Archive for February, 2007
Bone: Out from Boneville to be released on PC and Nintendo DS
Out From Boneville started out in May 1996 as the first book in the Bone series. It collected the first six issues of Jeff Smith’s self-published Bone comics. Based on those comics is Bone: Out from Boneville, the first episode of the Bone adventure game series. It was released in September 2005 by Telltale Games as a download-only title for PC and later Mac.
The first point-and-click Bone game will be getting a retail release from European publisher Xider on the PC and Nintendo DS sometime in 2007. If you want, you can try out the Bone demo to see if it’s your cup of tea.
Xider will be releasing 12 titles throughout Europe in 2007. Their PC titles include World Basketball Manager 2008 from Icehole, Deck 13’s adventure sequel Ankh: Heart of Osiris and Brainfactor Entertainment’s RPG World of Chaos. GI says they are also preparing more games for the DS.
If the retail PC and new DS releases prove to be successful, you can expect Episode 2 titled Bone: The Great Cow Race (and the eventual third episode of Bone) to appear as well. For now take a look at the first episode’s trailer:
1 comment »Alien Hominid HD is the Xbox Live Arcade release this Wednesday
Microsoft announced that Alien Hominid HD, a shoot-em-up arcade game for up to 4 people, ported by The Behemoth with extra features not in the console (PS2, GameCube, Xbox) versions now for Xbox Live Arcade, will arrive today. The game will be available for download worldwide on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360 after 8AM GMT (1AM PST), at a price of 800 Microsoft Points (that’s $10 / €9.60 / £6.80).
They’ve got your spaceship, so blow up anything in your path to get it back. Completely hand-drawn high-definition graphics coupled with old-school game play results in ultimate mayhem. This addictive, side-scrolling shooter features cute, quirky humor and adjustable cartoon gore.
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Stuntman 2: Ignition defies death on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 & PSP
THQ announced Stuntman 2: Ignition. Developed by Paradigm Entertainment, the racing action game is will be released in June 2007 on Xbox 360, PS3, PS2 & PSP.
Plunge into the adrenaline-fueled role of a Hollywood stunt driver in Stuntman: Ignition, and master the most breathtaking, death-defying vehicle-based stunts ever filmed. Vehicles include sport cars, motorcycles, and hovercraft. As the newest stuntman in Hollywood, you must rise to stardom by combining reckless maneuvering with perfect execution to unlock big-budget blockbusters and commercial deals.
Create movie-magic in 6 uniquely-themed films on 36 different stunt runs with over 25 vehicles, or take the action online to challenge rival stuntman in the ultimate backlot showdown. The online mode will be playable with up to eight players, so you can challenge other stuntmen and steal stunts from them in multiplayer arenas. With the included stunt construction toolkit, you’ll be able to plan out your own stunt runs and then take them online to see if anybody can meet your challenge. See the video at IGN (click it to popup).
List of confirmed major eSports events in 2007
Here’s a look at the upcoming major eSports events in 2007, only the confirmed ones are listed below. For the unconfirmed events check out Gamingjunky. Thanks to Diego for the tip. The overview:
1. The ASUS Winter Cup for this year in Moscow, Russia, will sport a total prize fund of over $25,000 and feature Counter-Strike 1.6 and Warcraft 3 tournaments. Quake will return at the ASUS Spring Cup.
2. At the Extreme Masters at CEBit in Hannover, Germany, from March 15-18 the top eight qualified European teams and players will fight for €160,000 ($205,000) in prize money, sponsored by Intel. It features WC3 and CS 1.6.
3. The DirecTV Championship Gaming Series. Games included are Counter-Strike: Source, Project Gotham Racing and Dead or Alive 4. After the event qualifiers in March, the North America Regional Tournament will be held in May, and a player draft.
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Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence goes offline in the US on April 3
Konami just announced Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence’s online mode goes offline on April 3rd, 2007. The PS2-exclusive stealth-action game was released on March 14th, 2006, putting heavy emphasis on its new online mode through prize tournaments last year.
New in the expanded and renamed release of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater was the online multiplayer mode for up to eight players, where you choose “Team Battle” or “Snake vs. Enemies” and carry out missions cooperatively or competitively. — A Konami employee said the following:
“The last day of online service for Metal Gear Solid 3: Subsistence in North America will be April 2nd. Konami sincerely thanks all of the Subsistence online community for their dedication to the game and support of the Metal Gear Solid series. The Metal Gear online tradition of stealth, action and team play continues on the PSP system with Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops with all-new characters, levels and modes of play - don’t miss this incredible evolution of Metal Gear Online. Thank you for the Kojima Productions battle and thanks for the chance to work on that guide. I will miss the game and all of those times.” — Thanks for the tip John.
Sony shipped 4 million PS3. List of new PlayStation Network downloadable games in March and April for America and Europe.
While Sony may have now manufactured 4 million PlayStation 3 units. Their sales numbers are around 2 million at the moment. A lot of the remaining PS3’s in stock are going to be present at the European launch come March 23rd, where Sony promised to have one million units available at launch, and initially only the 60GB model at that. Also, in America PS3 firmware V1.54 just became available without noticeable changes or changelog for that matter.
PlayStation Network PS3 download games list for America:
* March 1: Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection - $19.99
* March: Mortal Kombat II - $4.99
* Check the European list to know what to expect later on.
PlayStation Network PS3 download games list for Europe:
* March 23: Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection - £6.99 (€9.99)
* March 23: Blast Factor - £3.49 (€4.99)
* March 23: Gran Turismo HD Concept - free
* March 30: Super Rub-A-Dub
* April 6: flOw
* April 13: Go! Sudoku
* April 20: Go! Puzzle
* Followed later by Lemmings, Gripshift, Q*bert, Cash Guns Chaos, and Calling All Cars (aka Criminal Crackdown).
Via Kabutocho, Neogaf, Sony Station, Eurogamer
Assassin’s Creed short film in the works by Ubisoft Montreal’s new film studio
The French developer of games like Prince of Persia and Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell, Ubisoft, is opening a digital cinema studio in Montreal, Canada, and its first production will be an eight-minute film based on the upcoming game Assassin’s Creed, starring the game’s main character Altair.
“We may consider doing longer-form films or television sometime in the future,” said Mary Beth Hensen, a spokeswoman for Ubisoft, which is based in Montreuil, a suburb of Paris, France. “We’re basically putting to work the existing creativity of our game developers as well as adding a more traditional cinematic slant to our roster.”
The new studio will try to blend movie-making and video game development, with its computer animation becoming more realistic. The aim is to make interactive movies, allowing viewers to control the action rather than passively absorb a linear plot.
Ubisoft’s first short film will appear in 2007 with the ambition of circulating it through Web sites, iPods and video game consoles like Microsoft’s X-box Live, according to company spokesman Emmanuel Carré, who said that for the moment the company was not looking to traditional movie theaters for distribution. See what they can pull off in the game’s trailer:
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The original Nintendo Duck Hunt light-gun game from the 1970’s
After the original Light Ray Gun SP Series in 1970, and 1973’s Laser Clay Ranges big hit and several other smaller hits in between like Wild Gunman, in 1976-1977 Nintendo’s creative brain Gunpei Yokoi released his last stand-alone light-gun toy game that NES fans will recognize as Duck Hunt! Instead of a zapper you get a shotgun and no annoying dog that laughs, just the endless vacuum cleaner noise, still this looks mega-awesome. See how it works in this video.
And try to ignore the Japangame selfpromo text. Via Kotaku
SSX Blur review video (Wii)
SSX Blur is everything you expect from the franchise, delivered in a totally unexpected way. Rip up some ice in this entry in the SSX franchise designed to let you use your body and motions in ways possible only with Wii as you race down the mountain. Revolutionary controls take full advantage of the Wii’s potential by putting you in total command of your skier or rider, on-the-ground and in-the-air, by translating every motion you make into the skills that create mountain legends.
Does the first snowboarding game for the Wii stomp the landing or sketch out? Find out in this SSX Blur video review.
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Resistance: Fall of Man expansion coming to PS3 to bridge gap between the original FPS and the Resistance 2 sequel
Insomniac boss Ted Price, when asked if we’d see another Resistance: Fall Of Man PS3 game (in this GT interview), said: “What I said today was kind of a coy way of talking about the future. We designed Resistance: Fall of Man to be the first chapter in a larger franchise. So take that however you want.”
In a more recent interview by Newsweek, Sony boss Phil Harrison was asked if they had plans for development and marketing to continue giving to Resistance’s audience. Since Sony are publishing Insomniac’s game, he said:
“Absolutely. We’re going to release additional content for Resistance. I don’t think we’ve gone into detail on the schedule, but we have some really, really cool things that will be extending the story, extending the locations, some brand new content, starting in April. So if that works well and is well-received by the audience, then that will keep the engagement with game going between now and should there be a sequel at some point in the future.” Via Joystiq
