Monthly Archives: August 2009

DiRT 2′s Ralph Fulton’s told VG that Natal, as lovely as it is, will never be a standard controller for racing games.

“I certainly don’t ever see it replacing the wheel or the controller as the principle controller method,” he said.

Don’t panic, though, Natal-based racing fans. The motion-sensing system and traditional control aspects could very well collide to form a beautiful melange of car-based gaming simulation inputs.

“That’s not to say that I don’t think you could do some really cool things, particularly with Natal, which can function as additional control over and above the controller in racing games,” Fulton added.

More through there.

The latest Assassin’s Creed II dev diary – after the break – includes new gameplay footage and a good amount of background information.

Did you know Ezio has an uncle Mario? You do know.

The game’s out later this year. It’ll be pride of place on the Ubi stand at GamesCom next week.

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GTTV’s going to show a first look at one of the new Left7 4 Dead 3 campaigns on Friday morning, as you can see in the video after the break.

Keighley’s asked Gabe Newell questions on HL2: Ep 3 and Portal 2, he reckons, so it’s definitely going to be worth a watch.

Look and see. Thanks, Kotaku.

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EA’s confirmed to VG247 that BioWare’s magnum opus, Star Wars: The Old Republic, will be in a playable state at GamesCom next week.

Play-slots are being offered to attending journalists, and indications are very good from those who’ve already had hands-on time.

The Cologne show runs from next Tuesday to Saturday. The Old Republic has no date as yet, although it was rumoured yesterday to be shipping late next year.

Rebellion’s told Gamespot that a first look at AvP multiplayer will happen this year. Comforting.

“Our multiplayer reveal will be happening later this year,” said art head Tim Jones.

“Suffice to say that you will able to play as all three species and there are some great game modes that make the most of each of their special abilities.”

It sounds as though the AvP2 multiplayer class system’s been ditched altogether.

“We’ve looked very carefully at what has worked well and proven popular in previous games – and what has not – and we are focusing on making each species work as best as it can without complicating things further with class-systems,” said Jones.

“There is a beautiful purity to the three-species combat we have.”

The game’s out in 2010, and it’s to be shown at GamesCom next week.

Xbox Live is on the move. Not only is it coming to mobiles, as has been now promised for 50 trillion years, but it’s also to travel “beyond” handhelds, if a new MS job posting‘s to be believed.

The LIVE Engagement Team is looking for a LIVE Community Director to manage its LIVE community strategy and execution across a range of properties, from Xbox LIVE to Windows Mobile. This senior position will play a vital role in the community space as the LIVE Engagement team builds and program’s Microsoft’s next-generation, LIVE-enabled casual and social gaming platform across the Web, the console, mobile and beyond.

We’re staring at the screen in desperation. We can’t fathom “beyond”. Come back from the edge, Microsoft. Put it on phones, first.

Via Ars and Kotaku.

Actor Mark Sloan has posted on his resume that he has provided motion capture for Hitman 5 which is supposedly being developed by Rocksteady Studios.

This is really the first we have heard about RockSteady working on the game, and other than Variety reporting back in June that a sequel to the Hitman film will “contain story elements from Hitman 5″ and out “in late 2010″, Eidos has not uttered a peep.

Mark this down as the psychotic delusions of an actor until we hear different.

Ok, we’re sure he’s not making it up or in need of medication, but still, we’ll contact Eidos and see if we can find out more.

Thanks, Joystiq.

A new developer diary for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising’s posted after the break.

In it, the Hardcore Mode in the game is discussed along with HUD support, compass, crosshairs, and how players will need to rely on perception and survival skills.

Game’s out this fall for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Watch below courtesy of BigDownload.

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Bethesda has confirmed that the Fallout 3 DLC retail pack containing Broken Steel and Point Lookout will land in stores August 25 for $20 for both Xbox 360 and PC.

According to Amazon and GameStop, come October 13, the Game of the Year Edition will contain all five DLC packs for $59.99 on PS3 and Xbox 360 and $49.99 for PC.

Bethesda is staying quiet on the release date and pricing for the GoTY edition.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Steam has Call of Duty: World of War on sale for half-price for the next two days.

The sale ends this coming Thursday and from now until then you can get it for $25.

Not a bad deal considering it is regularly priced at $49.99.

Via LA Examiner.

Forbes has revealed the details of John Riccitiello’s personal financial package.

While not near as large as Kotick’s, it is still nothing to sneeze at.

The EA bossman earned $6,365,823 in salary, options and bonuses last year, poor fella.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

According to a tweet from Obsidian Entertainment yesterday, it’s possible to play through Alpha Protocol without killing anyone.

Here’s the tweet:

“Learned yesterday that it’s possible to get through Alpha Protocol without killing anyone. That’s kind of awesome.”

Espionage without killing? Sounds like it might be hard to do.

Game’s out in October.

Via PS3center.

Remember the Xi event over on PlayStation Home? Well, another one of sorts is on the way from creator nDreams.

According to a recent tweet from its CEO, Patrick O’Luanaigh, a new home space is coming this week.

Here’s the tweet:

“Off on holiday this week, but our next Home space should be out on Thursday…. should be fun ”

No other details were tweeted.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Gameworld Tech and Nolan Bushnell released a new trailer today for Battleswarm: Field of Honor.

Battleswarm is a FPS/RTS game for PC where players choose between team-based, first-person action, representing individual, elite soldiers or acting as the supreme commander of an alien task force, managing hundreds of alien bugs from a real-time strategy point of view.

The game is currently in Beta, and if you want in on it all you have to do is sign up.

Games’ set for next month, and the full press release is below with Beta details, along with the video which comes courtesy of Joystiq.

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Aragorn’s Quest for DS, PSP, PS2, and Wii has been moved from fall 2009 to spring 2010.

Another game falls prey to Game Exodus 2009, we reckon.

Warner Bros. confirmed the news to Shack, but failed to provide a reason.

We have sent an email Warner’s way to see if we fare any better, because we know you guys are really bummed over this.

Here is your weekly list of the most played titles over on Xbox Live.

It changes so little week to week, that we wonder if you would even notice.

Live Titles

1. Halo 3
2. Call of Duty: WaW
3. Call of Duty 4
4. Gears of War 2
5. GTA IV
6. Battlefield 1943
7. FIFA 09
8. 1 vs 100
9. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
10. Fallout 3

Arcade Titles

1. Turtles in Time Re-Shelled
2. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
3. Battlefield 1943
4. Splosion Man
5. Castle Crashers
6. Worms 2: Armageddon
7. Magic: The Gathering – Duels of the Planeswalkers
8. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition
9. R-Type Dimensions
10. UNO

Original and Indie titles are posted after the break courtesy of the Major.

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Funcom has planned to reveal more details regarding its MMORPG, The Secret World, at PAX 2009.

According to a post over on Endsights, the firm plans to “let quite a few secrets out of the bag”.

Whether the game will be playable, shown, or trailered at the event is not known, but we have sent an information request off to Funcom to see if we can get a bit more for you.

The game was announced in March of 2007 and other than a teaser video being released for it a few months back, very little is still known about the title.

More through the link.

Former MTV boss Peter Einstein has started his own games-focused show, which debuted last weekend on Bravo.

GameFace was created by his company Ginx TV, and is hosted by Julia Hardy. The show contains reviews along with a weekly international weekly show titked The Ginx Files.

“I believe that the viewing figures for Game Face will build over time as gamers find the show and look forward to connecting with us each week to enjoy what’s going on in their gaming world,” Einstein told MCV.

“There could be multiple reasons that games TV shows have failed in the past – which could even be linked to management, cost overruns, not just necessarily the channel format. From what we’ve seen in the past a lot of the focus has been more outside of the games, with presenter reviews, stats, interviews with creators and only a bit about the games themselves – as one assumed that you only ‘play’ games you can’t ‘watch’ them.

“By taking the rich production values of many games today, using the story line or game objective, Ginx creates a TV production from a TV viewers point of view. We feel this concept provides a fun, entertaining TV event which is appealing mostly to the casual gamer.”

More through the link.

New screens for the DS adventure title Fighting Fantasy: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain have popped up over on CVG.

“We showed the playable prototype of our game to Ian Livingstone back in 2007,” said Damir Slogar, CEO of developer Big Blue Bubble. “Ian immediately recognized the potential and we agreed to continue the development using the Fighting Fantasy brand.

“Around the same time, Steve & Ian had just published the 25th anniversary edition of The Warlock of Firetop Mountain so the choice to base the game on that book was obvious.”

iPhone and iPod Touch are also expected to get versions based on the books later this year.

The DS version is expected to be released just in time for the holidays.

Hit the link for the rest.

Microsoft has responded to rumors posted on Saturday regarding Steven Spielberg being interested in the Halo movie.

According to a spokesperson speaking to Kotaku, so that it can focus on Halo 3: ODST and Reach, Microsoft has put the film on hold.

“We’re glad there’s still a lot of enthusiasm in the entertainment industry surrounding the idea of a Halo movie. That said, the Halo feature film remains on hold as we focus on projects like Halo 3: ODST and Halo: Reach.”

Originally, IESB was reporting that a source close to the site claimed Stuart Beattie had been shopping around his Halo: Fall of Reach script and Steven Spielberg had his eyes on it.