July 5th, 2008

Guitar Hero Champ Breaks World Record on Hardest Song in the Game

Chris Chike, known online in the game world as Iamchris4life, has broken his own Guiness World Record of 840,647 according to AWN. He achieved this feet on the hardest song in Guitar Hero “Through the Fire and the Flames” with a flawless 100 percent notes hit, a score of 987,786 points, and a 3,722 note streak. He managed to videotape his accomplishment and posted it on YouTube where it has become one of the top viewed videos and has been seen over 1.6 million times.

Chris recently singed with Ant Commandos Guitar and Peripheral Company to be their next spokesperson and help design their next guitar. In addition, he was recently challenged for his Guinness World Title. But Chris isn’t too concerned. “”It is pretty hard to beat 100 percent.”

July 2nd, 2008

Novint and Valve Partner Up

Novint Technologies, a pioneer in 3-D touch in consumer products has announced that they have entered into an agreement with Valve Corporation, a leading gaming company.

The agreement states that support for Novint Technologies Falcon, a new robot-like device that enables users to experience force feedback while still being as accurate as a mouse, will be added via patch to Valve’s best selling games. These games include Half-Life 2, Counter-Strike, Team Fortress 2, Portal, the new Left 4 Dead as well as the entire Steam library. Together these games total over 30 million units sold worldwide, countless awards, and more than 80% of the PC online action market.

The Falcon itself can be bought for $189.99 or in the upcoming Falcon Orange Box Bundle which includes the new Black Falcon, Pistol Grip and a touch enabled version of the Orange Box (a $249.98) for $189.99.

Source

June 26th, 2008

Microsoft hosts Games for Windows Event in San Francisco Today

Today, Microsoft will hold it’s “Games for Windows Presents: The Big Picture” showcase event in San Francisco. There, attendees will get a chance to have hands on experience with a variety of PC games from some of the largest publishers. The titles exhibited range from fun and family friendly games for casual gamers to action packed shooting games for hardcore gamers.

Microsoft will also be announcing 16 other games that will be released under the Games for Windows line including Crysis Warhead, the sequel to last years hit Crysis. Games for Windows now has more than 85 titles from nearly every major publisher.

Also present will be NVIDIA and ATI to debut their newest graphics cards and GPU’s.

This event comes right after the announcement of the most successful PC gaming launch of 2008 with the Games for Windows-branded title “Conan: Hyborian Adventures” which shipped an astounding 1 million units worldwide, one of the biggest Games for Windows debut and the most successful massively multiplayer online game launch since World of Warcraft.

“The big picture of the PC gaming market is unparalleled growth,” said Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Windows gaming in the Entertainment and Devices division at Microsoft. “By all accounts, Windows continues to lead the gaming industry worldwide in both users and total revenue, and DFC Intelligence expects the PC gaming market to grow by a staggering 73 percent from 2007 to 2013. Compelling online experiences, industry-leading graphics, high-quality games and innovative hardware are driving that growth, and we’re proud to partner with other leaders and showcase the best of Windows gaming at this event.”

June 25th, 2008

Grand Theft Auto Sales Cause Some to Question the Validity of Next-Gen Systems

Prior to the release of “Grand Theft Auto IV” analysts had predicted a large increase in hardware sales which usually accompanies a high profile game like “Grand Theft Auto:IV”. However, this has not happened. While “Grand Theft Auto IV” was the top selling game two months in a row, those same two months the Wii (the only current gen system that “Grand Theft Auto: IV” is not on) doubled the sales of PS3/360’s combined. This has caused some to wonder whether casual market games such as “Rock Band” and not high profile AAA titles will lead gaming from now on. However, others such as this Variety blogger are not yet convinced. That blogger claims that it is still to early to tell.

To make any really definitive claims, I think we have to wait until the end of the year. That’s when we’ll have seen huge PS3 exclusive “Metal Gear Solid 4,” huge 360 exclusive “Gears of War 2,” and the holidays. If none of those 3 things, along with “GTA IV,” can move hardware sales, then we can probably say that the two systems are about tapped out, at least at their current prices. And then we’ll have to start asking some really serious questions about the wisdom of high powered, high priced game systems.

June 17th, 2008

Director signs on to “Gears of War” adaptation

Reuters reports that Len Wiseman director of “Live Free or Die Hard” has signed on to direct an adaptation of the hit videogame “Gears of War”. In addition, New Line has also hired Chris Morgan who recently wrote “Wanted” and “The Fast and the Furious 4″ to write the screenplay.

For video game fans, this might seem like deja vu as only a few months ago, a writer and director were hired for an adaptation of the hit game “Halo”, “Gears of Wars” biggest competition in the video game world. That movie ended up falling through because of economic and creative differences. One can only hope that history does not repeat itself here.

Following that, all that remains is to create a good movie out of a video game, something that hasn’t been been done before. However, the creator of “Gears of War”, Cliff Bleszinski, is optimistic.

“Disney made a great movie out of a theme park ride, and somebody is sooner or later going to make a great one out of a video game,” Bleszinski said. “Having someone like Len really helps the odds. I think we’re going to create something special here.”

June 16th, 2008

Conduit for Wii Seeks to Change Public Perception

For many the Wii is thought of as a casual platform with unimpressive graphics. However, a large independent developer named High Voltage Software seeks to challenge that assumption with Conduit. Announced for Q1 2009, it will feature a deep single player campaign and competitive online multiplayer mode. However, most exciting to Wii owners is the news that it will run on High Voltage Software’s proprietary engine Quantum 3 and feature all of the latest graphical bells and whistles such as bump mapping, interactive water with real time reflections and many others. Whether all of that will be enough to change the public’s perception of the Wii, only time can tell.

Source

June 2nd, 2008

LEGO Indy Gets So-So Review

Variety has a not so great review of the LEGO videogame soon to be released “Lego Indiana Jones.” The author of the article, Ben Fritz, says the new game is disappointing considering the many smart and humorous touches in the “Lego Star Wars Saga”.

Those who have played either of the two “Lego Star Wars” titles will recognize almost the same game, adapted to the world of Nazis and whips instead of storm troopers and light sabers. Once again, gamers play through a trilogy of films…where every character and most objects are built out of brightly colored, breakable Lego pieces. Gameplay is extremely simple, with an emphasis on puzzle solving and collectables. Co-op play is a constant option, though annoyingly, developer Traveller’s Tales still hasn’t made it possible online.

May 25th, 2008

EA acquires Hands-On Mobile Korea

Variety reports that games giant Electronic Arts has purchased the Korean subsidiary or San Fransisco based Hands on Mobile.

Best known for its mobile role-playing game, Heroes Lore. the former Hands-On Mobile Korea team will become EA Mobile Korea and will play a central role in the development of EA Mobile Asia. Gilbert Kim, CEO of Hands-On Mobile Korea will become head of EA Mobile Korea.

Deal terms were not disclosed and takeover is expected to complete by the end of June.

“Hands-On Mobile Korea brings us a great leadership team, proven studio talent, and outstanding carrier and OEM handset manufacturer relationships,” Barry Cottle, Senior VP and General Manager EA Mobile, said. “This acquisition is a major milestone in growing our mobile business in Asia.”

“We are excited about joining EA Mobile and its mission to bring to market some of the world’s most innovative, cutting-edge and commercially proven mobile games and applications. Korea is one of the most ubiquitous entertainment markets in the world,” Kim said.

May 9th, 2008

Verbinski is Bioshocked

Variety reports that Gore Verbinski is now set to direct Universal’s “Bioshock”, turning the bestselling videogame into a film. Universal signed on to produce Bioshock last year, and word in the industry is that this is the biggest game-to-film deal since 2005 when Universal and Fox signed on to make “Halo”. the makers of the game “Bioshock”, Take-Two Interactive

has been approached by a number of producers and studios since the game came out in August but waited until it had swept most of the end-of-year industry awards and racked up impressive holiday sales before working with CAA to package the project. Universal got a first look and made a preemptive bid.

May 8th, 2008

Marvel Heros Land at THQ

'Super Hero Squad'

Variety is reporting that THQ secured rights to Marvel’s new “Super Hero Squad” animated series for gaming purposes.

Though it doesn’t yet have a network home for the series, which will launch in 2009, Marvel is already busy turning “Super Hero Squad” into a multiplatform property. Along with the skein and vidgame, Hasbro has a related toy line and Marvel is working on a comicbook and a direct-to-DVD film.

Both companies hope the deal could lead to a lasting partnership. Marvel still doesn’t have a videogame company to partner with for its upcoming releases “Thor”, “Captain America” or “Avengers.”