Latest Articles (Page 3370)

Publisher Akella has acquired the rights to Avalon Style's role-playing FPS Sabotain: Break the Rules (formerly Fist Of The Empire) from beleaguered German publisher CDV, which decided not to proceed with the game's release in 2003.

Square Enix's latest "International" edition re-release for Final Fantasy X-2, which retains the Jap voiceovers, adds new job classes, quests and other foibles, and is due out next month, will be the final Final Fantasy X game.

British Students! Depressed about Uncle Tone's top-up fees? Feeling poor? Want a £10,000 cheque for a day out in Manchester playing videogames? Yeah, me too, but for some reason this one's entirely at your pleasure, as Microsoft kicks off its nationwide search for the UK's ultimate student Xbox gamer.

Sega is expected to publish a console game based on the popular American cartoon series Samurai Jack this March, having announced its agreement with Cartoon Network/Warner Bros. over the rights, which must have been in place for some time if developer Amaze Entertainment's Adrenium Games studio is aiming to deliver on PS2, Xbox and Cube within a couple of months.

It's hard writing the words 'expansion pack' without prefixing them with the word 'inevitable'. Ach, why fight it. Fist Alpha is the inevitable expansion pack that the hardcore fans will lap up and the rest of you will shrug your shoulders and pretend you've got better things to do than worry about missing one of last year's better first-person shooters.

Urban. Freestyle. Soccer. They're just not trying any more, are they? That said; it does at least clarify rather succinctly what we're dealing with. Here's the more elaborate, rent-paying version: Imagine, if you will, a game of four-a-side football played by six Cristiano Ronaldos outfield, and a pair of Rene Higuitas [the chap who did the "scorpion kick" at Wembley in the 90s -Ed] between the sticks at either end. Then imagine the ball responding in increasingly unconvincing and physics-defying ways to the ridiculous speed, precision and trickery of each cherubic protagonist, throw a bucket of mud over the whole lot and sing "What a load of bollocks!" from your imaginary dug-out.

Sony's PlayStation Portable is set to enjoy significant software support from Electronic Arts, according to statements made on a conference call where the publisher also outlined its expectations for the launch of the device.

The first big new release of the year finally arrives in stores this Friday, in the shape of the long-overdue console conversion of Mafia on PS2 and Xbox. It was a big hit way back in August 2002, and although Illusion Softworks' take on 1930s gangster America polarised opinions, it's a game which arguably lends itself to consoles and looks set to succeed on the back of the unquenchable demand for mission based driving games. Expect a full review shortly, and expect a higher mark than the 4/10 awarded it back then. Until then, enjoy this PR-rolled Q&A with the Gathering vice president Graeme Struthers...

Leading publisher Electronic Arts has announced record revenue and income for its third quarter ended December 31, with eleven of the company's titles selling over a million units, and Need for Speed Underground topping 5.5 million.

Sega might still consider bringing OutRun2 to Xbox outside Japan, but is, in the words of AM2 boss Makoto Osaki, "really scared of the rental markets that exist in the West," and what they might to do to potential returns. Mr. Osaki also went close to ruling out ports to other platforms. "I don't know if the ports would generate good returns," he said somewhat noncommittally.

Atari has rescheduled the apparently worldwide release date of DRIV3R (Driver 3) to June 1st, 2004. In a rather pompous statement released this morning, the publisher (or The Group) said it was delaying the launch by two months so that it can be made available for PS2 and Xbox simultaneously worldwide - rather like Enter The Matrix when it materialised alongside the cinematic release of The Matrix Reloaded in May 2003.

EA has revealed that The Sims 2 and Medal of Honor: Pacific Assault have both been delayed until later in the year, during the publisher's annual conference call with analysts and investors to announce its Q4 2004 earnings, which were, as you might imagine, solid profits all round.

New figures from Microsoft show that Xbox is still well ahead of Nintendo's GameCube in terms of European sales, with a 3.7 million unit installed base at the end of 2003 and Xbox Live shooting past 100,000 users.

Ubisoft has released a version 1.52 patch for tactical PC FPS Rainbow Six III: Raven Shield, which implements an auto-update system, support for custom operatives, fixes the wall-peek glitch introduced in previous patches, and fixes a number of smaller gameplay issues like frag and ladder lock. The 1.52 update also makes a few compatibility changes for the upcoming Athena Sword mission pack, which was delayed again this week until March 19th.

If you've ever felt like shooting Peter Molyneux and watching him tumble Icarus-like out of the sky in a ball of waxy flames, then you probably didn't get along with Black & White. And you'd certainly be the wrong sort of person to log on to Xbox Live on February 18th at 7PM GMT when Lionhead Studios' Molyneux and Simon and Dene Carter from Big Blue Box will be playing Crimson Skies and discussing Fable with Xbox owners.

Finally, for those who haven't already found their way to GameSpy's excellent interview with Makoto Osaki, the Sega AM2 director also revealed that in addition to Virtua Fighter Cyber Generation, which he discussed at length, Virtua Fighter 5 is on its way.

Sega AM2 boss Makoto Osaki has come out in support of the Grand Theft Auto series, a day after the Haitian group suing Take-Two other Vice City content switched their case to a state court to escape supposedly liberal federal freedom-of-speech laws.

Fairytale loving game designer American McGee expects to see his dark reworking on L. Frank Baum's Wizard of Oz take a big screen bow in the next two or three years, as the Hollywood Reporter this week revealed Disney and Jerry Bruckheimer Films' intention to develop unfinished PC and Xbox title American McGee's Oz into a film trilogy.

TOCA has been reunited with Codemasters' Race Driver brand for TOCA Race Driver 2: The Ultimate Racing Simulator, which will launch this spring for PC and Xbox. Both versions will offer extensive online support. However it might not have been - as the TOCA name had seemingly departed after the narrative-driven TOCA Race Driver on PS2/Xbox/PC, despite strong sales.

Capcom has revealed that Hyper Street Fighter II, the 15th anniversary celebration of the Street Fighter franchise, will be released on PS2 in all PAL territories come April 30th. What's more, it'll cost just £19.99 and features the full-length Street Fighter II Animated Movie, which as an owner of the video and DVD this writer can attest to liking.

EA's unstoppable reign at the top has continued, with Need For Speed: Underground notching up its fifth straight week at No.1, while the US publisher swept all before it with no fewer than ten titles occupying the Top 20.

Halo sold more than four million copies worldwide by the end of December 2003, developer Bungie proudly announced this week, no doubt reaping the benefits of a discounted $29.99 price point and the critical acclaim directed at the PC version - which has apparently hit the half-million sales barrier by itself.

The Haitian group suing Take-Two over the "Kill all the Haitians" mission in Grand Theft Auto: Vice City is now pursuing the case as a state lawsuit in Florida, after their lawyer decided a state case would avoid more lenient federal freedom-of-speech standards, the Miami Herald reports this week. Apparently it gives them a better chance of winning.

Cheating device manufacturer Fire International has announced plans to revise its policy concerning online games, having previously published cheats for PS2 Online titles such as SOCOM: US Navy SEALs which had an adverse effect on the overall experience.

Beta test sign-ups for the massively multiplayer World of WarCraft will begin at 6:00 PM PST on Wednesday, January 28th, according to an official announcement from developers Blizzard. At that time, a beta test application will appear at Blizzard.com.

Pachinko machine maker Sammy is moving to capitalise quickly on its recent acquisition of a large stake in Sega, signing a new alliance with International Game Technology which will give it the ability to launch full-scale overseas operations.

Following SNK Playmore's announcement that it plans to bring SNK Vs. Capcom: SVC Chaos to the Xbox in Japan, SNK NeoGeo USA has revealed that it has joined the Xbox third party program in North America and plans to release SVC Chaos and Metal Slug 3 for the system during 2004.

Japanese RPGs. The words themselves are enough to cause a distinct wobble in the lower lip of many European PS2 owners; an instinctive reaction to the mention of the single genre which has caused those of us here in PAL-land the most suffering over the past years. The story is familiar to all of us by now, as we've watched the USA receive fantastic RPGs for years while Europe gets little more than Final Fantasy and the occasional drop of gaming nectar which arrives from across the Atlantic, such as the excellent Shadow Hearts or the solid Wild Arms 3. Then, of course, they add insult to injury by depriving us of Xenosaga or Suikoden III, and giving us the diabolically bad Unlimited SaGa instead... The bastards. They do these things to taunt us.

The first in a series of free software upgrades for the recently launched PSX media centre is set to arrive in Japan at the beginning of February - but retailers in Japan are reported to be highly critical of the system's performance so far.

Ion Storm has incorporated a third-person view into the third Thief title, Deadly Shadows, in addition to the traditional first-person perspective, publisher Eidos announced late last week. The developer claims that players will be able to shift seamlessly between the first and third-person views, giving them more tools with which to tackle their stealthy tasks.