Monthly Archives: September 2009

BioWare’s Mike Laidlaw has said that the reason the firm wanted to create a Collector’s Edition for Dragon Age: Origins was because not only is such a thing a “fantasy RPG tradition”, but the developers wanted to give customers another way to “dive into this bran new world”.

“An extravagant collector’s edition is one of those fantasy RPG traditions, and frankly the world of Dragon Age is one we want to share with people,” he told D’toid. “Cloth maps, additional in-game content and the soundtrack are all part of letting people dive into this brand new world, and BioWare’s always had a tradition of providing value for your money.

“Ultimately, though, let’s ignore the word ‘collector’ and look at the options: you can buy a fantastic game, or you can spend a bit more to get that game with additional thematic stuff. Nothing to justify there, it’s just two ways to purchase the game. I suppose we could call it the ‘Extra Stuff Edition’ but that really doesn’t have the same ring.”

There’s plenty more through the link.

Square-Enix has confirmed that it will be the publisher for Modern Warfare 2 in Japan.

The announcement was made today, and the publisher stated that the game would be available in Japan this winter.

Square also plan to republish the original Modern Warfare in Japan as part of the Xbox 360′s Platinum Collection.

Via Andriasang.

Valve has sent us over more details on the Left 4 Dead 2 campaign, Dark Carnival, which is playable at PAX 2009 this weekend, confirming earlier news from Eurogamer.

The new Boss infected monster known as “The Jockey” is the third revealed so far and it lets you attack lone Survivors and “wrestle control of their movement away from them-into fire, off ledges, or straight into the middle of a zombie horde.”

Also debuting is the “Zombie Clown,” the “uncommon common” exclusive to the Dark Carnival campaign, and a few more of the “20-plus items coming in the full product (electric guitar, machete, and the American baseball bat being offered as a pre-sell exclusive with select retailers).”

Game’s out exclusively on November 17 for PC and Xbox 360. Shots after the break.

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Microsoft’s launched Games for Windows Live Setup 3.0 QFE1, as confirmed here.

Setup 3.0 QFE1 upgrades users to the newest build 3.00.0089.00 and supports Windows Vista; Windows XP Service Pack 2, and Windows 7.

Just a nice reminder in case you didn’t know, or have automatic updates turned off.

Hit the link for more.

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 was the best selling PSN title for the month of August.

It was followed closely by Fat Princess and Battlefield 1943.

Here’s the Top 10 courtesy of Joystiq:

1. Marvel vs. Capcom 2
2. Fat Princess
3. Battlefield 1943
4. Final Fantasy VII (PS3/PSP)
5. Crystal Defenders
6. Mortal Kombat II
7. Shatter
8. Wolfenstein 3D
9. Worms
10. Metal Gear Solid (PS3/PSP)

Bizarre Creations has announced Twitter support for its racer Blur.

The news was confirmed during PAX today by Joystiq.

No word on whether Twitter in the game will be integrated with Twitter on 360 this fall, but we sent a mail to see if we can find out more.

Hit the link for the rest.

The US PSN update is pretty decent this week, what with yesterday’s announced bundles from Capcom, new Dynamic Themes, and the latest issue of Qore.

Here’s what landed, courtesy of the US PS Blog:

• Qore Episode 16 examines the music and tech of UNCHARTED 2: Among Thieves, interviews Naughty Dog Creative Director Amy Hennig, chats with automotive enthusiast Jay Leno about Gran Turismo PSP, takes the new PSPgo for a test drive and rocks out with Brutal Legend.

Games

• NBA 2K10: Draft Combine ($4.99)
• Battle Tanks ($9.99)
• Capcom Super Pack ($49.99)
• Capcom Combo Pack ($29.99)
• PSone Classics PS3 / PSP: Cool Boarders 3 ($5.99)

Demos

• Fight Night Round 4 Demo #2
• NBA 2K10: Draft Combine

Add-on Game Content

• FEAR 2: Project Origin Reborn Map Pack ($9.99)
• PAIN Space Monkey, Mime, and Granny Characters ($0.99 each), character bundle ($1.99)

PSP

• Patapon ($15.99) (also available from PS3 storefront)
• Fate/Unlimited Codes ($29.99) (also available from PS3 storefront)

Themes, Rock Band and Guitar Hero content is through the link.

Not too much in the way of HD movies this week on the US PS movie store. In fact, there is not much going on really.

The full bit can be found over on the US PS Blog, and the HD film offerings are listed below.

• Coraline
• Dan in Real Life
• Frayed
• State of Play
• Sin Nombre
• All About Steve Theatrical Trailer
• Beach Kings
• The Human Contract
• Death Sentence Uncut
• Behind Enemy Lines II: Axis of Evil

Japan’s gearing up for next installment in the Kingdom Hearts franchise with Birth by Sleep.

The PSP exclusive is a prequel and will arrive in Japan this winter and there is a trailer under the page fold for it courtesy of Joystiq.

Mind you, it’s in Japanese.

Meanwhile, the US and UK have yet to get Kingdom Hearts 358/2 Days for DS, but it’s expected to land in the next week or so.

More on Birth by Sleep is expected at TGS later in the month.

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Looks like some more DLC may be heading to Resident Evil 5, according to Capcom’s Christian Svensson.

Speaking with VG247 during its latest podcast, Svensson stated that currently the firm is discussing the possibility of releasing more downloadable content for the title, and is looking to the community for ideas and suggestions.

“We’re talking about it. I don’t know if you have seen some of the threads on Capcom Unity, but questions came up on whether we are going to do any more,” he said. “I asked what people would want to see and that spawned a thread that was literally hundreds of posts long and had tens of thousands of views.

“I mentioned that thread to the team and we have discussed it ever since. So I will leave it at that.”

More DLC is always a good thing. Especially when it involves shooting parasite infected enemies out to get you.

The full podcast can be listened to through the link.

Sony has confirmed that the UK will receive a Gran Turismo PSP hardware bundle, but it will be different than the US one that was announced this week.

No specific details on what it will include were revealed, but Sony promises an announcement soon.

Hey, at least one is coming.

More over on CVG.

BottleRocket Entertainment has shut down.

Work on the Splatterhouse project was canceled after Namco Bandai dropped the developer earlier this year.

“After fighting to keep the doors open for the past six months we have decided to close and move on,” studio president Jay Beard told Kotaku.

Beard told the site that he is currently “in the process of building a new development studio from the ground up,” but did not offer any further information on the extent of his progress.

More through the link.

Turbine has announced that Siege of Mirkwood, a digital expansion to Lord of the Rings Online: The Mines of Moria, Volume II, will be released this fall.

Siege of Mirkwood will expand the online world of Middle-earth where players will join forces go into the dark, creepy, spider infested forest of Mirkwood where the conclusion to Volume II will take place.

The download includes anincreased level cap, the fortress of Dol Goldur, enhancements to combat and Legendary Items and the introduction of Skirmishes, a new system where players will train customizable soldiers and take them into battle as part of the War of the Ring.

Details regarding pricing, preorder offers and availability will be unveiled soon.

Sounds great. Hopefully we will be able to meet the elves of Mirkwood as well – that’s where Legolas is from ya know. Mirkwood is also close to the Lonely Mountain and the Beorens so who knows what the future has in store for players of LOTRO.

Hopefully something very cool.

Full press release below.

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Capcom’s confirmed to VG247 that Dead Rising 2 will be making an appearance at Tokyo Game Show later this month, and that more on the showing is to be announce imminently.

“You’re not going to see it on the floor of TGS, but there will be Dead Rising 2 stuff happening coming out of TGS,” Capcom’s Chris Kramer said, talking in this week’s podcast.

“That sounds maddeningly cryptic, but you’ll be hearing more literally in the next few days.”

The game itself is coming out next year, but Capcom US business boss Christian Svensson refused to be drawn on specifics.

“Exactly when in 2010, we can’t talk about right now,” he added.

Reports are already hinting at a multiplayer reveal at the Japanese show.

TGS runs from September 24-27.

Cryptic has started accepting applications for closed Beta for Star Trek Online.

No word on when it will start, but according to Cryptic it will happen later this year.

Those lucky enough to have purchased a six-month subscription to Champions Online, are given a spot.

Sign up are here, with more information to be provided at a later date.

Via GameConsole.

SCEE’s Andrew House has told Edge that PS3 will “significantly outpace” the PS2′s life-cycle, meaning it will hold up longer in the retail market.

“If you look at the PS2, still in some markets going very strong, especially in North America in its tenth year on the market, we still can’t predict where that life-cycle will end,” he said.

“I have a theory that with successive generations, and with more value added and built into the console in terms of experience – and let’s not forget that the PS2 really didn’t offer a tremendously robust network experience – that what you effectively do is potentially lengthen that lifecycle more and more as you get to the next iteration.”

More through CVG.

The Lost Planet 2 multiplayer demo saw monster level of interest when it released last month.

“In 24 hours we actually got more downloads of the Lost Planet 2 demo than we did of Resident Evil 5,” Capcom’s Chris Kramer told us this week, talking in the VG247 podcast.

“That kind of astonished all of us.”

The publisher didn’t give exact figures on the latest teaser, but the Resident Evil 5 demo set a Live record in February, with 1.8 million downloads in its first week of availability. It did 1.3 million in the first three days.

The Lost Planet 2 demo released on the first day of GamesCom, August 19. It was a Live-only banana.

After the break. This looks fucking fantastic. You’ll be playing BioShock 2 in the first half of next year, unless there’s something very wrong with you.

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If you thought last week‘s Japanese PS3 sales were bad, take a look at the latest Media Create figures below. Expect a bit surge in the next set, though, as they’ll include Slim’s launch numbers.

DSi’s doing OK, innit? Data below for the week ending August 30.

• DSi 59,881
• PSP 26,081
• Wii 25,038
• DS Lite 7,304
• Xbox 360 7,254
• PS2 3,179
• PS3 1,040

Hello, Mr Postman. You have a parcel. It’s a retail PSPgo, sent by SCEE. Let’s open it. Take some pictures of it. Touch it. Such a pretty thing.

It’s out October 1, RRP £224.99. Check out shots of the PS3 Slim we got this week here. You can get those right now: they’re very attractive too.

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