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EA Confirms New Dragon Age, Mass Effect in 2011, Dates Numerous Titles
by Eric Jones | 02/09/10 | 1:13 PM PST

Electronic Arts held their Q3 earnings call yesterday, and pretty much felt it necessary to announce everything coming from the company over the next year, and beyond. Here's the choice details.

- EA offically confirmed a new Dragon Age title, set for release in early 2011. It'll be released for consoles, PC, and handhelds. A developer was not announced, but Bioware is likely behind it.

- EA also officially confirmed something "Far reaching" for the Mass Effect franchise, coming in early 2011. Could it be a large DLC? Or maybe even Mass Effect 3?

- EA confirmed 2011 releases for Dead Space 2, as well as a game we haven't heard about in some time: the unnamed shooter EA is working on alongside Gears of War developer Epic Games.

- For this year, EA confirmed summer releases for the reboot of Medal of Honor, as well as Holiday 2010 releases of Crysis 2, EA Sports MMA, and the new NBA Jam for Wii. Also coming will be two new EA Sports Active games (not just for Wii, so expect some "Arc" and Natal love), a console port of The Sims 3, a new Need for Speed (by Criterion), and a new Harry Potter game.

- Oh yeah, and FIFA, NBA Live, NHL, and Madden sequels are all in the works. Whew!

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It May Be The End for Nippon Ichi Software
by Cory Dickson | 02/09/10 | 12:21 PM PST



Nippon Ichi Software may not be with us much longer. This past Friday, the company released its financial earnings for 2009. And it is safe to say that things have taken a turn for the worse. The company was down in profit 97.5 percent for the first nine months. On Friday, the company's price was ¥36,200 (JASDAQ), but then the stock plummeted that morning to ¥7,000 (US$78) before it was frozen.

2009 was a rough year (to say the least) on Nippon Ichi. Hopefully the company can bounce back this year; I would hate to see Prinny & the rest of the Disgaea crew go.

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HDTV vs. SNES
by Lucas DeWoody | 02/09/10 | 5:56 AM PST

I lost my HDTV virginity in 2006. It came at a time when I was starting the process of breaking ties with Nintendo console exclusivity, something I should have done far sooner. Considering the fact that I was a recovering Nintendo fanboy coming off the slow and agonizing death of GameCube in 2005, and the bone dry Nintendo console game drought in 2006, I was more than happy to "Jump In" with the Xbox 360 and spend the next year enjoying the awesomeness of Perfect Dark Zero, Kameo, Oblivion, and Gears of War in glorious HD. Immediately upon nabbing my 360, I swooped out the door and picked up a brand new 27" Samsung starter HDTV. Joyous with anticipation of the entrancing moment of liquid crystal ecstasy I was about to immerse myself in; I immediately placed that beautiful display in the middle of my entertainment shelf and hooked up all of my consoles to it. I spent the next week playing my new purchase like a mad man. At the end of the next week I decided it was time to mix things up and give the 360 a little break. I wanted to fire up the SNES (my favorite console of all time) and see how she looked on my new 720p beauty. Hoo boy, was I was in for a rotten surprise.

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Kombo's Game a Day Giveaway! Win a New Game EVERYDAY in February!
by Ken Cauley | 02/08/10 | 11:00 PM PST



CLICK THE ABOVE IMAGE FOR THE OFFICIAL CONTEST PAGE

WINNERS:

February 2: John Riemer, Virgina

February 3: Jonathan Dowell, Pennsylvania

February 4: Chris Ryan, Florida

February 5: Chris Foster, Michigan

February 6: Adam Cuevas, Florida

February 7: Josh Minar, Kentucky

February 8: Bradley Mosbacher, Missouri

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Kombo Breaker #60: Garth Chateau Talks Addiction and PopCap Games
by Joey Davidson | 02/08/10 | 8:08 PM PST



Number 60 is all up ons us! This week's episode of Kombo Breaker features a previous guest on talking about the recent adventures of PopCap Games.

From Facebook domination to future plans for the Wii, Garth Chateau of PopCap came on to tell us everything he could. Not only that, but Garth also takes time to rattle of a few absolutely absurd stats about Bejeweled Blitz. You'll have to tune in to find out more.

Make sure you do the usual and email us with questions and comments at kombobreaker@kombo.com. Be sure to subscribe on iTunes and leave us a review!

Download | Subscribe on iTunes | Episode 60 | 45m

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Kombo Breaker Special Edition - BioShock 2 Developer Conference
by Joey Davidson | 02/08/10 | 7:59 PM PST



Our own Matt Green got word from up on high of a little conference call with the developers of BioShock 2. He dialed in, of course.

But he went above and beyond the call of duty and recorded over an hour of tasty BioShock 2 tidbits. Story decisions, character investigation, game elements and more are all discussed within.

So, BioShock fans, strap in and enjoy.

The regular, weekly episode of Kombo Breaker will be up soon after this one.

Download | Subscribe on iTunes | 1h 15m

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Electronic Gaming Monthly Now Accepting Subscriptions
by David Oxford | 02/08/10 | 5:02 PM PST

Attention, Electronic Gaming Monthly faithful: your ship has just come in.

BigDownload reveals that the new version of the magazine, revived by original founder Steve Harris, is now taking subscribers. In addition to 6- and 12-month subscriptions to the print magazine, subscribers will also get "premium" weekly access to EGM[I]: The Digital Magazine.

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Console Wars "A Bit Silly," Says 2K Marin
by David Oxford | 02/08/10 | 12:03 PM PST

During an interview with 2K Marin's BioShock 2 Creative Director Jordan Thomas, Destructoid brought up the issue of "fanboyism" and the "console wars," which they say had PlayStation 3 owners calling BioShock rubbish-- that is, until it appeared on their chosen platform. They went on to ask Thomas of what he thought of the ongoing war of attrition.

"There's a cognitive effect known as 'confirmation bias' which leads people to latch onto conclusions that support their preferences and ignore data which doesn't," he explained. "This leads to wild, unreasoning loyalty to a chosen platform, sports team, or brand of soda."

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Lego Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Scheduled for Autumn 2010
by Jeff Grubb | 02/08/10 | 10:45 AM PST

Traveler's Tales, Lucasarts, and Lego hit it big with Lego Star Wars, so it is no surprise that they would go back to the well anyway they could find. With the Cartoon Network's popular The Clone Wars, TT may have found a source of material that they could not resist.

With a release date of Autumn 2010 for the PS3, Xbox 360, Wii, PSP, and DS it is likely that this game will try to hit at the same time as the next season of the show starts.

TT isn't planning on simply reskinning the last Lego Star Wars. Instead, they have some improvements in store.

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Nomura Starting Work on Kingdom Hearts III, Reveals Sora Was...A Furry?
by Eric Jones | 02/08/10 | 10:40 AM PST

With Final Fantasy XIII coming close to its North American release date, we're hearing a lot more from Tetsuya Nomura, the game's character designer and practical figurehead of Square Enix. Of course, with the latest Final Fantasy in the books, the question now becomes when we'll see a proper sequel to one of Nomura's other best-known franchises, Kingdom Hearts.

When asked about a possible Kingdom Hearts III in an interview with Famitsu, Nomura said "Regarding III, fans and partners alike are pressing us for it, so we'll work to realize it as soon as possible." Which basically means that it's coming. Begin the wars over what platform it should be on now!

Oh yeah, and another small tidbit. Nomura also confirmed that main character Sora looked far different than he initially did when the original Kingdom Hearts released. Fans are well of aware of the initial Key-Chainsaw weapon, but it turns out Sora also had beat ears and a tail. Yes, he was a furry. You won't look at him the same ever again, will you?

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Now Shipping - 2/8/10 - BioShock, Data East, Inferno, Star Ocean, Monkey Ball
by David Oxford | 02/08/10 | 9:38 AM PST

Monday, February 8th:

• Family Party: 30 Great Games Winter Fun (Wii)

Tuesday, February 9th:

• BioShock 2 (360, PS3)
• Dante's Inferno (360, PS3, PSP)
• Data East Arcade Classics (Wii)
• Scene It? Twilight (DS)
• Shiren the Wanderer (Wii)
• Star Ocean: The Last Hope International (PS3)
• Super Monkey Ball Step & Roll (Wii)

Friday, February 12th:

• World of Outlaws: Sprint Cars (360)

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Cut the Crap: Quantum Theory is Important
by Kyle Wattenmaker | 02/08/10 | 5:19 AM PST

Everyone knows that Japanese game developers are on their back foot. Kojima himself has expressed concern for both the market and the state of development in Japan. Bloggers across the Internet bash the Japanese for ignoring the evolution of the industry. The Japanese have earned this scorn. Lost Planet has enemies with giant glowing red weak spots. JRPGs have had the same story with different window dressings for more than twenty years.

Now we have a game called Quantum Theory. Quantum Theory is clearly inspired by Gears of War, an entirely Western styled game. What does the collective Internet do? Bash it into oblivion. This is garbage. If the game is bad, just say so. Do not submit to hypocrisy and attack a Japanese game that is finally acknowledging Western tenets when we have been aching for years for this exact thing to happen.

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Jaded Gamer #7: Music Games Losing the Rhythm?
by Joey Esposito | 02/05/10 | 5:17 AM PST

Oh, happy day! A couple of weeks ago, it was reported that the sales of games in the music genre are down a whopping 46%, or $1.06 billion dollars. Better yet, the over-stayed-its-welcome Guitar Hero franchise didn't even hit one million units sold with its 5th entry in 2009, compared to 3.4 million of World Tour that came before it.

Wait, what?

Why am I excited about something like this? Excited is hardly the term; surely folks in the industry will ultimately take the heat for the "failure" of such sales, and no one wants to see anyone lose their jobs. However, I think from a gaming perspective, it's important to take a minute to think about what this all means.

I'm not sure anyone will deny that one of the biggest innovations in console gaming in the last ten years is the incorporation of motion control and the advent of the term "casual gaming" into the every day gaming lexicon, either as a stigma or a blessing. However, before the Wii came along, the casual gaming scene was already preparing to explode with the success of the original Guitar Hero. Nintendo's success with the Wii gave casual gaming the huge push it needed to start a movement. Thanks to those two things, we now have terms like "shovelware."

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Ant or Dec: Who Cares? Nintendo Sink to New Lows
by Joel Windels | 02/04/10 | 5:53 AM PST

I imagine that most people in the US don't know who Ant and Dec (also known as PJ and Duncan) are. I envy them. These two Geordie chancers have graced British television for the last ten or fifteen years, beginning their careers in the awful kids show "Byker Grove." After a short career in the world of pop, the UK "Vanilla Ice squared" got work presenting Saturday morning TV shows, soon appearing all over the place.

Over the years they have moved to primetime UK television, with huge lucrative contracts to present the endless stream of brainless pissy sewage that floods into the public's living rooms each week. They have never seen to be apart from each other, they reportedly live together and are generally ubiquitous. The pair are an easy target for comedians and panel shows, with Bo Selecta, Love Actually and Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle among the most famous to ridicule the docile bell-ends. They are however, seen by mums and idiots as sweet gents and cheeky chappies, and thusly Nintendo smelt a golden opportunity to cash in on them.

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Akira Yamaoka Joins Up With Grasshopper Manufacture
by Eric Jones | 02/03/10 | 11:24 PM PST

Akira Yamaoka, the man behind the atmospheric, haunting music heard throughout the Silent Hill series, turned a lot of heads when he announced he would be leaving Konami. However, perhaps the greatest discussion came not from his leaving, but where he could end up next.

Today, that answer came, as Famitsu has confirmed in an interview that Yamaoka will be joining up with Goichi "Suda 51" Suda's Grasshopper Manufacture, the company best-known for Killer 7 and No More Heroes. Suda's stylistic, over-the-top antics and Yamaoka's atmospheric subtleties may not make for the best marriage on the outside, but it may very well be crazy enough to work.

As far as Yamaoka's first game, Suda confirmed in the interview that the composer has been put right to work on the long, long, LONG in development collaboration between Suda and Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, which will be published by EA here in the States. A collaboration between these three Japanese gaming geniuses could be a true horror, or it could be a level of brilliance that our minds may not be able to comprehend. Which will it be? We'll likely have a long wait to find out.