Saturday, July 14, 2012

iPad Mini coming this October

Early last week, Bloomberg claims that the potential “iPad Mini” might hit the market late this year with specific October release. In relation, The Wall Street Journal added that Apple’s component suppliers are raging for production of the iPad mini to start in September. If you’ll remember, Steve Jobs don’t have plans for a 7-inch iPad, however, the time for a smaller iPad might be on-track as competitors such as Amazon with its Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus 7 have been getting the right attention with its less expensive listing of $199 price tag. The iPad mini will be keeping the iPad on-top of the tablet market as the device-trend moves to much smaller 7-inch game.

Accordingly, Bloomberg known sources told that the iPad mini will “have the same number of pixels as those in the iPad before it was upgraded to the so-called Retina Display earlier this year”, giving the device a resolution of 1024×768 pixels. At these screen resolution, the developers will limit fragmentation for apps in different iDevices such the iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
The news are coming out from Bloomberg and WSJ which seemed on a clear track for Apple-related rumors, let’s just wait for further developments as for sure there will be lots of leaks coming our way.

Original Source

Friday, July 13, 2012

Feature: Resident Evil 6 Preview





Everyone was surprised when Capcom suddenly announced the next chapter in the Resident Evil series, earlier this year. Even more since not only was it being released this year, but a Resident Evil 6 demo was also coming out a few months in advance, exclusively on the Xbox 360.

The only trick is that it requires the purchase of Capcom’s recent blockbuster Dragon’s Dogma to try the Resident Evil 6 demo. But will the demo leave players eager to play more, or as cheerful as the zombies that Resident Evil is so well known for?

The demo consists of one short section for each of the three main character duos. This is slightly reminiscent of the earlier Resident Evil video-games, where the player would have a somewhat different experience, based on the character picked. This time though, each campaign feels completely unique both in how it’s presented and played.

Playing as Leon or his guilt ridden partner Helena Harper is perhaps the closest Resident Evil 6 will get to the original. Both are stuck in the middle of another virus outbreak. For Leon it’s just another day at the office, but Helena has never met a zombie.

We all have secrets, but Helena seems to have a deadly one, which suggests that it will help this story move forward. The pacing in this campaign often changes from slow to frantic.

It’s easy to see that this is an attempt at making players feel tense. It does work for most of what is played, but it’s also frustrating on a few occasions. Perhaps it’s because it is introducing the player, so it will likely end up being different in the full version.

What this portion of the demo does extremely well is provide plenty of classic horror moments. This is down to the superb use of typical horror props such as music, lighting and suggestive imagery. There are various bodies in the dark and other disturbing sightings found throughout. What makes it so scary is that most of it is left to the imagination. Will those dogs barking suddenly crash through the windows?

Are those corpses really dead or are they waiting for the perfect moment to jump up? Everything is deadlier under the cover of darkness, and the same applies to the desolate hall of the once prestigious Tall Oaks Ivy University. This has potential for being the campaign that will provide the most spine chilling frights in Resident Evil 6.

The section with Chris is very similar to his adventures in Resident Evil 5. There is a lot of focus on gunfights. It’s just a small section but if the rest of this campaign is anything like it, then expect plenty of confrontations with mutated enemies.

The guns have a kick to them when fired, and some even become less accurate, if used for more than a couple of seconds. There’s a rudimentary cover system used in this campaign. It requires pressing the trigger to keep in cover, while holding the stick to aim at enemies. It’s not exactly the most comfortable way to stay in cover, but it didn’t exactly feel essential to use it, while playing this demo portion.

Playing with Chris or his new partner Piers is pretty straightforward though. It’s more about strategy, since it is all out war on the new J’uavo enemy types. J’uavos are interesting creatures since they start out looking like humans, but mutate when under fire. These mutations range from shields to flying creatures – similar to those found in Resident Evil 5.

The final campaign section of demo consists of newcomer Jake and a grown up Sherry. It’s easy to think of it as the cherry on top of the cake. Both characters are being chased by a giant beast hell bent on capturing Jake. It’s fairly confusing at the start due to a running section, since the instructions aren’t exactly clear. Jake is not an easy character to play as, since he relies more on physical attacks.
His attacks have a fairly short range, so it’s best to try and sneak up on enemies. But it improves once the duo is inside an abandoned building. It’s here that tracksuit clad transformed enemies pop up. They are only a minor distraction compared to the giant B.O.W climactic fight towards end of this demo section. It’s nothing ground breaking, but it’s still interesting to try and fight it off by making use of the environment. This campaign feels a lot like playing Resident Evil 3, and even Code Veronica to a certain extent.

A closer look will reveal some other changes in how Resident Evil 6 tries to evolve the series. It’’s now possible to evade enemies, and even perform a fancy move where the character does a back dive. It’s now easier than ever to physically attack enemies, by continuously pressing the right trigger.

A lot of effort went into making sure that the controls have different options, such as the ability to pick which side the HUD appears. It’s possible to even change minor details like the gun laser sight colour. There’s a few minor issues that do make playing the demo less enjoyable, but it’s early days, so plenty of time to fix them. These include the way that quick time events are presented, since it’s not clear at first what action is required.

The controls aren’t quite there either, and would benefit from being more accurate. It’s also not clear how it will make use of a second character. The demo only included simple actions, such as breaking down doors. It’s an easy way to ensure that players don’t feel frustrated, when relying on the AI partner.
The re-designed interface is a major improvement over the one found in Resident Evil 5. It’s now much easier to equip items, since it still lets the player control the character.

Inventory menus for each campaign are different, but are designed in a way that they are extremely easy to use. This is vital because it’s essential to use items quickly, when surrounded by enemies. The AI is good enough to help fend off enemies, but the demo doesn’t provide any challenging sections to test it.

Overall, the demo clearly demonstrates Capcom’s commitment in trying to appeal to different fan bases. Resident Evil has grown as a brand in such a way, that it has many different audiences to cater for. It manages to do so to a certain extent, by including the three different campaigns.
However, it’s clear that all three will make use of modern Resident Evil mechanics. It’s still early days, but there is certainly potential for Resident Evil 6 to turn into the one that manages to please everyone.

Walking Dead Episode 3 Coming In August


The first and second episodes of Telltale's The Walking Dead game were released two months apart. That's too long of a wait, the company says, and they want to deliver the next episode faster.

Walking Dead: The Game is set in the immediate aftermath of the zombie apocalypse. A (mostly) new group of survivors band together to fend off "walkers." They'll also have to deal with other humans driven to desperate measures by the crisis.

Episode One introduced us to the main character, escaped convict Lee Everett, as well as his fellow survivors. The group has to find a safe haven to wait out the apocalypse. In Episode Two, they're running low on food and have to venture out into the wilderness to find more.

"Our goal from day one has been to deliver your game episodes as quickly as possible, and where we can, simultaneously across all platforms and regions," said Telltale. "We've been working closely with our phenomenally supportive partners to try to make this a reality. We will continue to work on this and furthermore, we will strive to improve our communication with you so that you know what’s happening. Please rest assured that we are doing all we can to get your game episodes to you as quickly as possible."

Episode Three, entitled "Long Road Ahead," will be available in mid-August. Telltale says they're going to try to release the game across all platforms and regions in close proximity. They've done a pretty good job of that so far, except for the iPad version. iPad gamers haven't even gotten the first episode yet.

If Telltale adheres to a monthly release schedule from here on out, the fifth and final episode will arrive in October. That's around the time that the third season of the Walking Dead television series will premiere. That timing works so well that I think they planned it all along. Hopefully Telltale can stick to that schedule.

EGM Interview: The Secret World’s Martin Bruusgaard



Set in a world just like ours, The Secret World asks what would be if all the monsters, myths, and legends we’ve told over the years were actually true…and gives you a chance to kick their butts. We sat down with Martin Bruusgaard, Lead Designer on The Secret World to pick his brain about it all as the game launches today.

EGM: Instead of your typical class or level systems, The Secret World touts being ‘highly customizable’ when it comes to your characters so there isn’t the standard level grind of a lot of other MMOs. How do you think this will affect the draw of your game to the more hardcore MMO player who is used to these systems and how does this customization feature work in powering up your character?

Martin Bruusgaard, Lead Designer: I think hardcore MMO-ers will find this as a very welcomed break from the norm. I think players have been waiting for a game where they’re not locked down to a class, but rather let the players forge their own play style. Remember that when you play a class, you are locked down to that class forever. If you want to try a new class you have to start a new character and then play through all the content you played before, while your friends are all in the endgame. In The Secret World you can swap out abilities whenever you want, except for when you’re in the middle of combat. This means that the different strategies to take down a difficult encounter multiplies thousand fold, and this has always been the design intent; To give players the freedom to make smart decisions, and reward them for it.

EGM: The game takes place all over the world in both real world locales and fictional settings. With the real world settings it is easy to draw inspiration from, but where did you get your designs for the mythical places your adventure in The Secret World will take you?

MB: What do you mean by fictional setting? Everything is true! Hehe, joke aside, we have a fantastic team who have investigated all types of myths and legends all around the world. We developed many different concepts for the different locations, and went with the ones that seemed most plausible in our real world setting. Since we are mimicking the real world, OUR real world, it’s very important that even the fictional locations are believable. We are trying hard to make it feel just like another place you can visit. What does El Dorado look like today? What is all this machinery doing in Hell? Play the game and find out!



EGM: Aside from these mythical locations, much of the game draws from various mythologies, local legends, and pop culture and even features time travel. How was it to try to strike a balance between these creative elements to make them still feel new and refreshing to players?

MB: As I mentioned, we have a great team that investigates all these different elements of our world, and a lot of the challenge are incorporating this into the game world in a believable fashion. I really hope players will appreciate the amount of research that has gotten into the game. Everything from NPC names, to item names to little snippets of information you can pick up through the lore system. Some players will probably enter our travel hub, and think “Cool, they have a travel hub”, but I hope most of our players will actually Google why it’s called Agartha…

EGM: A key to any MMO is PvP. Talk to us about how The Secret World‘s PvP works in a world without leveling and what makes it stand out from the competition.

MB: First of all I should mention that we have 3 factions, The Templars, The Illuminati and The Dragon. Having three sides in PvP always creates more interesting gameplay. There’s never 2 sides just butting heads, but one always have to look out for that joker in the mix.

We have 3 different kinds of PvP. In each hub, we have a fight club, which is a free for all PvP arena. This is a perfect spot for players to practice dueling, or just to test out their builds. Players are also already making plans to host PvP tournaments there. In addition to that we have the Battlefields. These are legendary locations all over the world, which the secret societies fight over. The two locations we launched with are Stonehenge, and Eldorado. Stonehenge is a king of the hill type of match, where each of the three secret societies has sent a team of five players to battle over who gets to control the power of Stonehenge. In Eldorado, the secret societies have sent a team of 10 to battle over some ancient Mayan artifacts. This is a capture the flag type of gameplay, but the twist is that instead of bringing the flags back to your base, you have to pick a spot on the map and defend them with your life.

Finally we have the Warzones, which are persistent PvP playfields that can hold up to 275 players simultaneously. Players fight over control of different facilities, and the cool thing is that the bonus for controlling these facilities is distributed across the whole secret society, not just the ones fighting. So you can basically go in there, kick ass, and become the hero of your secret society, since they all benefit from your efforts.



EGM: Another thing that we noticed makes The Secret World stand out a bit is the audio. From the moans and groans of the undead to the citizens you try to help, it sounds like there is a voice actor for every character in the game! What went into the audio production in the game and how important do you think it is to setting the supernatural mood?

MB: We are putting huge emphasis on the sound in our game. We have gotten some fantastic music composed that really sets the tone perfectly if you’re walking in a back alley in London, exploring the forest in Transylvania or traversing the desert in Egypt. We have also gotten some world class voice actors to give life and soul to the various characters the players will encounter. We give out quests or missions as we call them, a bit differently in our game. The characters the players will meet in the game world will never ask for anything specific from the player, but rather tell them a snippet of their own life and the situation they’re in. Therefore it’s very important that their voices are first class, and that the players believe and empathize with them.

EGM: The elephant in the room is obviously you guys have a subscription base going in. You’re starting to see a lot of MMOs move towards the Free-to-play route. Was this ever an option for you guys? Is there a possibility of that happening in the future? What made you stick to this route?

MB: We’ve obviously considered several business models, and we concluded that the subscription model was the right one for The Secret World. There is definitely still room for the subscription MMO provided you can supply the level of quality both in the launch version as well as in the ongoing updates after launch.



EGM: You’re wrapping up the beta here as the game prepares to drop July 3rd. How important has the beta been towards making the push to the final product and making those last tweaks to the game world, especially so close to launch?

MB: It’s been incredibly valuable. We have had some fantastic testers, which actually focused on testing, instead of just playing the game for a couple of hours to see if they will buy the game at launch. We have reacted to their feedback continuously, and have patched very frequently. We have also set up runs with the testers where the developers went in as observers to see what issues the players were facing, what they could potentially exploit, measure the difficulty rating, etc. It has been a very successful beta in our views, and we are very grateful to all our testers.

EGM: The game’s story does come to an end after a long and winding road, but are there any plans in the future for add-ons possibly already in the works or a fourth faction maybe to play as aside from the Dragons, Illuminati, or Templars?

MB: We have lots of plans for the coming years! The story does not end, but a chapter finishes. It will give the players some closure and more understanding of The Secret World universe, but there are still questions to be answered. As the players play the game, they will realize that there are definitely other factions at play here, but if the players get to play as them remains to be seen. We will release our post launch plans, and our content update info relatively shortly after launch.



Sleeping Dogs ‘GSP: Master Fighter’ Trailer Now Online


Sleeping Dogs, the long awaited open world crime drama video game is finally here. Played primarily as an over-the-shoulder, third-person perspective action-adventure game with role-playing elements and taking place on the tough streets of Hong Kong – it focuses on an undercover operation, lead by badass cop Wei Shen, to infiltrate the infamous Triads and take them down from the inside out.
Developed by United Front Games in collaboration with Square Ennix London Studios, Sleeping Dogs features brutal bone crunching combos, adrenaline fuelled street races, intense heart pounding shoot outs and a free roaming environment where around every street corner lays a new threat.
French Canadian Mixed Martial Arts Fighter Georges St. Pierre has been brought on board to capture the realistic fight movements and takedowns, giving Sleeping Dogs a unique and realistic look and feel that is so often missing from these kinds of game.
You can check out Georges in action in the latest trailer, which we’ve kindly embedded below.
But what if you don’t fancy taking down the Triads just yet? With a fully formed free roaming environment in place there’s plenty of things to keep Wei Shen amused – including prostitutes, underground fight clubs, amusement arcades and cockfights. Yes, as an undercover member of the Triad clans you get to enjoy the full criminal lifestyle at your leisure. Not bad, hu?
If you’re as excited about this news as we are you’re going to have to wait a while longer before you can get your hands on a copy. Sleeping Dogs will be available from 17th August, 2012 for Playstation 3, Xbox 360 and and Windows PC.  For more information about the game, visithttp://www.sleepingdogs.net or follow them on Facebook for regular updates.

Upcoming video game releases: 'The Secret World,' 'Theatrhythm Final Fantasy'


Swedish MMO developer Funcom unleashes The Secret World,Final Fantasy's combat turns musical in Theatrhythm, and brilliant puzzler Quantum Conundrum arrives on consoles.
The Secret World (PC)
International: July 5
Age rating: M17+ (North America), 16+ (Europe)
massively multiplayer online game about age-old myths and legends, real world locations, and secret societies.
Price: $49 / €49 / £39 / R399
Monthly subscription: $15 / € 15 / £13
thesecretworld.com
Theatrhythm Final Fantasy (3DS)
North America: July 3, age rating E10+
European regions: July 6, age rating 12+
Japan: since February, A (all ages)
The first Final Fantasy title for 3DS is a action game with music-based combat. Final Fantasy characters get a super-cute makeover and players must keep time with the beat to win.
Price: $39 / €39 / £29 / ¥6,090
theatrhythm.com
Quantum Conundrum (360 PC PS3 download)
PC: since June 21
Xbox 360: July 11
PlayStation 3: July 10 (North America), July 11 (European regions)
Age rating: Everyone (North America), 7+ (European regions)
Yes, Quantum Conundrum is from Kim Swift (of Portal fame), but this dimension shifting action puzzler offers more than enough justification for a purchase -- at least according to sparkling PC reviews.
Price: $15 / €15 / £10 / ¥1,195 / 1200 MS Points
quantumconundrum.com
Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure (3DS)
North America: July 10, E10+
European regions: since April, 12+
Japan: since January, B (12+)
Young cat burglar Raphael may be on the trail of his missing father, but that won't stop the fleet-footed fellow from dancing in front of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.
Price: $39 / €39 / £29 / ¥6,090
sega.com/rhythmthief
The Last Story (Wii)
North America: July 10, Teen
European regions: since February 2012, 16+
Japan: since January 2011, B (12+)
Once again, North America is the last to receive this, heralded as one of the Wii's last great role-playing adventures, and subject of much fan petitioning along with fellow latecomers Xenoblade Chronicles and (hopefully) Pandora's Tower.
Price: $49 / €49 / £29 / R499 / ¥6,800
nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/wii/the_last_story_45545.html
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD (360 PS3 download)
Xbox 360: July 18
PlayStation 3: Announced for "a few weeks later"
Age rating: Expected Teen, confirmed 12+
A celebration of skateboarding in its video game heyday kicks off the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade promo: ten levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 with a bunch of songs both old and new.
Price: 1200 MS Points (~$15 / €14 / £10 / ¥1,770)
facebook.com/TonyHawksProSkaterHD

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Blizzard bringing 'World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria' and 'Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm' to Gamescom


Significant new expansions for World of Warcraft and Starcraft IIwill be at the Gamescom expo in Cologne, Germany this August.
Blizzard Entertainment, which is also setting up demo stations for May release Diablo III, will be allowing Gamescom visitors to get their hands on World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria and Starcraft II: Heart of the Swarm.
The World of Warcraft expansion was first announced in October 2011, and a public testing phase for the Massively Multiplayer Online game's new content began in March 2012.
Its next most recent expansion, Cataclysm, was first announced in August 2009 and released the following year, in December 2010.
Real-time strategy game Starcraft II was released in July 2010; Heart of the Swarm will be the first of two planned expansions.
Among other exhibitors making early announcements, Konami will be showing Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance and Pro Evolution Soccer 2013, and Electronic Arts has confirmed the presence ofFIFA 13Need for Speed: Most Wanted, and SimCity.
Gamescom website: gamescom-cologne.com

Microsoft, Nintendo skip Gamescom; Sony, EA, Activision on board


Cologne's annual Gamescom expo, though only established in 2009, can call itself the world's largest video game trade fair with 275,000 visitors in 2011 -- but this August, some of the biggest games companies are giving it a miss.
Microsoft, which made the opening keynote at the Electronics Entertainment Expo in June, has pulled out of Gamescom, theTokyo Games Show, and the Consumer Electronics Show, in order to concentrate on "smaller, more localized promotions and experiences."
Nintendo, which for many a year has preferred to hold its own side event instead of attending the main Tokyo Games Show, will also be absent from Germany's August show, preferring to present the Wii U console under its own steam.
Sega won't be there, and is closing four of its European offices, including its German outpost; THQ's presence will be minimal, having eschewed the option of a show-floor booth.
That's not to say the show's over in Cologne -- event organizers have increased floorspace for 2012 to 144,000 square meters, up by 20 percent to match a 20 percent increase in exhibitor numbers.
Massive Japanese mobile and social gaming force Gree will be exhibiting for the first time, while Gamescom maintains that not only is the event stable but Sony PlayStation will be on hand as usual.
Electronic Arts have FIFA 13Need for Speed: Most WantedMedal of Honor: WarfighterSimCityand Crysis 3 to present.
Konami will be bringing Pro Evolution Soccer 2013 and Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, while Blizzard has new expansions for World of Warcraft and Starcraft II.
Gamescom 2012 takes place at the Kölnmesse in Cologne, Germany, August 15-19.
Official website: gamescom-cologne.com

Video introduces PlayStation Move Racing Wheel


PlayStation's Research and Development man Anton Mikhailovdemonstrates the form and function of the PS3's upcoming Racing Wheel, a controller that doubles as a motorcycle grip and aeroplane yoke.
"We took a bunch of ideas that come from both the hardcore racing wheel community and from general gaming, combined them with Move, and that's how this product was born," explains Mikhailov.
By slotting a PlayStation Move motion controller into the center of the wheel, the contraption can measure turns and trigger presses with a greater degree of accuracy than the PlayStation 3's standard controller.
Its paddle shifters are designed to accomodate short or long hands, and within each of the wheel's handles lies an extra rumble motor for enhanced force feedback.
With handles flipped out into a motorcycle layout, players can make use of a twist throttle, and multi-directional sensors make for an interesting application as an aircraft yoke.
Like the Xbox 360's Wireless Speed Wheel, the light Move Racing Wheel operates free of any weighted base unit, a marked difference in comparison to the high-end Logitech and Fanatec setups favored by many racing enthusiasts.
It's part of the reason why the Move wheel manages to keep its retail price at a similarly low cost, $39 upon its debut later this year, as compared to the Speed Wheel's $49.
On the compatibility list so far are racing games Gran Turismo 5Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit,Burnout ParadiseMotorStorm Apocalypse and the upcoming LittleBigPlanet Karting.
Nintendo, of course, got a headstart on the wheel accessory market upon the release of the Wii Wheel, bundled with Mario Kart Wii in 2008.
"PlayStation Move Racing Wheel - Tech Demo Video Tour": youtu.be/e3mtQrcACS0

'Mighty Switch Force' to become Wii U game

Well-received 3DS game Mighty Switch Force is to become a Wii U title, according to the July issue of Nintendo Power.
Mighty Switch Force HD sees machine-powered futuristic female cop Patricia Wagon chase the Hooligan Sisters through a series of sidescrolling levels.
The conversion to Wii U allows developer WayForward to get to grips with the upcoming console and experiment with the controller's touch screen.
Like Rocksteady Studios (Batman: Arkham Asylum) and Traveller's Tales (Lego Batman 2), WayForward got its break developing licensed games for film and TV tie-ins, although more recently it has delved into re-imagining several aging video game franchises.
Aliens: Infestation (Nintendo DS), Contra 4 (DS), and A Boy and His Blob (Wii) are particularly well thought of, but in-house series Shantae remains the studio's crown jewel.


'Call of Duty' video game headed for China


A free version of the blockbuster video game "Call of Duty" will be offered to players in China, the developers said Tuesday.
Activision Blizzard, a unit of France's Vivendi, said it would offer the Call of Duty Online game through Tencent Holdings Limited, an Internet services provider in China.
The game, which allows players to take the role of a military shooter, will be free to play and monetized through the sales of in-game items, a statement from the two firms said.
"We are very excited about our relationship with Tencent and the opportunities for gaming in China," said Bobby Kotick, chief executive of Activision Blizzard.
Martin Lau, president of Tencent, said Call of Duty Online "will attract tens of millions of loyal fans in China."
In the gaming model designed specifically for the Chinese market, players can personalize their weapons, characters and equipment.
The "Call of Duty" franchise has several versions. The latest, "Modern Warfare 3" raked in a record $775 million worldwide in its first five days after being introduced last year.

‘Xbox 8′ tipped as name of next-gen Microsoft gaming console


Microsoft’s next-generation gaming console may be called “Xbox8,” or perhaps Xbox Infinity, according to a recent report. The software giant recently secured a slew of Xbox-related domains from a Chinese cybersquatter through the National Arbitration Forum, a company that handles international domain disputes,Fusible reported. The disputed names include XboxPhone.com, XboxTablet.com, XboxLiveTV.com, XboxCompanion.com, Xbox8.us and Xbox8.org. Microsoft also has pending cases against the owners of Xboxliverewards.com, Xboxsports.com, Xboxsmartglass.com, and Xboxmusic.com.
The Redmond-based company’s next-generation gaming console was previously thought to be calledXbox 720, following the naming scheme of its predecessor. The recent domain acquisitions have increased speculation that Microsoft may veer away from its previous naming scheme, however.
The next-generation console will reportedly be six times more powerful than the current Xbox 360, and may support Blu-ray, true 1080p and native 3D output. The system will supposedly feature six to eight 2GHz ARM/x86 cores, with two additional ARM/x86 cores that would power the console’s operating system and three PowerPC cores for backward-compatibility.

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Upcoming video game releases: 'Quantum Conundrum,' 'Rhythm Thief'

There's a little bit of catch-up going on this week, as console owners can get their hands on the PC's Quantum Conundrum, and North America receives Rhythm Thief and The Last Story.
Quantum Conundrum (360 PC PS3 download)
PC: since June 21
Xbox 360: July 11
PlayStation 3: July 10 (North America), July 11 (European regions)
Age rating: Everyone (North America), 7+ (European regions)
Yes, Quantum Conundrum is from Kim Swift (of Portal fame), but this dimension shifting action puzzler offers more than enough justification for a purchase -- at least according to sparkling PC reviews.
Price: $15 / €15 / £10 / ¥1,195 / 1200 MS Points
quantumconundrum.com
Rhythm Thief & The Emperor's Treasure (3DS)
North America: July 10, rated E10+
European regions: since April, rated 12+
Japan: since January, rated B (12+)
Young cat burglar Raphael may be on the trail of his missing father, but that won't stop the fleet-footed fellow from dancing in front of Notre Dame and the Eiffel Tower.
Price: $39 / €39 / £29 / ¥6,090
sega.com/rhythmthief
The Last Story (Wii)
North America: July 10, Teen
European regions: since February 2012, 16+
Japan: since January 2011, B (12+)
Once again, North America is the last to receive this, heralded as one of the Wii's last great role-playing adventures, and subject of much fan petitioning along with fellow latecomers Xenoblade Chronicles and (hopefully) Pandora's Tower.
Price: $49 / €49 / £29 / R499 / ¥6,800
nintendo.co.uk/NOE/en_GB/games/wii/the_last_story_45545.html
Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD (360 PS3 download)
Xbox 360: July 18
PlayStation 3: Announced for "a few weeks later"
Age rating: Teen / 12+
A celebration of skateboarding in its video game heyday kicks off the Xbox Live Summer of Arcade promo: ten levels from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 1 & 2 with a bunch of songs both old and new.
Price: 1200 MS Points (~$15 / €14 / £10 / ¥1,770)
facebook.com/TonyHawksProSkaterHD
NCAA Football 13 (360 PS3)
North America: July 10, Everyone
Take your favorite college team through to glory and, if you can bear it, recruit a Heisman Trophy winner from a rival side to do so.
Price: $59
easports.com/ncaa-football
Ice Age: Continental Drift - Arctic Games (360 Kinect DS 3DS PS3 Wii)
North America: July 10, Everyone
European regions: June 29, 3+
A selection of ten sporting events inspired by the film Ice Age 4, such as Glacier Hopping, Bob Smashing, and Coconut Slingshot. Multiplayer, story mode and free play.
Price: $29-$39 / €39-€59 / £19-29

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