Monday, July 21, 2008

Red Alert 3 Art Team Gets A Gold Star

8:30PM Luke Plunkett | Why? For some recent work they’ve done on the OTT WW3 RTS. First, and above, the game’s box art, which could well be box art of the year. Note, developers: the world needs more Soviet women in leather hotpants, tesla mechs and armoured fighting bears. After the jump, one more thing the world needs more of: elite Japanese schoolgirl psionic commandos. More »

Konami Sorry For MGO Expansion Clusterfuck, But No Fix In Sight

7:30PM Luke Plunkett | (Not) surprisingly, the online rollout of Konami’s first major expansion for Metal Gear Online has been a complete disaster. So what are they doing to make amends? They’re…they’re…well, they’re saying sorry! A notice on the company’s site explains that the Gene expansion’s release has been “marred by major system related problems resulting in great inconveniences for all our customers”. Least they’re being honest about it. As for what they’re doing about it, however, don’t expect a fix anytime soon, as they go on to say “unfortunately there are no permanent solutions we can announce at this present moment”. A full report and apology for the problems surrounding the release of Metal Gear Online “Gene Expansion” expansion pack [Metal Gear Online] More »

Logitech’s Official Wireless Keyboard For The Wii Is, Yes, White

6:30PM Luke Plunkett | Here’s Logitech’s new, officially licenced QWERTY keyboard for the Wii. It’s wireless, it’s a keyboard, and yes, it’s the requisite white. It also has a few Wii-specific additions, like dedicated buttons for zoom, quit, ok, etc. It’ll communicate via a dongle, should be out next month, will be a must-buy for Animal Crossing (which will support keyboards) and will cost $US 50. [Logitech Wii Keyboard] More »

Kaz Wants Lifetime PS3 Sales To Beat Lifetime PS2 Sales

5:30PM Luke Plunkett | While the PS3 is outselling the PS2 on a monthly basis, it’s still well over 100 million units shy of its older brother in the lifetime sales department. But don’t let that stop Sony from dreaming about the future! Kaz Hirai is hoping for a day when, all things going according to plan, the PS3 sells more consoles than the PS2 did. FYI, the PS2’s sold around 150 million. “It’s not fun for me replicating the PS2 numbers. I’ve seen that movie already”, the SCE boss said. “I want to try to see if we can exceed the PS2 numbers after nine years, otherwise why are we in this business?”. Because you like the free pens and fancy party foods? Sony sets 150m sales target for PS3 [FT] More »

40kg Destroy All Humans UFO From Pandemic, Only On eBay!

4:30PM Logan Booker | If you’ve been chasing a 40kg UFO constructed of steel and flashing lights, look no further than this eBay auction. Pandemic’s moving out of its Brisbane studio, and needs to find a home for this custom-made alien saucer. The starting price is a hefty $1199, though the listing says this is to pay for it to be taken down from the company’s lobby and placed on the back of a truck. Wondering what you could do with your own Destroy All Humans-themed UFO? Pandemic’s Rob Davis supplied us with the following suggestions: * Fill it with ice and drink beer out of it* Children’s Play area (safety not guaranteed)* Two Words: UFO Jacuzzi I’d go with #1, but that’s just me. A second shot, taken from underneath, can be found after the jump. More »

Too Human Reclassified MA 15+ To M, PC Version Hinted At?

4:00PM Logan Booker | The OFLC’s classification database is packed full of surprises, both sad and delightful. The most recent of these was not one, but two ratings for Silicon Knights’ Too Human. Why would a game get two (or more) ratings? Most of the time it’s because a game is released on multiple platforms, but not simultaneously, so the later release has to be classified separately. However, this is not the case for the Xbox 360-only Too Human. The first entry for the title is dated May 30, and smacks the game with an “MA 15+”. Yet, the second entry on June 18 shows it with the softer “M”. My first thought was “Ah damn, not more censorship!”, so I contacted Microsoft to find out what the deal was. More »

Australia Adopts US Flag… According To MCV UK

3:00PM Logan Booker | MCV is a games industry rag based in the UK. In the magazine, there’s an “International news” section, where each country gets a paragraph write-up and a small flag for added national flavour. It seems in a recent issue, Australia missed out on the latter – in its place, we received the stars and stripes. Having worked for five years in magazine publishing, I can say that this sort of thing happens from time to time. Even with an army of proof readers, bits and pieces fall through the cracks. Mind you, on the games front it wouldn’t be so if we were like the US. Cheaper games, no censorship issues, better release dates. Just makes you want to let out a big fat sigh. [Thanks Vuki] More »

Rockstar’s Placeholder Box Art For GTA: Chinatown DS

2:00PM Logan Booker | Rockstar just sent through the placeholder box art for Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars on DS. I’m glad it added the “placeholder” proviso because, compared to Grand Theft Auto IV, this really isn’t artwork… more a collection of fonts. Not that there’s anything wrong with fonts, I just like having pictures mixed in. Don’t you? More »