Monthly Archives: August 2009

The Monk class was revealed for Diablo III at BlizzCon today, and the first in-game screens have popped up over on Shack.

It looks rather good.

You can find out loads more through our liveblog transcript of the event here.

Loads of LittleBigPlanet stuff has come out of GamesCom. The water stuff, the confirmation of the GoTY edition, the PSP version…it was LittleBigPlanet Central over at the Sony booth, apparently.

To show you just how much LBP was packed in, James Shepherd , the development director at Cambridge Studios, is featured in the video past the break chatting about LBP PSP including details on Create mode, on-the-go level inspiration and more.

Have a watch courtesy of the US PS Blog.

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Bungie’s community manager Brian Jarrard has told VG247 that Halo: Reach will be the final game the studio does on the “current” Halo trilogy.

He confirmed it would be a standalone game and that it is a prequel.

“For now Reach is definitely our next big thing, and it doesn’t really fit into the Halo trilogy itself. It’s definitely a prequel, standalone offering, so we don’t have current plans to go back and inject more content into the current Halo trilogy,” said Jarrard.

“I think ODST is going to be a nice exclamation point, a nice rounding up of multiplayer content and a different side-story, but right now Reach is our focus.”

Halo 3: ODST was proclaimed finished by Halo 3 creative director, Joe Staten, back at E3. Reach was announced at E3 for a fall 2010 release, but there will be a multiplayer beta with ODST.

ODST will drop on September 22.

Catch the full interview here.

Just in case you were unaware, there is a demo up onXbox Live for Section 8 – the shooter from TimeGate Studios.

The demo is an exclusive for Gold members at the moment, but when the full thing is released in stores on September 1, players will be able to go online with up to 16 others for multiplayer fun.

Therefore the demo should give you a taste of what to expect.

More information can be found over on the Xbox Live Marketplace.

Water is coming to LittleBigPlanet as part of a new kit, and Media Molecule is currently accepting Beta applications.

Here’s the quote from the website:

It’s not just a saying you know – We really do need to test the water to make sure the new features all work as planned, and we need your help to do it! How would you like to dive on in to the crystal clear waters and enjoy some splish-splashing about before everyone else? Get out your rubber rings people, this is gonna be one hell of a pool party!

Sounds fun.

Go here. Sign up. Make sure your PSN account is set up to accept email from Sony Computer Entertainment. Cross your fingers and hope you get accepted.

Blizzard’s put live the debut trailer of the new World of Warcraft expansion, Cataclysm.

You can find it through here. That’s if the site isn’t getting battered to death anyways.

It was just announced tonight. The first screens are here.

So, Cataclysm was finally announced tonight, don’t you know.

And already the first screens are out.

Get them after the jump.

More info as it comes.

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Well, what do you think?

A beaut?

The expansion was just announced tonight.

Chris Metzen, Blizzard’s VP of creative development just took the stage at BlizzCon and announced the new expansion for World of Warcraft, along with two new playable races.

Looks like the new races are Goblins on the Horde side and Worgen are the new alliance race.

Cataclysm was just announced despite earlier leaks and it looks like new dungeons, flying mounts, raids and dungeons will be present as well.

Good times.

The Opening Ceremony just finished, and you can have a look at what was all revealed, and not revealed, here.

Blizzard’s just announced a brand new expansion for World of Warcraft, known as Cataclysm.

The expansion will change the face of Azeroth, as Nathan put it during the livetext, as the war against the Lich King contines in the expansion.

The expansion also sees the level cap rise to 85 with new dungeons and raids added.

There will also be a new achievements system from guild leveling.

Nathan’s attending a Cataclysm panel. We’ll bring it to you live once it begins.

More soon.

Update: It’s just been confirmed at the Blizzcon OC. A trailer’s been shown as well, all real-time and no CG. More at the livetext below.

Original Story: A accidental leak on the Korean portal of the Diablo III website has revealed the fourth class in the game to be the monk.

More through here.

We’ll most likely hear more about it in the BlizzCon opening ceremony tonight. It’s about to kick off, join Nathan as it happens here.

Thanks, zinliah

Speaking in Konami’s latest issue of the company’s internal magazine, MGS creator Hideo Kojima has said Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker will “require hundreds of hours to complete”.

He also reiterates that the team from Metal Gear Solid 4 will be seriously involved with the game as well as himself.

“The main team from MGS4 is participating in the development of this title and I am involved in all aspects of the game, ranging from design, direction and scenario writing.”

He goes on further to state the game will be a great looking title, despite it being on the PSP.

“Despite being on the PSP, we don’t plan on making any compromises with the graphics. The art team is used to producing PS3-level quality and the results will make you wonder if this is really a PSP game.”

More at Kotaku.

Game’s out next year.

BlizzCon should be starting soon, and we are pumped!

Nathan is in Anaheim now, getting ready to see all things Blizzard.

We are liveblogging the opening ceremony, and you should check it out here.

It will be blizzerific.

EA’s announced at a GamesCom event in Cologne that Command & Conquer 4 will be subtitled.

It’ll now be known as Command & Conquer 4: Tiberuim Twilight.

And that’s all she wrote.

It’s out in 2010 for the PC.

Via IncGamers.

Halo: Reach has been in development since development ended on Halo 3.

That’s what Bungie’s Brian Jarrard told VG247 at GamesCom.

The community manager made the admission as he was talking to us about Halo 3: ODST and how life hasn’t changed much since the studio became an independent studio again after breaking away from Microsoft Games Studios.

“Day to day life hasn’t changed that much. We’ve been super-busy, obviously. We’ve finally been able to announce Halo: Reach, which has been in development right since the end of Halo 3.”

“Having a portion of our team working on ODST while Reach has been going full steam; we’ve been too busy right now to think about too much else. We’re just heads-down making great games. Right now that’s our focus.”

Reach is set long before Halo: Combat Evolved and long before Master Chief was the only spartan left standing, although story specifics are little to zip right now.

The game is due out in fall 2010, but a multiplayer beta token will come with Halo 3: ODST when it launches on September 22.

Catch our interview with Jarrard and CJ Cowan of Bungie here.

Some new screens are posted over on CVG for Silent Hill: Shattered Memories.

Looks like Konami wanted to do things different this time around, the assets sure seem to reflect that.

“From the very beginning, we planned to re-invent the horror-genre, getting deeper into the player’s minds and taking a new approach for videogames,” commented Tomm Hulett, the game’s producer. “The development team took a long time studying all kinds of psychological elements, and created a unique system to monitor all player actions – even small things like how long an object is looked at.

“The result is a diverse experience, which adjusts itself all the way through the game and creates a story-driven experience like never before in any video game.”

Game’s out for for Wii, PSP and PS2 this winter.

Brand new achievements have appeared on XB360A (via Joystiq) for Mass Effect which appear to be related to the new piece of DLC which has long been long overdue from BioWare.

The game now has achievements worth up to 1200 points: the standard 1000 with 50 from “Bring Down the Sky”. These new achievements, three in total, are 50 GS points each and rack up a combined 150 GS points.

More through the links.

Loads of new HD offerings were added to the US PS movie store last night.

Highlights include Conan the Destroyer, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, Solaris, The Last King of Scotland, Elizabeth and Carlito’s Way.

More HD TV shows were added as well, and the full thing can be viewed over on the US PS Blog.

HD Movies:

• Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel Theatrical Trailer
• Angel of Death Featurette: Behind the Stunts
• Angel of Death Featurette: Making of
• Carlito’s Way
• Conan the Destroyer
• Dune
• Elizabeth
• Grandma’s Boy
• Grandma’s Boy (Unrated)
• Hard Target
• Ice Age
• Ice Age The Meltdown
• Just Married
• Lock, Stock, and Two Smoking Barrels
• Night At The Museum
• Race to Witch Mountain
• Shallow Hal
• Sideways
• Skullheads
• Solaris
• Swimfan
• The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas
• The Blues Brothers
• The Constant Gardener
• The Good Son
• The Last House on the Left
• he Last House on the Left (Unrated)
• The Last King of Scotland
• The Soloist
• U-571
• Whiteboys

Bungie’s Brian Jarrard has told VG247 at GamesCom that Halo 3: ODST, in between having an E3 2008 reveal being pulled at the last minute, an accidental reveal from senior vice president of Xbox, Don Mattrick and a name change from Halo 3: Recon, has been “a different product”.

“Yeah, ODST has been a different product for us a lot of respects. It’s the first time we’ve had a game that we’ve basically done on an accelerated 12 month schedule with a small team.”

But despite what it has gone through within the past year, Jarrard does insist that Bungie are still proud at what they have done with ODST.

“We’re definitely proud of what we’ve been able to accomplish in a short time. It’s been a first in many ways, but I think that the final product came out even better than we had hoped, and it’s going to speak for itself when it comes out next month.”

Go read up the full interview here, you’ll find out loads of “different” info on ODST and the recently announced Halo Reach.

Naughty Dog has said that Uncharted 2 will consist of about 40 percent puzzle-solving elements and 60 percent action.

However, that being said, the developers want you to focus more on the pacing, exploration, and action as the puzzles solving will be more subtle and seamlessly integrated.

“I think gamers are going to notice that it’s going to be a little more action packed,” Naught Dog’s Arne Myer told Kotaku. “There’s a little more tension, a little more action behind everything [Drake] does.

As far as cop-op goes, there will be none of that.

“We thought about whether we could have cooperative in the game,” Meyer said. “But the game is really centered around Nathan and his personality. It didn’t really make sense to do coop.”

More through the link.