EA and BioWare are supporting the Dragon Age franchise with ambitious downloadable content plans and even an expansion. On top of that, we may have just discovered the release date for the upcoming sequel. Retail copies of Dragon Age: Origins Awakening arrived at the 1UP offices today, and included in the box was a placard with an intriguing hint (above). The iconic bloody dragon accompanies the date, February 1, 2011.
As far as release dates go, this one is being dropped much sooner than most, as well as in an unconventional manner. But February 1 falls on a Tuesday next year, the traditional game release day, and an EA conference call already revealed the Dragon Age sequel would be hitting between January and March of 2011. While we'll have to wait for word from EA and BioWare to call it official, this fits comfortably in that range, and so it seems likely as the date for the sequel. Mark your calendars, Dragon Age fans.
UPDATE -- HMXHenry has confirmed on the Rock Band Forums that exporting will also be free for those who pre-order through GameStop. If you aren't interested in the other Plus features, it looks like that's the way to go.
ORIGINAL STORY -- Harmonix and MTV Games announced today that Green Day: Rock Band is set for a worldwide release on June 8, 2010. The game features over 47 tracks, including "Brain Stew," "Jaded," "Hitchin' a Ride," "American Idiot," "Wake Me Up When September Ends," and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams." We expect to see a full track list teased in the coming months. It sounds like Harmonix is aiming to take a similar archival approach to The Beatles Rock Band, offering unlockable images and rare videos of interviews and performances.
Unlike the Beatles version, however, we apparently won't be seeing instruments in the style of Green Day's own. This could be a sign that the days of large instrument bundles may be starting to wane, at least for spin-offs. Instead, the Wii standalone version is the cheapest option at $49.99, while the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions will be $59.99. As previously reported the game supports song exporting, but it will cost you extra. The "Plus" edition is only for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, and costs an extra ten bucks at $69.99. For the money, you get special packaging, the export feature, and access to six Green Day DLC tracks. From the sounds of it, these are the tracks already available on the Rock Band store, but with added visual flair.
Among the many gameplay demos Sony just showed off for their newly christened PlayStation Move motion controller was Sports Champions, a compilation of athletic events very much along the lines of Wii Sports.
The first event from the game that Sony demonstrated today was Gladiator Duel, which used two Move controllers as a sword and shield in an arena-style, one-on-one fighting game. Vertical and horizontal swings of the right-hand remote appeared to trigger the same sword movements onscreen, while moving the left remote would adjust the position of the player's shield. A quick uppercut allowed the user to pull a Devil May Cry and juggle his opponent in the air. There were also maneuvers that would prompt canned animations, such as hiding the remotes behind the back to perform a taunt.
A version of table tennis was also on display during Sony's Sports Champions demo. It looked pretty much how you'd expect a modern, motion-controlled table tennis game to look, but the precision of the Move controller allowed for some impressive trick shots. The person demoing the game seemed to be able to pull off shots with all sorts of spin, and with varying degrees of power behind them.
Nope, it wasn't Gem -- and it wasn't Arc, either. At their 2010 GDC press conference, Sony announced that the official name for their PlayStation 3 motion controller is PlayStation Move. On top of that, they revealed the first launch details for the controller as well.
It'll be available in three ways: a stand-alone package that comes with one controller for those who already own a PlayStation Eye (which is required to use the controller), a starter kit that comes with the Eye, one controller, and game; and an "ultimate bundle" with a PlayStation 3 console, Eye, controller, and game. Sony said pricing details would be announced later in the year, but they said they were targeting the starter kit to come in under $100. They also likened it to a "virtual console launch," indicating how hard they'll be pushing the controller with marketing at launch.
Sony didn't mention what game would be included with the starter or ultimate kit, but we'll update this story once we have more details.
The 2010 Game Developers Conference is taking place in San Francisco this week, but you can watch Sony's press conference today in whatever room of your home you deem fit thanks to the glorious live stream above (and yes, pants are completely optional, provided sans-pants is appropriate attire for the room you pick).
The conference kicks off at 4PM PST (7PM EST), so come back in a few hours to watch whatever big reveals and announcements Sony has planned as they happen. Will we get more info on their motion controller? Maybe the first official motion controller games? Maybe an actual name besides "Sony Motion Controller"? Or maybe new games that don't have to do with the motion controller at all!
Come back at 4PM, and we'll all find out together.
