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Bankrupted Studio Says Square Enix Demanded Code by Fax, Didn’t Recognize FFXII Screenshots
In a feature story published today in Sweden, the founders of GRIN lay their studio’s precipitous demise at Square Enix’s feet, saying the publisher reneged on payments during the development of a Final Fantasy game and saddled them with ridiculous requirements as the project went sour. This is according a story (translated via Google) published…
By Owen Good -
Decoration Day
Memorial Day is Monday. Coincidentally, it was also the date of the next game waiting on the calendar in MLB 10: The Show when reader MSUHitman returned to the game this week after an eight-month hiatus spent playing Mass Effect, Dragon Age and other games. When he resumed his franchise with the St. Louis Cardinals,…
By Owen Good -
Whatcha Gonna Do When a 3DS Runs Wild on Friday Night Smackdown
On Smackdown last night, WWE rasslers Christian and Sheamus finally adjudicated matters inside the ring, and one fan captured the magic moment with an Aqua Blue 3DS, seen here. I bet this does indeed look lovely in 3D. For those interested in the final score, Sheamus pinned Christian (following a brogue kick) winning out in…
By Owen Good -
Laces Out, Dan!
It was all that Dan Marino’s fault, everyone knows that. If he had held the ball, laces out, like he was supposed to, Ray would never have missed that kick. Dan Marino should die of gonorrhea and rot in hell. Would you like a cookie, son? Thought of Ace Ventura and Sean Young this week…
By Owen Good -
DRM Means Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Will Have ‘Limited Offline’ Functionality
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition will use Games For Windows Live to administer the game’s DRM, says Capcom’s Christian Svensson, and while the game will not require an always-on Internet connection to be played, it’ll have a “limited offline” mode for those with no uplink. That means those who live in regions that aren’t…
By Owen Good -
Phoenix Wright Movie Confirmed; Releases in Japan Early Next Year
This week at the Cannes Film Festival, Japanese director Takashi Miike tipped off he was working on a Phoenix Wright adaptation for the big screen. Capcom has now confirmed it. A news release says the live-action Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney will open in Japan in early Spring 2012. Pictured is Hiroki Narimiya as Phoenix Wright,…
By Owen Good -
Sony Says It’s Working on the PS4
Asked to explain increased research and development costs, a Sony senior executive told investors that work PlayStation 3 successor is “already under way.” “For the home equipment the PS3 still has a product life,” said Masaru Kato, the Sony chief financial officer, according to Eurogamer, “but this is a platform business, so for the future…
By Owen Good -
Rename the Big Ten’s Ridiculous Divisions in NCAA Football 12
The Big Ten’s ridiculous division names will be getting a makeover—probably thousands of them—thanks to NCAA Football 12 That wasn’t the original intention of the fully customizable conference features built into this year’s game, but it will most definitely be one of their consequences when college football traditionalists bring home NCAA 12 in early July.…
By Owen Good -
Latest Hacker Target: Codemasters
Four days before the North American street date for DiRT 3, password and login data for Codemasters’ website was posted online, the developer said, making it the latest name in games to suffer an online attack. Codemasters told GamesIndustry.biz that it discovered the breach on Friday, took its website completely offline and repaired a security…
By Owen Good -
This Gaming Geek Shall Inherit MLB 2K11‘s Million-Dollar Prize
Before setting off to claim a million-dollar bounty offered by MLB 2K11, Brian Kingrey did an analysis. He pored over batting averages, compared pitcher strengths and tendencies, examined the probable starters for the contest’s opening day and the batting orders they faced, to determine what hurler had the best chance of tossing a perfect game.…
By Owen Good -
South Park Shreds EA Sports and Peter Moore
South Park never goes harder than when it goes after hypocrisy, and tonight, its allegorical tale involved the NCAA and the obscene profits reaped from what is essentially free labor. Yet EA Sports—and, of all people, its president, Peter Moore—ended up getting it the worst. Breaking down tonight’s show TV Guide-like, Cartman’s latest scheme is…
By Owen Good -
Backbreaker Studio Hits the Ice With Icebreaker for the iPhone
First spied in development seven months ago, Icebreaker will arrive on the iTunes App Store next week as a hockey-style complement to Backbreaker, the football title whose “Tackle Alley” minigame saw tremendous success as an iPhone port. Icebreaker mimics “Tackle Alley” (which became Backbreaker: Tackle Alley and Backbreaker: Vengeance for the iPhone) by pitting you…
By Owen Good -
New Features Aren’t All Free in NCAA Football 12
There may not be any optimal time to tell gamers about all the microtransactions and DLC for which they can expect to pay extra in an upcoming release. But the official reveal of a game’s main features – the stuff folks expect to come with the $59.99 retail price – would probably be the least…
By Owen Good -
The Check Isn’t in the Mail
The Postal Service lost something I mailed a week ago to my Dad. This kind of an occurrence may not be any less rare today than it was before e-mail and other services, but it’s definitely losing credibility as an excuse. “It must have gotten lost in the mail,” is never believable when money is…
By Owen Good -
NHL 2K12 Ain’t Happening
2K Sports yesterday confirmed that NHL 2K12 will not be published on any console, likely ending that simulation’s run. Unable to gain traction against EA Sports’ NHL series, 2K put NHL 2K on a one-year hiatus last year, ostensibly to return with a breakthrough game built on a two-year cycle. The series still published on…
By Owen Good -
Parkour Pioneer Cole Phelps Wants His Damn Hat Back
I forget at what point exactly but in L.A. Noire Cole Phelps remarks that his hat cost $12. How much is that worth in 2011 money? Dunno, but it’s worth falling off a house a dozen times in 1947. How the hell did his hat get up there in the first place?
By Owen Good -
Bumpy Road is a Sweet Trip, Just Not a Smooth One
Bumpy Road is one of those games I’d like to play with someone looking over my shoulder. It’s a delight to look at and to listen to, and its very sweet-natured purpose-follow an aging couple down memory lane-makes it a feel-good story you’d want to share. Unfortunately, that doesn’t make it a game I really…
By Owen Good -
Left Behind
Left Behind | One gamer’s entry in Gizmodo’s outstanding Rapture Bomb gallery. Do yourself a favor and check it out. PSP Games Coming to PS3 With HD Visuals, Extra Content Sony today unveiled a new initiative whereby select PlayStation Portable titles will be ported to the PlayStation 3, with improvements made along the way to…
By Owen Good -
Culture
Dealt DiRT
Codemasters’ rally-racer DiRT 3 is the lone major console release this week, bringing a new gymkhana mode to its menu of off-road offerings. Tuesday DiRT 3 (PC, PS3, 360) Also: Cake Mania: Main Street (DS); Dead or Alive: Dimensions (3DS); Dungeons & Dragons: Daggerdale (PC, 360); Emily The Strange (DS); Kung Fu Panda 2: The…
By Owen Good -
Drinking Games
Each week throws off several new video game lists ranging from the humorous to the trivial. What’s better? A list of those. Here’s a roundup of the rundowns out there. •Top 5 Hard Drinkin’ Video Game Heroes [Calm Down Tom] I’m surprised at how temperate Cole Phelps is in L.A. Noire. The detective genre usually…
By Owen Good