Monthly Archives: November 2011

Kotaku’s dumped a ton of EA rumour this morning, claiming Dragon Age is to get a multiplayer component of some sort, and that the Dead Space IP looks set to expand dramatically.

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The BBC Micro, the computer some of you may remember as the first you ever used, celebrates its 30th birthday tomorrow. The Register has a detailed overview of the machine, its birth at Acorn and its part of a UK Government drive to promote computer literacy. Definitely take a look at this. My primary school bought one of these at great expense when I was ten years old thanks to the enthusiam of Mr Griffiths, my phenomenally religious teacher. I learned how to move a sprite across a screen, but never worked out how to make it jump. Rubbish. Key games were Elite, et al. Windmills of my mind, and all that. Thanks, Blerk.

Take-Two chief Srauss Zelnick has accused social gaming giant Zynga of having “sketchy” metrics, claiming an inability to provide concrete data is keeping the firm from full disclosure.

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SOE said this morning that the DC Universe Lightning Strikes DLC, announced earlier this month, will release on December 6. The update includes a new Flash adventure, electricity powers and loads more. It’s free for subs, $10 for everyone else. DCUO went free-to-play on PC and PS3 in October.

GameTrailers’ Geoff Keighley’s posted a terrible picture of a VGA billboard on Times Square on Twitter, promising it contains “cool world premiere news”.

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If binning hundreds of hours on video games is already adding a feeling of inexorable evaporation to your life, then compound the sense of waste by dwelling on the fact that Mythic’s Dark Age of Camelot is ten years old in 2011. Tip yourself over the edge by buying one of these super-special birthday lithographs, of which there are only 300, to hang in pride of place over your monitor. Priced sparingly at $65, the print should be gazed at for at least 30 minutes per day, and doused liberally once a week with your overflowing jar of what-could-have-been tears. Keep it moist; it’s signed by Eric Polak, for God’s sake.

Siliconera’s reporting that “snippets” from Square Enix book Final Fantasy Type-0 Ultimania have “leaked onto the internet,” including an apparent confirmation that the publisher is working on a western release of FF Type-0.

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DSOGaming‘s put up a changelog for an day patch for the PC version of Assassin’s Creed: Revelations, although where it’s come from is anyone’s guess.

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Gears of War novelist and game plot-writer Karen Traviss deliberately doesn’t play games in an effort to better to come to her projects “cold”.

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Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning isn’t an action game with some cut-and-paste XP features, but a genuine RPG experience built by fans, 38 Studios maintains.

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Famitsu gave Skyrim 40/40 in its review this week, making the Bethesda RPG the first western game to achieve the score. But what does the Japanese conversion sound like? Watch the video below for enlightenment. Thanks, Kotaku.

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Resident Dynasty Warriors fangirl Brenna Hillier met her match in legendary producer Kenichi Ogasawara, the man behind Vita launch title Dynasty Warriors Next.

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XSEED has confirmed it intends to bring PSP horror adventure Corpse Party to the European PlayStation Network following its US release, but couldn’t give an ETA. The publisher has also expressed interest in bringing sequel Book of Shadows to English-speakers. Corpse Party is a long-running multimedia franchise which began as an amateur effort in RPG Maker, and is famous for its gruesome player deaths.

GDC head Simon Carless has said long-term UBM blog GameSetWatch is being shelved due to its nature as an “entertaining fripperie” and an “increasing overlap with sister site IndieGames.com”.

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According to Siliconera‘s translation of a Game Watch report, Metal Gear Solid: Snake Eater 3D is not a port or an HD brush up. Not only has the game been entirely remade, it’s been optimised for the 3DS hardware. Nice. Snake Eater 3D hits Japan on March 8; Western release is not locked down beyond early 2012.

Thanks, D’Toid.

Famitsu has shed light on some fresh Final Fantasy XIII-2 details ahead of the game’s Japanese launch in December.

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“When we created Super Mario Galaxy, we were trying to create the types of surprises and fresh experiences that you would have on a vacation. For Super Mario 3D Land, which is a portable game that people can play away from home, we added features like the ability to complete a stage in two to three minutes. The portable and console Mario games share the same core, namely, the fun of freely controlling and becoming Mario, and in that regard, there is no distinction between the two types of games.”

– Yoshiaki Koizumi, speaking to Kotaku about the newly-released Super Mario 3D Land.

Legendary Ultima designer Richard Garriott, now Portalarium boss, thinks the console cycle is nearing its conclusion.

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US-based industry trade body the Entertainment Software Association spent $1.1 million lobbying during the last quarter, according to Yahoo Finance; that’s right on par with its usual spend. Issues the association tackled this past quarter include piracy, copyright, foreign trade policy reform and visas for the temporary hire of skilled foreign workers. The ESA is largely funded by member companies, mostly major publishers, and also runs the ESRB.

Now we know what Felicia Day’s favourite PC game is – Ultima VII Complete Edition is available through Good Old Games. For $6, you’ll score Ultima VII: The Black Gate, Ultima VII: Part Two – Serpent Isle, and two expansion packs, The Forge of Virtue and The Silver Seed. The legendary, 1992 RPG is considered on of the highlights of the series and most gamers over the age of 25 will be happy to tell you why in painstaking detail. More info and a chance to throw money wildly at CD Projekt here.

Thanks, Shack. [image]