Monthly Archives: November 2009

BioWare has said that since developing Dragon Age: Origins for the PS3 was such a positive experience, that it will use in-house resources from now on when developing for the console.

“We did partner with Edge of Reality [DAO on PS3], so we partnered with folks who have had the experience, and that was a good process where we actually had some folks that knew how to do it but also, in general, just worked together with them,” co-founder Greg Zeschuk told Joystiq.

“We have quite a few people working in-house as well. We think it’s one of the key platforms, obviously, so we’re definitely going to be doing PS3. You know, I can’t say anything about Mass Effect in that regard but you know, I can definitely say… other things we do will definitely be on PS3. It was great going through the experience of making Dragon Age, getting familiar with and understanding the PS3.

“Again, every platform is different, but now I think we’re at the position where future PS3 stuff will be really solid.”

Hit the link for the full thing.

Valve has updated Steam with new 24-hour deals, with games 25-80% off.

The THQ and Star Wars deals are still available too, so don’t fret over that, but still, hurry the hell up and get one before the deal ends Monday.

Here’s the new deals:

• Madballs in Babo: Invasion 80 percent off – $2.00
• Dead Space 50 percent off – $14.99
• Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 75 percent off- $2.49
• Mini Ninjas 50 percent off – $14.99
• Cities XL Limited Edition 50 percent off – $24.99
• Left 4 Dead 2 25 percent off – $37.49
• Majesty 2 75 percent off – $9.99

Clock is ticking, so go get ‘em while they’re hot.

Capcom has unloaded a massive bunch of Lost Planet 2 screens – 38 of ‘em to be exact.

Kotaku has posted every last one of ‘em, and you can burn your eyes up through here.

We can’t decide which one we like best, so we’ll just say that each one looks great.

Remember, those who preorder Lost Planet 2 through GameStop will be able to unlock Resident Evil’s Albert Wesker as an exclusive playable skin along with a revolver and a gun big enough to make Rambo cry.

Game’s slated for February on PS3 and Xbox 360.

Bioware has revealed on the official Star Wars: The Old Republic website that Alderaan will be a playable planet.

No, you don’t play as the planet silly, you play on it.

Here’s the description:

Ever wonder what happened on Alderaan before the Death Star reduced it to an asteroid field? Now you can see it for yourself! We are excited to announce Alderaan – a planet famed for its natural beauty – as the next playable planet in The Old Republic! For thousands of years this planet has been a shining example of peace and diplomacy, but now a bloody civil war threatens the legacy, and the very future of Alderaan.

The HoloNet records have been updated, and cite the civil war consuming the planet, along with other things you need to know – as if you didn’t know already that it was Princess Leia’s home.

Funnily enough, it looks like Earth.

Activision has announced that the Call of Duty franchise has surpassed $3 billion in sales and moved 55 million units worldwide.

Modern Warfare 2 sales helped with that number significantly, as it generated $550 million in its first five days worldwide.

“Call Of Duty has become one of the greatest entertainment franchises of all time,” said a probably very happy Bobby Kotick. “If you consider the number of hours our audiences are engaged in playing Call of Duty games, it is likely to be one of the most viewed of all entertainment experiences in modern history.”

Activision garnered these massive figures from estimates and third-party groups NPD, Chart-Track, and Gfk.

Full PR below the break.

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BioWare co-founder Greg Zeschuk has told Joystiq that the Mass Effect 2 team’s learned from past DLC mistakes and that extra content for the game will be “pretty kick-ass”.

“The DLC challenge is interesting, because you’re not only balancing what you can support in engine technology, but you always have to consider the fan expectations,” he said. “I think if people are fair, and look at things for what they are, (both the Mass Effect DLC packs) are actually unique experiences.

“We’ve got a lot of learning from the Mass Effect DLC and just in general we’ve done it for core too. The biggest learning we’ve got is that you have to actually make DLC a fundamental part of your plan. In the sense of actually part of the development process before the game is released.

“And what I mean by that is the actual act of putting it out and releasing it; I mean, make sure there are no quibbles or problems with how it connects to everything else, it’s something you need to do right from the beginning. And I think that’s going to be our strategy on Dragon Age: Origins, that’s going to be our strategy on Mass Effect 2: Making that a fundamental part of the experience.

“We’ve learned a lot, and we’ll have pretty kick-ass DLC on both Dragon Age and Mass Effect 2. In large part, again, we can already play it, and some of it we go, ‘Wow, this is actually really cool stuff.’

More through the link.

Via Gamerzines.

The folks over on the US PS Blog sneakily posted this week’s update a day early due to the holidays, so it’s our fault this time that it’s being posted late. Game, set, match Sony.

PS3 sales this week include Uncharted 2: Among Thieves – Eye of Indra 2 Motion Comic ($0.99)(US only) and the Killzone 2 Flash & Thunder Map Pack sale for $2.99, and bundle for 9.99. There’s also Fate/Unlimited Codes on sale for $14.99.

Minis, Dynamic Themes, videos and extra details are through the link.

Downloadable Games: Gravity Crash ($9.99), Diner Dash ($9.99), Madden NFL Arcade ($14.99)

PSone Classics: PS3/PSP: Command & Conquer ($5.99), Dino Crisis ($5.99), Reel Fishing ($5.99), Fighting Force ($5.99), Backstreet Billiards ($5.99), International Track & Field ($5.99)

Demos: Gravity Crash and Comet Crash

Add-ons: LittleBigPlanet Rare “SuperStar” Shirt ($4.99), Borderlands: The Zombie Island of Dr.Ned DLC ($9.99), DJ Hero David Guetta Mix Pack 01 ($7.99), Dragon Ball Warriors on Earth Pack (free), Guitar Hero 5 and Rock Band usual stuff (see link)

PSP: LittleBigPlanet PSP ($39.99) and Tekken 6 PSP ($39.99)

LittleBigPlanet’s getting its long-awaited Online Create mode next week, which’ll allow you and your sack-buddies to put levels together over PSN. See here.

Up to four players will be able to contribute to levels at once. This is part of the 1.21 Leerdammer update, which also includes location-based matchmaking and tons of other additions and fixes.

There’s a movie after the break explaining all the new features.

Via LittleBigLand. Thanks Syrok and Detale.

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Future’s confirmed it’s planning on charging for web content, and is already dipping its toe in the water.

“We’re experimenting in small places right across the portfolio, because we don’t have the answer yet,” said CEO Stevie Spring in an interview with Brand Republic. “Our strategy online is do and learn. We’re learning as we go along.”

The exec added: “When you come to our content and the reason that we can charge an average of five pounds for a magazine is that we do very nice, very must-have, very special content, and if anybody is going to pay for anything they are more likely to pay for that. That’s why we use the word prosumer, it’s much closer to business-to-business.”

So. We’re going to start charging a quid a day for VG247 starting next week. You’re all up for that; right?

More on GI.

What is apparently the back of the FFXIII box has been posted up on UFFS, supposedly confirming the game has no install for PS3.

Lossless audio is also confirmed, if that report’s to be believed.

Hit the link for the full thing. It’s out in December in Japan and March in the US and Europe.

Thanks, Michael O’Connor.

Natal could replace remote control, according to comments made by Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten.

Speaking at the Streaming Media West show, Whitten described the increasing number of 360′s video applications as the “biggest surprise” of his job.

“With the flick of my wrist I can change a channel,” Whitten said. “With the power of my voice I can start a movie.”

He added: “I don’t believe we are currently in the golden age of the television or the golden age of the game console or the golden age of the Internet; frankly, five years from now I don’t know that you’ll be able to tell the difference between those worlds.”

Natal expected at the end of next year. First contact should happen in 2011. More on GI.

The updated version of No More Heroes is now a little meatier thanks to a site update today, giving more shots and a lot of blacked out, soon-to-be-filled areas.

Looks as though there are going to be differences between the PS3 and 360 versions, too.

It’s Thanksgiving weekend, OK? Thanks, elronathon.

The EU PS Blog’s got details of the first VDS update, although there’s no definitive list as to what’s actually new.

Looks as though Terminator Salvation is the biggie for the UK, and Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince is high on the list for France, Germany and Spain.

Hopefully we’ll get full details on future updates, innit. Hit the link.

You can’t keep new Nintendo hardware down, it seems. DSiLL’s first week sales in Japan have come in at just over 100,000, which is probably “quite good”.

Full thing below for the week ending November 22. Last week’s chart here.

• DSi LL – 100,553
• PS3 – 34,752
• Wii – 32,844
• PSP – 32,752
• DSi – 32,070
• DS Lite – 5,051
• PSP go – 4,574
• Xbox 360 – 4,085
• PS2 – 2,024

Capcom’s clearly taking the addition of Cody, Adon and Guy in Super Street Fighter IV seriously. A ton of screens and art have just gone up on Unity, and they’re really lovely. Look now.

The game’s Japanese site also now has the characters at pride of place, and there are more bits of art and shots on Nakky’s blog. Hot stuff.

It’s out next year.

Brink head Paul Wedgwood has singled out PS3′s technology as a main worry for the project, describing its workings as “alien”.

“I would say that the biggest challenge is that transition from being a pure PC studio to a multiplatform one,” he told Eurogamer in an interview.

“To me as a game director there are some things that are just alien, like PlayStation 3 technology and job systems, that I find it really difficult to get my head around.”

Developer Splash Damage was born in the FPS mod scene, meaning Wedgwood’s home is well and truly on the desktop.

“Luckily it’s not my job to understand job systems: we just hire really talented people to solve it instead,” Wedgwood added.

“We have Dean Calver who was lead programmer on Heavenly Sword as lead programmer on Brink.”

Full thing through there. Via PS3Center.

BioWare’s posted up a few new screens and a couple of new movies on the Mass Effect 2 on its revamped site. As ever, it’s looking very pretty.

There’s an Adept class video there, featuring lead gameplay designer Christina Norman on how the Adept control the battlefield with biotic powers instead of weapons.

Another video talks about how Tali will fit into Mass Effect 2, as well as giving a first look at the quarian flotilla and some of Tali’s new tech powers.

What’s left to say? Shooty shooty, talky talky, hello Johnny Alien, where’s your bloody planet?

It’s out on January 26 in North America and January 29 in Europe.

There’s a video after the break showing off several of the multiplayer modes in Rebellion’s Aliens Vs Predator, including the instantly awesome Predator Hunt.

This sees one person take on the role of the Predator while the rest shoot thin air as marines. Whoever kills Mr Predator gets to be him. And on it goes.

There’s plenty more to see in the video. It was shot at a UK preview days and features journos from EG, CVG, and so on.

The game’s out early next year. Thanks, Destructoid.

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We’ve always wished the giant robot that appears in the background of our XBL friends list could be our avatar, but this is the next best thing.

CVG‘s reporting that your Avatar can now disguise itself as a robot in disguise. Megatron, Optimus Prime, and Bumblebee helmets are available, as are a number of Transformers-themed shirts. Do not, however, mistake this for good news. All of this shiny new gear is stamped with Michael Bay’s assuredly ostentatious signature. No retro-chic here.

Which is really a shame. The lack of an 80′s-style Optimus Prime helmet is the only thing keeping our Avatar from perfectly resembling its creator. Oh well. Maybe next time.

If anyone knows about what “pays,” it’s Valve. Dominion over 70 percent of the online retail game space is nothing to scoff at, after all. Fortunately, Valve’s finally decided to share its wealth – or its wealth of knowledge, anyway. Advice, ho!

“Part of what we’ve learned about that is you have to keep listening to your customers and you have to keep listening to developers, because we’re in both businesses: making games for customers and making services for developers. It really pays to listen,” Valve’s Director of Business Development Jason Holtman told Ars Technica.

“Steam’s allowing developers to get a lot closer (to customers) and iterate more quickly,” he added. “We’ve definitely learned a fair amount about people being connected.”

He also expressed faith in the PC as a gaming platform, saying that publishers will start reaching for that slice of the gaming pie again before too long.

“I think you’re going to find big titles on the PC are actually going to start taking advantage of some of the things that the PC does really, really well…I think you’re going to see the big guys looking at what the small and medium guys are doing and saying ‘I don’t know why I can’t do that,’” he explained.

Sounds like a personal problem to us, Mr. Big Guys. Tons more through the link.