Monthly Archives: November 2009

Some shots for Gran Turismo 5 popped up on the net, thanks to PS Insider.

We’ve seen so many shots for this game that we have no idea if these are new or not – but no matter. Look anyway.

Game’s out in Japan during March 2010, with a US and UK release still to be announced.

Apple has announced that there are now over 100,000 Appalicious offerings available on the App Store.

That’s a lot of games and applications, there.

“The App Store has forever changed the mobile gaming industry and continues to improve,” said Travis Boatman, VP of EA Mobile. “With a global reach of over 50 million iPhone and iPod touch users, the App Store has allowed us to develop high quality EA games that have been a huge success with customers.”

Full PR mail after the break.

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Viacom has said that its Harmonix and MTV game franchise, Rock Band, has been a a bit of a slow rummer, but that the series is finally picking up the pace.

It may possibly break even or become “slightly profitable” by the end of Q4 if Christmas sales are good, said CEO Philippe Daumann.

“The economics of our Rock Band franchise are improving, though not as quickly as we’d like,” he said during Viacom’s latest call to investors. “We had a great launch of The Beatles product but obviously at this time of year we await the holiday season to begin as the month of November unfolds. We will start putting in more marketing dollars together with our retail partners behind that product.

“We just have to be cautious given that we are entering, over the next several weeks, a retail season that will depend on how consumers spend their money generally. So we have to be cautious about how it is unfolding. Meanwhile we continue to manage that business with a close eye on inventory levels and with a greater focus on software.”

Music game sales in general are down in part due to high-priced bundles which are slower to gain momentum compared to stand alone discs.

More through GI.biz.

Valve has released an update for Steam, and the patch fixes an issue people may have when trying to launch the demo of Left 4 Dead 2.

Apparently some are having a problem with this, and some are not, but there’s the patch anyway.

You can get the launcher update through here, via the official site.

Wallace & Gromit’s celebrating its 20th Anniversary, and to get the celebration started, Telltale’s handing out the Muzzled episode of their W&G adventure game series for free until Monday, November 9.

Head on over to the official website and get to downloading it and while you’re there, Wallace & Grommit’s Grand Adventures is on sale for a measly $20 from now until the November 8.

Remember, all episodes also hit XBL today so that’s another option for you.

Full PR past the break.

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Sony has announced a list of new content currently available on the PS3 Video Store.

Get excited folks, because it includes content from Major League Baseball, Lucasfilm and Image Entertainment, among others.

The full list of visual goodies and sports are posted past the break, courtesy of the US PS Blog.

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According to ex-Midway producer John Vignocchi, sometimes it’s not the developers who want to toss in a bit of multiplayer in games, but the executives who run the joint demanding it be part of the finished product.

Speaking during a Giant Bombcast last month, Vignocchi used Stranglehold as an example and cited the team’s multiplayer regret.

“We were having this battle all the time, talking about, ‘OK, is a totally amazing single-player experience, the most important thing? Or should it be an 80% single-player experience and then a pretty cool multiplayer?’, he explained. “Stranglehold wnet through that exact same problem. I think if you ask every single person that worked on Stranglehold whether or not multiplayer was a necessity for that product, they would all say, ‘I wish we never did it.’

“It was the worst part of the game, and it was something that executive management had said, ‘This has to be in the game.’ And no one wanted it, and it turned out the way it turned out. That’s something every game developer goes through.”

That’s not a very surprising thing to hear, considering we’ve played a few games with multiplayer that felt tacked on or forced upon us at gunpoint.

You can find this bit at 1 hour, 22 minutes, and 51 seconds into the chat here.

Via Kotaku.

Codemasters has said that the first bit of DLC for Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising will land on PC tomorrow, November 5 along with a title update – same goes for the 360 version, with the update landing on PS3 “shortly”.

The DLC is the Skrimish pack, and player will go “head to head in attack helicopters, deploying tanks and APCs and engaging in ranged and close quarters combat in the wide ranging new maps and missions.”

A video of it is posted past the break.

Also included are four new multiplayer maps and two new Fire Team Engagement missions featuring both solo and four player shooting fun.

Patch notes for PC can be found here, and console patch notes here.

The ‘Skirmish’ pack will be available on XBL for 400 MS Points tomorrow  and PSN (£3.19/$3.99/€3.99) “shortly”, while it’s a free download for PC.

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Microsoft’s issued a stern warning to those who’ve “borrowed” Modern Warfare 2 from the internet in the past few days, saying it’s committed to taking “vigorous action” against illegal game-playing.

Live banning is also mentioned, although the statement – given to CVG – doesn’t mention MW2 by name.

The full thing:

Our commitment to combating piracy and support safer and more secure gameplay for the more than 20 million members of our Xbox Live community remains a top priority.

All consumers should know that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 console to play pirated discs violates the Xbox Live terms of use, will void their warranty and result in a ban from Xbox Live. The health of the video game business depends on customers paying for the genuine products and services they receive from manufacturers, retailers, and the third parties that support them,” added MS.

We take vigorous action against illegal activity related to our products and services, but we do not comment on those details. Consumers should be aware that piracy is illegal and that modifying their Xbox 360 to play pirated games will void their warranty.

Be warned. Buy it instead.

Battlefield: Bad Company 2 developer DICE has published a letter from a disgruntled Modern Warfare 2 fan who’s taken the step of sending the company $60 – the money he would have spent on the Infinity Ward shooter had it included dedicated servers.

He was going to spend the money on a cake, but decided sending sweet, baked items from the US to Sweden was unwise.

DICE was quick to confirm the PC version of BFBC2 would have dedicated multiplayer servers after the Infinity Ward revealed MW2 was instead to use a closed system – IWnet – for online play.

Thanks, BDH.

IGN’s posted six videos of Infinity Ward bods talking about Modern Warfare 2 maps, gameplay, tactics and so on, all cut with fly-bys of levels.

There’s some Spec Ops gameplay there. There’s a lot of stuff there, to be honest.

It’s out next week, in case you’d forgotten.

Heavy Rain’s a platform-seller, according to gamers on the internet. David Cage said so in an interview with IGN.

“This experience should be available exclusively on PlayStation 3, and we want people to buy a PlayStation 3 because of Heavy Rain. We’re really happy at the moment – and I hope it’s going to last – that when we go onto forums we find people watching the trailers and stuff and saying ‘this is the game that’s going to make me buy a PlayStation 3′,” said the Quantic Dream boss.

Heady stuff. The thriller’s out early next year. Watch Mart playing it really badly at EG Expo here.

Whoa there, horsey. You thought PSPgo was toileted just because of a few slow debut sales? Gamestop exec Tony Bartel knows different.

“I think that, by Sony’s admission, you can tell by the small marketing that was done for this, that their mentality was more of a slow roll than a major launch. This was clearly different than the way that Nintendo approached the DSi, and I think that was by design,” he told Industrygamers.

“I think the story is far from over and being written on the PSPgo. I think Sony knew it was going to be more of a slow build as opposed to a right out of the gate huge release. I’m not sure that anyone that spent a lot of time working with Sony on the launch was really surprised by the way that it’s gone so far.”

Tons more through there. Thanks, GI.

Marvel’s latest financial report’s confirmed game tie-ins for the new Thor and Captain America movies in 2011, Gamespot reports.

First out will be Thor, with the movie releasing in May. Captain America will follow in July.

Thanks, EG.

THQ just dropped over a new Darksiders trailer, and it’s looking distinctly non-shit. See for yourself after the break.

The game’s all about twatting demons with a big sword, by the look of it. Expect chanting, angels and hellish violence.

January 8, PS3 and 360.

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After the break. Be warned: there’s a scene in there that we’ve never seen before. It’s spoilerific.

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EA Sports boss Peter Moore’s expressed “delight” at FIFA 10 hitting the Japanese charts on launch, writing on his blog.

“Imagine my delight to see Famitsu award the game a platinum rating (36/40), a score only enjoyed by the cream of the crop of games released in Japan,” he said.

“That score obviously caught soccer gamers eyes over there, as the game debuted in the top 10 this week, much to our delight.”

Mr Moore’s not resting on his laurels, though.

“It is clear we still have work to do in Japan to more fully understand what drives that gamers attraction to sports titles,” he added.

“Let me be clear on this. I recognize that there are many factors that contribute to a gamer’s decision to purchase (or not) a particular game, I’d just hate for the gamers in Japan to not get as much enjoyment as the rest of the world out of the best sports game of this console generation.”

Moore through there.

Lionhead just put out a new bit of Fable III concept art. The image shows the town of Bowerstone.

Get it hi-res here.

The Natal-supporting, Jonathan Ross-sporting, GamesCom-breaking RPG is out next year.

Unseen64′s posted a movie of what’s apparently Shadowrun: The Awakening, a canned, single-player Shadowrun reboot usurped by the cross-platform Shadowrun released in 2007. Watch it after the break.

Looks shooty. Have some screens, too. Don’t know what Shadowrun is? Read this.

Thanks, superannuation.

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Assassin’s Creed II’s courtesans are shown off in the game’s latest trailer, seeing it as you will after the break.

While the footage is a little less risqué than a typical Pornhub movie, there’s still a hint if tit. Amazing scenes.

The game’s out on November 17. Don’t forget. Because it’s properly awesome.

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