21 March 2007
by Ferry

Star Wars Battlefront III coming as an Xbox 360 exclusive from the creators of GoldenEye

The March issue of UK magazine PlayStation World (PSW) made a surprising announcement in the middle of their Star Wars retrospective feature. On page 65, PSW states that Free Radical Design (the creators GoldenEye and TimeSplitters) is developing the next/third iteration of Star Wars Battlefront.

To quote the magazine: “Star Wars Battlefront III is also currently in development, with LucasArts having switched coders from Pandemic Studios – who made Battlefront I and Battlefront II – to Free Radical… Star Wars Battlefront III is listed as an Xbox 360 exclusive, but expect a full PSW review to before the end of the year.”

The magazine doesn’t think it will stay Xbox 360 exclusive and will come to PS3 later in 2007, which makes sense since Star Wars Battlefront II appeared on PC, Xbox, PS2 & PSP back in 2005. While LucasArts hasn’t made an official announcement yet, we thought this was too good to pass up on. Let’s hope we’ll hear/see more about the online multiplayer shooter soon.

21 March 2007
by Ferry

New Pokemon (Mysterious Dungeon Gold and Silver?) dual-game announced for DS

Pokemon Diamond and Pearl have only been released in Japan so far (coming to U.S. on April 22, the rest of the world later) yet they’ve together already sold over 5 million copies in one country! So what do you do when you’ve got a hot series? Make more spinoff games of it of course!

The latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu has revealed a new Pokemon game is coming that is different from the latest dual-game Pokemon Diamond & Pearl, because it isn’t one of the main Pokemon RPG games. Instead, developer Chunsoft (who made the dual-game Pokemon Mystery Dungeon Red for GBA & Blue for DS that together sold 5.5 million copies worldwide!) is once again taking on the license for an as-yet unnamed dual-game release set for release in Japan sometime in 2007. No word on releases elsewhere. Our guess is these are new Pokemon Mysterious Dungeon games!

Both new Pokemon (Mysterious Dungeon Gold and Silver?) games will be for Nintendo DS only and will feature WiFi online support!
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21 March 2007
by Ferry

Real-life SimCity DS gameplay and video review ahead of the summer 2007 release

SimCity DS is based on Sim City 3000 for the PC, the game features full stylus-based controls, minigames and a new adviser character AKA Will Wright who helps you out when designing your city. The DS title also includes three main modes of play: Build a New City, Save the City and Sister City. See how it would work were it real-life:

While Sim City DS won’t be out in America and Europe until the summer of 2007, it was released a while back in Japan, so here’s a video review by Joshua of that version.
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21 March 2007
by Ferry

Castlevania: Symphony of the Night is the Xbox Live Arcade release this Wednesday

From today, March 21 at 9AM GMT (2AM PDT), you can play Konami’s Castlevania: Symphony of Night on Xbox Live Arcade for Xbox 360. In Castlevania: Symphony of Night, the 12th iteration of the series, you take on the role of Alucard, the half-vampire son of the blood-drinker Dracula, as you venture into his infamous father’s foreboding castle. Castlevania: Symphony of Night will be available worldwide for 800 Microsoft Points (that’s $10 / €9.60 / £6.80) and is rated T for Teen (Animated Blood and Violence).

Key game features are:
* Two versions: Play the original PlayStation version of the game or experience it in enhanced mode with improved graphics (new native widescreen and high-definition support) and modernized audio and sound effects.
* Non-linear gameplay: Collect items, weapons and armor to defeat the powerful boss monsters that block access to key areas of the castle.
* Xbox 360 enhancements: Earn 12 achievements and 200 Gamerscore points, and check the top players with the online leaderboards.
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21 March 2007
by Ferry

Babyface roams Rainbow Six: Vegas

Whether you think it’s cute or scary, this infant’s dad sure was inventive. He took pictures of his kid’s face with the Xbox 360 Vision camera to customize his Rainbow Six: Vegas character using the Persistent Elite Creation tool.

To quote the baby’s daddy: “I captured Stan with the Xbox camera and used his face for my soldier in Rainbow Six Vegas. In actual gameplay the soldier looks more like a mutant fish-man… Since taken, Soldier Stan has risen to the rank of Staff Sergeant.” Bigger picture at Flickr. Via Digg

21 March 2007
by Ferry

Ace Combat 6: Fires of Liberation flies to Xbox 360

The latest issue of Japanese magazine Famitsu has revealed Namco Bandai’s AC Team has Ace Combat 6: Kaiho e no Senbi (Fires of Liberation) in development for Xbox 360. The development team consists of Ace Combat 04 director Hiroyuki Ichiyanagi as the game’s producer, with Ace Combat 04 planner and Ace Combat 5 main planner Natsuki Isaki taking on directorial responsibilities.

No PS3 version was announced, but it might be announced for it later on, knowing Namco Bandai’s Ridge Racer 6 was exclusive to Microsoft’s Xbox 360 since its launch until appearing on Sony’s PS3 at their launch a year later.

Ace Combat 6 will feature:
* A Dynamic Mission system (a new gameplay system), which allows for dynamically changing, large scale battles. During missions, you fight alongside a number of ally pilots and squads whom you can send them off to perform separate tasks. Success in some of these mini-missions may be required in order to clear a stage, but this isn’t always the case. As you clear tasks, new ones will present themselves, expanding the battle in new ways. The game supports up to six tasks simultaneously.

* Xbox Live support Article continues »

21 March 2007
by Ferry

New Line Cinema to make Gears of War movie for summer 2009

New Line Cinema has won the feature film rights to Microsoft and Epic Games’ hugely popular videogame Gears of War. Stuart Beattie (Collateral, Derailed) wrote a 21-page adaptation and Marty Bowen (The Nativity Story) and Wyck Godfrey (Alien Versus Predator, I Robot) will produce the movie. Gears of War lead designer Cliff Bleszinski will executive produce the film and consult on its development for Epic.

The Studio’s deal is with Epic, the game’s developer, which held onto all ancillary rights to the property when Microsoft signed on to publish the game. Since Gears of War 2 is coming as well, New Line and Epic would surely love to see the film and a game sequel come out around the same time. Once Beattie’s completed the script, Bowen and Godfrey will start looking for a director. They’re aiming at a summer 2009 release. Although fans of the game would rather see the sequel hit sooner in 2008.

Gears of War reached 3 million units in sales in January (and rumors say its closing in on 4 million now) and is the most popular game on Microsoft’s Xbox Live service, which allows players to compete against each other online. Though released in November 2006 and available only for the Xbox 360 console, it quickly became the fourth-bestselling game of 2006 in the U.S. It won game of the year kudos at the Game Developers Choice Awards and the Interactive Achievement Awards.
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