Monthly Archives: June 2009

Denise Kaigler, VP of corporate affairs for NOA, has said that it’s not Nintendo’s intention to bring what works on DS over to Wii just “for the sake of doing it”.

It only gets a console version if the company feels it would be a good fit.

“What we do is look at games that make sense to apply to Wii”, she told GoNinteno at E3. “Same thing can be said of Virtual Console games. We’re always looking at ways to make the experience more fun and more compelling for gamers. If we look at a DS game and see that a Wii version…experience can be enhanced, then that’s what we do.

“We don’t just do it for the sake of doing it. If we can make that experience more fun, more compelling, more immersive…that’s what drives that decision.”

Prime examples of DS games going Wii include: New Super Mario Bros., Mario Kart DS, and Animal Crossing: Wild World.

More through the link.

Ninja Gaiden Sigma II will be released on PS3 this fall with a demo expected to hit  PSN in September.

That was the news yesterday during the Koei Tecmo event in London.

Today, there’s pictures. Lovely and large pictures at that.

Kotaku has ‘em, so go have a look.

Warner Bros. became the lone bidder for Midway this past Wednesday, reports the LA Times.

“No other bids came in, so there’s not going to be an auction,” said Geoff Mogiln, a spokesman for Midway.

Mortal Kombat, Spy Hunter, Joust, Wheelman and other Midway properties are part of the deal with Warner, along with two of development studios. Two other studios and the rest of the company’s assets are still up for sale.

There are still some hurdles to cross before Warner can plunk its $33 million down for the company. One such hurdle happens to be legal issues surrounding a contract dispute over Vin Diesel’s image and voice  in Wheelman.

The next court date is July 1, so more news about the merger is expected then.

Via IGN.

Obsidian has confirmed that its Aliens RPG slated to be published by Sega is dead.

The official forums had this message posted:

“Rumors have circled around a bit regarding the fate of the Aliens role playing game that Obsidian and SEGA had been working on.

Unfortunately, it is true that we are no longer working on the game, and we wanted to finally announce that officially to everyone who has been following its development. We’re going to keep this forum up for another week for archival purposes and to allow you guys to finish up any open threads, and then we will shut it down since it is no longer a product that is in development.”

Alpha Protocol, New Vegas and an unannounced title are still in the works from Obsidian, so that’s good we reckon.

Hit the link for more.

Downer. We’d gotten our huge tub of lube ready for the Mass Effect DLC news that looked to be coming our way this week, only to have to put it back on the shelf for a little while longer as BioWare has twittered that, tragically, no DLC news is imminent.

“Due to circumstances beyond my control (me being stupid on timing), any news of more ME1 DLC will have to wait. Sorry folks,” the tweet said.

Now we’ll just have to get lathered up at some other juncture. We’ll let you know.

BioWare has twittered that a performance enhancing patch for “lower-end devices” is in the works for Mass Effect Galaxy.

“In the next 10 days there will be a ME Galaxy patch on iTunes. Estimated 50% performance boost for lower-end devices with the patch,” reads the tweet.

If you haven’t played MEG yet, we can heartily recommend it; you shoot stuff and everything.

A source close to Ars Technica says that PS3 and Xbox 360 will both get a price cut by fall.

Yes, more “price cut” talk.

The “mole” says that the 80Gb PS3 will become scarce, and thanks to the bundles being offered by Sony, this could happen within two moths time. The Slim will come out in the fall with the price drop and 160Gb models of PS3 will also become scarce — all part of Sony’s diabolical plan no doubt (insert evil laugh).

As far as Xbox 360 is concerned, Microsoft will phase out the Pro making Elite the standard. Another bundle is expected just in time for the holiday shopping extravaganza to replace the Elite, but the source failed to elaborate on what the SKU actually was.

Like you would with most rumors, take out of this what you will.

Via Kotaku.

ACE has released new DLC for Zeno Clash called ‘The Pit’.

It has three new challenge scenarios where players compete for leaderboard scores, and gravity will not be your friend, apparently. Destructible floors and traps may cause you to end up in the bottom of the pit dead instead of alive.

The update is free, and is being released on Steam, where you can get Zeno Clash 50 percent off this weekend.

A video for the DLC is after the break.
More »

Champions Online will go into open Beta in August, according to fansite Champions Online Daily News.

Closed Beta testing for the game has been happening for quite some time, and the developers are working to get all the kinks out for its September launch.

When we get some Beta dates, we will let you know.

Meanwhile, hit the link.

According to CEO Brian Farrell, THQ has had its hands on Natal dev kits for a few weeks now.

“I don’t know how long [we've had them] — 4 , 6 weeks, however long they’ve been available,” he told G4. “I’m not at liberty to talk about exactly what we’re doing, but kind of like when we first got the Wii kits, some key development people are going ‘okay, what can we do that’s really cool here?’ So, stay tuned.”

He does admit, that the devs are unsure what to do with Natal just yet, but are leaning more towards a casual title instead of something for “core” gamers.

“We’re obviously looking at both,” said Farrell. “Our initial take is that it does seem to be more broad, the idea that you’re getting new gamers or lapsed gamers away from very complex controls, but I don’t want to rule out doing something for core because we’ve got some ideas along that line. But I think the emphasis there and I think the positioning from Microsoft — [maybe it's a] better question for them — but it feels more casual to us at this point.”

No word on what developers have been playing around with, but Farrell did say that THQ has yet to receive any motion control kits from Sony although there have been “talks” between the two.

More through the link.

SCEA’s Katie Reid has written on the US PS Blog that inFamous had the fastest demo to reach the one million milestone on PSN.

Also, it was the fifth best-selling software title for May after being on the shelves for only 6 days, according to NPD figures.

She also revealed that an inFamous space will be launching on Home soon, and more information is expected to be revealed for it next week.

There’s all kinds of stuff posted regarding the developers, from how many diet drinks were drank to how many babies were born while the game was being created.

Go have a look.

A PC demo for Trine has arrived, and allows for three player cooperative play, full of physics based puzzles and enemies.

Each character has talents that help invent solutions to puzzles and ways to defeat enemies.

The Wizard can use magic to create objects and new paths, the Thief can uses agility and accuracy to deal with enemies, and the Warrior provides destruction.

Loads more info on this very pretty game is through the link.

Get the demo from FileFront.

GameStop has Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles down for a November 17 release.

The retailer originally had the Wii-exclusive listed for March 2010, and Capcom also still has it listed as such.

“Capcom has yet to announce an official release date for Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles,” an official spokesperson told D’toid.

Trailers and marketing materials for the title state a Winter release which could mean either November or March.

So it looks like winter is where it’s at, regardless.

More through the link.

THQ is working on its own gaming peripheral, which is expected to land sometime in 2010.

Speaking with the LA Business Journal, CEO Brian Farrell said that the controller-based title will give THQ an advantage over the competition.

“We have something that we think is different from anything else out there and will give us a competitive advantage,” Farrell said. “Beyond that, we can’t say much.

“What we know is input devices matter now, whether it’s new controllers, control mechanisms, things like Guitar Hero and Rock Band. Good input devices have resonated with gamers, so we’re going to be in those market spaces.”

No word on what game this is for, what genre, or anything else was revealed.

Thanks for the tease, Kotaku.

Independent game creators are claiming Microsoft doesn’tt do enough for developers who create titles for Xbox Live Community Games.

Clover’s Daniel Jones and Tank Strike’s Daniel Steger have called promotion of the platform “woeful” and that the service pales in comparison to Apple’s App Store for iPhone.

“Microsoft has gone quiet on the service, with nary an official public mention in recent months,” Jones told Eurogamer. “Compared to the marketing Apple have invested in for the iPhone as a games platform, it’s pretty woeful.”

“Even popular services like iPhone have a lot of people making games that just don’t make money,” Steger added. “Their service just suffers from different problems of games being lost in the crowd, rather than not having a crowd.”

“There’s an argument that maybe the games just aren’t good enough,” Jones chimed in. “And whilst there’s some truth in that, the fact is we have 20 million Xbox Live users, of whom 4 million regularly purchase content. That the top-selling XBLCG titles only sell around 10,000 units shows there’s something quite seriously wrong with the service’s marketing – namely a lack thereof.

“Clover cost around GBP 13,000 to make, and that was almost entirely on living costs – central London isn’t cheap! I know some developers who have sunk USD 30,000 into their XBLCG projects, and were still worryingly optimistic about making that back.

“I feel very sorry for them, but I hope that they can prove me wrong.”

More through the link.

MotorStorm: Pacific Rift is including a Speed Weekend festival as part of its upcoming pack, Expansion: SPEED.

It promises loads of unlockables, rewards, trophies, and re-formulated Eliminator and Race events.

Expansion: SPEED is expected soon.

Not sure how soon because Evolution Studios has not announced a date, but you can get more details on what to expect through the US PS Blog.

Hideo Kojima already has three ideas for Metal Gear Solid 5, he told 1UP.

“I have three concepts for MGS5 already. What would be ideal for me with MGS5, though, is that we don’t do those,” he said. “If the team picks one of those concepts, I have to get involved again, which I don’t want to do.

“There are already so many good ideas from the staff, so if we select one of those, that would be really good. At that point I could really rely on them and take the step back to be the producer, which is the ideal situation, I think.”

He also has ideas floating around that have nothing to do with Metal Gear, though.

“Well, I want to create something new, and it’s difficult to explain since no one’s seen it before. I don’t know if it would sell very well,” he told the site.

“I’ve been warming this up for a long time, and I keep thinking that I’ll try this idea. But ideas always change, so I really don’t know what the final outcome will be.”

More through the link.

Mark Jacobs has written a farewell of sorts to fans and former colleagues via his blog, Games are a Niche Market.

The former head of Mythic explains his departure and talks a bit about the changes at the company he co-founded with Rob Denton.

“Early in May, Electronic Arts let me know that they wanted to make some changes within the Games Label and as a result of those changes I have been out of the office (and out of touch with the team, game, etc.) since that day,” he wrote.

“If you are looking or expecting me to damn EA or anyone there, you will be sorely disappointed. Over my 23 years of making games professionally I have refrained from attacking the competition, former and/or current partners, other game developers, etc. except on a few very rare instances.

“I have no intention of breaking with tradition at the present time and I hope my track record in this regard remains unchanged for the rest of my career.”

You can read the full thing through here.

Via MMORPG.

The Saul Zaentz Company, which holds the rights to the Lord of the Rings, has filed a trademark for War in the North.

The trademark covers all sorts of gaming related media, as well as physical and broadcasting related items. This means toys, games, movies, TV, etc., which is not uncommon so “Joe Blow” can’t make action figures or anything else that will generate profit.

No word on what The Lord of the Rings: War in the North is exactly, but it was picked up by Superannuation.

More through the links.

The merger between Koei and Tecmo is now official in Europe, just in case the news of the Ninja Gaiden Sigma II demo  didn’t tip you off already.

“In a move that brings together two of Japan’s biggest gaming companies, TKE will offer a new library of games to European audiences while continuing to thrill fans of existing franchises and titles,” the company said during its press  event in London this morning.

So, there you have it.

Thanks, CVG.