Arguably the biggest travesty to have resulted from THQ’s auction this week is the lack of interest in Darksiders-maker Vigil Games. Numerous assets and studios were purchased from THQ – but not Vigil.
In an interview with Game Informer, CEO Jason Rubin explained – at least somewhat – why others may have been hesitant to make a purchase:
“Having just finished a product, Vigil was farthest from release of their next game. We were not able to garner any interest from buyers, despite a herculean effort. Additionally, they were working on a new IP, which meant even more risk for a buyer.”
It’s been made clear that Vigil’s next project was a new IP under the codename “Crawler”. Rubin noted that the game “is a fantastic idea, and truly unique.”
“When the teams got together recently to show each other their titles, Crawler dropped the most jaws. It is a fantastic idea, and truly unique. The fact that nobody bid for the team and title is a travesty. It makes no sense to me.”
A poetic story about Earthbound from series creator Shigesato Itoi
At first glance something like this comes off as a little “odd”, but when you get passed the weird translation oddities and the stigma of being weirdly artistic in this industry, I think this sort of thing is super awesome to see from a developer. The following is a (long) piece written by Earthbound series creator Shigesato Itio where he tells you exactly what the games mean to him as a person. It’s a pleasant little read if you’ve got some time to kill!
You can find it all after the break actually, since it’s pretty long.
If you’re one of the folks waiting patiently for Zen Pinball 2, you shouldn’t have to wait much longer according to the game’s developer:
The game was supposed to come out back in December, and now the tentative release date is “January”. My guess is that it’s going to be early February though, because I don’t think they can finish it up, send it to Nintendo, get it approved, and get a release date before the end of the month. It just doesn’t seem like it’d happen!
It all sounds like technical mumbo jumbo at first– after all, why should you care about the refresh rate of a console?– but when you watch the following video you should notice a difference between the left and right images:
It’s not terribly striking, is it? I didn’t think so either, but the one on the right is using a visual refresh rate of 50Hz (standard for older PAL releases) as opposed to the NTSC standard of 60Hz. What does this mean? It means, essentially, that the European version literally runs slower (visuals and music included) than the other versions of the game because their televisions used to only refresh at a rate of 50 times per second. You notice in the video that the NTSC player gets much farther much faster than the PAL player– that’s due to the PAL version’s slowdown.
It also apparently makes the image slightly blurrier and more compressed looking… apparently. Someone should capture it in full HD so I can decide whether that is worth getting up in arms about or not!
The following Rock Band Music Store songs will be made available on January 29:
- Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”
- Aerosmith – “Sweet Emotion” – Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions available for 100 Wii Points
- Aerosmith – “Back in the Saddle”
- Aerosmith – “Dream On (Live)” – keyboard support, Pro Guitar and Pro Bass expansions available for 100 Wii Points
- Aerosmith – “Legendary Child”
- Aerosmith – “Lover Alot”
Each song can be purchased for 200 Wii Points.
Source: Harmonix PR
There are two main ways to collect energy for a Spirit Bomb in Dragon Ball Heroes: Ultimate Mission.
The first is by playing a roulette mini-game, which hands out small bursts of energy. If you land on the same image three times, you’ll gain a bonus.
There’s another way of building the bomb attack. You can obtain energy from others via a StreetPass training feature in Story Mode. When the Spirit Bomb is ready to go, it can be used for the next battle you partake in.
When Resident Evil: Revelations’ console edition launches in May, Japan will have access to two special bundles.
For 42,000 yen, fans can purchase a premium set. This includes a copy of Resident Evil: Revelations, an arranged soundtrack CD, BSAA card case, and a BSAA wristwatch made by US Agency. A deluxe case houses the watch, which features numbers that glow in the dark.
A second 39,900 yen watch set bundles together a copy of the game and US Agency watch. There will also be a limited edition containing the game, soundtrack CD, and BSAA card case for 7,490 yen and a standalone game for 4,990 yen ($55).
Dragon Quest X was the most-played game in Japan last year, according to a new survey from Dengeki. Of course, one publication doesn’t speak for the entire country, but it is interesting to see how the list results out.
Take a look at the full list below:
1. Dragon Quest X
2. Monster Hunter Portable 3rd
3. Fire Emblem Kakusei
4. Dark Souls
5. Bravely Default: Flying Fairy
6. Animal Crossing
7. Biohazard 6
8. Pokemon Black & White 2
9. Monster Hunter Tri G
10. Battlefield 3
11. Dragon Quest Monsters: Terry’s Wonderland 3D
12. Persona 4 The Golden
13. Rune Factory 4
14. Dragon’s Dogma
15. Skyrim
16. Gundam Battle Operations
17. Etrian Odyssey IV
18. God Eater Burst
19. COD:MW3
20. Phantasy Star Online 2
Nintendo TVii still hasn’t arrived in Europe. It’s still coming, though.
Speaking about the service during the European Nintendo Direct a couple of days ago, Satoru Iwata said the company is looking to make it available “as soon as possible”. Iwata also thanked Wii U owners for their patience.
As the wait for Nintendo TVii continues, the console’s Netflix app will be released to additional countries in Europe.
