Monthly Archives: August 2009

Batman’s PC version may have been pushed back into September, but at least Windows fans can get a look at the demo now along with the rest of the world. You can grab it from Fileshack for 1.57Gb.

We took a look at the PS3 demo last night, and you must try it. The presentation alone is knockout.

The PC version releases on September 15 in North America and September 18 in Europe and Australia.

PS3 and 360 owners will get it on August 25.

The Live demo will release today.

Tony Hawk Ride will end up costing UK gamers £99.99 ($169) when it lands November 20.

GAME will also offer an exclusive limited edition for PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 and features the board seen above for the same price.

You know you want it.

Via Videogamer.

Samuel Bass, campaign and story lead for C&C4 chats a bit about the recent trailer released for the game over on Eurogamer France.

In it, he talks about the time line for the game, discusses the fact that Manchester is riddled with Tiberium, and mentions Kane going before the GDI council.

Loads of stuff in there should interest you if you are looking forward to the RTS game come 2010.

Watch through the link.

Those who purchase Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising from GameStop will net an exclusive preorder bonus when getting the game on October 6.

It’s an extra mission titled Night Raid where you and your Special Ops team use night vision goggles to assault an enemy position.

You can get this offer online, or by dropping five clams in person at the store.

Via BigDownload.

Kotaku has revealed its latest chart on the most played Wii games in the US.

According to data from Nintendo, Super Smash Bros. Brawl is the most played game on the system, proving once more just how much people love a game with Mario in it.

Guitar Hero III came in second, and Animal Crossing: City Folk, third.

Here’s the full thing:

1. Super Smash Bros. Brawl
2. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock
3. Animal Crossing: City Folk
4. Fire Emblem: Radiant Dawn
5. The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess
6. Call of Duty: World at War
7. Harvest Moon: Tree of Tranquility
8. Rock Band 2
9. Rune Factory: Frontier
10. LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga

This is basically a study of the games that once owned or rented get played the most.

More through the link.

According to reports from the Associated Press, Activision and Double Fine ended the feud over Brutal Legend.

Settling out of court, Activision’s legal team notified the court of the settlement, the day before both sides were to present arguments before a judge.

Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Craig Karlan delayed ruling in the case until today, stating that he needed more time to look over the specifics. He also told attorneys representing Activision, that there were several reasons why he was against ordering a delay for the game, the main reason being he could not see any “likelihood of success” on Acti’s end.

That’s all moot now, we reckon.

Specifics of the settlement were not revealed as of this posting, and neither side has commented.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Penny Arcade Expo goes off on September 4 and lasts until September 6, and today organizers released an updated list of exhibitors attending.

So far, 90 different exhibitors will be on hand and include such grand events as Bioware’s first public showing of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed II and Splinter Cell: Conviction, and the prerequisite parties and concerts, reports Kotaku.

The full list of exhibitors, we can’t say that word enough, are listed after the beak.

More »

Criss Angel has landed on PlayStation Home.

The magician, mind-reader, escapist, massive tool and serial bimbo dater has provided exclusive clips from the new season of his painful TV show Mindfreak.

If you are into him though, obviously we aren’t, you will get a limited-time virtual Coffin Couch for your Home space – because Angel is just that goth, people.

To get it you have to go to the 10-Screen Theater, torture yourself by watching the clips between now and August 12.

You’ll also be automatically entered into a giveaway for 1 of 2 real Criss Angel: Mindfreak Coffins and 1 of 3 Criss Angel: Burn DVD’s and Book sets.

More over on the US PS Blog.

Wolfenstein comes out on August 18, according to the trailer posted on Eurogamer France.

It’s a rather neat little video, meaning that it shows the best bits and is only 46 seconds long.

Still, you may wish to have a look.

Game’s to be made available for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Tecmo Koei president Kenji Matsubara has told Play that the company is interested in Sony’s motion technology for games like Ninja Gaiden, but more research is needed to see if it would be a proper fit.

“I’m very interested in the new motion-control technology announced at E3, but we really need to know how responsive it is,” said Matsubara. “I’m sure that for casual games these motion controls will be very popular, but for action games like Ninja Gaiden we need quick responses and if you’re swinging your arms around like you’re using a sword you will soon be tired.

“Maybe we have to change the playing style and check the technology to see how quick it can be. So, at first it will be casual games and then maybe hardcore games and we have to prepare for that and provide the games to satisfy that playing style.”

More through the link.

Activision has confirmed that Guitar Hero: Van Halen will not be released in Europe until 2010.

Granted, it comes out in the US on December 22, so “TBD 2010″ could mean January 1. Ya never know.

We know you are bummed over this.

Thanks, Eurogamer.

Stock in EA by almost 7 percent yesterday following its financial results, which were released on Tuesday.

Actual numbers fell 6.81 percent to $20.40 during the morning bell.

As of a few minutes ago, stock has rebounded a bit, going up 13 cents per share to $20.53 which is a 0.64 percent increase.

Madden is looming on the horizon, and The Sims 3 should help see thing through. Things should pick back up for the company soon.

Thanks, GI.biz.

Atomic Games released a statement to the press, admitting that it has cut an unannounced number of staff members.

The company said in the statement that the reduction a direct result of not being able to attain funding for Six Days in Fallujah.

Here’s the full statement:

Due to a mixture of fears about the edgy subject matter of Six Days in Fallujah, as well as low videogame sales this summer, we have been unable to secure full-scale funding from a major publisher for Six Days in Fallujah. This has caused us to reduce the size of our studio today.

In the words of Marine officer Chesty Puller, “We’re surrounded. That simplifies the problem.” Development at Atomic will continue with a smaller team that will be funded by our sister company, Destineer.

We wish to assure the dozens of Marine veterans who have collectively invested hundreds of hours in this project that, while we have been badly wounded, we will fight on. The stories of your brothers’ courage and sacrifice in Fallujah must be shared with the world.

All of the 75 people in the Atomic studio have stayed with us until this week. This is a testament not just to their commitment to Six Days in Fallujah, but also to their character when faced with adversity and personal financial risk. We encourage videogame development studios wishing to speak with the many talented and loyal staff who are affected by this situation to contact the jobs page on the atomic.com web site.

Reports started surfacing yesterday that creative director Juan Benito had left the company.

The GamesCom event in Cologne is just around the corner, and the press conference schedule has been confirmed.

Here’s what’s happening:

Tuesday, August 18

• Electronic Arts – 4:30-5:30pm
• Sony Computer Entertainment – 6:00-9:00pm

Wednesday, August 19

• Microsoft Game Studios/Lionhead – 10:00am
• Turtle Entertainment – 11:00am
• Konami – 12:00pm
• Koch/Deep Silver – 1:00pm
• Namco Bandai – 4:00pm
• Bethesda Softworks – 5:00pm
• Opening ceremonies GamesCom 2009 – 6:30pm

More over on XGN.

Juan Benito, creative director at Atomic Games, has reportedly left the company responsible for Six Days in Fallujah.

According to sources speaking with GI.biz, Benito’s profile is still present on the company website, and regarding his departure, Atomic has yet to confirm or deny the reports.

“Atomic Games has no comment at this time,” read a brief statement.

GI has attempted to contact Benito directly, but so far the site has failed to reach him.

Benito co-founded Red Storm Entertainment and previously worked on the Tom Clancy Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon franchises.

More through the link.

Sega has clarified the sales figures for The Conduit, which it released via the company’s Q1 2010 earnings last week.

According to the release, the game had sold 150,000 copies worldwide during launch week. However, NPD only reported it moving 72,000.

The numbers, according to Sega, are shipped units not sold units. So that means out of the 150k shipped, 72k were sold.

Granted, the game was only available in North America when the numbers came in, so actual sales data worldwide for the game will not be revealed until NPD releases its next report.

More over on Joystiq.

Fileplanet has started handing out closed Beta keys to Huxley: The Dystopia.

To get in on this, all you have to do is sign up with FilePlanet – even without a subscription. You will also have to create an account with ijji.com and so far this is only open to North America.

Big apologies to the Europeans.

More over on Massively.

Looks like there was a snafu this morning over on Major Nelson’s Xbox Live update page regarding the new DLC for Red Faction: Guerrilla.

The site had Demons of the Badlands listed as available for download, which confused some folks because it as not set to hit until August 13.

Well, it’s not available folks, sorry to tell you.

After hearing through the internet grapevine that it was no where to be found, we checked XBL Marketplace, and sure enough it was not listed. The Major has even removed it from the site.

Guess we’ll all just have to wait until the 13th after all.

GameStop has created a new Digital Media position for the company and has hired Chris Petrovic to fill it.

Previously head of Digital Media at Playboy, Petrovic will be integrating this form of media as part of the compay’s “multi-channel strategy”.

“As the digital world of gaming and entertainment evolves, GameStop is well positioned to do what it does best – help create markets,” said CEO Daniel DeMatteo. “This includes identifying and effectively participating in emerging trends in casual, browser and mobile gaming.

“While we are currently one of the leaders in the online PC game retail space through our recently relaunched GameStop Casual Digital Store, we are also committed to supporting our unique and vast footprint of brick and mortar stores and knowledgeable associates with a smart digital business platform.”

Petrovic will head a “core team of digital media specialists” and will be based out of a corporate GameStop office in Southern California.

Full release after the break.

More »

Scratch: The Ultimate DJ will be released early next year by its new developer Commotion Interactive.

Commotion has kept the Scratch Deck peripheral the same, and are giving the game a slightly different look artistically.

A representative from Numark has told Joystiq that new screens showing the new art direction will be released next week, and the game has licensed music from Kanye West, Run DMC, and Outkast – with more announcements to come.

Scratch was previously a 7 Studios project before the firm was purchased by Activision and had to hand the source code back to Numark Industries and Genius Products.