Call of Duty 4 Beta Ends September 30th
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Activision, First Person Shooters, PC, PlayStation 3, Release Dates, Xbox 360,
Robert “402” Bowling from Infinity Ward has posted about some upcoming changes to the Call of Duty 4 beta on his blog. The most significant announcement is the closing of the beta on September 30th, but he also revealed that two days prior the level cap, which has been at 16 for a couple of weeks after being lifted from the initial cap of 11, will go up to 25. That gives beta testers only two days to jump from 16 to 25 before the beta closes down in anticipation of the game’s release November 5th.
Part of the post hinted that CoD4 had gone gold, but Bowling refused to come right out and say it, saving the announcement for more official channels. He did say that Infinity Ward had received congratulations from the Sony of America and the Xbox 360 certification team, which leaves little room for doubt that the game is in the final stages before shipping.
The beta has been an excellent marketing tool for Infinity Ward since the strength of the game is quite evident from the limited, multiplayer-only test version. Even though the game is likely gold, the beta continues for developers to continue gathering data for the inevitable title upgrades and expansion packs. The raising of the level cap so close to the end of the beta is, speculatively, due to the launch of a certain multiplayer juggernaut a few days prior.
Read More 
| Fourzerotwo's Blog
Gallery: Call of Duty 4 Beta Ends September 30th
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Silent Hill V Video and Developer Interviews
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: PlayStation 3, Survival Horror, Trailers, Xbox 360,
Check out the video featuring footage and interviews with developers of the upcoming spook-fest sequel, Silent Hill V. Development of the game has been handed off to The Collective, but they seem to be determined to return the game to territory more akin to Silent Hill 2 than the mixed reception of IV. They’ve got a pretty solid looking engine running that features a lot of the familiar effects now rendered in real-time plus they’ve worked to enhance the combat which was always kind of a series weak point.
Unfortunately the interview doesn’t dive too deeply into how well The Collective can manage to retain the creeping psychological unease Silent Hill is famous for (versus rival series Resident Evil‘s shock and gore approach).
Silent Hill V is due sometime in 2008 for PS3 and Xbox 360.
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Kaz Hirai Hits the Interview Circuit
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: PlayStation 3, Sony,
Sony Computer Entertainment President Kaz Hirai has been speaking out about the PlayStation 3 including the reported development troubles some studios have had and Sony‘s commitment to the Japanese market.
Regarding the difficulty in development Hirai said he’s seen this before when the PS2 drew similar criticisms early in its lifecycle and that it doesn’t concern him. He said to The Official PlayStation Magazine that, in fact, he welcomes the news:
If they came back and told me, ‘PS3? We can do this in a heartbeat,’ that would be worrying because what it is telling me is that we’re not pushing the envelope from a technology standpoint.
In another interview with a Japanese website he said that developers working on cross-platform games ought to take advantage of the PS3’s extra capability to give PlayStation owners extra value. For example, “[W]ith the PS3, you’ve got the Sixaxis controller, or you could utilize the extra capacity provided by Blu-ray to add more levels, put on interviews with the developers or have your videos able to play in 1080p.” He said he understood why developers were choosing to work cross-platform considering the cost of making modern games.
Later in the same interview he tried to reassure Japanese gamers that they weren’t being overlooked:
Just because the foreign market is bigger than the domestic one, we don’t intend to take strategy of just making what would have been considered previously as ‘Western games’ and saying ‘We’ve got no choice but to do this’ to our Japanese users. If we did that, there’d be no point in having the Japan Studio.
Read More | Develop via Game | Life
Gallery: Kaz Hirai Hits the Interview Circuit
Guitar Hero III’s Wii Online Woes
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Music, Nintendo, Wii,
Despite Nintendo packaging the Wii as an internet-ready and capable device, they seem to still drag their feet whenever it comes to online gaming. The latest evidence of this is the eerie quiet surrounding the online features of the upcoming Guitar Hero III, broken by The Bits Bytes Pixels and Sprites when they contacted a Red Octane PR specialist, Bryan Lam about what Guitar Hero III will be like online with the Wii. He distressingly told BBPS, “We’re working closely with Nintendo for an online solution, though at the moment we’re unable to confirm the status of the online multi-player.”
Considering the other GHIII versions are all set to have online modes and there ought not to be any technical hurdles, this can really only mean Nintendo is having a hard time letting go of the secret to their ultimate online strategy which is so secret not even the consumers can figure out what it is. Online versus and co-op modes may be bad enough as possible omissions from the Wii version, but a follow-up from BBPS suggests that the same hurdles exist for downloadable content as well. While it’s difficult to determine why Nintendo would want to feature-deprive third party developers from online action, it’s even less comprehensible why they would cut off money-making endeavors like song packs as well.
Read More | The Bits Bytes Pixels and Sprites via 4 Color Rebellion
Gallery: Guitar Hero III’s Wii Online Woes
New Folklore Videos Show Gameplay and Story Bits
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Adventure, PlayStation 3, Sony,
New videos for the upcoming PS3 game Folklore show some interesting footage of the game’s combat including some idea of how the epic boss fights will unfold. The game has a remarkable style and art direction that is visible here especially in the brief pre-combat cinematics.
Folklore looks a little like Kameo crossed with Fable and Pokemon as players control one of two characters who use the game’s “folks” as summoned creatures to do the grunt work of fighting foes. A follow-up to Genji, developers Game Republic are promising better Sixaxis controls and an online mode.
Folklore is scheduled for a North American release on October 12.
Click to continue reading New Folklore Videos Show Gameplay and Story Bits
Gallery: New Folklore Videos Show Gameplay and Story Bits
Fallout 3 Developers Ready to Answer Your Questions
Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Internet, PC, PlayStation 3, Role Playing Games, Xbox 360,
After an avalanche of press following its showing at E3, Bethesda is now soliciting questions from the community. In theory they’ll accept and answer questions about any of their properties but it seems pretty obvious from the comments so far that the main point of interest is Fallout 3.
With so much skepticism from the old school Fallout fans over the direction Bethesda is headed and the casual dismissal of those concerns that most of the mainstream gaming press has displayed, this could be a good chance for the developers to clarify some of the hows and whys diehards have been losing sleep over since the game was announced.
Read More | Bethesda Blog via Gay Gamer
Gallery: Fallout 3 Developers Ready to Answer Your Questions
Pink Godzilla Dev Kit- Videogame Development For Everyone
Posted by Michael Cardiff Categories: Accessories, Casual, Hardware, Portable/Mobile, Simulation,
For those out there that haven’t had the chance to make it to Seattle’s Penny Arcade Expo, you might think the event’s entirely focused on the latest and greatest videogames. Truth be told, the event’s meant to be inclusive of all forms of gaming, including table-top and card games (although these get substantially less press). I was not so excited about visiting the Magic-obsessed hordes in the card gaming area, but boy am I glad I did… for that’s where I discovered Pink Godzilla.
Pink Godzilla might just be the nerdiest concept ever - it’s a card game about developing videogames, with lots of puns and in-jokes that only hardcore gamers will get. It’s also a helluva lot of fun. The general idea is that you have to collect cards to develop videogames and thereby score points. Each game requires a title (for instance, “Pinky Gear Solid”, or my personal favorite “Dance Dance Team Ninja Supressors 2”), characters to star in the game, and accessories (like key-tars for music games or combos for fighting games). Along the way, you can add special features to your game like easter eggs or powered-up accessories, and lots of points are awarded for making the best game around!
You can purchase the Pink Godzilla Dev Kit through the link below. I for one highly recommend it - I’m not usually a cardgamer, but this one is just too much fun to ignore.
Read More | PinkGodzillaGames.com
Gallery: Pink Godzilla Dev Kit- Videogame Development For Everyone
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