Xbox 360

Left 4 Dead 2 Finale gameplay video, no crossover between L4D 1 and 2, says Lombardi

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T22:08:33-07:00

Finally. Some real gameplay footage of the highly controversial Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360, PC). It runs for seven minutes in total, enough for you to prove a case if you've ever tried British Parliamentary form of debating.

But before we see if these footage would prove sufficient to sway the otherwise strong sentiments of hardcore L4D1(Xbox 360 and PC) fans against it, let's hear from Doug Lombardi, who's been making his rounds the past couple of days, explaining a whole lot about this sequel. This time, he talks about crossover possibilities between the two games.

So, will the sequel crossover with the first game?

Left 4 Dead 2 will be a full purchase. The thing is, if you've bought both of them, how can you elegantly play across the communities of two? That's the thing that we're really looking at primarily now, to sort of... keep those communities put together as elegantly as possible.

That's what we call the Fallacy of Tautological Reasoning.

I think we've got a good solution for that with the authoring tools for mod makers right now, where if you're building stuff right now, with very small changes it will run in Left 4 Dead 2 as well, and what we need to do is make sure that all that stuff - just as we're doing great matchmaking and propagating of the authoring and mod-authored material now, with the release of that last week to all Left 4 Dead 1 players - we want to make sure we're doing that with all our content now and keeping people together as much as possible.

from IncGamers

Okay, that's done.

And now on to the main event of the show! The Finale gameplay video for Left 4 Dead 2!

As will be in full display once you click on those Play buttons ( divided into three parts), it's not just about surviving by defending your own small corner. Hordes upon hordes of undeads are what's coming at you as you tackle them across a never-ending bridge to get to the military chopper rescuing you at the other end.

New weapons, characters, and more zombie killings follow right next. I am seriously drooling over that new automatic double barretta. And did the Tank just get nastier? Oh, and do keep your eye out for their new Special Infected, the Charger. You think he'll fit in with the original crowd?

This got me sold.

I CAN'T WAIT!!!

Epitaph Records brings punk to Guitar Hero: World Tour

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T20:14:30-07:00

A new DLC pack is headed for Activision's Guitar Hero: World Tour (360, PS3, Wii), and this time, it's for all the punk rockers in all of us. Even the name of the pack is punk-sounding, with Epitaph Punk-O-Rama Track Pack as the title. Obviously, as you may also see from the name, it's all about the Epitaph artists.

List here:

"21st Century Digital Boy" by Bad Religion (US 1.99 PSN / 200 Wii Points)
"Linoleum" by NOFX (US 1.99 PSN / 200 Wii Points)
"Ruby Soho" by Rancid (US 1.99 PSN / 200 Wii Points)

Related Guitar Hero: World Tour Articles:

Two Worlds II coming to PC, Xbox 360

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T18:57:15-07:00

The sequel to Topware Interactive and Reality Pump's RPG is finally announced for PC, Mac, and Xbox 360 this Winter. Said the press release, Two Worlds II will feature a completely overhauled AI and balancing standards, experienced authors, active combat system, bran-new engine and more.

Simply, its ambition is to set "new technical benchmarks in the RPG genre". They aim to achieve this with the use of "seemingly unlimited number of dynamic light sources, micro-detail Parallax Mapping, 24 Bit HDR Post Processing, Space Ambient Occlusion and Human Eye Accommodation."

As for the story, it follows the plot of the first iteration, about a couple of years after Two Worlds 1 (PC and Xbox 360). This time around, though, you will expand your horizons by exploring yet-undiscovered parts of Eastern Antalooor, filled with dusty deserts and ancient temples.

Executive Producer Alexandra Constandache says of the sequel:

We intentionally opted for a completely independent game with radical new technology. This was the only way to ensure that we harness the enormous potential and experience gained from the making of the first Two Worlds project - and make full use of the further technical development of internal Reality Pump tools that has been on-going since the first Two Worlds was developed. This new release window gives us enough time to systematically implement both our own requirements and the feedback of the Two World fans, enabling us to create a breathtaking RPG experience.

Coupled with the announcement of the game is the news that they will also be sending out the next version of the Two Worlds magazine, the "Antaloor Post", where the developers from Reality Pump provide you with a blow-by-blow account of the latest happenings and developments on the game.

In the meantime, you can check out the now opened official website for the game by clicking on the source link below, as well as take a gander at these first batch of screenshots.

Two Worlds Archives::

Two Worlds: The Temptation turns into a sequel - info and screenshots

What boycott? Left 4 Dead 2 pre-orders twice the number for Left 4 Dead 1 - Lombardi

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T17:34:27-07:00

Did any of you guys sign the Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360, PC) petition? You know, the one where the fans were asking to boycott the sequel of the zombie-killing game from Valve because they didn't want a sequel too soon to the first one?

Well, it looks like despite the 37,000 strong members, it did not do that much dent to the campaign for Left 4 Dead 2 as pre-orders are even reportedly twice that of the original game's. At least that's what a Valve's Doug Lombardi is saying.

Off to pre-order Left 4 Dead 2.

Talking to Eurogamer, he said of the pre-orders:

Our pre-orders are currently double what they were for Left 4 Dead 1 (Xbox 360 and PC) at this point in time away from launch. We're like 20 weeks out or something like that. We're seeing great enthusiasm from retailers, from EA, [and] the press called it multiplayer game of E3.

He did not give exact figures, but if this be true, it's probably that some of you've been playing for both sides of the team, huh? I kid, I kid. But really, Lombardi attributes this hostile reception of fans to the sequel to mere misunderstanding. He's clarified previously that:

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.

I think that, over time, folks will see what we're up to, and there's more of this story to be told in terms of what's to come for both games.

The supposed premature arrival of Left 4 Dead 2 is on November 17, 2009. The first iteration of the game franchise came out almost exactly a year ago from the second one's release date, November 18, 2008.

More Left 4 Dead News:

Activision plays the 'tremendous value' card to justify DJ Hero pricing

Mabie A. — 2009-07-03T17:10:19-07:00

European gamers weren't all too thrilled to find out how much DJ Hero (PS3, Xbox 360) was gonna cost in their region. Comparatively, the US pricing is much more decent than what was given to them at GB 107.99 (US 177.70). Now, Activision is speaking out about their decision on the price, and is justifying it by saying that the game does offer 'tremendous value'. Hmmm.. the value argument. I think I've heard that from somewhere before.

Said Activision,

We don't comment on our product pricing strategies. 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.

Does it come with this peripheral?

Well if you think about it, the "intereactive music experience with over 100 individual songs" and the "wide variety of music from some of the biggest artists" are also available with other music simulation games like Guitar Hero or Rock Band, but we don't see them going above a hundred pound price point.

I knew it. Those darned turntable controllers cost an arm and a leg to make. And to think that price doesn't guarantee talent.

Gearbox's Mikey Neumann talks about Borderlands demo, DLC

Karl B. — 2009-07-03T12:58:11-07:00

Borderlands is one of the better looking games I've seen all year thanks to the new art style. Still, the gameplay is much more important in an open-world game like this. The best way to show it off would probably be by way of a demo, but there's a chance that we won't be seeing a Borderlands demo anytime soon.

When asked if they were going to release a Borderlands demo in a recent interview with Shacknews, Gearbox's Mikey Neumann cited "factors". Lots of them.

We talk about a demo every day. We would love to do a demo. There's obviously factors there. If and when we do one, I don't know if it'd be pre-launch or post-launch, because ...there's a lot of factors there.

We would love to promise a demo, we can't quite yet, we just want to get the game done. That's always the hardest thing for developers to do--you never quite know how the time's going to work out. We're doing really well, but I can't promise it.

DLC, on the other hand, seems to be a sure thing. Neumann assured gamers that what they release post-launch won't be things that were originally in the game, but it's way too early to be talking about any specifics. He even took the time to explain why DLC is sometimes announced even before games launch.

What happens a lot of the time is you finish your game and it's time for cert, and during cert a lot of bugs crop up that you have to fix, and a lot of them are really, really big bugs. You are certainly not adding any content to the game at all. A level? No way.

But, during cert, if you have a lot of level designers who have nothing to do--which is pretty common, you pull level design and art off first--they're gonna be making cool shit and want to make cool shit. That cool shit, that tends to be what DLC ends up being. It's the stuff we couldn't add to the game because we're making it during cert, which is impossible to get into the [retail] game.

You can read the full interview at the source link. Gearbox is shooting for an October 2009 release for Borderlands. The game will be available for PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC.

Video: Dante's Inferno resurfaces with gameplay trailer

Karl B. — 2009-07-03T12:27:23-07:00

After that "religious protest" stunt EA pulled during E3, Visceral Games' Dante's Inferno fell off the radar for a bit. It's back in style, however, with a new trailer showing of the game's God of War-like action. Check out main character Dante slicing and dicing hell's denizens in the vid below.

Electronic Arts is prepping Dante's Inferno is being prepped for a 2010 release on PS3, PSP, and Xbox 360.

Called it: Capcom announces new Basara game

Karl B. — 2009-07-03T10:43:33-07:00

While a lot of people were hoping that the Capcom teaser site was for a new Onimusha game, the fact that it was accessible from the Sengoku Basara portal kinda weighed the odds in favor of a new Basara game. And so it turned out to be just that.

Capcom has revealed that the next entry in the popular (more so in Japan than anywhere else) action series is Sengoku Basara 3. Actually, that's pretty much all they've revealed aside from a 2010 date and the two character silhouettes below.

Never really got into this series but it's interesting that the last date shown on the teaser site was 1600, the year when Tokugawa Ieyasu won in the Battle of Sekigahara. Maybe Ieyasu's the main protagonist in this one?

Capcom teaser site launched; new Basara game coming?

Left 4 Dead DLC announcement by the end of summer, demo planned for Left 4 Dead 2

Karl B. — 2009-07-03T09:53:36-07:00

Valve is staying true to their promise of continued support for Left 4 Dead. According to Doug Lombardi, Left 4 Dead players can expect a DLC announcement for both the Xbox 360 and PC versions of the game before the end of summer.

They also have something cooking for those looking forward to Left 4 Dead 2 (Xbox 360, PC).

"With Left 4 Dead 2 we plan do a demo before the game comes out that'll have multiplayer in it and hopefully we can continue the free weekends with the full game post-launch," said Lombardi.

Splinter Cell: Conviction's normal mode can be finished in 12 hours

Karl B. — 2009-07-03T09:22:53-07:00

Splinter Cell: Conviction (Xbox 360, PC) creative director Maxime Beland wants people who play his games to finish them, so the game will be shipping with two difficulty levels for players to choose from.

Speaking to OXM, Beland detailed the difficulty levels -- normal and realistic. Those who choose to play through normal mode will find things easier, and Beland says that in this mode Conviction can be finished in around 12 hours.

Realistic, on the other hand, will be especially hard. "You're going to need stealth, two bullets is going to kill you, the enemies are going to be super-lethal."

Namco Bandai snaps up Dragon Ball rights from Atari

Karl B. — 2009-07-03T08:54:57-07:00

Image from DeviantArt

There were already a few signs hinting that Atari was having some trouble holding on to the Dragon Ball franchise. A couple of years ago, the publisher clashed with FUNimation over the game license. Namco Bandai announced last month that it had secured publishing rights to three new entries in the franchise.

Today, Namco Bandai has announced that it's finishing what it started. Starting in January 2010, they will be publishing Dragon Ball games on all major consoles and handhelds in North America. The publishing deal made with rights-holders Toei and FUNimation will run for five years.

This is a pretty big blow for Atari and a big coup for Namco Bandai. In fiscal 2008, about half of Atari's sales came from Dragon Ball games. You know, if you consider the earlier acquisition or Atari Europe, it kinda feels like Namco Bandai is taking over Atari piece by piece.

Square Enix sues French retailer for selling pirated IP merchandise

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T23:28:41-07:00

Square Enix is reportedly taking legal action against a lone French retailer for allegedly selling pirated Square merchandise. la soci t SAKURA, the retail store, operates in Paris and online, specializing in Anime/Manga/Japanese gaming merch.

Square Enix' suit's basis is that: [Square] "denounces SAKURA for the commercialization of products counterfeiting Square Enix's FINAL FANTASY and FULLMETAL ALCHEMIST trademarks and copyrights to the FINAL FANTASY series".

Anybody else selling pirated Squeenix stuff out there? You might want to close shop now.

Tekken 6 Arcade Stick Edition and Collector's Edition announced for Europe

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T22:12:58-07:00

Europe will be getting two official limited editions of Namco Bandai's Tekken 6 (PlayStation 3,Xbox 360) thanks to the Japan development team. The said limited editions will be the Arcade Stick Edition and the Collectors Edition; these would be offered on top of the standalone game of Tekken 6 expected to come out to Europe this Autumn of 2009 for both the PS3 and the Xbox 360.

The Arcade Stick Edition features these awesome add-ons apart from the game itself:

100-page heavyweight art book (containing the images chronicling the Tekken 6 story, characters and game's development)
exclusive Tekken 6 customized wireless arcade fighting stick

produced by renowned arcade fight stick specialists Hori
available in two differently customized versions for the Xbox 360 and the PS3

Check out these images of the customized Arcade Sticks for each console:

Xbox 360

PS3

Meanwhile, the Collector's Edition is the second limited edition to be made available at lanch, and includes the following apart from the copy of the game:

100 page art book
exclusive poster
unique Tekken 6 hooded sweatshirt

designed by the development team
featuring different designs for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions

From the number of goods in each bag, it seems as if the Collector's Edition is the more worth it one. However, if you're a hardcore collector of anything and everything arcade, then the Arcade Stick Edition should be the easy answer.

No price points were mentioned in the press release, but we'll be sure to update you on that if we hear anything.

Bankruptcy judge okays Warner Bros. buyout of Midway

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T20:38:30-07:00

The buyout of Warner Bros. of publisher Midway has been OK'd by a bankruptcy judge, making the US 33 million acquisition a sure go. The deal is expected to finally close within 10 days, this according to the reports by the Chicago Tribune.

But despite this new ownership, a couple more Midway studios are left to fend for themselves, such as Midway San Diego and Midway Newcastle. They have 60 days to find new owners, or else face the consequence of being shut down. Sports franchises like Blitz and NBA Ballers are also up for grabs for any parties that may be interested.

Midway sued by movie producer over Mortal Kombat IP rights

24 million installed base for UK consoles recorded

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T19:52:59-07:00

This is intriguing math. Gfk-ChartTrack of UK has released the data for console sales in the region up to June 27, 2009 and it shows that there is a stellar 24 million installed base in the UK to date, with 8.4 million contributing to that number in the past 12 months.

Who reigns supreme? No question to it, the Nintendo's DS is still the king of the handhelds with 9.1 million install base. That's 2.7 million more users in the past year. It is also reported that since its launch in April of this year, the DSi has already sold 300,000 units.

Coming in second place is Nintendo's home console, Wii, with 5.4 million gamers secured in its lawn, with 2.3 million additional installed base coming in June 2008. Meanwhile, the Xbox 360 is also quite enjoying attention from the UK gamers - 3.9 million installed base thus far, with 1.7 million joining in the club the past 12 months.

As for the PS3, it sits at 2.2 million, with 900,000 units up from the same period last year. Sony's handheld, the PSP, has sold 3.3 million units, experiencing an increase in sales with 500,000 units sold the past year.

In total, that would amount to 24 million units gaming consoles sold. Despite what your leanings may be, or which console you prefer to be on top, the good news here is that the gaming industry in UK is apparently thriving, with all platforms getting positive movement in sales for 2008.

Media Create charts for 06/08 to 06/14: Japan warming up to Xbox 360, Infinite Space is top software

Battlestations: Pacific to get two new DLCs this month, new screenshots out

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T19:19:35-07:00

Battlestations: Pacific (also on PC) is getting two new download packs this month - starting today, actually, so said Eidos Interactive's press release sent out earlier. The new DLCs will have new units as well as maps for tailor-made battles.

The first one is the Mustang Pack, which will be featuring six new units and 18 new pieces of nose art. Here, you can customize your battles in both single and multiplayer modes. Want to fly high in the sky in style? That shouldn't be a problem with the legendary US P-51 Mustang bomber escort. How about controlling the seas? The US Navy's Alaska Class should do the trick, thanks to its heavily armed 'cruiser killer'. The Super Yamato Class is also there as a choice, described as a "huge behemoth of a ship".

Meanwhile, the second DLC is the Carrier Battles Map Pack, which brings you four new maps, playable across all five multiplayer modes. Midway, the Philippine Islands, Leyte Gulf and the Aleutian Islands are where the actions are gonna be at.

You can get the Mustang Pack for 160 MS Points on July 2nd (today), while the Carrier Battles Map Pack is available for 800 Points on July 23, 2009 at the XBL.

Feel free to enjoy these new screenshots and artwork as well.

Eidos officially confirms Battlestations: Pacific for Xbox 360, PC

Tekken director Harada: Unlockable characters worked for arcades, now outdated

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T18:41:01-07:00

"Outdated" would be how the director of the famed classic, Tekken, would describe the feature of unlockable characters in fighting games. Said Katsuhiro Harada, online play makes this "no longer useful."

"Why we locked the characters originally was that in the arcades, it was kind of to extend the life of the game by gradually unlocking characters," said Harada. "And also with the home versions as well, because you can rent games or whatever; it was to protect us against that.

"That's kind of outdated now though, especially with online play. If we were to have locked characters it would irritate a lot of people, to be playing against others online and to not have all the characters available. So I think it's no longer useful."

These comments were made at a Namco Bandai Europe event this week, in an interview with Videogamer.com.

Harada's latest fighting game offering, Tekken 6 (PlayStation 3,Xbox 360, and PSP), is coming out in October 27, 2009 for the home consoles, and will feature 40 fighters in all -- all available right from the start.

Launch date set for Alpha Protocol US

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T18:27:00-07:00

After being confirmed for a 2009 release back in March, we've now narrowed down the waiting period for Sega's "Modern Day Spy-RPG", Alpha Protocol (Xbox 360, PS3, and PC). The release date: October 6th 2009 for North America.

It is also reported that the box art for the game reveals a subtitle to be "The Espionage RPG". Fits the description Sega gave to us several months back. Meanwhile, UK retailers have posted their release date to be on October 30, but Sega has not confirmed that one yet.

Resident Evil: Afterlife to come out in cinemas in 2010

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T17:59:24-07:00

Is Paul W.S. Anderson gearing up to make a new Resident Evil film? The answer would be yes, according to film website ShockTillYouDrop. A studio insider supposedly told them that Sony is in fact scheduling a release for September 17, 2010. This would be followed later on by a confirmation of the release date via an internal memo circulating the office.

Are we going to Tokyo?

It was late in 2008 when director Paul W.S. Anderson revealed that he was writing another film, saying that he was "excited" about it. We were also told then that Capcom was getting involved. And now, it is reportedly confirmed that a Resident Evil 4 is indeed in the works, under the title of "Resident Evil: Afterlife".

Given how Resident Evil: Extinction ended - Mila Jovovich and her clones were getting ready to attack Umbrella Corp in Tokyo - it is highly possible that Tokyo will be the new setting of the said film. Now wouldn't that be just cool?

Analyst: 2 more GTA IV DLC episodes and GTA PS2 next year, GTA V in 2011

Mabie A. — 2009-07-02T17:18:02-07:00

It's been "indicated" to Kaufman Bros. Equity Research analyst Todd Mitchell that there will be two more GTA IV DLC episodes that are coming out next year, so he said to GamesIndustry. The platforms aren't exactly sure yet, but it's possible that it might come out for both the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation 3.

"I would expect there would be two more pieces of downloadable content for GTA IV (Xbox 360, PS3), that's what has been indicated to me, although formats are unsure," he said. "It's been indicated to me that would be the case."

Apart from that, he is also of the belief that a Part 5 will be coming to join the franchise sometime in the 2011 fiscal year, as well as a possible new GTA title for the PS2 as early as next year.

Coming out of E3 there was no commitment to a new Grand Theft Auto, and I think that's because of Rockstar's track record with delivering on time. Of the three, I'm least confident in saying for sure that there will be a new GTA for PlayStation 2, but the track record shows that the PSP titles have been repositioned [on PS2].

But then again, Mitchell is also of the opinion that even without a new GTA title, Rockstar is already in good enough standing to be all set for the fiscal year of 2010.

What we're saying is Take-Two is now becoming a proper company rather a one hit wonder. After GTA V in 2011, they can come back with more franchises and not be forced to rely on that every year.

Now that this shoe has dropped, and a case can be made for solid profitability in fiscal 2010 without GTA V, and the follow-on higher earnings in fiscal 2011 with a GTA V release, we believe the investment case for Take-Two has improved and investors can begin to get more constructive with the name.

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