Nintendo 3DS

Just weeks before Nintendo's next handheld is released (The Nintendo DSiXL) Nintendo has made an announcement regarding its 2011 plans to release the Nintendo 3DS. The handheld is able to conjure three-dimensional images without the need of color-glasses.

It was not officially announced how the system will be able to achieve this goal, but speculation points to the handheld's use of a front-camera for face-tracking. If this is true, forget about playing in the dark; unless of course the camera is equipped with night-vision.

The announcement is a strange one, coming just a week before the company's newest handheld; an enormous carbon-copy of the DSi. The last time Nintendo foraged into the world of 3-D gameplay was back in 1995 with the Virtual Boy. The release was one of Nintendo's few failures.

The video shows a game tentatively called 3-D Hidden Picture (creative). The system does not yet have an official release date, but expect it before March 2011.

Modern Warfare 2 Map Pack Confirmed

Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling confirmed on a podcast that a new map pack would be releasing on March 30th, 2010. The pack will be comprised of 3 new maps, and two slightly tweaked maps from the original Modern Warfare title. There was no mention of new weapons or perks. The DLC will be priced at 1200 MS Points, or $14.99. The price has many fans angry, since the original game had downloads for 4 maps priced at $7. Not only that, but many feel as though this download is simply 3 new maps and 2 "recycled" ones.

Look for Bailout, Storm, Overgrown, Crash, and Salvage on March 30th.

Rapstar Heroes

Small game company Nitric Burn Studios are partnering with underground rap group Shindiggaz to create a web game titled Rapstar Heroes. The 4-person, San Francisco-based company is setting its sights high by infusing the game with elements from popular retro titles like "Turtles in Time," "Streets of Rage," and "Super Mario Bros."

Streets of Rage and Mario? If you think it sounds like a recipe for disaster, think again. The game takes place in 2011, when aliens invade the earth. Game play is split between real-world Pittsburgh (beat-em-up style) and an alternate 90's hip-hop/retro game world in which the player will jump 'platform-style' a la Super Mario Bros. (art is conceptual)

Nitric Burn Studios hopes to create a game that is not only fun to play, but also promotes music, art, and film. The hip-hop group Shindiggaz are producing and recording the entire soundtrack, so expect to be jamming while fending aliens away from Pittsburgh.

The studio was kind enough to answer some of my questions about the game and about themselves via e-mail:

Legendary Urban: What were some of your favorite video games growing up as kids?

Kader: Dungeon Keeper, Civilization 2, Sonic the Hedgehog, Sim City 2000, Doom

Pisano: Commander Keen, Sim City 2000, Jill of the Jungle, Whack Thorn

Weber: Duke Nukem, Raptor: Call of the Shadows, Monkey Island Series, Ultima 7 (Parts 1 & 2), System Shock

Jack: Toe Jam & Earl, Ultima

Legendary Urban: What are some of your favorite video games now?

Team: (At the moment)

Kader: Company of Heroes, Age of Empires 3, Civilization 4, Fallen Earth

Pisano: Ultimate Mortal Combat 3, Gun

Jack: Civilization 4, World of Warcraft, Fallout 3, Oblivion

Legendary Urban: The warp world in Rapstar Heroes is said to feature some hip hop and video game inspired enemies, could you explain a bit more?

Kader: Its not only enemies, but the whole environment is built to reference games like turtles in time, streets of rage etc. as well as 90's hip hop. For instance, the health powerups are a pizza box and chicken. Also, the warp world backgrounds will reference sonic stages (such as Emerald Hill Zone) and Mario levels.

Legendary Urban: Is the game being built around a soundtrack, or will a soundtrack be recorded later and integrated into the completed game?

Kader: The soundtrack will be built for the game but Shindiggaz already build beats using samples from old games and TV shows. All of the in-game characters are based on real people and will do the voice-overs and help out with the FX.

Legendary Urban: When can we expect to be able to play Rapstar Heroes?

Kader: Right now we are at a stage where all the artwork is about 80% done but the programming is yet to start. The project is on hiatus whist we wait for KickStarter funding but we expect to start developing again the end of this month [March 2010] with the game being complete the end of April [2010]. Not only will the game be finished but there will be some exciting features that integrate with our servers and gaming back end.

Thanks to the team for the interview. Like Kader said, the project is being funded on KickStarter.com. Help fund this project and you could end up getting your own character in the game! The team also expressed their hope to eventually create an iPhone app and possibly and Xbox Live Mutiplayer facet to the series if it is successful as a browser game.

Legendary Urban will keep you posted with the latest from this promising title!

Help fund Rapstar Heroes on KickStarter

Visit the Shindiggaz website and download their latest album free

Art process

GDC 2010

The 2010 Game Developer's Conference (GDC) kicked off March 9th in San Francisco. The conference is the world's largest professional-only game industry event. Over the course of four days the world's biggest game companies will reveal some of their plans for the years ahead.

Most of the major gaming websites are currently reporting on the waves of information pouring in from the conference.

1up's coverage

IGN's coverage

At the moment, the biggest announcement was that of Sony's new motion controller. The device is called the Playstation Move. It will be incorporated into the next SOCOM title and will work with the Playstation Eye. The device looks very similar to the Wii's motion controllers, and will most likely work in the same way. It can be assumed that this is Sony's response to Microsoft's Project NATAL.

Nintendo and Microsoft's press conferences are still to come.

GDC2010 Main Site

iFight Pro App

iFight Pro is different from every other gun game app on the iTunes store because it does more than just make a gunshot sound or a swooshing sword sound. This game actually integrates bluetooth connectivity to allow iPhone users to literally fight with each other. It is essentially laser tag for the iPhone, allowing users to pick their weapons and utilize the accelerometer to swing or shoot each other to death. The app is also available on the Android Market.

Download iFight Pro on iTunes

God of War 3 - PS3

The third and final chapter of the God of War saga will arrive March 16th, 2010 amid high praise from all major video game websites. The ultra-violent beat-'em-up series is known for its outrageously epic boss battles and its total bad-ass main character, Kratos.

The game is a PS3 exclusive and has a SRP of $59.99. If you simply can't wait for its release, pick up a copy of District 9 on Blu-Ray to receive a free demo of the game included on the disk. Alternatively, simply download the free demo from the online PSN store. The demo features a gruesome battle with Helios, as well as some other minor battles.

God of War 3 has received

A from 1up

9.3/10 from IGN

9.0/10 from Gamespot

For more info, check out the

God of War Main Site

Halo: Reach

After reading that the new Halo: Reach for Xbox 360 wasn't going to have teabagging, I was worried that this new Halo wouldn't actually be an improvement. Fortunately, I read on IGN that this was just a bug and the developers were quick to jump on this issue and fix it.

Halo: Reach will have a completely new gaming engine to bring the franchise's already amazing graphics and audio to the next level. Combat and character changes include bigger Spartans and smaller Humans, along with different power-ups.

Read more about Halo: Reach here

Watch the multiplayer trailer here.

Orioto Game Art

Orioto is an artist on deviantart.com who has recently become popular due to his "high-def remakes" of old video games. He takes screenshots of SEGA Genesis and Super Nintendo games and makes them look like they might on a next-gen console. Check out his profile here.

The best ones are:

Sonic the Hedgehog

Megaman

Super Mario World

Zelda: A Link To The Past

Donkey Kong Country