Wednesday, September 19, 2007
Famitsu Loves Halo 3
11:30PM Mike Fahey | The most respected gaming magazine in Japan has put Halo 3 through its paces, and the verdict is now in. Four reviewers took the game on and Bungie’s latest walked away with a score of 10/9/9/9. Relatively huge scores for the game in a country where the Xbox 360 is floundering horribly. Still, I wouldn’t look on this as Microsoft’s great hope to finally gain ground in the country – after all, Halo 2 got the exact same score when it was released in Japan and the big black box didn’t exactly become an overnight sensation. What should be interesting is seeing the U.S. reviews later this week. With numbers that high in Famitsu, I expect to see a whole bunch of perfect scores on this side of the pond, with a few of the smaller sites knocking a few points off just to be different and futz with the GameRankings average. People do love their futzing. Halo 3 scores HIGH in Famitsu [CVG - Thanks midnightz] More »
Paper Mario Europe Bugged
11:00PM Mike Fahey | Nintendo of Europe posted an item on their website today detailing a bug within the European release of Super Paper Mario. It’s a bug that occurs when playing the game in UK English, German, or Spanish. After meeting Mimi in Chapter 2-2, if you talk to her before picking up the key that opens the nearby trap, the game will freeze. It’s a tiny bug, and one that is easily circumvented by following the instructions NoE has included on their website. Despite that fact, the company still plans on offering a free replacement disc in the near future for anyone that would rather have a bug-free version of the game. Awfully nice of them if you ask me. I would have just sent a notice out via the website and possibly the Wii-mail system and been done with it. Keep an eye on Nintendo Europe’s site for replacement details. Super Paper Mario announcement [Nintendo Europe - Thanks Martin] More »
Lair Dev Dogs WarHawk Motion Controls
10:00PM Michael McWhertor | If you were to engage in a round of word association with Julian Eggebrecht of Factor 5 and you were to mention, say, Warhawk’s in-flight SIXAXIS motion controls, he might respond with “Eurgh!” Actually, that’s exactly what he did when speaking to Games Radar recently, telling the pub that he sees motion control as a “complimentary, additional new step in terms of controls and where it fits you should use it and where it doesn’t fit, don’t force it”. Wait. What? Seriously. What? Mr Lair says: “Warhawk’s controls are… eurgh!” [Games Radar] More »
Metal Slug 7 Announced, Coming To DS
9:00PM Luke Plunkett | Anyone for more Metal Slug? Course you are. You’re gagging for it. Latest issue of Famitsu has the news that the seventh installment of SNK’s immortal franchise is heading to the DS, and the DS only. Guess it guarantees a decent control scheme. Oh, and maximum profits. Metal Slug 7 annoncé [Jeux France] More »
Treasure Too Busy With Xbox Live For PlayStation Network
8:00PM Michael McWhertor | Clean-cut Treasure boss man Masato Maegawa talked to 1UP just before the kick off of Tokyo Game Show 07, putting a shine on details for every upcoming Treasure game. The recently announced Xbox Live Arcade Ikaruga remake, for example, is taking up too much of the developer’s resources, putting a hold on the unnamed Xbox 360 shooter that’s said to be in the vein of its most famous shmups, Radiant Silvergun and Ikaruga. Unfortunately for those in the PLAYSTATION 3 camp, Treasure isn’t working on the PlayStation Network, devoting their resources to XBLA development. In other news, Maegawa confirmed that the company’s other newly announced title, Bangai-O Spirits for the Nintendo DS is not a straight remake of the Dreamcast/Nintendo 64 game. That game will be playable at TGS this week, so expect to read in-depth impressions, hopefully from yours truly. More details, including a teaser on Radiant Silvergun for the 360, at the 1UP report. Treasure Talks Ikaruga, Wii Title, and More [1UP] More »
Mass Effect Trilogy Completed Within This Gen
7:00PM Mark Wilson | BREAKING: Mass Effect is on the 360! Actually, in what is sort of news, Bioware president Dr. Greg Zeschuk said he would like to see the Mass Effect trilogy completed within the current generation of hardware. Certainly out intent is to have all three iterations or installments of Mass Effect to be on Xbox 360. That’s the goal…I hope, I hope, I hope that this cycle is longer than the last one. Zeschuk still hedges on whether or not the series will be exclusive to the 360, but if Bioware is aiming to complete (what is hopefully) one of the most innovative/awesome/bestest RPG franchises of all time in just one generation of hardware, they’re going to have a bit of difficulty bringing those titles to the PS3 as well. BioWare aims for trilogy to start and finish on 360, if console cycle lasts that long [gamesradar] More »
Anyone For Nintendo Australia Release Dates?
6:00PM Luke Plunkett | Just got an email from Nintendo Australia. Inside, a whole bunch of release dates for upcoming titles. Any good news? Maybe! Depends on how optimistic you are. Metroid is coming in…November. November 9. Mario Galaxy’s also November, due on the 29th. Phantom Hourglass is confirmed as October 11, Umbrella Chronicles is December 13, Zack and Wiki is expected in “mid-December” and Smash Bros is…well, Smash Bros is nowhere to be seen. More »
Atari Files Fiscal Report, May Be Heard Crying At Night
4:36PM Logan Booker | Ah, Atari. The publisher the keeps on keeping on. Despite having a rough time of it over the last few years with the sale of Shiny back in 2006 and the resignation of CFO Bruno Bonnell in April this year, the company still maintains their place on the NASDAQ. Just.
After a bit of a delay, Atari has filed their 2006/2007 fiscal report. While the publisher’s losses have held steady at $US 69.7m ($81.6m), profits have slump by 40%, sitting at $US 122.3m ($143.2m).
I know I’ll be picking up a copy of Clive Barker’s Jericho when it comes out, as well as Alone in the Dark 5, even though it’s MIA at the moment. But I think Atari will need a little more than my hard-earned tokens to up those figures.
Atari files delayed annual report [GamesIndustry.biz]
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Liveblogging The Konami Pre-TGS Press Conference
4:30PM Michael McWhertor | We’re at Konami Digital Entertainment’s HQ, settling in for the publisher’s pre-Tokyo Game Show announcements. Guaranteed to make appearances are Metal Gear Solid 4, plus plenty of enthralling news about the Pawapuro Productions games, Bemani and Winning Eleven. Of course, some surprise announcements may pop up, plus we’re sure to be treated to a new MGS4 trailer. There may be some unintentional hilarity as I accidentally switch on kanji mode or hunt and peck for the single quote key on Ashcraft’s Japanese MacBook. So far we’ve been subjected to about a dozen plays of the Snake Eater theme. And the lights go down. Hit the jump for all the excitement! More »
