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Dragon's Dogma: The Kotaku Review Not long after the first official piece of user created content for the PlayStation 3 version of Unreal Tournament III arrives, the community has answered the call, with a handful of new maps and a new mutator, something we hope is the start of a long-running trend. The details on each are nestled within the official thread created by Mark Rein at Epic Games’ forums, with links to required files and details contained within. Deathmatch map DM-Elevation can be seen above and was created by user “warby”, also responsible for the excellent Shadow of the Colossus-style map for Half-Life 2.
First User Created Content for UT3 PS3 is released! [Epic Games]
I received a relatively snippy email today from Scholastic vice president of corporate communications Kyle Good in response to our story about their upcoming book-meets-video-games series The 39 Clues. In the story I referenced the same paragraph of the New York Times that Ian Bogost referenced which said that the series was the publisher’s attempt to “create a branded franchise for which it owns all the rights” essentially cutting the writers out of future profits.
The veep was quick to point out that they never said that, rather that it was the New York Time’s interpretation of their series.
Your interpretation of the interpretation of the reporter at the New York Times does NOT reflect the feelings of anyone at Scholastic regarding J.K.Rowling. Quite the opposite, we are enormously proud to be her U.S. publisher.
Scholastic retains the rights to The 39 Clues because the project was developed in the Scholastic Lab for Informal Learning in conjunction with the company’s Trade publishing division as you can read in the attached press release. I suggest you use this as original source material.
Good call, though I still have never been a fan of publisher-driven projects, in any medium. And for the record, their interpretation of my interpretation of an interpretation; was actually an interpretation of my interpretation of an interpretation of interpretation…. wait what were we talking about again?
The team at Polyphony Digital have created a video Christmas card for Gran Turismo fans, which they say celebrates “10 years of passion and enthusiasm for cars.” It features the stock smooth jazz soundtrack of any Gran Turismo game, this time with a finger-snappin’, mute-button reachin’ cover of “Jingle Bells.” The rest of it is the typical car smut, with plenty of motionless bystanders that have become a staple in GT over the past decade and a guest appearance from Santa. Good times.
Alex Ward and, by association, The Burnout Team have written a rather grumbly Christmas card to fans who have found one too many things to complain about in the demo version of Burnout Paradise. There are plenty of instances of Ward SHOUTING ACROSS THE INTERNET IN ALL CAPS in response to whining and plenty what could be interpreted as defending the team’s design decisions. Those decisions make Paradise a different experience from Burnout Revenge, but not, as Ward suggests, a clone of Test Drive Unlimited, to which the game is drawing comparisons.
Ward assures concerned fans that “Burnout has always and will always be about evolution. We’re quite open about this, and we’ve said it many times and in many interviews so it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone really. Just because we do something in one game never means it may or will come back in another.” The full, surprisingly frank rant is worth the read.
MERRY CHRISTMAS AND SOME DEMO QUESTIONS ANSWERED… [Criterion Games]
A new SpongBob game will be hitting the Xbox Live Arcade the day after Christmas. SpongeBob SquarePants Underpants Slam!, an 800 point side-scrolling mulitplayer game, will the cast of the cartoon exploring the land of Bikini Bottom looking for the lost undergarments of King Neptune.
* All the popular characters: Play as all your favorite characters from the animated series, including SpongeBob SquarePants, Patrick Star, Eugene Krabs, Sandy Cheeks, and Sheldon Plankton. * Visit familiar environs: Search the kitchens of the Krusty Krab, visit the Flying Dutchman’s ship, and explore the depths of the all-new Armoury of Atlantis for rare pairs of pants. * Wild arcade action: It’s every sea creature for him or herself! Use your character’s slapstick moves to knock down and slow your opponents, and gain special powers from pickups that allow you to move at super speed, hit twice as hard, or even steal pants from other players! * Single player modes: Take on the tricky Time Attack Mode where beating the clock means everything, or engage in the full Quest Mode, where you must collect 99 pairs of Neptune’s underpants to win the game. * Multiplayer game modes: Play Tag Mode, and avoid being “it” at Bikini Bottom. Play with a friend offline or take it online to Xbox LIVE® Arcade with up to four players
The game will be rated E, and I’m sure my SpongeBob-addicted son’s going to love it.
Swedish magazine Level’s latest issue commemorates the 20th anniversary of the Blue Bomber, featuring stunning artwork of Mega Man that should embarrass just about every print outlet that isn’t Edge. The piece, from Hitoshi Ariga, responsible for Rockman Megamix and The Big O manga, was passed on to us in ridiculously large resolution (1200 x 1600) by a reader who, coincidentally also goes by the name Mega Man. The original scan, which can be used for wallpaper creation purposes, can be found here.
Many thanks to “Mega Man” for bringing this to our attention. You’ve made my own desktop very proud.
Here’s an idea: propose a 1 percent tax increase on sales tax in the state of Wisconsin to help fund programs for juvenile rehabilitation programs for those who shouldn’t be tried as adults in cases of non-violent crimes. Now, a dumb idea: impose that 1 percent tax only on video games and video game consoles. That knuckleheaded proposal can be credited to Democratic senator Jon Erpenbach, who probably has some notion that the purchasing of video games has some direct and doubtless correlation to becoming a delinquent youth. The notion is silly, misguided and smacks of pandering to fellow dim bulbs who are spooked about the dangers of Grand Theft Auto creating a generation of hooker murdering thugs.
Lawmaker wants expanded juvenile treatments [Wisconsin Radio Network via GamePolitics][Image]
The Independent Games Festival today announced the dozen finalists for the Student Showcase. The 12 finalists will all receive a $US 500 travel stipend to help them get to GDC 2008 in San Francisco and the winner of the IGF Best Student Game Award will receive a $US 2,500 cash prize.
All of the games will also be shown off at the IGF Pavillion during the show. Here’s the list:
Crayon Physics Deluxe, by Helsinki Polytechnic Stadia, Finland Empyreal Nocturne, by DigiPen Institute of Technology Gesundheit!, by Sheridan Institute Galaxy Scraper, by Universitat Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona, Spain Mayhem Intergalactic, by The Australian National University Poesysteme, by ENJMIN, France Polarity, by Carnegie Mellon University Ruckblende, by Uni Duisburg-Essen, Germany Synaesthete, by DigiPen Institute of Technology The Misadventures Of P.B. Winterbottom, by University of Southern California- School of Cinematic Arts- Interactive Media Program Flipside (Half-Life 2 Modification), by National Academy of Digital, Interactive Entertainment, Denmark Foamzilla (Unreal Tournament 2004 Modification), by Vancouver Film School
Among the short-list is a Half-Life 2 mod called Flipside which has me very intriguied. I haven’t had a chance to play it yet… mostly because I’m sitting in a van writing this on an energy-efficient, but graphicically-crap laptop. But I plan to check it out in the new year just as soon as I get back home. You should do the same, same with the rest of these finalists. Remember, these are the sorts of games that can sing on the Playstation Network or Xbox Live Arcade.
Looking for a last minute stocking stuffer that won’t set you back more than three CD-Rs? Give your loved ones (who are apparently just an afterthought) the Universe At War official soundtrack, which has been released by Petroglyph today for free. Three discs worth of music from the game’s three distinct factions is sure to be the perfect soundtrack to your holiday. The OST was composed by Frank Klepacki of Dune II and Command & Conquer fame, so you know it’s worth the download.
Introducing the Universe at War Soundtrack, Merry Christmas, Petroglyph Community! [Petroglyph]
The long nightmare of having access to a sensible game of soccer on your Xbox 360 has finally come to an end, as Codemasters and Microsoft have resolved the issues with XBLA title Sensible World of Soccer. The fixed version is now available for download via Xbox Live Marketplace. Anyone who has previously downloaded the title and experience issues playing online should delete their old install and re-download the product. I don’t envy those who went through this trying ordeal. You’re in our thoughts and prayers.
Sensible World of Soccer now available for download [Microsoft]
