Monthly Archives: April 2009

According to a reliable source of D’toid’s, Lord of the Rings Online may be heading to Xbox 360.

Supposedly, Turbine has wanted to release the game on the console, but hit a wall with Microsoft when they would not allow a free-to-play version on it’s system.

Word now though is that Microsoft has almost finalized an MMO model for Xbox Live ,and Turbine already has the game tested, assessed, and ready to ship at the word “go”.

When contacted for confirmation, Turbine refused to confirm or deny the rumor, but did shoot down the “ready to ship” part as “factually incorrect”.

Take it with a grain of salt until we hear otherwise.

The inFamous soundtrack will be available for download via the PlayStation Store on May 21 for $9.99.

The score was created by electronic musician Amon Tobin, composers James Dooley and Mel Wesson, and electric cellist Martin Tillman.

The April issue of Qore will feature a look into the game’s music.

Read on for the press release.

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Looks as though Ghostbusters is coming to PSP, if a recent ESRB filing is any indication.

This means it’ll release for DS, Wii, PS3, PS2, PS3, 360 and PSP come June.

Thanks to the hawk-eyed folks over at Kotaku.

The latest edition of Nintendo Power has the first screens of Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, a Wii version of the original.

Told you.

“This is a re-imagining of the first Silent Hill,” said producer Tomm Hulett.

“It’s not a remake or a port. That’s an important distinction. It really feels like a new game.”

Glad that’s cleared up.

No word on when it will be out.

GoNintendo has loads more info, so go check it out

Football Manager Live is doing well and going according to plan, according to Sports Interactive’s Miles Jacobson.

So far, the game has grown to 23 game worlds with 1,000 users each. Jacobson’s pleased as punch.

“It’s going alright. The Sega ops team is being very proactive in launching new worlds when existing ones are full,” Jacobson told GI.biz.

“So it’s kind of going to plan – obviously if it was going perfectly we’d have 1 billion subscribers playing,” he joked, “and eventually 6 billion, but realistically with the economy the way it is we’re doing pretty well. We’re certainly doing well enough for SEGA to keep pushing us with more content, and certainly the flexibility of the business model is there.”

Full thing through the link.

Disbarred attorney Jack Thompson has called Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick “a sociopath” in an interview with VGChartz.

No joke. He also insulted his parents. Just for good measure.

When asked if he thought parents should be lawfully punished for purchasing M-rated games for their children, Thompson disagreed – but only to an extent.

“How would you have me target irresponsible parents? Throw them in jail? There’s a bit of a constitutional/legal problem there,” he said.

“If we were going to start targeting irresponsible parents, then we should be throwing Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick’s mother and father in the federal penitentiary. Now that would definitely be a good thing. They raised a sociopath.”

Read the rest through there, if you can be bothered.

NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime is everywhere today.  This time, he’s talking about DSi releases instead of used books.

In yet another interview, Reggie mentioned that any announcements on DSi-enhanced software will have to wait until after the system launches this week.

“It would be reasonable to talk about that after we’ve launched,” he told MTV.

Reggie said he felt that most DS software released from now on will either not take advantage of the DSi’s features or wil be both full compatible with both DS and DSi, thanks to the 100-million DS installed base.

“Developers are going to want to leverage that installed base and yet they’ll want to provide extra content via the features of the DSi, like the camera. That’s my expectation as to how it will play out,” he said.

Hit the link for more Reggie.

Sega’s planning on bringing more classic titles to Xbox 360 in some way shape or form, according to the ESRB website.

Altered Beast and Shinobi are on the way, apparently.

Both of which were rumored to be part of the Sega Vintage Collection Vol. 2, with Shinobi already included in Sonic’s Ultimate Genesis Collection for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Other rumored classics for XBLA are Comix Zone, GunStar Heroes, Phantasy Star II and Sonic 3.

Hit the links for more.

Mythic has announced another round of free Warhammer Online character transfers.

Players who currently reside on role-playing realm Ostermark can get a free transfer to Phoenix Throne (role-play) or Vortex.

Thanks, IncGamers.

A new Batman: Arkham Asylum video posted over on Shacknews may contain some of the same footage seen around the time of GDC, but it’s got an additional four minutes of gameplay.

So that’s good.

It’s out for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this summer.

The latest issue of Japan’s Jump magazine has confirmed Tales of Vesperia for PS3. Never saw that coming.

There was lots of other Tales related stuff included. And here it is:

• Tales of Graces will be released for Wii later this year. Not much else is known other than you have to protect people and you have vowed to “never lose anyone again”. Right.

• Tales of Versus will arrive on PSP with four-player fight mode. Yuri (Tales of Vesperia), Luke (Tales of the Abyss), Shing (ToH) and Richter (ToSKoR) have been revealed. Possibly Lloyd as well.

• The PS3 version of Tales of Vesperia will include a new character named Patty Fleur.

Hit the link below to see a couple scans of the magazine. Doesn’t look like an April Fool to us.

Thanks, Kombo.

GameStop has spilled the beans on Rock Band: Unplugged for PSP.

Seems there’ll be a single-player World Tour with 24 cities, supports downloadable and an in-game Rock Band Music Store, but no mention is made of online or multiplayer modes.

No mention has been made of a peripheral along the lines of the one included with Guitar Hero on DS. Looks like a button-masher at this point.

Unplugged will contain 40 master tracks, and so far we know of 15. Most are already Rock Band staples, with only four new ones revealed so far.

Here’s the list:

• 3 Doors Down – Kryptonite (new)
• AFI – Miss Murder (new)
• Alice in Chains – Would (new)
• Billy Idol – White Wedding, Part 1
• Blink-182 – What’s My Age Again?
• Bon Jovi – Livin’ On A Prayer
• Boston – More Than A Feeling
• Foo Fighters – Everlong
• Jackson 5 – ABC (new)
• Modest Mouse – Float On
• Nirvana – Drain You
• Pearl Jam – Alive
• The Police – Message in a Bottle
• Weezer – Buddy Holly
• The Who – Pinball Wizard

It’s down for a June 9 release.

2K Boston may be changing its moniker to Irrational Boston.

This speculatory information is thanks to both a trademark filed by Take-Two,and t-shirts sported by GDC attendees plastered with “jobs@irrationalboston.com” on the back.

Joystiq contacted 2K Boston for verification earlier today and the official response was “no comment” with more to be revealed “very soon.”

BioWare said at GDC that Dragon Age: Origins is likely to have controversial love scenes included, along the same lines as Mass Effect.

“Probably,” said lead designer Mike Laidlaw. “Mass Effect had a bit of this weird slow news day hiccup where people reacted. We always do romances, and we’ve always done romances. It’s a commitment we have. And to our minds — and we’re Canadians — it’s all done in good taste.

“These are people that are actually in love and have built up a friendship. It’s hardly as salacious as it’s been sold. And ‘Dragon Age’ does have multiple romances available. There’s quite a few characters and friendships that build into the camaraderie of the battlefield.”

Watch for our impressions of the Dragon Age: Origins demo soon.

A free Veteran map mack for Tom Clancy’s EndWar is now available on Live and PSN.

This bit of DLC contains two battlefields, one at the Cosmodrome in Russia and the other at the Strategic Petroleum Reserve in Richton, Mississippi. Both are playable in skirmish mode.

Per the original game, you can either take on the AI in this new content or go up against real live people.

Thanks, GameInfowire.

Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime doesn’t feel that used games are “in the best interest of the consumer”.

During an interview with VentureBeat, NoA chief said that consumers are more interested in games they can “hold on to”.

“More and more retailers are experimenting with the used game model. We don’t believe used games are in the best interest of the consumer,” said Reggie.

“We have products that consumers want to hold onto. They want to play all of the levels of a Zelda game and unlock all of the levels. A game like Personal Trainer Cooking has a long life. We believe used games aren’t in the consumer’s best interest.”

He went on to point out that other used markets such as books, CDs and DVDs have never really taken off. He said the used game market will suffer the same fate.

“Describe another form of entertainment that has a vibrant used goods market,” he continued. “Used books have never taken off. You don’t see businesses selling used music CDs or used DVDs. Why? The consumer likes having a brand-new experience and reliving it over and over again.

“If you create the right type of experience, that also happens in video games.”

More than 2 million players have created over 725,000 levels since LittleBigPlanet was launched in November 2008, Sony said today.

The game has been played more than 125 million times, and has 4 million comments on game levels.

Heavy numbers.

Mark Hardy, SCEE’s European marketing director, seems pleased with the game’s success:

“LittleBigPlanet is giving people from every walk of life the opportunity to express themselves creatively. The game is just the start. This is Creative Gaming; never ending experiences that take on lives of their own through their players,” he said.

“LittleBigPlanet appeals to a generation shaped by their networks and thirsty for great experiences to share with friends. Where LittleBigPlanet goes from here is up to its community; it is theirs to shape however they like. This makes it much more inclusive than gaming has ever been before.”

Press release is posted below.

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Sony’s just announced Jak and Daxter: The Lost Frontier for PS2 and PSP .

The duo travel across “mysterious lands” and “take to the sky” in the game, in order to save their planet from destruction.

The Lost Frontier takes up where the original trilogy left off, with the duo striking out on a journey to help their pal Kiera become a sage.

The new game contains five different aircraft in which to battle sky pirates, along with a new weapon called the Gunstaff, which transforms into other weapons.

Expect to see it at retail this fall.

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Sackboy is to be included in Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds, and to celebrate, LittleBigPlanet will get a golf course for it’s very own.

The first official course will be a community affair, with each hole designed and created by members of the LBP community.

This is a contest, and the best nine holes and a driving range from North America, and the best nine holes and club house from Europe, will be included on the course.

Winners will be immortalized with a LBP prize crown.

Rules and details on how to enter are posted on the PS Blog.

Sony has dismissed reports of an imminent Trophy-adding Singstar patch as rumor, according to CVG.

Supposedly, some of the 35 new Trophies included in the patch would also provide Home rewards.

Which would be neat. More on this soon, hopefully.