Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending 
High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle 
The Last Moments Of GAME 
How Bad User Interfaces Are Ruining Video Games And Other Wonderful Things 
She Tried To Make Good Video Games For Girls, Whatever That Meant 
The Story Of Doodle Jump: Brotherly Love And Digital Snacks SCEA have just confirmed that they’re bringing the PS3′s Hot Shots Golf 5 (now re-branded Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds) to the US market in March. Anyone with a Japanese PSN account (or, you know, if you’re Japanese) may already have tested this out, but if you haven’t, all you need to know is that it’s another Hot Shots golf game, it’s looking very pretty, and this version will be in a language you’ll be able to comprehend.
Japanese publisher Enterbrain have announced that the Nintendo Wii has just sold its five millionth unit in Japan. As of January 20, 5,019,337 had been sold, which translates to an average of 385,000 every month. Also announced were the top five-selling games for the console, which look a lot like this:
1. Wii Sports – 2,663,938 2. Wii Play – 2,139,084 3. Mario Party 8 – 1,153,648 4. Wii Fit – 1,113,626 5. Super Mario Galaxy – 843,961
All the best to Nintendo for all the money they’re making, really, but I can’t help but look at that list and shed a quiet tear or two. Wii breaks five million mark [MCV]
Games Radar are reporting that, according to a “reliable Sony source”, God of War III won’t be finished any time soon. As in, not in 2008, and maybe not even the year after, the source saying it’s due to be completed around Christmas 2009 at the earliest. If you don’t have a calendar handy, that’s aaaages away. Bad news for fans of Kratos and his manly chest, then, and surely (if true) the reason why Sony were trying their darndest to hold off from announcing the thing so “early”. Kratos in no hurry [Games Radar]
Microsoft’s Surface technology sure is nifty, but it’s going to cost a pretty penny. Oh, and it’s real world applications are a bit questionable, too. But this Wii-mote hack, done in the Johnny Lee style does its best to recreate the Surface tech, without leaving greasy finger prints. Maestro, as its creators at Cynergy have named it, require a Wii remote and a pair of LED gloves—soon to be obsolete when we’ll have the diodes embedded in our fingertips in the not too distant future—in order to work. More details are available by press play or visiting the YouTube page on the matter.
Cynergy Labs: Project Maestro [YouTube via Gizmodo AU]
And that date is February 7, going by the Funtastic schedule that just arrived in my inbox. To the left you’ll find the Xbox 360 pack shot, though rest assured it’s coming out on PS3 and PC as well.
Except that the PC date is AWOL. I’ve dropped the PR at Funtastic an email, and hopefully we’ll have this cleared up before the end of the day.
Of course, if you have a 360 and just can’t wait two weeks, the demo is available for download right now.
Remember iPod gaming? Yes, it continues to be quite the punchline, but publishers are still giving it a go, with Namco releasing Pole Position Remix via the iTunes store today. The driving game controlled with the (get this) iPod wheel is receiving nothing short of piss poor to five-star rave reviews from those who have purchased the arcade remake and taken the time to comment on iTunes. Klee3 says Pole Position Remix is “[the]worst of all the iPod Games that are available now” but razor pod writes “this game is hot so fun and not very hard to control (for Me) so this game is really fun.” Looks like someone’s having so much fun they can’t be bothered to punctuate! Very telling.
It’s priced at $US 4.99, which should make many of us thankful for more reasonable prices on fully-featured games via Xbox Live and PSN. Sorry folks who don’t have a iPod Nano with video, iPod Classic or fifth generation iPod, you’re out of luck.
Cloth maps used to be a pretty big deal, back when Ultima IV was packing them in, thwarting Xerox machines everywhere. In the case of The Eye of Judgment, however, they tend to be more a source of frustration than of nerdy shouts of “Cool!”. Reader Matt had it up to here (see forehead) with the included fabric play mat, easily bumped camera and need for constant lighting, so he built a custom EOJ table for himself and his sons to use when playing the PlayStation 3 collectible card game.
As fans of the PlayStation Eye title will note, who have probably played the man who goes by the handle Havok, the layout of the wooden play area is aesthetically in-keeping with the game’s logo. Throw a couple beverage holders on the side and you’ve got a retail ready product.
Good work and smart thinkin’, Matt. Thanks for the tip.
I have a confession to make: Nowadays I find it heard to retain interest in a massively multplayer online game for more than an hour or so. They just bore the crap out of me. They’re all so transparent, so same, the sameness, I think is what really kills the experience for me.
So the only reason I started checking out Pirates of the Burning Sea was because I’m reviewing it for Variety. What I’ve found so far is a game, that while still suffering under the yoke of World of Warcraft, manages to introduce at least a few unique elements to the thread-worn mechanic found in nearly all MMOs. I speak of the ship-to-ship warfare which I find very reminiscent of the Ancient Art of War at Sea a game I simply loved.
Ship-to-Ship combat isn’t the entire game, for most people at least, but cutting through the water, minding the wind direction and cannon reload times, all in real time mind you, is a pure joy and makes me want to play through the rest of the game, no matter how familiar it might be, just to upgrade the ship to something improbable and monstrous. I’m told, I shit you not, that you can have battles between entire flotillas of these amazing Tall Ships too, up to 25 a side. I haven’t experience that yet, but I may actually stick around long enough to try.
I’m not 100 percent sure, yet, if I’d pay the full $US 15 a month to play the game, but you can figure that out yourself now that it has gone live, effective today.
[Thanks to Luke for the bit of photoshoppery on that image, arrr]
By way of GameSetWatch comes GameLab’s mini-collection of video game inspired music videos, a rather solid grouping of retro and modern day nods to the genre. One that’s missing, included above is DJ Shadow’s “This Time”, which is not only a finger-snapper, but a fine pixelated ode that’s also fan created. Some respectable choices, including Cadence Weapon’s video that’s heavy with Punch-Out!! references. Other suggestions are, of course, welcome in the comments.
Top 5 Game-Inspired Music Videos [GameLab via GameSetWatch]
The official Capcom blog has revealed that this Thursday will bring about the long awaited first taste of Capcom’s Devil May Cry 4 to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 owners everywhere. Well, everyone who’s not me, because I’ve already played the thing to death! But for those of you who don’t get to live the glorious life of a stay at home video games blogger, one who flies to exotic locations to play 15 minutes of a game under the watchful eye of PR folk, keep your eyes on Xbox Live and the PlayStation Network on the afternoon of January 24. The full game hits February 5 in North America, ensuring that you’ll have ample to to become familiar with Nero’s Devil Bringer.
Devil May Cry 4 Demo Available This Thursday [Capcom Blog]
