Empire: Total War, is the new installment in The Creative Assembly’s Total War RTS franchise and will maintain the series 3D battles, grand turn based campaign map and rich historical flavor; while for the first time introducing 3D naval combat into the series.
Below is an interview with one of the game's developers:
WP: Who has the honor to speak with us? State your name, rank, and occupation!
Kieran Brigden, studio communications manager for Creative Assembly.
WP: Empire Total War marks the first time that the Total War series has had really intricate naval battles. Why have them now?
KB: Well, it's a combination of factors. One, we've wanted to do it for a while but the technology was ready now. Two, it's the period that's right for it. When you add naval battles to the game, you have to do it when it's interesting, enjoyable, and fun. The 18th century was the absolute height of cool naval warfare. You had thi... More »
A British company may have won the contract to design and build the next-generation graphics processor for the PSP2. Imagination Technologies Group announced in a press release this week that the company has signed a license agreement with a new partner, “a major consumer electronics company.”
Industry sources say that the partner is almost certainly Sony, and that the SGX55x graphics chip will be used in the upcoming PSP2.
The secrecy on the part of Imagination Technologies makes sense, because Sony is understandably unwilling to announce its plans for a PSP successor just yet. Imagination's PowerVR MBX chip is already being used in the Apple iPhone, so Sony finds itself in good company with this manufacturer.
The SGX55x chip promises to be much more powerful than what is currently found in the PSP. At the moment, the PSP uses a... More »
In today’s economic climate, the need for more entertainment options at home is ever increasing.
With an estimated 65 percent of American households playing computer and video games, GameStop provides a great value for budget-wise consumers with 2,500 game gifts priced at $20 and under.
Press Release: Looking for Holiday Gift Ideas... GameStop Offers Its Top Picks
GameStop Corp. (NYSE: GME), the world's largest video game and entertainment software retailer, has affordable gift ideas for anyone on your holiday list. With more than 700 new titles due to release before the holidays, GameStop offers something for everyone.
“A new generation of gamers that includes younger children, older adults and women has emerged, and they are interested in casual, more social gaming experiences,” said Bob McKenzie, Senior Vice President of Merchandising, GameStop. “While the traditional racing, sports and shooter games are still in high dem... More »
The PlayStation 3 and PS2 were the only platforms that didn't receive a significant boost this week as the end-of-year climb finally begins.
The DS and PSP platforms are both up nearly 20k units, the 360 almost doubled last week's effort from 8k to 15.5k, and the Wii is up 10k units from the previous week.
Defying the weekly gains for every other platform, the PS3 sold only 17.4k units this week, exactly (for our purposes) what it sold last week. As we look for continued increases in hardware next week, will the PS3 be along for the ride?
Today, 7-Eleven announced that they will start carrying certain video game titles for sale, including Fallout 3, Gears of War 2, Call of Duty: World at War and World of Warcraft: Wrath of the Lich King.
Additionally, they will make several prepaid game cards available for companies (and games) like Nexon, Habbo, Gaia, Guild Wars, Runescape, Aeria, City of Heroes, ijji and Neopets.
Press Release: Gamers never die; they just grow up … and continue to play ... and play ... and play. Today, the average gamer is not in his teens, but in his early 30s and, not surprisingly, most likely male. They play at home, at social gatherings, at work (shhhh) and online.
That’s good news for 7-Eleven, Inc. whose customer base skews heavily male between the ages of 18 and 34. The world’s leading convenience retailer is ready to take the proverbial plunge into video game sales after dabbling in it over the past years with successful Slurpee® beverage promotio... More »
There's general agreement that Sony stumbled out of the gate with the PlayStation 3. Months of intense hype were followed by a late launch (fully a year after the Xbox 360) and a staggering $600 price tag for the deluxe model.
Even worse, the PS3 didn't initially have any real must-have exclusive titles, and despite the power of its vaunted Cell processor, multiplatform games from third-party developers didn't look appreciably better than the respective titles on the Xbox 360.
Since then, the company's been modifying the PlayStation product line to better fit the competitive market landscape. As of August 2008, a new "bargain" PS3 is available with a larger, 80GB hard drive, and a "deluxe" model is due in November, doubling the capacity to 160GB.
Both, however, lack backward compatibility with PS2 games and do not come with flash card readers. If those features are a must, it might be best to pick up the 80GB "Metal Gear" bundle version on eBay w... More »
Today MCV (linked above) has published a number of quotes from UK industry leaders who all reach the same conclusion - the PS2 is standing on its last legs and is effectively dead.
The MD of MasterSonic noted that the PS2 market has been virtually killed overnight, while a major international publisher noted this will be the last Christmas for the PS2 and the company won't support it next year.
To quote: MD of Mastertonic Andy Payne – whose Blast label has enjoyed impressive sales during the PS2’s twilight years – believes the system is on its last legs, thanks to limited space on the High Street.
He told MCV: “The PS2 market has been virtually killed overnight. There’s been no real run-off like with the PSOne, and that’s because retail just does not have the space.”
Do you still have a PlayStation 2, and if so do you still play it? Feel free to comment below!
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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