Monthly Archives: December 2009

CCP has released Dominion, the twelfth free expansion for EVE Online.

“Our goal for EVE is to maximize human interaction and then leverage it to make a more meaningful, interesting game,” said EVE lead game designer, Noah Ward. “Dominion was designed to give players more tools to mold their experience with better means of communication and extra rounds of ammunition.

“Undoubtedly, the compelling intrigue we’ve seen in EVE will never end as pilots fight to bend the universe to their will.”

New additions include a visual overhaul for planets, a Fleet Finder tool, two new mission arcs for the Guristas and the Angel Cartel, Doomsday Devices were reengineered, and much more.

Those who play should check out the mailer posted below the break for more details.

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Harmonix has confirmed to Joystiq that weekly DLC for Rock Band Unplugged is finished.

Apparently, it has “run through [its] planned slate” and the firm is “very pleased with the performance of the Rock Band Unplugged game on PSP, the Rock Band PSP bundle and PSPgo starter kit” which has 100 tracks through the disc and DLC combined.

Currently, the team is hard at work on the Rock Band Network, console DLC, and “unannounced future projects.”

Future “event releases” are a possibility, but weekly DLC is finito.

More through the link.

Looks like Germany has smacked the US version of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and the EU version of Left 4 Dead 2 with the ban hammer.

Both PC versions are now on the BPjM’s (Bundesprüfstelle für jugendgefährdende Medien) list of banned media, and the decision goes into effect today.

The German versions of both games are not affected by this and the console versions may still be sold until further notice.

More through PC Games Hardware.

The Siege of Mirkwood expansion for Lord of the Rings Online has gone live.

Time to saddle up your elf, human or dwarf (hobbits don’t count) and venture forth past Lothlorien into the foreboding forest of Mirkwood and smash Sauron’s army to bits. Huzzah!

Those who play, should check out all the development diaries and patch notes while the game updates, because there’s quite a few changes, and a really awesome new mount system.

There’s also a launch trailer posted below, courtesy of FileFront.

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Ubisoft has announced two bits of DLC for Assassin’s Creed II, and both are expected to be released in 2010.

In January “Battle of Forli” will be released, followed in February by “Bonfire of the Vanities”.

No extra details or an exact date for either 1Gb download were given, but each will be made available for both PS3 and Xbox 360.

Via PR mail.

Capcom has released the final cinematic video for Dark Void, its upcoming sci-fi shooter.

The new video shows off main character Will as he battles a “murderous and mechanical alien species” known as the Watchers. The war to save mankind takes place after Will crash lands in the Void, a mysterious landscape filled with “danger and deception”.

Neato.

Game’s out in January. Watch the video below.

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Koei has announced that North Star Musou will land in Japan March 2010.

The Dynasty Warriors spin-off crossed with the manga Fist of the North Star will retail for ¥8,190 ($94.27).

No word on an English version has been announced, but it would not be far fetched to say that Koei would forgo one all together.

Still, we’ll send a mail and see if anyone bites.

More via Joystiq, Andriasang.

EA has revealed that the Dante’s Inferno demo scheduled for this month will land on PS3 two weeks ahead of the Xbox 360 demo.

Called “Gates of Hell”, it’s the first level of the game and set for release on December 10. XBL gets it Christmas Eve – or December 24 for the oblivious among us.

Full thing is out in February.

Via D’toid.

Redbana US has announced that it will be publishing HanbitSoft’s MMO, Mythos, in North America.

The development team has also updated the teaser site with a new video a calendar of upcoming nnnouncements, and an animated book detailing a bit of the game’s new lore.

Those who were looking forward to the MMO before the demise of Flagship Studios should be pleased to hear this news, and should also check the official site periodically as a closed Beta is expected in the near future.

More through MMORPG.

Remember the Red Dead Redemption video that was leaked last week and subsequently pulled by Rockstar?

Well, it’s back up.

Called “My Name is John Marston”, the video is through break and mighty nice if we reckon ourselves, cowboy.

It’s out April 27 in the US and April 30 worldwide.

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EA has announced that FIFA 10 has sold over 4.5 million units worldwide since launch, and in the same breath revealed FIFA 10 Ultimate Team, a game mode expansion for PS3 and Xbox 360.

Based on internal sales projections, FIFA 10 has sold through more than 4.5 million units worldwide since launch, a 26 percent increase over the same period a year ago (eight weeks in Europe and five weeks in North America) with 1.7 million units sold through at European retail in its first week.

Other figures include the game averaging three million games participated in daily with over 113 million online games played on both consoles over the past two months.

FIFA 10 Ultimate Team, set for release after the first of the year, enables fans to customize the way they build their team, and also allows for management of multiple squads simultaneously.

“FIFA 10 Ultimate Team adds a lot more authenticity to a unique game that will update with new challenges and content over time,” said producer Paul Hossack. “We now have over 7,000 players from 27 leagues available, from which gamers will craft one or multiple squads to show their mastery of the revamped, more realistic chemistry system, and compete in tournaments with exciting requirements and rewards.

“On top of that, we’ll release new tournaments and other updates regularly to keep the experience fresh and exciting.”

There’s loads more about the new mode in the PR below the break.

Thanks, Pyrix.

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Those who asked us a while back if Jurassic: The Hunted would be released outside the US may want to start looking for a nice import site.

According to Activision PR, it’s a US-only thing.

“As of now, there are no plans to release Jurassic outside the US,” a rep told us. “If that changes from we’ll definitely update you on the news.”

On the bright-side, the PS3 version is not region locked, so dino-hunting enthusiasts can be thankful for that, at least.

Richard Lemarchand, game designer for Naughty Dog, has been confirmed as a speaker at the DICE Summit which takes place February 17-19, 2010 in Las Vegas.

Manveer Heir, lead designer at Raven Software, Zynga Games chief creative officer Brian Reynolds, and Mike Yuen, Zeebo senior VP of content and services, are also confirmed.

Other speakers are Steve Perlman, founder, president and CEO of OnLive, and Matias Myllrinne, president of Remedy Entertainment.

More over on GI.biz.

Steam’s updated Football Manager 2010 and changes will be applied automatically when your Steam client is restarted.

The major changes include:

• Fixed the game running out of memory when entering a match for some users
• Fixed a rare crash in the tactics panel
• Fixed rare issue with score divergence
• Fixed occasional crash when responding to red card

Hit the link.

The Sun has reported that newly unattached tennis star Andy Murray was “dumped” by his “blond” 21 year-old girlfriend Kim Sears because he played on his PS3 seven hours a day, and it literally “drove her mad”.

Apparently, he is crazy about playing tennis and Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 on the console which forced her to stop ironing his clothes and “ferrying him around” in her car.

However, other rumors say that his PS3 is not the only issue, apparently his new Ferrari and “blond” Miss Scotland Katharine Brown also played a part.

According to Murray’s agent, he doesn’t “play computer games any more than any other 22-year-old”, so take that discerning readers of The Sun.

Hit the link to read the rest of the sordid details and see a pic of Murray playing a game with an Xbox 360 controller, and a Wii next to the TV.

Looks like he has all three major consoles – lucky guy.

A GameStop listing on the company’s website has PS3 game ModNation Racers listed for PSP and down for release in June 2010.

Listed only as ModNation, when contacted Sony declined to provide any details.

“Unfortunately, we can’t comment on rumors or speculation related to ModNation Racers,” a Sony rep told D’toid.

This wouldn’t be the first time GameStop outed a game before its official announcement – nor will it probably be the last.

Hit the link.

Looks like EA has a shooter named GunHead in the works, according to a listing of work by Feng Zhu’s School of Design (FZD).

Listed as previous work with Electronic Arts Vancouver, GunHead had its trademark renewed this year, and may be the new third person action game with an “unexpected setting” rumored to be in the works over at Blackbox – although with recent layoffs things may have changed.

Also listed under “clients” for FZD, is a listing for Dark Space over at EA Vancouver – which sounds an awful lot like Dead Space – to us at least. Not very original at any rate, unless its a major typo.

We’ll send a mail off to EA and see if anyone responds. Until we get an answer, enjoy the massive bit of links.

Via Superannuation, CVG.

Valve just announced 2 million Left 4 Dead 2 sales in just two weeks at retail.

Sales-to-date are more than double those of the first game; the company claims the numbers will put the 360 and PC title up as “one of” the biggest games on the formats for November.

More than 1 million Gold Live subs have now played the shooter.

“Left 4 Dead 2 is off to a great start with strong support at retail and great reviews from the press,” said Valve marketing boss Doug Lombardi.

He added: “News regarding L4D2 DLC 1 is coming very soon.”

PR after the break.

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Adam Grant, PSP European product manager, has announced over on the EU PS Blog that starting today, if you buy a PSPgo, or if you already have one, you can get Gran Turismo, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge or Assassin’s Creed: Bloodlines to download completely free.

In Germany the three games that are on offer are Gran Turismo, MotorStorm: Arctic Edge and LittleBigPlanet PSP.

All you have to do is set up or sign into your PSN account, then visit PlayStationStore to download a special PSPgo Promotion Theme.

Once completed, an e-voucher will be sent to you via mail, within a week, then all you have to do is enter the code onto the PlayStationStore via your PSPgo.

This offer runs today through midnight on January 10, so get to it.

Hit the link for more.

The PC DiRT 2 demo is out now. Yours for 1.31Gb. Get a full list of mirrors, plus gameplay and tech videos, on the game’s official site.

It features two full events. DirectX 11 boffins take note: the game supports it.

Get to it. PR after the break. It released on December 3 in Europe, December 4 in the UK and December 8 in the US.

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