Monthly Archives: September 2009

Alienware’s teasing a TGS announcement it promises will “shake the gaming world to its foundation,” according to its Facebook page.

We love these Alienware launches. Let’s have a guess: will it be a really fast, really heavy, really expensive computer? We think it might.

Thanks, Engadget.

Microsoft’s told Joystiq that the Xbox 360′s 802.11n WIFI adapter is, in fact, real.

The tiny marvel was recently spotted on an Italian Xbox ad and in an FCC filing.

Unfortunately, Microsoft stopped short of revealing anything, well, new. No release date, no price – nothing.

So, uh, as you were, then.

The Internet may be showing all the textbook symptoms of Modern Warfare 2-mania, but it’s never too early to start anticipating Infinity Ward’s next game. Well, okay, this might be jumping the gun a bit, but still.

Videogamer asked Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling about his company’s next project, to which he replied:

“Honestly we have no clue what our next game is. I’m planning on taking a nap for three months. And then maybe I’ll wake up.”

“When we feel like we can’t innovate any further in the Call of Duty franchise, then we’ll do something else. A lot of that mentality went into Modern Warfare 2. That’s why it’s Modern Warfare 2. It is Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, but you’ll never see that in game. We never call it that. It’s because we think of this as a new IP. This is our Modern Warfare 2 game. So we are constantly doing new stuff.”

“But yeah, eventually we’ll do something else, and it will be fun and it will be awesome and it will be fresh and it will be great.”

So there you have it. Infinity Ward’s eventual future won’t be modern. Or something.

How long to wait for the next Grand Theft Auto? Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter reckons you’ve got about a year to go.

“While we still expect a GTA game in calendar 2010, it is not clear that the game will be released before the end of Take-Two’s fiscal year ending October 31,” Pachter said today as he downgraded his rating on Take-Two stock from “outperform” to “neutral”.

Piper Jaffray’s Anthony Gikas recently said that he expects the next in gaming’s ultimate franchise to arrive in “FY ’11,” or the 12 months beginning November 1, 2010.

Add the two together and you have GTA V releasing in the fourth calendar quarter of 2010.

Or not, obviously.

Seriously. Read this. It’s from an Joystiq interview with Infinity Ward lead multiplayer designer Todd Alderman on the question of what’s been going on with Modern Warfare 2′s indecision between having a Call of Duty moniker and not.

So. Why?

Well there are a lot of different factors involved, but we wanted to make sure, and I tried to state this at the beginning, that this is a different game. I mean it is not … it has got 2 on it obviously, but it is not just a sequel. It is not just another Call of Duty game. It is a big new thing and we want people to associate it with Modern Warfare 2. And it is the same story, so it is in the Call of Duty universe.

So messaging it both ways, I think it’s helpful. People that are in the know, know what Modern Warfare 2 is. People that know what Call of Duty is might not necessarily get it in a way, but establishing that identity and making sure that this is Modern Warfare 2. It is not just Call of Duty blah, blah, blah. It is Modern Warfare 2. And then having the Call of Duty … we are not denying it is Call of Duty.

Right? Right. The game’s out on November 11.

Grasshopper boss Goichi Suda has a new favourite games designer. It’s Criterion games boss Alex Ward.

“I have four favorite game designers,” Suda told 1UP. “Erik [Chahi, Out of This World creator] is one of them. I’m not sure if he’s the number one, but he’s one of them.

“There used to be three, but the fourth person is [Criterion Games'] Alex Ward, who I added after I met him recently.”

Suda’s went on to say that he would most likely end up “enjoying” working with Chahi or Ward, should the opportunity arise.

TGS, TGS, TGS.

Guitar Hero may have a hardware-less future, if comments made by Red Octane president and co-founder Kai Huang to DigitalSpy are to be believed.

“We’ve definitely been evaluating Microsoft’s Natal technology along with a lot of other different technologies that could enhance the Guitar Hero playing experience,” Huang said.

“Natal is very interesting because there’s so many different things you can do with it, whether it’s the motion detecting, maybe sensing how you’re playing, or the ability to use it for interactivity purposes and taking advantage of it for party purposes…

“We’re evaluating it, and I think it’s likely that sometime in the future we’ll have those technologies integrated into our games.”

Huang’s comments come after Acti boss Bobby Kotick said recently that Guitar Hero games may soon not need a console. All that’s left to get rid of now is the game itself. Imagine: you pay Bobby money, and you consume music without having to press any buttons or hold a plastic guitar. You just “hear” it.

Bet that’s roasting your goose, non?

Thanks, 1UP.

Q Games boss Dylan Cuthbert has confirmed that PixelJunk Shooter will release in Japan in December via the magic of Twitter.

Here’s the tweet:

The playable demo on our booth will be the very latest Shooter, release date – well, for Japan it is December.

The “booth” bit is TGS. Which happens this week. Which is probably awesome.

Turbine’s in-development console MMO has cost $20 million thus far, the studios’ project development VP Craig Alexander has told GDC Austin.

The exec also hinted that the game will be free-to-play – an increasingly common model in the MMO market.

A release is expected in 2011.

No one outside the company knows what the game is, but a console version of LotRO has been heavily rumoured previously.

More on MCV.

Karmapa Lama Trinley Dorje, the only Buddhist leader recognised by the Chinese, plays violent games “on his PlayStation” to stop him twatting people in real life. Seriously.

“The aggression that comes out in the video game satiates whatever desire I might have to express that feeling,” he told The Times of India.

“For me, that’s very skilful because when I do that I don’t have to go and hit anyone over the head.”

Amazing. Further, games for Mr Lama are an alternative for visiting a shrink. Is there nothing games can’t do?

“I view video games as something of an emotional therapy, a mundane level of emotional therapy for me,” Dorje added.

“We all have emotions whether we’re Buddhist practitioners or not, all of us have emotions, happy emotions, sad emotions, displeased emotions and we need to figure out a way to deal with them when they arise.”

Get playing some really grotty games right now. They’re awesome. Buddha said so.

Guitar Hero CEO Dan Rosensweig is a silver lining kineaguy. Sales in the music games sector may be down nearly 50 percent this year, but all he sees is the fact that four fifths of games consoles don’t have a music title attached to them.

“We’re focused on providing value to the consumer, so I don’t think [the music games market's] saturated,” he told CNBC.

“If you actually look at the consoles that are out there on a global basis, less than 20 percent actually have a music game. So there’s the next 80 percent that we have the opportunity to go after.

!There’s more consoles, those consoles are getting more connected, and we have the opportunity to sell more into that audience.”

Hell yeah. Did you Activision expects Guitar Hero to be the “number two selling game franchise” this year next to Call of Duty? You do now. Watch that movie.

Square said today that Batman: Arkham Asylum has so far shipped 2.5 million copies.

The company, understandably, is pleased.

“Batman: Arkham Asylum is one of the stand-out games this year,” said Eidos CEO Phil Rogers.

“I’ve been following the great reviews and consumer blogs and I’m delighted that gamers everywhere love playing this game as much as we do.”

Make another one, please. PR after the break.

More »

Sega just announced a full expansion for Empire: Total War – The Warpath Campaign releases in October.

The add-on adds a new North American campaign map and five new American Indian factions in the Iroquois, Huron, Plains, Pueblo and Cherokee tribes. There’s a new tech tree there, as well.

In addition, the game’s being updated to 1.4 tomorrow update 1.4, fixing some “minor issues” and adding two new historical battles: the Battle of Rossbach and the Battle of Fontenoy.

That bit’s free. Warpath will cost £5.99/€6.99. PR after the break.

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Hey guys! Guys! Check out these latest shots from The Saboteur! They’ve got naked “chicks” in them!

Seriously, though. They have. Pandemic’s Parisian rescue effort releases in December. Thanks, TomisH.

WoW’s now fully up and running in China again after over two months downtime, as you can see here.

Local operator NetEase has also confirmed that the Chinese language version of Wrath of the Lich King is complete and is about to be submitted to the Chinese government for approval.

There more on Gama about the amount of money Blizzard and NetEase have burned through the transition period from previous operator The9. In short – “a lot”.

Siliconera‘s posted up a preview video of Halo Legends, the upcoming Halo anime. We’ve popped it after the break for you.

Best games-related Japanese animation soup we’ve ever seen. Immense.

Down below.

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Microsoft’s 360 software line-up is strong enough to hold off Sony’s first-party games this winter, Aaron Greenberg, newly-crowned “director of product management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live,” has told Eurogamer.

As EG points out, Sony has Uncharted 2, God of War III, Heavy Rain, ModNation Racers, Ratchet & Clank and Gran Turismo 5 arriving in the coming months for PS3. Aaron’s not phased.

“I think if you first look at this holiday, we shape up really well versus Sony,” he said.

“Sure they have Uncharted and Ratchet, but if you want to play Halo 3: ODST, Forza 3, Left 4 Dead 2 or the GTAIV exclusive games you are only going to find those on Xbox 360. Then you have to add all of the exciting offerings we are bringing to Xbox LIVE with Facebook, Twitter, Last.fm and instant-on HD movies in 1080p.

“But of course if you look beyond this holiday you add in even more exclusives like Alan Wake, Mass Effect 2, Crackdown 2, Splinter Cell: Conviction, Halo: Reach and Project Natal. I truly believe Xbox 360 is uniquely positioned to deliver the leading games and entertainment experiences both today and tomorrow.”

Someone should get John Koller to say the same thing backwards. Full thing through there.

Mad Catz has secured a “multi-year” agreement to make Sonic-branded peripherals in the US.

“Sonic is one of the videogame industry’s most popular and enduring characters and we are thrilled to initiate this relationship with Sega to create Sonic-branded videogame accessories,” said Mad Catz mega-chief, Darren Richardson.

“We look forward to offering unique and exciting accessories to fans of this truly iconic videogame and popular culture character.”

We can’t wait to see this. PR after the break.

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GI’s rumouring that GRIN’s ill-fated Final Fantasy project was in fact taken away from the Swedish developer before it collapsed – and that it’s still in the works.

The site reckons that “sources close to both parties” have confirmed the game’s survival, saying it’s “still in development by publisher Square Enix”.

Through the link for the full thing.

Activision’s delayed Bizarre’s Blur, pushing the shoot-and-racer into 2010.

“We are committed to making Blur a great new racing franchise, and we are very encouraged by the game’s design,” stated Mike Griffith, president and CEO of Activision Publishing.

“The additional time will allow the studio to fully optimise the vision they set out to create for Blur including a distinctive and groundbreaking multiplayer mode that will appeal to a broad audience.”

Mega-shock. Expect more on this soon. PR here.