Zombie News No. 19

So I was thinking the other day, what games are coming out in the next year or so that are going to be absolute must play titles? (A game zombie's brain is constantly thinking about his next game.) The first one that comes to mind is Portal 2. That will be a shoe in for me and my gaming appetite. Alas, Portal 2 is slated for a 2011 release so what will hold me over? Well I would love to finish RDR, Alan Wake, and then get my hands on NCAA Football, Transformers, Dead Rising 2, Crackdown 2 and Naughty Bear. All in time for Ghost Recon: Future Solider in early 2011. What do you think? What games are on your zombie mind?

Now for the news!

- Red Dead Redemption Co-op pack "Outlaws to the End" Released. It's free! I will be playing this weekend. I gotta finish this beast!
- Portal 2 Preview. This is a good read. CAUTION - Drool puddles known to form under reader.
- As a bonus Joystiq got a Portal 2 Co-op Preview. More drool here.
- Ghost Recon: Future Solider Preview. Once again Ubisoft is set to amaze us with its attention to detail.
- Capcom to release Dead Rising 2: Case Zero XBLA prior to August 31. This is strange to me. More zombie content is good, but why the filler? No one cares about the story!
- Review: Dtoid gives Transformers War for Cybertron an 8/10. I had feeling this game would be solid. It's on my list. Autobots, roll-out!
- Naughty Bear Launch Trailer - Zombie teddy bears!!


- Bobby Kotick (Activision CEO) wants Call of Duty subscription service. They try to dress it up, but I can read between the lines. If this goes the wrong way, massive protests will ensue.
- Microsoft FINALLY announces a family Xbox Live plan. $99 for 4 accounts! This is perfect!
- Speaking of Live, how about a 12 month membership for only $35? Buy.com has the hook-up.
- Joystiq gives us visual comparison of new 360 vs. old and start pondering a name for the new 360's overheating prevention mechanism. Oh and Xbox prices get slashed.

That's the news....no go forth and devour said games.

Zombie News E3 Special Edition No.2

So today's Zombie News E3 edition is chock full of goodness. I won't wast any time so lets get to it!
- Dead Space 2 gets a release date of 1/25/2011 and the people are pumped. Courtesy of G4TV here is a video of the gameplay demoed during the EA Press Conference.

- Battlefield Bad Company 2 is getting a Vietnam expansion Winter 2010

- Medal of Honor is looking good. Here is an E3 Multiplayer Trailer. Watch out COD.

- Kinect will require a separate power adapter for old 360 units. Old? Wait it gets better.
- Old Xbox 360s and Memory cards are being discontinued. Yup. Most of us are now proud owners of discontinued hardware.
- If you are planning on picking up a shiny new 360 soon. Check out Joystiq's HDD transfer kit impressions.
- Multiple game sites did un-boxing articles of the new 360 redesign. Dtoid did the best IMO. Worth a look.
- Dtoid posted new shots of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier. These look bad ass. Can't wait for beta.
- Mafia II will have exclusive PS3 content. I will be playing on PS3.
- Sony's PlayStation Move will hit stores on September 19th and retail for $49.99
- Sony announces new Twisted Metal for PS3 slated for 2011 release. Flight combat included.
OMG! An old fave! They better do it right.
- For you DS fans; A new Professor Layton game is set for September 20th release. Great games. Only reason I own a DS.
- Here are some E3 previews of: Assassins Creed: Brotherhood , Fallout: New Vegas
Bulletstorm - This little gem is going to be on my radar. (insert evil laugh here)

The final E3 news is perhaps one of the biggest to come out of the conference yet. Valve is bringing GLaDos to the PS3. Yes that's right. Portal 2 will be releasing at the same time for PC, MAC, Xbox 360, and PS3. What's more is that the PS3 will be the only console to support Steamworks which is Valve's automatic update and downloadable content release mechanism. Check out Dtoid for more detail. Otherwise, watch this E3 Portal 2 trailer and stay with Game Zombie to get the only game news that matters. Natch!

Zombie News Special E3 Edition

It's that time of year again when all of gamedom's media and journalists converge for the single biggest game event in the states. It's of course time for the Electronic Entertainment Expo aka E3. Since I am just a lowly blogger and not affiliated with any gaming media company, I do not have a pass to go and experience this for myself. To do that would be a dream come true for me. Alas, all of my postings will be secondhand from sites like Destructoid, Joystiq, and others. This edition of Zombie News and perhaps the next one will be labeled as E3 editions. I took a gander at the coverage this afternoon and came up with a few points of interest as I followed the stream of updates and cliff notes from Microsoft's press conference today. Check this out!




Highlights from the Microsoft E3 Conference:

- I got most excited about the news of a new slimmer Xbox360 being released...NOW. On store shelves next week. Here is a pic from the presentation. (Yes I want one...eventually.)


- Microsoft pimped the new Kinect (formerly Project Natal) motion controller pretty hard. 15 launch titles when the device releases Nov. 4
- During the Kinect portion, a new partnership with ESPN was announced. 3,500 events live and in demand. NBA, MLB, NCAA, soccer, Sports Center. It's an exclusive partnership. No NFL or NHL mentioned.
- Bungie showed off the first parts of the new Halo: Reach campaign. There is space combat!
- They also showed off new footage for Metal Gear Solid: Rising, CoD: Black Ops, and Gears of War 3.

Overall, I think the content our of the Microsoft conference was solid. I think that Kinect will be awesome and futuristic, but until we see some hardcore titles like Halo or Call of Duty I will be on the sidelines.

Other tidbits of info:

Call of Duty DLC will launch first on Xbox Live for the foreseeable future.
New video of Dead Space 2's "The Puker" ending our hero's quest. Eww.
Joystiq gives us fresh pics of the new Xbox360 Slim. Sweetness.
Forza + Kinect= Coolness If you love Forza. You HAVE to see this.
New Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood game set for Nov. 16th; new trailer.


More to come!!

Valve's L4D2 Last Man on Earth Contest Winners

This is basically a re-post of what was mentioned in the L4D blog last Friday. As some of you may know, the genuis minds at Valve introduced mutations (modified game types) to the L4D faithful with their new DLC for L4D2 "The Passing" and a contest arose from the mutation Last Man on Earth in the form of a best video submission. I just viewed the top 3 before I posted this and I liked them so much I am re-posting them here for you. Just in case you are wondering, the Last Man on Earth mutation is one survivor versus special infected ONLY. Wicked mod. Oh and BTW the mutation for this week is Chainsaw Massacre. Yes it is exactly what you think. Hooyah.

(source L4D Blog)

1. "This chainsaw runs on adrenaline" brought a tear to our eye and captured the #1 spot.



2. Coach grabs #2 for thinking it would be fun to mess with all the witches. He was almost right.



3. Nicks grabs the #3 spot showing how close you can come to being killed by a tank.

Zombie News No. 18

Ok so yeah its been awhile since my last post to GZ, but hey having only a handful of hours of sleep every night to feed your growing kid can re-arrange your priorities. How did I make time for this one? I guess I am adjusting to the lifestyle of being a parent. Yeah that sounds good! So alot has happened in the last 11 days of gaming. For starters, we saw the release of Blur, ModNation Racers, Alpha Protocol, and a few other titles. The best bits of news aren't the new titles (which aren't any good according to recent reviews), but the DLC being released for multiple games as well as a few rumors and announcements that hit. Hit the links to read up on the latest.

Game News

Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2 gets another map pack from the grave of IW. The Resurgency Pack has 5 ALL NEW maps and retails for another $15. Xbox gets the exclusive release until July. Get it here.

Alan Wake gets a third DLC pack this year. Wow Remedy three episodes within a year? Cool.

Gears of War 3 screenshots are making Dtoid drool. Me too! It's been far too long since I curb stomped a locust solider.

Red Dead Redemption Co-op Pack June 22nd. OMG I can't wait for this. Gamefly will never get their copy of RDR back from me!

Reviews of Super Mario Galaxy are stellar. IGN, Dtoid, and others are giving it perfect scores. I still need to finish the first one.

Naughty Bear Pre-order on Amazon = Freddy Krubear outfit. Is chopping up plush bears going to be fun? Maybe!

His Airness Michael Jordan will be appearing on the cover of NBA2k11 this year. It's gonna be a tough battle this year between EA and 2k for B-ball supremacy on the consoles. EA's new shooting and dribble controls look sick! According to the latest issue of OXM, ""If the left stick is your body, then the right stick serves as your hands and the ball. Bouncing the ball behind our back, for instance, required rolling the stick down and around - the same movement our hands would make to pull off the trick."

Ubisoft teasing another Assassins Creed game? This looks legit.

New Call of Duty Black Ops Co-Op will be separate from the main campaign. I see a pattern here.

Cool Stuff and Other News

PS3 Owners will finally get some coveted HBO programming.

Gamestop will be selling DLC in-store soon. Why not just download it from Live or PSN as usual?
Play Worms 2 with the developers this month!


Lastly, Valve canceled their Portal 2 press event for E3. Why? Well its a surprise. Instead of the event taking place in the Regal Theater it will be replaced with a surprise. Hmm...Valve is crafty. I think the part that made most of the journalists antsy is the way the email was written. Here is what it said: (source-Dtoid)

Subject: A note from Aperture Science

Dear Subject Name Here,

Aperture Science is pleased to inform you that we have partnered with Valve to announce the gala CANCELLATION of the June 14 Portal 2 event at the Regal Theater. The event will be replaced by a surprise. And even though the cancellation of the event certainly counts as a surprise, we are pleased to further announce that the cancellation of the event is not THE surprise. However, per International treaties regarding the definition of the word "surprise", of which both Aperture Science and Valve are signatories, the time, date and content of the actual surprise will only become available as you experience the surprise.

If you'd like to ask fruitless questions about the E3 Portal 2 surprise or, more fruitfully, schedule an appointment to attend a Portal 2 screening at the Valve booth during E3, please contact Valve's Special Envoy to Surprises, Doug Lombardi.

Thank you for

PS: The surprising record scratch is also not the surprise.