Gamertell

As you might know, I am here at the Penny Arcade Expo here in Seattle. I am quite excited to see the lineup, and I have had a chance to preview a brand-new, unreleased game before the Expo has even begun. Independent gaming company Hidden Path invited me to a sneak peek at their newest game: Defense Grid: The Awakening. 

What I played, I liked. Defense Grid: The Awakening is a game that is best described as “tower defense”. The basic premise is that you are at an abandoned base that is being invaded by hordes of aliens, and the only way to stop them is to raise up weapon towers to exterminate them.

Click through for more Defense Grid: The Awakening impressions…

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These days packaging a popular game with a bunch of swag seems almost mandatory. So with great honor I present to you the Saints Row 2 Collector’s Edition. This special edition will be available at select retail outlets as well as some online stores for $79.99. You may have already noticed the shape of the box resembles a gun which is absolutely fitting for the over-the-top gang violence Saints Row 2 has to offer.

Inside the gun-shaped box you will find…

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The Playstation Network (PSN) has been offering downloadable games ever since it launched a couple years ago. Unlike its console competitors, however, there was no way to purchase games and services without using a credit or debit card.

Japan has been using PSN cards for a while now and people in North America have been waiting with zen-like patience for the cards to find their way across the ocean. Even though you may find PSN cards scattered about the country in the strangest places, Sony has announced that major chains including Blockbuster, 7-Eleven and…

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The days are counting down to the September 5, 2008m European release of Spore with the North American release just a couple days later. If the Spore Creature Creator is any indication, we can expect Spore to be flying off store shelves the minute the doors open.

That’s probably why it’s a good idea to go ahead and pre-order the PC version right now straight from EA. You can also pre-order the Mac version of the game…

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You know how some months, you walk into a GameStop and all you see are games you have to have? Well, it looks like September, 2008 is going to be that kind of month for DS owners. Add another title to the “Wanted” list, because Empire Interactive has just announced that it’s releasing Unsolved Crimes for the DS on September 23, 2008.

Unsolved Crimes has players solving crime cases as a detective in 1970’s New York. While there are eight cases to solve, it features an encompassing storyline that ties them all the cases together with the disappearance of a model named Betsy Blake. Players have to participate in action portions, crime scene investigations and quizzes on things seen throughout the game in order to solve each case…

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Gamecock has also announced a list of the five games it will be displaying at Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) 2008, which runs from August 29-31, 2008. It has a pretty well rounded display set up, featuring games for the Xbox 360, DS, Wii and PC. So only Sony system owners will feel left out if they drop by Gamecock’s booth. (Don’t worry Sony fans! Gamecock is working on PS3 versions of some of the games displayed at PAX 2008.)

While Gamecock has an admirable game display set up, you won’t be able to actually play all of the titles - one (Velvet Assassin) will only shown in presentations by Replay Studios developers. Still, with four games to enjoy, you’ll want to stop by and play a demo or two.

The games appear at the event are as follows…

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The Penny Arcade Expo is looking like The game conference of choice this year (along with Tokyo game show, of course). PAX 08’ is looking way hotter than E3 - think of how crazy that sentence would have been ten years ago. Sega is in on the show, with several titles available for hands-on play. The lineup, which we’ve previously reported, will include Bleach Dark Souls (DS), Dinosaur King (DS), Sonic Chronicles (DS), Valkyria Chronicles (PS3) and Yakuza 2 (PS2) will be on hand for attendees to try out.

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Excited for the Penny Arcade Expo (PAX) this weekend? Hudson certainly is, as it’s unveiling two of the most hotly anticipated WiiWare titles (probably ever) at the event - Bomberman Blast and Alien Crush Returns. Both are WiiWare entries from established, beloved franchises that haven’t been done to death on the current console generation (let’s forget that weird Xbox Bomberman iteration, shall we?), and both have sweet multiplayer features.

Bomberman will include…

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It seems like a videogame system just hasn’t made it, until it receives its first pet simulation. The latest incarnation of the N-gage has just received its first pet sim, Dogz, thanks to Gameloft. The game is rated for ages 3+ (like a kid would own an N-gage), is a small 1MB download and even has a free trial option. It’s only available in the UK though, and is available for £1.50 for one day, £4 for a week and £6 for unlimited use.

Dogz, like Nintendogs from Nintendo and Petz: Dogz from Ubisoft, lets you raise virtual puppies. There are three different breeds of dogs to pick from, and based on screenshots the breeds appear to be a lab, jack russel and shiba inu. There are also nine different places to explore with your dog and eight mini-games to play. You can also see how your dog ranks compared to other dogs online…

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The tracklist for EA’s forthcoming Boogie Superstar reads like a teenager’s, or Top 40 fan’s, iPod playlist. EA Games just revealed the global track list for the game, of songs which will be appearing on both US and foreign versions of the Wii game Boogie Superstar. The game’s spokesperson was also revealed to be Natasha Bedingfield, who will have three songs in the game.

I hate to admit this, but not all of these songs are that bad. Honestly, I have quite a few of them in iTunes, and last I checked I’m well past the teenage demographic EA’s trying to appeal to in Boogie Superstar. In fact, I’d even want to buy this game so I could sing along to songs like “Thnks Fr Th Mmrs,” “Love Like This,” “Nine in the Afternoon,” “Makes Me Wonder,” “Toxic” and “Stronger.”

The official Boogie Superstar tracklist from the press release is as follows…

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