Monthly Archives: January 2009

Square Enix has entered a into a deal allowing it to distribute a number of Ubisoft titles across Japan.

“By partnering with the Ubisoft Group we can now work to provide high-quality overseas-produced games to Japan, thus invigorating the Japanese game market while strengthening our presence as a global leader in the video game industry,” said Square Enix company President Yoichi Wada.

“The global video game market is expected to maintain sustainable growth thanks to geographical expansion and diversification of [its] customer base.”

By Mike Bowden

The Wrath of the Lich King is currently staving off the challenge of The Sims 2 Double Deluxe which has crept in from of Will Wright’s Spore.

See the rest of the top ten below. Thanks, Kotaku.

NPD Sales Charts December 21-27

1. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
3. Spore
4. Left 4 Dead
5. The Sims 2 Apartment Life
6. Fallout 3
7. Call Of Duty: World At War
8. World Of Warcraft Battle Chest
9. The Sims 2 Mansion & Garden Stuff Exp.
10. Bejewled Twist

By Mike Bowden

The ELSPA has awarded Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet Gold Status meaning the Sony flagship title has sold over 200,000 copies in the UK.

As Edge points out, the game is still selling steadily even though it dropped out of the UK Top Ten just one week after its fourth place début.

Sony has labelled the game “evergreen” meaning it will continue to sell for the months to come and blamed the crowded holiday season for the title not remaining in the all format Top Ten for a longer period.

More through the Edge link.

By Mike Bowden

In a recent interview with GI, SCEEs Michael Denny confirmed that the company’s Studio Liverpool (WipeOut) and Evolution Studios (Motorstorm) are to merge.

The two teams have already combined their “management structure” and are currently using “combined resources,” said Denny who went on to say that each studio will continue to have their own “internal concepting group” to think up “new opportunities and new IPs.”

Full interview through the link.

Thanks, PSF.

By Mike Bowden

Nextgamer has them. Not much too see really other than two portraits against blurred backdrops.

Still, something > nothing, etc.

Softmax’s RPG, Magna Carta: Crimson Stigma, is currently in development for Xbox 360.

By Mike Bowden

Infinity Ward’s Rob Bowling has updated his blog revealing many fun facts and figures about the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare including the fact that the game has clocked up over 10 million – count ‘em (no don’t – ed) – users.

Other states include:

• 71.1%, or 7,111,508 people have completed F.N.G. – That’s more than the entire population of Hong Kong (which is 7 Million).
• 68.8%, or 6,886,509 people have completed Cargo Ship. This is the same number of adults in the US who were morbidly obese in 2005.
• 46.5%, or 5,654,643 people have beaten the game on any difficulty. This is more than the current population of Finland!
• 2.8%, or 283,632 people have completed Airplane on Veteran difficulty. The population of Stockton, CA is 280,000.

Thanks, Kotaku.

By Mike Bowden

In a statement issued last night entitled, “Keeping Gaming and Entertainment Simple”, SCEA has said that with PlayStation 3 you get “ten years of value with a future-proof system via firmware updates that offer new services and features.”

Without wishing to leave anyone in any doubt as to whether Sony was addressing its competitors in terms with the above proclamation, Sony also released a price and feature breakdown table (below) proving that very point.

If that wasn’t clear enough that the gloves were well and truly off then…well….read below:

“The Xbox 360 requires additional money, multiple upgrades and additional external devices, putting a burden on the wallet and adds clutter to the entertainment center.

“And the Wii’s lack of enhanced features comes at the expense of a comprehensive entertainment solution.

“So as PS3 continues to evolve without the need for additional parts or expenses, expect the competition to continue peddling add-ons in an effort to keep up with the Jones’.” (Sony’s emphasis)

Thanks, Edge.

By Mike Bowden

After news broke yesterday of Ziff Davies quitting the industry for good, and 1UP being bought out by UGO amid a round of redundancies, J Moses, CEO of the UGO Entertainment told MTV that he feels the criticism of UGOs treatment of 1UP and its staff is unfounded.

“We really have largely left it alone,” said Moses when questioned.

“We kept, we believe, the core editorial group that can continue to do great things. What we’re adding is 1up.com as an editorial site that will sit on top of the UGO publishing site. And we kept who we believe are the critical people who can make up a great site.”

Moses goes on to say that EGMs closure had “absolutely nothing to do with UGO.”

Full thing through the link.

A press release from Sony Pictures announcing the 25th Anniversary of the Ghostbusters movie,has inadvertently leaked the release date for Ghostbusters: The Videogame.

From the release:

America’s favorite paranormal psychologists are back to save the world, this time with unsurpassed picture and audio quality and advanced new bonus features in the Ghostbusters Blu-ray Disc, releasing worldwide the week of June 16, 2009. The simultaneous launch of Ghostbusters: The Video Game, the highly anticipated videogame from Atari, celebrates the film’s 25th anniversary, with an all-new adventure from by the film’s original writers.

So, the week of June 16 is it, then?

We’ll check with Atari if we ever stop trying to catch up with last night’s and this morning’s news.

Update: MCV reports that Atari has confirmed a June 19th release date.

By Mike Bowden

According to a report by Crispygamer, Harmonix co-founder and CEO Alex Rigopulous has said that 2009 will not see a new instalment of the Rock Band franchise this year.

The development house is instead choosing to concentrate all its efforts on the new Beatles game the company announced back in October last year.

“We’ve actually made a choice to break out of the annual release cycle for Rock Band this year,” said Rigopulous. “[This is] partly because the annual cycle places limits on the choices you can make as a developer.

“We’re trying to take a long term view.”

More through the link.

By Mike Bowden

Kevin Furuichi, executive producer, PlayStation Network has updated the PSBlog to reveal that the next episode of Qore will feature F.E.A.R. 2, Killzone 2 and Heavy Rain.

They talk to Quantic’s Veronica Bellmont about motion capture, Monolith about sound and Guerilla about Killzone 2.

Don’t believe us? See for yourself after the break.

By Mike Bowden

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After the break you can see a gameplay walkthrough from producer Morgan Gray for Capcom’s new action adventure game, Dark Void.

It’s a third-person, duck and cover shooter by the looks of things, but if done right, that’s no bad thing at all.

If that wasn’t enough, Gamespot‘s got loads of new images for you to gawp at too.

Dark Void is pencilled in for “2009″ for PC, 360 and PS3.

By Mike Bowden

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Found something: Speaking at CES 09 at the Las Vegas Convention centre last night, Microsoft’s president of the Entertainment and Devices Division, Robbie Bach, said that 25 million Halo games have been sold so far in the franchise.

He went on to say that the average Halo 3 Xbox Live players average at about 150 hours of gameplay.

Bach also added that 3 million people signed up for its Live service within the last three months.

Thanks, IGN.

By Mike Bowden

Major Nelson‘s hosting the full audio of Microsoft’s CES 09 Keynote at the Vegas Convention Centre last night,

If there’s more in there than the Kodu announcement, Halo Wars release date and Bach’s re-confirmation that Primetime is coming this Spring, please let us know.

Fill your boots.

By Mike Bowden

Console peripheral firm, Nyko, unveiled a new Wii-mote at CES 09 in Las Vegas last night called The Wand.

Although looking like a tarted up version of the original, The Wand will apparently use Trans-Port technology which, according to CNet, will allow “compatible devices to take advantage of functionality not always available in current Wii remote accessories” like featuring full force feedback and other wonderful things like that.

The Wand will go on sale in the US in April. No price has been given.

More the link.

By Mike Bowden

Microsoft’s president of the Entertainment and Devices Division, Robbie Bach, told a news-hungry – read: starved – crowd at CES 09 last night that Xbox Live Primetime would be arriving in the Spring.

However, Microsoft had already announced that the service (including the game quiz game 1v100 where you can apparently win real prizes) would be delayed delayed until Spring back in October last year, so let’s call Bach’s “announcement” another confirmation of that fact.

Tough crowd.

Thanks, Destructiod.

By Mike Bowden

During last night’s CES 09 keynote, Microsoft’s president of the Entertainment and Devices Division, Robbie Bach, unveiled a new Community game entitled Kodu.

The official blurb reads:

“Kodu” is a pick-up-and-create game where anyone can build their own unique world in just minutes using a simple image-based creator menu that makes game creation simple for anyone, from ages seven to 70. “Kodu” created playgrounds are expressed in physical action-reaction terms, using basic concepts like vision, hearing and time to control your character’s behavior.

Bach apparently demoed the game live on stage with a 12 year girl called Sparrow.

Full release after the break.

By Mike Bowden

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By far the most popular piece of news to emerge from last night’s CES 09 Microsoft Keynote was that Ensemble’s 360 exclusive RTS, Halo Wars, will be released on February 28 with a demo scheduled to hit Live on on the 5th of the same month.

Microsoft told the world last year that the US would get the game in March whilst Europe could grab it on Feb 27. This new date now brings parity between the regions.

Microsoft will close Ensemble Studios post Halo Wars release.

By Mike Bowden

PlayStation Home community manager CydoniaX has posted on the PlayStation Blog that a bumper update for lifestyle sim, Home, is due in this week.

The update includes a Red Bull space called Red Bull Island, “Ligne Roset and Diesel will now have their own storefronts in the PlayStation Home Mall, so that you will be able to locate these brands more easily,” Resident Evil: Degeneration themed T-shirts and if you’re on the US and pre-ordered Killzone 2 through Amazon.com, you’ll get some Killzone costumes too.

Through the link for more details.

By Mike Bowden

After the break. Watch as protagonist Alex Mercer changes shape, leaps through the air, and comes crashing down with such an almighty thud that the shock waves uproot concrete and send cars flying through the air in this new footage of Radical Entertainment’s sandbox game, Prototype.

If that isn’t gaming at its finest, then we don’t know what is.

So this is what the clock was counting down to.

Anyway, watch after the break.

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