Monthly Archives: April 2009

Peggle lands on the App Store May 12 for iPhone and iPod Touch.

PopCap has yet to price the title, but Joystiq got its hand on the game, and believes it will cost between $5-6.

More and more of our favorite casuals are heading to Apple products. Time for us to get on board we reckon.

Hit the link for more.

Sony has decided to take into consideration the backlash received by the Universal Society of Hinduism over the PS2 game Hanuman: Boy Warrior.

Refusing to comment at first over the group’s request to pull the game from shelves, Sony rep Keita Sanekata has since told CVG that the company will “review this issue”.

Spokesperson and Hindu statesman Rajan Zed stated earlier in the month that “Controlling and manipulating Lord Hanuman with a joystick/button/keyboard/mouse was denigration”, and the game should be pulled.

Gamers in India agreed that it should be pulled because the game is terrible, not because of it’s content.

CD Projekt CEO Michal Kicinski has claimed that payments to Widescreen in relation to The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf development were met as per contract, despite Widescreen telling VG247 today that CDP failed in its financial obligations with the game.

The following was posted in the comments thread of this article, which contained quoted from Widescreen boss Olivier Masclef on the matter:

It is sad that we cannot talk with WSG in normal business way, but communicate through media. It is absolutely not our style of making business, and we answer here as we feel forced to do this to clarify the unclear information:
1. All payments were done on time according to milestone plan.
2. Truth is that payments were later than originally planned but this was solely due to delays in production. The delays were growing in the project due to WSG continued to miss the deadlines.
3. Delays and risks of further development by WSG were unacceptable by CD Projekt (this happened even though CDProjekt RED was constantly increasing main team involvement to help in the production). The most important fact is that development process didn’t make planned release date possible and moreover propositions of the new release date were changing few times. Besides the schedule, technical incapability created a risk of missing planned quality which is absolutely unacceptable. And this brought an end in our cooperation with WSG.
4. Currently the works are on hold. We are evaluating all possible options to continue the production.
Making this decision was extremely difficult and sad as we know that many people are waiting for this project. We do our best to find a way out of this situation. But final decision must guarantee high quality of the product, otherwise we won’t continue the production no matter what consequences it will bring. We are committed to the highest quality of all our games, and this is unnegotiable for us.
So no matter what the final decision or solution we will find, please be sure that it will be the best for the game quality, and satisfaction of gamers, which is the most important for us!
Michal Kicinski
Joint CEO
CD Projekt Group

Capcom Unity is giving Bionic Commando players a chance to win 8,000 MS Points a Bionic Commando lunch box, and a code for Bionic Commando: Rearmed on 360.

The site is giving away over 64,000 points and the only thing you have to do is download the Bionic Commando demo, change your motto to “Bionic Commando = RAD”, and send a message with your gamertag, and 7 other friends’ gamertags who’ve also downloaded the demo and changed their mottos.

If your message and list of friends are picked you get the lunch box, 8,000 MS Points, and a code for BCR. And each of your friends will get 8,000 MS Points and a code for BCR.

More contest details and rules after through here.

Gamestop has divulged pre-order exclusives for Dragon Age: Origins should you decide to drop a fiver on the title.

One such item is the Memory Ring, which allows your character to gain experience points at an accelerated rate and therefore level up faster.

Then there’s the Memory Band which is an lyrium-infused ring that helps apprentices retain lessons.

So far, this is US exclusive as details for Europe have yet to be announced.

Ubisoft has announced that Red Steel 2 will hit Wii exclusively for the holiday season, and was built from the ground up to use MotionPlus.

Set in a desert-bound metropolis, sword and gun play will be replicated on-screen using WMP. The stronger the swing, the larger the impact.

“Red Steel was a unique opportunity for Ubisoft to work in tandem with Nintendo to create a title exclusively for the launch of the Wii console,” said Ubisoft’s John Parkes.

“Red Steel 2 is another milestone for the company as it is the first Ubisoft title with full Wii MotionPlus integration.”

Press release is below.

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Sony just released a brand new MAG trailer to go alongside the lifting of its first-party preview press embargo.

After the break. Quick!

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Ubisoft has reported figures for the fourth quarter, ending March 31.

Full year sales are up 14 percent to to €1,058,000 ($1,409,636), and the company expects a continued operating income representing 12 percent of sales with a cash position of €155 million ($206 million).

The firm also announced that it has hired 1,300 staffers, of which a third are comprised of employees acquired through acquisitions.

Fourth-quarter sales were primarily attributable to: Rayman Raving Rabbids TV Party, Shaun White Snowboarding: Road Trip, and My Fitness Coach. H.A.W.X. along with the Petz and Imagine franchises helped as well with each selling over one million units during the quarter.

The line-up for 2009-2010 was confirmed to include seven franchise games Assassin’s Creed 2, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, Rabbids Go Home, Red Steel 2, Ghost Recon 4 and Anno 1404.

Four licensed games in the way of James Cameron’s Avatar, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, and Arthur and the Invisibles were also confirmed.

R.U.S.E., I am Alive and a sports game for the Wii were announced as new brands, and, of course, you can expect more Petz, Imagine and MyCoach brands.

More below.

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The embargo just went up on content from Sony’s first-party press event in the US earlier this month, giving new details on MAG, White Knight Chronicles and plenty more. We’ll link to everything we can find below.

White Knight Chronicles

• Joystiq preview
• IGN preview
• IGN screens

MAG

• 1UP Preview
• Destructoid Preview
• Eurogamer hands-on
• Gamespot hands-on
• Gamespot video
• Joystiq preview
• Eurogamer screens
• IGN hands-on

PAIN

• Gamespot images

PixelJunk 1-4

• 1UP Preview
• Destructiod preview
• Eurogamer hands-on
• Gamespot images
• Joystiq hands-on
• IGN preview

inFamous

• 1UP Preview
• Eurogamer hands-on
• Joystiq screens
• Joystiq trailer
• Two IGN movies
• IGN preview

Uncharted 2

• Joystiq hands-on: Uncharted 2′s Deathmatch and Plunder multiplayer
• Joystiq hands-on: Uncharted 2 co-op multiplayer

Trash Panic

• Gamespot preview
• IGN preview
• IGN screens

MotorStorm Arctic Edge

• Gamespot hands-on
• Eurogamer screens
• IGN hands-on

SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Fireteam Bravo 3

• IGN hands-on
• IGN screens
• Joystiq screens

Fat Princess

• IGN preview
• IGN screens

PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe

• IGN preview
• IGN screens
• Joystiq screens
• US PS Blog

Patapon 2

• Destructoid screens

TimeShift developer, Saber Interactive, has revealed that it’s currently using Havok Destruction software for use in several games in the works.

No title announcements were revealed in the press release, but Saber’s COO Andrey Iones talked nice about the software, saying it allowed his team to save time, money, and bring “complexity to the fully destructible city” in one of the upcoming titles.

“By implementing Havok Destruction, our team was able to easily and rapidly integrate large-scale destruction sequences, complex destructible objects, and events into the existing framework of our upcoming games that would have absorbed a much greater amount of development time and been nearly impossible to pull off without Havok,” he said.

We contacted Andrey Iones regarding what these new games were, and were told that the company is not prepared to make an announcement just yet.

It’s also still up in the air as to whether Saber will be attending E3 this year, but Iones said it was “likely”.

It was revealed this morning that Lionhead’s primed to make an important announcement sometime tomorrow.

Sam, the community manager over on Lionhead’s blog, didn’t provide any details. Basically, just wait and see.

“I’m picking up through the grapevine that tomorrow there is going to be some news announcement and also new can’t-miss content so make sure to visit our site tomorrow,” he wrote.

“No further details are available. Did I tell you it’s sunny here in Guildford?”

We’ve put a request for more information into Lionhead, so hopefully we will know more soon.

Thanks, Jamie.

The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf developer WideScreen has confirmed to VG247 that the game has been suspended as CD Projekt has failed to meet financial obligations.

“After having a payment being broken by CD Projekt – a big payment that we were supposed to receive – and after having committed to the project but not being covered financially on it for three months, I hold no choice but to put the team on hold,” said Widescreen boss Olivier Masclef in a phone interview this afternoon.

Masclef also said CD Projekt’s deal with Atari was out of kilter with Widescreen’s agreement with CD Projekt in terms of milestones.

The suspension came after a meeting between the three parties, called by Masclef.

Staff have not been laid off, said the exec.

“We have be reallocating people onto other projects and work for hire jobs at the moment,” he said.

“I will try to find any solution for the fans. The Witcher on console is an extremely promising title that’s awaited by a lot of people. We have it running here, and I can tell you that if it hits the shelves one day it’s going to be great… I feel sorry for the fans and I feel sorry for Namco Bandai.”

Masclef said he “appreciated” Namco, who has signed a distribution deal with Atari of which Rise of the White Wolf formed a large part, but said he wasn’t sure if the game would ever been completed.

“I don’t know. I can’t find a financial solution by myself,” he said. “I don’t own the IP – CD Projekt owns the IP and Atari owns the distribution rights.”

First news of the game’s cancellation came from Polish site Polygamia yesterday.

City of Heroes turned five yesterday, and to celebrate, NCsoft’s reactivated all expired retail and trial accounts for both City of Heroes and City of Villains.

It’s for a limited time only, and expires at 11:59pm EST on Sunday, May 3.

Other nifty anniversary events are going on at the moment. Players can earn merits, badges, XP and “familiar faces” are hanging out in the Training Room Test Server.

Loads of fun for all.

Thanks, Shack.

Mythic has officially announced the eighth expansion to Ultima Online, after teasing fans about it since last fall. It’s due to launch sometime this summer.

Ultima Online: Stygian Abyss promises to introduce a “flood of new content” for the longest running MMORPG on the market, complete with a playable Gargoyle race and the ability to explore their homeland of Ter Mur.

The Stygian Abyss dungeon included not only lends its namesake to the title, but it will be the largest dungeon area ever added to the game.

New boss monsters including the Medusa, Primeval Lich and the Stygian Dragon will be vying for your bloody corpse, and the new PvP zones will give you more chances to knock other players other about.

Available through digital distribution only. You must have the original Ultima Online game to play.

Read on.

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iPhone app review site Appcraver is apparently asking developers for cash in return for “expedited” game reviews.

Trixel developer Dan Boutros contacted the site to get his now-released iPhone puzzler reviewed. He got this in response:

Thanks for sending over the information about your new app. Please note that due to the number of inquiries and review requests we receive daily, it may take a while to get to your app.

We have several other additional options for you to make sure your app gets seen by AppCraver readers.

We can provide an expedited review for a $50 fee. This will get your app reviewed by our staff within 6 business days. However, just because your app is reviewed doesn’t guarantee that the app will be published.

While paying the expedite fee cannot guarantee you a positive review, we will guarantee that if our reviewers don’t approve your app we will refund your fee and not proceed with the article. After all — our readers are not interested in negative reviews — they are looking for us to highlight the best and most interesting apps out there.

Read the full thing here.

Team17′s Martyn Brown’s told TechRadar today that developers should “probably boycott” AppCraver because its editorial policy on game reviews was “all shades of wrong.”

Dragon Age: Origins is to have controls specifically designed for whichever of the game’s three platforms gamers choose to play on, BioWare has told VG247, meaning players should feel as though the title was made for their system.

The fantasy RPG will release simultaneously for PC, 360 and PS3 later this year.

“We’re really lovingly crafting it for all platforms, so it feels like it’s made for your system,” said BioWare boss Ray Muzyka, speaking at GDC.

“It’s got the same depth and accessibility on every system, but the control system is going to be customised, and is being built so it feels like it’s the system it was designed for.

“If you’re playing it on 360 or PS3, you’re going to feel like you’re getting a great, really accessible, rich, story-driven fantasy world, and on the PC you’re going to feel that you have the archetypal fantasy experience of Baldur’s Gate, BioWare-style RPG that fans have come to know and love.

“We want to deliver something that’s going to fit both audiences.”

E3 for this one. Expect EA to push very hard later this year.

Q Games has released the first video of PixelJunk 1-4 in action – get it after the break.

The firm’s also opened a naming competition for the title, which appears to be some kind of strategic shooter with water and lava.

Look and see.

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Ossian’s long-awaited Neverwinter Nights 2 expansion Mysteries of Westgate has been released, as promised.

You can get it from the Atari UK (£9.78) or US ($10) store now.

Lots of good stuff to download today. Get to it.

Thanks, Hunam.

Despite heavy rumour of The Witcher: Rise of the White Wolf being canned yesterday, Atari’s told VG247 this morning that its had no official word on the game’s “status” from CD Projekt as yet.

“We have no information about the change in the status of the title at the moment,” said a rep.

When asked if he knew whether or not an announcement was forthcoming, the spokesperson added: “At this stage, no. All we’re getting through at the moment are all the rumours circulating the internet, so at the moment we’ve got no information.”

A Polish site last night claimed the game had been axed. CD Projekt issued a string of “no comments” on the matter.

A Gamebanshee report then claimed that two games had been dropped at the firm, with the White Wolf announcement being given internally to staff yesterday.

It’ll be official soon enough, no doubt.

Star Ocean: The Last Hope will release in PAL territories on June 5, Square said today.

The RPG’s a 360-only thing at the moment. Just don’t lose heart, PS3 people.

Press release after the break.

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