Joystiq

Virtual Console Monday: Super Turrican stands alone

by Kyle Orland { 1 year ago }

Keeping expectations in check is the key to having a wholly satisfying life, so we probably shouldn't have grown accustomed to the three-game cornucopia that once characterized Nintendo's weekly Virtual Console release schedule. Now that the standard has dropped to two-per-week and, occasionally (as today), one solitary game, we can't help but pine for the old days a bit. But it's our fault, really, for getting our nostalgia-fueled hopes up in the first place. This week's sole release is barely worth a bulleted list, but we'll use one anyway to describe:

Super Turrican (Super NES, 1 player 800 Wii Shop Points) - Developed by Factor 5 (of Rogue Squadron fame), the 1993 side-scrolling, run-and-gun sequel to 1990's Turrican has a decidedly old-school, Contra vibe to it. Those who want to get a feel for the gameplay without shelling out the Wii Shop Points should check out Hurrican, a more-than-satisfactory freeware clone.

Former Harmonix shareholders may receive $209 million from Viacom

by Alexander Sliwinski { 1 year ago }

Former Harmonix shareholders are looking to split a pot of $209 million courtesy of current owner MTV Games' parent company Viacom. A recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission states that because "financial results exceed specific contractual targets" that the former shareholders may receive a nice payday in the near future.

Rock Band may not be at Guitar Hero's level of sales yet, but its ninja operation of consistent DLC has paid off heavily (not only in sales, but in keeping gamer mindshare). Even at its initial high retail price, Rock Band has marched to a steady drumbeat and displayed staying power.

For those interested in crunching the numbers, Newsweek's Level Up looks at the devil ~~down in Georgia~~ in the details of this bonus.

Sid Meier practices diplomacy regarding EA/Take-Two deal

by Alexander Sliwinski { 1 year ago }

Newsweek's N'Gai Croal had a chance to eat filet mignon last week with Sid Meier and ask him a couple questions about the potential industry-altering EA buyout of Take-Two. Meier's company, Firaxis Games, currently has its titles published by Take-Two's 2K games, but he did work with EA almost ten years ago. Meier thinks as long as EA gives his company the creative freedom Take-Two did that everything should be fine.

Sid Meier fanboys will also recognize that if Meier goes back under the EA umbrella, Firaxis will have access to the Alpha Centauri IP which EA owns. Granted, Alpha Centauri was Brian Reynold's baby, with Meier's name on the cover, but a return to Planet and its diaspora would certainly be welcomed by sci-fi strategy fans. Although, Sins of a Solar Empire is doing a fine job currently.

SCEE rep talks PS3 firmware 2.4, in-game communication

by Justin McElroy { 1 year ago }

You have to love SCEE, they're always good for a great quote or, as is the case today, a delectable nugget of information. While Ray Maguire, chief of the UK division of Sony Computer Entertainment, was bragging on the PS3 to MCV, he said, "Our momentum will continue with the introduction of in-game communication in the summer, firmware update 2.4 and the strongest line-up of games through our third party partners and our own studios."

As much as we'd like to be relieved that it's finally on the way, summer still seems like quite a ways out. Honestly, is in-game communication really that difficult?

[Via PS3F]

Euro retailer Game expects greater profits thanks to 'buoyant' market

by Jason Dobson { 1 year ago }

Things continue to look rosy for UK-based mega-retailer Game Group, as the company today announced that it raised its profit expectations for the year from £73 ($145 million) to £74 million ($147 million). Says the financial gurus at Bloomberg, the chain has much thanks to lay at the feet of Nintendo and its platforms' appeal to "women and older customers" for the elevated expectations.

The group's like-for-like sales for the fifty weeks leading to January 12 were up around 43 percent while the company expects further growth of around 5 to 10 percent in the current year, driven by a "buoyant" video game market. Preliminary financial results are expected to drop on April 29, though given thin competition and what Game calls "a strong pipeline of innovative software," including such titles as Nintendo's Wii Fit and Mario Kart, as well as Rockstar's Grand Theft Auto IV, we expect those calling the shots for the retailer to remain swimming in the deep end of the money pool for a good while longer.

EGM interviews Hot Coffee modder after cooling

by Alexander Sliwinski { 1 year ago }

Turns out the April issue of EGM isn't a total joke, there's actually a nice follow-up with Patrick Wildenborg, the man who discovered and unlocked Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas' Hot Coffee. GamePolitics relays the info and provides links to scans of the article. Wildenborg, a 38-year-old software engineer from the land of the Dutch, confesses that despite the upheaval his little mod caused in the industry and his life he hasn't seen any long-term benefits from the situation.

Wildenborg is still proud of discovering the Hot Coffee code due to the research it took, but believes if it wasn't him, it would have been found by somebody else who knew what they were doing. He also doesn't blame Rockstar for its initial reaction of blaming modders for creating the code the company had actually left in the game, but thinks the company should have handled the situation differently from the start. Wildenborg is getting ready to explore the code of GTA IV when it releases, but doubts he'll find something like Hot Coffee again.

Amazon Japan sells 20GB PS3 for twice price of 40GB

by Justin McElroy { 1 year ago }

The discontinuation of the PS2-playing 20 and 60 GB models of the PS3 have made them quite the hot item in Japan, so much so that Amazon Japan is currently selling 20 GB systems for ?63,800 ($617), around ?30,000 more than the 40GB system. 60 GB consoles are the priciest of all, currently selling for ?74,800 ($723). Hobby shops there are also apparently jacking up buyback prices, according to this blog (beware of NSFW ads).

Are we headed for a similar fate here in the states? No. Or at least, not immediately. With a mostly backwards compatible model already announced for June, it seems that that the folks who like to keep one foot in each generation aren't in danger of the chasm they straddle widening and swallowing them whole just yet.

[Via CVG]

Read -- JAPAN: older PS3 models price doubled! (NSFW ads)

Joystiq interview: Penny Arcade Adventures

by Ludwig Kietzmann { 1 year ago }

It's fair to say that quite a lot is expected from Vancouver-based developer, Hothead Games. The group not only has to deliver a series of downloadable and episodic adventure RPGs in regular intervals, but also appease a fanbase so large and rabid that it can click your website to death -- accidentally, if you're lucky. On top of all that, the poor developers are occasionally dragged into a tiny room for the sole purpose of being poked by a plethora of questions regarding their upcoming games.

Penny Arcade Adventures producer, Joel DeYoung, and Hothead creative director, Ron Gilbert, had to endure just such a prodding during GDC, the results of which can be viewed after the break. Appropriately enough, our interview's almost as long as the title of the series: On the Rain-Slick Precipice of Darkness.

Gallery: Penny Arcade Adventures

Continued →

Lego Batman lets you play as villians

by Justin McElroy { 1 year ago }

As cool as Batman is, everyone knows it's his rogue's gallery that really sets him apart. Even the bad ones (we're looking at you Calendar Man) trump most of Superman's enemies (and don't even get us started on the Flash's). Given that irrefutable fact, imagine our joy when we read that Lego Batman will allow you to play as members of that pantheon of villains.

This piece from MTV Multiplayer also delivers another exciting secret about the game: The presence of Danny Elfman's Batman score. The article says that the arrangement isn't finalized, but we think we speak for everyone when we say, "Yes, please."

Penny Arcade Expo 2008 to showcase indie games

by Jason Dobson { 1 year ago }

The annual Penny Arcade Expo has quickly evolved from being simply a gathering of video game enthusiasts to becoming one of our most anticipated gaming conferences each year. We never know what we're going to see there first hand, from fresh rhymes to Metroid attacks, and this year's event, taking place from August 29-31, looks to up the ante with a showcase of independent games called PAX 10.

Event organizers are currently seeking indie talent to show off during the event, and devs can submit their creations online for consideration from now until May 7, after which a panel of 50 "industry experts," including PA's own Gabe and Tycho, will decide which ten submissions represent the crème of the crop based on gameplay and that all important "fun factor." The home-grown games will each be shown as part of the event's PAX 10 exhibit, and attendees will be able to vote on which one tickles their fancy, with the one garnering the most votes being lifted up following the expo on the Penny Arcade website as the Audience Choice Award winner. But with just a touch over two months remaining, time is running short -- if you're a would-be developer you've already wasted precious minutes reading this post! Get cracking!

Atari looks to online space for salvation

by Alexander Sliwinski { 1 year ago }

Infogrames' new CEO, David Gardner, believes subsidiary Atari's recovery lies in the online gaming space. GI.biz reports Gardner would like to move the financially pummeled company to secure server-based and free-to-play gaming. He believes the way people will want to play and buy their games is "networks centric."

Gardner would like to leverage the brands Atari holds and states that the future for the company in gaming is creating high quality games playing on servers where customers don't have to worry about configurations and performance issues. Pro tip: Something like that exists and it's called console gaming. GI.biz will publish its full interview with Gardner tomorrow where he'll discuss his plans (after the board obviously didn't like the last CEO's) on turning Atari's misfortunes around.

Other bands are in Aerosmith's Guitar Hero game, maybe Run DMC

by Justin McElroy { 1 year ago }

Logic would dictate that if you're buying a game called Guitar Hero: Aerosmith, the disc would be chock full of ~~fail~~ Aerosmith songs. But an ad from a Best Buy circular sent to us by an eagle-eyed reader and a recent USA Today story hint that Steven Tyler and Co. may not be the only ones populating the disc.

As you can sort of see, the ad promises Aerosmith and "all their favorite bands." And this article from USA Today says that the game will feature "opening acts." Interestingly, though that online version makes no mention of it, a version of the story on Aerosmith's official fan club site hints that Run DMC might be one of those guests. Any of you Aerosmith fans have guesses as to who else might be on the roster?

[Thanks, Ian]

New games this week: Army of Two edition

by Justin McElroy { 1 year ago }

OK, so we were sorely tempted to give the featured game honor to God of War: Chains of Olympus this week, but we've already told you how awesome it is in a metareview, and we featured a PSP game last week, so we're mixing it up with Army of Two. Will it be good? We have absolutely no idea. We hope so, but we just don't know.

Also, the Best Game Title From a Game We'll Never Play award goes to ... wait, what's this? A three-way tie! Our congratulations go out to Petz Bunnyz, Homie Rollerz and, of course, Lets Ride Friends Forever. Way to go you three.

Continued →

Joystiq attends Super Smash Bros. Brawl tournament in pseudo-Boston

by Alexander Sliwinski { 1 year ago }

Nintendo of America's official Super Smash Bros. Brawl Tournament finals occur this Saturday in New York City after qualifying events last month in cities like San Francisco and Los Angeles. This past Saturday an official qualifying event was held in the city of Worcester, Massachusetts, a well-sized burg about an hour outside of Boston. And although Worcester does have its own distinct identity, don't tell that to the emcee of the Nintendo Brawl event who kept telling "Boston" to "make some noise." For those who need further explanation, that would be like attending an event in Newark, New Jersey and having someone awkwardly scream, "Manhattan, make some noise!"

So, how did such a must-attend event for gamers to get their hands on Brawl a week before launch end up being hosted by Worcester Polytechnic Institute? Turns out, it's a classic tale of who you know. Jaime Barriga, a senior at WPI who heads the Game Development Club, won a photo contest Nintendo held last year. Since that time he stayed in contact with the Nintendo PR team and kept trying to get some kind of event hosted at the school. As luck would have it, this Smash Bros. Tournament landed at their feet.