About Nick Santangelo

[springboard type=”youtube” id=”bs9R9-vbeN4″ player=”xbla001″ width=”640″ height=”360″ ]

Microsoft, as part of its pre-E3 2012 media briefing, today announced Xbox Music, Zune’s replacement. More than 30 million songs are promised …
Read More

Xbox SmartGlass will launch this coming fall, Microsoft revealed at its pre-E3 media briefing today. Following up on first details of the application being unveiled to content partners …
Read More

Ascend: New Gods, Signal Studios’ (Toy Soldiers) latest game, was revealed today with the above trailer that aired during Microsoft’s pre-E3 2012 media briefing. The cinematic trailer is full of blood and gore — the main character does a lot of stabbing and then flies through the air towards a Titan in a scene that channels God of War 3. Speaking of the main character, he is a member of Caos, “a gigantic race of mighty warriors.” The player-character’s appearance, weapons and armor will all be upgradeable.

Signal says that an ancient prophecy has predicted that the Titans’ reign will come to an end and whichever of the Three Gods is triumphant over them shall rule over mortals in their place. The player must choose one of the (the chaotic goddess of darkness, the zealous god of light or the manipulative lord of the void) to serve as a champion for in this war being waged to bring about the end of the Titans’ rule.

Read More

Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds, the XBLA 2D side-scroller outed the other day by Famitsu, will release exclusively on XBLA in 2013, the above debut trailer reveals. This first trailer is obviously meant for Japan, with an HD version said to be coming at some point during E3 next week. It’s unknown whether or not the high-def cut will be redone for the English-speaking world or not.

Either way, eager gamers can peruse the gallery down below there full of in-game screens and character art emphasizing the new 8-bit-inspired art style. The visuals are a stark departure from the original title’s looks. Conversely, the game’s controls are said to be almost an exact match of those found in the fighting game that preceded it, allowing vets to easily jump right into the fray. Speaking of jumping in, the only characters playable from the start of the adventure will be Mikoto, Waka, Itsuki and Yuzuha. The remainder of the cast will presumably be unlocked as players progress through levels.

Pricing has not yet been decided upon for the spin-off of the 2009 fighting game known simply as Phantom Breaker. A few solid gameplay details have now shaken lose thanks to Famitsu, though. In addition the main game featuring 4-player co-op, there will also be a “Battle Royale” mode that pits players against each other in different scenarios, such as one player taking on three others by his lonesome.

Read More

Square Enix’s Mini Ninjas Adventures will be available on June 29 for 800 Microsoft Points, two days later than its unexpected Marketplace listing previously indicated. The action title, …
Read More

Jeremy McGrath’s Offroad Racing will fishtail onto Xbox Live Arcade on June 27 for 800 Microsoft Points, says Reverb Publishing. Developed by 2XL Games, the off-road racing title …
Read More

Japanese developer Toylogic announced today that its 15 vs. 15 online action title for XBLA, Happy Wars, will be making its first public appearance in North America at …
Read More

Famitsu has revealed that Phantom Breaker: Battle Grounds is headed to Xbox Live Arcade in 2013, reports Andriasang. Battle Grounds is a side-scrolling action title from developer 5pb, …
Read More

Nexon Korea and Microsoft Studios will host a media showcase event to demo Dungeon Fighter Live: Fall of Hendon Myre at the Electronic Entertainment Expo in Los Angeles …
Read More

An Xbox Marketplace listing has revealed that Mini Ninjas Adventures is on the way to XBLA from publisher Square Enix and developer Side Kick. The previously unannounced game mysteriously turned up on the website without any sort of formal announcement from Square, Side Kick or Microsoft. If the listing is accurate, and regular readers know that such is not always the case, Mini Ninjas will be landing on Arcade June 27.

Side Kick’s action-adventure title will feature 21 levels of “intense ninja action.” The Kinect-controlled game is a followup to 2009’s Mini Ninjas, developed by IO Interactive and released by Eidos — now owned by Square Enix — which was developed for 360, PS3, Wii, DS and Windows before eventually making its way over to Mac.

Just a few weeks ago, Mini Ninjas: Hiro’s Adventure turned up on that prolific spoiler of unannounced games, the Australian Classification Board. It does not appear that this is the same project, however, since IO is listed as the developer attached to Hiro’s Adventure, not Side Kick. With E3 now one week away, it’s far from out of the realm of possibility that more news will be forthcoming during the show about one or both titles.

Source: Microsoft

Read More