IN OUR HANDS

Jace – Finished Deus Ex: HR, TrackMania 2: Canyon for review

Giancarlo – Deus Ex: HR Still in Hengsha…, Kirby Mass Attack, Groove Coaster

Alex – Gears3, Star Fox 3D, The World Ends with You, Megaman Zero Collection

SUPER NEWS

Tokyo Game Show 2011

This year’s Tokyo Game Show has been the biggest one to date with record number of 222,668 people flowing through the Makuhari Messe where the gaming event took place. Single-day numbers reached a record of 86.251 people, which was on the 17th. All three major publishers appeared to show their wares to both the media and to the general public but Sony who dominated the show with the PS Vita. Sony’s new handheld system is the successor to the PSP which still is a hit in Japan due to the phenomenal popularity of the Monster Hunter games.

Most of this stuff is Sony news.

- The PS Vita will launch in Japan on December 17th for ¥24,980 (about $324.80) for the Wi-Fi only model  and at ¥29,980 (about $389.80) for the 3G model. The previously announced U.S. prices were $249.99 for the Wi-Fi only model and $299.99 for the 3G model.

- If you love playing Japanese imports, you will be happy to hear that the PS Vita is confirmed to be Region Free. However, it is uncertain if this freedom applies only to the physical game cards or if it also allows players to purchase downloadable games and other content from other regions. The original PSP was region free for UMD games but not for UMD movies.

- Rumors of a December 31st launch in the U.S. and Europe have come up due to Amazon and GameStop listings but these are unconfirmed. Sony has previously announced that the release date for the PS Vita overseas will come sometime in early 2012.

- PS Vita battery life is to be around that of the 3DS, 3-5 hours for gameplay, 5 hours for watching video and 9 hours of listening to music in stand-by mode. And that’s with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi/3G turned off, headphones plugged in and using the default screen brightness. Charging the Vita’s 2200mA Li-ion battery after it is fully drained will reportedly take around 2 hours and 40 minutes. To assist players who wish to play games away from a power outlet for longer periods, Sony will also be selling an external extended-life battery.

- Sony is keeping the tradition of over-priced proprietary technology with their new line of Vita-only memory cards. These will be sold in 4, 8, 16 and 32GB sizes with prices that range from about $29 to $124  These cards will be necessary as the PS Vita will not have any on-system storage although some games will be able to store their save data on their own game-card.

Among the PS Vita games shown at TGS were

• Gravity Daze
• Ridge Racer Vita
• Persona: The Ultimate In Mayonaka Arena
• Lumines: Electronic Symphony
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
• Street Fighter X Tekken
• Final Fantasy X (also on PS3)
• WipeOut 2048
• Katamari Damacy
• Uncharted: Golden Abyss
• Disgaea 3: Absence of Detention

Nintendo News

- Nintendo also kept the lines forming with their 3DS offerings, namely in the form of Monster Hunter 3G. Having exclusivity for the Monster Hunter franchise during TGS was a major boon for Nintendo as fans crowded around the booth to get some hands-on time with the game, snatching up the 1,200 ticket allotment within 45 minutes of the show’s start.

We already talked about Nintendo’s TGS offerings last episode.

REGULAR VANILLA NEWS

-Sony’s new Terms of Service agreement say that you can’t sue them.

Netflix’s new Qwikster service will offer game rentals.

DC Universe now free to play.

Links:

News Source: http://kotaku.com/5840517/new-playstation-network-terms-of-service-include-a-no-suing-sony-clause

The ToS .pdf document – http://www.sonyentertainmentnetwork.com/SEN-legal-docs/TERMS_OF_SERVICE_AGREEMENT-EN.pdf

- Valve’s Dota 2 stuff has leaked from a Vietnamese closed beta tester. This stuff includes character and spell icons, game modes, backstories, bits of the beta’s code audio clips and a very creepy new Valve intro screen.

Some of the placeholder power icons are hilarious.

News Source: http://kotaku.com/5841949/valve-beta-leaks-contains-dota-2-info-and-creepy-new-intro/gallery/1

http://www.dota2.cyborgmatt.com/spellicons/

- The Diablo III Closed Beta has commenced today. Previously Blizzard had a Friends & Family beta going on where Blizzard employees passed out codes to people they knew and loved. Now, anyone who has signed up for the Battle.Net beta program are eligible for a beta invite.

To find out if you are one of the lucky few to get the golden ticket, log into your Battle.Net account and click on the Account tab. If you’re a winner then you should see a Diablo III client available to download.

If you didn’t make it in, dont’ worry, Blizzard says they are planning to add more testers throughout the duration of the beta.

HOUSEKEEPING

Please subscribe to the show on iTunes and leave a review.

Send your letters and questions to fraggscast@fraggs.net and have them read on the podcast.

Also, please visit www.fraggs.net to subscribe to the magazine. We like being able to eat.

Twitter

Alex – @ALFighter27

Jace – @zi11ion

Eric – @ninjeestarr

Giancarlo – @giansaldana

Jeri – @misstresspixel

SHOW NOTES

IN OUR HANDS

Jace – BloodRayne: Betrayal for review Deus Ex: Human Revolution, Magic: The Gathering 2012, Disgaea on the PSP

Eric – The Gunstringer for review, Dead Island, SkyDrift for review

Giancarlo – Deus Ex: HR, Kirby Mass Attack, SF Third Strike Online

SUPER NEWS TOPIC

Nintendo’s Pre-TGS 2011 3DS press conference.

3DS Expansion Slide Pad. This is a cradle that will encase the existing 3DS, adding a bit of width to the right side which will contain a 2nd Circle Pad along with R1, R2 and L2 buttons. The existing L1 button can be used as-is. This device does not run off of the 3DS’s already weak power supply, but off of a single AAA Battery. Madness! The Slide Pad will be released in Japan this December for 1500 yen, which is about $19 USD.

The games announced to use this Slide Pad are Monster Hunter 3G (remake of MH Tri on Wii with added monsters, quests, etc.) , Resident Evil: Revelations, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D, Kingdom Hearts 3D – Dream Drop Distance (get it, there’s 3 D’s in that!), Dynasty Warriors Vs and Ace Combat 3D Cross Rumble.

3DS will add 3D video capture in November. Users can record and view the 3D videos on their own console. No word on if there is a way to share these videos with others.

There is a ‘Misty Pink’(OMG YES!!!) version of the 3DS coming to Japan. No word if the estrogen-flavored 3DS will make it to the US or Europe.

In addition to Monster Hunter 3G, Capcom is developing Monster Hunter 4 for the 3DS. A concept trailer was shown.

Kid Icarus: Uprising was pushed back to sometime in 2012 apparently to give the game some more polish. Nintendo announced that there will be a trio of 3D animated short films featuring Kid Icarus from popular anime studios such as Shaft, Studio 4C and Production I.G. It’s the Animatrix of Nintendo.

New information for the free Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Anniversary Edition for DSi ware and 3DS have been shown. This game will be free from September 28th to Feburary 20th 2012. It appears to be an update of the Four Swords mode in the GBA port of Link to the Past, but with some additional features such as wireless multiplayer and levels that are set in the NES’s Legend of Zelda the Game Boy’s Link’s Awakening and the SNES’s A Link to the Past, with appropriate graphical styles.

Also coming from Nintendo on the 3DS in 2012: Mario Tennis, Paper Mario, Animal Crossing, a brand new Fire Emblem and a couple of games that have never seen an entry in the US, Tomodachi Collection and Style Savvy…

Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will reportedly clock in around 50 to 100 hours of gameplay.

Some titles that are particularly exciting for me were the new Fatal Frame and Culdcept games, which are being published by Nintendo in Japan. Fatal Frame, or “Shinrei Camera” in Japan, will use the 3DS camera and AR features to enhance the camera vs. ghost action pioneered in the original series. I hope this one comes out in the US, as the Wii Fatal Frame never made it here (boo!). Culdcept is a game that is severely underrated in the West and needs to come here. In short, it’s Magic: The Gathering meets Monopoly and is far more awesome than you can imagine.

Japan keeps the crazy names coming with Square-Enix’s new 3DS rpg, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy. WTF Japan. This game looks visually like the Final Fantasy 3 and 4 remakes on the DS, but with better graphics of course. This game will utilize the 3DS cameras for augmented reality stuff.

Here’s a full list of titles shown:

Nintendo Published
Super Mario 3D Land
Mario Kart 7
Mario Tennis
Paper Mario
Luigi’s Mansion 2
Animal Crossing
Fire Emblem
Kid Icarus: Uprising
Mario & Sonic at the London Olympics
Tomodatchi Collection
Gal’s Mode
Culdcept
Shinrei Camera
Tsuiteru Techou
Calciobit

Third Party
Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
Theatrythm Final Fantasy
Slime Mori Mori Dragon Quest 3: The Great Pirate Ship and the Tails Brigade (Rocket Slime!)
Dynasty Warriors VS
DS Gundam G Generation 3D
Ace Combat 3D
Tekken 3D: Prime Edition
Hatsune Miku Project Mirai
Resident Evil: Revelations
Monster Hunter 3G
Monster Hunter 4
Metal Gear Solid 3D: Snake Eater
Girl’s RPG: Cindere Life
New Love Plus

REGULAR VANILLA NEWS

- On September 5th, Dragon Quest X was revealed! The subtitle for the game is “Rise of the Five Tribes Online”. It will be an online RPG (MMO size or not?) for both the Wii and WiiU. The game will only allow you to play offiline for a few hours before you must play it online…and there will be an online usage fee involved, though it is unclear what it involves now.

The combat is menu-based like other DQ games, but it’s unclear if it’s real-time like other MMORPGS or turn-based like Dragon Quest IX.

There will be 6 playable races and it takes place in a brand new DQ world. The races are: Human, Elf, Ogure, Dwarf, Pukuripo, which are the short-cute characters needed in all JRPGS and the Wedi which look like sea-elves to me.

DQ10 has been in development for 6 years so far.

- The often-rumored Syndicate reboot was leaked and then eventually confirmed by EA and Starbreeze. It’s coming in early 2012 to 360, PS3 and PC. The original game was a real-time tactical shooter set in a ¾ perspective while the reboot will be, unsurprisingly, a first-person game. They are attempting to create a “challenging action shooter for today’s gamers as well as fans of the original.”. It will feature a 4-player co-op mode featuring missions from the original game.

- Trenched is getting renamed not just in Europe, but worldwide! The game will now be known as “Iron Brigade” In all regions once the European version is released this month. This all started from a legal battle concerning a trademarked tabletop game called “Trench” over in Europe. Double Fine decided to rename the game for the European market but discovered that if they changed the name, European players could NOT play online with other people in other regions. So they’re changing it for everyone, but with this change are a few new extras, for free!

The title update will have the often-asked for Survival Mode along with 10 new loot drops , new costumes and new salutes. Double Fine also confirmed there is more DLC in the works.

- Minecraft 1.8 update leaked by Mojang. It’s just weird that he did that. I tried the leaked update but was encountering some strange item-duping bugs. Minecraft 1.8 has been known as the Adventure Update which will have NPC villiages, randomly generated dungeons, new biome code, fully working Creative Mode, critical hits, sprinting, more farming options, chargable bows, rivers, valleys and oceans, and the creepy Endermen. The NPC villiages will not have NPCs in them in the 1.8 update, they are coming in a later update.

- Cave Story + is now on the Mac App Store with a brand new level, the Wind Fortress with new enemies, and all of the upgrades of the WiiWare version. It’s $10 and worth way more than that. Buy it. Soon a Steam version for PC will fallow, presumably with the same content as this Mac version.

-No details yet but Xbox Live is coming to Windows 8

-Angry Birds surpasses 350 million downloads (HOLY S**t!) (We run a clean podcast. Or, at least we try to.:P)

-Red Dead Redemption: Game of the Year Edition Announced for October Release
OCTOBER 11 in US, ‘Undead Nightmare’, ‘Legends and Killers Pack’, ‘Liars and Cheats Pack’, ‘Hunting and Trading Outfits Pack’, ‘Outlaws To The End Co-Op Mission Pack’ and the recently released ‘Myths and Mavericks Bonus Pack’ – It will also feature the Deadly Assassin Outfit, War Horse and Golden Guns Weapon Pack pre-order DLC and the ‘Solomon’s Folly’ single-player gang hangout and challenges.

-Original Crysis can run on consoles! And it comes out next month for XBLA and PSN.

-Wrong version of Dead Island released on Steam and there is a sexist name “Feminist Whore” for a perk in the code.

-Gamestop accepting iOS device trade ins and is getting there own tablet device

HOUSEKEEPING

Please subscribe to the show on iTunes and leave a review.

Send your letters and questions to fraggscast@fraggs.net and have them read on the podcast.

Also, please visit www.fraggs.net to subscribe to the magazine. We like being able to eat.

Twitter

Jace – @zi11ion
Eric – @ninjeestarr
Giancarlo – @giansaldana

IN OUR HANDS

Jace – Deus Ex: Human Revolution

Aaron – Deus Ex 1. Halo Reach. Battlefield BC2 Onslaught. Also checked out Space Marine demo.

Eric – No Deus Ex for me =(, Finished Alice: Madness Returns, Battlefield: BC2, Also checked out Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine Demo

SUPER NEWS

Penny Arcade Expo 2011.

Torchlight 2 will be $20 with no further purchases (source: http://fraggs.net/news/torchlight-2-priced-at-19-99-no-further-purchases-needed/ )

Kim Swift, lead designer of the original Portal, revealed her new game. Quantum Conundrum. (source: http://fraggs.net/news/kim-swift’s-‘quantum-conundrum’-comes-into-the-light/ )

Penny Arcade Adventures Episode 3 is going to be made by Zeboyd. (source: http://www.joystiq.com/2011/08/26/penny-arcade-adventures-episode-3-still-alive-zeboyd-at-the-hel/ )

REGULAR VANILLA NEWS

Gamestop opens up new copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution for the PC, removes OnLive codes. (source: http://fraggs.net/uncategorized/gamestop-opening-games-and-throwing-away-content/ follow-up, $50 gift card for their evil ways: GameStop giving customers a $50 gift card, other perks for Human Revolution flub)

Twisted Metal pushed to Valentines day because it’s such a romantic game. (source: http://fraggs.net/news/twisted-metal-set-to-arrive-on-valentine’s-day/ )

Sonic CD coming to XBLA, PSN, iOS, Android, Windows Mobile, Nokia N-Gage, Graphic Calculators, and Tiger Electronic Handhelds. (source: http://fraggs.net/news/sonic-boom-sonic-cd-coming-to-multiple-platforms/ )

Swery65 is going to make more Deadly Premonition, maybe. I can’t wait!

Halo Title Update details. Nerfing Armor Lock and Cloak, buffing pistol, finally fixing 4gig xboxes.

HOUSEKEEPING

Please subscribe to the show on iTunes and leave a review.

Send your letters and questions to fraggscast@fraggs.net and have them read on the podcast.

Also, please visit www.fraggs.net to subscribe to the magazine. We like being able to eat.

TWITTER

Jace – @zi11ion
Jeri – @mistresspixel
Aaron – @phokal
Eric – @ninjeestarr

Show Notes

In Our Hands

Main topics

News

HOUSEKEEPING

Twitter

Jace – @zi11ion
Jeri – @mistresspixel
Aaron – @phokal
Eric – @ninjeestarr

Show Notes:

Hey kids, you want some Half Life Episode 3? Too bad! You’ll take your Counter Strike and like it!

IN OUR HANDS

Jace – Team Fortress 2, More Terraria with the 1.0.6 update, WoW (ashamed) L4D2 vs with Aaron.

Aaron – Mirror’s Edge, Iron Man, Saint’s Row 2

Eric – Red Dead (triple XP weekend), Red Faction Armageddon Path of War DLC, lots of WP7 games (minesweeper, sudoku, ilomilo), and of course more War for Cybertron

MAIN TOPIC 

The end of the year is coming and a bunch of awesome games are coming out.  What is your most anticipated games between now and the end of the year?

Jace - Skyrim, Batman Arkham City, I was excited about Deus Ex but I’ve been hearing iffy things about it. Torchlight 2, I’ll get to play it multiplayer with my wife! Oh, and the 20 free games I’m getting on my 3DS. Hell yeah, retro paradise!

Aaron - Batman: Arkham City, Battlefield 3, Gears of War 3, Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, Card Hunter

Eric - Uncharted 3, Gears of War 3, Battlefield 3, Rage

NEWS

There’s a minecraft convention coming up. It’s called MineCon Costs $100 to go there in Los Vegas. I hope there will be Minecraft LARPing. (source: http://minecon.mojang.com/)

Steam trading has arrived in beta. You can trade your unused extra copies of games for TF2 hats.  A new era of commerce is dawning and our economic woes will be solved. (source: http://www.teamfortress.com/post.php?id=6040 )

Valve has announced CounterStrike Global Offensive, making Half-Life fans even more cyncal than anyone ever thought possible. (source: Counter-Strike: Global Offensive Announcement In Position… and http://kotaku.com/5830426/real-details-on-the-new-counter+strike-from-pros-whove-played-it )

You can sign up for the Gotham City Imposters beta to play as a crappy looking Batman or Joker facsimile with a gun. (source: http://fraggs.net/news/gotham-city-impostors-beta-sign-ups-open-now/ )

Freddy Krueger is now in Mortal Kombat.  How awesome is this?  What horror characters would you like to see in a fighting game? ( source: http://fraggs.net/news/freddy-krueger-klassic-sub-zero-and-retro-cyber-sub-zero-skins-available-now/ )

HOUSEKEEPING

Please subscribe to the show on iTunes and leave a review. Send your letters and questions to fraggscast@fraggs.net and have them read on the podcast.

Also, please visit www.fraggs.net to subscribe to the magazine. We like being able to eat.

Twitter -

Jace – @zi11ion

Jeri – @mistresspixel

Aaron – @phokal

Eric – @ninjeestarr

Musical Notes -

Open and Closing music is by TheEternal and is used with permission.  You can learn more about his music at http://www.theeternalmusic.com/ and purchase them on iTunes.

Break Music -

New Nightmare on Elm St. (Freddy Krueger) REMIX – Produced by Hastyle Pro. 2009

Nightmare On Elm Street (NES) remix by pianosketcher

If you would like to purchase a copy of what Aaron calls the best soundtrack of the year, Bastion’s OST, go to:  http://supergiantgames.bandcamp.com/

Also discussed in this episode:

In Our Hands

Jace - Terraria, Bastion, From Dust

Aaron - Bastion, Transformers: War for Cybertron, Child of Eden, Trenched

Eric - Transformers: War for Cybertron, Insanely Twisted Shadow Planet (demo), Bulletstorm

News Bits