Killing Floor hits a million sales, discounted on Steam
Jam Live Music Arcade announced for PS3, Xbox 360
Metal Gear Online to quietly die this summer
Mad Riders: Techland's ATV racer coming to PC, PSN, XBLA
Notch 'can do' $13 million for Psychonauts 2
Late Night Consoling
by Chris Remo, Oct 12, 2005 8:10pm PDTOkay, so... I'm not really sure what kind of response I expected from that Electroplankton review, but suffice to say I didn't anticipate that. It's cool, though! Got some interesting feedback. I was gone the whole day (covering non-wacky games for you guys!) so unfortunately I didn't get to respond to the thread at all. One thing to bear in mind is that as of now I've only done one actual review for this site. Shack isn't even known for having reviews ever, so it would seem odd to take that lone exception as a precedent. I like reviewing games though, so if you guys want me to do it more often I can. Electroplankton was not chosen as "my inaugural review," it was just a game I wanted to play so I figured why not let Shackers know what I thought? Likewise, in terms of previews, Osu! Tatakae! Ouendan! is just one out of a whole bunch I've done here so far. Two titles do not a rule make. So, yeah! Hopefully that's sort of cleared up. Thank you to those in the comments who voiced either side, just remember that I'm not trying to lay down some manifesto one way or the other. Basically: I like games, lots of different ones. Sitting on my shelf next to Kirby Canvas Curse is Max Payne 2. Well, not right next to it, but you get the point.
- The Entertainment Software Association holds yearly benefits to improve the quality of life for children in America, aiming to create positive social impact by being a large contributor to such organizations as the Boys and Girls Clubs of America, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, the Starlight Children's Foundation, and more. Right now, the ESA is holding a rather large eBay auction to raise money, and the items up for bidding range from the extremely rare (a Star Wars lightsaber signed by George Lucas) to the oddly mundane (an HP Photosmart printer). Other items up for grabs include two tickets to E3 along with a pass to Nintendo's private E3 party, two tickets to E3 along with a pass to Sony's private E3 party, an Xbox 360 signed by Bill Gates, and a six-foot-tall statue of Halo's Master Chief. Most of the auctions end in the next few days, so if you have cash to burn for a charitable cause, get on it!
Be Charitable, Buy Crazy Game Stuff
[ps2] [xbox] [gamecube] - For those who wonder why console manufacturers always take so long to launch their machines in certain territories, Microsoft's Peter Moore has this to say: "There's a reason no-one has done this before and we are figuring that out. If we knew what we were getting into, we might not have done it." A BBC report indicates Microsoft is getting rather worried about its ability to keep its upcoming Xbox 360 console stocked worldwide in a far shorter timeframe than has ever been attempted before with a major console. Moore seems determined to see the problem through, but don't ask him how he's going to do that; he doesn't know. "We're going to ship all around the world; how we're going to do that, I don't know," said Moore. "We're going to rent every 747 we can find." The article also brings up the issue of launch titles, a topic Microsoft seems to want to avoid answering conclusively until the last possible moment. In regards to Microsoft-published anticipated titles such as Rare's Perfect Dark Zero and Kameo: Elements of Power as well as Bizarre's Project Gotham Racing 3, Microsoft Chief XNA Architect J Allard said, "These games are not far from being done, and if they're three weeks after the launch or they're on launch day I don't think it makes a significant difference." Moore echoed those sentiments: "Games will arrive with a thousand bugs and get into the certification process. They make it or they don't. It's no big deal if a game takes another week. The consumer will get a strong line-up."
Microsoft Worried About 360 Launch
[xbox] - Real Time Worlds, the studio founded by Lemmings and Grand Theft Auto creator David Jones, announced today an agreement with Epic to license the Unreal Engine 3 for use in any of the studio's games. The first title to take advantage of the deal is the upcoming MMO All Points Bulletin (APC) (X360, PC). Real Time Worlds is also working on Crackdown for Xbox 360, but it was not specified whether it will make use of Unreal technology. The game sports a very stylized visual aesthetic, in large part due to its atypical color palette. Webzen, the Korean firm publishing APB, has also obtained several licenses of the engine.
Real Time Worlds Licenses Unreal 3
[xbox] - Nintendo just announced two upcoming hardware bundles, one for its DS console and one for the GameCube. I've seen quite a few people ask about this in chatty, so here's your answer: Two weeks after Mario Kart DS hits stores, Nintendo will launch a Red Hot Nintendo DS bundle. Like the recently-announced Nintendogs bundle, it goes for $149.99 (the price of a standalone DS before its recent price cut), comes in a limited edition color scheme, and includes a full game. In this case, the game is of course Mario Kart DS and the limited edition color is a deep red. The deal also comes with a checkered-flag wrist strap as well as various decals. Mario Kart DS ships November 14, and the bundle will follow on November 28. Nintendo also announced another GameCube promotion, following the recent Super Smash Bros. bundle. November 7 will see the release of a bundle containing a GameCube, Mario Party 7, a GameCube microphone, and two controllers--all for $99.99. Separately, the items would retail for about $175, with the upcoming Mario Party 7 priced at $49.99.
Nintendo Announces Two Bundles
[ds] [gamecube] - Konami has announced a deal with major U.S. gym club chain 24 Hour Fitness to include DDR machines in 24 Hour Fitness locations. The machines will be featured in grand openings of the chain, as well as in 24 Hour's Kids Club section. 30-day trial passes to 24 Hour Fitness will be included in copies of Dance Dance Revolution EXTREME 2 (PS2) and Dance Dance Revolution Ultramix 3 (Xbox).
24 Hour Dance Dance Fitness Revolution Alpha Extreme
[ps2] [xbox] - IGN asks a few questions of Silicon Knights president Denis Dyack regarding the studio's upcoming Too Human (X360). 1UP has a developer interview with The Creative Assembly's Clive Gratton regarding Spartan: Total Warrior (PS2, Xbox, GCN). Iain Simons at Gamasutra has a feature up on the processes followed by Xbox 360 design director Jonathan Hayes.
Misc. Q&As/Features
Comments
I'm quite interested in Too Human, and I'm intrigued with its combination of Norse mythology and transhumanism. I don't think I've read anything that explicitly says the game occurs on Earth, but I suspect that it has a role in the story at some point. After playing ED I have a lot of respect for Dyack's storytelling abilities. Definitely looking forward to this one.
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I'm not going to mention how expensive the games are.
(this has been another episode of a european jerk saying that americans have no right to complain about expensive consoles or console games)
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Chrono Cross was on there like, 10 times already.
http://www.revo-europe.com/news.php?nid=8347
The pics don't really look that exciting, but I'd still like to see this game in action, and also I'd like to know what the second screen will be used for and how.
And also those pics have been enlarged a bit too much, I bet the game will look a lot better on the actual DS screens.
Chrono Cross was definitely an underrated RPG, people were too hard on it. The battle system was excellent, as was the story. Some would say that there are too many characters, but it's not as if you have to collect everybody. I thouroughly enjoyed the game, and even liked how they tied the Chrono Trigger universe into the story.
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On the other hand, Trauma Center: Under the Knife is very fun (though repetitive). And I got a copy of the Harvey Birdmanlawyer game for the DS but haven't had a chance to play it.
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This line really cracked me up. Aren't there always launch issues like this?
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First I finally received a package from USA after waiting like three weeks. At long last I had Rebelstar: Tactical Command in my hands.
Now you know how my rest of the day went, I was glued to my DS just playing this wonderful Gollop bros. game!
Then of course Mark Healey's Rag Doll Kung Fu just had to be released yesterday just when I was about to go to sleep.
Well what happened is that I didn't get much sleep last night. :-)
Not sure if this makes sense but Rag Doll Kung Fu is to the fighting genre, as Mario Kart is to the racing genre. That's how it felt like to me anyways with the power-ups, weapons, and the way the fighting itself is controlled.
I'm pretty confidant that I'll get one, lucky for me I know a friend who's in retail. But it would suck for some people who preordered and can't get theirs for a while.
I don't think it'll be as chaotic as the PS2 release.
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