The fifth chapter of the series Call of Duty, called World at War, is not even out yet and the sixth is already announced!
This is via Robert "Bobby" Kotick, the boss of Activision, which released the information during a conference call, referring to an exit in 2009 and development back at Infinity Ward.
We knew already that it would be held in the near future. Finally, this announcement is not surprising when one knows that CoD 4: Modern Warfare is their best-selling 2007 game.
If the publisher maintains this pace of one title per year, Call of Duty 50 should be released in 2053, and will put us in the shoes of a soldier of the Roman Empire during ancient times. :p
There's apparently a big feature article in the upcoming issue of Japanese gaming mag Famitsu that talks Square Enix, Final Fantasy XIII and all that jazz.
While scans haven't hit the Internet yet, we've heard from several trusted insiders who have seen the yet-unreleased issue. It mentions that FFXIII is going to be out in Japan by next summer and in Europe/USA on both the Xbox 360 and the PS3 by the end of 2009 — which pretty much what we already know.
Here's the juicy bit: According to the Famitsu piece, Microsoft is footing the bill for Square Enix's FFXIII breach of PS3 exclusivity contract. No idea how much money that entails or the exact deal Microsoft worked out with Square Enix, but the fact there is not Xbox 360 version announced for Japan is telling. Square Enix does state how porting the game to the Xbox 360 should be easy.
More interesting tidbits: It's apparently hard to tell which looks better: Star Ocean 4 or Final Fantasy XIII.... More »
Copies of Grand Theft Auto IV have been pulled in Thailand after a teenager confessed to murdering a taxi driver. The 18-year-old high school student is accused of stabbing the cab driver to death by trying to copy a scene from the game.
The biggest video game publisher in the south-east Asian country, New Era Interactive Media, has told retailers to stop selling GTA IV. It is due to be replaced by another video game title.
Thai newspapers say the teenager, whose name has been withheld, was arrested while trying to steer a cab backwards out of a Bangkok street with the driver still in the back seat. Police claim the 18-year-old confessed to stealing the taxi and said he killed the 54-year-old driver after he fought back. The teenager could face the death penalty if he is found guilty. Bangkok police Captain Veerarit Pipatanasak said: "He wanted to find out if it was as easy in real life to rob a taxi as it was in the game.
Daily video blog Rocketboom has handed over its distribution and ad sales to Sony Pictures in return for a seven figue guarantee plus a share of the revenues. Rocketboom will be distributed on Crackle as well as other Sony platforms including PS3, PSP and Bravia I-Link TVs.
To quote: Rocketboom founder Andrew Baron says he went with Sony because of Sony's distribution strengths and the deal allows him to maintain control of the business. (Whereas selling the business to another media buyer, such as WallStrip did to CBS a year ago for $5 million, would have required him to give up his baby).
The deal is structured as a distribution and advertising deal, and sounds like it could lead to a closer relationship or outright sale if things go well. But if they don't, Rocketboom would regain complete control of distribution and ad sales after the contract expires.
The Soul Calibur franchise has made its mark outside of arcades, due in large part to the console-specific cameo characters. It worked with Link and Spawn, and the newest iteration is gathering acclaim for the inclusion of Vader and Yoda.
With the popularity of digital downloads, however, the prospect of adding even more beloved characters is entirely possible. Here's 12 famous gaming, movie, and comic book characters that would fit the fighting franchise perfectly.
12- Marcus Fenix: Why not bring a gun to a sword fight? Our pitch--in the midst of a massive battle against the Locust, Marcus Fenix runs out of bullets and calls for the Hammer of Dawn at the same time as the tremendously incompetent Damon Baird. When the streams cross, it creates a vortex that leads to 16th Century. Without any ammo, Marcus is forced to rev up his Chainsaw Bayonet and slice up his opponents in order to find a weapon that can kill the Queen for good.
According to reports, the UK Prison service has spent £221,726 on video game consoles and software to keep criminals entertained. Previously, ministers had admitted to spending only £10,000 on such entertainment machines.
To quote: Prisoners across the country are being supplied with computer games consoles costing thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money.
The Prison Service has spent £221,726 on PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo systems and software to keep jailed criminals entertained. Ministers have previously admitted spending only £10,000 on the machines.
An audit carried out last month on Justice Secretary Jack Straw’s orders turned up 12,948 game consoles in prisons and young-offender institutions in England and Wales, showing how widespread their use is among the 83,600 prison population.
As many VGC forum-goers have been discussing with great exposition lately, there are many of us who feel as if the reviewing segment of our hobby has gone completely awry over the past few years. In my ever-so humble opinion, when it comes right down to it, I question whether it was any good from the outset.
Many of us grew up with gaming but unfortunately, in many ways, gaming hasn’t grown up with us. We’re still the purchasers of hackneyed trash and in most cases, we do it with a smile. I had an opening rant prepared on the review system for this editorial but after lengthy consideration, I will defer to Rob Reiner and his mockumentary classic, This is Spinal Tap.
Nigel Tufnel: The numbers all go to eleven. Look, right across the board, eleven, eleven, eleven and...
Marty DiBergi: Oh, I see. And most amps go up to ten?
Nigel Tufnel: Exactly.
Marty DiBergi: Does that mean it's louder? Is it any louder?
Nigel Tufnel: Well, it's one... More »
Nilay Patel writes: So we hate to break it to the good guys at Tom's Hardware, but while we're impressed that they managed to overclock a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Quad 6600 to 5.1GHz using a cryogenic cooling system, it's not nearly close to the world record they're claiming.
We've seen P4's at up to 8.18GHz, and just a couple months ago someone jacked a Core 2 Extreme QX9775 on a Skulltrail board to 6GHz. Still, it's always fun to watch people pour liquid nitrogen over a mobo - video below.
Ken Levine has confirmed that his new IP has entered development proper.
“We’re not in the blue-sky period any more,” said the developer, speaking to VG247 at Develop today. “We’re actually building design elements and building it out… But it’s, you know, it’s going to be pretty crazy ambitious.”
Levine refused to confirm specifically the identity of the new title, but did flesh out some primary details.
“I’ll say this about it. It’s important to us that whatever we do has the same impact on the gamer that BioShock did. And so, I think that the company’s position on us and what we do is that we’re going to be breaking down barriers and breaking down doors.
“Whether we succeed or not, that’s our goal. In terms of our timeline and the resources we have and the people we have working on it, I’m really fortunate to have Bill [Gardner, BioShock’s lead designer - Ed] and Nate [Wells, 2K Boston’s ... More »
PSU writes: In a beneficial turn of events for the home entertainment industry, Blu-ray sales continue to rise drastically despite the staggering U.S. economy.
As DVD sales decline, Blu-ray has been filling in the gap, generating more than $200 million in the first half of 2008. This is in stark contrast to the same point last year, where Blu-ray earnings were less than 33% of current figures.
“We are trending 8% Blu-ray sales [per title], and at the end of the year, we will be between 10% and 12%," stated Mike Dunn of 20th Century Fox Home Entertainment.
Lori MacPherson, general manager for Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment, North America contributed her thoughts.
“I think people are becoming pickier on what they spend their money on, but home entertainment always represents a good value. Thirty dollars for a Blu-ray movie that you can watch over and over again is still a great value,” she commented.
More »
