Monthly Archives: October 2009

Hudson has announced its interspecies shooter Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem is leaving Japan and heading to WiiWare for Europe and North America.

From the press release:

“In Shootanto: Evolutionary Mayhem, players start as primates and battle lizardmen across the epochs, from primeval to medieval times and beyond. Players who survive each battle will evolve from a lowly monkey to an apeman, then caveman, a human knight, and finally a soldier. The combat continues to change as the lizardmen also evolve throughout the game. Co-op mode allows players to survive the onslaught together.”

Expect it sometime this month.

This week’s Xbox Live Deal of the Week is Prince of Persia’s Epilogue DLC, and to get you saving up for the rest of the month, here’s a list of future Deals of the Week, courtesy of Joystiq.

October 12

• Hasbro Family Game Night (Battleship, Connect 4, Scrabble, Yahtzee, Boggle and Sorry! Sliders discounted)

October 19

• Resident Evil 5′s Versus mode

October 26

• Fable II Pub Games (half-off)

So far, Pub Games is the only with a price of sorts listed. More will be revealed as the dates get closer, we reckon.

Guitar Hero 5 has a demo up over on Xbox Live Marketplace.

It features three songs in the Party Play mode where you can jump in/jump out of songs at any time.

Good way to try before you buy

More through the Major.

Muramasa: The Demon Blade has been confirmed for a November 13 in Europe.

The 2D side-scrolling action game looks gorgeous, honestly, and it’s great to know Europe is getting the Wii title.

There’s a full game synopsis over on D’toid should this interest you.

EA has announced that it is launching a line of interactive children’s books for DS called Flips.

Through a deal with publishers Egmont Press and Penguin, each title includes six to eight books with titles ranging from Artemis Fowl, The Enchanted Wood, The Magic Faraway Tree, Gingersnaps, Too Ghoul For School, and others with four set to launch before Christmas.

EA’s VP and GM for the UK, Ireland and Nordic regions, Keith Ramsdale, said that the titles will retail for £24.99 and he hopes to see strong numbers for the format.

“It’s not just about reading a book – it’s about bringing that book to life,” he said. “Not in the form of a game, but bringing the game to life in the way that the studio has developed the reading experience.”

More through GI.biz.

According to Media Create, DS was number one again this week on Japan’s hardware sales chart with 63,954 units sold, and PSP nipping at its heels with 51,215 units moved.

PS3 edged out Wii with 37,538 and 35,392 sales respectively, with Xbox 360 and PS2 with 4,244 and 2,179 in sales.

Here it is in lovely bullet form:

1. DS – 63,954
2. PSP – 51,215
3. PS3 – 37,538
4. Wii – 35,392
5. Xbox 360 – 4,244
6. PS2 – 2,179

Via Eurogamer.

Wii Fit Plus has risen to the top of Japanese software chart by moving 340,000 copies, according to Media Create.

Coming in at number two is Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryakusha (football RPG) with 281,000 sales, Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver slipped to number three with 267,000 combined sales.

Gran Turismo PSP was fourth with 134,000 and Macross Ultimate Frontier (PSP)was fifth with 81,000.

Newbies Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 came in at seven with 42,000 sales and Dynasty Warriors: Strikeforce at nine with 27,000 sales.

Via Eurogamer.

This week, the US PS movie store may be lacking in the HD films department with only four offerings, but the non-HAD end has at least Year One and some Naruto flicks.

HD TV offerings include the usual, but the non-HD list is exceptionally long.

Head on over to the US PS Blog for the full thing.

The Australian game ratings system has finally given World of Warcraft a rating: “M” with “online content variable”.

A glitch in the system previously allowed MMO titles to be sold in stores without a rating.

Blizzard has been trying to get the game rated in Australia since the game’s initial release in 2004.

Good to hear, we suppose.

More through GameSpot.

UPDATE: PS3center has word from Sony’s Jeff Rubenstein that the release date is still fall 2009. We’re still waiting on word from Sony ourselves.

If a contradicting listing on GameStop is to be believed, the God of War Collection has been moved to March 6, 2010 instead of it’s expected November 17 release.

Hopefully, it is just a mistake on GameStop’s part, because on the main page it says March, but when you click the title it takes you to a page that still says November.

Before unleashing the blades of chaos and going Kratos on our neighbors, we will contact Sony for confirmation of this before we go to prison for naught.

Via 1UP.

[UPDATE] Massively has been informed by Turbine that the name RoR is NOT confirmed for the expansion and is contacting Gamerzines to get this fixed. Bummer. We’re going to go cry in our corner now.

Turbine’s Adam Mersky has confirmed to Gamerzines the plan for a Riders of Rohan expansion for Lord of the Rings online.

Apparently, Siege of Mirkwood will conclude Volume II: Mines of Moria, with Volume III ready at the gate.

“Volume III will kick off with our first content update of 2010. With our expansion this year we’ve changed the model; you can still expect to receive regular (free) content updates, but they may not map directly to the launch of a new Epic Story. The story will progress and proceed.”

He went on to confirm the RoR expansion which will be separate from Volume III (unnamed as of yet) and is slated for release sometime in 2010.

This should make the Riders of Rohan kinship on the Nimrodel server extremely happy.

Thanks, Massively.

Visceral Games has announced, via press release, that the Academy Award-nominated writer of Monster’s Ball, Will Rokos, is penning the storyline for Dante’s Inferno.

“Taking such a naturally rich and deep universe and adapting for the video game has been one of the most interesting and challenging projects I’ve worked on,” said Rokos. “I really got into re-imagining Dante as a flawed hero with a dark past, and his determination to save the love of his life from a terrible fate.

“It was a truly unique experience to re-create one man’s hell, one circle at a time.”

Rokos will be collaborating with the game’s creative team to craft an all new narrative that parallels the original poem, and is set to be released in North America February 9, 2010 and Europe on February 12 on PS3, PSP, and Xbox 360.

Carnage has been revealed as DLC for Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 on PS3 and Xbox 360.

The official website for the game has lead animator Adam Olshan chatting a bit about the differences between the character versus Spider-Man, and Venom, citing his viciousness.

“We used the word “vicious” a lot when talking about how he should look. “Crazy” too, because of the background of who he is and what he is. I worked mostly on his basic melee combat,” said Olshan. “That’s when we really pay attention to how we can differentiate that character. Spider-Man needs to be agile & springy. Venom was more of a bruiser, like a huge jungle cat who attacks with lethal clawed swipes.

“For Carnage, we wanted him to feel as quick as Spider-Man, but as dangerous as Venom (or worse). We ended up with a very “slashy” character. Carnage is like a lunatic knife fighter: cutting people up quickly and messily, without much concern for how he looks doing it.”

No word on when this bit of DLC will hit the game, but to tide you over, Kotaku has some screens and video posted of Carnage for your consideration.

Three Brutal Legend tracks will land on Rock Band for the usual consoles next week on October 13, the same day the Tim Schafer creation lands in stores .

The “Brütal Legend Pack” consists of “(We Are) The Road Crew ‘08” by Motörhead, “The Metal” by Tenacious D and “More Than Meets the Eye” by Testament, all of which are also featured in Brütal Legend.

Individual songs will run you 160 MS Points ($1.99/£.99/€1.49 EU) each or 440 MS Points ($5.49/£2.49/€3.99) for the pack.

Also, for a limited time beginning Oct. 13, a free download code for the pack will be included with the purchase of Brutal Legend for PS3 and Xbox 360 from any Best Buy retail location.

“These are three great songs that totally capture the feeling of Brütal Legend. I can’t wait to play them in Rock Band,” said Tim Schafer, founder of Double Fine Productions. “I’ve air-drummed to all of them so many times, I’m sure I’ll be able to beat them on hard mode, no problem. Or at least on medium. Like medium plus. That’s a setting, right?”

No Tim, it’s not.

Star Trek Online dev chief Craig Zinkievich has admitted to Eurogamer that the whole process of bringing MMOs to current consoles is problematic, to say the least.

“I’ll be honest, the business part of bringing MMOs to consoles has been really sticky,” he said.

“Trying to get Sony, trying to get Microsoft to really understand MMOs; really understand what needs to happen for MMOs, and then figure out all the business aspects of those games, has really been a difficulty for all of the MMO developers.”

Star Trek Online is planned for a console release; as was Cryptic’s just-released Champions Online.

Don’t hold your breath just yet.

Poor old Blizzard. There it is, making what’s likely to be the most successful action-RPG of all time in Diablo III and all people can do is moan about the colours, the atmosphere, the price of cheese. Next up: having red outlines around targeted monsters.

“It’s still in and it’s not going anywhere,” said lead designer Jay Wilson when DIII.net asked him if he’d had thoughts about changing the system.

“I consider it absolutely essential for target selection. We tried tons of other systems, and that’s the one that worked really well.

“The complaint we get is that it makes the monsters pop out from the world, and our response is that’s exactly what it’s supposed to do.”

No one knows when Diablo III’s releasing. And don’t push Jay on it. You might get lamped.

Despite great responses to recent shows Gameswipe and Electric Dreams, BBC Four said today it won’t be pursuing games-related programming as a regular feature.

“We were delighted with the response both to Gameswipe and Electric Dreams,” a spokesperson from the commissioning team told MCV.

“In Charlie Brooker you have an original, savagely funny view of the world and also an expert knowledge of games and gamers. People who have no interest in the subject trust him to introduce them to what it’s all about and enthusiasts trust him to have something well-observed and truthful to say.

“Games are unlikely to be a regular feature of BBC Four but we’ll almost certainly return to the subject at some point.”

Brilliant. The obvious question, then: why not?

It’s here, DS-playing word-loving gamers. Warner Bros has released Scribblenauts in Europe, as you’ll see in the PR after the break.

“There’s never before been a game like Scribblenauts,” said Samantha Ryan, Warner dev boss.

“It is truly a game for everyone, as it challenges players to use their imagination and creativity to solve puzzles in an entirely new way.”

Get to it. It’s “fun,” and everything.

More »

Microsoft said today that some both GTA IV and Dead Space are to be added to 360′s Games on Demand service this month, which is probably pretty awesome.

Dates and other titles:

• October 13: GTA IV
• October 20: Sonic Unleashed, Midnight Club LA, Army of Two
• October 27: Dead Space, DiRT

Call of Duty 3 and Tom Clancy’’s Rainbow Six Vegas 2 have already been added this month.

You can now buy all three Hitman games – Hitman: Codename 47, Hitman 2: Silent Assassin and Hitman: Blood Money – for a total of £6.99 on Steam.

That’s a bit stupid. So you may as well.

The IO titles are reduced for the rest of the weekend.