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Another game joins the Rockstar Games Social Club this September as Rockstar announces the release dates for Midnight Club: Los Angeles and its baby PSP brother, Midnight Club: LA Remix. September 9th is the date that North American players will be blazing down the streets of a fully recreated Los Angeles, with our European friends receiving the game three days later.
I think Lara Croft, I think 90's platforming, dinosaurs and leaps of faith. You may, however, think of something else. Well, two things. If so, don't be too disappointed when you see this new, premium 12" figure from Sideshow, depicting Ms. Croft as not only well-prepared, but well-dressed. She's packing ten weapons/accessories, 30+ points of articulation and three pairs of interchangeable hands, and will be available Q4 for around USD$80. Nice boots.
Gun plus chainsaw? There must be more to that than simply "looks cool." There is! Epics president Mike Capps says while he was originally against the idea, he told a Comic Con panel:
The reason [it] exists is because our characters are so bloody expensive to draw..Meaning that they have more detail close-up than say Halo characters. Fair enough! Though we prefer "looks cool." Elsewhere Capps says the sequel have battles that feel more massive in scale. Hope he doesn't have another dry explanation for that.
Grand Theft Auto creator and Crackdown mastermind David Jones points out the obvious: Games are pricey to make! New IPs have gotten so expensive that they're quickly approaching $US50 million plus! Here's the quote:
Crackdown wasn't that long ago and our development budget was something like USD 50 million, and even that to me now, I don't know if I could do anything for much less than that.
Gears of War didn't have a demo for you all to pore over, and it went on to do OK for itself. So there's really no need to go changing things for the sequel, with Epic announcing that they've no plans to release a demo for the upcoming shooter. Epic's Tanya Jessen told Shacknews:
[There are] no plans for a demo. The reason being that it's been such a fast turnaround. A two year production cycle, for a game of this calibre, is really short.Look, they're in a hurry, so just trust them, OK?
Yes, Japanese people do get divorced. It's just that American families get divorced more. This confuses Shigeru Miyamoto. He didn't make Wii Fit for single parents! According to CNET's Crave blog:
It's unlikely, but some of you out there may use a dial-up connection on a semi-regular basis. Hell, maybe even a regular basis. If so, you're probably used to waiting an age for stuff to download, so why not give your ceaseless read-press F5-wait-repeat cycle a miss and try something a little more laborious. Like connecting to Xbox Live. Instructables have the how-to guide, and all you need is a a PC hooked up to these internets via 56k and an ethernet cable. Oh, and some time on your hands.
How to get on Xbox Live with Dialup [Instructables, via Gizmodo]
Sigh. Producer of the Dragonball movie Tim Van Rellim has revealed that Goku will apparently die in the next Dragonball flick adapted by Hollywood. (Bwah? Mistranslation?) Oh, m'kay, sure, whatever! War of the Worlds actor Justin Chatwin is filling out the orange training suit in the upcoming movie. While originally thought the film was pushed back to next year, the producer now says they're gunning for a late summer or October release. About shooting the flim in Mexico, Van Rellim says:
Uwe Boll likes games. Likes making movies based on games. Likes making movies based on games involving swords, castles and magic. Guy's got a track record. So Uwe Boll making the World of Warcraft movie, it just fits, right? Did for Boll. Didn't for Blizzard. Boll says:
Last week, Microsoft announced that sales of the 360 in Europe had doubled since the introduction of recent price cuts . No doubting the accuracy of their claims, but without actual sales figures for the 360 or its competitors, we had our doubts as to their importance. Doubts that are looking fairly justified today, with both SCEE and ChartTrack confirming to Reg Hardware that while 360 sales have indeed doubled over the past four weeks, it hasn't meant much in Britain, with the PS3 is still outselling it, something it's been doing so for the past 15 weeks. They then go on to say that even if you combined 360 and PS3 sales the Wii would still be "healthily" ahead on sales, but that's something you probably could have figured out on your own.
Price cut fails to push Xbox 360 past PS3 in UK [Register Hardware]
Gah! Man hands! That's apparently the still-in-progress Chun-Li character image from the location test. Capcom's still finishing up and tweaking the images, sure, but geez, what is up with her hand and her thumb? She get bitten by a bumblebee? Makes her thighs look totally normal.
A blurry version of the completed work is after the jump. Something sticks out like a sore thumb, though. Literally.
Stick a fork in it, this beta's almost done. Konami have just issued a statement on the Metal Gear Online site, which reads:
...we regret to inform you that due to extraordinary levels of traffic from all around the globe, we have been unable to run the service to the level we expected. As a temporary measure, we will be deferring the start of the US public beta test until we are able to stabilise our server. We would like to apologise for all inconveniences as well as confusion caused.
Here it is, feast your eyes, some human wearing a limited edition Wii Fit shirt with a fake Shigeru Miyamoto autograph on it. There are only one thousand of these, and they were only available for those who pre-ordered at the Nintendo World store in New York City. Nintendo really dropped the ball on promoting this shirt, though. Instead of playing up the fake Miyamoto autograph, it should've totally pumped up the fact that this shirt has a GREEN MIYAMOTO FACE on it. Hit the jump for that!
Hey, it's Resident Evil's Leon Kennedy! Whatcha doin, Leon? Leon? Hey. Wait a second. Is that really you, Leon? Your fringe...it looks coiffured, with a hint of emo. The real Leon's fringe is stylish, with a hint of camp. You're a phoney. An unlicensed, knock-off phoney! I'm telling Capcom. They probably don't know about this! Actually, I don't think anybody knows about this, since the rest of the poster so perfectly recreates the Resident Evil 4 experience. Right down to Leon's...PEGA Shark Gun.
Unofficial Resident Evil 4 art gives Leon unofficial Wii accessory [Siliconera]
Even cops can't stop Arse Flasher. Tush thong lady Asuka Sawamoto hit Akihabara this week and hit it hard — two cheeks at a time. Previously, Sawamoto mooned all of nerdom, causing a mob scene of sweaty dorks with cameras and boners. The act hit Yahoo! News Japan. While the cops have been cracking down on Akihabara street performances to hopes of avoiding such shameful (and potentially dangerous) displays. The "singer" was back for the hat trick this Sunday, putting her arse out for the third time. This time TV crews were on hand to catch the cheeky act and butt in for a quick interview or two.
Hit the jump for a pic of the arse flashery madness! It's somewhat safe for work. But creepy as hell.
Another week means one thing: More Metal Gear Online mess-ups! In today's extra special clusterfuck, Konami errors persist. We're getting word that even though the servers are live, but many are getting network errors up the whazoo or this message: "The GAME ID or password is incorrect. Unable to log into server.(0911:00000003)." Keep in mind, these folks are entering their correct user names and ids. Konami's running regular updates on the Japanese Metal Gear Online homepage about how the servers are getting overloaded and how sorry it is for the hassle.
Another thing to keep in mind: The Beta starts today! Hooray!! For those unable to log in, here's the online manual. You can read it and imagine the fun you'd be having. That is, if Konami hadn't dropped the ball and then kicked it across the room. We're sure Konami will figure out this internet thing sometime today, tomorrow or maybe even before the game goes on sale this June.
Thanks to all who sent this in.
To: Ashcraft
From: Owen
Re: Driving Myself Crazy
You need to know something about my brother, Fletch: He doesn't usually get standing ovations. He's a mild-mannered, happily married man who's content to live his life as a graphic artist, vegetarian, University of North Carolina Tar Heels fan, outside the public eye, down in Texas. But when he does something that deserves a curtain call, I mean, it is epic. As it was on Saturday, with the Pac-Man crapping post.
Alright, not much to pick on here in TWiG's April 20th installment. But Wild Earth: African Safari, well good thing that's a kid title. Otherwise it looks about as interesting as watching old people fuck. Virtual photography? That's a side mission in about four titles I already own.
I realise everyone here hates teh sports, but if I wasn't moving I'd be at least renting NBA Ballers: Chosen One. I bought the first one during the 2004 playoffs and created my baller, Two-Car Fatal, as an homage to the scut work Crecente and I were doing on the night shift at the time. (I also created Ice Killus as an homage to the Greek playwright.) I'd happily revisit that series again.
Here's what's coming up, let us know if you'll pick or pass. Thanks.
So this is the week that was in GTA: Biggest developments were the creation of our own compendium and FAQ. The Aussies threw a hissy because someone sticks a gun in someone's hoo-hoo, or heinie, or whatever. Also, a handy piece of code to filter all GTA:IV news, in case you want to be sequestered like the OJ jury from all sights and sounds GTA until the big verdict April 29. Or if you just find these posts a little cumulative (nahhhhh!!).
Alright, this post should make clear the provocation for yesterday's digression into Pac-Man's bathroom habits. While Fletch and I were pondering the question, we both came across this site, where programmer Don Hodges says he has fixed the glitch that caused Pac-Man's split-screen bug at board No. 256.
Rockstar co-founder and VP Dan Houser, notably reluctant to give long interviews, especially about himself, sat down with Variety's Ben Fritz for a 90 minute interview, and from the looks of it, nearly all is transcribed in Fritz's blog on Variety.
I really dislike PowerPoint, so I appreciated this 'game pitch' that's poking fun at games, PowerPoint, and the industry at large:
Interesting story out of New Zealand. Modder Stacy O'Callaghan, "sick of all this American rubbish" in the GTA franchise, set about modding his PC version (doesn't say which) to include official New Zealand police insignia on the cops and the cop cars.
Now here's a familiar story, modder cooks up something and gets in legal trouble, although it's usually from the software publisher. In this case, "unauthorised use of a police uniform" is an offence under New Zealand's Police Act. And even though it's unclear whether this really fits the definition of that offence, the cops are looking at their options. A cop spokesman said the police are looking into the matter.
Once upon a time, Disney had this virtual world called (creatively enough) Virtual Magic Kingdom:
As with Habbo Hotel, Virtual Magic Kingdom was developed by Finnish studio Sulake and shared many similarities with the social networking site. Players with registered accounts are able to decorate their personal rooms, earn and spend in-game credits, and participate in a variety of online events and activities with their customised avatars, all in a "safe, non-threatening environment."
A laptop sentry gun, of course. Or, well, a lot of pipes and electrical tape, and scrap metal shaped into the notorious weapon. Reader Thomas Masheder and his pal regularly play Perfect Dark for N64 to this day. And when his pal turned 25, Thomas went off to the hardware store in search of parts to build his gun.
Thomas advises that his friend's sentry is guarding his kitchen. Thomas's trash bins (pictured) are protected by the one he made for himself. I wonder if the sentry is sensitive enough to detect roach or raccoon movement.
Good work, Thomas. We've got two more of his pictures after the jump.
If you're looking for some cheap thrills (and really, who isn't?), head over to Sarcastic Gamer, where 10 bloggers (including our very own Luke and Leigh) weigh in on their favourite cheap options for some fun — and they're not all super obvious. On the list? Knytt, Tori-Emaki, Bloody Roar, and several others. I can think of a few cheapies (or freebies) I'd put on my own personal list.
Top bloggers name top 10 Games for $10 [Sarcastic Gamer]
Alright, time for the eye candy. Ubisoft and Gearbox send us a 90-second trailer showcasing Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway, due for release in August on the 360, PS3 and PC. This simulation involves Operation: Market Garden, the largest paratrooper operation in World War II, which set the stage for the Allies to cross the Rhine and advance into Germany.
Sometimes, simple is better — or that's the argument of John Rose's Gamasutra article on why fewer game mechanics makes for a better game. Making the argument for a strong game play aesthetic (which generally means not having everything but the kitchen sink), Rose critiques games like BioShock for hampering players with ... too many choices?
Now, just because I am teh fail at this flash game does not mean I accept that it is the World's Hardest. Because when I suck at something I call in reinforcements and in that case it's Kotakopolis.
We posted about the satirical You Have To Burn The Rope a few weeks ago; it's come up again in my reading this week, since I noticed the guys at Hardcasual used it as a launching point to grouse about the state of game journalism, then apologized after some other people like the guys at Rock, Paper, Shotgun offered a response. In any case, with all the talk about satire! And game journalism! And the meaning of the game!, it was nice to read the IndieGames interview with the creator, 21 year old Kian Bashiri, and his explanation of the game that is entirely unfettered with pretentiousness:
Since McWhertor whiffed on "What Are You Playing," and Bash didn't do a TUD post either, and it's a slow news day, I'm bringing out the Giraffe to ask a question that, by its nature, you wouldn't want to answer.
For a game that rides on artistic chops as much as Okami, this is a pretty bad F-up. Several of you mentioned that there is an IGN watermark on the box art picture. More or less, the background under the wolf was formed by a hi-res shot lifted from IGN's site.
In an interview with IGN Saturday at the New York Comic-Con, the Epic Games president Mike Capps lays down the law: No Wii game is ever forthcoming from his company. The reason? "We go forward, not back." Apparently the Wii is not next-gen to him.
