Monthly Archives: November 2009

It’s not often a game’s release is moved up. Most of the time it’s pushed back, but not so with the PC version of Star Trek D-A-C.

Originally announced for November 17, the game will now be released on November 12 instead.

The Steam page proves it.

Still no price, but there we are.

Via BigDownload.

A video showing the waggle controls for a leaked copy of Modern Warfare: Reflex for Wii popped up on YouTube this week.

Game’s not out until November 10, but there ya go.

It’s on below the break and through here, courtesy of Joystiq.

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Penguin Books and Ubisoft announced today that a new book titled Assassin’s Creed: Renaissance, based on Assassin’s Creed II and written by Oliver Bowden is to be released on November 26.

“Penguin are hugely excited to be publishing the novelization to the second Assassin’s Creed game” said Penguin’s editorial director, Alex Clarke. “This partnership presents at last a way for traditional book-publishing to cross-over with the ever growing and increasingly exciting world of gaming media.”

Amazon description:

‘I will seek Vengeance upon those who betrayed my family. I am Ezio Auditore da Firenze. I am an Assassin…’ Betrayed by the ruling families of Italy, a young man embarks upon an epic quest for vengeance. To eradicate corruption and restore his family’s honour, he will learn the art of the assassins. Along the way, Ezio will call upon the wisdom of such great minds as Leonardo Da Vinci and Niccolo Machiavelli – knowing that survival is bound to the skills by which he must live. To his allies, he will become a force for change – fighting for freedom and justice. To his enemies, he will become a threat dedicated to the destruction of the tyrants abusing the people of Italy. So begins an epic story of power, revenge and conspiracy. Truth will be written in blood.

Check your local book store and online outlets for it.

Game’s out November 17 and 20 in the US and UK, respectively.

Namco Bandai has reported its financials and within the pages, a net loss of ¥6.04 billion ($66.7 million) for the first half of its fiscal year was noted.

A net income of ¥1.28 billion ($14.14 million) was reported for the same time period in its last fiscal year, and while the loss sounds like big one, the publisher is expecting to line the coffers with ¥8.5 billion ($93.6 million) net by the end of the fiscal year (March 31, 2010).

Ben 10 led in software sales,with Alien Force and Protector of the Earth sell a combined 810,000 units.

More through Joystiq.

Epic has announced a Gears of War 2 triple XP event starting today and running through Monday, November 16.

That’s nine days there, folks.

Additionally, players will be able to play in the new tactical mode across all multiplayer games which has increased weapon damage and reduced ammo counts along with increasing “down-but-not-out” health for revives.

Public Horde’s difficulty will be “bumped to hardcore”, and playlists can also include individual game types.

Neato.

More through here.

Thanks, DiodeX.

BioWare has revealed another playable class for The Old Republic, and it is none other than the Imperial Agent.

Ah yes, the Empire’s assassin. They work behind the scenes doing the dirty work of the Empire with high-tech gear, and using “subversion and subterfuge” to infiltrate and ultimately look upon their mark lying dead upon the floor.

Scrumptious.

Revealed during a European press tour earlier this week, more information on the new class is expected to arrive on the official website next week.

Screenshots are below the break.

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New arrivals on the PS Video Store this week include The Wizard of Oz, G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, I Love You Beth Cooper, and The Taking of Pelham 1, 2, 3.

Episodes of Full Metal Alchemist have also been added.

Here’s the full list of HD offerings with the rest posted on the US PS Blog.

• Aliens in the Attic
• Another Cinderella Story
• Ballast
• Big Man Japan
• Chandni Chowk To China
• Cheri
• I Love You, Beth Cooper
• Thankskilling
• The Life Before Her Eyes
• The Signal
• The Taking of Pelham 1 2 3
• The Wizard of Oz
• Three Kings
• TMNT
• Troy – Director’s Cut (Unrated)
• Two Lovers

At around 4:27 on GTTV’s Nintendo Special, Reggie Fils-Aime confidently states that the New Super Mario Bros. Wii will “outsell Modern Warfare 2 on a single platform”.

Basically, he predicted that the Mario game would sell better than the 360 or PS3 versions of the shooter.

We choked on our sandwich when we heard that bit.

He did however state that it’s gonna be a close race, and he thinks MW2 will be a great game and plans on playing it.

Don’t take our word for it though, listen and watch for yourself here.

There’s a video interview with MAG’s Seth Luisi over on Giant Bomb, where the director of development chats about play progression, development, and many other things.

It’s around eight minutes long and loads of stuff is mentioned, ranging from character specialization, to how the game world affects the map – but something that may be of interest to you is the role squad leaders play in the game.

As a treat of sorts for following commander’s orders, the more you do as you’re told and complete the objectives given to you, you’ll gain an experience bonus along with your squad leader leader getting points to improve his/her character.

We have embedded the video through the break there, but you can also view it through the link.

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Mythic has announced that the 10-day limited free trail for Warhammer Online is no more.

Instead, it has been replaced with an endless free trial.

The new trial gives new and returning players and opportunity to play any of the 24 character careers and transfer them over once the player decides to purchase the game. There is a progression max of level 10, though.

Still, not a bad thing overall.

Full PR below.

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BioWare has released a small PC patch for Dragon Age: Origins that not only fixes a few bugs but it also boosts combat stats for party members on Normal Mode, and it makes the Easy mode, well, easier.

You can get it from sites such as FileFront, FileShack, StrategyInformer and if you are a Steam user, it’s available on there too.

Here are the patch notes:

• Fixed potential corruption of character statistics
• Fixed portrait appearance sliders when importing a character from the downloadable Character Creator
• Fixed import for preset face settings from the downloadable Character Creator
• Made Easy difficulty easier
• Slightly increased attack, defense, and damage scores for all party members at Normal difficulty
• Fixed video issues when running on a very wide screen display, including ATI Eyefinity displays

BioWare’s Greg Zeschuk and Ray Muzyka chatted to NowGamer this week about the shooting elements in Mass Effect 2, and told the site that since the game is not a traditional RPG but more of a shooter/RPG, it was imperative that the shooting element be fun.

“I think with Mass Effect the RPG underlining was never specifically the traditional RPG system, said Zeschuk. “It certainly took inspiration from it, and I think the fact that in a shooter a headshot should be a headshot is even stronger in Mass Effect 2.

“The key thing being the shooter should still legitimately feel like a shooter. For us, we really wanted to keep the things that were strong in Mass Effect, like the combat intensity and the overall cinematic quality and the emotional nature of the narrative and make sure the rest of it is at the same level. I think that’s one of the most exciting things and challenges for the team.

“The advantages of starting with all the technology is we can focus on just making the shooting fun. There’s always a delicate balance of the RPG elements.”

“It really feels like a new genre: a shooter/RPG,” added Muzyka. “There are not too many examples of games that would put in that kind of choice that would have the same depth of exploration. The progression system, the story and the narrative, and all the choices, but also have a shooter combat experience that feels very precise.

“Mass Effect 2 is somewhat unique in that it has that depth and intensity all in one package, which I think millions of fans enjoy. It’s a fairly accessible experience.”

Full interview through the link, there.

Nintendo has put seven new games online, and highlights include chapter three for Tales of Monkey Island, UNO, and Bomberman Blitz.

Here’s the list, with full descriptions over on CVG:

WiiWare

• UNO (500 Wii Points)
• Tales of Monkey Island Chapter 3: Lair of the Leviathan (1000 Wii Points)
• Manic Monkey Mayhem (1000 Wii Points)

DSiWare

• Bomberman Blitz (500 DSi Points)
• SUDOKU (200 DSi Points)
• A Little Bit of… All-Time Classics: Family Games (500 DSi Points)

Virtual Console

• Fighting Street (800 Wii Points)

Harmonix and MTV Games announced today that a three pack of tracks from The White Stripes and singles from The Damned and Kasabian will be added next week to the Rock Band Music Store for 360, PS3 and Wii.

This isn’t Jack White’s first rodeo with the game though, as his side projects The Dead Weather and The Raconteurs are both featured in Rock Band.

The White Stripes Pack 01 will feature Dead Leaves and the Dirty Ground, Girl You Have No Faith in Medicine, and Icky Thump on November 10 and 12, respectively.

English punk rockers The Damned will also debut next week with Smash It Up, and Kasabian’s song Club Foot will also be added.

Individual tracks will run you for 160 MS Points ($1.99/£.99/€1.49), and 200 Wii Points. The track pack will run you 440 MS Points ($5.49/£2.49/€3.99).

This week’s US PSN update has a Mercury Bundle 2 Sale that includes Archer Maclean’s Mercury and Mercury Meltdown for $9.99. Also on sale is TV Show King Price for $6.99, and X-Men Origins: Wolverine Weapon X Arena Pack for $4.99.

Also of note is the downloadable content for Dragon Age: Origins. You can get the Stone Prisoner which brings your every own golem to the battle party (and was included in the collector’s edition) for $14.99 and the Warden’s Keep for $6.99 which also happens to include extra storage.

Here is a highlight of some of the goodies, with the Full Thing over on the US PS Blog.

Downloadables

• Military Madness: Nectaris ($9.99)
• Numblast ($4.99)

PSone Classics: PS3/PSP: Gex ($5.99)

Demos: Trine, Military Madness: Nectaris Demo

Add-on Game Content

• LittleBigPlanet Anniversary Costume (free)
• LittleBigPlanet Spaceman Costume (free)
• Dragon Age: Origins Stone Prisoner ($14.99): Shale, a recruitable party member and one of the few golems that remain in the world, may prove to be the Grey Wardens’ most effective weapon.
• Dragon Age: Origins Warden’s Keep ($6.99): Two centuries ago, the Grey Wardens were expelled from Ferelden amidst a storm of blood and betrayal. Now comes a chance to unearth their lost fortress at remote Soldier’s Peak, to unravel the mystery behind its fall, and finally reclaim it for the order!
• Brutal Legend Tears of the Hextadon Map Pack (free)
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Character and Mission Pack ($9.99)
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Character Compatibilty Pack (free)
• Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 Juggernaut Playable Character ($1.99)
• topatoi: Arcade Style Pack (free)
• Way of the Samurai 3 Weapons DLC (free)
• Rock Band tracks

Downloadable Games for PSP

• Ben 10 Alien Force ($19.99)
• Ben 10: Protector of Earth ($14.99)
• Crimson Room: Reverse ($7.99)
• Class of Heroes ($39.99)
• Dungeon Maker: Hunting Ground ($14.99)
• Creature Defense ($7.99)
• Numblast PSP ($4.99)
• Star Wars Battlefront: Elite Squadron PSP ($29.99)
• Star Wars Clone Wars: Republic Heroes ($29.99)
• Dissidia Final Fantasy ($39.99)
• Ghostbusters The Video Game PSP ($29.99)

PSP Demos: MotorStorm Arctic Edge Demo (free)

Add-on Game Content: Rock Band Unplugged

A rumor circulating the net this morning has Tecmo working on Dead or Alive 5.

According to a retail source of Go Fanboy, the game is currently being developed for multiple platforms, which would mean it would no longer be an Xbox exclusive.

A while ago it was revealed that Koei Tecmo were working on a familiar franchise and the rumor that this title would no longer be a platform exclusive had everyone thinking Dead or Alive, to be honest.

Therefore if sources for Go Fanboy are correct, pixilated ladies with large bouncy bits will be bounding onto PS3 sometime in the near future.

As with all rumors, keep it has a grand hope within your heart until official word comes down from on high.

Via Boomtown.

BioWare has released some screens for Mass Effect 2.

Check ‘em out below the break.

Nice thing to start your day, there. Or afternoon, depending on your part of the globe.

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Acti just mailed out everyone who’s attending the Modern Warfare 2 launch party in London next week to confirm everyone who stays past midnight will get a copy of the game.

Both the party and the “camouflage carpet” Leicester Square cinema event before it are being described as “big”.

We’ll be liveblogging it. For a laugh. The launch events happen on the evening of November 9.

Polyphony front man Kazunori Yamauchi’s told Autoweek the Forza 3 doesn’t match up in the realism stakes to GT. Them’s fighting words.

“Some base components of the game are very different from Gran Turismo,” he said. “It’s a little bit different from what a simulator is. You can feel it when you drive it.”

That said, the dev legend has tried out the Turn 10 racer, and conceded the game bears many similar characteristics to his game. Rather obviously.

“I was watching the guys at our company trying it out in the office. I tried it a little bit. It’s very similar in a lot of aspects to Gran Turismo,” he said.

GT5′s out in Japan next March. Forza 3′s out now. Thanks, CVG.

SCEE told CVG this morning that the PSP version of LittleBigPlanet will release in the UK on November 20.

The US versions hits three days earlier on November 17.

Sorry for the terrible updating today: life 1, website 0.