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‘It’s [almost] time to suit up’ Nintendo has been pushingXenoblade Chronicles Xpretty hard withJapanese live streamsearlier this year. Now it’s getting close to time for Western audiences to start getting hyped. The short trailer shown during Nintendo’s E3 event today said “it’s time to suit up,” though it isn’tquitetime yet.Xenoblade Chronicles Xis set to release on December 4. So in just about six months — just before Christmas — we’ll be able to get our hands on the open-world mech role-playing game....

Ignore the signs The newDiRTgame is coming togetherpiece by piece, and today’s morsel has me reminiscing about a certain scenic climb in Colorado. Today’s update forDiRT Rallyis a big one, and centers on Pikes Peak (both its “full fat modern tarmac state” and the “mixed surface variant”). Three new Hillclimb cars (the Peugeot 405 T16, the Peugeot 205 T16, and the Audi Sport Quattro S1) will aid in the ascent. Codemasters also “Sent all [its] AI drivers back to rally school; turns out they were struggling to keep up with you guys so expect a bit more of a challenge from now on....

Zip it good Chibi-Robo! Zip Lashfor the 3DS seemingly came out of nowhere and captured our hearts, or at the very least mine. Nintendo describes it as a “whipping platformer,” which is a phrase I’m not familiar with. But after playing, I assume it means games likeCastlevaniaandBionic Commando. Chibi-Robouses his plug much like the whip inCastlevaniato take out enemies, and also to attach to certain surfaces much like the bionic arm inBionic Commando....

DiRT Rally The next entry in Codemasters’DiRTracing series isavailable nowon Steam Early Access and that “scares the absolute crap out of [the studio], but in a good way.” It’s calledDiRT Rally, and if this is the first you’re hearing about the title (much less that it’s playable), we’re not so different,you and I. “You’ve been asking us for a game that is pure rally with none of the fluff, one that has more stages, longer stages and repairs in between stages,”wroteCodemasters....

Pixelmage Games goes out on a high note Plenty of crowdfunded projects fail to come to fruition, or do make it out, but fall short of expectations. It’s the risk we take as backers. In the case ofHero’s Song, an action-RPG fromveteran developerswho worked on titles likeEverQuest,PlanetSide, andStar Wars Galaxies, it saw release. It’s playable on Early Access and has been since November. Sadly, though, it hasn’t sold well enough to sustain itself....

Also, a new title might be in the works Valhalla Game Studios has always noted the existence of a PC edition ofDevil’s Third, but today, it officially announcedDevil’s Third Online. It’s basically a stripped down version of the Wii U game, which eliminates the campaign and only contains multiplayer (which I hear is the best part anyway). Additionally,a livestream on November 12will be providing more information on the future of the franchise, as well as a possible new game announcement from the studio....

Rocket Launcha! Experience Points is a series in which I highlight some of the most memorable things about a particular game. These can include anything from a specific scene or moment, a character, a weapon or item, a level or location, a part of the soundtrack, a gameplay mechanic, a line of dialogue, or anything else about the game that is particularly noteworthy and/or awesome. This series will no doubt contain spoilers for the games being discussed, so keep that in mind if you plan on playing the game for the first time....

In addition to“Case West” forDead Rising 2, your beloved Frank West will also be playable in an iPhone version ofDead Rising. It’s set to come out in time for the holidays and will take us back to the Willamette mall — only, the story won’t be exactly how we remember it. The game will have some neat social networking integration, in that you’re able to put out a distress call to your friends upon dying....

Frontline In case you haven’t heard,Final Fantasy XIVis getting theRogue class and the Ninja jobin patch 2.4 later this year, but before that, we’re getting Frontlines in 2.3 —a 72-person PVP zone. Thanks tothe Lodestonewe now have a closer look at the mode, which involves defending outposts, capturing objectives (hold the point), and the use of mounts. We’ll see how entertaining this PVP element is come July 8th when patch 2....

Checking out all the new gameplay features in Black Flag Assassin’s Creed IV: Black Flagtakes us to the age of pirates, and because of that Ubisoft’s Singapore studio was tasked with creating the full on ocean simulation. I spoke with lead designer Sebastien Berton who walked me through four of the major new features we can expect to go along with all this. First up, there’s harpooning! Yes, you’re able to go throw a bunch of harpoons into sharks, you monsters....

Help me space cops, space cops help Want to go to space? Want to float around in space and look at space and generally take in the spaciness of it all? Want to do that with an Oculus Rift? Want to be the best at space? Well, you can’t just yet becauseAdr1ftisn’t out until early next year. We do have the next best thing though, this nine-minute-long gameplay trailer. Adr1ftthrows you into a shattered space station, with your aim to be to explore and try and find a way to get back home....

I need! The Velvet Room theme song started playing in my head as I began writing this news blurb this morning. Igor and friends would be glad to know that after all of these years (and games) that the song stuck. It’s in there for good, I’m guessing. Persona Qcomes out late next month. Atlus has shared images of the contents of both the Premium and Limited Edition versions of the release....

Since medieval times, humanity has debated, argued, and sometimes evenfoughtover the eternal question — which company is better, Sony or Microsoft? Angry diatribes have been written and blood has been spilled, but neither man nor beast have found the answer. However, each side can score points in less encompassing criteria, and it is on these smaller battlefields that the war is being waged in earnest. One of the greatest war zones, the realm of online services, is the most hard-fought, but it’s clear who is winning — Microsoft....