“As I’ve stated before, I know the guys at HV quite well. They developed Harvey Birdman for us (they have excellent writers over there in addition to some solid tech chops). Kerry even offered me my first ‘real’ job in the games industry back in like 1992 or something (I declined in the end and went into magazines and websites instead). All hail The Conduit. They’ve done some nice work…The Conduit has really solid tech and art direction. Beyond that, we don’t know much right now. We’ll see what the reviews and fans say in a few months. What people seem to be reacting positively to is the realistic art direction a la Halo/Resistance/etc. given that it’s has rarely been attempted on Wii. If that’s working for them, fantastic. If you’re asking whether Spyborgs is going to go for a realistic art style, the answer is “no”. It will continue to have a stylized look… intentionally so. Okami, Zack & Wiki, Super Mario Galaxy, Madworld, De Blob, etc. are all beautiful games, without being realistic in their approach. Hopefully Spyborgs can approach the work the team has done on prior Ratchet & Clank titles, which also echewed the need for a realistic art direction to provide beautiful experiences.” – Christian Svensson, Corporate Officer/VP of Strategic Planning & Business Development
I actually thought that a lot of fans of The Conduit preferred the technical achievements over the art direction in the game. The art isn’t terrible, but most seem to say that compared to Metroid Prime 3, the art isn’t as impressive.
A video game industry analyst is predicting that Fatal Frame IV will release in North America. However, the analyst also believes that the game will come to North America with a name change. It does seem rather silly to change the name of a new entry in an established game series, but the publisher could be looking to start fresh.
WARNER BROS. INTERACTIVE ENTERTAINMENT AND TT GAMES ANNOUNCE LEGO® BATTLES
Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment to Publish New LEGO Game for Nintendo DSTM
London – Feb 4. 2009 – Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment and TT Games are teaming up with The LEGO Group to deliver LEGO® Battles for Nintendo DS™, a videogame based on classic play scenarios in evergreen themes that include LEGO Castle, LEGO Pirates and LEGO Space. Produced by TT Games, developed by Hellbent Games and published by Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment, LEGO® Battles pulls three LEGO themes together to create a unique extension of the LEGO build-and-play experience that stays true to the customization and humor that are the foundation of LEGO videogames. The game is scheduled to be available in the United Kingdom this summer.
LEGO® Battles offers a new kind of “build and battle” LEGO gameplay. Through six distinct story lines, players build their own LEGO bases and battle teams as they engage in over 70 different levels, mixing and matching units to create the ultimate customized LEGO squad. These unique LEGO battles teams see pirate swordsmen fighting side-by-side with wizards and aliens; dragons battling ninjas; and pirate ships launching broadsides against spacecraft and knights! Players can also challenge friends on the battlefield in multiplayer mode through wireless DS multi-card play.
Gammick Entertainment today announced the website for the game Elite Forces: Unit 77 that will be released exclusively on Nintendo DS™. At http://eliteforces.deepsilver.com you can find product information, screenshots and a trailer.
In Elite Forces: Unit 77 a series of mysterious disappearances of high profile personalities from the worlds of science, industry and entertainment reveal a horrific global terrorist threat. With the clock running and the lives of the hostages and millions of others in dan-ger, the international community’s last hope lies with an extremely covert and highly specialized military team: Unit 77. Made up four professionals who are the best in the world at what they do, Unit 77 must combine skills to stop massive world destruction by the hands of terrorists.
Silver (100k~200k units)
[PS2] PRO EVOLUTION SOCCER 2009
[PS3] HAZE
[360] LEFT 4 DEAD
[360] MERCENARIES 2: WORLD IN FLAMES
[360] PRINCE OF PERSIA
[WII] SONIC UNLEASHED
[WII] PDC WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP DARTS 08
[PC] S.T.A.L.K.E.R. SHADOW OF CHERNOBYL
[PC] MEDAL OF HONOR: ALLIED ASSAULT WARCHESTA
[PC] SCOOBY-DOO 2: MONSTERS UNLEASHED
[PC] COMMAND & CONQUER: THE FIRST DECADE
[360] RACE DRIVER: GRID
[NDS] CRASH OF THE TITANS
[NDS] MORE TOUCHMASTER
[PS3] PRINCE OF PERSIA
[PS3] VIRTUA TENNIS 3
[PS3] RACE DRIVER: GRID
[WII] MORE GAME PARTY
[PS3] MIRROR’S EDGE
[PS3] MIDNIGHT CLUB: LOS ANGELES
[PS3] GUITAR HERO: WORLD TOUR
[360] BROTHERS IN ARMS: HELL’S HIGHWAY
[PS3] WWE SMACKDOWN VS RAW 2009
Gold (200k~300k units)
[PS3] NEED FOR SPEED: UNDERCOVER
[360] SAINTS ROW 2
[PSP] TEKKEN: DARK RESURRECTION
[WII] LINK’S CROSSBOW TRAINING
[WII] COOKING MAMA
[PS3] RESISTANCE 2
Platinum (300k~600k units)
[PS3] LITTLEBIGPLANET
[WII] GUITAR HERO III: LEGENDS OF ROCK
[360] FALLOUT 3
[360] LEGO INDIANA JONES: THE ORIGINAL ADVENTURES
[PC] FOOTBALL MANAGER 2009
[NDS] COOKING MAMA 2
[WII] GAME PARTY
Double Platinum (600k~1M units)
[360] FIFA 09
[360] GEARS OF WAR 2
Also, machine now self-aware, intends to take over world
IRVINE, CALIFORNIA – FEBRUARY 3, 2009 – Atlus U.S.A., Inc. today announced that its central supercomputer, tasked with planning and scheduling upcoming Atlus titles, recently suffered a critical hardware failure, rendering the planned launch dates for a small handful of Atlus games obsolete. As technicians scrambled to repair the mainframe, hoping to minimize fallout, they discovered that the machine had become self-aware and was plotting to take over the world.
“Unfortunately, a few Atlus titles will have to be slightly rescheduled as to their date of release, but the changes will be minimal. Also, every working day for us passes in constant fear, terror, and paranoia with the knowledge that our primary computer is now plotting to destroy us,” commented an Atlus engineer on the subject of release date changes and the now-sentient supercomputer with a hunger for manflesh.
Yesterday, LucasArts revealed in the Indiana Jones and the Staff of Kings press release that the Fate of Atlantis would be included in the game. However, many assumed that the bonus would be included in every version of the game. A publicist has clarified the situation and it looks as though the assumptions were incorrect. Indiana Jones and the Fate of Atlantis will be exclusive to the Wii.
Hoffman Estates, IL – February 03, 2009 – High Voltage Software, Inc. today unveiled its new Web site, located at www.high-voltage.com. The site, which features a brand new interface and content, lets users find information about current HVS titles, upcoming games, job opportunities, and much more.
To celebrate the company’s 16th year of game development, the Web site will feature a T-shirt giveaway contest, with 16 new winners announced each month. There will also be one giveaway of a Nintendo Wii console.
The latest Famitsu review scores are as follows:
Street Fighter IV (PS3/Xbox 360, Capcom): 9 / 8 / 8 / 9 – (34/40)
Mario & Luigi RPG 3!!! (NDS, Nintendo): 9 / 9 / 8 / 9 – (35/40)
Another Code:R – Kioku no Tobira (Wii, Nintendo): 7 / 7 / 7 / 7 – (28/40)
Tantei Jinguuji Saburo DS: Fuserareta Shinjitsu (NDS, Arc System Works): 7 / 7 / 7 / 6 – (27/40)
Hidamari Sketch: Doko Demo Sugoroku x 365 (NDS, Idea Factory): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 – (24/40)
Saka no Gabaibaa-Chan (NDS, TryFirst): 6 / 6 / 5 / 5 – (22/40)
Skate It (Wii, EA): 6 / 6 / 6 / 6 – (24/40)
Skate 2 (PS3/Xbox 360, EA): 8 / 8 / 8 / 8 – (32/40)
