Monthly Archives: July 2009

SCEE will show its Sony motion tech at Develop in Brighton this morning, and we’re liveblogging the session after the link.

The firm promises to show “a lot more about the new PS3 controller shown at E3,” giving “several real-world examples of such techniques as used in recent and soon to be released PS3 and PSP titles from both Sony Computer Entertainment first party and external developers.”

Missable? Not really. We’ll be filming it as well, so we’ll aim to get video live as soon as we can after it’s over.

The session runs from 11.00am-12.00pm BST.

More »

Actvision’s confirmed DLC’s on the way for Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, coming to both PS3 and 360 versions “later this summer”.

According to this PR, it’ll include:

• Over TEN new multiplayer characters including ultimate fan favourites such as G1 Starscream and movie favourites like Sideswipe.
• Three all-new multiplayer maps.
• Play new characters in both the Autobot and Decepticon single player campaigns.
• New Expert difficulty mode with a fresh set of leaderboards to challenge more experienced gamers in the single-player campaigns.
• New Achievements and Trophies to earn.

We were lucky enough to get nearly 20 minutes with Realtime Worlds boss and original GTA creator Dave Jones at Develop yesterday, the result of which you can see after the break.

We talked almost exclusively about APB, Jones telling us when the game will release, how much it’s cost to make and going into good detail on the mechanics of the MMO itself.

Jones also gave opinion on the state of the GTA franchise, calling Vice City the “pinnacle” of the IP.

There’s tons more stuff in there. Enjoy.

More »

Media Molecule and LittleBigPlanet won five Develop awards in Brighton last night, while “Big” Phil Harrison took the Development Legend gong.

Codemasters won the new Grand Prix award.

Get the full list after the break.

More »

THQ has announced that Red Faction: Guerrilla will arrive on PC in the US September 15 and September 11 in other territories.

Here are the specs:

Minimum:

• OS: Windows XP / Vista
• CPU: 2.0 GHz Dual-Core Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2)
• Memory: 1 GB RAM / 15 GB of Hard Drive space
• Video Card: 128 MB 3D Video Card w/Shader Model 3.0 Support (Nvidia GeForce 7600/ATI Radeon X1300)

Recommended:

• OS: Windows Vista® for DirectX 10
• CPU: 3.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor (Intel Core 2 Duo or AMD Athlon X2)
• Memory: 2 GB RAM / 15 GB of Hard Drive space
• Video Card: 256 MB 3D Video Card w/Shader Model 3.0 Support (Nvidia GeForce 8800/ATI Radeon HD3850)

Via Actiontrip.

Atlus has announced that the title naming contest for Kenka Bancho 3 is over, and by a 3-to-1 margin, the name Kenka Bancho: Badass Rumble was chosen as the North American release name.

“The title was voted in by a 3-to-1 margin, which means that fans strongly felt it was the best fit for the game, or, that they all giggled uncontrollably at the sight of the word ‘badass,’” said Atlus’ Aram Jabbari. “Either way, everybody wins, except of course for the titles not chosen.”

Game’s out for PSP in 2010.

Nintendo is transforming New York’s Times Square into beachy resort July 23, complete with a sand, swimming pools and a tropical lounge.

This is all in celebration of Wii Sports Resorts imminent release on July 26.

The “interactive oasis” will provide game demonstrations, giveaways and a bar serving tropical non-alcoholic drinks.

What! No rum?

So, if you live in NYC, or just plan on being there, the event lasts from 9:00am – 3:00pm EST and takes place on Military Island which is 7th Avenue and Broadway Avenue, between 43rd and 44th streets.

Full thing through the break.

More »

DC/Wildstorm Comics and Sony have revealed that a God of War comic series will be released in October.

It’s a mini-series of sorts that will span six issues and is being penned by Marv Wolfman.

Each issue will released until God of War III hits shelves, and focuses on Kratos’ past all the way back to his enrollment in the Spartan army at age seven.

Guess a series of novels wasn’t enough.

More through IGN.

The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition has been released by LucasArts on Steam and Direct2Drive.

It will run you $9.99/£6.10.

Already available on Xbox Live , it will set you back 800 MS Points ($10.00/£6.80) on that platform.

Hit the links for more.

PopCap has announced via press release that Bookworm Adventures 2 will arrive at the firm’s online store July 30 for PC and Mac for $19.99.

This time around, new mini-games and books have been added along with these details:

• All-new infinite Replay mode! Pick a book, fight foes and score big points
• 6 mini-games, including all-new “Mutant Words,” “Golden Coins” and “Word Up”
• Battle more than 130 ferocious new foes while wielding over 20 terrific new treasures
• Companions -  Literary figures join Lex and battle by his side
• Rainbow Tiles – New potent wild card tiles allow you to build the gigantic words of your dreams
• Arena mode – Spell quickly to defeat your toughest enemies
• Achievements – earn trophies, points and badges
• Three all-new books with ten chapters each: “Fractured Fairytales,” “The Monkey King” and “Astounding Planets”

Great. We expect more hours of our lives lost to the franchise than ever before.

Full thing posted below.

More »

Rumor has it that Ubisoft’s working on a new Heroes of Might and Magic title.

According to a post over on Xbox360Achievements, a job listing over on Gamasutra stated that Ubisoft’s Shanghai offices were looking for a lead game designer for “Heroes of MM”.

Description says the designer would be working on a “brand new fantasy RPG title for the PS3, Xbox 360, PC, and Mac.”

That was earlier, now the job listing has removed the “Heroes of MM” and the “fantasy RPG” bits.

Still, keep it as a rumor for the time being.

Via BigDownload.

Those who attend Comic-Con and pay a visit to the Capcom booth to play Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles will walk away with this t-shirt.

Normal on the outside, dangerous on the inside.

We were gonna post this yesterday, but were too depressed with the thought that we will never get one, unless someone puts one up on eBay for a ridiculous amount.

Find out how you can get one by hitting the link.

GameStop has revealed the contents of the Dragon Age: Origins Collector’s Edition and it contains a unlockable item for Mass Effect 2.

Here’s the goodies:

• Tin case
• Bonus DVD (making of documentary, soundtrack, trailers, wallpaper, art video, strategy and tips)
• Cloth map
• 3 pieces of exclusive in-game content: Bergens Honor, Grimoire of the Frozen Wastes, and Final Reason
• Additional in-game content — The Stone Prisoner, an unlockable bonus quest and an unlockable character, Shale
• An unlockable item for Mass Effect 2

The Collector’s Edition costs $64.99 and $74.99 PC and PS3, Xbox 360 respectively.

Via D’toid.

GameFly and GameStop are listing MAG for a January 2010.

The game was expected to land on shelves for PS3 sometime this fall.

While Sony has not issued a “firm” release date for the game, the above retailers had it listed for November 24.

Until official word comes down from on high, keep this as rumor.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Update: Looks like the retailers are just speculating, according to a Sony rep speaking to Kotaku:  “We haven’t made any announcements in regards to the launch date”.

Fair enough. More through the same link.

Greg Zeschuk has told 360Zine that there is a slight chance Mass Effect may expand past the initial planned trilogy.

“We’ve said Mass Effect is supposed to be a trilogy,” said Zeshuck. “So you’re going to see at least a third Mass Effect, and even more if everything goes well.”

Zeschuk continued by saying that the company will “always be building more and more breadth” into its franchises.

More through the link.

Thanks, D’toid.

EA Sports’ David Rutter has said that the company would be “idiots not to more online stuff” for future FIFA games.

“I think online is very important [to the franchise],” he told CVG. “We have a ridiculous number of people playing FIFA online every day.

“We’ve had almost 300 million games of FIFA played online since launch and it’s not let up. It’s just constant. That’s really nice and yeah, we’d be idiots not to do more online stuff.”

So there ya go. More online in the future for FIFA.

Hit the link for the rest.

Phantom EFX and 8monkey Labs announced today that Darkest of Days will arrive in stores September 8 for PC and Xbox 360.

In the game, you take on the role of Alexander Morris, a foot soldier who gets transferred to General Custer’s regiment days before the Battle of Little Bighorn. Moments before he dies, a futuristic time agent warps in to save him and transport him to the future where he is told that time travel is now a reality.

Apparently, an unknown faction is attempting to re-write history and your job is to stop them while traveling through eras spanning thousands of years to stop the whatever it is they are trying to do.

More details are through the break in the press release.

More »

Will Wright has spoken with the Chronicle of Higher Education regarding educational games and how valuable these products are to the learning process.

The games creator says that games are better at inspiring students to learn, rather than educating them.

“If you look at what people are doing with this technology it is, or has been, mostly directed at 12-year-old boys,” he said during a video interview. “But it has the potential to do a whole lot more.”

He says that games are created with more of the “idea” of being educational in mind, rather than making learning fun.

View the full thing through the link.

Via Kotaku.

Capcom’s Resident Evil 4 for iPhone will not be restricted to Japan, as it’s expected to get a formal release towards the end of July.

After that, it will be released elsewhere.

Just in case you missed the accidental reveal of it, check out yesterday’s post.

Thanks, PocketGamer.

Serious Sam HD screenshots have popped up over on Shack.

You can view ‘em here.

While you’re at it, Devolver Digital is seeking the best one-liners and wisecracks from the community via responses to its Twitter feed. The winner’s remarks will be featured in the game.

SSHD is expected to arrive on Xbox Live and PC this summer, with the XBLA version will run you 1200 MS Points ($15/£10.20). No price point for PC has been announced, yet.