Monthly Archives: May 2009

Sonic & Sega All Stars Racing will release for PS3, Wii and 360 in early 2010, Sega confirmed today.

The game features “mediaeval castle ramparts, lush rainforests and bustling cities” and sets the likes of Sonic, Eggman and AiAi against each other in “custom built vehicles”.

Press release after the break.

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Microsoft has confirmed the 30 million global unit milestone for Xbox 360.

The company also said today that more than 20 million people are now actively using Xbox Live.

“We’ve always been confident that Xbox 360 offers more entertainment value than any other console on the market, and these latest numbers show that consumers agree,” said Microsoft entrtainment boss, Don Mattrick.

“We expect our growth to continue to accelerate. Our news at E3 next week will underscore our commitment to bringing blockbuster entertainment experiences to everyone and to growing the Xbox entertainment brand globally.”

Press release after the break.

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A senior UK source has told VG247 that a slim version of PS3 is “100% real”.

The comment was just backed up by another very senior UK industry figure.

The machine will release in “Q4,” we were told today.

On the question of when we’re going to see the new SKU for the first time, the source simply said, “Pass”.

ArsTechnica rumoured earlier this afternoon that the machine was a reality, but that no announcement would be made at E3 next week.

The timings for Sony’s E3 press conference, as well as all the others, can be found here.

Looks as though popular lightweight fighter Clay ‘The Carpenter’ Guida’s absence from UFC 2009 Undisputed was because of his long hair.

During development, the hair on his character caused clipping and collision detection issues making him unplayable, so he was taken out of it.

According to 5th Round, THQ supposedly offered Guida money to cut his hair so he could be kept in-game, but he refused.

Bit strange, that.

Clipping issues were also an issue with left-handed fighters like Rich Franklin, and instead of the developers asking the fighter to switch styles, they were just given a right-hand stance in the game.

Thanks, GameSetWatch.

Ars is rumouring that the PS3 Slim is a reality, but won’t be announced next week at E3.

For what it’s worth, we’ve been given a very heavy nudge today that the new SKU is, indeed real.

There’s lots through there, including an insistence that PSP-Go is an actual thing. You know what? It really is.

Hit this for all the conference timings for next week.

Sony just confirmed six new titles for the Greatest Hits range for PS3, including GT5 Prologue and MGS4. A hint? Very possibly.

The list:

• Army of Two, Electronic Arts
• Battlefield: Bad Company, Electronic Arts
• Devil May Cry 4, Capcom
• Gran Turismo 5 Prologue, Sony Computer Entertainment America
• Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots, Konami
• Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction, Sony Computer Entertainment America

As of June 16, this lot will cost $30.

Deep Silver has released a video for the Wii exclusive horror title, Cursed Mountain.

The Himalayas aren’t all snow leopards, goats, and lovely vistas, apparently.

In the video, main character Simmons has found that the ancient artifact his brother Frank was hired to look for is more than it seems. Watch him encounter souls in limbo and a  snowy world where nothing is as it seems.

Spooky.

Cursed Mountain is set to be released sometime this year.

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Firefly Studios has announced that it is currently developing the first castle-based MMO, titled Stronghold Kingdoms.

Based on the Stronghold franchise, the title is a mix between PC and web gameplay, where players embark on building their own kingdoms using strategy and “long-term planning”.

“What is exciting about Stronghold Kingdoms is not only are we taking Stronghold online and massively multiplayer, but we are funding this ourselves as an independent developer”, said Firefly CEO Eric Ouellette to GI.biz.

The MMO realm is missing a proper medieval title with knights, disgruntled peasants, and conquerors. Hopefully this will fill the void.

It’s expected to launch in 2010.

Take-Two has decided to issue “$100 million in convertible senior notes to raise funds for general corporate purposes”.

What in the name of sainted Jesus does that mean, says you? Wedbush Morgan mega-analyst Michael Pachter sets you straight:

It means that Take-Two has decided to borrow $100 million. The company currently has $180 million, but has $70 million in debt under a revolving line of credit. It’s possible that they want to pay off the line of credit and shift the debt to something more predictable (sort of like paying off a credit card with a home equity line).

It’s also possible that they have plans to spend a bit more money, either on acquisitions or on operating their business. The debt is a five year bond, but Take-Two has the option to repay the loan by issuing stock to the creditors.

Take-Two’s taken something a kicking since its earnings call this week, during which execs appeared flaky on SKU details after posting an eyebrow-raising loss in its second quarter.

Still. $100 million should pay for a few Diet Cokes in the next six months.

The eighth annual Electronic Game Show has been dated and will take place October 23 to 25 at the Expo Bancomer Santa Fe in Mexico City.

Microsoft will be there, along with Activision, EA, Konami, THQ and Ubisoft.

“EGS has been instrumental in the growth of the Mexican videogames industry,” said Erick Baca, Xbox and SDA marketing lead.

“Microsoft has been a participant of the event since the beginning and we have seen EGS evolve according to the needs of the industry allowing us to reach our business goals and at the same time increase the awareness of the industry in the market”

Over 26,000 people attended the event last year.

More over on GI.biz.

We’re very pumped now. Ubisoft just confirmed it will stream its own press conference live from its site.

The event takes place at 5.00pm PST next Monday. What are you going to get? Splinter Cell and Assassin’s Creed fans would do well to watch.

For all the conference timings and details of VG247 E3 coverage, hit this.

Right here in fact.

Bookmark it now. It promises European-only competitions, news, and more. But, as the site says:

Some news is bigger than SCEE though, so where appropriate we’ll be coordinating efforts with Jeff and Chris from the US blog on major announcements.

So it’ll be a global thing too. Let’s all hug. Looks nice, check it out.

SCEE just launched a new Twitter account, into the bargain. Follow @PlayStationEu for fun.

2K farmed out BioShock 2′s multiplay aspects to Digital Extremes because it didn’t regard the field as a personal “strength,” 2K Australia senior designer Dean Tate has told Gamespot.

“You have to play to your strengths,” he said. “Digital Extremes has a long history in the multiplayer gaming arena, they’re proven experts in the field.

“As a studio we’re psyched to have them working on Bio2 MP. As for us here at 2K Australia, I’ll say that we’re working on stuff that plays to our own strengths as a studio, and that’ll show when you get to play the game.

“We have a great history and background in helping to craft the BioShock single-player experience, and we’re playing to that strength in our contributions to BioShock 2.”

Digital Extremes has a decade-strong experience with online gaming, having worked on iterations of both Unreal and Unreal Tournament.

BioShock 2 will release on October 30 in Europe and November 3 in the US.

After the break. This is the first footage of High Voltage’s newly announced gladiator fighting game, and it looks fairly bloody.

And when we say “fairly,” we mean “stupidly”.

Out early next year for Wii. Thanks, Kotaku.

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Microsoft’s posted the Fight Night Round 4 demo on Live, as you can see here.

It’s 784Mb and for Gold subs only. Off you go, pummel fans.

EA Sports boss Peter Moore’s told MCV that this year’s E3 should be about the cojones, hombre.

“We need to regain the industry’s strut and swagger – something that the E3 Expo once so wonderfully portrayed,” he said.

Moore, one of the greatest strut-and-swaggerers to ever grace E3′s big stage, said 2009 was the year E3 needed to be reborn.

“We also need to demonstrate as a global industry how video games are at the absolute forefront of connected entertainment,” he said, adding that the show should “embrace the games industry’s loyal consumers in more meaningful ways at the event – and not shut them out.”

More through there. E3 2009 kicks off on Monday.

G4′s going to be streaming all the major press conferences live from E3, promising 14 hours of video from the Sony, Microsoft and Nintendo shows.

The site’s going to have corresponding liveblog coverage. Get all the details here.

Hit this for details of all the live VG247 coverage you can expect from the show next week.

GameTrailers will be offering live video of all the major E3 press conferences next week. Find all the details, including links, after the break.

The Nintendo, Sony, Microsoft, EA and Ubisoft pressers will be covered by the site.

We’ll be liveblogging all of those conferences and more: get details here.

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Square Enix super-chief Yoichi Wada has dreams. Big dreams. Forget games: he wants the publisher to be one of the biggest names in global entertainment.

“Our goal is to become one of the top ten players in the world’s media and entertainment industry,” he said, talking in an interview on the firm’s site.

“Since the game market is global, both our contact with our customers and our game development must become global, too.”

Buying Eidos was an accelerating move, Wada said.

“It would, however, take us a considerable time to mature into a global enterprise under our own steam. It was essential that we found a successful European or North American company to work together with, and Eidos proved to be the ideal partner.”

Tons more through there, including words from Eidos CEO Phil Rogers.

Kotaku’s rumouring that Bionic Commando developer GRIN’s dropped between 100 and 160 staff, citing “multiple sources”.

The firm, which has offices in Sweden, Spain and Indonesia, is rumored to be in the process of shuttering its Gothenburg and Barcelona-based sites.

Layoffs at its headquarters in Stockholm are rumored to amount to nearly 30.

Full thing through the link.