Monthly Archives: May 2009

F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin will get a new multiplayer map pack on May 21 called “Armored Front” for PS3 and Xbox 360.

It consists of two maps, Decoy and Conductor, as well as four character heads to swap out.

Details:

• Conductor Map: Push your way out of a train yard into the vast and open-ended junction station built around a turntable. EPAs will battle their way through the ground floor, as infantry can choose to either support from below or scale the heights of the station and engage in long-range combat.

• Decoy Map: Put your skill to the test in this full-scale training ground for Replica soldiers! Once a controlled arena for combat exercises, now it is under a full-blown assault for control between Replica and ATC. Watch out for ambushes, and don’t let the pop-up target dummies fool you!

• Character Heads: Four unique heads to customize your character.

The map pack will run you 540 MS Points ($5.99) and another pack is expected sometime this summer.

Read on for the press release.

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Microsoft’s Aaron Greenberg has called earlier reports stemming from GameFork’s Twitter post regarding the 360′s E3 showing “completely uninformed”.

“I can confirm that this post is completely uninformed and does not even come close to matching our news for E3,” Greenberg told Eurogamer.

“You can’t believe everything you read, but it is fun to see people trying to guess what will be shown at the show and we are excited to share our real news with everyone on June 1st.”

Reports earlier this morning claimed that MGS4 and a motion controller called Xbox Fluid would be shown by Microsoft at the event, along with other unannounced projects.

NPD has compiled a list of the 20 best-selling PC games at US retailers during April 2009.

Last month, Empire:Total War knocked Wrath of the Lich King off its comfy throne, but it formed a coup and has ascended the throne once more. Good for Blizzard.

1. World Of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King
2. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe
3. World Of Warcraft Battle Chest
4. Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor
5. Empire: Total War
6. Left 4 Dead
7. Demigod / Gas Powered Games
8. Diablo Battle Chest
9. The Sims 2 Apartment Life Exp. Pack
10. Spore / EA Maxis
11. Warcraft III Battle Chest
12. StarCraft Battle Chest
13. World Of Warcraft: Burning Crusade Expansion Pack
14. Warhammer 40K: Dawn of War II
15. World Of Warcraft
16. The SimCity Box (SimCity Societies, SimCity 4, Sims SnapCity)
17. Bejeweled Twist
18. Fallout 3 / Bethesda
19. The Sims 2 Pets Exp. Pack
20. Hidden & Dangerous 2

Courtesy of Shacknews.

The first video showing the single-player mode for Uncharted 2 has hit the net.

We have it after the break.

It’s great. We love it. We can’t get enough.

Watch it courtesy of CVG.

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The teaser site for Kojima Productions is live.

Shows a moody looking field under rolling clouds that look a bit angry.

May 18 is the reveal day, hopefully it’s something spectacular.

Joystiq noticed that the webpage source code lists keywords “MGS” and “Metal Gear” in the meta description. We’ll soon find out what it all means.

Start the nail-biting now.

This weekend, Gears of War 2 is handing out double XP with public multiplayer matches on Xbox Live.

The event kicks off this Friday, May 15 and runs until May 18.

So log in and rank up.

More through the link.

Steven Spielberg’s kicking himself. Had he not bailed on Medal of Honor’s development and sold DWI to EA in 2000, he’d be rich by now. Oh.

“The smartest and dumbest thing I ever did was to sell my company to EA,” the bespectacled movie oligarch told Reuters.

“Medal of Honor was almost done and we made the decision to sell Dreamworks Interactive to Electronic Arts and had we not sold, we would have been able to stay in business just based on the success of Medal of Honor.”

Don’t worry, though. He’s paradoxically pleased he did what he did. Make your mind up, Steve-o.

“But it was very smart also for us to sell to a company that was better equipped and better managed to be able to take Medal of Honor into the international market and really make a commercial success out of it,” he said.

Glad that’s sorted. Spielberg’s latest game project, Boom Blox: Bash Party, ships for Wii next week.

Ubisoft will not be showing a playable version of Beyond Good & Evil 2 at E3 this year.

“We’re not doing any BG&E2 stuff at E3,” a Ubisoft rep told UGO when it asked to book an appointment.

The site goes on to say that it’s possible the game might make an appearance during the Ubisoft press conference, but don’t bet on it just yet.

Attendees will just have to be satisfied with Assassins Creed 2, Avatar and Splinter Cell, we reckon.

More through the link.

Despite the fact the second Boom Blox game, Bash Party, still hasn’t released, Steven Spielberg’s already talking up a third title.

“You can become a creator at home,” the media giant told Reuters.

“You can become a participant and you can become an activist. It’s a really wonderful way to empower players to share their ideas with the world and give us better ideas for our own future of the next iteration beyond Bash Party.”

While a third game may be yet a twinkling in Big Steve’s eye, getting the first two to market has helped him keep his kids off the sofa, he said.

“It’s been very, very good for a parent like me who wants our kids not to be couch potatoes, but to get up and move their bodies around more,” added Spielberg.

Wii-exclusive puzzler Bash Party ships next week.

San Rafael-based Factor 5, best known for Lair and the Star Wars: Rogue Squadron series, has shut its doors, according to a post on the official website from CEO Achim Moller.

Brash Entertainment’s bankruptcy is being blamed partially for the closure, as the company had a multi-game deal with Factor 5. Because of this, “the continuation of operations have turned out too great to overcome in the current economic climate,” said Moller.

Factor 5 GmbH, based out of Cologne, is not affected by the closure, and the studio promises to reveal it’s upcoming projects over the next few months.

More over on the official site.

Via San Francisco Examiner.

Very nice looking video for Battlefield 1943′s  Iwo Jima map is posted after the break.

Looks like it’s loaded with bombings, explosions, trenches, and other things war related.

The map’s out for PS3 and Xbox 360 this June for 1200 MS Points ($14.99).

Thanks, David.

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LucasArts and Krome Studios officially announced Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes this morning.

Based on the Cartoon Network series, players will fight for the Galactic Republic, pursue the bounty hunter Cad Bane and try and thwart the Skakoan villain, Kul Teska.

Players  take on the role of a Jedi Knight or clone trooper through 30 missions created from shared assets from Star Wars: The Clone Wars  TV series, and the storyline leads up to the second season.

A variety of vehicles are present in the game, along with weapons such as rocket launchers, thermal detonators and jet packs built specifically for run-and-gun gameplay.

The game supports two-player online and offline co-op play with drop-in and drop-out multiplayer on PS3 and Xbox 360.

The DS version includes an expanded storyline from season one, with touch-screen controls for movement, attacks, and puzzle solving.

It’s out in September.

Press release through the break.

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Overlord Dark Legend – “the Wii one” – got a new trailer today, as you can see on the official site.

We’re probably going to have to stop saying, “It looks good for a Wii game” soon. That’s two in one day.

It’s out on June 26.

We’ve heard this a few times this morning: apparently Realtime Worlds will show APB as part of the Microsoft press conference at E3.

This Eurogamer story contains a pretty loaded quote from the developers’ studio manager, Colin MacDonald:

“I couldn’t possibly comment at the moment,” he said of the talk.

“But if we happened to be going, I’m sure we would make it known before too much longer, and we’d certainly give Eurogamer a shout to try to meet up.”

You might want to take a look at this while you’re at it.

Rockstar’s told EG it’s got nothing to show at E3. For shame.

“No plans to show anything at E3 at the moment but things can change,” said a rep.

So that’s the end of the LA Noire rumours, then.

EA just said Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince is to release on June 30.

The game was pushed out of last year when the associated movie slipped.

It’s Wii, PS3, 360, PS2, PSP, DS, PC and Mac. Press release here.

Sony Europe’s Worldwide Studios VP Jamie MacDonald is to leave SCEE this month, GI reports.

MacDonald was most recently responsible for social projects such as SingStar and Home.

No idea where he’s off to. Good luck with it, Jamie.

Capcom dropped the price of the PS3 version of Bionic Commando Rearmed today, in celebration of the fact its big brother comes out next week.

Running from today to next Thursday, the 2D side-scroller will cost £3.99/€4.99 on PSN instead of the usual £6.99/€9.99.

Amazing. Buy it.

It’s the concept art that keeps on giving. BioWare’s posted up another bit of Mass Effect 2 wallpaper, as you can see here. It’s the one on the top left.

The game’s out early next year. E3 for the win. Thanks, David Sarkisjan.

There’s a Madden 10 promo video after the break showing tackling animations and scrums from the “next gen” versions of the game.

It’s out in August, and is looking very shiny indeed. Take a look.

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