Disney Wants Epic Mickey to Reach "Nintendo Levels" of Quality
Written by from on February 28th, 2010 | 0 CommentsWhy do Nintendo games, on average, sell so much better than third-party games on the Wii? There are probably a number of ways to answer that question, but according to Disney Interactive Studios executive VP and general manager Graham Hopper, it’s about giving games the time and care they need to reach the “Nintendo level” of quality — and they intend to do so with Epic Mickey . “I think we’ve tried to learn from the things Nintendo does well,” Hopper said in an interview with Gamasutra. “One of the things that Nintendo does on their own platforms is they give their projects the time and appropriate resources to be successful, and they iterate until they get there. And I think we’re doing the same with Epic Mickey, giving it the time and resources to be successful.” That, Hopper hopes, will lead to better success than many third parties find on Wii. “I’ll tell you that I don’t think all other third parties are approaching the Wii in the same way. If there’s a third-party game that I think has potential to be as successful on the Wii to Nintendo levels, I’d like to think it’s Disney Epic Mickey. We’re following the same playbook.”
Final Fantasy XIV Beta Begins March 11
Written by from on February 28th, 2010 | 0 CommentsSquare Enix’s “VanaFest 2010″ is taking place today (where they’ve already announced three new add-ons for Final Fantasy XI ), and while its name suggests it’s all about celebrating their current MMO, they still slipped some exciting Final Fantasy XIV news in as well: They’ve announced the beta test will begin on March 11. It’ll be a closed beta test available to only a small number of invitees at first (Square Enix took applications back in December), but the beta will naturally expand over time. “Those who were not selected in this drawing, fear not, for there will be other opportunities to come,” said Square Enix in the announcement ( via Joystiq). The beta will also only be on the PC at first. And even if you don’t get into the beta later on, you won’t have to wait too much longer to get your hands on Final Fantasy XIV — it’s set for release later this year.
Square Enix Announces Three New Add-On Scenarios for FFXI
Written by from on February 28th, 2010 | 0 CommentsSquare Enix may already be hard at work on their next massively multiplayer RPG, Final Fantasy XIV , but their current MMO Final Fantasy XI is still alive and kicking. And today, Square Enix announced three new battle scenario add-ons that’ll all release throughout 2010. The first add-on will be Vision of Abyssea, which is set to launch in early summer. This will be followed by Scars of Abyssea and Heroes of Abyssea (Abyssea will be kind of important, in case you didn’t pick up on that) later this year. Each scenario add-on will bring “new stages for epic combat, providing high-level players with new equipment to collect and challenging monsters to battle.” You know, like every other add-on ever released for any other MMO in existence. Each new scenario will run you $9.99, and will be available for purchase on the PlayOnline Viewer. The previous FFXI expansion packs Rise of the Zilart and Wings of the Goddess will both be required to play them.
Report Shows Taliban Militants Used PlayStation Controller for Detonator
Written by from on February 28th, 2010 | 0 CommentsSony’s PlayStation 3 marketing has touted that their system “only does everything,” but here’s one thing no one would ever want to a see PlayStation used for: detonator for an improvised explosive device. During a Fox News report (yes, Fox News, but bear with us) of a raid of a home suspected of stocking bomb-making materials in Afghanistan, a PlayStation controller was found that one soldier explained would have been used to detonate an explosive. “Something as simple as what a soldier may’ve thrown out because their PlayStation was broken can be used as an initiator device,” the unidentified soldier says while holding the controller (which, to be specific, appears to be an original PS1 controller since it lacks analog sticks). In truth, it’s not very surprising to see a videogame controller could be reconfigured into a detonator — it’s been well documented that otherwise innocuous electronics (like cell phones) are often used by enemy militants and insurgents for detonating IEDs in Iraq and Afghanistan. But it certainly doesn’t make it any less disconcerting to see something as harmless as a PlayStation controller turned into a weapon.
Kojima says Peace Walker is a "Test" for MGS Series
Written by from on February 27th, 2010 | 0 CommentsMetal Gear Solid: Peace Walker is instituting a few intriguing new ideas for the MGS series, and according to recent tweets from Hideo Kojima (yes, Hideo Kojima is tweeting now), they may be the precursors to what could eventually be another new Metal Gear Solid game on a different platform. “It’s not that PSP is the main platform for the future MGS series,” Kojima wrote ( via Andriasang). “Peace Walker is a test to see what type of expansions are there if MGS is brought to a portable. We’re not just rising vertically with development on next generation systems, but also horizontally, trying to expand gameplay.” So no, Kojima never out-and-out says it, but the implication is clearly that new ideas in Peace Walker may evolve into a new MGS possibly on current-gen hardware (or maybe they’ll end up in Metal Gear Solid: Rising , which we still no so very little about?). Among Peace Walker’s more intriguing new features is four-player co-op, where gamers can give each other various kinds of support by “synching” their characters together (check out our last preview for a more in-depth explanation).
Heavy Rain Film Rights Optioned by New Line Years Ago
Written by from on February 27th, 2010 | 0 CommentsWhile some Hollywood film studios busy themselves with adaptations of games that no rational person would tell you have any Earthly business being adapted into a movie, it turns out that New Line Productions (now a division of Warner Bros.) optioned the rights to one game that makes a lot more sense: Heavy Rain . Superannuation picked up on the filing for the option rights, but an intriguing fact to note is this filing was made back in 2006 and then, apparently, re-filed again in 2007 — so New Line has been the owner of adaptation rights to Heavy Rain for some years now. Of course, this doesn’t mean they’ll ever actually exercise their option on the property, so this is far from a confirmation that a Heavy Rain film adaptation would ever be made. But the game has been met with strong critical praise, and if sales prove to be strong as well, it could certainly up the likelihood.
Blizzard Still Targeting StarCraft 2 for First Half of 2010
Written by from on February 27th, 2010 | 0 CommentsDuring the latest episode of their “BlizzCast” podcast, StarCraft 2 producer Chris Sigaty revealed some good news for long-patient StarCraft fans: It’s still Blizzard’s intention to release StarCraft 2 in the first half of 2010…even if that means shortening the beta more than they originally planned. “We were targeting three to five months for the beta, we’re really at a three month period of time for the beta at this point. We are still targeting the first half of this year… [for release],” Sigaty said during the podcast ( via Shacknews). Their original time-span for the beta would have put the release of StarCraft 2 into the second half of the year at the earliest, but with three months (counting February, perhaps, as the first month), that would have it ending by around April, and leave May and June to institute any tweaks, balancing, or bug-fixing and have the game out on store shelves. StarCraft 2, if it’s even humanly possible to recall, was first announced way the hell back in 2007. But hold tight, folks — it looks like the wait is indeed almost over. Or if you had $300 to burn for a beta key , it could be over right now . Just sayin’.
NoA’s Dunaway Suggests Wii Zelda Releasing in 2010
Written by from on February 27th, 2010 | 0 CommentsIt’s coming out in 2010! Not necessarily ! Yes it totally is ! No, it so totally may not ! Nintendo has certainly played with the hopes of fans over the last few months about whether their new Wii Zelda would actually release this year, and now Nintendo of America executive vice president Cammie Dunaway is the latest to very nearly confirm it will. Speaking to Wired during the Nintendo Media Summit earlier this week, Dunaway seemed to suggest Zelda is indeed scheduled for release this year while touting Nintendo’s strong lineup for 2010. “If you compare the first half of 2010 with the first half of 2009, it’s night and day,” Dunaway said. “And from some of the things that [Nintendo president Satoru] Iwata has talked about, and that we will talk about at E3, like Zelda, you know that we’re going to have a good back half of the year, as well.” Moreover, when Wired’s Chris Kohler — who evidently wagered Mario, Metroid, and Zelda would not all release in the same year — jokingly asked if he would owe Dunaway “a steak dinner” soon, her response was, “I think you do.”
Dead or Alive Paradise Isn’t "Softcore Porn," Director Says
Written by from on February 27th, 2010 | 0 CommentsDead or Alive: Paradise is not softcore pornography or degrading to women, director Yoshinori Ueda says, responding to criticism of the upcoming PSP game. Instead, it’s all about “beautiful women.” “From our perspective, we’re trying to make beautiful women, that has been the focus – we want our characters to be beautiful. The DOA characters are strong and that they look the way they do is based on trying to bring out the beauty of women,” Ueda told Eurogamer . “We’re certainly not trying to degrade women. They have beautiful bodies. We’re trying to show off the beauty of their bodies but we’re not trying to be degrading about it – we’re trying to show that they are beautiful characters.”
First NCAA Football 11 Details Emerge
Written by from on February 27th, 2010 | 0 CommentsThe first details for NCAA Football 11 have emerged, along with an early screenshot. Seems like EA Sports is focusing on graphics this time around, because many of those details are cosmetic. ESPN has the game’s first image, which you can see above. New visual details include dynamic helmet numbers, different sleeve lengths, hand warmers, knee braces and on-field officials who will jump out of the way of the action. In addition, if a team switches conferences, the logo on the field will change. Small details, to be sure, but every little bit helps when it comes to presentation. As for the gameplay, EA has tweaked the gang tackling and reintroduced formation substitutions.