Joystiq

The Sims 3 hitting real and virtual shelves on Feb. 20, 2009

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 07:30:00 EST

EA has announced that February 20, 2009, will mark the rather momentous occasion of stereotypical gamers finally venturing into the brightly lit outside world ... in the game. It's the day The Sims 3, the latest interactive simulation of an annoying, fickle, selfish and lazy race of creatures, will be distributed -- both physically and digitally -- to a bunch of annoying, fickle, selfish and lazy creatures.

If you'd like to append "supercilious" to that list of adjectives, you should consider purchasing The Sims 3 Collector's Edition, which will include an exclusive in-game "Italian-style" sports car for you to maneuver through your envious neighborhood (no wonder those floating diamonds are green). Also included in the package will be a Sims Plumbob USB drive, a tips and hints guide, The Sims 3 Plumbob stickers and, oh yes, the game.

Gallery: The Sims 3

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Why you buggin? Tyranids playable in Dawn of War II

Jason Dobson — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 05:00:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Strategy

It's time to load your storm bolter and wrap up your last prayer to the Emperor, cuz we're huntin' Tyranids! IGN has confirmed that everyone's favorite galactic bugs will be clawing their way onto Relic's forthcoming Dawn of War sequel, not only as an opponent but as a playable race as well.

The blood news was spilled during the Leipzig Games Convention by Dawn of War II senior designer Philippe Boulle, who noted that the space insects behave as "a single organism, not an army of individuals," and that the swarm is composed of disposable "meat shields" and more specialized alien troops serving the Tyranid Hive Mind. For more, check out the pre-rendered pure awesome below while we wait for the bugs to digest their fill of Space Marine, Ork and Eldar in early 2009.

[Thanks Damn Lucky]

Continue reading Why you buggin? Tyranids playable in Dawn of War II

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Ratchet's Quest for Booty is 2.3 GB in NA, 3.2 GB in Europe

Alexander Sliwinski — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 04:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

We were a little startled when Eurogamer revealed Ratchet and Clank: Quest for Booty was a 3.2 GB download. We knew the game had junk in the trunk, but the last we heard it was around 2.3 GB. With no Blu-ray disc planned for North America, the less time we have to spend waiting for the interminable download from the PSN (plus install) this Thursday, the better.

We contacted Sony and were told that the difference between the European and NA version could be blamed on the 11 languages being included with the former, with two .pkg files containing 5-6 languages each. Not that a file size would have stopped us from getting the $15 game, but why do the Europeans keep getting Blu-ray releases of PSN games while North American consumers learn to macrame waiting to download another hefty PSN title? Come on, Sony. We're North America, we're not used to gaming inequity like Europe. Give us the disc and make them wait. It's just the way things are supposed to be.

Gallery: Ratchet & Clank Quest for Booty

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Watch the Blip Festival documentary free for one week

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 03:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, Hacks, Portable, Retro, Video

One of the most surprising films in the sort of "Holy crap? What the heck?! This is cool!" vein to come out of SXSW film festival earlier this year was Blip Festival: Reformat The Planet. It's all about chiptune music and the performers, and is beautifully shot. It's hard to imagine Nintendo thinking people would be hacking into their Game Boys in order to create full-fledged concerts, concerts that would one day spark a feature documentary and an entire genre of music.

For one week, you can watch the impressive documentary at Pitchfork.tv. It's even broken up into bite-sized chapters for you. Give it a looksee and you'll find yourself toe-tapping along to the addictive 8-bit music throughout the film. It's beaten Wizard Rock as our current favorite geek music of choice.

[Thanks, Eliot]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

DragonForce to debut new single in Guitar Hero III track pack

Ludwig Kietzmann — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 02:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm

British power metal squealers DragonForce will debut a new and inevitably over-the-top single in a Guitar Hero III track pack later this week. Taken from their new album, Ultra Beatdown, "Heroes of Our Time" will no doubt challenge serious shredders with a never-ending string of shifting notes and finger-knot solos when it arrives on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store on August 21.

The DragonForce Track Pack will also provide two other overwrought songs, namely "Revolution Deathsquad" and "Operation Ground and Pound," from the album dubbed Inhuman Rampage. Expect this one to go for the usual 500 MS Points ($6.25).

[Via press release]

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Team Fortress 2: Meet The Sandvich

Kevin Kelly — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 01:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, PC, Action, Online

Meet Team Fortress 2's "Edible Device" and shotgun replacement, the Sandvich.

Valve really missed a good opportunity for a bad pun here by not calling it "Meat the Sandvich," but hey, it's still pretty damned funny. What's next in the series of loony videos? Meet the Bullet? Seriously though, we'd watch them all. Heck, just throw a TF2 cartoon on the air as part of Adult Swim and we'd be glued to our sets.

[Thanks Giroro, Alistair and Vandell]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Crytek: Crysis cost $22 million, next engine due 2012

Randy Nelson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:30:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, First Person Shooters, Business

Speaking at the outset of this year's Leipzig Games Convention, Crytek boss Cevat Yerli revealed that the developer's graphical tour de force, Crysis, cost an estimated $22 million to create. Yerli has previously lamented the effect piracy has had on the title, but reiterated that it's still recouped the development costs, saying, "If it wasn't profitable I wouldn't be able to stand here."

Best known for their stunning visuals, Crytek's game engines are also guilty of bringing even the mightiest of gaming PCs to their knees. While the upcoming, heavily-optimized Crysis: Warhead promises a significant performance increase even on mid-range systems, Crytek is already cooking up its next GPU melter, which Yerli says should be ready by 2012. That's when he anticipates GPU tech making the next major leap in its evolution; until then, he expects fellow developers to focus more on what they already have to work with, by means of stylized graphics and hardware accelerated physics.

Source - Crysis cost 22 million to make, IGN
Source - Crytek: New engine in 2012, IGN

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Rumor: Spy Hunter movie hits oil slick, crashes, burns

Kevin Kelly — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:00:00 EST

Filed under: Arcade, Culture, Retro, Driving

The Spy Hunter movie based on the Midway arcade hit that we talked about more than a year ago is hitting the skids, crashing through the guardrail, and plummeting off the cliff that is called "development hell" in Hollywood. Looks like director Paul Anderson (W.S., not Thomas) is being taken off the project, which will spin it out into limbo.

You can also read Latino Review's review of the script right here. They seemed to like it, saying it was better than The Fast and the Furious 3 ... which ain't saying much. In fact, the best thing Spy Hunter has spawned as far as filmed entertainment goes is the Pontiac commercial above. If any of the game sequels had looked like that, we might still be playing them.

Now, we ask you... is this such a bad thing? Sure it had Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson attached to it, and John Woo was supposed to direct it at one point. However, it's had a slew of different writers and now with two director replacements, do we really need a Spy Hunter movie? We hope no one hits "Continue" on the Spy Hunter movie, and that it just dies a merciful death. What say you?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Watch new Godfather II, Tom Clancy's EndWar trailers

Randy Nelson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:30:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action, Strategy

From making rival gangsters offers they can't refuse, to using your voice to command soldiers not to refuse orders, these fresh-off-the-editing-computer videos from EA's The Godfather II and Ubisoft's Tom Clancy's EndWar are presented for your viewing pleasure (and "Should I pre-order either of them?" evidence pool). The EndWar trailer is the same one being trotted out at the Leipzig Games Convention 2008; the first look at EA's gangster sequel was shown to the press last week at the publisher's annual Studio Showcase. But you don't have to travel to Germany (or even the Bay Area) to watch 'em - just click through after the break.

Source - Godfather II at GameTrailers
Source - Tom Clancy's EndWar at GameTrailers

Continue reading Watch new Godfather II, Tom Clancy's EndWar trailers

Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

New Call of Duty 4 playlists in the works

James Ransom-Wiley — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 22:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Online

In his latest report from Infinity Ward HQ, community confidant Fourzerotwo brings word that the Call of Duty 4 battlefront could see some changes soon. No less than eight new multiplayer playlists are in development, of which four are currently being tested, and at least one can pass through the servers without a patch: Hardcore Headquarters. But we're taking a keen interest in another playlist, Hardcore Ricochet, which turns teamkillers' attacks against them. It's like we're rubber, they're glue -- whatever they shoot, bounces off us and ... burrows deep into their treacherous guts!

Peep the full descriptions and statuses of all the planned playlists on Fourzerotwo's blog.

[Thanks, Michael]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Novastrike update coming in 'next few weeks'

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Action

PSN title Novastrike will receive a major update in the next few weeks. Kevin McCann, president of Tiki Games, writes on the PlayStation Blog that the patch will tame the difficulty levels a bit, add Trophies and make several other tweaks to the top-down omni-directional kill-anything-that-moves shooter.

For those who purchased the $10 title, the list of changes made appears to be quite significant and might be worth giving the title another spin. McCann writes that he's looking forward to hearing from those who stopped playing the game due to the difficulty issues once the patch is released, while reiterating that a European release for the game will happen "as soon as possible."

Gallery: Novastrike (PSN)

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Latest Resident Evil 5 trailer terrorizes Leipzig

Randy Nelson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 21:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Action

We hope you're ready for a face full of freshly, um, zombified zombies on film, because that's exactly what Capcom has delivered at the Leipzig Games Convention. This new, entirely in-game trailer for Resident Evil 5 doesn't show too much that's especially new, but it's worth taking note of the vehicle chase sequence and hey ... is that another mine cart level?

Click on the video above and you'll get a peek at playing as Chris Redfield's female sidekick, Sheva Alomar, along with some oh-so-brief snippets of various (we presume) über-important cutscenes. Sure, it may be more RE4, but is that really so awful - especially when it looks this scary-good?

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The best of WoW Insider: August 12-19, 2008

Joystiq Staff — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:30:00 EST

Filed under: Online, Meta (about Joystiq), MMO

This gigantic, bladed, slashing monstrosity is one of the most coveted weapons in all of the World of Warcraft, spoken of in whispers by some of the most epic characters in the game: the Ashbringer. And it's set to feature pretty prominently in Wrath of the Lich King, the second expansion coming to the biggest game in the world later this year. Joystiq's site covering all things Azeroth, WoW Insider, has the story on this sword and much, much more. Here's our biggest posts from the past week in Warcraft.

News

Latest Beta build kills spell downranking
No more downranking spells to save mana in-game, says Blizzard.
How Blizzard mishandled the BlizzCon ticket situation
Our long look at what exactly happened last week with the BlizzCon tickets.
This is a very fast rug
More cool mounts and items coming out of the Wrath of the Lich King beta.
First look at tailoring in Wrath
What cloth wranglers will be able to make in the next expansion.
Looking for ladies in Outland
Have you ever noticed that there don't seem to be that many females among NPCs in Outland? Why is that?

Features

Ask a Beta Tester: Dalaran and UI updates
Our Ask a Beta Tester column covers everything you've ever wanted to know about what's happening in the beta, and then some.
Know Your Lore: The Ashbringer
Everyone's all giddy about Frostmane finding its way into player hands, but Know Your Lore takes a long look at the other side of the "Awesome Two-Hand Sword" spectrum.
Scattered Shots: Pet talent trees in the Wrath beta
Our starting Hunter column checks out how pets might spec when Wrath comes to town.
The Colosseum: Stormie of Shadow Council
We interview one of the best Arena players around.
Ask a Lore Nerd: Skeletons, slavery and shadows
Experts talk about what they know. And the Lore Nerd talks about lore.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Final Fantasy XIII demo to feature multiple playable characters

Randy Nelson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 20:00:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, RPGs

IGN reports that the latest issue of Famitsu PS3 is chock-a-block with details on the forthcoming Final Fantasy XIII demo, due to be packaged with the Blu-ray Disc release of Final Fantasy: Advent Children Complete. The info comes straight from the game's director, Motomu Toriyama, who divulges more than its expected length - which, as we previously reported, could break the two-hour mark. (Presumably just to prove that more than an hour of the game is actually finished.)

According to Toriyama, the demo will be "Like the FFVII demo that was included with PlayStation's Tobal Nol.1," allowing players to experience the game's opening sequence and prologue.

He also says that the primary goal of the demo is to get players acquainted with the new party system, which will allow them to experience the game's story from multiple characters' perspectives. Players will control more than one character in the demo - Toriyama points out to Famitsu that, in fact, there's no one "central" character in FFXIII - and, in "classic" FF form, will be controlling them directly, one after another, in purely turn-based combat.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Silicon Knights' next game not 'Two Human,' but trilogy will continue

Randy Nelson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 19:29:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

For better or worse, Silicon Knights has finally kicked Too Human out of the nest, seemingly not too concerned about whether it will actually fly with most gamers. In fact, while the developer still intends to finish off the planned trilogy, it's not going to be doing so anytime soon.

Speaking with CVG, SK boss Denis Dyack confirmed that his studio's next game is going to be "Like nothing else we've ever made before." The dev has been working on a new title for Sega, which not too long ago was allegedly leaked in video form under the title The Crucible. Sega was quick to deny any connection between SK and a game with that name - which would be good for Dyack, since it was clearly a third-person action/horror game. You know, totally unlike Eternal Darkness.

"We've been lucky enough to make Legacy of Kain, Eternal Darkness, Too Human ... and if you look at all of those they're all really different," Dyack said of SK's plans for its new IP. "We want to continue to do that, to keep fresh. That's really what's important, and making sure that we continue to make new IPs but also continue to innovate in the genres that we try to... create content in." We think it's safe to assume that, whatever this totally fresh new project is, it won't be using the Unreal Engine.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Codies pumps Fuel for French revolution in racing

Jason Dobson — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:58:00 EST

Filed under: PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, Driving

Replacing political and social unrest with "go-anywhere" driving, Codemasters has partnered with French dev Asobo Studios to publish the company's open world-style racer, Fuel, for the Xbox 360, PS3, and PC sometime next year. Asobo's track record isn't likely to relieve you of your socks anytime soon, however. The studio's recent efforts include video game adaptations of Ratatouille, Wall-E and The Mummy, so we're not expecting another GRiD or DiRT just yet.

On top of dynamic weather and dozens of drivable vehicles, Codies boasts that Fuel will feature the "largest environment ever created" in a racing game, and that the game's absurd 5,000 square miles of weather-ravaged terrain will "revolutionize" the genre. There is that old saying about size not mattering as much as how you use it, though clearly this is not the approach being used here.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

Crytek predicts 'next-gen' consoles will arrive in 2011 / 2012

Ludwig Kietzmann — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 18:25:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360

We are all interested in the future. Indeed, as the great Criswell so astutely observed, "We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives." And it wouldn't be much of a life if it wasn't spent playing the latest video games, no doubt powered by trillions of tetraflops and a giggle-inducing number of gigabytes. Crytek CEO Cevat Yerli has seen this future (it's where he bought his Crysis-capable computer), and has concluded that the next generation of consoles -- as in the Xbox 720 and the PlayStation 4 -- could arrive in 2011 or 2012.

Discussing "The Future of Gaming Graphics" at Leipzig's GC Developer Conference, Yerli estimated that Microsoft and Sony's next offerings would arrive "in three to four years' time, although there are good reasons why it should be 2010 already...but we'll see." Crytek, which most recently worked on Crysis Warhead, has also pinned 2012 as the debut year for its next in-house engine and follow-up to last year's impressive CryEngine2.

Regardless of timing, we're pleased to see that not everybody thinks the current cavalcade of consoles is our last.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

MS: Xbox 360 instruments from Rock Band 2, GH: World Tour and Rock Revolution will be cross-compatible

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:50:00 EST

Filed under: Microsoft Xbox 360, Rhythm, Business

Clarifying its stance on rhythm game compatibility issues, Microsoft's Gamerscore Blog announced today that all the instruments for Rock Band 2, Guitar Hero: World Tour and Rock Revolution will be "cross-compatible" on Xbox 360.

Sony announced yesterday that PlayStation 3 would feature full cross-compatibility among the three games as well. Guess that leaves only Nintendo to make it official.

Update: The Instrument Compatibility Matrix has been updated
[Thanks, Mike]

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

The Sony Hardware Reciprocal: PS3 losses surpass PS2 profits

Kevin Kelly — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 17:27:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 2, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox, Microsoft Xbox 360, Business

According to DFC intelligence figures cited by Dave Perry, Sony has lost more money on the PlayStation 3 hardware than it made on the PlayStation 2 during its five most popular years. In pure numbers speak it's lost $3 billion on the PS3, which is about equivalent to everything it made selling PS2s during its peak years. This story would actually have a lot more impact if Carl Sagan was around to say "beelyuns."

Perry, best known for his stint at Shiny Entertainment, was speaking at the really long-named Games Convention Developers Conference, which appears to be both a Convention and a Conference, and was just using the figures to underscore how much Sony was spending on hardware development. However, the 1UP article doesn't mention until near the end that the original PS2 lost money in its first year, and that Sony (and the other console makers) does this so it can make bank on the software/games that people need to fuel their systems.

In all fairness, the article goes on to explain that Microsoft lost $4 billion on the original Xbox, and has had to spend over $1 billion replacing faulty hardware in the 360 and extending the warranty for original purchasers. So, we tend to think $5 billion trumps $3 billion. The real winner in this struggle? Nintendo. It has been churning a profit on that little Wii since it hopped out of the gate. Rassin' frassin' wand-wagglin' profiteers.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments

FIFA trade jinxes another EA Sports cover

Alexander Sliwinski — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 16:58:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, PC, Sony PlayStation 3, Nintendo Wii, Microsoft Xbox 360, Sports, Business

FIFA 09 cover athlete Maurice Edu has been traded to another team, meaning EA Sports will, yet again, have to change the box art on one of its games. Edu, who would have been featured on the cover wearing his Toronto FC jersey, will now wear the uniform of the US Men's National Team -- not Scotland's Glasgow Rangers, which is the team he'll actually play on. EA Sports tells IGN that the cover of the game will ship with the correct art -- no "print out" version necessary.

This would be the second time in a month that EA Sports had to dump extra resources into changing a cover due to an athlete changing teams. Earlier this month the publisher had to fix the art for perennial high-profile American football title Madden 09 when cheesehead favorite Brett Favre unretired and left for ~~New York~~ New Jersey.

Read | Permalink | Email this | Linking Blogs | Comments