Up late talking games & writing? You're...

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Cosplay: Both of my kids are really into costumes and such, and today my youngest asked me for some rocket boots. I didn't have anything immediately on hand besides an old pair of galoshes that were not being used, so the wife picked up a few bits, and this is what I put together.

Definitely some influences from Sonic/Metroid there. Still, not too bad for a first effort, I think. Now, hopefully he won't ask me why they don't actually fly...

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Games: I just recently completed Persona 4: Arena and the review just went up over at GameCritics. Click on over and take a look if you are so inclined.

(While you're at it, @Aeazel’s review of Endless Space is up, as well as a review from Tera Kirk for PSN’s Time Machine: Rogue Pilot.)

After that, I did a quick evaluation of the "New Character" DLC for Street Fighter X Tekken. The review is in the can, so look for that to go up soon. In general, I really liked it... Blanka is a badass and Jack-X is a lot of fun to play. Elena is also an interesting character to use, as well. Although the price is steep at $20, this stuff is a great addition to an already-great game.

On the other hand, it's hard for me to look past the fact that fourteen extra characters were already on the disc that I bought. Regardless of how people try to spin it, I'm just not okay with paywalled ransomware, and it makes me feel a little dirty. It's a little too late at night (at the time I'm writing this) to get into that whole discussion again, but it just doesn't sit right.

At the moment, I'm going through Thomas Was Alone, a small indie effort on PC about a little line of code that becomes self-aware and begins navigating its way through its environment. 

It's utterly charming and I love the ultra-clean, elegant visuals. I'm not done with it yet, but what I've seen so far has been quite pleasant.

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Games: One of my most-wanted this year is Dishonored… although I haven't laid hands on it yet, it seems to me to represent a great combination of Bioshock and Hitman, with a lot of little random bits thrown in for good measure. 

Although buzz is building for this title, I have to admit that I'm quite surprised more people haven't been talking about it. Bethesda just released a brand-new video about some of the creative ways to kill people. Check it out, and I'm pretty sure that it will be on your most-wanted list, too.

In smaller-game news, the newest Indie Game Uprising will be taking place soon on XBLI, and the good people behind it have released atrailer of their own. If you haven't seen what's been happening on Microsoft's Indie Channel lately, make sure you take a look... most of the titles selected for this trailer look quite intriguing to me. Well, except one. One looks pretty lame. But the rest? Sign me up!

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That's it for now. I'm running a pretty severe sleep deficit and need to get myself under some covers, but check out the news section down below... lots of good bits this time around.

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The AbleGamers Foundation is proud to announce the 2012 Children's Grant Program.  One child with special needs will receive assistive technology he or she needs to play video games despite their disability.

Applications are open now until the end of August. Don't let this opportunity pass you by. Fill out the form at http://www.ablegamers.com/ablegamers-2012-grant.html for your chance to be the selected for the 2012 AbleGamers Foundation Children’s Grant Program

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Starting from August 9, players will be able to participate in a new competition being held on the Pawn Community website, The Gran Soren Times. Players will be able to submit in-game screenshots taken using the photo sharing feature in Dragon’s Dogma into three different categories: The Fairest Maidens, The Most Dashing Gentlemen, and The Most Unique Myrmidons. Winning entries will receive exclusive avatars for PSN or Xbox Live and 18 very lucky grand prize winners - six each from Europe, North America and Japan - will have their pawns showcased in the “Special Pawn” area of the Rift. For more information be sure to check out The Gran Soren Times at http://game.capcom.co.jp/DD/en/top/

Also, to help new players enjoy the world of Dragon’s Dogma, a title update delivering an all new ‘Easy Mode’ is now available on both PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360.

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Announced earlier this week, Ada Wong will be a playable character with her own individual campaign in Resident Evil 6. A single player experience, Ada’s campaign features unique missions and will provide her perspective on the bioterrorist outbreaks that threaten to wipe out the world’s population. Ada Wong’s campaign becomes available once players have completed the campaigns for Leon, Chris and Jake.

For those who want to experience the action as a zombie, J’avo or other C-virus mutation then the all new online mode Agent Huntdelivers. As a ‘hunter’ players will be able to infiltrate other players’ sessions with the aim of eliminating the human characters.  As a hunter, players will have access to the unique movements and attacks of each of the enemies, including those of the various J’avo transformations.

So how does Agent Hunt Mode work?

·         Complete the main campaigns for either Leon, Chris or Jake to then unlock the Agent Hunt stages for each of those respective campaigns

·         When creating an RE6 gameplay session a player has the option to allow/not allow Agent Hunt

·         When a hunter searches for a session to join they will see whether or not other players from around the world want to allow hunters into their game

·         The hunter then picks another player’s session to join and jumps into that session

o   Please note only certain stages will be available for Agent Hunt sessions

·         The agent side can be either a single human player with an AI partner, or two human players in co-op mode. Up to two separate hunters can join an Agent Hunt session. When a hunter dies they respawn in the same session as a different random enemy from that area.

·         If the hunter eliminates the agent then they will be taken to a ‘hunt successful’ results screen where they can join another session if they wish.

·         If the agent is eliminated then their game session will end exactly as if they had been playing a standard game session with CPU enemies.

·         If the hunter quits the session then the agent’s game continues as normal with all AI enemies.

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Bethesda Softworks®, a ZeniMax® Media company, today revealed the all-star cast lending their voices to Dishonored, a new first-person action game from Arkane Studios in which the player takes on the role of Corvo, a supernatural assassin driven by revenge. Dishonored will feature an award-winning ensemble including Academy Award® winner, Susan Sarandon (“Thelma & Louise,” “Dead Man Walking”), Golden Globe® winner, Brad Dourif (“The Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest”), Emmy® Award nominees Carrie Fisher (original “Star Wars” trilogy) and John Slattery (“Mad Men”), Michael Madsen (“Thelma & Louise,” “Reservoir Dogs,” “Kill Bill”), and Lena Headey (“300,” “Game of Thrones”),

Susan Sarandon, an Academy Award winner and five-time nominee, will make her videogame debut as the former aristocrat, Granny Rags – an intriguing old blind woman now deranged after years of street life. Academy Award nominee and Golden Globe-winner Brad Dourif takes on the role of the inventor Piero, creator of the iconic mask worn by Corvo as well as a wealth of gadgets Corvo can use. Emmy winner and Hollywood-icon Carrie Fisher can be heard broadcasting government propaganda over loudspeakers throughout the city of Dunwall, where the game is set.

  

The all-star cast continues with John Slattery (“Mad Men,” “The Adjustment Bureau”) who takes on the role of Admiral Havelock, a Loyalist who helps Corvo on his quest, as well as Michael Madsen who brings his videogame voiceover experience to the role of Daud, a mysterious assassin. Chloë Grace Moretz (“Kick-Ass,” “Hugo”) portrays Young Lady Emily, the Empress’ daughter who is kidnapped after her mother’s death while Lena Headey joins the cast as Calista, Emily’s caretaker. In addition to the star-studded voice cast, Composer Daniel Licht (“Dexter”) lends his musical talents to create the game’s original score. 

Dishonored gives players the chance to eliminate enemies using a flexible combat system that combines supernatural abilities and numerous weapons. Pursue targets under the cover of darkness or boldly attack with weapons drawn. The choices you make will control each mission and the game's ultimate conclusion.

Dishonored is set for release in North American on October 9, 2012 and throughout Europe on October 12, 2012 on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation® 3 computer entertainment system, and Games for Windows.

Dishonored has been rated M for mature by the ESRB. For more information about Dishonored visit: www.dishonored.com.

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ATLUS, the video game publishing brand of Index Digital Media, Inc., today announced that THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIII, the most recent entry in the legendary fighting franchise and the sleeper hit of the recent Evo 2012 Finals, is now available for digital purchase and download via PlayStation®Store for PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system (PS3™) and Xbox LIVE®Marketplace for Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft.

Showered with praise since its release and generally considered one of the best iterations in the long-running, highly-acclaimed series, KOF XIII is a must-own for fighting game fans.  Its huge roster of beloved fighters, ample content and features, and exceptional fighting gameplay elevate it into a class all its own, making it easy to see why GameSpot hailed it as the "Best Fighting Game of 2011."

THE KING OF FIGHTERS XIII is out now in North America for PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 systems in both physical and digital versions, the latter of which is available for $29.99. For more info, visit http://www.atlus.com/kofxiii.

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