Monthly Archives: November 2009

There’s a new app for iPhone over on the App Store that allows you to connect to your Xbox Live account and and do all sorts of goodies for $1.99.

However, you may wish to wait if you cringe at spending two bucks, because as Joystiq points out, Microsoft says that all apps pertaining to XBL must be free, so it may be only a matter of time before it costs zero.

Then again, what’s two bucks in the grand scheme of things besides a candy bar?

More through the link.

One of the things we are thankful for this Thanksgiving is that Alone in the Dark 2 was only produced by Uwe Boll and not directed by him – also that it has gone straight to DVD in the US.

Not like we’ll rent it or anything, or buy it for that matter – but some people will and those are the ones that should know all about it.

This time around, Edward Carby is played by Rick Yune (Ninja Assassin), and it also has the awesome Lance Henriksen and Danny Trejo in it.

Anyway, there ya go. It’s out in January.

Thanks, BigDownload.

Halo: Evolutions was released by Tor this week, so if you are in the mood to read about Halo instead of play it, this might just be the thing for you.

It’s a collection of stories from authors, Eric Nylund, Tobias Buckell, Karen Traviss and a few more.

Check your local bookseller or favorite online outlet for pricing and availability.

Via D’toid.

Valve has updated Steam again today with some new 24-hour deals, with games 33-75 percent off.

Some of these are absolutely awesome, we freely admit.

See for yourself:

• Ghostbusters: The Videogame 50 percent off – $9.99
• Resident Evil 5 50 percent off – $24.99
• Order of War 75 percent off – $9.99
• SPORE 50 percent off – $19.99
• Trine 50 percent off – $9.99
• City of Heroes Architect Edition 50 percent off – $9.99
• Left 4 Dead 75 percent off – $7.49
• Borderlands 33 percent off – $33.49

The THQ and Star Wars deals are still available too, but come Monday, the deal is done.

EA’s Jon Van Caneghem has said that the business model for future Command & Conquer games may be on par with Battlefield Heroes, in that it could be released online instead of through a retail package.

“Direct-to-consumer is where I think most games are going, and I’ve always been a fan of the [C&C]series,” he told Gamasutra. “The company has the same vision I do on the future of games and the future of this franchise, so I think it’s going be great.

“Look what online has done for RPGs over the last 10 years. All the other categories are following suit… we’re looking forward to building something to be a leader in that space. It allows you to do everything you would have expected from a boxed game, but it adds a lot more to it… being connected and connected with players, and persistence, the social elements of playing against each other with other friends.”

Van Caneghem went on to say that online and social elements are “something no one’s ever done before” with the RTS genre, and it’s high time.

“What you’re seeing with all the social gamers on Facebook… they are actually already playing strategy games whether they know it or not.

“Taking a franchise like Command and Conquer and expanding it to a wider audience is part of the strategy.”

More through the links.

Via Kotaku.

In the video posted below the break, R.U.S.E. producer Mathieu Girard talks strategy and how to do stuff with your keyboard and mouse.

Thanks, we needed a lesson on that.

Then he goes on to talk about the tools the team has given you to lead massive armies, and provides information on a few nuances and tricks the games uses like supply trucks having dual purposes, and the sandbox aspect of the game.

Loads of stuff really. It’s basically a walkthrough video of sorts, and it comes to us courtesy of D’toid.

Hit the break and watch.

More »

Splash Damage bossman Paul Wedgwood has told Eurogamer that Brink’s single-player mode will “teach people to be good at multiplayer shooters”.

“It’s our goal from the outset to incidentally teach people to be good at multiplayer shooters while they’re playing our single-player shooter,” he said. “At a certain point in the game we say to them, ‘Why don’t you just try co-op and see how you go? For this next mission we’re going to give you twice the number of experience points if you play co-operatively with somebody else.’”

However, if you don’t want to go online you don’t have to, he said, as the single-player will be just as “compelling as any other triple-A shooter”.

Game’s out next year on PC, PS3 and Xbox 360.

Via Joystiq.

Q-Games, creator of the excellent PixelJunk series on PSN, has something in the works for a Nintendo console – if a listing from the Australian Classification Operating Branch is to be believed.

Want to know more? Us too. But for now, a title’s all we’ve got. And unfortunately, “Reflect Missile” is one of those titles that’ll only make sense once we’ve seen the game in action.

When last Nintendo and Q crossed paths, Art Style: Digidrive / Intersect appeared on DSiWare. Reflect Missile doesn’t exactly scream “artsy,” but then, neither does “Digidrive / Intersect,” so you never know.

Thanks, GamerBytes.

A developer diary for Dead to Rights: Retribution has popped up over on D’toid, and in it, character art manager Dan Calvert says that the game is “all about action, adrenaline. We have awesome violence.”

Apparently, it was so violent that the team had to tone it down a few notches by getting rid of the photo realistic look and going instead with a stylized look for the characters.

Rest assuredly, the game still looks rather violent, and when you’re out seeking retribution, violence just kind of goes with the territory, ya know.

Game’s out next year for PS3 and 360.

Watch the video below.

More »

Ubisoft’s crossing its fingers that 3D gaming will hit the ground running like a kid escaping the switch, according to Montreal bossman Yannis Mallat.

While most households do not yet own a 3D TV, Mallat compares it to stereo sound, saying that it’s the wave of the future.

“3D is to pictures what Dolby Stereo was to sound,” he told the Financial Post. “No one wants to go back to mono.”

James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game will be 3D capable on 360 and PS3 when it’s released next month, and so will the movie when it hits theaters.

As far as the future goes, Sony has already said it plans to support it, and Disney has talked about future animated releases being 3D from here on out.

Looks like the fellas back in the 60s knew what was coming when The Creature from the Black Lagoon was released, after all.

Via Kotaku.

The latest issue of PC Zone, out on December 3, has details on the multiplayer mode for Splinter Cell: Conviction.

In the mag, it will discuss “hands-on, co-op reveal and a brand new mode.”

Exciting stuff, there.

Via CVG.

Ian Webster, community manager for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, has revealed that a second bit of DLC is currently being developed for the game on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Here’s the post from the official forums:

“Just to keep you in the loop with what is happening this end, we wanted to let you all know that we currently have a 2nd DLC pack currently in development for the Xbox 360 & PS3.

Can’t give out too many specific details at the moment, but the pack will include amongst other things additional MP modes, as we realised that this was something the community were very much asking for in any new DLC.

As soon as I can release the full content of the upcoming DLC, I will be sure to let you know.”

More through the link, courtesy of GOONLINE.

Official Nintendo Magazine has called Wheelspin (SpeedZone) the worst game on Wii, subsequently giving the game and 11 percent.

Youchee wowee.

“Wheelspin is an astoundingly bad game, and fairly quickly pretty much everyone else in our office gathered around to have a good laugh at it,” quoted the site.

Going further, the review stated that “Wheelspin might have a smooth frame rate (in single-player at least), but that counts for nothing. A racing game can be as smooth as the Fonz but if it handles like a yacht in a storm it’s to be avoided at all costs.”

You can read the full thing through here, which has started a “what’s the worst game ever” debate through here.

Silicon Knights bossman Denis Dyack has said that the amount of industry developers being laid off during the past 18 months “has been staggering”, but the next fiscal year will be one of growth for Ubisoft with its new 800-person studio opening in Toronto.

“It’s been really a rough year and a half for the industry as a whole,” he told GI.biz. “The number of layoffs in the industry has been staggering. As an external developer it’s been tough. I actually don’t know anyone who’s older than us any more. There used to be four or five people I knew of but I feel right now that we’re one of the last of the V8s”.

“I’ve talked to a lot of people and I know a lot of people who have gone out of business,” he lamented.

“Where I see some more growth for Silicon Knights in the future is I can see a very strong recruiting campaign that will say ‘come back home to Ontario’,” he added. What that means for us [the new studio] is we’re really excited because we’re going to be able to come out, and the industry is going to rebound and grow, and we’ll be one of probably five companies in the world that has any serious business beyond ten years.”

The full thing’s through the link.

Shanghai-based MMO operator, The9, has reported that Q3 sales dropped 94 percent after loosing World of Warcraft to NetEase in China.

However, the company remains optimistic, as revenues for Soul of the Ultimate Nation, Jiu Zhou Zhan Ji, Granado Espada, and FIFA Online 2 increased 55 percent compared to the previous quarter, while attracting 3.4 million active users when compared to last quarter’s 3.2 million active users.

While that is good news for the company, it just goes to just how massive the WoW beast really is no matter where you go.

More through Gamasutra.

Phantagram has released a new video its upcoming RTS, Kingdom Under Fire II.

Slated for release in 2010, the PC and Xbox 360 game has online multiplayer, the ability to fight through thousands of enemies on screen at once, story campaign mode taking place 150 years after the previous game, downloadable electronic game cards to recruit new units, equip new weapons & armors and obtain mother-ships, and loads more.

Actiontrip has more details posted, and the video can be watched over on Eurogamer France.

Mind you the voice over for the video is in Korean, but it sounds cooler and more intense that way.

Eidos has told IncGamers that development on Thief 4 is coming along in “leaps and bounds”.

“Let me reassure you that the team is making leaps and bounds,” Eidos Montreal bossman Stephane D’Astous told the site. “Personally i have NEVER seen a team, at this milestone (middle of pre-production) in such good shape!”

D’Astous added that fans of the franchise “will NOT be disappointed with Thief 4.”

Does this mean it will be out in 2010? Possibly be revealed at E3?

One can dream.

Sony has said that more than 500 comics will be made available at launch when the PSP Comic Store goes live in December.

Big names like Marvel, 2000AD and IDW have signed on so far along with Insomnia, iVerse and Titan.

At least with digital comics, you don’t have to worry about keeping them safe in mylar sleeves.

More through Eurogamer.

Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma hinted to the Guardian that our hero Link might fly around a bit in the new Zelda game for Wii.

“I have an eight-year-old son myself at home, and quite recently he started playing The Phantom Hourglass for DS, because when the software first hit the market he was too young,” he said.

“When he started playing with the boat, I told him: ‘In the next Zelda, you are going to be able to ride on the train.’ He answered: ‘OK, Dad, first boat, and then train? Surely next time, Link is going to fly in the sky … ‘

“I just don’t know. If many people make many speculations … some of them might be correct. Right now, I have to refrain from commenting on anything.”

Come on E3 2010!

Via CVG.

Left 4 Dead 2 – maybe you have heard of it – cracked the top 10 on the Japanese software charts this week, debuting at number six on Xbox 360.

That’s an accomplishment right there, considering Japan is a tough market for the console.

However, it looks like you can’t keep a good Pikachu or Rapidash down, which Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver proved by clawing its way back to the top of the charts.

Here’s the toppers for the week ending November 22, courtesy of Gamasutra:

1. Pokemon Heart Gold/Soul Silver (DS) – 55,000
2. Tomodachi Collection (DS) – 50,000
3. Wii Fit Plus (Wi) – 43,000
4. Inazuma Eleven 2: Kyoui no Shinryakusha (Fire/Blizzard)(DS) – 29,000
5. Taiko Drum Master Wii 2 (Wii) – 28,000 (NEW)
6. Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360) – 28,000 (NEW)
7. World Soccer Winning Eleven 2010 (PS3) – 24,000
8. J-League Pro Soccer Club o Tsukurou! 6 (PSP) – 24,000
9. Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games(DS) – 23,000 (NEW)
10. Dragon Ball: Raging Blast (PS3) – 17,000