Monthly Archives: September 2009

There’s loads of Final Fantasy XIII shots hitting the net today, thanks to the Square Enix event in Tokyo.

Some can be found on Andriasang, which may or may not be new to you, while the others can be looked upon with awe over on GOONLINE.

All of your soon-to-be favorites are there: Lightning, Snow Villiers, Oerba Dia Vanille, Hope Estheim, and Sazh Katzroy.

It’s been FFXIII crazy around the news outlets lately.

Monte Cristo has released a demo for its building and management Sim/MMO Cities XL which was previously only available in Europe.

The demo expires on October 7 and contains three areas of the subscription-based Planet mode, which is for online.

You can get it from the following outlets: AtomicGamers, BigDownload, FileFront, FileShack, GamesHell, and others we’re sure.

Game hits Europe on October 8 then North America on October 9.

Media Molecule has posted on its blog that LittleBigPlanet was once known as Craft World.

Showing off a flier used to pitch the game design to Sony, the proposal promises a game with “glorious photorealistic PS3-powered 3D” with peer-to-peer sharing. The now famous mascot is shown as a potato in a sack, instead of the sackboy know and loved today.

According to the blog, the firm’s IT manager has found a few DVDs containing various videos of LittlebigPlanet’s past, and promises the possibility of posting these in the future.

Glad MM changed the name at least.

More through the link.

LucasArts president Darrell Rodriguez has told GI.biz that subscriptions and microtransaction business models may be deployed when Star Wars: The Old Republic MMO launches.

No specific business model has been unveiled, but when speaking to the site at GamesCom, Rodriguez said that the company wants the business model to appeal to all regions.

“We talk about the business curves of subscriptions, interest and investment it takes to make these games, but at the end of the day it’s about making a compelling offering for our consumers,” he said. “We’re considering it all, absolutely.

“You start looking at how different communities, territories such as Asia, actually play games, and we start to consider it all – especially if we want it to be a worldwide phenomenon.”

Lightsaber: 10 Novian Rubies. Wookie pelt jacket: 8,000 Druggats. First-degree HK-50 assassin droid: 1500 Drallish crowns – it could be anything really.

More through the link.

Sony has confirmed that not only will MotorStorm: Pacific Rift and Resistance 2 be added to the firm’s platinum range of games, but Killzone 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 are expected to be released for it as well.

Each has sold over 400,000 units and the new packaging will see the price of each get knocked down to £19.99.

No release date has been announced yet, but some UK retailers are already offering the games for that price.

More over on GI.biz.

Capcom’s Platinum Hits Triple Pack has arrived in retail.

The Xbox 360 pack includes Lost Planet: Colonies Edition, Devil May Cry 4, and Dead Rising for $39.99.

Even if you have at least one of those games, it’s still a decent deal coming in at $13 per game.

Check your local retailers to see if it’s available in your area yet, if not, there is always GameStop.

Via Capcom Unity.

Some pics over at D’toid show-off the The Beatles: Rock Band Limited Edition Bundle which retails for $249.99.

It’s all there. The wireless Ludwig-branded drum kit with a “black oyster pearl finish”, mic-stand, USB microphone, wireless Höfner violin bass with effects switch, eight postcards and advertisement inserts for the upcoming downloadable content.

Loads of pictures there through the link here, all of which made us turn a very unnatural and unbecoming shade of green.

A special edition Xbox 360 customized to honor the Fab Four is being auctioned for charity with proceeds benefiting Doctors Without Borders.

It’s numbered and hand-painted with The Beatles: Rock Band all over it.

Also, starting tomorrow when the game is released, all proceeds for the All You Need Is Love DLC will also go to the charity. Once you have purchased the song, you will be entered to win a limited edition “The Beatles: Rock Band” Xbox 360 console and a Rickenbacker 325 replica guitar controller.

Cool. The console is up on eBay right now, and as of this post, bidding’s currently at $600.00.

Microsoft has announced that not only will Sonic & Knuckles be made available on Xbox Live this week, but the second episode of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures will be as well.

The Last Resort will run you 800 MS Points ($10.00/£6.80/€9.30), while Sonic & Knuckles will run you 400 MS Points ($5.00/£3.40/€4.65).

Both are expected to land on the service September 9, which is tomorrow.

Tim Schafer has told Shack that he would like to see sequels to both Brutal Legend and Psychonauts.

“That would be great. I would love that,” he said. “There’s a lot of story. When I do a game, I usually do a lot of backstory and research and stuff. There was a big epic story that we were only able to tell a small part of. There’s definitely more stories to tell in the world of Brütal Legend.

“We’ll have to wait and see.”

As far as Psychonauts is concerned?

“That’d be awesome, wouldn’t it? I think that would be awesome. I love that game and I would love to do something with it someday. If the fans keep talking about it, maybe it will happen.”

More through the link, courtesy of That Videogame Blog.

The BBC has stated that since Sony’s 3.0 firmware update, PS3 accounts for “10 percent of all iPlayer viewing.”

“User response to our new iPlayer for PS3 has been amazing,” said BBC’s Anthony Rose to CVG. “Although it’s less than a week since we launched, iPlayer on PS3 now accounts for a massive 10 percent of all iPlayer viewing, overtaking Mac (8.5%) to be our 2nd most popular platform for IP-delivered content.

“We’ll have to wait and see whether this holds up in the coming weeks, but this enthusiastic reception makes it clear that users do want iPlayer on their TV – something that bodes well for Canvas and other IPTV propositions.”

More through the link.

Sony has posted Part 2 of its inside look at its new motion controller. Part 1 can be found here, and Part 3 is expected next week.

In it, the R&D team’s Anton Mikhailov breaks down the PVC origins and some of the possible applications for the new controller.

Please give us a name Sony. Anything is better than what it’s being called now.

Video is posted below.

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A video showing off Sony’s high-res image enlargement tech has popped up over on YouTube.

We’ve posted it after the break.

Apparently, you can link multiple documents and items and zoom from one to the next. The video demos this with a calender containing different cells. Users can also arrange content in endless loops, and allows for use on PSP and even showed an advertisement where you zoom in on a poor fella trying to kiss his gal as he’s being sucked upon by a mosquito.

It’s a really neat demo. Quit reading our prattling and watch for yourself.

More »

Q Games’ Dylan Cuthbert has said that it’s unlikely to earn any money developing dynamic themes for PS3, and is pleased with the system it helped create for Sony.

The studio head admits that the firm is “proud” to also be one of the first developers to create themes for the system which adds interactivity with firmware upgrade 3.0.

“Sony wanted to spice up the background a bit and static pictures just didn’t cut the mustard,” Cuthbert wrote o the US PS Blog. “So we collaborated with them to make a system where developers can display what they want and animate and move them around.

“This definitely adds a little life to the PS3’s background so be sure to try it out.”

Currently, the firm has a PixelJunk Monsters Dynamic Theme up for $2.99 and Cuthbert stands behind the price for such themes.

“Remember that we’ll be lucky to sell even a few thousand themes, and so the cost of developing the theme (3-4 weeks of coder/artist time, checking, testing etc) will still far exceed any money we make from it.”

More through the link, via Gamasutra.

Vivid Entertainment co-founder Steven Hirsch has told MCV that he would like Sony to help boost the adult entertainment industry by allowing HD movies available worldwide via PSN.

Citing the release of porn in Japan through DDM.tv, Hirsch says that it is a good start and hopes that Sony allows for such a service to be made available on a pre-paid basis in other regions as well.

“As long as proper age verification is in place, there is no reason why consumers should not be allowed to view adult movies on any device that they desire,” he said. “It’s too early to say to what extent this could help our business, but it certainly has real potential.”

Vivid’s most popular movies include Debbie Does Dallas… Again, Beat The Heat, Blame It On Ginger, The Masseuse, Bad Wives and Filthy’s First Taste. Righto.

So far though, SCEA nor SCEE has been approached by Vivid requesting that its material be made available on the console.

More through the link.

SCEE’s Zeno Colaco has told Develop that Sony may stop charging for PSP dev kits someday, instead of charging $1500 per kit, when comparatively, the iPhone SDK is free.

“Further down the line, we may investigate a totally free model or supported model,” he said. “Right now, we’re looking for a good portfolio of games. Unlike with the App Store, we’re looking to support everyone that develops for us, instead of leaving developers out in the wilderness. We’re not immediately interested in giving developers free access and no help.

“There are dangers in having total open access; having six thousand applications where probably only thirty are discovered by the consumer. Some of the developers working on the App Store and PSP Minis tell us that they prefer our approach because they get more visibility.

“Our focus isn’t directed straight towards the App Store. We acknowledge that we’ll be competing in that space, and I think at some point we’ll give developers access that allows things to move down that route.

“First and foremost, we at Sony need to develop Minis as its own category.”

More through the link.

Bethesda’s issued a fat “no comment” on news this morning that its grabbed the Prey IP from Apogee.

The 3D Realms shooter now appears to be in the publisher’s hands, as you can see from this USPTO filing.

Zenimax has also filed a new trademark on the property.

New game? By id? Yes please, great God of speculation.

Bungie founder and Halo co-creator Alex Seropian has been hired by Disney to oversee its creative development teams in-house, which are responsible for creating videogames.

The new position, created just for him, comes with a new title: Vice President of Creative.

Seropian also sold Wideload Games to Disney, which he founded when he left Bungie.

“We’re really trying to be a magnet in this industry for talent, as we are in so many other parts of the entertainment world,” said Graham Hopper, Disney’s videogames division head. “Having someone of Alex’s caliber join us is a tribute to the great people we have here already.”

Hopper says that Seropian’s role is more of a “coach” for the 1,200 staffers within the US-based Avalanche and UK-based Black Rock game studios.

Via Develop, NBC.

Press release added past the break.

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Custom killstreak details for Modern Warfare 2 emerged thanks to a preview in the latest issue of PSM3 Magazine.

Looks like MW2 allows for mixing and matching rewards to fit your skills, which means that newer players can look forward to getting rewards for smaller strings of kills. Those who are considered “veterans” can receive higher-end rewards.

“You can have a three killstreak or a fifteen killstreak if you want, or something like the AC-130 [firing down in black and white from an airborne gunship] is one of the highest killstreaks you can select,” Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling told the mag. “You take control of that and can fire down for thirty seconds, blow guys up.”

There’s a video through the link showing this off, which you have all see before, but there it is anyway so as to put this bit into perspective.

Thanks, CVG.

Microsoft has added BioShock and Civilization Revolution to its Games on Demand Service for Xbox 360.

Both will set you back $29.99/£19.99.

Just for reference, GameStop has BioShock new for $19.99, while Civ Revolution costs the same as it does on the marketplace.

More information can be found through Major Nelson.