(Posted by: Harrison Milfeld)

Speaking with Eurogamer, Warren Spector decided to calm the gaming masses by stating how they should not be scared about the musical sections of Epic Mickey: The Power of Two. Spector mentions that the songs will be skippable in certain cut scenes. Plus, any type musical peripheral will not be implemented into the game, so that alone dashes any hope of me singing "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" without shame.

Here is Spector's full statement on the supposed issue:

“I’ve been itching to talk about the game and the songs for a while,” he said. “When we announced the game, I sort of threw it out there, because I’m so proud and so happy. I saw the look of fear in people’s eyes. I’m like, what the heck is going on? Doesn’t everybody love musicals? I realised I had to explain things.

“I look at guys like you in the audience on the press side, and similarly at Disney when I look out at execs, about 70 per cent of them are going, yeah. About 30 per cent are going, are you kidding?”

“I just want to see how people respond to the music and the songs,” he said. “They’re not interactive by design. Later on, I hope maybe we get to do that in some other game, sometime in the future. But I feel like I have to reassure that 30 per cent that it’s okay. If you don’t want to experience that part of the game you can just bypass it.

“I’ve seen the look on people’s faces. I’m reacting to something very specific and real I’ve seen, not worried that there might be a specific reaction. I’m reacting to the reaction, okay? It’s a change. Earlier, I didn’t expect that reaction, so I was just throwing it out there. Now I feel like I have to tell people, it’s okay.

“I don’t think I was clear at the start it wasn’t singing into a microphone or beatmatch. I should have been clear about that, and I wasn’t.

“I want everybody to just take a chill pill and relax about this. I’m not going to make you sing into a microphone. I’m not going to make you dance in front of your TV. I’m not going to make you beatmatch. This is just a fun way to honour a part of Disney’s history. If you don’t like that part of Disney’s history, skip it.”

(Posted by: Harrison Milfeld) 

What makes this new Angry Birds Space trailer so special is not just because it clearly shows the title's new physics-based gameplay, but the fact that it was filmed on the International Space Station...in SPACE! With the help of NASA engineer, Don Pettit, we were treated to a cool physics lesson (complete with a crudely-drawn pig balloon) to get a general idea of what Angry Birds Space will differ from its predecessor. The trailer then ends with gameplay footage  to accurately show Pettit's lessons. 

Angry Birds Space will feature weightless environments, many of which are built around several circular planets. In addition, the game will include 60 levels, new (possibly alien-like) birds, bonus levels, and new abilities that are sure to frustrate anyone who fails a level.

Angry Birds Space will release on March 22, 2012, for iOS, Android, Mac, and PC. 

(Posted by: Harrison Milfeld)

(Video via IGN)

Earlier last week, UbiSoft revealed that the setting to Assassin's Creed III would take place during the Revolutionary War circa 1777. In addition to the news of a Colonial setting that fans have clamored for since the first game, UbiSoft also released a launch trailer of the game depicting our latest assassin taking down a squad of British officers in a snow-covered forest. According to the publisher, the new assassin is named Connor, but was born Ratohnhaké:ton, which may hint that this new character is of Native American descent. 
[Update] - UbiSoft confirms that the protagonist of Assassin's Creed III is "of Native American and English heritage." Happy red coat-hunting, folks. 

Assassin's Creed III is slated for release on October 30, 2012, for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC, AND WiiU. 

(Posted by: Harrison Milfeld)

Good news for Project Rainfall supporters, as Nintendo announced today that The Last Story will be coming to North America in 2012 from XSEED games to the Wii. The second of three games from the fan campaign  to be localized by Nintendo of America (Xenoblade Chronicles is confirmed for April 2012 and Pandora's Tower has yet to be announced for a U.S. release), this serves as yet another huge victory for group who at times thought the movement wasn't gaining the attention it needed. With this latest news, Nintendo of America certainly made the right decision to listen to the Project Rainfall movement. Hopefully this will only inspire more petition-based campaigns.

In addition to The Last Story announcement, Nintendo also announced via their Nintendo Direct service a May 20th launch date for Mario Tennis Open for the 3DS. More details were also revealed about Kid Icarus: Uprising for the 3DS, along with some eShop updates. These updates include the release of Dillon's Rolling Western, a game where you play as an armadillo who has to defend various towns. With all these recent updates, the 3DS appears to have found its footing with the recent release of Sony's PlayStation Vita portable. 

Watch the video below to see NoA's own Reggie Fils-Aime go through all the goodies announced today via Nintendo Direct. 

(Posted by: Alex Deckard)

The latest App from Sky Parlor Studios, Fire and Dice, didn't hook me the second I started playing.  It's just not that direct.  But what it DID do is somehow manage to keep me playing long after the initial novelty had worn off.  I can't really explain it, but the game is just fun.

The premise is that you live in a particularly flammable city, and you run the fire department.  However, for whatever reason, you have to roll dice for your supplies.  Gas for movement, ladders to rescue people, water to put out fires and fire trucks to give you more fire trucks.  You roll five dice, lock down the dice you want to keep, and keep rolling until you lock down all five.  But you have to lock down at least one each roll.  Then you select your truck and use your supplies.  It doesn't sound like much, but it is one hell of a time killer.  Personally, I haven't been this hooked on an app since Game Dev Story.  Will it be the next Angry Birds?  Maybe not.  But we don't want to PLAY another Angry Birds.  We want new, original ideas from creative people.  Sky Parlor Studios are definitely out there making these things happen.  It's $1.99 on the iOS App Store and Android Marketplace, but there is a free trial version available.  DEFINITELY worth a look.  Plus, there's an online leaderboard where people have been getting some RIDICULOUS scores.  Can you beat them?  Maybe.  Will you have fun trying to?  I certainly think so.

Now, I wouldn't be a reviewer unless I pointed out some negatives.  Once you learn the game, that's really it.  There's not a lot of variety as far as gameplay.  Granted, this isn't the kind of game that really needs it, but with an attention span as short as mine, variety is pretty great.  I would have liked to see a greater variety of maps, but the rectangular shape of the town is undoubtedly due to the shape of the devices it is used on.  Frankly, all of my gripes can be explained away with "technical limitations".  But it would be interesting to see how this would play out on a larger scale.  The other issue is that there have been some reported problems with getting the app to run.  Usually, it seems those issues can be remedied with a simple restart, or trying over and over again to get it working.  However, it should be noted that it does NOT run on iPhone or iPod Touch 2G or earlier.  So if that's what you're working with, you're out of luck.  Sorry.  But if you can run it, I'd suggest giving it a try.  8.5/10