One month’s rent for one man is another man’s handheld.

Remember the Nvidia Shield, Nvidia’s new hadheld console that runs on the Android OS (Jellybean), and allows you to stream games from your PC onto it? Well starting next Monday (May 20th) you can preorder the handheld console for $350. Yes, for the price of a Wii U, you can enjoy a handheld that can play games you could play on your smart phone and won’t be able to stream games out of the box. Yes, one of its essential features, the Geforce game streaming service will only be in beta at the time of the console’s launch. If you’d like to pre-order the handheld, you may do so here.

To be fair, the handheld does have some features which make it a force to be reckoned with. It has a 5-10 hour battery life, which puts it above the 3DS and PS Vita. It also has a decent processor, onboard mic and GPS, 16GB memory (memory can be further expanded through a micro-SD slot) and a five inch, multi-touch screen, which is comparable to the PS Vita. The system also comes with Sonic the Hedgehog 4: Episode 2 and Expendable: Rearmed. On the other hand, it’s $350 for a handheld from a company that has not made handhelds in the past. For the same price, you can get a 3DS XL and 4-5 retail games or a PS Vita with 3GS functionality and Soul Sacrifice or Persona 4 Golden.

What are your thoughts though? Is this a fair price? Keep following Blistered Thumbs for all the latest gaming news.

Source: Gamasutra Joystiq

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Worry not, NA gamers. This piece of lunacy is still coming soon.

OK, stay with me now because this could all be a little confusing if you are not paying attention. XSEED Games has been the North American arm of the Japanese game and anime developer/publisher Marvelous AQL since 2004. They have been responsible for bringing many an otherwise obscure and/or cult title to these shores including The Last Story, Corpse Party, Ragnarok Odyssey, and most recently Pandora’s Tower. Atlus Online meanwhile was a division formed by Atlus USA, aka Index Digital Media, to handle the NA release of MMO titles like Neo Steam: The Shattered Continent, Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine, and Pandora Saga. Today XSEED bought out Atlus Online (and only Atlus Online) from Index and will going forward operate under the new name of Marvelous USA. Is everybody clear now? Because I do not want cries of confusion in the comments about how XSEED now owns the Persona series or some other such nonsense because that is not what is happening.

In terms of the immediate future at least little will actually change for the average gamer in the transition from XSEED to Marvelous USA. Shinichi Suzuki will remain CEO and President and Ken Berry will continue to direct the publishing and localization efforts for the renamed company for example. Meanwhile Marvelous USA will continue to use the XSEED label for their console and PC games while also creating a new division titled Marvelous Online to handle online and social games both current (i.e. the aforementioned Neo Steam, Shin Megami Tensei: Imagine, etc) and future. This new division will operate under the auspices of Marvelous AQL’s Tatsuya Nishioka. President Suzuki issued the following statement regarding the changeover:

“Marvelous USA unifies our US operations under the global Marvelous brand while giving our customers topnotch products and support for both traditional and online social and mobile games. Our XSEED Games console and PC brand will continue to offer the quality games and service for which it is known, and Marvelous Online gives us expanded reach into mobile and online social gaming markets.”

Just so we are absolutely clear here, none of this will have any impact on XSEED’s current publishing plans and the company remains on track to publish both Killer is Dead for Xbox 360 and PS3 and Rune Factory 4 for 3DS in North America later this year. Stay tuned to Blistered Thumbs for continuing coverage of Marvelous USA and be sure to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Source(s): Marvelous USA

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I can practically feel the hatred and rage radiating off of some you at this news already.

Ever since the closure of LucasArts last month speculation over what lay ahead for Star Wars-based video games has run rampart. Now today has come news that at last makes clear where Disney plans to take things next and as it turns out that is no less than into the arms of publisher Electronic Arts. Not only will EA be getting into the Star Wars business but they will be doing so in an exclusive fashion at least as far so-called ‘core’ games are concerned. This is part of a multi-year agreement that will span consoles, PCs, and mobile platforms and across what is being described as a wide variety of genres. It is worth noting that Disney will retain the rights to causal iterations of Star Wars in the online, social, and mobile sectors. Or in other words we will probably still see Star Wars characters added to the upcoming title Print Money the Game er… I mean Disney Infinity at some point down the line.

It also seems that EA are not intending to waste any time as both a press release on Star Wars.com and a post by President of EA Labels Frank Gibeau name drop DICE, Visceral Games, and (of course) BioWare as the developers of choice at least initially to develop new games set in a galaxy far, far away. Both can be found in full below.

On a personal note, I feel EA has at their disposal both the financial and creative resources needed to treat the Star Wars brand right. Has the company made mistakes in the past? Sure but they have also published a lot of really great games as well and their seeming initial choice of developers seems right on the money. Or as BT’s own Yousif Alshaker put it earlier today: “DICE could be making a new Star Wars: Republic Commando title. That would make me squee.” Indeed Yousif, indeed. Plus if nothing else they certainly are a better choice than say Activision would have been. I also hope EA might still allow Obsidian Entertainment at some point to make that pitch for a new Star Wars RPG that the company has been teasing of late.

Specifics on the deal including the financial terms and length of the exclusivity remain undisclosed at this time. However at the very least it is hard to imagine that EA did not manage to get the rights at through 2015 which is the current planned release year for the upcoming Episode VII. Also the mention of the Frostbite 3 engine specifically leads me to wonder if work on new titles might not already be further along than we think and whatever the case hopefully EA will have more specifics for us no later than E3 next month. In the meantime feel free to share your thoughts, opinions, wails of doom and gloom, and the no doubt endless amount of Dark Side puns/references just aching to escape in the comments section below.

Source(s): Star Wars.com. EA.

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The character meet-up I never knew I always wanted. If only they had gotten Bruce…

As it was foretold eons ago (or yesterday; it could have just been yesterday, same difference really) Telltale Game’s Poker Night 2 has now arrived on Xbox 360 worldwide. It will be joined by the PS3 and PC versions over the course of the next week and even further down the line on iOS but that is not stopping Telltale from going ahead and unleashing the launch trailer for the game now. So if you are still on the fence about this five dollar crossover poker game then by all means check out said launch trailer below. And as an added bonuses have a trailer focusing on the game’s various bonuses and unlocks for good measure. Just because we like you around here kid. You got the stuff.

Poker Night 2 is available now Xbox 360 via XBLA worldwide and will also arrive worldwide for PC and Mac via Steam on April 26 and PS3 via PSN in North America on April 30. The game is currently being aimed for release on PSN in the UK/EU on May 1 however that date is not yet finalized and subject to change. Finally a version of the game for iOS via the App Store is also in the works for release at some point in the future. Stay tuned to Blistered Thumbs for continuing coverage of Telltale Games and be sure to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

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Pro-tip: don’t stick any of these guys with the bill. It could get… ugly.

Telltale’s second go around at their unique take on ‘celebrity’ poker now has a release date along with new screenshots all courtesy of the company’s own twitter feed. For those in need of a reminder Poker Night 2 is the more simply titled follow-up to 2010′s Poker Night at the Inventory and as with its predecessor features characters from across the spectrum of pop culture coming together to shoot the shit and play the cards they are dealt. This time around the participants will consist of Sam from the Sam & Max franchise, Brock Samson from The Venture Bros. and who will be voiced by Patrick Warburton as always, Ash Williams from Evil Dead/Army of Darkness (voice TBA but unlikely to be the great chin himself Bruce Campbell sadly), and Claptrap from the Borderlands series. Everyone’s favorite psychotic GLaDOS (voiced by Ellen McLain) from Portal will also be on hand as dealer and will no doubt be prepared to handout soul-crushing insults as freely as she does cards. Both Texas and Omaha hold ‘em variations of poker will be available for play and success in the game will unlock a variety of out-of-game prizes like Avatars for XBLA and skins in Borderlands 2 as well.

According to Telltale Xbox 360 owners the world over will not have to wait long to ante up thanks to the PN2 arriving on XBLA worldwide tomorrow on April 24. The game will also arrive worldwide for PC and Mac via Steam on April 26. Poker Night 2 will be made available for PS3 via PSN in North America on April 30. The game is currently being aimed for release on PSN in the UK/EU on May 1 however that date is not yet finalized and subject to change. Finally a version of the game for iOS via the App Store is also in the works for release at some point in the future. Stay tuned to Blistered Thumbs for continuing coverage of Telltale Games and be sure to share your thoughts and opinions in the comments section below.

Source(s): Telltale Games.

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Only one voxel army can survive!

One genre that I feel hasn’t been getting enough love is the 4X (explore, expand, exploit, and exterminate) strategy. Sure, there’s still a few titles in the genre outside of Civilization but its definitely not as prevalent of a genre as it once was. Luckily, with the advent of Kickstarter and ambitious developers like Zachary Kingston, the genre might be getting a revival with games like PreApocalypse.

Preapocalypse is a 4X game with a twist. You’re still building up your civilization, researching new technologies, negotiating and fighting with other civilizations, but victory doesn’t come from just conquering the world or reaching a certain level of technology: you also have to save the world. In the wold of Preapocalypse, a great calamity will soon descend, meaning you and the other civilizations need to find a way to avert or survive it…and every civilization has a different idea on how to do it, making the battles ones of ideology, as well as might.

The battles are also interesting as you can customize formations from a variety of units and place them on a special battle map to duke it out with other armies. To see morea bout the game watch the pitch video below:

Currently, the campaign has raised $2,539 of its $8,000 goal and has 17 days remaining. The campaigns rewards range from $5, which will put you name in the credits and give you access to a backers-only development blog, to $2,000 which will allow you to advertise yourself or your organization on a splash page that plays before the game (only two of these rewards can be claimed). If you just want a copy of the game, you can donate $15 (though if you want to be immortalized in the game you can also have one of the leaders in the game named after you). If you’re interested in checking the game out or want a more in-depth description of the battle system, give it a look. PreApocalyspe is coming to the Ipad, PC, Mac, and Linux this December.

You can find the Kickstarter page: HERE

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Next, I’ll make players pay to randomly shock one another. MWHAHAHAHA!

Remember Curiosity: What’s in the Box?, the free-to-play game by Peter Molyneux’s development team at 22cans? You know, the iPhone game where players from around the world pick away at a giant cube, hoping to reach the center and a prize that Molyneux describe as “life changing?” The game has been surprisingly popular, with players removing over 260 layers of the cube and have paid to remove 13,780,000 cublets from the next layer. They’ve also added 4,680,000 cublets.

No, you read that right. Peter Molyneux added two features to the game recently: the ability to remove cublets from the next layer of the cube (from £0.69 for 10,000 cublets all the way to £7.49 for 500,000) and the ability to add cublets to the next layer for the same price. As seen from those numbers, the feature has already been used extensively, despite having just been added. The feature will be turned off when there are only two layers left on the cube. Until then though, players are free to sabotage other players’ efforts and then have other players try to pay and fix the damage.

Source: Eurogamer

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Eskimos have feelings too.

Vander Caballero and Minority Media are the minds behind Papo & Yo, a brave exploration of substance abuse and child neglect told in video game form. I talked to Caballero some time ago, and it was clear that he sees the medium as ripe with potential for social commentary and autobiography. This will continue in the company’s next project, Silent Enemy.

Here’s what we know so far: Silent Enemy is an iOS title that deals with the issue of bullying. The adventure will be “more realistic” than the highly allegorical P&Y, but still involves magic powers. The most definitive aspect of the game revealed thus far is its snowy setting, which you can see in the art above.

In other news, Papo & Yo is coming to Steam. The former PS3 exclusive will hit Valve’s service on April 18th.

Source: Game Informer

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Supposed renders for Killer frost and ares, via testyourmight.com.

Ok, so some of this information was supposed to be a secret. It looks like everyone is reporting it though, so here’s what we know for sure: Injustice: Gods Among Us is coming to iOS.

NetherRealm and Warner Bros. confirmed a mobile version of their upcoming fighting game at GDC, but also left plenty of unanswered questions. For example, will it also get a Vita port, like its predecessor, Mortal Kombat 9? Another big question is the recent rumors surrounding the last two character slots. The word on the street is that the final two fighters are Killer Frost and Ares. We have no way of confirming this at this time, so stay tuned as the story develops.

Source: Siliconera

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When do the aliens show up?

Here at Blistered Thumbs, we love Ecco the Dolphin. The weird little Sega Genesis title has almost become a mascot of sorts for the weekly BT Podcast. It’s almost a shame that we will never see another one….

Enter KickStarter. As you may have guessed from the headline, the original Ecco team is attempting to crowd-fund a spiritual successor by the name of Big Blue. I could explain the project in greater detail, but the video below does a much better job than I ever could.

The fundraiser has 34 days to accumulate $665,000. You’ll probably want to check out the link below to see some of the stretch goals for this undertaking, as the team wants take the concept in some surprising directions. Chief among these is the ambition to transform a single-player ocean exploration title into an MMO. I don’t quite understand everything they are proposing, but, to be fair, I still don’t quite understand Ecco the Dolphin.

Source: KickStarter

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