Monthly Archives: February 2009

It’s so on. VG247 has learned this morning that Will Wright, Warren Spector, Neil Young, Rob Pardo and Phil Harrison are all confirmed for Dave Perry’s Luminaries Lunch at GDC next month.

The chat takes place on March 25 at 1.00pm PST.

The inaugural event at last year’s GDC bore witness to some spectacular quotes from Harrison, who openly criticised Sony’s approach to gaming as a whole. He quit the firm days later.

The addition of Wright and Blzzard boss Pardo to the line-up for 2009′s panel will only add weight to what was dubbed “GDC’s best session” last year by some.

Discussion will be about the future of the industry, new concepts in technology, recent non-gaming related developments and entertainment trends.

It’s invite-only, Ringo. We’ll be there, obviously, which means you will be to. See how that works?

Drakensang: The River Of Time has been announced by dtp entertainment, and is expected for early 2010 release on PC.

Not much is known about the game at this point, other than the fact it’s a prequel to Drakensang: The Dark Eye.

One thing is for sure though: expect more of the cool medieval music that keeps us RPG fans all of a tizzy.

More over at the official website.

Infinity Ward’s Rob Bowling’s confirmed that Call of Duty 4′s to get another double XP weekend, starting February 27.

The PR chief also said the Variety Map Pack is to be reduced 50 percent from February 24.

There’s more on Bowling’s blog.

We’ve just been told that the new MGO expansion listed in Dengeki this week is about to be announced.

Sounds as though it’s going to be a worldwide thing.

The pack, named “Scene Expansion,” adds Vamp and Raiden as new characters.

You’ll get three new levels as well, in Hard House, Outer Outlet and Ravaged Riverfront.

More soon.

DoubleFine’s Brutal Legend is to get a viewing at GDC, according to Kotaku.

There’s no more detail, but what else do you need? The Jack Black rock-off’s hotter than a lump of lava in a burning sack.

GDC’s on in San Francisco at the end of March.

Don’t know how long this will last, but if you want to sit around watching someone play Square Enix’s Star Ocean: The Last Hope then you can here.

Picture quality isn’t great, and it’s of course all in Japanese, but there’s more than enough there to give you an idea of how the RPG will play.

You may also notice that fighting as a female always gives you a celebratory up-skirt shot when you win. Or so we’re told, anyway…

According to the latest issue of Dengeki, a third Metal Gear Online expansion is in the works, planned for release in mid-March.

Apparently named “Scene Expansion,” the add-on is to include Vamp and Raiden and new characters.

You’ll get three new levels as well, in Hard House, Outer Outlet and Ravaged Riverfront.

Chances of this heading west: high. We’ll check now. Thanks, NeoGAF.

Masahiro Sakurai, creator of Nintendo character Kirby and designer of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, is working on a new Nintendo game, the company’s confirmed.

Details on the title are zero, although it’s not another Smash Bros.

“It’s not Smash Bros.,” Sakurai said, “I can promise an experience that’s different from anything [you've played] up until now.”

Sakurai’s new firm is mainly owned by Nintendo.

More on Kotaku.

Famitsu’s gievn Sega open-worlder Yakuza 3 a 38/40 review score.

To celebrate, Sega will release a demo on the Japanese PSN tomorrow, which will weigh in at 1.22Gb.

Sega has already told us that there are no plans for Yakuza 3 hitting the West any time soon.

Other notable scores in this week’s mag include Halo Wars, which scored 32/40, and, of course, High School Musical Wii, which unfortunately was only awarded 27/40.

Thanks, Gaf.

Bethesda’s Todd Howard’s said his main industry concern is that Wii’s being under-served with shoddy software aimed at exploiting children.

“I’m worried the Wii is getting stuck with quick-buck games aimed at children who don’t know any better,” he said, speaking in an interview with the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences.

And it’s not just Wii being pigeon-holed, apparently. Reiterating a comment he made at ComicCon recently, the developer said that “360 and PS3 are all about M rated killfests.”

He added: “As an industry, we have to make sure the world knows that gaming is for everyone, and not just kids or thirtysomethings who never grew up.”

Howard was speaking with the Academy ahead of DICE, which starts in Las Vegas today.

Offworld’s reporting that the PC version of Braid will release on March 31 for $20.

It’ll appear on Stardock’s Impulse distribution platform for definite, but don’t be too shocked if Steam gets a look in as well.

Thanks, IndieGames.

Infinity Ward comms boss Rob Bowling’s has launched a Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Twitter app, as you can see on his blog.

“The #MW2 app went live earlier today, and within an hour was already the #2 most talked about topic on Twitter (just behind American Idol). I was blown away with the response to our first question, Name one thing you’d like to see in Modern Warfare 2′,” said Bowling.

If you haven’t signed up for the last great assault on natural attention spans, get to it.

The game’s out at the end of this year.

505 and 1C have released a single-player demo for World War II RTS Men of War.

The full game releases for PC on February 27.

The demo includes the full opening stage of the Russian campaign. Downloaders will also get the chance to try out the “direct control” feature, which enables control of units using the directional keys instead of the mouse.

You can also get behind the controls of a tank to “smash through obstacles, crush soldiers under your tracks and fire armor-piercing shells at enemy placements”.

Lovely. Who hasn’t wanted to drive a tank over someone at one point in their life?

Get it from Strategy Informer.

Odd and strangely fun-looking Noby Noby Boy will be released in the UK February 19, the same day as the rest of the world.

Hopefully PSN can keep releasing things simultaneously worldwide from here on out.

The game will cost £3.19 and $4.99 in the US, and since it’s so cheap, there is no reason not to give it a try.

Wii owners are to finally get a grand taste of Nirvana: seven master recordings from the album Nevermind are on the way.

The songs – Breed, Lounge Act, On a Plain, Polly, Something in the Way, Stay Away, and Territorial Pissings – are up for grabs through the Rock Band Music Store.

These join In Bloom from the original game disc, and Drain You, included in Rock Band 2.

Each track runs the usual $2 (200 Wii Points) through the in-game Rock Band 2 Music Store.

According to this Eurogamer piece, Mass Effect is to be released as a budget title in Europe on March 20.

The sci-fi RPG, which will join 360′s Classic range, will be a two-disc edition and will cost £20.

Silly cheap. You owe it to yourself.

Part of The Lost and Damned’s soundtrack is now available exclusively on iTunes.

This first release is a collection of six original tracks produced by hip-hop DJ Statik Selektah and features the following:

• Termanology – Here in Liberty City
• Freeway – Car Jack
• Saigon – Spit
• Skyzoo – the Chase Is On
• Consequence – I Hear Footsteps
• Talib Kweli – My Favorite Song

The second release features “highlights” from the overall soundtrack, which will be made available in full on the iTunes Store soon.

Press release after the jump.

More »

US games media agency Giant Realm is now ranked at third in comScore’s Gaming Information category.

“The January comScore data is further validation that we’ve built an effective advertising platform to reach active young male consumers in this age of audience fragmentation,” said CEO James Green.

“But we aren’t relying on numbers alone. By representing active communities and by having the right internal systems in place, we’re able to deliver highly-targeted, highly successful campaigns for our clients.”

The company sells ads, basically. Read more power-speak through the link.

More »

Noby Noby Boy will be getting more downloadable content in the future, according to game creator Keita Takahashi.

Speaking in an interview with Eurogamer, Takahashi said: “We will make a big update approximately two months after the release. I think we will be able to present the content pretty soon.”

He did add that any further updates rest in the hands of the gamer.

“Without having a lot of people playing the game, I don’t think that the decison-makers at the company will allow another update,” he said.

“So I want many people to play the game. Please allow me to keep updating the game!”

The man has spoken.

Read the full interview through the link.

Global Agenda, the spy-fi action MMO from Hi-Rez Studios, is about to enter closed beta and needs people to sign up.

Taking place in the future, the game depicts an Earth after an environmental disaster’s left few places habitable.

Robots have taken over the most sought after area, and have formed a government you should probably destroy.

It’s expected to be PvP-heavy and currently has over 1,000 active alpha testers.

It’s out Q2 this year. IGN has loads of shots and a trailer here.

To sign up for the beta, head on over to the official site.