Monthly Archives: October 2009

Twentieth Century Fox has hired former Vivendi Games executive producer Andre Emerson as VP of its new video game production studio.

“Andre has a phenomenal background in video game production with a fair balance of licensing experience that will bring a wealth of knowledge and insight to our team,” said Gary Rosenfeld, SVP of Fox’s New Media. “We’re looking forward to Andre contributing his development expertise as we expand our presence in this space.”

Emerson, while at Vivendi, was in charge production on the 50 Cent franchise, and was most recently the executive producer for WET and Brutal Legend, along with being the writer and director for Dead To Rights.

More through Gamasutra.

Unbisoft and GameStop have teamed up to offer you, the consumer, two preorder deals should you decide to reserve Red Steel 2 or Rabbids Go Home.

Plunk down a fiver for Red Steel 2 and you will net two in-game swords, or choose Rabbids Go Home and get two in-game Rabbids dressed like Assassin’s Creed and Splinter Cell, complete with their David Letterman smile.

Head through the links for more information.

Thanks, GoNintendo.

During the course of the week, loads of indie games, less mainstream titles and those point-and-click adventures you are always hearing about, sometimes get lost in the shuffle -what with news on Uncharted 2 and Modern Warfare 2 happening every three minutes or so.

That’s why, much like the MMO news round-up, we’ve decided to remedy this by giving you a heads up on news, demos, patches, announcements, trailers, screens and other doodads pertaining to these games that you missed out on during the week.

Yes, it’s all here for you in one post! See how much we love you guys? Another wall of text for the win!

While not comprehensive, since there are loads of this sort out there, we will do our best to be as thorough as possible.

Read on past the break for the first of, hopefully, many “Indie and other games of interest” post.

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Just in case you passed it up on XBL or PSN, a new three-song track pack is now available for Guitar Hero 5 from Queens of the Stone Age.

Tracks are from their 1998 self-titled debut album and feature: Mexicola, Avon, and How to Handle a Rope.

Also available for Wii, the track pack will run you the usual 440 MS Points ($5.50/£3.74/€5.12) or 550 Wii Points, and 160 MS Points ($2.00/£1.36/€1.86) and 200 Wii Points for individual tracks.

NIS America announced a sequel to Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! at TGS, and plans to incorporate four timesd the stages, more monsters and more heroes than the first game.

The video posted after the break, courtesy of Joystiq, shows how the creatures in the game can mutate through “deformity, obesity and gigantism.”

No word yet on when to expect Holy Invasion of Privacy Badman 2!: Time to Tighten Up Security will be released.

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Scribblenauts wasn’t always called Scribblenauts, according to creative director Jeremiah Slaczka.

Originally, it was called “Wordplay”.

“We had a lot of different names before Scribblenauts,” said Slaczka. “The original name was Wordplay, which is really lame and not fun and very generic…We’ve always gone through a lot of names before we kinda settle on a final name…

“Scribblenauts was also actually a temp name, which is kind of funny that it actually stuck. Because in the beginning, we were just like, well we need something, we always need something for a pitch and what’s the project name. So we were like, ‘Well, this is quirky and interesting, but maybe not completely what we want to go for.’

“But it just stuck. It made sense. And it wasn’t generic at all.”

Via NintendoEverything.

Steam’s currently taking preorders for Borderlands, which is set to go live on the service October 26.

Those who decide to go ahead and lay down the cash for will also get 10 percent off the $49.99 title, paying $44.99 instead.

If you are unsure if your system can run the thing or not,
Steam also has the system specs listed, and this version of the game will have two exclusive features, which allow players to export equipment cards as JPEGs, and will also come with timedemo benchmark software.

The disc-based PC version lands October 30, while consoles get it October 23.

Pro Evolution Soccer’s Shingo Takatsuka has confirmed to IGN that Natal and Sony’s wand will be implemented in future editions of the series.

“Up until 2009 we believed all the platforms should have the same controls and features,” he told the site. “That’s no longer the case, because there are specific controllers for different machines, what with Natal and the PlayStation motion sensor system. I cannot say much, but I can say we are looking at integrating those devices into our games very aggressively.”

Konami’s development team also plans to continue listening to PES players, whose feedback helps refine the new iterations of the game.

Hit the link for the rest.

Ubisoft has announced the official launch of The Price is Right 2010 Edition and Family Feud 2010 Edition.

Both games are available for DS, PC and Wii, and feature both single and multiplayer modes.

Each game also allows you to design your own Avatar and hands out special rewards as you progress.

More information can be found over on News 10, an ABC affiliate.

Tecmo’s Undead Knights had a demo up on PSN, and gamers who decided to give it a try, noticed that it was not just demo, but the full game.

Speaking with D’toid, who noticed the free game, Tecmo told the site previously that he final code for the game had yet to be approved – yet somehow it still made it’s way onto PSN.

When informing Tecmo of the mess-up, D’toid learned that the mix-up was thanks to the PSPgo launch and PSN additions.

SCEA has pulled it from the service, but not before quite a few people got a free PSP game.

More through the link.

Game Informer has put up a shot of its November cover on its website, and it looks suspiciously like Mickey Mouse.

Looking at the image properties, it clearly states “mickey-cover-spash.jpg”, so the suspicions are correct.

So far, all that is known about the new Mouse game is its codename, Epic Mickey, and the hint that instead of the happy-zany adventures we’re used to from Mickey and Co., it will be a darker and more steampunk-style world.

Also, there are some screens from the game, according to Gamesonsmash, here, and they look rather intriguing.

Rumors state that it may be a Wii exclusive as well, but it looks like we’ll all find out when the new GI hits stands with its new redesign this month.

Level-5 has said that it currently has no plans to revive the Dark Cloud RPG series, unless are enough requests from the gaming community.

“At this moment we don’t have a specific plan for a sequel in the Dark Cloud series,” Level-5′s Yoshiaki Kusuda told Kotaku.

“There are many staff members, including myself at Level-5, who have worked on the Dark Cloud series. There are some who decided to join Level-5 because they love the Dark Cloud series.

“So, if requests from users should increase in the future, we would seriously consider making it.”

There you go kiddos, you know what to do.

Xbox 360 Achievements – shockingly enough – has a list of Modern Warfare 2′s achievements. It’s long, and mostly concerned with things and the killing thereof.

But then, the game is called Modern Warfare 2. Killing? In war? This post is chock full of shocking discoveries.

Click through the link to see the full list.

Game Informer has posted its exclusive preview of Max Payne 3 over on its site.

It has many, many pages to it, but within the contents you will find out why the former NYPD detective is in Sao Paulo, and how it still has noir feel to it.

Art director Rob Nelson was also on hand to discuss the pressures of working on such a popular series

“It’s a tricky thing, because you’re taking this beloved franchise that we didn’t do originally,” said Nelson. “You have to maintain the elements of it that are special and that people remember, but you also have to evolve. We’re not Remedy, but we have a lot of respect for what they did. We’re definitely looking back and trying to maintain every element that clicked with people eight or nine years ago and make it have the same impact now.

“We’re used to having franchises that people expect a lot from and have a lot of pressure attached to them. We’ve learned to go with our gut and trust our instincts.”

More through the link.

The US PS movie store had loads of HD flicks added to the service this week, as well as some new additions to the HDTV end.

Standouts in the HD movie department include Factory Girl, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, Children of Men, and The Scorpion King 2: Rise of a Warrior. OK, we were kidding about that last one.

HDTV highlights include: Family Guy, The Simpsons, Heroes, Bones, and many others.

The full thing is over on the US PS Blog.

Speaking in an interview with the Examiner, Naughty Dog co-president Evan Wells has said Naughty Dog would “love” to see Uncharted on other platforms, most likely the PSP.

“We’d love to see Uncharted grow beyond the PS3. It would be interesting to see what sort of changes to the design one would make for a portable system”, said Wells.

He does insist that for now, the Dogs are “purely focused” on PS3 development.

Catch Wells talk more about Uncharted 2 and a possible Jak & Daxter for the PS3 through the link.

The new commercial from Sony stating that PS3 “only does everything”, features Uncharted 2.

There is also a “good boyfriend” and a lady with rather nice gams.

It’s posted after the break courtesy of the US PS Blog.

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XSEED has provided and exact release date for Ju-On: The Grudge.

Come October 13, Wii owners will be able to play the haunted house simulator developed by feelplus, armed with only a flashlight.

Mwha ha ha ha ha haaaaa.

There’s some new screens for it over on GoNintedo.

Microsoft’s Phil Spencer has said that one day motion control implementation in games will become the norm, just like multiplayer.

“Much like with multiplayer, I think it will become the norm,” Spencer told Kotaku. “If you are a racing game without multiplayer the game just didn’t sell.

“We think that motion control, we think voice recognition, should become a part of gaming as well.”

However, Spencer says that not all games, initially, will not get Natal support.

“Hacked in or quick to market ideas are not what we’re looking for,” he said. “We want to make sure that those experiences are world class.”

More through the link.

Starting today, Capcom’s rolling out its Deal Of The Week feature on the Capcom Store.

Each deal runs for a week, or until the item is sold out, and each Friday more goodies will be added.

The first Deal of the Week is Okami for the PS2 for $9.99, which is half-off the retail price of $19.99.

Go see for yourself.