When we're closest to death, that's when we feel most alive. We're pretty sure somebody said that once. What better way to truly feel alive than to fight ferocious animals to the death? Too bad all of those guns and vests and airfare really add up.

We've got a relatively safer and cheaper solution: Cabela's North American Adventures. It's the newest entry in the Cabela line of titles, Activision announced today -- set to grace the Xbox 360, PS3, PS2, PSP and Wii systems this September. The Wii version will ship with the Top Shot gun peripheral that debuted with Cabela's Big Game Hunter 2010.

Cabela's North American Adventures will ship with a custom gun utility that allows players to create their own weapons from a variety of different receivers, stocks, barrels and scopes, and also provides players with their own in-game cameraman. He should come in handy should you run out of ammo and need something to distract the bears while you make your escape.

The Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of the game will allow up to four players to connect via the internet and engage in group hunts. Performances will then be added to an online leaderboard to find out who's best at killing Bambi's mom.

Activision unleashes Cabela's North American Adventures this September originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:50:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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This is a friendly reminder that our free Joystiq iPhone / iPod Touch app is now available -- it's real purdy. Also, even if you don't have one of the compatible iDevices, it's still important to rate the app on iTunes and/or leave a comment requesting it for other mobile doohickeys (like Android) on our announcement post. See, apps are made by developer fairies and they are fed with wishes and praise. So, you understand, it's important to do both for the current app.

What's everyone playing this weekend?

Continue reading WRUP: Joystiq iPhone, iPod Touch reminder edition

WRUP: Joystiq iPhone, iPod Touch reminder edition originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The free-to-play Company of Heroes Online won't fully replace that disc copy of Company of Heroes you have, as there's still at least one important piece of content for which you'll need the disc -- even if that piece of content is a Company of Heroes Online extra.

"We are urging people to hang onto their CD keys," producer Greg Wilson told PC Gamer. "We don't have the details yet, but we really appreciate our current retail CoH fanbase, we love them and we recognise that they helped us get where we are today with this franchise. We want to make sure they feel appreciated, so there will be something special for people who are retail owners. News of that will come." So if you were going to shatter your disc in rage about the freemium followup, keep the CD key. Just in case.

As for people who haven't yet discovered Company of Heroes, and who play other free-to-play stuff on Facebook, Wilson hopes that some of the millions of players participating in social games will "get tired of that fast food style of gameplay, and they'll want to graduate to something a bit more - whether that's a triple-A PC title or something in between."

Company of Heroes CD keys to unlock unspecified bonuses in Company of Heroes Online originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If your cash flow has been irreparably dammed by some unknown stoppage, yet you're looking for a meaty action-RPG to chew on this weekend, EA's offering a deal which seems right up your alley. For this weekend only, you can grab the original Mass Effect on PC for five American dollars.

Continue reading Mass Effect PC is this weekend's EA Summer deal, on sale for $5

Mass Effect PC is this weekend's EA Summer deal, on sale for $5 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The public demo for Kane & Lynch 2 -- requiring no subscriptions or hoop jumping -- will release sometime next week. The PlayStation 3 demo will go live Tuesday, July 27. As for the PC and Xbox 360 versions, um, Square Enix doesn't seem to be too sure, but the company line is "next week." The demos should be available in North America, Europe and other PAL territories.

Kane and Lynch's Dog Days will start on August 17 and 24 in North America and the PAL lands, respectively.

Kane & Lynch 2 demo assaults the public next week originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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North Carolina is going to provide some epic tax breaks to video game developers. According to the ESA, a bill signed by Governor Beverly Perdue will provide a 15 percent tax credit on "wages and compensation for employees involved in digital media production, or the creation of a platform or engine to run such media." Of course, the big winner here is North Carolina-based Epic Games, which swims in a lake of Unreal Engine money and develops games in its spare time. However, other benefactors of the tax breaks include Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and another dozen or so developers in the state. The incentives take effect January 1, 2011.

Publishers, developers and governments use tax breaks like Ezio wields the hidden blade. It's a weapon, either for financial defense (which seems to be the case in North Carolina) or aggression. With Canada's relentless siren call of tax incentives, if other countries and states don't step up their game, The Great White North will continue its Tim Hortons-fueled march to eventually developing most of the world's video games.

North Carolina to provide tax breaks for game companies originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 21:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tor Books has announced that a new series of Halo novels are on the way. Not to be confused with the upcoming trilogy by Greg Bear, these will be penned by Karen Traviss, author of the Gears of War novels as well as the short story "Human Weakness" from the 2009 Halo Evolutions collection.

The first new novel to be penned by Traviss will serve as a sequel to Ghosts of Onyx, and will reveal the fate of its team of Spartans. The series promises to "explore the Halo Universe in the wake of the final events of Halo 3." Presumably, the novels will also contain a heavy does of alien murder. We've contacted Tor in hopes of pinning down a release window for the new novels. Meanwhile, Bear's trilogy is set to debut this year.

Find the press release after the break.

Continue reading New Halo novels to continue Ghosts of Onyx story

New Halo novels to continue Ghosts of Onyx story originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Our MMO-centric sister site Massively received a whole mess of gameplay details and screenshots from Bigpoint's promising browser-based MMO, Battlestar Galactica Online. Players will be able to choose between the Human and Cylon factions, will be able to create their own out-of-ship avatars, and will progress through individual quests and story-based missions exclusive to their own factions. For instance, Cylons might be tasked with preparing a fresh slice of toast. (Because Cylons look like toasters. Obviously.)

For more details, check out the info Massively managed to glean from Bigpoint. For visual images you can see with your eyes, check out the gallery below.

Browse these new details and screens from Battlestar Galactica Online originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 20:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Continue reading Stroke of genius: Okami's Amaterasu in Marvel vs. Capcom 3

Stroke of genius: Okami's Amaterasu in Marvel vs. Capcom 3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:40:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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"Hello, Apple Customer Support, this is Janice speaking. How may I help you?"

"Does my iPhone replacement plan cover ... um, if I accidentally jammed my thumbs through my screen?"

"If you jam your -- sir, I have to ask ... were you attempting to play 'My Name is Jonas' on Expert on the Guitar Hero App?"

"How on Earth did you know?"

"Sir, you're the twentieth person to call with that issue today. Oh, and the answer to your question is of course not."

Click past the jump to see all the tracks from Breaking Benjamin, Coldplay, Rise Against and Weezer which were recently added to the Music Store on Guitar Hero for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Also, be gentle with those thumbs, okay?

Continue reading Breaking Benjamin, Weezer and more added to Guitar Hero iPhone store

Breaking Benjamin, Weezer and more added to Guitar Hero iPhone store originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 23 Jul 2010 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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