Today, along with confirmation that Bethesda is currently “hard at work” putting together the first Xbox 360 wave of new quests, locations, and more, we learned that, sometime this month, we will be receiving a free patch update to Skyrim with some big additions. Well, I suppose you could say one big addition that affects multiple aspects of the game, but either way, voice commands via Xbox 360 Kinect are making their way to Skyrim. Aside from the highly desirable, and somewhat obvious ability to speak in the Dragon’s tongue and activate Shouts, you will be able to issue ally commands, quickly change your left/right/dual equipped items, navigate your level constellations, quick save/load, sort items, navigate the map, and more. Curious to see it in action? Check out the video below: Read the full story

The term “two weeks” is very powerful. For Tom Hanks and Shelley Long in the 1986 classic The Money Pit, “two weeks” was the timeline for home completion…for months. Now, I’m going to say it. Two weeks. My “two weeks” has two meanings. First, it’s the time until April 19th, which marks the beginning of the Ghost Recon: Future Soldier multiplayer beta. Second, it’s the running time of the beta, which will end two weeks later, on May 2nd. So, be excited that the multiplayer beta is only two weeks away (or that you still have to wait two whole weeks for it), but be sad that it will only last for two weeks. Read the full story

One of the highlights of this year’s XBLA House Party was Alan Wake’s American Nightmare. It made me want to play the original Alan Wake, a title I had skipped because of my lack of interest in its genre. High praise, from me. The game has been out now for well over a month, but a new trailer has been released. Normally, I find that a review is the best purchasing advice I can give, and anything beyond that aimed simply at increasing sales is extraneous. Mr. Scratch, however, reeks of effort and charm, and I think his super effective sales pitch should be heard. Read the full story

Slip on your legwarmers and Jellies, because Majesco Entertainment and WayForward are going to take you back…to the 80s! Double Dragon Neon, tentatively due this summer on XBLA and PSN, will not be a simple rehash or remake of classic Double Dragon. No, this will be a most excellent love letter to Double Dragon and the 80s as a whole, to the max. Step into the shoes of Billy and Jimmy Lee as they work to save Marian again from the Black Dragon Clan and their baddest leader ever, Skullmageddon. Double Dragon Neon will feature drop-in/drop-out online “Bro-Op” multiplayer, and a totally mint 80s soundtrack. I am genuinely excited.

Yesterday, we saw a first look at the upcoming game from Harmonix, Rock Band Blitz. Due this summer on XBLA and PSN, Rock Band Blitz is an instrument-free rhythm game, similar to, oh I don’t know, Rock Band Unplugged on PSP, or Frequency and Amplitude on PlayStation 2 (both of which were also Harmonix titles). Full of power-ups, challenges, recommendations, and more, Rock Band Blitz brings one massive benefit to it: all of the 3,500+ songs in the Rock Band library can be played in Rock Band Blitz, and the 20+ songs that are packaged with Rock Band Blitz  (including such confirmed titles as Pumped Up Kicks by Foster the People, Metal Health (Bang Your Head) by Quiet Riot, Jessie’s Girl by Rick Springfield, and Always by Blink 182) will be playable in Rock Band 3. So even if you don’t care for Rock Band Blitz, you’re still getting 20+ songs for Rock Band 3 at the undisclosed price of a downloadable game. Read the full story

Ghost Recon: Future Soldier is easily one of my most anticipated titles for calendar year 2012. I loved my experience with it at E3 last year, and everything I’ve seen supporting it over the last few months has been absolutely spectacular. I’ll be playing on the Xbox 360, since I currently lack a PC capable of playing even the simplest of games, but with today’s announcement of Ghost Recon: Future Soldier’s PC date, system requirements, and the first PC screenshot being revealed, the temptation to invest in a new rig is nigh irresistible. Read the full story

Kicking off Spidey-Month, we’re starting with the final box art for this summer’s upcoming video game The Amazing Spider-Man, based on the upcoming feature film reboot.

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Vehicular combat has always been a mixed bag for me. I’ve dabbled with the likes of Twisted Metal, but never found it particularly satisfying. The most recent iteration, in fact, managed to keep my attention for about half an hour before I found myself feeling done. On the other hand, I absolutely LOVED Streets of Sim City, though that may have more to do with my adoration of Sim City than anything else. No, you know what? It was actually fun where Twisted Metal was not. There, I said it. All that now being said, Gelid Games’ Wheels of Destruction, releasing today as part of PSN’s Spring Fever, finds itself closer in my estimation to Twisted Metal than Streets of Sim City. Read the full story

Last year, Orcs Must Die! gave the world a proper introduction to development studio Robot Entertainment on XBLA and PC. Following up the incredibly entertaining and high quality experience of Orcs Must Die! is difficult, but Robot has decided to do just that, less than one year later, with the release of Orcs Must Die! 2, tentatively scheduled for a summer 2012 release. Unlike its predecessor, however, Orcs Must Die! 2 is being developed as a PC exclusive, with no current plans for console release. While this makes me incredibly sad, as I have no game-worthy PC at the moment, it’s understandable given that the majority of their fanbase is on PC, and the disparity of development costs between XBLA and PC. As we all know from Game Dev Story, PC development is cheaper and easier! Read the full story

The original idea for this episode of the Marooners’ Talk podcast was to really get into our anticipated titles for the rest of calendar year 2012. While we eventually got around to that, I believe our first 30-45 minutes focused on Internet providers, Doctor Who, used games, and various other topics. Come to think of it, the last 15 minutes kind of got off topic, too, so you’ve got about 45-50 minutes of anticipation discussion in “Looking Forward,” Episode 023 of Marooners’ Talk. Read the full story

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