Peter Moore graces the stage to give and over view of the EA lineup.
First up is a video for The Sims 4 Coming is 2014. New creative tools and emotions are the focus this time around. Emotions are to influence gameplay.
Command and Conquer is next. A match between two players is played to demonstrate the game. Launching this year (2013), the game is to be free to play. Story missions can be played alone or cooperatively. A new trailer for the game is also played.
Dragon Age Inquisition is next up with a Dev Diary from Bioware on the game. The game is slated for Fall 2014.
Plants vs Zombies 2 is up next from PopCap. Far Future is announced as to be the games first content update. PvZ Garden Warfare is up next with the reveal of playable Zombies. Anew trailer is shown for the game highlighting the games zombie classes. Garden Warfare is to come to Xbox 360 and Xbox One first in Spring 2014. "Bossmode" to be exclusive to Xbox One.
Peggle 2 to come to Xbox One first. A quick trailer for the game is shown.
Next up is EA Sports' UFC. "Pre-Alpha" Gameplay is shown. The game is to release in spring 2014 for Xbox One and PS4.
Need for Speed Rivals follows with a demo of the game with an overview of its race gameplay including the return of personalization. A new trailer featuring the cops is shown. The game is to release on Nov 21, 2013.
Titanfall is next with a new map shown and new gameplay.
Next is FIFA 14 with more info and a new look via a trailer. Game is to launch on Sept 24th in North America and the 2th in Europe. Start your season on the current consoles and move them over to the Xbox One and PS4 should you choose to do that.
Last is Battlefield 4. A beta for the game is to be held in early October. "Levolution" is the new buzz word to detail the games dynamic environments and gameplay. Battlefield 4 Premium is also detailed via a video. Battlefield 4 is to release on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC on October 29th, 2013 and October 31st in Europe.
Grand Theft Auto V is near (Sept 17th, 2013) with only its multiplayer left to get its time to shine. Although, time to shine is an extreme overstatement when it comes to Rockstar keeping a vice grip like lid of their content. 3 minutes of online gameplay of various gametypes is all we get for now so enjoy, GTA fans.
Some would say there is no innovation is gaming anymore. Then there are games like Contrast that laugh at the naysayers with a concept that has never been seen before. The latest look at Contrast from Compulsion Games is here and it looks every bit as interesting as it ever has. Contrast lands sometime in Holiday 2013.
If you weren't already excited for the release of Grand Theft Auto V on September 17th, 2013 the below first official gameplay video for the game just might do the trick. Largely focusing on the various environments and mechanics in relation to their improvements from previous installments this trailer does a fantastic job of giving a overview of what's in-store for fans of the series. Enjoy!
The weekend all fighting game fans look forward to every year, Evolution, is now here once again. Assuming you aren't in attendance there are two great video streams to get your fighting game fix you deserve. The tournament to end all tournaments this year will be featuring the following games over the next three days:
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Super Street Fighter IV Tournament, Early Rounds 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Super Street Fighter IV Tournament, Quarterfinals 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM Super Street Fighter IV Tournament, Semi-Finals 11:00 PM - 2:00 AM EVO After Hours, Featuring grudge matches between top rival players
Friday, July 29th - Bonus Stream
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Tekken 6 Tournament, Early Rounds 6:00 PM - 19:00 PM Tekken 6 Tournament, Sem-Finals
Saturday, July 30th - Main Stream
8:00 AM - 6:00 PM Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament, Early Rounds 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament, Quarterfinals 8:00 PM - 11:00 PM Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament, Semi-Finals 11:00 PM - 2:00 AM EVO After Hours, Featuring grudge matches between top rival players
Over the course of videogame history there have been quite a few side scrolling action games. Some have gotten the feel of locomotion and combat right and some not so much. The Dishwasher: Vampire Smile is one such game that gets all of the intangibles right with a style all to it's own. Difficulty was very much an issue with the first game. Was this addressed? Can a small indie studio like Ska Studios pull of a quality game yet again?
Ska Studios' Tour
Vampire Smile starts off where the first ends (you'll see what happens at the end first game). You're The Dishwasher of who begins to have nightmares of a girl trapped in a prison of sorts in a flak jacket. You have limited control of this mysterious girl(you get the low-down on her later in the game) for a few seconds until the nightmare ends and you are once agian The Dishwasher. This happens a few more times where you eventually get the girl to a point of escape where you get full control of her. That's when the game officall starts. Comprised of a storytelling device, comic panel after comic panel gives you the low-down on all of the disposition of each character. A short while later is when the game gives you "the choice". Do you play the game from the story prospective of The Dishwasher or do you play the game as this new character Yuki (aka The Prisoner).
And that's where the game gets its sub title from. Yuki turns out to be a vampire of which comes in greatly when serving combat as Yuki. Just as with the Dishwasher your primary weapon at the start is a sword/kitana that doesn't initially feel any different. Could this be just a pallet swap in the vein of Mortal Kombats Scorpion and Sub-Zero? That would have been a real shame if that was the case yet you can rest assured that the game plays very differently rather you choose to stay the course with The Dishwasher or try your hand at the prospective of "The Prisoner". Comparitively, what makes the two sides of the game different is the variety of attacks each character has at their disposal and how you use them. The Dishwasher plays very much the same convention way he did before. On the other hand Yuki is a vampire and that is a mighty fine thing. Quick travel through the games enviroments is key just as before, but with Yuki her telporting is key to excelling with getting your combo streak as high as you can. With either The Dishwasher or the The Prisoner you'll likely be in dyer need to learn how to get you combo counts up to fuel your magic and other oddly named items you come across.
For those who don't make it passed the mashing of the X button stage that will be fine for you, but the real fun of the rather deep combo system comes when you get the hang of juggling the enemies in the air that comes back to smart use of the teleport. Teleporting behind an enemie to start your attack only to teleport again behind an adjacent enemie above to execute a melee attack slam that gives off splash damage to the same foes you where just attacking a hot second ago on the ground never gets old. Or how about attacking several aerial enemies in the air by teleporting between them while never touching the ground as create your mass carnage. The contextual finisher prompts are a nice touch that help you figure out what move you want to execute to finish of you enemie, yet often will likely be a mute point for those who choose to button mash their way to victory.
Whether you're playing "The Story" or not there is a good variety of other modes of play to show off those crazy combo styles you will aquire. Arcade mode is back, but this time you can play through it solo or in Co-op. Playing it with a friend is a crazy experience as there is one thing that is for certain. Vampire Smile is a bloody ass game. There will be blood pooring out of you TV ( no, not really ) after every session with this game. Over time your field of view will be seriously impacted by the amount of blood covering the screen which is a good and bad thing. Then again, that is where this game separates itself from the crowd from it style alone. No other game has a look like this game has. It's outwardly bizarre not some of the time, but all of the time. There are music rythm sections of the game that come out of no where if you find them just as in the first game cementing the fact you have a game that is very much one of a kind regardless if there are hundreds of other side scrolling "beat'em ups" out there.
In the 'Dish Challenge' you are put into a room and are tasked with doing nothing more than surviving an onslaught of oncomers to see how high and long you can get your combo streak. Between 'Dish' and Arcade that is where the bulk of the leaderboard fun with your friends will be. Every "level" you complete is put on a leaderboard for all of your friends to be ranked. Unfortunately here's where Arcade mode fails in a miserable way. The entire mode is just a series of killing rooms pulled from the story mode. While still fun, it would have been much nicer if more could have been done with the mode.
Fan's of these types of games are certain to like what's offered with Vampire Smile for the intricate combat alone (if you are willing to learn how to execute it at its fullest) as its not an inherent button masher although button mashers should feel fine playing the game with just the primary weapons having little to do with the secondary weapons or magic available to you. Unfortunaelty, if you can't get your head around the quirky style that everything is presented with this game may not be for you.
It's been quite the ride over the past 5 years. What was originally Killa's Xbox Domain has morphed through several incarnations of itself with contribution of several dozen writers arriving at what you see today. Multiple redesigns and content focus changes have come and gone along with a staff that has seen many ups and downs over the years.
This site was up until a mere 8 months ago deadicated to all things Xbox. Not that any on staff in the past or now only games on Xbox, it was our preferred platform and why not imbrace that. Micheal Pacheco founded this site way back in April of 2006 as a one man band until six months later where a number two writer was eventually added (hey, that's me). Not long after more were added to the staff. The entire idea was that the entire staff was made up on freelancers giving everyone a chance to write for whoever they wanted without being tied down here. At some point that message was lost.
Today is the begining of bringing that freelance spirit back. There are many writers out there who have lots of content ideas shot down by their respective editors. I would like for this to be the place where no idea is shot down, just revised. As long as you have command of the English language you have a place here at what is now TVD. If you specialize in a particluar platform no problem. Our "Write with us" page will be updated within the next few days allowing for anyone to submit their content directly to us. Our style guide will be imbedded directly on the page as to allow you to know exactly what we are looking for.
Here's to many more years with hoepfully your content to be apart of our stable as it is shared with the world.
Its been forever and a day since we've heard or much less seen anything from the myth as it were that is LA Noire. What is this game? When is this game seeing the light of day? Using all in-game assets, the following trailer for LA Noire is the first look at the game.
