Monthly Archives: April 2009

BioWare’s put up another Mass Effect 2 wallpaper, as you can see here.

This one’s some kind of tree thing inside a ruined thing. Lots of ruination going on in this game, isn’t there?

It’s out next year for PC and 360.

SCEA’s John Koller has told GI.biz that more of Sony’s larger franchises will be hitting PSP this year, making it the “best year the PSP has ever had”.

“There’s a lot of software coming. We’re really focused on software, and I don’t think that’s a big surprise given that it’s going to be the best software year the PSP has ever had, there’s no doubt,” he said.

“You can think of some of the major franchises on console that would come over to PSP and people are going to be very excited.”

During the interview, Koller said that Sony has only unveiled the first half of machine’s line-up so far this year, and will release more announcements leading into E3.

“The fruits of the labour is pouring out this year, and we’ve been talking about it a lot, but we’ve only mentioned about the first half of the line-up,” said Koller.

“There’s another half to maybe three quarters that we’re going to be announcing in the months leading up to E3. There’s a lot of big franchises to come.”

He went on to talk about how successful 2008 was despite the limited number of titles available for the handheld.

“Last year was the best sales year for PSP, and that was with a limited software line-up. How high is high when we have a much better software line-up for this year?”

Read the full interview through the link.

We’ve just been told that Ubi’s promising an Assassin’s Creed 2 trailer later today.

The Game Informer cover issue releases in the US today.

Just firming it up now. Watch the mountains.

Interplay’s 10-K mentions under “legal filings” that Bethesda may be challenging its right to a Fallout MMO.

According to the document, Bethesda has yet to file proper action at this time; however, the Fallout 3 developers claim Interplay is in breech of trademark.

Under the terms of Interplay using the Fallout name, the firm was to have started full scale work on the title by April 4, 2009 and secured funding for the MMO.

From the document:

Interplay recently received notice that Bethesda Softworks, LLC (“Bethesda”) intends to terminate the trademark license agreement between Bethesda and Interplay which was entered into April 4, 2007 for the development of FALLOUT MMOG. Despite the fact that no formal action is currently pending, Bethesda claims that Interplay is in breach of the trademark license agreement for failure to commence fill scale development of same by April 4, 2009 and to secure certain funding for the MMOG. Interplay adamantly disputes these claims. Although the potential damages are currently unknown, if Bethesda ultimately prevails and cancels the trademark license agreement, Interplay would lose its license back of the “Fallout” MMOG and any damages resulting therefrom are unknown at this time.

Bethesda is claiming neither of the conditions were met.

Via Kotaku, No Mutants Allowed.

MotorStorm: Arctic Edge director Richard Ogden has told Pocket Gamer that the PSP game is to support eight-person multiplayer.

Ogden also discussed the new engine created for the title, and the different road blocks you can expect for such an icy terrain.

Honestly though, you’re more interested in the multiplayer. We saw your eyes light up.

The website for The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf has posted up some new stuff on both The World and Geralt and the brotherhood of Witchers.

Each post gives a bit of a background for the game. Good if you haven’t played the RPG on PC.

Build specifically for consoles, Rise of the White Wolf will land in stores this year for PS3 and 360.

Blizzard didn’t specifically say this morning why it’s dropped The9 in favour of NetEase to run its Chinese WoW operation, but Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter’s claimed the answer’s simple: it’s going to make a mother-trucking boatload more money from the new deal.

“The company had previously contracted with The9, but the current arrangement will expire in June 2009,” said Pachter in a note this afternoon.

“Under the terms of its contract with The9, Activision Blizzard received a royalty of 22% on revenues generated in China. We estimate that the current arrangement generated revenues of around $50 – 55 million annually (using most recent subscriber figures), at close to 100% margin. Although the terms of the new arrangement were not disclosed, we estimate that the royalty rate will increase to at least 55%, and that the new arrangement will generate revenues of over $140 million annually.”

$90 million is probably a good reason to kick a partner into touch. But don’t shit the bed just yet, share-buyers: Pachter said he believed the upside – approximately $0.04 per share – has already been factored into forecasts.

Gears of War 2 executive producer Rod Fergusson has told VG247 that innovations in both games software and Microsoft services mean we’ve yet to see the limit of what can be achieved with Xbox 360.

Fergusson was quoted previously as saying the box had been maxed out, a comment he told us was taken out of context.

“I think there’s still more it can do,” the developer said, talking at GDC.

“Hardware, in some regards, always has limits, but it’s the software that takes advantage of that.

“The [Unreal] engine is evolving – it evolved dramatically from Gears 1 to Gears 2 – and I think you’ll see people continue to push that envelope about how they use the memory, and how they use the hard drive, and all those sort of things.”

He added: “I think you’re always going to see improvements for specific games and the way they can architect the technology to take advantage of the hardware in the best way possible.”

“I think there’s still lots of room to grow.”

Fergusson said that developments in 360 UI software and Live functionality would also help keep the platform fresh.

“I think a lot of it too comes from the services side, and knowing what’s coming to Xbox Live in the next couple of years,” he said.

Roll on Gears 3, is all we have to say.

Activision said today that its March quarter net revenues and EPS are tracking ahead of its outlook.

Revenues of $860 million are expected for the period, an EPS of 8 cents.

“We exceeded our quarterly financial goals as the video game market continues to grow and our franchises continue to perform,” said AB mega-boss Bobby Kotick.

Guitar Hero and Call of Duty, there.

Is 2K shooter RPG Borderlands cel-shaded? No. What is it, then? It’s this:

The new technique uses hand-drawn textures, scanned in and colored in Photoshop, combined with software that draws graphic novel-style outlines around characters and objects, sharpens shadows to look more like something an artist might create, and even draws lines on hills and inclines. Finally the character models were all revamped with more exaggerated proportions, creating the appearance of a detailed comic book in motion.

Keep watching. Reveal ahoy.

NCsoft’s Aion: Tower of Eternity is looking prettier than ever today, which a bunch of new shots showing the MMO’s spookier aspects.

It’s out this year, hopefully. Screens after the break.

More »

2K Marin creative director Jordan Thomas has claimed there are no weak links in his BioShock 2 team. You’d kind of hope so.

“We started to very slowly, and through a very stringent interview process, bring in the top talent in the Bay Area, and cherry pick, essentially,” he told Gamespot, talking of the process of setting up the studio with a seed team from 2K Boston.

“I’m now very proud of the group we put together. There’s really no dead weight, and I’m consistently surprised by their talent, and their passion for BioShock.”

Thomas added: “The minds that shaped the 2K Australia studio and 2K Marin were kind of a child that came out of 2K Boston and beyond, and 2K as a whole, frankly.”

There’s some on-screen dev stuff of BioShock 2 in the movie after the break, if textureless models of large-nosed men do it for you.

There’s also talk of 4.00am videoconferencing with 2K’s Australian studio. It’s tough at the top, bucko. Watch and see after the break, but be warned: there’s a few BioShock 1 spoilers in there.

More »

The Nintendo flag’s at half-mast. The black armbands have been snapped on. Wii Fit again placed tenth in the Japanese charts this week, down to 9,000 sales from 12,000 a week ago. Next week, it may well be gone.

One of this generation’s most significant hits has sold 3.35 million units in Japan, however, so things aren’t that bad. Right, Nintendo? Worldwide plastic fitness thing phenomenon: we salute you.

Data below for the week ending April 12. Last week’s chart here. Thanks, ChartGet.

01. [PSP] BASARA Battle Heroes (Capcom) 86,000 / NEW
02. [WII] Oboro Muramasa Youtouden (Marvelous) 29,000 / NEW
03. [NDS] Mario & Luigi RPG 3 (Nintendo) 25,000 / 522,000
04. [PSP] Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (PSP the Best) (Capcom) 18,000 / 573,000
05. [NDS] Pro Yakyuu Famista DS 2009 (Konami) 17,000 / 44,000
06. [PSP] Mobile Suit Gundam: Senjou no Kizuna Portable (Namco Bandai) 16,000 / 135,000
07. [PS2] Arcana Heart 2 (AQ Interactive) 11,000 / NEW
08. [PS2] Jikkyou Powerful Pro Yakyuu 2009 (Konami) 10,000 / 104,000
09. [PS3] Musou Orochi Z (KOEI) 10,000 / 195,000
10. [WII] Wii Fit (Nintendo) 9,000 / 3,350,000

Rare just confirmed that the XBLA port of Banjo-Tooie’s to cost 1,200 Microsoft Points.

The game was announced for an April 29 release yesterday.

The info was just posted on Banjo Blog. Look at it. It’s proves we’re not lying.

Square’s put out a new movie of Final Fantasy Agito XIII, the RPG’s upcoming PSP version.

It’s Japanese language, and there’s a mix of gameplay and CG in there.

So off you go. Thanks, Kotaku.

More »

Gamestop CEO Dan DeMatteo has told CNBC that Nintendo’s told him there’s a Christmas blockbuster on the way.

“We think there will be a Nintendo key property coming out by the end of the year,” he said.

“They haven’t given us any insight, but they have told us to reserve [shelf] space.”

There’s no further detail through there, other than speculation it may be a new Zelda game. We’ll know at E3.

1UP’s got a Cloud Black PS3, the Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete special edition hardware.

It cost 49,980 yen. It’s got a “Cloudy Wolf” emblem on it. You probably can’t have one. Business does not get more serious than this.

Watch it being unwrapped here.

Blizzard just confirmed it’s gone with NetEase for its Chinese licensing, as has been rumoured for the last few days.

The9 was the previous holder of the contract.

NetEase will now run the Chinese version of World of Warcraft “for a term of 3 years following the expiration of the current license agreement,” according to this press release.

“We appreciate the enthusiasm that Chinese gamers have shown us over the years, and we’ve always worked hard, in collaboration with our partners, to ensure that these players receive the same high-quality service and gameplay experiences that we deliver in other regions,” said Blizzard head Mike Morhaime.

“This new agreement with NetEase will support that goal for years to come, and we look forward to collaborating with them on a smooth transition for World of Warcraft moving forward.”

Full thing through the link.

Want to see absolutely everything in the world available in print or online about Assassin’s Creed 2? All the postcards, every website symbol unlock, every detail and every image?

Hit this. It includes plenty of new stuff on how to get at all the secrets on the game’s teaser site – videos included for those without webcams – and a mind-melting amount of other information on the upcoming sequel.

Be warned: serious business.

Famitsu thinks Killzone 2′s worth 32/40, according to the game’s review in the magazine’s latest issue. The Guerrilla shooter was given 8/8/8/8 by the mag’s panel.

Tom Clancy’s HAWX got exactly the same score, meaning that either Killzone 2 is as good as HAWX, or HAWX is as good as Killzone 2.

The obvious question: is either as good as Halo?

Get the rest of the marks from NeoGAF.