NDTV News

Top 10 most anticipated games of 2012

Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:44:00 GMT

Let's face it. 2011 was one of the best years in gaming. We saw a plethora of sequels hit the market from Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 competing with Battlefield 3 for the title of the best FPS (First Person Shooter) war game. The Caped Crusader also returned in Batman Arkham City. We donned the role of our favourite assassin in Assassins Creed Revelations and played a death defying treasure hunter in Uncharted 3. For the RPG (Role Playing Games) fans out there, games like the Witcher 2 and the Elders Scroll 5 Skyrim sucked up hundreds of gaming hours. We even saw games like Portal 2, which left us scratching our heads in bewilderment! And these are just a few of the blockbusters 2011 brought us. A pretty productive year? Well, wait till you see what's on offer before the end of the world in 2012! Here's a countdown to the top 10 most anticipated games of 2012.

1. Mass Effect 3
The name is enough to give any gamer shivers! The third story in Bioware's critically acclaimed Mass Effect series, in which you once again take on the role of Commander Shepard leading the counter assault to save earth from total annihilation. The biggest USP of the Mass Effect franchise has been the ability to take decisions and bear the consequences for your actions. The story arc changes based on the decisions you take. Add to the fact that the third game in the franchise is going to add multiplayer; this is one war you won't want to miss this year.

2. Hitman Absolution
2006 was the last we saw of the cold-blooded Hitman more commonly known as Agent 47. Heck, after playing Blood Money (which was released in 2006), some of us wanted to change our profession. Seriously! Six years seems like a long time to wait. If the promos and one awesome 12 minute gameplay demo shown off by developer I/O Interactive is anything to go by, this will be one of the best third person action adventure games of the year and we will be more than happy to don the role of the lead antagonist.

3. Twisted Metal
If in 1995, you were lucky enough to own a PS1, then you undoubtedly played Twisted Metal. This is probably one of the longest running Racing Action franchises on Sony's gaming hardware. Multiplayer will undoubtedly be a highlight of the series as 16 players will battle a variety of classic and new game modes.

4. Max Payne 3
The series that gave birth to bullet time is back, and back with a vengeance. Max Payne defined a place for itself in the third person action genre with a killer story, comic book style narrative and a little trick called bullet time that has been emulated by virtually every action game since. Apart from upping the action, the third game in the franchise will offer a more gripping and grittier story along with an improved cover based system and of course, better bullet time. And since a little company called Rockstar Studios is developing the game, our hopes for this one are sky high!

5. Ninja Gaiden 3
Crazy style Ninja action is the way of the Samurai and who can do it better than Team Ninja, the masterminds behind the Ninja Gaiden franchise. This hack and slash style action game will bring to the franchise a more refined combat system along with online multiplayer support. The series will now appeal to the casual and hardcore alike, thanks to the addition of a difficulty setting that enables auto block for the reflex challenged gamers.

6. Bioshock Infinite
If you aren't as psyched about Bioshock Infinite as we are then you need to wake up and smell the coffee! Shifting from the underwater settlement of Rapture, Irrational Games takes players to the city of Columbia settled high in the clouds. Expect one physiologically thrilling adventure in this first person shooter as you explore the new world of Columbia.

7. Tomb Raider
What do you get when Assassins Creed meets Uncharted? A game we can't wait to play! The reboot of the Tomb Raider franchise takes players back in time to the roots of lead protagonist Lara Croft and the story of how she became the kick-ass explorer we have come to love over the decades. In the E3 2011 demo of the game that was shown off, we were introduced to some seriously cinematic gameplay (looking a lot like Uncharted) and some very cool 'Eagle Vision' style mechanics (Assassins Creed anyone?), which will help Lara, escape from the deserted island she is marooned on.

8. Borderlands 2
Borderlands 2 is a sequel to the best four-player role-playing first person shooting game. This sequel features new characters, skills, environments, enemies, weapons and equipment. Get ready to reveal and take on the secrets of the land of Pandora.

9. Diablo 3
The only game on our list to be a PC exclusive, and there's a good reason for that. The Diablo franchise has ruled the third person action RPG (Role Playing Game) genre for decades, and now it's back. Playing as a hero from one of the five character classes, players will acquire powerful items, spells and abilities as they explore the world and take on hordes of demons.

10. GTA V
We aren't sure if GTA V is slated for a 2012 release but we can't hold back our excitement about this game. The series is expected to take a new direction with the open world mission-based third person action adventure.

Review: Shark 360 mouse offers added precision

Thu, 05 Jan 2012 10:18:00 GMT

Console gaming occasionally gets a boost from add-ons that can make the standard controller more efficient to hold and operate. A new wireless mouse looks to replace the standard Xbox 360 controller altogether in hopes of giving fans of first-person shooters added precision and control.

The FragFX Shark 360 ($89.99 from SplitFish AG) gives a new feel to popular shooter games such as "Call of Duty," "Halo" and "Gears of War." It features the familiar colored A-B-X-Y control buttons akin to those on the Xbox controller. What's new is a start/pause button just under the scroll wheel to freeze the action when needed.

The package also comes with a USB device that plugs into the Xbox and communicates wirelessly with the controller mouse.

Finally, there's an analog controller stick, dubbed a FragChuck, that is held in the non-mousing hand. The FragChuck has three triggers, various buttons and a thumbstick to walk or run the player's character through the game, while the mouse handles the aiming, shooting and other tasks.

The FragChuck also sports an up-down-left-right directional pad that can quickly toggle the player through an array of weapons in shooter games. The directional pad can be programmed to handle other tasks as well by adjusting the settings from in-game options menus.

This rethinking of the controller changes the gaming experience much more than the add-ons I've tried, such as small extenders for the thumbsticks that give gamers a new feel and range of motion.

One thing to note is that the configuration is not completely wireless. I discovered that when I tried the Shark 360 out for the first time.

The USB device that I plugged into the front of my Xbox 360 had to be connected to a standard wired Xbox 360 controller as well. The Shark 360 won't function without that. I had to dig through more than a dozen boxes in my attic to find one because wireless controllers have been the norm for some time now.

The rest of the operation is wireless, however, and you are not tethered to the console.

With that slightly cumbersome configuration out of the way, I was soon up and running, blasting my way through a few levels of "Turok." I swiveled left to right too fast early on when panning the horizon, looking for enemies. My performance improved once I got accustomed to the sensitivity and speed of the mouse.

The bottom of the three trigger buttons on the FragChuck allowed me to zoom in with my rifle scope, while a click on the left mouse button on the other hand took the shot. During my gaming sessions, the top two triggers had no duties to handle, but I could have assigned something to them had I wanted.

And so it went with "Call of Duty 3" and a few other shooters. It felt a bit more like PC gaming and a little less like the standard console approach, which for shooter titles isn't a bad trade-off.

Overall, I noticed improved performance when strafing opponents. It was easier to center on targets by using my entire mousing hand and all of its muscles, rather than just a few in my thumbs with a standard controller.

The aforementioned thumbstick extenders can snap off if you handle them too aggressively, but this mouse approach to console gaming doesn't depend on extra plastic bits you snap on to your existing controller.

I use a mouse daily, so extending that use to my console gaming sessions offered a quick feel of familiarity.

Your own level of enjoyment with the Shark 360 really depends on personal choice and muscle memory. If you commit to using it consistently for some select shooter titles, you'll quickly get accustomed to the button layout and may find your traditional controller gathering a bit of dust on the shelf.

It's not the best solution for all games, but it's a welcome bit of kit for some titles, particularly the first-person shooters.

Review: 'Rocksmith' rocks out with real guitars

Mon, 26 Dec 2011 10:51:00 GMT

If "Guitar Hero" was the spunky teenager who made music gaming fun, "Rocksmith" is his older, cooler brother in a distressed leather jacket.

"Rocksmith" (Ubisoft, for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, $79.99) trades in the now familiar plastic guitar with buttons for the real, six-stringed deal. You simply plug your electric guitar - or an acoustic guitar with a pickup - into your console or computer. For $199, you can get the software bundled with an entry-level Epiphone Les Paul Jr. guitar.

Generation after generation of would-be Eric Claptons have tried learning the guitar with instructors, books, DVDs and other teaching tools. Most of us get stuck at the intro to "Stairway to Heaven." With some minor guitar experience under my belt, I dared "Rocksmith" to teach me, entertain me and keep me engaged. It succeeded on all fronts.

Guitar lessons turn into a game: Keep in step with the colored, glowing and spinning rectangles that fall down the screen and land on a numbered fret. The more notes you get correct, the better your score.

It takes some getting used to. The descending rectangles are colored with a different hue for each of the six guitar strings. But most guitar strings aren't colored, so you have to mentally keep track of those color-and-string pairs - which change quickly during the action.

I was able to learn the melody to The Rolling Stones' "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction" within minutes, but the techniques get more complicated. For example, the double-stops technique requires covering two strings at the same time while muting the adjacent strings. It's easy when you're looking down and staring at your fingers with all the time in the world. It's a lot harder when you have to look at the screen, remember where the correct frets are by muscle memory and strike them fast enough to get ready for the next set of notes.

The teaching aspect of "Rocksmith" hinges on the very nature of playing a video game. You have to watch the screen. You don't have a lot of time to look at your hands. So you are forced to get better at knowing where the frets are by feel, as well as how to pluck, say, the fourth string instead of the fifth without looking.

The "Rocksmith" playlist runs from classic rockers like The Animals and Cream to up-and-comers like Titus Andronicus and the Black Keys. There's also an "amp" mode in which you can play whatever you like, and you can download filters that add fuzz, feedback, distortion or other effects to the sound mix.

Once you've mastered a few techniques and chords, you might want to power off the game and see where the instrument will take you all on its own. The ultimate challenge presented by "Rocksmith" is to get good enough that you won't play it all. You'll just play the guitar. Four out of four stars.

'Portal 2,' 'Skyrim' top a thrilling year in games

Tue, 20 Dec 2011 09:44:00 GMT

It's a good time to be a gamer, as studios continue to release thrilling adventures with clever stories, tight gameplay and spectacular production values. So many fine games have been released in 2011 - particularly in the last few months - that you'd need to use up a lot of sick days to catch up to them all.

But there's a downside to the quality glut: The big video-game companies are taking fewer chances. The business has become less about innovation, more about iteration, that is, improving upon previous successes. I enjoyed many of these sequels, which make up 90 percent of my top 10, but if publishers aren't careful they'll run out of fresh intellectual properties to sequelize.

Fortunately, smaller studios are picking up the slack, delivering fresh ideas to the PC market, the PlayStation Network, Xbox Live Arcade and Apple's App Store. And the creators of some of this year's blockbusters, including "Uncharted 3" and "Gears of War 3," have announced entirely original franchises for the new year and beyond. As much fun as I had in 2011, I'm hoping to see more fresh faces in my 2012 top 10.

1. "Portal 2" (Valve, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): It's based on a simple game mechanic: blasting holes and jumping through them. Its three main characters are mostly disembodied voices. It's essentially a series of abstract puzzles, and yet, "Portal 2" delivers one of the year's most satisfying - and malevolently funny - stories.

2. "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" (Bethesda Softworks, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): This sprawling role-playing epic is all about choice. Wizard or warrior? Hero or jerk? Vampire or werewolf? The possibilities seem endless, and after more than 100 hours I'm still discovering dazzling new areas to explore.

3. "Deus Ex: Human Revolution" (Square Enix, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): The Eidos Montreal studio revives a beloved, long-dormant series with this cyberpunkish tale of corporate intrigue. Fans of classic stealth games such as "Thief" and "Splinter Cell" will adore it.

4. "Bastion" (Supergiant Games, for the Xbox 360): The setup is nothing new: A boy hacks and slashes his way through a post-apocalyptic landscape. But droll narration and a mournful soundtrack hint at something deeper, and "Bastion" builds to an emotionally haunting climax.

5. "Batman: Arkham City" (Warner, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): The Dark Knight returns, along with just about every criminal mastermind in the DC Comics universe. Soaring among the skyscrapers of Gotham is awe-inspiring - plus, you get to punch a shark in the face.

6. "InFamous 2" (Sony, for the PlayStation 3): Once-reluctant superhero (or is it supervillain?) Cole McGrath has developed quite the skill set: He can skitter up tall buildings and shock enemies from a distance. Sucker Punch's loose-limbed open-world sequel is electrifying.

7. "The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword" (Nintendo, for the Wii): Twenty-five years in, the "Zelda" team is still creating the most diabolically clever puzzles in video gaming.

8. "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" (Sony, for the PlayStation 3): Nathan Drake, the Indiana Jones of the PlayStation, climbs, brawls and shoots his way through another breathless, globetrotting adventure.

9. "Rayman Origins" (Ubisoft, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii): French designer Michel Ancel livens up the 2-D running-and-jumping genre with exuberant weirdness.

10. "Dead Space 2" (Electronic Arts, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC): Monsters lurk around every corner of an abandoned outer-space facility. Don't forget to breathe.

Animation, gaming industry offers scope to students: President

Mon, 05 Dec 2011 10:05:00 GMT

Set to grow at 10 percent per annum over the next two years, the global animation and gaming industry offered tremendous opportunities to students in conceptualising and creating animation to make a name for the country in creative areas, President Pratibha Patil said on Friday.

Patil said the industry is expected to touch $170 billion in the next two years and "as a result, Indian animation and gaming sector, deriving revenue from international production houses and game development companies, is on the cusp of significant growth".

The president was speaking at the inauguration of the DSK Supinfocom's campus at Hadapsar, on the outskirts of Pune, set up in collaboration with Supinfocom, France.

Patil expressed happiness that the DSK group had not forgotten its social commitments despite its business avatar.

She appealed to the group head, D.S. Kulkarni, to focus on basic problems such as bringing more rain-fed land in the rural areas under irrigation and in promoting renewable energy such as solar, wind and hydro by reducing the cost of these technologies.

The French ambassador to India, Francois Richier, said creation of the beautiful campus of 20 acres in less than two years can only be a product of men and women of vision.

He said digital technology and education are both fields of increasing cooperation between France and India.

Kulkarni said he had risen from an humble background and assured that he would strive all his life to make things better for the youth of the country.

Situated on a lush green 20-acre plot, DSK Supinfocom is India's first and only international campus offering professional courses in the fields of animation, game and industrial design.

It is a joint venture between the Pune-based DSK Group and Chamber of Commerce & Industry of North de France, with the latter controlling the academics through a fully European team of trainers.

Assassins Creed Revelations Review

Tue, 22 Nov 2011 16:27:00 GMT

When it launched in 2007, Assassins Creed was one of the early IPs (Intellectual Properties) for the current generation console. The first game in the franchise was met with praise for its graphics, open-world-go-anywhere-climb-anything-structure, a captivating story and, above all, for giving players the ability to don the role of a kick-ass assassin. Critics complained about repetitive mission structure and an overall confusing ending.

Fast forward four years and we have Assassins Creed Revelations, the fourth title in the on-going war between the Assassins and Templars. The game has undergone some dramatic changes over the past few years and has tried to improve on the previous installments taking into consideration the gamer's feedback. Does it deserve a position on your trophy wall or are you better off purchasing another blockbuster title this holiday season?

Story
The story arc brings to an end the saga of Ezio Auditore da Firenze (our lead protagonist from AC2 and Brotherhood), Altair ibn-La'Ahad (from AC1) and Desmond Miles, the poor modern day soul stuck in the whole mess. Those of you who are new to the franchise will be greeted by an intro movie bringing you up to speed with the events of the previous game as all the stories are interconnected. Think of it like the concept portrayed in Inception - a dream within a dream. Desmond Miles is a modern day bartender whose DNA has access to the lives of his ancestors who were master assassins.

You are reliving the memories of Ezio (in the period 1511 AD) who is now much older but can still maneuver through the game as well as he did before - in fact better than his previous outings. He is no longer a novice assassin but a master and takes no orders from every second character you come across in the game. His quest, this time round, is to search for the 'truth' about the Assassins' order and he must find 5 keys left behind by his ancestor Altair which unlock the door to his (Altair's) library.

When you search for the keys, you get to relive key moments from Altair's life (he lived during the Crusades), which gives you more information about the war between the Assassins and Templars. Add to the fact that Desmond is stuck in the machine (the Animus) through which these memories are accessed and you have one heck of a complicated story to follow if you aren't aware of the happenings in the series.

Ezio's saga takes place during the rise of the Ottoman Empire, which means there's a history lesson in store.

Gameplay
The gameplay in AC Revelations is an add-on to the gameplay mechanics from Brotherhood with a few tweaks which are for the better. Navigating through the environment is as easy as holding down two buttons on the controller and pointing with the analog stick. For traversing the environment, you can still climb anything and go anywhere. But there is an addition to your arsenal called 'the hook blade' that helps you climb structures faster, zip line across wires strategically located throughout the city and adds a new set of moves to your combat list.

Speaking of combat, it has been greatly improved upon in Revelations. The controls have been tweaked to give you access to a primary weapon, be it your sword, crossbow, knife or your bear fists and a secondary weapon such as your gun, throwing knife or bombs. Combat in the game is still very easy and taking down the enemy is as simple as stringing together combos by timing your attacks. Ezio has a couple of new moves added to his list, which appear quite awesome when executed.

While searching for the 5 'Masyaf' keys, you will enter cave like structures and have to solve some simple puzzles and traverse tricky areas and take out the occasional guards. These missions are some of the high points in the game as their pacing is swift, gameplay is visually beautiful and at the end of these sequences, you get a satisfying feeling of accomplishment.

The Assassins recruitment makes an appearance in Revelations as well and you can recruit citizens from the city and add them to your assassin's army. Once trained, these assassins can help you in missions, take down enemies or send a shower of arrows if you ever find yourself surrounded. Calling for aid and executing these moves is as simple as pulling the left trigger on your controller and equally satisfying.

The only downside to the gameplay is a new addition called 'capture the den'. Essentially you take over a Templar controlled area and as the game progresses they attack the den and you have to defend it. To defend the den you essentially play a mini strategy game that involves you placing barricades and assassins 'strategically' around the den to prevent the enemy from entering. These gameplay portions drift away from the main story and core gameplay mechanics and are just very frustrating.

Being an open world game there is the large city of Constantinople to explore and a lot of side quests to complete. Just by sticking to the main story, upgrading the assassin's army and taking on a handful of side quests, we managed to beat the game in around 12 hours but expect to invest many more hours if you wish to beat the game 100%.

If that wasn't enough, the game also offers online multiplayer. It was introduced in Assassins Creed Brotherhood and quite honestly felt underwhelming. That trend continues in Revelations and multiplayer is just gimmicky. You have the standard modes such as capture the flag and death match along with a unique story-oriented quest mode. But the overall appeal is very underwhelming when compared to the multiplayer offerings from Call of Duty, Halo, Uncharted, Gears of War and more. You won't be hooked online for long in the multiplayer offering of Assassins Creed Revelations.

Graphics
For its time, Assassins Creed 1 looked awesome. The Anvil engine was revamped for Assassins Creed 2 and tweaked accordingly for the forthcoming games in the franchise. In 2011 however, the game looks a bit dated and the Anvil engine is showing its age. The character animations look good, no doubt, especially in combat but aren't as cool when compared to the likes of Uncharted 3. The movements look smooth and the animation of Ezio traversing the environments and taking down enemies looks satisfying but is in dire need of an update.

Constantinople is a large city so you can expect the occasional texture pop-in but entire areas draw in as you approach them, characters pop in the middle of an environment or are drawn in when you approach them. Some cut scene animations look stiff and the characters are virtually expressionless most of the time. Explosion, smoke and fire effects look very dated when compared to similar scenarios in competing games. It just brings down the overall effect of the game.

The city of Constantinople itself is very well represented. True to tradition, there are architectural marvels from the 1500s present in the game and you can get a quick synopsis of the historical structures by pressing the select button. The Assassins Creed franchise has been praised for representing cities quite accurately in terms of their look and feel and Constantinople doesn't disappoint. This is the closest you will ever get to see 16th century Constantinople digitally represented.

Sound
The voice acting and background music in Assassins Creed Revelations is some of the best in the gaming business. You have Italian and Middle Eastern actors voicing appropriate characters adding to the realism of the game. After the criticism of AC1's voice acting, the series has only improved for the better. There are subtle dialogues which are spoken in the native language of the time period, be it Italian for Ezio or certain Arabic words used by supporting characters that makes it even more real and gives players a realistic sense of the situation they have been put in.

The background score is breath-taking drawing inspiration from Greek, Renaissance and Middle-Eastern instrumentals that hum at different intensities to suit the situation you are in the game. There are points in the game where the music will just die down letting you enjoy natural sounds such as people talking in the streets, chatter in the market, running water, so on and so forth.

Verdict:
It may be a lot to take in if you are new to the franchise but fans of the series will undoubtedly be happy with the overall package the game has to offer. The story, for once, presents some form of closure even though it still does leave you bewildered at the absolute last moment. The ending sequence of the game too is the best in the series and one that we will remember for quite some time. A must own for fans of the series and a definite must try for new comers who dare.

Score:
Story: 4
Gameplay: 3.5
Graphics: 3
Sound: 4
Overall: 3.

Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception Review

Wed, 16 Nov 2011 14:40:00 GMT

To any gamer, the name Uncharted is interchangeable with the word awesome. After the super success of Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, expectations are sky high for the third installment in the franchise by developer Naughty Dog. Does this PS3 exclusive outshine its predecessor or is it true that brilliance doesn't strike the same series twice?

Story

Once again you don the role of Nathan Drake, a modern day Indiana Jones, out on another treasure hunting adventure. The plot involves the search for the lost city of Ubar, a city destroyed by the Gods for its arrogance. The city is somewhere in the middle of the Rub'al Khali desert. This lost city was sought out before by legendary explorer Sir Francis Drake (also the lead character's ancestor) and later by archeologist T.E Lawrence, more famously known as Lawrence of Arabia. Not surprisingly, the city was said to have immeasurable wealth, but that is not the only reason why our hero is looking for it.

But there's a twist in the tale - and it's a good one. You aren't competing with a psychopath gun-slinging villain who thinks he can rule the world like Genghis Khan. Not at all. You are dealing with a female antagonist this time around.

The villainess is Katherine Marlowe and, boy, is she scary! From the way her character is introduced right up to the end of the game you can't help but hate and fear her.

Without spoiling anything, the story does have its usual twists and turns and the relationship between Nathan Drake and Victor 'Sully' Sullivan is explored to greater depths including an interesting story of how the two met. Characters from the previous games such as Elena and Chloe also make cameo appearances.

Overall, the story is interesting and if you have followed the franchise, the ending of the game will undoubtedly surprise you.

Gameplay

Picking up the best from a variety of genres and improving upon them is what the Uncharted series does best. At its roots, it's a third person cover-based shooter game with platforming, puzzle solving and some hand-to-hand combat thrown into the mix. If you have played any Tomb Raider, Prince of Persia or Gears of War titles, you will feel right at home.

The gameplay may be tried and tested but the manner in which it is executed is phenomenal. At one moment you will be shooting behind cover in a ship only to find that the ship is sinking and in a matter of seconds you will be traversing the ship to save your life wondering which is the right-side up. At another, you will be fist fighting in a cargo plane only to be hanging outside it for sheer survival and the enemies still won't stop shooting at you.

To break it down, the gunplay is the strongest element of the game. You can't prop yourself behind a single object and take on the enemy. You will be constantly forced to move forward and rethink your strategy.

The platforming is very linear and stiff. There are only limited places you can go and the game gives you no choice as to how you tackle a particular situation. This isn't always a bad thing given the cinematic nature of the game. You will be chasing someone or running for dear life in various situations and it all looks and feels better than the scripted moments from a Michael Bay movie.

There are the occasional puzzles thrown into the mix and they really aren't that difficult to solve. Nathan Drake has his trusty journal that gives you clues and if you still fail, the game presents you with the option to see the solution. Some of the puzzles are well executed and better than the previous titles of the series.

The weakest section of the gameplay has to be the hand-to-hand combat. It isn't bad, but it isn't Batman Arkham City either. There are a lot of context sensitive moments in hand-to-hand combat and it is these that are truly fun. You can use the environment while taking on the bad guys. Use a beer bottle to slam someone in the head, open a fridge door to slam an enemy, so on and so forth. It's fun to play out these sequences and you will find yourself cornering enemies near objects just to see how Drake uses them.

In totality, the gameplay is well paced and varied enough to keep you engaged through the 8-hour campaign mode.

Multiplayer

When multiplayer was introduced in Uncharted 2, many thought it was an afterthought and wouldn't be that great. But the critics were proven wrong and the multiplayer in Uncharted 2 was as good as the competition if not better.

The multiplayer in Uncharted 3 has been taken up a notch. There is the usual swarm of death match and capture the treasure along with objective-based modes but there is co-op as well. Not only can you and a friend play the game in split screen, but the online co-op play is just a lot of fun. You can take on missions that are story-driven or just take on hoards of enemies that increase in number and ability just to see how long you can survive.

You can also customize your weapon load out and as you progress in multiplayer, unlock new customization options for your character and weapons. The customization involves faster sprint recovery, larger magazine and a scope for your gun, and so on and so forth.

The multiplayer of the game also gives you special abilities (a bazooka) in the form of kickbacks. Earn enough medals and you will be awarded with a special skill you have pre-selected such as more grenades, a bazooka and more.

Even if the story can be completed in 8 hours, it's the multiplayer that will keep you coming back for more. We reckon, a few hundred hours at least.

Graphics

Uncharted 3 is the best looking console game of the current generation. It's needless to say that the character animations and environments are superb. There are moments when the camera pans out to give you a glimpse of the sheer scale of the environment and zooms back in to portray attention to detail, and if you play this game on a really big screen, you will be blown away. The dynamic lighting and shadow effects border on realism - be it hanging for sheer life from a cargo plane, chasing trucks on a horseback or fighting on a cargo ship on the verge of sinking, the detailing will definitely make your jaw drop.

The character animations look fantastic too with the exception of Elena who looks like she has a hint of Asian in her blood. The cut scenes really bring the characters to life as all of them have been voiced and acted by the actors in real time with motion capture. The in-game animation too borders on flawlessness. You tend to look for loops in certain animations or glitches but these are barely present.

Since this is a cinematic adventure, expect some over the top action at every turn. An entire building crumbles in flames around you, you will nearly be swallowed by the ocean and the never-ending desert sprinkled with mirages will undoubtedly take your breath away.

There is an impressive variety of locations and environments for you to visit and marvel at - a bar in London, a jungle in France, a local city in Yemen or the lost city itself. Variety in gameplay may be limited but the variety of locations you visit is truly something this game can boast about.

Sound

There is not one sentence of cheesy voice work in the entire game. And that's saying a lot. Even a new character, Charlie, introduced in the game has a cocky British accent and will undoubtedly remind you of Jason Statham from the Italian Job. The voice work is superb and Nolan North takes the honours as Nathan Drake.

There are a lot of natural sounds as well from the flickering of flames to the crawling of spiders in one particular scene. But best of all is the orchestral score that hums at varying beats through various moments in the game.

There is also silence you could cut with a knife when on a stealth mission and this only adds to the tension of the situation. It's just brilliant.

Verdict:

The campaign may be short, at around 8 hours, but the multiplayer has enough content to keep the game disc in your system for days. But that's not why you will play this game. Uncharted 3 is the closes you'll ever come to actually being Indiana Jones and let's be honest, which of us hasn't wanted to be a treasure hunter at some point of time? If a short cinematic thrilling adventure is your calling this weekend, then Uncharted 3 should definitely be on your list.

Score:
Story: 4
Gameplay: 4.5
Graphics: 5
Sound: 5
Overall: 4.5

Latest 'Call of Duty' game breaks sales record

Mon, 14 Nov 2011 09:20:00 GMT

By the third time around, it really shouldn't be a surprise. The latest "Call of Duty" video game set a first-day sales record this week, generating $400 million in sales in its first 24 hours in stores. That breaks the record its predecessor set this time last year.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" is the third game in the military shooter series to set such a record. Last year, "Call of Duty: Black Ops" raked in $360 million in its first 24 hours on sale. "Call of Duty, Modern Warfare 2," sold 4.7 million copies in its first 24 hours to reap $310 million

The latest installment of the game from Activision Blizzard Inc. went on sale at midnight Tuesday in North America and the U.K.

Activision said Friday the game sold 6.4 million units in its first 24 hours.

A rival shooter game from Electronic Arts Inc., "Battlefield 3," meanwhile, sold 5 million units in its first week in stores last month, making it the fastest-selling game in EA's history.

The figures show there's a big appetite for big shooter games this holiday season, boding well for their publishers and retailers such as GameStop Corp.

Shares of Activision Blizzard slipped 16 cents to $12.82 in morning trading Friday.

Skyrim a boundless epic videogame adventure

Fri, 11 Nov 2011 10:19:00 GMT

Skyrim unleashes its magic on videogame lovers on Friday, opening a boundless world of medieval adventure complete with death-dealing dragons, Nordic gods, and foreboding prophecy.

The hotly-anticipated new installment in the popular Elder Scrolls series is being hailed by critics as a standout game amid an army of must-play titles launching for the year-end holiday season.

Skyrim was crafted by Bethesda Softworks game designers who produced open-world post-apocalyptic shooter Fallout 3, so players are welcomed into an expansive mountainous kingdom that they are free to explore at their peril.

Innovative software perpetually generates missions such as saving villagers and righting wrongs, meaning that the game is technically endless even if players complete the main story campaign.

Skyrim opens with a player in the role of a nameless prisoner being carted off to a village for beheading.

The axe man is interrupted by a dragon attack that triggers a harrowing escape into a rich, fantasy realm torn by civil war and treachery.

The land bears signs foretold in the Elder Scrolls as marking the return of a Nordic god of destruction that will come in the form of a colossal dragon and devour the world.

As luck would have it, the player's character was born with the soul of a dragon and chosen by benevolent gods to stop evil from prevailing.

"In Elder Scrolls, dragons have been in the lore but they haven't been in the game," Skyrim director Todd Howard said in an online interview.

"In this game, dragons have been reborn," he continued.

The virtual world of Skyrim spans 16 square miles (41 square kilometers) from mountains to open plains that players can freely range on horseback.

The grand, immersive design of the game and the allure of endless numbers of missions promise players will be tracking game play by weeks instead of days.

Players can opt to be elves, orcs or humans, with game makers even letting them become vampires as it did in Skyrim predecessor Oblivion.

True to role-playing titles, Skyrim lets players deeply personalize characters from looks to fighting styles.

In-game characters are also held accountable for their actions, with who they help or hurt changing the flow of play.

Game mechanics allow for two fisted fighting, whether it is with a pair of blades or by casting magic spells with one hand and wielding a sword with the other.

Skyrim was priced at $60 at launch in the United States.

Review: Batman Arkham City

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 10:28:00 GMT

In 2009, critics were blown away by a game that finally bucked the trend of bad superhero games. An obscure studio called Rocksteady brought us the caped crusader in a way we had never imagined before in Batman Arkham Asylum.

Two years later, Rocksteady Studios has added a plethora of content to this anticipated sequel. The environment is five times larger and 'open world' to traverse and virtually every Batman supervillain imaginable has been added to the mix. Is it enough to keep the Dark Knight rising?

Story

The story of Batman Arkham City is a follow up to 2009's Arkham Asylum. DC comics have released a comic book linking the events of both the games for the loyalist fans to read.

Without spoiling anything, Mayor Sharp has closed off one section of Gotham City quarantining it with prison. As expected, things don't go according to plan and the caped crusader is on hand to save the day.

Hugo Strange sets the mastermind plot but the story brings in all the antagonists from the Batman universe. Expect to encounter quite a few of them in the main story including Mr. Freeze, the Joker, Penguin and Two Face to name a few. And that's seriously just naming a few.

There are a whole lot of villains who aren't a part of the main story but their subplots are so cleverly intertwined with the game flow that you will subconsciously drift into these side missions leaving the main quest at bay. Two noteworthy side missions include tracing the sinister Zsasz to his hideout and the other, fighting alongside Bane and destroying the Titan Virus. There are many of these missions throughout the story and you can come back to the side quests even after completing all the main story missions.

The Riddler is back in a much more sinister avatar and has hidden riddles, puzzles and collectables all over Arkham City. Randomly appearing taunts from the Riddler are incentive enough to switch on Batman's 'Detective Mode' and go hunting for the 'Riddler Trophies'

Overall, the story is very well packaged and presents a sense of urgency no matter what mission you undertake. All the aspects are very well layered too, just like a Christopher Nolan film. The ending however is a mixed bag. Some may be awed by the outcome of Protocol 10 (Protocol 10 is something Hugo Strange keeps announcing throughout the game) and its implications, others may feel that it was all too rushed.

For those who purchase the game new, get the Catwoman DLC (Downloadable Content) for free. There are four story missions that you can play as Catwoman and all these missions are intertwined with the caped crusader's tale.

Gameplay

If you thought Arkham Asylum nailed the controls and combat mechanics of the game, then get ready to be blown away by Arkham City. The best part of the controls is that it will appeal to amateur gamers and pros alike. The overall gameplay is divided into two parts: platforming and traversing, and combat.

Platforming and traversing: Newcomers to the franchise may feel that the Dark Knight is stiff in his movements but spend some time with the controls and you will be amazed at how natural it begins to feel. Since Arkham City is an open world game, and Rocksteady claims that the environment is five times bigger than Arkham Asylum, Brucie boy has some new tricks up his sleeve in terms of traversing and navigating the environments. It is possible for you to glide from one end of the city to the other without touching the ground. These gliding mechanics are very intuitive and fun to maneuver so much so that it will put every Superman game to shame.

Batman also has his trusty arsenal of gadgets that are not only useful in combat but navigation as well. You can use the grapple hook to reach remote locations and cornered off places, use freeze bombs to create platforms to walk on, use the batarang to reach unreachable switches, so on and so gadgety.

The elements of platforming and traversing mixed with gadgets keeps the gameplay elements fresh through and through.

Combat: Combat in Arkham City is AWESOME! We'll repeat that - AWESOME! It is also so simple that we handed the controller to anon-gaming friend and he managed to get the Dark Knight to perform some spectacular moves.

The controls are simple for amateurs. Press the attack button to attack (Duh!) and the counter button to counter (double duh!). But that's not where it ends. You can use your array of gadgets to spice up the mix quite a bit. Cornered by too many heavily armed enemies? Just throw a smoke bomb, use the freeze bomb to momentarily freeze enemies, the batarang to stun them, grapple hook to pull enemies closer, so on and so forth. The sheer number of permutations and combinations in combat is so varied that you will be compelled to try new tricks with the billionaire superhero's gadgets. Did we mention you can now take down three enemies with a single counter? Yes, you can! These are some of the most satisfying moves to be incorporated in an action game. Add to the mix the fact that you can use the environment for stealth takedowns, glide to take down enemies and use destructible objects in the environment as well and you have a game that will keep you coming back for more.

But wait... there's more.

Catwoman has her own set of moves and gadgets. Sure, they aren't as varied and dynamic as the Dark Knight's but they are a lot of fun to use nonetheless. The controls for the feline predator's moves remain the same as Batman with the variation being in the takedown animation and gadgets at her disposal.

Catwoman feels a lot more agile as a playable character. She too has her own set of Riddler trophies scattered all around Arkham City so there is additional incentive to play as the Catwoman.

Last but not least, all of Batman's gear is upgradable from his armored suit to the simple batarang. You earn experience points that help you upgrade your arsenals capabilities.

Graphics

Batman Arkham City looks stunning. The current generation gaming consoles are five years old and still manage to produce games that look gorgeous.

The environment is dynamic, representing themes borrowed from the animated series, the comic books and even some dark themes from the Chris Nolan movies. You could just prop yourself on the highest tower and admire the scenery and beauty of the world created by Rocksteady.

The character animations look stunning as well. From all the supervillains to the thugs running free in the city, all of them look great. The way the Batman's cape flutters at his heel when he runs to the combat animation and even the gliding mechanics, all look incredible.

The only flaw with the graphics we noticed was that the lip-syncing was a bit off at points and a few characters weren't very well animated.

The dark and gritty look of the city along with the theme-based areas over run by the supervillains adds some variation and unique life to each environment you visit.

But most commendable of all is the animation of the caped crusader himself. As the story progresses, Batman's suit and cape begin to tear and wounds are distinctly visible on the Dark Knights body as he takes a hit.

Sound

There is an orchestral soundtrack humming in the backdrop of the game that changes in intensity depending on the situation you are in. There is a fast thump in the music every time you are presented with a sense of urgency, and a melodramatic tune plays out every time you have limited time to complete a task.

But that isn't the real highlight of the game. It's the voice acting that steals the show completely. The legendary Kevin Conroy dons the role of the lead protagonist and Luke Skywalker a.k.a. Mark Hamill lends his voice as the Joker bringing back nostalgic memories from our childhood Cartoon Network days. The infamous Nolan North lends his voice as the Penguin and the Black Mask. Danny Jacobs does a fantastic job as the vindictive Victor Zsasz. The voice acting in the game is superb and the shrill laugh of the Joker still send shivers down our collective spine.

As you glide throughout Arkham City, you will pick up the chatter of the local thugs and there are points where you cant help but sit up on a high ledge and listen to the progressing chatter. The surprising element - the chatter is very relevant to the story progression point at which you are at the given point in time.

Add to the mix the thuds and whacks of Batman breaking bones and you have a game that is worthy of one of the best kick ass audio systems out there.

Verdict:

Batman Arkham City is an awesome game. We finished the story in about 10 hours and invested another few in the side missions and the statistics say that we have onlyt finished 60% of the game. Add to that the plethora of challenge maps accessible for you trophy hungry gamers and the future DLC (Downloadable Content) of Robin and Night Wing as playable characters and you have a game that will give you many sleepless nights! Batman Arkham City is a must play whether you are a fan of the series or not.

Score

Story: 4.5
Gameplay: 5
Graphics: 4.5
Sound: 4.5
Overall: 4.5

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 hits stores

Wed, 09 Nov 2011 09:42:00 GMT

The latest installment of the blockbuster Call of Duty videogame franchise went on sale on Tuesday with publisher Activision saying pre-orders had topped last year's record-shattering "Call of Duty: Black Ops."

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" hit stores at midnight with thousands of fans lining up to be the first to get their hands on the game, the eighth title in a franchise that has won a devoted following since it was launched in 2003.

The Santa Monica, California-based Activision, a subsidiary of Activision Blizzard, said launch parties were held at more than 13,000 retailers around the globe.

"Call of Duty: Black Ops" rang up 360 million dollars in sales in North America and Britain on its first day of availability last year to become the highest-grossing entertainment launch ever.

Activision did not provide figures but said pre-orders for "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" had already topped pre-orders for "Call of Duty: Black Ops," which sold 5.6 million copies in North America and Britain on its first day.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," which was developed by Infinity Ward and Sledgehammer Games, picks up the storyline from "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2" and segues into World War 3.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" is going up against a military first-person game from Electronic Arts -- "Battlefield 3," which was released last month.

According to EA, five million copies of "Battlefield 3" were sold in its first week of availability, making it EA's fastest-selling videogame ever.

"Battlefield 3" is set near in a near future, with players taking on roles as US Marines tackling missions in places such as Paris, New York and Tehran.

"Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3" and "Battlefield 3" are among a number of titles that will be competing for entertainment dollars this holiday season.

Others include "Rage" from Bethesda Softworks, which takes place on an Earth rendered a wasteland by an asteroid strike, and "Resistance 3" from Insomniac Studios, which features a quest to save humanity from alien invaders.

"Batman: Arkham City" from Rocksteady Studios arrived last month to rave reviews followed by "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" from Naughty Dog, an action-adventure title seen as a contender for game of the year.

Also in the pipeline is the next installment in the "Assassin's Creed" franchise from French videogame titan Ubisoft.

"Uncharted" videogame packs action movie punch

Wed, 02 Nov 2011 09:44:00 GMT

The line between videogames and action films blurred further on Tuesday with Sony's release of an eye-popping, pulse-revving "Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception" title for PlayStation 3 consoles.

The third installment of the franchise starring wise-cracking fictional fortune hunter Nathan Drake landed in North America with a $60 price tag and reviews calling it a contender for videogame of the year.

"Naughty Dog once again takes a leap forward in cinematic gaming," Sony Computer Entertainment America vice president of marketing Scott Steinberg said, referring to the Southern California studio behind Uncharted.

"Not only does Uncharted 3 deliver an impressive blend of interactive game play and stunning graphics, Naughty Dog has weaved an inspiring and personal story with genuinely relatable characters," Steinberg said.

The Sony-owned studio wove true historical mysteries into a compelling plot that puts Drake on a treacherous path through England, France, Syria and the Rub' al Khali desert to thwart a conspiracy involving a secret society.

Game play is blended with powerful cinematic "cut scenes" boasting graphics so rich that grains of sand shift realistically on desert dunes and crisp cinders swirl in burning rooms.
"Effects such as fire and water have been overhauled to make each environment unique and interactive allowing gamers to rush through walls of water, aim and shoot through sloshing pools, and escape a chateau engulfed by fire that curls, billows, and smokes as it burns," according to Sony.

Uncharted 3 can be played in 3D on televisions equipped with the capability.

Naughty Dog designed Uncharted to let people post achievements or snippets of game play to social networking service Facebook or Google-owned online video-sharing venue YouTube.

Video game makers ready barrage of blockbusters

Thu, 27 Oct 2011 13:07:00 GMT

Video game makers are breaking out the big guns and hitting players with a barrage of dynamite titles that will compete for their devotion and entertainment dollars this holiday season.

Bethesda Softwork's freshly released "Rage" blends brilliant graphics with fast-paced combat on foot and in vehicles in an expansive vision of an Earth rendered wasteland by an asteroid strike.

"Resistance 3," crafted by Insomniac Studios exclusively for Sony PlayStation 3, builds on the shooter franchise's notorious arsenals to arm players in a fierce last-ditch quest to save humanity from alien invaders.

"Battlefield 3" launched Tuesday, getting a head start on eagerly-awaited shooter rival "Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3," which hits the market in early November.

Those who prefer to duel with their wits can play the famed Dark Knight from comic book lore in "Batman: Arkham City," a sequel that arrived this month to rave reviews.

Electronic Arts has meanwhile added a new pet-themed version to its cult hit Sims videogame franchise.

"This is the most crowded release schedule I've ever seen," video game industry analyst Michael Pachter, of Wedbush Morgan Securities, told AFP on Wednesday.

"They are all going to make money," he predicted. "And this is the season to make money."

The year is finishing out with a barrage of of must-have titles. Video game makers are also enticing customers by adapting to the new motion-sensing capabilities of Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

Pachter expected it to be a lucrative season, with the earliest titles to hit the market grabbing the largest share.

"It is like going to a smorgasbord, and by the time you get to the dessert your plate is full," Pachter said.

"Everything is so good that people are going to fill up their plates by the time those later games get there... Those out first are the winners and the losers are the guys who come out last; it is not a quality issue."

"Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception," an action-adventure title set for release on November 1, features breathtaking graphics and is seen as a sure contender for video game of the year.

"Modern Warfare 3" meanwhile promises to "such the air out of gamers' lungs" when the title becomes available to zealous fans of the military shooter franchise a week later, according to Pachter.

That could leave players' wallets light by the time French video game titan Ubisoft releases the next installment in its "Assassin's Creed" franchise in mid-November.

"Saints Row: The Third" and "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3" are due to hit the market at about the same time.

Car racing game "Need for Speed" and Bethesda's epic fantasy game "The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim" will also come out in November.

"They are all going to be good," Pachter said, predicting that lackluster packaged video game sales would get a boost over the holidays and downplaying the impact of free online games, like those offered on social networks.

Blockbuster titles typically debut with prices in the $40 to $60 range.

But Pachter likened big console videogames to the major Hollywood success "Avatar" and free online games, like those from startup Zynga, to hit television programs such as "American Idol."

"They are both televised entertainment, but they don't compete," he said. "There is not a person alive who said they couldn't watch 'Avatar' because they watched 'American Idol' instead."

Activision jumps into kids' game with 'Skylanders'

Mon, 17 Oct 2011 10:48:00 GMT

To impress kids these days, it's not enough to make another video game. Mere action figures won't do, either. So Activision is merging the two.

With "Skylanders: Spyro's Adventure," Activision is using some of its "Guitar Hero" technology in a new venture that's part handheld toy, part digital entertainment. Aimed at kids, "Skylanders" is among the latest and most ambitious game in a growing genre that blends a child's physical world with a video game and online media.

The new game marks Activision's latest stab at a must-have holiday hit, less than a year after it killed off its iconic "Guitar Hero" franchise. Although Activision Blizzard Inc. still has hit titles such as "Call of Duty," people are increasingly turning to free or cheaper games on mobile devices and social networks and buying fewer expensive video game discs that account for a large chunk of Activision's business.

"Skylanders," available for $70 beginning Sunday in North America, comes with three 2-inch-tall action figures - Spyro, the fire-breathing purple dragon, of course, along with others, such as a guy made of tree trunks, or Eruptor, the lava man. Extra figures cost $8 each.

Using a plastic platform about six inches in diameter, the figures connect wirelessly to your video game system, the same way plastic instruments connect to on-screen musicians in "Guitar Hero."

As with other games, you still control their characters on the screen. But you need the figures, which store data and transmit characters' histories to the nearest game console. Each works like a wireless thumb drive for data storage. Connect it to the system, and the game recognizes all that the character has been through.

So you can start playing the game at home on a Wii, grab the Spyro figure and head to a friend's house. There, you can continue playing the game on the PlayStation 3 without losing all you've accomplished on the Wii version. This hasn't been possible before.

Sure, there's stuff like Webkinz, the toy animals that come with secret codes that kids type into a website to play with an online version of their pet. The "Skylanders" figures, though, become an integral part of the game because they store their characters' entire history inside.

"It's DNA-level play," says Eric Hirshberg, CEO of Activision Publishing. "How many times have you wished you could bring toys to life?"

Hirshberg calls it the "first true cross-platform game." That means you can play the game on the Wii, the Xbox 360, the PlayStation 3, the Nintendo 3DS, online and on the iPhone and the iPad.

Billy Pidgeon, an analyst at M2 Securities who follows video games, said the concept is "very risky, but if it pays off, it's going to pay off big."

It's risky, for one, because there's no real way to tell what will drive kids and parents to a holiday feeding frenzy in the way Tickle Me Elmo did in 1996 and the Nintendo Wii did a decade later. It's also a relatively new foray into the world of kids' games for Activision, best known for its "Call of Duty" warfare shooters and the grown-up fantasy fighter "World of Warcraft."

Jeff McKinney, video game editor at Time to Play Magazine, said he played the game extensively over the summer and liked it. "It's a cool concept but if the game wasn't good, it was going to be a novelty."

Spyro has been around since the late 1990s, having gotten its start on the Sony Corp.'s PlayStation console. Activision is trying to breathe fire into the series by combining it with real-life toys.

It helps that Joel Cohen and Alec Sokolow, two of the screenwriters for the original "Toy Story," are the writers of the latest game. As the story goes, Spyro and nearly three dozen other characters have been shrunk and frozen by an evil creature called Kaos. Their task: Battle, collect treasures and solve puzzles to save the world from Kaos.

"It's important that the toys were alive," says Yale Miller, producer at Activision. "Not just a piece of plastic manufactured somewhere."

Activision is also throwing its full marketing blitz behind the game. Although it won't say how much it's spending, analysts estimate it's at least in the tens of millions of dollars. Toys R Us has included it in its list of 15 "best toys" for the 2011 holiday season alongside Air Swimmers, the helium-filled, radio-controlled flying fish, and Leapfrog's LeapPad Explorer.

The toys use RFID technology, used by retailers, drug makers and shipping companies to track goods, to store information.

The game is rated E10, meaning it's suitable for everyone over 10.

If it succeeds, other game companies will likely follow. Nintendo, with its beloved Mario characters - not to mention Pokemon - is a likely candidate.

"I'm surprised they haven't done it yet," McKinney says.

NPD: US retail video game sales fell in September

Fri, 14 Oct 2011 10:08:00 GMT

U.S. retail sales of video game hardware, software and accessories dipped 4 percent to $1.13 billion in September, according to market researcher NPD Group. Sales of the games themselves grew somewhat, but this was overshadowed by lower sales of game consoles and accessories.

The NPD Group said Thursday in its monthly report that sales of video game software - which refers to the actual games - rose 3 percent to $630 million in September, up from $612 million a year earlier.

The top game during the month was the latest installment of Electronic Arts Inc.'s "Madden" football game, "Madden NFL 12." The game came out at the end of August, which is later than EA usually rolls out a new version of the game. Microsoft Corp.'s "Gears of War 3" and Deep Silver Inc.'s "Dead Island" took the No. 2 and 3 spots, respectively.

Sales of video game hardware, which includes hand-held game systems and gaming consoles like Microsoft's Xbox 360, fell 9 percent to $349 million from $383 million last September. And sales of video game accessories sank 14 percent to $155 million from $181 million.

When including PC game sales, overall U.S. sales declined 6 percent to $1.16 billion.

The research firm does not include game downloads and online games in its monthly retail sales data, so the numbers can sometimes show a decline even if more people are playing games on Facebook, their mobile phones and elsewhere.