Monthly Archives: June 2009

The Microsoft event yesterday mentioned loads of stuff coming to Xbox Live, and we touched on that briefly here. However, we have been handed more details this morning.

• Avatar Marketplace: Coming this summer, in-game Avatar Awardables, animated Props, full costumes, premium clothing for purchase all through the Avatar editor.

• User Ratings: A five star rating system is being added that lets you rate any content in the Games Marketplace and will allow users to organize by rating and find the community’s favorite content.

• Performance Updates: Xbox Live service will be upgraded for improved performance including better guide and friends access, revamping the friends sorting list, Achievement views and improved matchmaking support.

Expect all three improvements to land sometime this summer.

Via CVG.

Eurogamer has them and they’re looking very sharp indeed.

Now, this is where we usually stipulate date and format but if you read this, you’ll find that exactly what format other than PC the MMO is coming out on, is currently way up in the air.

“Early 2010” is a dead cert, however.

Microsoft’s Shane Kim’s told G4TV that what we all saw yesterday wasn’t Microsoft Game Studios’ complete line-up for 2009.

“We didn’t put every Microsoft Game Studios game that’s coming out this year on stage, so I don’t think you can use that as the only proxy,” said Kim.

“But there’s no question that we have tremendous third-party support.”

More through the link.

Heavy Rain may not have a fixed date on it, but it will be playable at E3. Finally.

The Sony guys are getting things together in the PS Lounge, which is looks cooler than it did at GDC if possible, and PlayStation Blog is there.

Heavy Rain, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves, SingStar, VidZone and FIFA 10 info should be popping up on the site soon.

So go have a look.

Thanks, Tenthousandgothsonacid.

Legendary actor Mickey Rourke will be at Bethesda’s E3 booth between 2-2:45 pm PST signing stuff you want his autograph on, the company announced today.

Bethesda recently confirmed that Rourke was lending his vocal talent to Rogue Warrior.

So get on down there and him on the hand because you’re really not worthy.

Thanks, BigDownload.

IGN has posted hands-on previews of Alan Wake, Forza 3 and Halo 3: ODST.

However, if reading lots of words is all too much for you, we’ve taken what we feel are the most interesting bits from each one.

Alan Wake:

What I enjoyed most about Alan Wake as I moved from cabin to cabin in the eerie mountain village of Bright Falls, was how effectively Remedy has implemented strong action-oriented gameplay without sacrificing atmosphere. Alan is the only normal person in a very paranormal place, and he’s not the type that can just run and gun his way through the horde of evil things surrounding him. Running away is probably the smartest strategy in the game and combining that cowardice (or as I like to call it, tactical withdrawal) with a clever use of your flashlight and gun combo is every bit as entertaining as previously ‘roided up horror titles like Resident Evil 5.

Forza 3:

But then there’s also the new rewind functionality, which enables you to jump back five seconds in time to erase your mistakes. This isn’t a feature new to racing games. Codemasters’ Grid showcased a similar feature. But in Forza 3, it’s more welcome. In Grid it was an “oops, I screwed up” button. And sure, I used it as a mulligan for when I slid out and slammed into a median. But really, the rewind function is going to be a learning tool because Forza 3 is all about the subtleties of accelerating and braking. And each car reacts differently, even if it’s just in subtle ways. As a practice tool, rewinding is going to help you learn the right speed for a turn.

Halo 3: ODST (Firefight mode):

Two maps were open for play: Security Zone and Crater (Night). Security Zone takes place near the ONI complex and is a large, well lit area. A central valley funnels most of the action into one column while sniper rifles and turrets conveniently sit atop overlooks. Midway through each round of enemies you’ll find a Wraith or two to tackle. Sadly, you can’t jack these in this level though I’m told ODST do have the ability to jack vehicles. It was just disabled for that map for balancing purposes.

It’s time. Nintendo will take to the E3 stage in Los Angeles today for its 2009 keynote, and the world’s watching with stern eyes.

The Kyoto monster came unstuck at the US show last year with a weak program centred on Wii Music, and there’s a lot to prove this time out. The hardcore want blood. Mario and Zelda blood. Wii Fit Plus blood. The thrill of the megaton. The flash’s heat. The desperate stench of plumber crotch.

If the sum total of today’s showing is Cammie “Pegs” Dunaway throwing a virtual Frisbee for a dog, there’ll be ugly scenes.

When? The fanboy massive holds its breath from 9.00am PST/5.00pm BST/6.00pm CET. Get our liveblog after the break.

If you’re after streaming video, try IGN, Gametrailers, Gamespot or G4.

Remember: the Sony conference follows directly after at 11.00am PST/7.00pm BST/8.00pm CET.

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A few pictures cropped up over at NeoGaf earlier showing Nintendo’s E3 presser stage revealing that Sin and Punishment 2, announced in October last year, is set to feature later on.

Also, remember the curtains covering the banner we showed you earlier? Well, after some photoshop trickery, it appears that a Super Mario Bros. logo can be seen through them.

We’re saying nothing.

It’ll all happen at 6pm BST tonight, innit.

Thanks, Psychotext.

Konami has unveiled a new XBLA, PSN and WiiWare game Zephyr: Rise of the Elementals.

Billed as “coming soon” Zephyr enables you to control a tornado. With this at your disposal you plough through trailer parks and towns, tossing tractors and earning more points for more mayhem.

More on the official site through the link.

Steven Spielberg has told the BBC that everything he’s working on with EA is now in the bin. Why? Because now he’s got Natal.

“I’m currently making videogames through EA, and right now I’m so excited to be able to write for [Natal],” he said, talking alongside MS entertainment boss Don Mattrick after the Microsoft E3 press conference last night.

“That’s what I’m most excited about, because it sort of changes the paradigm of what I would have written for last week, now all that has been thrown away and it’s a whole new world, a whole new beginning.”

The body-sensing tech, the creator said, will pull down the barriers experienced by many when they first pick up a game controller.

“This is going to try to bring those that are intimidated or scared of the technology, with what the buttons do or what the controller does, this is going to give people that don’t usually play videogames access to a whole new world that we know is compelling but they haven’t quite discovered yet,” he said.

“I think they’ll discover it through Natal.”

Spielberg added that Natal is a step in allowing developers to create truly emotional content.

“I don’t really know of a convergence, and I can’t give you a date for convergence, but so far, the videogame industry has not allowed us the opportunity to cry while we’re playing a videogame because we’re too busy putting our adrenaline rush into the controller, or to wherever we have to swing our arm with the Wii controller, to get a result, to achieve a level of success,” he said.

“Because of that there’s no room for a videogame to break your heart. I think, in terms of a technology, we have a little more room, to be much more emotional with the Natal technology than we ever have before.”

You must watch that interview. Hit this for details on the Nintendo and Sony conferences today. Let’s see if they can do better than this.

Corporate vice president of Xbox Live, John Schappert has told the BBC that now the Metal Gear franchise is heading to Xbox 360, the company now has “all the franchises” and “the best games.”

“The Metal Gear Solid franchise was the last franchise that we were really truly looking to get on board,” he said

“We’ve got the best games and we’ve got all the franchises that might have started their lives on other consoles coming to the 360.”

Piers Harding-Rolls, a senior analyst with Screen Digest, said the reason for the lack of exclusives is because of an open market.

“When the PlayStation 2 was the dominant platform, it was less of an issue for developers to tie up an exclusive deal,” offered Piers.

“Today developers want to maximise their sales and that means making a game to go out on all platforms.

“There is no denying that Microsoft has done well in improving its relationship with third party developers and the Metal Gear Solid announcement is another notch on the old bedpost.”

More through the link.

Microsoft has cut the price of Gears of War 2 expansion pack Dark Corners from 1600 to 1200 MS Points. That’s £10.20 or €14.40.

That’s not all, as the All Fronts Collection, which features the aforementioned Dark Corners, Flashback, Combustible and Snowblind will be made available as a digital download from Xbox Live for a mere 15 quid.

Why the price cut? “Because it felt like the right thing to do,” said Epic’s Rod Fegusson to IGN. That’s why.

EG and IGN have posted up hands-on impressions of Project Natal, the 360 camera announced in MS’s E3 conference yesterday.

Both sites got to look at Burnout and a game called Ricochet on the tech, and both sites say it works. Controllers are so passé.

Take a look.

1UP got some hands-on time with Bungie’s Halo 3:ODST’s new ‘Firefight’ multiplayer mode and likened to it Gears of War’s ‘Horde’.

I find myself in a Firefight, which seems to be Halo-speak for “Horde mode from Gears of War 2.” Me and the rest of my four-man team simply defend against five waves of Covenant. What sort of Covenant forces? … “Sometimes it’s just a few Grunts, other times it’s a whole gaggle of Grunts, Jackals, and Brutes.” Well, the first four waves are; the fifth wave is always going to be “a couple of Brute Chieftains and their friends.” The scoring system works just like campaign scoring, so taking out Covenant in cool ways racks up points. Finally, for variety’s sake, players can choose to incorporate skulls into the matches, which will add effects such as “enemies love to throw grenades” or “enemies evade fire extremely well.”

It if it’s half as fun as Horde, we’re in.

ODST releases September 22.

Singularity’s E3 trailer’s after the break, and it includes a good chuck of gameplay, time-warping, puzzles and some kind of “follow the bullet” thing. For killing people, like.

The game’s set on an ex-Soviet island, and involves lots of people dying. It’s out later this year.

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BioWare’s new RPG IP is shaping up rather nicely and this video proves it.

It’s what was shown at EA’s E3 presser and we’re all over it, and not just the bits with semi naked wimmin in them.

The music’s a bit ‘rawk,’ but we’ll forgive it for now.

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Activision showed off its music games at a star-studded demo in LA last night – which included performances from Kay-Z and Eminem – and played DJ Hero and Guitar Hero 5 live on stage. As you can see in the movies after the break.

There’s some music going on, there. Some DJing, too.

They’re both out this year. Thanks, Joystiq.

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Activision held a special DJ Hero event last night, with none other than rap überstars Jay-Z and Eminem headlining.

Joystiq also reckons that Travis Barker and DJ AM attended, but we’ve no idea who they are.

More through the link.

Halo 3 creative director Joe Staten revealed to IGN yesterday that Halo 3: ODST (Orbital Drop Shock Trooper) is “done.”

Hopefully that means the September 22 release date will stick and perhaps a demo might be in the offing, although Bungie traditionally, don’t ‘do’ demos.

Crytek boss Cevat Yerli told IGN at E3 that Crysis 2 won’t be dumbed down for consoles and plans to make the best looking game for PS3 and Xbox 360 “in the entire market”.

“We don’t need to dumb down the game; the technology provides all the horsepower we need to make a kick-ass 360 game, a kick-ass PS3 game, and push the PC gaming forward still,” he said.

“The goal is to be the best looking game on PS3 [and] the best looking game on 360 in the entire market.”

See the teaser here.

Can’t wait. More through the link.