- Two Worlds II heading to consoles and PC this winter
RPG slated for return
Ambitious RPG Two Worlds is on the way back, Two Worlds II set for a release this winter on the PC, Mac, PS3 and Xbox 460 - according to word from Topware and Reality Pump.
The game's story will play out some two years after the events of the commendable-if-flawed first title. The game will, as before, be set in the mystical land of Antaloor.
Two Worlds II boasts a new game engine - which should improve areas like combat that were criticised in the first release.
More on this as we get it. Thanks VG247.
- Tecmo Koei sees Xbox 360 on the up in Japan
Ninja Gaiden makers see console improving
The Xbox 360 is seemingly doing somewhat better in Japan, although the console still struggles to steal the limelight from the Wii and PS3.
According to Tecmo Koei boss Kenji Matsubara, Microsoft's system is overcoming it's bad start however, and is beginning to get some momentum going.
"Xbox 360 as a business is doing better than the old Xbox," the big cheese told Kikizo. "They have a good opportunity for growth, but of course Sony is a Japanese company and Microsoft is known as a business software company, so brand image is one point. But Microsoft is doing well, especially considering how difficult it is these days.
"I think they have good growth potential for the future depending on the titles. We have a close relationship with Microsoft so I hope we can be a part of that."
More from Tecmo Koei as we get it.
- Valve dodge PS3 development
Lombardi says Valve just aren't very good
Speaking at a Left 4 Dead 2 press event in London, Valve marketing boss Doug Lombardi has said that Valve aren't interested in creating PS3 games because of the 'stepchild' effect.
"If we were customers of that product on PlayStation, we'd feel like we sort of got the stepchild version of the product while the guys on the PC and the 360 got the sweet version of it," Lombardi told CVG.
The exec also notes that previous PS3 releases - such as the Orange Box - haven't faired too well critically.
"Until we have the ability to get a PS3 team together, until we find the people who want to come to Valve or who are at Valve who want to work on that, I don't really see us moving to that platform," he concludes.
- Test Drive Unlimited 2 rumoured
Eden racing sequel spied online
Atari could well be back in the racing genre, with supposedly leaked Test Drive Unlimited 2 art surfacing on a forum (thanks Gamersyde).
It is unclear if this artwork is genuine, but if it is then it seems likely that Eden are once again at the helm, as they were for the 2007 original.
The first Test Drive Unlimited was released for the Xbox 360 and PC, although we're not certain that Atari are once again set to deliver this sequel of course.
Treat all this as idle conjecture until we hear more.
- StarCraft II expansion sets to follow more quickly
Sigaty tells us the wait won't be as long
Speaking to this website in a brand new interview, StarCraft II lead producer Chris Sigaty has said that while the new RTS title has been in the works since 2003, the campaign expansion sets promised some months back will be delivered more quickly.
"We're targeting the end of 2009 for the release of StarCraft II, but as with all Blizzard games, we won't release a game until we feel it meets our high standards and the expectations of our players," he explained on the initial release.
He continued: "As for the expansion sets for StarCraft II, we don't have a timeline for those games, but with much of the groundwork done in Wings of Liberty, we're optimistic that we can develop those games on a more accelerated schedule than the core StarCraft II game."
More in the full interview, live now, including word on Battle.net's progress: "We also have some exciting plans as far as improved support for eSports and competitive gaming, while at the same time making the online experience more inviting and less intimidating for casual players."
- Chris Sigaty on StarCraft II
- Blizzard's lead producer opens his mind to us
- Twitter client enters World of Warcraft
TweetCraft unveiled by Blizzard
Cryptic have already confirmed that Twitter will be included in Champions Online, and now Blizzard reveal that a fully functioning Twitter client is live in World of Warcraft now.
Called TweetCraft, a full, in-game take on Twitter is promised.
The new service will allow the sending and receiving of in-game 'Tweets', the uploading of in-game screen grabs via TwitPic, auto log-in for collecting messages - and even auto-tweeting linked to in-game events.
The social revolution continues.
- Valve won't abandon original Left 4 Dead
Lombardi again assures over support
Valve Software have once again assured that they are not ditching support of the first Left 4 Dead, despite having confirmed an Xbox 360 and PC exclusive sequel, due out later this year.
Speaking to UK site Eurogamer.net, Doug Lombardi said that the community's negative reaction to the announcement was something of a surprise.
"We obviously listen to the community a lot. That's one of our staples. Did we anticipate it? No, we didn't, but I think that one of the key things is: announcing Left 4 Dead 2 doesn't mean we're abandoning Left 4 Dead 1.
"Another thing is it's important to remember that E3 is where you go to announce new titles, specifically titles that are coming to retail. We do press there, but it's not really a venue for announcing DLC or mod tools.
"So I think there was a little bit of confusion that we created unintentionally, by announcing a sequel and not having the complete story ready: announcing it and not saying, there's still a lot of stuff being worked on for Left 4 Dead 1, and the mod tools will work with both games."
New content will be out this summer, apparently.
- DSi still leads in Japan
Sales trundling along still
The latest Japanese hardware charts have been unleashed this week by the publisher behind Famitsu, with the DSi shocking no one as the week's best seller (well, last week's, really).
For the week ending June 28th, the DSi leads will sales of nearly 40,000 consoles. The PSP is second, with nearly 27,000 - the Wii third with just shy of 22,000.
A big leap sees us with the PS3 in fourth with over 11,000 sales - followed by the Xbox 360 with less than 6,000.
The DS Lite and the PS2 bring up the rear with sales of 5,000 and 3,000 respectively. More as we get it.
- Activision won't be drawn on DJ Hero pricing
Promise good value for players
A 108 GBP price point has been rumoured for Activision's new musical offering DJ hero this week, although the publisher refuse to be drawn into confirming or denying this speculation.
While this fairly hefty price tag is probably about right, the firm won't comment, simply suggesting that the eventual cost will represent good value.
"We don't comment on our product pricing strategies," Activision told blog VG247.
"However, we believe that DJ Hero will provide tremendous value for our consumers by delivering an all-new interactive music experience with over 100 individual songs that are highlighted in over 80 unique mixes, a wide variety of music from some of the biggest artists including Jay-Z, Eminem, Benny Benassi, Gwen Stefani and Black Eyed Peas among others."
Retailer ShopTo suggested the 107.99 GBP pricing recently, stating that they will sell the game at a discount - 94.85 GBP. More soon.
- Epic consider new style for next Gears
But won't be drawn on specifics
The inevitable next Gears of War game may opt for something of a different style to the previous games, designer Cliff Bleszinski telling Develop that Epic are considering something a bit new.
"If you look at Gears of War 2 we actually tried to get away from it a little bit by doing things like letting the colours breathe and come through a little bit more," CliffyB offers.
"Stylistically though, I'd love to play in a different field in the near future in regards to what your typical expectation of a Gears of War game actually is."
We're hoping for more on the next Gears title sooner rather than later, although with this Christmas seemingly covered we're most likely looking at 2010 release or beyond here.
- Bleszinski shocked by id Software sale
Designer shocked by take-over
In something of a shock move, id Software have in the last fortnight been sold to Bethesda owners Zenimax.
The deal came as a surprise to the whole industry, id Software one of the biggest indie success stories of the last decade or more.
Epic's Cliff Bleszinski is certainy shocked, the Gears of War designer telling Develop:
"My mind is blown. id was always the studio I had my eyes on in the early days as far as wondering if we could be as good as them if not better. When we had Unreal Tournament they had Quake 3 which is one of those legendary showdowns between two games. To see this happen to the id guys just blows my mind.
"To see the old standbys go through these kinds of changes - like with 3D Realms closing up Duke Nukem – it's really shocking. We all cme from the same mould from the shareware days; these studios have been around forever, and to see them acquired like that is a surprise.
"I think in the long term it will probably be a good thing for id. It will add stability, it will help them leverage their properties more; but in the meantime it's so surreal. As they say, the one constant is change."
More from CliffyB very soon.
- Gallery: Tales of Monkey Island
Adventurous
- Gallery: Battlefield 1943
Launching next week...
- Gallery: Infernal: Hell's Vengeance
New footage
- Gallery: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles
New Wii teasing
- Gallery: The Sims 3
Simulation, please
- Gallery: The Conduit
Wii shooter nears release
- Gallery: Batman: Arkham Asylum
Tour de force
- Gallery: Colin McRae: DiRT 2
Stunning new shots
- Gallery: Section 8
SouthPeak's new action opus
- Gallery: World of Goo
In boxes now
- Gallery: Tales of Monkey Island
More monkeying around
- Gallery: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Codemasters snaps roar into view
- Gallery: DJ Hero
Heroic new footage
- Gallery: Madden NFL 10
Maddening
- Risen coming from Piranha Bytes
In-beta RPG taking shape
A new role-player that goes by the name of Risen is on the way from veteran developers Piranha Bytes - with a release on October 2nd planned for both the PC and Xbox 360.
Piranha are of course the team behind the acclaimed Gothic series, and we hear the game is almost complete - and is in the midst of beta testing presently.
Player choice will be key to Risen, this fantasy title set in a Mediterranean-inspired medieval world, featuring a large story set over four acts.
Risen certainly looks the part. We'll find out how it plays come October.
- New Left 4 Dead content soon
Demo for sequel mooted, too
Valve have assured today that both the PC and Xbox 360 versions of Left 4 Dead will be getting new DLC by the end of the summer.
"We plan to keep supporting Left 4 Dead 1," marketing boss Doug Lombardi assured CVG. "There will be some announcements coming before summer's out about what's coming there, and then we haven't shown everything that's in Left 4 Dead 2 yet.
"I think 8, 9 months from now once everything's been out for a while and everyone's had time to see the complete product of Left 4 Dead 2 and see continued support for Left 4 Dead 1, they may sort of see what we were up to and what the method of our madness was there."
Lombardi also reveals that a multiplayer demo of Left 4 Dead 2 should be released ahead of the sequel's November debut. More soon.
- Sony have been plotting digital PSP for some time
UMD-less console always desired
Naoya Matsui, Sony's head of product planning, has told GameBusiness that a UMD free PSP was always part of the firm's plans. Apparently, they were waiting for the digital download market to pick up.
"We'd planned to release a PSP model without a UMD drive since the very beginning. But if we'd simply released the hardware, there wouldn't have been much for everyone to enjoy," the exec offers.
"We needed to prepare the right environment for it first - things like the transferal of content with the PS3 and PSN, and PC software to manage content like music and movies such as Media Go.
"We wanted to release it when the delivery of digital content was on par with the delivery of physical media. That's what we've been working on these past two years. We'll be selling the PSP Go alongside the existing PSP models, because it's a product targeted at those people who are more accustomed to digital content."
PSP Go is out in October across North America and Europe. A Japanese debut will follow in November.
- Champions Online gets Twitter support
Will it never end?
Twitter support in super-heroes MMO Champions Online will be included via an in-game feature set at launch, Cryptic reveal today.
Support for the social networking phenomenon is being tested at the moment, the developer offering:
"We're really excited to get in-game tweet testing out to our beta players. This feature is in initial testing stages and will most likely have issues. Beta players, please keep in mind that you are still under an NDA while testing this feature!"
Twitter is also heading to Xbox Live, alongside Facebook. More on all this soon.
- GTA V coming in 2011?
Plus new GTA IV content next year, says analyst
Speaking to GI.biz, Kaufman Bros analyst Todd Mitchell has revealed that he expects Rockstar to launch two new DLC episodes for GTA IV in 2010, before GTA V arrives in 2011.
The expert also sees a new GTA title being released for the PS2 in the year ahead.
"I would expect that there would be two more pieces of downloadable content for GTA IV, thats what has been indicated to me, although formats are unsure," Mitchell explained. "It's been indicated to me that would be the case.
"Coming out of E3 there was no commitment to a new Grand Theft Auto, and I think that's because of Rockstars track record with delivering on time."
The analyst admits he isn't sure about the new PS2 title - although he notes that PS2 and PSP releases have often been shared in the past, making Chinatown Wars a PS2 possibility.
Mitchell also notes that through games like Agent, BioShock 2 and Red Dead Redemption Take-Two are moving away from being all about GTA, becoming a "proper company", as he puts it. More soon.
- Rock Band Unplugged Review
Harmonix go back to basics
- Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen Review
More then meets the eye?
- Asteroids movie coming from Universal
Studio beats off competition
A new movie based on 'classic' Atari game Asteroids will be coming from Universal, the studio confirming that they have won a bidding war for the rights to create the game - based on the retro rock-blaster.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, the film's script will be created by Matthew Lopez; the man behind Disney's Bedtime Stories, Universal have beaten off four other bidders.
Lorenzo di Bonaventura, meanwhile, is position to produce, having cut his teeth on Transformers and Constantine.
We've no word yet on what kind of plot we can expect from this, although we're certainly intrigued.
- Criterion to take Need for Speed back to basics
Burnout developers go 3DO
We've already heard that Burnout developers Criterion are behind the next-next iteration of the Need for Speed series, and it sounds as if the British game maker are taking things back to basics.
Criterion designer Alex Ward offered the following via Twitter: "'Red lining it all the way and making it pay' - a return to the original 3DO version of The Need for Speed."
The developer's involvement in the racer's revival has been rumoured for some months, and was in fact confirmed by EA chief John Riccitiello last month.
A 'revolution' of the series is promised, although given that we've another Need for Speed title due out first, we're unsure what all this news means for the Black Box title due out this autumn.
More Need for Speed as we get it.
- New Resident Evil flick for 2010
Horror of horrors
A new Resident Evil (Biohazard) flick is in the works, we hear today, with director Paul W S Anderson signed up to work on scripts for the new project - to be set between Alaska and Tokyo.
According to movie website ShockTillYouDrop, the flick will be called Resident Evil: Afterlife, and will be released on September 17th 2010.
We've no details yet on the cast, or whether the title's plot will link in more closely with the games than past releases, although we're hoping Mila Jovovich can reprise her role as Alice.
We'll keep our eyes peeled.
- Battlefield 1943 coming out next week
EA date multiplayer smash
Word on the street from EA officially confirms this afternoon that Battlefield 1943 will launch next week, hitting the Xbox 360 on July 8th and then landing on the PS3 the very next day.
The latest in the Battlefield series has been looking good for some months now, and with a digital release planned EA and DiCE seem to be powering on into new territory.
The multiplayer action title will cost 1200 Microsoft Points, or about 10 GBP, if you prefer.
We'll be taking a closer look very soon.
- Suda has grand ambitions for No More Heroes
Looks to PS3 and 360
Speaking to Edge magazine, Goichi Suda (Suda-51) has said that No More Heroes needs to move beyond the Wii, and that he hopes it can become a big franchise in the future.
"I really want to make NMH a big franchise, and with this second episode have bigger success. I'm putting a lot of care into developing this IP, as I feel there's a lot of potential," he revealed to the magazine.
"I think this is the last NMH that is going to be developed on Wii. To expand NMH to new possibilities, we need a new platform. Wii is a great platform, but we've done everything we can with it now."
No More Heroes 2 is on the way, and will be published by Ubisoft, while rumours abound that the original game is set for the PS3 and Xbox 360.
- UK talent show to use Wii and DS
Britain's Best Brain unveiled
Britain's Best Brain is the name of a new, (soul-destroying?) talent show expected to air on Channel 5 later this year. The twist? Players will compete across a range of DS and Wii titles.
National heats will be held for the finals, with games such as Dr Kawashima's Brain Training: How Old is your Brain?, Wii Fit and Big Brain Academy used to separate competitors.
Rumour has it (thanks MCV) that Nintendo paid two million pounds to be involved in this project, which they clearly see as a major promotional vehicle for their casual and self-improvement offerings.
More on Britain's Best Brain as we get it.
- No More Heroes on the way for PS3, 360?
Marvelous to craft big name ports?
Marvelous may be behind new ports of No More Heroes for the PS3 and Xbox 360, Goichi Suda's Wii hit having not quite hit the right audience on Nintendo's console.
This imaginative and violent romp could be joined on these systems by another Japanese conversion, Muramasa: The Demon Blade.
Publisher Marvelous are seemingly interested in delivering all manner of Wii hits to high-definition consoles; according to Siliconera, who have spied financial slides.
We'll bring you more on this very soon.
- Grease game set for Wii and DS
505 to make new sing-a-long
A new video game based on the hit musical Grease is on the way to the Wii and DS, with 505 Games set to publish this mass market-bating opus.
"Paramount Digital Entertainment is pleased to be working with 505 Games to develop Grease," says Paramount's John Kavanagh, who presumably likes leather (jackets).
"Grease is the ideal opportunity to reach a broad gaming audience who love to sing, dance and have fun with a party-style game."
Some kind of SingStar affair on the way, perhaps?
- Activision could chase EA's sports crown
Publisher considers sports games
With THQ, Take-Two and genre leaders EA all have strong representation in the sports game genre, the world's biggest publisher Activision Blizzard are remarkably under-represented in this field.
Still, with money to burn it seems Activision may slowly be coming around to the idea of releasing some sports games - although they'll be going after genre leadership, if they do.
"It certainly has the characteristics of a category that would be interesting to us, but we would have to convince ourselves that we could enter successfully, accomplish leadership and that we'd have something new and different to bring to the party," chief Mike Griffiths tells IndustryGamers.
"Right now the barriers to entry there are pretty significant, but it is certainly the size of a category that we would be interested in."
- Xbox Live patent lawsuit continues
Sony pay up, Microsoft cling on
According to PatentArcade, Microsoft are putting off having to pay Peter Hochstein and Jeffrey Tenenbaum, who in 1994 patented the idea and the technology behind games played by people in geographically seperate locations.
Sony have already coughed up in a lawsuit which began back in 2004, and Microsoft are also named in the suit, but have so far put off paying.
Microsoft have submitted a 140,000 page document - presumably in order to delay matters, while also focussing on spelling mistakes made in filings.
Still, with Sony having already settled out of court, it seems that in the end Microsoft may have concede something.
- Suda-51 likes Burnout Paradise, a lot
Designer logs absurd time in EA racer
Veteran Grasshopper game maker Goichi Suda (Suda-51, if you prefer) is more than a bit of a fan of Burnout Paradise, the No More Heroes developer seemingly having played Criterion's racing opus more than he has his own creations (maybe).
Realising that Suda was something of a fan of the title, an 'addict', developer Alex Ward investigated the server logs and found that Suda has spent over 700 hours playing the title.
"Suda-51 came here for the day a few weeks ago. He's a hardcore Burnout fan. I checked the servers - over 700hrs play," the designer told Twitter.
That's a lot of car crashes. Thanks VG247.
- Microsoft: Don't worry about Xbox Live ads
Major Nelson promises not to intrude
Having confirmed yesterday that the Xbox 360 Dashboard will be getting web-style adverts delivered over Xbox Live, Microsoft have moved to assure Live users that the ads they serve won't interfere with the experience.
Perhaps understandably, the community reacted badly to word on the new ad plans; some Gold users claiming that only free-loading Silver types should get the ads.
"I need to let you know that you don't need to worry about a huge influx of ads across the dashboard. One of our core principles is to enhance, not interfere with the gaming experience, and we work directly with our partners to only deliver experiences that are relevant to the LIVE community," Live mouthpiece Larry Hryb explains.
"Silverlight will help make those ads a more organic part of the dashboard, like we've done with some of the NXE slots in the past. No one on the team wants to turn the dashboard into something that looks like like Shibuya Crossing. That's just not good for anyone."
More on this as we get it.
- THQ in WWE licensing row
Game maker heads back to court
THQ have filed a lawsuit against entertainment firm Jakks Pacific, the game maker's WWE licensing collaborator, claiming that Jakks doesn't have the legal right to extend the publisher's official WWE license.
Smackdown vs. Raw and Legends of Wrestlemania are of course based on WWE's license via Jakks, and the toy maker wants to renew the WWE license - prompting THQ's complaint.
THQ believe Jakks can't make a unilateral decision to renew the license with the WWE, even though the contract ends this year. Jakks want an extension until 2014.
Jakks, THQ and the WWE have all locked courtroom horns before. Thanks Gamaustra.
- Tyson wowed by Fight Night Round 4
Boxer amazed by advancements
Controversial former boxing ace Mike Tyson has expressed his amazement at how video games have evolved since he was first depicted in a console title many years ago.
"It's incredible," Tyson told IGN. "It's like the animation is actually like real fighters in there. The movement and the lucidness of the fighters moving their heads is like two real individuals and they're actually fighting one another."
In the new interview, the ex-champion says he is also rather taken with God of War and Ninja Gaiden.
More on Fight Night Round 4 very soon.
- Blizzard trademark Cataclysm
New game or WoW expansion on the cards
Word on the street this morning from BlizzPlanet has it that World of Warcraft makers Blizzard have just filed three trademarks covering the name 'Cataclysm'.
The filings cover games and toys based on the brand, and while we're not sure whether this is a new game or something else, speculation points to a possible World of Warcraft expansion.
Apparently, those who know the MMO well spy themes linking the name to Sundering, although Blizzard are inevitably not saying anything at this point.
More on this gossip as we get it.
- Onslaught of Capcom oldies for PSN
Classics set to return, beginning today
Speaking to the US PlayStation blog, Capcom confirm this week that their deluge of PSP-supporting classic games will begin hitting the PlayStation Network from today.
Capcom Classics Collection: Remixed hits the PSN this morning, and will offer us: 1941: Counter Attack, Avengers, Bionic Commando, Black Tiger, Block Block, Captain Commando, Final Fight, Forgotten Worlds, Last Duel, Legendary Wings, Magic Sword, Mega Twins, Quiz and Dragons, Section Z, Side Arms: Hyper Dyne, The Speed Rumbler, Street Fighter, Strider, Three Wonders, and Varth.
Yet more retro favourites are also on the way in the coming weeks, as we're promised: Mega Man Powered Up, Dino Crisis, Power Stone Collection, Mega Man Maverick Hunter X, Resident Evil 2, Darkstalkers, Street Fighter Alpha 3 Max, Resident Evil 3: Nemesis, Capcom Classics Collection Reloaded not to mention Fate/Unlimited Codes.
More on this soon.
- Fitness Hero game on the way?
Music meets health in new trademark
A new game combining two of the last three-or-so years' biggest phenomenon could be on the way, VPT Technologies having trademarked Fitness Hero and Workout Hero.
A heady combination of Wii Fit with elements of Guitar Hero appears to be on the cards - although we wonder if Activision will object somewhat to their naming approach.
VPT have previously cut their teeth on a web-based fitness system, so this is likely to be their way in, with a light sprinkling of music.
More on this as we get it.
