If you subscribe to EGM, and you can look outside and see the mailman approaching your house, there’s probably no need to read this story.
However, if you’re one of the unlucky folks who hasn’t got their hands on the new Watchmen issue of Electronic Gaming Monthly, this story may interest you.
A few days ago, we got the first scoop from 1up about the latest batch of rumors from EGM’s mysterious Quartermann. Well those rumors are repeated in the magazine, but there is also a couple new, juicy ones that you can sink your teeth into; the biggest one is, obviously, that the Q-Mann heard from a source that on top of the release of new DLC, the Little Big Planet universe will be further expanded with a new PSP version. In the magazine, he says:
"The LBP universe will also continue to evolve next year with the release of the PSP version: Q-Mann hears it’s fantastically ambitious and will further flesh out the PS3 LBP experience."
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The infamous Xbox 360 "red ring of death" (indicating a failed unit) has caused Microsoft - and its customers - untold pain in the three years since the console's launch in 2005, and cost it $1.15bn (£738m) last year.
Microsoft has never said publicly why the console was plagued with faults: it seems that poor production quality was at the heart of the failures - an all-round problem with no single cause except impatience on the company's part as it tried to become the leader in videogame consoles.
It was an ambitious attack. Microsoft's engineers started working on the Xbox 360 at least a year after Sony's engineers began work on the PlayStation 3, yet wound up shipping a year earlier. With the first Xbox, the company lost $3.7bn (£2.3bn) over four years, mostly because costs of the box - particularly its hard drive - were too high.
Bill Gates didn't really care about the losses; that was simply the ante for getting into an exciting ne... More »
According to PSX Extreme (linked above), Nomura has told a publication that we will see a battle scene in FFXIII before the end of the year. He also touched upon the benefits of the Blu-ray format for the game.
To quote: However, according to Final Fantasy XIII-net, (details translated by a NeoGAF forum member), the latest information tells us we will see gameplay footage for FFXIII before 2008 is out.
Square-Enix's Tetsuya Nomura spoke about the game in a Gemaga interview, and he says we will "see a battle scene in FFXIII before the end of the year." He also mentions the benefits of Blu-Ray for their ambitious RPG, and furthermore, they should soon release information on the game's expected-to-be-stellar voiceover cast.
For many, this game remains the most anticipated title of the new generation, and despite the delays, it remains high on everyone's priority list. It is coming to the Xbox 360 as well - PS3 owners still haven't recovered... More »
I’m glad to be back here with the PlayStation Posse and talk about a game that I’m looking forward to – Age of Booty. No, it’s not an online dating game.
It’s a casual, pirate-themed, online strategy game from some of the makers of Halo.
Actually, I consider this more of a multiplayer party game because it’s really easy to play and allows for a lot of smack talk. Yarrr!
Here are more details:
• Release date: Soon (I’ll confirm when I get a solid date)
• Price: Only $9.99!
• Trophies: No comment at this time.
• Add on content: Lots of free map packs in the future plus some cool expansions.
• Players: Up to 8 players online – You can play a 4 player local match then take the team online!
• Demo:Available a couple weeks after launch with online multiplayer matches!
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This generation of consoles has barely got going, with the price war not really having even begun, and no sign of a winner yet being called (although the Wii is clearly the frontrunner). But, the next generation of consoles could be on their way sooner than we all think. The only question remains: who will actually be involved?
Actually I lied, the other question is when will the next-gen consoles actually arrive on the scene. We’ve spoken about this before, with 2010 being the earliest date mentioned in terms of when a new console could emerge from one of the big three, More likely given the state of the industry (healthy console sales but all three platforms still viable) is 2011 or 2012.
Nintendo is guaranteed to be in there. The Wii and DS have made the company so much money that it is likely to want to throw money at a new development in an effort to repeat the phenomenal success of this generation’s offerings.
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed for PS3, Xbox 360, Wii and other platforms is LucasArts' most ambitious gaming project to-date. Taking over four years from concept to completion and enduring multiple delays, the long-awaited game is the first next-gen development effort by the small studio, and the first to utilize multiple new technologies and the direct input of Industrial Light and Magic.
Taking all this into consideration it comes as a bit of a surprise to see what print media is saying about the game. With four reviews in the can, Force Unleashed has only mustered a meta score of 6.8, with individual publication scores ranging from a mediocre 7.5 all the way down to a pathetic 56.
Official Xbox Magazine offers the highest score of 7.5 and has the following to offer.
With its non-branching storyline and no multiplayer, Force Unleashed ... More »
Sony has confirmed that Media Molecule’s ambitious world creation platformer LittleBigPlanet will hit Japanese store shelves on October 30, exclusively on PlayStation 3.
A firm launch date for other territories has yet to be officially announced, aside from a vague fall release window.
However, considering that the developer is European based, it wouldn’t be unreasonable to expect a release in both Europe and the U.S. around the same date.
To quote, roughly translated from French: "Announced for October in Europe and the USA, but without specific day, LittleBigPlanet has reached its official date for Japan: October 30, 2008, priced at 5,980 yen (36 €)."
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 »
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