Monthly Archives: February 2009

Nintendo has confirmed to VG247 today that more American DSi release software is to be announced “closer to launch”.

The only launch title confirmed so far is Rhythm Heaven, the tap and slide music game that’s sold more than 1.6 million copies in Japan.

Rhythm Nation will debut priced at $34.99.

VG247 understands that there may be an announcement on launch software at GDC at the end of March.

DSi will launch in American on April 5. The machine releases in Europe two days earlier, on April 3.

GameTap has an exclusive Sonic the Hedgehog retrospective over on its YouTube channel.

The documentary is over 24 minutes long, broken into four parts, and features members of the original Sonic Team speaking together for the first time, including:

• Naoto Ohshima, Illustrator
• Yuji Naka, Programmer
• Hirokazu Yasuhara, Level Designer
• Shinobu Toyoda, Executive Vice President, SEGA
• Madeline Schroeder, Product Manager
• Al Nilsen, Director of Marketing, SEGA
• Roger Hector, GM, SEGA Technical Institute
• Takashi Yuda, Illustrator, “Knuckles”
• Akinori Nishiyama, GM. Sonic Team Japan
• Yuji Uekawa, Designer, Sonic Adventure
• Takashi Iizuka, Director, SEGA Technical Institute

Highlights include rare vintage videos, never-before-seen concept art featuring Sonic’s original girlfriend Madonna, Sega commercials from the 90s and Naoto Ohshima discussing how he was inspired by Michael Jackson, Bill Clinton and Santa Claus.

Watch all four parts here.

EA and American McGee are to release a follow-on title to Alice. This is pretty awesome news, popstars.

It’s in development for PC, PS3 and 360.

“This new project is a dream come true for me and the fans who’ve kept the Alice flame alive,” said McGee.

“EA gave us creative latitude and support on the original game which resulted in something beautiful and daring. This trip through the looking glass promises to be even more exciting.”

The original was released in 2000, and was subject of probably the greatest Old Man Murray review of all time. Old skool, right here.

Press release after the break.

More »

Epilogue, next week’s Prince of Persia’s DLC, is to add a new batch of Trophies to the PS3 version.

Silver Trophies

• Two Hidden
• Born Dead – Kill all the soldiers of the Epilogue before they spawn
• I Only Need a Hand or Twenty – Elika saves you fewer than 20 times in the whole Epilogue
• No Time to Waste – Complete the Epilogue in less than 2 hours

Bronze Trophies

• One Hidden
• All the Frescos – Reach all Ormazd’s Frescos in the Epilogue
• A Fresco of Light – Reach one Ormazd’s Fresco in the Epilogue
• What Once was There – First use of Energize in the Epilogue
• Bouncing From Here to There – Complete the puzzle with rebound in the Epilogue
• Leaving the Storm – Complete the Epilogue
• The Best Offense is Good Defense – Defeat any enemy of the Epilogue by only starting a combo with a Deflect and Counter-Attack
• Change Once, Then Die – In the Epilogue, defeat the Shapeshifter with only one shape change

The new content will also include a new attack, pace, power, region and  new skins.

A Stanford Professor thinks World of Warcraft could be used as a great energy-saving tool.

Byron Reeves says that by uploading a Smart Meter system into the MMO, it could inform players if they’ve left a light on or the stove running.

Speaking on Green Gaming, the prof explained his idea:

“So imagine that you’re in your home, you’re signed into [the] game… and you make a decision in the game to turn off the lights in an unused bedroom [in real life]. As soon as you do that, the Smart Meter recognizes that, sends the information through the network to your computer and your house [in the game] turns a shade of green that it wasn’t before. And if I’m using less electricity, my team might do well. I get gold pieces and points… whatever the game designers think is fun. You get feedback in an entertainment game about what you’re doing in the real world.”

Having Smart Meters as part of gameplay, he reckons, is a way to get gamers to think on an environmental level while playing their MMOs.

Thanks Kotaku.

Penny Arcade Expo dates for 2009 have been announced and pre-registration opened.

PAX 2009 will take place September 4-6 at the Washington State Trade and Convention Center in Seattle.

It’s going to be massive this year, so get involved now.

“Every year, we essentially double our attendance, but let me say right now that’s not happening for 2009,” said Penny Arcade’s Robert Khoo.

“We’ve rented every square foot in the center and it still won’t be enough. The facility has requested that we not exceed capacity, so we’re going to be closely monitoring the number of badges we sell this year.

“But, fear not. Our goal is the same as ever: to offer a world-class show to all attendees, focusing on amazing content and experiences for the truly hardcore.”

Last year’s keynote was given by Ken Levine, but there’s no word yet on who will deliver it this year.

Rockstar said today that Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars will get a sales boost when DSi hits stores.

Speaking with MCV, Rockstar UK boss Neil Stephens said that the general retail buzz around the new Nintendo handheld will directly influence sales of the game, even though it is to be released two weeks prior to the system’s launch.

“The launch of a new piece of hardware into the DS family will garner a new level of buzz and get some more hype going for the system”, he said.

“I think anyone releasing high profile titles on the DS will definitely benefit from that. We also think there is the potential to attract lots of new owners into the market, particularly from our fans who may have played our GTA titles on the PSP.”

Game hits stores on March 20.

More here.

Strategy Informer has them, and they show loads of dirt and rally vehicles.

The Codemasters racer’s out for all format this September.

Also, IGN got is hands on the Xbox 360 version. Impressions here.

Hit the links for more.

Here it is. Thingy Thingy Boy and Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix are the biggies, but there’s loads to be going on with there.

Full thing below, courtesy of Joystiq.

Playable Content

• Noby Noby Boy full game (£3.19)
• Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix full game (£11.99)

Add-on Content

• Burnout Paradise Legendary Cars pack (£6.29)
• Burnout Paradise Time Saver pack (£3.99)
• Burnout Paradise GT NightHawk car (£1.59)
• Burnout Paradise Hunter Cavalry car (£1.59)
• Burnout Paradise Manhatten Spirit car (£1.59)
• Burnout Paradise Jansen 88 Special car (£3.19)
• Mirror’s Edge Time Trial map pack (£6.29)
• Skate 2 Dyrdek’s Fantasy Plaza pack (£3.19)
• LittleBigPlanet WipEout costume kit (£2.39)
• Naruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Storm Pack 7 (free)
• Rock Band DLC (continued)
• Guitar Hero World Tour DLC (continued)

Videos

• Flower Behind the Scenes video
• Mini Ninjas Announcement video

Themes and Wallpapers

• Flower theme (free)
• LocoRoco 2 Planet theme (free)
• Mahjong Tales Ancient Wisdom theme (free)
• Cuboid theme (free)
• Magic Ball theme (free)
• Flower wallpaper (free)

Rock Band DLC

• “Wasted Again” – Turbonegro (£0.99)
• “Black Sunshine” – White Zombie (£0.99)
• “More Human than Human” – White Zombie (£0.99)
• “Pick Up The Pieces” – Average White Band (£0.99)

Guitar Hero World Tour DLC

Wings Track Pack (£4.39)

• “Junior’s Farm” (£1.59)
• “Jet” (£1.59)
• “Hi, Hi, Hi” (£1.59)

PSP Content

• World of Pool full game (£7.99)
• Spectral vs Generation full game (£9.99)
• Stateshift full game (£9.99)
• International Athletics full game (£11.99)

Gabe Newell revealed at DICE yesterday that Left 4 Dead sold one-third more on Steam last weekend than it did at launch, thanks to its 50-percent-off sale.

As well as the price drop, free trial passes and the recent DLC announcement added to the game’s overall value, said the Valve boss.

Newell did note, however, that while increased discount sales were good financially, such tactics run the risk of gamers beginning to wait for similar deals instead of paying full price at launch.

A big PvP fix for Age of Conan will patch next time you log into the game. The update includes four new dungeons.

Three new instances for maxed-out players include wing three of Black Ring Citadel, Slaughterhouse Cellar, and Xibaluku. Cradle of Decay is for mid-level players.

Class tweaks, new emotes and crafting drops have also been added to the patch.

Ton of release notes over on the AoC forums.

SCEE just announced wireless mics for SingStar, and released the peripheral’s first image.

A new version of the game, SingStar Pop Edition, will launch with the new add-ons.

The mics are compatible with both PS2 and PS3. They’re out on March 20.

Press release after the break.

More »

Resident Evil 5 isn’t a million miles away now, and Capcom’s ramping the visual updates. The firm put out a set of character art today of the BSAA, or in action film parlance, “the goodies”.

After the break. Place your bets on which one gets killed first.

More »

This is a bit of a shame. Mcrosoft’s found what it’s claiming to be the “UK’s hottest female Halo fan”. See the shots there on T3.

Obviously, she’s been dressed up in not very much and had her picture taken.

Not quite sure what the ironing picture’s about.

Home to the news. More as it happens. Thanks, Matt.

Ascaron put out new shots of the PS3 version of Sacred 2 today, showing the RPG looking pretty much like the other versions. Funny, that.

This is actually shaping up as a bit of a must-have for the dungeon massive, with little likely to oppose it in around its March 24 release.

Take a look.

More »

After the break. The RPG remake ships in Japan in April, and there’s no news of this coming west.

There’s no voice acting in the game at all, from the look of it, so an English translation for the US isn’t the most ridiculous thing to imagine.

Take a look. From Siliconera, via Destructoid.

More »

Guitar Hero: World Tour gets a dose of Wings today for both PS3 and 360.

Tracks from the Paul and Linda McCartney band encompass various albums and include Jet, Hi Hi Hi, and Junior’s Farm.

Each will run you 160 MS Points ($2.00) or 440 ($5.50) for the track pack.

Last fall, Brett Ratner said he would be bringing God of War’s Kratos to the big screen.

Looks like his plans have been shelved.

Instead, he’s to join forces once again with Chris Tucker in a swindle comedy called Trump Heist. Eddie Murphy’s in it, apparently.

God of War fans across the globe are now breathing a collective sigh of relief.

More through the link.

DICE has released a downloadable Time Trial Map for Mirror’s Edge on PC, PS3 and 360.

You’ll be going for the fastest times possible on nine different courses across seven redesigned maps.

It’s all set in an environment with zero city, cops or guns: just pure aesthetics.

The pack is available for 800 MS Points (£7/$10), and PS3 users get an additional map for free.

More information in the press release below.

More »

House of the Dead: Overkill producer Neil McEwen has told Cubed3 that Headstrong Games would “love to do Virtua Cop or another light gun game for Sega.”

Please make this so. We’d buy it. There’s no other detail at all, so all we have is hope.

Thanks, Joystiq.