All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

Insomniac Games noted on its official Twitter page that Ratchet and Clank will get a little help from their PALs when A Crack in Time makes its way November 4 to PAL territories other than the UK, then lands on British shores November 6. It also appears that the R&C demo will not be available this week in the EU -- hopefully that'll arrive soon. A Crack in Time launches next week in North America, with one of two demos available later today when the PlayStation Network updates.

Yeah, you read that headline correctly: Audi is giving away Xbox 360 Elites and copies of Forza Motorsport 3 to anyone who walks in off the street*. All you have to do is walk in to an Audi retailer**, and then receive your game and console***. Unfortunately, this amazing offer seems to only be in effect with Polish Audi retailers, so unless you've got the cash for what would likely be a pricey plane ticket****, you might just have to go without. * - and purchases a Audi TT Forza Motorsport 3 vehicle, prices starting at $37,800. ** - and give them $37,800 *** - and car. **** - and a fairly expensive, Forza-branded coupe [Via VG247, Image]

Sega celebrates the new Japanese release date with screenshots.

Rising Star Games, the European publishing partner of Marvelous Entertainment, is speaking out against UK retailers declining to stock Muramasa: The Demon Blade, which comes out November 13th in the region. COO Martin DeFries told MCV in an open letter, "Here in the UK, the game will not be available to buy in the majority of games retail outlets." He claims that the issue is not with the game itself, but retailers' over-reliance on safer, existing intellectual property. "If it is not first-party, a sequel or supported by a multi-million pound advertising spend, they are just not interested." Defries lamented that Muramasa could find its way into stores -- when it's traded in. Defries pondered in his letter whether the seemingly growing emphasis on franchises represents a "dumbing-down of the medium" that results in consumers having "little or no exposure to a rich and different gaming experience." Of course, retailers (and publishers) have preferred the sure thing for as long as there have been sequels, but actually not being able to market your game, especially one as interesting as Muramasa, seems especially frustrating.

A worthwhile Olympics game? Could it be?!

You'd be forgiven for assuming that Atomic Games' announcement that it's working on a Wii FPS is the final nail in the coffin for semi-documentary game Six Days in Fallujah. But Atomic says that even though it's releasing a ported and renamed version of 2005's Close Combat: First to Fight for Wii (through publisher Destineer), it's not giving up on its original project, which was axed by Konami in April. The news that Marines: Modern Urban Combat -- huh, what do you mean that subtitle sounds familiar? -- will arrive November 10 comes after rumors that layoffs had all but shuttered the studio. Though Atomic's on to other projects, Gamasutra reports that the developer's president, Peter Tamte, still insists it "remains committed" to Fallujah. We're happy to see that Atomic's still plugging along, but if you're expecting to see Six Days in Fallujah anytime soon ... well, just don't.

Game progression is key for the Creed team this time around.

Blend hand to hand combat and gunplay seamlessly together.

Heretics beware -- Dante is coming for you.

Load your weapons and take down the enemy.

The right partner can be all the difference between defeat and victory.

Looks like a certain beta testing community hasn't neglected its duties as a stalwart lookout for bugs, errors and other unsavory in-game snafus. This morning, Zipper Interactive launched a patch for the MAG beta client which includes over 8,000 updates and bug fixes. The patch will be automatically downloaded and installed next time you hop into the Shadow War. A brief synopsis of the important changes can be found after the jump. We elected to not include the full list of 8,000 updates, as it would have delayed this post until mid-April, at which point it would have been fairly useless to you.

Resonance of Fate was given a North American release window of spring 2010 way back in May, leaving the question of its Japanese release (as End of Eternity) unanswered -- until just now. Sega previously launched a cute "count-up" site to reveal the date, which has finally arrived at January 28, 2010*. The official game site now shows this information, as well.Earlier this month, producer Mitsuhiro ShimanoIn told Joystiq that, with Resonance of Fate development on schedule, Sega had the freedom to set the Japanese release date "when it's going to be the best time to fully reach the potential." Apparently, the best time is ... a month after Final Fantasy XIII?*Note: At the time of this posting, our browser still shows that several hours remain, suggesting that the counter is based on one's local time zone.[Via Andriasang]

The first 1,000 players to register an account are guaranteed a spot In the upcoming closed beta.

THQ searched high and low, and found a license that will allow the publisher to bring something new and unique to the gaming scene: a post-apocalyptic FPS. Metro 2033 is in development for PC and Xbox 360 and based on the novel of the same name by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. Ukrainian developer 4A Games' Metro 2033 is set in the subways of a ruined Moscow. You play Artyom, a young man who has never ventured outside of the Vault "Metro Station-City" to which he is loyal. His adventure takes him around the Metro system, home of other factions (some of which are hostile), and to the inhospitable above-ground world.According to Amazon, a new English printing of the novel will be released in February. While we aren't certain that provides a time frame in which to expect THQ's version (currently slated for "2010"), it does mean that readers will be able to totally spoil the events of the game.

Fear the future in this end-of-the-world shooter.

If you missed out on last week's Toys "R" Us or Amazon "buy two, get one" sales, a purported scan of this weekend's Best Buy circular promises a third chance. Specifically, it promises the following: "Buy 2, get the 3rd game free -- on any PS3, X360 or Wii games -- mix or match platforms, valid on any game $59.99 or less." Snagged by NeoGAFfer Wario64, the full-page reveals tasty treats like Borderlands, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Tekken 6, and Forza 3 -- in other words, this isn't limited to a handful of games like Amazon's sale was and, we imagine, Best Buy's stock won't be as easily decimated as that of your local Toys "R" Us. You've got from this Sunday, October 25, until Halloween, the following Saturday, to take Best Buy up on its offer ... That is, if the circular is real. If not ... uh, trick or treat? [Via Hot Blooded Gaming]

If you missed out on last week's Toys "R" Us or Amazon "buy two, get one" sales, a purported scan of this weekend's Best Buy circular promises a third chance. Specifically, it promises the following: "Buy 2, get the 3rd game free -- on any PS3, X360 or Wii games -- mix or match platforms, valid on any game $59.99 or less." Snagged by NeoGAFfer Wario64, the full-page reveals tasty treats like Borderlands, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Tekken 6, and Forza 3 -- in other words, this isn't limited to a handful of games like Amazon's sale was and, we imagine, Best Buy's stock won't be as easily decimated as that of your local Toys "R" Us. You've got from this Sunday, October 25, until Halloween, the following Saturday, to take Best Buy up on its offer ... That is, if the circular is real. If not ... uh, trick or treat? [Via Hot Blooded Gaming]

Yeesh. To say the European PSN update hit a dry spell this week would be offensive to dry spells. Let's see, we got ... some DLC for EyePet, those ten Queen songs for Rock Band, and ... some DLC for Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show. One piece of this downloadable content is something called a "Hannah Montana Fashion Add-on," causing us to wonder what type of fashion is present in the game without this content in place. We may never know. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

On this day of reckoning, Australia's Office of Film and Literature Classification has denied Valve's appeal to sell the unedited Left 4 Dead 2 down under. The three-member board determined unanimously that the game "could not be accommodated within the MA 15+ classification," which is the highest rating allowed for video games in the region.The board believes that there is "insufficient delineation between the depiction of general zombie figures and the human figures." The inability to clearly distinguish the humans from the "clearly fictional 'infected'" was a "major consideration" of the board.The unedited version of Left 4 Dead 2 is classified RC (refused classification) and "cannot be sold, hired, advertised or demonstrated in Australia." Sorry, mates. An edited version of the game has been approved by the OFLC for consumption in Australia -- censoring "decapitation, dismemberment, wound detail or piles of dead bodies lying about the environment."[Thanks, Adam]

You may have scoffed at the prospect of a flash-based, 2D version of BioWare's upcoming RPG epic, Dragon Age: Origins. "A browser game meant to simulate the deep, immersive emotions that arise when one plays roles," you may have said, mid-scoff. "Who would play something like that?" As it turns out, if you're looking forward to the full, three-dimensional version of Dragon Age, the answer to your query is simply: You. A short Q&A on the Dragon Age: Journeys developers' blog cultivated an enticing bit of info about the browser adventure: if you play through it while logged into your EA account, you can gain access to three items that will transfer over to your Dragon Age: Origins save file on Xbox 360, PS3 or PC. No details were given about the items in question, but we're imagining they'll either be used to help you slay dragons, or to help you become a more profound lover.

THQ searched high and low, and found a license that will allow it to bring something new and unique to the gaming scene: a post-apocalyptic FPS. Metro 2033 is in development for PC and Xbox 360 and based on the novel of the same name by Russian author Dmitry Glukhovsky. Ukrainian developer 4A Games' Metro 2033 is set in the subways of a ruined Moscow. You play Artyorn, a young man who has never ventured outside of the Vault "Metro Station-City" to which he is loyal. His adventure takes him around the Metro system, home of other factions (some of which are hostile), and to the inhospitable above-ground world.According to Amazon, a new English printing of the novel will be released in February. While we aren't certain that provides a time frame in which to expect the game (currently slated for "2010"), it does mean that readers will be able to totally spoil the events of the game.

Justin Bailey code confirmed?

Despite having released a product called the "fragchuck" once, and (if there's any justice) being roundly humiliated for it, gimmicky peripheral maker SplitFish is releasing a new version of its PlayStation 3 FragFX controller, called the Dual SFX Frag Pro. In addition to the ... fragchuck ... it features a 2000 dpi mouse, and loses the wire between the two halves. It'll be out at a cost of $90 on November 10, which, coincidentally, is also when Modern Warfare 2 comes out. If you like the Fragchuck but don't care for the mouse part, there's also this thing.The good news: the more people see the word "fragchuck," the worse they'll feel about using the outmoded, kind-of gross word "frag" in general.[Via Engadget]

First: Toronto has an annual Zombie Walk? How cool is that? Anyhway, in order to promote Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles, Capcom will have a presence at this year's brain-munching jamboree, which takes place on Saturday, October 24. The company will have a tent at the event, giving people free zombie makeovers. We presume Capcom will do this with makeup and not by doling out actual zombie bites. Capcom has also sponsored a series of rather disturbing ads for the event, one of which you will find after the break. Warning: It's gross.

The classic shoot 'em up platformer Toki is getting the HD treatment, with an upcoming enhanced version from French developer Golgoth Studio. The studio -- which currently consists of six members -- intends on bringing the adventure back to life in with a "full 2D remixed version" based on the 1989 arcade original. In Toki HD, players must rescue his princess Miho from the evil sorcerer Vokimeldo, and reclaim his human form.Toki HD producer Anthony De Sa Ferreira told Joystiq via email that -- while the game has no official platform as of yet -- the game has been submitted for approval for Games for Windows Live and Xbox Live Arcade. If its goal of resurrecting a classic arcade title isn't enough to get you on its side, Golgoth's motto of "2D refuses to die" might rope you in. Way to tug at our nostalgic heartstrings, guys. Check out the first gameplay footage of Toki HD after the break.[Via GameSetWatch]

Does the Ratchet and Clank series wrap up with a whimper or a bang?