Archive for June 8th, 2007
Foresight: Prince Of Persia Film Dated: Not Soon
Not ones to mince about, Disney have already attached a release date for Jerry Bruckheimer’s (watch: EXPLODING SAND) Prince of Persia adaptation. Ready? July 10, 2009. So, summer blockbuster it is, then.
Thanks for the heads-up Disney, really, but I don’t own a 2007 calendar to circle dates on in red pen, let alone one for 2008 or 2009. You’re going to have to remind me closer to the day.
Disney Sets Narnia 3 and Prince of Persia Dates [Coming Soon, thanks Rubbing Feet!]
Microsoft Says: Peter Jackson Will/Won’t Be Doing Animated Halo
Peter Jackson’s Halo movie may be on ice, but that doesn’t mean he’s not doing Halo stuff. In an interview with game site GameSpy, Microsoft’s Shane Kim apparently said the filmmaker is making an interactive, animated series. Apparently, because Microsoft PR is denying it. Anyway, here’s what Kim originally said:
Bungie is working directly with Peter Jackson on the Halo interactive series, and Bungie will definitely be involved, and continue to be involved on Halo… Bungie has their plans well mapped out. You have to, when you have a studio like that, and you need to know what you’re moving your people on to. So they have the collaboration with Peter Jackson on the animated series.
Oh cool! A Peter Jackson Halo animated series!! Not so fast says Microsoft:
…he [Shane Kim] was misquoted (or possibly misspoke) during the GameSpy interview, but either way, it was an error.
And there you have it: a clusterfuck. Still, looking forward to whatever Peter Jackson and Bungie are up to. Very much so.
Peter Jackson [1Up]
What Is It Good For: World In Conflict Blowing Shit Up In September
World in Conflict is going to blow up. I got this fuzzy feeling in the pit of my stomach. Guess I’ll find out whether I’m right or not come September, which is when Sierra will be shipping the game to retailers. From what I’ve seen and played of the game it’s worth picking up on its own merits, but should you be the kind that needs a little encouragement, anyone who preorders the game will score:
I’m not normally one for preorder incentives unless they come in the form of a cash discount or some kind of action figure, but beta access sounds swell.
World in Conflict Creeps to DEFCON 1 [Next Gen]
Novelist: Video Games Don’t Do Characterization
Writer Austin Grossman has lent his talents to over a dozen games, including System Shock, Deus Ex and Tomb Raider: Legend. He’s recently published his first novel Soon I Will Be Invincible — a humorously bittersweet look at the emotional goings-on of comic book characters. Hollywood is calling, and there’s already talk of a film adaptation. But what does Grossman think of game writing?
Video games have their own emotional vocabulary, their own language. Maybe they just don’t do character.
Pretty much saying that while hitting emotional chords is possible, it’s hard to do good characterization in games. Agree? Disagree? Discuss.
Dare to Suck [Wired via Alice]
Thats Why Hes Easy: Mike Patton Voicing Turtle Rock’s Hordes Of Shambling Undead
I like Mike Patton. Indeed, I’ve always maintained that were I ever to “turn” for another man, it would be Patton, circa the Evidencevideo. So I was happy to hear that he was going to be starring in Starbreeze’s The Darkness as…The Darkness. Natural fit. After reading an interview with Patton over at Dtoid, though, I was happier to hear that his videogame vocal work doesn’t end there.
He’s also working with Turtle Rock on their PC zombie shooter Left 4 Dead, where he’s providing the various groans, moans and slurping noises for the shambling hordes of undead that will be the game’s focus. Great! If anyone could make zombies scary and sexy, it would be he.
Destructoid interview: the voice of the Darkness, Mike Patton [Destructoid]
Re-re-release: Square Enix Hosting San Fran Shindig
West Coast Final Fantasy nuts, today, things are looking up. Square Enix have announced that they’ll be hosting a little soiree in honour of the series’ 20th anniversary, which will be held at the PlayStation Store Metreon, 101 4th Street, San Fran.
The party’s on June 26, and anyone in attendance will be able to…buy Final Fantasy II on the PSP. Oh, first 100 through the door will also score some swag. No mention of cosplay, but, yeah. You know how that’s going to go down.
Square Enix Celebrating The 20th Anniversary Of Final Fantasy At The Metreon [Game Informer]
Lingo: Mass Effect, BioShock Turning Japanese
Earlier this year, a petition from Japanese gamers popped up online. They were eager to play a localized version of the then unlocalized RPG Oblivion. Those gamers got their wish, and the game has been brought to The Land of the Rising Sun in Japanese. This week’s Famitsu brings word that Xbox 360 games Mass Effect and BioShock will be getting full localization. This news should make 3,000 Japanese people buying Xbox 360s every week very, very happy!
This Week In Japan [Next-Gen]
Apartment Hunter Ds: Reggie Explains Nintendo Move
We know where Nintendo is relocating some of its sales and marketing employees and we know how many of them have decided to make the transition. What we weren’t quite sure of was why. Mike Antonucci of the Mercury News caught up with Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime today in an attempt to shed some light on the move.
Fils-Aime says the move is an attempt to capitalize on some of “the heat and the action [that] is going on around new forms of entertainment” in Silicon Valley. According to Atonucci, Reggie says that Nintendo hopes to “develop more software that blends an entertainment experience with an educational or informational use” not unlike the company’s Brain Age games, but most likely more inline with the wide array of non-traditional software experiences like Cooking Navi and Common Sense Training, currently only available in Japan.
Nintendo’s experimental forays into using the Nintendo DS for navigating the Shigureden museum in Kyoto as well as installing the Nintendo Fan Network at the Seattle Mariner’s Safeco Field are presumably good indications of how its hardware and software will expand the company’s reach.
Nintendo opening new offices: an exclusive interview with Reggie Fils-Aime [Mercury News]
Crush Kill Demolish: UK Q1 Sales Records Broken, Dying
Keepers of Britain’s secret sales data, ChartTrack, have announced that the first three months of 2007 weren’t just good for the industry. They were bloody fantastic. 15.6 million games were shifted between December 31, 2006 and March 31 this year, while total revenues were up 13% to £317.1 million. ChartTrack:
The increases in the console market are due to the incremental sales of Nintendo Wii and Sony’s PS3, as well as massive increases in the DS, which almost quadrupled unit sales and more than tripled revenues. The Xbox 360 markets have more than doubled units and almost doubled revenue.
And this was for the console’s launch windows. God help the records next year when the consoles are cheaper and have more/better games.
Biggest ever Q1 confirmed [MCV]
Night Note: Breathe In, Breathe Out
To: Ash
From: Crecente
So last night was by far the worst of the week. I actually woke up several times feeling like I was choking thanks to Colorado’s pollen count, the tornado-strength winds and my intense allergies. I spent today in a haze of headache and oxygen deprivation. Yes, I’m whiny. I’m going to pick up some Claratin-D over the weekend to see if that helps.
What you missed:
Why we must own Rock Band
Ah, what could have been
Sixty percent of NOA employees hate New York (jk)
Yes it’s yours, but you should read the comments on the new PSP
I’m off to bed, to wallow in my misery: To sleep, perchance to breathe- ay, there’s the rub;
For in that sleep without breath, what air may come..
Yeah, I totally need some medicine.
Clips: Diablo On The Game Boy?
That’s what Past To Present Online claims the above video is from. It’s mighty unimpressive from a technical, graphical and completion perspectives and appears to have been filmed while piloting a helicopter, but it sure looks like Diablo on a Game Boy. While questionable, its alpha-build existence wouldn’t be that odd. Blizzard has ported three of its older games to the Game Boy Advance and certainly didn’t mind releasing the hobbled StarCraft 64. Real? Fake? What do you think?
Whats In The Box: Halo 3 Box Contents Xtremely Detailed
Confused about what version of Halo 3 contains which goodies? Let’s let Frankie from Bungie clear that right up for you with this week’s edition of the Bungie Weekly Update. He’ll also address a rumor running rampart on the internet today, one that implied Halo 3 would ship on two discs. Surely, it would’ve devolved into a Blu-ray versus HD-DVD pissing match at some point, so I’m quite glad we missed it.
The update covers, in detail, exactly what you’ll be getting when you pick up the Halo 3 Collector’s Edition or the Legendary Edition. The former, while not featuring a cat-size Spartan helmet, does contain some sweet stuff, including the hard bound Bestiary book you see pictured above plus a very nice sounding interactive DVD. Oh, what the hell, you should just read on to get the full details.
You can also get an eye full of a swell Forza Motorsport 2 paint job, very appropriate for the weekly update.
Bungie Weekly Update: 06/08/07 [Bungie]
Aggre-gator: Dojo Dump: Pokemans Shown To You
Weary of the Super Smash Bros. Brawl daily update of non-news? Well, if you can handle a weekly dose of details on the Sora-developed Wii game, this is all you’ll need. The Dojo Dump will collect a week’s worth of non-news surrounding SSBB, bundling them into a single post that might be considered newsworthy.
So what happened this week?
Monday: The Yoshi’s Story ending theme was added, giving us a new listen to the game’s soundtrack.
Tuesday: Sakurai answers the burning question “What Are Poké Balls?“, detailing the power up. Several Pokémon are shown, including the giant Groudon.
Wednesday: The Dojo gets Smash Bros. newbies up to speed on how to recover when knocked off a platform. Wins for week’s most boring update.
Thursday: Veteran fighters Kirby and Pikachu are profiled.
Friday: Control scheme fears are put to bed and hints at Wii remote-only controls are dropped.
Obviously, we’ll keep you up to date on the latest major developments, but expect a quick wrap up of the week’s events on Fridays.
Kotaku On: New Transformers Game Trailer Tonight
Tonight’s Game Head sounds like it will be a doozie. Not only will they have another Kotaku On… segment (this time dealing with fanboys), but the show will have a new 90 second trailer for Transformers: The game and the first footage for All Pro Football 2K8 and none other than Anthony Daniels being all C3PO-ie.
Crackdown: Crackdown Nabs 7 Euro Award Noms
Realtime Worlds‘ Xbox 360 hit Crackdown isn’t just loved for its easy access to the Halo 3 beta, it’s totally critically lauded, too. The Develop Industry Excellence Awards finalists have been announced, according to Gamasutra, and it looks like the supercop game managed to score a record-breaking seven nominations. Nice going, Realtime Worlds.
The other big nominees include the European developers behind Motorstorm, Viva Pinata, DEFCON and Formula One Championship Edition. The full list of nominees for each award are listed at Gamasutra.
Crackdown Tops Develop Award Finalists [Gamasutra]
God Gave Rock Band To You: Rock Band Revealed
IGN has an awesome new interview with Harmonix CEO Alex Rigopulos about his company’s upcoming Guitar Hero crusher Rock Band. Normally, I’m not the one to call for the total destruction of an existing popular franchise, but if Rigopulos and his team can pull off what Rock Band promises, Guitar Hero will seem like kind of a neat novelty. We’ll look back on it and think “Aw, cute. How much simpler we were then.”
So what could potentially make Rock Band the uber-music game? Harmonix are not only ambitiously planning for hundreds of downloadable songs and hope to include MIDI support for electronic drum kits, they’re “actively considering the possibility” of eventually creating tools to allow gamers to import user-created music into the game. Since Rigopulos is very cautious about that, admitting that it won’t make it in Rock Band “out of the gate” I’ll just pray they pull it off.
IGN has the full interview and first screenshots at the link below. Go. Now.
Rock Band Blowout [IGN]
Tastes Like Chicken: Piyotama Brings More Bird Gaming To PSN
If you were concerned about a dip in the number of digitally distributed PLAYSTATION 3 games featuring adorable bird life, fear not, as Sony has announced Piyotama will be coming to Japanese PS3s this summer. According to the SCEA trademark, that translates into “Chirpie Egg” in English.
While the game looks like a Bust-A-Move/Puzzle Bobble clone, it appears to have a much different control scheme. It still appears to stick to the 3-colored item rule for clearing out stacks of Tamago, freeing the Piyos within, however, making it look like solid fun.
It hits Japan in a few weeks for 800 yen and weighs in at 100 MB. My God it’s so cute! I need a controller with cheeks so I can pinch the crap out of ‘em.
Piyotama Official Site [PlayStation.jp]
Reversal Of Fortune: Square-Enix Isn’t Writing Off FF On Xbox
While Wedbush Morgan analyst Michael Pachter and the company’s own Shinji Hashimoto have said it’s unlikely Final Fantasy series will come to the Xbox 360, Square-Enix says it’s not an impossibility. A company spokesperson told Games Industry BIZ that “Hashimoto-san was talking about the current situation” potentially meaning the future is uncertain. I assume that when asked about Pachter’s take, they trembled in fear, pretending not to have understood the question.
Doesn’t that make you feel better, Xbox 360 devotees? If Square-Enix changes its mind, you could easily be immersed in the world of Final Fantasy XIII on your 360 by, say, 2010? Maybe 2009? There’s always Mistwalker! It’s all the same, anyway.
Square Enix clarifies position on Final Fantasy for 360 [Games Industry BIZ]
Xbox 360: Hufford on 360 Price Drop… Again
David Hufford sent fellow Microsofter John Porcaro an email today to try and clear up the whole “the Xbox 360 price is dropping”, “the Xbox 360 price is dropping” fever that seems to be hitting a crescendo.
In it he writes that the interview with Bloomberg was done quite awhile back and then complains about the picture we used of him in our post.
“Some are getting really spun up about the Bloomberg story and inaccurately reading tea leaves that don’t exist. I spoke to Bloomberg nearly two months ago and we were talking about NPD data that had just been released, and chatting generally about price points of consoles in the market. The comment, which is accurately reported, unfortunately has now been taken way out of context and being reported as if I am signaling a price drop. I was not, I am not.
With Xbox 360s selling well at their current price point, Elites selling out at $479, and an insanely great portfolio of games in the market, there’s no reason to announce any kind of price drop anytime soon.
BTW, what’s up with the picture in Kotaku? What was I, like 12? Huff.”
Keep in mind that just because he wasn’t “signaling a price drop” it doesn’t mean one isn’t coming. That’s the sort of thing you don’t really announce ahead of time, lest you kill of sales of the system at the current price.
No Xbox 360 Price Drops Announced [Gamerscoreblog]
Froth: Wait, This Is Halo 3 Box Art?
Has a game’s box art ever been so highly anticipated? After the previous best guess for Halo 3 box art showed up on retailer Amazon’s web site, extremely watermarked, it looked like a done deal. Then these two little surprises show up on Games Press, giving us a look at (maybe) the regular edition and the limited (but not “Legendary”) edition.
I cannot wait for today’s Bungie Weekly Update. This box art speculation is spiraling out of control! We demand answers!
