And it’s a long one. Bring tea, and biscuits. Or, if you’re a raving mad Square Enix fan, those two plus whatever else it is you’ll need for 5:13 of hot, one-on-one Final Fantasy fisticuff action.
[thanks everyone who sent this in!]
Joining Jimi Hendrix and Ozzy Osbourne is Neil Patrick Harris rocker Sting. (Needs more tantric.) This was first leaked back in June when an a survey leaked the following names as in-game characters: Sting, Ozzy Osbourne, Ted Nugent, Billy Corgan, Jimi Hendrix, Travis Barker, Hayley Williams, and Zak Wylde. Says Sting about Guitar Hero:
I tried to play Guitar Hero and I’m not very good. My kids can do it.
Yeah, Sting has better things to do — like have sex with his wife FOR NINE HOURS.
Sting Appears [The Sun via Eurogamer]
It’s sale time! Until the end of October, downloadable content across a range of Xbox 360 games (well, six of them) has been discounted, some by a little, some by a lot. While cheaper Beautiful Katamari costumes will do little but remind you that game ever came out, the Oblivion-flavoured savings are a little more enticing, with Shivering Isles down from 2400 MS Points to 1600. Other games with discounted DLC include Guitar Hero III, Forza 2 and Mass Effect, you can see the full list at the link below. Extended Play Download Days (price drop on DLC) [Microsoft]
Ex-Team Ninja boss Tomonobu Itagaki drinks. And never sees sunlight. Which explains the vitriol, because when he’s not taking swings at Tekken, he’s taking swings at Devil May Cry and Okami creator Hideki Kamiya. The Tekken things, that’s just a spirited expression of personal taste, but the Kamiya thing…dude may have a point, because he was only responding to these comments by the ex-Capcom man:
I’ve never played Ninja Gaiden, and to be honest, I’m not that interested.
The quality that gets you interested in something is that you feel something for them. Like on TV, or a movie, or a song, or whatever. You just feel something, and you get pulled into it, and then that’s how you pick something up. But Ninja Gaiden just didn’t have that power, so that’s why I wasn’t interested in it.
These Japanese developers, they’re like an all-male soap opera. Stay tuned for next week’s episode, where Keiji Inafune calls Miyamoto a “total bitch”.
Devil May Cry Creator ‘Not Interested’ in Ninja Gaiden [1UP]
Okay, so the Xbox 360 price cuts are a go! The newly priced Arcade Xbox 360 console is US$ 50 cheaper than the Nintendo Wii. But hang on there, sport, that doesn’t mean Microsoft is thinking it’s going to beat Nintendo. Ha! Microsoft’s got its eyes on Sony. Says Xbox exec Don Mattrick (pictured):
I’m not at a point where I can say we’re going to beat Nintendo… We will sell more consoles this generation than Sony.
Microsoft and Sony battle it out to the death for… the number 2 slot? Some console war.
Microsoft Will Cut Xbox Prices in the U.S. [Business Week via VG247]
The Gears 2 development team have a motto: bigger, better, more badass. It’s inscribed, in blood, atop their monitors, and every morning, they gather in a circle, wearing dark hoods, and chant it in latin. But it doesn’t just apply to the development of the game. Oh no, according to Epic artist Pete Hayes, it applies to the marketing as well. Witness Dude Huge and his toy Lancer. Or this comment from lead writer Josh Ortega:
The first [Gears]was good and if we can find a way to do ten times better, than I’d be impressed. That sounds hard, but sure, why not? I say the original Gears was like the ten, but sure, let’s go to eleven. Like Spinal Tap, right? Let’s go to eleven.
Cocky? We like to think they’re just not taking the lead-in to this game as SERIOUSLY as some other developers do (though few developers get the luxury of working on a guaranteed million-seller).
Lead GoW2 artist and writer talk Lancer polys, deaths and comics [X3F]
Ryu Ga Gotoku is a solid game with great voice acting. With the game was localised for the West, SEGA made the mistake of dubbing over the voices in English with folks like Michael Madson and Luke Skywalker. It didn’t work. At all. Sure, both of those are talented actors, but the dubbing didn’t fit. It was, to put it nicely, a “criminally bad f*ck up”. But SEGA listened. SEGA cares. According to SEGA’s Associate Producer Kevin Frane:
When Yakuza was released in the U.S. without a Japanese voice track, there was actually a significant fan outcry. Obviously, this is a very Japanese game, set in Japan and dealing heavily with Japanese culture, and quite a lot of people thought that not having the original Japanese dialogue affected the game’s sense of authenticity. When definitely took that fan reaction into account when making the ultimate decision to go ahead with the Japanese voice track for Yakuza 2.
Bravo, SEGA. Nice to know you’re listening!
Sega tells us why they kept the Japanese voice track in Yakuza 2 [Siliconera]
Slow week this week. Nothing wrong on the parity side of things, as most things the US store got the PAL one’s got, it’s just a slow week, that’s all. Can’t imagine millions of you clamouring for some new Haze maps, though with ice hockey a sort-of-big-deal in certain parts of Europe, the NHL 2K9 demo might go down a little better.
Just as the PSP-3000 gets released in Japan in mid-October, Sony will be putting out two more PSP Gundam titles in its “the Best” line later that month. Both Gundam Battle Chronicle and SD Gundam G Generation Portable both go on sale October 23rd for ¥2,800 ($US 26). Not a bad price if you’re into giant robots and Sony handhelds!
Press release after the jump.
There’s rumours! Rumours on the street. Wall Street, to be precise, as investment site Seeking Alpha say they’ve heard EA may be “walking away from merger talks” with long-time takeover target Take-Two. T2′s conference call earlier today said nothing of this, of course, nor have EA (as the pair are now cosy in their cone of silence), so this is all conjecture, but it’s hardly outrageous conjecture. The EA-T2 courtship rituals have been prologued, fumbling and, ultimately, boring, with a deal looking less and less likely the longer the whole sorry mess drags itself along.
It’s D-Day For Take-Two Interactive [Seeking Alpha, via GamePolitics][Image]
