If there were any question about how much the recently released Goldeneye title for Nintendo Wii closely resembles its N64 predecessor -- regardless of the source material -- this video from RewindReplayTV certainly cements it. Beyond the game's setting and characters, there are shot-for-shot moments that directly recreate the original game (albeit with far more detail and polish).
Also, if you needed a stirring reminder of how much a Nintendo 64 game can age over the years, Goldeneye 64 is perhaps the pinnacle among available examples. Seeing it against Eurocom's sterling Wii effort only serves to highlight the ravages of time all the more. See for yourself below the fold.
#ps3
North American PlayStation 3 owners are getting a positively swell premium edition of LittleBigPlanet 2 next year, but Europe? Unless you absolutely adore SteelBook cases, I think you're going to feel slighted. More »
With rumors swirling last month that Australia's Krome Studios was closing its doors, CEO Robert Walsh informed IGN Australia that while ongoing reports of layoffs are true, the developer is "still open" and still has working employees. Additionally, Walsh insisted the studio has projects currently in production, as well as more "on the horizon."
"I wouldn't say our industry is doing well at the moment, but we are really focusing on more digital and social work and not as much box product," Walsh clarified. He added that such projects don't require large teams.
Walsh admitted that Krome had kept too many employees on staff -- somewhere around 400 before the layoffs began -- even when there was no work for many of them. "To be really honest, that's pretty much led to our current position," Walsh explained. "We probably kept 100, 120 people on, waiting for work to come in." Now, Krome will focus on paying work and keeping a "smaller, core team" that should range from 40 to 100 staff depending on the number of the studio's projects at any given time.
Despite the trying times, Walsh is determined to keep as many people on board as possible. "My goal right now is to try and find as much work as possible for the people we've got, and still look for more work to get people back."
Adding more evidence of the dissemination of retail copies of Gran Turismo 5 -- before it even has a release date -- YouTube user GTisTopGear took some shakycam footage of what appears to be the seven-minute intro for Polyphony Digital's eternally delayed racing simulator. Hope you like factories!
According to Andriasang, the countdown to Gal Gun's release has stopped in response to trouble from Microsoft. Currently, the official Gal Gun site, which hosts the countdown, is down entirely. It seems the company finally noticed what, exactly, it was showing off at its TGS booth. Gal Gun's release date was originally set for January 27.
"Negotiations have started for the great moral cause (panties)," publisher Alchemist said on the official site, suggesting that Microsoft is objecting to content in the thoroughly objectionable shooter. This should come as little surprise to Alchemist, since the game itself includes a built-in mechanism to hide its contents from others.
Fellow PlayStation Canucks – Today the beloved Kevin Butler has a special video message made especially for you!
The multi-titled Vice President of Everything shares his thoughts about the Video Delivery Service north of the border and about how the PS3 “Only Does Everything” for Canadians also.
#sledgehammergames
The people who helped create sci-fi horror adventure Dead Space may be taking the Call of Duty series to its final frontier, bringing the bloody war game into space and into the future. More »
#dlc
C.R.E.A.M. is not the best Wu-Tang Clan song. Can we agree on this? The best is Protect Ya Neck, which is part of a Wu-Tang Clan downloadable song pack some of you can rap to today. More »
It's been a good year to be a fan of arcade-style racing games, with Blur and Split/Second neck-and-neck in the race to be the year's best. Unfortunately for them, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit from Burnout Paradise creator Criterion Games just took first place.
For the reboot of this Need for Speed sub-series, which saw two installments across PS1 and PS2, Criterion has created a racer that not only lives up to expectations of thrilling speed and pristine visuals but blows past them with a cops-and-robbers career mode.
Next time your Dad's all, "I wanna play Halo with you, little Billy, but I just can't get a grip on the controls of these crazy new games!", there could be a better answer than "Eff off, Dad!": FPS Trainer. The browser-based first-person shooter is designed to improve FPS players' skills by offering coaching tips and providing a detailed rundown of player strengths and weaknesses.
Developed by Play2Improve, the game is described as "a series of mini-games to practice various FPS techniques and skills utilizing a real-time coach to provide constant feedback and advice, along with an online multiplayer mode that also includes coaching and the use of Microsoft's Xbox Live Avatars (not shown in playable demo)." Play2Improve reps explained the odd inclusion of Xbox 360 Avatars to Joystiq this afternoon, saying, "We were previously developing FPS Trainer for consoles, following a successful concept pitch at GDC last year; however, after developing a playable demo, we decided to take the product in a different direction and are going down the browser-based/online route initially, prior to a potential port to consoles early next year."
FPS Trainer's visuals are stylized along the lines of Quake Live or Team Fortress 2, with the intention of giving it a "trainer" look, we're told. You can head past the break and get your eyes on the game's introductory trailer, or give the game (in pre-Alpha state) a shot right now -- we like to offer you options. The game arrives in beta form this coming January, and is planned for a full release in April.
Scott Pilgrim's never-ending battle against the rest of the planet is about to get a little bit easier. The PSN version of Scott Pilgrim vs. The World will receive its fist expansion today, a $2 DLC pack that adds jilted ex-girlfriend Knives Chau as a playable character, as well as a player-vs-player arena mode and slightly-less-violent dodgeball mode.
Additionally, launching alongside the DLC will come a free patch that allows players to drop in or out of the game at any time while playing offline co-op. The update will also lower the difficulty of the game's (rather difficult) "Average Joe" setting.
According to Ubisoft, the the DLC is due out on Xbox Live "later this month." If you're finding it difficult to stick it out until then, you can whet your palette by checking out a new trailer for the DLC after the jump.
#gameface
Monica Davis of Nevada gets up close and personal with a military-style fast attack vehicle on display at the Call of Duty: Black Ops midnight launch at a North Las Vegas GameStop. More »
If you happened to be visiting the new neighborhood of Arcosur, located in Zaragoza, Spain, this past weekend, you would have played witness to a truly ... unique sight. This past Saturday, one of the first streets in the still-under-construction suburb received a moniker: Avenida de Super Mario Bros., which, as the Spanish-speakers and context clue-users among you probably figured out, translates to Super Mario Bros. Avenue.
Present at the unveiling was the titular plumber himself, as well as the neighborhood's new residents, who sported fake black mustaches in solidarity. The name was chosen by said residents in an online poll -- and it isn't the only gaming-themed name which won out. Future boulevards in the community will be named after Sonic the Hedgehog, Space Invaders and The Legend of Zelda. This is all very cool -- but we're still holding out hope for an Alleyway Alleyway. Is it too late for a write-in ballot?
#ncsoft
Just when I was afraid breakfast would be lost to me forever, UPS Man arrives to save the day with an extra-large box of Utopios. And guess what? There's a prize inside. More »
#movies
Can you forgive the shallow uncanny valley of a computer generated Jeff Bridges? If so, the new Tron Legacy trailer might be the best video game movie trailer you see today. More »
#capcom
This is Ghosts 'N Goblins online, by Korean developer Seed 9. It's coming to South Korea in 2011. Yay for South Korea, but what about the rest of the world? More »
"I don't think it does any good to publish in a congested period when everyone's putting out their shooters," Codemasters CEO Rod Cousens told Eurogamer. Instead, you'll see the European publisher's biggest upcoming games, off-road racer Dirt 3 and serious-face shooter Operation Flashpoint: Red River, in the second quarter of 2011. Provided next year's congested first-quarter schedule remains untouched by delays, that puts Codemasters' pair safely outside the commercial blast radius of Killzone 3, Dead Space 2, and Bulletstorm*, and likely a few months before the next Call of Duty.
Whilst avoiding it on retail shelves, Cousens is taking a couple of pages from Call of Duty's book -- fluttering in the wind, having been blown up in the library level. "We're not difficult to predict," Cousens said. "If DiRT comes out next year, GRID will come out the following year, and then DiRT will be out the year after that. So you can map us out." As Dirt and Grid alternate, Codemasters aims to have a new F1 racing game out every year, and a new Operation Flashpoint every other year.
The publisher hopes to provide "a new IP that sits in opposite years to each other," but as far as racing and action games go, you now know the general strategy for the next five years. By next year, we might also see where, exactly, over-the-top FPS Bodycount fits in.
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