November 18th-25th
Are you ready for the Game Usagi Meta News? Grab your stuffed animal and bunny slippers, its feeding time!
Nintendo DS
Nintendo has announced they are releasing two new DS bundles for Black Friday, this Friday November, 28th. One of the bundles comes with a red DS with a Mario “M” on the bottom right of the front and will come with Super Mario Bros. The other bundle has a ice blue DS that comes with Brain Age and a carrying case. Both bundles will be priced around $149.99. Hopefully this can tide you over until the new DSi comes out.
World of Warcraft
Lots of stuff has been going on with the World of Warcraft. With 11 million subscriptions and selling over 2.8 million copies of the new expansion within 24 hours, something out of the ordinary is bound to happen. So when not even two full days after release has passed and a person from Europe reaches the new level cap of 80, it?s not really that surprising. Apparently some people don?t know what moderation is, it was reported that a 15 year-old had been playing World of Warcraft for over 24 hours straight but was cut short because of a seizure, isn?t there an in-game tip about taking the game in moderation? Hmm, I wonder why.
Tabula Rasa
Earlier this month Richard Garriot resigned from NCsoft after his return from space, leaving NCsoft to handle Tabula Rasa. Tablua Rasa had a very rough launch that never really pick up and was in development for almost a decade, so I take it everyone was saddened to find out Mr. Garriot was leaving the company. To make things even worse for NCsoft, Tabula Rasa will be shutting down in February 2009 because of its shaky start and low subscription numbers.
Halo 3: Recon
The new Halo 3: Recon has gone through a name change and will now be known as Halo 3: ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Troopers). Though the title does not sound nearly as slick, this is not life changing news and I?m sure will have very little impact on anything to do with the game.
Demos
If you haven?t gotten a chance to play either Dead Space or Command & Conquer: Red Alert 3, now is your chance. You can find the Dead Space demo on both Xbox Live and PlayStation Store and the C&C demo on Filefront. Both demos are available right now, so what are you waiting for! You can continue reading GameUsagi while you wait for the demos to finish!
Link to Command & Conquer demo
PlayStation 3
Looks like PS3 owners won?t have to worry about not having trophies anymore. According to VideoGamer.com from January 2009 and on all new games will be required to have trophies. More positive news to those Sony fans out there, the amount of people on the PlayStation Network whic
h includes both the PSP and the PS3 has caught up with Microsoft?s Xbox Live at 14 million people. It is interesting that both services are tied as the PlayStation online service is free, where as Xbox Live costs around $60 per year.
DLC
Assassin?s Creed?s fans will be happy to hear that when you purchase the upcoming Prince of Persia and register online with Ubisoft you will be able to download an Altair skin for free. This will be the second time we see Altair outside of Assassin’s Creed as you can get a skin of him in Metal Gear Solid 4. Maybe in the next Assassin’s Creed you will be able to play as the Prince and Snake, wouldn’t that be something.
New DLC for Grand Theft Auto IV has been announced and given a released date of February 17th next year. This time around you won?t be playing as Niko; instead you will fill the shoes of a new character, Johnny Klebitz. Very little detail has been released about this expansion, though Dan Houser, the vice president of creative development for Rockstar Games says, ?? I can say that the story will show you a different side of Liberty City.? What haven?t we seen yet in Liberty City? I hope it?s not little bears living on clouds that are able to shoot rainbows out of their chests, though the screenshots do lead me to believe it will not come to that.
Have you already finished exploring the land of Albion in Fable 2 and are wanting more? You are in luck, beginning December 12 you will be able to purchase a premium pack for 800 Microsoft points ($10) that will let you explore an entirely new island. If paying for DLC isn’t your cup of tea, Microsoft is also releasing free content. “Free and premium downloaders will receive a show of gifts, including Knight?s Boots, Assassins Gloves, a special Weight Loss Potion, collectible silver book and more. Players will also be able to check their standing in over 50 new Leaderboards on Lionhead.com.” Over at Gamespot.com it is said that both the premium and free DLC will be released on the same day.
Good to know
You may not be addicted to video games! Apparently playing a game for 10 hours a day does not mean you have an addiction according to a report from the BBC. This article is extremely interesting as it talks about why people play games for extended periods of time and what people have done to get help.
The United States Army has been joining in on the gaming world. Over the next 5 years the military will be spending $50 million for a ?games for training? program. Of course they won?t be playing anything like Gears of War 2 because they are taking this very seriously. They have already been training with a first-person shooter game called, ?DARWARS Ambush? and have distributed over 3,000 copies through the military says Lt. Col. Gary Stephens.
I wonder how good those marines really are at games. Do you think you have what it takes to beat them down in Halo or Call of Duty? For those of you that play World of Warcraft please take breaks to eat, sleep, and see the outside once in a while, you know, the things that humans are supposed to do. That?s all the news we have this week. There is always something happening in the gaming world so make sure to check back next week for another update!