Monthly Archives: July 2009

Speaking with The Telegraph, MSN executive producer Peter Bale said that Microsoft’s hard at work on a streaming music service, which it plans to debut at the end of the month.

He also teased potential Xbox functionality for the service, but wouldn’t spill when pressed for details.

Apparently, the software giant’s footprint on the streaming music scene will look something like Spotify’s, with ad-based and subscription-based options for users.

More through the link.

Thanks, Joystiq.

PS3 owners got a VATS readout of 95% on a June launch for their long-awaited Fallout 3 DLC, but somehow, it still missed. Now, Bethesda’s finally pinned down something of a solid release date for the tardy content, though with a bit of a twist.

Instead of rolling out the mini-expansions in proper order, Broken Steel (which raises the game’s level cap from 20 to 30) will come out first, followed by Operation: Anchorage and The Pitt “probably at the same time.”

Bethesda’s “hoping” to finally silence fans’ cries “at the end of September.” In other words, plans are still subject to change. Here’s hoping they don’t.

Thanks, Kotaku.

According to a post on Venture Beat, a game based on the Green Lantern is in development at Double Helix Games.

The jewelry-fueled superhero will apparently light up the days of both Xbox 360 and PS3 owners, though — for now — Warner Bros. is calling the whole thing “rumor and speculation.” Venture Beat, meanwhile, cites multiple anonymous sources “close to the project.”

Odds are, the game is meant to accompany the upcoming Green Lantern movie on its quest for global multimedia domination, though nothing’s been confirmed just yet.

More through the link.

With BioShock 2, Red Dead Redemption, and Max Payne all banished to the far off temporal land of 2010, Take-Two isn’t expecting much in the way of profitability this year. The company stated as much during today’s conference call.

However, the publisher repeatedly noted that 2010 has become a promised land of sorts, with the above major games and many “unannounced titles” slated for release next year.

Analyst Jesse Divnich of EEDAR, especially, thinks there are good things in store for Take-Two. He gave Joystiq his two cents.

“The news of BioShock 2 being delayed into fiscal 2010 has drastically changed my view on the Take-Two. I originally anticipated that Take-Two would outperform the industry in fiscal 2010. Now, I expect them to dominate fiscal 2010.”

Roll with the punches, Take-Two. Never back down.

Take-Two chairman Strauss Zelnick, during today’s Take-Two conference call, noted that BioShock 2′s delay can’t be blamed on any single platform.

“[The delay is] not related to any specific platform or any specific element of it. I would say generally there are some development issues.”

The game’s been pushed into the first half of 2010, much to gamers’ dismay.

During today’s Take-Two conference call discussing the delay of BioShock 2, Take-Two’s Ben Feder and Strauss Zelnick said the move was taken due to Take-Two’s “emphasis on quality.”

“We’re paying the price for that emphasis with today’s delay,” they added.

Even so, Take-Two ensured that it continues to focus on quality, in spite of a potential loss of money.

“There’s no shortage of incentive for everyone who’s part of Take-Two to deliver quality, timely results.”

So there you have it.

Update: During today’s Take-Two conference call, the publisher clarified BioShock 2′s new release date slightly, saying that the game will launch within the first half of 2010.

BioShock 2, originally scheduled for an early November release, has been delayed. As a result, Take-Two has announced that it’s significantly reducing its fiscal guidance.

Now floating in the nebulous purgatory of Take-Two’s fiscal 2010, a concrete release date for BioShock 2 has not been set. Fiscal 2010 begins in November, though, so the delay’s probably nothing to sneeze at.

“We recognize that our revised outlook for the balance of fiscal year 2009, due to both internal and external factors, is a disappointment. That said, we concluded that moving the release of BioShock 2 into fiscal year 2010 was the right decision for the product. We believe the result will be a more compelling consumer experience and a better performing product in the marketplace,” said Strauss Zelnick, Chairman of Take-Two.

See the full press release after the break.

More »

Sure, oddly titled fighter Battle Fantasia has been pulverizing European PS3 owners since, like, the dawn of time, but now — finally — North American PS3 players can find out what a Battle Fantasia is too.

The game, which saw European retail release more than a year ago, is now slated to hit PSN this fall, according to Kotaku. Why? Project Lead Frank “Bo” deWindt II explained:

“The fans have been asking for it and we’re here to deliver. Thanks to the revival of the fighting genre this year there hasn’t been a better time to release such a fun and exciting fighter like Battle Fantasia on the PlayStation Network.”

More through the link.

A report by EEDAR has Prototype outselling inFamous by almost 90 percent — thanks, of course, to the fact that Prototype is a multiplatform title, while inFamous is a PS3-exclusive.

However, on PS3, inFamous’ electrically charged superheroics have outdone Prototype’s all you-can-eat approach by about 35 percent. EEDAR adds that, because exclusives tend to have longer sales curves, that number could climb to 50 percent.

So, if you ever wanted to see superheroes duke it out not through building-demolishing punches and kicks, but through numbers, now you’ve seen it. Personally, we preferred Yahtzee‘s method of alternative superhero combat.

Thanks, Gamasutra.

The hot summer sun isn’t the only thing that’s making people sweat at the moment, what with the burning question of how to handle the economy on everyone’s minds. Fortunately, Nintendo still seems to be in good financial spirits, seeing as how it recently handed out the biggest summer bonuses in all of Japan.

Japanese summer bonuses are down 16.6 percent since last year, but Nintendo still managed to top a very large list of generous souls — one that includes nearly 700 Japanese business firms.

Kotaku‘s got the details, if you’re interested.

The official site for id Software’s next four letter title has gone live. The page’s theme is “follow my journey,” and seems to suggest that said journey will last four weeks.

In addition, according to a tweet from the RAGE Twitter feed, interested parties should “return to the site every day this week to learn more.”

As it should, being associated with id’s bleeding-edge graphical prowess, the website has crashed our wimpy little laptop no less than four times. If what we’re feeling right now isn’t rage, we don’t know what is.

If Street Fighter IV characters Sagat and Seth have tiger uppercutted your pride into oblivion, feel free to collect the scraps. Speaking with VideoGamer, SFIV arcade assistant producer Ryota Niitsuma admitted that the two destroyers of your formerly flawless win-loss record are a bit too powerful.

“Yes, Seth and perhaps Sagat might have turned out a little bit stronger than we expected,” he said.

There is, however, a silver lining to this black cloud. Niitsuma explained:

“A good player of another character can always beat a good Sagat player or a good Seth player,” he said. “I don’t think it’s too out of proportion, but we do acknowledge that they turned out a bit more powerful than we expected.”

More through the link.

Eurogamer Portugal has up six new screens for God of War III.

It’s what you’d expect from GoW: Greek, apocalyptic and more, innit. Get them through the link.

It’s out next March for PlayStation 3.

Back in the days before everyone and his curiously muscular little sister were getting involved in mixed martial arts, UFC president Dana White approached Electronic Arts about a potential videogame deal between the two companies. Apparently, that particular talk didn’t go so well.

“EA Sports told us, ‘You’re not a real sport. We wouldn’t touch this thing. We want nothing to do with this,’” White said to MMA Junkie.

“We put our asses on the line, THQ and the UFC, to make a video-game deal in the worst economy in the world,” White continued. “We go out there and do this thing, and it’s successful, and now [expletive] EA Sports wants to do a video game. Really? That’s not what you told us a year-and-a-half ago.

White now considers the UFC “at war” with EA’s MMA offering, and will blacklist fighters from competing in the UFC if they sign on to throw virtual fisticuffs and Jiu Jitsicuffs with EA.

More red-hot rantings through the link. Hide the children, though, because White’s not afraid to contort his mouth into a position that looks a lot like “vacuum.”

According to a post on Kotaku, those leaked Tomb Raider concept images were real.

An attorney from Nielsen contacted Kotaku asking the site to remove its cache of Tomb Raider propaganda, while an attorney with Crystal Dynamics apparently did the same to Four Player Co-Op, the source of the pictures. The photos were leaked without Crystal Dynamics’ permission, so the story goes.

Granted, as Kotaku points out, just because the images and accompanying info are real, that doesn’t mean this particular Lara Croft face lift will ever see the light of day. Still though, we know something now, at least, and knowing is half the battle.

Tecmo’s announced Undead Knights, a brand new hack and slash horror game, for PSP. It’s been dated in Japan for October 15.

The game’s official website has also gone live along with a trailer, which looks very gory and full of “zombika,” as the trailer proclaims.

So off you go.

BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has labeled Activision’s threat of pulling support for the PlayStation 3 “silly”. Speaking to CVG, Zeschuk even says that Sony are starting to make the “right moves” with the PS3.

“I don’t think it’s really fair to poke fun at Sony. Certainly the Wii’s been a massive success and Sony’s probably not going as fast as they thought it would be but I think that they’re starting to make the right moves and the software’s coming along,” said Zeschuk.

“I think it’s silly to be saying you’re not going to support Sony. The brand itself is still huge and there are millions of [users] out there.”

More through the link.

Nintendo’s announced it’ll be releasing Mario & Sonic at the Winter Olympics on October 16th for Nintendo Wii and Nintendo DS.

Umm, thats pretty much it. The game was announced back in March.

Thanks, CVG.

According to recent findings by Skoar!, Microsoft has registered several patents for a third-person game using camera control, which we assume to be using Project Natal.

The patent seems to be going for a first- or third-person standpoint for the game with references to the 2003 Xbox game, Brute Force in the patent.

More through the links.

Some new footage of Halo 3: ODST has popped up in a brand new report showing actor Nathan Fillion talking about his role in the game as Sergant Buck.

Right from the beginning, footage is shown of what looks like cut-scenes from the shooter.

Even more footage is shown at the 33-second mark, from 0:33 to 0:41 and from 0:47 to 0:51. Fillion talks about his role in the title as well of course, spilling some more info on the background of Buck.

“There is a former romantic interest kind of being thrust back into his life on this mission so he’s been in a bit of a high stress situation,” said the former FireFly actor.

Catch the video now. Game’s out worldwide for the Xbox 360 on September 22.

Thanks, Hunam.