It’s no surprise that Activision is releasing sequals left and right to their hit titles. The publisher revealed a slate of follow-ups coming this year at an Massive Inc. upfront attended and reported by MTV. An upfront is where publishers showcase their upcoming lineup to advertisers and are a new practice for games. Upfronts occur every year for TV and movies.
This event is being held in downtown Manhattan to get advertisers pumped to buy more ads in games. Massive is a Microsoft-owned firm that did the Barack Obama ad in Burnout Paradise.
At the meeting, Activision Blizzard showcased new games that would make sense for in-game ads, including the vaguely titled Guitar Hero 5, which included a screen shot of gameplay with a Burger King ad to the right of the note highway.
The publisher confirmed rumors that the next addition to Tony Hawk’s skateboarding franchise will be different this year. “You’re not going to be playing this game with a controller in your hands,” said the company. The new “Tony Hawk” arrives on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii and DS in October.
Additionally, Activision Blizzard acknowledged the Call of Duty series will move forward yet again with Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 coming this fall. No details on the game were released.
If Nintendo offers you something “customized,” run. Run very far away.
Because see, Nintendo customized the content of specific copies of Animal Crossing: Wild World for members of the gaming press. In doing so, Nintendo told the journalists, perhaps unintentionally, exactly what they thought about them.
Spoiler alert: All the copies of the game sent to journalists contained a racial slur.
Stephen Totilo over at MTV Multiplayer first discovered the “extra content” when he encountered Baabra the Sheep and she very casually and lightheartedly referred to him as a…ummm…bad word. We can say “lightheartedly” because it was a variation on the slur, ending in an “a” instead of an “er.”
Nintendo’s Official Response:
Previously played copies of the 2005 DS game Animal Crossing: Wild World were sent to 14 members of the media to demonstrate the ability of players to transfer items to the new Animal Crossing: City Folk for Wii. We regret that an offensive phrase was included without our knowledge via a wireless function that allows user-generated catchphrases to spread virally from one game to the next. This version is limited to 14 copies created for media review purposes only and is not available at retailers. We sincerely apologize for the incident and are working with media who received the game cards to return them to Nintendo immediately.
It left several people thinking they’d had the wool pulled over their eyes and that Baabra the Sheep is a bit of a jerk.
Microsoft says Xbox 360 outsold PlayStation 3 by three to one over the past weekend.
Microsoft has issued a press release which states that the Xbox 360 outsold Sony’s PlayStation 3 three to one over the Black Friday holiday sales weekend. Xbox 360 sales were also apparently up 25 percent over 2007’s Black Friday sales weekend. Key titles also sold well, including the likes of Gears of War 2, Fable II and the newly-released karaoke game, Lips.
“We entered into the Black Friday sales period with cautious optimism, knowing that dollar for dollar, Xbox 360 offers more social entertainment value than any other console on the market,” said Don Mattrick, senior vice president of the Interactive Entertainment Business at Microsoft. “Record Black Friday sales in the U.S., coupled with our existing global install base of 25 million and an online community of more than 14 million Xbox LIVE members, have laid the groundwork for continued global sales momentum in 2009.”
Xbox 360 sales have also surged worldwide since the September price drop, outselling the PlayStation 3 week over week across Europe. Console sales in Europe are up as much as 400 percent, with sales nearly double year over year and reaching 7 million consoles sold this generation. It’s also likely that brand-new Xbox 360 hardware stock will use the “Jasper” architecture.
Nathan Drake is back with a whole new adventure which revolves around the 13th century explorer Marco Polo and his voyages. The January issue of GameInformer will be giving away new details about the Playstation 3 exclusive title Uncharted 2: Among Thieves.
The new sequal will add a free climbing mechanic and stealth gameplay. Players will be seeing all-new locations, characters and a focus on the game’s story.
Looks like Polyphony Digital’s car racing series willl arrive sooner than 2010 after all.
In a recent report from online-based Spanish newspaper El Financiero, SCEE vice-president James Armstrong was quoted as saying that he expects Gran Turismo 5 to hit in time for the holiday season next year.
There hasn’t been an official date announced, so don’t go marking your calendars yet.
The PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV, which releases next week on December 2nd, will bump the player count in multiplayer up to 32. The console versions were limited to 16 players online.
There is, however, talk that this increase in players will only be for certain modes including Team Deathmatch and GTA Race. The PC version is currently available for pre-loading on Valve’s Steam service.
Once a month we choose the game that made our month. For November it’s Left 4 Dead on Xbox 360 and PC. Valve’s addictive co-op action game play had our hearts pounding as we ran through the dark gunning down the undead with friends.
Set in a modern day survival-horror universe, L4D casts four “Survivors” in an epic struggle against hordes of swarming zombies and terrifying “Boss Infected” mutants. The team of four Survivors may be comprised of 1 to 4 human players, allowing for single player and multiplayer co-op games.
There are only four campaigns (movie like point A to B stories) but this game doesn’t get old! All thanks to the games “AI Director”, which places enemies and objects in different places everytime you play throught the map. You’ll never know exacly what is going to happen.
If you haven’t had a chance to pickup Left 4 Dead, we strongly recommend you give it a try.
Costumes are one of the most popular items in Media Molecule’s PS3 exlcusive LittleBigPlanet, so there’s no surprise that more are in the works.
According to Spanish website PSNow, Capcom will soon release a selection of Street Fighter wares. That means players will soon be able to dress up as fan favorite brawlers Ryu, Chun Li, Guile, and Zangief.
These new costumes have not been announced official, but the character renders from the picture above are enought proof.
If you are one of those gamers that gave up the extra $20 for a cooler looking case of Call of Duty: World at War, you’re in luck. It turns out the LE edition isn’t a waste of money after all! Well for COD at least.
Activision announced today that a double XP weekend will kick off next week for Xbox 360 and PC owners. The weekend point bash will start at noon (PST) on Friday.
Owners will have to register their LE copy to gain access to the “Officer’s Club”. For PC Limited Collector’s Edition owners, they can simply join any server during the Double XP week and be rewarded with twice the experience.
For those who haven’t activated their Limited Collector’s Edition, please read the FAQ here: http://www.callofduty.com/intel/174
This promotional Double XP week will end on 11:59a.m PST. on Friday, December 12th.
Grand Theft Auto IV, one of this year’s highest rated console titles, is now available for PC via digital download pre-order at Direct2Drive.com. D2D purchasers will also be able to download GTA Vice City immediately for free when they participate in the pre-order sale.
Set in the fictional Liberty City, Grand Theft Auto IV follows fresh-off-the-boat Niko Bellic, an Eastern European war vet. Hoping to secure his own slice of the American Dream and escape his past, Niko and his cousin Roman are soon dragged into a criminal underworld by a series of shysters, thieves and sociopaths. They discover that the American reality is very different from the dream in a city that worships money and status – it’s a haven for those who have it and a living nightmare for those who don’t.
Like other games in the series, Grand Theft Auto IV is composed of elements from driving games and third-person shooters, and features “open-world” gameplay that gives players more control over their playing experience.
GTA IV will be ready for live play on December 2 but is available for pre-order in the USA and Canada now at Direct2Drive.com.
