At least, those of us who have experienced the iOS-asissted greatness that is Infinity Blade 2..(ahem)

My decidedly direct stare at the rest of my 8-bit team aside, ChAIR Entertainment has revealed earlier this week a number of details surrounding the newest free update, set to release Thursday, May 24th. Titled Vault of Tears, it (finally!!) continues the story of Siris, the story’s imperishable hero after his unforgettable encounter with the Worker of Secrets in the original version. In addition to this, there will be new regions of the map to explore like the lower level of the castle dam, and a swamp housing this unfathomable creature.

It doesn’t just stop there. New enemies, bosses, over 50 new items/equipment to find, and Treasure Maps, which, when located, will hint towards many of the context sensitive and hidden treasures/entrances located around the game’s environments. I’m personally all for poking around the screen until something groovy pops up, but I welcome the reprieve with open arms, especially as this game’s depth expands and grows. Some of the scribblings are something many Infinity Blade fans will find interesting as well.

The Acolyte is one of the newest bosses to be added to the Clashmob pantheon, and scourge of anyone fearing demonic entities dressed as clergymen, or at least ones who look like they bullied Death (Darksiders 2) into giving up his weapon.

Menacing aesthetics aside, he promises to be just as devastating and troublesome as the rest of the mode’s more formidable foes. In fact, if you would like some input on the spoils, you can head on over to the IB2 fanpage over at Epic for more details, and vote on Facebook as to which weapon can be earned by defeating this mysterious foe come tomorrow. This is truly a game that keeps getting better and better, and at 6 bucks, it’s a steal.

Happy Hunting!

This Zangief-sized offering contains games, music, art, video… just about every medium you can think of, all dedicated to this classic series and its devoted fans. For $149.99 (on either Xbox 360 or PS3), you get:

Games

-Street Fighter X Tekken (including all character and Swap Costume DLC)

-Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition (with all costume DLC)

-Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix

-Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online Edition

Video

-New documentary Blu-ray that highlights the lifelong love affair fans have had with Street Fighter, and how their dedication has affected the game.

-Street Fighter IV, Super SFIV anime movies

-All episodes of the Street Fighter animated series (DELICIOUS!)

-Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie

Light-up Ryu statue

-Brand new statue with light up base. Eight inches tall and frozen in mid Shoryuken.

11 disc soundtrack

-Game music from the past 25 years, including remixes and fan-created music.

64 page hardcover art book

-Containing pieces from fans all over the world.

Ryu’s belt

-Full size martial arts black belt for the aspiring World Warrior. Includes Ryu’s “Furinkazan” in kanji.

Certificate of Authenticity

-Like any good collector’s set, this comes with a lovely piece of paper telling you how limited and special it is. They’re all individually numbered, so get one before they disappear! Arrives on September 18.

Time Gladiator – The glory days of the gladiator may be over, but not in the time-lost arena of City of Heroes. As you’re thrust into the ring, the only avenue for escape is to conquer combatants pulled from across time, defeat the champions of the coliseum and then muster your strength to face off against the mighty God-Champion! Fight with style to sway the crowd’s opinion and receive valuable buffs as you fend off the onslaught of deadly assassins, outlaw gunslingers, cybernetic soldiers and mythical creatures from across time.

The Casino Heist – Think you can one-up Danny Ocean? Don your costume and build out a crackerjack team of super-powered, sticky fingered players as you make a play to bust down the doors of the Tyrant’s Palace Casino. A vast fortune is only one good plan away from being yours, so don’t let the armed guards and state-of-the-art security give you pause. With the right crew of hitters, hackers, grifters and thieves, show the Tyrant what you think of his “impenetrable vault.

Checkout some of the full screenshots down below. For more information on how you can be a part of City Of Heroes Summer Blockbuster Event Visit CityOfHeroes.com

Here are the details:

The 2012 E3 Expo is right around the corner, and fans from all over the world can look forward to accessing the latest Nintendo news right from the comfort of their homes. Nintendo will be using a mix of online, broadcast and social platforms to provide a steady stream of breaking news and announcements during the video game industry’s biggest annual trade show, taking place June 5-7 at the Los Angeles Convention Center. Featured content will include the Nintendo All-Access Presentation @ E3 2012, which viewers can access online at http://e3.nintendo.com, watch commercial-free on Viacom’s Spike TV and MTV2 television networks or stream via Facebook on June 5 at 9 a.m. Pacific time. Fans also will enjoy easy access to news and updates from Nintendo on YouTube, Twitter and Facebook throughout the E3 Expo, including information about the Nintendo 3DS hand-held system and the upcoming Wii U console.

“We don’t want anyone to miss the energy and excitement of this year’s E3 Expo,” said Cindy Gordon, Nintendo of America’s vice president of Corporate Affairs. “By offering different ways to tune in and follow all the Nintendo news, we aim to make fans all over the world feel like they’re right there with us at the show.”

Consumers can choose from the following convenient ways to experience Nintendo content during the E3 Expo:

• Web: Starting today, fans can go online to visit the Nintendo All-Access @ E3 2012 website at http://e3.nintendo.com for the latest information about new and upcoming games and hardware from Nintendo. The site will be optimized for smartphones, so people can keep up-to-date while on the go. Visitors to the site also can watch a live stream of the Nintendo All-Access Presentation @ E3 2012 starting at 9 a.m. Pacific time on Tuesday, June 5.

• Television: Nintendo is partnering with Viacom as the exclusive television broadcaster for the Nintendo All-Access Presentation @ E3 2012. Viewers with access to the Spike TV or MTV2 networks can watch the presentation live with no commercial interruptions.

• Facebook: Facebook users can visit and Like the Nintendo page at http://www.facebook.com/nintendo to get regular updates from the E3 Expo and connect with other Nintendo fans. A special E3 Expo tab will make it simple to access E3 Expo content, including video clips and a Nintendo Instagram gallery. The Nintendo @ E3 Expo app will also allow users to stream the Nintendo All-Access Presentation @ E3 2012 and other events on Facebook.

• YouTube: Nintendo will be posting video updates from the show on its YouTube Channels at http://www.youtube.com/nintendo. The lineup of videos will include sneak peeks at upcoming hardware and software as well as interviews with game developers.

• Twitter: Twitter users can follow Nintendo (@NintendoAmerica) to receive tweets from the show. Nintendo representatives will also be live-tweeting events such as the Nintendo All-Access Presentation @ E3 2012 on June 5.

So this year with the full reveal of the WII U and the the games coming out for it; as well as more news for the 3DS, what do you expect to  Nintendo to pull?

SAN FRANCISCO & LONDON (May 21, 2012) – SEGA^® of America, Inc., SEGA^® Europe Ltd., Gearbox Software and Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products are thrilled to announce that the highly anticipated first-person shooter Aliens: Colonial Marines™ will be in stores worldwide on February 12, 2013. As the authentic addition to the ALIENS franchise canon, the game’s stunning visuals and adrenaline pumping action will deliver breathtakingly immersive single, cooperative and competitive multi-player modes. Providing for an innovative asymmetrical competitive multiplayer experience, Aliens: Colonial Marines lets players fight in first person as the ultimate combatants – the United States Colonial Marines, or in third person as the universe’s deadliest killers – the Xenomorphs. Plunging into familiar and new environments from the iconic film franchise, players will have to fight the fear and face the true horrors of the ALIENS universe.

“I am thrilled to announce the definitive launch date for Aliens: Colonial Marines,” said Randy Pitchford, President of Gearbox Software. “Aliens: Colonial Marines is the culmination of a life-time of inspiration from the films and relentless passion and drive from the exceptionally talented development team behind the scenes.”

“We knew this game would be incredible from the moment Gearbox began developing Aliens: Colonial Marines,” said, Gary Knight, Senior Vice President of Marketing for SEGA Europe and SEGA of America. “Now that the title is in its final stretch of development, we can confidently release the exact date that gamers will finally get to experience this blockbuster thrill-ride.”

 

“SEGA has a proven track record with the ALIENS franchise. ALIENS vs. PREDATOR released by SEGA in 2009 became one of their top-selling titles,” said Gary Rosenfeld, Senior Vice President for New Media for Fox Consumer Products. “We look forward to working with them and bringing an exciting new way for fans to immerse themselves in the ALIENS world.”

In partnership with Twentieth Century Fox Consumer Products and developed by critically acclaimed studio Gearbox Software, Aliens: Colonial Marines will bring new levels of bone-chilling suspense and adrenaline-filled action to the renowned franchise. Aliens: Colonial Marines begins with an ostensibly abandoned ship, the U.S.S. Sulaco, recovered in orbit around LV-426. Players lead a group of highly trained United States Colonial Marines as they board the deserted craft to uncover the fate of the crew. They will have to fight to survive unspeakable horrors and their own anxieties as they chase down the truth behind a galaxy-spanning deception that places humanity at the mercy of the most murderous and deadly species in the universe. Aliens: Colonial Marines features authentic environments, such as the surface of LV-426 and Hadley’s Hope, weapons inspired by the film series and is designed to provide an exhilarating and engaging new chapter in the ALIENS universe.

Aliens: Colonial Marines will be available in stores across the globe on February 12, 2013 on PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system, Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and Windows PC. A release date for the announced Wii U™ version will be revealed at a later time.

For more news, follow SEGA on Twitter @SEGA, Gearbox Software on Twitter @GearboxSoftware or like Sega on Facebook  and for more information, please visit  here.

and the other being just reckless diving aerial attacks:

(start at 2:15 if you want to see DIIIIIVEEEEEEEEEEE KIICCCKKKK)

So with that said, just what is Flap! exactly? Well it’s an iOS game that puts you in control of a duckling trying to navigate his world and saving other ducks who have been imprisoned by geese. The game technically is a runner because you’re going from one side of the screen to the other by natural, but limited flight (flapping your wings) and bouncing off of trampolines to cover distances. The closer you land to the center of the trampoline the better the bounce. There are power ups to help you along the way which you unlock by collecting coins/spheres as you bounce around. Some of them include perfect jumps every time you touch a trampoline or a magnet that attracts the collectables around you. My personal favorite so far has been the rocket pack. The world shifts between night and day. Day is the time you want to be playing in because at night the normally harmless creatures on the map tend to turn into jerks and try to impede your progress. Think about starting a new game in Simon’s Quest and rather than go to the right once you leave town you went to the left, remember those werewolves that shot fireballs at you? Yeah me too, they were assholes but it’s the same concept just not as jerky. Instead of just being tough bastards they just try to throw you backward and hinder your progress. The reason why that’s important because if you fall into a pit or TOUCH THE GROUND in anyway you die. I guess ducks don’t like grass or something but those are the rules.

The controls are very straight forward. You drag down on your screen to make your duck dive (yeah) and you swipe to make him flap (he has limited flight you, so you have to be careful). Power-ups activate on their own pick up so you don’t have to worry about that. The only activation you have to worry about is spending coin to use one of the better power ups and to do that you just tap the power up you want. It took me a little time (I am so bad at touch screens) but once I got used to diving without flapping my distances improved tremendously.

With all that out of the way, the game looks cute. The animation is solid if a little repetitive but there’s not much going on. The backgrounds and stage design do suffer from the Flintstone/Scooby Doo effect (where backgrounds are just reused in different colors) but that isn’t that a major issue for a title like this because they nailed the cute factor. The music isn’t annoying but it’s great that you can run your own stuff in the background. I find that Eurobeat goes amazing with this game. The sound effects aren’t that many but they pretty accurate with actual duck quacking.

This game is definitely enjoyable overall and is worth a pick up. For me, it fits perfectly with my travels and it’s deep enough where you can constantly analyze your techniques, learn the levels and improve on your overall game. I feel that I definitely helped me a little with my dive kick aim in traditional fighting games.

Here are some little tidbits about the game

Game Center contest: Highest score via Game Center by Thursday, May 24 at 7PM PST win be crowned the Flap! King (or Queen) and win a 32 GB iPad 3

Flap! has Game Center functionality, iCloud statistics backup, built-in social networking with Twitter, Facebook and Text.

HD version will be $1.99; standard version will be $0.99

King is a natural pick for any WWE fans looking to lock it up in the world of 2D fighters, that at least was the reason I picked him up. He’s got an interesting arsenal of fairly high damage output special moves but some of them aren’t exactly effective for their original intents and purposes. King’s use of his special meter works great in SFXT since it allows him to almost double the damage of his longer combos and regain a good chunk of what you spent to do so. King can be mixed up pretty easily however, since he’s got no absolute answer to get out of pressure, it’s up to the user to understand not only the match-up he’s against but also the available options on how to get out. His command grabs, Giant Swing & Tomahawk, possess great damage rewards but do require the user to train their opponent to defend  a certain way. For these many 50/50 reasons, King is best in the hands of players who excel at taking the time to set their opponents up and even second guess their own executions at times rather than stick to one set offensive or defensive mindset.

Positioning: King can work the field from just about anywhere except full screen.  At close range King users should have already trained their opponent to block high or low long enough to land one of his command grabs and at medium range he can easily blow through projectiles or completely stop any potential jump in pressure. Staying in close for too long however could easily turn bad for King due to his lack of ability to handle cross up pressure. Keep that in mind and be sure to rotate between the two positions at favorable times. King won’t always have the best punishes available to him due to his average reach but he can score a good hard knockdown at the very least to not let something just slip away.

Offensive Strategy: When behind the wheel of King make sure you know what you want in advance. The most damaging of King’s moves are also the ones which take the most time on start up to land. Due to fighting game nature, it will be easier to start off training your opponents to block low, since that is the natural reaction to turtle, and then land your Tomahawk. It’s rare to catch someone blocking high during pressure without eventually turtling so try to hold back on using Giant Swing unless it’s a clear punish to a missed special attack or a bad raw tag. The Jumping Knee Lift is easily King’s best special moves, landing this allows 4 continuous Knee Lifts and can be ended with Jaguar Bomb, Jumping HK and cutting it short at 3 even allows you to end with his finisher. The Konvict Kick is an amazing tool of his, the EX version can be followed up with the standard lp.mp,hp chain and repeated for massive damage. You can even further this with Knee Lift for some serious damage of over 500 and personal style points.

Defensive Strategy: Defensively, King has one of the best shut down tactics in the game! Avoid staying in close for too long so you do not end up getting put under cross up pressure that he cannot handle. Look for jump in attacks and always punish with Mid-Air Leg Screw. Eventually smarter players will try to bait this by jumping at you but without attacking, when you feel a change in their offense, use the Knee Lift to catch them in mid air and turn things back into your own offense. These techniques allow King to control the pace of the rounds better than most of the roster, even if you’ve lost control momentarily by unpredictable attacks.

Special Move Usage: King is designed as 1 part set up ability and 1 part prediction ability. All his special attacks are catered to work for players who know what their opponents what to do before they even do it. Jaguar Step is great to render projectile heavy throwers useless and force them to attack outside of their comfort zone and right into yours. Some of kings moves aren’t very good for their initial purpose such as Running Jaguar Bomb, this move has a 10% chance at best of catching a jumping attack opponent in the air and should only be used as part of a combo ender or tag in. Leg Screw will rarely find any place during a round because most players start their strings off low, pay careful attention to attack patterns just in case this counter may have a more frequent usage against their play style. Shoulder Tackle is his 2nd most high risk/high reward move that triggers a wall bounce if timed correctly as a counter hit, however if this is blocked it is extremely punishable and shouldn’t be used unless you’re at least 80% sure  there is an opening to do so. Moonsault Body Press is an unblockable attack, since it has no invincibility and extremely slow start up, you should avoid using this move all together as if it isn’t even a part of his moves list.

Here is the E3 version below:

From what we see here there are some pretty big revisions.  Frist we see that we no longer have the 3DS like tumb nub, in its place there are actual joysticks two of them.  Second the start and select button has changed positions to the right side of the tablet.  Instead of being next to the home botton.  Tjis was probably done for gaming purposes and how your hands rest on the whole tablet itself. There has also been added the WiiU logo and these two squares which I will assume are buttons for some feature. All in all I think this is huge since E3 is around the corner, keep checking as we try to get more info about this leak.

Whatever your preference, the many editions of Halo have always made a point to deliver and sometimes go a little beyond expectations. This could be why the release of each game has always been treated like monumental events in the gaming industry, and naturally we wouldn’t expect Halo 4 to be any different.

The header to this story is a finished puzzle to a sneaky distraction 343 used on its fans just before revealing what they have in store for the newest entry into Halo and announcing it’s multiple editions. This picture below? Well, that’s the limited edition!

It’s almost impossible to imagine with such sweet box art as this, that if this is only the Limited Edition, then what will the Legendary Edition look like? As far as price goes, nothing has changed since Halo 3. The limited edition is set for an estimated retail price of $99.99, but of course, cosmetics alone are just a small portion of the things to enjoy in this bundle to merit such a fee, so here is a run down of what’s under the hood:

Judging by what’s in the package, the Limited Edition is designed to enhance the multiplayer experience for gamers. Players can control a Spartan- IV which navigates around the UNSC Infinity, a hub for the players multiplayer career.

– 6 unique specializations available for download at launch which unlock customization features, as well as assist players to obtain higher ranks in their multiplayer career. (Further details on how these specializations function will be showcased live during E3 2012.)

– War Games Map Pack Access! The multiplayer mode, now dubbed War Games, will contain this DLC coupon to download a total of 9 maps that will be release post launch. This will unlock the 3 upcoming map packs which contain 3 maps each upon release.

- An in-game Assault Rifle skin, in game Spartan- IV skin, Xbox Live Avatar Spartan IV armor set, and Xbox Live Avatar Prop.

- The UNSC Infinity Briefing Packet; a go to manual for all things UNSC Infinity including information on the ship, Spartan armor schematics, a UNSC bonus weapon and a storied backdrop on the Spartans aboard the Infinity.

- Halo 4: Forward Unto Dawn Special Edition Movie: A 90 minute live action digital film that traces back to the origins of the Human/Covenant war and how Master Chief inspired a young cadet who would later achieve the amazing feat of becoming the very commander of the UNSC’s most prized ship, the Infinity.