Breaking out the eyecandy tonight, NCsoft has released 14 (!) new screenshots from their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Aion: The Tower of Eternity. These latest screenies give us a sneak peek at the Sorcerer class in action. Pretty hot stuff! Enjoy:
Aion is scheduled for release in North America on September 22nd and Europe on September 25th.
Getting us geared up for the weekend, Valve has announced that all Dawn of War 1/2 and Company of Heroes titles are 50% off on Steam from now until Sunday, August 2nd. The list of titles on sale include:
Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War II ($24.99)Company of Heroes ($9.99)Company of Heroes: Gold ($14.99)Company of Heroes: Tales of Valor 213b($14.99)Company of Heroes: Opposing Fronts ($9.99)Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade ($9.99)Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War - Soulstorm ($14.99)Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War - Gold Edition ($9.99)Warhammer 40k: Dawn of War - Platinum Edition ($14.99)Relic Super Pack ($24.99)Don't miss out on the savings! :D
Publishing and developing giant Ubisoft has today revealed its Q1 2009 financial results, the long and short of it being a 51% decline in overall sales revenue from the same period last year, leading to four delays.
The company comes in at €83 million ($118m USD) this quarter; last year's figures brought the company to an impressive $240m. The numbers were below Q4 projected estimates by 12.6%, or about $135m.
Ubisoft attributes the new figures to a slowdown in DS software sales old and new in the US and Europe ("more pronounced than expected"), much lower back-catalogue sales on the PS3 and Xbox 360 than the same period last year, and worse than expected industry conditions.
On the bright side, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and Anno performed as anticipated, with the latter receiving great ratings across all platforms; a growth in share on the Wii is also noted.
As a result of the drops, a 54% decrease on the previously projected $185m outlook set for Q2 is set; 2009-10 total targets are revised to $1.48 billion, compared to previous guidance of about $1.57 billion; based on the "very warm response" of Asassin's Creed II at E3 this year, sales for Q2 are expected to be stronger.
Q3 and Q4 will be affected as well, with Splinter Cell Conviction, Red Steel 2, Ghost Recon and I Am Alive all receiving delays. The former two were both set for Q3, and will now be pushed back to the following quarter; the latter two were set for Q4 and will be moved to sometime in fiscal 2010-2011.
Yves Guillemot, Chief Executive Officer, stated: "We are currently experiencing a very sharp slowdown in our sales for Nintendo DS as well as sales of back-catalog titles, in the context of a market that is tougher than anticipated. This will have a significant impact on our first-half showing. Against this backdrop, the solid performance of our Wii titles combined with the successful launches of Anno and Call of Juarez are points of satisfaction and demonstrate that good products are continuing to sell well. We are disappointed that we have to postpone the release of several major games but we consider that this choice is the best one in the long-term interests of Ubisoft. Lastly, we are having to adjust our full-year targets to take into account the fall in business over the first half. The excellent response to our games at E3, as well as the high buzz generated for titles such as Assassin's Creed 2, Splinter Cell Conviction and Avatar, reinforce our belief that the company can achieve strong growth in the second half of the fiscal year."
Guillemot has elaborated in interviews, as well, stating piracy on the DS -- in America, as opposed to Europe -- is a lot of the reason for their misfortune this time around. Rather than "cracking down" though, Ubisoft will be taking a cue from Atlus:
"Piracy is strong so we are working to put new figurines and new elements in the boxes that will change that in the future," said Guillemot, later continuing, "We see when we put other things with the product (people) go and buy the game. We need to make sure that the value is better when they buy the box then when they download (the game) from the Internet."
In our opinion, this is definitely the smart way to go, so Ubisoft, you have our respect.
PC piracy is also noted to be "quite a lot", something the CEO implies they are working on internally, saying, "We are working on a tool that would allow us to decrease that on the PC starting next year and probably one game this year." Whatever could it be? With any luck, it will be good news for legitimate customers, as an internally developed form of DRM is likely to be less inconvenient than an externally developed one, it being less familiar and therefore harder to implement properly.
That's all for this quarter -- see you next time.
Electronic Arts (EA) has just announced its soundtrack plans for their upcoming fall sports lineup (be sure to check our previews for NHL 10 and FIFA 10 if you haven't yet), and all in all, it's an astonishly good list.
"Each EA SPORTS game is unique to every gamer that picks up the controller, we wanted to make sure the music matched each of those unique experiences," said Steve Schnur, Electronic Arts' Worldwide Executive for Music and Marketing. "With the big songs and huge bands in Madden NFL, bringing back the Soul of the Game to NBA LIVE, tapping into the hard hitting metal tracks of NHL and the international flavor of FIFA, this year's EA SPORTS soundtrack line up aligns with each of the game's unique styles."
So first up is Madden NFL 10, which features the likes of 2Pac, Alice in Chains, Rage Against the Machine, Public Enemy, and System of a Down. Indeed, a good blend which should match well with the action, even if seeing "Rage Against the Machine" and "Electronic Arts" in the same article is more than a bit weird for us. The Cypress Hill track is an exclusive, it should be noted.
2Pac Can't C Me
Airbourne Heads Are Gonna Roll
Alice In Chains Them Bones
B.o.B Created A Monster
Bang Camaro Revolution
Beastie Boys Sabotage
Black Sabbath Paranoid
Cypress Hill Get 'Em Up
Helmet Unsung
Iron Maiden Aces High
Judas Priest Painkiller
Kid Rock I Am The Bullgod
Killswitch Engage Reckoning
Korn Blind
Mastodon Divinations
Nas feat. Puff Daddy Hate Me Now
Nirvana Breed
Pantera Walk
Public Enemy Shut Em Down
Rage Against The Machine Guerrilla Radio
Set Your Goals Gaia Bleeds (Make Way for Man)
Slipknot Duality
System Of A Down Sugar
The Vanity Plan Before I Die
Young Dre The Truth Cheah Beah
Next is up is the fabulous looking NBA Live 10 (just in with its first batch of screenshots), which features the most special soundtrack of all, weighing in with over 80% exclusive tunes, some "reinvented" classics from the likes of Afrika Bambaataa, Dead Prez and Snoop Dogg, collaborations between Matt & Kim / De La Soul, never before heard picks from Beastie Boys and Wyclef Jean, and material from new acts Mickey Factz & B.o.B.
NHL 10, sadly, we can't speak too well for -- Green Day, Nickelback, Papa Roach and MxPx are kind of like sour milk with an otherwise delicious meal, but hey, whatever ya like.
Alexisonfire Young Cardinals
Cancer Bats Deathsmarch
CKY Hellions On Parade
Disco Ensemble Golden Years
Drangonforce Heroes Of Our Time
Eagles Of Death Metal Anything 'Cept The Truth
Earl Greyhound Oye Vaya
Green Day Know Your Enemy
Megadeth Peace Sells
Metalkpretty Wake Up! Wake Up!
Ministry & Co-Conspirators Keys To The City (Chicago Blackhawks Theme Song)
MxPx Kids In America
Nickelback Burn It To The Ground
Papa Roach Into The Light
Priestess Raccoon Eyes
Rancid The Bravest Kids
Scorpions Rock You Like A Hurricane
Thousand Foot Krutch Fire It Up
FIFA 10 is suitably worldly in its selection. Admittedly, we've heard of a grand total of three of these artists, so it appears the game will give many of us a bit more culture amidst the action.
Adiam Dymott Miss You Sweden
Afrobots Favela Rock Brazil
Alex Metric Head Straight England
Auletta Meine Stadt Germany
Balkan Beat Box feat. Tomer Yosef and Saz Ramallah-Tel Aviv Israel
BLK JKS Lakeside South Africa
Bomba Estreo Fuego Mexico
The BPA feat. Ashley Beedle Should I Stay Or Should I Blow England
Buraka Som Sistema feat. Pongolove Kalemba (Wegue - Wegue) Portugal
CasioKids Fot I Hose Norway
Children Collide Skeleton Dance Australia
Crookers feat. The Very Best, Two Fingers & Marina Gasolina Birthday Bash Italy
Cut Off Your Hands Happy As Can Be New Zealand
Dananananaykroyd Black Wax Scotland
Datarock Give It Up Norway
Fabri Fibra Donna Famosa Italy
Fidel Nadal International Love Argentina
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs La Luz Del Ritmo Argentina
Macaco Hacen Falta Dos Spain
Major Lazer Hold The Line USA
Marcio Local Soul Do Samba Brazil
Matt & Kim Daylight (Troublemaker Remix feat. De La Soul) USA
Metric Gold Guns Girls Canada
Mexican Institute Of Sound Alocatel Mexico
Nneka Kangpe Nigeria
Passion Pit Moth's Wings USA
Peter Bjorn And John Nothing To Worry About Sweden
Pint Shot Riot Not Thinking Straight England
Playing For Change War / No More Trouble WORLD
Rocky Dawuni Download The Revolution Ghana
Ryksopp It's What I Want Norway
Soshy Dorothy France
The Answering Machine It's Over! It's Over! It's Over! England
The Enemy UK Be Somebody England
The Temper Trap Science of Fear Australia
Tommy Sparks She's Got Me Dancing England
The Whitest Boy Alive 1517 Germany
Wyclef Jean MVP Kompa Haiti
Zap Mama Vibrations Belgium
All told, as with EA's music selections for the Dragon Age and The Saboteur trailers, someone up there knows their stuff. Good job, fellas.
Creating a little buzz tonight, Disney Interactive Studios and Etranges Libellules have officially announced the development of a new Adventure game based on Tim Burton's upcoming Alice in Wonderland feature film. Set several years after the original stories, the game has you guiding Alice and a cast of supporting characters through traps and puzzles in an effort to defeat the Jabberwocky and restore Underland back into Wonderland. Here's a little snippet from the press release:
"These games fully capture the magnificent and whimsical world of Underland while experiencing key moments from the film,” said Craig Relyea, senior vice president of global marketing, Disney Interactive S2057tudios. “More than just a retelling of the movie, Alice in Wonderland introduces fans to an entirely new style of innovative gameplay designed to challenge the puzzle solving skills of older players while making the adventures accessible and enjoyable for the younger crowd. Innovative gameplay and distinct artistic styles on each platform give players a range of unique and engaging experiences."
To celebrate the announcement, the developers have released a new screenshot and artwork from the game. Enjoy:
The Alice in Wonderland game will be released alongside the feature film in "early 2010".
Saving us some cash this weekend, Valve's Steam digital distribution service is offering a 75% discount on Men of War, along with a 50% discount on Velvet Assassin and X3: Terran Conflict from now until Sunday, July 26th. So if you're looking for something new to play during this Summer drought, you may want to consider checking these out! :)
Casey Hudson, lead producer on Mass Effect 2, recently had a little chat with PC World magazine. During this chit-chat, some interesting new details on what... effect saved games carried over to Mass Effect 2 will have on players' gaming experience came up.
Any gamers who were expecting that continuing their saved game from the first Mass Effect into the second Mass Effect was only going to change a couple of things here and there, should not have underestimated Bioware, it seems. Importing your saved game will change "literally hundreds of things" said Casey Hudson.
According to Mr. Hudson, Bioware fans can expect the data saved in their old saved games to have far-reaching consequences. Choices made in even minor sub-quests from the first game in the series will have reverberations in the gaming experience during the second Mass Effect, it seems.
Casey Hudson gave the example of Conrad Verner, from the first game. Remember him? He was that somewhat annoying big fan of yours that accosts you for an autograph on the Citadel. (I think in my game I told him to brush off.) It turns out that Conrad is set to make another appearance in the Mass Effect sequel, playing a bigger role than a random fan. How you treated him when you first met "will meaningfully affect what's happening."
"All of your decisions and choices really start to snowball over the course of the trilogy because it's picking up the entire record of how you've played, from the first moments of the first game all the way through to the ending of the third game," Casey was quoted as saying.
Mass Effect 2 is set to touch down in early 2010.
Keeping us droolin' this afternoon, the guys over at Capcom have released five new screenshots from their upcoming 3rd Person Shooter, Lost Planet 2. These latest shots highlight the game's detailed environments, drivable mechs and massive boss monsters. Pretty hot stuff! Check 'em out:
Lost Planet 2's release date is still TBD.
It looks like Lucasart's success with their own adventure games on Steam woke up Activision Blizzard (the current owners of Sierra properties). You can now purchase both Space Quest Collection and King's Quest Collection on Steam. Oh, and they are 25% off until July 30th. On the downside, they seem to be unavailable to customers in Australia.
However, before you jump to Steam and buy them, do note that unlike Lucasarts with their proper Windows-native ports of old DOS games, Activision couldn't be bothered to do anything to polish up these releases. They are bit-for-bit same as old boxed versions of the same SQ and KQ collections that were released over three years ago. That means you may have issues with modern 64-bit operating systems and you have to run the DOS games using DOSBox.
People have reported that while all Space Quest games (Space Quest 1-6) do wo219erk on Vista 64bit, King's Quest 7 won't run on 64bit systems. You will also have to dig up the included PDF manual as the old "look up from the manual" copy protections are intact. One must wonder how much better these packages would've sold if Activision had bothered to recompile them all as proper Windows applications. Oh, and get us Quest for Glory series and all the other great Sierra adventures that are not included in these collections.
In a new interview with ABC TV's Good Game, Valve's co-founder Gabe Newell has some interesting thoughts on piracy and copy protection (not a good direction in which to move, he says) as well as a new means by which to fund games -- radical stuff:
"One of the areas that I am super interested in right now is how we can do financing from the community. So right now, what typically happens is you have this budget - it needs to be huge, it has to be $10m - $30m, and it has to be all available at the beginning of the project. There’s a huge amount of risk associated with those dollars and decisions have to be incredibly conservative.
What I think would be much better would be if the community could finance the games. In other words, ‘Hey, I really like this idea that you have and I'll be an early investor in that and, as a result, at a later point I may make a return on that product, but I’ll also get a copy of that game.’
In venture capital there's a concept that your best investors are your customers, because they have 'secondary gain.' If you are successful they not only want a return on their money, but they're incredibly happy if you actually make a great game that they get to play. It would be really great if we could evolve Steam in a way that made it possible so that a developer could say, you know, 'if you want this game to start moving forward, here's the sort of 'seed round',' were people can sort of opt-in and say 'I'll pay thirty dollars and I own a piece of this game going forward.'
So move financing from something that occurs between a publisher and a developer… Instead have it be something where funding is coming out of community for games and game concepts they really like.”
Sounds like anarchy, so naturally we approve.
Given the game industry seems to get more expensive all the time, and more job cuts and studio shutdowns than ever seem to be occuring, could this be viably be a prominent means of funding going forward? Steam has over 20 million accounts, after all, and $30 is cheaper than what we pay now. If so, an industry funded largely by gamers could only be good for innovation.
A new trailer was released for the upcoming Korea-made, PC action-orientated MMO Dragonica, today. The video explains some of the back story behind all the troubles that plague the game-world.
Dragonica is looking somewhat similar to Dungeon Fighters Online -- but perhaps with a younger audience in mind. Think of Maple Story, but with the ability to move up and down as well, and you'll have a decent idea of what this game will be all about.
The game will be free-to-play. The beta periods has been quite successful in Asia (Dragonica has been in development since 2006), and it'll be interesting to see how much it can catch on in the English speaking parts of the world -- actually, if you speak English and live in South East Asia, including Australia and New Zealand, you can download the game right now if you like.
An added bonus to the game is that you will not need a gaming super-computer to run it. The minimum requirements are for a 10 year old system: a P3 running at 800MHz, and GeForce 2 series video card.
Here is a look at some gameplay -- this video features the magician class:
Today is the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 11 landing on the Moon and to mark the occasion Futuremark Games Studio has published two new screenshots from their zero gravity multiplayer shooter Shattered Horizon. The new pictures showcase one of the play areas and nicely demonstrate the aim for realistic look and feel - plenty of detail and all shades of gray in use, as you'd expect from bits and pieces of the Moon.
The accompanying press release dates the events portrayed in the game to 2049 - forty years into the future. No word yet on the exact start date of the planned beta test. The sign-up button is still up so you can still register, but the start of the beta shouldn't be too far off.
Pinning down an exact release date for us this afternoon, Codemasters has announced that their upcoming tactical shooter, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising, will begin shipping to stores across North America on October 6th, EPAC territories on October 8th and the UK on October 9th. To celebrate the big news, the devs have released six new screenshots. Enjoy:
Let the countdown begin! :D
Keeping things interesting this weekend, Slightly Mad Studios have released two new screenshots from their upcoming racing title, Need for Speed: SHIFT. These latest shots give us a sneak peek at the BMW 135i Coupé in action. Pretty hot stuff! Enjoy:
Need of Speed: 2051SHIFT is scheduled for release in Europe on September 17th and North America on September 22nd.
Moving right along, Rocksteady Studios have released a new behind-the-scenes trailer for their upcoming Action-Stealth title, Batman: Arkham Asylum. Running just over a minute and a half long, the video discusses the game's combat system, the predator mechanic and some of the gadgets at your disposal. Check it out:
Thanks to GameTrailers for the above stream. Mirrors are also available at the following websites:
GamersHellFileShackFileFrontWorthPlayingBatman: Arkham Asylum is scheduled for release in North America on August 25th and Europe on August 28th.
Moving right along, Deadline Games have released a short teaser trailer for Part 2 of their episodic Action-Brawler, Watchmen: The End is Nigh. The minute-long clip gives us a quick look at some of the new enemies and environments included in the upcoming episode. Check it out:
Thanks to GameTrailers for the above stream. Mirrors are also available at the FileShack and WorthPlaying.com.
Watchmen: The End Is Night Part 2 is scheduled for release on July 29th.
Fresh out of the oven, Cryptic Studios have released a three new screenshots from their upcoming massively multiplayer online RPG, Star Trek Online. These latest shots feature a pair of space battles, some huge explosions and a someone getting lit up like a Christmas tree. Enjoy:
Star Trek Online's release date is still TBD.
Microsoft's planned hands-free controller Project Natal, planned for Xbox 360, is going to go beyond the realm of consoles as well as video games, according to a new interview with corporation founder Bill Gates.
By the sounds of it, we can expect the new technology to be Windows-capable, and to come with all sorts of functions. It's not too far off, either -- Gates notes it will happen in just over a year.
"[It's] not just for games, but for media consumption as a whole," he reveals. "If they connect it up to Windows PCs for interacting in terms of meetings, and collaboration, and communication, you put the camera in now it's a cool thing, and it's just an example where Microsoft research did the original stuff to show, with the depth information, something great could be done. Then both the Xbox guys and the Windows guys latched onto that and now even since they latched onto it the idea of how it can be used in the office is getting much more concrete, and is pretty exciting."
Gates later comments they're already using it in the Microsoft office on a Windows PC -- the way they see it, the question is "why not?"
It's not clear whether or not Natal will be used for PC gaming, but we're assuming so. Anyone else dreaming of a top of the line projector screen, 7.1 sound, Natal-based setup, and playing Mirror's Edge 3?
Breaking out the eyecandy this afternoon, Bethesda Softworks have released some of the first screenshots from their upcoming Fallout 3: Mothership Zeta DLC. These latest shots give us a quick look at the ship's crash site, the inner core, the Deathray and a drone battle. Enjoy:
The Mothership Zeta DLC is scheduled for release on August 3rd.
Keeping us droolin' today, Electronic Arts has released four new screenshots from their upcoming racing title, Need for Speed: SHIFT. These latest shots give us a sneak peek at the new Drift mode in action. Pretty hot stuff! Check 'em out:
Need of Speed: SHIFT is scheduled for release in Europe on September 17th and North America on September 22nd.
There was a fairly sizable kerfuffle when Left 4 Dead 2 was unexpectedly announced. There was even a small boycott effort launched.
Gamers were mostly upset with Valve for announcing Left 4 Dead 2 before they felt Left 4 Dead 1 had reached the end of its lifespan. Many gamers saw it as a cash-in on the popularity of the game,even though Valve tried to assure people that they would continue to make content for the original game.
Another thing that miffed many was that if Valve brought out Left 4 Dead2, perceptive fans saw that this may further fractionalize and segment the game's already limited playerbase.
Valve has heard these angry Internet voices and has been trying to keep their fans happy. On the issue of splitting the playerbase, Valve now has said that they are looking at ways of allowing both Left 4 Dead 1 & 2 players to play together. The Valve team is also hoping to make it easy for mods to run on both the first and second game without much work on the part of the mod-makers.
Following some anonymous teaser trailers posted on YouTube and some blatant hints on VG247, a new game in the MechWarrior (MW) series has been confirmed. Out of comission since 2002's MechWarrior 4 expansion pack, the series will be 'rebooted' with a new game simply called MechWarrior, releasing on the Xbox 360 and PC. (Sidenote: MW4 and its expansions will soon be available free.)
Smith and Tinker (S&T) will be producing the game, with Pirahna Games developing, working with Unreal Engine 3; S&T's co-founder Jordan Weisman helped form FASA, the company which created the BattleTech universe the series is based on. So it appears, the new game is in good hands.
Set on the planet Deshler in 3015, you take on the role of Adrian Khol, a "wayward nobleman" and more of a partier/slacker type than anything else -- however, House Kurita invades the planet, killing Khol's family, naturally prompting him to enter mechanical war machines and blow the hell out of people.
As you'd expect, the new title takes advantage of modern technology; by the sounds of it, this one is potentially the truest representation of what the creators were after all these years -- they say they're aiming to fully capture that sense of actually being in a giant mech in the middle of a very dynamic battlefield.
A publisher isn't firmed up yet, so neither is the production budget, but we'd imagine it won't be too difficult to get the proper support. Nevertheless, the plan is to have a full single-player campaign, four-player co-op campaign (!), a full-on multiplayer suite, and cross-platform play.
A main aim of MechWarrior will be placing equal importance on each mech; sticking with the one you choose will pay off in the long run via experience and increased piloting skills, resulting in better accuracy and damage, meaning you could viably stick with a light class and vault your way throughout the whole game. Also worth noting is the game will change (though it's not specified how) based on which machine you choose. The amount of class types is yet to be known, but there are four at present: the Jenner (light class), Warhammer and Rifleman (heavy class), and Atlas Prime, an assault class mech as fearful as it sounds (that's the skullfaced fella in the trailer above).
It's far too early for a release date of course, but feel free to speculate!
