When the BBFC first outed Activision's plans to release a title called Blood Drive, we immediately jumped to the conclusion that the publisher was working on an ultraviolent car combat game. Little did we know that what it was actually working on was a car combat game ... with zombies! A press release has revealed more about the title, in which "contestants must use their motorized death steeds of steel in a televised game show where drivers battle each other and hordes of revolting flesh eaters in an all-out fight to the death." It's a very poetic press release.

Blood Drive will start its engines this November on the 360 and PS3 at a slightly embargained price of $49.99. You can check out the first few screens for the game in the gallery below.

Continue reading Blood Drive mixing car combat and zombies this November

Blood Drive mixing car combat and zombies this November originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Swedish development house Keldyn Interactive was cutting it close, but managed to clinch a last-minute win for "best game title heard this week." That title would be Dead Meets Lead, the name for its upcoming top-down shooter for PC in which players take on hordes of -- wait for it -- the undead.

This one looks to have a pretty neat twist, though, as it's set in the year 1716 -- the period leading up to the American Revolution -- and casts players as a gruff, white-wig-wearing British captain stranded on a zombie-infested island with only a sword and custom blunderbuss with which to fend the creeps off. While the screenshots are a little on the plain Jane side, the concept art, also in the gallery below, is really something special.

Keldyn Interactive has yet to set a date for when the dead will meet lead, but we'll let you know just as soon as one's announced.

Dead Meets Lead: another zombie game, but it's got a great name originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 16:43:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crap of Defense -- in spite of declaring itself to be the "worst game ever" -- is making the jump to pretty much every platform out there. Like the PSP version, the game is being re-branded as Paper Wars: Cannon Fodder, but will (presumably) feature the same sloppily drawn visuals and rather cheap-sounding audio. Like Angry Birds, this game simply cannot be contained by the iPhone.

Already available as a PSN Mini in Europe, the ESRB has rated additional versions of the game for DSi, Wii, Xbox 360 and PC. Considering the simplicity of the game, we're unsurprised by how quickly the developer has been able to make so many ports. Watch the distressingly cheap trailer for the iPhone original after the break.

Continue reading Paper Wars rated for DSi, Wii, Xbox 360 and PC

Paper Wars rated for DSi, Wii, Xbox 360 and PC originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 11:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fans of lighter shades of red will be pleased to hear that the typically no-nonsense black (or blue!) DualShock 3 controller will be getting a somewhat whimsical pink paint job later this month. According to a recent Gamestop listing, the wireless controller will retail for the standard $55 and is expected to hit store shelves on September 21.

The listing adds this model is "perfect for female gamers and households with kids," though that statement is rather narrow-minded -- don't you think? It's like, if we were to draw a Venn diagram including "ladies" and "people who would want to play games with a pink controller," there'd probably be a surprisingly small amount of overlap, and then, slightly adjacent to that overlap, there'd be an even smaller circle representing Steven Tyler.

[Thanks, Vallanthaz]

Pink DualShock 3 controller coming September 21 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 10 Sep 2010 03:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Earlier today, Imam Muhammad al-Masri, the head of a central Florida mosque, brokered an agreement with hate pastor Terry Jones whereby Jones would back off his pledge to burn copies of the Quran on the anniversary of 9/11. Jones asserted that Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf had “agreed to move” his Islamic center project near Ground Zero.

In a telephone conversation with ThinkProgress tonight, Daisy Khan — the wife of Imam Rauf — said there was no such deal made. She said Imam Masri had called her earlier today to ask whether Imam Rauf would be open to negotiating a relocation with Jones, and she said no.

Jones asserted earlier today that he and Masri are “flying up” to New York on Saturday to meet with Rauf. Khan told ThinkProgress that, while she and her husband are prepared to meet with Jones and Masri, she had not agreed to a meeting this Saturday. She said she told Masri that such a meeting should take place sometime in the future “when cooler heads have prevailed.” She explained that she would prefer not to meet with Jones on Saturday:

We do not want to take away from the solemn day of 9/11. Our Center is not about 9/11, the Quran is not about 9/11, we wish to commorate 9/11 with prayers for the families of the victims.

Khan also told us, “We reject any comparison to what we are prepared to build in NY and what Pastor was ready to destroy in Florida.” So what were the motivating factors for Masri and Jones to announce tonight’s deal?

For Masri, he likely felt pressure to make things happen quickly. Tomorrow, Muslims in America will be congregating in mosques to celebrate Eid ul-Fitr, a religious holiday to mark the end of a month of fasting. Masri likely wanted an announcement this evening so that the Eid celebration is not used to engender more animosity and division.

For Jones, as I told MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann tonight, he probably felt like he needed a scapegoat in backing down. Jones had not previously linked the Quran burning effort to the Islamic Center project. Jones was trapped in a box because he received the call from Secretary Robert Gates that he had been requesting, asking that the pastor not proceed with his plans. In backing down, Jones — who had taken the world hostage with his hate-filled campaign — shifted the controversy back unto Rauf. Watch it:

The problem I've always had with Bit.Trip Beat is that you could only control it by twisting the Wiimote. It's not the most accurate control scheme and, since the game is largely built on the player's ability to quickly and precisely move from one place to another, it was one tough experience. However, on the iPad, it's far more responsive -- sporting both touch-based and tilt-based controls in the final product, it was quickly evident that this was the best way to play the game.

Continue reading Bit.Trip Beat iPad preview: move to keep the beat

Bit.Trip Beat iPad preview: move to keep the beat originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 20:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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EA has announced that Need For Speed World, its MMO racer, has surpassed one million registered players since going live on July 27. With this milestone comes word that the game will soon be adding a co-op pursuit mode and expanded customization options (in addition to the already-promised new gameworld areas). Oh, and it's gone completely free-to-play.

Originally free only up to level 10 -- requiring a $20 investment for the "full" experience -- Need For Speed World has removed its base cost, although the purchase of items, power-ups, car rentals and other premium content will remain an option under the F2P model.

Need for Speed World shifts to free-to-play model, as user base passes 1 million milestone originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sony's rolling out the average-sized guns for its celebration of the original PlayStation's 15th birthday. In a recent newsletter, the company announced that select titles on the PSOne Classics storefront will be discounted on a weekly basis over the coming months. In addition, one of the early PSN titles, Super Rub A Dub, will receive a 50 percent discount starting today and running until Monday, September 20.

If you don't feel like spending any cash to join in the revelry, you can also pick up a a free PS1 ornament (pictured above) with which to decorate your apartment in PlayStation Home by visiting the Theater space. We sure hope Sony also releases a "Tower of Dave Matthews Band CDs" ornament and "A VCR With a Copy of Bio-Dome Stuck Inside" ornament, just so we can recreate that late-90s college dorm room experience.

Continue reading Sony discounting PSOne Classics for 15th birthday celebration

Sony discounting PSOne Classics for 15th birthday celebration originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:10:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Several Republican lawmakers are trying to claim that Obama’s $50 billion plan to invest in infrastructure is too expensive, at the same time that they’re pushing for an $830 billion tax cut for the richest two percent of Americans. If these lawmakers succeed in blocking the investment, they’ll definitively prove their deficit peacockery, while also perpetuating an ongoing neglect of the country’s infrastructure, which is rapidly deteriorating.

According to the Army Corps of Engineers, it would take a $2.2 trillion investment to get America’s infrastructure into good condition, including $930 billion for roads and bridges and another $160 billion for schools. Here is the situation in some of the states where lawmakers have been resistant to Obama’s plan:

KENTUCKY: Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY) opposes the funding, even though one-third of his state’s bridges are structurally deficient or functionally obsolete and the state has 178 high hazard dams (which is a dam where failure “would cause a loss of life and significant property damage”).

PENNSYLVANIA: Republican Senate nominee Pat Toomey opposes the funding, even though 50 percent of his state’s bridges are deficient, 44 percent of its roads are in poor condition, and it has $7 billion in wastewater infrastructure needs.

WASHINGTON:Republican Senate nominee Dino Rossi opposes the funding, even though one-third of his state’s roads are in poor condition and 29 percent of its bridges are deficient or obsolete.

OHIO: House Minority Leader John Boehner (R-OH) opposes the funding, even though his state has 375 high hazard dams and is the country’s fifth largest hazardous waste producer. 25 percent of Ohio’s roads are in poor condition.

FLORIDA: Rep. John Mica (R-FL) opposes the funding, even though 18 percent of his state’s bridges are structurally deficient, the state has 72 high hazard dams, and needs a $15 billion investment in drinking water infrastructure.

COLORADO: Sen. Michael Bennett (D-CO) opposes the funding, even though one-third of his state’s roads are in poor condition, 18 percent of its bridges are deficient, and it has 352 high hazard dams.

VIRGINA: Rep. Eric Cantor (R-VA) opposes the funding, while almost one-quarter of Virginia’s roads and bridges are in poor condition and there are 143 high hazard dams.

Allowing infrastructure to deteriorate is dangerous, and cleaning up the mess after an infrastructure failure triggers a disaster is costlier than simply dealing with problems before they arise. But at the moment, it’s easier to score political points off of anything that has to do with additional government spending.

Famitsu has revealed a few new tidbits regarding the Nintendo 3DS rendition of Dead or Alive, thoughtfully translated by andriasang.com. The game, now known as Dead or Alive Dimensions, is being developed by Team Ninja under the direction of Yosuke Hayashi (who most recently worked on Metroid: Other M).

The hallmark features of the series (counters and impossibly proportioned women, presumably) are set to make a comeback. The game is also supposed to be accessible to players that have avoided 3D fighting games in the past. The article confirms that Raidou -- super cheap boss character from the original Dead or Alive -- will be making a return appearance (we thought that was him in the E3 screenshots!). Head over to Famitsu to check out a handful of new screens.

3DS Dead or Alive subbed 'Dimensions,' new screens and info originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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