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Blizzcon07: Details On The StarCraft II Single Player Campaign
During the StarCraft II Live Demo at BlizzCon 07 today, Blizzard employees Rob Pardo and Dustin Browder walked attendees through the game in a semi-live demo with Browder revealing new unit features and Pardo spending a good portion of his time detailing the game’s single-player campaign. Pardo first walked us through the evolution of the single-player storytelling method from the original Warcraft through the original StarCraft through to Warcraft III, finally showing off portions of these elements in StarCraft II.
Using the in-game engine, a cinematic rolled, panning across a yellow planet, through a window and into the bridge of the Battlecruiser Hyperion. On the bridge were Terran Vulture pilot Jim Raynor, star of the original StarCraft and StarCraft: Brood War campaigns, his second in command Matt Warner and marine Tychus Findlay, featured in the StarCraft II cinematic teaser.
The fully 3D bridge has a number of interactive areas on screen, allowing you to speak to other bridge and crew members, check out display panels for further information, or view the Star Map. More on that later.
Raynor, in command of the Hyperion, interacted with the ship’s crew, rubbing shoulders with a surly engineer, revealing one of the game’s subplots. It seems the crew hasn’t been paid in months, an issue Raynor says will be resolved once he’s collected the bounty on the Protoss artifact he recently recovered (presumably in the mission prior). Part of the campaign in StarCraft II will be focused on Raynor’s efforts to make money but taking jobs like this one, missions that ultimately tie into a larger plot.
As you earn money, those funds will be put into purchasing technology—upgrades for units and units themselves. Pardo purchased (read: unlocked) the Viking ship for his next mission. This has been done to give players control over the tech progression of the game, instead of following a locked down set of upgrades.
Hiking back up to the bridge, Raynor checks out the Star Map. This is where you’ll choose your missions. They’re much more open ended than in the previous StarCraft campaigns. You’ll be able to pick the planet or system you want to tackle next, progressing the story in your own way. Mission briefings provide the summary, objectives, bonus objectives, mission bounty, and recommended technology, so you’ll have to choose which best suits your current needs and matches your current level of tech.
Following a trip to Sar Mara, in which Pardo cheated, adding extra Thor mechs and Battlecruisers to his compliment to secure the next artifact, it was back to the Hyperion. And since Jim Raynor’s had a rough go of it lately, he heads down to the ships canteen, only to run into an old friend, Zeratul, who warns of something rather dire.
The real-time cinema showed the engine’s impressive graphical tricks, with real time shadows, bump mapping and realistic lighting painting a believable ship corridor.
The single-player presentation ended there, promising a glimpse at the future of the storyline, including a return from the Queen of Blades, Kerrigan and hinting at unraveling the mystery of the Xel’Naga.
The free form, open ended progressive storyline planned for StarCraft II looks like it could be a refreshing change of pace for fans of the Blizzard RTS formula.
Gallery: Wrath of the Lich King Screens
Can’t get enough World of Warcraft? Of course you can’t! So swim in the cool waters of these new Wrath of the Lich King screenshots. There’s little in the way of action, instead focusing on the new environments in which you’ll find yourself when the WoW expansion his released.
You’ll recognize many of them from the recently released preview trailer shown today, but considering you’ll spend a considerable chunk of your life in this virtual land next year, a few extra minutes of gazing won’t be that noticeable on your death bed.
Blizzcon07: Warcraft Cosplayers Excel At Cosplaying
Sorry, Western anime fans, video gamers and sci-fi dorks, but as far as I’m concerned, World of Warcraft cosplayers are kicking your ass up and down Cosplay Avenue in the cosplay department. It’s not even a contest anymore. It’s a slaughter.
These two got lucky with the lighting—shockingly dim for a convention hall—using their glowing eyes, amulets and orbs to great dramatic effect. I’ve only been at BlizzCon a few hours and I’ve seen some amazing handmade outfits, ones that hide tummies discretely. And these get-ups aren’t easy to navigate a crowd in, so bonus points for that, my beloved, behooved cosplayers.
Gallery: New StarCraft II Screens
Blizzard has released a new batch of screenshots for StarCraft II showing off new unit abilities, like the Battlecruiser’s plasma array, and an updated look for a number of previously revealed units. A preview of some of the new map types is also awaiting you in the gallery below. Don’t forget that if you want to see these guys in embiggened size, the original, massive image is available right below the thumbnail.
Sticker Shock: Stranglehold Has A $30 Million Price Tag
We love the European executives. They seem to have no regard for corporate information that should remain internal, making our jobs much, much easier. From premature hardware revelations to biting insight into American market price drops, there’s nothing our pals across the Atlantic won’t chat about. Take Stranglehold’s budget, for example. Midway’s Euro managing director Martin Spiess lets us know that the John Woo inspired shooter is “possibly the most expensive next-generation game in development to date” with a total investment of some thirty million bucks.
Surely, some of that is game development, but other large chunks are assumed to be marketing costs and securing that lovely Hard Boiled bonus on the Blu-ray version. Anyway, thanks, Mr. Speiss. Now that we know what Midway’s sunk into the shoot ‘em up, we’ll be able to accurately gauge how spectacularly it succeeds or, God forbid, fails.
According to Spiess, however, we needn’t worry about the latter scenario. He says “Stranglehold will be the top selling title this Christmas.” That’ll be excellent news, too! I’ve got my bottle of champagne chilled and ready to be sabered.
Midway investing $30 million in Stranglehold [GamesIndustry.biz]
Emblematic: Dojo Dump: On Fire!
Another week, another five business days of Super Smash Bros. Brawl marketing in a palatable controlled-news candy shell. This week revealed two critical info bits in the form of a new playable character from the Fire Emblem series and a newly confirmed game mode, an item we discussed earlier today.
But let us dispense with the pleasantries and make our way to the Dojo Dump!
Monday: Donkey Kong’s meta Final Smash is revealed. He plays bongo controllers!
Tuesday: The Pitfall, a power item borrowed from Animal Crossing comes into play.
Wednesday: Ike, the game’s 14th fighter is lovingly profiled.
Thursday: More Fire Emblem, as the castle stage is partially revealed.
Friday: The Subspace Emissary is disclosed as “a robust side-scrolling action game.” Awesome!
Best news? A handful of new shots featuring Samus in her Zero Suit form. OMG HAI 2 U SAMIS!!!1
Need More Overlords: What Are You Playing This Weekend?
I’m going to keep this one brief (yet again). I’m also going to rub a little something in the Kotaku collective face, as I will be playing StarCraft II this weekend—and lots of it. That’s ’cause I’m at BlizzCon, right now, pounding convention center floor, covering the Con for Kotaku. If it’s any consolation, I’m running on four hours sleep. Upon my return from the Anaheim Convention Center, the only games I’ll be playing are Ninja Gaiden Sigma (almost… there…) and Picross DS.
Anyway, what are you playing this weekend?
Blizzcon 07: The Horde Awaits Entrance To Exhibit Hall
We’re just minutes away from the official start of BlizzCon 2007, where thousands of Blizzard fans have converged to geek out among the only other people who really understand them. The mass of flesh awaiting entrance is some fifty bodies deep, shouting, chanting, grunting “for the Horde!” at the behest of Blizzard cheerleaders. The excitement? Totally, totally palpable.
I’ve already got my goody bag and have set up shop in the press room, over a dozen stations with two newly playable games just feet away. The temptation to play StarCraft II for the next eight hours is unbearable. Good thing every kiosk is unattended in the press area!
Off To See The Blizzard: We’re Going To BlizzCon!
Blizzard’s not-so-annual convention known as BlizzCon, bringing tens of thousands of Diablo, StarCraft and World of Warcraft fans out of their basements and into the air-conditioned comfort of the Anaheim Convention Center, kicks off today. And we’re already there! Barring any unforeseen traffic mishaps, I’ll be raiding today’s panels, exhibit halls and gameplay sessions to get everyone up to speed on the latest from StarCraft II and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.
Of course, requisite photographs of the con’s cosplayers, goody bag contents and various oddities that delight and horrify will be added to a handy Flickr photostream as the day becomes night. Stay tuned for more!
Nooooooo!: Otomedius Adds Boob-Free Character
The official site for Konami’s boob-filled Gradius-esque arcade shmup has been recently updated, revealing Otomedius‘ third playable character, one that is distressingly boob-free. Emon-5 joins the pink and blue haired maidens of Otomedius for what appears to be some very relaxed shooting. New gameplay movies have been added to the site, but they’re of the popular postage-stamp size that Japanese corporations are so unusually obsessed with.
A brief update, yes, and disheartening in its lack of anime girl cleavage. Note that Konami promises more updates “comming soon” so keep your eyes peeled and huggable pillows within easy humping distance.
Otomedius Official Site [Konami.jp]
Speech! Speech!: Tim Schafer To Keynote Games Convention Developers Conference
The creator and co-creator of fan favorites Psychonauts, Day of the Tentacle, Grim Fandango, and Full Throttle will be on hand at GCDC, the developer conference that takes place just before Games Convention in Leipzig, Germany. Schafer, a former LucasArts employee, now at Double Fine Productions, will see his speech provide “insight into the creative game development process.” Hopefully, we’ll get a chance to see or hear more about Tim’s next creation.
We’ll be on hand at GCDC and Games Convention to bring you all the highlights and drink from the biggest steins possible.
Tim Schafer To Deliver ‘Creative’ GCDC Keynote [Gamasutra]
Clips: Forever Blue “Gameplay” And Lots Of It
If you haven’t quite wrapped your noodle around what Arika’s Forever Blue for the Wii is yet, this extended gameplay clip might shed some light. As you can see, it’s all in Japanese, as the Western version (Endless Ocean) won’t be released for months. Despite it’s high Famitsu rating, I have a hard time believing this is going to be a purchase for me personally.
Black Thursday: Blacksite: Area 51 Aims For November Release
Midway revealed today that its first person shooter Blacksite: Area 51 has been pushed back from shooter heavy September to shooter morbidly obese November. The PC, PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360 sequel joins Unreal Tournament III, Call of Duty 4, Crysis, Army of Two, F.E.A.R. Files, Brothers in Arms: Hell’s Highway and five other shoot ‘em ups in the competition for your cash. Good luck with all that shooting, fellas!
Blacksite: Area 51 Moved To November Release [Gamasutra]
Take-two Interactive: Take-Two Execs Explain GTA IV Delay
In a conference call with investors earlier today, Take-Two execs Strauss Zelnick and Ben Feder explained the company’s decision to delay Grand Theft Auto IV for the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360. Zelnick chalked up the Q2 2008 push back to “almost strictly technological problems… not problems, but challenges.” They said they were “highly confident” that the game will ship within its new release window.
Asked whether one console in particular was the root of the problem, Zelnick diplomatically responded that “I know there have been rumors in the marketplace about frame rate and some other issues. We don’t think it’s helpful or beneficial to go into exact details of what the technological issues are. We’re pushing the envelope on both the platforms.” Crap. Now I don’t know which torch to light!
Zelnick explained that “the final say” to delay GTA IV was with him, but that “This wasn’t a decision we took lightly. This wasn’t a decision [Rockstar] took lightly.” Having reviewed a build just a day prior to the announcement Take-Two felt that there was no way it could meet the game’s October 16th release date.
On the subject of the Xbox 360 exclusive episodic content—the first episode of which was due in March—Zelnick responded that it wouldn’t affect the deal, telling analysts that “We’re not gonna send money back to Microsoft. That’s not part of the deal.”
No time frame was provided during the call for Rockstar Games’ other release, Manhunt 2, with executives claiming they’d erred on the side of caution and won’t provide an updated release date until they have an M-rating.
Zelnick and Feder also noted that they hate your guts and don’t want you to have any fun. Yes, you.
Psn Thursday: PlayStation Store Update: Advanced Rock Edition
This week’s PlayStation Store update should be going live right around…. now. It’s a rather solid week, containing the expansion to the previously released Blast Factor known as Blast Factor: Advanced Research. That’s a $4.99 download. On the free side, demos for Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter 2 and The Darkness are also available. But that’s not all!
PlayStation Store’s passive side features trailers for Michael Clayton, Get Smart and The Game Plan. That’s twice The Rock!
A Resident Evil 5 wallpaper has also been added as has a cheaper Super Rub-A-Dub. The duck steering game has dropped from $6.99 to $2.99 as of today.
Each new addition should take you no more than a few hours to download, now that the PlayStation Store data center has added a second modem.
Share The Love: Insomniac Opens R&D Site To Developers
There’s little doubt that we should be pinning medals on the lapels of every Insomniac Games employee for the awesome Resistance: Fall of Man and the totally awesome Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction—although, I’m sure the giant checks are commendation enough. But the Burbank boys should be lauded for their newest online endeavor, the Insomniac Research and Development archive which went live today.
Insomniac CEO Ted “I’m So Nice” Price says of the “The ‘R&D’ page on the Insomniac website is meant to share knowledge with fellow studios about PS3 development while giving our fans a detailed look into how we make our games. This page will also help explain our production philosophies.”
Insomniac explains that its goal is to document “our current research and development in hopes of supporting the PS3 development community and enhancing overall development for its core technologies such as the CELL processor and RSX.” It’s also a kind of behind the scenes look at past, present and future development, built just for computer nerds.
What does it all mean? Better looking PLAYSTATION 3 games, we hope. Maybe, just maybe, some developers will even discover the secret to unlocking a consistent frame rate in their PS3 titles. I’m looking at you, everyone who’s not Team Ninja or Insomniac.
Insomniac R&D [Insomniac Games]
Xi: Even More New Guitar Hero III Tracks
Activision has announced just shy of a dozen new tracks for Guitar Hero III’s set list, only a few of which were already spoiled by posters on the Score Hero forums. There’s an intense amount of rock contained within, including some excellent master track news.
· Miss Murder (by AFI)
· 3’s and 7’s (by Queens of the Stone Age)
· Raining Blood (by Slayer)
· Reptillia (by The Strokes)
· Paranoid (as made famous by Black Sabbath)
· Cities on Flame (as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult)
· Mississippi Queen (as made famous by Mountain)
Totally metal press release, with current track list reminder, right after this.
Guitar HeroTM III: Legends Of Rock Cranks It Up, Blaring 11 New Tracks To The Set List
Master Tracks from AFI, Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stone Age,Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slayer and the Strokes Added to Playlist
SUNNYVALE, CA - August 2, 2007 - Activision, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) announced today 11 new songs for Guitar Hero™ III: Legends of Rock, the next installment in the #1 best-selling music and rhythm based game franchise, including master tracks from rockers AFI, Iron Maiden, Queens of the Stone Age, Red Hot Chili Peppers, Slayer and the Strokes.
The 11 additional tracks include:
· Miss Murder (by AFI)
· Through Fire and Flames (by Dragonforce)
· Number of the Beast (by Iron Maiden)
· 3’s and 7’s (by Queens of the Stone Age)
· Suck My Kiss (by Red Hot Chili Peppers)
· Raining Blood (by Slayer)
· Reptillia (by The Strokes)
· Paranoid (as made famous by Black Sabbath)
· Cities on Flame (as made famous by Blue Oyster Cult)
· Mississippi Queen (as made famous by Mountain)
· La Grange (as made famous by ZZ Top)
“Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock features the most comprehensive song list ever assembled for a game,” said Tim Riley, Activision’s worldwide executive of music. “Artists and music execs from the major and independent record labels and publishers respect the brand and have given us unrivaled access to their music vaults allowing us to give gamers what they want - to grab their Gibson guitars and shred to their favorite music.”
In fact, real rock stars like Jade Puget, guitarist for AFI, a band featured in the game is anticipating the upcoming release of the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock and wants fans to know that “if you’re going to start playing Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, make sure you have, say, the next 2 years free, because that’s all you’re going to want to do.”
In addition to the newly announced tracks, Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock’s previously announced tracks include:
· Slash’s Original Boss Battle Recording
· Welcome to The Jungle (by Guns N’ Roses)
· Paint It Black (by The Rolling Stones)
· Cherub Rock (by Smashing Pumpkins)
· Sabotage (by Beastie Boys)
· The Metal (by Tenacious D)
· My Name is Jonas (by Weezer)
· Knights of Cydonia (by Muse)
· Even Flow (by Pearl Jam)
· Lay Down (by Priestess)
· Cult of Personality (by Living Colour)
· Rock and Roll All Nite (as made famous by Kiss)
· School’s Out (as made famous by Alice Cooper)
· Rock You Like a Hurricane (as made famous by Scorpions)
· Slow Ride (as made famous by Foghat)
· Barracuda (as made famous by Heart)
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock will include explosive new content and features including a multiplayer action-inspired battle mode, grueling boss battles, a host of exclusive unlockable content and visually stunning rock venues. Expanded online multiplayer game modes will also allow axe-shredders worldwide to compete head-to-head for true legendary rock status. While continuing to retain all the key features from their prior legendary performances, fresh downloadable content will be offered on multiple platforms, and players can now shred to a killer set list from many of the most popular rock songs ever recorded.
For the first time ever, Guitar Hero fans will also be able to thrash and burn with new wireless guitar controllers available for each platform, including exclusive Gibson Guitar’s Les Paul model for the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo, and PLAYSTATION®3 computer entertainment system. PlayStation®2 gamers will also get to shred on a new exclusive shape, Gibson’s Kramer guitar, popularized by hard rockers and known for its body design, pickups, electronics and construction for furious finger fretting.
Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, published by RedOctane® and developed by Neversoft, is not yet rated by the ESRB and will be available this October. For more information about the Guitar Hero franchise, please visit the dedicated community site: www.guitarhero.com.
About Gibson Guitar:
Gibson is known worldwide for producing classic models in every major style of fretted instrument, including acoustic and electric guitars, mandolins, and banjos. Gibson’s HD.6X-PRO Digital Guitar represents the biggest advance in electric guitar design in over 70 years. Founded in 1894 in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and headquartered in Nashville since 1984, Gibson Guitar Corp.’s family of brands now includes Epiphone, Dobro, Maestro, Kramer, Steinberger, Tobias, Echoplex, Electar, Flatiron, Gibson Baldwin Music Education, Slingerland, Valley Arts, Maestro, Oberheim, Sunshine Piano, Take Anywhere Technology, Baldwin, J&C Fischer, Chickering, Hamilton, and Wurlitzer. Visit Gibson’s website at www.gibson.com or www.gibson.com/press
About Activision, Inc.:
Headquartered in Santa Monica, California, Activision, Inc. is a leading worldwide developer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment and leisure products. Founded in 1979, Activision posted net revenues of $1.5 billion for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2007.
Activision maintains operations in the U.S., Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Scandinavia, Spain, the Netherlands, Australia, Japan and South Korea. More information about Activision and its products can be found on the company’s World Wide Web site, which is located at www.activision.com.
Executioners Song: EA Killing Online Support For 49 Games
If you have an online score to settle in Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects—obviously, you don’t—you’d better make it snappy as EA is shutting down the online servers for that game and dozens more. The majority of EA’s 2005 and 2006 sports entries will go offline on September 1st with support for Burnout Revenge, Need For Speed Underground and Need For Speed Most Wanted going black on November 1st. This applies to the previous generation console versions, of course, including a few PSP and PC games. The full list of online artifacts is after the jump.
September 1, 2007 Online Service Shutdown
Arena Football for PlayStation 2
Arena Football for Xbox
FIFA Soccer 06 for Xbox 360
FIFA Soccer 06 for PC
FIFA06 for PC
FIFA Soccer 06 for PlayStation 2
FIFA Soccer 06 for PlayStation Portable
FIFA Soccer 06 for Xbox
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PC
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PlayStation 2
FIFA World Cup 2006 for PlayStation Portable
FIFA World Cup 2006 for Xbox
Fight Night Round 3 for PlayStation Portable
Fight Night Round 3 for Xbox
Madden NFL 06 for Xbox 360
Madden NFL 06 for PC
Madden NFL 06 for PlayStation 2
Madden NFL 06 for PlayStation Portable
Madden NFL 06 for Xbox
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects for PlayStation 2
Marvel Nemesis: Rise of the Imperfects for Xbox
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball for PlayStation 2
MVP 07 NCAA Baseball for Xbox
NASCAR 06 Total Team Control for PlayStation 2
NASCAR 06 Total Team Control for Xbox
NBA Live 06 for Xbox 360
NBA Live 06 for PC
NBA Live 06 for PlayStation 2
NBA Live 06 for PlayStation Portable
NCAA Football 2005 for Xbox
NCAA Football 2006 for PlayStation 2
NCAA Football 2006 for Xbox
NCAA March Madness 06 for PlayStation 2
NCAA March Madness 06 for Xbox
NFL Head Coach for PC
NFL Head Coach for Xbox
NFL Head Coach for PlayStation 2
NHL 06 for PC
NHL 06 for PlayStation 2
NHL 06 for Xbox
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 for Xbox 360
Tiger Woods PGA Tour 06 for Xbox
November 1, 2007 Online Service Shutdown
Burnout Revenge for Xbox
Burnout Revenge for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Underground for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Underground 2 for PC
Need for Speed Underground 2 for PlayStation 2
Need for Speed Most Wanted for PlayStation Portable
Need for Speed Most Wanted for Xbox
Debt Expansion: BlizzCon Goody Bags & Fine Purchaseables Revealed
We’re well aware that BlizzCon 2007 attendees will secure themselves a World of Warcraft Murloc suit and score a coveted beta key to an as yet unidentified Blizzard product, but what else will they see stuffed in their goody bags? The official BlizzCon site reveals all! In addition to the two previous prizes and the expected BlizzCon souvenir show guide, conventioneers will score a StarCraft II magnet, a WoW t-shirt, a Heroes of Azeroth starter deck, coasters, buttons and… other surprises.
That’s good news, sure, but those of us with cold cash ironically burning a hole in our wallets of holding want to know “What kind of licensed crap can I spend hundreds of dollars on?” Blizzard has the answer, highlighting some of the dozens of things one can buy at the Anaheim convention center. Posters, soundtracks, t-shirts, keychains, belt buckles, calendars—there’s practically no limit to the amount of unnecessary stuff one can buy.
So bring plenty of cash and plenty of storage space. In fact, book a suite if it’s not too late.
BlizzCon Goody Bag and BlizzCon Store [Blizzard]
Lets Get Harry: Gamers Still Love Buying Harry Potter Shovelware
EA’s financial results for the quarter, released today, wasn’t cluttered with great news for the company—more on that later tonight—but one bright spot was the still white hot license for Harry Potter. The latest game adaptation of the film adaptation of the book, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix sold a magical 2 million copies during the first week of its release. Impressive even when you consider that it was released on 8 separate platforms.
Given that, one might expect that EA would bemoan the final chapter in the book series hitting recently and expect that Harry Potter and the Kart Race of Illuminance will fill the gap in the publisher’s 2010 line-up.
Harry Potter Soars; EA’s Q1 Revenues Do Not [GameDaily BIZ]
