It’s Monday which means another set of Nintendo titles are hitting the virtual shelves. Available on the WiiWare service, Tales of Elastic Boy – Mission 1 truly stretches the possibilities for console adventure. Available today on the Nintendo DSiWare, Cosmos X2 which is a side scrolling shooter similar to R-type, myNotebook: Pearl which is a note taking application for your DS and Music on: Learning Piano which teaches you have to play the piano. Here are the full details for each title.

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God of War: Ghost of Sparta’s box art was revealed earlier today via the Playstation Blog and not surprisingly it has Kratos looking like a badass with the world crumbling behind him. Along with the box art reveal, Sony has also released images of the God of War entertainment pack. They also announced that they will be providing more detailed information for each of the pre-order elements starting next week.

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I’ve always liked Microsoft’s Xbox Live Service. Ever since I got it years ago when Star Wars: Battlefront I realized what kind of service I was paying for and didn’t mind it at all. Then the Xbox 360 came out and it got even better with cross game chat, party chat and a sleek interface. As time has gone by Microsoft has changed their interface, for better or for worse, and have added new features while maintaining a set price. That’s at least until November 1^st. Officially announced on Major Nelson’s Blog, on that date Xbox Live will cost more for members in Canada, Mexico, United Kingdom and the United States (the only people who are willing to pay for a subscription).

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The Kill Kast is back again with Episode 15 where Rebecca, Dana, and Eric get together to discuss some new ways critics are reviewing games and much more. We chat about some games we’ve been playing, which includes Burn Zombie Burn!, Scott Pilgrim, Sam and Max, Dragon Age Awakenings and Mafia 2. We also spend a good amount of time talking about Final Fantasy 14 and its flaws along with other MMO’s. Finally we get into our main topic where we discuss the new ways in which critics are presenting reviews, for example displaying the hours played, achievements earned etc.

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Whenever a beta comes to consoles it always seems to be more of a stability test rather than a way to obtain feedback from the community to tweak the game, you know what a beta is supposed to be. But maybe more and more companies are starting to realize that betas can be helpful for more than just testing their servers. Today on the PlayStation Blog, Matthew Pruitt a Community Manager for EA explained to us what DICE was able to take from the lengthy Medal of Honor beta that appeared on the PS3, and the changes they made based on the feedback.

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Spawn Kill was able to sit in on a Mafia II developer conference call today with Jack Scalici, Director of Creative Production. He was responsible for creating the authentic setting in Mafia II; making sure the environment fits the era along with finding the the 122 tracks that are included in the game. In the call Jack talks about the struggles of creating a new engine, how hard it was to narrow down which songs will be included in the game (from the thousands he listened to), what went into creating the authentic 50’s mafia world and what the future of the franchise is, which could include the Russian or Japanese mob. We conveniently recorded the call for you so you can listen to it here or head over to iTunes and download it there. Enjoy!

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Throughout this week Marvel.com gave everyone previews of what the next LittleBigPlanet costume pack will look like and I don’t think fans will be disappointed when it hits next week. The LittleBigPlanet Marvel Costume Pack 4 will feature The Hulk, Storm, the Punisher, Green Goblin and Magneto. The Hulk sackboy looks awesome with it’s muscle suit and who knew the Green Goblin could look so cute! Check out the first screens for each of the 5 characters featured in the upcoming DLC. Marvel Costume Pack 4 will be available on August 17 on the PlayStation Store.

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Electronic Arts recently announced the global athlete to grace the cover of FIFA 11 and today they released the NA cover that features Team USA’s Landon Donovan and Carlos Vela of Arsenal F.C and Mexico’s international team. Personally I would have loved to have seen Javier Hernandez, the up-and-coming star athlete from Mexico. It’s great to see Donovan on the cover especially after such a great World Cup performance. I think it’s smart that EA wanted to capitalize off of his famous goal scored in extra time that sent Team USA to the knockout round; I think it can be great for Americans who might have already forgotten about soccer. Check out the NA cover in all its glory.

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Coming off the heels of what I thought was the best Madden of our current generation of consoles; Madden NFL 11 looks to yet again impress football fans across the nation. However EA Sports decided to go in a new direction this year by creating a game that simplifies the formula for newcomers or for those returning to the franchise after a long break. To accomplish this they’ve introduced a few new features, one of which is called GameFlow that not only simplifies the play calling but also cuts the play time in half. Although casual football fans will love this feature, the hardcore fans will not and they might also feel like this year’s Madden wasn’t made for them at all.

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After a bit of a technical issue Spawn Kill’s Kill Kast is back with episode 13! In this episode we talk about recent news, what we’ve been playing (Critter Crunch!), we laugh about a study that says kids who play games can turn into drug addicts later in life, and we discuss our topic of the podcast which is the recent copyright ruling that essentially said  jailbreaking an iPhone to create homebrew apps is legal and what that means for  gaming.

Don’t forget you can subscribe to us on iTunes and also remember to enter our Halo: Reach Special Edition Xbox 360 bundle giveaway! Thanks for listening.

Castlevania: Harmony of Despair is a game completely geared towards the Castlevania fan. Everything from the combat, to the enemies you face, and even the setting should be instantly familiar to those who have played other Castlevania games. Adding to this idea is the lack of information given to you on how to play the game. Those who aren’t familiar with the franchise should proceed with caution. With that said, this title gives the loyal fans a new way to experience the franchise with excellent online co-op and a strangely addicting grinding system.

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Getting your game on Xbox Live’s Summer of Arcade can be great for game sales but for Lara Croft and the Guardian of Light, it might not be worth the early release date. Confirmed today via Joystiq, the upcoming Lara Croft title from Crystal Dynamics will not include online co-op. Gamers can still play this title via offline co-op but the online functionality won’t arrive until the title releases on PlayStation Network and Steam on September 28.

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Every year EA Sports releases the Madden NFL “sizzle trailers” that give you a sneak peak at each team in the league and how they look in the new Madden. Well we here at Spawnkill know how lazy gamers can be and how excited they can get for the next Madden, so we created a one-stop shop for all the videos and screen shots you could ever want. We combined all the previews into two AFC and NFC videos. We also included some great Developer Interviews where they discuss Online Team Play, the new Gameplay mechanics and what they needed to improve on from last year’s title. We also have 193 gameplay screen shots that include every single team in the league. We hope you enjoy our Madden NFL 11 launch center!

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Today Konami released a new set of screen shots along with a full 7 minute video of actual gameplay from  Pro Evolution Soccer 2011. The video shows some gameplay from Germany vs. Netherlands and Argentina vs. Portugal. It also showcases the much improved graphics, the very cool celebrations, the excellent presentation and the new control scheme. I think this will get fans very excited for the next PES, check it out!

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Rockstar announced today that the first of four DLC packs, Legends and Killers Pack, for Red Dead Redemption will be available for download next Tuesday, August 10th for both Xbox LIVE and PlayStation Network.  The Legends and Killers Pack boasts nine new multiplayer map locations and the brand new Tomahawk projectile weapon, as well as more opportunities to earn Achievements and Trophies.  Eight characters from Red Dead Revolver will also make their debut as new multiplayer characters.  The Legends & Killers Pack will be available for $9.99 on PlayStation Network and 800 Microsoft Points on Xbox LIVE.

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