At a press conference today in Tokyo, Microsoft decided to drop a press conference bomb of 31 games for the Xbox 360. After patting its own back and mentioning that over 1 million Xbox 360 units have been sold in Japan, Microsoft announced a “Thank You” campaign. Over 1 million MS Points will be given away as part of the promotion, along with a free — wait for it — dashboard theme....
This “economic crisis” business is funny when it happens to morons who put too much on their credit card and like spending money they don’t have, but when itaffects Mistwalker, developer of arguably the best RPG of 2008, I start to give a crap. AQ Interactive has announced that the third of Hironobu Sakaguchi’s planned Xbox 360 titles,Cry On, has been canceled.Cry Onwas an action RPG with a Nobuo Uematsu soundtrack and character designs courtesy of Kimihiko Fujisaka....
Microsoft kicked off the yearwrongwith thousands of layoffs companywide. We heard a bit later that theXbox division was not affected, but it seems that a new round of layoffs does come into the game space a bit. Some 3,000 workers were sent home yesterday. Of those, it is said that about 100 are from Microsoft’s in-game advertising buisness Massive.Gamasutrasays that this made up about 75 percent of the staff at Massive, a company that Microsoft acquired in 2006 for over $200 million....
[For her Monthly Musing, Shodan walks us through the plot of Silent Hill, explaining how the music and sound effects within the game highlight the game’s themes.Want to write your own Musing?Click hereand start writing! — JRo] Silent Hill 2is a now-notorious journey into one man’s self-inflicted personal hell, a town better defined as a mental state – a constantly-morphing manifestation of the protagonist’s grief and guilt. The game is far more complex than its dated graphics and simple gameplay would have you believe, but every aspect of the game is there to build the narrative (yes, even the endless maze of locked doors!...
Developer Ghostfire Games shot us over an email to let us know that their original music-rhythm game,Helix, would be hitting WiiWare this coming Monday. Helix will feature 25 songs, most of which you’ve probably never heard of, like “Blow It Away” by Resonance & Marshall Whyler. The tracks were hand-picked by Ghostfire Games from a pool of over a thousand songs. “It’s the type of music you want to hear over and over again because it’s so good,” says Ghostfire’s CEO Ed Roman....
Epic wants you, the loving fan, to come up with a name for one of theirUnreal Tournament IIImaps. Once you’re creative juices start flowing, you’ll need tocreate an accounton the Epic Games forums to post your brilliant submission. There’s also a general guideline for the contest: – It has to sound cool!– The name must be of the form “CTF-Name”. Multi-word names should be capitalized, i.e., “CTF-FirstSecondThirdWord”.– Don’t be silly with using names trademarked by someone else, immature stuff, etc....
EA has a tough task ahead of them when it comes to marketingNBA Elite 11, the reboot of their basketball franchise. They’re trying to start a revolution in basketball videogames by having moving and shooting controlled completely on the analog sticks, and it sounds like something you have to try for yourself before you dismiss it. So EA let some NBA stars, including cover athleteKevin Durant, get their hands on the sticks — and they recorded the players’ impressions live....
Yesterday was the launch of the Carnival line of PSP colors in Japan.We told you about these earlier, and then showed you a sillycommerciallater. Two more colors joined two others launched earlier this month to make the full Carnival PSP-300 lineup: Radiant Red, Vibrant Blue, Bright Yellow, and Spirited Green. We’ve picked up a new Spirited Green one and ripped it open in the video below the jump. Impressions: These new systems have a damned good paint job....
Earlier this year,Prince of Persiaproducer Ben Mattes bet his job that the game’s computer-controlled sidekick, Elika, would never get in the player’s way. Inan interview I did with himnot long ago, he reiterated this, saying Elika would be nothing but a positive, and likening her to your favorite gun inGears of WarorCounter-Strike “You like Elika,” he told me, “because she has infinite ammo, she’s stuck to your waist, she never rusts, she never breaks down, she only ever makes you feel like a super f**king badass....
Funcom and EA have released another trailer for their upcoming MMOThe Secret World.Unlike previous trailers this one shows off part of a city that looks to me like Times Square. And a giant monster. There is also magic. Sadly this trailer, like most of theSecret Worldtrailers, is CG which looks nice, but tells us absolutely nothing about actual gameplay. From what I’veseen so far, this game looks cool, and features all sorts of myths and legends....
You have to wonder whether or not Nintendo is truly feeling the heat from the success of iDevice gaming, particularly with the recent release of the iPad. This week, Nintendo is flooding its store with six titles for its DSi, half of which are animal-centric titles. Because that’s where the money’s at. WiiWare Virtual Console I’ll admit, I’m tempted byScrabble Slam!… stop looking at me like that. I’m ahardcoregamer; don’t judge....
In 1990 Lucasfilm Games (now Lucasarts) were the Blizzard of the hilarious adventure game subgenre. Everything they touched was gold, and sold like heroin in an orphanage. At the same time, the NES was the console of the era, crushing all competitors under a gray boot of market share, and absorbing every IP available. As such it’s no surprise that Lucasfilm Games’Maniac Mansion— a 1987 hit adventure title — would find its way to the NES, but what was shocking is how ready Nintendo was to slap down anything even remotely related to sex, anatomy, drugs, violence, pubic hair, the letter “L,” and woodland animals not wearing pants....
Noby Noby Boycreator Keita Takahashi has posted on thePlayStation Blog, revealing a new update is coming to his game. I’m hoping they plan to patch out the pure, rampant Satanism contained within thatevilfile, but I’m doubtful. We do know that some sort of “offline co-op” is coming, which Takahashi promises will “still be fun.” The update will be released “In the hopes that more people can enjoy the game.” Takahashi says that, as depressed as it can make him, he has listened to all the criticism regarding his quirky PSN game and that he had come to expect it....
