Editor/Founder:
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Sony has whipped out a new TV spot with “Sony’s” Kevin Butler, which advertises God of War III. It’s pretty much a fair warning to all the girlfriends/boyfriends’ of the world, whose significant other is about to play the third installment, in just a few days.
Also while you watch, check out the names and titles of both people in the video — it might make you chuckle.
Some news is starting to trickle out of Nintendo’s US Media Summit in San Francisco. The company has confirmed dates for two highly-anticipated videogames for their Wii console. And let’s say summer is gonna be a good season for Wii gamers, which is generally unusual for the industry.
The sequel to arguably the best Wii title to date, and perhaps this generation of consoles as a whole, Super Mario Galaxy, is dated for May 23. Super Mario Galaxy 2 was predicted to be a huge holiday title for the Big N when it was first announced at the Electronic Entertainment Expo, but it never saw the light of day — nor mentioned much after the convention.
Another big title which was also first shown at E3 — Metroid: Other M – now officially has a date. The title, which is being co-developed by Team Ninja — makers of Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden — will be in stores on June 27th of this year. The next installment of this particular Metroid game, will experiment with the combination of both first and third-person action sequences, a departure of the recent Metroid games, which was almost all in a first-person prospective.
It’s interesting to see Nintendo release these games before or right after E3, considering not much has been talked about them. With that said, it’s going to be hard for Nintendo to gain E3 hype for both titles. While I don’t see that being to much of a problem for Mario because well…it’s Mario, I do see Metroid having some advertising problems.
When Metroid is released, it pretty much is right after E3 ends, which doesn’t sound like a horrible idea at first; however, it’s risky. The reason is because the title could get lost, with all the other gaming announcements by various companies. And if the game doesn’t impress gamers when it’s showed off, they might forget it even exists when it ships a few weeks later.
I hope Nintendo has something HUGE up their sleeve for the expo because these are two games that would normally be considered Christmas titles. With that said, Nintendo is certainly not forgetting about the ever-so-important holiday season. So I fully expect some major announcements by Nintendo at the famous videogame convention in June.
God of War III won’t require a HDD install, like a lot of other games published by Sony. The news comes straight from Christer Ericson who is the head of technology at Sony’s Santa Monica Studios, the developers behind the anticipated third installment. Mr Ericson tweeted the confirmation a little while ago:
“God of War 3 does NOT do a HD install. The 5MB listed on box back is for save game only.”
This news comes after the revealing that the game will fill over 35GB of data on one single Blu-Ray disc. I’m actually happy that the team figured out a way of fitting the full game on one single disc. Between owning a bunch of titles for the PlayStation 3 and having a first generation system, I only have limited space on my hard-drive, and each blockbuster game that is released, I see less and less room available for extra goodies like Demos and movies.
So, kudos to Santa Monica Studios for working diligently on making the game work on just the disc, without the need of an install.
Mark down March 17th because that’s when one of the best first-person shooters of-all-time is making a return. Microsoft has announced that Perfect Dark, the classic title for the Nintendo 64, is getting its re-released on that day for 800 Microsoft Points. Microsoft has also revealed that from March 3-30 is when Xbox Live House Party will take place.
According to them, House Party is playing host to some of the most anticipated titles for Xbox Live, which obviously includes the spiritual successor to Goldeneye. Including Perfect Dark — three games will be part of the ‘House Party’ and if gamers buy all, they be refunded 400 Microsoft Points. If they are already a Gold subscriber, they’ll get one month free to Xbox Live.
The two other games are Toy Soldiers; which comes out on March 3rd and Scrap Metal; which has a release date March 10th. While I’m sure the other games will be fun, I’m craploads more excited for Perfect Dark. During the PSX and N64 generation, Perfect Dark was, and in many ways still is \, one of the best games to play with friends. But thanks to Xbox Live, I’ll be able to play with the same people as I did almost ten years ago, over the online service. I get the feeling Rare is about to take a lot of my time once again…
After the jump, check out a description for each game. (more…)
Summer is universally known as a slow time for gamers. Most of the anticipated titles skip the warm season and generally come out when the weather gets colder, just in time for the holidays. However this year, Electronic Arts has decided to change up the theory “when games should be released.”
Barring no major setbacks or delays, EA is set to release both the reboot of the Medal of Honor game, which is set in modern times and Realtime World’s ambitious title APB (All Points Bulletin) will be released this summer. The publisher expects to release both games between July through September; however no exact date was announced.
The company also announced vague dates for a couple other important games as well. From October to December, Crysis 2, Criterion’s (Burnout) first take on Need for Speed and EA’s MMA game will all be launched. Following December and ending in March, Dead Space 2, a sequel to Dragon Age, an unnamed Epic Games shooter, along with a unannounced action title, are all scheduled to ship.
It has been three years since we last saw a Ghost Recon title. However, that’s about to change thanks to a Ubisoft announcement. The publisher has confirmed that their studio Ubisoft Paris, the same team who developed the Advanced Warfare series, is underway working on Tom Clancy’s Ghost Recon: Future Soldier for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
The company is promising the title will include “cutting-edge technology, prototype high-tech weaponry, and state-of-the-art single-player and multiplayer modes,” which isn’t hard to believe since pretty much every Ghost Recon has been considered a “Grade A” series.” And honestly, it was the Modern Warfare before Modern Warfare and not only that, the older Recon’s are STILL some of the most realistic shooters of-all-time.
The game sounds like it will launch sometime this holiday season; however, if you own an Xbox 360 you’ll get a chance to experience a tease beforehand. Included with Splinter Cell: Conviction will be a Ghost Recon: Future Soldier beta key. Exactly what that will entail is unknown, but we’re pretty sure multiplayer will be the focus.
If you haven’t heard yet, Microsoft plans on shutting off the servers for all the original Xbox Live games. This means iconic games like Halo 2 will no longer be playable over the online service, which will officially end the era of an important idea introduced to the console industry.
In response, Bungie has left a note on their website which told their fans to mark down April 14th because they plan on sending Halo 2 off in style.
“That said, mark your calendars now – on April 14th let’s all rally to go online for one last hoorah. One final farewell and one final opportunity for all of you to kick our asses at Halo 2.”
They promised full details of what to expect besides just playing with some of the developers and that information will be forthcoming in the upcoming weeks, so will be checking back for you. Although, I have the feeling the company has something up their sleeve, which should be worth booting up the 5-year-old game. Halo 2 and Xbox Live both played a part in helping the studio grow into one of the biggest in the world.
Just a side note, April 14th falls on a Wednesday, in case any of you were wondering.
via: kotaku
Congrats to comment number 68, Rob, who won the copy of Dante’s Inferno.
The contest is now closed, thanks to all who participated.
On February 9th, gamers will be preparing to “Go to Hell.” Not because we’ve been playing murder simulators all our lives (according to the word of Jack Thompson), but due to the fact Electronic Arts is set to ship their latest videogame Dante’s Inferno, which is loosely adapted from Dante Alighieri’s legendary epic poem The Divine Comedy.
Players will assume the role of Dante, a veteran of the Third Crusade. When Dante finds his love, Beatrice, soul trapped inside the clutches of hell, he attempts to follower her, but quickly learns the “light-bearer” Lucifer is personally seizing her spirit. In order to save Beatrice, Dante must fight through hordes of demons in the Nine Circles of Hell and when he finds her, merry her in order to free her soul.
This will be one of the first time a studio, Visceral Games in this case, will take on the task of mixing a videogame with one of the great literary works in human history. I’m excited to see how the team will pull it off, I’m sure most of you are too.
Thankfully one of you /gamer readers will be able to snag a copy of the highly-anticipated title on Xbox 360 for free, thanks to a contest we’re holding. The rules are simple: after the Jump, a question will be asked about the Divine Comedy. All you have to do is type your email, we’re it is required to comment (for contact purposes), answer the question right, and automatically you’ll entered into a drawing. Whomever is selected will be notified right away.
The contest will start NOW and end on February 9th, at midnight pacific standard time.
Again, the question is after the jump. (more…)
Yikes! Sony as just announced that the anticipated, yet super innovative title Heavy Rain, is going to require a 4.2GB install, when the game is first put inside PlayStation 3s. That obviously means gamers who purchase the game will have to wait an extensive amount of time before they even can experience the universe that Quantic Dream has developed.
Unlike most games that require the dreaded install, the guys behind the game will try and keep gamers entertained for however long it will take. It has been confirmed once the install screen appears, players will be able to create a swan origami. Sure, it’s nothing special and I’m sure most gamers would rather play the psychological-thriller right when they pop the game inside their PS3, it’s better then having to wait and watch a loading screen appear for what seems like an eternity.
Heavy Rain is shipping into stores on February 23rd and 24th in both North America and Europe, receptively. A demo is also expected to hit the PlayStation Network on February 11th.
Since Project Natal and Halo: Reach were announced at this past E3, speculation was right away suggesting that both the game and the peripheral would work together. Even Bungie’s studio president Harold Ryan chimed in with the Seattle Times and kept the rumors afloat by saying that ‘Reach’ could “absolutely” be “enabled” with Natal. Today, Bungie has shot-down those rumors.
On Bungie’s weekly update on their site, they teased its fans with a round of “Halo: Reach Mythbusters,” and tried to set the record straight with some of the gossip surrounding the anticipated first-person shooter.
“Truth be told, it’s just a good ole fashioned bug. Bug #15163 to be exact,” Bungie wrote. “Halo: Reach is NOT a Natal title and is being developed expressly with the traditional Xbox 360 controller in mind.”
There you go, the biggest game of the year for the Xbox 360 won’t take advantage of what Microsoft is hoping will be their biggest hardware launch, since they released the Xbox 360 console. It would have been cool to see what a talented developer like Bungie could do with Project Natal and see if they could make a ‘hardcore’ game in-mind with peripheral that has been accused of being a casual game device. With that said, I only think Project Natal games should be made from the ground up, and not be thrown at the last minute just to convince hardcore gamers that should buy it.
When EA became the parent company for BioWare, gamers across the universe were relentlessly nervous over the fear their beloved studio would take a hit in quality. Then just a few short days ago, Mass Effect 2 was released and was met with unbelievable reviews from critics and currently holds a 96/100 score on Metacritic. So the brief protest was quickly proven wrong; however the next question was, would EA’s wallet help the developer sell more titles? The answer is yes.
EA just sent out a press release announcing the sequel to the space RPG is “hailed as the 1st blockbuster of 2010,” and they just might be right. According to their numbers, Mass Effect 2 has already sold over 2 million units worldwide. A mighty feat indeed — considering the game came out last Tuesday in the States and today in Europe.
“Mass Effect 2 is poised to be one of the biggest games of 2010,” said Ray Muzyka BioWare’s co-founder. “We could not be more proud of the game’s universal acclaim and early commercial success.”
As a whole, this is great news for the videogame industry. It’s proving even in the economic recovery, games that aren’t already considered established franchises can still sell.
The creator of the original Resident Evil, Shinji Mikami, has been directing his next project titled Vanquish and last night the first trailer premiered on GameTrailers TV, which I have embedded up top. Apparently, Mikami has been working with the talented Japanese studio Platinum Games, who was the team behind the newly released Bayonetta game for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3.
Much like a lot of debut trailers, this one doesn’t show any gameplay; however it does something a tad different and doesn’t follow the exact same unwritten rule of a first trailer. The clip mixes CG, along with real human actors, and is getting some flap for doing it. Some people are quickly to comment that maybe Platinum Games doesn’t have enough faith in their own CG and have decided to use ‘real life characters,’ in hopes to disguise what they can’t do. This is just ridiculous to assume.
If anyone remembers the very first Resident Evil for the original PlayStation back in 1996, they should recollect a lot of the scenes used real-life actors. To me, it looks like Shinji Mikami is once again going back to his roots and doing something similar with actual actors, rather than CG in Vanquish — which is fine by me. However, that doesn’t excuse my hatred for a publisher, Sega in this case, releasing a debut trailer and not showing us gameplay whatsoever. I would rather them give us something rather than some fancy cut-scenes, so we would have more to talk about the next day.
Anyway, when you watch the trailer, America is being heavily attacked by either an alien race, terrorists, or another country. Unfortunately for us Americans, especially for the ones who live in San Francisco, it’s up to an albino Master Chief clone to save the richest country in the world. I say “unfortunately’ because most albinos have poor vision or are legally blind, which — in my opinion — doesn’t bold to well in a devastating war.
When Grand Theft Auto IV was announced a couple years ago, it was proceeded by the shocking news how the Xbox 360 version would get dibs on the downloadable content, which saw two different episodes in a span of a year. Today, Rockstar Games has just revealed that the same content, both called The Lost and the Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony, will be available for the PlayStation 3 starting March 30th. Each game will be sold separately for $19.99 on the PlayStation Network or gamers can buy a Blu-ray disc which includes both titles and can be purchased for $39.99.
PC owners can also get on the action and buy the two expansions for the same price, but also get some extra goodies. According to the company, not only can players use the exclusive “advanced video editor,” but also have multiplayer matches with 32-online players.
While it sounds cool, I’m not sure how great this is. Grand Theft Auto is a two-year old game, and if you head to your local GamStop and check out the used section, you find stacks of Grand Theft Auto IV games, meaning gamers didn’t keep the title. At the same time, you have to wonder if Microsoft paying $50 million to make sure Rockstar would make the content exclusive, was worth it. Apparently, it was just a time-exclusive deal, and as of now, I have a hard time believing enough Xbox 360s were moved to warrant the price paid.
Santa Monica Studios’ John Hight, has been making the Internet rounds, talking to various sites about the companies anticipated upcoming third installment of God of War. While speaking with MTV about how long the game will be in terms of length, he promised God of War III will be “considerably longer” than the previous entries. He even joked a ten-hour game wouldn’t be that long, when compared to the other two.
John Hight: “We’ve done a lot of play testing on it. We know, for a really hardcore player, it’ll take them longer than it took them to play either of the previous “God of War” games.”
MTV: “Longer than seven hours?”
Hight: “Oh yeah.”
MTV: “Considerably longer than seven hours?”
Hight: “I think so.”
MTV: “Is ten…um…longer? [This is me trying to be sneaky]”
Hight: “Ten is longer, but ten might not be considerably longer! [laughs] It’s more than 10 hours.”
While I would love to take his word for it, I’ve been burned so many times by developers promising a certain game would be “x-amount” of time to play through it; and later, only to find out it wasn’t anywhere near the estimation. However, I do have to admit, it’s exciting to read what he feels the length will be, but I’m trying so hard not to get my hopes up.
Eidos has announced that gamers who buy the PlayStation 3 version of Just Cause 2, will be able to record a 30-second clip from their own game and upload it onto Youtube. If you’re unsure why this could be a neat feature for the game, than chances are, you have no clue what the sequel to the 2006 sandbox game is about.
The story follows Rico Rodriguez, a CIA black ops agent, whose main purpose in the first game was to overthrow a evil dictator who controls a fictional island inspired by Panama. While the landscape inside “San Esperito” is realistic looking, the action is way over-the-top; however, that is not necessarily a horrible thing either.
Rodriguez is once again sent out to another island, this time it’s geographically inspired by both New Zealand and Hawaii. From some of the footage we’ve seen, Rodriguez was see doing crazy acrobatic stuff like, jumping onto a flying plane or skydiving off a mountain. Sure, it’s totally unreal, but you can see how it could be fun in a videogame. And having the ability to upload some of your more crazy stunts onto Youtube — you can easily see how that could be a fun feature.
To be honest, I don’t know why more videogame companies haven’t taken an initiative to allow a similar feature. It also doesn’t make a lot of sense why they haven’t done this, especially considering many of the home consoles out there are hooked up to the Internet one way or another. Hopefully this is the beginning of more to come.
