In honor of the July 4th weekend, this week's gallery starts off with the level transition cutscenes from the criminally underappreciated* fireworks puzzler Fantavision. Of course, July 4 is already over. And these cutscenes don't have much in the way of fireworks in them. So I guess the whole thing is really more non-sequitur than anything else. But that's appropriate, because they don't make any sense in the game either.

* Kids! Only a certain percentage of this statement is sarcasm -- use the Pocket Science Guide from last ish to calculate how much! Ask your parents to help!

Continue reading "The Error Macro Video Gallery - Really Big or Rather Big" »

Posted by Bill at 6:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

The first Mercenaries wasn't a perfect game, but it was a hell of a lot of fun, especially for the more destructive among us. So it was a shame that the sequel seemed to be having a rough time in development, getting delayed a couple times and generally staying out of the public eye. However, Pandemic has recently released a playthrough video demonstrating the three main characters' different approaches to the same mission, proving that they do indeed have a game over there and it does appear to be playable.

Alright, so the three approaches aren't actually that different, and the vehicle hijacking minigame isn't a welcome addition. But lookit, explosions.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Street Fighter IV anime-style trailer, Darksiders: Wrath of War trailer, House of the Dead EX screenshots

• One of the hurdles facing both Activision and Harmonix in getting Led Zeppelin songs into Guitar Hero and Rock Band is that the group isn't comfortable giving access to their master tapes.
• McFarlane Toys has revaled a line of action figures based on Call of Duty: World at War.
• Shiny Entertainment founder Dave Perry has an honorary Doctorate in Science from Queen's University Belfast in Ireland.

PC and mobile news

• Robin Walker has responded to a number of Team Fortress 2 questions. "We agree that they’re a little too overpowered right now. In fact, internally, we refer to them as 'winbombs'. We haven’t reached a decision on what we’ll change yet, though."
• Touchdown CEO Jeff Pepper talks about designing Dancetown, a DDR for seniors.
• Hudson has announced Diablo 3 multiplayer on supportive, cooperative play over griefing.

Nintendo news

New PAL WiiWare titles: Pop, My Pokemon Ranch -- that's, uh, two separate names
New media: Wario Land Shake gameplay footage, Big Bang Mini screenshots and trailer

• There are currently no plans for future Brain Training titles, seeing as the originals continue to sell well enough on their own.
• Sega has confirmed that Samba de Amigo will ship with maraca attachments.
• Foreign ministers attending the G8 summit in Kyoto were presented with custom DSes and perfume balls along with what is apparently stickers with their faces on.
• Tales of the Heart has been announced for the DS.
• A poll on Japanese website IT Media finds that 64% of respondents have stopped using their Wii Fit.

Sony news

New content: Guitar Hero III Top Gun Anthem, Rock Band tracks
New media: Naruto: Ultimate Ninja Storm trailer

• Sony says Home's release in fall will be a "fully robust service" despite it's open beta status.
• Sony Europe warns that it may have trouble providing enough Dualshock 3s to Europe on day one.
• Capcom.co.jp has a listing for a PSP Devil May Cry title.
• Hideo Kojima lists the five games that have made an impact on his life.
• Tales of the World: Radiant Mythology 2 has been announced for the PSP.

Microsoft news

• Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg says the 360 "compliments the Wii experience," as Wii players will eventually "want to graduate to an Xbox 360 experience."
• Denis Dyack explains that his weird NeoGAF call-out was all a big experiment. "NeoGAF and other forums like this that don't have good management are not only hurting society and hurting the videogame industry, they're in decline, and they need to reform quickly before people stop listening to them." lol wut

Posted by Bill at 6:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

Man, no. Don't do that. For, like, eighteen different reasons.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Rise of the Argonauts deed featurette

• Midnight Club: Los Angeles has been delayed to October.
• SouthPeak Games has announced Raven Squad: Operation Hidden Dagger, a hybrid RTS/FPS for the 360 and PC.
• Next week's Rock Band tracks will be a pair from Red Hot Chili Peppers and a pair from Rush. All tracks are masters, with the master for Rush's Wookie Man Working Man featuring an alternate solo that has never been released publicly.
• Smash Bros. Brawl has debuted at the top of the Australian sales chart, while the Japanese chart is topped by the equally exciting Derby Stallion.
• Harmonix says that Rock Band 2 won't have user-created music, but when they do get around to it, they will take a "radically different approach" from how it's being done in Guitar Hero: World Tour.
• HMV is going to start selling used games later this year.
• According to its annual report, more than 49% of Atari's revenue for fiscal 2008 came from Dragon Ball Z.
• A judge has denied a shareholder request to halt the Activision-Vivendi merger. And he did it in the dorkiest way possible.
• EA Sports has apologized for including the Soldier's Song as the anthem for Northern Ireland in FIFA 2008.
• Take Two is considering lay-offs at Venom Games, though they haven't confirmed earlier reports that the whole studio will be shut down.
• Joystiq compares three versions of Ticket to Ride -- the board game, the Web game, and the Live Arcade version -- to see which is best.
• The report yesterday that game sales has surpassed DVD sales was kind of bunk, because they were including hardware and accessory sales for games while only counting DVDs.
• MTV Multiplayer asks four game developers who they killed in GTA4. This is in reference to an early-on mission, if you're worried about spoilers.
• Gamasutra talks to developers to find that crunch doesn't have to happen.
• An Army combat simulator was replaced at Wisconsin's Summerfest music festival following complaints. Who thinks it's ever a good idea to take anything pro-war to a music festival?
• Virtual reality simulations are being used to enhance role-playing scenarios to teach women about dating violence. "The rain was added to isolate her. The car is particularly creepy- we worked hard at that."
• 1up has a feature on writing in games, which opens by explaining how Dead Head Fred ended up winning the Writers Guild of America's first Videogame Writing Award. "The logic behind the list, explains Jacobs, is that writers had to be members of the WGA's New Media Caucus to be nominated. But few writers in the industry currently belong to the WGA, much less the Caucus."

PC and mobile news

New GameTap titles: Descent: Freespace, Off-road Redneck Racing
New content: Warcraft 3 1.22a patch, Day of Defeat: Source Palermo update, SBK 2008 1.1 patch, Enemy Engaged 2 Euro 1.02 patch

• Registration for the Wrath of the Lich King beta is open now.
• Four people in the UK were ordered to pay £2750 to Topware Interactive for uploading their game Dream Pinball 3D to file sharing networks. Additional suits are coming -- and thank God, because we have to stop the spread of Dream Pinball 3D before it's too late.

Nintendo news

• GamesRadar has screenshots and hands-on impressions of Mega Man 9. They've also got an interview with series creator Keiji Inafune. "Mega Man 9 will be much closer to Mega Man 2. As mentioned earlier, in the process of going back to our roots, we came to conclude that those fancy moves were unnecessary."
• Also, Mega Man 9 has been dated for September 9 in Japan.
• Guitar Hero: On Tour has sold over 300,000 units in one week, making it the largest ever launch for an Activision DS game.
• Vaporware title Sadness has gotten a release window of Fall 2009. The developer also claims that they'll be showing the game at Leipzig.
• The UK's Official Nintendo Magazine is teasing an Animal Crossing announcement. If it exists, we'll likely see it at E3.
• Elebits: The Adventures of Kai and Zero is coming to the DS this fall.
• Masahiro Sakurai says there were originally a lot more characters in Smash Bros. Brawl, but he can't say which ones got cut out.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Advance Wars: Days of Ruin for $19.99.

Sony news

New media: Infamous screenshots, PixelJunk Eden gameplay footage

• Sony has clarified that all new PS3 games will have trophies, but whether old games have them added on is up to their respective publishers.
• Sony is launching a new slimmer PS2 model in India and Europe in October.
• Dark Sector developer Digital Extremes is helping with the PS3 port of BioShock.
• Yakuza 3 has been announced for the PS3.

Microsoft news

New media: Infinite Undiscovery gameplay footage
New content: Rainbow Six Vegas 2 gift pack, Guitar Hero III Top Gun Anthem, Ace Combat 6 plane, Ninja Gaiden II costume packs

• If the costume packs don't thrill you, Ninja Gaiden II may also get a Mission Mode as DLC.
• Microsoft says they have experimented with 3D stereoscopic games, but "it is hard to be mainstream with asking people to wear headgear to play games."
• Gamestop has a listing for Banjo Kazooie: Nuts & Bolts for $40, but that's far from a guarantee. Amazon has it listed for the normal $60.
• A free Halo 3 map is coming on July 7, along with new gamer pics and a dashboard theme.
• A Halo board game has been announced.
• Despite claims by Namco that the port featured "no major additions or subtractions," the Live Arcade version of Soul Calibur has had the original's Mission Mode removed. Oddly enough, the unlockable art you earned by playing it is still there, all accessible from the start.
• Viva Pinata: Trouble in Paradise is set for a September 2 release date.

Posted by Bill at 6:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

If you heard a sound last night, it was likely the Internet collectively shitting itself over the first news of Chrono Trigger DS. Word is it's more of a port than a remake -- it will utilize the dual screens, touchscreen functionality and add wireless play, but won't receive a 3D overhaul like FF3 or 4. On one hand, that may be for the best as the limitations of the DS hardware would make the game look worse in 3D. On the other hand, it offers less reason to play though a game I've already played a half dozen times. The requisite bonus dungeon doesn't really sweeten the deal.

It will be interesting (read: horrible) to see how they retcon in filling the Schala plot hole and other Chrono Cross references.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: DC Universe Online first screenshots, Pure gameplay footage, Saints Row 2 trailer

• This is Vegas has been delayed to 2009.
• The Entertainment Merchants Association reports that game sales surpassed DVD sales in 2007.
• Yet another Resident Evil movie could be in the works.
• Gamestop confirms that they have acquired The Gamesman.
• Desite initial reports, EA has corrected to say that Europe has no official date for Rock Band 2 just yet.
• X-Play may have leaked the first songs appearing in Rock Band 2. Someone at the ScoreHero forums also claims to have playtested the game and listed more tracks.
• This week's Zero Punctuation video tells you how to make a video game webcomic. If you think he's making up the bit about ham-handed drama, you are tragically misinformed.
• Capcom has endowed GamesRadar with 150 pieces of high-resolution old school Mega Man artwork.
• EA says each version of FIFA 09 will be unique to the platform it's on.
• Wired has a list of the worst movie games ever, including one that turned Hayao Miyazaki off games forever.
• Government officials in Cyprus plan to regulate violent video game sales. Now, if I only knew where Cyprus was.
• 1up talks to female gaming spokespeople about all that trouble with having a vagina while working around video games. It's apparently a real hassle because someone writes an article about it every two Goddamn weeks.
• Joystiq can't nail down whether Rock Band guitars work with Guitar Hero: Aerosmith or not. They've got a poll and right now the votes are evenly split between "yes it does" and "no it doesn't."
• Police have started using online games to catch pedophiles. They mention using GTA4 as one of the places "where children are," so parents are really sticking to those ESRB ratings.
• Centerville Ohio's Washington-Centerville Public Library has begun loaning video games.
• EGM reports the rumor that the next Tony Hawk will use a peripheral and not be developed by Neversoft.
• Capcom USA says they are "investigating" the possibility of an American release for Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.

PC and mobile news

New content:Rainbow Six Vegas 2 1.03 patch, World in Conflict 1.0.0.9 patch

• The next Team Fortress 2 update will focus on the Heavy, and the official TF2 blog goes into detail as to how the team approaches the design issues when making these updates.
• Gamecock titles are being added to Steam, starting with Insecticide Part 1 and Stronghold Crusader Extreme.
• Diablo III's producer has responded to whinging about the art style.
• LucasArts and Sony have announced an online Star Wars Galaxies collectible card game.
• Diablo II jumped back into Amazon's top ten PC games sales charts after the announcement of Diablo III.
• Kotaku Australia argues why hybrid classes don't work.
• James Wallis attempts to measure how big Azeroth is using science and a lot of free time.
• GameTap denies rumors they're going out of business.
• I imagine if they were, they wouldn't be doing odd things like this: GameTap plans to make each episode of American McGee's Grimm free for the first 24 hours.
• Fallout 3 production director Ashley Cheng says he's "disappointed that Blizzard has stayed on the conservative side in terms of design with their updates to Diablo and Starcraft."

Nintendo news

• Majesco has announced the puzzle game Marker Man Adventures for the DS.
• Instructables tells you how to make a 1up mushroom veggie burger, but be warned that it is pretty gross looking.
• Amazon has the famously hideous Target Terror for $11.21.

Sony news

New content: Super Stardust HD team expansion

• Sony has pulled firmware 2.4 on word that it's causing boot problems for many users.
• A security firm warns that hackers have placed unauthorized code on the official Playstation site which gives users a phony virus scan warning in attempt to sell a counterfeit security product.
• LittleBigPlanet will use a simple grief report system to deal with objectionable user-created content. This system will also work for copyrighted material.
• Design Lesson 101 looks at what can be learned from the original Ratchet & Clank.
• Ultimately, every old PS3 game will get trophies. Sometime.
• Insomniac, however, says there are currently no plans to add trophies to Resistance 1 or Ratchet & Clank Future, with the studio instead focused on finished Resistance 2.
• The August issue of GamePro offers the chance to get Resistance 2 beta codes.
• Dissidia: Final Fantasy's script is twice the size of the one for Crisis Core.
• Namco Bandai has denied rumors that Soul Calibur 4 has a hefty install size and 2 gig save file. They wouldn't, however, say how big either actually is.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Turok for $19.99.

Microsoft news

New Live Arcade title: Soul Calibur

• There will be several Halo Wars demo stations at E3.
• Inside My Gamer Card claims to have the list of Geometry Wars Evolved 2 achievements.
• George Romero apparently isn't aware of Dead Rising, suggesting that the lawsuit by Dawn of the Dead rights holders MKR Group against Capcom has more to do with lawyers than any real creative infringement.
• Amazon's deal of the day is Turok for $19.99.

Posted by Bill at 6:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

Pictured: Master Chief made of balloons (left).

I was recently reminded that Gamespot never finished their Flashback video series. I don't have any grander point to make here, it just bugs me because I had that page bookmarked for a long time, waiting for them to finally update it. Of course, half the people involved don't even work at Gamespot anymore.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Quantum of Solace screenshots, Street Fighter IV screenshots showing some of the game's interface

• Kotaku has the list of Who tracks coming to Rock Band this month.
• HMV's head of games says that games "are the new rock and roll."
• Treyarch has apologized for an Activision senior producer calling Brothers in Arms: Hell's Highway a "crappy war game."
• GameCareerGuide has a report on what it's like inside a Japanese game school.
• Two more Tatsunoko vs. Capcom fighters have been revealed: Alex from Street Fighter III and Gan-chan from Yatterman.
• The Top Gun Anthem (not Danger Zone) is coming to Guitar Hero III as a free track this Thursday.
• A pair of Gamasutra features on game design: the Problem of the Cutscene and Creating Credible Obstacles in Games.
• The ticket prices for this year's E for All have been announced.
• I'm not sure why anyone would expect it to, but for the record, Guitar Hero: Aerosmith doesn't work with Rock Band guitars.
• Gamesradar presents 65 things that look like Pac-Man.
• Capcom has clarified earlier reports, saying that Mega Man 9 is only coming to WiiWare.
• Capcom is looking for San Francisco Bay-area gamers to test a secret game.
• A study conducted at the University of New South Wales in Australia using a custom-made video game for the study found that players were more likely to shoot Muslim-looking characters whether they were a threat or not.
• Pulitzer-prize winning author Junot Díaz has a feature in the Wall Street Journal about how GTA4 falls short of some of its high praise, which to be fair, has been pretty ridiculous in places (Gamespy claimed the game was "on par with the finest films by directors like Martin Scorcese or Francis Ford Coppola"). Despite what you might expect, Diaz is coming from the well-informed perspective of having played the series since the first game in 1998.

PC and mobile news

New media: Crysis Warhead trailer

• BioWare is open to the possibility of developing on the iPhone.
• Age of Conan is now the second biggest western MMO, having surpassed 700,000 subscribers.
• Stardock is offering full refunds to anyone who bought The Political Machine only to find out their computer can't run it due to video card compatibility issues.
• Diablo fans are whining that Diablo III is too bright. The only color on the spectrum they recognize is Cheeto orange.
• Square-Enix' free-to-play MMO Concerto Gate is entering closed beta, with 5000 keys up for grabs at FileFront.
• Funcom says the Age of Conan bug that causes female characters to attack slightly slower than males will take another three to four weeks to fix.

Nintendo news

New media: Dragon Quest V trailer, C.O.R.E. debut trailer -- is it just my monitor settings or can you not see half of what's going on here

• Disgaea DS and Rhapsody: A Musical Adventure are both hitting America on September 23. I can't believe they're remaking Rhapsody.
• A Wii Hula game has been announced for Japan, and is listed as requiring the balance board.
• Castlevania Judgment will feature Wii-DS connectivity to "unlock bonus gameplay content."
• A Nintendo art exhibit is being organized in Melbourne for September. Artists are being encouraged to submit contributions to the show.

Sony news

New media: Resistance 2 trailer

• Sony has denied rumors that PS2 games are coming to PSN.
• Disgaea 3 has been given an August 26 release date in America and a price of $49.99.
• Trophies will be part of an upcoming update to Burnout: Paradise. But not the next one.
• If you're somehow still confused, the official Playstation blog offers a firmware 2.4 FAQ.

Microsoft news

New content: Rock Band tracks (including one free)

• Kmart has begun advertising a 360 price cut in Australia.
• IGN lists the 5 things they want fixed in Too Human before it's released.
• The voice actor for Dominic Santiago claims that Gears of War 2 will be "more emotionally affecting that BioShock."
• The new version of RPG Maker will produce 360 compatible code.
• The Fanboys takes a look at the design of the dashboard and how to make it better. You don't notice just how much wasted space there is until it's pointed out.
• Meanwhile there's a rumor that Microsoft is planning a second dashboard interface to work with their upcoming motion controller (which is also just a rumor).
• Microsoft Games Studios Europe says not to expect many simultaneous PC/360 releases, as that would "basically shoot ourselves in the foot."
• Amazon's deal of the day is Dark Sector for $19.99.

Posted by Bill at 6:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBacks (0)

So Guitar Hero: Aerosmith comes out this week. Most of us also remember the arcade classic Revolution X, no matter how hard we try not to. But did you know there was a third game featuring Aerosmith? Did you know that's three too many?

The above is the German box art, as the American version is kind of dull. Or rather, more dignified.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Soul Calibur IV gameplay footage

• MTV has announced Rock Band 2, which will arrive in September on the 360 and later in the year after an unspecified exclusivity window. IGN has an interview with the lead designer to get the first details.
• Meanwhile, the original game has exceeded 15 million song downloads.
• Speaking of which, Harmonix has said that Who's Next won't be coming to Rock Band because, as suspected, they can't find all the masters. Instead, they've teamed with Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey to create a 12 track best-of compilation pack, which will be available July 15.
• Smash Bros. Brawl beat out Battlefield: Bad Company to hit the top of this week's UK sales chart, while MGS4 continues to sit at number one elsewhere in Europe.
• The ESA has won $65,000 in legal fees from the state of Minnesota.
• The BBFC has rejected claims that the implementation of the Byron Review could lead to delays and higher costs.
• Shellshock 2 has been refused classification in Australia.
• Acclaim has announced the winners of Dave Perry's Project: Top Secret competition.
• Gamasutra has an interview with Monkey Island creator Ron Gilbert about his current projects and the state of the industry.
• 1up presents ten things you should know about Space Invaders.
• The American Library Association is initiating a project to track and measure the impact of gaming on literacy skills. They're also working to construct a model for a national library gaming system.
• A game violence researcher has criticized the book Grand Theft Childhood; the authors have responded.
• Street Fighter IV is officially coming to Japanese arcades July 18.

PC and mobile news

New content: The Political Machine 1.03 patch
New media: Atlantica trailer and gameplay footage -- a turn-based strategy MMO currently in beta

• Joystiq summarizes the new World of Warcraft info from Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational.
• EA veteran Neil Young has created a new iPhone studio.
• The guy who hacked into Valve last year, compromising Steam account information and credit card numbers, has been caught by Dutch police. But not before spending 13 million Euros on electronics and online poker.

Nintendo news

New WiiWare title: Magnetica Twist
New content: My Life as a King dungeons
New Virtual Console title: Fatal Fury 2

• A new Nester comic appears in the 20th anniversary issue of Nintendo Power (God, that thing's been around for 20 years). Apparently Nester has grown up, gotten married and has a kid, along with an unfortunate new quasi-anime art style.
• Majesco has announced Cooking Mama World Kitchen for the Wii.

Sony news

• Trophies and the in-game XMB are coming to the PS3 as part of the 2.4 firmware update, due July 2. The official Playstation blog has video walkthroughs for the media bar and the trophy system.
• The Dualshock 3 is finally coming to Europe this Friday.
• A single screenshot accompanies a rumor that PS2 game downloads could be coming to the Playstation Store.
• Gamestop's database shows SOCOM: Confrontation being delayed to October 14.
• Binary Fractal presents the theory that Solid Snake has no penis.
• Amazon's deal of the day is MLB 07 The Show for $8.99.

Microsoft news

• This week's Live Arcade title is Soul Calibur, along with new content for Wits and Wagers.
• Evidence continues to mount for a 360 price cut announcement at E3.
• According to a Wired preview, Too Human's campaign lasts 10 hours.
• An Opposable Thumbs source says the price drop is a means to make way for a 60 gig version.
• EA says they are aware that some players are having trouble connecting to the Battlefield: Bad Company servers.
• Just in case you ever wondered where J Allard disappeared to, he's apparently now Microsoft's Chief Experience Officer.
• Konami and Hori have teamed up to make an arcade stick with touch screen for the 360 game Otomedius Gorgeous.
• Too Human contains a KLOBB gun, last seen in Goldeneye and named for Ken Lobb (who was working at Nintendo at the time, and now works at Microsoft).

Posted by Bill at 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

• Guitar Hero: Aerosmith (360, PS3, PS2, Wii) - Doesn't include I Don't Want to Miss a Thing? NO SALE. $59.99 on the 360 and PS3, $49.99 on the Wii and PS2. There are also the standard $100 guitar bundles ($90 for the PS2), and even a two-guitar bundle (PS2 only).
• Trauma Center: Under the Knife 2 (DS) - Anime Surgery: The Sequel. $29.99 at Amazon.
• Gears of War (360) - A rerelease containing the original game and both map packs released so far. $39.99 at Amazon.
• Fading Shadows (PSP) - A puzzle-platformer with goofy-ass box art. I tried searching for it at Amazon, but they gave me Soul Bubbles instead.

A slow week with several of those games where no one can agree as to whether they're actually coming out or not. Gamasutra claims Hail to the Chimp is being released this week when they also said it was coming out last week. Thankfully these problems only affect games you don't care about.

Posted by Bill at 6:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBacks (0)

If you've been stuck under a rock recently, Diablo III was announced over the weekend. 1up has a brief guide to catch you up on all that is known so far.

Industry and multi-console news

New media: Rainbow Six Vegas 2 trailer which explains the upcoming Fan Pack

• Mega Man 9 will be hitting Live Arcade, PSN and Wii Ware simultaneously.
• Valve says Half Life 2: Episode 3 will not being showing at E3.
• Firaxis has responded to the Cut Scene blog regarding their moral issues with the Civilization series. "As with all previous versions of Civilization, the game does not endorse any particular position or strategy - players can and should make their own moral judgments."
• Develop Magazine wonders if we'll see knighthood for Rockstar founders Sam and Dan Houser down the road.
• GameDaily talks to the director of Wall-E about whether games will catch up with Pixar's films.
• The latest issue of Edge has first details on DC Universe Online, an MMO coming to the PC and PS3.
• Kezins lists 51 different games that use the Wilhelm scream. If you don't know what that is... well, you do, you just don't know it.
• Apparently Catwoman is in Mortal Kombat vs. DC.
• A new marketing survey may have leaked more of the artists appearing in Guitar Hero: World Tour.
• Meanwhile Microsoft is busy asking Canadians if they play games naked. And 17% of men said yes.

PC and mobile news

• Starcraft 2 won't be coming in 2008.
• Valve argues for why the PC is the future. "Team Fortress 2 designer Robin Walker weighs in, noting that the PC version of the shooter has had no less than 53 updates since its release last year - something that certification cost and time have prohibited for on console - and that this 'ship continuously' ethos is a key component to the success of the best multiplayer titles. Steam, he says, makes that process fast and transparent."
• The Federation of American Scientists have created Immune Attack, "an educational video game that introduces basic concepts of human immunology to high school and entry-level college students."
• Beyond the Diablo news, Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational also brought new Starcraft II details.
• The CEO of Crytek estimates that there are 20 pirates for every one legitimate buyer of a PC game.
• A parody fairytale MMO called Secondhand Lands is currently in closed beta.
• The New York Times has reported on a recently formed council of Eve Online players that were flown to Iceland to meet with the game's developer to make suggestions and air grievances. On one hand it's really interesting that CCP would be that open to feedback, on the other hand pretty much everything associated with Eve is embarrassingly sad.

Nintendo news

New media: Skate It trailer

• Nintendo is holding off on any plans of a DVD player Wii to focus on providing adequate supply of the current model.
• Samba de Amigo may contain maraca attachments for your Wii remote.
• The DS game Soul Bubbles is going to be available only at Toys R Us.
• The Smash Bros. Dojo has updated again with a new screenshot gallery, to mark Brawl's European release.
• A homebrew painting application for the DS uses the Guitar Hero On Tour peripheral for tool shortcuts.

Sony news

New media: Persona 4 trailers

• The solo version of Metal Gear Online has been dated for July 17 in Japan.
• Dark Alex has released his 4.01 custom PSP firmware.
• Sony has been granted a patent for a "hand-held device with touchscreen and digital tactile pixels."

Microsoft news

New media: Halo Wars screenshots

• In one of the behind the scenes featurettes on the MGS4 bonus disc, you can see a 360 devkit on the desk of someone at Kojima Productions.
• The Street Fighter II HD beta is having problems with freezing, but Capcom has no plans to patch it. "Resubmissions would cost a fortune and not go live for weeks. This isn't like the PC where a developer can make changes daily (for good or ill)." Sounds like they read the Valve article.
• The MyGamerPad rumor has been proven false.

Posted by Bill at 8:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)

I suppose, given today's events, I'm obligated to make the first video in today's gallery this 19 minute run of Diablo III gameplay footage.

I could've used the debut trailer, but that doesn't really tell you much. Even less if you're like me and you've never actually played a Diablo before.

Continue reading "The Error Macro Video Gallery - We'll Do It Live" »

Posted by Bill at 3:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBacks (0)

Well, the Wii is finally getting a Castlevania.. except it's a 3D fighting game called Castlevania Judgment. Ick. As long as they were deciding to do the opposite of what people want, they should have run with it all the way and made a kart racer.

Worth noting is that the character designs are being handled by Death Note artist Takeshi Obata, a man of unparalleled range. Judgment character designs on the left, Death Note characters on the right. I think.

Industry and multi-console news

• Harmonix has loosened the warranty restriction on Rock Band, meaning you can get a replacement for faulty equipment without providing a receipt showing a purchase in the last 60 days.
• New Japanese hardware sales numbers show the PSP back to being the top selling hardware in Japan, after coming in second to the PS3 last week due to the release of MGS4.
• The official E3 website has an entry for Half Life 2: Episode 3, which is a bit of a surprise as Valve hasn't said anything about it, much less gave any indication they would show it.
• Ubisoft has announced a Rainbow Six Vegas 2 fan pack, offering new multiplayer maps and High Stakes mode, coming in July.
• McFarlane Toys has revealed the first of their Guitar Hero action figures.
• Next week's Rock Band tracks come from Motley Crue, Papa Roach and Trapt.
• Game designer and Virginia Tech alumnus Manveer Heir wants to make a game about the aftermath of the Virginia Tech shootings.
• The Game Creators have announced the launch of the Game Creator Store, allowing you to buy assets for use in your game (as opposed to stealing them).
• The latest issue of Famitsu says Soul Calibur IV has tag team elements, though to what extent remains unclear.
• As part of the job cuts reported a while back, LucasArts laid off a number of key Force Unleashed personnel.
• Michael Pachter says "Around 90% of last-generation console sales were made at the $199 price point or below."

PC and mobile news

• 1up has a video interview with Will Wright about Spore.
• Duke Nukem Forever isn't going to be at E3 because 3D Realms thinks E3 is irrelevant. "In fact, I wasn't even aware it was coming up." Yeah, that tends to happen when you're not invited.
• Blizzard's splash page, which has been changing day by day, is really driving some people nuts.
• No doubt those people will be hammering the live streams of Blizzard's Worldwide Invitational this weekend.

Nintendo news

New PAL Virtual Console titles: Super Fantasy Zone, Pac-Attack, King of the Monsters, Cybernoid, Summer Games 2 -- Why do they keep getting so many VC games?

• The Mega Man Network has updated with some clearer scans of Nintendo Power's Mega Man 9 screenshots.
• Hudson is working on a new Adventure Island, which will "probably" be for WiiWare.
• DSes are being used to help Japanese students learn English.
• 2K has signed a deal to use Havoc physics in several upcoming Wii titles, like, uh.. Carnival Games: Mini-Golf. Woo.
• Metal Slug 7 will hit the DS in America on November 19.
• Wired has a lengthy interview with Shigeru Miyamoto.
• Sunsoft is developing a digital comic viewer for the Wii. This will allow players (presumably Japanese only) to buy manga through WiiWare.
• Nintendo has announced its Japanese Virtual Console line-up for July.
• Crave tells you how to cheat at Wii Fit. I'm more bothered by the douchebag host with his terrible hair and hispter t-shirt.
• Japanese people have apparently run out of ideas to jerk off to, as they now have a Brain Training parody porno movie.
• WiiHD has a guide to Wii homebrew.
• Remember that all Amazon Gold Box deals today are Nintendo games, while the deal of the day is Smas Bros. Brawl for $25.99.

Sony news

New PSP game: Medievil Resurrection
New content: Pain character, Guitar Hero track, Rock Band tracks, Top Spin 3 demo
New media: Dissidia: Final Fantasy trailer

• Level 5's PS3 RPG White Knight Story is due sometime before April 2009. What happened to when it was called White Knight Chronicle?
• Gamasutra has an interview with Nippon Ichi. about Disgaea, the PS3, and their success in America. I had no idea they had made a Pilotwings-esque flight game.
• While we continue to wait for the game to show up here, Japanese gamers get Disgaea 3 content packs.

Microsoft news

New content: Lego Indiana Jones demo
New media: Soul Calibur (XBLA) gameplay footage

• Today is Bill Gates' last day at Microsoft as CEO.
• Scans of a K-Mart flyer show a new $299.99 price for the 20 gig 360. Obviously, it's not guaranteed the scans are legitimate.
• Microsoft says they have some "fantastic surprises" for this year's E3. That's right, two new editions of Buzz!
• Microsoft is concerned that the recommendations of the Byron Review might make games more expensive in the UK. Lord knows they've been dirt cheap up until now.
• Screenshots floating around the Internet claim to show Microsoft's answer to Home, called My GamerPad.
• Three N+ map packs are on their way, totaling an addiional 750 levels.
• Amazon has Fatal Inertia for $15.88.

Posted by Bill at 6:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBacks (0)