Monthly Archives: July 2009

The maps Citadel, Heretic and Longshore are three maps you’ll find packed into the Halo 3 multiplayer disc included with Halo 3: ODST.

Bungie has provided large pictures from each over on the official site.

Here’s the details for the maps, straight from the site:

• Citadel may be a long abandoned Forerunner stronghold, but its small, symmetrical confines are far from secure. Two opposing bases offer little safety for players looking for solace. Instead, Citadel forces small squads to stay in constant communication, keep their heads on a swivel, and be prepared to adjust combat tactics in close quarters.

• Heretic returns players to familiar ground as the Halo 2 arena “Midship” . The stark interior of the Pious Inquisitor might appear austere on first glance, but Heretic’s symmetrical spaces require players to execute complex strategies in order to outplay their opponents.

• Longshore lacks the commercial ships that once made it a lucrative port for Old Mombasa, but it still bustles with activity. Designed for large scale combat and well suited for smaller affairs, Longshore’s multitude of industrial buildings, elevated walks, and open inlets conspire to create a complex battleground tailored for multiple combat scenarios.

More through the link.

Cevat Yerli, CEO and president of Crytek, will be giving a keynote titled The Future of Gaming Graphics at GDC Europe in August.

“As a German based company, we are proud to participate in GDC Europe in Cologne,” said Yerli. “We are very excited to share and communicate our success story with our fellow European developers and inspire the newer generation.”

The keynote will focus on Crytek’s success in developing 3D technology on PC and consoles, and what the future holds for gaming graphics.

More through GI.biz.

The first Assassin’s Creed II developer diary has surfaced and it’s through the link.

Game’s been confirmed for a November 17 and 20 release in the US and UK respectively.

CVG also has some screen grabs should you like to have a look.

Cryptic has revealed the minimum and recommended system requirements for Champions Online.

Read over the list to see if your specs come close:

Minimum System Requirements

• OS:Windows XP/Vista
• CPU:2.5GHz Single Core or 1.8GHz Dual Core
• Memory:1GB RAM
• Video:NVIDIA GeForce 7800 / ATI Radeon X700 or HD / Intel Graphics with Dual Core
• Sound:DirectX Compatible Soundcard
• HDD:5GB Free Disk Space
• Network:ADSL / Cable Modem
• Disc:DVD-ROM
• Driver:DirectX 9.0c

Recommended System Configuration

• OS:Windows XP/Vista
• CPU:2GHz Dual Core or Better
• Memory:2GB RAM or Better
• Video:NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or Better / ATI Radeon HD3850 or Better
• Sound:DirectX Compatible Soundcard
• HDD:5GB Free Disk Space
• Network:ADSL / Cable Modem or Better
• Disc:DVD-ROM
• Driver:DirectX 9.0c

It’s out September 1 for PC and before the end of the year for Xbox 360.

TimeGate Studios’ Robert Siwiak has said that the multiplayer in Section 8 will give players access to deployables instead of base building and the ability to create choke points.

“Playing a lot of other first-person shooters out there, I’m sure that many players can relate with finding this level designer-placed machine gun turret or something like that that always seems to be pointing in the wrong direction from where you want it,” the game director told Gamasutra.

“A direct counter to this was, well we couldn’t necessarily have base building in Section 8. The next best thing was giving players access to deployables — automated turrets or supply depots or sensor rays.

“The player can either, in one circumstance, if there’s a key bridge between two control points, can call down turrets to help defend that choke point and otherwise create that choke point that otherwise wasn’t there, or he can create on the edge of the map a forward staging area where he’s got the supply depot and other support structures that will otherwise help assault an enemy base that he’s got his sights keyed in on.”

Sure beats have a vacant turret with nothing but a wall to shoot at.

More through the link.

The top ten titles from Direct2Drive for the week ending July 4 has Bohemia Interactive’s ArmA II topping the list, with with pre-orders for Aion: Tower of Eternity coming in second.

Here’s the full thing thanks to BigDownload.

1. ArmA II – Bohemia Interactive
2. Aion: Tower of Eternity – NCsoft
3. The Sims 3 – Electronic Arts
4. The Sims 3 (Mac) – Electronic Arts
5. Dawn of Discovery (Anno 1404) – Ubisoft
6. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare – Activision
7. Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood – Ubisoft
8. Overlord 2 – Triumph Studios/Codemasters
9. Civilization 4: Complete Edition – 2k Games
10. Fallout 3 – Bethesda Softworks

Not in the technical sense, but the literal sense. The game has giant bugs.

Screens over on Kotaku prove it.

Expect Lost Planet 2 sometime during winter 2010.

Sonic Team’s Yoshihisa Hashimoto has left Sega and is now technical director at Square Enix.

This is according to his LinkedIn profile.

Apparently, this happened about a month and a half ago.

No official statement has been released.

Via GoNintendo, Tssznews.

During E3, Shigeru Miyamoto was asked by Nintendo Power if there were plans to bring a new Kid Icarus to Wii or DS.

“Wait, please. I’m really surprised how popular that is,” Miyamoto told the mag. “But you are the first person to ask at this E3!”

Kid Icarus Wii rumors and concept art have been floating around since 2008.

Just be patient folks. Really.

Via GoNintendo, Kombo.

SNK has revealed that The King of Fighters XII will arrive in Japan on July 30.

Originally slated for July 16, SNK wanted to polish the PS3 and Xbox 360 title a bit more before releasing it.

Being published by Ignition in the US and Canada, it’s  slated for a “summer” release.

More through Kotaku.

Age of Conan’s first expansion will be revealed during GamesCom in August.

“We will be revealing the first expansion for Age of Conan at the GamesCom show in August,” said Funcom’s Erling Ellingsen.

“We have lots of exciting stuff to reveal and Conan players and gamers in general are in for a real treat, but for now, our lips are sealed until then.”

Attendees can expect to see in-game footage, new quests, monsters, environments and other goodies.

More over on Massively.

Voodoo Extreme’s dropped some fairly obvious hints that a new MechWarrior game’s in the works. FASA that. Ahem.

Pirahna‘s doing it, apparently.

There’s a very short teaser trailer through there and a promise of a fuller movie later this week.

Looks as though it’s a contemporary setting from what’s shown there. Could be cool.

Thanks, Shack.

Namco Bandai has announced that it has purchased the distribution rights to publish titles in PAL territories from Atari.

“We are very proud to have a greatly increased international presence following the creation of NAMCO BANDAI Partners,” said Shu Takahara, president and CEO of Namco Bandai Games Europe. “The goal of the new organization is to make our products appeal to a wider audience, and also provide an effective distribution service which reaches the widest possible international market.

“We are bringing a fantastic international team into the global NAMCO BANDAI group and together we are looking forward to a bright and profitable future with many hit games.”

Now renamed Namco Bandai Partners, the deal covers 50 countries around the globe with offices in Australia, Europe, Israel, Hong Kong, New Zealand, Singapore, Taiwan and UK.

Press release is after the break.

More »

The PC version of Street Fighter IV’s launched in the US, Capcom said today.

You can get it now through the Capcom e-Store, Steam, Direct2Drive, Metaboli, GamersGate, Impulse and “others to be named later”.

A Mad Catz Fight Pad bundle, costing $60, is also available from Amazon.com, the Capcom e-Store and “selected retailers”.

Go monitor fight mental. PR after the break. No Euro date as yet.

More »

Halo 3 is still tops. Call of Duty is still second and third. Gears is fourth and GTA IV is still fifth.

The only things that changed this week was that Prototype lost its number ten spot and was replaced by Rock Band 2 and Left 4 Dead and UFC Undisputed changed places.

Here’s the full thing courtesy of the Major.

Xbox 360 Top Live Tiles

1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty: WaW
3. Call of Duty 4
4. Gears of War 2
5. GTA IV
6. FIFA 09
7. Left 4 Dead
8. UFC 2009 Undisputed
9. Fallout 3
10. Rock Band 2

Top Arcade Titles

1. Worms 2: Armageddon
2. Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers
3. THE KING OF FIGHTERS’98 ULTIMATE MATCH
4. Castle Crashers
5. UNO
6. Hasbro Family Game Night
7. Worms
8. Sonic The Hedgehog 3
9. GAROU -MARK OF THE WOLVES-
10. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1989 Classic Arcade

Original and indie stuff is after the break.

More »

Remedy poster “Markus” – presumably Markus Mäki – has said on the Alan Wake message boards that news related to the game’s PC version is on the way.

“I’m a PC gamer at heart (have a Core i7, Radeon 4890, 5.1 audio setup at home) so I do appreciate your concerns,” he said.

“Unfortunately all I can say at this point is that we’re focusing all our efforts on the 360 version and will be making comments in regards to the PC at a later in time.”

You didn’t know there was a PC version? Alan Wake was originally announced for PC and “next generation consoles” in 2005. In May 2006, that switched to, “Format TBD for Microsoft Windows Vista and DVD for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system.”

We’re just checking to make sure that’s Markus Mäki now. Doesn’t sound very promising for the PC crowd though, does it?

Music games have a “weird” and possibly console-less future, Harmonix chap Josh Randall has told Videogamer.

“I think you could foresee a future where maybe you don’t even have a console,” he said.

“Your instrument can have all these songs and you just plug it into your TV. I’m sure it [the genre] is going to start to move in weird ways that no-one’s even thought of yet.”

Awesome. And don’t just think a music world without consoles. Think phones, people.

“We’re obviously focused on the consoles, but outside of Harmonix there are people doing interesting stuff in the mobile space,” Randall added.

“It’s going to be interesting when it all splinters apart and then comes back together in some form we’ve not even thought of yet.”

We’re all about the splinters. Hit the link for more.

PCGames has posted the first screens and details of Sacred 2 expansion Ice & Blood.

It contains new quests, two new areas, new enemies and new items for each of the characters.

Watch for it in the back half of this year.

THQ has announced the cover boys for WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2010, which is expected this fall.

Should you be a viewer or fan of the male soap opera, the different platform covers all look alike and feature: Edge, The Undertaker, John Cena, Randy Orton and Rey Mysterio.

So, it’s basically the same picture that was released along with the press announcement back in June. How creative.

D’toid has pictures. Go have a look

Ugh. Bad news there folks.

The title is currently without a European publisher, so Demon’s Souls is currently not venturing to the continent any time soon.

“We have no plans to publish it in Europe at present,” Sony told Eurogamer.

The Atlus series Shin Megami Tensei was brought to Europe by Tecmo Koei, but there are no plans to do the same with this particular title, the site was told.

Same with Ubisoft which has published Atlus titles in the past.

It was announced for an October 6 release in the US yesterday.