The machinima team over at the Sims team have recreated the latest Twilight: New Moon trailer using The Sims 3. For machinima I’ve seen around the net, this looks really good. I mean, the lead actress has more different facial expressions and better acting skills than Kristen Stewart. (boom. face.)

The creative LEGO minds over at Brickforge are auctioning off a full set of custom Halo LEGO minifigs for the Toys for Tots charity. These minifigs are custom made meaning LEGO doesn’t make these.  (But they should!) As of this posting, the auction the bidding is at $150 with 1 day and 4 hours left. If you want you own custom made full set of these bad boys, head on over to the auction page.

[via model building secrets via Bricklink]

American fans of the Monster Hunter franchise will soon be once again turned loose upon an unsuspecting population of exotic prey.

Capcom previewed its new soon-to-be-imported Monster Hunter Tri on Tuesday, November 17^th. Pheonix Wright: Ace Attourney for the Wii was also on display, as was Monster Hunter Freedom Unite. The event was set up like a mock class/school, and allowed attendees to test the battle demo with a series of pre-generated characters.  It was well-attended, although for the most part the development team of the game could not attend.

The latest entry in the popular hack-’n-slash knows where the bread and butter of its gameplay remains: beating the life out of powerful quarries with a variety of interesting weapons. This hearty fare is garnished with a wide range of new additions, from online and split-screen multiplayer to what producer Ryozo Tsujimoto, who spoke at the press event, promises is the franchise’s most robust single-player story system to date, accompanied by an NPC companion named “Cha-Cha.”

Admittedly, that doesn’t say much, since Monster Hunter Tri remains fundamentally a casual experience.  Each hunt the battle demo included posed a similar scenario: choose a monster to hunt down, pursue them through a narrow but beautiful series of wild canyons, and once brought to bay, harry them to their death with repeated attacks within the time limit. Each beast has specific weaknesses, quirks and attacks, and they will flee to other areas of the map if pressed.

The game is more about choreographing your party’s assault than solitary heroics, since each weapon is fairly simple to wield. Unfortunately, there is no easy way to tell how hurt your prey is, so players are never certain whether they are about to win or barely scratching the beast. Slain monsters, whether your quarry or other creatures randomly encountered in the field, in turn drop body parts that can be combined to produce new weapons and armor, much of which has an intriguingly barbaric, animalistic appearance.

Of the new features, the weapons and stages were the ones most on display in the demo. Our old friend the sword is present in one-handed, two-handed, and katana variations, all ready allies in a fight. The exotic switchaxe, a weapon morphing from axe to two-handed sword, is conceptually interesting and flexible but sluggish, while the various bowguns were potentially devastating but required strong tactical awareness. Most weapons are designed for specialized tactics, and some monsters have specific vulnerabilities to particular weaponry. Underwater combat was also on display in the form of a mighty leviathan that switched between aquatic and terrestrial environments; this was, as in many games, competently handled but still far more disorienting than battle on land.

On the whole, Monster Hunter Tri’s battle demo seems solid enough, but without access to the promised new single-player or online hub, and thus the ability to test out its crafting system, promised “Cha-Cha” companion, or advancement, it felt like a very incomplete look at the game. After all, half the fun of the series seems to revolve around gradual advancement and bashing together new and ever-more-imposing-looking weapons and armor. We’ll have to wait for that until the game makes its way to the States in spring, when it’ll be sold for around $50.

Today, Capcom issued a Press Release, announcing that they would be releasing the first three entries in the Nintendo DS Ace Attorney series on Nintendo’s, starting with Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney in January, with Phoenix Wright: Justice for All and Phoenix Wright: Trials and Tribulations to be released in the following months.

To read the Press Release, go past the break.

CAPCOM^® UNVEILS CLASSIC ACE ATTORNEY^® SERIES FOR WiiWare^TM

The beloved Ace Attorney series featuring the most exciting courtroom dramas of the digital decade are headed to Nintendo’s popular download service in 2010

SAN MATEO, Calif. — November 18, 2009 — Capcom® Entertainment, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of video games, today announced that three classic Ace Attorney® games are scheduled for digital release on Nintendo’s WiiWare next year beginning with the one that started it all, Phoenix Wright™: Ace Attorney® followed by Phoenix Wright™ Ace Attorney®: JUSTICE FOR ALL, and Phoenix Wright™ Ace Attorney®: TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS. Gamers can expect the deliberations to begin January 2010. These games will cost 1,000 Wii Points, $10.00 USD.

Ace Attorney’s massive popularity and appeal in Japan has caught on in the West and the franchise has now sold well over 3.7 million units worldwide. For the first time ever, this beloved handheld series is making an appearance on a home console, giving gamers access to three of the classic Ace Attorney adventures from the comfort of their own living rooms. Fans and newcomers alike will have a chance to star as the most popular defense attorney in videogames, Phoenix Wright – a man driven by principles and his ability to separate fact from dubious fiction. Each game in the series presents twisting storylines and intriguing gameplay with comical anime stylings. Players will collect evidence, weed through inconsistent testimonies and overcome corrupt agendas to ensure that justice prevails! Present evidence with the wave of the Wii remote or press suspicious testimonies by wiggling it. These games can be played via single-player and has multiple save slots.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Episode 1 through 4) is the first release hitting in January. The story kicks off with Phoenix Wright defending his childhood friend Larry Butz from a murder charge. But this is only the beginning drama for the tenacious legal eagle as Wright faces unexpected tragedies that will test the limits of his incredible deductive prowess. In May, owners of Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney will be able to download the bonus episode that appeared in the original Nintendo DS™ version of the game. It will cost 100 Wii Points.

In March, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: JUSTICE FOR ALL arrives. Phoenix Wright has six months experience and five court victories under his belt. But none of that will do him any good against the ruthless new D.A. in town. Franziska von Karma wants revenge and she’s ready to take Phoenix down at any cost!

In May, Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney: TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS arrives. Phoenix will face the toughest prosecutor yet as the mysterious hard-boiled “Godot” is gunning for him with extreme prejudice. Get ready for the most intense courtroom standoffs of Phoenix Wright’s career!

For more information, please visit http://press.capcom.com and http://capcom-unity.com

Click here to view the embedded video.

The Christian religion always seems to want to be part of the “in-crowd.” They want to be known as cool and hip.  But, every time I see a product like this, it feels like your parents went to go with you to that teen party and pretend they are teens too. Before Mass: We Pray the video game, I thought Guitar Praise was fake.  But then I found out it’s real. Now, I don’t know what to think about this video game trailer above.

Now, I’m not bashing on the Christian or Catholic religions. But I just think religious traditions should stick to non-video game worships. You’re already on the radio and TV. Leave this medium alone, please.

Click here to view the embedded video.

This dog is now officially the coolest dog ever lived. I’d like to challenge any dog to try and play Tony Hawk’s Ride and top this dog’s score. If you’ve been living under an internet rock and don’t know who this dog is, go past the break to refresh your viral video memory.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Welcome to Pandora, a wasteland planet full of hostile bandits, mercenaries, and alien wildlife. It is also home to a legendary wellspring of wealth and alien technology known only as “The Vault,” something that many people believe is a myth…and something many desire to find. This is the setting to 2K Games and Gearbox Software’s First-Person Role Playing Shooter, Borderlands. Having had the chance to play it at PAX 2009, albeit very briefly, I had a few vague ideas about what the gameplay would be like. First-Person Shooters are a dime a dozen these days, but I was under the impression that Borderlands would be a whole different experience. And, I am glad to report, it didn’t disappoint. I spent a good 20+ hours taking on the main story and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Gameplay:

The core gameplay of Borderlands consists of a hybrid of First-Person Shooter and Role Playing gameplay, referred to in promotional materials as a “Role Playing Shooter.” If you were to take Fallout 3 and tip the gameplay scales in favor of the shooter elements of the game, as opposed to the RPG elements, that would pretty much describe the type of gameplay you’d find in Borderlands. The game does not have the standard FPS stage progression, but rather places you in an open world that expands the further you are in the game. The mission structure of the game is comprised of a quest system, undertaking missions in exchange for XP (Experience Points, which are necessary to level up your character), money, and loot (such as weapons and equipment). These missions are usually given out by friendly NPC’s, though different areas in the game’s world contain Bounty Boards, which allow you to take on additional missions and odd jobs for additional rewards.

Gathering XP allows you to level up your character, as is standard in any RPG. Every mission is ranked by experience level and difficulty, with missions becoming easier the closer you are to reaching the experience level listed, ranging from trivial, if your character has surpassed the required experience level, and impossible, if the opposite holds true.  As such, the game requires you to undergo some XP grinding, killing enemy creatures and bandits, as well as undertaking non-mandatory side-missions, usually given out by NPCs or found on Bounty Boards. Each enemy also has their own experience level. Enemies that are at a higher level than you take less damage from your attacks. The higher the enemy’s experience level is, the harder it is to kill them, with enemies that clearly outclass you meaning certain death. However, dying doesn’t mean game over here. If your HP is brought down to zero, you’re given a brief window while as you’re bleeding to kill an enemy, which, if successful, gives you a second wind, restoring your shields and some of your HP. If you fail, you are revived at the last New-U Station you passed, losing a small portion of your money as a result. New-U Stations are everywhere, so dying doesn’t really set you back too far.

At the start of the game, you are given the opportunity to choose from four different characters, each with their own unique character class, defining their specialties and abilities, including a specific action skill, which is unlocked once your character reaches Level 5. Once your action skill is unlocked, you begin receiving a skill point after reaching a new level, being able to strengthen and unlock new skills. Each character has three skill trees, each with its own set of abilities. Furthermore, there are a ton of different weapons to choose from across seven different weapon types, each with its own stats and attributes. Using weapons of a certain type increases your proficiency with that weapon type, which, as you reach higher proficiency levels, grants you added bonuses such as extra damage and faster reloading types.

Aside from your standard weapons, you have other equipment, such as shields, grenades, and modifications. There are two types of modifications that can be obtained; grenade mods, which alter the way grenades work, and class mods, which are mods that give your character new skills based on their specific class. Certain pieces of equipment, including weapons, require you to reach a certain level before being able to use them, with the more powerful weapons being available at higher levels. Additionally, certain weapons, shields, and mods grant elemental damage, such as incendiary, shock, corrosive, and explosive damage, which, if successful, chips away at an enemy’s HP until it wears off. Weapons and Equipment are color coded, based on their rarity, white (most common), green, blue, purple, and orange (rarest). However, a rare weapon isn’t essentially one that’s really powerful, but it will fetch a higher price if you decide to sell. Oddly, in the course of my game, I never came across an orange weapon at all, showing just how rare they are.

In addition to the single player game, Borderlands also offers a four-player online co-op mode, as well as two-player split-screen co-op for the console versions, which allow players to team up and tackle missions together. Playing multiplayer means facing tougher enemies to avoid making the game too easy by teaming up with others. However, enemies drop better loot during multiplayer sessions as well. Unfortunately, there is no fair way to distribute loot, so if you’re playing with random people online, you may want to be quick when collecting loot, or you may find yourself getting beat to the punch by some greedy player. There is also PvP support, which can be activated by two players using melee attacks on each other. There are also arenas, in which player can fight free for all and 2v2 matches against each other. Having played this on the Xbox 360, I can’t say this for certain, but I’ve heard reports of a faulty multiplayer interface on the PC version, which is rather unfortunate, given that the online multiplayer is pretty great.

Graphics/Visuals:

As opposed to most First-Person Shooters these days, whose realistic and gritty graphics tend to mean textures and graphics colored a dull gray and/or brown, Borderlands takes a more cartoonish, cel-shaded appearance, which fits the somewhat absurd tone of the game. It’s nice to see games that aren’t afraid to be colorful, and Borderlands is definitely a fun game to watch. However, there are a few minor graphical glitches that occur time and again which causes textures to not render completely, which usually happens when traveling to new areas or loading your game. This error quickly corrects itself, but it happens more often than one would like.

Sounds:

The game’s soundtrack is pretty well composed, the music usually fitting the mood, especially when it picks up after you find yourself in a dangerous situation. That said, the music isn’t particularly memorable in the game. Aside from the in-game soundtrack, Borderlands also features two pieces of music for its opening and closing credits, which are “Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked” by Cage the Elephant and “No Heaven” by DJ Champion.

As for the dialogue, you tend to hear the same few lines repeated by your character and your enemies over and over. As for NPC’s, they usually get a few lines of dialogue when you see them, but not much. Most of what they have to say is told in the mission descriptions. I do have to commend a few of the missions which have you collecting audio logs left behind by a researcher, which you hear as you collect them. The dialogue in these logs is well done and chronicles the exploits of a research sent to Pandora who slowly goes insane, which results in some very morbid, but funny and entertaining lines of dialogue.

The Cast of Borderlands. From Left to Right: Roland, Lilith, Mordecai, and Brick.

Overall:

The game has a lot going for it, especially because there is so much packed into it. With a limit cap set at 50 and a variety of side-missions for you to complete, along with the online mode and the ability for face friends and others in competitive arenas, Borderlands is a game that will keep you coming back for more, especially with a new DLC campaign coming in a few weeks. The game is essentially built like an MMO, despite that it only supports four players online.

The game is well designed, but if I had to list one major problem with the game, it’s the storyline itself, which is to say it’s hardly even there. Sure, you’re on a quest to get to the vault, but even with a few twist and turns along the way, the storytelling isn’t the game’s strong point. One major issue I had with the game is the characters themselves. Despite their desire to find the Vault, the character’s motivations are never fully explained, which results in them being rather two-dimensional. In addition, most “dialogue exchanges” result in them being told everything, leaving them virtually voiceless, despite them being somewhat vocal during combat. Also, without giving away any spoilers, the ending didn’t really leave me satisfied. Still, the gameplay is done quite well and, story flaws aside, it is very difficult to find fault with the game. I highly recommend it. It’s fun, quirky, and rather enjoyable. If you’re expecting a standard, run of the mill FPS, you won’t find it here. This FPS/RPG hybrid merges the two genres in an interesting way and is definitely worth checking out.

This game was reviewed using a copy of Borderlands on the Xbox 360, courtesy of 2K Games.

We giveaway games because we love you. Check out what we’re giving away today!

[View with PicLens]

 

The prize: Yumsters 2 on Steam
Quantity: Five (5) Steam Keys.  One (1) per winner.

About the prize: Not only are these Yumsters crazy for strawberries, they can rock the bongos. For the love of fruity music, help them earn money by cleaning gardens to promote their band. To really skyrocket, Yumsters need the best equipment to win the ultimate grand prize at the fairy town music showdown. Get fruitilicious in five vibrant locations of Yumsters 2, a sweet Match 3 puzzler.

Key Features:

• Match 3, drag-n-drop
• Rhythm-based gameplay
• Adorable characters
• Win the grand prize!

Thanks to: Kranx Productions

How to win: Random drawing will be done tomorrow morning and given to 5 random people that post a comment below. Good luck!

Dear Geekster2012,

I have no idea what the big deal is. I haven’t bought the game because I’m not a fan of the super hardcore FPS type games. I’m more of a spray and pray kinda guy, hence why I love Left 4 Dead, Left 4 Dead 2, and Team Fortress 2. Now let me find out what the whole hubbubaloo is actually about.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Well damn. That is kinda crazy.  So, you’re asking what the big deal is about? Well, on one side you got people complaining that the video game is making people feel and act like a terrorist in the video game. Because of this, people might go on terrorist rampages because they might feel like its as easy as a video game.

And on the other side, you have smart people. The people who can tell virtual from reality. The people who understand that video games don’t kill people. Guns People do.  The people who, if they have children, would make sure they don’t play these types of games or teach them what the difference between virtual and reality.

The only big deal about this is that it is something new and something very graphic from an FPS game. Oh, and that it is easy bait for the media and those stupid parents that like to blame society and everything else in the world for their own bad parenting.

So, that’s about it. Yes, that mission is very shocking, but I doubt any terrorists will be born from this. Again, it’s just stupid parents and media over hyping this easy bait.

Thanks for the question Geekster2012.

If anyone else has a question, use the contact form on your right, send a tweet, or e-mail me directly at nelson ( at ) pixelatedgeek ( . dot . ) com.

How do you get 99 lives in the New Super Mario Bros. Wii game? Just like you did in the old games. Find a green turtle walking down some stairs, and jump on him.