This Week in Gaming
Posted on August 30th, 2008 at 11:33 am
In what I hope to make a regular feature, I’ve decided to post all the news that I give a shit about that happened this week in the gaming world.
First, some new releases on the download front. Obviously everyone and their mother knows that Castle Crashers was released on Wednesday on XBLA. I personally haven’t bought the full version yet, but that is because I’m broke. If you can afford it, I recommend buying it straight away. There have been some bugs reported, but apparently a patch is already on the way. On PSN, The Last Guy was released. Definitely worth the $10 price tag. They also released a Warhawk expansion that adds jetpacks. JETPACKS.
While we’re on the topic of downloads, on the official Bionic Commando site they announced that BC:R sold over 130,000 units. Doesn’t seem like a lot compared to the AAA titles released on disc, but as far as downloads go, that is massive.
In Xbox news, Immersion, the developers of the rumble tech used in pretty much every controller, were forced to pay Microsoft $20.75 million. This was because when MS paid immersion to keep rumble in their controllers they made a deal with them. If they ever sold the tech to anyone else, they’d have to pay MS. So when Sony realized the folly of their ways and came crawling back to Immersion for some good old fashioned rumble, Immersion had to toss some scratch Microsoft’s way.
It was announced that New Xbox Experience will be released this November. So, only a couple months until we have our shiny new gui. It was also rumored that the first DLC for the GTAIV will be released in November too. Supposedly it will have 15 hours of content. That is a LOT of new content. I’m not getting my hopes up though, just so I can’t be let down if (when) it’s a lot less. While we’re on rumors, apparently in the October issue of OXM they rumored that Gearbox is developing Halo 4 for, get this, the next Xbox. So, not only is there another Halo game in the works, NOT made by Bungie, but there is a new Xbox on the way too. With the NXE on the way, I get the feeling that it will be a while before we see any new Xbox. MS are too smart to kill the 360 with it as popular as it is right now. Oh yeah, and Gears of War 2 won’t be seeing PC’s. Sorry PC owners. A later release seems inevitable, so don’t worry about it too much.
On the portable front, it seems the U.S. will be getting Chrono Trigger DS BEFORE Japan does. What what what? Yeah, it will be released on November 25 stateside, and comes out on the 27th in Japan. However, they do get a 2-track bonus soundtrack for preordering. Either way, we get CT first, yay. Speaking of Japan and the DS, LOVEru was just released. If you don’t know what that is, don’t feel bad. It’s another Japanese touching game, where you poke different girls with your stylus. It’s not the yet-another-touching-game aspect that makes it stand out though. It’s the fact that, get this, there is a minigame where you shoot milk at a strawberry the main female is holding. You spray milk on her. God damn Japan. God damn. Here’s a video demoing some of the game: LOVEru
The team behind ICO announced that their latest title for the PS3 would be ready “soon.” Whatever that means. That is pretty much ALL of the detail they announced about it as well. Well, whatever it is and whenever it comes out, I’m sure it will be an amazing game that has horrible sales. As per usual. Valve announced that Left 4 Dead on the Xbox will use dedicated servers on Xbox Live. That is great news because it means we should have flawless online multiplayer, and if you know anything about Left 4 Dead, you know how important that is.
In the arcades, apparently Street Fighter IV has made its way to American shores, a bit earlier than planned. There are no official cabinets yet, but arcade owners in the states have found a way of getting it running here. Apparently they’re buying the boards for Street Fighter IV cabinets from Japan, and just sticking them in any old cabinets! It’s a very grey area, and is not approved by Capcom, but if don’t mind playing a Japanese SF4 using 360 controllers, start looking around in your area! Also, apparently next month will mark the first time the public will get a taste of King of Fighters XII in Japan. I have to say, while not a huge graphical change like Street Fighter IV, the game looks stunning.
Oh yeah, and some dude built a giant snes controller. Check it out.
