PlayStation 3 | Shippin' Out Nov. 30-Dec. 5: Avatar, Rogue Warrior

3D tie-in to James Cameron's sci-fi epic joins Bethesda's Mickey Rourke-led Navy SEAL FPS; Rainbow falls on MX vs. ATV Untamed.

Though traditionally the most active time of the year, the holiday release schedule has had a blink-and-it's-gone quality about it this year, thanks to an overabundance of big-name defections into 2010. With December descending upon the game industry, only a handful of high-profile releases remain.

Avatar the movie won't be out until December 18.

Director James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar won't open in theaters until December 18, but Ubisoft's game tie-in makes planetfall on Tuesday. Available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, and PC, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game supplements the film with a new story set on the far-off planet of Pandora. And like the film, Ubisoft's third-person shooter has been developed using stereoscopic 3D technology. However, gamers without the required 3D equipment will be able to play the game in standard display.

Action gamers can also pick up Bethesda Softworks' Rogue Warrior on the Xbox 360, PS3, or PC this week. Initially announced in 2006, the game underwent a complete overhaul in 2008 when Aliens vs. Predator developer Rebellion took the reins. A story-driven first-person shooter, Rogue Warrior features the voice acting of The Wrestler's Mickey Rourke and tells the story of a US Navy SEAL team sent to North Korea, where their attempt to sabotage an ICBM program uncovers a greater conspiracy tracing back to Russia.

MX vs. ATV Untamed stumbled upon its release in 2007, and THQ opted to sideline the off-road racer in 2008 in favor of 2XL's Baja: Edge of Control. In 2009, the franchise returns, as Rainbow Studios releases MX vs. ATV Reflex for the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, and DS. Beyond its overhauled driving engine, the game features deformable tracks, new environments, and a slew of thumbstick-controlled aerial acrobatics.

For further details on the week's games, visit GameSpot's New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and the Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

NOVEMBER 30, 2009
bittos+--WII--Machine Studios
Copter Crisis--WII--Digital Leisure
Empire Deluxe--DS--Graffiti Entertainment
Encroachment--IP--Patrick Felong
iHack--IP--BoomCo LLC
Martial Arts: Capoeira Fighters--PS2, PSP--Graffiti Entertainment
Reader Rabbit Kindergarten--WII, DS--Nintendo
Strike Force Red Cell--X360, PC--Graffiti Entertainment
Yoga for Wii--WII--Dreamcatcher

DECEMBER 1, 2009
7 Wonders II--DS--Avanquest Software
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel--WII, DS--Majesco Games
DiRT 2--PC--Codemasters
Hair Salon--DS--505 Games
James Cameron's Avatar: The Game--X360, PS3, WII, DS, PC--Ubisoft
The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood--PC--Turbine Inc.
Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes--DS--Ubisoft
MX vs. ATV Reflex--X360, PS3, PSP, DS--THQ
Rec Room Games--WII--Destineer
Rogue Warrior--X360, PS3, PC--Bethesda Softworks
The Seventh Dragon--PC, MAC--Vector
Storybook Workshop--WII--Konami
th!nk Logic Trainer--WII, DS--Conspiracy Entertainment
th!nk Logic Trainer: Kids--DS--Conspiracy Entertainment

DECEMBER 2, 2009
No new releases announced.

DECEMBER 3, 2009
Dreamer: Zoo Keeper--DS--Dreamcatcher
Learn Science--DS--Dreamcatcher
Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure--DS--Dreamcatcher

DECEMBER 4, 2009
Zombie Driver--PC--EXOR Studios

Kanye Space Shippin FL Studio Instrumental

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/jamescameronsavatar/news.html?sid=6241337

Wii | Monkey Island Episode 4 washes up on WiiWare

Nintendo Store Update: Telltale's latest episodic adventure on the high seas leads console four-pack; DSi gets EA's Foto Face, PopCap's Bookworm.

Get the full article at GameSpot

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"Wii | Monkey Island Episode 4 washes up on WiiWare" was posted by Tom Magrino on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 12:44:53 -0800

' Where's My Monkey? ' Parker

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/wii/sim/myzoo/news.html?sid=6241573

DS | Puzzle Quest 2 ventures forth in spring 2010

D3 Publisher and Infinite Interactive's RPG-themed match-three puzzler heads to the Xbox 360 and DS early next year.

Infinite Interactive's Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords was a dark horse hit if ever there was one. Released without much to-do in March 2007 for the DS and PSP, the game captured critics with its mash-up of Bejeweled-style gameplay and role-playing game storyline. The RPG puzzler was later ported to a number of other platforms, such as the Wii and Xbox 360, and garnered a number of awards, including GameSpot's Best PSP Game of 2007.

Enraging the barbarian seems ill-advised.

Having released the tepidly received sci-fi follow-up Puzzle Quest Galactrix earlier this year, D3 Publisher announced today that Puzzle Quest will see a proper sequel for the Xbox 360 and DS in spring 2010. As with its predecessor, Puzzle Quest 2 will see gamers playing out an RPG storyline as they battle a variety of mythical beasts in the match-three puzzle arena.

Whereas the original Puzzle Quest classes stuck closely to fantasy tropes, the sequel will offer the slightly more exotic professions of war mage, inquisitor, barbarian, and assassin. The game will also feature a fresh load out of weapons, spells, and armor, as well as new monsters and villains to vanquish. In addition to story mode, the game also features instant action, tournament, and multiplayer modes.

For an idea of what to expect from Puzzle Quest 2, check out GameSpot's review of the original.

The Puzzle Of Life - Science vs Creationism

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ds/rpg/puzzlequest2/news.html?sid=6241575

PC | Wii sales dipped Thanksgiving week

Nintendo reports 550,000 consoles sold in US during important November 22-28 window; DS Lite, DSi set new handheld record with combined 1-million-unit haul.

Though two years out from launch, Nintendo's Wii remained in high demand during the 2008 holiday shopping season. For the high-volume Thanksgiving week last year, the console shifted some 800,000 units in the US, more than double its tally during the same period in 2007. However, indicative of Nintendo's yearlong struggle to stimulate flagging interest in the Wii, this year's Thanksgiving week sales performance came up notably short.

Wii sales are thus far running cold this holiday.

Nintendo today said that it sold 550,000 Wiis in the US during the November 22-28 period, according to the publisher's internal estimates. Console travails aside, Nintendo said that DS Lite and DSi sales were very strong during the same period, as the handhelds combined to sell more than 1 million units. The publisher noted that the DS's combined one-week tally surpassed the high-water mark set by the Game Boy Advance during Thanksgiving week in 2002.

Putting those numbers into perspective, Nintendo said that it sold more than 150 systems every minute on a continual basis in the US during the week. Said another way, the publisher shifted more than 2.5 machines every second during the same period of time.

In late September, Nintendo enacted its first price cut for the Wii since the console launched in the US in November 2006, knocking the price down $50 to $199.99. Speaking to the San Francisco Chronicle today, Nintendo of America EVP of sales and marketing Cammie Dunaway said that console sales were up 85 percent on a weekly basis since the price cut went into effect.

After falling behind the PlayStation 3 in September, Nintendo regained the top slot in the monthly console sales chart for October. According to the NPD Group's monthly report, the newly $199 system sold 506,900 units during the approximately 30-day window. The sales performance outpaced Sony's and Microsoft's consoles, which sold a respective 320,600 and 249,700 units in the US during the same period.

Shii - The Wii for Women

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/news/6241578.html

PC | Duke Nukem: D-Day revealed?

Mysterious Facebook page teases what looks like a new entry in the catchphrase-spouting shooter series; is it a rebranded Duke Nukem Forever, the Gearbox title, or much ado about nothing?

Get the full article at GameSpot

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"PC | Duke Nukem: D-Day revealed?" was posted by Tor Thorsen on Mon, 30 Nov 2009 17:21:29 -0800

Top 5 Plays - Duke vs. Arizona State (11.25.09)

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/dukenukemforever/news.html?sid=6241591

Dreamcast | 2K Boston resurrecting Spec Ops?

Teaser video may offer first glimpse of mysterious shooter that has been gestating at the studio formerly known as Irrational Games; is X-com still in the works?

Get the full article at GameSpot

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"Dreamcast | 2K Boston resurrecting Spec Ops?" was posted by Tor Thorsen on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:15:02 -0800

Cool Kids - 2K Pennies + Link

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/dreamcast/action/specopsomegasquad/news.html?sid=6241380

PC | Spot On: 15 years of Warcraft

Blizzard game design chief Rob Pardo and lead designer Jeff Kaplan discuss acclaimed fantasy franchise's long history, from orcs and humans to the World of Warcraft phenomenon.

9.3, 9.2, 9.3, 9.2, 9.5, 9.2, 9.0.

The Alliance and the Horde first clashed in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans.

With review scores like that, there's no question Blizzard Entertainment has a track record of releasing some of the best-reviewed games the industry has to offer. Easily the biggest franchise in Blizzard's stable, though, is its real-time-strategy massively multiplayer online role-playing series Warcraft, which celebrates its 15-year anniversary this month.

The franchise reached global-phenomenon status on the back of World of Warcraft. The fantasy-themed game has defined--not to mention dominated--the MMORPG landscape since its launch five years ago this week. Now on its second expansion, WOW's global subscriber base stands at 11.5 million users as of Blizzard's last accounting, although it has run into trouble in one of its largest markets, being at the center of a cross-agency dispute inside the Chinese government.

The industry-tracking NPD Group pegs the MMORPG series' lifetime US retail sales at 8.59 million through July 2009. Indeed, all three games consistently rank in the top 10 of the NPD Group's monthly PC charts, with the tracking firm putting Wrath of the Lich King as the second best-selling desktop game for the first half of 2009. (Blizzard declined to offer total combined unit sales for WOW, Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King.)

Further, Wrath of the Lich King currently holds the record for the fastest-selling PC game in history. Following its November 2008 launch, the game sold 2.8 million units worldwide within its first 24 hours on the market. Of course, Blizzard bested its own record with Lich King's opening performance, as the prior title holder was The Burning Crusade, which sold 2.4 million units on day one in January 2007.

Beyond initial sales, WOW requires a membership fee of at most $15 a month. Blizzard also pulls in supplemental income from a host of game-related services, ranging from character name changes to the recently introduced in-game pets. All said, WOW drives the Irvine studio's contribution to parent company Activision Blizzard's top line beyond $100 million a month, according to the publisher's recent financial reports.

Rob Pardo

Inauspicious beginnings
Rob Pardo, Blizzard's vice president of game design, didn't necessarily see the franchise blowing up the way it has upon the release of that first installment.

"I was working at Interplay Productions when it came out," Pardo told GameSpot. "Interplay was publishing the first Warcraft: Orcs and Humans for international back then. So I had the opportunity to play it, and it was pretty exciting, because I had already played Dune II so I think it was really cool to see a fantasy version of that. I definitely didn't imagine back then that Warcraft as a franchise would get as big as it would get."

Released in November 1994, the original Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was criticized for being uneven, with the endgame dominated by the orc warlock unit and its ability to summon the disproportionately powerful daemon. And while obliterating pathetic little human towns always has its advantages, the franchise didn't hit its stride until the following year, with the release of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.

"It was really Warcraft II that I thought really blew things open, because of [online multiplayer networking service Kali]," Pardo continued. "Ironically enough, too, it came out within the same month as Command & Conquer, so we had this huge new genre explode at the same time between C&C and Warcraft II. I definitely saw a lot of potential in the future of the RTS genre, and certainly Warcraft was a part of that."

Named one of GameSpot's Greatest Games of All Time, Warcraft II brought with it a finely tuned single-player campaign, replete with memorable cinematics and a host of quotable characters ("Zug zug," "Ready to serve," "I can see my house from here!" and so on). Defined primarily by the third-party application Kali, Warcraft II also featured a strong multiplayer component, where gamers could compete on their own maps as well as refine their strategies in myriad ways.

World of Warcraft's merry band of adventurers numbers in excess of 11.5 million.

The World goes to Warcraft
Warcraft II spawned an expansion, Beyond the Dark Portal, in 1996, but it wasn't until 2002 that Blizzard issued its much-anticipated follow-up, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Named GameSpot's PC Game of the Year in 2002, Warcraft III was the first installment in the franchise helmed by Pardo, who cut his teeth at Blizzard on the developer's acclaimed sci-fi RTS franchise Starcraft. Pardo noted that the franchise's pivotal step into the MMORPG realm came during Warcraft III development.

"After we finished Starcraft, we split into two development teams. One of the teams went off to make what would became Warcraft III, and the other team went to go make a game that survived a year, a year and a half before we decided it just wasn't going to turn into something that we thought would be Blizzard quality. And it was then that we started about what we wanted to do instead, and that's when the idea of World of Warcraft emerged."

"During Starcraft development, there was a whole host of us playing that were playing Ultima Online. There was a bunch of us that saw that being a fun genre. It was definitely during Warcraft III development that a lot of us started playing EverQuest. It was during that EverQuest era that we realized Ultima Online wasn't a fluke and it was going to turn into a full-fledged genre. And we really saw what was amazing about that genre and felt like we had an opportunity to do our own spin on it."

Pardo said that one moment that stood out to him was realizing that each of the 30-odd avatars standing around at a crafting forge in Ultima Online were controlled by an actual person. These sentiments were affirmed when EverQuest came along and added a deeper connection between players, Pardo said. The game designer should know, considering he led one of the preeminent guilds in EverQuest--Legacy of Steel--during the early 2000s.

"The unfortunate thing about some of the games of that era is that you had to be a pretty hardcore player to get to that level of fun," Pardo continued. "But that fun was so deep and so satisfying that we really felt like, hey, if we can just broaden this out to a wider group of players, there really might be something magic here."

Jeff Kaplan

Blizzard lead designer Jeff Kaplan assumed control of Pardo's guild after the Blizzard executive retired from EverQuest to focus his efforts wrapping up development on Warcraft III. In 2002, he was brought on to aid in development of the original WOW, and he said that it was no easy task adapting the franchise from its RTS roots to a more RPG setting.

"It required a huge shift," Kaplan said. "You do a lot of things in an RTS for very different reasons than you would do things in an MMO. As it relates to story, if you look at the ending of the original Warcraft III, you've got the humans, orcs, and night elves all united to overcome Archimonde at the World Tree. That didn't work for the structure of the MMO at all. We knew that we wanted to have Horde and Alliance pitted against each other. We had to re-create the rift that went all the way to the original orcs and humans."

"It's also hard to deal with the psychology of the dev team," he continued. "We would often feel obliged to do things exactly how they were done in the RTS, which isn't always right for the gameplay of an MMO. An example is, we wanted to give an ability called Death Coil to warlocks, because we thought it was really fitting. In Warcraft III, Death Coil was a Death Knight-only ability, and not only did it do damage, but it healed. People had a rough time coming to terms with the fact that it was OK to make changes and do what was right for the gameplay of WOW, even if that somehow contradicted what people saw in Warcraft III."

However, having the RTS as a backdrop did more than create challenges, as explained by Pardo. "We were really aided by the fact that we had so much history in the Warcraft franchise," he said. "So we had all these storylines and worlds, and in a lot of ways, at least early on when we started developing the maps and the zones, there was so much to already start from."

"[Vice president of creative development] Chris Metzen had already done a lot of the lore for Warcraft III and before, so we had this big head start on talking about all the different areas, Stormwind or Lordaeron," Pardo continued. "And you can see it to some extent in the game. If you look at the Eastern Kingdoms, in a lot of ways it is much more developed from just a lore and backstory standpoint than Kalimdor, and that's because Eastern Kingdoms really had three games plus expansion sets to really build it out, and Kalimdor was something new and fresh."

Cataclysm wasn't initially part of Blizzard's expansion slate.

Of course, the scope of a MMORPG is substantially than that of an RTS. That difference of scale was reflected in Blizzard's initial plans for what it wanted to include with the original WOW when it shipped in November 2004. In fact, according to Kaplan, Blizzard initially intended to include the areas from The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and much of Cataclysm with the original launch.

"We planned it out extremely far in advance," he said. "To put it into perspective, Outland and Northrend and a lot of the ideas in Cataclysm were all part of the original shipping plan of the game…Every so often we'll have those moments from a project management and planning standpoint where we'll really go, well, what are we actually get in and where should we actually be at. But part of what gets us there is scoping the project out for years and years to come and always having an idea of where we want to go, and that's what lets us steer the ship and eventually get there."

Outland and Northrend eventually arrived as part of The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm is expected to arrive sometime next year. Oddly enough, Cataclysm itself wasn't on Blizzard's list when it first began thinking about expansions.

"When we finished the original game, we began work on expansions," Kaplan said. "We didn't just think of one expansion that we were going to work on. We said, 'What are a lot of expansions we want to make for this game,' because we want to have this big list that we can then narrow down and prioritize. Outland and Northrend were givens on that list…Cataclysm was an interesting departure from that, because it wasn't part of the original expansion plan that we had. It was something that evolved out of a lot of cool ideas forging together at once."

According to Pardo, Blizzard's initial expansion list also reflected a different release order than what gamers actually got. "As a matter of fact, when we launched WOW, we initially thought we were going to Lich King first," he said, noting that Outland and Northrend were givens on the expansion list.

This unpredictability, coupled with Blizzard's ability to be flexible with its direction, is also what led to the development of Cataclysm as a full expansion, he said. "When we shipped WOW, the whole idea of Cataclysm wasn't there at all. We certainly had the idea to do Deathwing, but the whole idea of Cataclysm came out of trying to determine what we thought was the right thing for the game next. We didn't foresee five years ago breaking the world up was it."

WOW will continue "for as long as the Internet is up."

According to Kaplan, Warcraft's reaching timeline and Blizzard's boundless creativity equate to no foreseeable end to WOW. "I honestly believe that there are enough compelling ideas to keep WOW going for as long as the Internet is up," he said. "I mean, the Warcraft universe spans well over 10,000 years. You can literally sit [Chris Metzen] down at any point, and say, 'Hey Chris, what should we do next,' and then an hour later you can get your next question in. The future of WOW is only limited by time and resources."

Of course, keeping WOW around forever means that Blizzard will soon have two separate MMORPGs in its portfolio. In May, Blizzard confirmed that the new MMORPG would be part of a "brand-new franchise," one different enough from WOW that the two wouldn't compete. Both Pardo and Kaplan believe that the company has learned plenty of lessons from WOW, ones that bode well for the new MMORPG.

"Probably the biggest [lesson] I'd say is all the different systems in WOW that do not very easily let you play with the people you want to play with," said Pardo. "They are all things that have very good gameplay reasons why they exist, but they really prevent people from playing with who they want, when they want. And that's something we're thinking very deeply about all the time with new MMO. And not to say we're going to solve them all across the board, but we're definitely thinking about them a lot."

"There's a lot of people working on the new game who have also worked on World of Warcraft," Kaplan added. "So there's a lot of talented individuals from a technology standpoint, from a process standpoint, how to build a game like this, how to position ourselves for a stable launch after going through the experience of the original WOW launch. And then there's also a lot of thing that are hard to narrow in on, more in this cloud of general design philosophy, of understanding what players want and the different player types."

Warcraft for the next 10 millennia
With the Warcraft franchise now firmly grounded in the MMORPG scene, some longtime fans of the series are wondering whether it will ever return to its RTS roots. According to Pardo, Blizzard does not consider itself locked into the MMORPG genre with Warcraft.

"We have a very different view with our franchises," Pardo said. "With Warcraft, we started trying to deviate out of that, back in the Warcraft Adventures days. I think it was around that time period that we started seeing these as intellectual properties. They are worlds, they are franchises, they are not specific to a game or even a game genre for that matter. If we had unlimited Blizzard teams to draw upon, I think [Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo] could support all kinds of different game genres within them."

Pardo also believes that, just as the company will soon have multiple MMORPGs, it wouldn't present a problem to have real-time strategy efforts like Starcraft II and Warcraft IV--were it to be made--in the company's portfolio. The secret lies in differentiating the games enough from one another to create different play experiences.

"When we started developing Warcraft III, we were very strategically deviating from what we had done before," he said. "We wanted to try to come up with an RTS game that had a little bit more of an RPG feel to it, a game that relied more on micromanagement than macromanagement, really had more of a focus on smaller numbers of units. These were all very specific decisions that we made, and even when we were making them, we knew that when we came back to the Starcraft franchise, we were going to go back more to the old style of faster paced games."

"And that's not because we thought Warcraft III was wrong," he continued. "It was because we were deviating the RTS genre into almost subgenres, at least within Blizzard. If we ever did go back and decide to do, let's say, a Warcraft IV, I would guess we'd probably go back toward the Warcraft III model, or more toward the hero model, rather than continue to follow down the Starcraft II way."

Pardo also noted that the things preventing Warcraft IV to be made is the time, resources, and passion to execute. "Let's say when the Starcraft II team finishes up, they decide that they wanted to make [canceled action spin-off] Starcraft: Ghost. We'd probably be supportive of that," he said. "If they decide they want to make Warcraft IV, we'd be supportive of that. Something new? That'd be fine, too."

The Lich King has been named as one possible star of the forthcoming Warcraft film.

Beyond that, Pardo noted that Warcraft isn't even bound by the RTS and MMORPG genres, saying that they consider new ways to experience the franchise "all the time." He also said that Blizzard would be open to giving players the opportunity to go more hands-on with any of the various events along Warcraft's reaching 10,000 year timeline.

"If we ever made a World of Warcraft II, Warcraft IV, or, I don't know, Warcraft Legends, I can see us doing all kinds of interesting things," he said. "Again, if the right idea was out there, I could totally see us jumping around the timeline if we thought that was right. Let's just say we decided to make an, I don't know, Dragon Age/Mass Effect-style RPG, but we wanted to tell the story back around the time of Medivh. We certainly could do that if there was passion around that and was exciting. Whether or not I foresee that, it kind of falls back in that bucket of "really cool idea." We'd need a team that was really passionate about doing it."

For Pardo personally, the events surrounding the opening of the Dark Portal are a particularly compelling event in the Warcraft continuum. "If you think of that seminal moment around the Warcraft franchise, it's really that opening of the Dark Portal, right?" he said. "That's the event that probably defines our universe more than other fantasy universe, that moment where the two worlds collided, because that's really what started making Warcraft, Warcraft. So I think that's a really interesting time period. A lot of the exploration of the prehistory of the Night Elves and the time period of Illidan and Tyrande and Malfurion, I think that's a really interesting time period, but there are a lot of interesting ones."

Regardless of where the Warcraft franchise goes, the future remains promising. In July, Blizzard announced that it would be extending the Warcraft franchise to the silver screen, signing on Spider-Man helmer Sam Raimi to direct and Saving Private Ryan scribe Robert Rodat to write the screenplay. While details on the film have yet to emerge, rumors indicate that the plot may adhere closely to WOW's Wrath of the Lich King expansion, chronicling the life and times of Arthas Menethil, better known as one half of the demonic Lich King.

And, of course, the lights will remain on for some time to come in World of Warcraft.

"It would be kind of the worst thing ever if we weren't working on it five years from now, because it would mean that we had done something horribly wrong or we didn't achieve our goals," Kaplan said. "I'm hopeful that we'll be having this conversation another five years or 10 years from now."

spot pop zit zap

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/strategy/warcraft2beyondthedp/news.html?sid=6241378

DS | Call of Duty franchise sales top $3 billion

Modern Warfare 2's $550 million opening helps boost Infinity Ward, Treyarch-developed FPS series' total global sales beyond 55 million units.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 smashed more than just game-industry records upon its launch for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC in November. Generating some $550 million within its first five days on the market, the Infinity Ward-developed first-person shooter sailed past top-earners within the film and book industry, giving Activision cause to lay claim to the title of "biggest entertainment launch in history."

Modern Warfare 2's sales likely got a boost on Black Friday.

Activision has now provided some perspective on just how big Call of Duty has become. Over the holiday weekend, the publisher announced that the Call of Duty franchise has pulled in more than $3 billion at retail worldwide, according to industry-tracking groups NPD, Chart-Track, and GfK, as well as Activision's own internal estimates. Beginning with 2003's acclaimed original, the series has sold more than 55 million units globally.

The Call of Duty franchise's achievement can largely be attributed to the three most recent installments in the series. In 2007, Infinity Ward rebooted the World War II-centric series it created with its contemporary-set Modern Warfare, a game that has now sold more than 14 million units. Activision's Treyarch studio returned to the WWII era with World at War in 2008, a game that used the same engine as Modern Warfare and achieved sales in excess of 11 million.

Activision has yet to provide an exact global sales figure in terms of units for Modern Warfare 2. However, the publisher did say that Infinity Ward's latest sold 4.7 million units within 24 hours in the US, UK, and Canada, earning some $310 million in the process. The game's prevalence has also been evidenced by its popularity with online networks, as Microsoft announced that it had achieved a new record of 2 million concurrent Xbox Live users following the game's launch.

Check out GameSpot's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Launch Center for more on the top-rated shooter.

Regina Spektor- The Call

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ds/action/callofduty5/news.html?sid=6241570

PlayStation 3 | Prince of Persia to rule May 2010

Ubisoft announces The Forgotten Sands, a return to Sands of Time storyline; will be released alongside upcoming film adaptation next spring.

One month after unconfirmed reports indicated a new Prince of Persia game was in the works, Ubisoft has made it official. The French publisher announced today that next May, it will ship Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands for unspecified consoles and handhelds. Though short on specifics, the announcement did reveal the game will mark a return to the storyline which began with the successful 2003 relaunch of the series, Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time.

Ubisoft will release a new Prince of Persia game alongside the Sands of Time film next May.

Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands' release date and story were not chosen at random. The game will be released the same month as the big-budget film Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time, based on the game of the same name. The reportedly $200 million adaptation premieres May 28 in the US and May 27 in the UK, and is being produced by Jerry Bruckheimer (Pirates of the Caribbean) and directed by Mike Newell (Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Donnie Brasco). Starring Jake Gyllenhaal, the film--the effects-packed trailer for which can be seen below--was co-written by Jordan Mechner, who created the first Prince of Persia game in 1989.

Though the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time is being bankrolled and distributed by Walt Disney Films, Ubisoft is also banking on its success. Speaking at the BMO Capital Markets 17th Annual Digital Entertainment Conference earlier this month, Guillemot said that the Jake Gyllenhaal-led action film franchise could be more lucrative than Disney's Pirates trilogy.

"What we hear is that it could be maybe stronger than Pirates, which did $2.7 billion dollars," Guillemot said as part of his presentation to analysts and investors. "I think this will really help our brand to become a major brand in this industry."

Ubisoft has expressed its desire to get into feature film production, and has laid the groundwork by buying the Tom Clancy brand and Hybride, the effects studio behind Watchmen and 300. Earlier this month, it released a self-produced live-action short inspired by its recent hit Assassin's Creed II.

[ Watch Video ]

Michael Jackson,James Brown,and Prince on stage (1983 )

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/princeofpersiatheforgottensands/news.html?sid=6241572

PC | Shippin' Out Nov. 30-Dec. 5: Avatar, Rogue Warrior

3D tie-in to James Cameron's sci-fi epic joins Bethesda's Mickey Rourke-led Navy SEAL FPS; Rainbow falls on MX vs. ATV Untamed.

Though traditionally the most active time of the year, the holiday release schedule has had a blink-and-it's-gone quality about it this year, thanks to an overabundance of big-name defections into 2010. With December descending upon the game industry, only a handful of high-profile releases remain.

Avatar the movie won't be out until December 18.

Director James Cameron's sci-fi epic Avatar won't open in theaters until December 18, but Ubisoft's game tie-in makes planetfall on Tuesday. Available for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, Wii, DS, and PC, James Cameron's Avatar: The Game supplements the film with new story set on the far-off planet of Pandora. And like the film, Ubisoft's third-person shooter has been developed using stereoscopic 3D technology. However, gamers without the required 3D equipment will also be able to play the game in standard display.

Action gamers can also pick up Bethesda Softwork's Rogue Warrior on the Xbox 360, PS3, or PC this week. Initially announced in 2006, the game underwent a complete overhaul in 2008 when Aliens vs. Predator developer Rebellion took the reins. A story-driven first-person shooter, Rogue Warrior features the voice acting of The Wrestler's Mickey Rourke, and tells the story of a US Navy SEAL team sent to North Korea, where their attempt to sabotage an ICBM program uncovers a greater conspiracy tracing back to Russia.

MX vs. ATV Untamed stumbled upon its release in 2007, and THQ opted to sideline the off-road racer in 2008 in favor of 2XL's Baja: Edge of Control. In 2009, the franchise returns, as Rainbow Studios releases MX vs. ATV Reflex for the Xbox 360, PS3, PSP, and DS. Beyond its overhauled driving engine, the game features deformable tracks, new environments and environments, and a slew of thumb stick-controlled aerial acrobatics.

For further details on the week's games, visit GameSpot's New Releases page. The full list of downloadable games on the PlayStation Store, Xbox Live Marketplace, and the Wii Shop Channel will be revealed later this week. Release dates are based on retailer listings and are subject to change.

NOVEMBER 30, 2009
bittos+--WII--Machine Studios
Copter Crisis--WII--Digital Leisure
Empire Deluxe--DS--Graffiti Entertainment
Encroachment--IP--Patrick Felong
iHack--IP--BoomCo LLC
Martial Arts: Capoeira Fighters--PS2, PSP--Graffiti Entertainment
Reader Rabbit Kindergarten--WII, DS--Nintendo
Strike Force Red Cell--X360, PC--Graffiti Entertainment
Yoga for Wii--WII--Dreamcatcher

DECEMBER 1, 2009
7 Wonders II--DS--Avanquest Software
Alvin and the Chipmunks: The Squeakquel--WII, DS--Majesco Games
DiRT 2--PC--Codemasters
Hair Salon--DS--505 Games
James Cameron's Avatar: The Game--X360, PS3, WII, DS, PC--Ubisoft
The Lord of the Rings Online: Siege of Mirkwood--PC--Turbine Inc.
Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes--DS--Ubisoft
MX vs. ATV Reflex--X360, PS3, PSP, DS--THQ
Rec Room Games--WII--Destineer
Rogue Warrior--X360, PS3, PC--Bethesda Softworks
The Seventh Dragon--PC, MAC--Vector
Storybook Workshop--WII--Konami
th!nk Logic Trainer--WII, DS--Conspiracy Entertainment
th!nk Logic Trainer: Kids--DS--Conspiracy Entertainment

DECEMBER 2, 2009
No new releases announced.

DECEMBER 3, 2009
Dreamer: Zoo Keeper--DS--Dreamcatcher
Learn Science--DS--Dreamcatcher
Safecracker: The Ultimate Puzzle Adventure--DS--Dreamcatcher

DECEMBER 4, 2009
Zombie Driver--PC--EXOR Studios

Kanye Space Shippin FL Studio Instrumental

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/driving/zombiedriver/news.html?sid=6241337

Xbox 360 | Assassin's Creed II slays 1.6 million in one week

Ubisoft says internal sales reports shows critically lauded sequel outselling original by 32 percent.

The most major game left on Ubisoft's fourth quarter release slate is the movie tie-in James Cameron's Avatar, due out December 1 for the Wii, DS, PC, PSP, PlayStation 3, and Xbox 360. Unquestionably, though, the French publisher's heaviest holiday hitter is Assassin's Creed II, which shipped last week to glowing reviews (see below).

Ezio outpacing Altair's killing spree at retail.

Luckily for Ubisoft, the game's rapt critical reception has apparently translated into red-hot sales. Today, the company announced that, according to its internal estimates, Assassin's Creed II sold--not shipped--over 1.6 million units worldwide during its first week of release. That pace is 32 percent faster than the original Assassin's Creed, which remains the fastest-selling original IP in the US two years after its launch, according to the publisher.

Ubisoft expects sales of Assassin's Creed II, Avatar, and other games like Rabbids Go Home (Nov. 1) to boost its current quarter earnings to €540 million ($803 million), a year-over-year increase of 6 percent. If that comes to pass, it would be a welcome cash injection into the company's coffers. Earlier this month, the Paris-headquartered publisher said that sales sank 52 percent during the first half of its fiscal year to €166 million ($247 million), down from €344 million ($511 million) during the same period in 2008.

Assassin's Creed shipped November 17 for the PS3 and Xbox 360. That same day, two portable spin-offs launched: Assassin's Creed II: Discovery for the DS and Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines for the PSP. A PC edition of Assassin's Creed II is due out in early 2010, with an iPhone tie-in also released last week.

Assassin's Creed

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/xbox360/action/assassinscreed2/news.html?sid=6241223

Macintosh | Spot On: 15 years of Warcraft

Blizzard game design chief Rob Pardo and lead designer Jeff Kaplan discuss acclaimed fantasy franchise's long history, from Orcs and Humans to the World of Warcraft phenomenon.

9.3, 9.2, 9.3, 9.2, 9.5, 9.2, 9.0.

The Alliance and the Horde first clashed in Warcraft: Orcs and Humans.

With review scores like that, there's no question Blizzard Entertainment has a track record of releasing some of the best-reviewed games the industry has to offer. Easily the biggest franchise in Blizzard's stable, though, is its real-time strategy-cum-massively multiplayer online role-playing series Warcraft, which celebrates its 15-year anniversary this month.

The franchise reached global-phenomenon status on the back of World of Warcraft. The fantasy-themed game has defined--not to mention dominated--the MMORPG landscape since its launch five years ago this week. Now on its second expansion, WOW's global subscriber base stands at 11.5 million users as of Blizzard's last accounting, although it's run into trouble in one of its largest markets, being at the center of a cross-agency dispute inside the Chinese government.

The industry-tracking NPD Group pegs the MMORPG series' lifetime US retail sales at 8.59 million through July 2009. Indeed, all three games consistently rank in the top 10 of the NPD Group's monthly PC charts, with the tracking firm putting Wrath of the Lich King as the second best-selling desktop game for the first half of 2009. (Blizzard declined to offer total combined unit sales for WOW, Burning Crusade, and Wrath of the Lich King.)

Further, Wrath of the Lich King currently holds the record for fastest-selling PC game in history. Following its November 2008 launch, the game sold 2.8 million units worldwide within its first 24 hours on the market. Of course, Blizzard bested its own record with Lich King's opening performance, as the prior title holder was The Burning Crusade, which sold 2.4 million units on day-one in January 2007.

Beyond initial sales, WOW requires a membership fee of at most $15 a month. Blizzard also pulls in supplemental income from a host of game-related services, ranging from character name changes to the recently introduced in-game pets. All said, WOW drives the Irvine studio's contribution to parent company Activision Blizzard's top line beyond $100 million a month, according to the publisher's recent financial reports.

Rob Pardo

Inauspicious beginnings
Rob Pardo, Blizzard's vice president of game design, didn't necessarily see the franchise blowing up the way it has upon the release of that first installment.

"I was working at Interplay Productions when it came out," Pardo told GameSpot. "Interplay was publishing the first Warcraft: Orcs and Humans for international back then. So I had the opportunity to play it, and it was pretty exciting, because I had already played Dune II so I think it was really cool to see a fantasy version of that…I definitely didn't imagine back then that Warcraft as a franchise would get as big as it would get."

Released in November 1994, the original Warcraft: Orcs and Humans was criticized for being uneven, with the end game dominated by the Orc Warlock unit and its ability to summon the disproportionately powerful Daemon. And while obliterating pathetic little human towns always has its advantages, the franchise didn't hit its stride until the following year, with the release of Warcraft II: Tides of Darkness.

"It was really Warcraft II that I thought really blew things open, because of [online multiplayer networking service Kali]," Pardo continued. "Ironically enough, too, it came out within the same month as Command & Conquer, so we had this huge new genre explode at the same time between C&C and Warcraft II…I definitely saw a lot of potential in the future of the RTS genre, and certainly Warcraft was a part of that."

Named one of GameSpot's Greatest Games of All Time, Warcraft II brought with it a finely tuned single-player campaign, replete with memorable cinematics and a host of quotable characters ("Zug zug," "Ready to serve," "I can see my house from here!" and so on). Defined primarily by the third-party application Kali, Warcraft II also featured a strong multiplayer component, where gamers could compete on their own maps as well as refine their strategies in myriad ways.

World of Warcraft's merry band of adventures numbers in excess of 11.5 million.

The World goes to Warcraft
Warcraft II spawned an expansion, Beyond the Dark Portal, in 1996, but it wasn't until 2002 that Blizzard issued its much-anticipated follow-up, Warcraft III: Reign of Chaos. Named GameSpot's PC Game of the Year in 2002, Warcraft III was the first installment in the franchise helmed by Pardo, having cut his teeth at Blizzard on the developer's acclaimed sci-fi RTS franchise Starcraft. Pardo noted that the franchise's pivotal step into the MMORPG realm came during Warcraft III development.

"After we finished Starcraft, we split into two development teams. One of the teams went off to make what would became Warcraft III, and the other team went to go make a game that survived a year, a year and a half before we decided it just wasn't going to turn into something that we thought would be Blizzard quality. And it was then that we started about what we wanted to do instead, and that's when the idea of World of Warcraft emerged."

"During Starcraft development, there was a whole host of us playing that were playing Ultima Online. There was a bunch of us that saw that being a fun genre…It was definitely during Warcraft III development that a lot of us started playing EverQuest…It was during that EverQuest era that we realized Ultima Online wasn't a fluke, and it was going to turn into a full-fledged genre. And we really saw what was amazing about that genre, and felt like we had an opportunity to do our own spin on it."

Pardo said that one moment that stood out to him was realizing each of the 30-odd avatars standing around at a crafting forge in Ultima Online were controlled by an actual person. These sentiments were affirmed when EverQuest came along and added a deeper connection between players, Pardo said. The game designer should know, considering he led one of the preeminent guilds in EverQuest--Legacy of Steel--during the early 2000s.

"The unfortunate thing about some of the games of that era is that you had to be a pretty hardcore player to get to that level of fun," Pardo continued. "But that fun was so deep and so satisfying that we really felt like, hey, if we can just broaden this out to a wider group of players, there really might be something magic here."

Jeff Kaplan

Blizzard lead designer Jeff Kaplan assumed control of Pardo's guild after the Blizzard executive retired from EverQuest to focus his efforts wrapping up development on Warcraft III. In 2002, he was brought on to aid in development of the original WOW, and he said that it was no easy task adapting the franchise from its RTS roots to a more RPG setting.

"It required a huge shift," Kaplan said. "You do a lot of things in an RTS for very different reasons than you would do things in an MMO. As it relates to story, if you look at the ending of the original Warcraft III, you've got the Humans, Orcs, and Night Elves all united to overcome Archimonde at the World Tree. That didn't work for the structure of the MMO at all, we knew that we wanted to have Horde and Alliance pitted against each other. We had to re-create the rift that went all the way to the original Orcs and Humans."

"It's also hard to deal with the psychology of the dev team," he continued. "We would often feel obliged to do things exactly how they were done in the RTS, which isn't always right for the gameplay of an MMO. An example is, we wanted to give an ability called Death Coil to warlocks, because we thought it was really fitting. In Warcraft III, Death Coil was a Death Knight-only ability, and not only did it do damage, but it healed. People had a rough time coming to terms with the fact that it was OK to make changes and do what was right for the gameplay of WOW, even if that somehow contradicted what people saw in Warcraft III."

However, having the RTS as a backdrop did more than create challenges, as explained by Pardo. "We were really aided by the fact that we had so much history in the Warcraft franchise," he said. "So we had all these storylines and worlds, and in a lot of ways, at least early on when we started developing the maps and the zones, there was so much to already start from."

"[Vice president of creative development] Chris Metzen had already done a lot of the lore for Warcraft III and before, so we had this big head start on talking about all the different areas, Stormwind or Lordaeron," Pardo continued. "And you can see it some extent in the game. If you look at the Eastern Kingdoms, in a lot of ways it is much more developed from just a lore and backstory standpoint than Kalimdor, and that's because Eastern Kingdoms really had three games plus expansion sets to really build it out, and Kalimdor was something new and fresh."

Cataclysm wasn't initially part of Blizzard's expansion slate.

Of course, the scope of a MMORPG is substantially than that of an RTS. That difference of scale was reflected in Blizzard's initial plans for what it wanted to include with the original WOW when it shipped in November 2004. In fact, according to Kaplan, Blizzard initially intended to include the areas from The Burning Crusade, Wrath of the Lich King, and much of Cataclysm with the original launch.

"We planned it out extremely far in advance," he said. "To put it into perspective, Outland and Northrend and a lot of the ideas in Cataclysm were all part of the original shipping plan of the game…Every so often we'll have those moments from a project management and planning standpoint where we'll really go, well, what are we actually get in and where should we actually be at. But part of what gets us there is scoping the project out for years and years to come and always having an idea of where we want to go, and that's what lets us steer the ship and eventually get there."

Outland and Northrend eventually arrived as part of The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King, and Cataclysm is expected to arrive sometime next year. Oddly enough, Cataclysm itself wasn't on Blizzard's list when it first began thinking about expansions.

"When we finished the original game, we began work on expansions," Kaplan said. "We didn't just think of one expansion that we were going to work on. We said, 'What are a lot of expansions we want to make for this game,' because we want to have this big list that we can then narrow down and prioritize. Outland and Northrend were givens on that list…Cataclysm was an interesting departure from that, because it wasn't part of the original expansion plan that we had. It was something that evolved out of a lot of cool ideas forging together at once."

According to Pardo, Blizzard's initial expansion list also reflected a different release order than what gamers actually got. "As a matter of fact, when we launched WOW, we initially thought we were going to Lich King first," he said, noting that Outland and Northrend were givens on the expansion list.

This unpredictability, coupled with Blizzard's ability to be flexible with its direction, is also what led to the development of Cataclysm as a full expansion, he said. "When we shipped WOW, the whole idea of Cataclysm wasn't there at all. We certainly had the idea to do Deathwing, but the whole idea of Cataclysm came out of trying to determine what we thought was the right thing for the game next. We didn't foresee five years ago breaking the world up was it."

WOW will continue "for as long as the Internet is up."

According to Kaplan, Warcraft's reaching timeline and Blizzard's boundless creativity equate to no foreseeable end to WOW. "I honestly believe that there are enough compelling ideas to keep WOW going for as long as the Internet is up," he said. "I mean, the Warcraft universe spans well over 10,000 years. You can literally sit [Chris Metzen] down at any point, and say, 'Hey Chris, what should we do next,' and then an hour later you can get your next question in. The future of WOW is only limited by time and resources."

Of course, keeping WOW around forever means that Blizzard will soon have two separate MMORPGs in its portfolio. In May, Blizzard confirmed that the new MMORPG would be part of a "brand-new franchise," one different enough from WOW that the two wouldn't compete. Both Pardo and Kaplan believe that the company has learned plenty of lessons from WOW, ones that bode well for the new MMORPG.

"Probably the biggest [lesson] I'd say is all the different systems in WOW that do not very easily let you play with the people you want to play with," said Pardo. "They are all things that have very good gameplay reasons why they exist, but they really prevent people from playing with who they want, when they want. And that's something we're thinking very deeply about all the time with new MMO. And not to say we're going to solve them all across the board, but we're definitely thinking about them a lot."

"There's a lot of people working on the new game who have also worked on World of Warcraft," Kaplan added. "So there's a lot of talented individuals from a technology standpoint, from a process standpoint, how to build a game like this, how to position ourselves for a stable launch after going through the experience of the original WOW launch. And then there's also a lot of thing that are hard to narrow in on, more in this cloud of general design philosophy, of understanding what players want and the different player types."

Warcraft for the next 10 millennia
With the Warcraft franchise now firmly grounded in the MMORPG scene, some longtime fans of the series are wondering whether it will ever return to its RTS roots. According to Pardo, Blizzard does not consider itself locked into the MMORPG genre with Warcraft.

"We have a very different view with our franchises," Pardo said. "With Warcraft, we started trying to deviate out of that, back in the Warcraft Adventures days. I think it was around that time period that we started seeing these as intellectual properties. They are worlds, they are franchises, they are not specific to a game or even a game genre for that matter. If we had unlimited Blizzard teams to draw upon, I think [Warcraft, Starcraft, and Diablo] could support all kinds of different game genres within them."

Pardo also believes that, just as the company will soon have multiple MMORPGs, it wouldn't present a problem to have real-time strategy efforts like Starcraft II and Warcraft IV--were it to be made--in the company's portfolio. The secret lies in differentiating the games enough from one another to create different play experiences.

"When we started developing Warcraft III, we were very strategically deviating from what we had done before," he said. "We wanted to try to come up with an RTS game that had a little bit more of an RPG feel to it, a game that relied more on micromanagement than macromanagement, really had more of a focus on smaller numbers of units. These were all very specific decisions that we made, and even when we were making them, we knew that when we came back to the Starcraft franchise, we were going to go back more to the old style of faster paced games."

"And that's not because we thought Warcraft III was wrong," he continued. "It was because we were deviating the RTS genre into almost subgenres, at least within Blizzard. If we ever did go back and decide to do, let's say, a Warcraft IV, I would guess we'd probably go back toward the Warcraft III model, or more toward the hero model, rather than continue to follow down the Starcraft II way."

Pardo also noted that the things preventing Warcraft IV to be made is the time, resources, and passion to execute. "Let's say when the Starcraft II team finishes up, they decide that they wanted to make [canceled action spin-off] Starcraft: Ghost. We'd probably be supportive of that," he said. "If they decide they want to make Warcraft IV, we'd be supportive of that. Something new? That'd be fine, too."

The Lich King has been named as one possible star of the forthcoming Warcraft film.

Beyond that, Pardo noted that Warcraft isn't even bound by the RTS and MMORPG genres, saying that they consider new ways to experience the franchise "all the time." He also said that Blizzard would be open to giving players the opportunity to go more hands-on with any of the various events along Warcraft's reaching 10,000 year timeline.

"If we ever made a World of Warcraft II, Warcraft IV, or, I don't know, Warcraft Legends, I can see us doing all kinds of interesting things," he said. "Again, if the right idea was out there, I could totally see us jumping around the timeline if we thought that was right. Let's just say we decided to make an, I don't know, Dragon Age/Mass Effect-style RPG, but we wanted to tell the story back around the time of Medivh. We certainly could do that if there was passion around that and was exciting. Whether or not I foresee that, it kind of falls back in that bucket of "really cool idea." We'd need a team that was really passionate about doing it."

For Pardo personally, the events surrounding the opening of the Dark Portal are a particularly compelling event in the Warcraft continuum. "If you think of that seminal moment around the Warcraft franchise, it's really that opening of the Dark Portal, right?" he said. "That's the event that probably defines our universe more than other fantasy universe, that moment where the two worlds collided, because that's really what started making Warcraft, Warcraft. So I think that's a really interesting time period. A lot of the exploration of the prehistory of the Night Elves and the time period of Illidan and Tyrande and Malfurion, I think that's a really interesting time period, but there are a lot of interesting ones."

Regardless of where the Warcraft franchise goes, the future remains promising. In July, Blizzard announced that it would be extending the Warcraft franchise to the silver screen, signing on Spider-Man helmer Sam Raimi to direct and Saving Private Ryan scribe Robert Rodat to write the screenplay. While details on the film have yet to emerge, rumors indicate that the plot may adhere closely to WOW's Wrath of the Lich King expansion, chronicling the life and times of Arthas Menethil, better known as one half of the demonic Lich King.

And, of course, the lights will remain on for some time to come in World of Warcraft.

"It would be kind of the worst thing ever if we weren't working on it five years from now, because it would mean that we had done something horribly wrong or we didn't achieve our goals," Kaplan said. "I'm hopeful that we'll be having this conversation another five years or 10 years from now."

spot pop zit zap

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/mac/rpg/worldofwarcraftwrathofthelichking/news.html?sid=6241378

PlayStation 3 | Red Dead Redemption mounts up in April

Rockstar San Diego's Wild West shooter mounting up on 360, PS3 in early spring; new trailer coming Dec. 1.

When Rockstar San Diego's Red Dead Redemption rides out next year, it will do so with a posse. Though it was initially scheduled for release this fall, Take-Two said in May that the game would join 2K Czech's Mafia II in 2010. In September, Take-Two added BioShock 2 and Max Payne 3 to that list, saying all four games would arrive during the first half of the calendar year.

Explosions were how the West was won.

With BioShock 2 locked in for a February 9 release, Rockstar has now announced that Red Dead Redemption will ride out on the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 in April. To begin building hype for the game's arrival, the publisher also announced that a new trailer for Red Dead Redemption will premiere December 1.

Billed as a follow-up to Revolver, Redemption takes place several years after the events in the original, closer to the turn of the century. Central to the events is John Marston, a former outlaw caught up in the uncertain times created by the industrial age encroaching on the American frontier.

Red Dead Redemption will be powered by Rockstar's proprietary RAGE engine, better known as the game tool behind Grand Theft Auto IV. Like its top-rated sibling, Redemption offers an open-world environment in which players can explore the vast regions of the West, from rolling grasslands to frontier towns. The game will also feature its fair share of action, including both mano-a-mano gunfights and larger battles.

For more information, check out GameSpot's previous coverage of Red Dead Redemption.

Daniel Merriweather 'Red'

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/action/reddeadredemption/news.html?sid=6241329

PlayStation 3 | Rock Band song library hits 1,000

Harmonix and MTV Games reach milestone between on-disc, downloadable tracks for rhythm franchise.

When Rock Band was first announced in April 2007, Harmonix founder Alex Rigopoulos laid out his ambition for the project, saying the developer had "very big plans for building out a huge library of online expansion content." That ambition has been soundly realized, as this week the Rock Band platform reached a new milestone, with 1,000 songs available on disc or as downloadable content.

Rock Band will never sport a true "never-ending setlist," but it gets a little closer every week.

That tally spans songs from Rock Band, Rock Band 2, Lego Rock Band, the PSP adaptation Rock Band Unplugged, and hundreds of downloadable songs that can be played across multiple games. It also includes the retail-exclusive AC/DC track pack's 18 songs, but omits The Beatles: Rock Band, as that game and its downloadable content are not compatible with the rest of the Rock Band series. A full list of Rock Band's 1,000 songs is available on the game's official Web site.

Rock Band's catalog has even surpassed that of its main competition (and Harmonix's previous project), Guitar Hero. Activision's official Guitar Hero music catalog lists roughly 830 songs available across the five main installments of the series, spin-offs like Band Hero and Guitar Hero Rocks the '80s, the Guitar Hero On Tour DS games, band-specific titles for Aerosmith and Metallica, and downloadable offerings. The Activision catalog page includes neither DJ Hero nor Guitar Hero: Van Halen, which includes 44 tracks and will be released in stores December 22. (The game was also sent out early to purchasers of Guitar Hero 5 as part of a since-expired promotion.)

Since Rock Band debuted November 20, 2007, Harmonix has supported the game with 105 consecutive weeks of new downloadable content. The offerings run the gamut from full album downloads like Judas Priests' Screaming for Vengeance to novelty freebies like Stephen & the Colberts' faux '80s stalker anthem "Charlene (I'm Right Behind You)."

At the moment, Pearl Jam is the best represented band in the series, with 25 songs available for download, and a 26th track, "Alive," available on the Rock Band 2 setlist. The Foo Fighters are close behind with 25 songs (22 downloadable and one on-disc track for each console installment of the series). That gap is likely to expand, as Pearl Jam in May invited fans to vote on their favorite versions of more than 40 different songs for inclusion in an unspecified "Rock Band project" to be released in 2010.

The Seattle rockers won't be the only ones seeing a surge in the Rock Band game's downloadable catalog. Harmonix and MTV Games have announced a do-it-yourself way for bands to get their music into the game with the Rock Band Network Music Store. When that project does launch (it's currently slated as "coming soon"), the companies said it will "exponentially increase the number of songs available."

For more on the latest addition to the Rock Band line, check out GameSpot's review of Lego Rock Band.

Lordi - Hardrock Hallelujah

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/ps3/puzzle/legorockband/news.html?sid=6241335

PSP | PSN Store stuffed for Thanksgiving

PlayStation Store Update: Tekken 6, Little Big Planet hit PSP; Madden Arcade, Diner Dash, and Gravity Crash debut on PS3; PSone classics and PSP Minis each get six new games.

The stores may be closed Thanksgiving Day, but Sony gamers don't need to let that stop them complementing their food comas with new game seizures. Sony released its weekly PlayStation Network update early to mark the holiday week, making a wealth of new downloadable games available to PlayStation 3 and PSP owners.

Who has two thumbs and a painfully generic name? This guy!

Starting with the PSP, Sony has added a pair of the system's biggest holiday releases to the downloadable storefront. The handheld port of Namco Bandai's Tekken 6 is now available with the full roster of 40 playable characters and bosses from the console edition, but without that version's Scenario Campaign mode.

Tekken 6 arrives alongside another PSP version of a popular brand, Media Molecule's Little Big Planet. The game lost its online multiplayer mode on the way to the PSP, but the developer did manage to keep the level creation and sharing features of the original. Both Tekken 6 and Little Big Planet sell for $39.99.

For cheaper thrills on the PSP, Sony has added six new titles to the PSP Minis lineup. The lineup is highlighted by Pinball Fantasies, a $6.99 port of the well-remembered Amiga collection of four pinball tables. Filling out the new selection of Minis are GameLoft's Let's Golf ($6.99), the Qix-inspired Fortix ($4.99), Halfbrick's gravitational arcade puzzler Blast Off ($2.99), the Lemmings-like Kahoots ($4.49), and the balloon-popping puzzler Bloons ($3.99).

Over on the PS3, the big new release is EA's Madden NFL Arcade ($14.99). The five-on-five gridiron game emphasizes heavy hits and big plays over realism, with power-ups, no penalties or field goals, and a shortened 60-yard field that players must traverse in a single set of four downs. Also new to the PS3 this week are casual sensation Diner Dash ($9.99) and the arcade shooter Gravity Crash ($9.99).

Gamers nostalgic for something a little older may be interested in the new additions to Sony's PSone Classics collection. Sony added six new games to the assortment of older titles playable on the PS3, as well as the PSP, including the genesis of Capcom's other survival horror series, Dino Crisis, EA's console port of Command & Conquer, Eidos' brawler Fighting Force, and the self-explanatory Reel Fishing, Backstreet Billiards, and International Track & Field. All of the new additions to the PSone Classics catalog are $5.99.

A full list of the week's new PlayStation Store content, including themes, wallpapers, demos, and add-on content, is available on the official PlayStation Blog.

How to get banned from PSN ~Killzone_Beta

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/psp/action/littlebigplanet/news.html?sid=6241353

PC | Longoria on deck for MLB 2K10

Tampa Bay Rays third baseman will be the cover athelete of 2K Sports' next installment of multiplatform baseball game.

With the San Francisco Giants' ace pitcher Tim Lincecum on the cover of Major League Baseball 2K9, it was only fitting the baseball sim struck out with reviewers. For the series' next cover athlete, 2K Sports is adjusting accordingly.

The off-season is barely underway and 2K Sports is already pushing its next installment in the MLB 2K series.

The publisher has announced its Major League Baseball 2K10 cover star will be Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Evan Longoria, winner of the Silver Slugger award, given each year to the best offensive players at each position. Last year's American League rookie of the year, Longoria improved every offensive aspect of his game in 2009, putting up 33 home runs and 113 RBIs with a .281 batting average. He's no slouch on the other side of the ball, either, taking home the 2009 AL third baseman Gold Glove award for individual defensive excellence.

Beyond labeling Longoria as this year's face of the franchise, 2K Sports also detailed some of its launch plans for the game. Major League Baseball 2K10 will arrive next spring for the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation 2, PSP, and PC, and gamers who pick up specially marked console versions of the game will be able to send in for a free Fathead Jr. wall cling.

While a DS edition wasn't explicitly announced, the publisher includes the system's logo on the game's official site. That same site is holding a fan vote to select this year's cover for the game from three different pictures with either red or white background colors.

eva longoria

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/sports/majorleaguebaseball2k10/news.html?sid=6241370

PC | 2K Boston resurrecting Spec Ops?

Teaser video may offer first glimpse of mysterious shooter which has been gestating at the studio formerly known as Irrational Games; Is X-com still in the works?

Get the full article at GameSpot

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"PC | 2K Boston resurrecting Spec Ops?" was posted by Tor Thorsen on Wed, 25 Nov 2009 17:15:02 -0800

Cool Kids - 2K Pennies + Link

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/specops2greenberets/news.html?sid=6241380

PC | EALA arming new Mercenaries

One week after laying off most of Pandemic, EA reveals next installment in guns-for-hire series; leaked pitch trailer suggests multiplayer focus.

Last week, Electronic Arts confirmed the layoffs of roughly 200 staffers at its Pandemic Studios. Though it would not say how many staffers remained, the publisher did confirm the retained members of the Mercenaries 2 developer were being folded into the EA's nearby Los Angeles studio. EA vice president of corporate communications Jeff Brown also emphasized the Pandemic brand would live on at EA after the majority of its staff--including its three founders--had departed.

A preliminary logo for Mercs Inc., the IPO for which will not occur for some time.

Today, EA revealed a new game that would bear the Pandemic name, temporarily titled Mercs Inc. Unfortunately, that's about all the company revealed. In a statement, EA senior VP and group general manager Nick Earl said that at EALA, "a core creative team is forging new ground and conceptualizing new ideas" for the series. He did not announce any platforms or release dates.

Luckily, a little more light was shed on Mercs Inc. by a pitch video unearthed by game sleuthing blog Superannuation. At less than a minute long, the clip features a wealth of characters leaning out of speeding cars to shoot similarly situated opponents. The trailer emphasizes cooperative and competitive multiplayer action, stating that players can play with, drive with, or simply kill their friends. Ironically, the visual artist who posted the trailer onto video-sharing site Vimeo laments that it had been canceled by EA in the clip's description.

[UPDATE] The video has now been flagged private and is no longer viewable by the public. A blurry screen-capture is included to give some sense of its preliminary graphics.

An unpolished screen capture of the Mercs Inc. pitch video's pre-alpha graphics.

Mercs Inc. isn't the only new Pandemic title on the way. Next month, the last project from the fully staffed version of the developer will see the light of day. Set for release December 8 on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, and PC, The Saboteur is an open-world action adventure game where players take on the role of a resistance fighter in Nazi-occupied France.

For more on the last installment of the Mercenaries series, check out GameSpot's review of Mercenaries 2: World in Flames.

An Eala Bhan

Source: http://www.gamespot.com/pc/action/saboteur/news.html?sid=6241245