Monthly Archives: December 2009

Square just put out the European FFXIII pack art. It’s pretty lovely, to be honest.

After the break. Apparently this is the first time a Final Fantasy game has ever had anything other than the logo on the cover in Europe.

The game’s out on March 9 in both the US and Europe.

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Good news for you, Indian gamers: you’re going to get BioShock 2 on February 9 along with the rest of the world.

Indian distributor e-express confirmed the date this morning, as reported by Gameguru.

You’re about to start seeing an awful lot more on this. Just a hunch.

SCEE’s issued an obvious statement regarding a rumoured February 18 date for the Japanese version of Heavy Rain.

“I can’t comment on Japan I’m afraid,” said a rep. “We haven’t set a release date for the UK at this time.”

Overnight, a bunch of Japanese retailers, including Amazon, put the date on Quantic’s latest.

Hint: here’s the salt.

Bethesda just told VG247 that Brink’s now-confirmed fall 2010 release date is necessary simply in order to ensure the game’s “ready”.

The Splash Damage shooter was shown publicly for the first time in a gameplay video last night, which revealed the revised date. Up to now it’s been pegged for spring 2010.

“The release date for Brink is, indeed, fall 2010,” said a rep by email.

“That’s when the game will be ready for everyone to play. Hope everyone enjoys the videos we’ll be putting out this week for folks that didn’t get to see the Brink demo at E3/PAX/QuakeCon/GamesCom/etc.”

The movie last night showed the very first part of the presentation, where SD boss Paul Wedgwood demoed the game’s SMART movement system. The rest of the demo showed proper, mission-based gameplay and a ton of features, so keep watching.

Kotaku’s just posted the first imagery from THQ’s 40K MMO – go see.

This has been locked down tighter than Dennis Nielsen until now. Don’t expect too much yet, but at least these do show that you shouldn’t scared if you thought anyone was going to deviate from the IP’s general feel.

It’s being developed in Texas by Vigil. No date.

I’ve handed out 700 MAG beta keys by hand on Twitter in the past week. That’s enough for any man.

I do, however, have 300 left. To spare me the madness, I’ve posted the lot after the break.

Enjoy yourselves. The beta ends on December 4.

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Crackdown’s up on Live Games on Demand now for £15. See here.

The game sees you, as an Agent, killing a lot of people with large guns.

If you haven’t, you really should. Because it’s awesome. End of.

2K Marin’s Jordan Thomas has told IGN that BioShock 2 isn’t going to be all fighting, and that his team is “targeting maximum immersion” with the sequel.

“There are long, slow, empty, scary sequences, and there are much more intense battles that basically test all your powers as a Big Daddy. BioShock, I think, is the place where the player decides to roll his own shooter experience,” said the developer.

“You can really alter how it feels to play.”

Balls-out BioShock 2 multiplayer footage has worried many, but Thomas said single-player depth has been a priority.

“We are targeting maximum immersion, I suppose, as the mechanics and narrative, working together, create a sense of cogency, of a believable world,” he said.

Dropping the hacking mini-game from the first BioShock and introducing elements such as healing bots should keep the player grounded in Rapture, Thomas added.

“We’re trying to let you shape your own play style, but we always wanted to come back to that live play, essentially right back to the immersive action,” he said.

Nice piece through there. Hit for Jesus.

It’s out on February 9 worldwide for PS3, 360 and PC.

Akira Yamaoka, the composer of Silent Hill’s trademark sounds, has left Konami after 16 years, says Aeropause.

The news comes from a “pretty reliable source” at Konami Japan.

Yamaoka composed the music for the entire Silent Hill series apart from Silent Hill: Play Novel for GBA and “Esperandote” in the first game, which was written by Rika Muranaka.

Thanks, Gekidami.

This week’s Famitsu’s dated the Japanese version of MGS: Peace Walker, as you can see on Kotaku. It’s out on March 18.

The PSP title’s set 10 years after Metal Gear Solid 3.

Still no word on when the game’s coming for Europe and the US.

BioWare’s offered an olive branch over a PS3 issue that’s prevented audio playback of the Dragon Age: Origins special edition soundtrack on the console.

Basically, if you’re annoyed at not being able to play the music on your PS3, go here and email BioWare. Someone will help.

According to this Kotaku piece, you’ll get a downloadable version of the collectors edition bonus content over the EA Downloader, which includes the rogue soundtrack.

Lawsuit legend Erik Estavillo – who recently decided to subpoena Winona Ryder and Depeche Mode’s Martin Gore in a WoW case – is now planning to subpoena Bill Gates in a RROD suit he filed earlier this month.

The subpoena instructs Gates to bring “documents pertaining to the true and relative number of actual Xbox 360 units that have been fixed by Microsoft over the past 3 years.”

Should be exciting. More on GP.

“Multiple Japanese retailers,” including Amazon, are now listing Heavy Rain for a February 18 release, Siliconera reports.

Sony hasn’t announced a specific date for the Quantic Dream thriller as yet. Dev boss David Cage told us at GamesCom that “Sony thought it was best for the game to be released after the Christmas rush” to avoid “sequels of sequels”.

We’ll ask SCEE now.

SCEA comms boss Patrick Seybold’s confirmed 440,000 US PS3 sales for the week ending November 29. Big beans.

“The 2009 holiday season got off to an amazing start for PlayStation, with all key retailers showing a significant increase for PS3, PSP and key holiday titles over Black Friday and the holiday weekend,” said the exec in an emailed statement.

“PlayStation 3 demand was at an all time high with the system selling more than 440,000 units for the week ending 11/29/09.”

Seybold went on to claim that entertainment in America this year is to be “defined” by PlayStation products.

“In today’s economy, consumers are drawn to items that offer the most value for their money, making the PS3 an ideal choice for those who want a comprehensive gaming and entertainment system all in one package,” he said.

“Combine that with exclusive holiday bundles and an extensive software line-up, one that many analysts are calling the best in the industry, with titles such as Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time, Uncharted 2:Among Thieves, and LittleBigPlanet: Game of the Year, we have no doubt the momentum and demand will continue and consumers will prove that entertainment this holiday season is going to be defined by PlayStation.”

Nintendo’s claiming 550,000 Wiis sold in the same period, while Microsoft said last night that 360 sales doubled in Thanksgiving week.

Over Thanksgiving weekend, the getting was good for Microsoft. How good? According to Director of Product Management for Xbox 360 and Xbox Live Aaron Greenberg, “biggest sales week of the year” good.

“Great #BlackFriday results just in, biggest sales week of the year for #Xbox360, more than 2xs previous week sales,” he tweeted.

Greenberg stopped short of producing any concrete numbers, though. Here’s hoping Microsoft fills in that particular blank over the coming days.

Now then, Sony, what say you?

In true Nintendo fashion, the big N’s “what we’re thankful for” list suffered a bit of a delay over the weekend. But the waggle-powered behemoth’s excuse for its tardiness is passable, we think. See, Nintendo was busy taking advantage of shoppers who were taking advantage of Black Friday deals. So, can you guess what the company’s thankful for? Here’s a hint: It goes “ka-ching, ka-ching.”

The tally breaks down as follows: 550,000 Wiis and more than one million DSes. Impressive, yes, but 800,000 Americans shook off their turkey comas and waddled out to buy Wiis last year.

Still though, a win’s a win, and Nintendo’s not complaining.

Thanks, Kotaku.