VGAT Ask a question also with news and tidbits

[Lee]

Because we all know that video game news comes thick and fast, but not always does it need a new thread.

Saw a cool story that won't get much attention in its own thread? Post it here. Remember though this is a non spam thread so if you post a story you MUST give your opinion on it!

EDIT also this thread will be used as an ask a question thread as well! This will work ala the wrestling threads, closed questions only!

 

[Blade]

This ones for the Nintendo fans out there:

It has been pretty much confirmed that Super Mario Galaxy 2 and Metroid: Other M are going to be released this summer, not Q3/Q4 like most people were thinking. Nintendo Australia's Greg Arthurton reiterated that both titles were most definitely not holiday season releases. MTFO.

So basically, this means 2 things. 1) Nintendo loves their core fanbase after all and 2) Neither Mario nor Metroid are the major holiday releases for this year. Which means all signs are pointing to new Zelda getting an Xmas release. Many people were sceptical when Nintendo said that new Zelda would be released this year, but hey, looks like Ninty are trying to prove us wrong, so hurray. Also, it could mean that Retro's super secret mega project, rumoured to be unveiled at E3 this year could be getting an Xmas release this year too. Fingers crossed for new Kid Icarus... Or Starfox... Or Donkey Kong... Or Pikmin... Actually, there's no way it could be something we won't all MTFO for.

 

[Lee]

Well Metroid M was announced for summer anyways, but pushing SMG2 forward will be a good move, plus of course with that in mind it does free up Christmas for their traditional big release.

With them saying that Zelda will be released in 2010 all logic would point to that as really that would be the only series they'd push higher than Mario. Can you imagine Kid Icarus, Starfox, Donkey Kong or even Pikmin as one of their releases they have deemed bigger than Zelda? yeah me neither.

 

[Phoenix]

Just been confirmed, Super Mario Galaxy 2 has been given a release date of May 23rd (source IGN). It hasn't been confirmed if it's a worldwide release or just certain areas but this is big news as I imagine many people expected it to be released later on in the year (taking into account that the news Blade gave hinted at July/August).

So put a date in your diaries, we are less than 3 months from Mario Galaxy 2 hitting out in it's first release wave. I was considering about selling off my Wii, but with this news of SMG2 coming out this soon, I'm damn sure keeping it!

Latest I've heard on Zelda is 2010 is more than likely but it won't be released until it is "perfect", that was the news from last month (source again, IGN)

 

[Lee]

I was considering about selling off my Wii, but with this news of SMG2 coming out this soon, I'm damn sure keeping it!

Damn you!

To add to that June 27th Metroid other M.

The weirdest news from today's event was that Nintendo is publishing Dragon quest IX in NA and Europe. That I find rather strange seeing as it is a staple of SquareEnix's catalogue. Maybe they're hoping that with the Nintendo name they would do better in the west than usual regarding sales. Take into consideration that Dragon Quest VIII sold about 500,000 in the USA and in Japan it sold 3million in its first week.

 

[Dave]

Warner Bros Home Entertainment has continued its Katamari-esque rate of growth by becoming the majority shareholder of Rocksteady Stduios, the developer behind 2009's late-summer super hit, Batman: Arkham Asylum.

This follows a number of high-profile acquisitions for Warner's Home Entertainment Division over the last few years, starting in 2007 with TT Games (developer of the LEGO series of film-licensed games) and Snowblind Studios in early 2009, before Warner mopped up Midway assets when the publisher filed for bankruptcy last year.

"Rocksteady demonstrated its professionalism and extraordinary development abilities with Batman: Arkham Asylum," said Kevin Tsujihara, President, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. "This arrangement is a great strategic fit and we are very pleased to solidify our relationship with this talented development team."

A sequel to Arkham Asylum has already been announced by Warner Bros but, now that it has a majority stake in Rocksteady, we'd be very surprised if the publisher doesn't have even more Batman games in mind for the developer.

I have two point to raise about this one matter. The first of which being that Warner Bros. are really becoming a huge powerhouse in the video game sector after being out of the story for so long. Under their belts now, they have Rocksteady, Midway, TT and Snowblind. They are starting to build a gaming franchise that is to be commended. The second point is that they are now assuring us that we will have lots more Batman games coming from the Rocksteady studios. Now, my question is, is this necessarily a good thing? Don't get me wrong, I liked the first game and thought that it was one of the best games of 2009. However, I think that the market for hero games is just so saturated at the moment, We have seen numerous Batman, Superman and Spiderman games and it is getting quite repetitive. That being said, Arkham Asylum is probably one of the better games and I am not against seeing what it brings to the table. With the partnership with Warner Bros, Rocksteady may have to change a lot of the games. For the better? Who knows. It will be interesting to see how the next game comes along and which other licenses Warner Bros are willing to give out to te studios in the future.

 

[Dave]

2 little nuggets to sink our teeth into:

Portal 2 has just been announced officially by Valve following a week of cryptic teasing and curious updates to the original Portal. The game's due for release "this coming holiday season" according to Valve, which suggests a date sometime in November or December.

In addition to this, Portal 2 will get its initial reveal in US mag Game Informer. The publication's website has just gone live with cover art for the reveal, as well as some text talking up the puzzle shooter's heritage.

Firstly, FUCK YES!

I have been waiting so long for this game and I can't believe that we are finally getting down to it. The best part of this news is that Portal 2 seems to be an individual release and this means that it wont be buried in shit-tonnes of Half-Life material. I am such a fan of the original game and this is very exciting news. The original was so addictive and such a simple concept that really took off. For a while, I wasn't exactly sure whether or not they were going to release this game and then I was sure it was going to be part of another "Orange Box" scenario. But I am legitimately surprised and excited about this. Portal is a great game and will only get better with an expanded story line and more depth to the world.

Very exciting news.

According to the details of Jason West and Vince Zampella's lawsuit against Activision, which was filed on Wednesday, the two departed Infinity Ward studio heads were "interrogated" in a "windowless conference room" for six hours as part of a recent Activision investigation.

The lawsuit claims that the investigation began in February of this year and was conducted by Activision's Chief Human Resources Officer, Ann Weiser, and the publisher's Chief Public Policy Officer, George Rose.

According to West and Zampella, "Activision investigators brought other Infinity Ward employees to tears," during the proceedings before threatening the then studio heads with charges of "insubordination" for consoling them.

At this stage, precisely why the investigation took place is unknown, although West and Zampella's lawsuit states that the investigators claimed to be looking into "breaches of contract" and "violations" of company policy at Infinity Ward.

What the fuck is going on!?

Seriously, this shit is getting out of hand. I knew from the start that it was much more than insubordination and that something major had gone down at Activision. No site wants to say it but I have a feeling that is over more releases in the Call Of Duty series that would run in the same vein as the Modern Warfare franchise. Whether that is true or not, this story just keeps getting bigger and bigger and could teara massive hole in the Activision brand if Infinity Ward is disbanded.

 

[Dave]

Quick drop in to give some news on the smaller items of interest that fill the Video Games industry.

Firstly, God of War III is just about to released to the general public and costs have been the main factor that people have been talking about. Apparently, £29 million has been spent by Sony on creating a game worthy of ending this series. That is a shocking figure and something that I just did not expect. I am not a financial mastermind by any means but I know when things scream "over-budget". According to Sony though, this is well within the budget and is only so high because the Santa Monica studio has doubled in size to make this game all it is, which promises to be a lot. That being said, I worry for Sony. I know that they are a huge company and I know that they have millions upon million of pounds to spend on gaming. However, if this a smart risk to take. Sure, God Of War III is a good series that is likely to shift a few copies but is that budget justified? I don't think so. You can then add on to that a budget of around £40 million for Gran Turismo 5 and you have a huge, huge video games investment.

I remember when it was all "geeks" who played video games...

 

[Blade]

It's been announced that Japanese developer Cing has filed for bankruptcy. These are the guys that made the Another Code series and Hotel Dusk. This is just insane, as the first Another Code and Hotel Dusk were quite successful, selling 150,000 and 250,000 units respectively in Japan. Little King's Story on the Wii also became a cult hit. But because Another Code R, the Wii installment of the game, sold only 15,000 units in it's first week, the developer have had to file for bankruptcy. Whether Another Code and Cing's other games survive might come down to whether or not Nintendo buy them. But is it worth nintendo's money buying them for franchises that have only been somewhat successful? Hmmm...

 

[Dave]

2 pieces of news to digest this time:

Firstly, Rock Band 3 has been officially announced for this year. Early estimates suggest that it will be released in November after MTV and EA: Harmonix decided that they would collaborate once again after many had said that they wouldn't. However, Harmonix has said that they will once again "revolutionise music" when it is released. I can't say that I am overly fussed by this. To me, this fad is almost passed and Guitar Hero and Rock Band are really going to suffer if they can't change the way the games are played. The only think that makes these games different is the music that is playable on them. However, early reports would suggest that Natal and the Sony equivalent may be utilized on the new release.

Secondly, the first DLC for Modern Warfare 2 has been dated for the 30th of March. You will likely hear of this soon from fanboys the world over as they try and convince you to play the same old tired game again. "Boring" comes to mind.

 

[Lee]

“Whenever we are going to use any new device it is possible to expand the appeal to those who are new to the videogaming world. At the same time, however, it is also fun to think of ways in which we might apply that new technology to existing forms of gameplay, just like the way we are working on the new Legend Of Zelda together with Wii Motion Plus.”

“As you become more scared, the enemies become even tougher. So maybe you might like to ask me to incorporate the Vitality Sensor into Zelda so that as you become more scared, the enemies become even tougher.”

- Shigeru Miyamoto

Very interesting...apparently I forgot about vitality being announced last year. BAsically it measures your pulse and as part of the gameplay will make it harder the higher your heart is. This would be pretty cool for a level here, or a level there, but as a full came it would just get annoying. What if a dog comes crashing through my window and I jump in turn causing my game level to increase difficulty...in turn making my heart race more and potentially killing me! Seems another silly gimmick by Nintendo.

 

[Phoenix]

The vitality could be interesting, certainly would bring gaming up to another level, while I agree it should be used sparingly on levels, but imagine something like Resident Evil 2 with that on, god I think many wouldn't go near it again. But interesting nonetheless.

Also Lee, what kind of dogs do you have in your town?!!

UK, March 23, 2010 - In what seems to be a record day for big announcements made in underwhelming ways, Sony has confirmed the existence of LittleBigPlanet 2, with a company representative confirming that the game will support the Move controller.

News comes via <a gaming site>, with a Sony Benelux employee revealing that motion control would be a part of the game. Sony recently bought Media Molecule, who previously worked on the exceptionally well received original game.

So LittleBigPlanet 2 is now officially confirmed by Sony, should be great as the first game was just pure genius, the fun elements of just playing with your friends or stopping them to get further always was epic. Be interesting how the move controller will work with this, but I think this should have been just regular control based.

EDIT: Sony update denying the LBP2 report

Sony has denied media reports from earlier this week that said developer Media Molecule was working on a sequel to LittleBigPlanet, and that the game would utilize the Move motion controller.

Sony Europe's Folkert Langeveld had apparently let slip in a recent interview that a new LittleBigPlanet game was in development. Langeveld then discussed how the game would use the Move controller. However, Sony says his comments were taken out of context, and that he was referring to the demo of LittleBigPlanet shown at GDC, and not a brand-new, unannounced title.

"As demonstrated recently at GDC, LittleBigPlanet has been shown as an example of how an existing game could benefit from PlayStation Move Motion Controller support," a SCEE spokesperson told website ConnectedConsoles. "This is not a confirmation of LittleBigPlanet 2, and we do not have any announcements to make about the LittleBigPlanet franchise."

A SCEA spokesperson told IGN the company has nothing further to add to the statement.

 

[Blade]

Nintendo have announced the 3DS today.

Apparently it's a "new" handheld that'll incorporate 3d technology never before seen in a handheld. It appears that this is in fact the next generation in the DS line, what the Gameboy colour was to the Gameboy, not just an update like the DSi and DS Lite but it'll still include the 2 screens, the bottom of which will still be a touch screen.

Thread coming on the topic.

 

[Lee]

Nintendo have officially unveiled the box art for SMG2. This looks good, a lot brighter than SMG box art which to me is what a Mario game should be. I'm getting more and more excited about this game and it seems like Yoshi won't be a pointless gimmick (like with SMsunshine)

 

[Lee]

Nintendo of America have today confirmed that Metroid: Other M and Sin & Punishment 2 have been officially delayed.

Metroid: Other M is now scheduled for release August 31st, instead of the rumoured ‘to be determined’ date, whilst Sin & Punishment 2 also comes away relatively unscathed with the release date slipping from the 6th June to June 27th.

Well to me that makes sense to delay Metroid: Other M. Do you want Super Mario Galaxy, Sin & Punishment 2 and Metroid all released within a month? No that would be stupid. Here you have them all released on the last week of the month. May with SMG2, June with SP2 and August with Other M with July as a nice month where people can get some Vitamin D in their bodies.

Nice move Nintendo.

 

[Lee]

This thread will be used as the ask a question thread (as the last one failed, but sometimes questions are needed). This will work ala the wrestling threads, closed questions only.

 

[PsychoBlack]

Cod 7 has been named Call of duty: black ops and is set to release november 9th. the action for this game will take place in cuba the arctic and vietnam. Treyarch has said to put an emphasis on single player as well as multi-player modes.

Is there any new info on the game?

 

[Lee]

Well a trailer has just been revealed.


I expect E3 will reveal more.

 

[Hawkeye]

Has anyone played Stoked for 360? I've been fiendin for a good snowboarding game,but don't wanna risk the $$$? If you've played it, just go ahead and gimme a rating out of 10,thanks much in advance

 

[Lee]

Has anyone played Stoked for 360? I've been fiendin for a good snowboarding game,but don't wanna risk the $$$? If you've played it, just go ahead and gimme a rating out of 10,thanks much in advance

Best bet is to read the wiki page to see the aggregate scores.

OK here's todays tidbit. On Twitter someone asked Paul Bearer if he was in this years SD v Raw game, his reply was:

You heard correctly, but I can't tell you anything else or they maybe kill me.

That's quite exciting, it's always good when there are a few classic people in there and Paul Bearer is someone who would be a nice little addition.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Could one of you explain to me what vaporware is? The wikipedia write-up was shit.

 

[ABMorales787]

Could one of you explain to me what vaporware is? The wikipedia write-up was shit.

Vaporware is software that either doesn't do much, or does absolutely nothing. Like vapor. You can see it, but can't touch it. Like an upgrade that doesn't do any change to said software.

 

[Cena's Little Helper]

Vaporware is software that either doesn't do much, or does absolutely nothing. Like vapor. You can see it, but can't touch it. Like an upgrade that doesn't do any change to said software.

All right, we're on the right track here. I was looking up a horror video game the other day that was canceled (the game was called Sadness), and it was referred to as vaporware. If you could explain to me why this was called vaporware, I'd greatly appreciate it.

 

[Lee]

Ahhh Sadness, that game.

It was because they announced the game, made a website and there was no in game footage, nor was there even a publisher. The best way to show this was covered by Destructoid.

NeoGAF member GC|Simon recently received an update e-mail from the Nibris team, in which they delivered the inevitable news -- their Wii title, Sadness, will not be coming out until 2009. From the e-mail:

Nibris is alive and well. From August Nibris is exclusively represented by FOG Studios, Inc.(www.fogstudios.com), the leading agency for interactive representation since 1979. We are still actively working at our projects (Sadness - Wii - 2009, Double Bloob Q2 2008 and ROTR - DS Q 3 2008) and it will be announced in the gaming press in certain time.

So now that we've gotten that out of the way, let me make one thing clear -- I am not convinced that this game has (or ever will) exist. Besides some concept art and fancy talk, Nibris has yet to deliver a single screenshot, video, or demo of playable code. Despite how grand it sounds, as far as I'm concerned, there is no game called Sadness.

So until we see evidence that contradicts that, Nibris, put up or shut up. Even the (by all accounts) reasonably well-connected "Surfer Girl" mentions that she heard you guys "rebuked publisher interest" when they had asked to actually see a game. If you actually have a videogame, we'd be more than happy to take a look at it.

 

[The Doctor]

Vaporware is software that was rumored, may have even had production shots out, but was never released. Duke Nukem Forever is the most well-known vaporware, as it was hyped...and delayed, and delayed, and delayed, and it's probably never coming out. Starcraft Ghost is another example.

EDIT: Also, what Lee said.