Game Over Online

Hardware: Shipbreakers – Episode 2: The Baserunner

Blackbird Interactive, the development team made up of the original creators of Homeworld and Homeworld 2, is introducing the Baserunner in a new trailer for Hardware: Shipbreakers. The history of these massive armored titans marks the beginning of information to come on this online sci-fi real-time strategy game.

Batman: Arkham Origins – Official Trailer

Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and DC Entertainment today confirmed that Deathstroke will be a fully playable character in the challenge mode for Batman: Arkham Origins. Fans who pre-order the game for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 or PC will receive exclusive early access to the Deathstroke pack.

Deathstroke will come complete with his own unique weapons and special moves, and will be playable in all challenge maps in the game, as well as two additional challenge maps that will be included with the pack. The pack will also contain two alternate Deathstroke character skins.

Batman: Arkham Origins will be available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii U and PC on October 25th.

CastleStorm Coming May 29th to XBLA

It’s Knights vs. Vikings in CastleStorm, where medieval warfare meets 2D physics-based destruction. Zen Studios today announced that CastleStorm will release on Xbox Live Arcade on May 29th for 800 Microsoft Points.

Nintendo Seals Upcoming Sonic the Hedgehog Games

The next title in Sega’s Sonic the Hedgehog franchise will be exclusive to the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. Nintendo Global President Satoru Iwata announced the details of a new partnership with Sega during a new Nintendo Direct video announcement today. Sonic Lost World is a new action platforming game, and more information about it will be announced before E3 2013 begins on June 11th.

The Nintendo Direct also announced Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games for Wii U, and revealed that additional Sega Game Gear games would be coming to the Virtual Console service for Nintendo 3DS. Outside of Sega news, Nintendo announced that select Wii U games featured at E3 2013 will soon be playable at participating Best Buy stores, the launch date for New Super Luigi U, new Pikmin 3 game details and additional information about a variety of previously announced Wii U and Nintendo 3DS games.

Wii U News

• Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games – The game includes a variety of events from the Winter Games, including curling, skiing, figure skating pairs and snowboard slopestyle – which will make its Olympic debut in Sochi, Russia. Different events might use the Wii Remote Plus controller, Wii U GamePad controller or both. In addition to realistic events, the game also includes those set in the worlds of Sonic and Mario that let players perform moves not possible in real life. Launch details and timing will be announced at a later date.
• Experience Games from Nintendo’s E3 Booth at Best Buy – Exclusively at participating Best Buy locations in the United States and Canada, consumers will be able to play some of the unreleased Wii U games featured at E3 while the event is occurring in Los Angeles. Details about locations and which games will be featured will be revealed in the coming weeks.
• New Super Luigi U – The Year of Luigi-themed downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. U offers players 82 updated courses. But it also includes a new playable character in multiplayer mode: Nabbit, who steals items from Toad Houses. Nabbit can’t power up, but also won’t take damage when he touches enemies. New Super Luigi U will be released as downloadable content for New Super Mario Bros. U in the Nintendo eShop on June 20th for $19.99. But in honour of the Year of Luigi, Nintendo is also offering a standalone packaged version of New Super Luigi U that doesn’t require New Super Mario Bros. U on August 25th for $29.99.
• The Wonderful 101 – The mass-action adventure from Platinum Games launches September 15th. Additional details will be announced after E3.
• Pikmin 3 – New playable characters Alph, Brittany and Charlie recruit the Pikmin creatures to help them gather fruit so that they can return with the seeds to save their home, Planet Koppai. Players can divide activities among the different characters, and explore separate areas in the same map with different groups of Pikmin. Using the GamePad (known as the KopPad in the game), players can view the overall map and grasp what each character and Pikmin are up to. Players also can choose their preferred control option: GamePad in conjunction with the TV, Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk combo or GamePad only in off-TV mode. Players can also use the Wii Remote Plus and Nunchuk with the GamePad as a second-screen monitor. Pikmin 3 launches August 4th.
• Game & Wario – The game launches in stores and in the Nintendo eShop June 23rd for $39.99, and includes a number of games from WarioWare, Inc., that use the GamePad in different ways. Newly revealed games include: Island, which lets two to five people launch little creatures called Fronks onto islands in the sea to score points; Patchwork, a puzzle game that tests players’ pattern-recognition skills; and Kung-Fu, which challenges players to help Young Cricket navigate a course safely using the forward-looking view on the TV and the top-down view on the GamePad.
• Resident Evil Revelations – Capcom’s horror-survival game is launching in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on May 21st. The game originally released for Nintendo 3DS, and the Wii U version offers players updated HD graphics, GamePad controls and new game content. Players can use the GamePad to view the map and change items using the touch screen without pausing their progress. Or they can play the full game on the GamePad in off-TV mode, or play with the Wii U Pro Controller. The game is Miiverse-compatible, and a demo version is currently available in the Nintendo eShop.

Nintendo 3DS News

• Sega Game Gear – Games from the classic hand-held system are headed to the Virtual Console service. These include:
  • Columns
  • Crystal Warriors
  • Defenders of Oasis
  • Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
  • G-LOC: Air Battles
  • Shining Force II: The Sword of Hajya
  • Sonic Blast
  • Sonic Drift 2
  • Sonic Labyrinth
  • Sonic the Hedgehog
  • Sonic the Hedgehog 2
  • Tails Adventure
  • Vampire: Master of Darkness
• Inside the Treehouse with Animal Crossing: New Leaf – Because of the vast amount of content in the upcoming Animal Crossing: New Leaf game, Nintendo’s Treehouse localization team is hosting an ongoing video series to talk about the franchise and many of the fun features of the new game. The videos will be available on Nintendo’s YouTube channel and in the Nintendo eShop on a regular basis leading up to the game’s June 9th launch. Additionally, a new Animal Crossing panel for Puzzle Swap is now available for StreetPass Mii Plaza, and fans also might find a special Animal Crossing-themed message on Swapnote.
• Donkey Kong Country Returns 3D – This game launches in stores and in the Nintendo eShop on May 24th and includes all the fun of the original Wii game, now optimized for portable play. It also includes eight new unlockable levels that are each based on one of the eight worlds from the original game. These levels will challenge players with new elements like platforms that force them to move at a faster pace, large drops of tar falling from the ceiling and giant rotating stone gears that can alter the level itself.
• A Legendary Sale – The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons arrive on the Virtual Console service for Nintendo 3DS on May 30th. Because playing the games together unlocks so much additional content, Nintendo is offering them for $4.99 each for the first three weeks after launch. After this promotion expires, the games will be available for $5.99 each.
• Mario and Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move – The game, which launched May 9th exclusively in the Nintendo eShop, challenges players to place tiles on the bottom screen to guide the Minis to their goal on the top screen. The game includes more than 180 stages, but also dramatically extends the fun of the game by letting players create their own stages and share them with others. Players can opt to try a random user-created level or one created by their friends. They can also select from the most popular levels overall or search the top levels of the week.

Another Nintendo Direct focused on future Wii U content will air around the time of E3 2013.

Sega Announces Exclusive Nintendo Partnership for Sonic

Sega today announced an exclusive partnership with Nintendo for the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise. The new agreement will make Nintendo consoles the number one destination for Sonic gaming over the next three titles with more details of the individual games being revealed in the coming weeks.

Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition Unveiled

EA Sports and Amazon today announced the Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition. Every copy of this limited-edition will come with Madden NFL 25 plus exclusive offers for DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket.

Offers include:

• Fans who are not currently DirecTV subscribers but are able to receive DirecTV service will receive a promo code entitling them to $10 off per month for their first year of service and one year of NFL Sunday Ticket Max at no additional charge.
• Fans who are already DirecTV and NFL Sunday Ticket Max subscribers can access NFL Sunday Ticket on computer and mobile devices using their current DirecTV username and password.
• For fans unable to receive DirecTV service, each Madden NFL 25 Anniversary Edition will include a unique code to access the 2013 regular season (17 weeks) trial of NFL Sunday Ticket on computers, tablets, and mobile devices- including access to DirecTV’s Red Zone Channel.
• Owners of the Anniversary Edition will also receive an exclusive Madden Ultimate Team pack each week of the NFL season, starting week 1 through week 17.

With over $400 in value at an introductory price of $99.99, the Anniversary Edition is available for pre-order in very limited quantities on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, exclusive at Amazon.

Narco Terror Announced

Deep Silver and Rubicon today announced Narco Terror, a twin-stick shooter coming to Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC this summer.

Ex-special ops Rick Quinn is a one-man-army and faces impossible odds. His beloved daughter was kidnapped by drug cartel leader Delgado, to prevent the use of a new tool that could expose the secret narcotics smuggling ring. Quinn is the deadliest weapon around, and will stop at nothing to get his daughter back.

Indonesia and Morocco Enter Brave New World

2K and Firaxis Games today revealed two of the new civilizations which are included as part of Civilization V: Brave New World, the second expansion for Civilization V coming July 9th.

Indonesia, led by the 14th Century Prime Minister of the Majapahit Empire of Indonesia, Gajah Mada, are granted unique bonuses for establishing a seafaring empire, as their first three cities formed on new continents are granted two unique luxury resources via their Spice Islanders ability. Their unique replacement for the swordsman is the Kris Swordsman, which gains a random upgrade after the first round of combat. Finally, their unique building, the Candi replaces the Garden, and awards a faith bonus.

Morocco, and their leader Ahmad al-Mansur, are well equipped to take advantage of the new trading route mechanics in the expansion, as they gain powerful bonuses to gold and culture for every external trade route via their Gateway to Africa ability. Their unique Berber Cavalry unit replaces standard cavalry and gains combat bonuses in home territory and on desert tiles. Also taking advantage of desert terrain is their unique improvement, the Kasbah, which improves desert tiles with added defense, food, production and gold.

Total War: Rome II Pre-Orders Conquer All

Sega today revealed that Total War: Rome II is already the fastest pre-ordered Total War game to date, with over six times the number of gamers ordering the title in its first official week as did for previous title Total War: Shogun 2. The Collector’s Edition has also pre-ordered well, with over half the available copies already sold out.

Pre-ordering Total War: Rome II grants the first DLC, The Greek States Culture Pack, free on the day of release, September 3rd.

Killzone: Mercenary – Blackjack Trailer

Sony Computer Entertainment has released a new trailer for Killzone: Mercenary. The PlayStation Vita exclusive will be available on September 10th.