Gameloft have recently announced some massive news. Gameloft have finalised a long-term, multi-platform licensing agreement with Epic Games, Inc. that enables Gameloft to incorporate Unreal Engine 3 in four new games, two of which to be released in 2011 and two in 2012. The third version of Epic Game’s Unreal Engine has been used in recent games such as Unreal Tournament 3, Gears of War and Gears of War 2. With this in mind, it goes without saying that the collaboration of Gameloft and Epic Games will result in some really exciting products.
Gameloft’s vice president of production, Julien Fournials comments on the intergration of Unreal Engine 3, stating that, “using Unreal Engine 3 allows us to push game visuals with remarkable lighting and high-fidelity environments. We are confident that players will enjoy the games powered by Unreal Engine 3.”
With Gameloft’s prominence as a developer and publisher of both digital and online games, the prospect of collaborated works produced by Gameloft and Epic Games means big things for mobile gaming. “There is no doubt that the four games running on Unreal Engine 3 will be visually stunning and take advantage of the powerful mobile gaming devices,” said Mark Rein, vice president, Epic Games. “We are thrilled to provide our technology to Gameloft and look forward to a lasting collaboration.”
As a result of this recent collaboration, Gameloft plan to release games on multiple mobile and downloadable platforms, including iOS, Android, PlayStation®Network and set-top boxes, all of which sound packed with promise as we wait in antipation for more details.
THQ today has launched several dedicated multiplayer servers for the highly anticipated first person shooter Homefrontacross Australia as part of THQ and Kaos Studio’s global Multiplayer server support for the game. These servers as of today are live in anticipation for the game’s scheduled launch on March 17 in Australia. “THQ and Kaos are committed to providing dedicated multiplayer servers around the world for both console and PC versions of Homefront. Furthermore, the PC SKU will allow gamers to set up and host games on their own servers, a feature that has been slowly disappearing from the online space in recent years,” said Drew Como, Director of Infrastructure, THQ.
These dedicated servers will cover all multiplayer components across the Xbox 360, Playstation 3 and PC. For more information on Homefront’s multiplayer check out our Homefront Muilplayer Hands On Preview
Run through New York in the 50s and track “the Legacy”, an evil organization responsible for many kidnappings. Try to find the daughter of one of the most influential men in town. Play the atypical detective duo Rick and Allen. Both are ready to fight the villains and free the girl!
With the release of 64th Street – A Detective Story set for mid-March 2011, developer and publisher of retro games, DotEmu, have kindly released some screen shots of the game as well as a video featuring some pretty awesome looking gameplay. Judging from the screen shots, 64th Street – A Detective Story looks as if it will bring back the arcade-style street-brawling we all miss (at least I do) from the days of Super Nintendo. This time however, thanks to DotEmu, we can take the brawling to the streets on our iOS devices. Be sure to check out the video and images to see what it’s like walking the beat on 64th Street.
Valve and steam have decided to be very secretive at the moment because they have just announced a new addition that will be called Big Picture mode. The reason that I say they are being secretive is the fact that all they did was announce that the mode will be created and provide a few small tidbits of information. There will be more details as GDC rolls on this week.
But as of now we only know that it will offer “controller support and navigation designed for television interaction and will enable gamers to enjoy Steam and their library of Steam games on more screens throughout the house.” What this means is that you may be able to play Steam games on your TV in the future, but exactly how and when is most likely what they will release later this week.
Fans of bullet hell games should be really happy with Aksys Games right now because they have put the finishing touches on BIT.Trip FLUX and have made it available everywhere so you can download it onto your Wii today as WiiWare. The overall cost of the finale to the BIT.TRIP series will run you 800 Wii Points or $8.
Players will be returning to play as CommanderVideo and will be able to play either on their own or with a friend in co-op mode. There will be new power ups this time around such as a full-screen paddle weapon, new beat types which includes Avoid beats. Also the game will be a bit easier this time around thanks to the inclusion of mid-level checkpoints.
GDC just started today but that doesn’t mean that gaming companies are pulling their punches until the last day. Tecmo Koei started out strong today by releasing a teaser for the continuation of the Ninja Gaiden series, currently titled Ninja Gaiden 3. This is the first time that Tecmo Koei has acknowledged the existence of the game since they announced it being under development last summer.
This teaser was released to help get fans hyped up for what we are expecting to be a major release of information at E3 this June. Besides that we only know that Ninja Gaiden 3 will be set for a release date in 2012 and that it will take fans of the series to a completely different side of Ryu Hayabusa. Also as you can see in the trailer that Ryu may just unmask himself for the first time ever in the Ninja Gaiden series. Catch the teaser below!
Looks like we will be getting a new release of Serious Sam some time this summer because the developers of the game, Croteam, just announced Serious Sam 3: BFE and gave out a few screenshots to help keep us tided over for the over the top action that Serious Same is known for. I will leave it up to your imagination as to what the BFE stands for, but let’s just say that it involves a bum and Egypt.
The game itself will be coming out on the PC and unspecified game consoles so expect to play SS3:BFE on any platform of your choosing. As you can see below there will be plenty of new features this time around and a brand new setting in 22nd century Egypt. The screenshots that were released can be seen below.
Mental’s Fearsome Legions – A new battalion of unforgettable minions including the rumbling Scrapjack and towering Khnum join the legendary Headless Kamikaze, Gnaar and Sirian Werebull. Your days of mowing down zombie Nazi space pirates are over.
Serious Melee Attacks – When an enemy slips by your wall of lead and pain, use one of the all-new innovative melee moves to drop an enemy right where they stand in the most violent way possible.
Pure Multiplayer Mayhem – Play through the full campaign mode with up to 16 players or drop the gauntlet and let the heavy ordinance fly in versus modes like Deathmatch and Beast Hunt. This is the next level of Serious Sam multiplayer and all hell is about to break loose.
Sony and the company LG have been locked in a bitter copyright infringement lawsuit for the past few months now. There had been no developments in the case since it was brought up, but now that is all about to change because the European courts have allowed an injunction to go through that will allow LG to bring about serious charges against Sony for creating the Blu-Ray system in their PS3s without providing the licensing rights needed that were owned by LG. If LG wins the case against Sony they will be able to claim profits on every PS3 sold around the world, including back pay on previously sold consoles.
Because of this ruling, European customs officials have been told to block any shipment of PS3 consoles into the country for at least ten days. This block can be extended and most likely will due to the fact that LG is pushing hard on their lawsuit. This also means that any shipment, whether it be a personal import or a shipment to an actual store will be stopped. We will keep you updated as we learn more but it looks like anyone in Europe will be finding it hard to acquire a new PS3 anytime soon.
Atlus broke the bad news to fans that Catherine wasn’t going to be coming to the West a week ago and this made quite a few people unhappy and also seemed unreasonable considering the amount of sales they could pull in. Now a few days later there was an image sent out from Atlus themselves with a Catherine-like pink background and the words “Do you still like us?” up against it.
Then today GameStop ended up listing Catherine for a release date of July 26 in North America…. oops. This listing has been pulled already but you can find the cache’d proof of the listing here. This isn’t anything more than a rumor at the moment but considering the fact that they already sent out a teaser image, Atlus will most likely release information soon.
Anyone who attended the Sydney Armageddon 2011 expo would know about the long list of special guests that made appearances to mingle with the fans. For those who were not, this might clue you in to the sorts of people that could seen wandering the venue. Among them were three members of Rooster Teeth productions, the creators and stars of the popular RedvsBlue web series. Their attendance featured as a huge headline in the promotion of the exhibition. These are also the creative minds behind other web series videos such as Immersion, RT shorts and Achievement Hunter, as well as lines of other internet phenomena such as RT comics and the Drunk Tank podcast.
We could see that much of their time at the event was spent behind the Rooster Teeth exhibitor booth where they were selling some of their merchandise to eager fans, as well as providing them with photo opportunities, signatures and the chance to just have a friendly and casual chat. Despite their immense popularity and internet fame, they were always friendly and very easily approachable. (Well, once you waited in line long enough.) Following the Roosterteeth Q & A panel on the second day of Armageddon, MasterAbbott, LinkageAX and myself were fortunate enough to have a chat with two of the RT members: Geoff Ramsey and Matt Hullum, also known as the voices of Grif and Sarge from RvB. MasterAbbott worked the camera while I asked them a few questions.
We began with a short discussion about how they were enjoying Australia. What was very surprising to hear was that it was their first ever visit to Sydney, so they had decided to make a holiday out of it. We gave them a little advice with regards to the local wildlife. After discussing what gives them inspiration and what they idolised (besides Joel), we also talked about they responded to their status as internet celebrities, also mentioning these other two guys called Gabe and Tyco from something called Penny Arcade. Their responses to their popularity were very humbling, and personally, I think it’s nice to know that huge internet stars like these can still be so down to earth and casual about their fame.
We also delved into the psyche of the characters that they play. For instance, we established that Sarge has a fear of swear words. Plus we also figured out why his voice changed so much, with his voice initially being modelled after the drill sergeant in Full Metal Jacket. We also learned that certain scences form RedVsBlue reminded Geoff of his time in the army in Kuwait, and how much friendship bonds mean in those sorts of situations. Except when he’s being subjected to Immersion experiments. In those instances, friends can be worst enemies. The last thing you want to wake up to is Burnie Burns in YOUR bedroom.
Finally, they finished off by explaining their ambitions for the future for RT. Want a few hints? President of the Universe. Travelling to the Netherlands. Simpson’s did it.
I’d like to thank Geoff and Matt for taking the time to chat with us, as well as for coming out to Australia to partake in one of our few available convention events. It just goes to show how cool these guys are to their fans by taking the time to travel and meet fans internationally.
If you have not heard of Roosterteeth productions before, or even RedvsBlue, then click on the link below to check out what you’ve been missing. If you are a self respecting gamer, you owe it to yourself to look into this:
As for those of you who are already huge Rooster Teeth fans, but missed out on the opportunity to buy some of their merch at Armageddon, fear not! They also have an online store and international shipping! They have T-Shirts, Wall posters, DVD’s, soundtracks, bags, books, calanders, planners, hats and tonnes of other cool stuff! Check out this link to browse their wares for memorabilia of your favourite RvB characters or moments:
