Joystiq

The Best of Big Download: November 2 - 8

by Joystiq Staff { 6 hours ago }

The first full week of November 2009 kept us at Big Download on our toes with a ton of news, downloads, and special features. As usual, we take some time to smell the roses and look back at the past week. Please, won't you join us?

Exclusive features

Unreal Development Kit: We were all over the release of Epic Games' free version of Unreal Engine 3 with a feature on the UDK itself and interviews with the teams behind the first two free UDK games; Whizzle and The Ball.
Reviews: We give our final verdicts for Borderlands, Torchlight, AI War: Fleet Command and Shattered Horizon
Interviews: We had interviews with the CEO of the gaming PC maker Maingear and the lead designer behind Shattered Horizon.
Serious Sam HD Preview: We go hands-on with a near final version of Croteam's FPS remake.
Mac Monday: Our look at Mac-based games checks out two titles: Trapped: The Abduction and Harvest: Massive Encounter.
Boot Disk: Our look at retro games checks out the classic space strategy title Master of Orion II.
Big Ideas: Our regular look at game themes examines what people's perceptions are on beauty in a game.
All You Need To Know: Our 411 feature gives you everything you need to know about Blizzard's upcoming Diablo III.
Playing For Free: Our weekly look at online free-to-play games has our opinion on CrimeCraft which recently turned into a free-to-play game.
Freeware Friday: Don't turn out the lights. This week's column on free PC games checks out the super-spooky Au Sable.
Contest: You still have some time to win one of three Steam download codes for Shattered Horizon.

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Japanese hardware sales, Oct. 26 - Nov. 1: Away we Go edition

by Griffin McElroy { 8 hours ago }

It was almost one year ago to the day when we last added a participant to the Japanese sales charts, leading to a mathematical anomaly which 'sploded our living quarters. Luckily, we learned from our mistakes, and have remembered not to add today's newcomer to our Excel spreadsheet, preserving the integrity of our apartment and, more importantly, the space-time continuum.

Not that we require number-crunching software to accurately place the PSP Go into our weekly line-up. The system's one-day sales of 29,109 garnered it a somewhat disappointing fourth-place finish -- while simultaneously, the sales totals of every other console (save for the DSi) increased, reversing a recent downward trend for the region. Our theory on why this occurred is simple: Upon seeing the digital distribution-based future our world has in store, Japanese gamers began to hoard the tangible media-reading platforms, which will undoubtedly become priceless relics in the coming years.

Also, an action game featuring an attractive, gun-toting witch whose clothes frequently disappear was released. That might have contributed to the sales surge. Like, a little.

- DSi: 37,517

4,682 (11.10%)
- PS3: 36,061

6,084 (20.30%)
- PSP: 34,911

2,046 (6.23%)
- PSP Go: 29,109 (New Entry!)
- Wii: 28,888

2,971 (11.46%)
- DS Lite: 6,902

352 (5.37%)
- Xbox 360: 6,047

1,577 (35.28%)
- PS2: 1,966

15 (0.77%)

[Source: Media Create]

See: The attractive archives

Final Fantasy XIII announcement possibly due on Nov. 13

by Griffin McElroy { 10 hours ago }

"A Henchmen Inventor Tent Unto."

Before reading on, why not try to solve that puzzle for yourself? It's an anagram, which means you can mess the letters about to spell a secret message. Here's a hint: It was posted by Square Enix as a tease for Final Fantasy XIII, meaning it probably has something to do with that game. What's that? "A Chevron Non-nineteenth Mutt?" We suppose that's a pretty good guess, but unfortunately, it's the wrongest thing ever. A Final Fan-site recently had better luck uncovering the message's true meaning: "Announcement Nov Thirteenth."

The nature of this "announcement" is still up in the air, though our money's on an official North American release date for the super-anticipated RPG. Though, considering the speed at which the series is growing now, we wouldn't be surprised if Squeenix went ahead and dropped the Final Fantasy XV bomb on us.

EA Sports MMA gameplay footage revealed during Strikeforce match

by Griffin McElroy { 12 hours ago }

Man, we have got to get into watching Mixed Martial Arts. Not only do the sport's leagues have like, the coolest names ever, but the televised bouts also occasionally contain sneak peeks into upcoming video games. For instance, on last night's Strikeforce (so, so cool) match, the first-ever gameplay footage from EA Sports MMA was revealed. You can find it posted just after the jump.

How does it look? We have no idea. There's plenty of punching and kicking, sure, and one might say these two techniques are used intermittently -- or rather, that they are mixed. Therefore, our initial, amateur analysis of the video concludes that it reeks of authenticity.

[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]

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Nintendo 'hasn't committed' to new Zelda for Wii in 2010

by Griffin McElroy { 14 hours ago }

We all know that home console Zelda games take longer to develop than most small, fledgling nations -- still, we'd secretly hoped that Nintendo would pull a hat trick next year, releasing new Wii installments in the Metroid, Mario and the aforementioned Triforce-centric series. Sadly, a recent quote from Reggie Fils-Aime has made us doubtful that this scenario will be realized -- speaking on GameTrailers TV, Fils-Aime explained that Nintendo hasn't "committed to Zelda for 2010."

So, feel free to keep that hope in your heart that you'll be Ganon-thwarting once more within the next 365 days -- but don't get too upset if it doesn't happen. Much like a college-aged Lothario, Nintendo's remaining non-committal. You might say the company's as free as a bird, darling -- and this bird, you cannot change.

Xbox 360 port of 3D Dot Game Heroes 'possible'

by David Hinkle { 16 hours ago }

If you Xbox 360 owners have been reading posts about 3D Dot Game Heroes and anticipating its localization with green, envy-filled eyes, you'll be pleased to learn that there's a tiny chance the game could be spinning inside your console sometime in the future.

My Game News Flash recently stopped by Silicon Studios to chat up producer Hiroyuki Misawa, who offered that a port is "possible," but that it's really "up to From [Software]." He added, "We're a developer, so if there's a call to make it, I believe we can do it." Hardly confirmation that a port is in the works, but should that be a future move for From Software, Silicon Studios sounds like it's willing.

Gallery: 3D Dot Game Heroes (PS3)

[Via andriasang]

Select GameStops in NY, OH and PA selling Modern Warfare 2 already [Update: Activision responds]

by Griffin McElroy { 18 hours ago }

Update: Activision shot us an email to point out that "Activision has not given any retailer permission to sell Modern Warfare 2 prior to the Nov. 10 street date. The company fully supports the Nov.10 street date." It seems that a whole mess of folks are breaking street date and selling the game early. If you snagged a copy already, enjoy!

Poor, poor GameStop. As the gaming public's anticipation for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 approached critical mass, they faltered in their loyalty, and took their business to small "mom and pop" game retailers who had broken the game's street date. Fortunately for the retail juggernaut, Activision showed compassion for its plight, and agreed to let certain GameStops in a few Northeast states start selling the game before Tuesday in order to help combat these vicious local businesses.

We've been receiving tips all morning from folks living in New York and Pennsylvania (and Kotaku reports Ohio as well) stating that they were able to find the game on sale at their local GameStop. If you live in one of those Northeastern states, you might want to go ahead and call your local 'Stop to see if it's one of the stores which was granted special permission. If it is, then you can go straight to hell, you lucky jerk.

Weekly Webcomic Wrapup is preparing to enter the fray

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

Camelbak hydration pack? Check. Bear mace? Check. Economy-sized package of adult diapers? Check. No, we're not planning an excursion into the Alaskan wilderness -- we're preparing to wade into the tumultuous warzone known as the holiday shopping season. It's a six-week-long test of will and endurance, punctuated by intense capitalistic bloodbaths such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Fuschia Wednesday. Oh, man, you don't know about Fuschia Wednesday? We'd tell you all about it, but we'd hate to add to the competition. Fine, we'll give you a hint: Pottery Barn. Oh, no! We've said too much!

As we attempt to figure out how to finance these euphoria-inducing shopping sprees, check out our seven favorite gaming-related webcomics of this past week, which we've posted below. You can vote for your favorite in the poll after the jump, then tell us what strips we might have missed out on in the comments section!

The Price of Loyalty (Penny Arcade)
The Bomb (Digital Unrest)
Poke Graph (The Ninja Ken)
Powers of Ten (2P Start)
Stealth (Brawl in the Family)
Short Fuse (Monday Night Crew)
Stained (Dipswitch)

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Left 4 Dead 2 pre-loading now available through Steam

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

It was bad enough when Valve enabled pre-loading of the Left 4 Dead 2 demo, forcing potential zombicidal maniacs to stare at the game they have and yet don't for an entire madness-inspiring weekend. Now, the developer has begun allowing pre-loading of the full version of Left 4 Dead 2 through Steam. If you've pre-purchased the game through Valve's digital distribution platform (which still nets you a 10 percent discount off the price of the title), you can now put it on your computer, and just ... let it sit there until it finally unlocks on November 17.

In the immortal words of Tom Petty, the waiting truly is the hardest part. Except for the zombie apocalypse. We suppose that part is pretty difficult as well.

[Via Big Download]

Dragon Age: Origins gets patched, tool set released

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

The still-fresh PC version of Dragon Age: Origins recently got a huge booster shot in two delicious flavors. The first came in the form of Patch v1.01a, which, in addition to fixing a few character corruption issues and display glitches, makes the game easier as a whole. The second, much beefier improvement came with the release of the Dragon Age: Origins tool set, which allows users to create their own adventures using the game's extremely adaptable (and powerful!) engine.

Check out the tool set's capabilities in the trailer posted above. To acquire these modding tools -- or the difficulty-reducing patch -- check out the links below.

Download Dragon Age: Origins v1.01a Patch (13 MB)
Download the Dragon Age: Origins Toolset (472 MB)
Download the EclipseRay Lightmapper Source Code (6 MB)

Tales of Vesperia voice actor says game is coming to Wii

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

Lock the doors and board up the windows, folks. Considering the seismic backlash to the announcement that the (formerly) 360-exclusive Tales of Vesperia would be coming to the PS3, we fear for what might happen when this story gets out. Japanese voice actor Rikiya Koyama, who provided the voice for Vesperia's pseudo-antagonist Duke, recently mentioned on his blog that, "Tales of Vesperia is coming out on one thing after another: Xbox 360, then PS3, and now upcoming, goes on sale even on the Wii."

While this may deeply excite RPG-loving Wii owners, keep in mind that it's entirely possible Koyama meant to say Tales of Graces, the franchise's next installment which is, in fact, coming to the Wii. Just think about that before you start snapping the pieces of your already-snapped 360 Vesperia disc in protest. Those edges can get pretty sharp.

[Via Kotaku]

Trials developer put its own game on torrent sites for marketing

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

We all know the timeless adage: "If you can't beat them, then think of cleverer ways to entice them, then break down their spirits, showing them the error of their ways, which will ultimately lead to you beating them." Developer RedLynx employed this strategy when trying to make a foothold in the piracy-riddled PC gaming market when it released its motorbike platformer, Trials, last year. However, the method of this "release" were unconventional, to say the least: The studio actually beat PC pirates to the punch, and uploaded its own game to a number of popular torrent sites.

The version the developer distributed was missing one key feature, however: Leaderboard support. According to RedLynx CEO Tero Virtala, who spoke on the bizarre distribution model at the Develop Liverpool conference, "leaderboards are the soul of the game." He hoped that pirates would fall in love with the leaderboard-less version of the game, then purchase the full version so they could compete with their law-abiding friends.

Virtala admitted that he has no way of knowing how successful that strategy was, but we applaud the studio's unbridled chutzpah nonetheless.

iPhone dev accused of harvesting player phone numbers

by Justin McElroy { 1 day ago }

As if, in this world of economic hardship and international strife, you need another thing to worry about. iPhone developer Storm8 has been accused of stealing the phone numbers of players that downloaded its apps like Vampires Live and Zombies Live in a suit filed in San Francisco on behalf of Lynnwood, WA resident Michael Turner.

The company acknowledged the number harvesting in August, calling it a "bug," though the suit claims only specific code could have recorded and transmitted the numbers. So ... apparently that's a thing that happens. Have a great Saturday!

Dhani Harrison: Rock Band 3 will make you better at actual rocking

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

In a recent interview with the Chicago Tribune, Dhani Harrison, The Beatles: Rock Band contributor (and son of the late, great George Harrison), spoke about his involvement in future iterations of the popular rhythm franchise. "I'm working on Rock Band 3 and making the controllers more real so people can actually learn how to play music while playing the game," Harrison explained toward the end of the interview. "Give me a couple years, it's going to happen."

We wish Harrison and the entire Harmonix crew the best of luck in this endeavor, if only so they can finally stymie the infinitely deplorable "why don't you learn how to play a real instrument" contingency. Man, we hate those guys.

Mass Effect price dropped to $10 on Steam this weekend

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

Were you one of the seven people on the planet who managed to resist Mass Effect's "possible alien nudity" siren call? Prepare for your steely resolve to buckle: The game's only $9.99 this weekend on Steam. Despite any qualms we may have had with the game's completely broken inventory system, or the frequent appearance of three-toed sloth-powered elevators, we find it hard not to suggest dropping a Hammy to add this to your collection.

It might even help you decide whether you want to drop six Hammies on the upcoming sequel. Or a Grant and a Hammy, we guess, though that sounds like Denny's menu item. (Great, now we want some Denny's. Thanks for nothing, Valve!)