Besides that frosty teaser teasing we-don’t-know-yet, a couple pieces of art have been fished out of the directory of the Blizzard splash screen. The JPGs are titled “04″ and “15.” Want to hear how kurazy theories are getting about these? Tipster zzino202 writes: “if u go with the 232309 theory… then 04 and 15 are the letters D and O… people are hoping it spells out diablo eventually lol.” Laugh out loud, indeed! But hey, we dunno, you dunno, but those reading way too much into things like JPG titles want to know. Maybe they’re right, maybe they’re wrong and just getting way too excited about Wrath of the Lich King. WHO KNOWS!
(Well, pretty sure Blizzard does. Good for Blizzard.)
Let the Blizzard tease continue! A second image has been added on the icy splash site, adding to speculation that Blizzard is going to announce Diablo III this weekend. Previously, the frosty teaser showed an image that looked a hell of a lot like a rune on Frostmourne, previously feature in Wrath of the Lich King teasers. That was kind of a Diablo III killjoy! Now, there’s further speculation that the first image might be the “Shael” rune from Diablo II instead of being Frostmourne. And some folks are now saying that the second and new image looks like a duplicate of a “Hel” Diablo II rune. All this is someone else’s speculation — we don’t know! So like don’t go get your hopes up or anything silly.
In the meantime, hit the jump for fancy red line pointing!
Enough of the pretty screenshots. Let’s see how Tales of Vesperia looks in motion. Above is what we can expect from the game’s battles, while after the jump, a cutscene (all in Japanese) showing the main characters discussing…something. Hopefully an explanation as to why they think it’s OK to let a dog smoke.
BioShock was a big hit. But, the way lead programmer Chris Kline sees it, the game should’ve been a MISERABLE FAILURE. BioShock was first planned in early 2002 when its developer, the then Irrational Games, decided it needed a big AAA title. The idea was to make a System Shock 2 clone, but development on the game stopped for about two years. “The very first failure”, recalls Kline, “was that we wanted to base this whole thing on System Shock 2. After a couple false starts, it wasn’t until the E3 2006 demo that the team really had to think about things like making the game work and creating a “compelling user experience”. Kline adds:
In July 2007, fresh from beating the game, I ordered the Japanese-language edition of the Okami art book. Weeks went by. Then months. No art book. I totally forgot about the thing. Then today, June 24, 2008…success! The book finally turns up (albeit the English-language edition). Was it worth the wait? Was it ever. This is a proper art book. Full of concept art, level design sketches, character reference models and even some mangas detailing both the game’s boss battles and “god release” cutscenes. Best part? It even gives you soundtrack advice: ie, if you’re reading this, play track 7 on disc 3 of the soundtrack.
Seventeen years ago to this day, Sonic spirited onto the Genesis/Mega Drive. And he did it with ‘tude. That’s right! SEGA’s Sonic the Hedgehog was released in North America and Europe on June 23, 1991. The game came out a month later in Japan. In his heyday, the blue hedgehog gave Mario as run for his money during the 16 bit generation. While SEGA seemed to have lost the plot in the last few years (human kissing anyone?), recent Sonic titles like the Sonic Team and Dimps developed Sonic Unleashed show promise of a return to form. And that is probably the best birthday present Sonic could ask for.
Sonic’s Birthday [Sega Nerds]
Not normally the type for mods, especially for old old old games, but I can make exceptions for mods with overwhelming charm and attention to detail. Mods like this one, which recreates the Simpson house in excruciating detail, from the family portraits to a kinda-functioning bathroom scale.
[via Boing-Boing]
Last year in Worcester, England, 22 year-old Steven Priddey claims he made a deal with store employee Richard Shurmer to exchange cannabis for a PSP. Shurmer claims that Priddey simply stole the PSP from the store! Security cameras show Priddey sticking the portable down his pants. But during questioning, Shurmer did admit that he bought the drug from Priddey twice before, but did not give him permission to take the PSP.
And how did this happy tale end? While Priddey’s lawyers said cannabis clouded his judgment, Priddey was found guilty — because Shurmer, as an employee, does not have the authority to give out merchandise. While still stating that he had been given permission to take the PSP, Priddey was sentenced to probation for 12 months and must pay £450GBP (approx. $AU 732.41) in costs and £65GBP (approx. $AU 104.93) in compensation. Drugs are helluva of drug.
Dope-using thief has now given up – court [Worcester News via PSP Fanboy][Pic]
So Limbo of the Lost is a game built upon the bones of other, better games. We’ve all had a laugh at their expense. But are developers Majestic guilty as charged? They’d like to think that, no, they are not. Not as a whole, anyways. They’ve today issued a statement claiming they knew nothing of the game’s thievery, despite being. You know. The developers of the game.
