Monthly Archives: July 2009

Next Gamer has reported that Media Molecule will release the History Pack for LittleBigPlanet August 13 thanks to word on the EU PS forums and the Japanese Sony site.

The pack consists of Boudica, Countess of Lovelace, Genghis Khan, and Mozart with stickers and decorations and according to translations from the Japanese site, a second bit of DLC will include the sound effects and a new level kit.

Hopefully we will know about it soon.

Sega has announced that Matt Fraction will be creating the storyline for the Iron Man 2 game based on the movie, and it promises to delve deeper into the comic world of our big red hero.

“Iron Man 2 presented me with the challenge and opportunity to work with both SEGA and Marvel on creating something wholly unique- a story that exists at the cross-roads of the comic I write, the film universe which I was lucky enough to be asked to contribute to, and a wholly- immersive interactive experience like a game,” said Fraction via press release.

“A game presents an entirely new challenge, where the audience/consumer/player engages with the world, with the big and small aspects of the place and characters. They’re a co-conspirator in the narrative. I hope it’s as exciting and challenging to play as it was to write.”

The game is expected to be released close to the film in spring 2010 for DS, PSP, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

Read on below for more, and head over to Shack for a video.

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According to reports across the web, Naughty Dog’s Uncharted 2 will land in the UK on October 23.

Unfortunately, VG247 has just learned from Sony Computer Entertainment UK that a release date is still up in the air.

“We haven’t announced a release date for Uncharted 2 in the UK,” a company spokesperson told us. “As soon as I can confirm a date I’ll let you know.”

A US release date of October 13 was confirmed yesterday.

It can’t be too much further behind, so stay calm.

UPDATE: According to a tweet from Naughty Dog VP Christophe Balestra, the game WILL be released in Europe on October 23. We have put in another call to Sony to clear up the confusion, but apparently the team that handles Uncharted 2 is at Comic-Con.  Thanks, Johnny.

Update 2: Naughty Dog VP Christophe Balestra has retracted yesterday’s tweet, stating that the Euro release for Uncharted 2 is not October 23 after all and a date will be announced soon.

We are off to the local as we speak to drown our sorrows in liquor over this whole mess. Start collecting bail money now, please.

Yoshio Kimura, producer of Little King’s Story, wanted to include multiplayer in game but because of time restraints, the idea was cut.

“This game used to have a 2-player mode,” he told 411Mania. “But we couldn’t make the QA and debug in time, so we had to take it out. And this is one of the things that I really wanted to have – but if Little King’s Story does well and a lot of people get to play it and if I have a chance to make a sequel, that’s definitely something I want to implement.

“There is a possibility in everything, but really – it’s up to the US gamers to play the game and support us.”

So get to playing people if you want a sequel.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

Double Fine has filed a countersuit against Activision over the publisher trying to stop Brutal Legend from being released.

A hearing is currently scheduled for July 30 for Acti’s motion, and Double Fine claims the original suit was filed by its former publishing partner to “protect the sales of Guitar Hero.”

Interestingly, according to the lawsuit, DF is claiming Activision canceled the project after acquiring Vivendi when it was realized Brutal Legend could not be turned into a “Guitar Hero sequel.”

Expect this to get even uglier until the judge weighs-in later this month.

Full thing below courtesy of the Associated Press.

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Rumor going around says that EA asked Backbone Entertainment to do a Wii prototype of Mirror’s Edge, and some artwork has surfaced depicting it.

Supposedly, a DS version was also in the works but no word on whether it was canned or still in the works has surfaced.

Still, you can have a look over on Unseen64.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

EA has responded to requests from VG247 regarding the departure of Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey.

According to a spokesperson:

“I can confirm that they are exiting EA. It takes a team of talented people to make a highly-rated game like Dead Space. The team at Visceral are currently working on Dante’s Inferno, Dead Space Extraction and new titles to be announced at a later date.

“Production is uninterrupted on Dante’s Inferno and Dead Space Extraction. SVP Nick Earl continues to lead the Visceral Games Studio.”

So there ya have it. Confirmed.

Now we are awaiting word from Activison regarding what their positions with the newly formed studio entails.

Update: According to an email we received from an Activision spokesperson:

“Glen Schofield along with Michael Condrey will lead the studio which will be creating a new game based on one of Activision’s existing franchises.

“We will be providing more details regarding the game at a later date.”

No other details were forthcoming, other than Activision’s plans on continuing its revamp of proven titles which is not news, really.

Valve’s Robin Walker has chatted with fan site CommunityFortress regarding the item drop system, which apparently, didn’t pan out the way it planned.

“I think we’ve learned that the random drop system is only good for some types of things, like the rare cosmetic hats,” he said. “For competitive players, it’s obviously a bad way to deliver items.”

Valve is currently considering new ways to drop items, such as achievements, but claims it may also “move to a mode where we just give them to you.”

Interesting.

Via BigDownload.

Adding Call of Duty back onto Modern Warfare 2 has raised consumer awareness and purchase interest according to Nielsen research.

Nielsen said that the game has “benefited “substantially from association with its multi-platinum parent franchise Call Of Duty”, with awareness up 94 percent and purchase interest up 64 percent.

Here’s hoping CoD sticks this time and saves the world from popping more Tylenol.

Via CVG.

Epic Games’ vice president, Mark Rein, has said that if Sony had lowered the price of PS3 it would have made the year even worse for the company.

“The truth is Sony has had a difficult year and I think they had to do what they had to do to try to be profitable,” Rein told Eurogamer. “They have their own financial issues to solve and lowering the price of the console would probably have made their situation worse.

“They will get around to it in their own good time. If you’re willing to look at this as a long-term play, they’re going to be just fine.”

Rein also stated that the market is not ready for “PlayStation 4 or the Xbox Whatever”, instead the current console generation will be around for much longer thanks to the new motion control peripherals coming out for both.

Via GI.biz.

LittleBigPlanet players have uploaded one million levels since release and have been played 244 million times.

According to Media Molecule, a new level was published every 21 seconds since launch, and it would take around five years, playing 24 hours a day, to play through all levels.

To celebrate, Media Molecule has released a video hinting at more things to be revealed August 18.

Watch it below or over on the US PS Blog.

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According to Digitimes, imaging-solutions company Aptina has acquired the rights to supply 1.3-megapixel CMOS image sensors for a new, Project Natal-equipped Xbox 360 supposedly scheduled to land during the second half of 2010.

“Aptina plans to expand foundry capcity at its existing 8-inch water fab in Italy, and to look for a foundry partner, the sources said,” writes Digitimes.

Microsoft has already said that it is not working on a new SKU for the console, because Natal already works with what is inside Xbox 360.

“We’re not going to have to require customers to reinvest in an entirely new platform,” Greenberg previously said. “We’re able to add [Project Natal] on top of what’s already there.

“[Project Natal] will work with your Xbox 360 if you’re buying one today, a year from now, [or] if you bought one at launch.”

So, just file this away as rumor for the time being.

Thanks, D’toid.

Reports surfacing around the net are claiming that EA’s Glen Schofield and Michael Condrey have left Redwood Shores for positions at Activison’s new Bay Area studio.

According to sources close to Gamespot, Visceral Games employees were informed that general manager Glen Schofield and COO Michael Condrey were leaving to work at the as of yet unnamed studio.

Schofield was the man behind Dead Space, and was recently busy talking up Dante’s Inferno.

EA nor Activision have commented on the situation yet, but we have contacted both so hopefully one or the other will get back with us soon.

UPDATE: Kotaku has word from EA: “EA has been nurturing great developers for 27 years and making room for the next generation is an important part of that process,” said EA’s head of corporate communications, Jeff Brown. “It takes a team to make a great game like Deas Space and and there’s a stunning array of talent in the Visceral studio — creative leaders who now have the opportunity to step into the spotlight and have their talent recognized.”

Still, not much of a comment. We’re still waiting for one on this end.

The Entertainment Software Association has filed a lawsuit with the Chicago Transit Authority for its ban on advertisements featuring Mature or AO-rated titles.

CEO Mike Gallagher has stated that under the First Amendment, video games are protected the same as other entertainment mediums.

What this mean though is that with CTA Ordinance 008-147, R-rated and TV-MA may be banned as well to advertisements to make things more fair for all entertainment parties.

Enacted in January 2009, the CTA Ordinance prohibits advertisement and marketing of “Mature 17+” (M) or “Adults Only 18+” (AO) titles.

This is the second time the CTA has been sued over pulling ads. Back in May 2008, Take-Two filed suit over GTA IV ads being yanked.

Joystiq has posted the full complaint in a lovely PDF file full of legal stuff.

Looks like Megami Tensei: Strange Journey from Atlus has been outed thanks to Famitsu.

Scans reveal that it’s a first-person RPG for DS and contains three hundred plus demons filling a dimension over in the South Pole. In the game, players will wear upgradeable “Demonica Suits”, which look rather cool.

It’s out October 8 in Japan.

Thanks, Joystiq.

A new developer diary for WipEout HD Fury has landed and in it, artist Rita Linsley talks about Zone Tracks, and how it’s “likened to riding an atom in a particle accelerator.”

There are loads of concept art posted as well, and each is very psychedelic in nature.

It’s all over on the US PS Blog, so go have a read.

Expansion’s out tomorrow.

Legendary Marvel comics creator and cool customer, Stan Lee, will make his first videogame cameo ever with Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, according to Activision.

“I am thrilled to be making my first onscreen videogame cameo,” said Lee. “It’s such a kick to see characters that I’ve helped create come to life in the game and now I’m a part of the Marvel videogame universe.”

Lee has lent his voice and likeness to a character described as being “significant to the game’s storyline”, but no additional details were provided.

Game’s out September 15 for DS, PSP, PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360.

Vicarious Visions are handling the Microsoft and Sony consoles, n-Space the Wii, DS and PS2 versions and Savage the PSP port.

Press release is below the break.

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New details on id’s Rage have emerged from the pages of Game Informer, and it sounds loaded to the gills with Mad Max style stuff.

Speaking with the magazine, id’s John Carmack stated that the firm believes the largest market for the game will be the console crowd especially with game controls being designed for controllers.

“The largest chunk of our market’s going to be on consoles,” he said. “I mean, yes, you can use the mouse for it but it’s critical that the controller be the way that we design the game.”

He then went on to talk about the possibility of Rage being released on multiple DVD’s.

In it, your character awakes from suspended animation underground as one of the few who has survived a wave of asteroid pummeling the earth. The others who made it through the battering from outer space are living in a bandit filled wasteland full of mutants being terrorized by a strange group called The Authority.

You know what that means, then. Figure out who they are and stop them at all costs.

More game details are listed after the break courtesy of CVG.

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NPD numbers for PC sales in June finally arrived, and like EA claimed already, The Sims destroyed the charts.

The third main release in the series took the top two spots with The Sims 2 coming in at number three.

Blizzard’s behemoth World of Warcraft took the fourth, fifth, seventh and eleventh spots, so no need to cry for them or anything.

Full list of top PC games in June is as follows courtesy of Gamasutra:

1. The Sims 3 (EA The Sims Studio, Electronic Arts)
2. The Sims 3 Collector’s Edition (EA The Sims Studio, Electronic Arts)
3. The Sims 2 Double Deluxe (EA The Sims Studio, Electronic Arts)
4. World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King (Blizzard Entertainment)
5. World of Warcraft Battle Chest (Blizzard Entertainment)
6. Spore: Galactic Adventures (Maxis, Electronic Arts)
7. World of Warcraft (Blizzard Entertainment)
8. Spore (Maxis, Electronic Arts)
9. Empire: Total War (The Creative Assembly, Sega)
10. StarCraft Battle Chest (Blizzard Entertainment)
11. World of Warcraft: The Burning Crusade (Blizzard Entertainment)
12. Reel Deal Slots Adventure (Phantom EFX)
13. Civilization IV: Complete Edition (Firaxis Games, 2K Games)
14. WarCraft III Battle Chest (Blizzard Entertainment)
15. SimCity Box (Maxis, Electronic Arts)
16. Diablo Battle Chest (Blizzard Entertainment)
17. The Sims 2: Apartment Life (EA The Sims Studio, Electronic Arts)
18. Prototype (Radical Entertainment, Activision)
19. The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion GOTY Edition (Bethesda Game Studios, Bethesda Softworks/2K Games)
20. Ghostbusters: The Video Game (Terminal Reality, Atari)

EA has announced that Need for Speed NITRO has been dated.

No longer just “coming in November”, now you can get the DS and Wii racer on November 17 and 20 in the US and UK respectively.

We know you are excited.

Press release after the break.

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