Monthly Archives: December 2009

The first patch for Assassin’s Creed II has been announced over on the Ubisoft forums, and it will fix that pesky Hideout glitch that was revealed last week.

Slated to be released today on PS3 and December 11 on Xbox 360, the patch also includes some other fixes such as fast travel, getting stuck under water, crashing, and many other things.

The full patch notes are listed below the break, and through the link above.

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Splinter Cell: Conviction has been given not only a six-hour co-op campaign, but some standalone challenges when it ships next year, according to OXM UK.

The co-op mode includes a prologue to the main storyline, which takes place two-months before the main plot, where players will fill the shoes of Daniel Sloane-Suarez (Archer) and Mikhail Loskov (Kestrel).

This campaign details how EMP’s were freed by rogue factions cloaked within Russian Intelligence before the Russian Mafia stepped in.

“They don’t really like each other or trust each other,” said the game’s co-op designer, Patrick Redding. “But you’ll hear in their dialogue, moving through the missions, that their trust is slowly building. If Sam Fisher is our panther, then these two guys are like a couple of Velociraptors taking down the herd.

“You are going into this really seedy, gritty underbelly where we can put the whole graphical horsepower of our engine and the Xbox 360 to work giving you the lurid texture of this place.”

The challenge modes, called Third Echelon Missions, are contained in six different maps based on the four levels from the co-operative campaign – two that are mode exclusive. The four revealed so far are: Hunter, Infiltration, Last Stand, and Face Off.

Sounds lovely. Hit the links for the rest, and watch the video below the break, courtesy of IGN. Game’s out on PC and 360 in February.

Thanks, The Lost Gamer.

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Sign ups for the multiplayer Beta of Empire: Total War are now open for business.

According to RPS, you can play the entire campaign with a pal, fight against the AI or go head to head with your soon-to-be ex-best friend. Huzzah!

Head on over to the official site to throw your name in the hat.

The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned went live today for Borderlands players on PC.

It’s a manual thing, by the way, and you can get it through the online store.

The Steam version is also available.

Go get it.

Telltale has posted a link on its site to a Sam and Max teaser suggesting that Season 3 will take the crime fighting duo into Space.

There’s even a sound clip talking all philosophical and such through here.

It’s possible. The duo has already met Santa and Satan, so it’s not that far-fetched.

Thanks, BigDownload.

505 Games has announced Artificial Mind and Movement’s (A2M) new game, Naughty Bear, which is a “violent action game starring an animated, stuffed bear who swears revenge on other jerk bears for failing to invite him to a party”.

He wields dual axes and chops ninja bears to bits, if the teaser site is any indication.

In the game, you hurt the other bears and garner Naughty Points through 30 different stages. The more “deviant and maniacal” you are, the more Naughty Points you accrue.

Sounds like effing win to us. Then again, we did this sans points with our bears as a kid anyway.

Thanks, Joystiq.

Looks like Spike TV’s Video Games Awards will be aired on Channel 5 December 15 at 9:00pm.

Sources at Channel 5 told The Lost Gamer that it can also be viewed on Freeview: CH30 Sky: CH 176, and Fiver + 1 Sky: CH 177, Virgin Media: CH 152, Tiscali TV: CH 31.

Granted, it originally airs live on December 12 in the US so by the time the 15th rolls around you will already know the winners.

But at least you will be able to sit back and watch the festivities and possible trouser malfunctions on the telly with beer and chips like the US did three days prior.

Thanks, Seedy87.

Blizzard’s followed up the release of patch 3.3, The Fall of the Lich King, with a nifty video for World of Warcraft.

Whether you play WoW or not is inconsequential, as Blizzard’s videos usually warrant a watch regardless.

This one is no exception, and it’s below the break courtesy of D’toid.

The patch went live yesterday.

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Activision has filed a countersuit against No Doubt over its Band Hero suit against it, alleging a breach of contract and “unjust enrichment”.

Last month you recall, No Doubt pulled a Courtney Love, complaining that players could user band avatars to play songs not performed or written by it. In response, Activision’s claiming the band did not request that the avatars be used for only the band until after the game was already put to press.

“Activision admits that although it is possible to program a videogame whereby particular in-game characters can only be selected when certain songs are played, Plaintiff first requested this only after the “Band Hero” programming was finalized, had been submitted to all of the U.S. console manufacturers for approval and had been approved for manufacture by most console manufacturers”, read a statement.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, The countersuit against the band is requesting that it provide Activision with “unspecified damages and interest, a return from No Doubt of all benefits and payments, an order for No Doubt to pay the full cost of this action and reasonable attorney fees, along with further awards and relief that the Court deems just and proper.”

Basically, because they bitched and decided to sue, Activision wants the money it paid the group returned and then some.

It looks like it will get nasty. That or the judge will rule a kiss and make-up session or a battle to the death through kal-if-fee – we hope

Thanks, GamePolitics.

Loads of screens for Soldner-X2 Final Prototype popped up over on CVG today.

Eastasiasoft’s PSN-exclusive shooter is expected to hit the service sometime this winter.

It looks hectic and fit inducing, but that’s what we like.

Check the pretty pictures out for yourself through the link.

PlayStation Home will be one-year-old soon and to celebrate, Sony is handing out free Tree Houses.

To be made available at Home Estates this Thursday, the Tree House will be free for a period of two weeks only.

That’s not all though. The Winter Wonderland space will be flung wide, and will get more festive as time goes on complete with Santa and mini-games along with gifts and other rewards.

Also, the Alter Ego store has new hats with crazy lights on top in four colors – red, blue, green, and yellow – and two new masks.

There’s loads more info over on the EU PS Blog. Go have a read.

Eiji Aonuma has told IGN that while Twilight Princess didn’t live up to the public’s expectations and its potential, the next iteration of the series on Wii will, thanks to what the team learned through creating the game.

“With Twilight, we challenged ourselves to create the most vast and realistic world the series had ever seen,” said Aonum, “but we don’t feel we were able to fully complete this objective. With that as a starting point for our improvements to the series in the future, we are of course working on a new game for Wii.

“For any game to be remembered for a long time, just like Ocarina of Time was, the game must give the strong impression that it has set a new starting point for future sequels to build upon. We are working to further improve upon the experiences found in Twilight Princess so that our future games can realize these innovations.”

We’re keeping our fingers crossed.

More through the link.

Bad news, folks. Milla Jovovich has tweeted that Resident Evil: Afterlife has been pushed into 2011, and will hit theaters sometime that January.

Here’s the tweet:

“So I think we r definitely pushing the film till jan ’11. We can’t rush it and hve crappy effects, so know it will rock!”

The film was originally slated for August 2010.

Start crying into your milk now.

Thanks, CVG.

The UK Government does not plan to provide tax relief to the country’s games industry, it was revealed today.

According to the Guardian, Chancellor Alistair Darling’s pre-budget report does not include measures providing tax breaks despite the sector pumping more money into the economy than the region’s film industry.

TIGA claims that this failure to introduce tax breaks will result in the sector’s decline, but at the same time, commended the government for its predicted £10 million investment in gaming centers of excellence in Dundee and Manchester – which are expected to create 30 new companies and 400 new jobs within three years.

More through CVG.

Michael Pachter and Pacific Crest analyst Evan Wilson both offered their predictive take on tomorrow’s NPD numbers, by citing how much of a percentage Modern Warfare 2 contributed to November’s total game sales.

Pachter said that the title made up 23 percent of total game sales, but Wilson said that it contributed 25 percent.

“Modern Warfare comprises an estimated 25 percent of this month’s industry sales,” said Wilson. “While this is not out of the ordinary for a tent-pole title in a non-holiday month, it is impressive given our forecast that this November’s sales will match the month’s highest historical total on record.

“For comparison, Halo 2 reached 20 percent of industry sales in November 2004. The next highest share taker was Guitar Hero III at 12 percent in November 2007.”

Wilson predicted that November software sales will come in at around $1.45 billion year-over-year, and Pachter predicted a 7 percent jump over November 2008′s $1.55 billion.

Guess we’ll see tomorrow who was closest.

Via Gamespot.

Dragon Age: Origins has another patch available as of today.

There are loads of big fixes, balancing, gameplay tuning and plot fixes.

This patch is for all versions of the game, and the notes for it say that it’s a comprehensive one – meaning that if you have not applied the previous patch, this one includes those fixes as well.

So don’t double up on it – there’s no need.

Hit the link for the full thing.

EA has announced that DLC for Brutal Legend will land on December 17.

Called Hammer of Infinite Fate, it contains a series of new skins, weapon upgrades, multiplayer maps and unlockable achievements.

You will be able to upgrade Eddie Riggs with three new outfits including the Mountain Man, Black Metal and Zaulia Threads, as well as seven more back patches and the hotrod hasn’t been left out either. The pack comes with four new paint jobs and four more upgrades that players can purchase including the Oculus of the Lost, an all-seeing GPS for the world, and the Eye of Sorrow – a weapon that harnesses the power of the Sea of Black Tears and launches “black projectiles of doom” at enemies, in addition to The Disgorger and the Coiling Maw.

The DLC also contains four new multiplayer maps: the Altar of Blood, Coiled Remains, Crucible of the Titans and The Amplified Cliffs.

Nine new achievements and trophies were added, such as Mount Rockmore will provides six more heads for players to purchase and unlock, including Rima, Razputin, Dadbat, Hunter, Kage the Kannonier and Tim Schafer.

The DLC will run you 480 MS Points on XBL and $4.99 on PSN.

Via PR mail.

Vigil has kindly allowed us to send over some questions regarding its upcoming Rapture infused action title, Darksiders.

Before we start asking the development team what it eats for breakfast, how many people have been worked to death, and why War’s horse (Ruin) does not turn him into a pile of ash as he rides it – we thought we would see if there was anything you – the readers – would like to know.

Post your questions in the comments section, and if we choose your question, you will be forever immortalized through the interview and be looked upon with awe and envy amongst your peers.

We are sending this off later today, so to get you enough reference material, click this link for a list of previous posts on the game.

Hop to it!

I’m off to see IO’s Kane & Lynch 2 in London today. There’s an NDA on it until January 15, but I’m going to get to speak to “key personnel from the development team,” apparently.

So. Any questions?

America’s Army has cost the US government $32.8 million over the past 10 years, according to this Gamespot report.

The data was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.

The government’s annual AA budget has ranged between $1.3 million and $5.6 million.

Expenditures on the project began in 2000. At the time, it was given a budget of $7 million.

We’re saying nothing. More through there.