Presented in glorious alphabetical order, New Media: Retail Roundup is your indispensible checklist of the home console and handheld titles arriving in stores this week. What will you be playing?

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 Injustice: Gods Among Us * Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge

NINTENDO WU Nothing 3DS Fire Emblem: Awakening

SONY PS3 Injustice: Gods Among Us * Ninja Gaiden 3: Razor’s Edge PSV Nothing

VARIOUS PC Nothing

New Media: Downloadable Digest is your handy reminder of the downloadable titles released last week.

MICROSOFT Xbox 360 Earth Defence Force: Insect Armageddon * Halo 3: ODST (Campaign Edition) * Motocross Madness * Rugby League Live 2 * Twisted Pixel Games Bundle * WRC3: FIA World Rally Championship

NINTENDO WU The Croods: Prehistoric Party 3DS The Croods: Prehistoric Party

SONY PS3 Gottlieb Guacamelee * Rugby League Live 2 PSV Guacamelee * Table Mini Golf

VALVE Steam Age of Empires II HD * Anna: Extended Edition * Cubemen 2 * Lords of Football * Sang-Froid: Tales of Werewolves * ShootMania Storm

Matt Hewson takes a look at a range of DLC and decides which expansions are worthy of your time and money.

I enjoyed SLEEPING DOGS a lot when it first came out. In fact, since that time I played through the whole game twice. So it’s fair to say that I was keen for some fresh adventures for Wei Shen and his band of merry triads.

The first DLC adventure I grabbed, Zodiac Tournament, was actually the second released. This pack had quite obviously taken inspiration from Enter the Dragon and movies of that ilk. Wei was taken to a mysterious Island where he had to compete in a martial arts tournament and discover the mysteries behind the event’s nefarious organiser. The story missions proceeded how I imagined and I was kicking and punching my way through the tournament in no time. The gameplay on offer was fun and considering my love for the combat system I had a blast. The only problem was that it was actually quite short, about 1-2 hours.  Once I had completed the tournament, I was able to roam the island and complete a few hidden item quests but not much else. I was also awarded some new martial arts movies and outfits for use in the main campaign. Overall it was fun, but too short. Pick it up when it’s on special. Read the rest of this entry »

In this episode: Gas Powered Games on the brink, THQ over the edge, Nintendo relying on old standbys, our most anticipated new IPs and much more!

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The Panellists: Erin Marcon (@ErinMarcon), Karen Jacobson (@KarenMJacobson), Peter Nickless and Joel Guttenberg

Music by Nathan Antony.

Got a question for the panellists? Send it to feedback@blackpanel.com.au or contact us via Twitter or Facebook.

COMPETITION TIME: Thanks to the fine folk at Totally Irreverent, The Black Panel is giving away a t-shirt to one lucky reader. You’ll be able to choose your style and size from a great range of pop culture brands. For a chance to win, simply like, share or comment on this post on The Black Panel’s Facebook Page.

Be sure to check out the other podcasts available on the Bigtop Network.

RUNNING SHEET: Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to the fourth annual edition of New Horizons. You can forget about sequels and spin-offs, because our massive preview special is overflowing with new and original games.

Just how far are you willing to go to secure victory? Vita exclusive fantasy action game SOUL SACRIFICE allows you to give up your own body parts in order to fuel your magical attacks. You can blame Mega Man legend Keiji Inafune for this short sighted approach to resource management. If you’re feeling a little squeamish about it, you can always sacrifice one of your co-op partners instead. You know, for the “greater good”.

Given the sheer number of zombie games already available, it can’t be easy to come up with a snappy new title. That’s why we’re impressed with STATE OF DECAY. Sure, the name isn’t quite as infectious as Left4Dead, but it’s a big step up from Touch the Dead and for that, we’re grateful. With a focus on gathering resources and improving defences, this open world survival game from Undead Labs is set to arrive on XBLA and PC in early 2013. Read the rest of this entry »