What does this mean? Well nobody knows as of now. He could be referring to the graphics or the game play of Twilight Princess. But for now everything is just speculation.

John Carmack, the founder of id Software says the acquisition will not effect any day to day operations and that things will continue as normal.

Todd Hollenshead, the CEO of id also says the merger allows the two companies to work together and share resources which enables the potential for much better games.

This trailer, lasting over 4 minutes in length, shows what seems to be another visually awe-inspiring game from Team Ico, known for their graphically advanced games. As of now the game is titled The Last Guardian, and from the trailer we can assume that it gets the name from the massive…well, bird-like dog beast that you see throughout the trailer.

The trailer also shows a boy who we can assume will be the character that players will control. This young tattoo covered boy seems to have a really close connection to this beast as shown from some interesting clips in the video.

But I have said enough, it is time for you to witness this stunning trailer.

Banjo-Tooie
Release: April 29, 2009
Rating: E – Everyone
Platform: Xbox Live Arcade
Price: 1200 Microsoft Points

Gameplay: 9.5/10
Graphics: 9.5/10
Sound: 9.5/10
Length: 10/10
Replay Value: 8/10

Overall Score: 9.3

Like it’s predecessor, Banjo-Tooie is a platformer originally made for the Nintendo 64. Since it’s release back in 2000, 4J Studios has done the honor of faithfully porting it to the Xbox Live Arcade for a new generation of gaming fans to enjoy.

Banjo-Tooie starts out two years after the original game, with Gruntilda still trapped under the rock that fell on her. But her sisters have freed her to find out that she is nothing but a skeleton now, and is now determined to restore her original body back and get revenge against Banjo and Kazooie, and it’s up to you to stop her.

The main style of the game is similar to the last. You play through various and giant worlds in search of Jiggies, which is what you need to progress further through the Isle o’ Hags, the game’s main hub world, while learning new moves to help you in your adventure during the process. You also find and collect Jinjos, which helped you greatly in the first game, except this time you return them home to their families and upon completely rescuing a family you will get a Jiggy as a reward.

The gameplay overall is very similar to the previous game. All the buttons do the same things, you have the same moves, and you learn new moves during the adventure. There is no difficulty setting (as with the last game), so the learning curve really depends on whether or not you played through the first adventure. The gaming controls are good, but have a few hiccups here and there. Every now and then while rolling continuously, the game will think that instead of pushing forward on the left stick and B, that I just pushed the B Button so instead of rolling like I want Kazooie will attack the air. It’s not anything bad, but it gets annoying after you’ve played the game for 10 hours or so.

The game’s length is much bigger than the previous. While the previous game was only 7-10 hours (on your first play through), this one (on your first play through) could easily be 15 hours or more, which I feel is appropriate for a game like this.

The game is fun to play, but it can constantly get a tad frustrating. Whereas in the last game if you went in order of the levels (from first to last) if you learned the moves in each level you could beat it 100%, in this game it’s not the case. In the first level, Mayahem Temple, there are some quests you need to complete for a Jiggy, but in order to get it you need to learn a move you don’t learn until the next level, or even the one after that. Inexperienced players could easily get frustrated by this as the game has no indication that you aren’t able to do something yet besides letting you try everything until you’ve given up hope and just moved on to the next world, planning to revisit a previous one later.

The graphics of the game are almost exactly the same as the last, with the same amount of detail and color, with nice and smooth animations for the characters. There are no jagged edges here, and the worlds are very colorful and feel “alive” with the color Rare put into each world to make it unique. The sound also fits each world very well. From being underwater and hearing a similar tune to the one in Donkey Kong Country, to being in Witchyworld and hearing a dark, haunting melody of a nighttime fair, the music fits everything just right to give the player the real feeling of where they are and what is going on.

The game never released any extra content on the N64, so it is certain that Microsoft won’t pay anyone to make new content for the XBLA port. After beating the adventure, most players are sure to play the game again just for the fun of it and looking at the beautiful surroundings, full of color and life.

There is a local multiplayer to this game, which has not been reviewed.

All in all, Banjo-Tooie for the XBLA is a wonderful game. It is a faithful port of the original, while implementing the Stop N’ Swap features that were canned for the N64 versions. To anyone who likes platformers, colorful games that don’t cost $60, and just a fun game to play and interesting story, along with imaginative worlds, I highly recommend you download Banjo-Tooie from the Xbox Live Marketplace.

the Pl4gue

Zelda game for the Wii to the public, a few individuals were given minimal

information behind closed doors.

In this closed door event one piece of official art work was shown. At

first it was going to remain a secret, but it has now been released for

public viewing.

And as Shigeru Miyamoto said in a post E3 interview, Link does indeed look

a lot older and more mature even when compared to the Link from Twilight

Princess. When asked if the game would follow Twilight Princess, Miyamoto

stated that there would not be a connection as of now and that the game

would be many years after the events of Twilight Princess.

Another notable feature of this image is that Link is not holding a sword

of any kind. Though this could mean nothing at all, a lot of people on the

web are already speculating about possible intentions of this.

Finally, Link is standing behind some kind of spirit that looks very

similar to some kind of Zora spirit or fairy. Details on the relationship

were not revealed but it is sure to be revealed in time.

Legend of Zelda Artwork from E3 2009

After showing the new Resident Evil, Dead Space, and Conduit games, he then went on to announce what I consider to be the biggest news of Nintendo’s show.

This game is of course Metroid: M. A trailer was shown, and I have to admit that when it started playing I had no idea what to expect. It started off with some beautiful scenes including an awe inspiring view through clouds above a mountain and a space scene where missiles are falling upon a space vessel and exploding.And honestly at this point I did not know it was a lead up to a Metroid game.

It was not until a blonde haired girl was show that things began to click. From there the trailer quickly went to some hardcore action scenes showing Samus fighting Ridley and a large array of monsters.

The game is being developed by Team Ninja, who is well known for making extreme and hardcore games. And as Fils-Aime stated, “take you deeper into Samus’ story.”

Throughout the game, the player changes between various Orbital Drop Shock Troopers, each with their own special abilities. The game itself takes place in the year 2552, with the Covenant looking for some unknown item beneath the surface of the planet. Classic Halo weapons such as the SMG and Spartan Laser were confirmed in the game and spiked grenades were also seen.

The developers, Bungie, has also provided us with details about a new mode called, Firefight. Firefight allows players to party up and fight an enslaught of Convenant attack waves.

Halo 3 : ODST will allow players to use the map packs from Halo 3 as well as 3 new maps called, Heretic, Citadel, and Longshore.

Finally gamers who buy ODST will get an invitation to try out the upcoming beta for the prequel, Halo: Reach.

of their biggest announcements have already been made.

This of course is the confirmation of the PSP Go.

Many of you are probably wondering what the difference

is from the PSP GO compared to the other PSP models.

First of all, the design is smaller and more portable

then the other PSP’s. Sony said that the screen will

only be 3.8 inches and that the overall unit itself is

up to 44 percent lighter. Not only that, but the screen

slides up and down. When slid up, the d-stick and

controls are revealed.

As for new features, the PSP Go will no longer have a

UMD drive, but will instead have a micro memory slot.

The PSP Go will also be bluetooth enabled allowing users

to hook the PSP with their cell phones.

Sony did make it clear that the PSP Go was not made to

replace the old PSP but rather to sit along side the

original PSP on the shelf. It will have a longer battery

life and allow for downloadble content and would

eventually begin to get unique games that the other PSP

will not.

Look for the PSP Go to be on the shelves this Autumn.

The first Left4Dead game was released less then a year ago but due to its huge success Valve went ahead and began production on its sequel.

Anyways, Left4Dead 2 will start off with five new campaigns which if you recall is one more then the last game had to start off with. Like its predecessor, L4D2 will also support 4 player campiagn co-op and the versus and survival modes. The new game is taking place in the Southern half of the Unites States, so kiss the old players good bye as Valve is also introducing 4 new characters to play as. Confirmed campaign locations includes New Orleans and a savannah.

e3 2009 Left4Dead screen

What players will find really interesting is that a lot of the campaigns actually take place during the day which brings a lot of new and unique gameplay twists to the table. For instance, at night the witch is recognized by her crying and laying in a corner. But, if there is a witch during the day she is actually lurking around the map which makes an encounter way more likely.

And, to stick with what made the first game so great, developers kept the idea of situations changing and reflecting upon how well the players are doing. However, this time this may include a Tank popping out, but also the map itself changing on you.

Most of you are probably interested in what kind of zombies will accompany the old onslaught. Valve is currently keeping quiet about most details. but they did  supply us details about a new zombie that they called, “the charger.” As the name suggests this zombie is fast and will run at you to try and knock players down and stun them for a few seconds making them entirely vunerable.

Valve has also confirmed the introduction of several new weapons. As mentioned earlier, there will be several melee weapons such as axes, frying pans, a bat, and a chainsaw! Melee weapons are generally a one hit kill on all enemies with the exception of the tanks and witches.

So far the game is set to be released on November 17. So stay tuned for more information.

We will be updating this page with news as i comes out so stay tuned for up to date Call of Duty information. Until then watch this amazing trailer to see all of the upcoming Call of Duty action.