13 years ago
Best of XBLA at E3 2012
Every year, E3 seems more hectic than the last. We spent five hectic days getting our eyes and hands on every XBLA game possible and we’ve picked out eighteen games that stood out from the crowd. Here is the run-down on the very best XBLA titles from E3 2012. Read More
13 years ago
Observe the Mark of the Ninja trailer
A new gameplay trailer for Mark of the Ninja has snuck out of E3 and onto the internet. Developer Klei Entertainment, the masterminds behind the Shank series, have created a game …
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13 years ago
PAX East: Slash and hang in Mark of the Ninja
Klei Entertainment’s new title Mark of the Ninja throws a shuriken at a dart board for a development team used to creating violent brawlers like Shank , but the shift in genres is a natural fit considering how gruesome Mark of the Ninja really is. Gruesome in a delightful way, of course.
Our demo at PAX East began with our protagonist lurking in the shadows of a scarcely lit environment with lots of vents, rooftops and things to hang from with the grappling hook, so gamers can expect plenty of options to wipe out foes. And wipe out foes they shall, because the silent takedowns are visceral and satisfying to execute. When you approach an enemy from behind, instead of having a simple button press do the trick, the game enters into a quick time event (QTE) mode where players must press a combination of the analog stick and the X button to kill. It adds an extra layer of interaction rarely seen in a game of this type.
13 years ago
XBLA Fans: PAX East Preview Hub
Believe it or not my favorite part about video games isn’t the games themselves but the way they bring people together. Arguably no show demonstrates this bond better than PAX. Thousands of likeminded individuals flooded Boston this past Easter weekend. It didn’t matter where you worked or what you did or what you had to do when you hit the ground again on Monday; for one glorious weekend everyone was an equal: a gamer. It didn’t matter if your weapon was a die, a mouse, a controller or one’s own body. Everyone at this show had a passion for games.
A few of us from XBLA Fans made the trip and had the honor of mingling and checking out some of the upcoming XBLA titles for 2012 and beyond. We were able to hear developers in their element talking to fans about their projects. It was an amazing experience. Our own Andrew Crews has already elaborated on this issue, but in the end you remember the little things. That being said, there were some amazing games. Check out our full breakdown below!
13 years ago
XBLAFancast – PAX East 2012 Wrap-up
John is once again joined by Andrew Crews, Nick DePetris and Nick Santangelo to round out our trio of PAX podcasts. In this episode the guys cover pretty much every game they saw at the show, inlcluding Dust: An Elysian Tail, Awesomenauts, Mark of the Ninja and far too many more to list. Needless to say if you want to know about the XBLA games shown at PAX this is the podcast for you. If you have any additional questions hit us up on twitter or you can contact the guys on their personal accounts (linked below).
If you missed our other PAX specials check them out, from Day 1 and Day 2 of the show.
Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast on iTunes. We appreciate it! Check us out on Twitter (@XBLAFans) where you can win codes for games, give us feedback or just ask a question. We are also now on Stitcher, so you can stream the show on your smartphone, give it a go!
Big thanks to Chris Green for the awesome theme music, be sure to check out his site, BlurredEdge, and why not follow him on Twitter (@BlurredEdge) too?
[podcast]https://xblafans.com/xblafancast/XBLAFancastPAXWrapup.mp3[/podcast]
13 years ago
XBLAFancast PAX East Special – That’s a game
Our Editor in Chief John Laster returns to the hosting chair for this special episode of the podcast, recorded at PAX East. He’s joined by News Editor Perry Jackson, Reporter Nick Santangelo and Nick DePetris from XboxKinectFans.com. They chat about some of the games they saw on the first day of the show, including Mark of the Ninja, Runner 2 and Rock Band Blitz.
Due to the nature of recording in a hotel room and passing the mic the audio is a bit spotty, we apologise for that but hope you still give it a listen.
Please subscribe, rate and review the podcast on iTunes. We appreciate it! Check us out on twitter (@XBLAFans) where you can win codes for games, give us feedback or just ask a question. We are also now on Stitcher, so you can stream the show on your smartphone, give it a go!
Big thanks to Chris Green for the awesome theme music, be sure to check out his site BlurredEdge and why not follow him on twitter too @BlurredEdge.
[podcast]https://xblafans.com/xblafancast/XBLAFancastPaxEast2012.mp3[/podcast]
13 years ago
What we are playing: April 8
What we are playing is a weekly column published on Sunday. Various members of the team let the world know which games have had them hooked over the past week …
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13 years ago
Klei wants you to think as you sneak in Mark of the Ninja
Klei, developers of Shank and its recently released sequel, Shank 2, recently announced their new project, Mark of the Ninja. We have the fortune of bringing you another interview with Klei’s founder, Jamie Cheng. This time, he’s been kind enough to talk about Mark of the Ninja in some detail regarding the team’s approach to the game and their gameplay goals. We’ve also got preview content coming up after PAX East, so stick around after this!
Shank is definitely a kinetic, quick paced beat ’em up and never denies that, but Mark of the Ninja is no brawler; in fact it’s far from it. So we had to ask: why a stealth game?
According to Cheng, the team at Klei that’s been working on Mark of the Ninja grew up with ninjas and, simply put, they wanted to make a game that does ninjas justice. “When I play other stealth games you don’t feel like a ninja, you feel like Shank actually. We wanted one where you actually felt sneaky, felt like an actual ninja.”
13 years ago
Weekly Roundup: March 3
Weekly Roundup compiles all the biggest news stories, reviews, and releases from the week into one handy post on the weekends.
13 years ago
Klei Entertainment announces Mark of the Ninja
Klei Entertainment just recently released Shank 2 this past month and we really liked it but what’s next for the Vancouver studio? In an update today, they announced their brand new game Mark of the Ninja, a stealth based action game with a similar style to their previous games. They’ve pulled back the emphasis on hardcore action for stealth which you can see on their website. You can go through a text adventure with the end providing a teaser of some gameplay with the ninja utilizing the environment to trap a guard, catch the trailer after the break (thanks to Vox Games for that). Mark of the Ninja sneaks to XBLA this summer.