Games Roundup – Week Three, March 2010
Lots of news to catch up on, including the official name of the PS3 motion controller! Read on!
Multiplatform news
Now Playing: March 15-21, 2010 – Joystiq: Notable this week: Metro 2033 and some DLC…
BioShock 2′s First DLC Already On Disc – Slashdot: “Trouble is brewing in Rapture. The recently released Sinclair Solutions multiplayer pack for BioShock 2 is facing upset players over the revelation that the content is already on the disc, and the $5 premium is an unlock code.”
Haven’t we already been through this? BAD 2K! You should have learnt from Capcom’s error with Resident Evil 5!
Battlestar Galactica Gets Its Own Massively Multiplayer Game – Kotaku: “The battle for the fate of humanity continues this fall, when NBC Universal and Bigpoint launch Battlestar Galactica Online, a massively multiplayer browser-based game set in the universe of the award-winning Syfy television series.”
I wonder if they’re only going to let 12,000 or so people play it?
This could either be really cool, or really bad...
Lady Gaga Must Be A Command & Conquer Fan – Kotaku: “A deadly cocktail of nerd poisons, featuring the toxic element from EA’s Command & Conquer series combined with a few equally sly Dune and Star Wars references, as seen in Lady Gaga’s (slightly NSFW) “Telephone” video.” Neato!
Kneel Before The Hardcore Gamer’s IQ Test – Kotaku: This is the coolest thing EVER! Prove your worth as a hardcore gamer by identifying all of the characters and/or games in the cool image accessible in large format via the link.
Use the DeviantArt image to try to ID things, or your eyes will start bleeding...
Dead Space 2 Asks Fans to Plan the Perfect Kill – Kotaku: “The makers of Dead Space 2 have put out a call for gruesome dismemberment ideas to be included in the game. The top submission not only will be rendered in the full release, its creator will be, too.”
You have til March 26 — get crackin’!
Crysis 2 Footage Looking As Nice As Expected – Kotaku: “Crysis 2 is at the Game Developers Conference, seemingly there not just for its own ends, but to help developer Crytek shill its engine, CryEngine 3. It’s doing a very good job.”
Is Crysis 2. Is CryEngine 3. Is pretty.
Monkey Island 2 Special Edition Hits this Summer – Kotaku: “Monkey Island 2 Special Edition: LeChuck’s Revenge is coming to the iPhone, iPod Touch, Mac, PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 this summer.”
Xbox 360 news
Rumor: Gears of War 3 in April 2011 – Joystiq: “Edge says a source has put a pin in April 2011 as the release window for the third entry in Epic’s series — and we should expect the first teaser trailer next month, on April 8, with a full-on reveal at E3 in June.”
AWESOME! Can’t wait — I love a bit of chainsaw gun.
Microsoft’s Game Room for Xbox ‘rewinds’ the hits in our hands-on demo – Engadget: A virtual environment on your 360 where you can relive retro classics…and rewind mistakes. Perfect!
“Not only does it nicely emulate inserting coins and even entering in codes on a virtual keypad, but when playing games in the non-ranked classic mode there’s a “rewind” function accessible at any time with the tug of the left trigger. The screen gets those VHS-style wavey lines and you can mend your errors instead of losing a valuable life or having to start from the beginning.”
The Games Room rewind in action. Die no more!
Zune HD2 Will Be Like iPod Touch for Windows Phone 7 (Read: Apps! Also, Zune HD Is For Suckers) – Gizmodo: “Sorry, everybody who bought a Zune HD! You screwed up. It won’t be a part of the XNA Game Studio 4.0 party—meaning it won’t play those new mobile Xbox Live games for Windows Phone 7—unlike the Zune HD2.”
Gaming on Windows Phone 7 – Joystiq: “We already broke out the news you’re looking for: Each of the Windows Phone 7 Xbox Live-infused games will offer its players 200 Gamerscore points. You’ll be able to boost your Xbox rep in significant chunks without having to hunker down in front of a big screen for long stretches. You’ll never again have to go so long without hearing that satisfying “Achievement unlocked” sound. The world, as you know it, has changed.”
I might have to abandon my BlackBerry…
Windows Phone 7 Achievement Unlocked. I need a tissue.
Bungie Promises Teabagging Support for Halo: Reach – Kotaku: “I’m disappointed they caught it now. I would have much rather written about the game lacking teabagging support, hordes of angry gamers vowing boycotts and reprisals, flopsweat half-apologies and then, finally, “Teabagging patched into Halo: Reach.”"
John Cleese Voices Fable III‘s Butler – Kotaku: “Cleese will play the role of a butler that you encounter when you press the start button in the game. In Fable II you’d take that action and get a 2D menu. In Fable III, your character will appear in a room full of his clothes, potions and a table representing the world map. Cleese will be in there to add some humor.”
Meet your new butler.
Sony PlayStation3 and PSP News
PlayStation Move: Everything You Need To Know – Kotaku: “Yesterday, Sony took the wraps off the PlayStation Move, which some people will call Sony’s next big thing in video gaming, and others will call a shameless Wii Remote rip-off. Here’s everything you need to know about it.”
Did I say this was going to be called Arc? Oops! Meet Move.
The Must-Play Magic Of PlayStation Move Involves… A Foam Finger? – Kotaku: “Don’t snicker at Move Party. It is the game most squarely targeted at families among the motion-sensitive games showcased today at Sony’s PlayStation Move event. It is the most magical game here.”
PlayStation Move Gets Its First Wii Port – Kotaku: “Warner Bros let us know today that The Lord of the Rings: Aragorn’s Quest, a game previously headed for the Wii (and DS), will now also be making an appearance on the PlayStation 3, “with full support for PlayStation’s upcoming motion controller technology”.”
Clearly, the best usage of motion controllers I've seen yet.
Gran Turismo 5 ‘Nights’ trailer is appropriately unlit, pretty – Joystiq: “It’s been a while since we last saw images from Polyphony Digital’s Gran Turismo 5 — at least ones that were capable of moving whilst being accompanied by high-octane trance music. Such moving pictures were released earlier today, likely in an attempt to remind us just how pretty the game really is. (Here’s a refresher course: It’s super pretty.)”
Rumor: Final Fantasy XIII PS3 Has Freezing Issues – Kotaku: “In the West, role-playing game Final Fantasy XIII is a multi-platform game, getting a release on the Xbox 360 and the PS3. While the PS3 version might look better, individuals are claiming that there are freezing issues.”
Oh noes! Say it isn't so!
Nintendo Wii and DS news
Metroid: Other M Might Have Been On-Rails, If Not For Team Ninja – Kotaku: Or, this article could have been titled “Don’t Let Nintendo make their own business decisions”.
“Yoshio Sakamoto, the Metroid co-creator and WarioWare producer, says that his latest game, Metroid: Other M, was originally planned to be an on-rails adventure. If that sounds like Metroid sacrilege to you, thank co-developer Team Ninja for changing Sakamoto’s mind.”
Free roam in Other M? Yes, please!
The fine print
This is by no means meant to be a comprehensive roundup of the entire week’s news. All stories are chosen for no other reason than that they got my attention and might capture yours. If something you think is more important, chime in on the feedback; we’d love to hear comments and have a conversation about it.
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