Big name characters from big name franchises never guarantee a hugely successful title. So how does this fighting game, which mixes two, fare against other knockouts?
Those are some bigger, better, and more bad-ass exploits that we have been seeing in Gears of War 2. I cannot in good conscience call this a title update. This is a P A T C H patch .
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...We don’t have an exact date for it but all indicators are it will go live within January...we’ve fixed the ability to wield an invisible shield, melee through some walls, gain infinite Lancer ammo and equip a shield and a two-handed weapon simultaneously plus many more....
...About that shotgun...We fixed the client side hit detection on the shotgun so that in a high-latency (i.e. “laggy”) match, the shotgun will be more reliable. We’ve also fixed another bug whereby shotgun and boomshot rounds could strike the ground when firing from the hip.
Apparently, this is "just a tiny sliver" of the issues addressed in the update. There will also be new achievements, too! Interesting that it is Mark Rein and not their Community Manager, Six Okay, that makes this announcement. To me, Epic is a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma. Best art on the planet though.
Gameplayer has been given some early access to Red Faction: Guerrilla, going live with a hands-on feature article. It comes with a bunch of fresh screens and includes some interesting quotes from producer Sean Kennedy, in particular with regards to the power of the Xbox 360.
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RFG is going to change the way you look at dynamic destruction in videogames. It’s going to challenge the industry and it’s going to alter your expectations of what’s possible. We’re not talking Fracture’s fists-under-a-big-terrain-coloured-doona here, nor are we talking Mercenaries 2 and it chop-and-swap intact/broken objects. This is different.
Shacknews is reporting Beautiful Game Studios, developer of the Championship Manager series of PC soccer sims, has stated they've been victimized by thieves to the tune of a 90% piracy rate.
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"That's not just a number in the air, we can measure it and we know that there are a huge amount of pirated copies," said Beautiful GM Roy Meredith.
World of Goo co-creator Ron Carmel recently stated that his game was suffering from a 90% piracy rate--though Carmel later lowered the estimated figure to a still-staggering 82%.
Despite Meredith's obvious concern regarding piracy, he recognizes that adding DRM copy protection to the upcoming Championship Manager 2009 could create even more problems.
CCP have announced that they have recorded a massive 45,000 simultaneous players in their space-based MMO. That's a huge server load!
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What a great way to start out 2009--a new PCU (Peak Concurrent User) record of 45,186! While we've made tremendous serverside changes in the EVE Online infrastructure with the EVE64 and StacklessIO initiatives, it is truly a testament to our loyal fans that 5 years into EVE's existence we are still breaking records and more people are flying in New Eden than ever before.
We know we'll be trying to find leftover champagne from New Year's EVE to celebrate. When we do, we'll toast to you!
The MMO has faced a tough economic climate in it's native Finland but it seems like it is far from struggling.
Just to let you all know the Big Evil Guide 2009 threads have been merged so you can all refer back to it as the year goes on! If you've bookmarked the "News Items" version your bookmark may no long work so it's time for an update. If you've been busy over the festive period and you didn't catch it first time around (or even if you did) let us know your picks for 2009.
Over at 1up they have a few words from the eccentric designer of the Metal Gear Solid regarding future development and the future ahead at Kojima Productions.
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Kojima said that Kojima Productions was starting "from zero" in 2009, making it a very important year for the company. According to Kojima, everything from team structure to tools and staff are being reviewed.
"I've come to understand that the way we've made games up until now won't translate globally, and I've come to think that I need to make Kojima Productions a team that can compete alongside the rest of the world," Kojima said.
Kojima said he's been watching western studios, and hinted that he's picked up a few techniques that he would like to implement, but he didn't say which ones. He also pointed to the costs inherent to AAA development, saying that games couldn't be made just for the Japanese market.
It's good to see the dude prepare for the future but I hope that Japanese development doesn't lose it's identity. Kojima is currently directing two games, one specifically directed at western markets. Whatever that means!
Whoopsie daisy! You just can't trust anyone these days. Coming from TeamXbox we have information stating that Turn 10 is indeed working on the next version of Forza Motorsport. One of their partners listed Forza 3 as one of the titles it worked on.
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After Turn 10 announced it is working on their "Next Big Thing," a development partner has accidentally confirmed they are both working on the third installment in the Forza Motorsport series.
Forza Central found out that Kaarbo Design, the company that created many graphics for the original Forza Motorsport, listed Forza 3 as one of the titles it has worked on.
Although the PGR3 entry has been removed from the Kaarbo Design web site, it was online long enough for Forza Central to find it and take and screen shot. Click here to watch the undeniable evidence.
Polyphony could probably learn a few things from Turn 10's development cycle.
GamingShogun reports that BFG Technologies has announced its own line of gaming PCs. This 'Phobos' gaming line includes a ton of bells and whistles, even going as far as being booted up via an LCD touch-screen!
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...these gaming rigs will come in three different flavors, from the $3,000 dollar 'Performance' to the $8,000 dollar 'Elite'. You will be able to find out more on the Phobos line after January 8th at BFG's Official Site.
Phobos Elite System Specs
• Upcoming BFG NVIDIA® GeForce GTX 295 Graphics Cards (x2 for Quad SLI®)
• BFG NVIDIA GeForce GTX 285 for Dedicated PhysX™ Processing
• Intel® Core i7 965 Extreme Edition 3.2GHz Processor
• CoolIt® Contained Liquid Cooling Solution (GPU&CPU)
• MSI® Eclipse SLI Intel® X58-based Motherboard
• Patriot® 6GB PC3-12800 1600MHz DDR3 Memory
• 4x Western Digital® VelociRaptor 300GB Hard Drives
• Slot Loading Blu-ray® Super Multi Optical Drive
• BFG LS-1200 1200W High Efficiency Power Supply
• Auzentech X-Fi Prelude 7.1 Sound Card
• Integrated iPhone®/iPod® syncing dock
• Unique 8” Interactive Touch Panel LCD
• In-Home Set Up Included with Every Phobos Purchase
Maybe I am too much of a PC old-timer but the idea of using a touch-screen button to turn on my computer seems wrong somehow.
Major Nelson has reported that this week's arcade title is going to be Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos! I know you've all been waiting for this one, and don't need a description, but I'll give it to you anyway.
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Track down the evil and destructive fugitive Dr. Chaos, as you hunt down clues in the exciting seek and find game Interpol: The Trail of Dr. Chaos. As an elite agent for Interpol, it is your mission to eradicate his trail of corruption as it takes you around the world from one international city to the next. Use your investigative skills to quickly gather the evidence needed to bring him to justice.
Gamasutra has a report up that during an interview with Treasure CEO Masato Maegawa, it was revealed that Microsoft had approached Treasure about creating a remake of Radiant Silvergun for Xbox Live Arcade.
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Originally released to arcades and the Sega Saturn in Japan in 1998 Radiant Silvergun was the precursor to Treasure's other revered shoot'em-up, Ikaruga.
Though the game never saw a Western release, it has developed its own cult following, part of its appeal owing to its expensive import pricing and rarity, but also due to its unique weapons systems, which forgoes power-ups in favor of offering seven different weapons accessible at any time.
With the popularity of downloadable console games, Maegawa reflects on the possibilities of re-releasing Radiant Silvergun on a console service, commenting, "I think we'd definitely like to see it out there. But the situation around that game is a bit different from Ikaruga, so I don't know if we'd see it on [Xbox Live]."
Anyone be down for a little bit more vertical shoot-em-up goodness?
Sony's reeling with bad times, and now there's a rumor that they're poised to announce some pretty drastic closures of factories and divisions as early as next month. Reuters:
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Japan's Sony Corp is likely to announce closures of Japanese factories and major divisions early next month, the Times of London said on Monday, but the company denied any such plan existed.
The maker of Bravia flat TVs and PlayStation video game consoles faces halting sales and mounting piles of inventory in the wake of the financial crisis, even as a stronger yen bites into earnings.
Sony, whose empire encompasses semiconductors, movies and insurance, is braced for a series of measures that would abolish some of its domestic operations and transform the electronic giant's business, the Times said, citing company sources. "We do not plan to announce additional restructuring measures at this time," spokesman Atsuo Omagari said, in response to the report. "We don't have any such plan."
As much as I hate what Sony did with the PS3 launch, hopefully this isn't too terrible for them.
Today, Capcom clarified their first half of 2008 lineup, and its a good one. We've got Street Fighter IV on February 20th, Dead Rising Chop Till You Drop on February 27th, Resident Evil 5 coming March 13th, and Bionic Commando (with a still unannounced release date).
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CAPCOM TO DELIVER STELLAR LINE UP IN THE FIRST HALF OF 2009
Resident EvilTM 5, Street FighterTM IV, Dead RisingTM Chop Till You Drop, Neopets® Puzzle Adventure, Flock!TM, MotoGP for Nintendo Wii
London – January 5, 2009 - Capcom®, a leading worldwide developer and publisher of videogames, has today confirmed that seven of its upcoming titles will be released within the first half of 2009. The line up demonstrates Capcom’s commitment to pursuing a multiformat strategy and growing its portfolio of titles and includes the latest instalment of some of the industry’s most cherished franchises.
We have a real treat for you all today. Our friends over at Hidden Path Entertainment have provided quite a nice gift for the community. We hold in our hands 5 codes to download the full PC version of Defense Grid: The Awakening from Steam.
To get your shot at one of these beauties, just log in and post a comment to this thread. We will randomly pick the winners on Friday, January 9th.
Good luck and look for our full review of Defense Grid on Tuesday!
Major Nelson posted quite a list tonight, showing off which games were the most played on Xbox Live. He was kind enough to break it up into three categories: 360 Retail, 360 Arcade, Original Xbox. Here's the top three from each:
This story kind of bothers me, simply because I don't feel that pack in games should be considered as 1 game sold, but according to the super awesomely spelled VGChartz, Wii Sports has bypassed Super Mario Brothers as the best selling game of all time.
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Including VGChartz software data for the week ending 27th December 2008, Wii Sports has now passed sales of Super Mario Bros (NES) at 40.24 million units, making it the best selling videogame of all time. The game, bundled in every country outside of Japan and South Korea, reached that milestone after 110 weeks of sales.
EuroGamer has posted a hands-on preview of Capcom's highly anticipated fighting game, Street Fighter IV.
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Handling wise, Street Fighter IV will be immediately familiar to anyone who's ever pulled off a Shoryuken. Virtually all the Special moves are executed as you'd expect, with the staple charge and half-circle motions and everything in-between, and each character has access to a single, stock Super, and EX Specials, all accessed via the four-tiered Super gauge. Capcom also has a stab at a Rage gauge, here in the guise of the new Revenge gauge. Taking damage fills this meter and when it's over half full it can be used to execute an Ultra. These uber-Specials are usually accessed with the character's standard Super motion, but with three button presses rather than one. As both combatants often have a stocked Ultra as even bouts climax, things remain gritty and intense right to the finish - exactly as they should be in a good mind-games fighter.
Welcome the return of a weekly comics round-up to Evil Avatar. These are previews more than reviews so it's up to you lot to say whether or not the choices are actually worth reading! Remember to check out the release calendars for DC, Marvel, Top Cow, Image and all your other favourites! So without further ado let's have a look at this weeks most interesting titles.
Faces of Evil: Grundy
DC's "Faces of Evil" series kicks off with this one-shot focused on a character who is generally considered a B-list Batman villain. The tale is essentially a retelling and adjustment of Solomon Grundy's origin story. Given the frequent retellings heroes are often treated to it will be interesting to see how this plays out for some of DC's most dastardly villains!
Terror Titans #4
The Terror Titans mini-series finally makes good as DC continues the integration of Milestone Comics' characters into the Universe. This time it's Static (you may remember him from recent cartoon Static Shock) and he'll be facing off against Ravager as the Dark Side Club's deadly tournament continues.
X-Men Noir #2
I'm a big fan of alternate world type tales and so this title has some particular appeal to me. Essentially a noir detective story told using X-Men characters this is an interesting take on the super-hero group. It looks like Wolverine is about to become a suspect in the murder case of the mysterious red-head. How will Logan react?
Cable #10
The conclusion to the "Waiting for the End of the World" story arc sees Cable trapped in the future and he slowly begins to realise that he may well not be able to return with mutantkind's savior. The previous issue reclaimed a few lost fans and this conclusion should end the arc with a bang. Expect more unfamiliar behaviour from the gun-toting mutant.
Let us know about your picks for the week and what you thought of these titles!
I'm not sure if they are the first or last people to do this but it looks like if you want to trade in your old Xbox collection for Gamestop store credit you better do it soon. Destructoid has received word that the retailer will soon stop accepting original Xbox games soon.
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GameStop will quit accepting trade-ins of original Xbox games, accessories and systems on February 9. The information comes from an internal memo sent out earlier this week. According to a few managers that we’ve talked to thus far, GameStop will continue selling Xbox stuff until the stocks are toast.
Here's a good opportunity to find out if you have any grognard tendencies. Computer and Video Games has posted a feature that covers five war games you can download and play for free.
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STEEL PANTHERS: WORLD AT WAR Developer: SSI/Matrix Size: 426Mb Link
It's a sign of Matrix's confidence that they're prepared to give SP:WAW away for nothing. This tactical TBS is as old as the hills, but it's one of the richest, most credible WWII games ever made. The scenario folder bulges with 344 scraps involving the likes of Red Berets, White Russians and Italian Blackshirts. There's even a few Spanish Civil War engagements thrown in too.
Mike Smith from YAHOO! Games is ready to break out the bugle and start playing Taps for Sony's PSP.
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Next to it, the DS looks like a product of another age. It's barely capable of 3D, let alone delivering a suite of mobile applications of the PSP's caliber. Not, in fact, unlike the contrast between the Playstation 3 (modern, immensely powerful, and pricey) and the Wii (underpowered, basic, and cheap.) Oh, and phenomenally successful. The parallels you can draw between Sony and Nintendo's offerings go deep.
But then, set the PSP next to the iPhone or iPod Touch, the year's other big winner in portable gaming, and the PSP's hardware design suddenly looks old hat. Where's the touchscreen? What are all these buttons for? What on earth is the point of this useless analog nub of a joystick? And why, in an age when flash memory is so cheap it practically comes in Cheerios boxes, are we still stuck with a huge, bulky, slow, and noisy optical drive? If you're going to compete by offering a powerful hardware platform, you actually need to outperform the competition. As the iPhone steps into the portable gaming ring, it's already got the PSP on the ropes.
HEY! Do you want to play the Killzone 2 demo and see what the deal's about? Is it going to be as hot as that infamous CGI trailer looked way back at that E3? Well, now you'll be able to if you hit up GameStop and preorder after January 5th.
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Reserve Killzone 2 and receive exclusive access to the Killzone 2 Demo. You must have access to Playstation Network in order to redeem promotion code. Available for online and in-store customers, while supplies last.
Online Customers / In-Store Pickup: Codes granting access to the Killzone 2 Demo will be sent via email starting on February 3rd.
Store Customers: A rave card granting access to the Killzone 2 Demo will be available in stores while supplies last beginning the week of January 5. Check with your local store for more information.
There's been some question as to whether the Wii version of Dead Rising, titled Chop Till You Drop, will be any good... well, maybe it will and maybe it wont, but this trailer for the game is certainly good and really weird. It doesn't really have any gameplay footage, but it does have zombies, at a rock concert, getting into fights... for no apparent reason.
If you like comics, and you liked dead things, and possibly if you like space, then I'm sure you like free stuff. If so head on over to Newsarama and check out the first issue of the new Dead Space comic mini-series.
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We named Electronic Arts sci-fi survival horror title Dead Space the best PC action game of 2008. If you also enjoyed the game you might be interested to know that the comic book web site Newsarama has posted up the entire first issue of the Dead Space comic book mini-series for free.
Welcome to this side of 2009! Lets get back into serious conversation. Recently, Blizzard reported a user who made a suicide threat to customer service and there were several folks in our community who thought this was over the line.
January 3rd, 2009 -
Do you feel that a company has the responsibility to police their community for possibly harmful, dangerous, or illegal communication or activity?
If a company does not act, should they be held liable?
BBC News has posted an article, Looking back to the future of fun, talking with various game developers about the 2008 year in gaming and what the 2009 will bring, including a quote from former Astronaut Richard "Lord British" Garriott (whose Sci Fi MMORPG, Tabula Rasa, crashed and burned in 2008) about how he plans to return to gaming with a new fantasy MMORPG.
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After 25 years at Origin, the last thing I wanted to make was yet another medieval fantasy game. Now, after a very interesting break, I'm keen to get back into the fray and work on a new game. Probably medieval fantasy and probably online; there's something very powerful about getting people together."
videogaming247.com is reporting a rumor that developer Travelers Tales is working on a LEGO version of the popular Rock Band franchise.
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A VG247 source has claimed Traveller’s Tales is working on a Lego version of Rock Band for EA.
Our chatterer assured us the information was “100 percent correct”.
UK developer TT Games confirmed in a Radio One interview with EGTV’s Johnny Minkley last night that a Lego game is to be released this year, but refused to confirm its identity.
Other LEGO rumors for Travelers Tales next title include LEGO Harry Potter, LEGO Indiana Jones 2 and LEGO TRON.
Mark How, Principal Lead Animator of Star Wars: The Old Republic, has updated the BioWare Blog with an article on how they are trying to recreate the dynamic and exciting combat from the Star Wars movies.
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A typical day at the studio is often an obstacle course of ducking, dodging and waiting for the right moment to slip past the animators who are busily engaged in all sorts of combat. We are constantly taking center stage in the Art Pit smacking each other around, trying to brainstorm new ideas. Unfortunately for some, center stage happens to be right in front of the coffee maker and the water cooler. Yes, we may get a bit excited and start wailing on one another in the middle of the afternoon, but sometimes you need to act it out so that you can get the right timing and movement. Either that or we really just want to be Jedi. But honestly, should it be this difficult to get a cup of coffee in the middle of the afternoon?
I believe so and here’s why.
Star Wars™ is one the most memorable movie experiences of my childhood. The visual experience of it was unlike anything else of that decade. It was a movie phenomenon that sparked the imagination of every person who watched it. I’m dating myself now, but as a kid, I remember playing with the Kenner Star Wars toys back in the late 70’s and early 80’s. I had an overly buff version of Luke Skywalker who had a lightsaber that retracted in and out of his arm and a pretty awesome version of Darth Vader. I remember playing for endless hours recreating every scene in the movie. Now, years later, I have the opportunity to help recreate that experience and dive deeper into the character development that we know and love so much. Back in the day, moving Luke’s super buff arm in an up and down and smashing lightsabers together gave the impression that they were engaged in combat that mimicked the movies, but today’s video games give us the opportunity to magnify that experience by 10,000 fold.
In a mild mannered rant on his blog EA Sports' Peter Moore questions why FIFA 09, which he claims will sell in excess of 10 million units, did not make Eurogamer's Top 50 Games of 2008 list. After going through the articles that covered 50-11 Peter sits down to read the top ten...
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Tuesday morning, coffee in hand and clad in my Liverpool FC officially licensed pajamas (you think I'm kidding, don't you), I log in and scroll down the list from 10 to 1, getting more excited as I get closer to the top spot. World of Goo? I'm sure it's fun, and the reviewers certainly loved it, but surprised to see up so high. Gears 2 - great job Epic. Left 4 Dead - delighted that we at EA were involved in getting this great title to market. Geometry Wars: Retro Evolved 2 - Scousers Rule! Fable 2 - Lionhead delivers. This is where I got a queasy feeling in my stomach. I know GTA IV was yet to come, as was Little Big Planet. And I hadn't seen FallOut 3 yet. I scrolled quickly all the way to the number one spot...Huh? WTF?? As in WHERE THE HELL IS FIFA 09???
Now I get that the sports genre is the Rodney Dangerfield of games when the awards are handed out. But c'mon, one of the best sports games of recent times not even in the Top 50? This title will sell in excess of 10 million units when all is done and dusted, but doesn't even rank a mention?
Really? Seriously? Is it not cool to include a so-called mass market game? Bangai-O Spirits (no disrespect Treasure) makes it and FIFA 09 doesn't?
Eurogamer - you are and always will be one of my favorite gaming web-sites, but you were waaaay offside on this one.
From what I've read on the forums many people believe Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 is still the better game. But numerous buyers have gone with FIFA this year because more significant changes were made to the title and it has closed the gap on PES. I'm enjoying FIFA Manager 09, even though the latest patch won't make its way to the Steam version until sometime next week.
#4 -- Grinding is not content. Content is content.
I think the big game that made this boo boo is Age of Conan. When Gaute Godager let it slip that the average Conan player will reach level 80 in 250 hours, eyebrows were raised. That would have been 5 hours per level, sans level curve distribution. So what was the player going to do in those 5+ hour sessions?
Well the answer was a big fat nothing. It seems the player was basically being asked to grind themselves silly on monsters instead of being immersed in content. This use to be an acceptable practice -- let me stress the phrase "use to be."
In a world after World of Warcraft, you can't leave these gaps in content. The player needs to feel immersed and needs to feel that each time they log in, they're going to do something different. If they start realizing that all they're doing is killing monster after monster for absolutely no reason, they're going to get bored and they're going to want to go find another game.
Its been a while since Halo 3 came out, and a while since people started hating on the Push-to-Talk needs of team chatter. See, when you had a teamsize larger than four people, you had to hit up on your D-pad for everyone to hear you. Now however, they've lifted that so that now you'll only have to do that if you have more than six folks on your team. This in essence removes the restriction entirely except in Big Team Battle.Bungie.net:
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Push to Talk Restriction Increased
Since Halo 3’s release, if a player were to join a Matchmaking playlist with a team size larger than four, he or she would have to push a button on the DPad to communicate directly to t
