Monthly Archives: July 2009

Double Helix has divulged some of the gameplay details for Front Mission Evolved, and apparently there will loads of customization options for single and multiplayer.

“There are a lot of customization options in terms of color, surface material, hardened arm plates, body, weapons shield amount,” development director Jeremy Lee told The Gaming Vault at E3.

“Pretty much every single weapon, everything in the Front Mission universe is present. We add a lot to the universe on top of what is already there while still fitting in with the Front Mission idea, and include a massive amount of customization which, with the new gameplay, should keep the experience quite fresh.

“The multiplayer experience is definitely a separate experience. What we are meaning to do with that is to make it team-based – very very team friendly. So you can form up with friends, create a team and customize your team in a way you really want to.

“I won’t go into the online experience very much but, ‘ok I’m going to be the sniper, you’re going to be the heavy hitter, you’re going to be the support’… it allows you to develop strategy.”

Loads more through the link.

Eidos has announced that the Mustang Pack for Battlestations: Pacific on PC and Xbox 360 is now available.

It adds six new units, including the P-51 Mustang, Super Yamato Class battleship, and 18 pieces of nose art for 160 MS Points ($2.00).

The Carrier Battles Map Pack will add four new maps with five multiplayer modes, taking place in the Leyte Gulf and Aleutian Islands. It will be released July 23 for 800 MS points ($10.00),

The Volcano map pack has been available since June 25.

Thanks, Blue.

Unlockable characters in fighting games are sooo yesterday, according to Tekken director Katsuhiro Harada.

During a Namco Bandai event this week, Harada stated that originally unlockables were created to extend the life of coin-operated arcade machines.

“Why we locked the characters originally was that in the arcades, it was kind of to extend the life of the game by gradually unlocking characters,” Harada told Videogamer. “Also with the home versions as well, because you can rent games or whatever, it was to protect us against that.

“That’s kind of outdated now though, especially with online play. If we were to have locked characters it would irritate a lot of people, to be playing against others online and to not have all the characters available.

“So I think it’s no longer useful.”

Tekken 6 will feature 40 fighters available right from the start when it releases October 27.

Midway’s sale to Warner Bros. got the OK from the courts yesterday, so once the $33 million check is cut, Warner will own most of Midway’s assets.

The settlement between unsecured creditors and majority shareholder Mark Thomas are a done deal, and intellectual-property disputes with Threshold Entertainment Tigon Studios have been resolved.

Thomas gets a $5 million payment, having purchased the majority of the company from Sumner Redstone for $100,000. Secured claims in the bankruptcy proceedings were $30 million with $40 million in unsecured claims.

Via Chicago Tribune.

[Update] It appears that the  San Diego studios owned by Midway received zero bids, thus resulting in that location closing up shop in ten days time. The employees currently at work at the studio have been given a 60-day notice. Via Joystiq.

[Update 2] The 60-day notice with the closing-up shop in ten days applies to Midway Newcastle as well.

Harmonix and MTV Games today announced that three exclusive tracks from Green Day, as well as eight songs from artists performing at the RockStar Energy Drink Mayhem Festival, will be added to the Rock Band Music Store next week.

Here’s the list:

• Behemoth – Conquer All
• Black Dahlia Murder – What a Horrible Night to Have a Curse
• Cannibal Corpse – Hammer Smashed Face
• God Forbid – Empire of the Gun
• Green Day – 21 Guns, East Jesus Nowhere, Know Your Enemy
• Job for a Cowboy – Embedded
• Marilyn Manson – Disposable Teens
• Slayer – Black Magic
• Whitechapel – This Is Exile

Tracks will be available for purchase as part of the Green Day Pack (440 MS Points, $5.49), Mayhem Pack (1,080 MS Points, $13.49) or individually (160 MS Points, $1.99) for Xbox 360 and PS3 July 7 and July 9, respectively.

Wii tracks are individual only (200 Wii Points).

The PS3 version of Grand Theft Auto IV has been announced for PlayStation: The Best budget line in Japan.

Think of it as part of a “Greatest Hits” collection.

It will run gamers ¥3,990 ($41) and will be released on August 27.

Game’s been out since October 2008 in the country.

Via Kotaku.

Wii Sports Resort debuted number one on the Japanese Software Charts for week ending June 28.

Also new to the list were Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland which landed at number three, and BlazBlue taking positions five and six for PS3 and Xbox 360 respectively.

The top ten is below, courtesy of Media Create, via NeoGAF.

1. Wii Sports Resort – Nintendo (Wii) (360,000) (NEW)
2. Tomodachi Collection (Friend Collection) – Nintendo (DS) (72,000)
3. Atelier Rorona: Alchemist of Arland – Gust (PS3) (43,000) (NEW)
4. Ken to Mahou to Gakuen Mono. 2 (Sword & Magic & School 2) – Acquire (PSP) (39,000)
5. BlazBlue – Arc System Works (PS3) (34,000) (NEW)
6. BlazBlue – Arc System Works (Xbox 360) (25,000) (NEW)
7. Kingdom Hearts: 358/2 Days – Square Enix (DS) (22,000)
8. Agarest Senki Zero – Compile Heart (PS3) (15,000) (NEW)
9. Monster Hunter Portable 2 G (BEST) – Capcom (PSP) (13,000)
10. Sloane and MacHale’s Mysterious Story – Level 5 (DS) (13,000)

Thanks, GoNintendo.

2K says that NBA 2K9 has sold over two million units worldwide.

To celebrate this milestone and the tenth birthday of the series, 2K is releasing a NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition for Xbox 360 and PS3 this fall, as a limited edition title individually numbered.

Only 30,000 copies will be produced, and it will include exclusive items and a DVD looking back on the series’ history.

“NBA 2K is the premier basketball videogame franchise for serious players, deeply rooted in rich and pure authenticity that real hoop heads get, which is why we’ve been the favorite NBA simulation for so long,” said Greg Thomas, senior vice president of sports development for 2K.

The regular game will be made available for PC, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii and Xbox 360.

Full press release after the break.

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Criterion’s Alex Ward just dropped a less than subtle hint on the direction of the developer’s Need for Speed project.

“‘Red lining it all the way and making it pay’ – a return to the original 3DO version of The Need for Speed,” tweeted the boss.

EA boss John Riccitiello confirmed in June that the studio was now working on a “revolutionary” new Need for Speed game, following many months of rumours.

This probably means it’s going to be awesome. Although there was never much doubt about that.

Universal has won a bidding war for the film rights to the Atari classic, Asteroids. Apparently, four studios total wanted to do the film.

Since there is no storyline associated with the game, a script will be created for it and Matthew Lopez (Disney’s Bedtime Stories) is slated to pen it.

Jeff Kirschenbaum, senior VP of production at Universal, will oversee the flick  and it will be  produced by Lorenzo di Bonaventura (Transformers, Constantine, The Wheelman).

More over on Hollywood Reporter.

Retailer GAME has reported a 9.1 percent drop in sales for the first half of the year. Like-for-like sales are down 15.4 percent.

For UK and Ireland based stores, business was down 12.4 percent, with like-for-like down 15.8 percent. Its International businesses decreased 1.1 percent and a like-for-like was down of 14.4 percent.

These figures were expected by the company, due to comparisons with last year’s time period which saw the releases of Grand Theft Auto IV, Mario Kart and Wii Fit.

“Whilst we remain mindful of the significant challenges in the wider economic environment, our full year performance will be driven by the increased ownership of consoles which will increase demand for software,” said Peter Lewis, company chairman.

GAME expects strong sales of used and new titles later in the year thanks to strong name brands and the UK installed base, which currently exceeds 24 million.

More over on GI.biz.

Director Paul W.S. Anderson has been working on script drafts for a new Resident Evil flick, rumored to be set in Alaska and Tokyo.

ShockTillYouDrop, a film website, is reporting that the film is to be titled Resident Evil: Afterlife, and source close to the site has said an internal memo pegs it for a September 17, 2010 release.

No word yet if Milla Jovovich will reprise her role as Alice.

Via Kotaku.

EA’s put out a launch trailer for Battlefield 1943, having now announced the game for release next week.

Is shows the game’s Guadalcanal island, and has to be the best argument for digital distribution we’ve ever seen. It looks fantastic.

If you like shooting and bombing things, this has to be a no-brainer: Battlefield 1943 is yours for £10/1200MSP.

Watch away.

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Codies put out a bunch of new images from Colin McRae: DiRT 2 today, all of which are CG from the look of it.

It’s out in September. After the break.

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EA’s confirmed that Battlefield 1943 will release on July 8 for 360 and the day after for PS3.

The shooter – rated at 9/10 in the latest Edge – will set you back £10/1200MSP.

Which is probably great news. PR after the break.

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Free-to-play MMO Omerta 3 launches tomorrow, says the press release after the break.

The game feature permadeath and mass-fighting, so it’s not for the faint of heart.

You can increase security on your “villa” and set up SMS alerts so you know when you’re being attacked if you’re offline. So that’s good.

Have a read.

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Splinter Cell Conviction can be played through in 12 hours, creative director Maxime Beland has told OXM.

“I want people to play my games and finish them,” Beland said.

“We’re going to ship with difficulty levels, at least a normal mode and realistic mode – like we did on Rainbow Six Vegas.

“And realistic is going to be really fucking hard – you’re going to need stealth, two bullets is going to kill you, the enemies are going to be super-lethal.”

The full interview’s in the latest edition of the mag. If you can’t be bothered to spend money, just wait till next week: it’s all going to be posted on the site.

The game’s out for PC and 360 in October.

Microsoft’s confirmed to VG247 that Inside Xbox went live in eight extra European countries yesterday.

The online 360 magazine is now available in Denmark, Finland, Holland, Norway and Sweden, and in multiple languages in Austria, Belgium and Switzerland.

Up to yesterday, the service was viewable in America, the UK, France, Italy, Germany, Spain, Ireland, Canada, Mexico, Japan and Taiwan.

To take a look, just boot up your 360 and navigate to the Inside Xbox channel.

Suda51′s told Edge that No More Heroes needs to move past Wii if it’s to flourish.

“I really want to make NMH a big franchise,” he said, “and with this second episode have bigger success. I’m putting a lot of care into developing this IP, as I feel there’s a lot of potential.

“I think this is the last NMH that is going to be developed on Wii,” he added. “To expand NMH to new possibilities, we need a new platform. Wii is a great platform, but we’ve done everything we can with it now.”

Now look at this. Good news for 360 and PS3 owners, no doubt.

There’s a gameplay video of next week’s Tales of Monkey Island after the break, and very good it looks too. It’s out on Tuesday.

For clarity, this is a new Monkey Island adventure for PC and WiiWare. The upcoming 360 remake is The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition. Which will also release on PC.

Confused? Amazing. Buy it anyway.

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