New Doom 3 For Xbox 360 And PlayStation 3 Supports Head-Mounted Displays 
Far Cry 3 And The Stranger In A Strange Land 
Why Robin Makes Batman Better 
Resistance: Burning Skies: The Kotaku Review 
Harley Quinn's Revenge Is Batman: Arkham City's Bad New Ending 
High Scores And Egos: There's Always A Bigger Doodle Worried you won’t be able to play Crysis Warhead? Check the specs. EA have posted these on the game’s store page, meaning that while you may not find solace in them, you can at least be assured that they’re official. Basically, if you could play Crysis, you can play this. If you couldn’t, and still can’t, we’re sure you’re still squeezing hours of fun out of Oblivion. Or Starcraft. Or Nancy Drew: Phantom Of Venice.
Activision Blizzard announced the preliminary results of its self-tender offer. The company offered to buy up to 146,500,000 of its outstanding common stock at $US 27.50 per share in cash. This offer experienced at 5:00pm EST on August 13th. Out of that preliminary self-tender, Activision Blizzard will be able to purchase 86,000 common stock shares for $US 2.37 million (excluding tender fees and expenses). These results are preliminary, and the final results will be announced once they are verified by the depository. Payment will occur promptly after that, and Activision Blizzard will fund this with its available cash on hand.
Full release after the jump:
It’s not the PSP-3000, but it’s damn close! Documents published on the FCC’s website have confirmed that Sony are to release a new model of the PSP, the PSP-3001. Before you ask, yes, the new PSP looks…a lot like your old PSP. There appear to have been no changes made to the exterior of the unit, nor to its core specifications, meaning the changes will be for less sexy things like cost-reduction (by using newer, cheaper components). Course, if that is your idea of sexy, there’s a mountain of paperwork you can read up on at the link below while you get yourself all lathered up.
Just because SEGA gave up on the Dreamcast that doesn’t mean everyone has! Take the Costa Rica-based Yuan Works, a two man development team. It’s releasing a Dreamcast version of puzzle title Wind and Water: Puzzle Battles later this month/early next. This is a new version of the puzzle game it released for the GP2X handheld. Why the hell are they releasing it on the DC? Why not! Says developer Yuan-Hsi: Well, it’s a nice console with a dedicated fanbase. When I was younger, I would be extremely grateful when a Super Famicom (SNES) title arrived very late in its life, as it felt more like a tribute than a big commercial project. Many Dreamcast users around the world are really excited about this release! And the market, especially in Japan, is big enough to make it very profitable, which doesn’t hurt one bit!
On a more techie side, the DC is very robust, and supports true 240p RGB, which provides the definite 2D arcade experience. The controller suits the game perfectly, and there are practically no load times. There is also VGA and Arcade Stick support, so you can truly play this game any way you want on DC!
Those are good reasons. Damn, good reasons. Nice to see developers keeping the Dreamcast dream alive.
Interview with Yuan-Hsi Chiang: Developer of the World’s Next Dreamcast Game [Siliconera]
You know Mega Man 9 is coming, you know the score when it comes to the game’s retro aesthetics. Now witness the game’s intro (and familiar-looking newsreader) in all its 8-bit glory.
Reader Dean has sent in a letter he received from the office of the honourable Kerry Shine, Queensland’s Attorney General, regarding the need for an R18+ rating for video games. While the AG wasn’t in a position to reply, Derran Moss, his Senior Policy Advisor, was. His response is thought-out, if a little generic, and makes mention of the SCAG discussion paper. Sadly, in the sixth paragraph Mr Moss shows just how narrow-minded our politicians are about video games:
Effective enforcement of the R18+ classification may also be difficult to achieve where the product is located in the home and parents/guardians are unlikely to have the skills, time or opportunity to appropriately monitor computer game use by minors under their supervision.
The sheer dumbness of this statement stuns me. What sort of skills does a parent need to stare at a computer screen or the classification sticker on the box? How hard is it to not buy an inappropriate game or take it away if a mistake is made? No harder than doing it with DVD movies, which do have an R18+ rating and haven’t caused kids to go on murderous rampages, despite being available in homes.
To Moss’ credit, he does admit that adults “should be entitled access to R18+ classified computer games”, so there’s hope yet for Queensland and the rest of Australia.
Oh, and to any politicians against R18+ who may be reading this, please stop with the “can’t be regulated at home” argument. It’s bullshit.
I’ve included JPEGs of the letter after the jump, if you’d like a read.
Meet the man called “Wii”. Wii Yatani is a graphic designer and the son of Japanese parents. Did his mother and father name him after the Nintendo Wii? No way! He’s 26-year-old. The name “Wii” certainly isn’t common in Japan, and the kanji characters used in his name mean “universe” and “will power”. And picking the “Wii” English spelling, however, was just “creativity” on his mother’s part, says Yatani. What did Wii Yatani think when Nintendo dubbed its new console the Wii instead of the Revolution?
I thought it was weird Nintendo would go with that. I thought it sounded really gimmicky and too cutesy.
Now when he meets people, Wii says, “My name is Wii. I’m the original”. And while he got pee-pee jokes as a kid, friends now ask him: “Oh, Wii, are you going to go home to play with yourself?” Oh, the hilarity.
A Man Named Wii Describes How Nintendo’s Game Console Changed His Life [MTV News]
Sigh. Big sigh. The EB Games’ website pretty much confirms the pricing details we heard about last month. $289.95 for the drum kit, guitar and microphone, $119.95 for the game, $109.95 for one guitar and $169.95 for the drum kit. Which means you’ll have to shell out $520 bucks for the complete Rock Band experience. If this number looks familiar, it should – it’s exactly the same price NZ gamers will be paying, going by the now-retracted info from Gameplanet.
What’s particularly damning is that EB’s prices prove Harmonix has absolutely no idea what the hell is going on.
Even taking into account the insane cost and delayed release of the original, you guys are still hot for Rock Band 2, with song, DLC and (for those who imported) instrument compatibility with Rock Band being the sexiest factor.
In a related note, AU IGN is reporting that retailers are not interested in stocking Rock Band, given its pricing, bulk and delayed release, and that Rock Band 2 could share a similar fate. Can’t say I’m surprised.
Update: Games Warehouse has pricing up as well, with most items selling for ~$10 less. A complete pack will still set you back $480 though [Thanks Adam] .
[Thanks to Nick for the EB Games info]
Sam’s Club? You don’t need Sam’s Club to print your Madden covers off. Or EA, for that matter, because we know you’re lazy, and have trouble navigating the homepages of monolithic publishers. So we’re giving you the option of getting them right here, with these watermark-free, printable copies of the new Packers-less, Jets-orientated box art. There’s one for each version – 360, PS3, PSP and PS2 – and they should be big enough that, when printed, they’ll look indistinguishable from the copies of Madden 08, Madden 07 and Madden 06 next to it on the shelf. Oh, except Wii owners, there’s no cover for you. Don’t take it as a sign EA don’t think you care, take it as a sign EA know you don’t care.
Is Dead Rising the first of many Wii ports? On the official Capcom blog a commenter complained that Wii owners won’t be able to play Resident Evil 5, “possibly” Dead Rising 2, Lost Planet, Flock, Age of Booty, Street Fighter IV, Devil May Cry 4 and Dark Void. Capcom’s Christian Svensson replied:
We are contemplating versions of one or two of the CEI titles you’ve mentioned on the Wii (not saying which), but we’d like to see how they do on their initial target systems before doubling down on additional SKUs.
CEI (referring to “Capcom USA”) developed titles include Street Fighter IV and Flock. Upcoming CEI titles include Age of Booty and Dark Void. Let the speculation begin!
Thread [Capcom via Shack News]
