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PixelJunk Monsters Encore expansion set for May

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Casual, Downloadable Content, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Network, Puzzle, Release Dates,

PixelJunk Monsters Encore

I’ve recently been playing the hell out of PixelJunk Monsters, a game that we feel is one of the shining stars of the . If you haven’t yet tried it, seriously, go download it. The 2D strategy game is something that we almost can’t stop playing once we start. This is why we are happy to hear that Q Games has made it known that the first expansion pack for the game, titled PixelJunk Monsters Encore, is set to drop on May 1. We can expect a new island, called “Toki,” which will feature an additional 15 levels, as well as a little bit of housecleaning behind the scenes to the overall game mechanics. Even better still, the expansion will include five new songs by Otograph.

Visually, there are a few tweaks here and there that we can expect - weather effects, new tree shapes, and a few other small upgrades. Nothing over the top.

No word yet on pricing details, but this is DLC for a fairly inexpensive game, so it shouldn’t cost much.

Read More |

Destructoid

Gallery: PixelJunk Monsters Encore expansion set for May


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Inside Halo 3’s $10 Million Marketing Push

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: Corporate News, First Person Shooters, Release Dates, Xbox 360,

Microsoft has known how important Halo 3 will be to their success this generation since before they even announced the Xbox 360. Halo 2 sold $125 million on the first day, but then the original Xbox was just struggling for recognition in the wake of the PS2 juggernaut. Now the 360 holds a tenuous lead in installed base and isn’t selling the way Microsoft may have hoped. If it’s possible Halo 3 may have become even more important to Microsoft’s strategy than they originally hoped. Fortunately, they’ve been planning ahead.

In an article released today on Brand Week, the calculated ten-month marketing efforts behind ‘s trilogy finale is dissected starting from the Starry Nights TV spot launched last November through the public beta this spring/early summer. They talk about the Project Iris viral campaign and the efforts they’ve gone to secure strategic branding partners. This has included the Mountain Dew Game Fuel limited edition soft drink that comes plastered with Halo 3 imagery plus a total of $5 million from Pontiac to help push the launch of the game on September 25.

And they aren’t done yet. Microsoft will begin the full blitz with the new Believe campaign that will lead up to the launch taking place at midnight in over 10,000 stores to give Halo fans a chance to grab the game as soon as possible. It’s an interesting read about the science behind building a monster.

Read More | Brand Week via Kotaku

Gallery: Inside Halo 3’s $10 Million Marketing Push


Kaz Hirai Hits the Interview Circuit

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: PlayStation 3, Sony,

Kaz HiraiSony Computer Entertainment President Kaz Hirai has been speaking out about the including the reported development troubles some studios have had and ‘s commitment to the Japanese market.

Regarding the difficulty in development Hirai said he’s seen this before when the 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 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 .” 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


Anticipated PC Demos Dropping This Week: World in Conflict and BioShock

Posted by Paul Hamilton Categories: First Person Shooters, Games for Windows, Internet, PC, Release Dates, Strategy,

World in Conflict

Timed to sync with the start of and , will release a rather full-featured demo of their upcoming real-time “action” strategy game on Friday containing demos of both the single-player mode via a tutorial, plus one mission as well as multiplayer supporting 16 players. There will be one multiplayer map available to all demo-downloaders that can also be played in solo skirmish mode and a second map playable only by those who pre-order the game. World in Conflict is designed to incorporate first-person shooter elements like speed into the RTS genre and by design requires no resource management. The game is due out September 18th.

In other demo-related news, the PC version of the demo that users have been enjoying since last week is out in time for the full retail release of the game. Any PC users on the fence about this game can check out the first half hour or so of the game and most likely put it down only long enough to run to the store and buy the full copy.

Read More | 1Up

Gallery: Anticipated PC Demos Dropping This Week: World in Conflict and BioShock


Virtual Console Release: Wii-k.

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Retro, Role Playing Games, Strategy, Virtual Console, Wii,

Romance of the Three Kingdoms IVKoei has been milking the Dynasty Warriors franchise for a while, with seemingly dozens of releases hitting every platform from the PlayStation 2 to the Xbox 360. But the series actually spun off from another franchise for the company, the strategic Romance of the Three Kingdoms series. In fact, the Dynasty Warriors release pattern mirrors that of Romance; take a good idea, and run it into the ground with more releases than the public can handle. Still, the SNES release is one of the better entries into the series, and for 800 Wii Points, one can experience the property as it was originally intended. Having this as the sole retro release this week is a disappointment, however.

Read More | Nintendo

Gallery: Virtual Console Release: Wii-k.


Reggie Fils-Aime Profiled

Posted by Christopher Sasaki Categories: Nintendo, Nintendo DS, Wii,

Reggie The Seattle Times has a lengthy profile of Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime and the turnaround that he is engineering at the company. Part of the profile is focused on the swagger that Fils-Aime seems to be bringing back to the company and its fanboys. Which Nintendo’s presence and influence in the videogame industry had been on the wane, their approach with their new products like the DS and the Wii appears to be turning this around.

Fils-Aime has helped Nintendo become more aggressive in the market, and part of this has been due to Reggie’s attitude and discipline, as detailed in the article. While a good part of the profile is aimed at Nintendo’s attempts to recapture and grow the video game market with the DS and the Wii, there are a number of insights into Fils-Aime’s background that led him to succeed at Nintendo of America. The next year should be an interesting one as Nintendo, Microsoft, and Sony battle in the next generation of gaming.

Read More | The Seattle Times

Gallery: Reggie Fils-Aime Profiled


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