Toronto Thumbs

Sega Reveals Sonic The Hedgehog 4
Thankfully it doesn’t have Genesis Graphics

Big news this morning: Sega’s formerly-mysterious Project Needlemouse is indeed Sonic the Hedgehog 4. The side-scrolling adventure will be available as a digital download and will be released as a series of episodes. The first episode will be available this summer via PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade, and WiiWare.

The game is said to pick up the storyline from Sonic & Knuckles, with Sonic being capable of performing his classic move set. The Wii and PS3 versions of the game will also feature tilt controls.

Via 4 Color Rebellion

Posted in Awesome, News Bytes, PSN, Sega, WiiWare, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition
Excella’s Got The Moves

This week Capcom revealed a new playable character for the upcoming Mercenary’s Reunion in Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition. That character? The evil Tricell CEO, Excella Gionne.

When playing Resident Evil 5, Adam and I had the exact same reaction the first time Excella appeared on screen to taunt us: we knew that somewhere down the line she’d have tentacles coming out of her, and that it wouldn’t be pretty. We were half right.*

In Mercenary’s Reunion, Excella will have martial arts moves in addition to her automatic firearm. Along with the character reveal Capcom also mentioned new moves for both Jill Valentine (she can jump on a Majini from behind and twist its neck) and Josh Stone (who can tackle and elbow drop like he’s in the NHL).

Those who already have Resident Evil 5 won’t have to buy the Gold Edition to get in on the extra action as they look like they’ll all be made available in the form of DLC via both Xbox Live and PSN.

*It was pretty.

Posted in Awesome, LIVE, News Bytes, PSN, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Gotcha, Suckas!
Chubby Heavy Rain Gets Release Date

Good news if you’re looking forward to Heavy Rain: It’s coming out February 23. Be sure to pre-order to get the first episode of The Heavy Rain Chronicles for free, Heavy Rain: Chronicle One – The Taxidermist. Otherwise, you’ll have to wait till it becomes available to the masses for a cost of $4.99 USD at a yet-unspecified date.

Canadian retailers participating in this pre-order promotion include Amazon.ca, BestBuy.ca, FutureShop.ca, and EB Games/Gamestop. Be sure to check with your local stores about this deal because some of them are tricky and don’t play by corporate rules, for reasons us regular people can never understand. Now for some reason I have the urge to watch Bowfinger. Go figure.

Via PlayStation.Blog

Posted in Awesome, News Bytes, PSN, PlayStation 3 | 2 Comments »

ZAZZY!
PlayStation.ca Gets a New Look

For the first time since its launch a few years back, PlayStation.ca has received a major overhaul. Kyle Moffatt, Senior Public Relations Specialist, Sony Computer Entertainment Canada, announced the redesign today on the PlayStation blog.

The new PlayStation.ca has a cool new interface allowing visitors easier access to information about not only Triple-A titles, but also about various consoles, hardware, news, and special events. Each game title featured on the site is accompanied by big, bold visuals, including game screenshots and videos.

Apart from the redesign, content has now been grouped in blocks, which help connect similar pieces of connect. SCEC is also planning additional unique content for the site in the near future. With this new look and site information structure update, PlayStation.ca has become the best of the three console manufacturers’ Canadian public portals.

Posted in Canada, News Bytes, PSN, PSP, PlayStation 2, PlayStation 3 | No Comments »

LATEST MAG BETA AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOAD
Next Beta Wave Starts Jan 4, 2010

Starting today, Canadian PS3 owners can download the latest version of MAG. The giant-scale online game kicks off its next beta wave from January 4 – 10, 2010. This time around, however, players won’t need a special code or presale voucher to participate. The download will occupy approximately 1.8 to 2.3 GB of data on your system’s hard drive

Although the MAG beta download is available now, it’s important to note that you won’t be able to actually play it until the beta servers are brought online at 5 a.m. PT on Monday, January 4, 2010. In the meantime, however, I recommend getting the download out of the way soon. This way, you won’t be trying to get it at the last minute. Full details about MAG and its next beta are up at the official PlayStation blog. The full version of the game will be available January 26 in North America.

No need to thank us for this advice; we just like helping.

Posted in Canada, PSN, PlayStation 3 | No Comments »

Wish List
PlayStation Eye

Even before Sony announced that they were going to release their own motion controllers next year, the PlayStation Eye really caught my, er…imagination.

I’ve always been blown away by how forward thinking the designers of this peripheral were. Uncompressed video straight to the PS3? Four-microphone array? A reasonable picture quality even with just the light from the television set? Yes, please!

I would love to try out a number of the PlayStation Eye-enabled titles in the PlayStation Store with my daughter. For instance, Aqua Vita is a virtual aquarium where you can interact with the fish. What really got me excited about putting this on my list, however, was reading about the head tracking in Gran Turismo 5. According to some sources, this will allow the cockpit camera view to change relative to the position of the player’s head. Pretty cool!

Posted in PSN, PlayStation 3 | No Comments »

God of War Collection
In Stores Tuesday

If you somehow missed the stellar God of War and its sequel, God of War II on the PlayStation 2, you’ll be able to make up for it this Tuesday, November 17, when God of War Collection is released for the PS3. The disc includes both games, remastered in high definition (720p) at 60 frames per second, with PSN trophy support added in.

The game is budget priced at $40, which is a great price for two amazing games, and it even comes with a redemption code for the E3 demo of God of War III. What better way to get hyped for GoW3’s March 2010 release than by re-living Kratos’ first amazing adventures?

Posted in Awesome, News Bytes, PSN, PlayStation 3 | No Comments »

PlayStation Holiday Preview Event
Cobra Commander VS Tony Hawk RIDE, Heavy Rain, and God of War III

Cobra Commander has come through with his second video featuring games he played at last month’s Sony PlayStation Holiday Preview Event. In this installment, he gets some playtime in with Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time and Tony Hawk RIDE. He also shares his thoughts on God of War III and tries to figure out what kind of game Heavy Rain might be.

Interviews in this episode include Zack Cooper from Fan590’s Got Game, Jim Squires of TheBBPS.com, and skateboarding legend Tony Hawk.

Direct link to video »

Posted in Awesome, Canada, Events, PSN, PlayStation 3, Sony, Videos | 3 Comments »

PlayStation Holiday Preview Event
Cobra Commander VS Namco Bandai

Cobra Commander attended the PlayStation Holiday Preview Event at the Burroughes Building in Downtown Toronto on October 6, 2009. As special correspondent for Toronto Thumbs, he interviewed game PR people and played a bunch of videogames. This is his first report from the event. In this installment, he tackles Katamari Forever and Tekken 6 and also interviews In Joon Hwang, Brand Manager for Tekken 6 and Namco Bandai Games.

Direct link to video »

Posted in Awesome, Canada, Events, Interviews, PSN, PlayStation 3, Sony, Videos | 9 Comments »

Assassin’s Creed II – The Promo Onslaught Continues

With the release of Assassin’s Creed II just a few short weeks away, Ubisoft is kicking the promotion machine into high gear.

On Monday, the software giant announced that the first of three episodes from their new film series, Assassin’s Creed: Lineage, will debut on YouTube starting on October 27, 2009. As part of this debut, YouTube will have the first episode on its homepage in eight countries for 24 hours.

The Assassin’s Creed: Lineage film series was developed by Ubisoft’s Hybride Technologies, the visual effects studio behind 300 and Sin City. The film series will be a blend of live-action with CGI elements and it will cover events prior to the start of Assassin Creed II. Much of the story will deal with Giovanni Auditore da Firenze, who is the father of Ezio, the protagonist in the upcoming game. Several other characters that appear in the game will have appearances in Assassin’s Creed: Lineage.

In other Assassin’s Creed II news, one of my Facebook friends just assassinated me! I received an email a few minutes ago notifying me of my untimely demise at the hands of this so-called friend. I clicked through to see a customized video in which Ezio takes me out. It was a trailer I’d seen before only my face was digitally superimposed over the main target’s face. But it was pretty cool nonetheless. If you’re on the Facebook (and who isn’t?), you can assassinate one of your friends by checking out missionassassin.com. I couldn’t quite get it to work, but maybe you’ll have better luck.

Also, if you’re on Facebook, you could also become a fan of Toronto Thumbs.

Posted in Awesome, LIVE, News Bytes, PC, PSN, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 | No Comments »