Monthly Archives: June 2009

A new study, Game Changer: Investing in Digital Play to Advance Children’s Learning and Health, has advised that games can be used as an educational force for American good.

“Despite their reputation as promoters of violence and mayhem, digital games have in fact been shown to help children gain content and vital foundational and 21st-century skills,” said the paper.

“Digital games are here to stay and offer the country a rare opportunity to leverage children’s already established enthusiasm in order to reform education and promote healthy development.”

The report says America’s money-givers should start investing in game’s for the good of the nation’s youth.

From Game Politics, via Kotaku.

Kotaku’s rumouring that Rockstar New England’s “entire QA department” has been laid off, along with some other staffer from different departments.

Rockstar apparently wants QA kept to a central studio.

Estimates are that “at least 10 percent of the studio” was made redundant.

Rockstar New England was rebranded from Mad Doc Software after being acquired in February last year.

Woo! Another PS3 Firmware update’s on the way, this time taking the machine to 2.80. What does it do?

“The playback quality of some PlayStation 3 format software has been improved,” according to this US PS Blog.

Thank blimey for that. We’ll let you know when it’s up.

Why add a peripheral to the Tony Hawk franchise? So you can be Tony Hawk, Activision CEO Mike Griffith’s told MCV. Without all the blood unpleasantness, obviously.

“It’s the same analogy as Guitar Hero, where you can feel like you are a rock legend, even if you can’t play a single note; now with Ride you can skate the way a skating legend like Tony Hawk skates, but you won’t break your head open,” said the exec.

“It’s proving to be lots of fun, and the peripheral board, with its sensors, is very responsive. It’s a thrill.”

There’s an interview through there. Ride’s out later this year.

Microsoft’s announcement that 360 is to be integrated with Facebook, Last.fm and Twitter was “far and away the most important” news of E3, Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter’s told Gamasutra.

The analyst said “that the media completely missed its importance,” adding that it signals a new direction for the machine, that of a “functioning computer” in the living room.

Pachter also said that the move “gives the company a huge jump start on a hopeful Apple, which has as yet to make a dent in sales of its AppleTV (intended for the same purpose).

“Microsoft appears to me to understand that it can leverage its 30 million installed base advantage if it moves quickly, and Apple will have a long way to go in order to catch up. By far, this was the most important announcement of E3.”

Very interesting stuff. Hit it. And if you’re not using Twitter already, then get with the program, soldier.

Overlord II (PC, PS3, 360), Overlord Dark Legend (Wii) and Overlord Minions (DS) have all shipped, Codemasters has confirmed.

The games will be available in both the US and Europe this week.

Reviews are looking nice and positive, so buy them. Got it? Buy them. Get some money, go to a shop exchange said cash for the games, take them home and play them.

OK? PR after the break.

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The courageous philanthropists at Microsoft have done yet another good deed for Xbox 360′s little people, this time adding summer clothing for Avatars. Should keep them nice and cool.

Here’s what you get.

Male

• Rashguard
• White Vest
• Swim Shorts
• Surfer Shorts

Female

• Flower Vest
• Surfer Hot Pants
• Surfer Shorts
• Surfer Skirt
• Surfer Dress

As ever, the male stuff’s extremely male, while the female clothing’s covered in flowers. It’s like living in the post-War Mid West.

Ninjabee has hinted via Twitter that flame tossing Avatars may be headed our way.

Here’s what the Kingdom for Keflings creators tweeted:

“Here’s the big news for the day: Ever wanted to throw a fireball with your Avatar?”

Which leads to the photo pictured above with the caption: “Soon you’ll be able to use your Avatar in ways it hasn’t been used before…”

Throwing fireballs would be nifty indeed.

Via Joystiq.

Microsoft has announced that it is to release wireless microphones just in time for Christmas for $49.99.

According to the press release, these mics will work your music games, including upcoming The Beatles: Rock Band.

Once you get the title update through Xbox Live, that is.

It’s expected to be released in the fall, and the press release is below.

No word on when the promise of the Lips microphone becoming compatible with Rock Band, et al will happen.

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Halo 3 has been usurped. Call of Duty: World at War is now the King of Xbox Live.

Bow before its magnificence. Or not. This is a benevolent monarchy. Nothing’s forced.

Here’s the full thing for the week of June 15:

Xbox 360 Top Live Titles

1. Call of Duty: WaW
2. Halo 3
3. Call of Duty 4
4. Gears of War 2
5. GTA IV
6. FIFA 09
7. UFC 2009 Undisputed
8. Left 4 Dead
9. PROTOTYPE
10. Rock Band 2

Top Arcade Titles

1. Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers
2. Castle Crashers
3. Sonic The Hedgehog 3
4. Worms
5. Sam & Max Save the World
6. UNO
7. CellFactor: Psychokinetic Wars
8. Peggle
9. Hasbro Family Game Night
10. Rocket Riot

Original and Indie titles are after the break courtesy of the Major.

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Rockstar was kind enough to send us over some shots of Max Payne 3.

We have ‘em posted for you after the break.

The title is featured in the latest Game Informer, and in it, Rob Nelson and Jeronimo Barrera talk a bit about the change in visual style, and other things that may interest you.

“If you expected a by-the-numbers sequel, prepare to be surprised,” said the mag. “The third chapter of the Max Payne saga takes our hero places that he’s never gone before, while at the same time keeping an eye towards maintaining and improving the stylish gunplay that made his reputation.”

It’s out on stands or on your coffee table as we speak.

Game’s expected this winter for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

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Those who pre-order Assassin’s Creed II through GameStop will net a download code for an in-game version of the 15th century Florentine palace, The Palazzo Medici.

Here’s the info:

Reserve Assassin’s Creed 2 and receive a GameStop exclusive code to unlock one of the Renaissance’s most prestigious monuments, the Palazzo Medici. You will receive exclusive access to this majestic building, and the freedom to discover the treasure hidden within it’s ancient walls.

This is only for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions. Sorry PC people.

Via Kotaku.

Mastertronic Group has launched a new label for indie titles called Great Indie Games and the first game to make the cut is World of Goo, slated for a July release.

Great Indie Games will bring independent games to retail to gain a wider audience than just through digital distribution, where most indie titles are offered.

“We are on the look out for more indie developed games, so any developers who want their game sold at retail should get in touch with us,” said Mastertronic’s managing director Andy Payne.

“With the many and varied PC games offerings out there, casual or otherwise, there is a place for great games that have been produced on a lower budget than normal by small development teams.”

Other games are to be announced at a later date.

Via Gamasutra.

Adventure Quest is a play that was inspired by point-and-click adventures and is currently running at the Brick Theater in Brooklyn, New York during June and July.

Adam Swiderski, the director, told MTV that the actors who star in the play are fans of the genre, and have a “connection to Sierra-era adventure games.”

“There’s a character in the show, and in order for him to do things he has to give commands. Back in the day it was all text parsers,” said Swiderski as he described how it is actually played out on stage.

“Like if you you typed ‘Stab Ogre’ that wouldn’t work but if you typed ‘Use Knife On Ogre’ that would work. You know, dealing with these games to get them to do what you want them to do, which was incredibly frustrating to people. I have countless memories of sitting there and typing in various combinations of objects and different ways of stating that I wanted to stab someone. So there’s a lot of that frustration in the play.”

Swiderski added that a turning videogame into a play was a dream of his, and at one time even adapted Grim Fandango for the stage.

“I wrote a full draft on it, I was thinking about producing it. I talked to Tim Schafer at a Microsoft event when I was working as a games journalist. He was really excited about it. Unfortunately I lost the draft in a hard drive failure, so I don’t know if that’s ever going to happen.”

More through the link.

Dave Grossman, design director for Telltale Games, has said that Tales of Monkey Island may eventually land on Xbox Live Arcade once the PC and WiiWare versions are out the door.

“We didn’t so much decide not to put it on Xbox Live Arcade as we decided not to put it on XBLA now,” Grossman told Eurogamer. “Normally what we do is PC and one of the other platforms, and we’ve been bouncing back and forth between them.

“Yeah, I mean I wouldn’t rule it out. We might do that one later on.”

Grossman also said that he would like to see it on every platform possible and that includes PS3, Mac and Linux.

“We just haven’t gotten there yet,” he said. “Ultimately, we would like to be on every downloadable channel there is. We think that’s the perfect place for our stuff to be. It was just luck of the draw how the business relationships worked out and what chips were falling where.

“And we have to get our engine working on the [PS3], which is quite a bit of work, so we only want to do one at a time.

“We’ll get there [Mac, Linux], but it’s a matter of how and when and can we actually afford to do it.”

The first episode , Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, lands on PC  July 7 with the WiiWare version still to be determined.

Full interview is through Eurogamer.

Media Molecule is hiring for a Gameplay Programmer to work on a “ground-breaking, AAA, PS3 title for Sony Computer Entertainment.”

This is according to a job posting over on Edge.

Experience needed includes “writing and maintaining physics code” and to have “shipped a console game with an online component.”

This could be the much rumored LittleBigPlanet 2, LittleBigPlanet PSP, something new entirely or just extra staff for the current game.

Hit the links for more.

Via PS3center.

So far, over 300 exhibitors from 25 countries are registered for Gamescom 2009 in Cologne.

Names you may have heard of that will be attending include: Activision Blizzard, Bigben Interactive, Capcom, dtp entertainment, Electronic Arts, Funcom, GOA, Hama, Koch Media, Konami, Microsoft, Namco Bandai, NcSoft, Nintendo, Rondomedia, Sega, Sony, Square Enix, Take-Two, Tivola, Ubisoft, and Warner Bros.

It will be loaded to the gills with games, news, cosplayers, and other fun stuff.

Guess what? We’ll be on hand too.

The long and detailed press release is through the jump. Bring your lunch.

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Sony’s confirmed that Final Fantasy VII has been downloaded over 100,000 times on the US PSN in merely two weeks.

This makes it the fastest-selling PS1 download for the network of all time, so far.

Sony says PSN has up to 25 million users globally with over 500 million pieces of content downloaded.

Via Gamasutra.

It looks as through three men will be the sole power behind rating games with the new PEGI system in the UK, reports The Times.

Mike Rawlinson, the director-general of ELSPA, says that the three men in the Video Standards Council are “very skilled in their work” and despite BBFC advocates saying otherwise, the PEGI system has been “strengthened and its standards match those of the film censor.”

Meanwhile, another interesting tidbit popped up in the article.

Apparently, the BBFC discovered a recipe for crystal meth when Grand Theft Auto IV was being reviewed for a rating.

After having a chat with Rockstar, who assured the ratings board the recipe was not accurate, it was allowed to remain in the game.

Wow.

Via Kotaku.

Epic’s Rod Fergusson has said that Title Update 4 for Gears of War 2 has not passed certification yet so there is no release date to announce at this time.

However, he did provide a list of all the improvements, fixes, new achievements, and more.

The list also includes how much experience you will gain during Horde mode.

Full thing over on the official forums.