Again the rumor mill got a hold of this story well before the official announcement was ready. So, in case you haven't heard of this yet, and you probably have unless you live in a box, the Elite SKU of Xbox 360 is getting a $100 price drop, to $299. In addition to this, the old 60GB Pro SKU that was previously at $299 is being dropped to $249, while supplies last, meaning that they are not going to make more Pro SKU's and are completely phasing it out. In effect, this means that you can now get 120GB hard disk space for the same price you previously got only 60GB. And a black Xbox 360. Other differences between the Pro and Elite are minor really.

Regardless of this price drop, the 360 hard disk is still ridiculously pricy, and I wouldn't be surprised if at some point they'd lower the price of the 120GB one and bring out something bigger to take its place, especially with all the Games on Demand stuff, the possibility to install games to disk and everything else really. Disk space is so cheap these days that it would be a surprise if they didn't do something about it soon.

Officially these prices come into effect 28th of August, but people have been seeing these new boxes in stores already. Did I say new boxes? Oh yes, I did. Both remaining SKU's, Arcade and Elite, will have new packaging as well.

Here's a few images for you two look at. Clickety click on the thumbs for a bigger picture.

Posted in Gaming by Kilu on August 27th 2009 at 10:13am 1 Comment

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm Features

If the Wrath of the Lich King wasn't enough for you...

World of Warcraft: Cataclysm is expecting it's release in 2010, but no exact release date is available at this time. There will be a lot of new things added in this expansion and changes made. Some of them will make you even gasp!

Let's cut to the chase on what's going to be new in the next expansion...
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Posted in Gaming by Marona on August 25th 2009 at 8:56pm 0 Comments