Monthly Archives: August 2009

Loads of stuff happened this week in MMO land, and some of it is posted for you after the break.

Should you choose to click on through, you will find why Turine is suing Atari, get caught up on The Green Lantern and DC Universe’s Beta status, hear about new goodies coming to EQII, lament the collapse of the bank in EVE Online, and there’s loads of other stuff along with news on a couple of MMOs you may have never even heard of.

Go on, hit the link. You know you want to.

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Edge has revealed that the LostWinds sequel is called Winter of the Melodias.

Toku can now change the seasons, don’t you know.

Edge has loads more if you are in the mood to pick it up.

No word on when it will hit WiiWare, but at least it’s coming.

Via N-Europe.

Tentatively titled Fatale, to be published by Tale of Tales, has been announced for a October 5 release.

Because of this, ToT has decided to unveil Salome – the gal who wanted John the Baptist’s head on a plate. The character was designed, modeled and textured for the project by game artist Takayoshi Sato, of Silent Hill fame.

According to the press mailer:

“The character of Salome is complex because “Fatale” is designed to evoke all possible interpretations of her legend simultaneously. Salome is at once the mighty princess who mercilessly seduces men to their downfall and an innocent child on the brink of womanhood who is manipulated by the grown-ups that surround her. But she is also just a girl, a teenager who falls in love with the wrong man at the wrong time. She gets a first taste of the sweetness and the bitterness that we all know so well.

“And then there’s the Salome created by Oscar Wilde: a mad woman, lurking in the shadows of our souls, a selfish, passionate, willful creature who will stop at nothing to get what she wants.”

Full thing past the break.

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Sony has announced that EyePet will land in the US November 17 for $39.99 or bundled with PlayStation Eye for $59.99.

Be prepared for your “real” pets to freak out.

Apparently, the little guy is customizable, “letting you modify fur length, color and pattern, as well as the ability to outfit your pet with more than 250 unique collectible items”, according to the US PS Blog.

There’s a video of it after the break, and more through the link.

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Despite Sony and Microsoft announcing price cuts on PS3 and 360, Nintendo is not planning on bowing to pressure, nor is it expecting to be clobbered in the market.

Instead, according to NOA’s Denise Kaigler, the company’s sales forecast “remains unchanged”.

“Our focus has always been on creating fun and engaging game-play experiences,” said Kaigler. “Because of that focus, Wii has been the best-selling video game system in the United States for two years and counting.

“It offers the most fun and the best value for consumers. Wii can be played by every member of the family the moment it comes out of the box. It’s the only console that offers the option of precision motion controls right now, with the Wii MotionPlus accessory. And Nintendo systems are the only place you can play new and classic Nintendo franchises.

“Wii games that will be on people’s lists through the holidays include Wii Sports Resort, Metroid Prime: Trilogy, Wii Fit Plus and New Super Mario Bros. Wii.

“Nintendo offers something for everyone.”

Good to know, Denise.

Via Kotaku.

The Federal Communications Commission has started researching a possible universal rating system to include games, mobile content and television in response to the US Congress investigating current laws are doing enough to protect children from harmful content.

Enter the ESA which says that the FCC has no jurisdiction in games.

According to Rich Taylor, senior VP for communications and industry affairs at ESA, current ESRB ratings are “considered by parents, family advocates, the Federal Trade Commission, and elected officials as the gold standard in providing caregivers with the information they need to make the right choices for their families.”

Taylor feels a universal rating would “confuse consumers, violate the Constitution’s first amendment, and are a solution in search of a problem.”

The FCC maintains control over television an radio in the US – basically airwaves. How games would fall under this category is unknown, unless the FCC lobbies to get more power in its court.

More through Joystiq, via Bloomberg.

Cryptic Studios will be showing off Star Trek Online at PAX next weekend in playable form.

This is one of the first times the game has been shown to the public, so be on the look out for public reactions.

Loads of assets will probably come out of it too, so keep your eyes glued to the site that weekend.

Thanks, BigDownload.

A commercial advertising The Beatles: Rock Band has been released, and it is a bit strange.

Especially George and John. Come on. Seriously.

Anyway, it’s posted after the break. Game’s out September 9.

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SEGA has announced that Sonic & Knuckles are hitting Xbox Live on September 9 complete with the cart stacking bonuses of the original title.

However, you have to have the original games on XBLA first for it to work.

D’toid has provided the full details:

“With Sonic the Hedgehog, you’ll unlock the “Blue Sphere” bonus Chaos level from Sonic the Hedgehog 3. If you own Sonic the Hedgehog 2, then you’ll be able to play as Knuckles in the game. Playing as Knuckles will let you reach areas that Sonic can’t reach and will include new power-ups too. And with Sonic the Hedgehog 3, you’ll be able to play the game as Knuckles and the design of the game is changed so the experience between Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles feels seamless.”

Sounds like something Sonic fans have been waiting for.

More through the link.

GOG.com has a sale going on until Monday, August 31 on Unreal titles.

Unreal and Unreal II: The Awakening are $8.49 each, and Unreal Tournament and Unreal Tournament 2004 are also being sold at the same price.

Great deals there.

More through the site. Thanks, Joystiq.

Telltale has announced on its website that the second episode of Tales of Monkey Island will arrive on WiiWare Monday, August 31.

The Siege of Spinner Cay’s release for WiiWare is suspected to be North America only at this point, as Telltale is not 100 percent sure it’s confirmed for Europe yet.

However, Telltale is relatively sure it will land on Monday as well, but you should check just to make sure.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

Okay, we knew Record of Agarest War was heading to PSN, we just didn’t know when.

Now, according to D’toid, Aksys Games is bringing it to the PS3 service this fall.

“This is one of those titles where morbid curiosity really hits you once see some screenshots,” stated Michael Manzanares, associate pProducer, Aksys Games. “Instead of being nothing but cheesecake, Record of Agarest War turns out to have some length and girth to it. Color us surprised.”

Note the word girth. Not too surprising of a word considering the sausage eating connotations within the game. Maybe we are just being perverted though.

Anyway, Compile Heart, Red Entertainment and Idea Factory have crammed in over 100 hours of gameplay featuring loads of stuff that can be taken the wrong way should we type it.

Hit the link to read more of the description.

2K has announced that it’s bringing two independent titles exclusively to Xbox Live Arcade.

One is The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom, set for an early 2010 release, which chronicles the villainous P.B. Winterbottom as he steals pies via time-bending abilities. Set in a macabre and comical silent film world, the game has “garnered several independent awards and nominations from IGN.com, GameSpot and the Independent Games Festival for its unique art style and inventive gameplay mechanics.”

The second game, Axel & Pixel, is slated for fall and tells the story of Axel the artist and his dog Pixel as they take a journey through the Dream World. It’s a point-and-click adventure, with a hand-drawn environment.

Both sound rather interesting.

Press release is posted below, along with screens for both. More on Winterbottom can be found through the link.

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Level-5 has announced a collaboration with Brownie Brown called Fantasy Life and features music by Final Fantasy composer Nobuo Uematsu.

Described as a “slow life RPG,” the DS title is set in the world of Fantazeal where the first signs of a prophesied destruction are happening. The focus of the game isn’t on combat, but all you seem to do, according to Andriadang, is “live life contained within the DS”.

There are 20 different “lives” to choose from, and whichever you choose affects how the game progresses and which “Life Quests” you must undertake daily.

Loads more information is through the link, but it definitely sounds like an interesting title.

It’s expected to be released sometime in 2010.

Namco Bandai has announced Majin: The Fallen Realm for PS3 and Xbox 360, and it’s expected to land in stores early 2010.

Game Republic are the developers behind the third-person action adventure and has players take on the role of a thief as he and his rock monster work cooperatively to progress through the game.

The announcement trailer shown at GamesCom is below the break, and more information can be found over on VideogamesBlogger.

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Gameloft has announced five titles it is readying for PSPgo and PSP.

“For the past 10 years our focus and expertise has been digitally distributed games. From mobile games to iPhone/iPod Touch to next-gen consoles, our success stems from the ability to adapt and evolve on the latest platforms,” said Gameloft president Michel Guillemot

“The PSPgo will contribute to the innovations going on in the gaming space right now and we look forward to being front and center with our games at launch.”

Here’s the full list with Gameloft descriptions:

• Real Soccer 2010 – the famous handheld soccer simulation arrives on the PSPgo system. Get immersed in the atmosphere of a live match thanks to true to life 3D graphics and animation. Discover a complete range of game modes and easily perform the most amazing soccer moves.
• Hero of Sparta – an epic and colossal adventure with staggering 3D graphics that fully capture the mythological atmosphere. 8 levels to explore and legions of phenomenal creatures to defeat in this odyssey.
• Asphalt 5 – a high velocity driving game with more than 15 million downloads sold. Ride the best cars in the world including Ferrari and Lamborghini in high-speed races through 15 of the hippest locations in the world from Paris to Aspen.
• Let’s Golf! – It’s time for you to become a big hitter and drive for the green with Let’s Golf! Choose to play with 4 cool and customizable characters across 63 holes in 4 distinct locations remodeled in refreshing 3D visuals from Fiji Beach to the English countryside.
• UNO - play the #1 classic card game with friends and family on your PSPgo system. Enjoy traditional UNO or customize your own game with 9 different rules to play your way. Challenge friends near and far through local and online multiplayer mode.

The Federal Communications Commission has dissected the turntable peripheral for Activision’s DJ Hero.

Dunno what the FCC thought it would find inside, but there ya go.

There are loads of PDF files on the government wesbite describing the thing, from emission tests to bandwith – the inspection’s all there.

If you like to know how things work and what makes ‘em tick, you can thank Joystiq.

During E3, Sony showed off its new controller which is expected to land sometime during spring 2010.

The video posted after the breaks is an inside look at Sony’s R&D team chatting about what they do and how they created the new motion controller.

Hit the jump to hear Richard Marks and Anton Mikhailov chatting about the motion controller.

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Resident Evil 5 producer, Masachika Kawata, sat down with PC Games Hardware to talk about the technology and pecs behind the PC version.

During the interview, Kawata talk about Capcom’s MT Framework engine, physics, pipeline rendering, and other techie stuff some of you may like.

“We use our own proud game engine, ‘MT Framework’,” he said. “The current version is compatible to PC (DX9/DX10), Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 formats. It allows the sharing of application source code and resources for each platform that exempts us from the need of individually developing for each platform in case of a multi-platform title such as RE5.

“Also, by continually researching and developing a game engine internally we can maintain high standards of technology and stay up to date. This then means that we can alter the engine as we like, even when we update the hardware. Another benefit is that it allows information sharing between systems and applications so the application could demand a change to the system or vice versa, very speedily.”

Get the rest through here.

The Sith Warrior class has been unveiled over on the Star Wars: The Old Republic website.

Apparently, this “unstoppable force of darkness” has been tasked with destroying anything and everyone who gets in the Empire’s way and “enforcing Sith domination across the galaxy”.

Exciting isn’t it? Going around thrashing Jedis around and forcing your will on the little peons who get in your way. Just imagine what will happen should you get to go to the moon of Endor. Ewok soup anyone?

Still no date, but we’re crossing our fingers for next year.