Monthly Archives: March 2009

As you can see on Unity, Biohazard: Darkside Chronicles has been announced for Wii. There’s an image of a Famitsu page through there.

Looks like a lightgun game with Leon and Claire, kids.

Expect more detail to pop up this morning.

EYA Interactive has released a new trailer for upcoming MMO Titan Online, which takes place in ancient China. An ancient China riddled with robots.

The game is a free-to-play fantasy fusion of martial arts and robots, based on the Korean novel Mo Siang.

A limited public beta launches on March 19. Head on over and sign up if this sounds like your kind of thing.

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Gameloft has joined forced with Warner Bros for an iPhone version of Terminator Salvation, according to an interview on MTV Multiplayer.

The 3D action-adventure game is expected to be released the same day as the film, May 22. Previous mobile games from Gameloft include Brothers in Arms: Art of War.

Expect GRIN’s PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 version to arrive the same day.

2DBoy is posting a seven-part series depicting the beginnings of World of Goo all the way through to the end of development.

The first one posted allows you to download and play an early build.

Hit the link above to do just that.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

PSN users rejoice! Now if you miss your favorite NBC show, you can get it from the PlayStation Network the very next day in HD and SD format.

Films from NBC-Universal will be available also, and so far this all there is–hopefully more to be announced soon.

• Milk
• Role Models
• 40-Year Old Virgin
• The Big Lebowski

• The Office
• Heroes
• 30 Rock
• Battlestar Galactica
• Eureka

Already available on Hulu, NBC is doing its best to offer comsumers another alternative to the TV set, and is the first major network to offer shows in HD and online.

Thanks, D’toid

A promotional insert has been included in the Star Trek: Season One Blu-ray disc revealing a Star Trek D·A·C game, expected to be released on April 28 along with the feature film.

Nothing has officially been announced at this point, but it is known that Naked Sky Entertainment is handling the development.

Kotaku is saying it is an XBLA and PSN title, so keep checking back with us because something has to be announced soon.

Take-Two boss Strauss Zelnick said in the firm’s Q1 earnings call today that mature content on Nintendo platforms is something he’s going to do well. Go, Strauss.

“I do believe there is an opportunity for M-rated titles on Nintendo,on the DS and on the Wii,” he said. “I believe we’re the right company to be delivering that content.”

Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars is out March 20. Where’s GTA for Wii, then?

PalTalk, an online chat company, has filed a $90 million lawsuit against Microsoft over two patent infringement pertaining to Xbox products.

Allegedly, Halo and Microsoft’s console use patents registered to MPath Interactive that control “interactive applications over multiple computers”.

MPath, the makers of MPlayer PC, VoIP, and HearMe (PalTalk) was described by Max Tribble, Pal’s lawyer, as “a pioneer in the online video industry in the area of real-time, multiplayer online games.”

“Microsoft had many meetings with MPath regarding their technology, and Microsoft found the technology to be very valuable,” he added.

Microsoft’s lawyer admits that the company did review MPath technology, but decided not to use it; plus the patents MS acquired were for less than $200,000 and only pertained to dial-up communication which doesn’t cover “the way the Halo games work.”

A motion for partial judgment was filed by Microsoft, but was denied by Judge David Folsom because it “has not met its burden of showing that the two patents were anticipated by clear and convincing evidence.”

A video showing off Guitar Hero: Metallica’s co-op mode has shown up on YouTube, and features two guys trying their best to keep up with Master of Puppets.

It’s posted after the break.

The first minute-and-a-half of the video’s extremely slow going as the players get ready to “rock”, but if you are patient enough, or inclined to fast forward a bit, you should get an general idea of what to expect.

Kind of makes your fingers ache just watching it.

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Today, Mythic will be performing a final transfer of characters from several of the servers: 43 of them, to be exact.

All characters on the servers listed here will be consolidated onto another destination server, with all source servers eventually closing.

Items in your character’s inventory (equipped or otherwise) and bank vault, bio, quests, tomes, friend list, and guild info will be transferred with you.

Auction items, guild alliances, and in-game mail and attachments will not be transferable. This includes any promotional or collector’s edition items, so be sure to get them out of the bank or mail or you’ll lose them.

Transfer failures, questions, and other possible hiccups can be found by hitting the link above.

This does not bode well for the world of Hamerfall.

Ever wonder what game industry CEOs make in a year?  It’s loads more than any of us, we guarantee.

According to The Game Trade Journal, between bonuses, stock options and incentives, the following CEOs are paid the most according to proxy statements filed with the SEC.

• Activision – Bobby Kotick: $14.9 Million; Base pay is $899,560 plus $5 million in bonuses last year with $3 million in incentives with $5.9 million of that in exercised stock options. Before the Vivendi merger, his grand total for the year was $2.8 million. (Activision lost $107 million in 2008)

• Electronic Arts – John Riccitiello: $5 Million; Base is $750,000, $3.6 million in stock options, $625,350 in incentives. (EA posted a loss of $641 million in Q4)

• THQ – Brian Farrell: $2.7 million; Base pay was $600,000 lower than 2007 which last year amounted to $651,087 and $1.4 million in option awards (THQ posed a $192 million loss for Q3)

• GameStop – Dan DeMatteo: $4.9 million; Expected to get a $2.4 million bonus this year.

• Midway -Matt Booty: $387,584; That figure is since October 2008. The previous CEO, David Zucker took in $1.5 million.

• Majesco – Jesse Sutton: $943,847; Base pay of $356,073 and a bonus almost equal that amount (Majesco’s net was $3.4 million last year)

• Take Two – Ben Feder: $1; Take-Two paid him $1 last year excluding health benefits because his check comes from Take-Two Chairman Strauss Zelnick. (Take-Two reported a profit of $97 million last year)

Thanks, Evil Avatar

It’s over! Here’s who won, courtesy of the Times. Thanks, GoNintendo.

THE BAFTA WINNERS

ACTION & ADVENTURE
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

ARTISTIC ACHIEVEMENT
LittleBigPlanet (PS3)

BEST GAME
Super Mario Galaxy (Wii)

CASUAL
Boom Blox (Wii)

GAMEPLAY
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

HANDHELD
Professor Layton and the Curious Village (DS)

MULTIPLAYER
Left 4 Dead (PC, Xbox 360)

ORIGINAL SCORE
Dead Space (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

SPORTS
Race Driver: GRID (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

STORY AND CHARACTER
Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

STRATEGY
Sid Meier’s Civilization Revolution (DS, PS3, Xbox 360)

TECHNICAL ACHIEVEMENT
Spore (Mac/PC)

USE OF AUDIO
Dead Space (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

THE BAFTA FELLOWSHIP
To Nolan Bushnell, creator of Pong and founder of Atari

BAFTA ONES TO WATCH AWARD
Boro-Toro

Bioshock 2 teaser Somethinginthesea.com has updated again, revealing clippings detailing “Ghost Lights” given to kidnapping little girls off the East Coast of America.

Also, there’s now a cross in the middle of the map which is most likely the “HQ” alluded to in the site’s random scrawlings.

Our sources tell us there’s four more of these to go before something happens.

Exciting, huh?

Monolith and Warner Bros announced new downloadable content for F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin today, to release in April.

The new content includes a Toy Soldiers multiplayer map pack and a premium theme and picture pack.

No word yet on exactly which format to expect it on first, but we will keep you posted.

Game Informer’s put up the cover of its latest issue, showing the female Big Daddy suit rumoured over the weekend.

Go see. Looks pretty cool, to be fair.

Here. The press release with all the awards results is being released at 10.30pm GMT.

Looks as though Call of Duty 4′s winning everything. Giant shocks there.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Update: You could watch this instead, if you wanted to drive yourself mad. Thanks, tonynibbles.

Take-Two’s confirmed GTA IV sales have now reached the 13 million mark worldwide.

“Over 13 million units of Rockstar Games’ Grand Theft Auto IV have been shipped as of January 31, 2009,” said the firm in its first quarter financial release.

No figures were release in either the cash statement or the now-concluded – and painfully quick – earnings call as to how many units of The Lost and Damned have been downloaded for the game’s 360 version.

The second piece of 360-exclusive DLC has now been confirmed for release before November this year.

Take-Two’s confirmed a first quarter loss of $50.4 million compared to a net loss of $38.0 million in the same period last year.

The publisher pinned the drop on “higher marketing, legal, and research and development expenses.”

Revenue for the three months ending January 31 rose slightly, up to $256.8 million compared to $240.4 million for the corresponding previous period.

Sales for the quarter were highlighted by Grand Theft Auto IV, Carnival Games, NBA 2K9 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles.

“Take-Two led off fiscal 2009 with somewhat better than expected performance,” said company boss Strauss Zelnick.

“Our sales reflected the continued strength and diversity of our portfolio of top franchises, including Grand Theft Auto IV, Carnival Games, NBA 2K9 and Midnight Club: Los Angeles. Looking to the balance of the year, the economy remains challenging and uncertain, and our industry will not be immune to this environment.

“Consumers will continue to be highly selective in their purchases, including interactive entertainment. We need to deliver innovative, exceptionally compelling products to compete for this more limited consumer spending, and we are confident in our ability to do so.”

The Take-Two conference call just ended, and the company is still keeping mum on DLC numbers for The Lost and Damned as well as pre-order numbers for GTA: Chinatown Wars for DS.

The company stated that they have no way of keeping track of preorder numbers,as far as Chinatown Wars is concerned.

The Lost and Damned, however, has already proven to be the best selling downloadbale content for Xbox 360 in the history of the console–yet they are still sitting on the numbers.

During the fiscal year, as of January 31, 2009, over 13 million units of  GTA IV shipped.

Analyst Michael Patcher has estimated that The Lost and Damned has sold into seven digits so far, and will reach 2 million by the end of the year.

It was confirmed, however that new DLC for GTA IV would arrive before the end of the year. So that is at least something to look forward to.

Take-Two just put out a press release listing BioShock 2′s platforms as “TBA”.

Immediate speculation has obviously risen as to whether or not there’ll be a PS3 version.

The news came as part of Take-Two’s Q1 financial release.

The game will hit before the end of the company’s financial year on October 31.