Unfortunately, this trailer for a new multiplayer mode in Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11 is not what was show on South Park recently, that of a fighting mini-game between Tiger and his wife. While that could be great, it might not go over too well with the game’s sponsor.

Instead, Tiger 11 is bringing team play into the mix for the Ryder Cup. Teams work in conjunction to snag the coveted trophy, although that is about all the trailer shows besides real life PGA highlights. The mode is certainly online as the other ball path streaks show, and one could probably assume offline Ryder play is available in some form as well.

As for any other innovations in this stagnating series, well, that remains to the seen. Hopefully there are some new tricks available, as improvements have been few for a few years now.

Heroes of Three Kingdoms

Perfect World Entertainment has announced that it will be bringing its 3D MMORPG Heroes of Three Kingdoms to North America. Known as Chibi Online in China, Heroes of Three Kingdoms is based on the heavily romanticized Three Kingdoms Era and stories of Chinese history.

“With Heroes of Three Kingdoms, we’re going back to our roots and transporting players back in time to experience an era that helped shaped modern China as we know it today. Fans of the popular literature based around the Three Kingdoms era will be excited to be able to meet their favorite heroes and villains in our game,” said Andrew Brown, Product Manager of Heroes of Three Kingdoms. “Heroes of Three Kingdoms does an excellent job encapsulating the excitement and thrill that has led this era to have such a huge following.”

Heroes of Three Kingdoms

What’s particularly impressive is the titles great combat and weapon systems.

• Heroes of Three Kingdoms uses motion capture technology to give it’s combat and attacks an extra touch of realism.
• The game offers a robust weapon system, allowing players to choose from eighteen weapons, all of which represent or are inspired by weapons of the era.
• The game  allows players to join one of the three historic alliance/ kingdoms, Wei, Shu, or Wu.
• The game also totes some historic battles, based on pivotal moments in the Three Kingdoms Era.

For Three Kingdom fans, Heroes of Three Kingdoms is definitely worth a look, as game looks excellent, judging from the screens. While the game may sound quite a bit like any other Perfect World title from a gameplay perspective, one can hope that Perfect World Entertainment tweaks and changes the North American release to be more fresh and interesting.

The next to last week in the XBLA Block Party brings an upgrade of a N64 FPS that is not Goldeneye, but the next best thing.

Perfect Dark

As an update, not a remake, of the N64 classic, this fixes almost everything that was wrong with the original… mainly the frame rate. Perfect Dark was a technological nightmare, whether in standard resolution or high resolution with the Expansion Pak. This XBLA release runs beautifully, and at 1080p so you can appreciate the stiff animations and blatant polygon edges even easier.

This smooth translation does show how far we’ve come in only two generations in terms of the first-person shooter, but Perfect Dark’s source is still admirable. The boxy level design and at times sparse action may turn those looking for epic set pieces off early, but the revamped (dual analog!) controls are just as important as the smooth frame rate. Auto aim does not hurt either.

Multiplayer is also a blast, hopefully filling a void for those still waiting for a Goldeneye update that will likely never happen. Perfect Dark does not need nostalgia to remain fun.

Update: That was fast. The patch is live and should download next time you sign in.

2K Sports actually made some progress this year with their baseball franchise, which over the past few years had lagged so far behind Sony’s The Show it was nothing short of a joke. Unfortunately, with great progress comes great foul ups, and that was 2K10’s ranked matches. Some people simply cannot connect to random ranked games, a slight problem to say the least.

Thankfully, a patch is on the way for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. The latter patch will also include updates previously made to the 360. Why the hold up? Who knows.

There are countless other bug fixes and gameplay adjustments on the way, detailed by a 2K Sports Forum admin on the official website. The patch should not be too far off by the time you read this, so hopefully those who are looking for some ranked action can hold off a little longer.

Co-op battling in Hunted

In development by inXile Entertainment and being published by Bethesda Softworks, Hunted: The Demon’s Forge is a recently announced third-person co-op Action title for the PS3, Xbox 320, and PC platforms.

Set in a dark fantasy world, players are pitted against legions of viscous enemies. Players can take control of E’lara, a scantily clad huntress, and Caddoc, a tattooed master swordsman, and combine spells, tactics, and special attacks to fight through overrun dungeons, ruins and towns. The game includes some co-op based puzzles to make the exploration experience all the more interesting.

“We are thrilled to be working with Bethesda Softworks on this upcoming release that takes us back to our roots,” said Brian Fargo, Founder of inXile Entertainment. “Bethesda’s track record speaks for itself and the game we are developing for them is no exception.”

Hunted: The Demon's Forge

Being a serious action gamer, the idea of a co-op action game is very interesting. Anyone who has played the PS3 exclusive Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 knows how enjoyable it can be to fight at break-neck speed against dangerous enemies with a friend. Hunted looks like it is heavily inspired by Western myth and magic (wizards, dragons and swords), which to be honest is rather “safe” and disappointing. While the game does look fantastic graphically, how the action plays is anyones guess. Great action games are designed around a characters strengths and weaknesses, genuinely challenging a players abilities and their control over the character. Lets hope Hunted does this as well, and doesn’t devolve into the mindless button-masher that passes for “quality” these days.

“inXile has an extremely talented team and we couldn’t be more pleased to have them working on one of our upcoming titles,” said Vlatko Andonov, President of Bethesda Softworks. “We believe gamers will be really excited about what these guys have in store for them.”.

We’ll just have to wait and see what Hunted: The Demon’s Forge has in store for us with future announcements.

"My Valkyrie Sky" event image

With the tremendous growth of social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, it is no real surprise that businesses have begun to invest time and money into expanding their presence to include them. Even law firms have begun to use these media sites to their advantage. And, with the United States and many wealthy nations pouring billions of dollars into MMO gaming, it is not at all surprising that game developers have begun to expand into these social networking sites as well. From March 9th to March 19th, game portal GameKiss has launched the “My Valkyrie Sky” event, which gives its Valkyrie Sky players the chance to assume the role of a public relations officer in these public media outlets.

This event was developed by GameKiss to get it’s players to publicize Valkyrie Sky on the social networking sites Youtube, Twitter, MySpace and Facebook. Players are asked to introduce the game briefly on these sites. There is no format limitations, so players can get as creative as possible in achieving this goal.

“Many users have volunteered in publicizing the game, and that has been a great help to the growth of the game. We always wanted to thank the users, but it is difficult to match the users’ accounts and their social network activities. That’s why we planned this event,” said Joey, who is responsible for the Valkyrie Sky service. “I hope users tell us which SNS postings they have done to receive thank-you gifts which GameKiss prepared for them”, he adds.

The event is intended to collect info and comments on Valkyrie Sky and reward its participants with thank-you gifts. Every user who participates in the event will be awarded with a coin item that can revive users upon death, and five users will be selected via lottery to win the “Pitchblack Wing” item.

All rewards will be dolled out on Wednesday, March 24th.

Ridiculous. Back when the first string of maps for mutliplayer games first kicked off on Xbox Live, people screamed that $10 was too much. Those who followed the Ghost Recon saga remember that mess well as UbiSoft began the trend of pricing that has come standard.

Now, Activision has taken it a step up. Realizing they have a massive player base, why not jack it up another $5 to push it ever so slightly? The Stimulus Map Pack for Modern Warfare 2, with only three new maps and two remakes, will cost 1200 MS Points.

This is undoubtedly the first step by Activision to see how far they can push a Call of Duty player. With rumors swirling about a subscription model to play on a month-by-month basis, purchasing this only proves that fans need their fix.

Live gamers complained about the $15 price point for Live Arcade games, but lo and behold, they are becoming standard. We complain about supposed downloads being already on the disc, yet we buy them anyway.

It is hard to figure out what else needs to be said, or how else to even say it anymore. The only way around this is to not buy the content. Doing so, you are supporting this slow rising price increase that will, in the future, affect your gaming experience adversely regardless of who you are or what you play. It has become an upward slope, and yet here we sit, fully supporting it.

Let the masses pick up the maps. That’s fine. There is nothing that can be done. By the hardcore audience revolting, change, however slim, can be made.

Don’t say, “It’s only this once,” because it won’t be. Don’t say, “You’re overreacting,” because the slope has already been proven. Don’t say, “It’s a good deal for five maps,” because it’s not.

You have already supported Activision by purchasing the game. That’s $60, and the game was a record seller. They are not hurting. This is a test, and if you buy these maps at this new price point, you have officially failed.

Nostalgia is a dangerous thing. For kids in the late ‘80s, early ‘90s, the NES release of Ninja Turtles II: The Arcade Game was a revolution. This was a title long out of reach of most kids, only available in the arcades as a massive quarter eater. Konami, hardly about to see the potential profits seep away from a home version, released the NES port (and a version on multiple computers of the era as well). Not a single child was disappointed.

Here were the Turtles, radically changed from the previous NES game that saw them fighting oddball creatures in a strict platform environment. This was, to a child’s mind, the arcade game at home. Colorful, vibrant, and sporting huge boss sprites, life was good. Sure, the naming was a bit confusing, and kids enjoyed seeing the Pizza Hut logo plastered on the game screen as opposed to balking at the blatant marketing. It was 1991. It was awe-inspiring to have this at home.

In retrospect, the game was terrible.

Everything boils down a layer of game mechanics that are, simply put, broken. Beat-em-ups, even those by Konami on the NES (Batman Returns for example), need tightly wound combos and precision collision detection. Turtles II had neither.

When a foot soldier was hit, they bounced back, and the player could not land a second hit until after the foe landed, and had a chance to fight back. Watching Donatello’s bo staff completely whiff even though it clearly made contact with the opposing sprite is quite funny.

That left the player with two simple options, either smash both buttons at the same time to deliver a swift one-hit kill, or jump kick… a lot. While the jumping swipe delivered from a dual-button hit is rather effective (and fairly satisfying), it is wildly inconsistent. The jump kick is easily countered, especially by the bosses.

Konami tried hiding behind their additions, including two new stages, one in a frozen Central Park leading to a fight with a mutant wolf named Tora. He would never be seen again in any section of the Turtles of the franchise.

Technically proficient given the hardware, Ninja Turtles II existed on hype, bested by a late NES sequel titled the Manhattan Project. The latter is an example of what The Arcade Game could have been, filled with the same visual flair, but solid mechanics, special moves to differentiate the Turtles, and level variances The Arcade Game was incapable of producing given its status as a port.

People who forked over the money for the downloadable multiplayer maps in BioShock 2 noticed something pretty quick, that the download was instant. The file size on the Xbox 360 was a meager 108k, the bare minimum, and 24k on the PC. So, why are players being charged for content that is already on the disc? Let’s let a 2K community manager try and dig his way out of this one… poorly:

“The way our engine and game structure works is that people need to have the exact same content for people to play together. One of the challenges with post launch content for MP is that it can split the player base, and we want to avoid that whenever possible. For this content, creating the DLC package the way we did allowed for us to not split the player base – so whether you purchase the new content or not, you can still play with your friends.”

Huh? Well, here is an idea. How about letting everyone have the same content they paid for that is already on the disc? You won’t worry about splitting your player base then, now will you? What 2K (and other developers in the past) has done cannot even considered DLC, because it surely is not downloaded content.

Of course, anyone can quickly point out how other games, Modern Warfare for example, handle their new maps that aren’t on the disc and weren’t made before the game even shipped. You create a separate playlist for those with the maps, and insert them into a regular play too in case all in the room have the maps. It’s not hard.

To be clear, you did not spend time “creating the DLC package the way we did” to allow everyone to play together. You designed it purposely to squeeze additional dollars out your consumers while the game was still fresh in their minds. That might seem clever in a board room, but not down here where people are being asked to pay for a god damn unlock code.

After the PlayStation motion controller, dubbed “The Move,” was announced, EA also stated the upcoming entry in the long running Tiger Woods PGA franchise would support the motion device.

For the latest Microsoft entry in the motion control battle, Natal, Tiger is staying bound to a controller. EA has stated to Joystiq that they are “… simply not in a position to do so with Tiger Woods PGA Tour 11,” referring to the inclusion of Natal support.

That creates an interesting dynamic between multi-console owners who have both a 360 and PS3, plus are fans of the franchise. The Woods series has been stagnant for a few years with limited changes to the gameplay. New motion controls outside of the Wii are certainly enticing for PS3 owners. Unquestionably, this style of control will provide a different spin on the arcade-stylings of the franchise. Dependent on what other changes are due for this latest entry, are motion controls something you want in Tiger, or is the tried and true analog swing enough?

TERA Online logo and image, En Masse Entertainment

Recently formed publisher En Masse Entertainment is bringing Bluehole Studio’s upcoming action MMORPG, TERA Online, to the United States and Europe. En Masse will be demoing live gameplay of TERA at the Game Developers Conference, from March 11 to 13 at Expo Booth #1134, for all those gamers lucky enough to attend.

“TERA is a new class of MMO that combines the depth and flexibility of online PC games with the lush graphics and immediacy of console action games,” said Dr. Jae-Heon Yang, CEO of En Masse Entertainment. “Players can go beyond factions and static storylines to write the history of TERA in real time as six races learn to work together.”

Tera Online, En Masse Entertainment

TERA’s combat is perhaps it’s most innovative and impressive aspect; It looks and plays much like an action-adventure game would. Positioning, timing and aim are crucial to combat, as is proper defense and evasion. The big draw is the non-auto-targetting battle system, meaning that both melee characters and ranged characters must actively seek out and manually target their opponents, making combat much more hands-on and immersive. Supporting both traditional Keyboard and mouse, and console gamepads, players can dive into the action in whatever manner they are most comfortable.

The game features six character races and eight character classes, offering a variety of play-styles and aesthetic choices to make as far as character selection goes. Add that to heavy PvP (player versus player) interaction, and you have an MMORPG worth looking into.

This is not to say that combat is the only thing TERA does right: It’s character models, monster designs, artwork, and environments are all beautiful and impressive. The game is also very player-centric, encouraging players to take an active role in the game, with their actions dictating both the economy and community environment.

Grand Chase gameplay image, Ntreev

Grand Chase is a side-scrolling dungeon crawler with heavy brawling action and PvP gameplay. Publisher Ntreev USA will launch a tournament and several events in celebration of Grand Chase’s second anniversary. Sponsored by PlaySpan, the tournament will begin on March 18th and will feature plenty of real-world prizes, such as an Alienware MX11 gaming notebook, a 32 GB iPod Touch, a Microsoft SideWinder X4 Keyboard and Ultimate Points valued at $10. Visit Grand Chase’s website for more specific rules about the tournament. This “Slam Party” as it has been dubbed, is open to anyone and everyone, so long as players can jump into a tournament room on March 18th.

“The fabulous prizes – sponsored by PlaySpan – the Grand Chase players have a chance at winning are what makes this 2nd anniversary tournament truly exciting,” said Chris Lee, CEO at Ntreev USA. “We are ecstatic that we are in our second year and plan on bringing so many exciting tournaments and non-stop brawling action to both our loyal “knights” and new players too!”

Grand Chase gameplay image, Ntreev

In addition to the tournament, Grand Chase players can enjoy a variety of other events to celebrate the anniversary:

• The Puzzle Fragment Event- Starting on March 11th and ending March 23rd, puzzle fragments will be available throughout the game, be it by simply logging in, playing through dungeons, or PvP. Puzzle Fragments can be pieced together to form a box which, when opened, gives players a pet based on the Knight Master in Grand Chase.
• 2nd Anniversary Welcoming Event- As a welcome to players with existing accounts (both new and old), Ntreev is granting them a greeting message (yay?) and an item that boosts experience by 10% for fifteen days. Grand Chase will also increase XP and GP by 20% on anniversary day.
• Lucky Day Gift Event- From March 11th to March 29th, players will receive different equipment gifts when they log in, all of which were created in celebration of the 2nd anniversary
• Special Anniversary Decorations- Special artwork has been created for the anniversary of Grand Chase, and the in-game parks will be decked out with banners and boss monsters congratulating players.