We all know Activision is considered to be the money hungry publisher and the big bad of the gaming world due mostly in part to CEO Bobby Kotick, but this whole story is borderline insane. If you haven’t heard by now, Axl Rose is taking the company to court over the song “Welcome to the Jungle” as he feels an agreement was violated for the usage of the song in the game.
What was violated you may ask? Apparently before using the Guns & Roses song, it was agreed upon that if it were used, guitarist Slash was to have no part in the game, which most of you know he was not only in Guitar Hero III, but did a huge marketing campaign to promote the title upon launch a couple of years back.
“They made money hand over fist on this video game, in large part because the biggest song was ‘Welcome to the Jungle’ and they used ‘Sweet Child of Mine’ to promote it,” said Skip Miller, a partner at law firm Miller Barondess, LLP. “They used images of Slash, they used Velvet Revolver. Axl is not a litigious guy, but this made him really upset. You make a deal; you expect the other side to live up to the bargain.”
There is no exact number right off hand of how much Rose is looking for, but is said to be over 20 million.
“Axl didn’t make a lot of money off of this game, but in my opinion, he will make a lot of money. The big money was made by Activision. He got a loyalty fee, it was under a million and is nothing compared to what we’re seeking in the lawsuit,” Miller said.
When No Doubt and Courtney Love sued Activision for the whole likeness issue, I kind of understood their case as Band Hero & Guitar Hero 5 were RELEVANT at the time, but in a game that is a few years old now and considering that the issue is over a petty feud, this case should be laughed out of the courts in my opinion. Yes it is bad to break any kind of agreement, but Rose is coming off looking desperate and greedy in this one.
You have to love the smell of rumors in the morning: This one that 343 studios is re-making the original Halo >sic< Combat Evolved. $10.00 says they call it Halo: Combat re-evolved or something like that, no money for guessing if I pick it up or not (yes , I will sigh). Scuttlebutt seems to think that this new new (new) Halo will arrive as early as this time next year (2011).
The game will be ready for Holidays period 2011 before the offical sequal to Halo 3 in 2012…wait what!? Another Halo game, in two years time- a sequal to a game from then 4 years ago! Crickey, if Microsoft doesn’t have a case of COD fever I don’t know what, since when was their business model to chug out a new Halo game every 12 months using, might I add the same tech…The story goes that this remake of the first great Halo will be made using the “new” Halo:Reach engine, which is if you didn’t know just a retooling of the engine first used for Halo 3 in 2007!
I wish I didn’t have to rant but when news broke that 343 studios now owned the Halo Franchise there was hope for a) new story lines b) new tech and graphics c) perhaps something different but similar to a Halo FPS that we hadn’t seen before = fail.
Microsoft’s UK Xbox boss Stephen McGill neither confirmed or denied the rumor, informing the media : “I imagine it’s a good idea. I think some people want to go back to older games and see them revisited and I think a lot of developers want to see that too.”
So to wrap this up, the good news is, there is plenty more Halo where that came from, fan boys can get wet that Masterchief is getting re-made with all new graphics which means a sexy naked blue Cortana again, the bad news is that it does nothing to further the story or the original plot let alone explain exactly who Master Chief is, it’s almost like 343 Studios can’t think for themselves, oh wait Microsoft probably has them chained to a table churning out the same Halo code for the next 10 years…
Ironically November 11th is remembrance day all over the world for fallen soldiers of war, come 2011 perhaps, we can add Master Chief to the list
Seriously, folks that’s the best title I have in me. Even more serious are the rumours that Uncharted III is debuting at the Spike Video Game Awards, which is not much of a surprise really when the likes of Cliffy B couldn’t keep his big mouth shut (about Gears 3). Infact, considering Gears is a XBOX360 exclusive, they would have to be dumb not to showcase the man that is Nathan Drake.
Anyway, looks like Uncharted III may just be heading into the desert for his next outing, in all the sand dunes and heat.
Uncharted has certainly been in the news, what with the movie apparently green-lit for production as well, so here’s hoping for some more news come the Spike Video Game Awards. Naughty Dog has apparently also admitted that Uncharted 2 is NOT the greatest game of all time on the Playstation (as voted on by the Offical Playstation Magazine) and that Ico should get that goal. Further more they want to borrow from said game by emotionally investing players more deeply and strongly into the characters and people of the Uncharted world.
The Spike Video Game Awards debut December 12th in the US
Monday Night Combat was a great summer of arcade multi-player title. Unfortunately, it was plagued by a number of people who hate to have fun and just want to exploit bugs for the sake of ranking up. Uber Entertainment fixed many of these through patches and is now hoping to rejuvenate the player base who left to play that other shooter. They are releasing two new arenas, one for Crossfire and one for Blitz mode. A new type of Blitz mode will also be made available. They are also releasing the Churro pickup, no joke. In addition, a number of bugs, glitches and problems will be fixed. Get the FREE downloadable content tomorrow. Read on for more details.
NEW ARENA DETAILS!!!
Spunky Cola Arena: A single lane arena that puts players into the action faster and guaranteeing more explosions, more shooting and more awesome!
Bought from Grandma Betty’s, the Survivitol Arena is the next level of Blitz action. Small and deadly with two tiers of bot spawners will keep Pros on their toes!
Only in the Survivitol Arena will you be faced with the deadly, the intense, the incredibly frantic Super Sudden Death Blitz!
The New Spunky ArenaThe Survivitol Arena
New Private Game Options
Set game duration
Set overtime duration, including 0 time for no overtime
Toggle buying bots
Toggle buying Juice
Toggle Bullseye spawning
Toggle using Hazards (Annihilator / Ejectors)
Choose specific or random map
Hazards on / off
Force random classes
Toggle use of custom classes
Toggle class changing
Class limits on all classes
All Star Mode
Added a feature that allows players to go beyond level 99 by going back to level 0 and getting a new “All Star” icon next to their name.
Highlights
Added in 12 new highlights with associated ProTags.
Career Milestones
Added career milestones and ProTags for bacon pickups.
Added career milestones and ProTags for killing each type of class.
Churros
Added Churros, a prize that drops and gives a instant burst of skill regen and health.
Added career milestones and ProTags for Churros.
Club Tags
Added a 4 character ‘Club Tag’ that players can append to their name.
Other Additions
Added “South Paw” and “South Paw Tactical” control schemes.
Added multiplayer ready functionality so a game can start before the timer runs out if most players press X in the lobby and set themselves as ready.
Added several new loading movies.
Added a mascot head icon on the locker room menu denoting when you have a new ProTag from a highlight or career milestone.
Added many new Mickey Cantor announcements.
Added new effect for picking up bacon and [TASTY PICKUP].
Decreased effectiveness of Lazer Blazer Turrets vs players.
Increased effectiveness of RockIt Turrets vs bots.
Reduced cost of all levels of RockIt Turrets.
Greatly increased the cooldown time for Juice machines in Crossfire.
Assassin
Reduced damage done by the dagger to the Moneyball.
Increased the damage Assassins do after both dagger and sword lunge.
Normalized multipliers for both dagger and sword when doing damage from behind an enemy.
Reduced recovery time on Assassin’s alternate fire grapple on the Dagger, Sword and Shuriken Launcher.
Fixed an issue that caused Assassins to do too little damage from front facing, alternate fire, Shuriken face slap grapple.
Sniper
Reduced the damage the Moneyball takes from a sniper rifle.
Reduced the skill drain rate of Sniper Traps.
Reduced the amount of juice gain from the sniper rifle damaging targets.
Support
Reduced juice gain from healing with the Heal/Hurt Gun.
Increased skill recovery time of level 2 and 3 of the Support’s Air Strike.
Gunner
Reduced minimum damage on Gunner’s minigun, making it less effective at long ranges.
Tank
Reduced the damage the Moneyball takes from the rail gun.
Other fixes and changes
All Arenas:
Added game clocks to spawn rooms.
Added new opening and closing cinematics.
Added heat vents to top of spawn room tunnels.
Changed all jump pads to be non-enabled at the start of a match.
Steel Peel Arena
Added glass walls to break some long lines of sight.
Moved turrets in each base.
Moved some jump pads to help getting ‘stuck-in-jump’ loops.
Added game clocks to the inside of the dome.
Ammo Mule Arena
Added bridge supports to better protect turrets.
Fixed issue that caused AmmoMule to show up less often than intended.
Lazer Razor Arena
Added extra jump pads to get to the top level of the left side of both ends of the arena.
Fixed Bot Spawners showing usable by wrong team.
Fixed jump pads not lighting up green when active.
Grenade Arena
Reduced the number of juice machines so there are the same amount as other arenas.
Fixed Bot Spawners showing usable by wrong team.
Sprintz Arena
Added game clock to spawn room.
Added multiple round displays in the arena.
Added two more digits to round displays so that they show up to round 9999.
Tank
Fixed Rail Gun from being able to shoot through nearby walls.
Fixed various issues with the Jet Gun.
Sniper
Sniper Traps will now only freeze enemy Pros caught in the initial freeze trap explosion. An enemy Pro entering the area while the effect is active after the initial explosion will only be slowed. Traps work the same on bots as they did before.
Changed Flak visual effect to include team color and to have better performance.
Fixed issue where Sniper’s Flak would damage players inside their spawn.
Fixed Snipers disappearing in the other view port in split screen when they are zoomed in with the Sniper Rifle.
Using bot spawners as a Sniper will now spawn two Scrambers.
Fixed issue where the sniper rifle, in certain instances, could shoot through walls .
Gunner
Fixed Minigun getting stuck with no ammo and not reloading.
Assassin
Assassins no longer make an audible hum to allied players.
Fixed an issue with the cloak sound not going away when the Assassin dies.
Support
Fixed an issue with Firebases that caused them to focus on a Moneyball they can’t hit.
Reworked Heal/Hurt Gun code to make it more reliable.
Fixed griefing with Firebases: Firebases placed on an active jump pad or activating a jump pad with a Firebase on it will now destroy the Firebase.
Final Changes
Fixed GapShots in Blitz from moving on clients when they are stopped on the host.
Reworked reload to greatly reduce the occurrence of having to restart reload when the reload animation was interrupted near the end.
Reworked the death UI so that it now displays the endorsements of who killed you.
Fixed players assisting in their own death.
Fixed Tank’s and Gunner’s jump jets staying on after a jump.
Fixed getting charged multiple times when using hazards and juice machines in high lag situations.
Changed money, kills, assists and deaths font in the scoreboard to add more emphasis on money making.
Fixed new round music riff and crowd cheer to play during Crossfire.
Changed formatting of numbers in the ticker to make them more readable.
Fixed seeing two Moneyballs in the end-game cinematic if the game ended without one being destroyed.
Fixed Bouncers playing their grapple animation when they charge at a player but hit a Blackjack.
Fixed Moneyball sometimes showing its shields when it has none.
Fixed players recovering health very quickly while juiced.
Various audio tuning for frequency and balance of sounds and voices.
More improvements to host migration to make it faster and more reliable.
More improvements to the party system when joining games and after host migration.
Reworked how random maps are chosen to be less repetative.
The DSiWare is honestly starting to fill up with unique and off the wall indie titles and I am really liking how broad the selection has been growing as of late. One new title that just recently hit the DSiShop is Neko Entertainment’s DoDoGo! Challenge. If the name sounds a bit familiar that is due to the fact that this title is a sequel to the popular puzzler, DoDoGo! which released earlier this year.
“DodoGo! Challenge is a Nintendo DSi stylus touch based game designed exclusively for the Nintendo DSi™ that is full of surprises and bonus levels”, said Laurent Lichnewsky, Managing Director of Neko Entertainment, “Whether you’re a casual player or an experienced gamer, DodoGo Challenge will keep you entertained for hours on end”
The story pretty much involves traveling back into the pre-historic age and rescuing the DoDo’s eggs after a title wave scattered them all across the land. Using the stylus the player must safely transport the eggs back to their nest while avoiding different obstacles such as predators, pitfalls and many other dangers. In a way, DoDoGo! Challenge reminds me of the Mario vs DK series or the Lemmings series so if you are a fan of either of those like me, this one should be a no-brainer. Players can dig, fill holes, saw, and cut their way to victory in over 100 levels.
Games like this I have a habit of getting into quickly and from the looks of the art style, visuals appear to be just as charming as the gameplay. You can check out the trailer below for DoDoGo! Challenge and pick up the game in the DSiWare shop for 500 Nintendo points. For even more information, check out www.dodoGoHome.com.
No more guessing anymore because Battlefield: Bad Company 2 Vietnam has finally gotten a solid release date. No more vague Winter 2010 release, now we know that the release date will be on December 21st. PC users will luckily be able to eaccess this content a bit earlier on December 18th by downloading the DLC through the EA store.
But that isn’t all because DICE also announced that fans of the game will be getting a nice little present tomorrow on December 1st in the form of the VIP Map Pack 7. The map pack will be free to those with the VIP Pass and free on PC in general. The map pack will add four new maps to the game, though they are somewhat familiar. Harvest Day and Oasis are from Bad Company 1, and Cold War and Heavy Metal are both levels from Bad Company 2’s single player. There is even a trailer for these maps to get you nice and excited for the download tomorrow.
Feel like spending a little extra? Well we just saved a bunch of money on all of those Black Friday deals now how about spending an extra $10 to get the Augmented Edition of Square Enix’s Deus Ex: Human Revolution? The Augmented Edition announced today by Square Enix will come in at a price of $70 for the PS3 and Xbox 360 and $60 for the PC. If you feel like purchasing this you will be getting a premium packaged box, a 40 page art book, a motion graphic novel, a making of the game DVD, and the soundtrack for the game all for that extra $10.
But that isn’t all, if you feel like pre-ordering the game you will be getting additional bonuses depending on whom you pre-order from. Gamestop pre-orders will give players the Explosive Mission Pack which gives them a Lineback G-87 multiple shot grenade launcher, a M-28 Utility Remote-Detonated Explosive Device, an automatic unlocking device, and a full new mission to play through with a cameo from the original Deus Ex game. You can see the pre-order weaponry in action below.
If you don’t feel like pre-ordering from GameStop or are unable to then you will still be getting a bonus to your game. Any other retail pre-orders will provide players the Tactical Enhancement Pack. This pack will give players the Huntsman Silverback Double-Barrel Shotgun, the Longsword Whisperhead Extreme Range Sniper Rifle, and extra credits to spend in game. Just like before you can also see the pre-order action below for this pack.
Talk about good but abrupt news huh? Capcom announced today that Dead Rising 2: Case West, which can be seen as an epilogue to Dead Rising 2, will be released next month in December. No actual set date in the month, but it’s going to be a good present either way! Also no news of a pricetag, but one can hope that it will retain the price tag of the Case Zero DLC of 400 MSP.
But if you are a bit wary on what they could have added then you don’t need to worry because we’ll not only seeing Frank West from the first Dead Rising teaming up with Chuck Greene, but we’ll see cameo appearances from other characters as well. Will be interesting to see who is still around and fighting against the zombie outbreaks.
Chuck Greene and Frank West will be infiltrating the Phenotrans Facility which is outside of Fortune City and players will be given cameras again. Yep photograph is back. Players will use their cameras not only for the standard picture taking that they grew accustomed to in the first game, but will use them to take pictures of evidence to prove that Phenotrans was involved in the zombie outbreaks. On top of that we are going to see new combo weapons, primarily the Reaper that you can see above and the Zap ‘n Shine.
Sounds awesome, but don’t take our word for it catch the gameplay trailer below to get your first look at Case West’s content.
Sony has a pretty big number to boast about because they have announced today that they have shipped 4.1 million units worldwide. With there being only two months since the Move controller was released this is great news for the motion gaming peripheral. The core Move controller was the product listed for the 4.1 shipping number.
This came at first with some confusion as a press release earlier from Sony stated that they had sold 4.1 million units that would have been a huge achievement, but later was retracted as the Japanese press release of the same information instead talked about units shipped. Joystiq was able to get a hold of a Sony representative about this inconsistency and was told that the number actually meant shipped.
While the difference in meaning between the two announcements is large, it does still show the success of the Move. Because after all… why would they be having to ship so many units to stores if there wasn’t a high demand in the first place?
WRC FIA World Rally Championship Publisher: Black Bean Games Developer: Milestone Platform: Xbox 360, (PS3, PC) Genres: Racing, Simulation Released: 8th October
In recent years there has been a decline in the rally-sim, usually ousted in favour of something a little more arcade-like and a little less simulator-like. Even the Colin McRae franchise, which was once a very ‘core experience with an emphasis on precision driving and steady navigation of each course, has been turned into a more arcade-style driving experience recently through the DiRT series. Thankfully, spotting the gap in the market, developers Milestone with the help of publishers Black Bean have put their offer on the table in the form of WRC FIA World Rally Championship, the official licensed rally game of 2010.
As the license holders of everything rally-related, they’ve been able to bring World Rally Championship back to our consoles, and the license really does work wonders for the game; the same calendar and tour of the real-life sport; official cars with sponsors emblazoned on each and every free space; all four official categories of the sport (WRC, JWRC, PWRC, SWRC); and real rally driver names racing on real-world tracks. These all add up to give the game an authentic feel, further backed up by other realistic features which aren’t linked to the license. Such as 32 types of car damages, a variety of weather conditions out on the track over a wealth of different course surfaces, and just generally a huge choice of different game modes to play.
Then there is the gameplay, which is just phenomenal. The handling is great, the courses are well designed and most important of all, it is challenging but to a point where it is still enjoyable. Instead of putting you off playing with unwelcome levels of frustration, it challenges you in order to stimulate your enjoyment of the game, causing you to aspire to improve rather than abandon it as a lost cause. You are more inclined to practice and perfect one corner you are struggling with, rather than give up. However, this is partly down to the superb handling. It’s realistic and reflects the surface you are racing on, staying true to the sport. If you are racing on tarmac then the tyres grip to the track, offering responsive and sharp turning, but if you’re racing through a forest in wet conditions or on dusty track in the desert (more common occurrences given the title’s off-road nature), you will quickly find that power sliding becomes key, but if you aren’t careful, you can easily lose control and spin out of control. The handling, when combined with the responsive controls, makes for brilliant rally experience with the realism putting it under the ‘simulation’ category and, in turn, setting WRC aside from the competitors on the market.
Don’t get me wrong though, just because it is classed as a rally simulation doesn’t mean it is boring, nor does it mean it is inaccessible. In actual fact it is an exhilarating game to play, working out how to manoeuvre through corners at speed, and demanding quick response times as you react the instructions of you’re co-driver. That’s right, one of the defining features of rally games are the co-drivers, and WRC is no different, with helpful audio notes guiding you through all sections of the courses. Occasionally it is a little behind the actual race action, with your pal in the opposite seat saying something like “handbrake turn, rocks-don’t cut” just as you are ploughing into said wall of rocks, but in general it is very good, in-time with the course, with concise instructions which manage to portray exactly what lays ahead.
Although it does have a steep learning curve, it also isn’t as inaccessible as you might think. This is mainly down to the thoughtful inclusion of the mode known as ’WRC Academy’, which is basically just a short school of rally driving. It provides 16 different challenges over two different categories, basic and advanced, ensuring to cover all aspects of the racing so when you race for real you will be able to cover the course at speed and reduce errors, shaving off precious seconds from your final race-time.
Once you graduate (the WRC Academy is optional, but highly recommended if only to get a feel for the gameplay), you can then embark on your journey into the unbelievably in-depth ‘Road to the WRC’ (Career) mode, a unique feature of WRC, on top of traditional time attack and single rally races you would expect to see in other games. Road to the WRC, given the fact that Black Bean landed ownership of the lucrative World Rally Championship license, has the official scoop on the rally racing sport. It follows the official WRC calendar as you see out the season, driving in a range of locations around the world. These settings are hardly what you’d call exotic, due to the fact the sport seeks out the most challenging off-road tracks they can find, so expect to be racing everywhere, from Wales to New Zealand to Spain over plenty of different types of race course. The mode gives a huge amount of play time, with your rally career starting as a Junior until you progress enough to enter the big league of the WRC by earning the elusive contracts with official teams. In-between races there are a whole host of other detailed settings to indulge in. From the customisation options to just repairing the vehicle if it got a bit beaten up in a race, they all add to the authenticity of the career and provide a decent level of depth.
There are also multiplayer options included in the game, both Xbox Live and Local for those who want to put the pedal to the metal and human opponents. The Xbox Live settings are nicely done, with simple interfaces to operate in the lobbies, and from then on it’s a standard race. As WRC is one of the more serious rally games, ghosts are used of your rivals, rather than the physical body work of the car. As a result of this, there is no ramming and shunting during the course of the race. While the more serious rally gamers will appreciate this choice made by the developers, it alienates the more casual gamer, as it loses the excitement that comes with the physicality of barging your way into pole position. This revelation particularly negatively affected the local multiplayer options. You play in what is know as ‘Hot Seat Mode’ which in other words, is turn-based play. This is disappointing as it loses all the thrill of racing simultaneously, and in all honesty, it can’t have been that hard to implement split-screen play, unless of course it only missed out because it would have ruined the frame-rate.
All in all, WRC FIA World Rally Championship is a fantastic game which utilises it’s ownership of the official license to the fullest extent. It is an example of a great ’core rally racing game, a style which hasn’t been seen since the last ‘real’ Colin McRae game. It can be a little forgiving at times, which more serious players might not appreciate, but it still keeps it in the running as a game for more casual players too, and there’s a great amount of difficulty available, with a slider to precisely control the level of the AI. As a single-player game, it promises a lot of game time through the Career alone: it’s lengthy and detailed. Multiplayer isn’t bad and while it loses some casual appeal due to the ghost opponents and therefore no collisions, it still has a nice level of competition. The same cannot be said for the local multiplayer, which loses it’s thrill due to the turned-based style of play in place of simultaneous racing, rendering it unenaging. However, this is the only substantial negative factor in the game, and anyone looking for a rally game should look no further, as this is the best rally game released for years.
