The Agency Covert Ops Black Market Trailer [HD] Developer: Sony Online Entertainment Release: Q4/2010 Genre: MMO Platform: PS3/PC Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment Website: www.playcovertops.com Avatar Customization To be a top agent you’ve got to dress to kill, literally. Customize your avatar with the latest in designer fashion, deck yourself out in industrial battle gear, or just hang out in your bathing suit. Pick from hundreds of different combinations to create a truly unique style. Bored with your look? Shop the Marketplace for a wardrobe upgrade. Mini-Games Complete assignments by testing your skills across several fun and unique mini-games. A successful agent will need to crack safes, decrypt messages, find hidden objects, and defuse bombs. Each mini-game brings new depth and variety to your life as an agent. Missions Being an agent isn’t all white sand beaches and apple martinis. When business calls, you’re sure to encounter a new breed of supervillains and murderous henchmen who want nothing more than to see your Agency in ashes. Work alone or get a little help from your friends and fellow operatives. Stay sharp, and don’t blow your cover, because in this game one false move and you’ll be pushing daisies. The life of an agent is a dangerous one, but it sure beats flipping burgers… wouldn’t you say? HQ Customization Build a headquarters that your friends will envy. Show off your trophies from deadly assignments in distant lands Make a statement by …
Video Rating: 1 / 5

Click Here to Watch the Agency Covert Ops Black Market Trailer: www.youtube.com The Agency Covert Ops E3 2010 Gameplay Trailer [HD] Developer: Sony Online Entertainment Release: Q4/2010 Genre: MMO Platform: PS3/PC Publisher: Sony Online Entertainment Website: www.playcovertops.com Avatar Customization To be a top agent you’ve got to dress to kill, literally. Customize your avatar with the latest in designer fashion, deck yourself out in industrial battle gear, or just hang out in your bathing suit. Pick from hundreds of different combinations to create a truly unique style. Bored with your look? Shop the Marketplace for a wardrobe upgrade. Mini-Games Complete assignments by testing your skills across several fun and unique mini-games. A successful agent will need to crack safes, decrypt messages, find hidden objects, and defuse bombs. Each mini-game brings new depth and variety to your life as an agent. Missions Being an agent isn’t all white sand beaches and apple martinis. When business calls, you’re sure to encounter a new breed of supervillains and murderous henchmen who want nothing more than to see your Agency in ashes. Work alone or get a little help from your friends and fellow operatives. Stay sharp, and don’t blow your cover, because in this game one false move and you’ll be pushing daisies. The life of an agent is a dangerous one, but it sure beats flipping burgers… wouldn’t you say? HQ Customization Build a headquarters that your friends will envy. Show off …

wii fit plus

Players will find a new dimension to the Wii Fit Bundle experience as they easily set their own customized workout routines, or choose 20-, 30- or 40-minute workouts based on how much time they have available.

Wii Fitness Bundle attracted millions of new players to the world of video games. Now Wii Fitness offers a range of new features and enhancements to help players reinvigorate their workouts, along with exercises and balance games designed to keep them fun.

Users will also be able to choose from specialized workout routines that focus on all-around individual personal fitness goals or certain target areas. And with the addition of activities like Skateboarding and Rhythm Kung Fu, players will be using the Wii Fit Bundle with Balance Board accessory in a variety of new and fun ways.

Wii Fit Plus with Balance Board

• The Wii Fit Bundle includes the game software and the Wii Balance Board.
• Users can decide the amount of time they want to spend on their workouts or select an area for personal improvement, and Wii Fit Plus will suggest a number of different activities for them.
• First, users can mix and match which strength and yoga exercise they prefer on a given day. The seamless
• exercise flows make it easier than ever for users to maintain their daily workout routines.
• Total of games and customization options will make players want to play every day. They have so much fun that their workouts will seem to fly by in no time at all.

Customer Says about Wii Fit Bundle

• You can really feel it, So, after 5 days playing and getting exercises with my Wii Fitness, I think I am ready to write a review, I will try to make it short but useful as possible. invest on Wii Fitness, do not get it just for the games, they do work you out, but I think this game is targeted to do the fit exercises (Yoga and Strength), after your routine, play some mini games to “carpe diem” your daily use of Wii Fitness, as those counts too towards your kcal goal (or Cal, with capital C) and time spent.A
• Must Have for anyone feeling out of shape and GREAT for those recovering from Injury!
• After years of wishing a Wii Fit Package, we finally get one! And, of course, like any excited newbie, I couldn’t wait to get the new Wii Fit Bundle (Wii Fit Plus). I picked it up at midnight, with the Wii Balance Board. I got home, unwrapping it and played until 5am! I was almost falling asleep between two games, but it’s oke it was so much fun, I couldn’t stop! Now, THAT’s a supporter to work out! It even asked if I was a ‘NIGHT OWL’ and I had the option to keep my “day” ‘open’ until 3am, for those late-night workout sessions!

With what customer says about wii fit bundle, will you buy wii fit bundle ?

In September last year, Bandai has updated the Tamagotchi with a color version, causing dozens of teenage girls to leave comments on CrunchGear for the first time. And now the company is ready to roll out yet another model: The so-called Tamagotchi ID [JP] is named “ID” because it’s the first model you can customize to some extent. It’s also possible to install content off the mobile web on the device (but probably only in Japan).

The downloadable content can be anything from virtual items, backgrounds to mini games you first get on your (Japanese) cell phone from a special cell phone-only site and then transmit to your Tamagotchi ID via infrared. You can dress up your character, take him out to various places etc. etc. The device itself features a 1.44-inch TFT display with 128×128 resolution.

The Tamagotchi ID goes on sale in Japan on November 23 in six different colors and costs $57. Targeting mainly 7-9 year-old girls, Bandai plans to sell 500,000 units in Japan alone by March 2010.

Sorry, Tamagotchi fans, Bandai hasn’t said yet whether it will ever sell the ID outside Japan as well.

Examples:

Unfortunately, the system is setup to charge the consumer at maximum from the get-go. Games from the App Store start at free. PSP Mini games start at $5.

The fact of the matter is, the iPhone gaming experience isn’t all that great. Full-fledged PSP titles should cost more than tiny downloadable apps any day. But there’s no good reason for gamers to pay a premium on PSP titles that are available for less on other platforms, just because they generally pay more for games.

There are multiple fingers to be pointed here. Sony, for not allowing free games, which would inspire some price competition. Sony again, for skimming who knows how much off the top of the price point. (In comparison, it’s known that Apple takes 30% off of the iPhone App Store sales.) And the publishers, who decide to set their games at prices of up to two or three times the cost of the iPhone version.

But the worst part? Not only is the content of overlapping titles generally no better than the iPhone; sometimes it’s worse.

You see, PSP Minis can’t have any network or online features. Nor can they support camera peripherals (a major focus of DSiWare innovation) or DLC. Kotaku just reviewed iPhone port Hero of Sparta. On the PSP it costs triple what you’ll pay at the App Store. Their review? “Simplistic controls, muddled graphics and abysmal sounds turn what was a fantastic iPhone game into a oddly disjointed Playstation Portable experience.” Kotaku’s review of Tetris was much better. But you know what? Tetris costs twice as much on the PSP as it does the iPhone.

Some will say, well, you get what you pay for. But that’s entirely our point. If you glance across the two platforms, you aren’t getting what you’re paying for. You’re either getting less, or you’re getting a lousy port or, best case scenario, you’re getting basically the same thing for more.

Granted, PSP Minis are very new (they just launched today). The platform is young. And kudos to Sony for making the digital leap.

But Sony’s most loyal fanbase—those frequenting PSN and checking out Minis on day one—shouldn’t subsidize a company’s foray into the new digital era. Especially given the relatively high price of the PSPgo, at least compared to other portable devices with a lot more processing power, I think the option for free game downloads—at least for a few approved titles—would be a reasonable thank-you.

I mean, even Apple, who doesn’t provide the most open platforms in the world, has realized the merit of free app/game distribution. One, they’re already making money off the hardware. And two, getting someone visiting iTunes will also get that someone to at least get a glimpse of what else iTunes is selling. Lure them in with a free game and they’ll be more likely to purchase one later.

Stop pricing these games so high, Sony. Open up your platform, just a crack, make yourselves competitive with the App Store. Because, at the end of the day, we’d all prefer to be playing these iPhone games with full-out controllers. But right now there’s quite a lot more iPhones and iPod Touches out there than PSPgos. Don’t blow your (only?) shot to win us back.

The Platform: Xbox 360 (also available for the PS3, PS2, Wii and PSP)

The Review:

Overall

2K’s The Bigs 2 is a relatively easy game to pick up and play compared to more serious titles, like MLB 2K9 or MLB 09: The Show, but experienced Bigs “vets” will find a handful of new features to keep the experience of the Big Show challenging making the game worth picking up. If that’s not enough to sway you then check out the rest of the review. I triple dog dare you.

Improvements

If you’re feeling confident with your pitcher and he’s painting all the corners then attack the opposing team’s big hitters early to shrink their “wheelhouse.” It’ll pay off in later innings when their sweet spot has gone from the size of a big rig down to a Mini or something like that.

Homerun Pinball was a big hit in the first title and it makes its triumphant return in The Bigs 2. It’s still a lot of fun and I’m glad they brought it back. 2K dropped a few additional all new mini-games and you’re confronted with Prince Fielder (the guy on the cover) in the Power mini-game, which is the jump off for the rest, including the Contact mini-game against Chipper Jones. I’m still working to unlock the rest.

You wanted a full 162-game season, right? Well, 2K listened and there’s a full season mode now. I could be wrong, but there’s no way of tracking “league leaders.” Who doesn’t want to know if they’re leading the league in homeruns? It’s a surprising omission to say the least.

Rounding out the improvements from the first Bigs title are the graphics. They’re improved, sure, but you might not notice it.

Negatives

Can the AI in a game be that good? Maybe but not in The Bigs 2. Even in hard mode, the AI makes some unbelievable snags that are way too “legendary” or “great” for my tastes. It seemed like they had a couple outs every single inning.

League stats are a no show as I mentioned before. What’s up with that?

I don’t typically pay attention to game soundtracks, but someone must have been in an emo mood when they compiled the music for Bigs 2. Who listens to Daughtry or P.O.D.? Korn I can tolerate if I need to but Daughtry? I’d rather listen to nails on a chalkboard.

And what’s the deal with only letting me attempt one pickoff per inning? I can do it, Coach, I swear!

Squeeze plays don’t seem to register with 2K Sports. It’d be nice if I could lead off of third base. Just sayin’.

Mixed Bag

The “Power Blast” is still available, but there’s an added “Big Slam” feature that gives you four pitches to four batters (one each) giving you the chance to load the bases for a grand slam. Any contact with the ball results in a hit adding a skill oriented dimension to the game. But here’s why it’s in the “mixed bag” section. If you’re pitching against a “Big Slam” then you have no control over your pitcher in the final three pitches of the four-pitch sequence. I wouldn’t willingly give up a homerun or hit.

Big ups to Joe Ziemer for helping me out with this one.

The Bigs 2 [2K Sports]

Yeah, that’s pretty much what I kept asking myself while I unwrapped Sega’s Let’s Tap for the Wii. By placing the Wii Remote on a box and tapping the surface, the Wiimote’s accelerometer miraculously picks up on the vibrations and translates them on-screen. It’s a novel idea, sure, and I’m astonished that it actually works. I’ve finally replaced Wii Sports as my party game when friends are over and the girls are sick of the boys shooting aliens all night drunk on Pabst.

With only five mini-games (Tap Runner, Silent Blocks, Rhythmn Tap, Bubble Voyager, Visualizer) the game can get old in a short amount of time, but the control scheme is actually what kept me playing and not what was happening on screen. How the hell does this thing actually compute my drunken taps on a box into appropriate actions on screen? I don’t get it! Well, I do and I don’t.

Tap Runner was the clear winner of the five mini-games. As Rowan Atkinson’s character in Rat Race would say, “it’s a race.” Challenge three others to a race riddled with obstacles in the hopes of being crowned the best drunk gamer in all the land.

But, seriously, Let’s Tap is surprisingly well put together and utilizes the mechanics of the Wii system like no other and that includes Nintendo. Kudos to Prope and big ups to Sega for only wanting to charge $30. I give it two thumbs up and suggest you pick it up as well. Not everyone wants to flail around like a jackass trying to hit a baseball or tennis ball and some folks shouldn’t be allowed to touch fake musical instruments either. Just sayin’.

Let’s Tap [Sega]

We came, we saw, we played.

Sega

Alpha Protocol: We first saw AP at last year’s E3 and things are looking quite good for Sega’s upcoming “modern-day spy RPG”. It’s currently in Alpha and is scheduled for a late Fall launch on the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. It plays like a shooter with sprinklings of RPG thrown in to mix it up.

To recap: the main protagonist is Michael Thorton and he’s still out to save the world. As Thorton you can upgrade weapons in the “black market” like you would in Dead Space. Mini games are also in effect throughout the game and they’re akin to the mini games you might find in BioShock. There will be roughly 25 hours and the last mission has various endings depending on which path you choose to take. A “Fury” mode slows down the gameplay that allows Thorton to close in on enemies for hand to hand combat.

Aliens vs Predator: Rebellion makes a comeback on this upcoming Sega title that revisits and improves on their first AVP title that came out in 1999. AVP takes place 30 years after Aliens 3. Behind closed doors I saw a bit of the Marine campaign mode while E3 attendees checked out Predator campaign (or was it Alien?). To be honest it looked like any other FPS, but with Aliens and Predators hunting down your Marine ass. In other words, I liked it. There are three separate campaign modes that let you experience the thrill of the hunt from each side, but they all follow the same narrative story. Rebellion confirmed that AVP will have online multiplayer but failed to divulge any other details during the private demo. It’s set for an early simultaneous 2010 launch for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

The Conduit: Without a doubt, the best FPS for the Wii with amazing graphics that would have you think you’re on an Xbox 360 or PS3. Online multiplayer is fantastic and the weapons in the game are badass. What sets the title apart from other Wii FPS titles is the amount of in-game control you have over controller settings. You can tweak the settings to make them as precise as you want. Just like you would on a PC. But the comparisons end there. It’s a start, though. And a damn good one at that.

EA

NHL10: I’m not a hockey buff or fan, but EA had a compelling demo to make me want to play their upcoming hockey title, NHL 10. I especially enjoyed the first person fighting. If you’re getting whooped on your screen gradually gets darker and darker to indicate that you’re about to lose the fight. If your star player gets hassled then the team’s tough guys come in to protect him. On the board play was also improved and lets players protect the puck like you would in real life. You can kick the puck away; pin an opponent to the glass and AI even comes over to help out. The fans also bang on the glass to replicate a real life hockey game. EA stated that passing was also improved from past releases with a full control passing scheme that lets you control speed and accuracy. The default setting is a hybrid control scheme between full control and assisted control. There have been over 200 improvements that include the ability to shoot from your knees and leg kicks to fake a shot.

FIFA 10: You might not believe it but the US ranks second behind the UK in sales for the FIFA franchise. The FIFA teamed scoured the forums to find out what gamers wanted improvements on for FIFA 10 and the 70 percent of the work went into improving the game based on those criticisms and critiques. Manager Mode features 50 new improvements, but the biggest improvement has to be the 360 degrees of dribbling. You can push the ball anywhere, make small lateral touches, and make minute directional changes. There’s also a bit more contact when going for the ball so it feels authentic!

Dragon Age Origins: Set to launch on October 20th of this year. I’m not big into RPGs like this, but making video game characters do the humpty hump intrigues me. During my private demo, the BioWare devs bedded loner, sorceress, hottie Morrigan pissing off a fine red-headed Irish lass by the name of Leliana. If it’s from BioWare it has to be good, right?

Dante’s Inferno: Video game adaptation of the Divine Comedy (duh). Your goal is to save Beatrice. Your weapons include Death’s scythe and a cross that Beatrice once gave us a gift. As you can imagine, each level is one of the nine Circles of Hell and you begin in Limbo with unbaptized children terrorizing you among other beastly creatures. Graphics were stunning and at 60fps, gameplay is quite smooth. Dante collects souls as currency in the game and has the ability to absolve or punish characters that pop up throughout the game. Reload times in between deaths is amazingly quick. Fun fact: protestors were on hand at the EA booth handing out flyers to get the game banned.

Mass Effect 2: Is Shepherd dead? Well, BioWare made it clear that ME was a trilogy, so you should be able to figure that one out assuming you survived the first game. If you did then you can import your ME game into ME2. So make sure you survive ME2 so you can import it into ME3. Weapon effects, like head shots have been improved and there are now 90 weapons classes to choose from. An “interrupt” option has been implemented in the real time dialogue system that pops up in the bottom left corner of the screen. What I saw during my demo was a confrontation between Shepherd and a mercenary (or something, I don’t remember what he was) that resulted in Shepherd pushing him through a window that he was leaning up against. In this scenario, the player has the option of acting on the “interrupt” whether he/she/it chooses to do so.

So the question remains whether or not Shepherd is dead. BioWare debuted a short cinematic trailer with the Normandy going down and Shepherd trying to save a crewmember. In the process, the ship gets hit one more time and Shepherd is seen floating off into space with very little oxygen. BioWare promises numerous endings based on the team you pick, so you best be picking a strong one.

Lucas Arts

Star Wars: The Old Republic: Three new features were revealed last week at E3 and that includes a new class, cover system and multiplayer dialogue, but I won’t go into the latter since it’s a bit dry and you can probably figure out what happens.

New class: Han Solo-like character that’s a gunrunner for the Republic. Weapons at his disposal include flash bang grenades, pistol, and nut kicking moves, literally.

Cover system: For the first time in an MMO, TOR has a cover system that works much like cover systems you’ll find in console FPS games. However, there are multiple points in one section, behind a boulder for instance, that give players better coverage or a better shot on enemies.

2K

BioShock 2: OMG!!! Multiplayer on the Xbox 360 for BioShock 2 is the new hotness. The demo I saw took place at the Kashmir Restaurant and pitted six players against one another in a deathmatch. Weapons, thus far, aren’t anything new and include a pistol, shotgun and three elemental plasmids (Winter Blast, Incinerate and Electro Bolt). I just started playing through BioShock again and I kind of like the fact that it’s a single player shooter. It’s my hope that 2K reveals a multitude of multiplayer exclusive weapons. But playing as a Big Daddy is pretty damn cool in and of itself. Just be sure to find the suit before anyone else.

WB

Scribblenauts: A quirky DS game that makes you think outside the box. It’s simple, really. You have one simple task each level and that is to obtain a Starite. How you obtain it is up to you. For example, one level might have a Starite dangling from the ceiling so you have to figure out what objects you might need to get it. Type or scribble “ladder” or “lasso” and you just might have yourself a Starite. You can use anything you can think of to get the object of your desire. It’s a simple game, but probably one of the biggest titles to come to the Nintendo handheld this year.

Capcom

Lost Planet 2: More or less the same thing we saw in the first LP. I didn’t notice anything different, but that’s not to say it wasn’t fun to play. I also didn’t play for very long.

Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles: I can’t really say anything negative about the Darkside Chronicles. It’s a Resident Evil title and it’s good, but any other FPS besides The Conduit is pretty meh at this point.

That’s the word straight from Tecmo as Tecmo Bowl for the Wii is “indefinitely on hold,” according to a company spokesperson. Instead, we’ll get to play Tecmo’s Family Fun Football which promises unlicensed teams, goofy big-headed characters, and mini games in order to cater more to the Wii’s target audience. See the video below for more:

If you own an Xbox 360, you’ll be happy to know that Tecmo IS working on Tecmo Bowl for Xbox Live Arcade. It won’t be available until some time next year, though, so it looks like the waiting game continues.

[via Joystiq]

You guys down with Wii Fit or what? Loose talk around the internet seems to indicate that we’ll all be hearing about something called Wii Fit Plus at E3 next week.

Back in April, Nintendo apparently filed a Japanese patent for Wii Fit Plus along with the above logo. Certain financial analysts are speculating that the game will be targeted towards existing Wii Fit users and will be sold both as a standalone title and as part of a bundle — presumably with the Balance Board.

I’d say it all makes sense. There aren’t a huge amount of exercises in Wii Fit and there hasn’t been any downloadable content as far as being able to purchase new exercises, so some sort of expansion pack that adds a bunch of new strength training, yoga poses, and mini games seems perfectly logical.

Also, stay tuned for our upcoming Fitness Week here at CrunchGear. I’ll be comparing Wii Fit to EA SPORTS Active for those of you trying to decide on a fitness game for the Wii.

[via Kotaku]