Posts

Recently closed Ensemble Studios was working on aHaloMMO, according toGamasutra. Prototype UI and level screenshots have been uncovered from the project which lends much credence to rumors that circulated a while ago of Ensemble and Bungie working together on such a project. The gossip was flying around as early as 2006 when talk of aHaloMMO first surfaced. No official announcement has ever been made, but this new evidence seems to suggest that the game was in development throughout 2006 and 2007 before being quietly canceled last year....

European PSN members will be pleased to know that Sony is tossing them a rare bone today, with a bunch of cheaper downloads marked as “anniversary specials.” If you’ve been holding out forPain, your patience will be rewarded with a whole quid’s worth of reduction. you may almosttastethe saving. The sale starts today and runs through to April 23. It’s not often that European gamers get their hands on deals and reductions, so enjoy Sony’s almight favor while it lasts, folks....

Fallout 3’sfourth mini-expansion “Point Lookout” is available for download via Xbox LIVE Marketplace. The content is priced at 800 Microsoft Banana Dollars, not a bad deal for what appears to be a beefier than normal offering: “Point Lookout” will have its own Wasteland-type map, hopefully larger than Bethesda’s previous DLC offerings. In addition to having some exploration options, “Point Lookout” will look different than the nuclear ravaged norm. The downloadable content’s setting is a placed untouched by bombs....

In case you missedyesterday’s news, John Carmack recently announced that the current build ofRage, a game is still in production and won’t be coming out for at least another year, runs at only 20-30 fps on the PS3 while the PC and 360 versions are running at 60. Despite the fact that this game is IN DEVELOPMENT, people still flipped out. How much did they flip out? A number of forum threads were started on a variety of popular boards, and they all seemed to follow the same pattern — concern/disappointment, attacking id & Carmack, and then final degeneration into name calling and insults....

Crystal Chronicles…ah the images it brings up. A game that required four friends with four GBAs to make the game worthwhile.It was clearly fun for all. Seriously, if you had four friends together, you were not going to be playingCrystal Chronicleswith them. You’d be doing things much more worthwhile, likeGURPSor cosplay,as I know Nex would want. Now, the DS makes the game a lot more bearable with its new gameFinal Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Ring of Fates, because you should be able to play with your friends whilenotin the same room....

While we haven’t quite finished ourFinal Fantasy XIIIdemo write-up (but it’s coming!), I’m sure you’ve already heard that it’s great. But a demo is a demo, and Square Enix in particular is pretty good at only giving a limited view of what will be thefinalversion. You have to know coming in that you’re missing quite a bit of the total picture. Japanese fans that have already exhausted the possibilities of this demo are now wondering what will change in the retail version, so much so that a fan on 2ch has createda full list of changes and improvements, pulled from reliable Japanese gaming news sources, like Dengeki and Famitsu....

Just the other day I was thinking “Hey, someone should make anotherMortal Kombatmovie.” Good news — someone is! Bloody Disgustingis reporting that Warner Bros. Pictures is looking to reboot the series with Oren Uziel penning the script. Uziel is best known (and only known, really) for his penning an award-winning short murder mystery,Shimmer Lake. No other details on the film are being reported, but it should be noted that a thirdMortal Kombatfilm has been in development hell for years....

This new video showcasingDiablo III‘s followers — the kind that kill for you, not the ones on Twitter — has been making the rounds. you may equip them with items, and even have them take on most of the damage while you remain a safe distance away, if you so choose. I like the looks of the Templar, myself; seems like he could take a healthy number of claws to the face....

First thing this morning, I’m looking at the title of this press release and trying to figure out why I know the name – Sarah Vonderhaar. The release tells me that the “up-and-coming pop star” and her music will be included in the closed beta trial for MTV Games’ groundbreakingRock Band Network. So at the very least, I know she’s a musician, or at least that’s what her management is leading us to believe....

Not to call anyone out…but I’m calling someone out. In an earlier story about Forza 3’s soundtrack,someone(don’t hate me!) said of the game: Isn’t this that racing game that was extremely over hyped and no one bought it? No. That’s wrong. You must be thinking of some other high-profile racing game.Forza Motorsport 3, the racing gamewe gave our Editor’s Choice awardto, is doing just fine. In fact, better than fine....

Hot out of the oven, here’s a bunch ofCounter-Stike: Global Offensivescreenshots, courtesy of the game’sSteam page. There are pictures of terrorists and guns! Terroristsandguns! As you’re able to see, the game is certainly not looking to challengeBattlefield 3in the graphics department, but it absolutely doesn’t need to. As shown in ourhands-on videoandwritten preview, the game has something else going on … the fact that it’s friggin’Counter-Strike.

I’m ecstatic that we’ve been getting these great digital distribution games lately, but the lack of online functionality is disheartening. Of course, I’m referring toScott Pilgrim vs. the World: The Game, Shank, andLara Croft and the Guardian of Light, although it should be noted the latter will have online co-op patched in next month. You could throw out the “it probably wouldn’t work well anyway so why bother?” argument, sure....

Knights Contractis the upcoming Namco Bandai action hack-and-slash. The game, which is about 60% done now, is set in medieval Germany during the witch hunt era.Knights Contract— not “Knight’sContract” — tells the story of the executioner Heinrich who gets trapped under an immortality spell by the resurrected witch Gretchen, one of Heinrich’s victims. Heinrich’s immortality means that he cannot die from direct damage. Gretchen can, however, so your health bar is Gretchen’s while you control Heinrich, leading to some interesting gameplay mechanics....