Did you find yourself driven just a wee bit mad by some of the design decisions in Alone in the Dark for Xbox 360? Well, you're not alone, and developer Eden Games isn't in the dark about what it did wrong.
During a Leipzig Games Convention presentation, the studio owned up to the title's shortcomings, promising that a number of them are being addressed in the upcoming PS3 version. Specifically, the camerawork is different (it's pulled back more, and players will have free control using the right analog stick); the player character, Edward Carnby, runs by default; and the atrociously twitchy car handling has been mellowed out.
While this is good news for PS3 owners still eager to experience the game, they won't be the only ones to reap the benefits of Eden's hindsight and extra development time. It's been announced that an upcoming patch will bring these fixes – and potentially more – to the 360 version, although no firm date has been given for its release (it'll presumably hit when the PS3 game does in November).
Meet 1ickTh3P0l3. He can vote. But why tell him that? When Rock the Vote comes to Xbox Live on Monday (the start of the Democratic National Convention), it won't find the disempowered young citizens eager to be mobilized it's expecting. In fact, the Xbox Live community is a conglomerate of well-organized sub-divisions -- or "clans" -- which communicate through a modified, verbalization of "133t speak" with a large admixture of derisive language; including racial, ethnic, gender, sex, and religious slurs. These nihilistic hatemongers shoot first, typically with rocket launchers, and top it off with a teabag over your dead body. Oh wait, these are just the Xbox Live users under 18. Imagine how the ones of legal voting age spend their nights and weekends ... And you want them rocking what now?
We're not exactly sure how much of MTV Multiplayer's information about transferring Rock Band songs to Rock Band 2 is new, but it gives a tiny bit more detail to the process, which has yet to be fully explained. We knew that the transfer would cost "under $5"and that RB1 would receive a patch the day RB2 released, but we believe the detail about a "password" bundled with RB2 is new ... maybe. Either way, we haven't written about it.
Harmonix's John Drake tells MTV that when the game releases on Sept. 14, the RB1 patch will add an "export" feature to the game. Selecting to export will prompt the user to add a password included with Rock Band 2, after which a payment screen will be displayed. Told you it was a tiny detail!
Sure, we've been gushing about Heavy Rain lately, but Quantic Dreams President David Cage has assured Eurogamer that we will be able to experience it all first-hand with a demo. "Yes, of course, there will be a demo," he said, adding that it will likely not contain any elements of the main storyline. "We've spent a lot of time working on the story this time ... And I think it's a very unusual story for a videogame, so I think people will be quite surprised." Cage also noted that what we've seen so far is a separate episode and not related to the main storyline.
Cage also hinted that Heavy Rain DLC could be trickling out in the near future. "This is something it's really too early to talk about, but it's definitely a possibility," he said, adding, "You can tell any story with this interface, because it's entirely contextual." The clouds will burst with Heavy Rain (seriously, we're going to work on our pun addiction) in 2009.
NPD, Chart-Track and Enterbrain have announced the joint monthly Top Global Markets Report, an account integrating the point-of-sale data from the US, UK and Japan. We don't know what information will be released publicly from the report on a monthly basis yet, but for the clients of these groups it will provide global data from the leading markets.
After the break we've placed a small taste of what the report has to offer, with a chart showing the top five selling games year-to-date across the tracked countries. We're also following up with NPD regarding what impact this new report will have on the standard monthly US report and what information from the global report will be made public. We'll update as soon as we hear back.
Update: A NPD representative tells us: "The monthly report from NPD US will still be a standard deliverable. We're not sure if a regular media deliverable based on this new tracking product is something we're going to be providing. It all depends on partner reactions, client acceptance and things like that." Translation: Monthly NPD data goes on as normal, a public version of the combined global data is still up in the air.
Sony officially unveiled the third-generation PSP yesterday, with a PS button, built-in mic and an improved LCD screen. Our friends at Engadget Japanese have learned a few more details straight from Sony about how exactly the screen has improved. Compared to the PSP-2000, the new 3000 model has twice the color gamut, five times the contrast ratio and, what we're most excited about, a response time that's twice as fast. The PSP-3000 is arriving on North American shores in mid-October.
Update: LCD's response is twice as fast, meaning the response time itself is halved. Fixed, thanks everyone!
Another lawsuit has been filed against Nintendo for alleged patent infringement in the Wii remote, according to Bloomberg. Maryland-based Hillcrest Labs filed the suit in Greenbelt, Maryland, and has also filed a complaint with the U.S. International Trade Commission seeking to block imports of the Wii console and remote. Hillcrest's technology, dubbed Freespace, is reportedly used by Logitech International and Universal Electronics.
There have been numerouslawsuitsandpatentclaims on Nintendo's Wii and DS interface technology. We're wondering if any of these companies who are suing Nintendo for patent infringement will ever sue each other for the same violations. We won't be seeing the lawsuit go to court anytime soon, however, as it's been put on hold while the ITC investigates. According to Bloomberg, that could take about 15 months.
We're happy to report that when James Bond returns to video games this fall with Quantum of Solace he'll be voiced by our new favorite 007, Daniel Craig. But we're a little worried about how we're going to focus on the game when our undies continue to spontaneously drop to the ground, coaxed off by Bond's baritone brogue! The game will also feature Judi Dench as M and new additions Mathieu Amalric and Ukrainian actress Olga Kurylenko.
... Listen, did we type that part about our undies dropping out loud? No? OK, thank goodness.
For a game featuring futuristic and unfeasibly fast vehicles, Wipeout HD is taking an awful lot of time to make it across the "finished" line. The last release window we received was a somewhat vague "coming soon," which is why we're pleased that SCEA producer Daimion Pinnock has hurled a brick through it, along with an attached note promising a slightly more specific Fall release date.
Despite becoming victim to technical foibles and rumored audio-visual assaults, Wipeout HD still looks to be a fully featured return to form for the beloved hoverfest. The PSN-exclusive game will not only boast the usual 1080p/60fps visuals, but a two-player splitscreen mode, Trophy support, 8-player online play, optional (the best kind!) SIXAXIS support, Dolby 5.1 surround sound and in-game custom soundtrack support.
There are really only two ways of handling a glitch. Fix it in a patch or convince everyone who experienced it that it never happened in the first place. EA, as you can see in the above video, has provided the most impressive example of that second method we've ever seen.
After seeing one user's "Jesus Shot" video from Tiger Woods 08, (you'll find it just after the break), wherein a glitched Tiger walks over a pond to make a shot, EA answered back with its own video that Levinator25's supposed bug was, in fact, a mind-blowing feature. Bravo, EA. Bravo.
Once you finally, finally install the Wrath of the Lich King onto your personal copy of World of Warcraft, what's the first thing you'll bear witness to (besides empty Mountain Dew cans and an empty, empty apartment)? Why, the above video, of course. For your viewing pleasure we present the opening cinematic from Blizzard's upcoming opus.
So, what's it like? C'mon dude, it's a new Blizzard cinematic, do you really want some tubby blogger spoiling it for you? Of course not. Now, get to clicking.
While not as high quality as the falsified chat multiplayer trailer, the Kizzy Dos(remember, that's our nickname for Killzone 2)footage from Leipzig GC 2008 above does reveal that the game is now in pre-beta. When we last saw the game about a month ago at E3, K2 was rocking a pre-alpha build. We're happy to see the game progressing smoothly, even if we have to wait until February to play the final build. Here's to hoping developer Guerilla Games follows in the footstepsof its peers and opens a public beta for the game.
Developer Tozai has been noticeably silent with regards to its upcoming take on Brøderbund's early computer platformer Lode Runner, and while our army of robots have once more returned empty handed, the media sleuths at IGN report that a seemingly "largely done" build of the XBLA remake was on hand at the Leipzig's media extravaganza.
The news leaves us wondering just when we'll be able to revisit our platforming roots, though the game's presence on the show floor was reportedly adorned with rather ambiguous signage that simply read "coming soon." We certainly hope so, because with both this and some sort of R-Type title in the works, Tozai has become adept at tugging at nostalgia's heartstrings.
Konami has announced at Leipzig (via GamerByte) that it's going into the vault and preparing to spruce up its 1996 racer, GTI Club, exclusively for the PlayStation Network. The game, now called GTI Club+, will feature a visual overhaul, eight-player online multiplayer and support for the PS Eye (because what we really want is to see our fellow racers while we make sharp turns), along with the usual remake details of new cars, new tracks and new gameplay modes. It is being developed by Sumo Digital (Outrun, Driver 76) and is due out in November.
This week American McGee's Grimm retells the story (in Grimm's special way) of the anthropomorphic Puss in Boots. The episode is free for everyone the first 24 hours after release and will be available only to GameTap subscribers after that time.
Grimm: Puss In Boots (Windows) - Cats are evil and Puss is no exception. Dogs rule!
Patrician III (Windows) - How to describe ... how to describe? Oh, it's like playing "Medieval Tycoon."
There are no new additions to GameTap's free games lineup this week. As always, though, the full list of free-to-play titles can be found after the break.
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