Joystiq

Free Wallace & Gromit episode and more for 20th anniversary of series

by JC Fletcher { 3 days ago }

To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Wallace & Gromit series, Telltale Games is offering Episode III of its Wallace & Gromit's Grand Adventures series, Muzzled!, for free! If you've been curious about how polite bumbling and cheese lust translate into game mechanics, now's your chance to find out. This offer applies to the PC version.

The company is also marking the auspicious occasion by discounting the full season of the PC version to $20 (from $35), releasing the whole set on Xbox Live Arcade, taking orders for a Collector's DVD, and participating in a charity drive with the Wallace & Gromit Children's Foundation and Penny Arcade (to which your full-season purchase will contribute). The discount and free game will only be available until November 8.

The Sims transformed into a horror movie

by Alexander Sliwinski { 3 days ago }

"They won't let me pee, they won't let me sleep, they won't let me eat." – doomed Sim citizen

Ah yes, the life of a Sim. Not so funny when one sees what life would be like if our actions were controlled by the unholy Plumbob (which is itself controlled by little Damian Van Horne of 999 Wisteria Lane). We understand that CollegeHumor was trying to be funny in its The Sims movie clip, but it actually encapsulates the pain and suffering of every Sim murdered by sadistic teenage girls around the world. Watch the full clip after the break. Save a Sim.

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CBS bringing Diagnosis Murder, some other stuff to gaming platforms

by Justin McElroy { 3 days ago }

CBS announced today that it's bringing a wide array of its TV programming to the video game world, mainly via the PC, Wii and DS. As you can see after the break, the company revealed equally insipid-sounding game versions of Survivor, Hollywood Squares, The Amazing Race, and Criminal Minds, but we don't see how we're supposed to care about any of it when it was also revealed that a Diagnosis Murder game is in the works.

We're assuming it's a Visceral-developed "dark" take on the DM mythos, with a Gothic Dr. Mark Sloan walking a demonic version of Los Angeles, solving murder mysteries with a caduceus-shaped staff dipped in angel blood. We assume this because we laid out the design doc pretty clearly in our letters, and we can't fathom why CBS would want to disappoint us.

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Deal to see EA music licensed for TV commercials, movie trailers

by Alexander Sliwinski { 3 days ago }

Electronic Arts has signed on the dotted line for Extreme Music to represent its catalog of 2,000 original pieces of music for five years. Variety reports that Extreme will place the publisher's owned music in things like television commercials, movie trailers and anything else that Extreme sees fit -- and to which EA agrees.

EA has obtained original pieces of music over the years from many A-list Hollywood composers, as the publisher has sought to blend the realms of film and games. So, if you happen to hear a theme from The Sims playing in the background of a pool insurance ad, or that armed forces ad suddenly makes you want to play Battlefield, you'll know why.

[Via Big Download]

The best of WoW.com: October 27 - November 3, 2009

by Mike Schramm { 3 days ago }

That right there's a big ugly frost dragon named Sindragosa, and with the newest patch headed to the World of Warcraft (we expect it sometime this December), we'll be bringing her down. It won't be easy, but then again, WoW players have Joystiq's own WoW.com to guide them. You can read all about that fight, the new patch, and other popular stories in the World of Warcraft on our weekly roundup after the break.

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Amazon ranks Call of Duty-est towns in America, large dining utensils in the lead

by Griffin McElroy { 3 days ago }

Grand Forks, North Dakota is a small city with a population just over 51,000 -- a large portion of which are students at the University of North Dakota -- that's tucked within a much larger rural portion of the state. It's not the first city to come to mind when you think of prestigious national honors in the technology sector. However, according to online retailer Amazon, which has been vigilantly tracking the geographic location of Modern Warfare 2 pre-orderers, it's currently the Call of Duty-est town in America.

Amazon will continue to rank American cities based on per capita Modern Warfare 2 pre-orders until the game is released, and has agreed to ship a $5,000 gift card to a charity of its choosing which serves the winning town. We hope Grand Forks manages to hold its top position in the rankings, if only because it desperately needs something to put on its city limits signs. You know, something more inspiring than "Welcome to Grand Forks: We've Got a Pretty Good College, Here, We Guess."

Zombified Londoners take to the streets for Resident Evil

by Ben Gilbert { 3 days ago }

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles may not come out until November 27 in the UK, but a gaggle of Resident Evil fans recently took to the streets to celebrate the impending release regardless. Following the end of the London Games Festival, Capcom organized around 50 undead at the Tate Modern for a good ol' group shamble.

As you can see in the image above captured by The Tanooki, the event erred on the side of Shaun of the Dead rather than 28 Days Later. Though now that we think about it, we're not sure if it's more or less terrifying if zombies are smiling. We're thinking more.

[Image credit]

Zoe Mode creating not-for-profit XBLA puzzler for children's charity

by Randy Nelson { 3 days ago }

click to enlarge

OneBigGame, a non-profit games publisher founded in 2007, announced today that its first title will come from Zoë Mode, creator of games such as Crush (PSP), You're In the Movies (360) and co-developer of the SingStar franchise (PS3) with SCEE. Called Chime, the music-based puzzle game will launch this winter on Xbox Live Arcade.

The first screens, while sort of soothing in their minimalism, don't exactly explain anything about how the game's played. Thankfully, Zoë Mode goes into detail about the gameplay on its newly launched Chime site.

The developer is the first of what OneBigGame says are many others currently creating 15 titles, with at least 80 percent of all revenue made from them going to two charities: Save the Children and Starlight Children's Foundation. Zoë Mode developed Chime pro bono and has committed to giving all the royalties it receives from the XBLA game -- which it says will be around 60 percent of its purchase price -- to OneBigGame.

Other developers signed on to produce games include Shiny founder David Perry, PaRappa the Rapper creator Masaya Matsuura and prolific adventure game designer Charles Cecil (Beneath a Steel Sky, Broken Sword).

Gallery: Chime

Independent Games Festival 2010 competitors announced

by Randy Nelson { 3 days ago }

Each year, indie developers from around the world submit their creations to the Independent Games Festival Main Challenge in hopes of becoming the next cola-to-Cristal success. This year, the IGF has received a whopping 306 entries (last year: 224) competing for the top prize of $20,000. Last year's winner, Erik Svedang's Blueberry Garden, was picked up for distribution on Steam.

Screens, videos and details on all 306 entries can be perused on the IGF website, while many of the games are either downloadable or directly playable from their developer's homepages. Finalists will be picked in January, with the winners in various categories -- including art, design, audio, and innovation -- set to be announced during GDC 2010, which runs March 9–13, 2010.

[Via Eurogamer]

Set course for new Star Trek Online gameplay footage

by Richard Mitchell { 3 days ago }

We've got a double dose of Star Trek Online video goodness for you today, as Cryptic has seen fit to not only release part two of the "Future Past" series, but also a new gameplay trailer. The trailer -- handily embedded above -- is comprised mostly of pitched space battles and ground encounters. It's also packed with more phaser and disruptor beams than you can shake a tribble at. One more thing: Borg cube.

After the break, see part two of "The Future Past," which details the outcome of the Klingon / Nausicaan / Gorn war. In short, the Klingons are pretty much bad guys again by 2409, the year in which Star Trek Online begins.

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L4D mod 'Dead Before Dawn' recreates Dawn of the Dead remake

by David Hinkle { 3 days ago }

The Left 4 Dead modding community is really kicking decomposing zombie butt lately. We've seen Raccoon City, some of our favorite Super Mario 64 spots, and even Shaun of the Dead's Winchester pub all realized in the game's zombie apocalypse framework. Now we bring you another mod that pays homage to a zombie film: 'Dead Before Dawn,' a mod based on the 2004 remake of George A. Romero's classic, Dawn of the Dead.

The new mod opened to public beta this Halloween and features a variety of locales stripped from the movie, along with its own snazzy campaign poster. The folks behind the mod even went so far as to create their own title sequence (though their version features far less Johnny Cash than the movie's). You can shamble on past the break to check it out.

[Thanks, Gutfree!]

Gallery: Dead Before Dawn

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Spector talks initial Disney pitches, hints at spiritual successor to Deus Ex

by Xav de Matos { 3 days ago }

During a London event to showcase Disney Epic Mickey, developer Warren Spector revealed that his initial pitches to Disney were for two very different titles; hinting one -- in many ways -- may have been a spiritual successor to Deus Ex. The other title, according to The Cut Scene blog, was a "big fantasy" story the developer and his wife unsuccessfully pitched to DC Comics.

Prior to the announcement of a new game in the series, Spector said he had previously attempted to acquire the Deus Ex license from publisher Eidos, but was unsuccessful. Since then, Spector's Junction Point Studios has been acquired by Disney Interactive, revealed his latest title and hinted at more from the Epic universe.

While Spector says there are still stories in the Deus Ex universe he would like to tell, the upcoming prequel, Deus Ex 3 -- helmed by developer Eidos Montreal -- will be the first title in the franchise without the original creator's watchful eye. "That story is not done for me," Spector said. "Deus Ex was very much a game of the millennium." Sadly -- with another team on the project -- it appears Spector's dream of continuing the Deus Ex conspiracy personally have indeed come to an end, for the time being.

[Via GamePro]

Gameloft sales up a dramatic 18% this year

by Alexander Sliwinski { 3 days ago }

Gameloft's mobile focus is keeping the company flush with cash in these tough times. The prolific publisher announced today that quarterly sales are up 15 percent over the third quarter last year and up 18 percent in year-to-date figures compared to the same period last year. Gameloft achieved $132 million in sales, with mobile devices accounting for 95 percent of revenue; the measly remainder was earned through consoles.

Gameloft tips its hat to the Apple App Store for the "huge success," as well as the company's Java and Brew games, with the expectation that sales and profitability will be up, up and away in 2009. Looking to the future, the company believes it will benefit from Apple, Nokia and Google's mobile devices. Gameloft comes from the proud tradition of releasing sales and profit reports separately, but the expectation is that profits will be positive, as well.

Deal watch: Game discounts at Amazon

by Richard Mitchell { 3 days ago }

Amazon is tempting us to dip into our holiday savings by discounting many new games. Numerous titles, like those seen in the image above, have been marked down by $10, while others -- including many Wii games -- have smaller discounts applied to them.

Listed after the break, you'll find the most significant deals, but you should also try perusing Amazon to find others. If you do, be sure to post them in the comments!

[Via GamerDeals.net]

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Why not to expect Capcom vs. SNK 2 on PSN, XBLA

by Richard Mitchell { 3 days ago }

In the words of Lord Cutler Beckett, it's just good business. Or, as Capcom's Seth Killian explained on the Capcom-Unity forums, releasing a downloadable version of Capcom vs. SNK 2 could be bad business. In a lengthy response to a call for the game on PSN, Killian gave several reasons for not re-releasing Capcom vs. SNK 2; all of them centered squarely on business. Among other things, the audience for the game is less sizable than that of Street Fighter and Marvel vs. Capcom 2, meaning a Capcom vs. SNK 2 port probably wouldn't be worth the money and resources Capcom would need to spend.

Killian noted that even if sales covered cost, placing developers on the project would mean removing them from others, like Super Street Fighter IV. Killian put it simply, saying, "When fan service becomes a black hole for time and money, that party gets ended pretty quick."

Another explanation, according to Killian, is that Capcom doesn't want to flood the market with fighting games. He suggested that most gamers only buy one or two fighting games a year -- thanks mainly to the amount of time it takes to master them. In other words, releasing too many games could dilute the sales of all of them. Besides, we all know that what Capcom should be working on is a new Darkstalkers.

[Via EventHubs]

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