Friday, July 25, 2008
Mortal Kombat 9 Planned As A Mature Return To Form
11:53PM Michael McWhertor | We sat down with Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon tonight to chat about his latest project, Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Universe. Once again, we pestered Mr. Boon about the scrapped version of Mortal Kombat 8, once described by the long-term Midway dev as being heavily inspired by the look of Gears of War. While that grittier, darker version of MK didn’t make it far beyond the technology development stages — Boon told us there was little in the way of concept art for the grimier spin on the series — the next next Mortal Kombat may strive for more blood, more violence, more of everything that warrants an M-rating. The artistic vision of a less saturated, less Superman filled fighter is still swimming around Boon’s head, a title that may rest on the success of MK vs. DC. We spent more time with the crossover fighter tonight and talked with Boon about plenty of other MK-related topics. Tune in tomorrow for the rest of our conversation. More »
No, That Was Not Guitar Hero: World Tour’s Setlist
11:20PM Luke Plunkett | Various people on these here internets have been abuzz over the past couple of days, overjoyed/indifferent/dismayed at the “complete”, “leaked” setlist for Guitar Hero: World Tour. It had REO Speedwagon! And Thin Lizzy! And Angel of Death! Problem is, looks like the list is a fake. Sure, some of the songs are real, in that they’ve either already been confirmed or were a good guess, but Activision have told Game Informer the list is a phoney, saying “the bulk of it is wishful thinking and pure speculation”. Guitar Hero: World Tour Setlist A [Beautiful] Fake [Game Informer] More »
Stan Lee Says Sometimes Games Look Better Than Movies
11:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Let’s jump right in. Here’s Spider-Man creator Stan Lee talking about video games at Comic Con: When you talk about games evolving over the years and becoming more like movies, in many ways, they’ve gone beyond movies”, he said. “To do a movie is difficult, but it’s linear. There’s a beginning, a middle and an end, and that’s it — you write a story. In a videogame, you’re writing many stories within the story. It’s a totally different structure and a totally different philosophy of writing and, I think, a much, much more difficult one. I get the feeling more work goes into these videogames than even goes into the movies. I marvel at the fact the games look as good, and in some cases better, as the most expensive movies. [Those] guys are just geniuses. Now you watch one of these games and it’s like watching the greatest superhero movie, except you’re part of it. It’s indescribable. Yep, Stan Lee is awesome. But we knew that. Games Are Exceeding Movies [Eurogamer] [Pic] More »
Midway Delaying Wheelman to Q1 2009
10:40PM Michael McWhertor | When we played the Vin Diesel vehicle Wheelman at E3 last week, we were mostly surprised to learn that the game was coming out in the Fall. “What, this game?” we thought. While enjoyable junk food and technically impressive in parts, Wheelman felt like a game that was six months out, in need of a bit of polish before it went public. Fortunately, that’s what it sounds like Midway is planning to do, as reps told us at Comic-Con tonight that the title, originally scheduled for a release this year will get more time in the development incubator. Now planned for a Q1 ‘09 release, Wheelman will still beat the movie of the same name to the theatres, it will arrive just a bit later and hopefully be the better for it. We also hope they’ll rewrite that pedestrian car dodging logic. Far too many suicidal Barcelonans in this game… More »New, Inky Street Fighter IV Trailer
10:20PM Luke Plunkett | Glorious, isn’t it? We’re getting to the stage where we need a console version release date, because getting out our best red pen and circling “the future” is just way too imprecise for our tastes. More »
News
Mike Patton Talks Nathan Spencer, Portal, Left 4 Dead
9:30PM Luke Plunkett | Most will know Mike Patton from Faith No More. Many will also know Mike Patton from Tomahawk, and Fantomas, and other stuff, including that fantastic EP he did with the Dillinger Escape Plan. But lots of you guys, well, you’ll also know him as a budding star in the “doing voices for games” field. Patton’s lent his talents of late to games like The Darkness, Portal, Left 4 Dead and Capcom’s upcoming Bionic Commando, and in this interview with The Onion’s AV Club, talks a ton about the lot of them. Did you know, for example, Patton didn’t really do the voices for Portal and left 4 Dead? He just did a single session with Valve, and they were able to use his animal/monster/growly noises across both games. Link to the whole piece is below, which is mostly game-related but with some music stuff there as well, a good read for game sound enthusiasts and Patton fans alike. Mike Patton [The AV Club] [Pic] More »
Peggle Coming To DS
9:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Casual game developer PopCap Games has teamed with Tetsuya Mizuguchi’s Q Entertainment to bring hit downloadable computer game Peggle to the DS. Says PopCap’s Greg Canessa: I have a great deal of respect for Q Entertainment as one of the industry’s preeminent game developers, with a proven reputation for creativity and innovation. Q is a great choice to partner with us — they share many of PopCap’s design and creative philosophies and are equally big believers in quality and attention to detail. These factors, combined with Q’s impressive track record of success on DS and PSP, make this a natural fit. I’m confident that Q will create an experience with Peggle for DS that will both satisfy existing fans of the game and attract a new audience of on-the-go gamers who appreciate the DS for its one-of-a-kind display format and other unique capabilities. Q Entertainment is best known for titles like Lumines, Rez HD and Meteos. Details about the DS Peggle title are forthcoming, but it’s expected to have exclusive DS levels and DS tweaked controls. Hit the jump for the full press release. More »
Wii Music Japanese Release Date Confirmed
8:30PM Brian Ashcraft | That Wii Music release date rumour we posted were correct! The game has been dated for Japan, and it will be released on October 16th and priced at ¥5080 ($US 47). The game features something like over 50 songs and over 60 musical instruments. 「Wii Music」発売日は10月16日に決定 [IT Media] More »
News
Bionic Commando: Rearmed Not Dated For Japan [Updated]
8:00PM Brian Ashcraft | Bionic Commando: Rearmed has been dated for Japan. The game was hit the PSN on July 31st, and on Xbox Live Arcade on July 30th. Hey, that’s this month! But, now the PSN and XBLA game has been pushed back, and the release date is now undecided. Pictured is BCR producer Ben Judd. In shorts. プレイステーション3、Xbox 360版ともに配信日は未定 [Famitsu Thanks, Josef!] [Pic] More »
