Owners of the Xbox 360 version of Team Fortress 2 will be scarfing down sandviches and delivering payloads later this year, as Valve is finally bringing all the updates delivered via Steam to the Xbox Live Marketplace. That means new, class-specific Achievements, new unlockable weapons for the Pyro, Medic and Heavy, new gameplay modes and new maps, all on your Xbox 360.

Valve marketing director Doug Lombardi got that piece of business out of the way just before our latest Left 4 Dead demo, saying that the developer wanted to build up a massive update for Xbox 360 users before delivering. Given that Valve is being forced to charge for the update, they wanted to ensure that 360 owners were getting their money's worth.

So, how much? The price isn't final, but Valve is hoping to go as low as possible, aiming for a ten dollar price tag. Not too shabby. Sorry, PS3 owners, no word on when or if Valve will be giving you the same Team Fortress 2 updates.

You know, we didn't post the last bunch of Operation Flashpoint 2 screens we came across, because they were taking the piss. Too much Photoshop, not enough polygons. This latest batch, however, are a little better. There's still plenty of shopping on show, but you can now see the slightly jaggy bits at the edge of the soldier's uniforms, proving at least that it's some kind of in-game videogame model and not some artist's impression of an in-game videogame soldier.

Read More »

Yesterday I got a double dose of Ubisoft's Far Cry 2, getting a chance to check out the level editing features of both the console and PC versions of the game. While there are noticeable graphical differences between the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions versus the one they had running on a PC you can't afford, all three versions of the game are shipping with the multiplayer map editor, which should allow even the most novice player to quickly create their own, beautiful Far Cry 2 maps. How quickly? Try around 90 seconds.

Yes, the toolset the developers are providing is that fast. Raise or lower the terrain, slap on a texture, and then paint the grid using the collection system, which automatically applies bushes, grasses, and trees to the landscape. A touch of a button takes you down from an overhead view right into the middle of your map, where you can explore your creation or just shoot holes in it with the provided magical machine gun with unlimited ammo. As someone who likes playing with their games as much as simply playing them, it seems like a dream come true.

Read More »

We've seen this before. It's like Warhammer. But for Halo. With an accompanying DVD that's more Nightmare than Bungie. So, is this a good idea? With Halo Wars on the way and better board games on the market we'd have to say no, but then, who are we to tell hardcore Halo fans what they can and can't blow their money on.

I consider the Sly Cooper series to be a member of the holy trinity of PS2-era platformers, along with Ratchet and Clank and Jak and Daxter. Since the next generation systems have come out, we've seen big new IP from both Ratchet's Insomniac (Resistance) and Jak's Naughty Dog (Uncharted), and now it's up to the Sly Cooper creators at Sucker Punch to bring their big new thing to the PS3, and that big new thing is inFamous. It's a free-roaming action adventure that takes some of the masked bandit's philosophies and applies them to an electrifying new superhero origin story.

The game begins with a massive explosion that decimates the heart of Empire City, leaving only one survivor - you. As protagonist Cole you must learn to deal with the mysterious new electrical superpowers you find yourself developing as you seek to solve the mystery of the Empire City disaster, a task that proves exceedingly difficult once you realise that all signs point to you being the cause.

Read More »

In January, we linked to a series that was being kicked off by The Morning News, in which writer Todd Levin would recount the story of his life through the various gaming console's he's owned. It was good, good reading. Well, it just wound up, so now's as good a time as any to link to it again, particularly seeing as he spends half the final chapter dwelling on the same love/hate relationship with this site that we have to fight through every goddamned day while we sip cold coffee, alone, and wonder why the hell we quit our part-time gigs in the video games department of Best Buy to work this dead-end beat.

Second Place is First to Lose [The Morning News]

Read More »

Ubisoft's new Tom Clancy air combat title is looking damn good. I got a chance to sit in on a demonstration of Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X. - High Altitude Warfare eXperimental squadron - earlier today at the Games Convention at Leipzig, and what I saw was a very exciting title that could finally give the arcade jet fighter crowd a much better reason to dust off their flight sticks than another load of downloadable pink airplanes courtesy of Ace Combat 6.

That's not saying that H.A.W.X. Won't have its fair share of DLC, as the presenter at the session indeed mentioned that the game, which is already set to ship with more than 50 aircraft painstakingly rendered down to the cockpit, will be getting even more aircraft in the way of downloadable jets down the line. I asked if they would be getting pink ones, but no one seemed to get the reference.

Read More »

For a few years now, media company Ziff Davis - who among other things run the 1UP network - have run their own tech show, called DigitalLife, which while focusing on all kinds of consumer electronics also had a strong gaming slant. And yeah, it was no CES or E3, but it was in New York, making it a lot more accessible to east coast types. This year, however, the show's been called off. Organiser Paul O'Reilly says:

The poor economic conditions have created a very different and difficult dynamic for us this year, and we weren't confident that we could present a show experience that was consistent with the successes of prior years.

He goes on to say they're optimistic the show can return in 2009, but we're not doing anything drastic like holding our breath.

Bad economy kills this year's DigitalLife Expo [Cnet]

Duke Nukem 3D for Xbox LIVE Arcade dated! Well, roughly. Xbox rep Jason Ing tells game site Joysitq that the 3D Realms developed title has passed certification and will be released "sometime in September". The enhanced Duke Nukem 3D is being published by Microsoft and is a XBLA exclusive. Insert obligatory Duke Nukem catchphrase here.

X08: Duke Nukem 3D coming to XBLA 'sometime in September' [Joystiq]

This was kinda lost in the maelstrom of Sony news from yesterday, but is worth pointing out today; Sony have announced two new PS2 SingStar games. One isSingStar: Singalong With Disney, but the second? It's SingStar: Queen. That's not some corny title for a "queens of pop" collection or something, either, it's the literal application. Queen. Freddie Mercury, Brian May, Roger Taylor, John Deacon. It'll be out later in the year, and will be accompanied by two Queen song packs for the PS3 SingStore, though these will probably just be ten of the better tracks from the PS2 version. Sony, listen, let's make a deal: you put "Who Wants To Live Forever" on there, and I'll take back almost everything bad I've ever said about SingStar. Almost.

Read More »

For a while now, we've been hearing that developer Dimps, not Capcom, was doing the heavy lifting for Street Fighter IV. The Osaka-based Dimps is best known for the Dragon Ball Z: Budokai games and Rumble Fish. The company was founded by former employees of two other Osaka game companies, Capcom and SNK. SFIV producer Yoshinori Ono addresses the issue, which we believe is the first time for Capcom to do so:

Well, it wasn't that we were necessarily hiding that fact, but it's that we didn't really view them as an external developer in the traditional sense. Takashi Nishiyama, the guy who started Dimps and still runs the studio, used to work at Capcom years ago, and he was actually one of the developers on the original Street Fighter. After he did that game, he left Capcom and set up that studio. He still totally has Capcom blood in him, though, and we still view him as one of the team. The same goes for some of the others there.

In fact, Nishiyama was one of the guys who helped make the Street Fighter 4 project happen. So the way it works is that we handle all of the art, characters, and game design within Capcom, and they handle the programming and balancing. But it really is a true Capcom game through and through, no matter how you look at it.

...Street Fighter is entirely our property, so we have all the say and can control its quality. It's all in our and their hands to make a really great game. It really does feel like we're working with people from within the family — again, a lot of these guys used to work at Capcom — and it doesn't hurt that they're only a quick 20 minute train ride away.

Yeah, the Capcom and Dimps offices are fairly close, so that takes care of those concerns. They're both in the same city, no biggie. Though, we've heard chatter that producer Ono is not — rumour has it that he's based at Capcom's Tokyo branch office and not in Osaka, where the game's being developed by Dimps. If that's true, why? (Know: However the hell Capcom made SFIV, it did a solid job — the arcade version is great.)

Street Fighter 4 Producer Talks Wii, Dimps, and Sheng Long [1up]

Good news, Europeans (and antipodeans)! Because it's the Leipzig Games Convention, and because Leipzig's in Europe, and because you've all been very, very good, this week's PlayStation Store update is almost exactly the same as the North American one. And the North American one was stacked. You get Ratchet & Clank, you get Kratos, you get DragonForce, you even get the PSP version of Pirates! as a downloadable title. So no complaining this week, OK?

Read More »

Sony Computer Entertainment Japan announces today that it has partnered with the world's largest global WiFi community FON to roll out FON access points for a free internet browser via the PSPxFON collaborative service. Starting today, there are approximately 44,000 FON spots across the country and something like 2,200 in Tokyo alone. Via the service, it's easy to connect PSPs to download game demos, clips, wallpaper and the like. To mark the beginning of the service, there are downloadable goodies for upcoming PSP title DISSIDIA.

Read More »

No, it hasn't been refused classification, but given the stream of RCs we've seen in the last 18 months, I wouldn't put it past the board. All EA's music title could muster is a PG and an advisory for language.

One could take the appearance of the title in the classification database as confirmation we'll be seeing the game soon. All I'd do is point them in the direction of the entry for the original. November 2007? How'd that turned out?

What we can assume from this news is that EA has at least one build of the game in the country.

Rock Band 2 Game (Multi Platform) [Classification Board, thanks NegativeZero]

vvvvrrrooooooooooooooooooooooooooooommmmm flash flash flash fast fast fast omgcannotwait.

Usually EB's email specials are decent, but the latest one is a massive exception. Massive. Head to EB and hand over $200, four games and your "old" 60GB console and a brand-new 80GB can be yours!

This would be a fantastic deal, if it wasn't so damn, damn awful. Scratch that... it's devious. It works out to be ~$600 for 20GB... as long as you don't mind losing backwards-compatibility, some USB slots and the card reader. Add to this the fact 20GB is worth $4, going by current HDD prices, and it's basically one of the worst deals I've ever seen. The sad thing is people are going to buy into it.

Nothing more to say, really, except to warn your friends and family who are lucky enough to own a 60GB that the deal is horrible.

Sony PlayStation 3 Console (80Gb) [Thanks David W./Luke P.]

Here's a sneak peek at Interzone's MMO soccer title, currently in development at the company's studio in Perth, WA (with smaller chunks being handled by its overseas branches). Announced two months ago, the game will include social networking features, avatar customisation, virtual items and balls. Lots and lots of balls.

Interzone debuts trailer for Interzone Futebol [Tsumea]

Once again taking a page out of the PC MMORPG playbook, Namco Bandai is pulling out the DLC. Previously, Namco Bandai made mountains of cash with the DLC for Xbox 360 exclusive THE iDOLM@STER by selling various outfits and accessories for the virtual pop idols and doing it endlessly. This now around, the company is offering more than weapons and armour. Instead of grinding through to live up, the game's DLC will let players buy their levelling up. Need extra gald in-game currency? Buy that, too! Here's a short sample:

LV Up +10 (1) 300 Microsoft Points
LV Up +5 (1) 200 Microsoft Points
30,000 Gald (1) 300 Microsoft Points
Skill sets 80 Microsoft Points
HP Recovery Cuisine Recipe Set 100 Microsoft Points

Get our your wallets lazy players!

箱○テイルズ、レベルアップやゲーム内のお金をDLCで販売 [痛いニュース　Thanks, Witz!]

A while back I was talking about how we don't have too many choices when it comes to hockey games. However, it is nice to see there's some variety in the controls when NHL 2K9 comes out for Wii in September.

Read More »

We already figured you'd be getting some replica maraca controller shells with a Samba De Amigo bundle, but now you'll also be able to stock up on spares, should you wish to give a second player the same kind of faux-Mexican authenticity. Or add a little flair to your kitchen utensils or tool set. Either or. Amazon have standalone maracas listed at $US 15 for the pair, and unlike the HMV ones, these are all red, so they should shake even faster.

Wii Maracas [Amazon, via Go Nintendo]

This is the first year MotoGP has been under the wing of Capcom exclusively and to be honest, it looks pretty darn good. The game will be coming out on Xbox 360, PS3, Wii, PS2, and PC.

Read More »

Colour us decidedly unsurprised. GameStop - the world's biggest specialist games retailer - have reported their Q2 2008 earnings, and cash takings are up across the board. Sales are up 34.8% over the same time last year, to $US 1.8 billion, while net earnings were up 162% to $US 57.2 million. Amazing what releasing a GTA game in April does for sales, no?

GameStop reports record Q2 [MCV]

Earlier today we showed you the Opening cinematic for World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King now you get to see the cinematic trailer for Warhammer Online: Age of Reckoning. As we said this morning whether you are a fan of these two games or not, it's pretty hard to under appreciate how incredible their cinematic sequences are. Expect the game for PC in mid-September.

Read More »

This week's North American PlayStation Store update isn't here to mess around. It's heavy on the good stuff. Most prominent amongst the week's offerings is the all-new, all-downloadable Ratchet & Clank Future: Quest for Booty, but if you're not up for spending the $US 15, there's the Kratos Hot Shots Golf add-on ($US 2), DragonForce track pack for Guitar Hero III ($US 6.25) or a bunch of free stuff, including demos for The Last Guy, Force Unleashed and NFL Head Coach 09.

Read More »

To recap: the PAL Virtual Consoles sometimes run a little thing called the Hanabi Festival. Means a bunch of rare, usually Japan-only games get made available for a limited time. Well, they've kicked off another one this week, and the update's a cracker. While one of the games has already made an appearance - Mario 2 - the other is a sight for sore eyes. It's Super Mario RPG. Yeah, Super Mario RPG. Which never, ever graced these southern shores, so if you'll excuse me, I'm off to catch up with my good friend 1996.

Read More »

Before my hands-on time with Guitar Hero: World Tour the other day, I got a chance to sit down and share a beer with Neversoft's project director for the title, Brian Bright, a rather personable fellow who knows the entire history of the band Sisters of Mercy, which makes him okay in my book. Since we were sitting there discussing music anyway, I figured I'd ask him if he was worried at all about the competition. Well, first I asked him if he was concerned about Konami's Rock Revolution, which he said he'd never seen, neatly summing up exactly how much competition they're bringing to the genre.

Read More »

Differences between the PSP-2001 (ie the PSP Slim) and the PSP-3000 (ie the new one) may not be as big as those between the Slim and the original, but damnit, there are still differences. Famitsu are the first to compare the new PSP model with its predecessor, and as you can see, the changes are fundamental! Innumerable! Look at those streamlined edges! We'll never be able to play our Slims again, what with the fear being crushed by its blunt, heavy edges. After the jump, a more effective comparison shot, this one showing the difference a new LCD screen can make.

Read More »

Rockstar gave us a demo of the PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV at Games Convention today, a first look at the game many of us have been enjoying for months on our comparatively underpowered consoles — but now at higher resolutions. You may know the numbers by now, but if 2560 x 1600 resolution does anything for you, get this game.

What we saw, a Rockstar controlled run through of the memorable "Three Leaf Clover" mission, looked exactly how we remember it, just much, much sharper. Higher resolution textures, crisp anti-aliasing, better streaming and higher draw distances will certainly appeal to the graphics whore in you.

If not, GTA IV for PC's higher multiplayer cap and game searching filters might. The PC port's other big bullet point, the replay recorder and editor, wasn't on display, but will definitely make for memorable machinima.

In short, it looked damn good, if more than familiar, on a 50" plasma screen at one notch below max resolution.

It was hidden as single sentence in a garbled press release yesterday, so I totally missed it. But, that doesn't change the fact it's true. Mixed in with all the talk about the new PSP and upcoming titles, SCE Australia slipped in this nugget:

SCE Aust. confirmed it will not be introducing the limited edition 160GB PS3 announced by Sony Computer Entertainment Europe at the 2008 Games Convention Developers Conference (GCDC) held in Leipzig, Germany.

However, the new Wireless Keypad peripheral for PS3 will be launched in Australia before the end of the year.

Read More »

After reading about the Space Invaders World Trade Centre mash-up on Kotaku, New York Daily reporter Bill Hutchinson contacted the loved ones of some killed in the attack to get their reaction.

They found it "disgusting", he reports.

Read More »

It's a shame that Sega hasn't released any screen shots of Bayonetta in action to share with you. Platinum Games' work on the Xbox 360/PlayStation 3 action game really deserves to be seen by more people — this is the best looking game we've seen at Leipzig. It may sound like an odd proposition in print, a raven haired witch battles the forces of "good" with her mystical and impossibly groomed hair — hair that also acts as her clothing — along with a pair of pistol heels, but the style, sex appeal and mind blowing art direction of Bayonetta couldn't be more promising to fans of arse-kicking action.

Only in a game with a female lead could Bayonetta's contributions to the action genre make so much sense. A giant, mystical stiletto heel attack made of Bayonetta's black locks sounds silly in concept, yes, but in practice it's an enjoyable kick in the pants. Same for that flesh-eating dragon made of hair we saw during one boss fight and the balletic split kicks that rain gunfire in 360 degrees — this shit looks cool.

Read More »

In its day Myst was a great looking curiosity. It drew the eye and — when it first appeared — was pretty much guaranteed to attract a crowd of people who would marvel that such a thing was even possible. Ultimately, it was revealed as being a little style-over-substance.

Is it wrong to suggest that the iPhone is the perfect platform for a Myst revival? Lets hope not, because that is exactly what is coming. Cyan have posted a status report to the Myst Online forums that contains a little announcement about iMyst - a port of the original Myst to Apple's little slab of magic.

It could work really well, actually. Being able to cart those puzzles around with you might make them a bit easier to solve (having to fire up your 486 whenever you had a flash of inspiration was always a pain) and it might well make the perfect public transport companion.

Also, Myst had terrible 3G reception. You see? Made in heaven.

Status Report - Cyan development [Myst Online Forums via Wired]

When Blizzard announced the first two classes in Diablo III, the Barbarian and the Witch Doctor, at least one fan of the series was taken aback by the class rehash. That would be me, for the purpose of this post. After enduring such a long wait for the third Diablo installment, why resuscitate the Barbarian, when there are plenty of perfectly good fantasy game archetypes still left to explore?

Diablo III lead designer Jay Wilson says the reason is simple. The Barbarian in Diablo II could've been better. He was a bit more diplomatic in his dissing, saying that the brute force attack class had "room for improvement".

Read More »

In this new This is Vegas trailer we get to see some of the awesome visuals they are working on for the game. I know GTA has covered this to some respect but it will be interesting to see an entire game built around this theme. Regardless, This is Vegas will do just that allowing you to make VIP connections at the hottest clubs or race cars on the underground circuit. The game will be released sometime in 2009 for Xbox 360 and PS3.

Read More »

Baseball..baseball.. that's the one that's like Rounders, but with more spitting, yes?

Whatever it is, ESPN has just won the rights to take its baseball 'content' and pump it out through new distribution channels. As well as the ESPN website and the obligatory voguish handhelds via the iTunes store, the sports network will also be bringing baseball footage to Xbox Live.

ESPN will be simulcasting Sunday/Monday/Wednesday Night Baseballl and special events as well as selected show footage and game highlights. The network is also committed to developing interactive services based around its baseball content.

ESPN gets digital rights to put baseball on more devices [USA Today]

In this latest video from Fracture, Seth Benton Senior Multiplayer lead tells us how the multilayer will work in the game. The game will be coming to Xbox 360 and PS3.

Fracture Multiplayer - Fisting and Other Indoor Sports

Now this is more like it. GH:On Tour is all well and good, but it is hard to feel like yer actual axe-wielding rock warrior when you are hunched over a DS with a soppy-looking 'Guitar Grip' attached to your hand like a Nerf knuckleduster.

Eric Ruckman was so desperate to give the DS port of Guitar Hero the thrashing it so richly deserves that he scooped out the innards of his PS2 guitar and melded it with a DS. The DS touch screen is still used for strumming - the plectrum stylus works even better in this context - and the crafty sod even bolted on an FM transmitter to pump stereo sound through his hi-fi.

Hack Guitar Hero DS into a guitar controller [Hack-A- Day via Engadget]

Follow the jump for a video of the mod in action.

Read More »

Sega's rocking maraca Wii game hits Europe on Sept. 19 and North America on Sept. 23, Sega announced today. Samba de Amigo, the famously fun Dreamcast title, will include have