Monthly Archives: May 2009

Looks like Mythos is back on, folks. HanbitSoft, via a development status letter on the official site, said today that the game’s currently in developed by T3 Entertainment and Redbana US.

The note says that the company plans to introduce the world view, background story and class details along with developmental updates from Mythos designer ‘Alboos’.

“Mythos is currently in a good condition where it’s being reconstructed. We are trying to keep the strengths that it used to have, and strengthen them even more to make more suited as an online game,” wrote Alboos.

The MMO was canceled in the wake of Flagships closure, and many were unsure what HanbitSoft would do with the remains of Mythos once it changed hands.

“Many gamers have been worrying and wondering about Mythos, but they don’t have to worry now,” said Yoora KIM, CMO of HanbitSoft. “We are doing our best to develop the game globally popular”.

Good news then.

Press release is below.

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Activision’s outlined American pre-order promotions for Prototype, as shown on Gaming Today.

Gamestop pre-orderers get a figurine, Gamecrazy buyers get a concept art book and you’ll get a comic if you get it from Amazon.

The Radical open-worlder’s out in June.

Codemasters has posted up a DiRT2 studio tour video on the game’s official site.

There’s stuff in there about particle systems and other developery things. There’s cars on screens as well, if that’s what you’re after.

It’s out in September.

There’s a Rolando 2 trailer after the break, featuring rolling, more roller, a “mysterious island” and a bat.

Amazing. It’s out for iPhone this year.

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The XBLA version of Arkanoid, released the week, apparently contains an extra charge if you’re to finish the game.

According to this Eurogamer piece, the initial 800 Microsoft Points is costs to buy the game only unlocks the first two episodes. A further 400 Points is required to open the final two.

Shonky. More through there.

The first shots of Bizarre Creations racer Blur have been released. They’re on Edge.

There’s an interview with Bizarre bosses Martyn and Sarah Chudley there as well.

Acti Blizz is putting out full-year figures tonight, so expect to hear more on it then.

For now, look away. It’s out at the end of this year.

Activision just confirmed Band Hero and Guitar Hero 5 for launch this autumn.

Band Hero is to carry an E10+ rating, and will feature “top-40 hits” to a “broad family audience”. It’ll use guitar, drums, bass and microphone.

DJ Hero is to include “hip-hop, R&B, Motown, electronica and dance”. And those turntable shots Twittered earlier have just been released as PR.

Guitar Hero 5′s more of the same, basically.

Press release after the break.

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According to Forbes, Nintendo is the sixth most reputable company in the world.

Only the likes of Johnson & Johnson with its ultra-trustworthy baby products and Ikea with its really rubbish furniture beat the Kyoto monster.

Have you ever been in an Ikea on a Saturday? It’s like Revelations come to pass.

Hit the link.

Codemasters has issued a statement on the slip of Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, saying more time is needed for balancing.

“As stated by the Executive Producer in yesterday’s interview on IGN, Codemasters is investing additional development time on the project to balance the player experience throughout the game,” said a rep.

“The studio is now working right through the summer to deliver all formats this Fall to create the best possible experience.”

The title has been pushed out of its summer slot to a now-scheduled autumn release.

The game was originally intended to hit last year.

Activision just Twitpicced the first shots of the DJ Hero controller, as you can see here and here.

In probably not the world’s greatest shock, it’s a turntable with some buttons.

The game’s out at the end of the year. Keep watching for more details.

Thanks, DarkZero.

Ignition sent over some new King of Fighters XII shots this morning, and it’s all looking very nice indeed.

Get them after the break.

The game’s out in July for 360 and PS3.

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Codemasters slipped Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising yet again this morning, pushing the game back to “autumn” instead of the previously announced “summer”.

The news came at the end of a new trailer for the war sim, which looked pretty damn spectacular.

No reason’s been given for the delay, and Codemasters was unavailable for comment at the time of writing.

The game was originally intended to ship in 2008.

So. PC, 360 and PS3 this “autumn”.

Apparently, the cover of the latest Famitsu claims there’s a new Yakuza game in development.

It’s a prequel, supposedly, uncliding a younger Kazuma Kiryu. Toshihiro Nagoshi is reportedly back as producer.

We’ll have to take PS3Center‘s word for it at the moment.

Expect more soon.

Update: It’s true. There’s more on Kotaku.

THQ CEO Brian Farrell said in the firm’s full-year earnings call last night that core games can’t break even in the 700-800,000 unit range any more.

“On the core titles, yeah, 700,000, 800,000 units, those days unfortunately we think are over,” he said in answer to a question about break even levels.

“But within the kids segment, the break evens are very low – I mean, depending on the title, how many SKUs you do, per SKU your break-evens are, depending on the platform, could be somewhere between even 100 and 400,000 units.”

The target sales level was “fairly low in the kids and mass appeal as you might suspect but much higher on the core titles,” the exec added.

Get all the rest of the news from the call here.

THQ boss Brian Farrell said in THQ’s full-year earnings call last night that a “softness” is entering Wii’s market, comments that will no doubt fuel speculation of an upcoming price cut.

“The Wii has been going for an unprecedented amount of time without a price cut,” Farrell said, suggesting that a weakening in the Wii market may be due in part to the economy and in part to the fact that the Wii “already [has] a pretty substantial install base at the current price point.”

Farrell also said in the call that he expects a PS3 price cut later this year.

Thanks, Gama.

Nintendo said in its full-year financials today that the next Zelda game’s looking to broaden the franchises reach.

“The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks… will appeal to a wider age group of people, and will launch in the later half of the year,” said the firm.

This was pretty much the only game-related info in the release, and is unlikely to thrill fans of the series.

Get all the rest of the news from the statement here. Thanks, Kotaku.

There will be two Eurogamer Expos this year, it was confirmed this morning, another in London and, for the first time, an event in Leeds.

The Leeds show will take place first, running October 27-28. The Expo hits London on October 30-31.

HMV’s sponsoring, and Eurogamer’s expecting 14,000 gamers to turn up.

Sony, Nintendo and Microsoft are all involved, EG said this morning, and further publishers are to be announced in the “coming months”.

Tickets are on sale at the official site now, priced £6 per day.

Press release after the break.

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VG247 is an official media partner of Eurogamer Expo 2009, it’s been confirmed.

Eurogamer Network said this morning that this year’s event will take place in London and Leeds at the end of October. Get all details here.

Our involvement in the show means you’ll be getting all the action from both events right here this autumn.

Hit up the Expo’s site to see our lovely logo in the sidebar and buy tickets at £6 per day.

Eurogamer Network MD Rupert Loman said today that the now-announced Eurogamer Expo would be a “great place” for publisher announcements, saying the event is unique in terms of getting pre-release games in the hands of British fans.

“It’s going to be a similar format to last year – lots and lots of playable games,” he said. “I’m not sure publishers have many announcements to make at that time of year, generally – but if they did, it’d be a great place for them to do it.

“More important for us is to get some games that are playable at the show that have never been played by the public before.”

The expo will take place on two sites this October, firstly in Leeds and then in London. Last year’s show was a South-only affair.

“When we asked people how far they traveled to come to last year’s event the vast majority said less than 100 miles,” Loman added. “It’s a bit of a stretch to travel for more than two hours each way to come to an event for one day.

“As a result there’s millions of gamers in the north of England that don’t have any kind of event like this, so instead of getting them to come to us, we’re going to them.”

The Expo, as it stands, remains unchallenged in the UK, a fact that hasn’t been lost on the exec.

“The reason we started the Expo is because there was nothing like it in the UK – and that’s still the case,” he said. “So in terms of actually playing the biggest games this Christmas, I’m not sure if there’s anywhere else to go.”

VG247 is an EG Expo media partner. Full details here. Buy tickets from the official official site.

Seeking Alpha just posted the full transcript of THQ’s full-year earnings call last night. You could pick through it, or you could just read this.

The choice, liebling, is yours.