September brings summer to an end and is also the beginning lineup for the big winter game releases. Some classic games make a comeback this month as part of anniversary collections and some heavy hitters make it to the lineup as well.

Action

9/11 Battlefield 3 Premium Edition (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

9/11 Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (PS3, Xbox 360)

9/11 Finding Nemo: Escape to the Big Blue (Nintendo DS, 3DS)

9/16 Kirby’s Dream Collector’s Special Edition (Nintendo Wii)

9/18 Hotel Transylvania (Nintendo DS, 3DS)

9/18 NCIS (3DS)

9/18 Street Fighter 25^th Anniversary Collection (PS3, Xbox 360)

9/18 Borderlands 2 (PS3, Xbox 360, PC)

9/18 Kinect Sesame Street TV (Xbox 360 Kinect)

9/18 Kinect Nat Geo TV (Xbox 360 Kinect)

9/25 The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (PS3, Xbox 360)

9/25 Thundercats (Nintendo DS)

9/25 Angry Birds Trilogy (Nindendo 3DS, PS3, Xbox 360)

9/25 Puzzler World 2012 3D (Nintendo 3DS)

9/25 Family Guy: Back to the Multiverse (PS3, Xbox 360)

9/25 Dead or Alive 5 (PS3, Xbox 360)

9/25 LittleBigPlanet (PS Vita)

“Battlefield 3 Premium Edition” is the re-release of “Battlefield 3″ with all the gears and whistles. The Premium Edition includes all past expansions to the game as well as the premium pass, which allows the player to download the future expansions that have been announced for the game.

“Tekken Tag Tournament 2″ is Tekken’s way of making a glorified return. With over 50 playable characters, new customizable characters, dozens of levels, and new gameplay features including pair play, retro-arcade tournament battles, and many online features, “Tekken Tag Tournament 2″ is looking to make a comeback to being one of the top fighting games.

“Kirby’s Dream Collector’s Special Edition” is something Nintendo is coming out with for both old and new Kirby fans. This collector’s edition includes six classic Kirby games (Kirby’s Dream Land, Kirby’s Adventure, Kirby’s Dream Land 2, Kirby Super Star, Kirby’s Dream Land 3, and Kirby 64). The collection also includes new challenge stages as well as a copy of the Kirby 20^th Anniversary Soundtrack CD.

“Street Fighter 25th Anniversary Collection” is a must have for the diehard Street Fighter collector. The collection includes 4 games (Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix, Street Fighter III Third Strike Online Edition, Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition and Street Fighter X Tekken), an 8 inch light up Ryu statue, a full-size Ryu martial arts belt, 64 page art book, 11 disk soundtrack collection, and a blu-ray set including a documentary on making the Street Fighter IV, Street Fighter IV and Super Street Fighter IV animated movies, Street Fighter II: The Animated Movie, and the entire Street Fighter anime series. Though this massive Street Fighter collection will have an asking price of $150, it is a must have for the Street Fighter Collector.

“Borderlands 2″ is the highly anticipated sequel to the smash hit “Borderlands.” With “Borderlands 2″, the game offers new classes to choose from, new lands to explore, a new weapon system including new types of weapons and defensive tools, and, probably the biggest plug from the game, guns. Tons and tons of guns. The game really wants to get across to its audience the massive amounts of different guns that the player is able to choose from just like in the first game (which holds the Guinness world record for most guns available in one video game.)

“Dead or Alive 5″ returns with the same cast of characters in a whole new setting. In “DOA 5″, they put a lot of details into the setting and background as means to express more of a visual spectacle. Along with detailed backgrounds, they added a new feature in the details of the characters, wet texturing. As the players fight it out, their characters will sweat and may battle in wet and raining environments, which will cause the characters to get damp hair, wet skin, and semi-translucent clothing.

RPG

9/18 End of Nations Collector’s Edition (PC)

9/18 Disney Princess: My Fairytale Adventure (Nintendo Wii, 3DS)

9/25 World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria (PC)

“World of Warcraft: Mists of Pandaria” is the latest expansion to “World of Warcraft”. This expansion increases the level cap to 90, introduces the monk as a playable class, the Pandaren as the new playable race (also the first neutral race), and new areas to explore.

Sports

9/11 NHL 13 (PS3, Xbox 360)

9/11 NBA Baller Beats (Xbox 360 Kinect)

9/18 F1 2012 (PS3, Xbox 360)

9/18 Harley Pasternak’s Hollywood Trainer (Xbox 360 Kinect)

9/18 Kinect Sports Ultimate (Xbox 360 Kinect)

9/25 Wipeout 3 (Nintendo Wii, 3DS, Xbox 360)

9/25 Pro Evolution Soccer (Nintendo Wii, 3DS, PS3, Xbox 360)

9/25 FIFA Soccer 13 (PS3 Xbox 360)

“NHL 13″ is looking to be the most realistic hockey game to date. The game system has gotten a completely new overhaul with game mechanics and AI for the most realistic hockey experience. The game also features the updated GM Connected, which allows players to bring total customization to their team by swapping and trading team players to their specifications, and the game also includes NHL Moments Live, which allows players to relive some of the biggest moments in NHL history.

Simulation

9/4 The Sims 3 Supernatural (PC)

“The Sims 3 Supernatural” is the seventh expansion pack in “The Sims 3″. This expansion includes various features from new costumes, new characters like zombies, witches, werewolves, vampires and other monsters, and new jobs like being a fortune teller. The Limited Edition of the game also includes a Plants Versus Zombies expansion, which allows players to buy peashooters to defend their home against the zombie invasion.

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London, U.K. — On August 10, Ubisoft announced that Assassin’s Creed III for PCs will be available in the UK on November 23, 2012.

Set against the backdrop of the American Revolution in the late 18th century, Assassin’s Creed III introduces a new hero, Ratohnhakéton, of Native American and English heritage. Adopting the name Connor, he becomes the new voice for justice in the ancient war between the Assassins and Templars. Players become an Assassin in the war for liberty against ruthless tyranny in the most stylized and fluid combat experiences in the franchise to date.

Assassin’s Creed III is set to release on October 31st for the PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft and will be available for Wii U from Nintendo when the Wii U launches.

Initially launched in 2007, the first four Assassin’s Creed games have sold more than 38 million units worldwide, and the franchise is now established as one of the best-selling series ever. Recognized for having some of the richest, most engrossing storytelling in the industry, Assassin’s Creed transcends video games, branching out into other entertainment experiences including comic books, Facebook games, novels, short films and more.

Assassin’s Creed III can be pre-ordered at UBIShop by visiting: http://shop.ubi.com/assassinscreed3

For more information on Assassin’s Creed, please visit the Assassin’s Creed Official Website (www.assassinscreed.com)

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Racing games have been a staple part of gaming since the arcade and the DOS era, and have continued to play a strong role in the world of gaming. From cars to 18-wheelers, racing has been everything from good to bad and even quite ugly sometimes. There have been two racing series that have blossomed to become the biggest series in the racing genre, Need For Speed and Forza Motorsports. At E3, both have introduced a new edition to come out in 2012. So the question is, which of these two games will come out on top?

Need For Speed (NFS) is one of the longest running racing games of the modern generation. The one thing the Need for Speed series was known for was the introduction of police, where not only was the objective to complete the race, but escaping the police too. Or if players wanted to spice things up, they had the option of being the cop and were able to bust racers.

Starting back in 1994, NFS has had a plethora of sequels and spinoffs, one of their most popular being the Hot Pursuit series back with NFS 3 in 1998. The unique aspect of NFS Hot Pursuit was the revamped police pursuit system and the ability to play with up to one other player in split-screen mode (The original NFS game offered a multiplayer mode on PC; however, required a modem connection and could be played in DosBox). NFS Hot Pursuit eventually got a sequel in 2002 and a remake in 2010.

The NFS series had other spinoffs that included Underground, Most Wanted, Carbon, Shift, The Run, and other franchises. Many of these series ranged from hits and misses, in which Shift and The Run were considered the worst in the series. Another thing about the NFS series are the various developers attached to the series: EA Canada, EA Black Box, EA Montreal, EA Singapore, Slightly Mad Studios, and Criterion Games (known for the Burnout Series). With these different developers who have been making various NFS games through the years, it is clear why each NFS game has been different.

The new NFS game for 2012 is a remake to the Most Wanted series. Most Wanted, developed by Criterion games (who also developed the Hot Pursuit remake) looks to be a city version of what Hot Pursuit was to the country side. Features that continue to be a part of the series are police escapes, an open world environment, and autolog. As with the more recent Need for Speed games, the open world environment has begun to be a regular, as seen in NFS Underground, which lets the player freely roam around the world as they leisurely drive or practice the tracks finding the best routs and shortcuts to take.

Most Wanted looks to be a promising installment to the NFS series, it doesn’t look to be anything special or offer anything unique to the NFS series, but it still looks to be a solid game and a fun experience. Most Wanted is scheduled to be released October 30th 2012.

Another game announced at E3 was Forza Horizon. The Forza series started back in 2005 with the release of Forza Motorsport for the Xbox. The Forza series is distributed by Microsoft Game Studios and is an Xbox exclusive. The main selling point for Forza is the realistic driving mechanics. The game strives to be more like a true driving simulator and does a great job. The Forza series is highly acclaimed and rated highly among various gaming sites.

Going along with the driving realism, the Forza series also introduced Autovista. Autovista is a feature that gives the player detailed images and facts about the select 24 cars available in the game. These facts range from general details of the car to the minute facts from the brake pads to interior details. The game series strives to be the most detailed racing game to date and succeeds.

The newest installment to the series is Forza Horizon. The biggest feature that Horizon is pushing for is the open world. With various roads to travel through and fluid day to night transitions, the Forza series strives to give players a detailed driving experience in the open world as they have with their cars.

Though the new Forza game looks to be another great installment of the highly acclaimed series, the introduction of an open world seems to be drawing life away from the series. With the gameplay trailer from E3, the life on the road seemed to be sucked out, as what happens with most open world games, which usually means that with the introduction of something massive, details are usually cut short to be able to fit in the wider space. Forza is all about the little details, so with the introduction of a massive open world, the famous Forza details might be lost due to the mass open road. Still highly acclaimed and greatly anticipated, Forza Horizon is expected to be released October 23^rd 2012, a week before NFS Most Wanted.

Image Courtesy of  Need for Speed

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Mind Candy, the family entertainment brand behind the global children’s phenomenon Moshi Monsters, and Activision Publishing, a wholly owned subsidiary of Activision Blizzard have announced the upcoming release of Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park, the second title in the Moshi Monsters video game series.

MoshiMonsters.com is an online world of adoptable pet monsters for kids aged 6-12. Players can customize and nurture their very own Monster as well as play mini-games, solve puzzles, share artwork and communicate in a safe environment. With more than 60 million registered users worldwide, the site has proved to be a hit and has expanded into a physical products line including best-selling toys, books, trading cards, the Moshi Monsters Magazine and a new music album. According to-market research firm, The NPD Group, Moshi Monsters was the No. 1 toy license-in the UK for the month of April.

Activision is a key partner in helping Mind Candy bring the beloved pet monsters to the handheld gaming platform. The debut title, Moshling Zoo, released in 2011, found success around the world and is one of only seven-3rd-Party games to ever top the UK charts, and is the only one to hold the No. 1 spot in Nintendo DS charts for an impressive five months.

“We look forward to working with Activision to build continued success for the Moshi Monsters brand and to bring new gaming experiences for our millions of fans to enjoy,” said Moshi Monsters creator and Mind Candy CEO, Michael Acton Smith.

Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park, developed by Black Lantern Studios, invites players to restore the legendary Moshi theme park to its former glory. Players progressively unlock six zones by successfully building attractions and rescuing the scattered Moshlings (adorable, itty bitty pets for your pet monster). Users of the Nintendo 3DS can also interact with other Nintendo 3DS players via the StreetPass feature and play cool games to bring the Moshlings to life in a whole new dimension. Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park marks the first time fans can interact with beloved characters via 3D technology and introduces players to a brand new, exclusive Moshling that can transfer across platforms to the online world.

“We look forward to bringing Moshi fans a brand-new gaming experience with fun, colorful gameplay; rich story and increased interactivity,” said David Oxford, Executive Vice President, Activision.

Moshi Monsters: Moshlings Theme Park will connect fans across the online and handheld platforms through exclusive codes and promotions, designed to increase engagement in new and exciting ways. Fans will uncover secret codes online at MoshiMonsters.com, which will unlock special areas and content on the Nintendo 3DS and Nintendo DS.

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Valhalla, U.S.A – Turtle Beach, pioneers and market-leaders of the gaming headset category, and Major League Gaming (MLG), the world’s largest competitive video game league, have announce a multi-year product and marketing partnership under which Turtle Beach will develop the official headsets and audio equipment of Major League Gaming. The first official products offered under this partnership will be MLG versions of the all-new Ear Force XP7 and Z7 MLG Pro Circuit Programmable Surround Sound Headsets for console and PC play, along with the Ear Force TM1 Tournament Audio Mixer.

Slated for release in Fall 2012, working prototypes of these exciting new game audio products and others from the Turtle Beach line will be available for preview in Turtle Beach’s Electronic Entertainment Expo (E3) booth; Los Angeles Convention Center South Hall #2447, from June 5– 7, 2012. MLG Pro Players will be on hand to help introduce the new products, with appearances in the Turtle Beach booth daily from 2-3 p.m. PT.

Developed specifically for console and PC tournament use, the XP7 and Z7 headsets significantly raise the bar for tournament and competitive online multi-player performance. The most technologically advanced headsets on the market; they are part of the new Seven Series line of high-performance gaming lifestyle audio products offered by Turtle Beach. Working in partnership with MLG, Turtle Beach plans to release final versions of the XP7 and Z7 headsets and TM1 audio mixer at MLG Pro Circuit competitions later this year. Complete details regarding Turtle Beach’s line of official MLG Pro Circuit Products will be issued in the coming months.

XP7 and Z7 headsets will feature Turtle Beach’s acclaimed Programmable DSP Technology for the ultimate in customized immersion and competitive advantage, making the XP7 and Z7 some of the most precise and powerful tournament headsets on the planet. Ongoing collaboration by Turtle Beach and MLG will deliver unique audio presets customized for specific tournament games, maps and levels that can be loaded onto the XP7 and Z7. These and many others will be available for download via Turtle Beach’s Preset Community Portal.

The Seven Series is the ultimate “Swiss Army knife” of headsets for passionate gamers on the move. Using a variety of unique cables and connectors, the Seven allows gamers to effortlessly move from console or PC to smartphones, tablets or portable gaming devices. A removable boom microphone, optional in-line mic with multi-function controls, lay-flat ear cups and much more, combine with a dramatic new design and stellar audio performance to offer the features that avid gamers demand.

Turtle Beach will also preview working prototypes of its new TM1 Tournament Mixer. Developed as the ultimate audio mixer for console and PC LAN tournaments, game centers or home use, the TM1 enables crystal clear communication for up to six individual players. Additional options allow a single unit to deliver three versus three team play, the chaining of units for up to 12 audio channels, a broadcast feed and numerous other competition features. Combined with the XP7 and Controller, the TM1 represents the single most powerful revolution in game tournament audio.

“At Major League Gaming, our mission is to create the most competitive environment in e-Sports,” said Sundance DiGiovanni, CEO of MLG. “We look forward to working with Turtle Beach and to utilizing the XP7 and Z7 headsets and TM1 mixer at our Pro Circuit events and offering exciting new audio products to our fans.”

“Quality audio is a competitive advantage whether you play at home or in a tournament,” said Bob Picunko, Turtle Beach’s Chief Marketing Officer. “This partnership allows our audio engineers and MLG’s tournament experts to work closely to deliver the best possible, high performance tournament equipment for professional competitors and gamers at all levels.”

The marketing and product partnership between Turtle Beach and MLG intends to deliver more unique and exciting game audio products, new technologies and lifestyle excitement in the coming years.

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A new rumor that sprung up late last week says that the new Playstation console, reportedly called “Orbis,” may include software preventing gamers from playing used titles or require them to pay a fee to do so by limiting the number of times the game can be installed on a console. Some PC games developers are already doing this in the form of activation limits. If the rumor turns out to be true, protests look to be on the horizon, but gamers will not be alone in these complaints.

GameStop, one of the leading video game store chains, generates 42% of its profit from selling used games. If the company does put a stop to this flow of cash and alienate gamers, Sony will likely be hurting only themselves.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Pachter said, “It isn’t really in Sony’s or Microsoft’s best interests to block used games. It would benefit Activision and EA slightly, and would hurt GameStop a great deal. If Sony unilaterally did this, I could see GameStop refusing to carry their console, and sales of the PS4 would therefore suffer.”

Although the Orbis would still be readily available, the percentage of people who shop at GameStop is too high of a number to ignore. Many would likely switch to Microsoft or Nintendo consoles for the sake of convenience, especially considering the number of multi-platform games released in recent years.

David Cole of DFC Intelligence, a strategic market research and consulting firm focused on video games, remarked, “A system that tried to stop used game sales would probably turn off the core consumers that rush to trade in their old product to buy new product. In other words, I don’t think it would do so well in the core market.”

Many gamers are already showing disgust over game developers adding downloadable content (DLC) purchasable online for a fee as opposed to including the content in the game free of extra cost. Blocking used games would further enrage them. Even fans that have been with the company since Playstation’s original release could refuse to purchase the Orbis over the matter, regardless of the quality of games on the console.

“Customers would rebel. Until there’s the equivalent of a great ‘used’ digital console game trade-in program up and running, gamers will continue to like the ability to trade in discs and basically get discounts on other games,” Cole commented.

Pachter said he does not think Sony will actually go through with the plan. “If one does it and the others don’t, the one who does it will see a loss of market share,” he said. He also remarked that he thought none of the big three console makers “are stupid enough to do this unilaterally” and none of them “are evil enough to do it together.”

Although it is still too early to see if these rumors will amount to something, one thing is certain: if Sony actually does incorporate this feature into Orbis, they’ll be doing massive damage to themselves.

Image Courtesy of   nic0

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Earlier this week it was revealed in the German magazine GameStar that a new game in the popular “SimCity” series was in the works.  Although no worldwide announcement has followed, a host of details are already available.

The game will be called SimCity, with no number or subtitle following it.  The graphics have been reworked, leading to more intricate and beautiful details, such as signs plastered up around town and on buildings along with people walking around and going through their lives, occasionally visiting eateries and other stores.

These details also add an extra element to the gameplay: it is now possible to see how a factory is running based on its animation.  At this point, however, there are no screenshots that actually depict how the finished game will look, as currently the only thing available is concept art.

The camera can also now be repositioned, moved around, and zoomed in and out, meaning fixed viewpoints are a thing of the past.  It is possible to zoom in on individual buildings and people, and doing so has a quirky effect: the closer the camera is zoomed in on the city, the louder the noises of the streets and people will become, but the farther out it is, the more quiet everything will seem.

The grid format the series has become associated with is getting redone, and it is now possible to create curved roads, as opposed to only straight ones, which will give the game a more realistic appearance.

Multiplayer has also been added, enabling trade between friends for different materials and resources, as well as leaderboards to show how individual players rank in terms of things like finance.  In addition, prices for resources in single-player may be regulated by the actual online economy of the game (although GameStar was vague here, leaving room for the possibility that the economy will be actually fluctuate based on events that happen in the real world).

Other bits shown reveal that buildings do not stay the same over the course of the game.  As time goes on buildings can unlock new powers, like a fire station being able to put out a fire that much quicker.  Graphs and charts telling the player the status of their city have also been simplified and made more modern in order to help make them more player-friendly.

At this time there is little other information available, but stay tuned for more details in coming months.

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