Kaz Hirai, Sony Computer Entertainment's "Big Boss," tells MCV that the company is taking its sweet time with making Home. Hirai explains if Home is good, it won't matter when it launches, "so long as it's in a reasonable time frame." By our estimates, "reasonable time frame" left a while ago on a trip around the world and, if we think in a circular fashion, should bang back around sometime soon.
Hirai goes on to say that if the competitors decide to follow what the company is doing with Home that's their prerogative -- we're sure Linden Labs is thinking the same thing about Home. Anyway, Hirai is "confident" that the Home open beat is something that'll "resonate" with consumers.
PlayStation 3 owners who subscribe to Sony's "interactive magazine" Qore will be able to participate in Resistance 2's beta this September (via IGN). The details are sketchy at the moment -- we're going to guess you'll have to pay the $25 annual subscription fee and not just $3 for the related episode -- but the thought of 60-player team deathmatch has us frothing at the mouth. No beta details revealed yet for the Qore-less Europe.
The two-episode Watchmen series that was announced yesterday will be a prequel, according to a preview from 1UP. You can choose to play as either Nite Owl or Rorschach, with the other controlled by AI or via split-screen co-op, in the time before masked heroes were outlawed.
The third-person action games take place exclusively at night is set to be M-rated. While they brought on some heavy-hitters for the story -- notably Wolverine creator Len Wein and Watchmen illustrator Dave Gibbons -- we're always hesitant when someone other than the original author tries to expand a story. Still, an M-rated series with visuals reportedly "worthy of being a now-generation game" and Rorschach's infamous makeshift flamethrower? We remain cautiously optimistic. Watchmen episodes will be released around the same time as the film (March 6, 2009).
The supposed full set list for Guitar Hero World Tour has been making its way around the forums (Something Awful, GameFAQs). The 87-song list is divided by 73 main tracks and 14 bonus tracks. Additionally, there are 3 guitar battles (Ted Nugent, Zakk Wylde ... and renowned bassist Sting) and 7 "sample songs," presumably for the song creation mode. We're still looking into the source of the list; with no official word from Activision or Neversoft, consider this a rumor. Full set list after the break.
Buried deep down on a PlayStation Blog post about PixelJunk Eden and the Trophies available in the game, is an odd little paragraph about possible Trophy support for PixelJunk Monsters. Dylan Cuthbert, president of Q-games, developers of PJM and PJE, mentions he's been "inundated" with requests for Trophy support in Monsters. He says the company is looking into it and will badger the game's producer at Sony, Deborah Mars, "to get some dates set."
The information is a bit ambiguous and we're guessing is designed as a tease for an incoming PJM patch. Cuthbert also says the patch will "implement XMB music and a couple of other things." Considering we know PlayStation Blog posts are "checked," information like this doesn't just slip by. Looks like we're going to have to stop playing PJM Encore and wait 'til that Trophy patch gets added, because we're guessing the achievements won't be applied retroactively.
The 1942: Joint Strike shirts from E3, featuring Street Fighter's Cammy doing her best bomber nose art impression, are available now from Meatbun.com. The shirt will cost $26, plus shipping, and is available worldwide in the three colors seen above. A close-up of the shirt's image can be found after the break.
Fun fact: Yoshiki Okamoto created both 1942 and the Street Fighter series, so the shirt's image with Cammy isn't an entirely random cross-promotion.
We didn't even need to play Fallout 3 at E3 to know that it's going to be a very big deal (but we're glad we did, and have a hands-on coming soon). In continuing to ramp up excitement for the game's upcoming release, Bethesda is collaborating with the Penny Arcade crew on a weekly series of Fallout webcomics, the first of which debuted today.
According to Bethesda's Pete Hines, the idea was actually pitched to PA's Gabe and Tycho "years ago," ultimately resulting in an original story focusing on a Vault other than 101, which is the kick-off point for Fallout 3. Click here or on the panel above to read the entire three-panel debut strip. New strips will go up on the Fallout 3 site every Wednesday, come rain or nuclear holocaust.
Whether delayed by last-minute technical deficiencies or a newly discovered apathy towards overblown trade shows, several announced, expected or downright anticipated games managed to escape our studious glares and hastened notepad summaries at this year's E3. Dash through our punchy list of MIA attendees and let us know which ones had you tapping your wrist watch and asking, "Do you have any idea what time it is? We've been worried sick."
EA Sports has confirmed an initial report that a demo of its arcade-style boxing game, Facebreaker, will be hitting Microsoft and Sony's download services shortly. More specifically, the Xbox 360 demo will be available on Thursday, July 31 with a PS3 version arriving a week later on August 7.
What sets this demo apart from most others is the approach EA is taking with regards to migrating user-generated content to the final product. Akin to the Spore Creature Creator, players will be able to generate their own custom pugilists and share them with others over the intertubes. The characters will also be accessible in the final version of Facebreaker, which enters the retail ring on September 5.
We're not certain how many months of grinding it took this anonymous cameraman (or woman!) to level up high enough to brave Square Enix's impenetrable fortress, but we do know our hero scored big. Nearly two minutes of Final Fantasy Versus XIII CG footage (shaky as it is) is like the equivalent of all the gil that's stuffed inside the Shinra vault. Better yet, it's aged footage, the type of mana-oozing fluff reel -- note the pretentious, clichéd text in italiano, ovviamente -- that's only ever been eye-balled by suits and trusted VIPs. So let us all take a moment of silence, and push from our minds the gruesome fate that must have befallen our dear hero in the final, and sudden instant that this video is abruptly cut short. Thank you, oh noble ally of the masses, your contribution will not soon be forgotten.
We just got off the phone with Sony, trying to see if we could get more info on Fat Princess, and were told that the demo for PixelJunk Eden will be available tomorrow with the regular PSN update. We're looking forward to people finally being able to test the game out for themselves, instead of us trying to explain its simple and addictive gameplay. If you can, grab a friend and play co-op, since the title is even more enjoyable with a companion. The full game will be available next Thursday, July 31. The price for the full game has not been confirmed.
After managing the third best game launch to date on Xbox Live Arcade, Hothead Games is prepping the first episode of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness for release on PS3 via the PlayStation Store. It looks like the release has been part of the developer's schedule all along, but if you're one of the many people who've emailed them asking for the game on PSN, feel free to give yourself a little credit.
"We keep getting emails asking why our Penny Arcade game is not on PSN," said Vlad Ceraldi, Hothead's CEO, adding, "All good things take time and we are very excited to be debuting our first PS3 title and look forward to bringing more games to this platform in the future." By "more games" we think it's pretty safe to assume the rest of the Penny Arcade Adventures episodes – hobos, snark, fanboy in-jokes and all -- are on the way. You can view the first PS3 screens of the game in the gallery below.
We were so angry with the Writer's Guild of America strike back when it was messing up Lost, 24 and Ugly Betty...The Daily Show. Now though, we in the video game industry (and appreciators of it) are reaping the rewards with a lot of upcoming games' scripts having come from the pens of some very talented folk. The latest example is Aliens: Colonial Marines, which Gearbox's Randy Pitchford recently told ShackNews was being written by Battlestar Galactica's Bradley Thompson and David Weddle.
Does that mean we can expect the aliens to [insert BSG fan service gag here] or a head marine voiced by [some BSG actor guy goes here]? Also, does it mean that Justin should watch Battlestar if he's going to be posting about it? Yes. Yes it does.
It occurred to us that despite all our passion for first-person parkour-inspired game Mirror's Edge, you probably still don't get the appeal unless you've seen it in action. "A girl running around on rooftops fighting crime?" you ask with a sneer. "I liked it better the first time, when it was a guy, and it was called Batman."
We understand distrust of the unknown (it's the reason we're still alive) so we'd like to present, for your edification, the Mirror's Edge demo. Now, if you can watch this and still not get excited we really have nothing more to talk about.
Watchmen is just full of surprises. We would have never thought anyone could make a competent movie of the epic graphic novel but, if the trailer is any indication, Zack Snyder may be doing just that. We also would have doubted that the book could be made into game form, but it seems Warner Bros. is surprising us once again. The company will release two downloadable episodic games on PC, Xbox Live and PSN, to coincide with the theatrical and DVD releases of the film.
All we know is we can expect Nite Owl and Rorschach in an action title developed by Deadline Games, which is currently crafting Faith and a .45. We actually think making shorter games to hit deadlines is a smart way to break the terrible licensed games cycle. But of course, if they're short and terrible ...
