Final Fantasy XIII Started as a PlayStation 2 Game
Written by from on January 31st, 2010 | 0 CommentsFinal Fantasy XIII has been a long time coming, and no doubt part of that is because it’s the first big PlayStation 3 game for Square Enix. But as it turns out, there’s another reason for the long wait: It started its development life on the PlayStation 2. “Final Fantasy XIII was originally meant to be a PS2 title, but we had to switch systems due to the arrival of the PS3,” said producer Yoshinori Kitase to the Dutch version of Official PlayStation Magazine (as translated by FinalFantasy-XIII.net, via VG247). “That cost us about one and a half years and was constantly a case of trial and error.” So what did this ill-fated PS2 version of Final Fantasy XIII look like? Thanks to a book covering all things FFXIII recently released in Japan called “Scenario and Battle Ultimania,” we can see for ourselves — it provided screenshots from what were apparently two different builds with wildly different graphical styles, and FinalFantasy-XIII.net again comes through with a few (very blurry) scans . Check out two shots below of the versions of FFXIII that were not to be.
COD4: Modern Warfare ‘Artsy by Joe’ Featurette
Written by from on January 31st, 2010 | 0 CommentsA very well produced collection of impressive frags by Joehands0me.
Game Room Won’t Feature Teen, Mature Rated Games
Written by from on January 31st, 2010 | 0 CommentsIf your fondest arcade memories are of playing gratuitously violent games without your parents knowing, then Microsoft’s Game Room probably won’t give you the sense of nostalgia you’re looking for. According to a Microsoft representative, there are no plans to carry Mature or even Teen rated titles in the feature. “Games available for download within ‘Game Room’ will carry either E or E10+ ratings,” this representative said to GamerBytes ( via Kotaku). “We currently have no plans to feature titles of those [higher Teen and Mature] ratings.” The reasoning behind this is where things get a little tricky, though. Originally, GamerBytes reported that Microsoft elected to get an ESRB rating for the Game Room feature itself, rather than have to rate every title that will launch within it. As such, they limited themselves to E and E10+ games only, and will have to continue to do so for every new game released for Game Room. The logic here is this will save Microsoft tons of money in ESRB rating fees since they supposedly wouldn’t have to rate future games for the service.
Dead to Rights: Retribution Releasing April 13
Written by from on January 31st, 2010 | 0 CommentsNamco Bandai has announced that Dead to Rights: Retribution , the reboot of sorts for their canine-friendly action game series last seen in 2005, will release on April 13 ( via Eurogamer). Retribution was first announced back in February of 2009, and really, hasn’t been seen very much since. We know the game will once again star the unfortunately Flintstones-esque named Jack Slate, a canine officer who fights crime with his loyal dog Shadow. Retribution will also feature deeper hand-to-hand combat, and entire levels where the player controls Shadow directly. We last got a look at Retribution way back in May of last year, so it’ll be interesting to see how this reboot shaped up. It’ll be released on both the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, and evidently there will be pre-order bonuses including a ” MadWorld -style” graphic filter called “noir mode,” and exclusive dog camouflage for Shadow.
Halo: Reach Won’t Use Natal Controls
Written by from on January 31st, 2010 | 0 CommentsWith the release of a batch of Halo: Reach screenshots came the usual amount of obsessive fan analysis, which in turn produced a lot of intriguing rumors — a lot of intriguing rumors that are turning out to be wrong. In Bungie’s latest weekly update , they engaged in a round of “Halo: Reach Mythbusters,” shooting down some of the bigger rumors floating around the net. And the biggest: that Halo: Reach would use Natal motion controls. As you can see in the screenshot above, the targeting reticule — typically in the middle of the screen for a first-person shooter — is mysteriously off to the left, leading many to wonder if it’s because you can aim the reticule independently using some form of motion controls. The answer is much less elaborate: “Truth be told, it’s just a good ole fashioned bug. Bug #15163 to be exact,” Bungie writes. “Halo: Reach is NOT a Natal title and is being developed expressly with the traditional Xbox 360 controller in mind.” This screenshot alone created a couple of other rumors, including that the HUD will in fact be yellow (evidently it won’t), and more intriguingly, that a portion of the screen was pixelated (area is circled in the image above) because Bungie was hiding something super top secret. Here we will quote Bungie’s explanation in full, because it’s the sort of awesomely jerk-ish behavior we really respect:
Freedom Force and X-Com Bundles $2 Each on Steam this Weekend
Written by from on January 30th, 2010 | 0 CommentsIn typically insane Steam weekend deal fashion, from now until the end of Sunday you can purchase a bundle of both Freedom Force games or a bundle of all X-Com games for an astoundingly low price of $2 even. Both bundles highlight classic Irrational Games franchises, with the Freedom Force bundle containing the original game and its sequel, Freedom Force vs. The Third Reich , and the X-Com bundle containing Apocalypse , Enforcer , Interceptor , Terror from the Deep , and UFO Defense . And again, each bundle can be yours for less than the price of the national average for a gallon of gas. And lastly, if you have ever, ever, ever so slightly deeper pockets, you can also get Tropico 3 for $13.60 this weekend as well. The deals end Monday, so get ‘em while you can.
U.K.’s ‘Ninty News’ Declares Zelda Wii for 2010
Written by from on January 30th, 2010 | 0 CommentsThere have been a lot of mixed signals from Nintendo about whether fans should expect The Legend of Zelda Wii this year: First Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime said the game was “not committed” to 2010, then Nintendo president Satoru Iwata said it was releasing in 2010 , and then Reggie said on their “Nintendo Week” promotional show that it “had to be perfect” — the implication being if that means missing 2010, so be it. And now, apparently, Zelda Wii is once again confirmed for 2010. On the latest episode of “Ninty News” (the British equivalent of “Nintendo Week”), they give Zelda a brief mention in a list of games “to get fired up about this year” ( via Joystiq). The other games mentioned include Super Mario Galaxy 2 , Metroid: Other M , and Epic Mickey . So how much confidence can we have in this latest confirmation? Well, “Ninty News” is an official Nintendo promotional show, so you’d like to think they wouldn’t get their official Nintendo information wrong. But until someone a little higher up in the organization confirms it themselves, excuse us if we don’t get our hopes up… again .
EA Sports has ‘Nothing at All’ for 3D Gaming
Written by from on January 30th, 2010 | 0 CommentsSony may be making a big push for 3D TVs — and, by extension, 3D gaming — but EA Sports president Peter Moore doesn’t yet seem convinced it’s the future — or not the immediate future, anyway. Speaking to GamesIndustry.biz ( via Eurogamer), Moore said that they currently have “nothing at all” in the works in terms of 3D gaming. “No, no, no. I have a point of view and that’s about as much as we have,” Moore said. “[From] Howard Stringer down, Sony has made it a strategic imperative for the company. And when Sony does something of that nature then we as a company need to sit up and take notice. But believe me there’s nothing going on right now that would say I’m ready to demo a 3D sports game. Nothing at all.” So what are Peter Moore and EA Sports almost ready to do? Demo what they have in store for Microsoft’s Project Natal and Sony’s motion controller. “We’re getting in sync with Sony’s motion controller and Project Natal with what Sony and Microsoft want to do with their publishing partners, so stay tuned for further information on that as we get closer to the date,” Moore said. “And as you can imagine, EA being EA we’re going to have our core intellectual property represented in some shape or fashion on those platforms.”
Wii Outsells NES, DS Outsells Game Boy
Written by from on January 30th, 2010 | 0 CommentsIn what may be the best symbolic example yet of Nintendo’s current phase of prosperity, president Satoru Iwata announced that lifetime sales of the Wii have surpassed those of the NES, and the DS has outsold the Game Boy — making them, respectively, Nintendo’s best-selling home hardware of all time and best-selling hardware period ( via Shacknews). “Needless to say, these are just two milestones of a larger journey in our efforts to reach the ultimate goal of bringing one home console for every household and one handheld for everyone,” Iwata said, possibly while stroking a white Persian cat while seated in a swivel-chair in the belly of a submerged nuclear submarine. The numbers break down to 67.45 million Wii units sold as of the end of December, compared to lifetime NES sales of 61.91 million units. The DS has sold 125.13 million units as of December, compared to lifetime Game Boy sales of 118.69 million.