All Topics Gaming older than one year ago

All Lord of the Rings games now under one roof.

Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group has acquired Turbine, developer of massively multiplayer online games Lord of the Rings Online and Dungeons & Dragons Online -- the latter of which has seen a resurgence after going free-to-play. The financial details of the acquisition were not disclosed.

Warner Bros. has been on an acquisition bender in recent years, grabbing high-profile developers Monolith, TT Games, bits of Midway, Snowblind and, most recently, Batman: Arkham Asylum developer Rocksteady Studios. Hints of WB's interest in Turbine go back to 2008 when the publisher invested millions in the developer.

#iphone The folks behind an officially licensed Commodore 64 emulator on the iPhone are also working on an Atari 2600 emulators for the device, meaning more plink-plonk classics from the early 1980s could be on the way to you. More »

#warnerbros Warner Bros. video game family grows again today, as does the its ownership of things that fall under The Lord of the Rings brand, with the acquisition of developer Turbine, maker of The Lord of the Rings Online. More »

Editorial: Downloadable games are just games. Why hold them to a different standard?

Editorial: Downloadable games are just games. Why hold them to a different standard?

Is the latest Sam Fisher title a fresh take on stealth or does it murder the genre?

Want to find out how the Prince's abilities have evolved? Watch this.

New screens to celebrate the game's launch today.

Back during X10, Capcom revealed Dead Rising 2: Case Zero, the stand-alone prologue exclusive to Xbox Live Arcade that will bridge the gap between the first and second game. It will introduce the sequel's protagonist, Chuck Greene, father and master of duct taping stuff, as he works to free himself and his daughter from the desert town of Still Creek -- two years after the events of the first game, but three years before the events of the sequel.

Shacknews managed to secure the details while at Captivate in Hawaii, and says Capcom promises Case Zero will have "unique content not available in the full retail release of Dead Rising 2." Sadly, there's no mention of price or release date for Case Zero, but rest assured: You still have plenty of time to stock up on Zombrex before Dead Rising 2 launches on August 31.

Editors' note: Joystiq did not attend Captivate this year. We determined the perceived environment, and associated downtime, of the event was not in accordance with our editorial policy. We expect to provide firsthand preview coverage of all Capcom titles shown at Captivate during E3 this June. For more information on our policies, click here.

Check out the Mini Golf and Online Disc Golf modes.

#sports Tecmo's reboot of the console classic Tecmo Bowl arrives on Xbox Live on April 28 for 800 Microsoft Points, but there's no word yet on when PlayStation owners get in on the fun. More »

Dearest Atlus,

These cute 3D Dot Game Heroes videos just have to stop. Your latest, a delightful parody of the equally delightful Old Spice "The Man Your Man Could Smell Like" commercial, is just too good (see attached video after the break). We realize you have to compete for attention by creating informative, entertaining videos, but how are other niche publishers supposed to compete? The boys downstairs have already ascertained the high quality of the game, and your continued insistence on marketing the product now borders on overkill.

Honestly, it's really not fair to all the other American publishers of quirky Japanese games.

Sincerely,




J. J. Joystiq Sr.

If your major issue with Scribblenauts was that typing was too easy, you may be interested to hear that 5TH Cell isn't ruling out a Wii version. Echoing previous statements about the developer's openness toward additional platforms, creative director Jeremiah Slaczka told the UK's Official Nintendo Magazine that a Wii version of the vocabuladventure is possible. All you need to do is ask for it (and buy the upcoming DS sequel)!
"I think a Wii version could happen," Slaczka said. "It's all about the fans - if the fans speak up and continue to buy and play the second one like they did the first one, I don't see why we couldn't make a case for a Wii version." The DS sequel -- which is still unnamed -- will be released this fall.

#racinggames In our line of work here at Kotaku we see games early, before they come out. Sometimes these games change, before you play them the first time. More »

#podcast Join us tomorrow live on Kotaku Talk Radio to chat with Marvel's Chris Baker about the big Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 news that hit today and all things Marvel gaming. More »

- 4 big stages - different environments for each stage - different types of gameplay - levels will feature platforming, action, shooting, puzzles and more - every stage is connected with the other - expect lots of exploration - save forest creatures - forest/cave/jelly worlds, plus one that takes place inside the main character - NES style control - wiimote shaking - 8 special abilities - [...]

Microsoft's motion camera pictured, new features detailed.

Some nifty new art that is both mighty and magical.

Tired of all that free StarCraft 2 beta playing you've been doing lately? Blizzard's upcoming patch should help to stir you from your pit of doldrums, adding the "Galaxy Editor" (read: map editor) for beta users. According to a report at Shacknews, we could be seeing the release by as early as today and as late as this Friday. Three or four days after the patch's release, lead producer Chris Sagaty says, the Mac Beta client will become available.

Unlike in the retail release of SC2, beta users won't be able to upload their maps/scenarios to Battle.net 2.0 for sharing with other users. Presumably, however, maps created during the beta will be sharable when the game arrives on PCs and Macs sometime in the first half of 2010.

[Via BigDownload]

New screens of the gorgeous Wiiware platformer.

Nintendo's partnership with McDonald's in Japan has been extended to help train the restaurant chain's employees in the finer details of fast food assembly. Bloomberg visited McDonald's training center in Japan to get some hands-on time with the training simulation (video embedded after the break), discovering that the golden arches-branded DSis will be distributed to McDonald's all over the country for training purposes.

Aside from unveiling the training software, Japanese McDonald's reps showed off their undeniably stylish work uniforms and surprisingly friendly demeanors. We can't help but attribute at least part of the latter's explanation to the fact that these folks are playing with Nintendo DSis at work. Better than flipping burgers, no?

[Via Kotaku]

Readers of PlayStation.Blog,

Look at me.

Now look at this video.

Now back to me.

Sadly, you probably haven’t looked at the video yet, because you’re still reading this.

If you HAD seen the video, you’d know all about the powerful character creation tool in the upcoming love letter to retro gaming, 3D Dot Game Heroes, coming exclusively to a PS3 near you (preferably yours) on May 11th.

Now look at the video. Seriously, you should probably just stop reading and look at the video.

Now back to me. What’s this I’m holding? Why, it’s a bunch of awards from some of the most awesome game sites and magazines around, like IGN.com, GamePro, and Game Informer. Here are some links:

• IGN — 8.5/10, Editor’s Choice Award
• GamePro — 4.5/5, Editor’s Choice Award
• Game Informer — 8.5/10, Silver Award
• Wired Game|Life — 8/10
• PlayStation Universe — 8/10
• Gamer2.0 — 9/10
• Gaming Union — 9/10, Editor’s Choice Award
• Just Push Start — 4.5/5, Editor’s Choice Award

3D Dot Game Heroes. Coming May 11th, exclusively for PS3. Only $39.99!

What will YOUR hero be?

#xbox360 Looks like the Xbox 360's motion sensing add-on is already in the wild and, more importantly, in the hands of someone willing to grab spy shots of the thing and the Project Natal hardware set up guide. More »

#movies She's played a Bond girl and a nymph who beguiled the gods, but someone out there thinks British actress Gemma Arterton might not be sexy enough for her role as the renamed Farah in next month's Prince of Persia movie. More »

Motion camera meta-voyeurism news now, with an alleged Project Natal test kit capturing every movement of a man ... taking pictures of it. According to Italian gaming site Multiplayer.it, the photos originate from a tester, who was tasked with having an unreciprocated conversation with the Xbox 360 peripheral in order to test its speech recognition capabilities.

The surprisingly cheerful documentation included with the supposed test kit explicitly warns against tilting the camera manually, as it's already equipped with a "motorized tilt mechanism" -- all the better to see you with, my dear. The "Quick Start Guide" also shows how the early model of the camera connects to an Xbox 360 development kit via USB and a power outlet via a split cable.

It's not known how representative these photos are of early Project Natal development kits, nor how much of it will change by the time the final product arrives this holiday. Microsoft did not comment on the veracity of the images, with a representative telling Joystiq: "We announced earlier this year that Project Natal will launch this holiday, and our teams are working hard to bring the best experiences to life. We have nothing further to announce at this time."

[Via Engadget]

#blizzard Blizzard is still hip-deep in the StarCraft II multiplayer beta, but fans of the sci-fi real-time strategy game should expect a pair of important updates over the next couple weeks, including the release of the game's Galaxy Editor. More »

If you've stubbornly held off on purchasing a PSP Go until it's available at a slightly more reasonable price, you may want to turn your attention to Dell's current discount on the handheld. If you purchase a Go on Dell's site right now, you'll get an instant $60 rebate, knocking the total cost down to $189. Shipping is free as well, so you won't concern yourself with any pesky weight and distance estimations. As the salespeople on TV would say, you just set it, and forget it.

Then, in three to five business days, it'll show up, and you'll be all like, "Oh, neat. Someone bought me a PSP Go."