Monthly Archives: August 2009

Told you so. Microsoft’s confirmed that 360′s Elite model will be cut to £199.99 in the UK and €249.99 on the mainland from tomorrow, August 28.

“With the Christmas season right around the corner, it’s already time to start looking for entertainment and gifts that everyone will enjoy,” said Euro Xbox head Chris Lewis.

“We have a goal over the next 18 months to reinvent entertainment in the living room and we want to ensure that we have the right foundations in place for our consumers to make simple informed choices around their entertainment platform.

“We know that price is a critical influencing factor in consumer choice, but we also know that consumers across Europe are looking for value, benefit and entertainment experiences, so we need to address all these points to continue to grow and be successful in Europe.”

As we reported last night, the Arcade SKU has been pulled up to £159.99 from £129.99.

PR after the break. The American drop details have also been confirmed, the US Elite dropping to $299.99.

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NCsoft’s going to be taking Aion, Guild Wars 2 and City of Heroes to PAX this year, the publisher said this morning.

Playable builds, art books, developer chats, exclusive codes, artist signings and giveaways are planned for the Seattle event, which takes place on September 4-6.

PR after the break.

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IndustryGamers has posted up some stills from an imminent SCEA PS3 Slim campaign, featuring “Kevin Butler, Director of Rumor Confirmation”.

Not quite an upside-down bleeding pig wrapped in Sellotape as directed by Charlie Chaplin, but there we are. Hit the link.

Command and Conquer 4 has been official named Tiberian Twilight, as detailed in the PR after the break.

Fans picked the title, with more than 15,000 having input on the matter.

“Our sophisticated fans are a tremendous community with a great love for the series. We really wanted to involve them in Command &Conquer 4 – what better way than to have them create the title?” said producer Mike Glosecki.

There is no better way, Mike. Hit the link for more.

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Atari’s released a patch for the PS3 version of Ghostbusters which it claims provides “an increase in resolution to match that of Xbox 360 and some freeze issues, along with numerous other localization fixes.”

The 360 version runs at 720p, for the record. Does the update do what it’s supposed to do? We have a sneaking suspicion you’re going to find out later today.

There’s a bit more detail on the download’s benefits in this press release.

Update: DF reckons it’s not true, in a nutshell. Thanks, DaMan.

Xbox 360 production boss Aaron Greenberg has told Gamespot that 360′s RROD and E74 hardware disasters are now largely in the past.

“We’ve been working hard to make improvements in the products we’re currently making, so I really feel like most of this is well behind us,” he said.

Greenberg added that production advancements have given 360 greatly enhanced stability.

“I can tell you the consoles we’re making today have lower-heat chips and better cooling, and we’re seeing fantastic quality in those consoles today,” he said.

“That said, I know people have had issues with systems which were bought earlier in the life cycle and that’s part of the reason why we implemented our unprecedented three-year warranty for anyone who gets the three red-ring flashing light error or the E74 error.”

More through there. Thanks, rrod360lol.

Mass Effect’s been hit with an anger-causing bug on the launch of the new Pinnacle Station DLC, meaning those with Bring Down the Sky installed for the 360 version have to delete the previous content and reinstall it to be able to get the new play-space.

You can find unhappy bunnies here. BioWare’s looking at a fix, as you can see here.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Bethesda’s Pete Hines sat down with Joystiq and chatted a bit about WET and how the company got involved with A2M on the project.

One of the things he mentions is that it has a “Grindhouse” feel to it, what with your hands getting wet with blood.

“WET is short for wetworks, which is a CIA term for operations where your hands are literally going to get wet with blood,” he said. “We want you, as the player, to always be shooting, always be taking people out, whether it’s with your guns or your sword. You’re running around walls, jumping, spinning, sliding. It’s about comboing together cool moves to take out your enemies and doing in this cool 70s Grindhouse look.

“You really get that Grindhouse feel from the VO work from folks like Eliza Dushku, voice of Ruby (the character you play), Malcolm McDowell. There is a lot of music in the game, both from Brian LeBarton, who works with Beck, created an original soundtrack for the game that’s kind of really cool and hip and funky; and then layered on top of that are all these tracks we got from indie bands that have this cool rockabilly type sound that fit really well with both the original soundtrack and with the game.”

The full video is posted after the break.

Demos are out on PS3 and 360 now, with the full game being released in the US and UK on September 15 and 18 respectively.

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Looks like EGM may be back by December, according to owner Steve Harris.

According to a tweet by Harris: “Plans put in motion today for EGM to return on December 1…”.

That’s good news for those who have lamented the loss of the magazine.

Still, no one is sure exactly what Harris plans to do with it, but at least it’ll still be there for those who want it.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Part two of a developer blog for Dark Void has popped up over on the game’s official website, according to Capcom Unity.

In it, the developers talk about the changes being worked on in the game, including the new “hover up” ability.

“Unlike the obvious appeal of rocketing around with a jetpack, “hover” might not immediately sound sexy, but if you think about it like a game designer, it’s actually pretty revolutionary,” says Capcom Unity. ”

“Being able to hover up (or down, or left, or right) basically makes every part of every area accessible. It adds a lot of fun, but also creates a lot of challenges in terms of creating level flow, maintaining difficulty, etc.”

Looks like you have to be a community member to view the video, but all it takes is an email address.

Game’s out in January for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In Time has been given a release date of October 27.

Picking up where things left off in Tools of Destruction and Quest for Booty, it’s time to go up against Dr. Nefarious and uncover the truth behind their origins.

There’s a video for it posted after the break.

More over on VideogamesBlogger.

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David Cage has said that Quantic Dream is considering DLC for Heavy Rain.

Speaking to VideoGamer, Cage said that the firm is currently “talking with Sony at the moment about having maybe extra downloadable content, maybe with prequels or sequels about the characters.

“We’re working on [online features] at the moment, having some content online and different features online,” he said. “But it won’t be of course multiplayer. It’s a single-player experience.”

More through the link.

Thanks, Joystiq.

EA has confirmed that it has laid-off staff members at Sims and Spore developer EA Maxis.

“Often in the video game industry, the size of a studio fluctuates in response to business conditions,” read an official statement. “In this case, EA has taken action to reduce the workforce at Maxis as we focus the business and focus Maxis.”

No word on the number of people affected.

Thanks, Shack.

Tomorrow, August 27, Sony will unload over 100 bits of content into PlayStation Home.

New Killzone 2 content includes the Visari Throne Room, based on the final stage of Killzone 2 in Scolar Visari’s Palace along with a variety of virtual items that you can use to customize your area.

That’s not all, there is loads more.

Two videos are posted after the breaks featuring all sorts of goodies. You should have a watch and check out the US PS Blog.

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Mad Catz announced yesterday its peripheral line-up for Modern Warfare 2, and today IGN has an unveiling video for it.

It’s posted after the break.

The full list of peripherals and prices can be found here.

Thanks, Joystiq.

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Raven Software has made 30-35 employees redundant at its Wisconsin studios.

Activision has confirmed the lay-off to Kotaku, but declined comment on the exact number of people affected.

“With the recent completion of both X-Men Origins Wolverine, based on the summer blockbuster movie, and Wolfenstein, the next chapter of the famed franchise, Raven Software is slightly reducing its workforce to better reflect the studio’s upcoming slate,” read an Activision statement.

Sources close to Kotaku claim that the layoffs were due to an “over-budget and under-performing Wolfenstein and the delay of upcoming time-shifting shooter Singluarity.”

The delay for Singularity forced Raven to move Wolverine team members over to help with the delay, and the subsequent shift in personnel along with expenses has turned the”three game studio into a two game studio”.

More through the link.

RTS is still finding its place on consoles, Gas Powered Games CEO Chris Taylor told VG247 at GamesCom last week, but at one time so were shooters.

The developer, currently hard at work on Supreme Commander 2 for both PC and 360, told us that not all gamers wish to go out and purchase a gaming rig just to play an RTS: therefore, the genre must come to them.

“Think about GoldenEye on the N64. I liked it, but I didn’t love it. Like, I didn’t die for it,” said Taylor.

“It’s like, I thought, ‘This is pretty OK’, but I fought with the controls a little bit. Nobody at that time would have said, ‘Shooters? On consoles?’ Now, some shooters do better on the console than they do on the PC. Halo, for example. Wow, we’ve come a long way.

“I keep remembering that if you can go into that market, and you can solve it, there is an upside there.”

Back in June, Taylor assured fans that more development time and more resources were being poured into Supreme Commander 2 on 360 after the first port received such a lukewarm reception.

Valve has announced that Left 4 Dead 2 will be shown and playable during PAX, which takes place next week on September 4-6.

During the event, Valve will unveil “Dark Carnival”, the third of the five campaigns shipping with L4D2 this fall.

The game will be playable in Microsoft’s Xbox 360 booth as well as in Valve’s L4D2 booth. Different areas of the game will be shown in each location.

Additionally, Valve plans to reveal a few more of the 20-plus new items coming this November when the title launches for PC and 360 – hopefully something it’ll be something cool.

We’ll have to wait until next week to find out.

Namco Bandai announced during GamesCom that a game based on the movie remake of the Clash of the Titans is in the works for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Somehow we missed this last week, but its expected to land on shelves alongside the film March 26.

Currently in development with Game Republic, the hack-and-slash action-adventure game will follow the movie but expand the universe a bit, like most movie-based games.

More than 100 creatures from Greek mythology are in the game and locations range from ancient Greek monuments to snow and lava rich areas.Expect the usual Greek creature fodder -centaurs, minotaurs, wraiths, dragons, ogres and you just know Medusa will be in it.

Hopefully the centuries have helped heal her issues over her appearance- but don’t count on it.

Via VideogamesBlogger.

A trusted UK retailer has confirmed to VG247 that there is indeed a price cut coming to Xbox 360 and that the Pro is on the way out, starting this coming Friday, August 28.

The Elite-price will drop from £239.99 to £199.99 – the same as a Wii – with the Pro 60Gb being discontinued.

Our source says the Arcade will remain the “entry level hardware”, but the current console bundle with Sega Superstars Tennis will finish. The new Arcade SKU will launch at the suggested price of £159.99 without any software.

GameStation will be launching an Elite bundle at £199.99 with COD 4 Modern Warfare and Fight Night Round 4.

As for trade-ins, you can get an Elite for £99.99 if you put in a Wii or a 60Gb 360. Should you decide to trade-in a 160gb PS3, you’ll get the Elite for £19.99.

An announcement is expected to be made by Microsoft tomorrow, according to earlier reports.