Star Wars: Force Unleashed DLC Now Available, Brings New Mission and Characters

2008-12-04T12:44-06:00

LucasArts today released the promised donwloadable mission for the Xbox 360 version of Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, along with another set of character skins.

The Jedi Temple Mission Pack, priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), brings Darth Vader's Secret Apprentice to Coruscant and the ruins of its Jedi Temple as our action game protagonist searches for more information on his father.

The second 400 Microsoft Point ($5) Character Pack adds a variety of new player skins, including Republic Trooper, Tatooine Luke, Ben Kenobi, Jedi Master Plo Koon, Count Dooku, Jango Fett, and C-3PO along with thr...

Report: Square Prepping Eidos Buyout Bid

2008-12-04T12:15-06:00

Japanese publisher Square Enix has reportedly expressed interest in purchasing ailing British publisher Eidos, according to MCV and its anonymous source.

Square, which recently noted its intent to expand in the European and North American markets, joins the three other long-rumored suitors: Electronic Arts, Ubisoft and Warner Bros. Of the four, Warner Bros has an advantage as it already owns 20% of Eidos.

The company, which recently changed its name from SCi to that of well-known subsidiary Eidos, has long been the subject of frequent takeover rumors. Its properties include Tomb Raider, Deus Ex, Carmageddon, Hitman, and Kane & Lynch.

Across the past year, Eidos has lost $177 million and its stock has dropped by 90%, making the company an eve...

Xbox Avatars Get Free Winter Threads

2008-12-04T11:47-06:00

Narrowly meeting its promise of new parts "every two weeks", Microsoft has released some new winter-themed clothing and accessories for the Xbox 360's player avatars.

The free items, including a coat and winter hat, are automatically unlocked after signing into Xbox Live. New selections are designated by a yellow star in the Avatar Creator Tool.

It's the first clothing update for the customizable avatars, which arrived as part of the New Xbox Experience on November 19. Microsoft has stated plans to release new items across the next six months, though it's not known if all the parts will be free.

An avatar parts store is slated to eventually hit the Xbox Live Marketplace, and will sell various avatar-related items at unknown prices. In addition, future Xbox 360 games may provide new game-specific avatar parts by earning and unlocking achievem...

GRID DLC Hits Consoles Today, PC Later

2008-12-04T11:27-06:00

Eight new "top-spec" cars and two new multiplayer events will today be released as downloadable content for the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions of Codemaster's racer GRID.

Priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10), the 8 Ball DLC will also contain four new achievements for the Xbox 360 version, each worth 25 Gamerpoints a piece.

As for the PC release of GRID, the studio said DLC details are coming "shortly."

Details on the cars, and the new achievements, are as follows:

McLaren F1 GTR - The McLaren F1 GTR wrote itself into the history books as the only GT car to ever win Le Mans outright in the
Mirror's Edge DLC Trailer and Screenshots: Far Out

2008-12-04T10:56-06:00
Earlier this morning, Mirror's Edge senior producer Owen O'Brien noted that the upcoming downlodable content would feature a "a more abstract aesthetic."
Now, publisher EA has provided some media. Abstract? Well, that's one way to put it.

Promising "no guns, no cops, and no city," the seven downloadable Time Trial maps will hit PC, PS3 and Xbox 360 in late January, priced at 800 Microsoft Points ($10). In addition, PlayStation 3 owners will receive an extra downloadable map for free.
Already out on consoles, the first-person free-running game is due on PC January 13. [video]13374[/video...

Rockstar Responds to Grand Theft Auto 4 PC Woes, Explains Error Codes

2008-12-04T10:14-06:00

Following reports of game-breaking problems with the recently-released PC version of Grand Theft Auto IV, publisher Rockstar has issued a statement, acknowledging that it is "aware that a small number of fans are having problems running GTA IV."
"We would like to assure them we are working to help solve these as quickly as possible," the studio told Voodoo Extreme. Rockstar suggests having issues contact local technical support--the number is in the game's manual--as well as check out the Rockstar Games Support website, which is "regularly updated."
Included on the website is
While EA's past NASCAR titles on other platforms have been billed as realistic simulations, Kart Racing looks to be more arcade-like and pick-up-and-play friendly.
Up to four players can race through the game's 24 environments, which range from deserts and junkyards to the Daytona International Speedway, and require players to jump over rivers and dodge falling boulders.
Over 20 drivers will be available--14 of them actual NASCAR drivers--each with their own attributes that determine how well ...

Mirror's Edge PC Release January 13; Time Trial DLC Late January

2008-12-04T08:18-06:00
Following up on an earlier promise for more information at a later date, DICE today announced that the first DLC for Mirror's Edge will be a time trial map pack.

The seven maps will be available for PC, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360 for $10 or 800 Microsoft Points. The PlayStation 3 version will also receive an additional map for free.

"The freedom of movement and control in first person has been the most popular aspect of Mirror's Edge so we decided to distil these down to their purest form for this map pack," said DICE senior producer Owen O'Brien, adding, "We deliberately chose a more abstract aesthetic that is still within our distinctive art style and then focused on flow and gameplay to create an experience and challenge very different from the main game."

The DLC will ship late January.

DICE also announced that the PC version of the game will ship to North American stores January...

New Divinity 2 Screenshots Show Combat

2008-12-04T05:31-06:00
Larian Studios has released four new Divinity 2 - Ego Draconis screenshots, showing combat in the upcoming PC / Xbox 360 fantasy role playing game.
Divinity 2 - Ego Draconis will be released during the second quarter of next year.

Morning Discussion

2008-12-04T05:04-06:00
Morning folks. Welcome to the Shack, where tragedy confronts eternity.
It is my hope that, on this fine Thursday, I will finally boot the copy of Chrono Trigger DS that's been sitting on my desk for a few days now. Though I now own the game three times--Super Nintendo, PSX, DS--I've never gotten past the first 30 minutes.
Something always happens to pull me away from the game, like a wealth of other new games, and I never go back. But I want to play it, the whole sci-fi time travel thing is right up my alley. Someday, someday I'll actually play through it. Definitely. Maybe.
Lastly, here's a trailer for Terror at Blood Fart Lake. Yeah. I don't know.

The Brothers in Arms iPhone Game Is Pretty Fancy

2008-12-03T22:00-06:00
Gameloft's Brothers in Arms iPhone title, Hour of Heroes, was released yesterday on the Apple App Store--and it's pretty impressive.
Most notably, Hour of Heroes sports full 3D graphics and freedom of movement. Shooting is accomplished by tapping a button on the bottom right corner, movement is controlled via a faux analog stick, and aiming is a matter of dragging the screen. Grenades can even be thrown with a flick of the motion-sensitive phone.
Shacknews' Steve Gibson paid the $10 to take a look at the game, and came away slightly aroused. Because Brothers in Arms forces you to take cover often, the touchscreen aiming is more manageable than in a traditional FPS would be. And with 13 missions and various weapons to play with, it's one of the few traditionally-scaled titles in the iPhone lineup.
Even if you don't own an iPhone, it's an interesting sign of how rapidly mobile gaming is progressing. And though Hour of Heroes doesn't quite live up to ou...
Evening Reading

2008-12-03T20:00-06:00
Wow the issues surrounding GTA4 working on PC are just surprisingly bad. I actually lost count of how many things were just not working right. Guess I'll just wait a couple of weeks for a patch.
- Dude buried with pot a long time ago
- Fighting pirates with tech
- Amazon e-reader worth while?
- The Fisker Karma
As for the the videogame news around these parts:
- Close combat a key to successful games?
- Ghostbusters trailer...
Sony: LittleBigPlanet Level Moderation 'Continually Improving'

2008-12-03T19:00-06:00
Following fan complaints that LittleBigPlanet level moderation is too strict, marketing manager Mark Valledor has said that the moderation process is evolving, but stopped short of responding to specific points of contention.
"The level moderation process is something we're continually improving," said Valledor. "The small percentage of levels moderated have been done so after the community has reported them using the Good Grief tool. We never moderate levels that have not been reported in this way."
Reports of moderators deleting levels that contained no objectionable or copyright-infringing material have been consistent since the game's release in late October. Sony responded to the allegations by issuing a set of content guidelines for level creators to follow.
"The vast majority of moderated levels were due to offensive material," added...

Deadly Creatures Delayed

2008-12-03T18:04-06:00
THQ has confirmed to IGN the delay of Deadly Creatures (Wii), the unique insect action title by contrastingly-named developer Rainbow Studios.
Last slated for mid-December, the buggy Wii game will now see a February 2009 release.
Deadly Creatures puts players in the role of a tarantula and scorpion, on a quest to save mankind. The story will feature two secondary human characters voiced by actors Billy Bob Thornton and Dennis Hopper.

Grand Theft Auto 4 PC Release Plagued by Bugs

2008-12-03T17:18-06:00
Rockstar's release of Grand Theft Auto 4 on the PC is turning into a headache for some consumers, with many players reporting errors ranging from missing textures to show-stopping crashes.
Shacknews has independently verified the issues, with our own Steve Gibson being met with two separate, nondescript error codes that kept him from loading the game at all.
The bugs have been well documented on the Steam forums, with one user compiling a list of potential fixes.
The game-loading RMN40 error can apparently be nixed in Windows XP by updating to Service Pack 3. Shacknews found success with the Vista workaround, which requires an install...

New 400GB Disc Could Be PS3-Compatible

2008-12-03T16:25-06:00
A new 400GB optical disc could end up being compatible with existing Blu-ray players, such as Sony's PlayStation 3, creator Pioneer has informed online publication Edge.
While current Blu-ray players and drives will not be able to read the 16-layer disc--each layer can hold up to 25GB--Pioneer claims that a firmware update may allow existing players to be compatible. The technology is expected to hit mass market by 2010, with a 1TB version of the disc format expected to arrive within five years.
However, Pioneer further noted that the technology "is not being proposed as a candidate for addition to the existing Blu-ray Disc format" at this time.
Blu-ray discs currently max out in a 50GB design consisting of two 25GB data layers. Sony has yet to comment on the possibility of PS3 support for the new technology.

Guitar Hero 5, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, New Tony Hawk Controller Confirmed by Activision

2008-12-03T15:47-06:00
Details on many of Activision Blizzard's upcoming titles were revealed today during a joint event with in-game advertiser Massive Inc.
According to MTV, Call of Duty 6 is now known as Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, and is slated to arrive in fall 2009. As previously revealed, series creator and Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare veteran Infinity Ward will return for the latest entry.
Furthermore, an in-game shot of Guitar Hero 5 was shown in a demonstration of Massive's in-game advertising strategy for Activision, showing a "Burger King ad to the right of the note highway." Past Guitar Hero games have used similar in-game ads.
Activision also confirmed eventually sell full games.

The Marketplace is part of the latest version of GFW Live, now available at FileShack. With the update, Games for Windows can now be launched as a stand-alone program.
At present, the North American Games for Windows Live Marketplace offers up a d...

Atari Says Used Game Sales 'Extremely Painful'; Looks to Combat with 'Expandable' Games

2008-12-03T15:20-06:00
During yesterday's Atari Live press conference, the publisher claimed that used game sales have been "extremely painful" for the industry, but explained that it's on the publishers to create games to combat the loss of sales.
"Second hand game sales represent consumer choice and desire," said Atari CEO David Gardner according to GamesIndustry. "Obviously, it has economically been extremely painful for the industry... the publishers don't benefit.
"But as games change and they become more and more network centric, the disc in the box becomes only one part of the experience. As that experience grows then it becomes not such a problem."
Atari president Phil Harrison also chimed in on the subject, elaborating on his company's strategy to combat used game sales with "embedded commerce" and "expandable experiences."
"There's no d...

Fable 2 DLC Screenshots: Knothole Island

2008-12-03T14:50-06:00
Developer Lionhead has released a few images of its upcoming Knothole Island DLC pack for Fable II.
Players adventuring to Knothole will "undergo the trials of the three shrines to bring the dying island back to life," and also meet a few new characters to fart on.
The DLC will cost 800 Microsoft Points ($10) when it is released later this year.

*Shacknews* Games

Star Wars: Force Unleashed DLC Now Available, Brings New Mission and Characters

Report: Square Prepping Eidos Buyout Bid

Xbox Avatars Get Free Winter Threads

GRID DLC Hits Consoles Today, PC Later

Mirror's Edge DLC Trailer and Screenshots: Far Out

Rockstar Responds to Grand Theft Auto 4 PC Woes, Explains Error Codes

Mirror's Edge PC Release January 13; Time Trial DLC Late January

New Divinity 2 Screenshots Show Combat

Morning Discussion

The Brothers in Arms iPhone Game Is Pretty Fancy

Evening Reading

Sony: LittleBigPlanet Level Moderation 'Continually Improving'

Deadly Creatures Delayed

Grand Theft Auto 4 PC Release Plagued by Bugs

New 400GB Disc Could Be PS3-Compatible

Guitar Hero 5, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, New Tony Hawk Controller Confirmed by Activision

Atari Says Used Game Sales 'Extremely Painful'; Looks to Combat with 'Expandable' Games

Fable 2 DLC Screenshots: Knothole Island

Shacknews Games