For the Metal Gear fanatic. Hot off the heels of the Metal Gear Solid 4 release date and announcement of the bundle. Konami has released 5 new Metal Gear Online screenshots to make the wait even harder. Check the source to see these new screens.
20th March was the expected date for Sega Superstar tennis, but you can scribble that out of your diary now as it will actually arrive a week earlier than expected. Basically Virtua Tennis - and that isn't a bad thing - with Sega characters, you will be able to finally pit the likes of Vector the crocodile against MeeMee from Monkey Ball in what should truly be a contest of epic magnitude.
For those of you who don't know, this dude invented Pong... founded Atari and setup the Chuck E Cheese food chain... He knows what he's doing. So when he let slip at GDC that he was working on an MMO, well you tend to get interested. Not much info is known at the moment, and all Nolan had to say was:"As compelling as World of Warcraft is, it too shall find that there are other ways to play a game"ooh exciting stuff, stay tuned for more info!
She might have a pair of tits like two aspirin on an ironing board, but that hasn't stopped Gwen Stefani and her No Doubt band scoring three downloadable tracks for Guitar Hero III. The tracks are from their Tragic Kingdom album and will include songs such as their best known hit 'Don't Speak', and the aptly tragic 'Excuse Me Mr.' and 'Sunday Morning'.
After finding out that the European and American versions of MGS4 would NOT feature a Japanese soundtrack due to lack of space on the disc further news emerges that the Japanese version of the game won't feature English subtitles. So for those who wanted the authentic Japanese voice overs... well you ain't getting it because your Western edition won't have the soundtrack and the Japanese one won't have English subs... doh!
ooooh tricky... they look like they have potential... but rough textures don't you think? I'm sure we're all hopeful for this game to be the next-gen survival horror we've been waiting for...
Event organizers announced today that Games Convention 2008 will be hosted in August. Conducted by Jack Wall, the Video Games Live Symphony Orchestra plays classic game tunes, like Pac-Man, Tetris and Myst, while scenes from the relevant games are shown on a giant screen. There's also a coordinated laser show, and a bit of audience participation during an "interactive game competition"."Video Games Live is the best way of making both videogames and their wonderful music even better known, anyone coming to our show will quickly see what a fantastic artform video games have become in recent years." VGL producer Tommy Tallarico.
Battlestations Midway arrived last year with hype and expectations, but for various reasons didn't turn out as well as everyone was expecting. The game had a great idea of combining an action game and a strategy game, but the idea was held back by the level of micromanagement that was necessary to play the game.
Since its official announcement at GDC earlier this week the internet has been rife with speculation with what Gears of War 2 will do next, out doing Gears 1 will not be an easy task."We're doing Gears of War 2 right now; we're in the middle of production," he revealed. "I'm reprising my role as Marcus again. I'm doing one of the characters, Franklin - those are the two that I'm reprising."Clearly the Guy is excited about the prospects of next game, as are we. Gears 2 is set for a November 2008 Launch, that's as long as Mark Rein hasn't already killed John.
"It's badass. In fact, I saw some of the stuff yesterday! Which level was it? It was, well listen, there's bigger beasts in this game. Bigger beasts. Remember the scene with the Brumak, when the Brumak comes out and we're like 'Brumak! Roll! Get outta there!' and it's coming after them - and they don't have a fight with him? Well, they fight him now"
The long awaited fourth and final instalment of the acclaimed series Metal Gear Solid has been Officially announced to launch simultaneously on June 12th 2008 in both the US and in Europe."The game will be released on a Blu-Ray disc containing both Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots and Kojima Productions' Metal Gear Online - a dedicated online title that uses locations and gameplay elements from Guns of the Patriots," Konami confirms."
SCi, parent company of Tomb Raider publisher Eidos has said that is plans to cut jobs as part of a radical restructuring plan."Following our business review over the last six weeks, we are initiating a clear action plan based on three fundamental strands of activity: a radical change in our structure to a studio-led business, a top to bottom programme of product improvement and efficiency and a considerable cost reduction plan." "To get SCi on track we have to act rapidly and effect change quickly. We must allow the world-class people that we have within the Group to focus on strong, profitable titles which will create the value our shareholders deserve. I am confident our staff share this vision and excitement for the future, and determination to build a working environment where our innovation and creativity can be commercially realised."The company plans to switch from a centrally controlled development and publishing model to a studio-lead business focusing on its core products – Tomb Raider, Hitman, Championship Manager and Deus Ex.
"Our quality has slipped below acceptable standards and, through disappointing game development and working within an ineffective operating structure, we are failing to realise the commercial return our creative ability and our shareholders demand, our infrastructure is too big and expensive for the scale of the business."Source: GamesIndustry.biz
After saying PC gaming wasn't really going anywhere and being all for the consoles, Cliffy received some flak from the big man at Epic but Cliffy's now changed his tone to that of something similar to Mark's comments. When asked if "PC gaming is back" by MTV Multiplayer, Bleszinski said:"Abso-frigging-lutely."Personally, I'm not really bothered what these media built or perhaps in Cliffy's case, self built gaming icons/role models care about formats. Cliffy's done Gears on 360, it went to PC, he's doing Gears 2, that'll go to PC. But 2 guys taking digs at each other about which format is better? Keep it to yourselves...
"I think everybody coming together in that kind of way will essentially kind of help re-glue things back together and kind of help fix the market... I have a big PC gaming heritage and I love playing games with a keyboard and a mouse, as well as a console, and I'd just love to see [PC gaming achieve a comeback]."
Infinity Ward's Robert Bowling has updated his blog; IAMfourzerotwo with some interesting info:"With the release of our Feature patch and DLC coming closer and closer every day, and plenty of new playlist ideas being thrown around for Call of Duty 4 multiplayer I know we can keep the fight going for a long long time. I love these weekly number checks because it provides a great opportunity to give you guys a weekly update on how things are going here at the studio with those updates, so with that said…Sweet, I hope we can start shooting people properly with sniper rifles and not have game lobbies close when the host leaves.
I got word that the Xbox 360 Feature patch could be ‘very very close’, I can’t tell you exactly when because they haven’t passed on that information but apparently certification went fantastic and I was given the Green light to take care of some things that I have to do before it goes live to you guys, which means good things. I’m not going to get any hopes up, but I hope to be seeing some new Kill Cams by the weekend if we’re lucky."
Activision have recently established themselves as being very big players in the games industry and rightfully so. They've made a lot of smart moves and published a lot of great games. Hardly surprising to find out they were considering making an offer for Take-Two but decided against it. Activision boss Bobby Kotick stated:"I think we've had - as we've said for a very long time, now - well-stated criteria for what we're interested in in an acquisition. We've said that we need a history of profitability, good management, the proprietary technology for a franchise, history of multi-million unit sellers. They would have to be non-dilutive and operating margin accretive. And, for us, Take-Two didn't fulfill those requirements. Maybe it does over the long-term for EA, but it doesn't for us."That's really refreshing to see that a company thought about something before just doing it... Yeah so Take-Two have GTA but... well what else...? Good play.
For a while now, Bandai Namco has kept their lips shut about which console (or consoles) their next Tales game, Tales of Vesperia, was coming out for. Well, it's now official: The next outing of the series is coming out on the 360 later this year.
Taking into consideration the terribly negative and frustrated feedback concerning the atrocious demo released on Xbox Marketplace, developer Spark Unlimited vowed to delay the game and work out the kinks and spruce it up to acceptable standards.
Snaps featured in Famitsu magazine details a Wii version of the Gamecube horror, Resident Evil Zero. Just like Resident Evil 4, the game will receive some work on the controls to work with the Wiimote and most likely receive a knocked down price tag as the original can already be played on the Wii as a backwards compatible title.
A new report, recently approved by the U.S. Congress, explains a program aimed at catching terrorists using online games like WoW to organize their terrorist attacks. The program works in two steps, the first is to find out what normal behavior is in a game like WoW, which after playing games for ten years or so is still a mystery to me. The second phase of the program is to use software to:automatically detect suspicious behaviour and actions in the virtual world
Painful is how I would describe the lack of communication options for online Wii games, especially if you start having to pay for the online service as rumoured. For a community based gaming meganought like Nintendo, some of its decisions can be pretty baffling. There is some kind of remedy though with the forthcoming Mario Kart.
EA has been acting like the Tesco of the gaming world lately, trying to suck developers into their abyss by flashing the cash. Their recent attempt to acquire Take Two, makers of Grand Theft Auto, has been met with disdain in some quarters which has prompted Ubisoft to make a statement.
Remember seeing this game, way back at E3 2006. It certainly looked impressive, even if it is a CGI film. However, with virtually no new information since then, many simply assumed it had been canned. Well, apparently Sony London, the development team behind the project had other ideas. New news has emerged about the game. A new trailer along with gameplay demos were reportedly showcased behind closed doors at GDC. Sony hasn't officially released any new information on the game, but if reports are true this is what we may expect:"You'll travel across eight States of North America. This, as you might imagine, is said to make for one of the biggest game maps in any console game to date. So large, in fact, that you will never revisit any one location, and will be constantly pushed to move on.
It will also apparently incorporate Google Maps functionality, and tie into a real-life clock, so when played at night in real life, it will be night in the game.Reports are comparing the game to Killzone 2 Graphically and to Uncharted: Drakes Fortune in animation. This, if true sounds awesome to say the least. The title is expected to see a release date of approximately October 2008, an official announcement is thought to be made very soon.
You take control of one of two characters (possibly one of the two seen in the early trailer), each with their own storyline and varying abilities. One's a bad guy, who's out for revenge on a mob syndicate.
The other is a good guy - a detective who's in search of the same mob syndicate, who've kidnapped his son. Their paths, predictably, cross at some point, and they end up working together".
BioWare has brought to light their first downloadable content for the Xbox 360 version of Mass Effect. The content includes a new scenario on a new planet. It also marks Shepard's first encounter with the Batavians, a vicious and aggressive race. What else do you get in the content, costing players 400 Xbox Live points? Casey Hudson explains:"Changes to the main game experience will be along the lines of opportunities to gain more experience, paragon / renegade points, and levels, as well as finding things to use or sell to make money, and an achievement that contributes to your Gamerscore. You'll also find that enemies within the new adventure have some different behaviors that put some twists on the combat you'll find there."
At the retailer only conference, Destination Playstation, Sony has announced a Metal Gear Solid 4 80GB PS3 bundle. This bundle will release sometime in Q2 of 2008. The bundle will include MGS4, MGS4 Online "starter pack", and a DualShock 3.
Well, the wait has been very long for PS3 owners, but finally, the DualShock 3 is coming to the U.S. It's set to launch on April 15th for $54.99. This is to coincide with the release of GT5: Prologue. Rumble on the PS3? It's about time.
The price of the 360's HD-DVD add on has been slashed amazingly for the second time in a month to a stonking $49.99 (roughly about twenty-five quid). This is even more amazing when you consider it had already been slashed to a still pricey $130 even BEFORE Toshiba announced their intention to stop producing for it, suggesting Microsoft want to wash their hands of it ASAP.
There used to be a website around called Pokemon Farm which has recently been updated by Nintendo. Website GoNintendo has translated it and come up with some interesting info. Apparently it's being renamed 'Everyone's Pokemon Ranch', which will allow you to add Pokemon from your DS version of Diamond and Pearl with a capacity for about 1,000 lil critters to be stored.
"We've talked to our legal department about it, all we're doing is moving it out of PlayTV and to the cross-media bar as if it was any other recording. So hopefully users won't do stuff they shouldn't do with it."
"If I'm prohibited from getting the recording off and storing it somewhere else because some other dude is making money out of selling it, then I'd rather they brought the law in to catch those people"
According to an Advertising Age article, Sony will offer an open platform on the PlayStation 3, allowing the three key players in the in-game advertising market to strike deals with game publishers. This will no doubt spark a battle between the key players, Double Fusion, IGA and AdScape."Making things open only makes things better for marketers or people who want to place ads because they aren't the mercy of a given network... Everyone's playing around with the best model - how to charge, what gamers will and will not put up with." eMarketer senior writer James Belcher told Advertising Age.
I'm sure a lot of people will take this comment and laugh, a lot will disregard it as being out of context, but a spokesperson for Sony has quoted:"LittleBigPlanet is potentially our biggest Blu-ray release of 2008"Nick Robinson, a senior product manager at Sony Computer Entertainment Europe confirmed the title will be released in September on Blu-ray disc only... So for those of you who had the idea in your head this was going to be a Playstation Network title, well you best forget that idea...
"This isn't a Warhawk or a Tekken: Dark Resurrection... This is a triple-A Blu-ray title."He also confirmed the game will have a very substantial offline Story mode to justify the price for those less interested in its community and content-creation aspects.
You have to admit, it does look rather good. Here are several new screens showing off WipEout HD in all its glory, high definition explosions, intense racing and big crashes are expected.
Valkyria Chronicles is a different looking game. It's a mixture of cell-shaded graphics with the look of a water colour painting in motion... quite frankly it does look pretty fantastic... Also known as Valkyrie of the Battlefield, the game takes place in a make-believe world roughly modeled on 1930s Europe, where the Empire and Federation are the two ruling powers... (Yeah, we know what you're thinking too...)
CVG, the guys behind the magazine Xbox World 360 have published news today that they have "the scoop" on the "aborted" Goldeneye 360 project."Explosions and flame effects have been remade from scratch, and rows of trees and new in-game objects add a sense of presence to areas without affecting gameplay. The atmospheric changes are most apparent when playing the Jungle level, where every tree and plant has been rebuilt. Where a green wall at the edge of the arena fenced you in on the N64, now the wall has been removed and a new wall of foliage has been set several metres beyond the original boundary..."Talk about rubbing salt into the wounds... nearly ever gamer was convinced they had an exclusive for a new Goldeneye game on 360 when really, they just dug up the old news... Personally as a gamer, I'm pissed off at this low attempt for publicity.
If you were in two minds about the recently released Indiana Jones 4 movie, here's something to prick up your ears, 4 screenshots of the upcoming Lego version of the series. Looks pretty good so far, lets hope it can go the distance. Expect to see it coincide with the release of the movie this summer.
Bad news folks, Microsoft has today denied any involvement with the classic Goldeneye and itself, announcing that it won't even be released on XBox Live Arcade. Microsoft game studio's had this to say:"Unfortunately, we were never contacted by the publication to confirm information or participate in the story in any way, as we would have confirmed that we do not have the necessary rights to release GoldenEye on Xbox Live Arcade. We do however share the gaming communities enthusiasm for the title and would love to release it on the service."
If you were one of the Billion people worldwide to watch the Oscars at the weekend then you will have noticed Jon Stewart playing Wii Sports as they returned from a commercial break. Looking flustered but playing up to the joke, his playing partner ran off and Jon got off with the show. Now the real question, was this a gag or clever advertising on Nintendo's part?
Sony has announced Phil Harrison will resign from his position at Sony Computer Entertainment Worldwide Studios this Friday, February 29."As one of the founding members of SCE, Phil played a key role in the development and growth of the PlayStation business and our industry... It is sad to see him departing from SCE, but I wish to express my gratitude for his many invaluable contributions and also wish Phil the very best of luck in his future endeavors." said Hirai.Harrison went on to say:
"The past 15 years at Sony Computer Entertainment has been the defining journey of my life so far. I am grateful to all the PlayStation family for its incredible support, guidance and friendship. It has been a privilege to serve as part of the team and be inspired by them on a daily basis. I am so proud of everything PlayStation has achieved and will continue to support its future in every way I can."Source: CVG
Sketchy magazine scans show the first images of the new Aliens game, and from what you can make out, it's looking awesome! Sources are also sketchy but it looks legit enough... various other sites have picked up these scans so we decided to publish them here too
EA Games made an offer to the troubled publisher and after being turned down, made the offer known to all Take-Two shareholders. EA sent a letter of proposal to Take-Two on February 19, which has been rejected by the board of directors and executive chairman Strauss Zelnick."Our all-cash proposal is a unique opportunity for Take-Two shareholders to realise immediate value at a substantial premium, while creating long-term value for EA shareholders... Take-Two's game designers would also benefit from EA's financial resources, stable, game-focused management team, and strong global publishing capabilities." EA CEO John RiccitielloEA warned that this offer may not be repeated again and noted the deal would be very beneficial to go through before the release of Grand Theft Auto 4. The offer remains open pending further discussion today, Monday 25th February.
During the Game Developer's Conference, Takashi Aoyama announced the Wii's new Pay for Play plan. While he stated that all current Wii online features will remain free, all future titles may require a fee to play with friends online. Of course, to avoid confusion, pay tp play symbols will look the same as the old one, but ORANGE. I'm sure any average parents will know the difference.
Following Toshiba's announcement last week that it was dropping the HD-DVD format, Microsoft were left with little choice but to follow suit. Microsoft released this statement:"As a result of recent decisions made by Toshiba, Hollywood studios, and retailers, Microsoft plans to withdraw from HD DVD. Xbox will no longer manufacture new HD DVD players for the Xbox 360, but we will continue to provide standard product and warranty support for all Xbox 360 HD DVD Players in the market.
As we stated earlier, we do not believe this decision will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room, along with playback of the DVD movies they already own."
Bungie has reavealed some screenshots of the first map in their downloadable Legendary Map Pack. Called "Ghost Town", the map is designed for 4v4 fights, and helps provide a nice range for both melee and long range attack styles."Ghost Town is the fragmented ruins of a small 24th century water purification complex that geographically lies just North and West of the jungle foothills hydroelectric facility from the Sierra 117 mission. The well-protected facility built into a shallow ravine was once home to the Global Water Campaign, where the still somewhat-pure Kilimanjaro meltwater was transported via pipelines from the river and directed to this small outpost where it became further purified, and then transported via GWC trans-African pipelines along the Tsavo Highway for distribution throughout the entire continent."
EA chief John Riccitiello (above) has noticed a change in EA games on Metacritic. All titles have dropped on average from 77 points to 72 and John has been quick to raise concerns. In front of an investment group, he said:"There is nothing acceptable about that. Our core game titles are accurately measured and summarized by these assessments, and that is a very big deal."
"For a movie it's going to cost you $10 to $12 bucks, and it's a two-hour investment of your time -- whether critics like it is not a huge deal, but a game costs $60 and 20 to 30 hours of your life, so you want to know ahead of time whether a game is good."EA won't lose too much sleep over it though:
"The process often gets in the way more than it helps, that sort of circus has unfortunately sort of defined our company for too long. You don't cash Metacritic, you cash cheques."
As well as taking huge leaps forward, Nintendo is also content on taking large steps backwards. This isn't as bad as it sounds though, as a new generation of gamers will now be able to play some of gamings first releases with the news that the Virtual Console is to host old Commodore 64 games.
A little while back, Doug Lombardi, head of marketing at Valve, said that "more Portal is definitely on the way," but he didn't make it clear exactly what he meant by that. Whether it was going to a new game or just some more content wasn't made clear."Well, I believe Doug Lombardi, who's our lead marketing director at Valve, has announced Portal 2"Doug Lombardi hasn't actually announced Portal 2, so the comment by Kimberly is the first concrete confirmation of a Portal sequel. She went on to say that the game was already in the works.
CVG and Xbox World 360 magazine have been teasing gamers all week with snippets of a screenshot from a game that is a "massive deal" for Xbox 360 owners and today the final complete screenshot was revealed... it is GOLDENEYE FOR 360!!
Along with the Gears of War 2 unveiling at GDC 2008, Epic Games have also released new information about the new and improved Unreal Engine. The Unreal Engine has been at the forefront of recent game design and has been incorporated in many significant projects such as Gears of war, Rainbow 6: Vegas and Unreal Tournament. This latest announcement and video demonstrate the changes and improvements Epic have made. Now this by no means that the following content will be in Gears of War 2, but when you see what technology they have at hand, you cant help but get excited by it.
Hold your breath and check the links below... could these be the first screens to be sneaked out for Banjo Kazooie 3...? The community seem to be dying for this game to come out... Rare have said it'll be different and unique... is that a good thing or not... time will tell. The photos are taken from a game on a TV... source below but they look promising perhaps?
During Microsoft's keynote at GDC 08, Epic revealed that Gears of War 2 will launch in November. Sorry folks, there's not much else to say at the moment besides that, but isn't this enough reason to celebrate?
Finally, Nintendo has announced the European release dates for Wii Fit and Mario Kart. Wii Fit, which has already bulked more than a million people in Japan, will see a release date of April 25th. The game will come bundled with the Wii board and will install the Wii fitness channel free of charge, although no price for the bundle has yet been confirmed.
Microsoft doesn't think the death of the HD-DVD service will affect the success of the XBox360. This statement was released today:"We do not believe the recent reports about HD DVD will have any material impact on the Xbox 360 platform or our position in the marketplace. As we've long stated, we believe it is games that sell consoles and Xbox 360 continues to have the largest next-gen games library with the most exclusives and best selling games in the industry. We will wait until we hear from Toshiba before announcing any specific plans around the Xbox 360 HD DVD player. HD DVD is one of the several ways we offer a high definition experience to consumers and we will continue to give consumers the choice to enjoy digital distribution of high definition movies and TV shows directly to their living room along with playback of the DVD movies they already own."
A job advertisement within Microsoft's XBL division has given rise to rumours of an extension to the XBL brand. The advertisement outlined the following:"Want to be involved in the next release of Xbox? Join the server-backed games team, part of the Xbox live team that's responsible for creating a completely new way for mainstream audiences to enjoy the Xbox and Live," says the ad.
"We're building the games, the console interface and logic, and the server support for a totally new Live experience. Both the games and the dashboard experience will be deeply paired with dynamic server support to create a compelling, fresh scenario each time.
"We are looking for a passionate games producer to help implement our first generation games that will run in this new environment."
Card geeks! Stop squeezing your pimples and pay attention. Hasbro have today announced a new version of the cult Magic game which will be available to play online over the 360 or the PC.
Guitar Hero continues to gain momentum. The Billion dollar game has a sequel penned and an Aerosmith mod coming out if rumours are to be believed, but like an ink blot blown with a straw, the franchise won't stop branching out to different mediums altogether.
After some very poor sales, it seems like Toshiba has finally had enough of the format wars. They have decided it's time to cut their losses and bow out of the race.Sell your HD-DVD players and add-ons while you still can."We carefully assessed the long-term impact of continuing the so-called 'next-generation format war' and concluded that a swift decision will best help the market develop," said Atsutoshi Nishida, President and CEO of Toshiba Corporation. "While we are disappointed for the company and more importantly, for the consumer, the real mass market opportunity for high definition content remains untapped and Toshiba is both able and determined to use our talent, technology and intellectual property to make digital convergence a reality."
Man oh man I wish this was a hi-def console! Still, I guess ya gotta make do with what they give you right? Anyway, Nintencast have got hold of some new screenshots of Mario Kart on the Wii
It would appear that hogs of war 2, the sequel to the popular Hogs of war on the ps1 and pc has been confirmed. Infogrames earlier revealed several new titles including two new hogs of war games, one set to launch on the ps2, Wii and DS with the other being made for the Ps3 and Xbox 360. A release date hasn't been officially set for either title but both are believed to set for a 2008 launch.
Recently uploaded to our YouTube Channel, we've got a stunning tech demo for the upcoming survival horror "Alone in the Dark 5". The video shows actual gameplay on the Xbox 360 and demonstrates just how interactive and realistic the player, environment and objects can be... I think this could be a special one...! Check out the video out at YouTube Channel
Whether 3D Realms are really trying to frustrate eager fans or some thumbnails are slipping out without them knowing, we've got another possible glimpse of the game. A previous image detailing a Pigcop was released onto the Internet a while back before the recently released teaser trailer and now we have another "Alien" screenshot. This was first published at the Dallas Business Journal oddly enough...
It's a good job that the XBox 360's HD-DVD drive is optional because it looks like HD-DVD is going the way of Betamax. Extinct. Wal Mart has today confirmed that it's going to completely phase out HD-DVD products from its shelves in the coming weeks as customers are flocking to Blu Ray products.
Our Jackie does love a school shooting. The publicity seeking game-a-phobe reared his head on Fox news the other day claiming to be an 'expert' on gun toting teens, claiming that Steven Kazmierczak's violent rampage was by and large thanks to games like Counterstrike.
Activision has trademarked several peripherals, manuals and software(s?) for a tile called DJ Hero. We're thinking guitar hero, without the guitar, and with a plastic turntable instead. The legalities detailed:"Computer game software and related instruction manual sold together as a unit; interactive video game programs; computer game discs; downloadable software for use in connection with computer games; video game controllers; interactive video game comprised of a CD or DVD sold as a unit with a video game controller"The soundtrack to this could be rather excellent. Here's hoping for some Beastie Boys!
Okay, okay, we all already knew about the Blue Blur's transition to one of the slowest paced genres in the videogame industry, but, we've heard little news on the game. But, no more! BioWare has been so generous to offer IGN the "first details and screens" of the DS RPG!
Nintendo said in a report given to US Trade Representatives that it lost $975 million dollars worth of revenue from pirated DS and Wii games. While the report is definitely an exaggeration because Nintendo claims that every game that was pirated would have been a sale, the number is still quite staggering.
Jack Thompson, everyone's favourite ambulance-chaser-turned-videogame-witch-hunter has given a US audience his two cents on the University killing spree that happened earlier today, and, unsurprisingly, it's the fault of 'videogames like Counter-Strike'. Does anyone even play CS anymore?
Will Wright has pushed back the release date for Spore for three years now, but with it finally being confirmed for September 7th, EA have confirmed something of a surprise with news that the creature editor portion of the game will be released first as a standalone.
Got a Red Ring? Well statistics show you aren't alone. Warranty issuers SquareTrade have released a interesting report of which they randomly gathered 100 warranties and found that 16% of them where for the XBox 360 compared to around 3% for the PS3 and Wii.
Footage of the upcoming brawler is starting to pour in from the AOU 2008 Amusement Expo in Japan. 1up's team are there covering the event and are releasing trailers and info as it breaks. You can check out the latest Street Fighter 4 videos on our YouTube channel here including fights between old and new characters being played by attendees on pods.
As previously reported by most sites in existence, including ourselves (see below) the rumour of a new KOTOR game in production has been rubbished by EA games. Apparently, there was some confusion in a presentation given by EA CEO John Riccitiello to analysts that spurred the Internet rumour mill. A spokesperson added:"The MMO in development at Bioware Austin is listed a 'New MMO'. We apologise for any confusion this may have caused"Rumours of a sequel t0 Black have also been quashed by a Criterion employee. Is it me, or has Riccitiello been in the headlines an awful lot recently...?
EA have inadvertently disclosed that there is another KOTOR game in development. According to an analyst's report, we should be expecting the fan-friendly RPG before next April. This is very good news for anyone with an interest in either Star Wars or RPGs, because quite simply, the KOTOR games are ace.
The potential of exploiting the Marvel fan base by throwing all of its characters into an MMO seemed like a win-win situation. Not for the brains in the boardrooms though as Microsoft and Marvel have announced the cancellation of the project via mutual consent."I don't think it's necessarily a case of what went wrong, I don't know that that's the right way to put it. For us we look at our priorities and all of the things we have to do. It's a tough space. It's a very competitive space. And it's a space that's changing quite a bit. When we first entered into the development and agreement of the development of 'Marvel Universe Online,' we thought we would create another subscription-based MMO. And if you really look at the data there's basically one that's successful and everything else wouldn't meet our level or definition of commercial success."So for the ever present future at least, Warcraft still remains unchallenged at the top of the MMO tree.
Lair got some terrible reviews, most of them by and large due to its terrible control system and use of the six axis functions. Julian Eggebrecht, president of Factor 5, mostly cited that hardcore gamers couldn't get a grip of the controls and that there was actually a good game in there somewhere:"If we find a chance in the future that would bring Lair to the audience which didn't get any access, that would be fantastic. I can't say anything quite yet, but there might be something in the works there. We might have a chance yet to bring those back to the table and hopefully, if that should happen, they would give the game a second chance Nevertheless, we definitely took a long look at the results and learned a couple of lessons. If you're on a platform where this whole motion control is something new and not being pitched as the main feature of the platform, you should probably give the choice between having different control schemes, there is absolutely no doubt about it."Now whether this will be a downloadable patch or a complete re-release, don't count on having seen the last of Lair.
Trying to find out the release date of Spore has been like trying to cure a malignant tumour, but Maxis have finally come out and confirmed a European release date of September 5ht - two full days before its American release."We're in our final stages of testing and polish with Spore, and the team at Maxis can't wait to see the cosmos of content created by the community later this year.”Not long to wait then until you can create your very own universe. Or will it turn out to be a load of old Big Bang?
The Command and Conquer Red Alert series is regarded by some to be the series' finest hour, but after the success of Red Alert 2, EA decided to pursue a different and less popular avenue, Command and Conquer Generals.
It seems like the Madden franchise will not get any real competition for years to come. EA's deal with the NFL license was signed to last through 2009, but that's not enough for EA. They have now extended their contract to last through 2012.
Celebrate all of you PC gamers. Bioware has announced that Mass Effect will be coming to PC's sometime in May. The interface will be optimized for a keyboard (hotkeys!) and mouse interface.
In an article by the Official Playstation Magazine UK courtesy of N4G.com. Insomnica games have revealed a number of exciting new details about their upcoming sequel Resistance 2. The new installment to the Resistance series will continue where the first game finished, with Nathan traveling to Iceland, the base of SRPA (Special Projects Research Administration). There he will discover that he is not alone; other humans have been infected by mutant DNA who also have mutant healing and telepathic abilities. This new breed of human will be brought together as a task force known as the Sentinels, each with their own abilities and weapons.
According to sources around the Net, Apple recently filed a patent that included an application for a handheld gaming system. Could we soon be seeing the iGame?Apple is keeping quiet about it, so no one really knows if the system exists or not."…Toys, games and playthings, namely, handheld units for playing electronic games; handheld units for playing video games; stand alone video game machines; electronic games other than those adapted for use with television receivers only; LCD game machines; electronic educational game machines; toys, namely battery-powered computer games."
EA CEO John Riccitiello has admitted at DICE that the publisher made a mess of acquiring Bullfrog and Westwood developers."We at EA blew it, and to a degree I was involved in these things, so I blew it... When I talked to the creators that populated these companies at the time, they felt like they were buried and stifled... The command and conquer model doesn't work," noted Riccitiello. "If you think you're going to buy a developer and put your name on the label... you're making a profound mistake."Pledging an optimistic future for recently acquired studies Bioware and Pandemic Riccitiello intends to avoid making similar mistakes. Although it's nice to hear EA admit to 'naffing' up some great developers, I'd have preferred my "Theme Park/Hospital and C&C titles" to be coming along naturally and uninterrupted...
When a super popular title will pull in various audiences, you can expect a few versions of the game for various markets such Japanese, Europe and the USA and that's just on one console. Multi-format titles such "skate." will work in a similar fashion, but across the formats...
Rockstar has just released 5 new fantastic GTA IV videos giving an insight into some of the characters and locations from GTA IV. Personally, I think this game is gonna be one of the most comprehensive, living breathing games to date... You can check out these awesome vids on our YouTube profile, or jump to each one from the links below:
2007 was Activisions best year ever financially, but they don't show any signs of slowing down. They today confirmed a list of new titles with one of the most intriguing being a James Bond game to be released in conjunction with new film 'The Quantum Of Solace'.
Steam has announced that over the holiday season that it broke through the 15 million registered users barrier. This is due to the slew of modern classics which became available at the time i.e. Call Of Duty 4, Bioshock, Orange Box etc, but despite that, the figures are still pretty impressive."PC gaming is thriving and has evolved into an era of constant connectivity. That connectivity gives us the ability to have a much better relationship with customers, not just for delivering our games, but across all aspects of our business - including the design, development, and support of our games."The next objective for Valve, with such a strong user base, is to address the issue of piracy which has again reared its ugly head in the PC world. This could be combated with the Steamworks service to regulate user content.
Microsoft Game Studios' Shane Kim has confirmed that former EA Chicago man Kudo Tsunoda is now in charge of the 'Gears of War business'. Kim stated:"I'm really excited about it... We wanted to put more focus behind [Gears], and it's great to get a creative lead like Kudo."This isn't a confirmation of a new Gears game, but when given the option "more money" or "not more money" we'd have to think what Microsoft would opt for...
For those of you not entertaining the women this Thursday (Valentines Day) Bizarre Creations have 2 download packs launching for PGR4. One free, and one for 400 MS points. That's not too bad...
Face it, we've all done it. Whether after a ferocious onslaught of baddies, or the moment before a big boss showdown, we hit the pause button, heal our health and take a moment before we move on... It helps the player pace them self through the game but what that privilege was taken from you...
Whether you think that professional eating is a sport or just plain disgusting, you will soon have an opportunity to participate in the action without making your stomach triple in size. Mastiff Games announced that they recently purchased rights to make a game based on the Major League Eating brand. According to Mastiff:"Major League Eating: The Game features the world's greatest gurgitory athletes competing across 12 different food types. Built much like a fighting game, MLE: The Game requires players to show brilliant onscreen eating; a mastery of offensive and defensive weapons including burps, belches, and mustard gas."Not much is known about the game yet, but Major League Eating would probably make the best migration to video games in the form of a party game. Given the fast and furious aspects of the "sport" it could make an interesting party game.
Well, it had to happen sometime. Parliament is currently considering a review of the way the censors rate video games, which is hardly surprising in light of the Manhunt 2 fiasco, or so said the front page of lefty British newspaper the Guardian.
Atlus' upcoming forte into the DS strategy RPG field, dubbed 'Rondo of Swords', takes some tried-and-true staples used from even the beginnings of the genre and throws it out the window."Where other entries in the genre have you moving your warriors to stand beside an enemy before launching an attack, Rondo combines "movement" and "attacking" into a single action. To attack foes, you must move through them rather than beside them; a turn consists simply of players drawing a path of movement for each character."This small, yet highly influential change affects gameplay greatly. Where most strategies would most in most games of this genre, Rondo of Swords forces you to think of new ways to attack. This is further complicated by the games so-called 'Momentum Counter' (MC for short):
"Each fighter has a statistic called the Momentum Counter, which builds as they perform combat actions; a high MC can greatly enhance their attack power, but also makes them a more appealing target for foes."Even the plot takes a relatively common story and adds a twist or two along the way.
The PS3 game Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds will require a 5GB install. This is much like how Devil May Cry 4 requires a 5GB install before you can play the game. DMC4 took about 20 minutes to install and it seems like Hot Shots Golf will also take about 20 minutes to install.
David Jaffe had stated in an interview that his studio's next project is hidden within the game, Twisted Metal: Head On Extra Twisted. The documentary of "The Dark Past," within the game, has numbers flash on the screen. By replacing the numbers with their spot in the alphabet, you can find the message "Twisted Metal is on PSTHREE."
Namco Bandai holdings is closing down almost a fifth of the arcades that it operates in Japan, and it's all the Wii's fault. A spokesman for the rather large Japanese company said:"A lot of the types of games that people played at an arcade can now be done at home"
Check out these two pictures of greatness. If you can believe it, there is in fact a PS3 console hidden away in the beautiful models you see before you. The first is a Rainbow Six: Vegas mod which is just stunning, and below is an Assassins Creed mod. Just, awesome!
Source: Kotaku
Famitsu magazine has been translated again, and there are some hints and indications of downloadable content for Mario Karts wii debut. One suggestion is that you will be able to put your own custom Mii's in the game on any vehicle you wish, while another piece of news is the addition of the games very own channel with downloadable ghost trial data to practice against the best in the world.
Those crazy folks over at CollegeHumor.com have just released the eighth part of the awesome Street Fighter: Later Years series. You can check it out as well as the other parts to the series here
Good news Street Fighter veterans, it has been confirmed that most of the core fighters from Street Fighter 2 will be on the roster for the forthcoming fourth installment. Ryu and Ken will be joined by Chun-Li, Zangief, Blanka, Guile, Dhalsim, and E. Honda, with newcomer Crimson Viper being ninth on the list.
Remember Typing Of The Dead? The game (pictured) was a typing aid to help your spelling and also increase your words per minute as a horde of zombies bore down on you. Now Sega has confirmed 'English Of The Dead', which is pretty much the same premise except that you use the power of English to dispatch your foes.
From the "News" corporation that claimed Mass Effect has lewd sex-scenes comes another very twisted gem. Siting research sating that "videophilia" will cause people to stay in doors and not care about nature anymore, Fox attempts to pass the blame onto video games. They ignore the fact that not once did the researchers mention video games. In fact, the research was all about TV and movies. While the research itself boarders on Green Peace levels of insanity, Fox makes it worse. Instead of reporting on it like any real news source would they once more prove their hatred for video games and how not fair and balanced they are. What ever happened to journalistic integrity?
3D Realms boss Scott Miller has confirmed that the downloadable version of the original Duke Nukem 3D is coming to XBLA complete with online multiplayer support, achievements, Xbox Live score boards and a co-op mode. Kick... Ass!! 3D Realms CEO Scott Miller mentioned in an interview with BizJournal:"We're really excited about bringing classic Duke to the 360"I'm sure all hungry Duke fans share that excitement, could be a great year for fans. Duke3D to wet the lips before a hopeful end of year release of Duke Nukem Forever. Come on 3D Realms, don't let us down!
Of all sources, it is the Dallas Business Journal claiming to have confirmation of this long-awaited info coming from an email from the developer."...we may miss the mark by a month or two, but I feel very confident that we're on target this time"Stated 3D Realms CEO Scott Miller who then goes on to suggest which platforms it will arrive on:
"We haven't formally announced any platforms for DNF... But, of course hitting the big three makes the most sense (PC, PS3, 360)."Sketchy news, surrounding a sketchy game. However, with the release of the recent teaser trailer, we can rest assured the game is in production but don't hold your breathe just yet as to any guarantees regarding, well anything about it for sure!
If Japanese websites are anything to go by then it appears that Mario Kart Wii, the highly awaited sequel in the Mario kart series, will be hitting shelves in Japan on April 10th, followed shortly after by a release date of April 25th for the UK.
This coming Friday's issue of Famitsu in Japan has some fantastic coverage of the new Street Fighter title and images of the magazine have already been leaked. Originally posted by Korean gaming site Ruliweb they show info on the original 8 Street Fighter 2 characters... That's Guile, Blanka, Zangief, Dhalsim, E. Honda, Chun-Li join Ken and Ryu... but you knew that already right? I personally can't wait to get my hands on this game and have a feeling it's going to be the refreshing old/new school beat 'em up we've been longing for...
Looking like more of a free-roam exploration/rider than the traditional game we remember from the old days, I wonder how this shapes up...?
EA LA have a big secret, but EA LA are also big teases. David Silverman, EA LA's product manager, has hinted at a rather large announcement, and it's got something to do with the Command & Conquer series. A silver-tongued Silverman had this tidbit to dangle in front of us:"For several months EA LA has been keeping the mother of all secrets, and in only a few weeks a major announcement will come"What could it be? It would be fair to say that the upcoming release of the Kane's Wrath expansion pack for C&C 3: Tiberium Wars would negate the possibility of a new game set in the Tiberium universe. Those hoping for a C&C set in Val Kilmers' brain may be disappointed, but whether it be a Red Alert game or even a follow up to the lukewarm Generals, hammy acting is sure to play a big part in the proceedings.
The Folding@Home program on the Playstation 3 is a feature that allows users to donate some of their PS3’s processing power to aid in the study of protein folding. This study is helping scientists attempt to tackle the development of a number of diseases, including Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, Cystic fibrosis and certain forms of cancer.
The support for this program has reached a new milestone, as now over 1 Million ps3 users from around the world have signed up their console to participate. Sony have said that this is the equivalent of around 3000 people signing up each day, or two new members each minute worldwide since March 2007.
Vijay Pande, associate professor of Chemistry at Stanford University and Folding@Home project leader had the following to say:
“Since partnering with SCEI, we have seen our research capabilities increase by leaps and bounds through the continued participation of Folding@home users.”
"Now we have over one million PS3 users registered for Folding@home, allowing us to address questions previously considered impossible to tackle computationally, with the goal of finding cures to some of the world's most life-threatening diseases. "
"We are grateful for the extraordinary worldwide participation by PS3 and PC users around the globe”
Regardless of which console you have or support, this is great news.
Source: CVG
If you're a fan of American McGee's works, then you'll have been keeping track on a game of his called Grimm which should be out around spring. However, whilst talking about Grimm on his blog, he revealed another project in the pipeline which he calls his 'Twisted Tales' project."This is going to be a world-class product, and we're hoping to attract world-class talent to the team. If you've liked what you've seen/heard about 'Grimm', or were a fan of 'Alice' - then you'll not want to miss a chance to work on this project."
Brain Training has been shown recently on BBC's Watchdog programme following complaints that the game is discriminatory towards people in the North of England. Michelle Livesey, a presenter on Manchester's Key103 radio station was on the programme and had this to say:"Basically you have to say the different colors that flash up on the screen as quickly as possible. I'm saying, blue, blue, blue and it's saying no, even though it was blue. Then it got to yellow. I'm going, 'yeller' and everyone's saying to me you need to be a bit posher. You need to say, 'yellow' and as soon as I did, it picked it up."Presenter Nicky Campbell said the game was 'clearly discriminatory', although Nintendo were quick to point out that the manual states that you should not use a strong accent as its impossible for the game to pick up every variation of every word on the planet.
Leading graphics developers Nvidia have secured a deal to acquire PhysX creators, Ageia. PhysX is a top end physics engine used in over 140 games across the formats. NVIDIA president and CEO Jen-Hsun Huang stated:"By combining the teams that created the world's most pervasive GPU and physics engine brands, we can now bring GeForce-accelerated PhysX to hundreds of millions of gamers around the world."Equally pleased with the agreement, AGEIA co-founder and CEO Manju Hedge stated:
"NVIDIA is the perfect fit for us. They have the world's best parallel computing technology and are the thought leaders in GPUs and gaming... We are united by a common culture based on a passion for innovating and driving the consumer experience."
This is the brand new colour ps3, set to release in Japan on March 6th. The console will also come bundled with a new silver controller. There has been no official word of it being released in Europe, but you wouldn’t bet against it happening.In order to avoid any colour clashes, a silver DualShock 3 controller is also set to be released in Japan on the 6th March. A limited edition satin silver bundle pack featuring a copy of Yakuza 3 is also reportedly due on the same day.
Source: CVG
So how well did the 3 console makers do for the year of 2007? Using the data from NPD, Media Create, and EA Estimates, we can get a good idea as to how everyone did. The credit goes to ninjavanish from the 1up boards for finding all of this information.
The Gamespot saga shows no sign of letting up. There's been another high profile casualty, and this time it's Ryan Davis who's moving on to pastures new. According to Joystiq, Davis was just another employee who was non-plussed about the rather acrimonious departure of former editor Jeff Gerstmann, but interestingly, this comes within days of new editor Ricardo Torres' claims that all was swell within the Gamespot camp. In a blog written at the beginning of December, Davis wrote:"Jeff Gerstmann has been a significant figure in both my personal and professional life for a long, long time. By my recollection, we were fairly fast friends, though I was also kind of pushy about it."How many of Jeff's dudes are left at Gamespot? How many more will walk? What possessed Davis to wear that T-shirt? Answers on a postcard, please.
Microsoft has announced that it will be launching a lower priced 360 console to the Japanese market on 6th March 2008. The unit will be identical to that of the 'Arcade' SKU released in the US last year which includes: HDMI output, a wireless controller and a 256MB memory card instead of a hard drive.
When speaking with GamersGlobal, Meier expressed an interested in the MMO genre and stated it's something he would like to consider:"I would certainly like to play around with a MMO concept in future."He went to mention that his team were exploring the possibilities of it, but it wasn't 'their next project'. Meier, who's set to receive a Lifetime Achievement Award at this month's Game Developers Conference, is mostly known for singleplayer-focused strategy titles Civilization and Pirates.
"There's definitely a difference in MMO games, and that's part of the interest for me: to try something a little different..."This guy knows what he's doing and I for one would like to see his take on the MMO genre...
Sony has enjoyed lots of success over the years over all of its platforms by introducing a Platinum range, a range of classics with a cut price making for excellent value. Today, Sony confirmed that this trend is likely to continue with the PS3."We have introduced a Platinum range of best selling titles for all of our platforms to date, and it is likely that we will do so in the future for PS3. However, no decisions have yet been made on timing or line-up."However, with PS3 sales poor, you can bet your bottom dollar it will be sooner rather than later.
If you think the PS2 is dead then Sony is trying to prove you dead wrong. It has announced two new Buzz! titles for the PS2 to be released on March 11th. The titles, named 'Buzz! The Hollywood Quiz' and 'Buzz! Jr: Robo Jam', will follow the same format as the previous quiz games and will feature over 5000 questions.
In general, PS3 games are more expensive than 360 games. Most recently, Devil May Cry 4 has been singled out due to a massive £10 price discrepancy between the PS3 version and the 360 version, despite Capcom's insistence that there is no difference between the two. However, despite launching at a slightly cheaper price, Sony's first party title prices have been slyly climbing, and many gamers (and arguably retailers) feel that this is just not cricket."...as is well documented, PS3 has been a very expensive console to produce and sell. The losses are public knowledge. About six months into the year we realised we needed to increase our revenue on software to be honest. We're still in line with third parties, and it was just a business decision regarding profitability."So basically, Sony were toying with penetration pricing, but now they're creaming up prices in order to recoup costs. Reports that Satoru Iwata was heard laughing from his diamond palace earlier today are unconfirmed.
And it's not Sim City! Developers Introversion (Darwinia & DefCon) are hard at work on their new work in progress title "Subversion" which is similar to that of Sim City but on a massive, massive scale. Cities within the game are generated from the engine and each city can contain up to 70,000 buildings all with their own unique appearance. Lead programmer Chris Delay stated:"Subversion is undoubtedly the most ambitious game we've ever attempted to create - massive in scope and totally uncompromising in it's requirements. But every day I work on it I'm even more convinced - this is the big one, Introversion Software's Magnum Opus, and it's going to be the best game we will ever make."Sounds fantastic to me, could this be the living breathing city simulator we've all yearned for since we got bored of Sim City's same old approach...?
For those of you wondering just what happened to Unreal Tournament 3 on PS3 you'll be excited to know that Midway were kind enough to confirm a 22nd February 2008 release date for the eagerly anticipated multiplayer FPS.
It seems the majority of readers of Famistu magazine, Japan's gaming bible, aren't too fussed about Playstation Home and infact expressed a displeased view on the concept of Home itself. The magazine asked readers the following question with results below:"I won't allow myself to be trapped in some fake reality."
"It just doesn't look like it'd be fun as a game."
"It's more fun to enjoy myself in the real world."
Famitsu is often referred to as Japan's gaming Bible, and it's not hard to see why. They always get the first look at anything that's gestating in the land of the rising sun, and Square-Enix has provided them with some fantastic looking FFXIII/Versus screenshots, which the lovely people at FinalFantasyXIII.net have uploaded. There's an intriguing mixture of art styles, but could these be the games that really show the graphical grunt of the PS3?
The Internet wasn't too pleased with the firing of Jeff Gerstmann. Many canceled their Gamespot premium accounts, feeling that they just couldn't put their faith in a site that allegedly fired a writer over a (some would say, deservedly) scathing critique of a game that had unholy amounts of advertising money filling it's coffers. But Torres is cool. He's not going to be bullied by the guys upstairs! Infact, he thinks things are ticking over well at Old Man Gamespot's place. On his staff's morale, Torres had this to say:" We were all pretty taken aback and surprised by how it all went down. ... Hindsight's always 20/20, and I think we've made it clear that we would have loved to have done things differently, but dwelling on it isn't going to help things. ... Our goal really is to just acknowledge what happened, that we're bummed about it, but we do still need to take Gamespot forward. ... Ultimately content is going to prove to people that we're untainted, uncorrupted and committed to serving our readers"
"The simple fact is, sales has NEVER come over here to the GS edit area and told us how to write a review, ever. In fact, we've been assured repeatedly in the past few weeks that the wall that already stood between edit and sales is being reinforced to avoid any sense of impropriety"
Arguably PSN's most anticipated feature, Home has been making Sony fans giddy since it was announced back in March 2007. However, some commentators have highlighted that graphically, the game seemed a bit, well, ropey. Not any more though!
Just a few days ago, EA announced that the Orange Box had already sold a million copies. Now it seems that the parts of the Orange Box will be released separately. In an EA conference call, CEO John Riccitiello said:"From our EA Partners business we're...unbundling Orange Box and releasing separate PC SKUs: Half-Life 2, Episode 2, Portal, and Team Fortress."This doesn't necessarily mean that the Orange Box will no longer be available, but it might be phased out soon. Keep in mind that the Half Life 2 / Counterstrike Source package was phased out after the release of Half Life 2 and that Half Life 2: Episode One used to come with Half Life 2: Deathmatch. Despite the incredible success of the Orange Box, it's days as one package might be limited.
In news previously reported by games websites including dailygamesnews.com regarding statistics on DS piracy in America, ELSPA has spoke out that its provided information to the press was mis-quoted...
David Sirlon, the director of Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix has said that it is difficult to fit everything he wants to put into the game with XBLA's 150mb size cap. Sirlon was very frank with the difficulties with the size limit:"[It's] difficult to store so many 1080p graphics in such a small download size. A lot depends on the specific shading that the final art will have, and how well that shading compresses. It also makes it difficult or impossible to include all the original game's music and all remixed set of music. We're still doing our best to fit within the limit we've been given."This game is coming out for XBLA and PSN. Now the question is, if the XBLA version has to have some features stripped, will they also do the same for the PSN version?
So far Rock Band has been released for the XBox 360, PS3, and PS2, but EA's comments at an earnings conference have confirmed the existence of Rock Band for the Wii. Due to the incredible popularity of both the Wii system and Rock Band, the game will be making an appearance on the Wii soon. At a corporate earnings conference, EA's CEO said:"In terms of pacing the next few quarters, you're probably well aware of the more than $2.5 million music downloads that have occurred on Rock Band. What's probably the most interesting pieces right now is the coming launch on the Wii, the continued sale of the core platforms in North America and then the fiscal '09 launch across Europe against all of the SKU."Keep in mind that EA's "fiscal '09" is not the same as 2009, but is instead April 2008 through April 2009. This means that Rock Band for the Wii will probably come out either this summer or during the 2008 holiday season.
David Jaffe, well respected games developer but also well known for speaking his mind did just that again in the regular format. When talking to Wired's Chris Kohler he shared his view on Mario Kart..."Apparently when Miyamoto first went to Retro Studios, they were making a car combat game, he said, "Why would you make that? Why would you put a gun on a car?" And they stopped development on the game. So maybe you should answer that question. Why would you put a gun on a car?"Jaffe:
"You know, honestly, I've been too busy recently trying to figure out why the fuck go-karts shoot banana peels."Hmm, take it how you want but this guy can certainly moan... but given the supreme success of Mario Kart you have to wonder if their's a sense of bitterness in that statement...? Read the interview for yourself...
Developed by Stardock, the company who developed intuitive software applications for Windows allowing users to graphically customize their interface, comes a new planet colonizing adventure.
Not really safe for work, or minors so nothing really revealed in the main pic, but if you check out the thumbs below you'll see what's on offer. The doll was designed for Japanese figure-centric site Moeyo.com by figurine sculptor Shunya Yamashita.
Spore, the new creation from Will Wright has been in the public light for quite some time now. An exciting venture that promises some very creative and free-thinking gameplay elements. But where is it? Spore has been in development for what seems like an eternity and EA aren't too fussed in a release date mentioning "before the holidays". With a positive 2008 in sight, EA has stated:"2008 is going to be a very strong year for Electronic Arts. Whether we are talking about Spore, which has been talked about for a long time. Personally played the software, it is very impressive."Many games communities and networks have bigged up Spore, but interest is growing thin and worries grow that Spore might just disappear off the interest radar...
EA CEO John Riccitello states that when working on games for other consoles, bringing that same game to the PS3 remains to be a pain."Games where we led development on the PS3 platform, like Burnout, which is doing very well on the market today, we had no issue at all, but in circumstances where we either led on the Xbox 360 or ran parallel production, for the most part, we're still experiencing some delay on the PS3. It's a little bit more of a challenging development environment for us."He also went on to say that although the engineering has improved, there is still some work to be done.
While in-game advertising has become more common in the last few years, it seems that Sony doesn't want to jump on the bandwagon. In a recent interview with the Financial Times, Sir Howard Stringer, CEO of Sony, said:"The [supposed] solution to everything at the moment in the digital space is adsupported...While advertisers are happy to talk that up, there is a limit to the amount of money available."While Sony may feel that in-game adverts aren't profitable, that opinion is not shared by Electronic Arts, who has become known for their excessive use of in-game ads in games like BattleField 2142 and Need For Speed: Underground. Gamers might not want to see ads in their games, but as prices to make games increase publishers will continue to look for new ways to earn revenue.
