Today's Gold Box deal of the day on Amazon is BioShock Infinite. Downloadable PC versions of the game are $25 off ($35), whereas boxed copies of the PC, Xbox 360 and PS3 versions are $20 off ($40) for today only.
Meanwhile, $35 Steam codes through Groupon for the game appear to still be available until the end of the day. What we're trying to say is, today might be a good day to buy a new game.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
Meanwhile, $35 Steam codes through Groupon for the game appear to still be available until the end of the day. What we're trying to say is, today might be a good day to buy a new game.
[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
This video for Madden 25 shows a sizzle reel of defensive features while San Francisco 49ers linebacker Navorro Bowman discusses tactics for tackling players in the NFL. The game will see some under-the-hood changes, including Infinity Engine improvements and the addition of heat-seeker tackling. ...
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This time around on the Webcomic Wrapup, we're trying to embrace the idea of a new console a little more than before. Considering Microsoft's big Xbox reveal is mere days away, it seems like a good time to have fun playing Fantasy Hardware Manufacturer.
So, this week's question is: If you were in charge of naming the console being unveiled on May 21, what would you call it? While you contemplate just how viable a system named "infinity" is, check out last week's webcomics and vote for your favorites after the break!
Increasingly Damn Late (Penny Arcade)
Card Captor Engie (Nerf Now)
A Berry Important Job (Awkward Zombie)
Nailed It (The Gamercat)
Why it won't be called Xbox Infinity (Another Videogame Webcomic)
The Sims Career Ladder (Dorkly)
Sonic Shredder (Angimoto)
Leave It to Weegee (Life in Aggro)
So, this week's question is: If you were in charge of naming the console being unveiled on May 21, what would you call it? While you contemplate just how viable a system named "infinity" is, check out last week's webcomics and vote for your favorites after the break!
Increasingly Damn Late (Penny Arcade)
Card Captor Engie (Nerf Now)
A Berry Important Job (Awkward Zombie)
Nailed It (The Gamercat)
Why it won't be called Xbox Infinity (Another Videogame Webcomic)
The Sims Career Ladder (Dorkly)
Sonic Shredder (Angimoto)
Leave It to Weegee (Life in Aggro)

At 57 hot jams long, Mega Man 5's soundtrack was composed by Mari Yamaguchi, who was often credited mononymously (as "Mari") for her work at Capcom. She also composed the music for Super Ghouls 'n Ghosts and several of the songs on the Breath of Fire soundtrack, in addition to handling arrangement duties for the TurboGrafx-16 version of Street Fighter 2: Champion Edition. Yamaguchi returned to the Mega Man franchise in 2010, penning the stage theme for Mega Man 10's Sheep Man.

We're guessing this release date means that Ubisoft is going to continue to ignore our repeated (and might we add, quite generous) offers to write the film as a reimagined version of You've Got Mail.

All that extra cash will be put towards buying ice cream, Oculus Rift compatibility and a developer commentary track, though the campaign's bonus earnings didn't extend far enough for the "supersecret free DLC" stretch goal to be funded. Among the Sleep is expected to launch on PC, OSX and Linux during the fourth quarter of this year, but intrigued folks can go ahead and check out the game's public alpha.

Costumes are unlocked by playing through the game's Campaign and Raid modes, in addition to "other unlocking mechanisms" that Capcom is keeping a secret. We're just hoping Capcom eventually rides this train of thought all the way to its logical extreme: Pretty Soldier Sailor Claire Redfield.
Ouya's E3 presence will be open to the public, as it plans to show off games for its console in a parking lot down the street from the Los Angeles Convention Center where E3 will be held in June. The information comes from an email to registered Ouya developers from head of developer relations, Kellee Santiago.
Santiago says Ouya will provide developers with "everything you'll need to put on a killer game demo," such as an Ouya console, controllers and TV, during the convention's entire three-day stretch from June 11 to June 13. Registered developers, of which there are over 10,000, have until May 28 to submit a form declaring their intent to show off their game at the Ouya lot, with hourly time slots available for each of the three days.
Santiago says Ouya will provide developers with "everything you'll need to put on a killer game demo," such as an Ouya console, controllers and TV, during the convention's entire three-day stretch from June 11 to June 13. Registered developers, of which there are over 10,000, have until May 28 to submit a form declaring their intent to show off their game at the Ouya lot, with hourly time slots available for each of the three days.
The Boston Festival of Indie Games has announced that its keynote speaker will be Robin Hunicke, former executive producer of Journey. Hunicke's talk, Finding Meaning in Gameplay, will "focus on how developers can create games that inspire new feelings, by looking inward and examining the everyday experiences of their own lives," according to the festival's site.
Hunicke left thatgamecompany in late March 2012 for Tiny Speck, before co-founding indie studio Funomena in September 2012 with former thatgamecompany programmer Martin Middleton.
The Boston Festival of Indie Games, which is in its second year of existence, will be held on September 14. Its planners are raising funds on Kickstarter to improve the event, and are currently $2,414 shy of their $15,000 goal with 11 days left in the funding campaign. Incentive for those pledging $25 or more (aside from a warm, charitable feeling) is a PC bundle that includes Fieldrunners and Go Home Dinosaurs.
Hunicke left thatgamecompany in late March 2012 for Tiny Speck, before co-founding indie studio Funomena in September 2012 with former thatgamecompany programmer Martin Middleton.
The Boston Festival of Indie Games, which is in its second year of existence, will be held on September 14. Its planners are raising funds on Kickstarter to improve the event, and are currently $2,414 shy of their $15,000 goal with 11 days left in the funding campaign. Incentive for those pledging $25 or more (aside from a warm, charitable feeling) is a PC bundle that includes Fieldrunners and Go Home Dinosaurs.

The body is available in "your own choice of colour" and is made out of various combinations of composite materials, alloys and carbon fiber, with real wheels, tyres, chromed-out exhaust tips and everything. There's no engine or transmission, obviously, but it does come with one of those totally awesome detachable steering wheels.
The gaming portion of the rig is powered by an Intel Core i7, an SSD of unknown capacity, 16 gigs of RAM and a non-specified graphics card outputting to three 23-inch adjustable TFT monitors. Meanwhile, sweet jams are pumped through a 5.1 audio system into both the car's body and your body, since the subwoofer is located directly behind the driver's seat.
EA recently provided us with a producer walkthrough video for The Sims 3 Island Paradise DLC, an upcoming expansion pack for the game. The DLC takes players to the Isle Paradiso where, as seen in the video, they can cruise on houseboats from port to port.
Players will also get to build their own resort on the island when the expansion launches June 28. Before that, however, The Sims 3 Dragon Valley world will open on May 30.
This gameplay video for Grid 2 shows a racer drifting around turns on a downhill course in Okutama, Tokyo in Japan. Grid 2 is coming to PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on May 28. ...
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Next week marks the Steam debut of Humble Heart's XBLA darling, Dust: An Elysian Tail. Dean Dodrill, animator and creator of Dust, took to Twitter to announce the May 24 launch date; though there is currently no Steam product page.
Dust: An Elysian Tail is a 2D action platformer in the vein of Metroid and Castlevania, featuring beautiful hand-drawn sprites throughout. Aside from being visually appealing, it's also a delight – a game our review said "doesn't do much to innovate the platform-adventure sub-genre, but it does manage to look and play beautifully throughout, and sometimes that's enough."
Dust: An Elysian Tail is a 2D action platformer in the vein of Metroid and Castlevania, featuring beautiful hand-drawn sprites throughout. Aside from being visually appealing, it's also a delight – a game our review said "doesn't do much to innovate the platform-adventure sub-genre, but it does manage to look and play beautifully throughout, and sometimes that's enough."

The first community-created updated for Team Fortress 2 has rolled out: 'Robotic Boogaloo.' Continuing the robot theme of previous Team Fortress 2 updates, Robotic Boogaloo adds 57 new artisanal hats, helmets, bonnets, turbans, crowns, toppers and other headgear – all created by the community.
Robotic Boogaloo isn't all hats but, naturally, it's mostly hats. Each new Team Fortress 2 item can be found within RoboCrates – rare drops after June 3 – that can be opened with a key from the Mann Co. store, each costing $2.50. The revenue from these items will then be shared amongst all creators responsible for Robotic Boogaloo content.
Trendy Entertainment's Dungeon Defenders 2, which is split into a tower defense sequel and a MOBA, has begun releasing videos for the latter portion of its DNA. Every Wednesday, the studio will highlight a new character for the player-versus-player mode. First up is the "Man and Machine." ...
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[Rough translation of the above dialogue: "...whatever."]
The ever-sullen Squall and his friends are set to make a high-resolution return, as Famitsu reports that Square Enix is developing a remastered PC version of Final Fantasy VIII.
Final Fantasy VIII was originally released for the PlayStation in 1999, and PC players saw a no-frills Windows port one year later. News of Final Fantasy VIII's forthcoming rerelease follows up on last year's upgraded PC port of Final Fantasy VII, which added cloud saving and unlockable achievements. While the new version of Final Fantasy VIII boasts a graphical update, no further details are known, and a release date has not been announced.
The ever-sullen Squall and his friends are set to make a high-resolution return, as Famitsu reports that Square Enix is developing a remastered PC version of Final Fantasy VIII.
Final Fantasy VIII was originally released for the PlayStation in 1999, and PC players saw a no-frills Windows port one year later. News of Final Fantasy VIII's forthcoming rerelease follows up on last year's upgraded PC port of Final Fantasy VII, which added cloud saving and unlockable achievements. While the new version of Final Fantasy VIII boasts a graphical update, no further details are known, and a release date has not been announced.
[Image Credit: Famitsu]
The next generation of Microsoft's Xbox console will be revealed next Tuesday, May 21. Swing on by here (and set those calendars, Siri reminders) to join us at 1PM Eastern (10AM Pacific, 6PM UK) for whatever happens.
What's everyone playing this weekend?
What's everyone playing this weekend?
Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business Chief of Staff Aaron Greenberg recently stopped by the Major Nelson podcast to discuss next week's Xbox reveal event and how Microsoft will show its "vision for the future of games."
"We're really going to tell one story across two events. So we're going to start on the 21st and really that's about revealing the next Xbox platform, really our vision for the future of games, the future of entertainment. We definitely have a lot of surprises planned." Greenberg then specifically called out Call of Duty: Ghosts, which will have its next-generation engine demoed during the Microsoft event.
"People are going to get a great inside look at really the making of the new platform and the team that's brought it to life," Greenberg added. "I mean, to be honest it's really about the team, the people here. That's why we're inviting people to campus, we're going to bring them behind the scenes a little bit. We've never done this before and so it's really exciting to be able to do that. But I think it's a lot of laying the foundation - probably the best way to describe it - and then just a couple of weeks later we go to E3."
Greenberg concluded that more will be shown at E3 and after, leading into this holiday season. "E3 is all about the games. At E3, I mean, if you're a gamer, it's going to be tons of exclusives, world premieres and obviously even beyond that we have a lot to share between then and this holiday."
The Xbox event takes place on May 21 at Microsoft's Redmond campus, located in Washington state. Be sure to have your browser locked to Joystiq starting at 1pm ET (6pm UK, 10am PT) for all of the scoops, commentary and neatly organized words you've come to expect.
"We're really going to tell one story across two events. So we're going to start on the 21st and really that's about revealing the next Xbox platform, really our vision for the future of games, the future of entertainment. We definitely have a lot of surprises planned." Greenberg then specifically called out Call of Duty: Ghosts, which will have its next-generation engine demoed during the Microsoft event.
"People are going to get a great inside look at really the making of the new platform and the team that's brought it to life," Greenberg added. "I mean, to be honest it's really about the team, the people here. That's why we're inviting people to campus, we're going to bring them behind the scenes a little bit. We've never done this before and so it's really exciting to be able to do that. But I think it's a lot of laying the foundation - probably the best way to describe it - and then just a couple of weeks later we go to E3."
Greenberg concluded that more will be shown at E3 and after, leading into this holiday season. "E3 is all about the games. At E3, I mean, if you're a gamer, it's going to be tons of exclusives, world premieres and obviously even beyond that we have a lot to share between then and this holiday."
The Xbox event takes place on May 21 at Microsoft's Redmond campus, located in Washington state. Be sure to have your browser locked to Joystiq starting at 1pm ET (6pm UK, 10am PT) for all of the scoops, commentary and neatly organized words you've come to expect.
Fable series developer Lionhead Studios is currently seeking a gameplay programmer and an automation engineer for an upcoming unannounced project, emphasizing that knowledge of Epic's Unreal Engine 3 or 4 is required for consideration.
The company additionally seeks a core technology programmer and an animation director. Lionhead notes that the animation director position requires a "background working on new franchises or reimaginings of existing franchises."
Previous Lionhead job listings sought online multiplayer level designers, hinting that the developer was working on "an MMO-like title for next generation consoles." Ex-Cryptic CEO John Needham was recently named Lionhead's Studio Head following the departure of co-founder Peter Molyneux.
The company additionally seeks a core technology programmer and an animation director. Lionhead notes that the animation director position requires a "background working on new franchises or reimaginings of existing franchises."
Previous Lionhead job listings sought online multiplayer level designers, hinting that the developer was working on "an MMO-like title for next generation consoles." Ex-Cryptic CEO John Needham was recently named Lionhead's Studio Head following the departure of co-founder Peter Molyneux.
The once-delayed PlayStation Vita version of Insomniac's hybrid tower defense-action game Ratchet & Clank: Full Frontal Assault will launch next week as a downloadable PlayStation Network title in North America and Europe.
Full Frontal Assault was originally released as a retail and downloadable PlayStation 3 title back in November, boasting cross-play features with a Vita edition that was subsequently hit with a series of delays. Buyers of the retail version of Full Frontal Assault – and its renamed European counterpart Ratchet & Clank: QForce – will be able to download the Vita edition for free starting May 21 in North America and May 22 in Europe by accessing the game's "Disc Benefits" option.
Those who purchased Full Frontal Assault's retail edition will also receive an additional bonus after redeeming the PS Vita version when it launches next week. Ratchet Deadlocked HD, an Idol Minds-developed PlayStation 3 port of the fourth PS2 entry in the Ratchet & Clank series, will be available as a free download for Full Frontal Assault buyers when it launches in the PlayStation Store.
A release date for Deadlocked HD (also known as Ratchet: Gladiator in Europe) has not been announced.
Full Frontal Assault was originally released as a retail and downloadable PlayStation 3 title back in November, boasting cross-play features with a Vita edition that was subsequently hit with a series of delays. Buyers of the retail version of Full Frontal Assault – and its renamed European counterpart Ratchet & Clank: QForce – will be able to download the Vita edition for free starting May 21 in North America and May 22 in Europe by accessing the game's "Disc Benefits" option.
Those who purchased Full Frontal Assault's retail edition will also receive an additional bonus after redeeming the PS Vita version when it launches next week. Ratchet Deadlocked HD, an Idol Minds-developed PlayStation 3 port of the fourth PS2 entry in the Ratchet & Clank series, will be available as a free download for Full Frontal Assault buyers when it launches in the PlayStation Store.
A release date for Deadlocked HD (also known as Ratchet: Gladiator in Europe) has not been announced.
Network Status
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Fully armed and operational.
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PlayStation Network
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Nintendo Network
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SimCity
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Quotable
'You know what? We're Blacklist, let's try to build on it.'
— Splinter Cell: Blacklist Producer Sébastien Ebacher on evolving Spies vs. Mercs multiplayer.
The Joystiq Podcast
Super Joystiq Podcast 050: Magic 2014, Ace Patrol, Gran Turismo 6, Nvidia Shield
Latest episode: Friday, May 17th, 2013
