Monthly Archives: May 2009

EA officially announced NHL 10 and not only will you be playing for real NHL teams going for the Stanley Cup, you’ll get to trade punches thanks to a first-person fighting engine.

You can throw punches, grab another players jersey and pop one off in his face, and when you challenge a skill player – the opposing team’s touch guy will step in to settle the score.

As far as the actual act of hockey itself, thanks to a new board physics engine, players can use their body to shield the puck on the boards and then kick-pass it to teammates.

The game has more than 200 gameplay refinements, a new 360 degrees precision passing mechanic and new interactive crowds that wave towels, glass bangers and react to your actions on the ice.

Groovy.

NHL 10 arrives in stores this September for PS3, and Xbox 360.

Read on for the press release.

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Activision will release the second map pack for Call of Duty: World at War for PS3 and Xbox 360 in June, and to hold you off until then, there’s eight minutes of it featured after the break.

The video only shows Corrosion and Sub Pens, but when the pack is released it will also include Banzai and Zombie Swamp.

Go watch.

Thanks, Joystiq.

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The Uncharted 2 trailer that was posted yesterday has surfaced again, but this time, it has a larger chunk of coolness to it.

Looking better everyday, we think.

Game’s out later this year, video’s after the break.

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Capcom has released the minimum and recommended PC specs for Street Fighter IV.

Here’s the rundown:

Minimum specs:

• Windows XP
• Intel Pentium4 2.0GHz or higher
• 1GB RAM or higher
• 10GB of free HDD space or more
• NVIDIA GeForce6600 series, ATI Radeon(TM) X1600 or higher or higher, DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 or higher compatible, VRAM ?F256MB or higher
• DirectSound compatible, DirectX 9.0c (or higher) compatible
• Mouse, Keyboard

Recommended Specs:

• Windows Vista
• Intel Core2Duo 2.0GHz or higher
• 2GB RAM or higher
• 10GB of free HDD space or more
• NVIDIA GeForce8600 series or higher, ATI Radeon(TM) X 1900 or higher, DirectX 9.0c/Shader3.0 or higher compatible, VRAM ?F512MB or higher
• DirectSound compatible, DirectX 9.0c (or higher) compatible
• Gamepad ?FXbox360 Controller for Windows

Game’s out July 7.

Arkane Studios and Valve’s FPS The Crossing ,which promised to blend single-player and multiplayer together, has been shelved.

According to Arkane’s CEO Raphael Colantonio, the studio ran into unexpected financial challenges on the shooter and shelved the game to work on other projects.

“We ran into an unexpected financial challenge some months ago and we had to put The Crossing on hold,” said Colantonio. “Since then, we shifted our efforts to other very good projects.”

The financial problems were due to job cuts at EA in November of last year, which put a halt on a publishing deal.

Currently, Arkane’s at work on a FPS RPG and a “casual strategy game” for the iPhone with Deus Ex’s Harvey Smith.

More over on Joystiq.

Criterion’s Burnout Paradise premium DLC Big Surf Island will not only have 15 events and 10 online freeburn challenges but 45 Billboards hidden on the island and, of course, Trophies.

One achievement of note involves getting 4.5 seconds of air time in a single jump.

We won’t tell you the rest because it might spoil things a bit.

If you want a peek at the list Joystiq has it.

Rock Band Unplugged is coming to PSP June 9, and the track list has been revealed for it.

Musical eras span between the present with AFI to The Who in the 1960′s.

If you aren’t tired of music games, and are interested in what’s on it, read on below the break.

Thanks, Joystiq.

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Call of Duty: World at War is 50 percent off on Steam this weekend.

Normally $49.99 it’s $24.99 this weekend only. Those holding out may wanna reconsider since it’s so much cheaper.

Hit the link to see for yourself.

Sony has announced that over one million users have signed up for its MMO Free Realms during the first 17-days of launch.

In celebration, SOE is rewarding all current Free Realms players with limited edition in-game T-shirt featuring special graphics, a matching pet T-shirt for their four-legged friends, and 200 Station Cash to use toward the purchase of in-game items.

The one-millionth player gets a lifetime membership to the game, a one-of-a-kind in-game astronaut suit, and 10,000 in Station Cash.

“The excitement surrounding Free Realms, and the positive response the game has already received, is overwhelming,” said SOE’s John Smedley. “To achieve this milestone so rapidly speaks to the quality and the fun gameplay experience Free Realms offers to players of all ages.”

Congrats guys.

Press release is below.

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Today, consumers who pre-ordered Fight Night Round 4 through GameStop can access the downloadable demo for either PS3 or Xbox 360.

Stop by the store where you pre-ordered, show your receipt,  get your access code, go home, punch it in, and in no time you’ll be throwing punches as Manny Pacquiao or Ricky Hatton.

Xbox Live Gold members will get the demo May 28, while Silver members and PS3 users get it on June 4.

Game ships on June 30.

Sony has announced that a limited-edition Dissida Final Fantasy PSP pack will be offered exclusively at GameStop locations in the US for $199.99.

Available August 25,the pack includes the game along with a Mystic Silver PSP-3000 system, Advent Children on UMD and a 2GB Memory Stick PRO Duo.

More over on GameStop. Press release after the break.

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War dogs, called the Mabari, will be included in Dragon Age: Origins.

They look like a cross between a Mastiff and a Boxer on steroids. Quite scary really.

According to the official site, “the hounds choose their masters, and pair with them for life. To be the master of a Mabari anywhere in Ferelden is to be recognized instantly as a person of worth.”

Able to unseat knights off their horses, the hounds can also break lines of pike men.

Nice. Can’t wait to use them.

There’s a video and more screens of the beast through the link.

DJ Shadow played a consultant role in Activision’s upcoming DJ Hero, according to an interview with Game Informer.

When asked what his responsibilities to the game entailed and how he contributed, DJ Shadow said that it was mostly his musical expertise that was needed.

“There’s a number of areas where I’ve been able to contribute my expertise, for whatever that’s worth,” he told the mag.

“I mean initially it was literally me sitting there going, ‘OK I hear these samples, this song, did you ever think about clearing this?’

“From menu music on down—just from my lifetime of listening to a lot of music that DJs have been using over the years. And a lot of the songs that DJs use, and a lot of the little things, little sound bites that are common on commercials and—you know, songs for the last twenty/thirty years—lots of times people recognize those sounds but they don’t necessarily know where they come from.

“And you know not all of my suggestions were able to be incorporated because of, you know, ‘Well we’ve already licensed this many songs,’ or ‘We can’t find the original copyright holder,’ or ‘The production team’s eyes are bulging out of their heads and their brains are going to explode if we try to actually incorporate this into the gameplay.’ So it was a little give and take.”

The dance musician also contributed original songs and themes to the game.

Read the four page interview through the link.

The pre-E3 Mass Effect 2 trailer is up on the official website.

It has the dev team telling you what you can expect at E3 and from the game in general.

Hit the break to watch it courtesy of Joystiq.

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Microsoft says that it has no announcement regarding Crackdown 2 at this time.

Microsoft revealed yesterday that a premium Crackdown theme would be made available for download today, which had people wondering if it was a lead-up to some sort of announcement.

“We are always looking for new ways for fans to connect with their favorite games, including the award-winning “Crackdown,” and thus we created the new theme pack,” a Microsoft rep told OXM.

“But as far as future or potential projects go, we have nothing to confirm or announce at this time.”

For those itching at the chance of a sequel, take heart that there wasn’t a flat-out denial in there.

Hit the link for the rest.

United Front Games announced today that it’s developing an action-based game set in Hong Kong for Activision.

No details on the game were mentioned in the announcement, but it is well-known that the studio is a licensed developer for PS3 and Xbox 360.

“Over the past two decades our core team has led development of some groundbreaking games, so we have enormous expectations of ourselves,” said general manager Stefan Wessels.

“We have assembled industry talent from around the world, who have worked in senior positions on renowned titles such as the Need for Speed series, SKATE, Bully, Scarface, Godfather, Hulk, Spore and the NHL Sports franchise.”

United Front was formed in 2007 by former employees of Action Pants, Black Box, EA, Next Level, Propaganda, Radical and Rockstar.

Thanks, CVG.

Radio 1′s announced a Big Gaming Weekend, including Eurogamer’s own Johnny Minkley.

It’s taking place over the UK Bank Holiday, from May 22-25, and will feature “gaming themed content from reviews, to soundtracks, DJ leaderboards and a poll to find the best game ever.”

Full details after the break.

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We all know that Guitar Hero 5 is in the works. Probably Guitar Hero 10 as well, but we’ll focus on the details that popped up for the next iteration for the time being.

The following has been confirmed by USA Today:

• Four players can choose whatever instrument they want (all guitar, drums, whatever you like)
• Competitive Fest mode: Four players local (eight online) battle for top scores, if a player misses a note their momentum is killed, and they have to hit 20 notes in a row to build the momentum back up

So far the track list includes:

• Bob Dylan – All Along The Watchtower
• Johnny Cash – Ring of Fire
• Kings of Leon – Sex on Fire
• Santana – No One To Depend On
• The Rolling Stones – Sympathy for the Devil
• Tom Petty – Runnin’ Down a Dream
• Vampire Weekend – A-Punk
• White Stripes – Blue Orchid

Thanks, GoNintendo.

BioWare has been working on a pre-E3 Mass Effect 2 trailer, and it’s scheduled to be released today.

We saw this tweet yesterday, but like D’toid, didn’t pick up on the fact that it would land today. Apparently it’s not just our eyes that need checked.

Watch the page folks, when it goes live we’ll post it for you.

The PS3 exclusive Heavy Rain will not run on Xbox 360, according to the game’s director David Cage.

“I think this game can only be done on PlayStation 3,” Cage told NowGamer when asked if the game was possible on 360.

“We used all the SPUs, [and] I think to do the visuals, and all the stuff we’re doing would be too difficult [on the 360].

“There are amazing physics there, and stuff with crowds that you just couldn’t really get.”

Heavy Rain is scheduled to hit PS3 later in the year.