Viva 2 review - "One of the best we've ever played"
Square Enix confirms no playable FFXIII for TGS
First Aliens: Colonial Marines footage posted
September 8th, 2008 @ 08:50
Whoops. Eurogamer’s given Square’s Infinite Undiscovery a scathing 5/10, calling the RPG “standard,” “linear” and “predictable.” Snip:
With Star Ocean IV and Tales of Vesperia due next year, and Final Fantasy on its way to the 360, this needed to be something quite special to make its mark in a genre not known for its deviations from formula. Yet at its best Infinite Undiscovery is just another standard action JRPG following a strictly linear route through the same predictable story about another reluctant young hero overthrowing yet another evil empire. In its worst moments, it’s an unwieldy collision of ill-conceived ideas and sloppy technical implementation that will test the patience of even the most hardened player. Such flaws are really only worth tolerating if you’re so devoted to the JRPG genre that you’d settle for mediocrity rather than wait for the good stuff.
Other scores show middling opinion. And it looked so pretty, too.
September 8th, 2008 @ 07:49
And here it is. The page apparently confirms there’s going to be no chance of playing FFXIII or FF Versus XIII, but there are going to be movies. There’s no Kingdom Hearts 3 there, but that doesn’t mean a showing’s out of the question.
Take a look. TGS takes place on October 9-12 this year.
September 8th, 2008 @ 07:42
Australian site Gameplayer’s posted a pocket history of Nintendo, and it’s essential reading. The ten-page piece breaks the company’s backstory down into bite-sized chunks, including the firm’s history in the playing cards and how it was saved by the Yakuza.
Why would you not want to know that?
September 8th, 2008 @ 07:36
According to this Destructoid story, Nintendo confirmed at a GameStop manager’s conference in Las Vegas yesterday that the Animal Crossing: City Folk and Wii Speak bundle will cost $70 in the US.
The pack, announced at E3, will be out before the end of the year.
It’s previously been reported that the game will release on November 16 and Wii Speak is to cost $30 as a stadalone peripheral, but this has never been confirmed.
More through the link.
September 8th, 2008 @ 07:29
Disgruntled Spore buyers have launched one star Amazon scores at Spore en bloc over the fact you can only install each copy of the game three times.
The title’s security system have been branded “draconian” and “a show-stopper” by the hundreds of negative reviewers.
Maybe someone should get the message? You can torrent Spore for free, for God’s sake. These people are trying to buy it.
September 8th, 2008 @ 07:21
An ex-GameStop employee’s decided to have a bit of a rant about how the retailer makes most of its money in video format, claiming the store doesn’t check to see if used games work amongst many other things. It’s done on Yahtzee-style and made us smile. After the break.
September 7th, 2008 @ 20:07
Viva Piñata: Trouble in Paradise is here. We’ve played it to death. We thought we’d tell you all what we thought.
After the break.
September 7th, 2008 @ 19:41
They’re shakycam to the MaXx, but you can still see what’s going on. The first videos of Gearbox’s Aliens: Colonial Marines have been posted, showing a game that clearly involves shooting aliens.
Little else can be seen. There’s a teaser trailer in the second movie, showing an alien egg opening. And that’s your lot.
Game’s out for PC, 360 and PS3 in the fourth quarter of this year.
September 7th, 2008 @ 19:34
EG’s got a movie of the story aspects of Tomb Raider Underworld up, and it’s all looking very good. Thor’s Hammer, vikings, Mexico: nothing can possibly go wrong with this. Watch it.
September 7th, 2008 @ 18:13
As announced on its official site, Warhammer Online’s open beta is now live.
“This is a monumental step for the game and the community and it is with great pleasure that we welcome you all,” said the blurb.
“WAR has come, it is now up to you to forge your destiny and choose your allegiance in this epic struggle.”
The game itself launches on September 18.
September 7th, 2008 @ 18:01
Speaking to MTV, Will Wright’s pretty much agreed with criticism levelled at Spore in a now-wide swathe of reviews, saying the game targets a casual audience, will sell more than Half-Life, and that’s as should be.
“We were very focused, if anything, on making a game for more casual players,” he said. “Spore has more depth than, let’s say, The Sims did. But we looked at the Metacritic scores for Sims 2, which was around 90, and something like Half-Life, which was 97, and we decided — quite a while back — that we would rather have the Metacritic and sales of Sims 2 than the Metacritic and sales of Half-Life.”
Wright’s also unfazed by the fact many reviewers have claimed the game is a Jack of all trades and a master of none.
“The feedback we’re getting from people is that everyone has some level they like and some level they don’t like,” he said. “A lot of the reviews I’ve read have said that the Space Stage was far and away the best and they were disappointed by the earlier stages because they were too simple. Other people have said the Creature Stage is their favorite and that the Space Stage seems too complicated.
“We knew, since we were using different genres with every level, that everyone would have ones they really clicked with and ones they didn’t. We’ve pretty much seen that. There hasn’t been any consistent feedback. Some people have said the Civ phase is the best.”
More through the link. We love you, Will.
September 7th, 2008 @ 08:53
After the break. The Space-based NetDevil MMO doesn’t have a release date as yet, but seems pretty solid from the look of this. The footage was shot at PAX. Have a look.
September 7th, 2008 @ 08:46
Rapper The Game has beaten rival Bow Wow at Madden, a match costing the loser $100,000.
Get details and images on KonsoleKingz.
As was just put to us on MSN, “Did you know that world hunger still exists? Granted, I’m not doing much to aid the cause, but at least I’m not wasting $100,000 on a game of Madden.”
September 7th, 2008 @ 08:31
This Kotaku piece reckons a demo of Guitar Hero: Aerosmith’s gone up on Live and PSN, but if so it’s only in the US. There’s nothing on either service in Europe. We know because we checked. Hopefully we’ll get the taster sooner rather than later.
September 7th, 2008 @ 08:05
Exciting. According to an interview in Spanish Ninty mag Club Nintendo, the Wii may not be getting a hard drive. Or maybe it will! Said Reggie Fils-Aime:
“We are working on a storage solution and it is especially important in America because our consumers are using Wii Points for the Virtual Console and WiiWare.
“I want the people to have the right expectations; we have never said that it will be a hard drive nor have we mentioned how we will fix this issue, but we are going to deliver a better way to store the games.”
On the more concrete side of things, Shigeru Miyamoto noted that the Wii has been inundated with peripherals, so there aren’t “too many more” in the pipeline.
But if there are already “enough” peripherals, then isn’t another already “too many”?
Never mind. Check the link for Reggie’s reaction to Microsoft’s Avatars, along with a few other Nintendo-related tidbits.
Thanks, Nintendo Everything.
September 6th, 2008 @ 20:40
Sony’s launched a LittleBigPlanet competition that could get your entry into the PS3s of millions of people, should you be lucky.
All you have to do is draw a Sackboy or Sackgirl onto a template you’ll find through the link, send it in and cross your fingers.
Winners will be chosen from Europe, the US and Japan, and each will be made available for free to download when the game releases.
All info through there.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:51
Gamespot’s posted up a hands-on with the PS3 version of BioShock, out on October 24. Snip:
Outside of the proper single-player experience, we had a chance to try the Survivor mode, which offers a greater level of challenge that forces you to be smarter about how you play the game. Enemy behavior has been tweaked, and the damage you cause has been modified, so you won’t be sailing through the mode even if you’re familiar with the original game.
There are three new movies after the break, including footage of the new Survivor mode and Trophy options.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:44
The first magazine reviews are in for Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, and it’s all looking a bit painful so far.
According to Metacritic the four reviews so far have left an average of 68 percent. Here’s who’s scored it:
Some of the stuff we’ve been told off the record about TFU this week really isn’t encouraging. And we’ll leave it at that.
Game’s out on September 19.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:37
According to this CrispyGamer piece, BioWare DS RPG Sonic Chronicles: The Dark Brotherhood has gone gold.
The game hits on September 30. Please be good. More through the link.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:32
Eurogamer.pt’s posted up a comparison video of the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions of Pure. Not much in it, obviously, apart from the colour pallete, maybe.
Differences aside, the ATV racer looks excellent, and we’re starting to get nudges that this may very well be one to watch. You can get demos on both PSN and Live now.
Game’s out this “autumn.”
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:24
Speaking in this official blog post, SCEA’s Seth Luisi has apologised to load issues to to high demand for the SOCOM beta, saying everything should be fixed by the end of next week.
“Due to overwhelming demand for the SOCOM: U.S. Navy SEALs Confrontation Public Beta, we are experiencing load related issues,” he said.
“These issues are causing abnormal latency, disconnects, long load times, login errors and community features such as clans and stats not functioning correctly (or at all).
“We are doing everything we can to resolve these issues as quickly as possible and you should see some improvements progressively over the next couple of days. However, we do not expect to have the issues completely resolved until close to the end of next week.
“We apologize for the inconvenience.”
Shooting people for free is clearly the new black. Game’s out on September 16.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:19
VentureBeat’s posted a lengthy article going into depth on Xbox 360’s red ring of comedy woes. Snip:
Microsoft replaced these machines for free under the warranty that it announced on July 5, 2007, for defective Xbox 360s exhibiting what it more politely called the “three flashing red lights.” That warranty program cost Microsoft up to $1.15 billion, but the loss of face and loyalty among gamers in the fierce console war with Nintendo and Sony has been immeasurable. Szarek, who became a spokesman for dispossessed defective Xbox 360 owners, played a part in making Microsoft acknowledge its console quality problem.
Great forum ammunition. Read it.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:14
As you can see here, id games from Steam are 50% cheaper this weekend. This means you can now buy every game the firm’s ever made for $34.99.
Which is a bit stupid, frankly. Do yourself a favour.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:10
Speaking to MTV, Microsoft production head Aaron Greenburg has indicated that the wait for news on the new Bungie Halo game may not be as long as you’d probably feared.
“Hopefully soon,” he said when asked when we’re going to hear something.
“We haven’t said anything exactly yet, but I know the ‘Halo’ nation and Xbox fans out there are waiting and there’s been a lot of rumors. We hope to be able to have some more information to share sooner than later.”
The title was supposed to be shown at E3, but was pulled at the eleventh hour.
More through the link.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:05
Nippon Ichi’s put out the first promo video of Prinny: Ore ga Shujinko de Iinsuka?, the Disgaea action spin-off featuring the game’s penguin soul things as the main characters.
After the break. It’s out on November 20 for PSP.
September 6th, 2008 @ 09:00
According to this 1UP report, Blizzard’s now allowing Wrath of the Lich King beta players in the US to add three pre-levelled 80 characters to their game. from the piece:
Blizzard has yet to make any official statements about these preleveled avatars, but their gear and naming scheme implies that the company is ramping up testing on PVP at the new level cap. Lake Wintergrasp — World of Warcraft’s first dedicated PVP zone — has been singled out as the subject of criticism from scads of testers, so there’s a good chance this is the first step toward fine-tuning that experience.
More through the link. Getting closer.
September 6th, 2008 @ 08:54
According to this Gamespot story, Far Cry 2 will release in the US on October 21.
The news comes after a UK announcement yesterday confirmed the game will hit this side of the Pond on October 24.
The Collector’s Edition was detailed in the same announcement. Wooden boxes for the win.
September 6th, 2008 @ 08:50
He’s back. Oddworld boss Lorne Lanning has announced his return to the games industry by calling out consoles in general. As you do.
“Personally, I think the consoles are a problem,” he told GameDaily.
“Years ago I was excited about consoles, but anything that makes development more expensive, rather than better, faster, cheaper, I think is a step backwards. When I look at what’s happening, it’s a bit disappointing because the consoles are running into a place where affordable games are having a rough time getting out there.”
PC’s where it’s at, apparently.
“I’m more excited about what I see happening on PC because I see it allowing for more smaller games to be sold that can be delivered to anyone who’s connected at much lower price points,” he added.
More through the link.
September 6th, 2008 @ 08:44
Microsoft’s announced the Xbox Live Film Club for the UK, meaning certain 360 owners will be able to watch films ahead of their cinema release.
It’s a competition to pimp Paramount movies, basically. All you need to do is send in your name, gamertag and email address to get a chance to see preview screenings in London.
All details through the link.
September 5th, 2008 @ 20:57
Speaking to VG247 at Games Convention, Far Cry 2 narrative head confirmed that losing your NPC buddies in fire-fights means not being able to see all the game’s missions.
“That buddy, Joseph, he’s still around,” said Redding after Joseph came and rescued him from the bush after taking hits.
“He’s out there autonomously fighting guys, and the thing of it is that even though that’s a very useful tool for me to have - a guy like that that’s able to look after these things and keep the heat off me - the reality is that it puts him in danger. He’s now in jeopardy, and he could be killed.
“That’s the price you pay for having buddies. When I unlock a buddy like that and then use him, either by getting involved in one of his missions… or by allowing him to come and rescue me, there’s always a risk that he could be killed. If he’s killed, he’s gone forever and the content associated with that character is no long available to me. So for example, any side quests that he’d be able to give me are no longer available.”
So be careful out there, African mercenary types. You wouldn’t want to miss anything.
Far Cry 2’s now confirmed for an October 24 release.
