Joystiq

Valve explains why Portal's Companion Cube had to die

by Justin McElroy { 5 days ago }

When we cursed the heavens and asked tearfully why our beloved labradoodle, Cagney, had to die in a horrific snow plow accident, leaving behind her best friend (our maltipoo Lacey), the only answer we received was the stony ambivalence of a silent autumnal sky.

When we cursed Valve and asked tearfully why our beloved Companion Cube had to die by our own hands, Portal's writers calmly explained to Gamasutra that it was to develop a stronger bond with the Cube and teach the mechanics of the incinerator.

See how it's done, God? Was that so difficult?

Now Playing: November 2-8, 2009

by James Ransom-Wiley { 5 days ago }

No one ever said slaying dragons was the cleanest line of work.

Choose your platform to jump to a specific release list:

Last updated: Thursday, 10:16 AM

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Stop Stress by destroying everything in new WiiWare game

by JC Fletcher { 5 days ago }

Stop Stress sounds like one of those My Coach non-games for DS: based on the title, we'd assume it would be full of relaxing exercises and tips about reducing the strain of daily life. But Abylight's Stop Stress: A Day of Fury on WiiWare encourages its players to take their stress out on the virtual world by beating everything nearby to pieces.

Swinging the Wii Remote to control the arm of Jack, a stressed-out guy in a world that grows increasingly hostile as he gets more worked up, players use bats, axes, and other weapons to smash everything in sight. According to the ESRB description, "One mission is to 'search and destroy all the alarm-clocks' by using a soft slipper; another mission requires players to 'break all the windows and escape from the evil traffic jam.'"

Publisher Abylight expects to release Stop Stress this fall. Try not to get too anxious for it!

Gallery: Stop Stress: A Day of Fury (WiiWare)

Sony's Japan Studio urged to create more PS3 games

by Andrew Yoon { 5 days ago }

Japan Studios has had little impact on the PlayStation software library this generation. The platform's greatest hits so far have, instead, come from America and Europe. Titles like Uncharted, Killzone, LittleBigPlanet, Ratchet & Clank, Resistance, God of War, and WipEout all come from various studios at SCEA and SCEE. But what has Japan Studio created thus far? Siren, Trash Panic, and The Eye of Judgment -- noteworthy games perhaps, but hardly a collection of system-selling blockbusters.

Sony Worldwide Studios boss Shuhei Yoshida explained to Gamasutra that "their focus was shifted onto the PSP, which reflects the success of the PSP as a platform in Japan ... It's completely opposite of the way how US and European teams moved onto working on the PS3 and we see the fruits of those efforts, while Japan studios shifted their focus onto the PSP." Of course, handheld owners have much to be thankful for: system-defining hits like Patapon and LocoRoco were created out of Japan Studio's dedication to the platform.

However, the next year (and beyond) should be very different for Sony's Japanese developers. With The Last Guardian and Gran Turismo 5 coming from Sony's other Japanese studios, the pressure is on for other developers to follow suit. "We are now re-energizing teams and coming up with new ideas for PS3 development," Yoshida said. "We'll be able to show fruits of this work sometime next year."

Soccer reigns supreme once again in UK sales chart; DJ Hero breaks in at 20

by Griffin McElroy { 5 days ago }

Another football game came out in the UK last week and, once again, it came in first place in the region's weekly software sales charts. This time around, the game was Football Manager 2010, in which soccer isn't played, but rather, managed. That's far too boring a concept to discuss further, so instead, let's move to the other big debuts: Wii Fit Plus, for instance, came in second place for the week, which is -- wait a minute. Doesn't Wii Fit Plus have a "Soccer Heading" minigame? Oh, Nintendo. You know exactly what you're doing.

Episodes From Liberty City and Tekken 6 also made a splash during their launch week, garnering sixth and eighth place finishes, respectively. However, DJ Hero seems to be following its expected, slow-starting sales trajectory, debuting at twentieth place in last week's chart. We've got a small suggestion for FreeStyle Games to improve the rhythm title's performance in the UK: Needs moar Dizzee Rascal.

Source -- Sega's FM 2010 Kicks Off at No1 [Chart Track]
Source -- All formats chart [Chart Track]

Doom cover artist dies at 73

by Justin McElroy { 5 days ago }

Doom is one of the most influential games in history, and at least some of that credit has to go to the iconic cover, which features an aesthetic that's still pervasive in the industry a decade-and-a-half later. The man responsible for that image, artist Don Ivan Punchatz, has passed away. He was 73.

Though Punchatz created cover art for numerous books and magazines, ranging from Playboy and National Geographic to Boys Life and Newsweek, what we'll always remember is the lone space marine with the curiously exposed abdomen facing off against the legions of Hell. Our best wishes to his family and friends.

[Via BigDownload]

God of War Collection porting 'lasted 15 weeks'

by Andrew Yoon { 5 days ago }

"At E3, we got a lot of positive buzz for God of War III. We read the blog posts, forums and editorials, and it was clear that fans really wanted to see God of War 1 & 2 on PlayStation 3," Santa Monica Studios director John Hight recently told Game Hunters. We're not entirely sure why this would come as a surprise to anyone at Sony, considering the franchise is arguably the most beloved first-party property for the PlayStation brand. But apparently, it was only after the fan response to God of War's E3 showing that someone at Sony thought, "Hey, that's a really good idea."

"Bluepoint used our PlayStation 2 game code and data and their own rendering pipeline," Hight explained of the porting process, which only "lasted 15 weeks" and "went into manufacturing two days ahead of schedule with no issues." With a scheduled November 17 release, that means porting for the God of War Collection started in late July or early August, verifying Hight's claims that the project began only after the conclusion of this year's E3.

While the God of War Collection's financial success is pretty much guaranteed, it'll probably take a while before a certain Sony executive realizes, "Hey, we should do more of these." Sure, there are a lot of PS2 games worthy of an HD remix, but it should be very clear what the next collection should be.

Gallery: God of War Collection

Star Wars: The Old Republic site launches Jedi class page

by Justin McElroy { 5 days ago }

There's finally a reason to visit the "professional classifications" section of the official website for the upcoming BioWare MMO, Star Wars: The Old Republic. The page for the only class worth playing, the Jedi, has finally been added! The site's got images of Jedi garb and weaponry up, and even a few videos of lightsaber murder.

"But Joystiq, the Jedi isn't the only class worth playing! I want to be a smuggler!" What's that? Sorry, we had a little trouble hearing you while we crushed your windpipe with our minds. Speaking of which, we guess the Sith Warrior is okay, too -- but just barely.

PSP Go sells 28K units on Japanese launch day

by Griffin McElroy { 5 days ago }

While most of you probably spent your Sunday relaxing with a chilled beverage, watching some sporting event and relishing in the extra hour of life that had recently been bequeathed to you, the hard-working folks at Enterbrain were ... well, they were working hard. See, the PSP Go launched in Japan yesterday, and Enterbrain's sales statistics gatherers took it upon themselves to gather the sales data from the launch. Here's what they found: Sunday is a pretty terrible day to release a new handheld device.

According to Enterbrain, retailers moved 28,275 units of the PSP Go system during its first day of availability. While that's still a fairly sizable amount of hardware, Japanese gaming blog Andriasang points out that the DSi, which went on sale on Saturday, November 1 (2008), moved 170,770 units during its first two days on the market. We guess that just goes to show, if you want your handhelds to launch with a bang, launch them on Saturday. Also, put two cameras in them. Sounds silly, we know, but it works.

Masaya Matsuura answers 10 Questions from the Academy

by Joystiq Staff { 5 days ago }

Introducing 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community.

Masaya Matsuura is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences. He spoke at the D.I.C.E. Summit in 2008 and the D.I.C.E. Summit Asia in 2009. He works for NanaOn-Sha, where he created the pioneering rhythm titles PaRappa the Rapper, UmJammer Lammy, and PaRappa the Rapper 2. His most recent title is Major Minor's Majestic March.

AIAS: How do you measure success?
Masaya Matsuura: By the number of people who felt happiness through my creations.

What's your favorite part of game development?
Making totally new experiences into something tangible. Naturally a great effort from the development team is essential. In addition, there is a moment in development (usually later in the cycle) where the game finally becomes fun. A lot of developers say that this is the moment when a new experience is born, although I'm unable to properly put the sensation into words.

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Spicy Horse teasing Alice sequel for 2011 release

by Justin McElroy { 5 days ago }

We were surprised earlier this year to learn Spicy Horse was creating a follow-up to American McGee's dark take on Alice in Wonderland, which itself seemed like a concept so common and benign in today's market as to almost be kind of adorable. But consider us officially shocked after watching this video on the game's teaser site. It actually has us interested in the project -- apparently due in 2011.

If the creepy stop-motion animation is indicative of the final product's look we'll be more than a little intrigued; a notion surprising enough to make us wonder if we've been hitting the Caterpillar's hookah just a bit too hard.

[Via Videogamer.com]

Nintendoware Weekly: Sparkle Snapshots, Fighting Street, Carnival King & more

by JC Fletcher { 5 days ago }

Nintendo actually released a respectable number of downloadable games this week: 8 games across Virtual Console, WiiWare and DSiWare. You may have even heard of some of them!

As far as we can tell, the highlights of the week are a DSiWare photo decoration app and the embarrassing parent of the Street Fighter series. Hit the post break and find out if any of the many offerings are what you were looking to drain your Nintendo Points on.

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Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself) with your iPhone

by JC Fletcher { 5 days ago }

Adult Swim's Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself), a browser game about using the tools in your office to end your apparently miserable cubicle-bound life, can now be played on the go. Artificial Life, Inc. has ported the morbid action-puzzle game to iPhone and iPod Touch, which means that you can now kill yourself with one finger!*

The iPhone game, like the original, gives you an office building full of potentially deadly office furniture and supplies, and five minutes to punish yourself until you actually expire through some combination of stapling yourself, smashing your head in copy machines, provoking co-workers, etc. The new version adds Wi-Fi and Bluetooth multiplayer, for death races. It's available now in the App Store for $2.99.

*In the game. Please don't kill yourself.

Five Minutes to Kill Yourself ($2.99):

Gallery: Five Minutes to Kill (Yourself) (iPhone)

The Best of Big Download: October 26 - November 1

by Joystiq Staff { 5 days ago }

Wow. We had a ton of original features this week and it doesn't look like it will let up anytime soon. Let's take a look at what transpired on Big Download in the past seven days:

Exclusive features

Reviews: We give our final verdicts to Tropico 3 , Eufloria and Cities XL along with impressions of the Left 4 Dead 2 PC demo
Orson Scott Card Interview: The best selling novelist talks about his love of games and reveals a dream game project he would like to make.
Natural Selection 2 Interview: We chat with Unknown Worlds about their upcoming and long awaited FPS-RTS game on the occasion of the release of the game's first screenshots.
Guide to Team Fortress 2 Scarechievements: Valve released a new Halloween themed update to Team Fortress 2 and we have the skinny on the five new achievements added to the game.
How 10 US cities would fare in the zombie apocalypse: Left 4 Dead 2 is set in New Orleans, but what if it was set in other major metropolitan areas? We speculate on what might happen.
An Open Letter to Infinity Ward: We give the Modern Warfare 2 developer our feelings on how we think the PC community has been marginalized by their recent actions.
The Top 10 PC Game News Stories for October 2009: We look back in the past 31 days for the big stories that affected the PC game industry.
Mac Monday: Our weekly Mac game feature this week looks at two titles: Grappling Hook and The Three Musketeers.
Playing for Free: Our latest look at a free-to-play online game is with the RPG La Tale.
Boot Disk: Our latest retro PC game column takes a look at the FPS title Uprising.
Big Ideas: Our weekly look at game themes checks out if games are less challenging now than they were in the past.
All You Need to Know: Our latest 411 article on upcoming games gives all the info on EA's WWII action game The Saboteur.
Freeware Friday: Our popular weekly look at free PC games checks out the odd platformer We Want YOU!.

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Japanese hardware sales, Oct. 19 - Oct. 25: Time travel sugar rush edition

by Griffin McElroy { 5 days ago }

Hey, guys! How was your Halloween? Good to hear! Well, we've been up eating candy for roughly two days straight now, and whoa man do we love Whoppers. The malted milk chocolates, not the burgers, which are okay, but that malted milk chocolate is the jam. Some dude came up to us yesterday, and he was like, "Hey! Stop eating so much candy! You're an adult!" You should've seen us, we just opened up a new carton of Whoppers -- they come in cartons, remember -- and just slammed them in like four seconds.

Unfortunately, our fructose binge caused our particles to vibrate at a frequency which dislodged us from the timestream, and kept us from experiencing linear time like the rest of the world for about 60 minutes. It was a pretty terrifying experience, but to The Hershey Company's credit, it says right there on the box: "Warning: Shotgunning an entire carton of Whoppers may dislodge the consumer from the timestream for one hour." Well maybe next time you shouldn't make such a delicious product. Think about that. Mister Hershey.

So. Anyways. We've been trying to read about String Theory and stuff all day, but it's hard to turn the pages of a book that's one hour in the future. Luckily, we're really slow readers. Well, we can't feel our hands anymore, so it's probably time to put the ol' Whopperoonis down, and tell you about the Japanese hardware sales figures for this week before we go into a coma. See, both of those Pokémon gamjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjjj

- DSi: 42,199