A German appeals court threw out a judgment Atari had won against RapidShare, the popular file-hosting site where Atari says copies of games from its Alone in the Dark series were being illegally shared.
The last we heard about the second Alone in the Dark movie, Alone in the Dark II, was way back in 2007 when it was announced that actors Lance Henriksen and Danny Trejo would be appearing in the flick.
With the PlayStation 3 version of Alone in the Dark hitting in November, nearly half a year after its PC, Xbox 360, Wii, and PS2 versions, the development team have had plenty of time to fix the mistakes made in the initial release, and fix they have. Repairs have been made to the controls, the camera system, and inventory access, while gameplay tweaks should make car handling a bit more enjoyable. They’ve tuned the spectral vision system so less is required to complete the game, tweaked the 59th Street level difficulty by adding another checkpoint and clear voice directions, and have even added a brand new action sequence in Episode 6 exclusive to the PS3 version of the game. Hell, they may have even tightened up the graphics on level 3, though I have no official confirmation.
Sounds like they’re making every effort to make the game better this time around. Perhaps I’ll finally give it a go when the PS3 drops in two months. Hit the jump for the full list of changes!
Pretty much anyone who reviewed Alone in the Dark on the Xbox 360 heaped hatred on the game’s controls and camera system, and developer Eden Studios have learned their lesson. Not only is the forthcoming PS3 version going to have better movement and non-claustrophobic views, the 360 will get a patch that Eurogamer says “will implement most of the changes that have been made to the upcoming PS3 version”.
Eden opened its AitD presentation at Leipzig by listing all of the flaws in the 360 game. “We have absorbed and taken every piece of criticism about the game that was constructive and would help”, a rep said. Eden’s spokesperson also explained why they thought the tight camera position was a good idea at the time. Writes Eurogamer:
Things are lookin’ up for Atari! The company announced its quarterly results today, seeing $US 40.3 million in revenue for the quarter ending June 30. That’s much better than the quarter from the previous year, if you don’t have your earnings spreadsheets handy and translates to reported net income of $US 3.5 million. Sure, Bagel Mondays probably aren’t returning any time soon and toner cartridge rations will still be in effect at all Atari offices, but it’s better than losing nearly twelve million bucks.
Atari execs likely have the universally ‘meh’ed Alone in the Dark reboot to thank for that non-loss, but we’re anxiously awaiting the publication of their 10-Q form to find out all the thrilling financial details.
Atari’s latest update of the Alone in the Dark franchise turned out to be a love it or hate it sort of affair upon its release last month, with reviewers and regular old gamers alike taking up positions so far from the fence that they couldn’t even find each other to argue over it. Now Atari has revealed that PlayStation 3 owners will finally be able to either love or hate Edward Carnby’s latest outing this November – five months after the game was released on all of the other platforms.
I would say this gives PS3 owners a chance to read reviews, talk to their friends, and form some sort of conclusive opinion about whether or not to pick up the game or not, but after digging through review scores last month for the Frankenreview I still haven’t decided whether or not I want to play it, and I bought Dog Island. PS3 Alone in the Dark this November [Eurogamer]