Monthly Archives: October 2009

SEGA plans to release a demo for Bayonetta on PS3 and Xbox 360 October 8.

There will be a different demo for each system, offering different stages.

The PS3 demo, which is around 1,196Mb in size, will include a tutorial and The Angel’s Metropolis stage, while the 360 demo (770Mb), will include the tutorial, The Angel’s Metropolis stage, and the Falling Clock Tower prologue stage.

Both demos will provide options for camera, sound and display adjustments.

Japanese site Andriasang posted this bit of news, so we will double check that it is coming to the US and UK as well – just to be sure. It probably is though.

Thanks, D’toid.

Both the Brutal Legend and Need for Speed: Shift demos are now up on Live.

We’re going to grab the former for you now. Go get!

Don’t forget that both are up on PSN today as well.

Thanks, Blerk.

You can now pay €3 to actually play one-man MMO Love’s alpha. Yep, it’s true. Look at RPS.

Developer Eskil Steenberg, the only person working on the indie game, has opened up the non-playable alpha to allow people to properly test it, but wants a bit of cash as servers, obviously, cost money.

Help him out. It’s one pint less this week.

A final version of PlayStation Eye game EyePet turned up this morning in an amazing expanding pop-up box thing containing the camera, final code and the little paw pad used to control objects on the screen.

I filmed myself playing it with my daughter, with support from my twin sons, for about 15 minutes – get the movie and photos of the pack after the break.

You’ll see the game show you how to set up your room, fix the lighting, how to position the camera, and so on. You’ll also here me say, “Come on Mr Egg.” This isn’t usual. The video shows the first stages of your little monkey’s life, with you hatching him, warming him up, giving him a name and helping him bounce around on a trampoline.

To be honest, it’s the cutest game in the world. Ever. Hit the link to see why.

More »

Driving dev boss Gavin Raeburn has left Codemasters, the company has confirmed to VG247.

“After successfully rebooting two of Codemasters’ heritage franchises as DiRT and GRID, Executive Producer Gavin Raeburn has moved on to pastures new,” said Gavin Cheshire, VP of Codemasters Development.

“Following the recent success of the award winning DiRT 2, it’s positive for any individual to move when they feel they’re at the top.

“He leaves having built an incredibly talented team that’s led by key players who will drive our racing portfolio forward. He has my best wishes and our thanks for all the successes enjoyed during his time at Codemasters.”

Raeburn’s been with Codemasters forever. He’s credited on 1988′s Pro Skateboard Simulator, and has since charted a career that’s seen him work on Stunt Kids, Psycho Pinball, TOCA 2: Touring Car Challenge, Jarrett and Labonte Stock Car Racing, Pro Race Driver, DiRT and GRID.

There’s no word on where he’s off to. All the best, Gavin, whatever it is.

SCEE’s just confirmed the content of today’s Euro PSN update, which includes 20 full games in celebration of PSPgo’s launch. The 13 Minis listed earlier are also included.

American got 100 full games, but what the hey.

All the big stuff’s below:

• FIFA 10 (£29.99/€39.99) (Available from Friday the 2nd of October) PEGI 3+
• Beaterator (£23.99/€29.99) (Available from Friday the 2nd of October)PEGI 3+
• Gran Turismo (£21.99/€36.99)PEGI 3+
• MotorStorm Arctic Edge (£21.99/€36.99) PEGI 12+
• PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe (£9.99/€12.99) PEGI 3+
• Rock Band Unplugged (Starter Pack) (£3.19/€3.99) PEGI 12+
• God of War: Chains of Olympus (£14.99/€19.99) PEGI 18+
• Thexder Neo (£6.29/€7.99)PEGI 7+
• Grand Theft Auto: Liberty City Stories (£13.99/€17.99) PEGI 18+
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City Stories (£13.99/€17.99) PEGI 18+
• Soul Calibur: Broken Destiny (£23.99/€29.99) PEGI 16+
• Midnight Club L.A. Remix (£13.99/€17.99) PEGI 12+
• Midnight Club 3 DUB Edition (£13.99/€17.99) PEGI 12+
• IL2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey (£31.99/€39.99) PEGI 7+
• Manhunt 2 (£9.99/€12.99) PEGI 18+
• Iron Man (£11.99/€14.99) PEGI 12+
• Crush (£11.99/€14.99) PEGI 7+
• Exit 2 (£13.99/€17.99) PEGI 7+
• Full Auto 2 Battles Lines (£11.99/€14.99) PEGI 12+
• Gottlieb Pinball Classics (£7.99/€9.99) PEGI 3+

Realtime Worlds boss Gary Dale has just confirmed at the Tech Media Invest event in London that APB will go into beta next week.

Beta applications for the anticipated MMO-shooter opened in August.

The title, the disc of which is being published by EA, is slated for a spring launch next year.

According to Famitsu figures, the Japanese market shrank by 10.5 percent in the first half of the fiscal year.

Hardware sales are down 15.1 percent, with software down 7.5 percent.

Figures:

DS
First Half Fiscal 2009: 1,698,818 units
Life-to-date: 27,851,784 units

PSP
First Half Fiscal 2009: 813,604 units
Life-to-date: 12,618,193 units

Wii
First Half Fiscal 2009: 594,398 units
Life-to-date: 8,547,552 units

PS3
First Half Fiscal 2009: 581,676 units
Life-to-date: 3,591,071 units

360
First Half Fiscal 2009: 137,059 units
Life-to-date: 1,138,250 units

More on Kotaku.

Kojima’s assessing feedback on Metal gear Solid: Peace Walker from TGS and may implement a third control system over the two supplied at the show, ameblo reports.

Shooting Type and Action Type were included in the TGS demo, which went down a storm, by all accounts.

The game’s out next year.

Thanks, Kotaku.

Nintendo UK just sent out a huge release schedule for Wii and DS running from now until the end of the year.

The company also confirmed this morning a December 11 date for The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks.

Get the entire line-up after the break.

More »

Nintendo just confirmed that The Legend of Zelda: Spirit Tracks will release on December 11 in the UK.

The DS game’s British launch will be preceded by an American release on December 7.

The company also reiterated a November 20 release date for New Super Mario Bros. Wii, and an October 30 ship for Wii Fit Plus.

PR after the break.

More »

Microsoft will be airing new 360 ads as of tomorrow designed to evangelise the machine’s non-gaming capabilities

“From October 2 we’re launching our own TV work explaining to consumers the broader entertainment offerings we have on Xbox 360, which is going to centre on our music offerings, movie offerings – and then obviously the unique TV experience we’ve got in connection with Sky, and the Sky service we’re bringing to Live,” northern Europe Xbox boss, Neil Thompson, told GI.

Sky features are expected to be patched into UK 360s this month.

Comedy actor Simon Pegg said yesterday that he’d recorded VO for HD streaming movie ads for 360.

SCEE just press released all the Minis shipping with PSPgo today, giving details for all 13 games.

Alien Havoc, Tetris and so on are available now. Hit the link for everything.

More »

IGN’s posted up a heap of Dragon Age gameplay movies showing combat and dialogue section for the RPG’s dwarves, elves and mages. They’re all after the break.

Pay close attention. The game’s being heralded among European reviewers as a genuine classic. It releases for PC on November 6, 360 on November 5 and PS3 on November 30.

More »

PSPgo is now on sale, or at least it will be in an hour when the shops open. Priced £225, the handheld revision charts a brave new path into a discless future, armed with Bluetooth tethering and a monster supply of downloadable full price games and Minis.

We’ll have more on the machine’s release throughout today, but in the meantime you can have a read about what the internet thinks of the hardware.

• PocketGamer
• Destructoid
• IGN (video)
• Kotaku
• Engadget
• T3
• VentureBeat
• MTV

There’s a video after the link on the making of the real-life Halo 3: ODST ad, including a bit of unseen footage.

It’s pretty cool, to be honest. The brute’s made of rubber. Who knew?

Check it out.

More »

PSPgo launches today, as is perfectly obvious by this week’s American PSN update. More than 100 new PSP titles have been added to the Store, including GT PSP ($40), God of War Chains of Olympus ($16) and PixelJunk Monsters Deluxe ($20)

Hit the link for the full thing. We’ll have more coverage on PSPgo’s launch throughout the day.

Remember those Modern Warfare Monster cans from, like, two posts ago? Well, while perusing the energy-packed pics, Shacknews stumbled upon an interesting little tidbit about Modern Warfare 2′s DLC: its release date.

In what’s definitely the first time we’ve ever sourced a can of cola, the Monster packaging advertises a MW2 giveaway, which includes “5,000 MW2 Map Pack Codes – planned release Spring 2010.”

So there we are.

Update: It’s live. Make with the downloading.

Over on the PlayStation blog, PSN Operations Director Eric Lempel brings word that PSP firmware 6.10 is just about cooked through. No date yet, but it’s coming “soon.”

Along with a couple of music-centric features, the update adds bluetooth tethering, which allows you to sync your PSP with your cell phone and use it as a modem to connect to the Internet. No wi-fi? No problem.

That one’s not free, either, Sony. Royalties or we sue. We’re Langdelling this thing.