Monthly Archives: October 2009

Game Informer’s gone on the record to confirm Epic Mickey as a Wii exclusive.

Confusion arose after the mag said the game was only coming to Wii in an online teaser for its next cover, then altered its article to remove the claim.

Apparently, the team was trying to save the info for the mag’s release. Unlucky.

The issue’s out next week.

Crytek UK boss Karl Hilton’s told Develop that the studio’s working on a brand new shooter property.

“We are currently concepting up an original IP that we hope will become a defining game series for the UK studio,” he said.

“However, in reality, the opportunity to make any kind of original FPS genre game where we get to focus on the quality of both the multiplayer and single player experience is what drives people at the studio.

“We have a strong history of creativity here, and we want to take that forward with Crytek and the CryENGINE 3.”

No other detail yet. Crytek UK rose from the ashes of Free Radical after it went pop last Christmas.

Via GoGamingGiant and Joystiq.

Paddy Power’s stuck up its odds for the traditional UK number one bet, rather obviously pitching Modern Warfare 2 as the favourite.

Here’s the lot. GT5, Alpha Protocol, Super Mario Galaxy 2, Metroid: Other M and Metal Gear Solid: Rising might not be the best choices for your money. Just saying.

• Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 11/8
• Metroid: Other M 20/1
• Ghostbusters: The Video Game Ghostbusters: The Video Game 50/1
• Assassin’s Creed II 7/2
• PES 2010: Pro Evolution Soccer 25/1
• Tekken 6 66/1
• FIFA 10 4/1
• Gran Turismo 5 25/1
• Alpha Protocol 80/1
• Mario & Sonic At The Olympic Winter Games 9/2
• James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game 25/1
• Rogue Warrior 80/1
• Super Mario Galaxy 2 6/1
• Planet 51: The Game 33/1
• Brutal Legend 100/1
• Wii Fit Plus 8/1
• Lego Indiana Jones 2: The Adventure Continues 40/1
• Ratchet & Clank: A Crack In Time 100/1
• HALO 3: ODST 12/1
• Left 4 Dead 2 40/1
• Saw: The Video Game 100/1
• New Super Mario Bros Wii 14/1
• Guitar Hero 5 40/1
• WWE Smackdown VS Raw 2010 150/1
• Metal Gear Solid: Rising 18/1
• The Saboteur 50/1
• Rabbids Go Home (Rayman Raving Rabbids) 150/1
• Need For Speed: Shift 20/1

SCEE’s confirmed that the NIS America PSP titles announced for the US PSN recently are coming to Europe too.

In the “next few weeks” you’re going to be able to download the following, European PSP people:

• Disgaea: Afternoon of Darkness (distributed by KoeiTecmo)
• Dragoneer’s Aria (distributed by KoeiTecmo)
• Mana Khemia: Student Alliance
• Prinny: Can I Really Be the Hero? (in English and French)
• Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do to Deserve This? (in English, French and German)

No mention of the 50 percent reduction the Americans enjoyed, however. Hit the link for more.

GT5 goes beyond reality? Microsoft worldwide dev boss Phil Spencer laughs in the face of the fourth dimension. He has Forza 3. And Forza 3 is “the only racing sim that’s shipping this generation,” apparently.

Seriously. He said this to Gamasutra:

Gama: In this era of PS3 and Xbox 360 games, where third-parties are almost never shipping console exclusives, certainly Sony’s been very strong on, well, “our strategy, then, for differentiation is to use our first-party organization to make solid, important, AAA exclusives.” Is that how you see it, too?

PS: Absolutely. And to ship them! That’s an important part of our strategy. Look at Forza shipping next month: the definitive racing sim this generation. You could say it’s the only racing sim that’s shipping this generation.

You go, Phil. Maybe Forza 3 goes beyond super-reality. A place where the super-real ceases to be real. Hit the link before the wormhole deepens.

Gran Turismo 5 isn’t realistic – it’s super-real. We know because creator Kazunori Yamauchi told NowGamer so.

“In a way, it’s kind of a given that it’s going to look better than reality,” he said.

“The thing about reality is that the criteria for looking ‘real’ are actually a lot stricter and volatile than you’d expect: the way the sun shines, reflects off something, the way it lights scenery – we seldom have the opportunity to see what we consider ‘reality’ under the best and most aesthetically pleasing conditions.”

Hot shit. There’s more.

“Every time we go out to the circuit and take photos of cars, we get that same impression again,” he added.

“When you see a race on television, compared to a race in a game, you realise that the reality isn’t as shiny or pleasant as the game. However, these ‘best conditions’ do indeed exist. They happen every once in a while. Maybe, once a year, you’ll be watching a race on TV, or you’ll be outside, and a cloud will move in an ideal direction, and the sun will shine down at a perfect angle, and maybe just for a moment you’ll have this beautiful scene right in front of you.”

Japan will be going beyond reality in March.

You can now download the TGS Metal Gear Solid Peace Walker demo here.

It’s the TGS demo and it’s in Japanese, but what the hey. Do it anyway, PSP-owners.

Thanks, Gekidami.

Level-5 CEO Akihiro Hino has told Official Nintendo Magazine that the firm has no plans to release Professor Layton on Wii, despite the success of the franchise.

“This trilogy comes to a conclusion with Professor Layton and the Last Time Travel, but we will be releasing the first title of the new trilogy, Professor Layton and the Flute of Malevolent Destiny in Japan,” he said.

“We currently have no plans for a Wii release.”

As long as there’s more for DS, fans of the series will be happy, we reckon.

Thanks, CVG.

An original music pack for LittleBigPlanet containing fully interactive tracks to enhance your levels lands on PS3 today.

All were composed by Mat Clark at Sonica Studios who wrote most of the original music.

‘Well Trained’ is a blues number, ‘Wise Owl’ is ambient/electronic and ‘Tea By The Sea’ is described as Anglo-French Americana.

LBP music pack one will run you £2.39/€2.99/$3.99 and include music themed stickers.

There’s a video on past the break.

More »

Thanks to the success of the iPhone version, React Games plans on releasing Archon again on PC.

The title will be revamped in HD, have new multiplayer modes supporting up to four-player teams along with versus battles and Achievements, online leader boards, and online support.

“In bringing Archon to the PC, we’ve really focused on maintaining the classic feel of the original game,” said design lead Brad Moss. “That said, there were aspects of the title that needed updating for the modern audience. For example, the addition of 4 players was never in the original, but it adds so much fun it feels like it always belonged there.”

Presales go live October 15.

More through Kotaku.

EEDAR analyst Jesse Divnich has weighed in on the upcoming hardware sales for September and, like Pachter, predicts it was a good month for PS3.

Divnich expects the console to have moved 400,000 units for September along with 375,000 for Wii and 370,000 for Xbox 360.

However, he does not feel Sony edged out the competition in software, stating that Batman: Arkham Asylum will be the only PS3 game in the top ten.

More through Joystiq.

Over on the Diablo III forums at IncGamers, part two of an interview with lead designer Jay Wilson discusses some of the class skills for the Monk, along with his armor rating, weapon skills, and whether or not it will have defensive and supportive skills.

“Most of the Monk’s skills will focus on combat skills and attacks, along with his various escape skills,” he told Diii.net, “and we talked at Blizzcon that we’re likely to put some defensive and supportive abilities on him. Possibly Auras. We’ve not done the next round of skills on him yet so we’re not exactly sure.”

As far as giving the Monk having co-op or party-boosting skills, Wilson said that bitis still under consideration.

“We definitely want to do that with one class. Whether or not it’s the Monk hasn’t yet been decided,” he said. “The Monk does seem to be the logical choice. The only reason we might not do with him is that he’s too logical.”

Loads more about the class is through the link.

Beyonce has said she might like to make a fitness game.

Apparently, being a famous singer, actress, and L’Oreal/Cover Girl model aren’t enough.

“I’d like to get involved in video games, since I really love Wii Fit,” she told Spicezee. “I think it would be a great idea to incorporate choreography, because, for me, my workout is way more fun when it involves dancing, as opposed to running on a boring treadmill.

“So I would love to do some kind of fitness game but incorporate dance and performance into it. I think a lot of women would enjoy that.”

Dunno how women would feel about working out in high-heels, there, Beyonce. They’re bad enough on their own.

Thanks, Play.TM.

According to a report over on USA Today, Halo 3: ODST has moved 2.5 million units in the past two weeks, with sales reaching $27 million.

Earlier today, it was reported that games, comics, videos, books and action figures are planned for the next six years, which will add more money to the Halo franchise as a whole.

All of this is expected to tie the franchise together, according to Frank O’Connor, head of Microsoft’s 343 Industries.

More through the links, via Joystiq.

Gran Turismo has a new video out over on Eurogamer France, showing off the Toyota FT-86 concept car.

Set to be introduced at the 2009 Tokyo Motor Show, the real-wheel drive Subaru collaboration coupe with a 2.0-liter boxer engine is set for a 2011 launch, but you’ll be able to play around with it in the game while you wait for your local dealer to carry it.

Head on through the link to check it out.

Each of the six episodes for Blue Toad Murder Files on PSN will last around 90 minutes each, according Relentless’ Paul Woodbridge.

“As this is a social game it is important that each episode doesn’t last too long,” he told PS3attitude. “We came to a decision that around 90 minutes was a good time, and that six episodes would be enough to tell our story.

“This also happens to be very similar to television which is important for us. We don’t want to alienate people who may not play a lot of games, but are comfortable with watching an episode of Midsummer Murders.”

Each episode will require you to think about alibis, motives, and witnesses as you investigate murders and interrogate residents in the village of Little Riddle.

There’s a bit more there through the link, with the full interview with Woodbridge to be posted tomorrow.

Polish developer Bloober Team has announced a horror game for WiiWare titled Last Flight.

The scrolling hack-and-slash has you controlling an overweight food-critic named Larry who must quell a vampire invasion, using nothing but cleavers to chop them to bits.

Bloober says the game is aimed at the core gamer, which the firm feels is out there for Wii, ready and willing for a game such as this one.

It’s out later this year, and will be released via four episodes.

More through Eurogamer, which also has five screens of it.

Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells has posted your daily dose of math over on the US PS Blog, only this bit of numbers concerns Uncharted 2 – which is our kinda math to be honest.

The numbers in question deal with how many people have delved into the Uncharted 2 demo with over a week of availability, and it’s a bit amazing:

• Total Number of games played – 1,217,424
• Total Number of Kills – 92,110,787
• Total Number of Treasures Captured – 1,860,645
• Total Amount of Money Earned – $38,841,367,350
• Total Time Played – 9,905 days (or 27+ years!)

Currently, the demo is number one in the top five first-week downloads to date, and on its way to becoming the most downloaded demo ever released on PSN.

So far, reviews for the title have raked in 17 perfect review scores, out of 34 on Metacritic with no review being less than a 90.

You can read the full thing through the link up top.

Free-to-play gaming site ijji.com has announced that 9 million registered players have signed up for the service.

Run by NHN USA, CEO Philip Yun told IndustryGamers that the flux of users has a lot to do with the economy, as “people don’t have the disposable income to spend”, and are drawn in by the free-to-play model.

“Because we are online only and most of our games are multiplayer, right now, we’re very focused on the PC format. Our primary demo is 13 -30 year-olds, of which 80 percent are male. 75 percent are from North America and 25 percent are from South America and Europe, and while we’re focused on America, we started providing service in Spanish and German too.

“We’re probably going to see 10 million users before the end of the year because of what’s coming; we just finished a beta for Alliance of Valiant Arms and when we’re done doing fine tuning of the game and Soul of the Ultimate Nation, it’s going to bring in more people at the end of the year. Huxley: The Dystopia, and Karma: Operation Barbarossa will also be coming, so look forward to those.”

More through the link.

Looks like along with Scavenge mode in Left 4 Dead 2, Valve has added a hardcore mode called Realism.

Noticed by 1UP in the menu options during a preview, VP of marketing Doug Lombardi explained to the site that the mode was something for the “super hardcore player”.

“Take Portal for example,” he said when describing the mode. “We had our best internal players who could blow through that game in about 30 minutes, but within weeks of launching it we had people on YouTube beating [the testers'] times by 10 minutes or more.

“Realism is for those players.”

Via Evil Avatar.