If you’ve been putting off that trip to Hell for financial reasons, it looks like Target might lend you a hand next week. Starting this Sunday, Dante’s Inferno will be on sale for only $39.99, a full $20 off the normal retail price. Not a bad deal for a game that has thus far drawn passable reviews.

The store is also knocking ten bucks off the the price of NBA 2K10, making it a cool $29.99. Just be warned, while the price is right, you might be waiting a while before you can play a proper game online. Oh, you can also snag a free Ho-Oh or Lugia Pokémon if you pre-order either Pokemon SoulSilver or Pokemon HeartGold. We suggest you do that and pick up Dante’s Inferno. It’ll be really confusing to the cashier.

Dante’s Inferno for $40 at Target next week originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 01:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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A U.S. District Court for the Central District of California has dismissed a lawsuit against Sony Corporation of America and its related gaming branches (SCEA and SOE) which alleged the company denies access to its services for people with disabilities. According to court documents, plaintiff Alexander Stern argued that his “visual processing impairments” prevent him from enjoying titles manufactured by Sony and its game divisions.

Stern had filed the suit last October, claiming Sony’s practices had violated Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). According to Game Politics, the court stated that in order to prove a violation of Title III of the ADA a plaintiff must show: “(1) [the plaintiff] is disabled within the meaning of the ADA; (2) the defendant is a private entity that owns, leases, or operates a place of public accommodation; and (3) the plaintiff was denied public accommodations by the defendant because of [the plaintiff’s] disability.”

In the dismissal notice (PDF), the court ruled that because Sony is not a “place of public accommodation” it was “not liable” for violating Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act.

Court tosses disabled gamer’s suit against Sony originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If you’re anything like us (or our partners over at Massively), you were hurriedly clicking refresh on the official VanaFest 2010 website for news about the now eight-year-old Final Fantasy XI MMO last night. If you were, then you might’ve caught the momentary mention that the first wave of (closed) beta testing for the next Final Fantasy MMO (that’s number 14, for those of you playing along at home) will be going live on March 11.

Square also assuaged fears of missing out on the closed beta by saying that “Those who were not selected in this drawing, fear not, for there will be other opportunities to come,” adding that interested parties should “Be sure to stay tuned!” We figure if we’re not invited, you know, all the more time to play that other Final Fantasy release, right?
[Via Massively]

Final Fantasy XIV closed beta goes live March 11 originally appeared on Joystiq on Sun, 28 Feb 2010 15:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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What if Heavy Rain, which is so often heralded by creator David Cage as “interactive fiction,” was just a bit less interactive? Is the game’s story and cast of vaguely-French-sounding characters strong enough to carry a feature-length film? We might just find out, some day — internet super-sleuth superannuation recently uncovered copyright documents which reveal that New Line Productions optioned the rights to turn Heavy Rain into a movie on May 15, 2006 — just a few days after “The Casting” trailer (NSFW) was revealed at E3.

This doesn’t ensure the development of a Heavy Rain movie, of course; it only means if any film studio makes the film, it’s going to be New Line Cinema. We think the rights are in good hands — New Line did some great work on the film adaptations of those Lord of the Rings games.

New Line Cinema options rights for film adaptation of Heavy Rain originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nope, we’re not any more excited to play this game now than we were before seeing the trailer, but the baseball fans among you will assuredly find the video embedded above for this Tuesday’s MLB 2K10 helpful in sating your desires for another few days. We’d say go play some baseball in the meantime, but, well, you know. All that snow.

MLB 2K10 showcases numbers in ‘Stats & Splits’ trailer originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 27 Feb 2010 05:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Oddly, though, the trailer speaks repeatedly of the “social” aspect of the game, while no mention whatsoever of any online components are made (and what of that multiplayer beta, eh?). We’re not exactly flummoxed quite yet though, as Blur still only has a “2010″ release window and we’ve hardly seen it since last year’s PAX Prime. That could always be, though, that, you know, we missed it. It is a blur, after all.

New Blur trailer meant to be watched with friends originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 23:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Remember those other awful Activision Transformers games based (in some part) on the Michael Bay movies? No? Good, let’s work from there.

Transformers: War for Cybertron, developed by High Moon Studios (The Bourne Conspiracy, Darkwatch), takes its inspiration from the G1 universe of the ’80s cartoon. Actually, that’s not entirely accurate. It’s more like what the new J.J. Abrams Star Trek movie is to the original. The characters are the same, their motivations are similar; however everything has a whole new (in this case, literal) paint job. Lead Designer Matt Tieger tells us the game presents “nothing that violates your expectations” and the studio worked closely with Hasbro to stay true to the original idea of the Transformers … speaking of the original idea of Transformers, there will also be action figures based on the game’s interpretations of the characters.

In War for Cybertron, players participate in two campaigns, one following the righteous Autobots and the other shadows the misunderstood Decepticons. Both campaigns take place on the Transformer home planet of Cybertron and, as Tieger puts it, “Ends up with them having no place to go.”

Each campaign features three-player online (no offline or “couch”) co-op. For the Autobots, the level we saw featured Optimus (not a Prime, yet) and Bumblebee meeting for the first time, and rolling along in the always awkward “third wheel” spot was Ratchet. The Decepticons included Starscream, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Soundwave and Megatron. Of course, in both cases, there are several more playable characters. For fans of the original series, many of the voices will sound wrong — sadly, in some very important instances, the cartoon’s original voice actors have passed away.

Continue reading Impressions: Transformers: War for Cybertron

Impressions: Transformers: War for Cybertron originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 18:57:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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We can’t be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we’ll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix’s Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week.

Recommendation of the Week:

Clash of the Titans ($34.99 MSRP, much lower at most retailers)
Kratos is coming back again soon for his final vengeance (and let’s hope an anger management course or two) in God of War III (look for new interviews and a hands-on with the complete opening on Monday), and with Percy Jackson & the Olympians: The Lightning Thief and a massive-budget remake of Clash of the Titans on the way, this is the Year of Olympus. To get that rolling, we’re totally recommending the original from back in 1981. Yes, it’s dated. Yes, it stars Harry Hamlin, and yes, it’s completely amazing. There’s an all-star cast with Sir Lawrence Olivier, Dame Maggie Smith, Burgess Meredith, and Ursula Andress, among others, and the incredible stop-motion effects of wizard Ray Harryhausen. The film looks impressive (for 1981) on Blu-ray, includes a conversation with Harryhausen and a trailer for the remake, and is packaged in Warner’s nifty Digibook format. We recommended this back on New Year’s as an XBL purchase, but this disc just gets the whole Olmypus thing Kraken. (Get it?)

Read on after the break for the rest of our recommendations, and let us know what you’re watching!

Continue reading JBO: Joystiq Box Office, February 22 - February 26

JBO: Joystiq Box Office, February 22 - February 26 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 20:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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“You finally get the chance to see what it’s like to be killed by Kratos,” Adam Puhl explained to Geoff Keighley in the latest episode of GameTrailers TV. Although described as “first person kills,” we’d argue that they should be coined “second person kills” — you are doing the killing, after all. Regardless of the terminology, these interactive sequences are likely to represent some of the most gruesome moments of the entire franchise. For us, this footage represented the highlight of last night’s episode.

The 21-minute special includes a rather comprehensive look at God of War III, but be warned of potential spoilers. You will see some new bosses, and even a new power that enhances the combat rather significantly. It’s only a few weeks away until the game’s release, so let’s find out if you have the willpower not to visit GameTrailers.

Continue reading God of War III features ‘first-person kills’

God of War III features ‘first-person kills’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After you’ve checked out the trailer above, be sure to morph into our gallery below, which is packed with a bunch of new screens from the upcoming robo-brawler.

Transformers: War for Cybertron media brings the fight home originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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