Monthly Archives: March 2009

Tomy Corp has said Pangya: Fantasy Golf will be a PSP exclusive. Megaton.

“We are thrilled to introduce gamers to Pangya: Fantasy Golf, the first PSP title in our growing portfolio of interactive games,” said Tomy’s Mark Shinohara.

“Pangya offers a unique fantasy golf experience that gamers will truly appreciate. With a compelling storyline and extraordinary visuals, players can easily immerse themselves in Pangya’s mythology.”

Nine different courses based on the Pangya MMO are present, as is an in-game shop where you can buy power items, outfits, golfing gear, and so on.

It’s out this summer. Read on for the press release.

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In a fictional update on the official site, an interview with Voyager character Seven of Nine has given a less than subtle hint that Borg are to feature in Cryptic’s Star Trek Online.

“When do you think we’ll see the Borg again?” the former Borg drone is asked.

“I cannot predict when, only that it will happen.”

Recently, the Klingons were unveiled, as was the promise of some previously unseen races.

Still no word as to a beta, sadly.

Raven’s put out the first proper trailer of the next Wolfenstein. In one word: fantastic. Watch it after the break.

The clip shows plenty of in-game footage, including disintegrating Nazis and graphical shifts over entire landscapes.

Chances of this being rubbish: zero.

There’s an HD version here.

It’s out in the fourth quarter for PC, 360 and PS3.

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BioShock legend Ken Levine’s said there won’t be a sniff of his new, super-secret project for a while yet.

“Our new project is something we’re champing at the bit to talk about,” he told Gamespot.

“But we’re not showing it to anybody and won’t be for some time. In fact, the only way to get a look at it is to interview for a job with us.”

Levine did expand a little on the game, giving out the most detail on the title so far.

“Boston is focused on our next project, which will probably come as a huge surprise to our audience and yet at the same time will make total sense once they see it. I will say that we’re clicking on all cylinders,” he said.

“Besides delivering on the narrative experience we’re known for, it will include a type of gameplay that is completely new to us–something the BioShock team has never really explored in depth before. In all areas (art, design, and programming), we spend half our day being totally psyched, and half our day wondering what we’ve gotten ourselves into. We’re kind of humbled by the challenge.

“We’ve been in a huge recruiting frenzy to staff up for it. We’ve got a gaggle of Boston folks going to GDC next week to show the colors and press the flesh. In a world where world-class, brilliant developers like Ensemble no longer exist, I’m pleased to say we’re hiring. Maybe some of the industry’s brilliant refugees will seek out our staffers in their ‘Be big in Boston’ shirts at GDC. You know, ‘Give us your tired, your poor, your huddled experts in C++.’”

Expect more titbits from GDC next week.

Bungie’s included “P.S. 04/09/09″ at the end of its weekly update, which almost certainly points to the release date of Halo 3′s Mythic Map Pack.

That said, it’s Bungie. So we may get something new on Halo: ODST. Or not. Who knows?

Bungie does.

Thanks, IGN.

SXSW may not be the best for games news, but at least the Texan festival’s got some pretty pictures to look at.

ESA’s Michael Gallagher has said he’s excited about the Into The Pixel art exhibit his organization and the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences co-curate at the event.

“We’re excited to bring Into the Pixel here to SXSW, because this is one of the premier art shows in the country”, he said. “Video games are art. Without a doubt… look at the creative energy. It belongs here with film, it belongs here with music.”

Going on about game as art, Gallagher said that the first thing people notice about a game is graphics, which are all rendered artistically.

“I think graphics are one of the powerful components that draw people in”, he added.

More through the link.

Red Orchestra: Ostfront developer Tripwire Interactive is making a zombie game. A British zombie game.

Called Killing Floor, it’s six-player co-op affair. See on IGN.

It’s being described as “Dead Alive meets The Re-Animator” and a “grindhouse exploitation horror film”.

When asked if it will draw comparisons to Left 4 Dead, designer John Gibson says that it relies on a sense of dread more than an in-your-face wave of zombies.

“It is sort of like George Romero meets sci-fi. L4D goes for the constant, frantic, in-your-face fast moving zombie shock value”, he said.

“On the other hand, Killing Floor works to build a palatable sense of dread as a wave of specimens. The enemies in KF shamble towards you. That’s not to say it’s not action-packed; I’d just say there is more of a variety in pacing and in the types of enemies you fight.”

The first person shooter should be out sometime this year. No word yet on what formats.

A survey is asking people about using Netflix on Wii.

This is according to a form sent into Joystiq by a reader. The scan of the page says:

“Imagine that, as an added benefit to DVDs by mail, Netflix offers its members the ability to watch movies & TV episodes instantly on their TV via their Nintendo Wii, choosing from a library of over 12,000 choices.”

Blimey. More over here.

Good update for the US PS Movie Store this week.

The addition Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 is a good thing. Gotta love Six’s dress.

There’s loads more HD, regular movie format and TV shows, as per usual.

Most notable inclusions are Bones: Season 4, 30 Rock: Season 3 and Rob Dyrdek’s Fantasy Factory: Season 1.

After the break is the list of top downloads for last week.

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Rock Paper Shotgun has listed the new studios formed by now-defunct Ensemble Studios on one pretty page.

It’s a good thing, because we know most people are prone to ADHD, and lists help keep your brain cells organized.

Without further ado, here’s the breakdown:

Robot Entertainment: Started by Ensemble co-founder Tony Goodman in Texas with 45 other Ensemble employees hired on as staff. Currently at work on additional content for Halo Wars, online support for Age of Empires and Halo Wars, and original IP.

Bonfire Studios: Formed by David Rippy and employs 35 staffers. Currently at work on an original, super-secret IP. Promises to have a “strong strategy element” to it.

Windstorm Studios: Dusty Monk wants to bring new life into online gaming. Says new MMO will have brighter colors, cities of glass and steel, and flying cars.

Hope that’s all straightened out.

A new DSiWare game, Kuukiyomi, has been designed to teach people manners.

It’s out this spring in Japan for 500 Nintendo Points ($5).

Everyone needs manners, so if your mother never gave you any, you’re in luck.

Watch the clip below.

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Frogster’s Runes of Magic finally went live yesterday, and 700,000 people stampeded to take part in the free-to-play MMO — compared to the 650,000 that played in the open beta.

Because of the rush, Frogster opened an extra European server – bringing the total to nine – and has more at the ready if needed.

New arena matches, bosses, dungeons and guild castles have also been added since beta.

The busiest servers, Laoch and Aotacht, saw new player character creation capped until further notice.

Thanks, IncGamers.

Smash Cars is coming to PSN in April.

The RC racing title features stunt racing on a Mediterranean island. Tricks and stunts earn points and, of course, Trophies, for both online and offline play.

More over on the PS Blog.

Economy knocking you out of your gaming groove? Miss the Good Ol’ Days? Well, here’s your chance to relive them – at penny-pinching prices!

This weekend, Valve’s Steam service is bundling Oddworld: Abe’s Oddysee and its bigger, better, odder sequel Abe’s Exoddus together for a paltry $3.75. Two great games or one bad cheeseburger – the choice is pretty obvious, we think.

You could also, we suppose, buy each game separately for $2.50 a pop and still be abiding by the rules and regulations set forth by the government, but why would you even do that? It’s your money, but still.

A group of students at a Massachusetts’ Academy of Notre Dame high school are protesting over Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War. Why? It’s due to all the German Shepard shooting in the game.

According to Breanna Lucci, president of the Animal Rights Club at the school:

“Killing dogs as a form of entertainment… over and over again. That’s one of the objects of the game. Parents need to know what they are buying their kids. Killing animals should not be a form of entertainment,” she wrote.

“My little 12-pound Pomeranian, Winnie the Pooh, is sitting next to [my brother, who is playing CoD:WaW], and I’m thinking, ‘This looks horrible!’ My brother is a sweetheart. He won’t be killing dogs after playing. But some people might.”

The Massachusetts Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals’ Jen Dupras supports the students’ efforts:

“I feel like these video games are dangerous for a lot of reasons. We can all rationalize and say it’s just pretend. Even so, why pretend shooting people and dogs? They really desensitize kids and adults to what that violence signifies.”

More through the link.

Details of the Achievements to arrive with Gears of War 2′s upcoming Snowblind map pack have been revealed. Get them after the break.

The DLC, shipping March 24, will also include the new, much-toted experience-based ranking system.

Don’t look if you want to stay pure. Thanks Joystiq.

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Gamestop boss Bob McKenzie has told VentureBeat that America’s current economic don’t have much of an affect on his firm, but consumers are now more wary of overspending.

“We haven’t seen a spike that I would [attribute] directly to the economy”, he said. “However, I think consumers are definitely much more aware of the tightening of their wallets, and they’re looking at games again.”

McKenzie also said that the industry moving away from “Q4 mentality” will help ease macro-economic pain.

“[Publishers see] the need to spread it out from outside the October, November, and December launch”, he said.

“There were so many titles that came out last year in those months that you almost began to compete against your own games. This year we’ve already seen Killzone 2, Halo Wars, Street Fighter IV and Resident Evil 5 launch and do very well at retail.

“Spreading out the launches more is going to help everybody. It won’t cost them as much to market everything in the fourth quarter, and it will help to spread out the business more.”

Parappa the Rappa creator Masaya Matsuura has told MTV that there isn’t “a huge advantage to adapting to MotionPlus”.

Currently at work on his new rhythm game Major Minor’s Majestic March, Matsuura went onto say that games using the new hardware need to be built for it from the get go.

“We tried to adapt Major Minor to MotionPlus, but doing so didn’t really make it any more fun than it already was”, he said.

“Maybe MotionPlus titles need to be planned as such from the beginning.”

There’s no fixed date on MotionPlus’s release as yet.

The Chronicles of Riddick: Assault on Dark Athena has gone gold, Atari said today.

Getting excited about the Pitch Black mutliplayer mode over here.

April 7 is the day PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 users in North America will get their hands on it. Those in the rest of the world will have to wait until April 24.

Press release after the jump.

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2K says it is “aiming for simultaneous release” of BioShock 2 on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Speaking with CVG, the publisher failed to provide a release date for the game.

More details are to be revealed soon regarding multiplayer and a ship schedule.