Archive for June 7th, 2007
Clip: Adolf Banned From XBL
Think our banhammer is scary? Check out how Microsoft’s brings down brutal, crazed dictators. The above clip is from the film Downfall about Hitler’s last days, complete with totally phony English subtitles, foul language and goose-stepping Nazis!
Even Dictators Get The 360 Blues [Gay Gamer]
Whodunnit: The Case Of The Vanishing European Tomb Raider
We don’t often see games go missing. They get delayed, yeah, and sometimes they don’t ever arrive, but to arrive and then disappear? Very rare. Still, that’s what’s happened to anyone in Europe trying to get hold of Tomb Raider Anniversary over Steam. Despite the site promoting the game out the wahzoo, anyone in the old world who actually tries to buy the thing is met with:
Sorry, but Tomb Raider: Anniversary (ROW) is not available for purchase in this country. Your purchase has been cancelled.
Oh, you’re not sorry. Not one bit. Eidos have offered no explanation for these intriguing circumstances, which is what’s so great. Who doesn’t love a good mystery? Not me. Me, I’m quite partial to them.
Tomb Raider Anniversary no longer available to Euro Steam users [Gamesindustry.biz]
Different Gears: Elder Bleszinski Doesn’t Welcome Wii Dominance
Look familiar? That’s Tyler Bleszinski (in green), older brother of Gears of War designer CliffyB. Known primarily as a sports blogger, TylerB is also a big gamer. Over at Newsweek’s Level Up, he’s written an editorial on why he’s on edge about the current Wii popularity. From the piece:
My problem is what this new crowd appears to be drawn to. Games like Wii Sports, Wii Play and Cooking Mama have become some of the biggest sellers, and that is what has me worried. If these are the type of games that become blockbusters, then you can count on other gaming companies who cater to the more hardcore gamer—aka me and the milions of others who’ve been driving this business—to promptly change direction. If we’ve learned anything about videogame companies, it’s that they all are quick to follow each other if one is successful with something.
It’s a provocative thought piece — complete with BeeGees-Nintendo Wii comparisons! Sure, it’s not quite the bombshell of CliffyB saying that, but they’re brothers. So somewhere, deep down, he must feel the same way. Or something.
TylerB Worried [Level Up]
Yeah, Balloons: PAL Virtual Console Update: Alright, Balloon Fight
Well tickle me sixteen shades of pink. Just in time for the Queen’s birthday long weekend, which in my hometown of Canberra means we get to legally buy fireworks and blow the shit out of things for a night, comes today’s VC update, which sees Balloon Fight turn up. Fantastic. I’m not predicting the best weekend ever, that would be getting carried away, but things are certainly looking up.
Oh, also available is Adventures of Lolo, and Europe, since you get the TurboGrafx games we miss out on for another month, you get Dead Moon as well.
Ninja: Itagaki Talks Motivation, Cabbage
Team Ninja’s chief ninja and Dead or Alive mastermind Tomonobu Itagaki is one competitive dude. He says that the projects he’s currently working aren’t just good, but good. So much so that they’ll destroy the hopes and dreams of other developers. Itagaki explains:
I’d like to show everybody some of the new stuff that we’ve been working on in the near future. The only problem with that is that when the other developers see what we’re doing, they’re going to lose all of their motivation to create any game in the same genre, because there’s no way they can beat it.
And when he’s not making life difficult for his colleagues, Itagaki is doing it for gamers. His titles are often notoriously challenging. Why does Itagaki like making such hard games? Cabbage. According to him:
I wouldn’t want to go into a cabbage field with a big knife or a scythe or something and just start cutting down thousands and thousands of heads of cabbage. That’s not something I would find fun. I do think there are probably some people out there who want that kind of experience when playing a game. That’s why, when it comes down to the number of enemies on-screen, I’d rather have good enemies than just a lot of enemies. That’s why I don’t buy into the philosophy of, “Look! We have a thousand heads of cabbage on screen at once, isn’t this great?!”
That reminds me, I need to go to the supermarket, pick up half a head of cabbage — we’re having okonomiyaki for dinner. Thanks!
Itagaki Interview [Game Informer]
No, Ta: Strum This Tacky Stylus
Continuing the train of thought that has peripheral makers convinced Nintendo owners will buy any old piece of crap so long as: a) it’s for a Nintendo console and b), has a theme, any theme, take a look at this. The Jammin Guitar Pick. It’s a guitar pick stuck on a piece of plastic. Just in case you want to play Jam Sessions AND spend USD$8 on something you can only use for Jam Sessions (the stylus point is on the pick itself, not the stick) AND look like a right tit on the subway strumming your fake guitar with your fake pick.
Thanks, really, but no.
Jammin’ Guitar Pick stylus lets us shred our touch screens [DS Fanboy]
The Axeman Does Not Cometh: Japanese Workers Escape Sony’s Axeman
Sony’s European and American employees, they’re expendable. Those in Japan, they’re keepers. Sony spokesperson Sayoka Henmi has told Fox News that while the recent layoffs at SCEE and SCEA were part of a big company shake-up, no jobs in Japan would be lost.
The job cuts in the U.S. follow those in Europe in April, but no cuts are planned for Japan.
The goal is to reform the organization.
Hardly surprising, since reshuffles are a more common way of dealing with unwanted asses-on-seats in Japan than sackings, but still. Even knowing that, were I a former SCEE or SCEA staffer looking for a new job, cap in hand, I’d feel a little cheesed-off. Not furious, mind, just…miffed.
Sony’s U.S. Video-Game Unit Cuts Jobs [Fox, via Game|Life]
Touch This: Doki Doki Majo Shinpan Gets English Website
The best day of this month? Today. Because today, reader Torokun sent word that SNK’s witch-and-boy-toucher Doki Doki Majo Shinpan has an official English site. It gives a run down of the story, the game’s system and “witch suspect introduction.” Here are some cut and paste site highlights:
- Story:“There is a boy; the student of the [Seirei Takagamine Junior High School] whose name is [Akuji Nishimura], is a little perverse and proud to be a bad boy.”
- Witch Check Mode: “Stare the ladies (using the icon of eye), smile to them in the appropriate timing, show them the evidences you have collected, and of course don’t forget to have the normal communications such as directly touching them. Just wondering, is the directly touching is normal or not… Anyway, make full use of the icons, stylus, and your techniques to try making the heart of witches beating.”
- Search Mode and Touch Screen Event: “Use of the stylus is not restricted to examine, but it also can use for various actions such as, picking up the goods, and move the obstacles. There might have the time, you will break the lock open and rummaged about in the room. Slip into the place like classroom and changing room, check up the other’s belongings to gather evidence of witches.”
- Magic Battle Mode: “This time, will explain about the Magic Battle Mode. As we gathered the evidence, hope to get to the Witch Check Mode at once. But not to mention, the witch suspect won’t allow so easily let you touch…um, to check. So, sometimes necessary to resort to violence letting suspect obey our order.”
An official English website certainly seems to mean one thing: SNK is interested in releasing this game outside Japan.
Doki Doki Majo Shinpan! [Official Site, Thanks Torokun!]
Rachel Overload: Ninja Gaiden Sigma Site Goes Live
The official Ninja Gaiden Sigma web site is now open, giving fans of the game looking forward to playing through it a third time some new eye candy. Obviously, the most important development on the Ninja Gaiden Sigma site are the wallpapers of Rachel, newly playable and featuring fantastically unrealistic physics in the PLAYSTATION 3 port.
Those wallpapers, including some that sadly don’t feature Rachel, are available in the “Secrets” section, if you’re looking. The rest of the site’s contents are rather dry stuff, including screenshots (yes, some are of Rachel), the trailer (with Rachel), and character backgrounds (Rachel).
I’m not sure if it’s the Rachel obsession or the PS3 game drought that has me so excited, but I’m having palpitations and my left arm hurts.
Day Note: Tea Kettle
To: Ash
From: Crecente
A tea kettle, that’s exactly what our new Phillips LCD TV sounded like. It was so loud it actually would wake my wife up when I watched at night, not to mention I couldn’t hear a damn thing unless I cranked it up. Finally, reluctantly, I took the TV back today and swapped it out for a Sharp 32-inch. It seems nice, but the case doesn’t look as nice as with the Sharp.
What you missed today:
Finally my Warhawk crashes will be limited to gameplay
It prints money, but not for us
Rooster TEETH!
LEGO Universe it is
Hi, Welcome: Hudson Comes To Australian Virtual Console’s Rescue
Been enjoying your TurboGrafx games on the Virtual Console, everyone? Bet you have. Lucky buggers. See, for some reason, Australia has been left out in the cold, with the games withheld from our Friday updates. No longer! Hudson and Nintendo have announced that, come July 6, Australia will start receiving TurboGrafx games, just like everyone. It’s so nice to be included.
They’ll be 600 points a pop, and they’re promising/hoping for around 60 titles to appear on the Aussie roster before we’re all sick to death of the whole thing.
Late, as they say, is better than never.
ハドソンが豪州でバーチャルコンソール用タイトルを配信 [Famitsu]
Original: Warhawk Stability Patch Hits Tomorrow
Word has it that a Warhawk patch will be hitting tomorrow for those lucky enough to be beta testing the PS3 online-only game.
The new version, while still a bit buggy (beta and all), will focus primarily on stability and a few other changes. Specifically the patch will improve client release, making it a smoother disconnect if clients if they leave, disconnect or crash. The patch also changes the way people can use the VOIP, thank god. Now players will have to press L3 to open a chat channel and release L3 to close one. Finally, I won’t have to start every match by muting everyone.
There’s not specific time for one the patch will be hitting Friday it could be as early as the afternoon or as late as the evening. Sweet.
The Money Pit: Boll Signs Three Picture Deal, Postal Coming To Theaters
A report from the Hollywood Reporter confirms that Uwe Boll’s adaptation-of-sorts of the Running With Scissors game Postal is going to see a theatrical release courtesy of distributor Freestyle. According to the agreement, Boll’s comedy will open in some 500 theaters on September 28th in North America following a series of film festival screenings.
Boll’s other adaptation, Dungeon Siege, will see a bigger unsuspecting audience when it hits at the beginning of 2008 on over two thousand screens. Finally, the filmmaker also apparently can write, not just direct, and will release an original horror project titled Seed at no-one-cares-when.
With a $60 million production budget for In The Name Of The King: A Dungeon Siege Tale and a $20 million ad budget, I can’t help but think someone is encouraging him. Will you stop please?
Boll rolls out 3 films with Freestyle [The Hollywood Reporter, via 1UP]
The Waiting Is The Hardest Part: Resistance, Motorstorm Updates Pushed Back
Again.
Today’s game content-light PlayStation Store update isn’t being helped by the (I’m sure very necessarily) delayed downloadable updates for the two PLAYSTATION 3 games most often listed as reasons for owning one, Resistance: Fall of Man and Motorstorm.
IGN reports that Sony has given new release dates for the Motorstorm 1.2 update, which should now hit June 11th in-game and 14th on the Store, and the Resistance map pack which is scheduled for… the future! In other words, Insomniac and Sony are still nailing down some last minute things. I’m sure we’d all rather have working updates than broken ones.
Good thing PlayStation 2 games are still being released on a regular basis, no?
PSN Content Interrupted? [IGN]
Kirby Spins: Disney Gets Stan Lee To Make Some Stuff
Stan “The Man” Lee, co-creator of enduring Marvel properties like Spider-man, X-Men and the Fantastic Four, and his company POW! Entertainment have inked a deal with Disney to create new content and a host of new super characters.
Stan’s new superheroes—with colorful names like Doubleman, Thunder Rider, Nightbird and Blaze—will be developed for films, television, books and, of course, video games, reports the BBC.
While Stan’s recent creations, like Stripperella, Lightman, and re-imagined versions of Superman, Batman, and Wonder Woman for DC Comics, weren’t exactly on-par popularity-wise with his previous work, we’ll have to wait to see what he comes up with before mocking him for it.
Ah, I’m just teasing old Stan. If I can come up with my own name when I’m 85, I’ll feel pretty damn proud.
Disney to unleash new film heroes [BBC]
Feature: Overlooked: 7 Ways the Xbox 360 Beats the PS3
Yeah, Gears of War and Halo 3 are great, but what else makes the Xbox 360 better than the PS3? A lot, as GamePro editor Mr. Marbles recently discovered.
News: Microsoft: no price drop on the way for 360
In response to the vibrant buzz caused by rumors claiming that Microsoft intends to make the Xbox 360 competitive by cutting its price, the company has clarified its position by stating that it has no immediate plans to do so.
Preview: Tom Clancy’s EndWar
Tom Clancy’s newest franchise is completely voice-controlled. We break down EndWar inside!
Screen Update: Medal of Honor: Airborne
These new screens will take the air right outta ya.
Screen Update: The Crossing
Get the French Connection with these new screens.
