Monthly Archives: May 2009

Square Enix is the latest Japanese publisher to pull back on its E3 attendance thanks to swine flu fears, telling GI it’s now only going to send a skeleton crew from Japan.

“A limited number of executives/employees from Square Enix’s headquarters in Japan will be attending E3 this year, given the recent worldwide spread of H1N1 flu,” said the company in a statement.

Capcom and Koei are also cowering in Japan thanks to the recent pig disease worry.

What’s wrong with you people? Bloody rubbish.

Activision’s put out shots from the second CoD: WaW map pack. They’re on CVG.

The three maps included are:

• Banzai – A medium sized and bright map, centred around control of a tall river bridge.
• Corrosion – Taking place in a Russian train yard, this multi-tiered map has players both above and below you.
• Subs Pen – The bombed out submarine base offers lots of close up fighting, in this tightly-designed map.

Take a look.

SCEE just put out the first movie of the newly-announced Flash and Thunder map pack for Killzone 2.

It’s after the break. Details here. It ships on June 11. Thanks, CVG.

More »

THQ just confirmed that the promised Red Faction: Guerrilla multiplayer demo is now available for both 360 and PS3.

The teaser includes a ten-player look at a mode called Damage Control, “a new twist to traditional capture-and-hold, point-based gameplay.”

Press release here.

Microsoft just sent out UK invites to the “announcement of a very special partnership, sure to keep TV fans glued to Xbox LIVE”.

The graphic just issued includes the words “experience the revolution”.

The event is to take place in London on May 28, next Thursday.

More soon, hopefully.

The “new” Digital Foundry blog has just launched on Eurogamer, adding HD video to the UK-based site.

The tech site, run by long-standing games industry media chap Richard Leadbetter, focuses on console technology and video-related coverage.

“It’s been a long time coming, but finally the Digital Foundry tech blog has been humanely re-homed and is ready to resume full service,” said Leadbetter.

“For those new to the site, our aims are remarkably straightforward – to go beyond the gameplay, telling you how games work, what makes them tick, and of course, crucially, what levels of performance you can expect from them.”

Take a look.

Speaking at Nordic Game in Sweden today, Deadline Games boss Søren Lund has told 1UP that both episodes of the Watchmen downloadable game are to be sold together on a retail disc.

Lund said the set will most likely ship alongside the Watchmen DVD/Blu-ray, which is expected on July 21 in North America.

A press release is expected tomorrow.

More through there.

Rockstar founders Jamie King and Gary Foreman have formed 4mm Games, a NY-based outfit.

The company plans to introduce properties online and through mobile platforms like iPhone before expanding them to main consoles.

The idea’s to test titles and build fanbases before pushing them out to the likes of PS3 and 360.

No word on specific games as yet.

Tons more on Variety.

Between all the action figures, iPhone apps, lighters, Pez dispensers, and other such memorabilia, getting your Star Wars fix on the go has never really been too difficult. But hey, it’s an ESRB listing for more Star Wars Battlefront. Complaining would mean having our nerd cards revoked forever.

The listing details two new portable entries in the series, one on DS and one on PSP. Both apparently feature all the usual suspects: third-person shooting, space battles, and millions of voices crying out in terror pain. However, the listing doesn’t say whether or not the voices are ever silenced. You be the judge.

The PSP version will also pull you out of the fray with a strategy-based mode. Other than that, though, the two teensy intergalactic tussles seem more or less the same.

Check out both game descriptions after the break.

More »

Codemasters racer FUEL may be the most open game ever created, according to producer Phil Wright.

“FUEL is arguably the most open-world game there is,” Wright told VG247.

“Apart from the artificial boundaries at the edges of the game world, the only impediments to going where you want are natural, be that water, a sheer rock-face, or using the wrong type of vehicle (for example, trying to drive a road car up a steep slope off-road).

“It takes a few hours to drive from one edge of the landscape to another, but it can be done.”

The title, shipping at the end of May, features a meld of American environments, the collation of which was a labour of love for developer Asobo.

“Asobo did a lot of research, using satellite image data of large areas of the more remote and wild parts of North America, including Mount Rainier, Crater Lake, Yellowstone and the Grand Canyon, to name a few,” Wright added.

“Some of the team also took a long road trip into Wyoming, travelling hundreds of miles through vast wilderness gathering video footage and photographs in an effort to capture the epic scale they wanted to put across in the game.

“The resulting world in FUEL is a conglomeration of the more spectacular natural scenery from all of this data, a sort of ‘best of’ the North American wilderness.”

FUEL hits 360 and PS3 on May 31. There’s a PC version as well, but we can’t find a date for it right now.

As enjoyable as the Pokemon videogame series is, it’s never really lived up to its “As seen on TV” promise of fast, furious, and sometimes brutal monster-battling. However, according to Pokemon Diamond and Pearl director Junichi Masuda, an action-based Poke-Renaissance might be just around the corner.

“This is just an idea but… as you know, Pokémon is a role-playing game,” Masuda told Game Informer magazine. “But, personally, I really like the action type of games, so we just talk about that sometimes. We probably want to add some kind action element to the game.”

How about something like the timing-based attacks from Paper Mario and its ilk? We think that’d be swell.

Thanks, Destructoid.

According to overnight reports, Sony is considering both game rentals and music downloads for PSP.

The company is polling consumers in the US on the subject of a rental service, as you can see on Joystiq, asking questions on costing and potential frequency of use.

In addition, “music industry sources” have told CNET that Sony’s currently in preliminary discussions to bring music downloads to PSP.

“This makes total sense that Sony would try to get content for the device,” said Wedbush Morgan analyst, Michael Pachter, on the subject.

“If Sony is smart, they would manage it the same way iTunes has and be device-agnostic.”

Hit ze links for more.

G4′s posted a heap of story gameplay footage from a hands-on with Batman Arkham Asylum, as you can see on BadAssGamer.

The quality’s not the greatest, but there’s an awful lot there to be going on with.

The game was delayed recently in the US. Watch E3 for an update.

Gungho released a promo video of Grandia Online, as you can see after the break. It is actually real. It’s not a lie.

There’s some running around going on there. Apparently each player with have a computer controlled buddy.

The game’s not in beta yet. There’s more on Siliconera.

More »

ESA’s inadvertently announced a Warner Bros. Lord of the Rings kids game called The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest.

Said the E3-organiser yesterday:

“The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest is the first Lord of the Rings videogame created specifically for kids and their families with accessible gameplay set in a friendly, colorful rendition of Middle-Earth. Players assume the role of Strider and embark on his greatest quests from The Lord of the Rings trilogy. The game offers authentic, action-oriented sword fighting, lancing and archery that all ages can play together.”

It’s on show at E3. Thanks, IGN.

Speaking to Develop, Konami’s Hideo Kojima’s said he won’t be working on any “smaller” games in the wake of MGS4, instead sticking to his big guns going forward.

“Someone asked me earlier if I’d consider making a smaller game now that I’ve finished a project as massive as Metal Gear Solid 4,” he said.

“My answer is that, personally, I’d love to work on a smaller project. But, thinking about the time I have left to survive, I’d rather spend that time working on bigger projects.”

Kojima admitted that Konami puts him under pressure to create more Metal Gear.

“Yeah, there’s absolutely pressure there,” he added. “Maybe if I quit Konami that pressure might be a bit better, but since Konami handles the business side of our operations, yeah, there’s definitely a demand continue a series as successful as Metal Gear.”

There’s a lot through there. Watch E3 for the big stuff.

NPD’s claimed that playing games in America is now a more popular pastime than going to the cinema.

The research firm’s claimed that 63 percent of all Americans have played a game in the past six months, compared to 53 percent who’ve been to see a movie.

It’s the end of days.

“Video games account for one-third of the average monthly consumer spending in the US for core entertainment content, including music, video, games,” said NPD analyst Anita Frazier.

“While a portion of that share stems from the premium price of console games, we’re also seeing an overall increase in the number of people participating in gaming year-over-year.”

Full thing after the break.

More »

Media Molecule co-founder Alex Evans has told 1UP that a web-based platform for sharing LittleBigPlanet levels is on the way.

The system will allow players to advertise their levels to other users and queue up PS3 downloads for the next time they turn the game on.

“Rather than going on forums and saying, ‘Please search for my level,’ you can just say, ‘Here’s a link’,” said the exec, speaking at Nordic Game in Sweden this week.

There’s lots more through there. No date, though.

The amazing Plants Vs Zombies is likely to be PopCap’s highest performer yet, the firm’s told Gamasutra.

PR man Garth Chouteau told the site the game is selling “incredibly well” and, “At this very early point in its history, it’s the best-selling game PopCap’s ever had.”

You’d have to go some to beat Peggle. The PopCap team is probably engaged in some kind of disgusting money orgy as we type.

If you haven’t played it yet, do so: it’s completely awesome.

Koei has followed Capcom in backing away from travelling to E3 thanks to fear of swine flu infection.

“With regards to E3, due to the current nature of and concern over the Influenza A (H1N1), KOEI has reconsidered international travel,” the company told Kotaku.

“As a result, there will be a limited number of staff from the company’s Yokohama-based headquarters attending this year’s show. However members from our Toronto studio, KOEI Canada, will be at E3 to speak about a new title that will be publicly unveiled at the show.”

Capcom said yesterday that it wouldn’t show Dead Rising 2 at the event for fear of the disease.

Man-up, Japan. It’s only a bloody cold.