Archive for October, 2006
Four billion Halo 2 games played by four million players
Roger Wolfson, Bungie’s database programmer, reports today that we have officially surged over the four billion games played mark, a little under two years after the game’s launch. He also notes that Halo 2 is close to hitting the four million unique players mark, not too bad for a game released two years ago in 2004.
According to Bungie’s detailed usage statistics Team Slayer is the most popular online mode with 17.31% of all multiplayer games, followed closely by Team SWAT with 16.76%, and no one cares about Team Skirmish mode at just 3.10%.
1 comment »The Precursors announced, first Xbox 360 & PC footage shown
What if… mankind is not the first… but the last to travel the galaxy? What if… we once had ten planets in our solar system, but one was destroyed by an alien race looking for technology? What if… the precursors of the human race had to defend their very existence, millions of years ago? What if… I stopped saying what if?
Then you’d know the answers to these questions sooner… as once you enter the world of The Precursors in the below teaser, you’ll see it’s a next-generation game that combines first-person shooter gameplay, role-playing elements with space combat and giant mech robot battles. Not to mention campy weapon effects and audio.
Cooking Mama: Cook Off has 300 recipes on the stove for Wii
Majesco announced Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Nintendo Wii. The game is set for release in early 2007.
Cooking Mama: Cook Off is a follow up to the award-winning Nintendo DS predecessor that is being showcased in approximately 10,000 U.S. retail demo kiosks nationwide in November.
“Since its introduction last month, Cooking Mama for the Nintendo DS has won people over with its fun, addictive gameplay and innovative use of the Touch Screen,†said Ken Gold, vice president of Marketing. “Cooking Mama: Cook Off for the Wii console similarly integrates the unique Wii Remote while layering on new features — including multiplayer and a full range of international cuisine — that fans are hungry for.â€
Article continues »
Portrait of Ruin comes with pre-order Castlevania 20th Anniversary Gift Pack
When you order Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin for the DS at Gamestop/EB Games, for $5 extra you receive a Castlevania 20th Anniversary Gift Pack! The gift pack will ship with your order on December 5. New offer good while supplies last. Includes:
* Art Book: This 48 page book details the artwork of every game in the Castlevania series and features an embossed cover.
* 20th Anniversary Soundtrack CD: Spanning 20 years of music that has defined the Castlevania series, this soundtrack contains songs from nearly every Castlevania game ever made, including four never before released tracks from Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin.
* Stylus and DS Game Case: Extendable stylus and transparent game case are both emblazoned with the Castlevania logo.
* Timeline Poster: Detailing key events and characters in the history of Castlevania, this fold-out poster features a timeline on the front and a Castlevania: Portrait of Ruin poster on the back.
Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops gets Limited Edition Camouflage PSP packages
Remember those colored PSP variations Sony showed a while back? Well the most unlikely of the bunch, the cameo-colors PSP is being released in Japan on December 22! It comes in two PSP bundles that include Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, fancy pins, a nice PSP case, and more…
Each package comes with a Camouflage PSP, Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, and special case with a strap.
* The Premium Package (shown above) will be released for 39,690 yen ($248/€195/£130).
* The KonamiStyle Package (shown below) which has genuine snakeskin for the case and strap, will cost 29,190 yen ($338/€265/£177).
Article continues »
Konami reprints Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner for $20 + ZOE3 coming?
You can now get Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner again as a reprint from Konami.com for just $19.99.
Zone of the Enders: The 2nd Runner was made by Konami for the PS2 in 2003. The sequel to Zone of the Enders, the game was produced by Hideo Kojima. The game is based around mecha combat. All mecha were designed by Yoji Shinkawa, the character and mechanical designer for the Metal Gear Solid series. Take a look at the intro:
That looked great, but I hear you ask: Is ZOE3 coming?
Article continues »
GoldenEye 007 & Perfect Dark free N64 maps coming to the Xbox 360. Perfect Dark Zero Platinum Edition coming after 1 million sales
Xbox Live users can download something special for FREE in November if they’ve enjoyed the Rare’s N64 FPS games. Microsoft and developer Rare have announced today that Perfect Dark Zero owners will be getting “Map Pack Two” that contains two classic map remakes, which will have updated, high resolution graphics.
The “new” Perfect Dark Zero maps are:
* Perfect Dark’s Ruin deathmatch map.
* GoldenEye 007’s Facility lavatory map.
To celebrate Perfect Dark Zero has reached one million sales, a Platinum edition of the 360 launch game will also be available that will contain the game as well as the 6 post-launch maps available on Live (including both Ruin and Facility) at the estimated retail price of $19.99.
Article continues »
Jackie Chan should play Chun-Li in the new Street Fighter movie!
Capcom and Hyde Park Entertainment have decided to restart the Street Fighter movie series again, yes we’re talking about the live-action movie from 1994 that starred martial-artist Jean-Claude van Damme and singer/actress Kylie Minogue. This time they’re focusing on Chun Li. Justin Marks (Voltron) scripts and the movie is set for a 2008 release for the 20th Anniversary of the game.
Who could play Chun-Li? This leads us to City Hunter, an extremely silly comedy about a self-indulgent private investigator (Jackie Chan) who winds up on a cruise ship full of rich patrons, gorgeous women, murderous terrorists, and scarce food. The following scene morphs Jackie Chan’s character, Ryu, into just about any Street Fighter… so don’t get too excited over Chun-Li’s legs, you guys.
Via Aintitcoolnews, Imdb, Neogaf, Youtube.
Halo movie put on hold
Peter Jackson’s Wingnut films confirmed yesterday what many fans felt was inevitable: “As was previously confirmed, we deeply regret that both Universal and Fox did not choose to move forward with financing the Halo film under the original terms of the agreement,” it stated. “At this time Peter Jackson and Fran Walsh, along with their partner, Microsoft, have mutually agreed to postpone making a feature film based on the Halo video game universe until we can fulfill the promise we made to millions of Halo fans throughout the world that we would settle for no less than bringing a first class film to the big screen.
We are fully supportive of Director Neill Blomkamp’s vision of the film. Neill is a tremendously gifted filmmaker and his preliminary work on Halo is truly awe-inspiring. While it will undoubtedly take a little longer for Halo to reach the big screen, we are confident that the final feature film will be well worth the wait.” Sad faces all around 
Press release via 1UP.
Xbox 360 plays Cops and Robbers in Europe
‘Cops and Robbers’, created by McCann Erickson, San Francisco and directed by rising Australian director, Garth Davis, features three ‘robbers’ wearing ski masks running away from ‘cops’, holding what looks like a bag of stolen goods. They try to evade the cops by scaling the rooftops of buildings, taking desperate, gravity-defying leaps from buildings to window ledges and into a waiting getaway car. A car chase ensues but eventually it’s all over as the cops ‘win’ and close in on the ‘robbers’.
But there’s a twist to the story as the chase is revealed to be just a mischievous game of ‘cops and robbers’ amongst friends who immediately start the countdown to begin another game.
Article continues »
