A few weeks back, one of Wii U's launch titles got a little boost, courtesy of Nintendo. Scribblenauts Unlimited, a game that allows players to summon any object imaginable, welcomed Mario, Link and their friends into the fold.

All we've had to go on was a simple promotional image featuring Scribblenauts hero Maxwell with some stylized renderings of Mario, Link and a few more characters from their worlds. Today we're able to show you some of them in action, including how they interact with a few familiar objects. As is often the case with Scribblenauts, we're not trying to do anything in particular - just write things into the world and see what happens. Also keep in mind that we're doing that writing and a lot of the object manipulation through the GamePad.

Let's see Hyrule and the Mushroom Kingdom crash the Scribblenauts party!

Stay tuned to IGN for the latest on the Wii launch!

Rich is an Executive Editor of IGN.com and the leader of IGN's Nintendo team. He also watches over all things WWE, Resident Evil, Assassin's Creed and much more. Follow him on Twitter, if you dare!

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Microsoft has revealed that during the month of November, players can earn free Microsoft Points for playing Halo 4 multiplayer. Called the Halo 4 Combat Tour Offer, Microsoft will offer 10,000,000 Points in total throughout the month, awarded to players based on how much time they’ve spent playing the game.

Players who spend 35 or more hours playing Halo 4 multiplayer will get 100 Points ($1.25), players who spend 70 or more hours will get 300 Points ($3.75) and players who spend 140 or more hours will get 600 Points ($7.50). Eligibility began yesterday, on Halo 4’s release date, and runs through November 30th.

On top of that, players who spend Microsoft Points on Halo-related add-ons, avatar items, themes, Games on Demand or videos during November will receive a rebate, with players who spend 1500 Points getting back 100, and players who spend 3000 or more Points getting back 200. Any purchase between November 1st and November 30th is eligible, and a full list of qualifying items is available on Microsoft’s site.

The Halo 4 Combat Tour Offer comes just weeks after Microsoft announced the MyAchievements program, which offers rewards to players based on their achievements, including 1 and 2% rebates on Xbox Live Marketplace purchases.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Multiplayer combat gaming is dominated by titles that enfold players in quasi-realistic modern war-zones. The action and the perks and the zombies-on-the-moon modes may be pure fantasy, but the settings are rooted in the real world of multi-terrain combat boots and SA-58 clips.

“

The first time you play it, it has to be fair, but also it has to be fair on the hundredth time and the thousandth time.

By contrast, Halo 4 is pure fantasy, a sci-fi dreamscape of weird colors, strange weapons, variable gravity as well as Ghosts, crazed AIs and abandoned deep-space mining vessels. Publisher Microsoft wants its key multi-billion-dollar franchise to sit at the heart of inter-human gaming.

Developer 343 has delivered what is arguably the best Halo ever made, and one key component to this is multiplayer, described by IGN reviewer Ryan McCaffrey as “golden” with “immaculate weapon balancing” and containing “an impressive collection of outstanding battlegrounds.”

343 hired Austin, Texas-based development house Certain Affinity to help out with modes, maps and map-creation tool Forge. Why? The company was founded by Max Hoberman, who spent a decade at Bungie, crafting the Halo series’ multiplayer experience.

“

I'm dying to see what crazy things people come up with.

Certain Affinity is also responsible for working on MP sections of recent Call of Duty games and on Left 4 Dead. In short, these guys really get multiplayer, and they have a long and intimate relationship with the Halo universe. 85 team-members spent 18 months working on Halo 4’s multiplayer, in close association with 343.

Hoberman says the starting point for refining and evolving Halo 4’s multiplayer modes has been making it available to as many people as possible.

He explains, “That was 343's approach across the board. How do we make this better by letting more people enjoy it? We started by smoothing off some of the rough edges on areas that could be great, but just weren't quite there for accessibility reasons. That can be really difficult, really challenging, especially when you're trying to develop something that has some inherent depth. How you balance depth and accessibility is always a challenge. But that has absolutely permeated all of our decision-making.”

Certain Affinity worked on some of the War Games modes, many based on old favorites that have now been tweaked. For example, Dominion is a team-based mode in which each side attempts to capture and defend a series of bases which, over time, sprout defensive upgrades, culminating in a ‘last stand’ slaughter of the team that’s failed to secure defensive positions.

Oddball is the classic game mode that wins players points for holding onto a ball, with an added twist of being able to throw the ball. When this one feature was first shown, at PAX, it drew enthusiastic whoops from the crowd.

“

When you're designing for multiplayer, you have to be selfless.

Part of the responsibility facing Certain Affinity, and all developers that specialize in multiplayer, is the intense relationship players have with the modes and maps they play. Unlike single-player games, which are experienced once or perhaps a few times, multiplayer games are experienced again and again. They are lived. They are also very public testing grounds for people who take their skills very, very seriously.

Not only, but also, through map-editors like Forge, players understand the fundamentals of multiplayer level design. Ten years ago, players might have enjoyed a multiplayer map, without stopping to think about the subtleties of sight blocks and cover positions. These days, they intuite sloppy design.

Hoberman says, “We’re very aware of the gravity of our responsibility. We're creating this content that people are going to play time and time again, sometimes thousands of times, for one map or one game mode. It feels like a massive responsibility. We mandate internally that we play this stuff over and over. We have to be fans of our own work and we have to put it to the test day in and day out.

“

We're creating this content that people are going to play time and time again, sometimes thousands of times.

“We insist that our developers participate in daily playtests. It can be tough. Our artists, for instance, they have a big to-do list, but we make them take an hour out of their day to playtest. We think that's invaluable. Fans are going to pick these things apart. They're passionate about every detail. It's critical that everyone working on these things is also passionate about every detail and understands how these things are going to be experienced by the players.”

He points out that in single-player modes, the story embraces the player as well as the characters in the game, but only the actual player is having a real emotional experience. But in multiplayer, it’s about everyone who is on screen.

“When you're designing campaign levels, you're inherently designing something asymmetrical. You're designing for the player. You don't need to care about how the enemies feel. You don't need to care about how the Covenant feel about their experience. When you're designing multiplayer, you have to care about everybody.

“What you're designing is inherently balanced and symmetric, even if it's physically asymmetric. It has to be balanced. It has to be a fair experience for everyone. The first time you play it, it has to be fair, but also it has to be fair on the hundredth time and the thousandth time. It takes a different mindset to design for multiplayer. I'd say it also takes a different personality sometimes. When you're designing for multiplayer, you have to be selfless. You have to be able to put yourself in someone else's shoes. If you're just concerned about designing a good experience for yourself, then you'll never be a great multiplayer designer.”

One of the massive projects undertaken by Certain Affinity was Forge, which allows players to make their own multiplayer maps. This tool has been around for some years but in Halo 4 has been drastically overhauled.

New features include better looks through dynamic lighting and gorgeous native environments; greater ease-of-use via neat gadgets like item-lock, duping and magnets; and local effects called player-trait zones which give designers all sorts of freedom to play around with their invented worlds.

Hoberman says, “Forge is interesting, any map editor is interesting, because so many people benefit from it whether they actually use it or not. Everyone benefits from the creations that come out of it. The accessibility improvements that we made and some of the feature additions are ultimately just going to mean that new users will find it easier, but because Forge is inherently a pretty sophisticated tool, the creations are going to be that much more inventive and novel.

He adds, “You always do something and you think maybe you’ll see a dozen interesting ways people use it. In reality, over time, you end up seeing hundreds of greats ideas. I'm dying to see what crazy things people come up with.”

Don't forget to make use of IGN's massive Halo 4 wiki.

For daily opinions, debates and interviews on games you can follow Colin Campbell on Twitter or at IGN. 

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

EA has announced release dates for Battlefield 3’s Aftermath downloadable content. Battlefield 3 Premium members on PlayStation 3 can get Aftermath on November 27th, while Premium Xbox 360 and PC players can get it on December 4th. Non-premium players on PlayStation 3 can get Aftermath on December 11th, and non-Premium Xbox 360 and PC players will round out the schedule on December 18th.

As with all Battlefield 3 content, Aftermath will cost $14.99 (1200 Microsoft Points) and will be free to Battlefield Premium members. Aftermath is the fourth of five packs for Battlefield 3, coming ahead of End Game, which will be released in March 2013.

Separately, EA announced today that in celebration of the 10 year anniversary of Battlefield and the milestone of Premium passing 2 million members, it will offer Battlefield 1942 as a free download. Players can get 1942 on Origin’s official site, which notes that it will require an Origin account and will expire on March 1, 2013.

EA also revealed some interesting stats for Battlefield 3, noting that since its launch in 2011, players have passed 95 billion total heals and four billion total revives, destroyed three billion vehicles and fired two trillion bullets. "[Premium] has been an ambitious way to give our fans fresh, high-quality content at a great value," said DICE vice president and general manager Karl Magnus Troedsson. " This achievement is helping us define the new standard by which all other shooters deliver content and exclusive bonuses to their player communities."

For more on Aftermath, check out the details DICE revealed in July. For any other Battlefield 3 needs, look no further than our Battlefield 3 wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

EA has updated NHL 13’s roster to relocate players to European leagues. Players are migrating as the result of the continuing real-life NHL lockout, and EA’s new title update will reflect those changes in NHL 13.

As explained by EA, “An online roster update was released today for NHL 13. The update adds a duplicate version of NHL players who are playing in the following European leagues to their current team: Czech Extraliga (ELH), SM-Liiga, Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL), Elitserien (SEL), National League A (NLA). This means that a player like Claude Giroux will remain on the Philadelphia Flyers roster, but will also be available on the Eisbaren Berlin (DEL) roster for online play.”

EA added that “Hockey is a global game and within NHL 13 there are five European leagues, 66 European teams and over 2100 players representing 26 countries across Europe. By adding NHL players who have joined those leagues to their respective team rosters, we are able to create an authentic experience for fans of those leagues and the NHL, worldwide. For fans of a specific NHL team, those players will still be available on their NHL rosters, which could make for some interesting matchups online.”

Earlier this month, EA Sports executive vice president Andrew Wilson commented on the lockout, telling IGN “We’re all NHL fans. We’re all sports fans, but we’re definitely NHL fans. I spent six years in Vancouver, which is a hardcore hockey town. We hope that they all get to play soon, but in the meantime, I can tell you right now [NHL 13] is where I’m getting my hockey.”

A full list of player changes, as well as instructions for how to manually move NHL players to their current European teams for offline play, is available on EA’s official site.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

The Artorias of the Abyss downloadable content for Dark Souls is now available on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Artorias of the Abyss adds PVP mode to Dark Souls, allowing players to battle against each other, as well as new maps and environments, new bosses and enemies, new NPCs and new weapons and armor.

Artorias of the Abyss is available now for $14.99 on PlayStation 3 and 1200 Microsoft Points on Xbox 360. The content was first released on PC in the Dark Souls Prepare to Die Edition and was confirmed for consoles in May.

“Artorias of the Abyss is primed and ready to bring console gamers more destruction, more pain, and more ways to die,” said Namco Bandai vice president of marketing Carlson Choi. “Our console fan base absolutely loves the challenge the Dark Souls franchise has given them. Artorias of the Abyss is sure to up the death toll with the inclusion of PVP and its Match-Making features.”

For more on what’s new in Artorias of the Abyss, read about what’s in the new content and our breakdown of how it affects the game. For more on Dark Souls, look no further than our Dark Souls wiki guide.

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Microsoft has expanded its $99 Xbox program. The Entertainment for All plan will offer three models at a discounted price point along with a subscription fee. Players can purchase a 4GB system with Kinect for $99, a 250GB system for $99 or a 250GB system with Kinect for $149. All three models include a two year Xbox Live Gold membership and carry a fee of $14.99 per month.

The announcement follows a single $99 model that Microsoft announced earlier this year, saying at the time that customer credit cards will be charged monthly. Choosing to quit the plan before two years is up will come along with an early termination fee calculated based upon how far into the subscription a customer got before quitting.

Previously, the $99 Xbox was exclusive to Microsoft Stores, but Microsoft now says the plan is “coming soon” and that customers should “check back later to see a full list of participating retailers.”

Andrew Goldfarb is IGN’s associate news editor. Keep up with pictures of the latest food he’s been eating by following @garfep on Twitter or garfep on IGN.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com

Sony has announced that PlanetSide 2 will launch worldwide on November 20.

The sci-fi FPS MMO doesn't require any subscription fee and will support hundreds of players in continuous large scale conflict.

Additionally, when the game goes live it will do so with three available continents; so far, only Indar and Esamir have been available in the closed beta. The new continent, called Amerish, will be a dark and swampy locale, with more continents planned for release after launch.

You can get a first glimpse at Amerish in the video below.

Luke Karmali is IGN's UK Editorial Assistant. You too can revel in mediocrity by following him on IGN and on Twitter.

Source : feeds[dot]ign[dot]com