Thursday, July 3, 2008

Thursday, July 3, 2008

New Gears Of War 2 Singleplayer Shots

10:40PM Luke Plunkett | And here we were thinking Epic was just going to let Gears of War 2 slip quietly onto the market with a minimum of fuss (ie PR). Guess not. No sooner do we get a tonne of multiplayer shots than we get some singleplayer shots (well, a few, the rest are more like postcards for game environments), showing what the game will look like when you’re not running around cussing at strangers and racking up cheap shotgun kills. More »
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Ace Combat 6 Trailer Really Does Make Things Better

10:20PM Brian Ashcraft | Yes, yes, the Ace Combat 6 trailer voice overs really do make everything better — even Hayao Miyazaki’s classic Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind. Hit the jump for the original AC6 trailer. More »
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News

Capcom Knows Importance of Foreign Business, Opens New French Subsidiary

10:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Europe, Capcom’s looking at you. That’s right, you. The company announced that it established a new local French subsidiary called “Capcom Entertainment France, S.A.S”. and has funded it 100 percent through it’s continental subsidiary company CE Europe, Ltd. Established with €37,000 in capital, the focus of this new subsidiary is improving local marketing and direct game software sales. Besides France, Capcom also has subsidiaries in England and Germany. According to Capcom: “From now, the foreign home console market is anticipated to expand, and to accomplish future business growth, it’s extremely important to strengthen our overseas sales network”. With all the cold shoulders and looks of indifference Europe gets from most Japanese companies, sure nice to see someone is serious about the European (and international) market. フランスにおける子会社設立に関するお知らせ” [Capcom] More »
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Europe (And India) Getting New PS2 Model

9:30PM Luke Plunkett | According to India’s Economic Times, Sony is planning on launching a new, fourth model of the PS2 in Europe and India later this year (remember, there were two of the original models, one with system link, one without). They’re calling it a “higher-end” version, and say it’ll be “slimmer, sleeker and more suave”. It’ll also, apparently, feature “no more external AC adapters”, and will be the same price as the existing PS2. If this all sounds familiar, that’s because it is, as the console was first announced (and released) in Japan last November. Guess it’s time for a global rollout! (Note: those are the Japanese colours, no word yet on whether they’ll all be available in Europe/India) Sony to launch fourth version of PS-2 by Diwali [Economic Times, via VG247] More »
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Sony’s Retro Cell Phone Gaming Campaign

9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | In Japan, Sony Computer Entertainment is launching a special iMode cell phone site that allows users to download classic PlayStation titles for their mobiles. Dubbed “PlayStation Masterpiece Appli Special Campaign”, the limited time dealio runs from July 3rd to September 30th for the following games: RPG Arc the Lad, dice game XI[sai]DX and puzzle game I.Q. Intelligent Cube. Those who are members of Sony’s iMode site can download the games for 0 points to boot! (The monthly fee is ¥315 or about $US 3). iモード「SCEJ」にて名作アプリが0ポイントで配信開始！ [Dengeki Online] More »
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A Wii Wheel With Stand

9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Know what that the Wii Wheel is missing? Something to ground it. The wheel’s not attached to anything, so using it to play Mario Kart Wii hardly feels realistic (not that Mario Kart Wii is the apex of realism, but still). Japanese peripheral company JTT has a solution: The Wii Handle Controller Stand. Simply attach the Wii-mote to this peripheral steering wheel, which can then be mounted on the stand. The stand offers 120 degrees of movement, and the stand has suction cups to keep it in place. In theory sounds pretty nice — wonder how it plays. 「Wii用 ハンドルコントローラースタンド」 [Game Watch Impress] More »
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Alone In The Dark’s Unbreakable Car

8:30PM Luke Plunkett | Alone in the Dark’s got a pretty great physics engine! Everything breaks like it should, everything burns like it should…everything, that is, except this car. It’s a little tougher than you’d expect in real life. And when the going gets tough, the tough…use the Benny Hill theme to take the piss. More »
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An Awesome Interview With Missile Command’s Mr. Awesome

8:00PM Luke Plunkett | You can keep your “good v evil” motif from King of Kong, for me, the film’s highlight was the appropriately-named Mr. Awesome (aka Roy Schildt). Becase, yes, he was/is awesome. As such, this interview with the man behind the legend – over at The -Minus World – is essential reading. Because if you don’t read it, you’ll miss stuff like this: As they say in the King of Kong, this society is based on war and games. The real war is to get the higher score Missile Command score recognised and the war in Iraq is to get democracy recognised over the assholes. It’s the same mindset with a different goal. You’ll also miss the raving-mad Schildt ponder beating Billy Mitchell to death if locked in a room with him for five minutes, so please, go read it. Don’t Get Chumpatised: Missile Commander Roy Schildt Speaks Up [The -Minus World] More »
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Here’s Four Minutes Of Infinite Undiscovery

7:30PM Luke Plunkett | Yup. Four minutes of Tri-Ace’s Infinite Undiscovery. Looks like the very first four minutes of the game, too, so don’t press play expecting to see some kind of pre-rendered sales pitch or innovative new feature. If you’re after some stodgy animation and a lot of Japanese speech, however, go right ahead! More »
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