Toronto Thumbs

Awesome
PlayStation Move Controller

Last year, Sony revealed that a motion-based controller for the PS3 was in the works.  Since that unveiling, the interwebs has been abuzz with the usual speculation, nay-saying, and fanboyishness that is to be expected.  All sorts of questions have been on everyone’s minds, specifically ones dealing with the similarity to Nintendo’s Wii-Motes, and whether or not there would be a lot of buy-in from developers.

A few days ago, Sony announced that they will be releasing the PlayStation Move controller in the fall, along with the PlayStation Move Sub-controller.  Sony has also stated that 36 developers and publishers will be supporting Playstation Move. This year, more than 20 games are to be released that are either dedicated to or will support the platform.

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Posted in Awesome, PlayStation 3 | No Comments »

Event
God of War III Preview

Sony was kind enough to extend us an invitation to their God of War III preview event; especially nice of them considering they only hold a couple events a year.  GoW has been a hugely successful franchise for Sony and they are confident that the third installment is one of the most anticipated games of 2010. The event was held at a local venue - not far from Toronto’s downtown core - to let the media get their hands on the game a week or so before launch, further propagating the buzz that surrounds this title.

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Posted in Events, PlayStation 3, Previews | 1 Comment »

Video
Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands

Let’s say you love Prince of Persia but just can’t stomach any more soft-focused publicity images of Chesty Jake. Good news! Ubisoft has your PoP fix sans Gyllenhaal.

Check out this gameplay trailer (complete with developer commentary) and prepare to be enthralled by the Prince yet again. What’s not to love about parkour mixed with elemental control and lots of baddies?

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Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, Microsoft, News Bytes, PSP, PlayStation 3, Videos, Wii, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

Late to the Party
Assassin’s Creed

As many of our readers know, I’m late to the party for a lot of things. Assassin’s Creed by Ubisoft was one of those games that I was never interested in; whether the marketing didn’t reach me, or I wasn’t really looking for it, I never bothered to pick it up. What little I saw of it showed a hooded man running around the Middle-East, parkour style, murdering people. As a concept, that did not appeal to me.

Of course, I was completely wrong. Drawn into the display at the 2009 Sony Holiday Preview Event, I got to watch Assassin’s Creed II. Not only was it spectacular to behold, it also included an actual plot! Of course, after this I did some reading and realize that there was far, far more to this franchise than I initially thought. My timing could not have been more perfect to purchase the game, too, as it had just attained Greatest Hits status.

While my overall feelings about this game are positive (I would recommend it to anyone that enjoyed a good story), the experience did have moments that were trying, and I will deal with those up front so that I can end on the note that I ended on when I finally finished the game.

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Posted in PC, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

Mega Man 10
Weapons Revealed

When Mega Man defeats the eight robot masters in Mega Man 10, he’ll be able to power up and use the following weapons: Chill Spike, Commando Bomb (shown above), Rebound Striker, Solar Blaze, Thunder Wool, Triple Blade, Water Shield, and Wheel Cutter. You can see all the artwork in our Mega Man 10 gallery.

Whether or not most gamers will be able to make it through all the bosses is another question. I’m guessing a lot of people may eventually resort to the Easy mode to avoid too much frustration. The game will be released on WiiWare first March 1, followed by its PSN release March 11 before releasing on Xbox LIVE Arcade March 31.

Posted in Gallery, News Bytes, PlayStation 3, WiiWare, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

PEW! PEW! PEW!
LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars Announced

Good news for Star Wars fans: Today LucasArts and TT Games announced that LEGO Star Wars III: The Clone Wars is in development and scheduled to hit all platforms this fall. Awesome.

I’ve been a fan of the console LEGO games since picking up the prequel-based LEGO Star Wars for the GameCube years ago. The human characters actually had yellow faces back then, much like real minifigs! I wonder what happened.

While I’ve only played the LEGO Star Wars games and LEGO Batman, I have the utmost confidence that they’re well-designed console platformers. I can’t speak well for the DS counterparts since LEGO Star Wars II was by far the worst DS game I’ve ever tried to play.

That negativity aside, I’m especially stoked about seeing what TT does with The Clone Wars franchise. I still can’t figure out when this new animated series is supposed to take place, considering the fact that the original 2D highly-stylized Clone Wars cartoon spanned from the end of the film Attack of the Clones right up to the beginning of Revenge of the Sith. Does Lucasfilm wish to ignore the first series as it wishes to ignore the amazing Droids and Ewoks cartoons?

TT Games is promising that this will be the most action-packed LEGO game to date. It’ll feature all the characters from the show’s first two seasons (it’s currently in season two) as well as other characters from elsewhere in the saga. The game’s also said to contain new modes of play, including a battle mode allowing for head-to-head fighting, a level builder, and an interesting-sounding feature called “Lightsabre slicing.”

If you can’t wait till the fall to get some LEGO Clone Wars action, check out this cute Unity-based online game where you play as Anakin on a rescue mission to find R2-D2.

Posted in Awesome, DS, DSi, News Bytes, PC, PSP, PlayStation 3, Wii, Xbox 360 | No Comments »

Grand Theft Auto: Episodes From Liberty City
Coming to PlayStation 3 and PC this Spring

Today RockStar Games announced that Grand Theft Auto: Episodes from Liberty City will be released for both PlayStation 3 and Games for Windows LIVE on March 30, 2010. The collection had previously only been available on Xbox 360.

The two episodes, The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be available as either digital download via PSN for $19.99 (for those that have Grand Theft Auto IV) or as a standalone retail disc ($39.99 suggested retail price).

PC gamers will be able to take part in 32-player multiplayer matches and will have access to an advanced video editor.

Posted in News Bytes, PC, PlayStation 3 | 3 Comments »

Box Art
Mega Man 10

Mega Man 10 will be a digital download title for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and Wii. But in the tradition of its predecessor, Capcom has released some retro-styled box art for the game. We’ve seen a take on this a while back when the game’s announcement was in Nintendo Power, but here’s the full thing. Pretty cool!

Want a super high resolution version? Here you go.

Posted in Art, Awesome, PlayStation 3, WiiWare, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »

Super Street Fighter IV
Box Art and Release Date

Is it too early to start lining up outside my favourite game store? Super Street Fighter IV will be released on April 27, 2010 for both Xbox 360 and PS3. The updated game includes new characters, new costumes, new stages, new ultra combos, and new ways to be defeated in mere seconds online. I think I’ll stick with Blanka and Ken, but I’m still looking forward to getting my hands on the game.

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

Three MCs And One DJ
A Review of DJ Hero

DJ Hero was released October 27, 2009. But before that date, the Toronto Thumbs staff already loved it and talked about it a great deal. We claimed our love for it in our coverage of Microsoft’s X’09 event and Sony’s Holiday Preview Event. When it came time to choose our top games of 2009, DJ Hero found its way on both Shaun’s and Jorge’s lists. It’s not surprising – the two love both music and amazing games.

We decided it would be fun to review the game as a group, which in turn has caused some delay in getting it all together. We’ve also included Toronto Thumbs newcomer Eleanor D.’s thoughts on the game.

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Posted in Awesome, PlayStation 3, Reviews, Wii, Xbox 360 | 2 Comments »