Monthly Archives: February 2009

Sony’s claimed it now has 2 million PSN accounts registered in Japan, reports Dengeki.

The benchmark was reached yesterday.

SCE said that 700,000 accounts access PSN in Japan, downloading 35 million pieces of content.

Thanks, Kotaku.

This week, Japanese hardware sales held steady – like an abandoned puppy waiting for its heartless master – only shuffling a lonely limb or two as needed to survive. Yeah. You’re reading about Japanese videogame hardware sales, and real, saucer-eyed canines are out there somewhere without even a sweater to their names.

Sickening.

Here are the figures:

• DSi – 53,483
• PSP – 34,256
• Wii – 21,016
• PS3 – 18,656
• DS Lite – 14,810
• Xbox 360 – 9,833
• PS2 – 5,332

Thanks, Chart Get.

Sega has informed Shacknews that a demo of Creative Assembly’s latest look-at-all-the-ants strategy title will be released on Steam today at 4.00pm GMT (11 am EST).

The demo’s contents are still under lock and key, but really, it’s a quick demo. Why spoil it? Game’s set for a March 3 release date in America – and an insufferable 24 hours later everywhere else.

That’s better. Raven put out a bunch of new Singularity screens at DICE last night, and they’re all looking a damn sight better than the last lot. See them on IGN.

Singularity’s based on a Soviet time-warp storyline, and… That’s probably all you need to know.

The game’s one of Acitivision’s three new IPs for 2009, the others being Bizarre’s racer and open-world actioner, Prototype.

Out in Q4 for PC and consoles.

Bit slow on this, we’re sorry. The latest Resident Evil 5 trailer’s out, and looks sensational, to be blunt.

So what if it handles like a bored housewife on temazepam? It’s got zombies and tits in it.

As you can now see. It’s out next month.

More »

Media Molecule’s LittleBigPlanet has swept the board at the 12th Annual Interactive Achievement Awards in Las Vegas, taking eight trophies from the ceremony.

The platformer won Family Game of the Year, Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction, Outstanding Achievement in Visual Engineering, Outstanding Character Performance, Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction, Console Game of the Year, and, obviously, Overall Game of the Year.

Fallout 3, Left 4 Dead and Dead Space all did well on the night, but there was no stopping the little sack man.

Full list of winners, in bold, after the break. Thanks, Gamespot.

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Nelson’s responded to reports that dormant Live IDs could lead to Gamertags – and all associated Gamerscore – being wiped from Xbox Live, saying that Microsoft’s looking for a solution and that the issue is “rare”.

“In the rare case that you DO NOT sign in to Xbox.com or another website that uses Windows LIVE ID (like Hotmail) it is possible that your Windows LIVE ID expires (goes dormant),” said the exec.

“An Xbox LIVE Gamertag is unrecoverable from the system only when the associated Windows Live ID has become dormant and the Gamertag has been deleted from all Xbox 360 consoles.”

He added: “We are actively working on an update that will allow you to link your Gamertag to a new Windows Live ID if one becomes dormant.”

Just use your Hotmail, OK? Before you’re punished by having four year’s worth of Gamerscore wiped.

SCEA said today that it’s to release “Killzone in 4D,” a real-time version of a US Killzone 2 TV ad to “offer some insight” into the game’s technology.

You can watch the ad in question after the break.

“The Killzone 2 engine is phenomenally powerful,” said SCEA marketing boss Scott Steinberg, writing on the PS Blog.

“To offer you some insight into the technology behind this game, we will release a playable version of this in-engine ad vignette on the PlayStation Network coming in March.

“You’ll be able to control the camera and hear director commentary on how the production was completed using only the game’s technology. The project codename is ‘Killzone in 4-D’ – hope you can check it out.”

Killzone 2 releases on February 27.

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Bonfire Studios has been announced, the second outfit to emerge from the death of Ensemble. Robot Entertainment was formed earlier this week.

The new company’s based in Dallas, Texas, and is working on a “fast, fun and addictive game,” according to its site.

“Most of the core team from Ensemble Studios that created Halo Wars is working on this game.”

“Ensemble had an incredible group of highly talented people and the companies coming out of it are really made up of the best of the best. Ensemble was one of the few studios with two A-teams,” said David Rippy, studio president.

“We are already working on an original IP that we’ll start talking about in the next few months.”

Bonfire has taken 35 staff from the now defunct Ensemble.

On the PS Blog. Europe got the SFII HD Remix yesterday. America got Zuma. Both got Noby Noby Boy.

More thrills next week.

Looks as though Ubisoft is still working on Rabbids Go Home, if the resume for programmer Julien Delezenne is any indication.

According to Delezenne’s CV, he has been working on the Raving Rabbids game since 2007, and is also hard at work on Beyond Good & Evil 2.

Rabbids Go Home was announced last year, but nothing’s been heard about it since.

A renaissance of sorts is happening in the games industry, according to Flower creator Jenova Chen.

He feels that new developers now coming out of college will usher in a new era of cheaper and more emotional content.

“All these companies are designing these games particularly to these groups; they never really focus on the old,” he told GamesIndustry.biz.

“But as more companies make games for this audience, they are overlapping in terms of emotional content. They are really competing with each other on production values.

“You have two space marine games. Which are you going to choose? Gears of War 2 or Resistance 2? The decision is based on who has the better-looking character, more levels, or a longer play-time.

The industry is focusing on who has the best tech rather than who has the more emotional or intellectual experience.”

More through the link.

Harmonix and MTV Games are donating a minimum of $50,000 to the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

The two companies plan on bringing the “the power of music” to children with life-threatening health issues.

“We all know that music is healing, and we are expecting Rock Band products to have a powerful, therapeutic effect on our children,” said Starlight head, Paula Van Ness.

“Rock Band will provide distractive entertainment therapy for thousands of seriously ill children and their families, both in the hospital setting and on an out-patient basis.”

The partnership will also help Starlight families attend Rock Band tour events, provide more Rock Band bundles and sponsor-themed Great Escape family activities.

More than 650 Rock Band bundles have been handed over to ill children at Great Escape family events and to hospitals around the country.

Nice of them to give back.

Press release after the jump.

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Criterion and EA managed a major snafu this morning when XBL Marketplace received Burnout Paradise DLC complete with secret details on the Boost Specials and Toy Car packs.

Text on three previously unannounced Toy Cars and a second car for the Boost Specials has since been pulled.

Thanks, Kotaku

Following reports of complaints about Mad Catz’s Street Fighter IV FightSticks getting stuck thanks to lose washers, the peripherals firm has said it’s had less than 50 complaints about the issue.

The issue “does NOT happen on each Arcade FightStick and has been reported on a small number of units,” said Alex Verrey, Mad Catz PR boss.

Verrey told 1UP that complaints on the matter were “well under 50,” and that the issue had “blown out of proportion.”

Glad that’s sorted out. Thanks, Joystiq.

Rockstar has issued a statement to VG247 confirming that some versions of GTA IV have been censored by the game’s latest title update, and that the “error” is to be fixed immediately.

“We are aware of an error with the latest GTA IV title update and are confident the issue will be fixed within the next few hours,” said a rep.

“We apologize to our fans for any inconvenience caused.”

It was reported earlier today that Europeans had noticed pools of blood missing from around corpses, and camera angles dropped from sex scenes in the game.

Many had assumed The Lost and Damned had been the cause of the changes, by, as you can see, it was the separate patch.

Still, not to worry. You’ll have you blood back pronto.

Update – Oh. It’s been fixed.

Like, dude. Guitar Hero: Metallica has misspelled Lynyrd Skynyrd on its packaging, which in metal circles is probably akin to killing someone’s mother, or something.

Rolling Stone noticed the mistake. The game’s cover displays the names of all the artists involved.

The offending letter? A “y”. It says “Lynyrd Skynrd” on the box.

Just keeping you informed. Thanks, Yahoo.

Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi told DICE yesterday Capcom’s ten-point plan for making good games. As you do.

The first three:

1. Keep staff turnover below 10 percent per annum.
2. Maintain the ability (and cash reserves) to increase personnel by 10 percent each year.
3. Keeping the first two points in mind, keep development cost fluctuation within 10 percent.

See, developers of the world? Easy. Get the rest on MTV.

Bethesda’s put out the first shots of The Pitt, the second piece of Fallout 3 DLC.

Get them on Shacknews.

A summary of the content’s also been released. Below:

The Pitt opens with a desperate radio message, and a meeting with its sender, an escaped slave named Wernher. Wernher claims that the leader of “The Pitt” has created a cure for mutations… and he needs you to go in and retrieve it. From there, the player can proceed in a number of ways, in true Fallout 3 style. Do you fight your way in, or disguise yourself as a slave? Ally with the slaves, or join their Raider overlords? The Pitt is very morally ambiguous – there’s no real right or wrong, just choices to be made, sides to be chosen, and a mystery that could send shockwaves throughout the entire Wasteland.

Key Features:

• Explore an entire new area – the post-apocalyptic ruins of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, known as The Pitt!
• Find and use new weaponry, such as the AutoAxe, a new melee weapon with a powerful, serrated rotary blade hungry for flesh.
• Discover new side quests and subtle plot elements and determine your path in this place where nothing is “right” or “wrong.”
• Exclusive new perks and achievements!

It’s out in March.

EA’s John Riccitiello has told DICE attendees that the recession has “been a blessing in disguise that can clear away junk”.

Speaking at the Las Vegas summit today, the exec said current economic issues will lead to the industry stop sending pointless product to retail stores.

“Junk is hard to compete with,” said Riccitiello who said he felt that developers should shift their focus on quality, and away from quantity.

“We did get fat in too many places. It seemed like anyone who could draw a guy with a gun with a crayon could get funded. At least for EA, we got a little too fat, and a little too reliant on where things were.

“I’m not pro-recession but to quote Rahm Emanuel: never waste a crisis.”

More through the link.