Joystiq

Bungie confirms leak of story info, concept art for Destiny

Mike Schramm — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:30:00 EST

An IGN reader has provided the site with a bundle of Destiny art and story materials that it says were compiled by an ad agency. Destiny is the long-rumored secret project that will serve as Bungie's followup to the Halo series. The art shows an Earth in a future "littered with the ruins of man's Golden Age," according to the materials, with a huge alien ship sitting above the planet. There are also shots of various soldiers and war vehicles, along with a more final logo similar to the one we've seen before.

And now Bungie has added to the collection with its own official piece of concept art above. On the official Bungie blog, the company vaguely confirms the leaks, saying, "Go ahead. Take a peek. It's alright. We weren't quite ready, but we will be soon, and we can't wait to finally show you what we've really been up to."

The leaked documents describe Destiny as "fun and accessible to all," and say the property's goal is "to create a universe as deep, tangible and relatable as that of the Star Wars franchise." That leaked contract between Bungie and publisher Activision about the project suggests that this title will involve four games, as many DLC releases, and stretch across the next console generation, so it's possible that this art reveals the very first step in what might be a long journey forward.

Bungie confirms leak of story info, concept art for Destiny originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 27 Nov 2012 20:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Crysis series 75% off on Steam this weekend

Alexander Sliwinski — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 23:00:00 EST

The Crysis franchise is 75 percent off this weekend on Steam. Crysis and its semi-sequel, Crysis Warhead, are only $5 apiece. Crysis 2 is currently $10, while all three games are also available as a bundle for $17.50.

The discounts will deactivate on Monday, September 10. The latest game in the series, Crysis 3, should be available in February 2013.

Gallery: Crysis 2 (DirectX 11)

Crysis series 75% off on Steam this weekend originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 06 Sep 2012 23:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' DLC trailer adds another narrative spin on multiplayer

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:00:00 EST

Mass Effect 3's "Earth" multiplayer content launches today, adding six new characters across three new Earth-based locales. Did we mention it's free?

Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' DLC trailer adds another narrative spin on multiplayer originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mass Effect 3 single-player DLC to focus on Shepard

Mike Schramm — Tue, 17 Jul 2012 02:00:00 EST

So, what's next for Mass Effect? Producer Mike Gamble showed off one picture of future Mass Effect 3 content in his panel at Comic-Con, and from what he told Joystiq it seems to point to more single-player DLC. "We want to do single-player DLC," he said. "We want to do single-player, maybe more multiplayer if people still play it."

That single-player DLC, whatever it is, will still be about Shepard, not someone else in the universe. "Mass Effect 3 is Shepard's story," said Gamble, "so the single-player DLC for Mass Effect 3 will probably focus around Shepard."

The Earth DLC pack for Mass Effect 3 will be the fifth update to the game since launch, following three other multiplayer updates, and the Extended Cut update that fans begged for. Mike Gamble and his team have learned a lot over the course of these updates, but he told us there were quite a few things that surprised them about the reception to Mass Effect 3 multiplayer.

"We see people who have everything unlocked all the way up to level 20 on everything, plus all the mods, plus all of the gear, everything," said Gamble. "It takes a lot of time, a lot of time to get that stuff, like hundreds and hundreds of hours of play to usually get up to that level. And some of these people had done it in the first month to two months."

Gamble was also been surprised by the response to the Vorcha class, playable for the first time in the Rebellion Pack DLC. "I expected people to shy away from the Vorcha because they're Vorcha, but everyone seems to love to play with them."

Mass Effect 3 single-player DLC to focus on Shepard originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 17 Jul 2012 02:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' DLC officially detailed, still free

JC Fletcher — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:18:00 EST

Before you hunt through files or track down voice actors to get more info about the "Earth" DLC for Mass Effect 3, read the official description of the multiplayer content released by BioWare today.

As previously rumored, "Earth" features new Rio, Vancouver, and London maps, three new weapons (Piranha assault shotgun, Acolyte pistol, and Typhoon assault rifle) and six new classes of human N7 character.

The pack will be released on July 17 for Xbox 360 and PC everywhere, and on PS3 in North America. European PS3 owners have to wait until July 18 for the free DLC.

Gallery: Mass Effect 3 (Earth DLC)

Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' DLC officially detailed, still free originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:18:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' multiplayer DLC out next week, totally free

Ben Gilbert — Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:35:00 EST

Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' multiplayer DLC launches on Xbox 360 next Tuesday, July 17, at a cost of zero space bucks. The content is multiplayer-focused, and that's about all we know - we're taking a wild guess that the locales it'll offer are based on Terra Firma regions.

That said, if rumors from back in June pan out, the DLC will head to Rio, Vancouver, and London, and several new human classes will be added. BioWare has yet to confirm any new details about the content, but we expect to hear more in the near future.

Mass Effect 3's 'Earth' multiplayer DLC out next week, totally free originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 10 Jul 2012 09:35:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Final Fantasy XIII's 'blond-haired bandana guy' named

Ross Miller — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3, Microsoft Xbox 360, RPGs

Stop the presses! The latest issue of Famitsu (you know, the one that totally hated on LittleBigPlanet) has revealed the name of "blond-haired bandana dude" from Final Fantasy XIII. Ladies and gentlemen, meet Snow Villiers. We know you'll be able to sleep more soundly now. Snow will be joining described "female Cloud Strife" protagonist Lightning in taking the world by storm. Bad weather puns aside, we can't decide who'd be more proud of the nomenclature, Mega Man or Captain Planet.

The magazine (via IGN) also delved a bit into Versus XIII but lacked any gameplay details. Instead, we're given hints about each of the two main characters' personalities, Noctis Lucis Caelum and Stella Nox Fleuret (latin words literally translated as "Night Light Sky" and "Star Darkness Sword," respectively). These two have the ability to "see light," which we guess is either some incomplete translation, a metaphor for something spiritual or a hint that Square Enix is taking a cue from the story Blindness.

Final Fantasy XIII's 'blond-haired bandana guy' named originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 22 Oct 2008 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Tetris licensee sets out to save the Earth

Kyle Orland — Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EST

Filed under: Culture, PC, Retro

We're thinking it's not a coincidence that VentureBeat's Dean Takahashi chose Earth Day to publish an interview with Henk Rogers about his efforts to save the environment. You may remember Rogers as the visionary who first noticed an unassuming game called Tetris at a trade show and went on a crusade to get the game licensed outside of Russia. If you're not familiar with his story, we must insist you track down a copy of David Sheff's excellent book Game Over and read all about it. Go ahead ... we'll wait.

Done reading? Well, then you might be interested to know that Rogers is now using the money he made selling the Tetris license to do nothing less than getting the world completely off of carbon-based energy. After accomplishing that modest goal, Rogers says he hopes to realize the vision of his company's upcoming Blue Mars MMO by actually terraforming part of the red planet. Say what you will, you have to admit, the guy's ambitious.

Tetris licensee sets out to save the Earth originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 22 Apr 2008 19:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Surprise! Latest PS3 firmware adds sexy spaceborne music visualizer

Jason Dobson — Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:01:00 EST

Filed under: Sony PlayStation 3

Sure, you may be well aware of the fact that last week's 2.1 firmware update for the PlayStation 3 gifted the console with support for the ubiquitous DivX video codec, but did you also know that nestled deep within the update was a new space-faring music visualizer? Seen in motion through the magic of YouTube, it's an incredibly nifty way to relax to those newly unwrapped CDs, but it also makes us wax nostalgic and wonder whatever happened to those grade school dreams of becoming astronauts when we grew up.

The new tool was created by Q-Games, who developed the terrifically fun PSN downloadable PixelJunk Racers, and the studios' PR manager Duncan Flett tells Gamasutra that the project went through a number of changes prior to release, including an initial stint as the boot sequence for Sony's console. Also interesting is that the visualizer uses texture data lifted from the NASA Blue Marble project, making this one of the neatest uses of science since the application of baking soda to vinegar.

Full disclosure: This writer did, in fact, pen stories for Gamasutra in a previous life before his current tour of duty on board the starship Joystiq.

[Via Gamasutra]

Surprise! Latest PS3 firmware adds sexy spaceborne music visualizer originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 26 Dec 2007 13:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Nintendo hearts the environment

Alexander Sliwinski — Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:54:00 EST

Filed under: Culture

The train of good press for Nintendo just keeps chugging along. The latest piece comes from GoNintendo, who had a reader contact Nintendo about their environmental policies. The full response can be found after the break, but a couple things that stand out are that Nintendo purchases recycled paper towels, report covers, message pads, and writing pads. They also use 80% recycled paper in all their shipping packaging.

So, now that we know what Nintendo does to help save our little planet, we wonder what Microsoft and Sony do? We doubt that either tests their products on animals, but are they using recycled toilet paper (not used, there's a difference) and recycling 70% of the waste from their headquarters? We don't know about Sony, but at least we know that Microsoft recycles their broken Xbox 360s. Oh come on, it had to be said.

Continue reading Nintendo hearts the environment

Nintendo hearts the environment originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 25 Jun 2007 20:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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The Wii is region-free! [update 1]

Jason Wishnov — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:15:00 EST

Filed under: News

According to this article at IGN, Nintendo of America VP confirmed that all first-party games for the Wii will be region-free. This feature is traditionally reserved for Nintendo's handheld systems, while owners of their consoles had to illegally modify their hardware or use a special booting solution for import games. Third-parties have the option to make their titles region-free or not, but this is certainly excellent news for import fans.

Also revealed by Kaplan was that one's Virtual Console games are tied to one's account, not allowing transfer. There is, however, a system in place to recover your account if your Wii is suddenly eaten, destroyed, or stolen by PS3 fanboys.

Stay tuned with Wii Fanboy as we deliver more news than you can shake a stick at! No, more news at which...you could shake...no, that's not right either...whatever.

[Update 1: Just kidding. (sigh)]

The Wii is region-free! [update 1] originally appeared on Joystiq on Thu, 14 Sep 2006 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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