A couple weeks back, Joystiq received an advance copy of a study conducted by EEDAR and SMU's Guildhall, the purpose of which was to determine the purchase intent of individuals and how trusted review sources weighed into consumer decision-making. While our previous post offered all kinds of insights and neat breakouts from the study, you can now freely peruse the 31-page report for yourselves.
In the spirit of figuring things out, we've decided to conduct our own little study, which you can participate in just past the break. It's not scientific or anything, but then again, we're not Sciencestiq now, are we?
#wii
Robbie Williams, whom Noel Gallagher once called "the fat dancer from Take That", is returning to boy band Take That. He is also releasing a music game. More »
We really hope that Realtime Worlds' living APB avatar, Josh, is getting paid quite a few duckets, as he's not only getting the future-punk rocker haircut of an in-game character, but also a septum piercing, not to mention two giant wings tattooed on his back. He's being called "The Human Avatar," and, well, he's a living advertisement.
Fans of the game (and generally folks with cruel hearts) have been voting on various stages of the gentleman's development over the past few weeks at the project's official website. At this point, all but the final stage has been completed: clothing. Apparently, Josh will be donning a steampunk outfit. And you know, we're okay with the outfit. Heck, we're even okay with the piercing. It's the life-altering, less than easy to remove tattoos on his back that seem like the bigger issue here. Hopefully Realtime's paying him enough to get them removed (with lasers!) after all this madness is over with.
#assassinscreed
Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood, out this November, brings multiplayer to Ubisoft's flagship franchise for the first time. It also brings men in funny masks, and women a little short on practical clothing. More »
#arcade
Capcom has already teased "new challengers" for Super Street Fighter IV arcade. At a recent location test, it was discovered that Capcom apparently has space for them, too. More »
If you feel like dedicating around 10 minutes of your day to media from NetDevil's upcoming MMO Lego Universe, you'll find everything you need here. Check out a ton of screens in the following gallery, or watch videos featuring in-game pets, factions and the "partners" who helped create the game.
The latest character to be revealed in Sengoku Basara: Samurai Heroes has us thankful for Capcom's liberal use of creative license. In the game, Otani Yoshitsugu is a sort of mystic shrouded by bandages, who floats magically through the air as he attacks with a ring of flying projectiles.
In real life, he had leprosy.
After the break, see the fictionalized Yoshitsugu and a similarly embellished version of Mori Motonari, who -- we're pretty sure -- didn't have a giant metal Hula Hoop in real life. When you've seen both videos, you'll probably have one question in mind: what is up with the dialogue?
One of the most memorable moments from Red Dead Redemption comes with the player's arrival in Mexico -- a moment accompanied by a haunting acoustic tune created for the game, titled "Far Away." Singer-songwriter Jose Gonzalez recently performed the song live and on video at Rockstar HQ.
PC gamers in the US who felt like they were getting sonic-screwdrivered-over by not being able to play the BBC's free Doctor Who: The Adventure Games have some good news today. Direct2Drive has made the first two episodes, City of the Daleks and Blood of the Cybermen, available exclusively via its download service, for a price. The two Sumo Digital-developed installments can be had as a bundle for $4.95.
What you won't find at Direct2Drive: the Mac versions of the Adventures. Though out in the UK, they seem to have just missed the TARDIS before it vanished. We're getting in touch with the D2D folks to find out if us Yanks who think different will ever see Who here -- and if there are plans to bring over the two yet-to-be-released episodes, as well.
#gamescom2010
First Sega pulls out of Europe's biggest video gaming convention, now Capcom has joined them, deciding against having a public presence at this year's Gamescom show in Germany. More »
There aren't many options out there for the modern-day Napoleon on the go. When your skills revolve around conquering and dominating everything around you, there just aren't many ways to apply your practice while you're commuting to work or standing in line at the coffee shop, waiting for your half-caf double mocha frap. But now that EA has released Risk: The Official Game on the iPhone and iPod Touch, hopefully you can get some relief.
Risk: The Official Game is currently available on the App store for $4.99. The iPhone version features multiplayer -- take on up to six players by sharing one handheld or take on up to four through WiFi or Bluetooth -- and a more simple, streamlined UI and less cartoony presentation than the recent Xbox Live Arcade release, Risk: Factions.
#summer
Summertime is more than beaches and barbecues. It's also when Hollywood releases some of its biggest motion pictures. Here's a look at the Hollywood's upcoming summer blockbusters, both good and bad. More »
#halo
It's one thing to see the guts of a Halo game spilled across a carefully-staged press photo, but it's another entirely to see the actual product (or in this case products) opened by human hands. More »
Thanks to the success of Sega's first wave of Genesis games on PC, the company has announced that it's bringing more classics to digital distribution channels. Sold for $3 each, the new batch of games includes several favorites such as Kid Chameleon, Sonic Spinball, Columns and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (a re-skinned version of Puyo Puyo). All the titles are available now from Sega.com.
The games are also set to hit Steam, GamersGate, GameStreamer and other sellers in time for the weekend. Find a full list of titles after the break.
If you were planning that trip to Cologne next month just to play some Capcom games, we'd suggest hitting up your airline for a refund. The publisher "pulled a Sega" today, opting not to exhibit to the public during Germany's GamesCom expo.
Capcom Europe explained its no-show at the event on its blog, suggesting that it would only have one title to showcase out of its confirmed second-half 2010 lineup: Sengoku Basara. But what about Dead Rising 2 -- it's set for September, right? "Since we are still awaiting a verdict from the USK for Dead Rising 2 it would be remiss of us to promote the sequel to consumers in Germany," Capcom explained. Good point -- the first Dead Rising was banned there, after all. Of Sengoku Basara, the one game it would have considered showing, Capcom said that, although it's "a great title," the company "cannot justify solely exhibiting this one game."
Of course, the GamesCom show floor will still be loaded with major exhibitors, including Activision, Electronic Arts, Konami, Microsoft, Namco Bandai, Sony, Take-Two, THQ, Ubisoft, Warner Bros. and ZukunftsAgentur Brandenburg GmbH. What do you mean you haven't heard of the last one?
Fatshark is offering an enticing deal to try and lasso players into checking out its Wild West shooter, Lead and Gold. From today until July 25, players will be able to download and play the game for free on Steam. Those who want to keep the title can do so for $7.49 -- that's half its usual price.
#movies
Battle: Los Angeles is an upcoming movie from Sony, directed by Jonathan Liebesman and starring Aaron "Two-Face" Eckhart. By the director's reckoning, it's just like a video game. More »
Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night is now available in North America. Unlike the last bizarre, potentially embarrassing Castlevania spinoff, Judgment, nobody has to see you buy it, thanks to digital distribution!
"With a timeless flagship title like Castlevania, it was essential to maintain the integrity of the franchise, while at the same time offering updated content to consumers," said Joe Morris, Konami's Vice President of Mobile Content and Social Networking, about the game that retells the events of the most beloved Castlevania game, Symphony of the Night, as a falling-block puzzler. If you want to find out for yourself how well this complete departure maintains the franchise's integrity, the game costs $5.
Sweden's own Linus Åkesson, and now official Hero of Joystiq[TM], took a friend's old electronic organ, worked some dark hacking magicks on it and turned it into an 8-bit chiptunes instrument. We'll let Åkesson show off his "Chipophone" for you after the break, in the best video you'll see all week.
