Archive for November, 2006
Heroes game for Wii by Killer 7 team renamed to No More Heroes
The Wii game Heroes has been renamed to No More Heroes. Maybe to prevent confusion with the popular TV series? Developed by Grasshopper Manufacturer and directed by Goichi Suda, the game will be published by Spike in Japan. Yes, these are the developers of Capcom’s stylish Killer 7 GameCube & PS2 game. This cel-shade-loving team is joined by Shigeto Koyama of Eureka Seven and Top wo Nerae 2! fame, who’s in charge of weapon and vehicle design, and character designer Yusuke Kozaki, known for his work on Speed Grapher.
Famitsu has first details on the game. In No More Heroes, you play as Travis Touchdown, a geek who wins a Beam Katana (a weapon that resembles a Light Saber) through an online auction and uses the weapon to start a new career as a professional killer. One day, an assassin named Helter Skelter appears before Travis and the two face off in a battle. Travis emerges victorious and finds himself in the presence of Silvia Christel, a French chick who claims to be an agent with the UAA (we’re not entirely sure, but this appears to stand for United Assassins Association). Silvia gives Travis official rank of 11 in the organization.
No More Heroes takes place in the city of Santa Destroy, Article continues »
2 comments »Half-Life 2: Episode 2 interview mentions PC Black Box & console Orange Box
Half-Life 2: Episode 2 is considered one of the biggest upcoming game releases, despite the delay to summer 2007, since it will also include the long awaited Team Fortress 2 and their puzzle shooter Portal. FiringSquad got a chance to chat with Valve’s director of marketing Doug Lombardi to find out more about Episode 2. Here are some of the interesting answers they got, but skip this first question if you haven’t finished Half-Life 2 upto Episode 1.
Question: While Episode 1 seemed like more of the same Half-Life 2 gameplay, it looks like Valve is changing things up for Episode 2. Is that intentional?
Answer: Episode One served as the bridge between Half-Life 2 and this trilogy of new episodes. Picking up exactly where HL2 left off, we needed to spend a bit more time in City 17 to resolve a few things, while extending the AI and other technologies to enable the single player coop experience between you and Alyx. In Episode Two, the Gordon has left City 17 and will spend the rest of this trilogy exploring new locations and interacting with new characters and items.
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PS3 system update version 1.11 detailed
The American PlayStation website mentions the PS3 system software version 1.11 update includes the following:
* General
o You can now use PlayStation Network services.
o You can now use the single tap text entry method on the on-screen keyboard for English and other European languages.
* Settings Article continues »
Red Steel 2 planned by Ubisoft
Ubisoft has a job posting on their France website, which asks for a Senior Game Designer who will take part in “the continuation of the Red Steel Project”. Interestingly enough, the job posting asks for “RPG experience”.
Codenamerevolution reports a trademark was also made by Ubisoft in the United States of a game called “Fighting Steel”. Of course the name could be anything, but it’s great to know that if a sequel is on its way. Nice to see Ubisoft is planning the next (likely Wii exclusive) Red Steel.
Texas Hold ‘em update on this Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday
On Xbox Live Arcade Wednesdays Microsoft releases a new game weekly, but not this week, instead they announced they’ll today give Texas Hold ‘em a full-featured update.
“We’ve listened to our community and as a result, a host of features and improvements have been added to Texas Hold ‘em to speed up game-play, eliminate cheating and ensure proper competition. As a result, the online multi-player leaderboards will be reset to eliminate the inflated scores that currently appear. In a future update in early 2007, we’ll be adding Xbox Live Vision Camera support as well.”
Below is a full list of the new features and changes in the Texas Hold ’em update:
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Comedy Central goes Wiiiiii
Stephen Colbert reports “This quite possibly is the most addicting video game… of all time!”
Golden Axe, Ecco the Dolphin & Super Star Soldier hit the Wii Virtual Console
Sega today released Golden Axe and Ecco the Dolphin, two Sega Genesis classics available now on the Wii Shop Channel for download to play on Wii’s Virtual Console. They each cost 800 Wii Points. Wii Points can be purchased online or at retail at an MSRP of $20.00 for 2,000 points.
Originally released in 1988, in Golden Axe three mighty heroes have a score to settle with the evil Death Adder in this classic action game. As a powerful fighter, a female amazon or a mighty dwarf, you’ll fight through Adder’s henchman with weapons and magic attacks or ride the fearsome, fire-breathing beasts to your advantage.
First released in 1992, in Ecco the Dolphin you help Ecco find his missing friends by exploring his vast ocean world. You must surface for air and keep an eye out for enemies as you search the depths. Ecco’s unique sonar ability will give you helpful information from other sea creatures.
Hudson released Super Star Soldier on its own in 1990. And yesterday, re-released it on the Virtual Console at a price of 600 Wii Points.
Out of all the vertical shooters released for the TurboGrafx-16, Super Star Soldier boasted arguably the best array of weapons, including: flame throwers, electricity, spread guns and heat-seeking missiles. Moreover, many people believed Super Star Soldier’s graphics were the best of any TurboChip game.
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Double Dragon remade with online co-op for Xbox Live Arcade
Double Dragon is a classic beat ‘em up released in Arcades in 1987. Developed by Technos and published by Taito, the game produced a ton of sequels on even more different platforms (GameBoy player here).
Twenty years after its Arcade debut the game will be remade for download on Xbox Live Arcade in 2007! The original was the first to feature two-player co-op gameplay and weapons that could be taken from the enemy and used to kick their ass. The download will be 12.56MB and will feature enhanced graphics as well as online co-op mode!
No release date was given this year, so that’s an assumption on our part. No price point or any solid release date was reported by OXM, but maximum hair volume, denim cut-off jackets and relentless fist-fights are expected. Via C&VG
Need a refresher? Here’s a video of the first mission of Double Dragon’s Arcade outing: Article continues »
Will Microsoft ban foreign fake Xbox Live accounts in the future?
What will happen? According to rumors, as soon as Microsoft notices that an Xbox 360 with a U.S. Live account tries downloading with an IP address from Europe, then in the future this account would be closed/deleted. That also applies to Gold account members. This is justified with legal and copyright regulations for films of the content providers. There will still be updates for games, but new game content or video/demos from a foreign Xbox Live Marketplace will probably belong to the past. All of this because of Video Marketplace publishers.
Xboxic brings relief (for now) by reporting that Chris Paladino from Microsoft’s Community Team has confirmed that downloads are being blocked from wrong regions but states they’re not actually banning the illegal accounts. Like him, everyone is now “still waiting to hear back the official word.”
Update May 4th: Here’s what Microsoft has to say.
“Some Xbox LIVE members may experience some changes when downloading Marketplace content, as we strengthen the territory controls on the service with the Spring Update coming next week.
So what does this mean to you? Well, if you have an account that matches the country where you are located, then you will probably notice little to no difference. However, if you have set up an account that does not match the country where you are located, you will find that these new security measures will only allow you to purchase and download content that is licensed in the country where you are located.
For example, if you are not located in the US, but have created a US Xbox LIVE account, you will not be able to download TV shows and movies that are currently available for use only in the US.
Again, for most people this will not be an issue, but we have heard that there are a few folks out there who have tried to access restricted content this way. We understand that this may be frustrating for some users, and hope they understand our responsibility, and the necessary security requirements that need to be in place in order to comply with applicable laws and honor our agreements with content providers.
If you’re located in the US, and you’re having any issue downloading content after applying the Spring Update, call 1-800-4MY-XBOX.”
PS3 sells out in first week, but Sony forgets to say how many… or few
After Nintendo announced they sold 600,000 Wii’s in one week, Sony couldn’t be far behind making total counts. According to Sony the PS3 sold out fast, which isn’t surprising with such long PS3 waiting lines. Sony said the following about the PS3 sales:
“Sony Computer Entertainment America has been airlifting additional shipments of PlayStation 3 systems into the North American market since the launch on November 17. We were able to get a fresh supply of PS3s in the hands of retailers prior to Black Friday, along with games and peripherals. Feedback from our retail partners is that demand is still incredibly high and that PS3s put on store shelves were quickly snapped up by holiday shoppers. We will continue to utilize airfreight delivery for the PlayStation 3 to assure a steady stream of systems for North American consumers through the end of the year. Our goal remains to have one million units in the pipeline by December 31, 2006.”
Analyst PS3 launch shipping estimates range from as low as 150,000 to Sony’s promised 400,000.
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