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Britain got Olympic fever. OK, maybe not fever. Maybe just a slight case of the sniffles, because despite Britain's surprising surge up the medals chart, the official tie-in game could only clamber its way up to eight place. Why am I mentioning the eight-placed game? Because it's nice to talk about a non-Nintendo game for once.
Developer Codemasters is unveiling multi-plat title FUEL at the Leipzig GC. What's FUEL? It's a racing game, so big that it deserves ALL CAPS. It's hailed to have the "largest racing environment to appear in gaming — ever". The game supposedly has a 5,000 square-mile playing area with "no boundaries". Up to 16-players race it out in D.I.Y. cars through places like Nevada's Grand Canyon. The game boasts a full day-and-day cycle and even features a weather system with tornados, thunderstorms, snowstorms and sandstorms. Hope it looks and plays as promising as it sounds.
Codemasters unveils FUEL [Eurogamer]
An unnamed British woman looks set to be out £16,086.56 ($US 29,950) after being ordered by London's Patents County Court to pay American developer Topware Interactive. Apparently, the woman shared Topware's Dream Pinball 3D on a person-to-person file-sharing site. Says prosecutor David Gore, a partner at law firm Davenport Lyons:
llegal filesharing is a very serious issue resulting in millions of pounds of losses to copyright owners... As downloading speeds and internet penetration increase, this continues to be a worldwide problem across the media industry which increasingly relies on digital revenues...The damages and costs ordered by the court are significant and should act as a deterrent. This shows that taking direct steps against infringers is an important and effective weapon in the battle against online piracy.
The woman must pay damages of £6,086.56 and costs and disbursements of £10,000. Davenport Lyons isn't finished — the law firm is going after 100 people believed to have also illegally uploading Topware's IP. Dream Pinball 3D? More like Nightmare Pinball 3D.
Illegal file-sharers face fines after copyright case [Telegraph via MCVUK]
Sick of Valve's water-torture Heavy updates? We were. Just a little. Was starting to feel like a dojo, and boy, are we all dojoed out. So it's great to see the proverbial floodgates open with this latest announcement, because not only are they introducing an all-new gameplay mode into the game - Arena mode - but five new maps to go along with it. Arena's designed for small, quick, tactical engagements, and will take place on new (well, newish) maps that emphasise this new approach. Three of the maps are existing ones that have been remade to suit Arena (Well, Granary, Badlands), while the other two - Lumberyard and Ravine - are all new (and are pictured below).
Yesterday we posted scans from Famitsu PS3 of Final Fantasy XIII and Final Fantasy Versus XIII. The quality on some of them was not very good! (Though, some of them were high quality scans.) Today we bring you high quality scans — with some new stuff peppered in. Like the armpit of FFXIII heroine Lightning. Just check that out and the gallery below. High quality, baby!
Valkyria Chronicles is still a few months off. Pity. Why not pass the time, then, by playing with these capsule toys! Bust them out, put them together, re-enact all the pivotal moments from a game you haven't even played, all because you like the look of the screenshots and are totally behind the idea that in this version of the Second World War, it's awesome that there are chicks who drive tanks in short shorts.
SR 戦場のヴァルキュリア [Yujin, via Siliconera]
EA has just announced which of its titles will be on display at the Leipzig GC. According to Jens Uwe Intat, Senior Vice President and General Manager of EA European Publishing, "Never before has EA had such a diverse and powerful slate of offerings, and it's been great to see consumer and critical response to our games. As more and more people come into interactive entertainment, we are ready with the best games in sports, action, casual, horror, simulation, and online. We'll be bringing more new games to market this year than in our history, and Leipzig is a great European window to showcase those offerings for the broad range of people that love to play them". Hit the jump for the list of games.
The gaming industry just keeps. On. Growing. And shows no sign of slacking off! And while many pundits will point to the runaway success of the Wii as a key catalyst for this growth, some sales analysis by UBS' Ben Schachter shows that the driving force behind the industry's success is in fact music games. Particularly, Guitar Hero & Rock Band. According to Schachter's research, music games accounted for 19% of all gaming sales last month, and accounted for a crazy 44% of gaming's dollar growth over July 2007. Yeah, it's only one month, and yeah, they'll account for growth because they're expensive, but still. Don't rain on their parade! That's big money whichever way you look at it.
Music Video Games Account for 32% of Industry Growth [GameDaily]
Poor Hellgate. It promised so much, and delivered so little. So little, in fact, that it drove developers Flagship Studios out of business. As the mourners file slowly away from the studio's funeral and make their way towards the free finger food and drinks, it's time to reflect on just why Hellgate never made it. Creator Bill Roper has a fairly good idea:
Some of them were just bad timing in the PC market. The PC market was lousy last year. Some of it was the fact that we were an independent studio. We didn't have unlimited money, and we had to ship when we had to ship. Part of it was because we overreached, and that was a design problem that was totally our fault. We tried to do too much. We tried to be a standalone game and a free-play game and an MMO and an RPG and a shooter. We were trying to be something for everybody and ended up really not pleasing many people at all....
Sounds about right to us!
Bill Roper: 'Hellgate Wasn't As Good As It Should Have Been' [1UP]
Black. Magic. VIOLENCE.
"They've come for brains, you'll give them bullets" [NeoGAF Thanks, Ishaan!]
Capcom's Street Fighter IV blog updated with news that the consumer console version of SFIV will be showing at the Leipzig Games Convention. This will be the first time that it has been shown publicly. The game's producer, Yoshinori Ono, will be on hand at the GC as well. Wonder if we'll see an exact release date and none of this guessing business. Hopefully either McWhertor or Fahey (or hey, maybe both) will get hands on with the title and let us know how it stacks up to the arcade version.
Meanwhile, those of you who are impatiently waiting to play SFIV, this arcade machine tracker might be helpful.
「コンシューマー版、初出展！」 プロジェクトマネージャー：塩沢夏希 [Capcom Thanks, Josef!]
Nintendo pissed a lotta third-party publishers off with the secrecy surrounding it's Wii MotionPlus technology. Lucasarts especially. But it's not all flaming torches and pitchforks outside Nintendo HQ. Ubisoft still love them! Indeed, they think MotionPlus will add "a lot of pleasure to the experience" of playing more shitty Ubisoft Wii games playing a Wii game. You tell em, Ubisoft. Those Lucasarts kids are just mean.
Building Believable Worlds: Yannis Mallat On Production At Ubisoft [Gamasutra]
Nintendo's E3 2008 press conference left a lot of folks finally unsatisfied and disappointed. It was like Nintendo wasn't speaking to a portion of its audience anymore and just kept patting himself on the back. Now that the dust has settled and time has passed, what does Nintendo's Cammie Dunaway (pictured) think of how things went down?
I would say the message is we were disappointed with our performance at E3. There were titles like Wario which we think will be really fun titles that we should have showcased. We were excited that Mr. Miyamoto made the commitment that Pikmin is coming. It would have been nice if we could have said that on stage. But, we think it was a good recognition for us that we care for our core fans, and not just the new people who are now discovering Nintendo.
Oh. Okay. Well, want to learn more about Cammie Dunaway? That, after the jump.
There's a SOCOM Confrontation closed beta party going on right now. And you're not invited. Bummer. Ah well. No rule against sticking your head in through the window and sneaking a peek, is there? These (blurry) pics come courtesy of a friendly neighbourhood tipster, and show...well, a bunch of stuff we're sure hardcore SOCOM buffs will appreciate.
Upcoming Square Enix The Last Remnant is coming to the Xbox 360 on November 20th. After launching first on Microsoft's game console, it'll be released on the PS3 and for PCs — those dates are TBA. Well, they were. Seems that in a recent Famitsu PS3, the magazine announced the PS3 version as November 20th as well. Hey, that's the same day as the Xbox 360 release!
A goof apparently, as Famitsu is running a correction, stating that the release date should read "TBA". Famitsu also adds: "To our readers and all concerned parties, we deeply apologise for any trouble this may have caused. We hope you accept our apology and correction".
ムック･ファミ通PS3 Vol.XIII掲載 PS3版『ラスト レムナント』発売日の御詫びと訂正 [Famitsu via my game news flash]
Posted by Logan Booker at 4:30 PM on August 19, 2008
Good question. If you preordered from EB Games and were thinking of buying Pub Games, don't! Tipster Ryan decided to ping the retailer to see if it had any idea as to when the codes would be ready. Surprisingly, it did:
The Fable 2 Pub Games pre order codes will be available in store by the end of the month.Not an exact date, but it does narrow things down. With any luck, those who preordered the game from EB will soon be able to cheat with the best of them.
[Thanks Ryan]
After Japanese PS3s got their own erotic game, why not bring another ero title to, say, the Xbox 360? Adult computer game 11eyes -Tsumi to Batsu to Aganai no Shojo-, which has the delightful English title 11eyes -Sin, damnation and the atonement girl-, is getting an Xbox 360 version sometime next year. Developed by eroge developer Lass, 11eyes follows several students whose lives alternate between the real world and an alternative universe called "Red Night" which is filled with enemies the students must battle. No doubt the PC game's sex scenes will need to be watered down A LOT.
Click on over to the erotic PC game's site to see what we're talking about. And yes, it's NSFW. Very much so.
11eyes for Xbox 360 [5pb via Sankaku Complex]
When's Street Fighter IV hitting arcades? Now! When's it hitting home consoles? Uh...eh...no idea. Oh, wait! We do have an idea. SF movie producer Patrick Aiello says it'll be March 2009. Which is the same time the upcoming Street Fighter movie - The Legend of Chun-Li - is due for release. Sure, they have little/nothing to do with each other (fairly sure Kristin Kreuk's not hiding anything downstairs, for starters), but they're both called Street Fighter, so the guys in marketing probably figure it can't hurt.
Street Fighter Movie to Coincide with Street Fighter IV Launch [GameDaily]
So, Capcom's bringing Dead Rising to the Wii. There's been some concern about how the company will bring what was previously an Xbox 360 exclusive to the less powerful Wii. Game site 1up's hands-on with the title do relax those concerns somewhat. According to 1up, the game runs on the Resident Evil 4 Will Engine, and there were about ten zombies on screen at once. Developers hope to have one hundred on the screen at once when the game ships. From the hands-on:
Because Chop Till You Drop runs on the Resident Evil 4 Wii engine, the controls feel similar — differing mostly in the pacing, since Resident Evil is, in most cases, a slower shooter, while Dead Rising's a faster beat-em-up/shooter/choose-your-own-adventure-through-the-crowd game. That means you hold down a button and point the Wii Remote to shoot, and you can choose between pressing the A button or flicking the Wii-mote for an up-close attack....The game features multiple save slots and eschews the 360 version's 72-hour countdown clock. Time matters on a mission-by-mission basis rather than for the overall story — which, according to [Capcom marketing manager Colin] Ferris, means it's very likely players will be able to successfully complete the game their first time through. We don't know the full extent of what Capcom refers to as this new "episodic" structure (specifically, how players will have to balance saving civilians with completing the main story), but the goal on the development side is for a mostly "linear" progression, which seems like a nod to the large mainstream contingent of the Wii's audience.
Posted by Logan Booker at 2:30 PM on August 19, 2008
Want to code games and apps for Nokia's N-Gage and don't know where to start (how about on a different platform)? Never fear, Nokia has you covered with the man-packed antics of "Sauna Talk". What better way to chew the fat about coding in C++ than inside the moist, loving grasp of your local sweat house?
It looks like this is just the first in many sauna-based chats, with the debut episode featuring an interview with Miikka Skaffari, Head of Developer Product Management for the N-Gage. If you can stomach the odd hairy chest, click the link below for the video.
Sauna Talk [via Gizmodo AU]
Too Human's actually coming out. And good for it, it's been long enough. But what are Silicon Knights doing next? According to boss Dennis Dyack, it's going to be something completely different:
We've been lucky enough to make Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness, Too Human and if you look at all of those they're all really different. The next game that we're going to announce, not including the sequels to the trilogy, it's nothing like anything else we've ever made before...We want to continue to do that to keep fresh. That's really what's important, and making sure that we continue to make new IPs but also continue to innovate in the genres that we try to... create content in, I suppose is the best way to describe it.
He still thinks a second and third Too Human are going to be made? Bless him. As for this mystery project, it'll be with Sega, and if he's teasing us like this a more formal announcement can't be too far off.
Posted by Logan Booker at 2:00 PM on August 19, 2008
Update: Zafehouse now has its very own website, zafehouse.com.
Everyone remembers Zafehouse, don't they? The free zombie survival horror simulator I coded in seven days? Well, turns out it was by far the most popular of the three titles that came out of the Game A Week feature, and there were plenty of people who submitted fixes and tweaks. I found myself with some spare time on the weekend, and decided to put together a version 1.5, incorporating the feedback I'd had on the game.
Originally, I just wanted to streamline encounters by removing the "next round" button and having things tick over automatically. But then I got another idea, and then another, and soon I found myself with a big list of changes, improvements and bug fixes.
I've included a complete rundown after the jump, but here's a summary if you can't wait:
* Buildings produce more resources, while raiding brings in less.Download and enjoy!
* Encounters streamlined, instant resolution button
* Zombie numbers increased.
* More shortcut keys.
* New scoring formula.
* New perk, and original perks improved.
* New building, the Church, which produces survivors.
* GUI improvements
* Numerous bug fixes (no more whipping from inside buildings)
Download Zafehouse v1.5 binaries.
Download Zafehouse v1.5 VB .NET source code.
Hollywood and games still seem to be figuring each other out — like two butt sniffing dogs. Sure, big name actors do game voice and mo-cap work (and have for a while now), but in the past, the two worlds have seemed very, very separate. As more big name talent and big name writers and big name directors get involved with game, the division seems to be rapidly eroding away. And let's not forget how gaming is eclipsing movies are the form of mass entertainment. Still, maybe actors have second thoughts about doing game work? Says Live Free or Die Hard's Maggie Q, who stars in game Need for Speed: Undercover:
Square Enix have announced today that their Chrono Trigger remake for the DS has a firm release date for the North American market. And that date is November 25. Which is a Tuesday, in case you were wondering. While we're on the subject of wondering, if you're outside of America (ie in Europe or Australia) and are wondering if you got a firm date, answer's no. It's still "2009". So set your importing watches to November 25.
Sure, most of you played Duke Nukem 3D when it first came out. Or have even played it since. But do you want to play it again? On an Xbox 360? Then know the following! The game will be coming "soon", 3D Realms confirming with Shacknews that the port's done, has passed Microsoft's stringent certification process and will be coming out soon.
Duke Nukem 3D XBLA Finished, Coming 'Soon'; Rewards Stripper Tipping, Stepping in Poop [Shacknews]
In-game ad company Double Fusion announced a promotion and two new management hires today: Double Fine's own Julie Shumaker will now oversee the company's newly formed Core Games Group as general manager and former VP of games at CNET Joshua Larson has been brought on as Vice President of Business Development, and former GameTrust CFO and COO Glen Sussman is now Double's Fusion's CFO.
Joshua Larson, Joshua Larson, Josh Larson? That's right, at CNET he was involved in GameSpot business strategy, and he was apparently involved in the site's "Gerstmann-gate" brouhaha. This controversy supposedly lead to the controversial firing of long-time staffer Jeff Gerstmann (pictured0. After that incident, other senior GameSpotters like Frank Provo, Brad Shoemaker, Ryan Davis and Jason Ocampo all left the site. Josh Larson was sacked last April. According to an anonymous "gamespot" commented at sister site Valleywag, Larson was "a suit [...] who had no editorial experience and was only involved on the business side of things".
And now Joshua Larson is working in advertising. In-game advertising. Why was he ever working in editorial?
GameSpot's 'Gerstmann-gate' VP Heads to Double Fusion [GameDaily] [Pic]
In this video we take a look at Atari's Enhanced Edition of The Witcher. I guess the game was one of those things that just passed me by. However, if you weren't able to pick up the original, the Enhanced Edition will basically be a remastered version. It will include a new D'jinni Adventure Editor, soundtrack CD, and making of documentary . However, the best part is that the game will be a free download for registered owners of the original Witcher. Expect it in stores on September 16th.
When Midway scrubbed their Austin studio and binned a game nobody had ever heard about - Career Criminal - many people were left, well, nonplussed. After all, it's a bit hard to get worked up over a game that you've never heard of. But a few retrospective tears may be in order today, as Variety brings word that Hollywood director Tony Scott was attached to the project. Don't know Tony Scott? Dude directed Top Gun. And the last of the great corny action movies, True Romance. He was working as a kinda creative consultant, continuing a recent trend/fascination Midway have had with getting Hollywood types working on their games (John Woo/Stranglehold, for example). So while we may never see Career Criminal, we can at least rest assured that if we had, guitar solos, sexually-charged one-liners and dimly-lit sex scenes would have featured prominently.
Tony Scott was attached to Midway's canceled Career Criminal game [Variety] [Pic]
Anybody remember the days of yore when you could go to an arcade and play Time Crisis? They might still do that in Japan, but here in the States, arcade shooters have sort of died a quiet death somewhere between those hideous orange guns for Time Crisis 5 and the Wii Zapper with its lame lineup of games.
You might think Nerf N-Strike would be just one more nail in the coffin, but I'm pleased to report after my hands-on time that the game and its flashy controller that it is actually not made of suck. In fact, it's almost the opposite of suck with it's old school on-rails gameplay and simplistic graphics. If you liked the last Time Crisis or are looking for a bloodless version of it, Nerf just might be your thing.
Posted by Logan Booker at 12:00 PM on August 19, 2008
Server issues had the website and comments crippled, but everything should be back in order now. So if you have something to say, you should be able to post it!
Earn $$$ With Fable II Pub Games Bug
Because bugs were made to be exploited. Or fixed. One of those.
The Games Convention Über Update Post
The Games Convention is exploding with, well, gaming news! Totally unexpected, that.
Bionic Commando Rearmed Review: Swing Low, Sweet Re-Release
Should Rearmed be swinging onto your Xbox 360, PS3 or PC? Find out!
Electronic Arts, Take-Two Break It Off, But Not For Long
Getting too hot and sweaty for my taste.
Epic Has 'Defrauded Us, And Major Portion of Industry'
Denis Dyack continues to poke Epic over Unreal Engine 3.
Film site Latino Review are reporting that director Paul W.S. Anderson is no longer attached to the Spy Hunter movie. He was originally to direct and write the movie, but is now doing neither. While this won't kill the movie outright, the fact it's been kicking around for half a decade and is now without a writer/director doesn't exactly bode well for the project.
Exclusive: Spy Hunter Takes A Backseat [Latino Review]
For a long time, it seemed like all EA made were Sims games and sports games. So it was surprising to see all three Sims titles confined to one corner of the showroom - but it made it easier for me to cover them all in one fell swoop.
First up was My Sims because I got it confused with My Sims Kingdom. My Sims is already out on Wii but the upcoming PC release introduces new community features (like shared Gardens where you can hang out) and six new character NPCs that sort of (but not really) tie into My Sims Kingdom. My Sims on PC looked to be more user-friendly for the builders among you than it was on Wii (or maybe I say that because I'm a klutz with the Wii Remote) and I noticed that the terrain now has different elevations. Terraced garden, here I come.
Uh-oh. If Lionhead don't sort this out sharpish then Albion could end up suffering through its own version of the kind of economic meltdown that has lead to Zimbabwe printing a run of billion dollar notes.
The novel idea of letting players earn gold in the Fable II Pub Games on XBLA — gold that can be brought into the game to give your character a good start in life — might turn out to be a problem, now that someone has realised there is a way to game the system into paying big.
The Fortune's Tower card game can be tricked into big payouts, it seems. Find out how after the jump and get saving for extra dog biscuits now before this gets patched.
E3 may have been a bit of a bust, but that doesn't mean that the Leipzig Games Convention will be any less of a party. Why? Because they sell beer there. Oh, and there's public nudity. The consumer showing of Europe's finest forthcoming video games hits the Leipziger Messe from August 20 to August 24 and Kotaku will be there.
While Nintendo is sitting out this year's Games Convention, dozens of other publishers and the console manufacturers they pay royalties to will be. Last year's Sony Computer Entertainment Europe press conference saw a few bombs drop and we expect nothing less this year. Microsoft will represent, but won't do a public dog and pony show.
Keep your eyes peeled for a blitzkrieg of updates from the show floor. We're archiving everything right here, for easy reference. All updates follow.
Pre-Show Updates
No PS3 Price Cut At Leipzig
No Leipzig Press Conference From Microsoft
Nintendo Not Attending Leipzig This Year
Games Convention 08 Is Press Conference Central
Blizzard Unveiling Lich King cinematic, Details at Leipzig
Age Of Conan Invades GC
Sega's GC Line Up - Sonic, Samba, And Surprises
Headstrong's Secret Sega Title To Get Leipzig Outing
1C's Games Convention Line-Up Featuring Playable Theatre of War 2
Dragon Age Visits Gen Con Indy, GC, PAX
Paradox Interactive At GC - Project Mayhem?
Video Games Live Brings Crysis Music Home
Why Gears of War 2 Won't Be At Leipzig
Deep Silver At Games Convention 2008
What's EA Bringing To Games Convention?
Early Images From Games Convention 2008
The star of EA's 08 Showcase is easily the underdog. Not much has been said about Henry Hattsworth and the release date remains firmly fixed in the far off haze of 2009; so I wasn't expecting to see so much of such a cool game when I finally got my turn to try the dual screen adventure-puzzle hybrid.
I get why I haven't heard too much: the game is kind of hard to explain. It uses both screens at all times of the game - the upper is the adventure game where you're Henry Hattsworth and you've got some bad guys to take out. The lower screen is the puzzle, a basic block-slider like Bejeweled. The screens are connected in that the enemies you take out up top fall into and become blocks in the puzzle on the bottom. If the block puzzle fills up because you're too busy adventuring, the baddies climb out of the puzzle and back into the adventure world to attack you.
Since we gave NBA 2K9 some video coverage, we felt it was about time we gave NBA Live 09 a shot. In this video Gameplay Producer Jeff Antwi shows us how the new Signature Play Calling mechanics will work in the game. Actually, this is a pretty nifty addition to the franchise. We will see when the game comes out in October.
The Houston Chronicle wants to know why none of the US Presidential candidates (by which I mean the two that could possibly win - sorry, independents, maybe next time) aren't using Second L
