6 new shots posted.

BioWare’s RPG sequel and Nintendo’s twin titles join Torchlight, MLB 11: The Show, and Major League Baseball 2K11 on the release docket.

The first quarter isn’t even over yet, but it has already seen a host of high-profile games hit the market. This week’s release docket is particularly full, with a variety of high-profile titles for the role-playing gamer, the sports fan, and Pokemon junkies.

EA is hoping Dragon Age II will cast a spell over gamers this week.

The latter title–or titles–are Pokemon Black and White version. Having already sold over 5 million units in record time, the twin games debuted on March 6, in line with Nintendo’s Sunday high-profile releases. The two titles introduce a handful of changes to the established gotta-catch-’em-all formula. Developer Game Freak has expanded the games’ online functionality through features such as Global Link, where players can access special content by uploading their save files to a website. Black and White also introduce more than 150 new Pokemon that players can add to their Pokedexes, as well as changing seasons. The two titles are exclusive to the DS.

RPG lovers get a big-name release this week in the form of Dragon Age II from celebrated developer BioWare and Electronic Arts. The game–which is already available in demo form–will see the player transform Blight-survivor Hawke from “a destitute refugee to the revered champion of the land,” with new combat mechanics for the game’s three archetypal classes. Although Hawke gains fame as the Champion of Kirkwall, the game will peer into his mysterious rise to power over a 10-year period. It will be available for the Mac, PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 on Tuesday, March 8, which will also see the release of the first two DLC packs for the game, The Exiled Prince and The Black Emporium.

Tuesday will also see baseball fans get a choice of two sports sim titles. 2K Sports will release Major League Baseball 2K11–which boasts Philadelphia Phillies ace Roy Halladay on the cover–for the 360, PS3, PSP, Wii, DS, PC, and PlayStation 2. Meanwhile, Sony will release the latest in its acclaimed line of first-party baseballers, MLB 11: The Show, for the PSP, PS3, and PS2. The latter game will see the introduction of pure analog controls and co-op play to the series.

Xbox Live Arcade will see a notable release this week in the form of Torchlight. The action-RPG from Seattle-based developer Runic Games was originally released for the PC in late 2009. The hack & slasher sees players exploring a mine which leads to a labyrinth of dungeons from ruined civilizations. Players must fight a series of monsters of ever-increasing toughness to discover the source of a magical–but corrupting–mineral called ember.

For further details on the week’s games, visit GameSpot’s New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

SUNDAY, MARCH 6
Pokemon Black Version–DS–Nintendo
Pokemon White Version–DS–Nintendo

MONDAY, MARCH 7
G.G Series: Horizontal Bar–DS–Genterprise
GO Series: Earth Saver–DS–Gamebridge
Heavy Fire: Black Arms–WII—Teyon

TUESDAY, MARCH 8
Atari’s Greatest Hits Volume 2–DS–Atari
Beastly Frantic Foto–DS–Storm City Games
Dragon Age II: The Black Emporium–MAC, PC, PS3, X360–Electronic Arts
Dragon Age II: The Exiled Prince–MAC, PC, PS3, X360–Electronic Arts
Dragon Age II–MAC, PC, PS3, X360–Electronic Arts
Major League Baseball 2K11–PS3, PC, PS2, PSP, X360, DS, WII–2K Sports
The ,000,000 Pyramid–WII–Ubisoft
MLB 11: The Show–PC, PS2, PSP–SCEA
Petz Bunnyz Bunch–DS–Ubisoft
Ship Simulator Extremes: Ferry Pack–PC–Paradox Interactive
The Sims 3: Barnacle Bay–PC–Electronic Arts
Yoostar 2–PS3, X360–Yoostar Entertainment Group

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 9
Torchlight–X360–Microsoft Game Studios

Watch the latest trailer for Alice: Madness Returns, including some gameplay footage!

4 new shots posted.

GDC 2011: We get a taste of combat in Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning.

Developers 38 Studios and Big Huge Games took the opportunity at this year’s Game Developers Conference to show off their new action role-playing game Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning. Founded by former Major League Baseball pitcher Curt Schilling, 38 Studios has assembled a talented cast from across the entertainment industry to bring its primer title to life.

These include Spawn creator Todd McFarlane, New York Times best-selling author R.A. Salvatore, and Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion lead designer Ken Rolston.

We got the chance to peek into their fantasy world during a hands-off demonstration last week.

We began in a crypt, knee-deep in a pile of corpses. All we knew was that our character had recently died. Now, he was alive once more, thanks to the efforts of an excited gnome that had appeared on a balcony overhead. However, the one-sided conversation was cut short as the gnome urged our character–a blond-haired bruiser decked out in a pair of long johns–to arm himself against the crypt’s hostile inhabitants. Our character lifted a broadsword from a nearby corpse, and right on cue, he was attacked by a skeleton warrior.

As the two traded blows, the developers explained how they had integrated some traditional action game combat mechanics, such as launcher attacks and enemy juggling, into Reckoning. Each attack from our character was controlled with just one button, with variations in timing determining which attack was used. Our character opened with three quick strikes; then, he performed the same series again and paused slightly after the second hit before attacking again. This triggered an upward slash that lurched the enemy into the air, leaving him vulnerable to more hits.

With the battle concluded, our character collected some loot from the skeleton’s body. As it turned out, the fiend had a bit of a leather fetish because he was holding a pair of leather pants, boots, and armor. These items could be compared against our character’s current equipment and even equipped from the loot screen if we wanted. The developers made it clear that they wanted all of the customization options found in a traditional role-playing game, but without all the cumbersome menu diving found in other releases.

As we exited the crypt, our pilot skipped us ahead to the city of Didenhil. This scenic forest village served as one of the game’s main quest hubs. Here, we received a crash course on item crafting as our character produced a special gem that, when socketed with our broadsword, created a flaming broadsword. To help demonstrate how awesome this new sword was, he chased down an unsuspecting chicken and used it to punt the creature clear across town and into a small pond. It was an impressive shot.

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6 new shots posted.

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Mix one part third-person shooter with one part chess, and you’ve got something pretty close to 5th Cell’s latest game.

Picking up a controller to play a third-person shooter for the first time, you tend to know what you’re getting into more often than not.

There’s probably going to be a cover system, and there’s probably going to be a sprint button that lowers the camera view awkwardly close to your character’s butt.

We live in the post-Gears of War era, after all, and most third-person shooters these days reside somewhere in that mold.

At first glance, Hybrid looks like that type of game. You play in a postapocalyptic sci-fi wasteland and spend most of your time hunkering down behind waist-high slabs of concrete and steel waiting for the right time to fire off a few rounds at your enemies. But when you decide to leave cover and start moving around the map, that’s when all the third-person shooter muscle memory you’ve developed over the past half-decade suddenly becomes a whole lot less useful.

Hybrid employs a control scheme that makes the game feel like a third-person shooter crossed with a chess board. The left stick lets you highlight potential cover objects in the distance, while the A button sends you automatically running to that point. That’s the core of movement: highlight cover, run to it, and repeat.

Within that basic control setup, though, are a number of variations that let you wiggle around more freely and strategically. For example, double-tapping A lets you quickly fly over to an object with a jetpack–a tool that can also be used to take vertical cover behind objects jutting out from the walls in a fairly mind-bending display of sci-fi acrobatics.

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GDC 2011: Tim Schafer’s studio bringing third-person shooter, tower-defense hybrid featuring mechs to Microsoft’s downloadable platform.

Handing out accolades to last year’s top titles was the name of the game at last night’s Game Developers Choice Awards, and Rockstar’s Red Dead Redemption rode off with another saddlebag of statues.

However, the night also had a future-looking element, as host Tim Schafer capitalized on the opportunity to announce Double Fine’s latest downloadable title, Trenched.

As seen in the game’s first trailer (below), Trenched presents the plight of the Mobile Trench Brigade, which has been charged with protecting earth from an evil invading alien force known as Monovision.

A hybridization of the third-person shooter and tower-defense genres, Trenched sees players erecting both stationary defensive constructions and lurching about in a highly customizable mech warfare suit. According to Double Fine, players will be afforded thousands of differnt options to customize their mechs.

Trenched will also feature an online co-op mode, where players can join up with other players throughout the world to battle the invading force. Double Fine has yet to offer word on whether the game will have a competitive component.

As with the Double Fine’s recently announced Sesame Street:Cookie’s Counting Carnival, Trenched has thus far only been announced for the Xbox 360. Double Fine’s other recent downloadable efforts, Costume Quest and Stacking, both enjoyed multiplatform releases through Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network.

Check out the cool TV spot for Homefront, weaving live action with gameplay footage.

Here’s a Call of Duty: Black Ops trailer featuring the Berlin Wall, one of five new maps for the First Strike downloadable content.