Monthly Archives: October 2008

Get along and release it already, Microsoft. New Gears of War 2 shots came out today, showing dead cars and muscle-men, as you’d expect.

See them on Destructoid. Game’s out on November 7.

According to this Variety piece, only 45 Beatles tracks are to be included in the newly announced Harmonix game.

From the piece:

Game developers will be able to select 45 songs from the Beatles catalog recorded during their 1962-69 tenure within EMI for inclusion in the game.

“The game is in development,” said Apple Corps CEO Jeff Jones. “We don’t want to talk about how it will turn out a year from now. We’re in the process of creating the game.”

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Olivia Harrison and Yoko Ono Lennon have been part of the conversations regarding the design, layout and rollout of the game. Discussions, both creative and financial, between Apple Corps and MTV began 17 months ago, and the first contracts were signed about four weeks ago. The game will not be part of the “Rock Band” franchise, which will release an AC/DC edition on Tuesday.

The game’s out at the end of next year. Thanks, EvilAvatar.

The US PS Blog brings word that Insomniac boss Ted Price himself will be in attendance at the midnight opening of the Metreon in San Francisco for the launch of Resistance 2 next week, as will members of the firm’s community team.

There’ll be swag, signing at photos. It does not get better than that. The game’s out on November 4 in the US.

Hit the link for more.

As you can see from the state of this forum, Bethesda is taking something of a beating over alleged issues with the PS3 version of Fallout 3 from disgruntled fans.

There’s talk of lock-ups and slowdown in there. Trawl through it at your peril.

Thanks, Kotaku.

On Gamespot. There’s only two of them, but that’s better than none, right?

Take a look.

Speaking to Gamespot, Rock Band lead designer Dan Teasdale given some hints at just how much work’s been involved in getting Apple Corp to an announcement stage of the newly confirmed Beatles game. Sounds as though it hasn’t been easy.

“We started the process about 17 months ago, so it’s great to finally talk about it,” he said.

Harmonix PR chap John Drake added: “We’ve been in talks with them for a very, very, long time.

“[Apple Corps CEO] Jeff Jones was saying that they respected and appreciated what Harmonix does creatively for rhythm games… being pioneers in the field, bringing the full band experience, and we, of course, are colossal fans of the Beatles so there’s not too much to think about why it’s a great deal.”

Time isn’t an issue when you’re aiming this high, said Teasdale, who appeared to be “quite pleased” at the signing.

“The Beatles are amazing,” he said. “To make it clear, this isn’t a Rock Band game, this is a new experience for the Beatles. It’s a way to experience the Beatles’ music, it’s a way to bring this to a whole new audience as well as people who are huge fans of the Beatles.

“From our end it’s amazing… The Beatles are the biggest band in the world. They’re music legends, and to be able to bring that experience to everyone is a great honour.”

The game’s out next year. More through the link.

Microsoft’s released some footage of Avatars being included in games, as you can see after the break.

Obviously, Avatars are the visual representations of 360 owners to be included with the launch of NXE on November 19.

See for yourself.

More »

Eidos has released a PC demo of Tom Raider: Underworld. Get is from Fileshack.

It’s a 1.2Gb download and, like the 360 version released earlier this week, contains an introductory level in Thailand.

Go get.

EA’s opened beta registration to card-based RTS Battleforge: hit the official site if you want to get involved.

The game sees the player throwing cards onto the battlefield to add troops to combat, and was shown for the first time at EA’s London preview event earlier this year.

It’s supposed to be out this year, but there’s no fixed date on it as yet.

How much does it cost to make a Beatles game? A lot. We don’t know how much MTV had to pay to be able to work on an exclusive game based on the band’s music, but it wasn’t cheap, Sony Music boss Martin Bandier, told Variety.

“There have been mutterings from artists and songwriters that they are not being offered their fair share in videogames, but the gamemakers have the leverage,” he said. “In the world of rock, there are thousands of tracks that will work, but when you get into the world of unique artists, that leverage shifts, tremendously, to the artists and songwriters.

“We signed a deal that would be considered very rich by the videogame company but fair for the artists. It will have online implications that will be enormous.”

MTV and Apple Corp announced yesterday that a rhythm action game based on the Beatles’ music will release at the end of next year.

Plenty more on Variety, there.

Volition reckons it needed extra help to get the PS3 version of Red Faction: Guerilla up to muster with the 360 version.

“I mean, to be honest, we are pushing the Xbox 360 and PlayStation3 to the limits,” associate producer Sean Kennedy told OXM.

“I mean, not only has it been a balancing act making destruction work with the gameplay and making it all come together in a cohesive way that’s fun but it’s been a balancing act getting the game to run on the systems.

“One little change and you’re out of memory. When it comes to PlayStation3, there’s less memory to work with. We actually ended up hiring some from Sony to help us make our PS3 version. Fortunately, they are the same. We’ve been able to make sure that PC, 360 and PS3 versions are the same.”

So there we are. The game’s out early next year.

Update: CoD4′s taken game of the year. Activision’s taken publisher of the year.

CVG’s live-blogging the Golden Joystick awards here. The site’s clearly getting hammered. There’s a link to the video stream on that page.

We’ll update this story with the winners as they’re announced.

After the break.

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EA has just confirmed to VG247 that Steven Spielberg’s LMNO is still in production.

“Development of LMNO continues at EALA under the creative leadership of Doug Church (Creative Director) and Lou Castle (Executive Producer),” said the firm in a statement.

It was rumoured this morning that the majority of the team had been laid off in the wake of Q2 losses, announced yesterday.

EA made no comment on whether or not any developers working on the game had been made redundant.

LMNO is the codename for the second EA game signed up as a collaboration with Spielberg in 2007. The other title was codenamed PQRS at the time, and turned out to be BoomBlox.

The as yet unannounced game is thought to be an action project for 360 and PS3.

Good grief. SCEA’s announced this week’s Movie Store update early – it’s normally a Saturday morning thing – and the film section is just out of control.

Seriously, take a look. It’s got Deliverance in it. If there isn’t something for you there you’re either dead or blind. If Europe gets anything like this sort of service next year we’re in for a treat.

Eurogamer’s published a top ten of the favourite games of this week’s Eurogamer Expo – as voted for by the public – and Mirror’s Edge took the top slot away from Resident Evil 5 and Killzone 2 at joint second.

Other entries include Gears of War 2, Fallout 3 and all the rest. Take a look.

Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter has heavily dropped his 12-month price target on EA, heading south from $53.50 to $38.

The analyst is maintaining a “strong buy” rating on the firm.

Pachter also pulled back his EPS estimate for EA, down from $1.70 to $1.40.

The moves come following the announcement of both increased losses and sales in the second quarter from EA yesterday, and confirmation that the publisher is to shed 6 percent of its workforce.

Criterion’s announced Burnout Paradise The Ultimate Box – a special edition release that includes the game plus the previously Cagney and Bikes content updates, and something called “Burnout Paradise Party content.”

Apparently the Party stuff’s an offline multiplayer mode “designed to allow up to eight friends to ‘pass-the-pad’ in dozens of Burnout challenges.”

It’s going to be sold separately as DLC as well as being included in the Ultimate Box, said the developer.

The pack’s out next February.

Press release after the link.

More »

Tom Clancy’s EndWar’s going into shops day and date with Gears of War 2 on November 7, but Ubisoft Shanghai director Michael de Plater isn’t worried. The voice-comm strategy game is likely to be a slow burn, he told VG247.

“I don’t think EndWar’s all about being a blockbuster on day one,” he said.

“I think it’s a new type of game and there’s not really any direct competition. I think word of mouth is going to spread, and I think people are going to buy it and they’re going to have a lot of fun with it. I think it’s going to be on the shelves for a long time.”

De Plater isn’t scared of going out on the same day as Epic’s blockbusting action game, saying that the fact that more people will be in stores that day may even be a plus.

“I think there’ll be a lot of people going into the shops on those days, and I think we’re a different sort of game,” he added.

“Christmas is so big that if it wasn’t Gears of War 2 it’d be Fable II or Fallout or Left 4 Dead, or whatever. I just want to get the game on the shelves as soon as possible.”

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata has told Japanese press that DSi will ship outside Japan no later than next summer.

“Specific plans will be unveiled by our local subsidiaries, but an autumn or year-end launch would probably be too late,” Iwata told a meeting with analysts and reporters on Friday.

The machine goes on sale in Japan tomorrow for 18,900 yen ($192), in an effort to boost slowing domestic sales ahead of the holiday period.

Nintendo had previously pegged DSi for a “2009″ launch for the US and Europe.

More on Reuters.

Future’s Golden Joystick awards kick off in London at 2.00pm today, and it sounds as though the publisher’s got its act together in terms of covering the event live.

Streaming video’s promised, as are a live-blog and photographs from the show.

From the official site:

But now for the most important part: the winners! So don’t forget to tune in to watch the ceremony live on Friday 31st October at 2.00pm GMT where it will be webcast live here at Golden Joystick.com, on Games Radar, CVG.co.uk and Virgin Media.com.

More than 850,000 votes have been cast for the awards, so make sure you’re watching.