Microsoft has just announced that the Kinect will retail for $149.99, as retailers have been speculating for months now. For that price, consumers will get both the Kinect hardware and Kinect Adventures, which seems to be a series of games that showcase what the Kinect is capable of. While the source does not list an official release date, Amazon is listing a November release date. Most of the time, retailers are about right, give or take a month. The timing is certainly right for the holidays. Anybody who wants to dance around in front of their TVs should start saving up now, it seems.
[Source: Major Nelson Blog]
For those who have a PC and Steam, Alien Swarm, previously a mod on the Unreal Tournament 2004 engine, has just been released for free. Alien Swarm is a top down shooter that can be played cooperatively with up to four players. Sadly, it’s not available for Mac users at the moment. Apparently, the same team behind this project also worked on Left 4 Dead and the Portal series, both of which are oozing with quality. Did we mention it’s free? We like free and we’re sure you do, too.
[Source: 1UP.com]
Gundemonium Collection is a collection of three games, Gundemonium Recollection, GundeadliGne, and Hitogata Happa that Rockin’ Android has released recently. Developed by Platine Depositif, this collection is a classic bullet hell shooters that hardcore fans and masochists alike will dig. If you enjoy scraping by a wall of bullets by that one tiny pixel of a gap, read on.
We know most of you couldn't be at NIS America's press event, but fear not! We brought back with us gifts! That's right folks, we're giving away free 3 NIS America press event goodie bags each containing:
(1) Prinny Asagi Plushie (not currently available at their online store!)
(1) Trinity Universe Drifter's Guidebook (hardcover)
(1) Z.H.P. Sticker (not available anywhere!)
How to Enter?
There will be three ways to enter with one winner per method:
Contestents must be residents within North America. Winners will be contacted directly and will have 72 hours to respond.
(Note: You can enter through all three methods, but you can only win once)
Many people may not know who Sou Miyata is, but they probably have heard about the Muv-Luv visual novel series which he works on in Japan. Muv-Luv was originally a visual novel PC game whose popularity grew into manga and novel adaptations. The series even has an entire toy line released by Volks. Volks is a popular figurine, doll, and toy manufacturer in Japan. See what he had to say in our brief interview with him at Anime Expo 2010!
Legendary J-Rock band Dir en Grey has just announced a tour of North America starting in Toronto, Canada and ending in Seattle, Washington. In addition, the band will be joined by Apocalyptica, a Finnish rock band famed for using classical instruments. The tour will start in August 23 and run to September 12. Fans can pre-order the tickets now here, while the general public may purchase them in a week. Full schedule after the jump.
Game publisher NIS America threw a press event in San Francisco on Thursday. The event itself was more of a party, with journalists and friends mingling with the staff and each other, sharing food and drinks together. 3 Games were specifically announced, Z.H.P., Cladun, and Ar tonelico Qoga.
Special guest Souhei Niikawa, President of Nippon Ichi Software, was also in attendance and discussed about limiting the number of games his company would be releasing and mentioned a near future release of a new Disgaea title for the Playstation 3. His full statement can be found inside.
We asked about Atelier Totori, Prinny 2, and Neptune; PR Manager Nao Zook told they were hoping they would be able to bring those games over in the near future. We will have to wait for NIS America’s next press event.
Capcom has just announced a new Megaman game, called Megaman Universe. Currently, there are no details except for a stop motion teaser trailer without any gameplay whatsoever. All that we know at the moment is that it will be available on both the Xbox 360 and Playstation 3.However, the trailer features other Capcom characters like Ryu from Street Fighter and Arthur from Super Ghouls ‘n Ghosts. Perhaps it was inspired by the recent fan-made Super Mario Crossover? Capcom will likely reveal more at Comic-Con, along with the freebies they’ll be handing out like Megaman Universe Mega Busters. For more information, visit Capcom’s blog here. Press release after the jump.