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Is Indy Jones IV Any Good?
Posted by Brian Ashcraft at 11:40 PM on June 10, 2008
To: Crecente
From: Ashcraft
Pheeeeeeeeew! What a day. Lots of news. Lots of stuff. Go, go, go.
Today, I advanced purchased two tickets to the new Indiana Jones movie, which is opening in Japan later this month. You see it? I've gotten an earful from both Luke and McWhertor who hated the flick. I'll be going in with low expectations. Very low. The kid, though, man, he's thrilled!
What you missed last night
Star Ocean 4, Infinite Undiscovery Trailers
Tales of Vesperia bundle
English presser of Microsoft's Japan RPG presser
Last Remnant on Xbox 360 first
Star Ocean 4 coming to Xbox 360 in 2009
RIP Soul Calibur
Afrika priced, dated
Portal 2 casting call reveals details?
Previously we brought word of 
It's been quietly (very quietly) announced that a new expansion pack for classic PC title Neverwinter Nights 2 is in development at Obsidian. Called Storm of Zehir, it brings some pretty considerable changes to the game, like "full party customisation, dungeon crawling, and free exploration of a non-linear game world via an Overland Map". No idea on a release date, but seeing as the game's nearly three years old, I'm sure you can wait it out.
Russian game publisher 1C has its sights set on the global market. The company has announced two multiplatform titles: the in-house developed Captain Blood for Xbox 360 and PC and the outside developed multiplatform IL-2 Sturmovik: Birds of Prey. Says 1C Company's International Sales Director Nikolay Baryshnikov:
And by "best", I don't mean most awesome. 
You, uh, like Indiana Jones, Britain? Seeing as four versions of Lego Indy made last week's top 10, I'll take that as a "yes". It's money-generating debut week pushes GTA IV to the fringes of the charts, with the PS3 one hanging on at #10, while Nintendo - long-accustomed to taking up around half the charts - have to settle for a sole entry, Wii Play, because for some reason Nintendo Europe are unable to actually ship units of Wii Fit into the UK.
Been a while since we last saw Jamzy. So what's Japan's #1 Microsoft fanboy been up to since? Oh, he's been keeping himself very busy. Busy designing games! Not real games, as in ones you can one day walk into a store and buy. Dream games, as in ones that Microsoft Japan aren't making, but in Jamzy's dreams, probably should be (that's his dog, and the text reads: "Oh, long time no see. Well, today, Jump In"). I mean, shit, I'd pay $AU 52.87 for a game about little dogs and wacky hairstyles. Bet most of Japan would, too.
Upcoming Square Enix RPG The Last Remnant will be getting an Xbox 360 release before the PS3 one. The game was first announced in 2007, and Square Enix touted the fact that it would be getting a simultaneous PS3/Xbox 360 release in both Japan and North America this winter with Europe following later. Now, it looks like it will get a simultaneous Xbox 360 release and a PS3 one later. And get this, Square Enix now says the game will launch in Japan, North America and Europe at the same time this winter — on the Xbox 360.
Square Enix published, tri-Ace developed Xbox 360 title Infinite Undiscovery has been dated for North America (9/2), Europe (9/5), Japan (9/11) and Asia (9/11). The North America and Europe dates are ship dates, but presumably the other dates are actual in-store dates.
Square Enix and tri-Ace's RPG Star Ocean 4 is coming to the Xbox 360. The game has gotten a final title as well: Star Ocean 4: The Last Hope. The game will be released in 2009. SO4 was first announced back in 2007 at the Square Enix Party, and it will take place a few hundred years before the first Star Ocean title. The title was originally thought to be a PS3 exclusive. Obviously, because this is a Microsoft event, no word if and when it will appear on the PLAYSTATION 3. Hit the jump for the logo and title.
Today, it was just announced at the 
Microsoft's Xbox 360 RPG Premiere 2008 press conference is about to get under way in Tokyo. Outside the event, a banner hangs with Namco Bandai Games', Square Enix's and Microsoft's logos. Check back throughout the night for any breaking news from the event.
First Guitar Hero 
THQ wireless director James Scalpello thinks he knows why more guys than girls play games. They've got better things to do! Word has it that Scalpello said:
Don't forget! We have a *another* contest going besides our MGS 'stache. Reader Letsan didn't forget, writing: "There's only one Dragon Ball for three reasons: I was too lazy to make more of them, winter has my hands colder than the Balls itself, and there is no more orange juice. And they're made out of frozen orange juice, while the little star was cut down from a rubber keychain. Almost forgot to thank Maglite for that nice Dragon Ball glow!" To bring everyone up to speed: Make a Dragon Ball. The best damn Dragon Ball you can! It cannot be drawn or virtual — it must be an actual three dimension Dragon Balls. Now! If you don't know what Dragon Balls look like, you can click 
I know, we don't run many of these predictions anymore, but I've an inkling this one's on the money, so up it goes. Analyst Michael Pachter has rolled the goat's bones, read the tea leaves and predicted that while software sales for May were strong, hardware sales were not. Even though they were supposed to be, with both Microsoft and Sony hoping/expecting a big sales boost in the wake of GTA IV's release. He cites some simExchange and VGChartz numbers in his figures, which as guesstimates aren't as rock-solid as we can hope for, but since the real NPD numbers won't be with us til later in the week, guesstimates are all we've got. Make do.
A tipster's put us on to this casting call, supposedly available on subscribers-only industry site 
In case you missed it: last week, Lucasarts 
'Stache central! Entries are pouring in for out Metal Gear Solid 'Stache Contest. Pictured is an entry from reader Brian A. (not me!). He also sent along fanfiction. Read an excerpt: "The understudies of the patriots have treated me well in attempts to appease me. This includes a visit to the shagohod where I was able to recover some loose wires which I made a moustache out of to resemble Big Boss further because my true stache is not full grown". We'd like to thank Brian A. for that! (And we'd like to thank all the other contestants for not sending fanfiction.) What's going on? Contestants must create and wear moustaches made out of anything BUT hair. Got that? Entries must be of a non-hair moustache, and it must be on the contestant's face. Finalists will be announced on June 12th. That's soon! The winner with get an exclusive limited edition Metal Gear Solid 2 Raiden figure. More details 
I've always been a bit disappointed with Namco Bandai's attempts at Pac-Man modernisation, Pac-Man Championship Edition notwithstanding. The yellow blob's transition to 3D has resulted in some awkward and ugly renditions, but artist Jared Moraitis' spin on the ghost eating hero could make for a fascinating game, should Namco Bandai have the good sense to repurpose the Afro Samurai engine for a more anthropomorphized Pac-Man with some much needed swordplay. Knowing Namco, though, this will have to remain in my dreams...
The ESA are in a pickle. E3 ain't what it used to be, and high-profile members like Activision, Lucasarts and id have 
Daxter and God of War: Chains of Olympus developer Ready At Dawn was dead serious when it said it was 
The latest issue of GamePro magazine features cover story treatment on Ensemble Studios real-time strategy take on the Halo universe, Halo Wars. According to the mag, by way of 
It's bordering on impossible for Gammick Entertainment's Little Red Riding Hood's Zombie BBQ to be as good as its title—or its concept for that matter. The Nintendo DS top-down shooter promises "an invasion of leper zombies" that "won't stop at anything: from the succulent legs of ham of the Three Little Pigs to the sawdust brain of Pinocchio, they are all tasty morsels for the living dead." As either the flamethrower-wielding Little Red Riding Hood or the shuriken tossing Momotaro, you'll have to destroy zombie versions of the Three Little Pigs and Santa Claus in order to... well, we got that far and decided it was all we needed to know.
Activision's merger with Vivendi is up for final shareholder vote on July 8th, the company revealed today through an SEC filing. Not only are shareholders asked to approve the merger, but they're also considering several proposals up for vote.
Sega and Petroglyph's real time strategy sci-fi game Universe At War: Earth Assault was all patched up today, bringing with it an exhaustive list of changes, tweaks and fixes. The most notable? The saucer's build time was reduced from 30 to 28 seconds. Almost as exciting was the addition of Xbox 360 versus PC cross-play in Ranked, Quickmatch and Conquer the World game modes, something that should make it much, much easier to find a game for Universe At War players.
Will Wright feels "a bit of remorse" when he makes the choice to kill civilians in GTA IV, he said, speaking at the Vancouver Art Gallery for its "
Sony Computer Entertainment Japan has released new media and details on Shiki-Tei, the 
UK-based Rare, along with the University of Warwick's computer science department, are co-organising a September 2008 
Microsoft may not be winning Japan over with its Xbox 360—it typically sells under 10,000 consoles a month in the region—but that doesn't mean it's going to stop trying. Tomorrow in Japan the company is holding a press conference to focus on its RPG line-up, presumably to show off future wares geared toward the market like Infinite Undiscovery and The Last Remnant from Square Enix, but it may have more than that. News from the event should start to hit late tonight, very early tomorrow morning in the West.
Take-Two Board chairman Strauss Zelnick recently said during his company's financial results call that Electronic Arts isn't the only company interested in acquiring Take-Two. "We have had and continue to have formal discussions with a number of interested parties," he said, but another "white knight," as analysts have called it, has yet to appear.
