Archive for June, 2006
Silent Heroes followup to Heroes of World War II announced
Building on Heroes of World War II’s PC gameplay, Silent Heroes is set to feature the likes of heavily destructible environments and a wealth of weapons and equipment that players will be able to employ during the action. The single-player campaign will be story-driven focussing the special operations force on sabotage missions behind enemy lines.
The game features dozens of controllable equipment models, a vast choice of fire-arms, small arms, cold steel and more. Players can seize, use and repair any pieces of equipment, including enemy ones.
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No comments »DS Lite UK sales & Japan goes pink
The official first week UK sales for Nintendo’s black & white DS Lites are in. 35,000 units were sold last week. In comparison the original (aka phatty) DS sold 87,000 units in it’s first week on sale there. No numbers for all of Europe were given out.
And while Europe waits to pick up their new DS Lite until New Super Mario Bros is released there on June 30th, this Friday, Japan will get a pink DS Lite July 20th!
The Warriors actor sues Take-Two
Take-Two has been sued by Roger Hill who played Cyrus in the film, giving the movie one of it’s most quotable lines, “Can you dig it?”
Hill, who now works in a Manhattan business college’s library, says Take-Two approached him with an offer to use his name and voice in the game, but he rejected their initial offer and they never followed up. But when The Warriors was released for the PlayStation 2 and Xbox last year, Cyrus and Hill’s likeness still showed up in the game.
Hill’s suit seeks $250,000 and a court order barring the publisher from using his likeness. A Take-Two spokesman told the paper that Hill’s claims were groundless, and that the company does possess the rights to use Hill’s likeness and Cyrus in its game.
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Reservoir Dogs (the game) banned in Australia
Looks like the upcoming video game for Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs was too violent for the Aussies, who have now banned the game in their country.
Late last week, Australia’s Office of Film and Literature Classification refused classification on Eidos’ upcoming film-based shooter, making the game illegal to sell in the country. Now the board has explained why.
In a release dated June 28, the office explained its reasoning for the ban. Citing the game’s “frequent depictions of violence that have a high impact,” the board determined that it exceeded the allowable content to receive an MA 15+ rating, the highest rating applicable to games. Specifically, the office noted the following as reasons for denying the game a classification:
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Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie hits PSP UMD Video in U.S.
Manga Entertainment has released Street Fighter Alpha: The Movie to the U.S. via Playstation Portable UMD. The 100-minute animated feature, a sequel to the 1995 Street Fighter II: V television series, follows mainstay Ryu as he encounters longtime sparring partner Ken, faces his inner demons, and eventually challenges his nemesis, Akuma. The only announced extra included with the $19.99 feature is a behind-the-scenes documentary of the movie’s creation.
While the movie is also available on DVD, it may be hard to find so for those Street Fighter fans who have not gotten the chance to see the Street Fighter Alpha movie, they can now do so. No word on whether the movie contains the original Japanese language track or not. Watch a cool AMV (Anime Music Video) from the movie below. Warning, spoilers may be contained within.
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Sega puts 31 classics in Genesis Collection for PS2 and PSP
Genesis Collection for the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable is due sometime November 2006. Sega is promising direct representations of the originals.
Not all of the 31 games will be playable from the startup, there will be three to unlock. Here’s the list of those officially announced so far:
* Shinobi II
* Sonic the Hedgehog
* Golden Axe I, II, and III
* Virtua Fighter 2
* Altered Beast
* Ecco the Dolphin
* Phantasy Star
I guess this is meant as a nice alternative to the upcoming Wii’s Virtual Console downloadable games. So if you only see a few favorites you’d like to play, I’d wait and see what classics Sega will offer across all platforms come November.
PSP EyeToy Camera hits Europe in October
EyeToy, Sony’s motion-sensing camera add-on, will be hitting European shelves in October 2006, a month later than originally announced by Sony. No one outside of Sony has any idea what games to expect, but you can count on EyeToy Portable Play 1, 2, 3 & 4. Here’s the PSP camera at work:
In other news: PlayStation One emulation for PSP is also slated to go live in October 2006, via Sony’s emerging PSP download service. It is believed that the first round of titles will include: Castlevania, Tomb Raider and Final Fantasy 7 & 8, but Spong is unable to confirm. I’d guess Ridge Racer too!
Call of Duty 2: Invasion Pack announced
While we’re updating Xbox 360 games anyway… This Thursday Acitivision will release its third expansion pack for Call of Duty 2 via Xbox Live. The pack has been dubbed Invasion and adds five new multiplayer maps to the game set in locales such as Egypt and France. The expansion will cost 800 Microsoft points.
Project Gotham Racing 3 Style Pack announced
The PGR3 Xbox 360 Live update is called Style Pack, and will include 12 cars that focus more on looks rather than raw racing power. Costing you 400 Microsoft points, it’ll include:
* 365 GTB4 (”Daytona”)
* BMW M3 CSL
* BMW M6
* BMW MINI COOPER S
* BMW Z8
* Chrysler Firepower Concept
* Ferrari 430 Challenge
* Gumpert Apollo Coupe 4.2 V8
* Mercedes CLK DTM AMG
* Pagani Zonda F
* RUF R.K. Spyder
* Vanwall GPR V12
Each car will cost 60 Microsoft Points if purchased separately, but the RUF R.K. Spyder is free download as a teaser taste of the upcoming (soon) Style Pack. Via OXM
Virtua Fighter 5 gameplay footage
The PlayStation 3 exclusive, Virtua Fighter 5, features an all-star cast of 17 fighters, including characters from the previous iterations along with two new characters named El Blaze and Eileen. Sega is promising the game will arrive outside Japan sometime April-June 2007. Here’s some new footage of various fighters facing off:
