Monthly Archives: May 2009

After the break. It features toothy bunnies building a pile of “stuff” and people in their pants. There’s even some farting.

Out later this year for Wii.

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It’s time. Mike’s got his Speedos and “Super Bunny” mask on. Steph’s been over-drinking preparatory coffee for weeks. Nathan’s so wired he’s only capable of muttering the words “airline” and “spreadsheet”. It’s E3. In LA. We’re going. You’re watching. You probably want to know when to tune in and what to expect.

Below are listed the press conference timings for next week. Note: All times are for west coast US (PST). That means you add eight hours for UK time (BST) or nine hours for Euro time (CET). We’ll be flagging up the conferences in the hours before they happen, so you shouldn’t get lost.

For planning purposes, though, here’s a run-down of what we’re liveblogging. This isn’t a definitive list of what’s happening at E3 – this is just the stuff you can watch here live.

Monday, June 1

10.30am – Microsoft press conference

2.00pm – EA press conference

5.00pm – Ubisoft press conference

Tuesday, June 2

9.00am – Nintendo press conference

11.00am – Sony press conference

6.00pm – 7.30pm – Miyamoto round-table (Note – We’re a little unclear what format this is going to take or how it’s going to pan out, but we’ll do our best)

Wednesday, June 3

3.00pm – Konami press conference (Note – We very well may not be able to liveblog this. We’ll keep you updated)

Obviously, we’ll be bringing you a head-fucking amount of news from the showfloor, so keep it locked VG247. We will never tire. We will never surrender.

Any questions, pop them in the comments.

Some enterprising soul’s put OXM’s entire Mass Effect 2 cover feature on the internet.

You can download a zip full of the scans here. All nice quality. Watch E3 for plenty more from the BioWare massive.

IGN’s posted a translation of the No More Heroes 2 details from Famitsu this week, giving first notes on characters and plot.

The game’s set three years after the original, and features both Travis Touchdown and Silvia Chrystel.

According to that piece, “Due to heavy investment from large corporations, Santa Destroy has rapidly become a tourist town. One day, Sylvia suddenly appears before Travis and invites him to another assassin ranking battle.

“At that very moment, Travis’s sole friend, Bishop, is seen in somewhat of a pinch as a gang of ruffians take close aim at his head with guns.”

Full thing through there. Trailers, and all the rest of it, will be released during E3.

Ready for the generic E3 media flood? Good. Start off with a new trailer from SOE’s The Agency. It’s after the break.

It’s just CG. The MMO has no date.

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The world’s worst kept secret was officially confirmed overnight, with IGN dropping first proper details and a movie of THQ’s Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine.

It’s a Relic-developed, PS3 and 360 third-person action RPG. There’s a hair-raising trailer after the break – looks double-awesome.

Quite why you wouldn’t want a game containing nuclear bombs and space orcs is beyond us, but different strokes, and all that.

Watch. Quick. No release date.

Update: Eurogamer’s stuck a preview up as well.

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Heavy Rain has been in the news loads these past couple weeks, and David Cage interviews are all over the place.

Joystiq was another that had a chance to sit down with the man himself, and Cage talked about tons of things including how the game industry is due for a Citizen Kane.

“We are light years away [from that] to be honest,” he said. “And this is because we don’t dare stop doing what we have been doing for 15 years. I mean, let’s stop making games for kids and teenagers. Let’s ask ourselves the real questions. Let’s change the way we see interface. Let’s change some of the traditional game conventions that we have had for 15 years that we take for granted, like, you cannot make a game if there is no ramping, if there is no game over, if you don’t progress in difficulty, etc.

“Who said the game has to be more and more difficult as your progress? Who said that? I mean, there is no reason for that. I mean, you just want to create a real journey, something that you experience and you are happy to be playing. That is it. I hope that more and more games will aim to leave an imprint and not just be toys, but be a real creative experience.

“I am dreaming of the day where game creators will have to think about the story they want to tell and the emotion they want to trigger instead of what technology they are going to use and how it is going to fit into the interface. That will be an interesting moment.”

He talks about plenty of other stuff as well, like how his favorite ending is the possibility of all four characters in the game dying.

Harsh.

More through the link.

Kotaku’s posted an excellent feature on the history of Rare’s 360 Avatars, including tons of old concept art and an interview with lead artist Lee Musgrave.

The piece goes from the initial concept, through Nintendo’s announcement of Miis and on to “the future”.

Very much worth a look.

Activision has given Wolfenstein a date: mark your calenders for August 4.

This was announced via the E3 press release we posted earlier, listing Activision titles to be shown at the event.

It just gives a date, doesn’t say if it’s worldwide or just in the US. We’ll find out for you though.

Expect to get it on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Koei and Namco Bandai are giving Dynasty players some much needed DLC for their games.

Tomorrow, Europe gets the Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce DLC, while Americans will have to wait until the beginning of June. The Strikeforce Quest Pack #1 for PSP has five new missions, a new boss fight and it’s free.

Dynasty Warriors Gundam 2 should be getting the DLC lovin’ on May 28 in both the UK and US. Rumored to be free as well, it will have two new missions and the ability to find loads of Gundam parts.

Free is always good.

More over on D’toid.

Activision’s confirmed which of its titles will be on hand at E3 next week. You know Modern Warfare 2 and Guitar Hero 5 will be there: here’s the rest:

• Blur (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• DJ Hero (PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Guitar Hero 5 (PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Marvel: Ultimate Alliance 2 (DS, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Modern Warfare 2 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• PROTOTYPE (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Singularity (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Tony Hawk: RIDE (PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (DS, PC, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Wolfenstein – August 4 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)

Press release is through the break.

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Electronic Arts has revealed the games it will present at E3 next week. It includes everything you can imagine, and more.

• Army of Two: The 40th Day – Winter (PSP, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Battlefield 1943 – Summer (PS3, Xbox 360); September (PC)
• Battlefield: Bad Company 2 – Q1 2010 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Brutal Legend – October 13 and 16 (US & UK) (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Dante’s Inferno – Q1 2010 (PSP, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Dead Space Extraction – Fall (Wii)
• Dragon Age: Origins – Fall (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• EA SPORTS Active – Out now (Wii)
• Grand Slam Tennis June 8 and 12 (US & UK) (Wii, more to be announced)
• FIFA 10 – October US (DS, Mobiles, PC, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Fight Night Round 4 – June 26 and 30 (UK & US) (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Games from EA Mobile
• G.I. JOE: The Rise of Cobra – August (DS, Mobile, DS, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince – June 30 and July 3 (US & UK) (All platforms)
• Littlest Pet Shop Online – Fall (Online)
• Madden NFL 10 – August 14 (PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)
• Mass Effect 2 – Early 2010 (PC, Xbox 360)
• MySims Agents – Fall (DS, Wii)
• NCAA Football 10 – July 14 (PSP, PS2, PS3, Xbox 360)
• NHL 10 – September (PS3, Xbox 360)
• Need for Speed: NITRO – November (DS, Wii)
• Need for Speed: SHIFT – September 17 and 22 (UK & US) (PSP, PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• Spore Hero – Fall (Wii)
• Spore Hero: Arena – Fall (DS)
• The Saboteur – Fall/Winter (FY10) (PC, PS3, Xbox 360)
• The Sims 3 – June 2 (iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac, Mobile, PC)
• Tiger Woods PGA TOUR 10 – June 8 and July 3 (US & UK) (PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360)

Gonna be a busy week for EA we reckon.

Press release is after the break.
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The very first screens for Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria’s new update have landed.

Book 8: Scourge of Khazad-dum will take players to the Water Wheels and up against some very strange – and large – monsters.

Game just gets prettier with every new content update. Really.

June is when it’s expected, and you can check out the new screens over on Massively.

THQ has announced that Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of publishing, has resigned to pursue other opportunities.

This led CEO Brian Farrell to issue a standard reply via press release:

“THQ has a deep and experienced global sales and marketing team and we continue to execute on our focused product strategy. We wish Scott well in his future endeavors.”

Guthrie was previously in charge of overseeing North America sales, distribution, and marketing.

No word on where he has landed.

GamerBytes  has released a list of the top ten best selling games on PSN in April.

Hopefully your favorites did well.

1. Rag Doll Kung Fu
2. Worms
3. Wheel of Fortune
4. Flower
5. Mortal Kombat II
6. Comet Crash
7. Ratcher & Clank Future: Quest for Booty
8. Linger in Shadows
9. PAIN
10. Noby Noby Boy

You can get the full analysis and break down through the link.

Thanks, D’toid.

Assassin’s Creed 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction and James Cameron’s Avatar will all have downloadable content when they release this year, Ubisoft said today in its full-year earnings call.

The publisher also confirmed today that all three will make it out this side of 2010.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Halo 3 isn’t going anywhere. The past five weeks have proved it beyond a doubt.

Differences this week include GTA IV trading places with the UFC Undisputed demo, while the full version of the game came in at number 8, and Resident Evil 5 falling off the charts.

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty: WaW
3. Call of Duty 4
4. Gears of War 2
5. GTA IV
6. UFC 2009 Undisputed Demo
7. FIFA 09
8. UFC 2009 Undisputed
9. Left 4 Dead
10. Fallout 3

Get all the Arcade and Community stuff after the break courtesy of the Major.

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Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot told investors during the company’s full-year financial call today that Apple is set to be a bigger name in gaming and not because of iPhone, but in gaming hardware.

“There’s also a new entrant in the business,” he said. “[That entrant is] Apple, with the iPhone. And we don’t think they will stop there.”

It’s worth noting that Guillemot’s older brother, Michel, runs GameLoft, a huge player in the development of games for iPhone. So he may just know of what he speaks.

Elaborating on his April prediction of new handhelds and consoles, Guillemot spoke more about his thoughts on gaming hardware when prompted by an analyst’s question.

“We will see more customers coming to the video game industry… They will start also to come under the boxes you see under the TV because those TV boxes will be more powerful… We will see more consoles on which we will be able to put products,” he said.

“As for the next generation of consoles we can’t give you a date but from what we see there is a lot of energy to improve the consoles [that are out now]. We are already working on some of the elements that will appeal in the next generation.

“You saw new interfaces with the Wiimote and also with the DS with the stylus. What we see for the future is they will also be big announcement in interfaces. It will not only happen in consoles but also happen on those TV boxes as well.”

Thanks, Kotaku.

Sony has stated it has positive outlook  for inFamous, especially after some of the initial positive reviews.

“We have high hopes for inFamous, which are backed up by a number of high profile, and very positive, specialist and mainstream press review scores,” an SCEE spokesperson told Develop.

Being positive is always a good thing.

The game was released in North America yesterday, and will release in Europe this Friday.

More through the link.

Geoff Keighley has tweeted that Bethesda will announce its next game tomorrow night on Spike TV.

A trailer is also expected, so if you get the channel, tune in at 11pm EST. Otherwise wait until Friday when it hits the net.

It’s expected to be the untitled Splash Damage game, which earlier in the month, was reported as being copyrighted as “Brink” with the USPTO.

Tomorrow will reveal all.