Gaming

It seems that Neverwinter’s had a bit of a weekend. The game was offline for five or six hours after very naughty players discovered an exploit that allowed them to make billions of the game’s in-game currency, Astral Diamonds. While that may at first seem problematic, but not too serious, this in-game currency can be used to buy “Zen” from other players, Perfect World’s virtual currency bought with real-world money. This sudden flooding of Astral Diamonds into the game’s economy broken everything. So the publisher is scrambling to fix things. By turning back time. (more…)

Sackboy and Commander Shepard team up this week to bring you the Mass Effect Costume Pack containing this great collection of costumes first seen in BioWare’s epic sci-fi saga! These new costumes will be available when the Store updates on Tuesday, so blast over to LittleBigPlanet.com and take a look at what’s coming in the Mass Effect Costume Pack. Team Picks – Featured Creations from the Community! We’re back with a brand new dose of weekly Team Picks from across LittleBigPlanet, including a retro arcade shooter for LittleBigPlanet 2, some platforming madness for LittleBigPlanet PS Vita and a race across some troublesome treetops in LittleBigPlanet Karting! Neon Blaster by dakrrs You can find this level and oh so much more in the latest LittleBigPlanet 2: Mm Picks! Fink’s MFG is Off The Hook by dsdavve You can have this level ready to play by heading over to LBP.me Vita and queuing up the new LittleBigPlanet PS Vita: Team Picks! Tree Top Trouble by amazingflyingpoo Race on over and challenge your friends in the latest LittleBigPlanet Karting: Team Picks! We always love to see exciting new LittleBigPlanet levels, so if you have a great level to share with the community or a stunning video to show off your favorite levels and creations, then be sure to tweet it to us @LittleBigPlanet.

Here is a look at some of the upcoming content scheduled for the Xbox LIVE Marketplace.* Follow me on Twitter for additional updates. Follow @majornelson Xbox LIVE Arcade  Release Date MS Points Call of Juarez: Gunslinger  22-May 1200 Hunters Trophy 2 – Australia  29-May 800 Game Add-ons Release Date MS Points Injustice: Gods Among Us Character #2: Batgirl  21-May 400 Need for Speed Most Wanted Complete DLC Bundle  21-May 2400 Deal of the Week Discount Dates Price D3 21-May to 27-May Bangai-O HD: Missile Fury 400 (50% off) Jeremy McGrath 400 (50% off) Karateka 400 (50% off) Mad Tracks 400 (50% off) Matt Hazard: Blood Bath and Beyond 400 (50% off) Pid 400 (50% off) Puzzle Quest 2 400 (50% off) Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords 400 (50% off) Puzzle Quest: Galactrix 600 (50% off) RocketBowl 200 (50% off) Texas Cheat’em 400 (50% off) Ghost Recon Future Soldier GonD 28-May to 3-June varies Ghost Recon Future Soldier Khyber Strike 320 (60% off) Ghost Recon Future Soldier Raven Strike  400 (67% off) Ghost Recon Future Soldier Arctic Strike 320 (60% off) Darkstalkers Resurrection 800 (33% off) Dark Souls GonD varies Dark Souls Artorias of the Abyss 600 (50% off) Sales  & Specials Discount Date Price Alan Wake Sale  21-May to 27-May Up to 83% off Kinect Central: Mini Ninjas Adventures  21-May to 27-May 320 (60% off) Kinect Central: Kinect Sports: Season Two  28-May to 3-June varies NBA 2K13 Sale  28-May to 3-June Up to 50% off Dance Central Catalog Sale 28-May to 3-June varies Games on Demand Release Date Crysis 3  21-May Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance  28-May DmC Devil May Cry  28-May Dates, prices and availability are subject to change and may vary by region.

Warner Bros. announced Batman: Arkham Origins is fronted by two of gaming's most prominent voice actors. Roger Craig Smith is confirmed as the caped crusader, and Troy Baker is his nemesis, the Joker. If you don't recognize the names, you'll definitely recognize their previous work. Craig Smith's immense portfolio includes Ezio Auditore from Assassin's Creed, Chris Redfield from Resident Evil, and he's the current voice of Sonic. While he's never starred in anything Batman related, he does have superhero experience. It is for the other side, however; he's played Captain America in both games and animations. Baker is similarly prolific. While he recently graced our screens as Booker DeWitt in BioShock Infinite, his past work includes Sgt. Matt Baker in Gearbox's Brothers in Arms, Snow from the Final Fantasy 13 line, Kai Leng from Mass Effect 3, and Vincent from Catherine. When we profiled Baker around this time last year, he shared his love for all things Batman on the back of starring in Arkham City. "Being a part of Arkham City was just incredible - because I'm a huge Batman fan," Baker told us, "And to play Two-Face and Robin after growing up watching The Animated Series was a banner moment for me." The news follows confirmation long-time Batman vocalist Kevin Conroy does star in Origins, but how he features remains to be seen. We know Origins deals with Batman's "initiation into that insane world" of the other Arkham games, so perhaps Conroy's role is something retrospective. Even if Conroy doesn't play the dark knight in any sense in Origins, to fans he's still the goddamn Batman.Batman: Arkham Origins stars Roger Craig Smith as Batman, Troy Baker as Joker originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 May 2013 09:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Batman: Arkham Origins follows the world's most enduring vigilante after just two years on the job. The developers at Warner Bros. Montreal, taking over from Rocksteady Studios and their critically acclaimed construction of Arkham Asylum and Arkham City, want to convey a "rawer, scarier Batman." He's all growl and grimace in the cutscenes, dangling squirming henchmen from clock towers until they turn verbose, but in play his rookie temper is more difficult to detect. The prequel is a tricky proposition, especially when it concerns history that's been dissected again and again across comics, movies and games. It's harder to conjure narrative tension while it's colored by the inevitable outcome, and that draws greater scrutiny on mechanical expansion and refinement. Why does this younger Batman make for a better Batman game?Continue reading Year Wane: The challenges facing Batman in Arkham OriginsYear Wane: The challenges facing Batman in Arkham Origins originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 May 2013 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments

Platform: Flash — Kingdom of Liars is the second in the series of dark fantasy point-and-click adventures and the plot is only getting thicker in the city of Ashbane. Kingdom of Liars 2 features what Hyptosis is best known for: world-building, colorful characters, humorous descriptions, intriguing twists... and smacking players with a "To Be Continued" just as things are getting good. For a short trip, though, it's an excellent one. Tagged as: adventure, browser, fantasy, flash, free, game, horror, hyptosis, linux, mac, oddfellowfloyd, pointandclick, rating-o, windows

We're used to stories of players being unpleasant, but indie developer Bram Stolk writes about a time when one surprised him by being honorable. ... More...

In lieu of an E3 press conference, Nintendo is going to present a Nintendo Direct before E3, showcasing the "new Smash Bros., 3D Mario game, Mario Kart and other Wii U titles." The company previously announced that all three games would be playable at E3. This means for those not attending the show, the games may be playable at Nintendo's special Best Buy E3 demo extravaganza (note: fullness of "extravaganza" is TBD). The most recent Nintendo Direct held last week covered the company's summer plans and Hedgehog snuggles.Smash Bros, 3D Mario, Mario Kart in pre-E3 Nintendo Direct originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 May 2013 08:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds. Permalink | Email this | Comments More...

Brandon Sheffield draws design lessons from the simple beauty of Atebit's turn-based word game Letterpress in a reprint from the May issue of Game Developer magazine. ... More...

The Last of Us puts the fun in fungicidal funerals through the use of its weapon and supply crafting systems. This developer diary covers how the items that create offensive molotov cocktails can also be used to make med kits. There's also highfalutin words like "negative space."The Last of Us dev diary covers survivalcraft originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 20 May 2013 08:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.Permalink | Email this | Comments