Monthly Archives: October 2009

Just in case you were unaware, yesterday Sony announced that the Cold Front DLC pack for SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation landed on PSN.

New features and content include a new snow-filled Eastern European area with two maps and three classic SOCOM maps for 16 to 32 players.

There’ also some new snow gear, a new mode calls Arms Run, and a thermal vision scope weapon attachment to track your enemies’ heat signatures.

All sorts of stuff contained in the DLC is listed over on the US PS Blog. You should go have a read.

NIS America has announced that its currently taking preorders for Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman!: What Did I Do to Deserve This? on UMD.

However, the UMD release will only happen if the firm receives 1,000 orders by November 13 – otherwise production of the UMD will not happen.

Loads of PSP owners have requested a physical version of the title, so hopefully those same people with preorder it and make it happen.

More information can be found through The Examiner and RosenQueen.

Sony and Naughty Dog are  handing out the Uncharted 2 Fortune Hunter Edition again this weekend.

Well, the weekend is here and 30 of these limited editions will be randomly handed out to those who play online.

You can get the full rundown of how, where, and why over on the US PS Blog.

Good luck.

Activision’s Jurassic: The Hunted arrives for PS2, PS3, Wii and Xbox 360 November 3.

If it reminds you a bit if Turok, don’t feel bad – it’s what we thought too. Same with Joystiq.

Anyway, there is a video for it posted past the break. Feel free to have a look.

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Last Saturday, some screens for Need for Speed: Nitro popped up showing customization options.

Today, pics of the different licensed cars popped up over on D’toid.

Looks cute.

It’s out for DS and Wii November 17 and 20 in the US and UK, respectively.

In celebration of Gordon Freeman being named “All Time Greatest Game Hero” by 55.8 percent of voters on Gamespot, Steam has but the Half-Life series on sale this weekend.

For 55.8 percent off.

Mosey on over and get yourself some head crab. That didn’t sound right.

Ex-id/Ion Storm man John Romero’s latest project, a development studio called Slipgate Ironworks, has seen a bit of restructuring recently. First, the bad news: layoffs. And lots of them.

According to a few former Slipgate employees who spoke with Kotaku, some 50 staff members have received pink slips over the past week.

The not-so-bad news, though? The show’s not over. Slipgate owner Gazillion confirmed that Romero and co.’s MMO is still in development, albeit in a new form.

“As part of our focus on reaching the widest possible audiences with breakthrough MMO entertainment, we decided to change the format of our project at Slipgate Ironworks to better achieve this aim,” said a statement from Gazillion.

“The game we’ll launch will build on the efforts to date with a smaller core team and the other Slipgate staff are already in discussions around the many open positions across our slate of projects.”

More through the link.

DO NOT PIRATE VIDEOGAMES.

Ok, with that out of the way, here’s an after-school-special-friendly example of why pirating’s for suckers. See, if you somehow managed to nab an illegitimate early copy of Forza 3 or Borderlands, you’re cruising for an Xbox Live permaban.

“You know, when you play a pre-release title on LIVE when I know you shouldn’t have it, it’s not hard for me to figure out,” tweeted Xbox Live Director of Policy and Enforcement Stephen Toulouse.

Now, if your retailer of choice merely broke the game’s street date, that’s another story. Toulouse explained:

“Don’t worry folks, anyone who bought a copy early is ok. In general, if you got a receipt, play away. These are illegit copies we’re hitting.”

He said nothing, however, about people who stole either game from a retailer. Our guess? You scoundrels are probably in the clear. Well, online anyway. But the police probably won’t touch your precious Gamerscore. Probably.

The THQ sale over on Steam is winding down, and through the weekend, you can get all Red Faction games for 25 percent off the suggested price.

This includes Red Faction: Guerrilla $29.99, Red Faction and Red Faction II for $7.49 each and a Red Faction Complete Pack for $44.97.

It all ends after the weekend, so hurry up if you want any of it.

It looks as though BioWare community manager Jay Watamaniuk has clarified his remark regarding a PS3 version of Mass Effect 2 over on the BioWare forums.

“Hi folks. There is a report circulating today based on an appearance I made in Poland yesterday. Seems there was a misunderstanding about ME2 coming to PS3,” he wrote.

“Let me clarify today: ME2 is coming to PC and X360 only. Look for them both on Jan 26 in NA and Jan 29 in Europe.

“Sorry for the confusion.”

You’ll recall that earlier today it was reported that he said the title could possibly be released for PS3.

Guess that settles that then.

Sega has put out a video full of Alien gameplay for Rebellion’s Aliens vs. Predator.

The video is posted below the break, courtesy of Joystiq.

It’s out next year.

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Only the PC version of Dragon Age: Origins will have the top down perspective while playing the game, according to Kotaku.

The consoles will have the behind the back view, and considering the game has time and time again been called the “spiritual successor to Baldur’s Gate”, the PC perspective should come as no surprise.

Game’s out next month.

Sony has released the first trailer for the God of War Collection on PS3.

It’s posted over on the US PS Blog, but we have it for you after the break.

Game’s out this fall, with a God of War 3 PSN demo voucher, which according to Eurogamer, will not be made available in the UK until after the first of the year.

Sorry kiddos.

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Activison has sent over a couple shots of Psylocke, a downloadable character for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2.

No word yet on when she will be made available, but those familiar with the heroine, know that she started out as the fraternal twin to Captain Britain in the 1970′s before moving on to a telekinesis laden mutant with the X-Men.

Screens are posted after the break along with a video.

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Robert Bowling’s London appearance has netted all sorts of information, and it does not stop there. Turns out, Modern Warfare 2 has customization options for the hardcore gamer that are “ridiculous” in options, according to Infinity Ward’s creative strategist.

“The beta is really just the tip of the iceberg at this point, we’re really just showing a little bit [of the game],” he told CVG. “There’s a lot more to come, whether it be customizable kill streaks, custom death streaks, equipment like tactical insertion, Semtex grenades – all that stuff.

“What we’re offering with Modern Warfare 2 is a ridiculous amount of customization. The lead-out is insane, you have all these attachments to choose from. It really caters to the hardcore gamer who wants to dive in deep.”

You can read more about that through the link, and while you are clicking things, check out VG247′s reader Q&A with Bowling here, and Pat’s one-on-one with him here.

According to Capcom, the storyline for the movie based on Lost Planet will be “completely different from the game”.

“[There] probably [won't be] so much of a reference to this particular title [Lost Planet 2],” Lost Planet producer Jun Takeuchi told G4. “However, the only thing I know is those people working on the project that they love the world of Lost Planet.

“So, we know that they’re going to utilize that world, but as far as the story line goes, the movie is completely different from the game.”

David Hayter’s penning the screenplay, and Capcom’s Keiji Inafune has a hand in the project as well.

More over on D’toid.

Frontier has announced that LostWinds: Winter of the Melodias will be released on WiiWare in the US on October 19.

“The original LostWinds was embraced by the US, and the sequel has major new gameplay features and improvements across the board,” said David Braben in the press release.

“After the incredible reception in Europe for Winter of the Melodias, we’re excited to see what the American reaction will be.”

We can’t wait.

BioWare has updated its Star Wars: The Old Republic site with information on the planet Balmorra.

Those familiar with Star Wars lore, know that the planet is the place where droid and weapons are made, and at this present timeline, is under control by Imperial forces.

While still stinging from the abandonment of Republic support, the planet has accepted aid to rid it of the oppression Sith Lords press upon it.

We could go on and on about this, but you should have a look and read yourself through here.

Nintendo has released a video for New Super Mario Bros. Wii showing just how wondferfully nostalgic and full of jumping it is.

Eurogamer has it posted.

It’s out November 15 and 20 in the US and UK, respectively.

BioWare has revealed that Mass Effect 2 will be shipping Jan 26, 2010 in North America and January 29 for Europe.

Also mentioned was preorder bonuses of exclusive in-game items, which the official blog says are for North America, but we’ll check to see if Europe is getting some as well.

Here are the details:

In North America, pre-order bonusesinclude special-ops armor and weaponry that are designed to boost Commander Shepard’s skills and abilities. At GameStop, Terminus Gear is available with pre-orders, which includes the powerful Terminus Assault Armor and the Blackstorm Heavy Weapon:

• The Terminus Armor is designed for use in extreme planetary conditions, increasing run speed and personal shields, and augmenting weapons with an additional magazine of reserve ammo.
• The M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon generates a high-powered localized gravity well, accelerating particles to near-infinite mass, and ultimately expanding the selection of heavy weapons available to players when they gear up for combat missions in Mass Effect 2.

Inferno Armor

Players that pre-order Mass Effect 2 at other retail outlets in North America will receive the potent Inferno Armor, which is used by officers to monitor battlefield conditions by recognizing elevated heart rates, and regulates sub-systems with extreme efficiency to allow for greater response times – together these abilities translate in-game into a negotiation bonus for Commander Shepard and an increase in run speed and augmented damage from combat powers.

According to the blog post, BioWare is still deciding which armor goes to the PC version and which to the Xbox 360 version.

Full thing through the link.