Monthly Archives: September 2009

Penny Arcade’s Robert Khoo has revealed that 60,750 people attended PAX this year.

Because of this great mass of bodies, the show’s organizers are looking into expansion plans for next year so that even more people can come and catch the flu, er um, enjoy the festivities.

Attendance for 2008 was 58,500 – leading some to believe that loads of folks stayed home, especially East Coasters, who are waiting on PAX East to commence March 2010.

PAX organizers expected over 75,000 people to attend the Seattle event this year.

Via BigDownload.

Nintendo has filed for a trademark in Japan, which registers the rights to “The Last Story”, according to Siliconera.

The site was quick to point out that while the trademark is registered Japan, the words are in English and “Nintendo usually files names for upcoming games in Japanese unless the name is tied to an international release.”

Interesting.

We will ask Nintendo for you, but they are a secretive bunch, so don’t hold your breath.

Some how, someone got a hold of the supposed complete dictionary from 5th Cell’s Scribblenauts.

Whether or not the list is true or not is irreleant. It’s a spoiler. And that is no fun.

Still, telling how many words may or may not be in the game is not a spoiler. It’s just information.

While we have not looked through the list ourselves, we’re wondering if antidisestablishmentarianism is listed.

Guess we’ll find out when it’s released on DS September 15 and October 9 in the US and UK, respectively.

Via Joystiq.

Looks like Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles will be getting an uncensored, German release according to Michael Auer, Sales & Marketing Director of CEG Interactive Entertainment.

Hooray for the Germans and Wii Insider for posting the information.

Also, Jack Krauser has been confirmed for the game. He will be aiding Leon in a South American scenario, and Capcom plans to unveil this new bit at TGS this month.

Some scans from the new scenario can be found here and
here from the latest issue of Famitsu.

Thanks, Gekidami.

The video past the break for Just Cause 2, shows how players can use a grappling hook or hijack a helicopter to get to their enemies.

With either one, you can free fall, pull the rip chord on your parachute and then start firing rounds into people or aircraft while steering yourself in the air.

Neato.

Game’s out in 2010 for the PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Thanks, BigDownload.

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Blizzard lore-master, Chris Metzen, has told VG247 that while less is more when it comes to creating a story for games, the instinct to clobber people with amazing stories is rather strong, which was one of the lessons Blizzard learned with Warcraft III.

Because of that, changes were implemented in StarCraft II – giving the way it all plays out a more retro feel instead of drowning the player with story.

“Story [in games] can get a bit complicated. You don’t wanna clobber people, but you want the right amount and to include some immersion where it feels like there is something going on when you are playing,” Metzeno told VG247. “But at the same time, you don’t wanna drown people, which is one of the lessons we learned with Warcraft III.

“While I am very proud of the game, take five steps back and you see that it was cool, but a little dense. You are playing through these missions linearly and there’s all sorts of story playing out. It was almost too much, to the point where the really cool moments didn’t stand out because there was just so much to take in because I threw everything I could throw at it at the end of the day.

“This time around, I think, that’s why we went with story mode the way we did with StarCraft II. We wanted to see if there was way to kind of go retro with the core gameplay and just make it about the cleverness of the map and not necessarily with giant betrayals or drama playing out in your actual gameplay. To really find a way to take all those thematic and character components and construct a space where they can play out and you can choose to charge that or not.”

There’s more past the break, and the full thing can be listened to via our latest podcast.
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A new video for Borderlands introduces the four playable characters available in the FPS/RPG, each with its own specialties.

Choose between: Mordecai (The Hunter), Lilith (the Siren), Roland (The Soldier) and Brick as himself.

Game’s out on October 20 for PC, PS3, and Xbox 360.

Video is below courtesy of BigDowload.

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Bayonetta producer, Yusuke Hashimoto, has told D’toid that Platinum Games are very interested in motion controls – providing the games created are not “carbon copies” of previous games in that genre.

“I’m very interested in motion control because it has the potential to take video gaming to a whole new level,” said Hashimoto. “However making sure you actually engage the player is key, so it’s important to create motion controlled games that really innovate, and not just another carbon copy of a pre-existing motion control game.

“Natal does look really exciting, I want to play it as soon as possible.”

Full think through the link.

Sony, Microsoft, Nintendo and the Shadow Minister for Culture have each been announced to speak at the London Games Conference on October 27 at BAFTA.

According to the press release, the conference “will tackle the biggest issues facing publishers and developers today: How to strengthen relationships with their playing customers and how to sell products to them in the years ahead through digital distribution.”

“I’m delighted to be speaking to the London Games Conference,” said Shadow Minister for Culture, Ed Vaizey. “The games sector is one of the most successful creative industries in the UK, but it has been forgotten by Government. While Canada and France aggressively compete to attract games talent, all UK politicians talk about is video games violence.

“Yet this sector should be a dream for a politician – it recruits people qualified in difficult subjects, like maths and computer science; it’s regional, with clusters all over the country; and it’s successful and world-beating. Government backing for the games sector should be a no-brainer.”

Andy Payne, chair of ELSPA, Phil Harrison, Edge editor Tony Mott and Intent MD Stuart Dinsey are all expected to chair panels during the conference.

Full press release through the break.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

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Treyarch has announced via the forums that Patch 1.6 with Map Pack 3 for Call of Duty: World at War will be released next week – barring any problems popping up.

Below is a list of what is included in the patch:

• 3 new Multiplayer maps: Battery (mp_drum), Breach (mp_bgate), Revolution (mp_vodka)
• New Nazi Zombie map: Der Riese (nazi_zombie_factory), an all-new Zombie map set in a secret Nazi research facility featuring the Pack A Punch Machine, Teleporters, and many more undead hordes
• Exploits pertaining to Demo playback
• Favorites list now ignores filter settings
• Fixed S&D round counting error when roundlimit is reached
• New feature: in-game Add to Favorites
• Friends list: green online indicator
• Starting the game in Safe Mode will no longer toggle the “Soften Smoke Edges” graphic option
• Fixed various crashes
• Mods: Client will no longer join a modded Co-op server via Game Invite unless they have that mod loaded
• Mods: Client running a mod will be asked to unload the mod if they attempt to join an unmodded server
• Mods: All singleplayer levels can now be run with a mod loaded
• Additionally, we do expect a concurrent release of the Mod Tools 1.4 package, Linux dedicated 1.6 bins, and the Steam 1.6 day-of-date with this patch. More details on those will be made available once they get cleared through testing.

Cool. More through here.

No joking there in the title – there are loads of blood and a bit of side-boob shown in the new screens for Dragon Age: Origins.

The BioWare RPG for PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 is out in November.

Play.tm has the shots. Go have a look.

Jesse Divnich, games analyst at EEDAR, has said that the reason Madden NFL 10 sales have been so disappointing on Wii so far, is because Madden NFL 09 on Wii left a bad taste in gamer’s mouths.

According to sales figures, the franchise saw a 42 percent decline in sales on the console and EA CEO John Riccitiello went so far as to call sales for the title “discouraging”.

“I believe many diehard Madden fans, who transitioned from the PS2 to the Wii, made their yearly Madden purchase in 2008 and realized that the Wii could not offer the same experience they have grown accustom to (online play, realistic graphics, in-depth team management),” Divnich told Joystiq.

“Avid Madden fans have the curse of knowledge … and they know that Madden cannot offer the same experience on the Wii as it did for the PS2,” he continued, citing Wii’s motion control gameplay versus DualShock 2 – which he compared to playing a FPS on consoles instead of PC.

“Anyone introduced to the FPS category through the keyboard/mouse combination even still today refuses to accept the analog controllers as a legitimate FPS controller,” he remarked.

Madden NFL 10 was the best selling title for August, moving 928,000 units for Xbox 360, 665,000 on PS3, 160,000 on PS2, and even came in at number 17 on Wii via the NPD Top 20.

More through the link.

Creative Assembly community manager, Kieran Brigden, chatted a bit with BigDownload during GamesCom and discussed the development of Napoleon: Total War.

Brigden also discusses content by way of some of Napoleon’s career battles, and the ability to play against Napoleon as one of the opposing countries.

Game’s out during the first half of 2010.

The video is after the break.

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A new video for S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat shows off the irradiated Zone near the Chernobyl.

Looks like there are horrific anomalies in the landscape, with dangerous things lurking and lying in wait for you.

Spooky. Aim your weapon and don’t miss, because it apparently takes loads of bullets to kill whatever those things are.

It’s out this fall.

Watch below the page jump, courtesy of BigDownload.

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Some screenshots for Brink popped up over on Kotaku yesterday.

You should have a look.

Splash Damage bossman Paul Wedgwood told VG247 at QuakeCon that the game is currently in pre-alpha, and the exact release date is still up in the air, although spring 2010 looks to be where it’s at.

He also said cocks. Makes you think.

LucasArts not only revealed the downloadable title Lucidity to GameTrailersTV recently, but while he was chatting about it,  president Darrell Rodriguez said that a number of unannounced Star Wars titles are currently in development.

He was not talking about The Old Republic MMO either.

What was worth noting about his conversation, was the mention of meetings with Tim Schafer, Dave Grossman, Ron Gilbert and Larry Holland, stating: “Wouldn’t it be great to work with them on some new things?”

Interesting.

Watch the full thing through here.

Via BigDownload.

Past the break is the launch trailer for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, which hits shelves September 15.

We had a look at the game during GDC, and it’s definitely chock-full of superheroes.

Which side to choose though, is another matter as well as which format: DS, PS2, PS3, PSP, Wii, or Xbox 360.

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Nintendo may not have put in a vintage performance for August’s NPD top-ten software sales, but numbers 11-20 are another story entirely. Mainstays like New Super Mario Bros. and Mario Kart DS were joined – but not surpassed – by Ninty newcomers like Professor Layton and Madden NFL 10.

The full list is after the break. Thanks, GoNintendo.

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Wakka, wakka, wakka, wakka, wakka, wakka. We’d be rushing too, if it meant putting an end to that infernal – though undoutedly iconic – 8-bit sound effect. Recently, the aptly-named David Race did just that and crossed the classic quarter-muncher’s finish line in three hours, 41 minutes, and 22 seconds.

Race zipped right past previous record holder Chris Ayra, shaving 42 seconds off the former champ’s time.

Guess we’ll have to improve on our current time of “What? You can beat Pac-Man?” if we ever hope to get in on the lavish, sexy Pac-championship lifestyle.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Uncharted’s Nathan Drake is a treasure-hunting pro, but it still took him the approximate length of, strangely enough, a videogame development cycle to realize that the gold was right under his nose.

So now his game is polished, glittering, and ready for release. Because that’s how game development works.

Uncharted 2 is set to launch on October 15 in North America, with a UK date still pending.

Thanks, Shacknews.