If you’re European, and ran to your PS3 this morning, clawing like a madman for the Metal Gear database that Japan and the US got, you’ll no doubt already be sitting in a puddle of your own anguish, wondering aloud why SCEE couldn’t follow suit and make it part of this week’s downloads. Which they didn’t. No doubt it’s got something to do with translating Kojima’s tangled storyline into 17 languages. If you’ve bothered setting yourself up with an American (or Japanese, it has an English-language option) PSN account, you’ll have to jump in and grab it from there.
It’s no secret that piracy — especially game piracy — is widespread in South Korean. While there is no data, Gamasutra’s Nick Rumas points out that it’s evident to anyone with “a pair of eyes”. Rumas takes a look at how the R4 is used in Korea, writing:
In Korea, piracy of video games isn’t limited to the hardcore crowd; it’s everywhere, prevalent in every age group and economic class that exists. And beyond being a matter of money – of not wanting to spend money, that is – piracy for Koreans is, perhaps even foremost, a matter of convenience.
Interestingly, Rumas points out that many Korean R4 owners aren’t even that tech savvy and simply purchase pre-loaded flash cards! Swing by Gamasutra and check out the article. There’s some some good insights there and good questions asked about Nintendo’s piracy fight in Korea.
Piracy In Korea [Gamasutra via Phantom Leap]
Speaking at its annual shareholder meeting in Tokyo today, Sony boss Howard Stringer has said that the #1 priority across the entire company is – coupled with boosting their TV business – restoring profitability to the games division. And it’s not hard to see why! The PlayStation division alone has lost Sony around $AU 3.56 billion over the past two years while the PS3 was moving from R&D onto the shelf, so you can forgive Sir Howard for wanting to see a little of that money start making its way home.
Stringer Says Restoring Sony TV, Games Profits Is Key [Bloomberg][Pic]
On August 2nd, Mamoru Oshii, the director behind anime Ghost In The Shell, will release his new flick The Sky Crawlers. Based on a series of novels, the romance adventure focuses on a group of dogfighter pilots and is set in a fictionalised World War II-type setting. The film just had it’s American premiere at the Skywalker Sound studio in California, where soundtrack work for the film was done. And to tie-in with the movie, Namco Bandai is releasing Sky Crawlers: Innocent Aces, which is being developed by the Ace Combat team. That’s good news! The game will sport an original story and use the Wii Remote for throttle and the Nunchuk for the control stick. It’s out the fall in Japan — no word about a Western release.
Innocent Aces [Dengeki Online via Game|Life]
This week, the following events took place: 1. We got a bunch of tips telling us that the Xbox 360 version of Alone in the Dark had turned up on BitTorrent sites. 2. Scandinavian games site GameReactor were one of the first to review Alone in the Dark. They gave it 3/10. Ouch. However, they then promptly pulled the review, and accusations of shady dealings were levelled against the site by Atari, who said that press copies had only been sent out the day before (the review has since been reinstated, and the 3/10 stands). Odd, seeing as many other European publications also had reviews go live this week, but whatever. 3. German site 4Players reviews the game. Gives it 68%. Then is threatened with legal action by Atari because, yes, Atari had no idea how the site got a copy of the game.
BioWare have made a name for themselves on the PC. Xbox, too. These days, they’re expanding on that with the Sonic RPG, which is in development for the DS. So they’re definitely trying to branch out. Something that may well be set to continue, with BioWare’s Mark Darrah telling Gamasutra:
Yeah, we’re looking into Wii and PSP as a company, as well, but nothing’s been decided, and nothing’s been announced. And we are, from styles of games, we are trying to broaden our portfolio.
Jade Empire’s Summer Party Games for the Wii? Don’t rule it out!
Q&A: BioWare’s Sonic Chronicles Is Scrumming It On DS [Gamasutra]
Gears of War 1 is a really good game. We like it! But there were, like with every game, things that bugged us about Gears 1 multiplayer — made us mad, even. The Cliffster, Gears of War mastermind, cares. The Cliffster doesn’t want what bugged you in Gears 1 mulitplayer to bug you in Gears of War 2 multiplayer. Why? Because The Cliffster is good like that. Like we said, The Cliffster cares. Just listen to what The Cliffster has to say:
Everyone’s been playing around with the recently-released creature maker for EA’s Spore. Even the developers at Infinite Interactive, most famous for the casual/hardcore title Puzzle Quest, have been funnelling their talents into crafting weird and amazing beasts. I2′s Aaron Styles sent me a link to the studio’s forums, where you can check out its wacky/cute/bizarre creations.
Before you ask, no, nothing looks like a penis. The Wormageddon gets close though.
You can grab the Spore Creature Creator yourself from the New Zealand EA Store. I know, I know, don’t ask.
I2′s Spore Creatures [Infinite Interactive, thanks Aaron]
This time courtesy of /film, and these ones are doozies. No Mark Wahlberg exiting make-up here, no, these have stuff, and cop cars, and stuff that crashes onto cop cars. Oh, and more snow, something I’m glad to see they’re paying attention to: the real star of the first game wasn’t Payne, or the villains, or the walkable umbilical cord, but the all-encompassing storm. Two more pics after the jump.
This is totally unconfirmed, but Japanese online retailer Rakuten is listing Metal Gear Online as a standalone title, out next month. According to the Rakuten listing, the game is slated for a July 17th release in Japan and is priced at ¥1,800 ($AU 17.44). At the Metal Gear 20th Anniversary party last year, Konami hinted at it being a stand alone, but then later decided to include MGO with Metal Gear Solid 4. Guess this is Konami’s way of making sure those who don’t pick up MGS4 can still enjoy manapult action. We’ve contacted Kojima Productions and will let you know if we hear anything.
Metal Gear Online Standalone [Rakuten via ２ちゃんねる Thanks, Muu!]
