You know what would make becoming the "chosen one" in your late night 1 vs. 100 bouts a whole lot easier? Just imagine: The camera pans up to your seat -- but you're nowhere to be found. You're a white-garbed shadow, slipping through the crowd, silently executing other would-be contestants. It's a beautiful dream that could be realized if you pick up one of the new Assassin's Creed 2 Avatar costumes -- a set which includes Ezio and Altair's respective get-ups (400), Da Vinci's Flying Machine (240) and a whole mess of other items that no hitman (or hitwoman) should go without. Also, there's a whole slew of DJ Hero content, including a few turntables (240), a "Ghetto Blaster" (160) and some virtual vinyl (160). While the DJ lifestyle isn't nearly as attractive as that of an assassin, we suppose these accouterments are still pretty sharp.
The blog Sinobi seems to have found some retail listings for two new Nintendo games due in the first quarter of 2010 in Japan. Last Window: Mayonaka no Yakusoku (Last Window: Midnight Promise) is a sequel to CING's DS adventure game, Hotel Dusk, set in Los Angeles in the 1980s. It will apparently be out in Japan on January 14! Zangeki no Regenleiv is the Wii action game revealed in October 2008 as "Dynamic Zan" and not heard from again until just now. It's being developed by Earth Defense Force creator Sandlot, and will include online combat for up to four players when it's released on February 11. All of these details are unverified, but the fact that Sinobi had the images above for both games (which may come from a retailer catalog) add some credence to the rumor. [Via NeoGAF]
Okay, so there's a metric ton of add-on content in this week's European PSN update (including new stuff for EyePet and Rag Doll Kung Fu), but once again, it skimps somewhat on the playable goodies -- not that you need anything else to play at the moment. Still, PlayStation.Blog promises that next week will bring a "nice stream of content" which will make us "pleased." Speculation, engage!
Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list:
(Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
In the ancient times, when Access Games' survival horror game, Deadly Premonition, was known as Rainy Woods, it was a multiplatform PS3/Xbox 360 title. But when Ignition picked it up, it was announced as a $19.99 budget title for Xbox 360 only. However, the ESRB rating for Deadly Premonition, which lists Ignition as the publisher, shows PS3 in the list of platforms. We're just like the game's Agent Francis York Morgan, except instead of a gruesome, unexplained murder, we're investigating an ESRB rating, and instead of looking around a mysterious town in search of clues, we've emailed Ignition. But it's the same basic thing.
While we're certainly happy to hear that a brand new Final Fantasy XIII is coming to the theater in PlayStation Home tomorrow, we can't help but be a little put out too. Is this the announcement that had been hinted at on Sunday? Because we were honestly hoping for something a bit more ... announcementy. On the bright side, maybe there's some real news coming and the trailer's just a nice compliment, or on the even brighter side, maybe there's big news nestled lovingly within the clip. On the double-triple bright side, the Home theaters are also showing a sneak preview of Steven Seagal: Lawman on Friday, so there's no way you're not logging out of Home happier than when you logged in.
With his brother dying in the war and his father abusing the whole family, you'd think that Niko Bellic had lost enough, but now Activision has to come along and take away one of the few things he had left: His day-one sales record. Activision announced today that Modern Warfare 2 sold an estimated 4.7 million units in its first 24 hours in North America and the UK alone, which far exceeds the previous record of 3.6 million held by Grand Theft Auto IV. In other news, we're going to go ahead and bring you the world exclusive news that Modern Warfare 3 - 7 will be released in 2011, 2013, 2015, 2017 and 2019 respectively. That pattern will likely continue into infinity ... but what will we cover in 2020 if we tell you that now?
For 400, you'll soon be able to pick up the awesomely-titled Bible Navigator X on Xbox Live Indie Games. Sure, developer B&H could have opted to choose a more modest title like Bible Navigator 360 or plain ol' Bible Navigator -- but this app is meant for the kids. "This is also a great tool for youth ministers who teach in youth spaces that already have Xbox consoles in them," the press release says. "It's a quick way to create teaching aids from equipment you already have."X will include HCSB versions of the Old and New Testament, search capabilities and an awesome animated intro. According to the press release, this marks the first time the full Bible can be viewed through a games console. "The Xbox isn't just secular entertainment anymore," said Aaron Linne, B&H Publishing Group's executive producer of digital marketing. Certainly, some players may want to download this after the "No Russian" level from Modern Warfare 2.[Via Destructoid]
Look, if people are going to eschew their work day in favor of having a gaming tournament, we're the first to sympathize. In the case of those in the business of protecting our lives from murderers and financial institutions though, we find it hard to offer much solace. So when eleven officials from several Florida agencies were caught on videotape playing games a couple months back and the story caught on internationally, we were hopeful that those found guilty would maybe, you know, actually receive some form of punishment.
Instead, the Lakeland Ledger reports that the offending officers will suffer such retribution as ... a few hours of retraining? The names of the officers are even being withheld due to their "undercover" status at the time. Lakeland sheriff chief of staff Gary Hester goes as far as to say, "We are learning from our mistakes ... I think we handled [the investigation] properly." He then hurriedly rushed back to a game of Street Fighter IV in progress against a competing police department.
... Okay, we made up that last part.
Believe it or not, Namco Bandai is teasing another RPG project. I guess the Keroro project got found out a little too early for Namco Bandai’s taste, so they’ve started up this teaser. No real word on what it could be for, but we’ll keep an ear to the ground.
I have absolutely no idea whether or not the Rabbids are popular over in Japan. They seem like a character that would resonate will gamers all throughout the world. I guess they are somewhat well known in Japan, because if they weren’t this keychain bonus would make no sense!
Is this Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles bullet keychain enough to warrant a purchase through the Capcom e-Store? Capcom thinks so, because in Japan, that’s the only way you’ll get your hands on one of these. Well, either that, or just wait until they hit eBay.
There are going to be some very lucky FullMetal Alchemist fans in Japan. Square-Enix is offering a chance to win the coin set seen above, which will go out to 500 different lottery winners. Even more rare is the original art for the game, which goes to just one lucky person.
While it may initially seem the only game releasing this holiday season is something called Modern Warfare 2, some titles -- like Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II and Nintendo's New Super Mario Bros. Wii -- actually have the guts to stand up against the most important game of all time ever seriously. Game rental service Gamefly recently gathered data on which titles its users are actually looking forward to this holiday season, offering the info in one convenient list.
For the all platforms list, the three titles mentioned are unsurprisingly present and joined by other popular recent releases like Batman: Arkham Asylum and Halo 3: ODST. On the home console side of things, the Xbox 360 and PS3's most popular title is obviously Modern Warfare 2, while the Wii's big hit is, also expectedly, New Super Mario Bros. Wii. For handhelds, gamers are ticking Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Dissidia: Final Fantasy for rental on the DS and PSP, respectively.
Overall, the list is fairly unsurprising, though we guess one could argue that it's surprising all of these people want to rent Modern Warfare 2 and haven't already purchased it.
