Thus far, Beenox has proven their love of working on the Spider-Man franchise between Spider-Man: Edge of Time and Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions. Between the alternate versions of Spider-Man and the original takes on some of his villains, Beenox has shown a deep understanding and respect for the character. Now, they face a new challenge with the tie-in to the Amazing Spider-Man movie. While some major points of their story are often dictated by the events of the movie, Beenox has chosen to open the world up to players much like the previous developer Treyarch had done but has taken steps to improve on their much beloved formula.

In previous titles when a player shot their web, players were forced to let the game instinctually choose an appropriate target for them to sling off of. This was also the case in combat where the foe most often closely centered in the screen became the default target for Spidey to aim at. Now, Beenox has decided to give this control to the player instead with the feature they call the Web Rush for the Amazing Spider-Man game.

Using the Web Rush, time slows down for players, presumably to represent Spider-Man’s hyper-fast reflexes like it was seen in Sam Rami’s Spider-Man film where Peter Parker dodged the bullying of Flash Thompson. During this slow down, players are given all possible targets on screen where they can aim themselves. This can be a great resource for strategically setting themselves into different combat situations.

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To say Minecraft: XBox 360 Edition is already a success is an understatement. The game literally became profitable within the first hour of sales and boasted 400,000 users in its first 24 hours, breaking all XBLA records including the one set by fellow Arcade Next member Trials Evolution with its quarter million first day sales. But does commercial success equal a great game? In the case of Minecraft: XBox 360 Edition, the two are one in the same.

Gameplay

For those who haven’t played Minecraft yet in either its PC or mobile incarnations yet, the game is an open world where players must mine resources around them in order to craft tools and build structures including buildings, mine cart pathways and increasingly complex machines. On the surface, Minecraft looks incredibly simple as players only need to hack away at or place objects in the world around them.

But there are tons of layers of depth. Players literally start in a world with nothing but their fists to punch out sections of a tree. Once they have some wood, they start constructing tools to make these tasks easier. They also can craft weapons and armor to help defend themselves from the world around them.

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When Activision and Beenox announced the Rhino would be one of Spider-Man’s foes in The Amazing Spider-Man, it didn’t really shock or surprise anyone. It was almost a no brainer. The Rhino has been around since Spider-Man’s earliest days and has appeared in thirteen separate Spider-Man games. The Iguana on the other hand. That choice is a whole other story.

The Iguana is at best a footnote in the Spider-Man lore. Only ever appearing in Peter Parker: The Spectacular Spider-Man #32 back in July of 1979, the Iguana was an experiment gone wrong by Doctor Curt Connors (a.k.a. The Lizard and the main antagonist of the upcoming summer blockbuster film which this game ties in to). The Iguana would only make a singular appearance in comics before returning to his original, non-super powered iguana form.

Though incredibly obscure, the character choice does actually make sense. There are few, if any, characters with a more direct tie to the Lizard in Spider-Man’s rogue gallery. Instead of shoehorning in other purely “evil” villains, the concept behind the Iguana is one that makes sense for him to be intertwined in the events of the movie game.

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One thing Spider-Man has always had going for him is an iconic rogues gallery rivaled only by that of DC Comic’s Batman. Though some started out with simple or silly premises like an evil doctor with extra appendages or an old bald man who liked to fly around town, years of phenomenal writers have given these characters unexpected levels of depth and personality. One such character is the Rhino. One such character is The Rhino.

Starting off as a common thug, the Rhino, especially in recent years, has become an incredibly interesting character. Having tried to rid his life of his crime ridden past, Aleksei Sytsevich was pulled back in unexpectedly after the tragic death of his wife Oksana was killed during the recent “Gauntlet” story arc by a new criminal trying to don the mantle of the Rhino. Most recently, the Rhino was found as a part of Doctor Octopus’s latest incarnation of the Sinister Six.

It looks like now Rhino will be making his way to the Spider-Man video game based on the newly relaunched Amazing Spider-Man movie franchise. Unrestricted because of the comic’s longstanding continuity, the team at Beenox was able to create their own mythos behind Aleksei and how he came into this Spider-Man’s world.

Check out the reveal trailer full bio, interview about this new Rhino and screen shots after the break for the Rhino coming to the Amazing Spider-Man for XBox 360 and PlayStation 3.

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At the beginning of February, developer RC3 released an Android game inspired by pop star Justin Beaver entitles Joustin’ Beaver. The game plays off of Bieber’s real life celebrity woes and resembles his hairstyle and fashion sense in the form of a beaver. Bieber’s people responded to the game with a cease and desist order under the claims, not that they have a problem with Bieber being made fun of through the app, but that consumers may see Bieber’s trademarked likeness and feel the product is an officially licensed product from Bieber himself.

RC3 responded that there is no doubt that Joustin’ Beaver is inspired by the pop sensation. It is undeniable for them to even try to do so. They do contend however that the game is created as an act of parody which is legally protected by first amendment rights. RC3 filed suit against Bieber to protect their game (and most likely garner lots of press that the game would have never originally received to further push sales of it).

“In an effort to comment upon the Defendant’s life, the Plaintiff, RC3 developed the aforementioned App entitled ‘Joustin’ Beaver.’ The App, a video game, is a parody of the commercial success of the Defendant and any celebrity. The parody app portrays a beaver floating on a log down a river. The beaver presents with bangs, a lance, and a purple sweater. The beaver knocks ‘Phot-Hogs’ that are attempting to take his photograph into the river with his lance. The beaver also signs ‘Otter-graphs.’ The beaver also must dodge the ‘whirlpool of success,’ which will lead beaver out of control, while navigating the river.”

Joustin’ Beaver is currently on sale on the Android marketplace for .99.

Stay tuned to The Flickcast for all your gaming news, even Justin Beaver on occasion.

Normally a video game tie-in to a feature film is horrible. It is rare that one of these games is even half decent, and you can probably count on one hand how many of these games have been legitimately good. So a fair amount of skepticism will always follow the announcement of a new tie-in game, and no doubt The Amazing Spider-Man will face the same.

Funny thing about that though, now that we know some information about this game it actually sounds pretty good. Activision has just released the first details about The Amazing Spider-Man in advance of it’s trailer world premiere at this week’s VGAs. Smartly the game is set up as an epilogue to the events in the film, with an all new story set around the characters we will be introduced to in the film. The game is also being developed by Beenox, the guys who gave us the great Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions and the OK Spider-Man: Edge of Time.

“The Amazing Spider-Man is in development at veteran game studio Beenox, and features an original narrative crafted by Hollywood writer Seamus Kevin Fahey (episodes of Spartacus: Gods of the Arena and the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica) that continues young Peter Parker’s adventures following the events of the new film.”

More details after the jump.

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Mario has a brand new game just around the corner. To celebrate the release of Super Mario 3D Land, Nintendo took over Time Square in New York City, brining a little bit of the mushroom kingdom to throngs of fans. Set up on the streets of New York was a life size Mario dream land, complete with pipes, bouncy coin jumps and a classic flag pole at the end.

The brand new 3DS game is the first original adventure for Mario on Nintendo’s newest handheld, and anticipation could not be higher. The glasses-less 3D technology has always been impressive, but the 3DS has been lacking a lynch pin game to make people need the device. Nintendo has high hopes Super Mario 3d Land is that game. Word on the street in Mushroom Land, New York is that Nintendo might have gotten their wish.

We are most excited about the triumphant return of the Tanooki Suit, Mario’s full body raccoon outfit. This awesome costume debuted in Super Mario Bros. 3 on the original NES and has been woefully underused since. Mario has donned several full body costumes, but there was always something extra amazing about seeing our favorite plummer get his furry on.

You can catch a video of the awesome Super Mario 3D Land event after the jump.

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With today marking the release of Spider-Man: Edge of Time, Activision released a trailer focusing on the games combat system, as well as an official launch trailer.  The combat trailer highlights the agile, acrobatic-based fighting style of The Amazing Spider-Man, as well as the technological gizmos used by Spider-Man in 2099. Focusing on plot, the launch trailer delves a little deeper into the story of the highly anticipated Spider-Man game.

From the official press release:

“Spider-Man: Edge of Time challenges the player to take on the roles of both classic Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099 to correct a timestream gone awry and prevent a catastrophic future brought on by the early and untimely death of Peter Parker.

The game features all-new “cause-and-effect” gameplay, where players will see how the immediate and sometimes unexpected effects of their actions as one Spider-Man changes the timeline of the other Spider-Man.”

Check out both trailers after the jump to see both Spideys in action, and keep an eye out for our review coming soon!

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Fans of the Action/RPG genre are eagerly awaiting the release of The Lord of the Rings: War in the North, a new role-playing title from Snowblind Studios. WitN will feature an expansive three-player cooperative campaign allowing players to form their own fellowship, as well as a series of in-game challenges which will test players abilities to work together.

To emphasize the importance of co-op gameplay, the developers have released a behind-the-scenes / gameplay trailer focusing on “The Power of Three,” and highlighting the different abilities and tactical advantages offered by each character class.
From Premier PR:

“Each hero in this tale – Andriel the Elf, Eradan the Human, Farin the Dwarf – contributes a vital talent further uniting the Fellowship.  Hear from the creators themselves as they delve into the inner workings of the game’s heroes.  Utilising teamwork and communication, players can join together to fight the War in the North. ”

Watch the video below, and keep an eye out for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North when it releases for PS3, PC, and XBox 360 on November 1st, 2011  in the U.S., and the 25th in the UK.

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Last year when Activision and Eurocom announced a relaunch of the Nintendo 64 classic Goldeneye as a Wii exclusive, classic shooter fans who had moved on from the Nintendo consoles to the more powerful and better controlling XBox 360 and PlayStation 3 were up in arms. They were the people who cut their teeth on first person shooters for the first time on the N64. It wasn’t their fault Nintendo had moved on to gimmicky controls and sacrificed graphics in favor of “family gaming”.

This year, their prayers will be answered with an all new, built from the ground up version dubbed Goldeneye: 007 Reloaded coming to the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3. What fans will get is a retelling of the classic Bond story with new graphics and new mechanics that control and look more like a Call of Duty title rather than the waggle and aiming layout of the Wii (although it will be PlayStation Move compatible).

During the Activision press event, we had the opportunity to see the walkthrough of one of the game’s early levels which not only looked gorgeous but had engaging gameplay and very entertaining stealth takedowns. We also got to hear about the various new MI 6 modes that have everything from Stealth to Defense missions resembling Horde mode from Gears of War.

Take a look below at our developer interview, the game’s announcement trailer and the first image gallery for Goldeneye: 007 Reloaded for the XBox 360 and PlayStation 3. Stick to the Flickcast for more on this already much hyped and anticipated title as more develops.

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We’ve got plenty of things coming to you straight from the convention floor at Comic-Con in San Diego this weekend, and we’re proud to also have some great gameplay footage as well.

One of the games we got to check out at the con was the new Sony game DC Universe Online, the new MMORPG set in the DC Universe, where you get to fight side-by-side with your favorite heroes and take down some of your favorite villains.

In the video after the jump, you can see a level as the created main character, in which he takes down Bizarro and gets some help from Batman, Wonder Woman, and a few others.

Check it out!

video by contributor John Carle.

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