• Uncategorized

  PC Sales Charts: ArmA II vs The Sims

  As we enter a bold new era for the humble PC sales chart, we find this week two games dominating all others atop the digital download charts. And those two games are The Sims 3, which charts on both PC and Mac, and Bohemia Interactive’s excellent (though buggy) ArmA II. Nice to see Steam gamers…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Konami Ditching Stupid Online ID Codes?

  Konami’s online games – like Metal Gear Online – have really suffered from the company’s insistence on using two proprietary online IDs, despite the fact your console already has one. Looks like that practice may be coming to an end. Yes, up til now if you wanted to play a Konami game on your console,…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Dude Huge Sees The Future Of Shooters

  You know Cliff Bleszinski, he makes those Gears of Wars games. And when he’s not making those games, he’s thinking. You could say even, he’s forecasting. Bleszinski believes that the future of shooters is RPGs. Does that mean Gears of War 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 will be an RPG-influenced shooters? It depends on…

  By Brian Ashcraft Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Tecmo Koei Excited, Concerned About New Motion Controllers

  E3 2009 was both exciting and worrisome for the suits at Tecmo Koei. New motion sensing control schemes from Microsoft and Sony have potential, but may not be the ideal fit for established series like Ninja Gaiden and Dynasty Warriors. Kenji Matsubara, CEO of Tecmo Koei—and former president and COO on the Koei side—tells CVG…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Left 4 Dead 2 Might Work With Left 4 Dead 1

  The centre of the firestorm over the announcement of Left 4 Dead 2 seems to be that Left 4 Dead 1 players feel they’re being left behind. But what if they’re not? Speaking with TVG, Valve’s Doug Lombardi has said that the develoeprs are looking into allowing cross-play between owners of both games. “That’s something…

  By Luke Plunkett Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Green Day, Presidents of the USA Hit Wii Rock Band 2-morrow

  The Wii version of Rock Band 2 gets a 28-song kick in the pants tomorrow, as Green Day and The Presidents of the United States of America join the list of fine in-game music store downloadables. Also potentially fascinating for Wii owners is the addition of Cannibal Corpse’s “Hammer Smashed Face.” We’re sure we’ll look…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• 

  Uncategorized

  TMNT: Smash-Up Gets A Pair Of Raving Rabbids Cameos

  The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles fighting game from Ubisoft and Game Arts is getting at least two cameo appearances, whether you like it or not. Two pesky rabbids popped up in the Wii fighter at this weekend’s Japan Expo. Expect to see Splinter Rabbid and Raving Rabbid playable, from Splinter Cell and the Rayman spin-off…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  BioWare Sees A Future Of Games Without Combat As The New Shit

  Dragon Age and Star Wars: The Old Republic developers BioWare may still rely on hack and slash violence to keep the game-buying masses satisfied, but it also sees the possibility in mass appeal games that don’t rely on combat mechanics. Instead, BioWare creative lead Greg Zeschuk envisions mainstream games driven by story and acting, not…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Summer Daze

  To: Ash From: Crecente Re: These Bugs, So Creepy, No Biting If you hate mosquitoes, you would hate Georgia.. and Florida… and several other states. What did you end up doing over the weekend? Since it was a long one here I spent it playing croquet, sipping mint juleps and biking… seriously. It’s the only…

  By Brian Crecente Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  GTA: Chinatown Wars Will Be Adults Only In Japan

  Rockstar Games‘ littlest entry in the Grand Theft Auto series is heading to Japan this Fall, making the Nintendo DS title the first to be slapped with the adults only Z-rating on the platform. Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars‘ 18-and-up rating isn’t anything new for the series. The Japanese software ratings board CERO shows all…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Decepticon Owners Turn Tables On Autobot Gamers

  A little over a week ago, we showed you that players of the Autobot version of the DS’ Transformers Revenge of the Fallen were beating Decepticons fans. Things have changed. The game’s first online meta-game battle did end with owners of the Autobot version of the game winning, having scored 48 million Energon points to…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Hey, It’s Me On The Bonus Round Again

  Last week, GameTrailers’ Geoff Keighley, Shane Satterfield, Wedbush Morgan’s Michael Pachter and Kotaku’s I talked about the future of video game controls. This week, we do it some more. In part two of our Bonus Round discussion, we chat about the high-definition “Wii Plus,” Project Natal (again), the possibilities for PlayStation Eye, and if the…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Sony Bringing Ratchet, Clank & Drake To Comic-Con

  Heading to the San Diego Comic-Con? We are too! As is Sony, bringing with it the latest and greatest from two of its upcoming PlayStation 3 games, Uncharted 2: Among Thieves and Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack In time. Sony Computer Entertainment America is holding two invite-only events and promoting two panels, revealing exciting…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Video Games Used As Shorthand In New Movie Trailers

  Making a trailer for a major motion picture and needing to show that John Cusack’s fictional son is a bit detached? Need to show that Vince Vaughn is partying hard? Show video games. While sped-up sunsets, crowd scenes in Manhattan and the destruction of the White House are all common elements of Hollywood trailers, video…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Shadow of Memories Getting PSPorted

  Konami’s 2001 PlayStation 2 game Shadow of Memories—we call it Shadow of Destiny ’round these parts—will find new life on the PSP later this year. The time-traveling adventure game will be scaled down to UMD format and ship to Japanese retailers on October 1, the same day the new PSPgo ships to North America and…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Explore NeoTokyo In Half Life 2

  Colorful cityscapes hide dark intriguing in the streets of NeoTokyo, the newly released Source mod freely available to anyone with Steam and a Souce SDK title. Nearly five years in the making by Studio Radi-8, NeoTokyo borrows inspiration from Masamune Shirow’s Ghost in the Shell and Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira, plunging players into a future Japan…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Pay-Per-P Pricing Fading From Xbox Video Marketplace?

  Two months ago, we reported that some video content on the Xbox Live Video Marketplace was priced high. 720 points ($9 USD) for a one hour 720p video. That’s changed, a little. It seemed like the prices for Ring of Honor pro wrestling and M-1 Challenge MMA series were off. But Microsoft told Kotaku that…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  SOCOM 4 Is Apparently “In Development” For PS3

  A listing for “SOCOM 4” for the PlayStation 3 at production studio PCB Productions might be a good indicator that somewhere, in some capacity, someone is working on another SOCOM game. Wouldn’t that be surprising? After the listing was dug up by PS3 Center, the digital audio recording facility pulled the SOCOM sequel mention—but not…

  By Michael McWhertor Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  The Warriors Of Aion

  New screens from NCsoft’s Aion highlight the warrior class. front-line fighters which eventually choose between the path of the Templar or the Gladiator. This weekend’s Aion beta test session allowed players to progress past level 10 for the first time, so I go a chance to level up a warrior from 1 to 11, earning…

  By Mike Fahey Published July 6, 2009
• Uncategorized

  Why Did Twice As Many People Play Dead Space As Bought It?

  In studying how Dead Space sold, a key stat loomed large for EA. EA’s Glen Schofield, studio manager for the company’s Dead Space team at Visceral Games, appeared on the second episode of EA’s official podcast to talk games, mention that Dead Space had co-op during some of its development cycle and explain the company’s…

  By Stephen Totilo Published July 6, 2009