All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

"For James Burt, it's game over." Faced with paying a $1.5 million ($1.3 million USD) fine to Nintendo -- along with additional court costs -- the 24-year-old Australian man who illegally uploaded New Super Mario Bros. Wii to the internet now has to endure the trite (see: "game over" line) and unsympathetic reporting of a local TV show called "A Current Affair." Here's question one: "You do admit that what you did was quite stupid?" BAM.

Nintendo Australia's Rose Lappin claims the pirated plumber code was downloaded approximately 50,000 times after Burt bought a copy from a retailer that failed to adhere to the street date. "It's no different to stealing anything else," she concluded, reflecting Nintendo's unflinching legal stance in the matter.

As for Burt's considerable debt, he said, "It's something I'm going to have to work through for the rest of my life." It's a clear example and a harsh punishment -- especially when so many pirates escape without repercussion -- that Burt has warned his fellow gamers against. Seriously, guys, do not duplicate that disc.

[Via GamePolitics]

Well, well, well. What do we have here? Do you think that Travis is a loser or a badass? He couldn’t possibly be both now could he? I’ll get back to you with my answer as soon as I get a chance to dive into the sequel. Whatever he is, he sure is [...]

Creat Studios, one of the few proud and brave developers supporting Sony's PSP Minis service, recently announced in a PlayStation Blog post that it had three titles in the works for Europe: Alien Havoc; Freekscape and Bubble Trubble. Alien Havoc is already available here in the States, but a recent ESRB listing suggests that Freekscape is also on its way.

The ESRB site describes Freekscape as "a platformer game in which players run around a "cartoony" version of the underworld ("Hell") as a small demon creature, essentially a "good" devil." You can check out a two-minute video sample of Freekscape's blend of puzzle-platforming after the break.

[Thanks, Blake]

"We do not have an NCAA Basketball game in development at this time, and we're currently reviewing the future of our NCAA Basketball business," said EA Sports' senior director of communications David Tinson in a recent Game Informer interview. "This was a difficult decision, but we remain a committed partner to the NCAA and its member institutions."

It's an odd move, considering EA's biggest rival, 2K Sports' NCAA College Hoops series, hasn't seen any new releases since its 2K8 installment, leaving the market wide open. Tinson confirmed that the team responsible for the series won't be laid off, but rather assimilated into the NBA Jam and NBA Live teams at EA Canada, dashing our hopes that an EA-developed Harlem Globetrotters game could come from this.

Please do not adjust your PC monitor.

The latest issue of PlayStation: The Official Magazine (detailing Crysis 2) has a seemingly innocent feature called "Second to None" in its news section. Promising "the scoop on three hugely anticipated sequels slated for 2010," the magazine details Batman: Arkham Asylum 2, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2, and inFamous 2.

Wait, what? If you didn't notice, one of these three games hasn't been officially announced. The magazine speculates that inFamous 2 will "[pick] up a significant time after the first game, offering a reshaped metropolis." A Sony representative shot down the magazine's report though, stating, "we do not comment on rumor or speculation."

While Sony remains hush about an inFamous sequel, it seems reasonable to assume that it's only a matter of time before the game comes to fruition. However, the 2010 date pegged by the magazine is likely speculation: The sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum, while announced, hasn't been dated for a release this year. Would both Rocksteady and Sucker Punch be able to turn over sequels to their summer blockbusters just one year after they release? And most importantly, would gamers even want that?

Executive Producer Steve Lycett had this to say when asked about DLC for the Wii: On Wii there’s no DLC store as such – so you have to write some form of in-game store, that also safely handles transactions and deals with downloads that may get paused or corrupted. Then you’ve got the limited storage [...]

Each hero bears their own unique Soul Gear in Battle of the Immortals.

Feel the energy of the sports world's biggest stage.

Put your strategies to the test in the Pacific Theater of World War II.

Quantic Dream chats about the creative process behind Heavy Rain.

Nintendo has responded to Joystiq's inquiry into the current Wii supply issues, with Nintendo of America's Senior Director of Corporate Communications Charlie Scibetta telling us, "In the short term, replenishing Wii inventories will be a challenge." He continues, "But we are doing everything we can to satisfy consumers looking to purchase a Wii system."

Analysts have already chided Nintendo for its holiday sales which, despite being record-breaking, could have been stronger had there been more Wii to go around. What makes this situation even stranger is the report from early December that Nintendo actually reduced Wii production going into the holiday. For the astounding amount of success the Wii has brought Nintendo, there appears to be some serious cognitive dissonance between how much the company thinks it should produce of the console and the actual demand.

IGN's first 'Choose Your Own Adventure' review.

Harmonix announced something new today about the upcoming Green Day: Rock Band title: “The previously announced Green Day: Rock Band will be published by MTV Games and distributed by EA. Stay tuned for news of MTV Games’ other titles soon.” I’m not the biggest fan of Green Day on a personal note, but if you are a [...]

Comedy Central is promoting the return of two of its most popular original titles on PlayStation Network. Rush to the PlayStation Store to get free downloadable episodes for your PS3 or PSP: the first episode of Important Things with Demetri Martin and episode seven of The Sarah Silverman Program's second season, "High, It's Sarah." If you're having trouble finding these programs, look for the "Free TV" section of the PlayStation Store.

Other free TV offerings on the PlayStation Store include Lost "Season Catch-Ups" which futilely attempt to summarize the events of the seven seasons of ABC's drama. The first episode of Bravo's Kell on Earth is also available for free.

Activision plans to cut down on the number of Hero games in 2010. According to Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith in a conference call, the company expects the music game business to decline further as "the casual consumer proves less robust" and people are saturated enough with instrument controllers that they start buying only new discs.

"Fewer SKUs will service a broader audience," Griffith said. "In 2009 we released 25 music SKUs, and in 2010 we plan to release less than 10." The cuts will come in the form of PS2 versions and Band Hero bundles (leaving only standalone discs for that game), as the company focuses on Guitar Hero and DJ Hero releases in the "back half of the year."

That 25 SKU number, by the way, is a pretty conservative estimate. We added up just each console version of Guitar Hero Metallica, Guitar Hero Smash Hits, Guitar Hero 5, Guitar Hero Van Halen, Guitar Hero On Tour Modern Hits, DJ Hero, and Band Hero -- not counting various instrument bundles or special editions, and not counting cell phone versions -- and came up with 26. If you were to add things like the Renegade Edition of DJ Hero and add standalone disc releases to instrument bundles, that number would go up significantly.

Franchise will still be annualized.

Franchise will still be annualized.

After narrowly escaping Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's impact crater in late 2009, Raven Software's tardy, time-bending first-person shooter, Singularity, finally appears to have settled on a new ETA. Speaking in an investor conference call following the release of the company's latest financial results, Activision Publishing CEO Mike Griffith mentioned that both Singularity and star vehicle / vehicle star Transformers: War for Cybertron were due some time in May 2010.

If neither of those appeal to you, Shrek Forever After: The Game is also set to release during the same month. But ... really? You don't like transforming robots or time-distorting techno-gloves? What if the robots were wearing the gloves?

Franchise will still be annualized.

A special message from the sidelines of Blood Bowl.

Earlier today we reported that Original Xbox downloadable content had been taken offline, presumably in an early effort to turn off online support for the classic Xbox; however, according to Microsoft the unavailable DLC is only an error.

In an email to Joystiq, a Microsoft representative said: "We are aware that Xbox v1 users are currently unable to access downloadable content via Xbox LIVE, both for the original console and Xbox Originals on Xbox 360. The team is actively working on resolving this issue so that the Xbox v1 community can continue downloading content until April 15."

No time frame was given for a fix to the disconnected servers, but it looks like Microsoft wants gamers to enjoy every element of the original Xbox's connected experience until April 15. Now we can all go back to ignoring these server shutdowns and stop acting like it's such a big deal. You know, because it's 2010.

Two new Pokemon get announced in Japan.

We don't remember whales trying to murder us in the first game.