#children
A father in the Canadian province of British Columbia contacted the police on Monday after receiving sexually explicit messages from a man his 12-year-old daughter had met playing while Resident Evil 5. More »
With a 5MB title update released this morning on Xbox Live, Lionhead Studios has corrected some major Fable 3 issues. Primary among the fixes: quest progression issues (enemies not appearing, player getting physically stuck in certain parts of the world, etc.) and total game crashes.
Additionally, various online multiplayer issues have been resolved, as has Jasper's curious case of sudden laryngitis. And hey, if you played in Japanese and really missed Reaver's voiceover in that one quest, you're all set now! The complete, embarrassing list of fixes can be found after the break.
#nes
Settle in for nearly five minutes of some guy using an old Famicom (Japan's take on the NES) and its game cartridges as a skate park for his fingerboard antics. It's great stuff. More »
Microsoft has responded to European chatter surrounding a Halo: Combat Evolved high-definition remake by saying, "Right now our focus is on supporting Halo: Reach. We have nothing to announce at this time." Putting that through the Joystiq PR Translation Machine pops out one thing: "42." Clearly, we need to call maintenance.
Eurogamer published the quote from Microsoft after Games Master magazine implied that a Halo remake was underway at 343 Industries (the current Halo custodian), using the Reach engine. Allegedly, the HD Halo would drop next November, to celebrate the 10-year anniversary of the original Xbox shooter.
The "Xbox Live Rewards" program tested over a year ago is now a real thing. The website for the US/UK-only loyalty program is now live, and you can sign up and check out the rewards.
It's kind of like Club Nintendo, except instead of fans and tote bags, you get Microsoft Points and Microsoft Points. The bonuses range from 10 MSP for renewing a one-month membership, all the way to 400 for buying or renewing a family plan. You can also get 100 points for activating Netflix, unspecified bonuses for buying certain things on Marketplace, and an occasional 20 points for taking surveys. Microsoft also promises "cool prizes" in promotions.
As Club Nintendo users know, there is basically no downside to a loyalty program like this. You do the stuff you were going to do anyway, and then someone gives you free stuff periodically.
Apparently, a Q4 2010 release date was too precise a target for Curve Studios' volatile PSN action game, Explodemon. The developer sent a note out this morning to announce a delay for the title. Fortunately, the delay is teensy -- a mere bang snap of an announcement, really. Explodemon will burst onto PSN in January 2011.
In the interim, Curve will release wallpapers, avatars and such PSN goodies, which were likely intended to accompany the game, but will now precede it. A new trailer is also forthcoming. And if you're really in the mood to play a Curve-developed game this month, Fluidity will be available on WiiWare December 6.
Next Wednesday, December 8, Hudson will launch Bomberman Live: Battlefest on Xbox Live Arcade. It follows the original Bomberman Live, which has dished out more than 500,000 copies since launching in 2007, and sports multiplayer for up to eight players, four new game modes and five new power-ups.
#hunterblade
Hunter Blade might draw a little too heavily from Monster Hunter, but that's not stopping the game from gathering a following in China. Or stopping it from an international release, even. More »
#gamedevstory
Game Dev Story is a neat little iPhone game that's about running a studio that makes video games. It went down well with people. So well, in fact, that its developers will be releasing a sequel. More »
Following Shenmue Town, we're now seeing another questionable Yu Suzuki game revival. However, unlike Shenmue, which was questionable because it looked and sounded like a bad idea, Super Hang-On is questionable because ... we have questions about it.
All we know is that Sega has something in mind called Super Hang-On, information gleaned from an Australian rating. The game in question is likely a Virtual Console release of the arcade version, since Sega released that in Japan back in September. Of course, we're at the point now when news of any new Virtual Console release is thrilling, but this is actually neat on its own merits. The Japanese VCA release supports tilt controls!
#ipad
Starcraft is on the PC. It's also on the Mac. And Nintendo 64. And that's it. So how is somebody playing the strategy hit on a touch-screen Apple iPad? More »
#manga
You know what I think the PlayStation Move looks like? An ice cream cone. Know what the folks at adults-only Comic Penguin Club think it looks like? More »
#kazunoriyamauchi
While Gran Turismo 5 finally hit stores after several delays and over five years in development, the game's studio isn't finished with the title by any means. More »
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You know, we really feel for you guys across the pond. Since March, we've had ample time to explore Cave Story on WiiWare. Patiently, you guys waited, and today we're glad to report that there's finally an end in sight to your longing: December 10. Or is that 10 December?
Developer Nicalis offered solace via Twitter, informing inquiring Europeans of the Cave Story launch date. In a later tweet, Nicalis clarified that the December 10 date applies to the entirety of the PAL territory, including New Zealand and Australia -- the game will set players back 1,000 Wii Points ($10).
#humor
The Transportation Security Administration isn't making too many friends in American airports at the moment. It'll make less friends if it starts holding up video games the way it holds up a departures line. More »
Toshihiro Nagoshi's latest game is a rumor no more. Sega has announced that the Yakuza creator is heading up development on the previously teased Binary Domain, a squad-based action game for Xbox 360 and PS3. Set in Tokyo circa 2080, the game will pit humans versus Terminators robots in what Nagoshi is billing as "a dramatic and energetic sci-fi shooter."
"When you hear sci-fi you may think of cold, clinical environments," Toshihiro remarked in the game's announcement, explaining, "with Binary Domain I wanted to combine this with a deep human drama." Despite all of the robo-murder the game will likely depict, he said that, "The keyword we have in mind for this project is 'Life'. I wanted to make something that will be accepted by both the Japanese and Western markets, and this fundamental theme is something everyone knows but which the full extent of can be difficult to grasp."
Sega claims this theme will extend into gameplay, affecting the title's "highly advanced AI." No release date has been announced, so for now you can simply take a look -- with your human eyes -- at the first screens from Binary Domain in the gallery below.
Venetica didn't really win critics over back when it was released in Germany -- while the story is supposed to be pretty good, the gameplay was called bland and repetitive. Nevertheless, Atari is bringing the game to North America, and will release it on the Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on January 11 of next year.
Venetica takes place in 16th century Venice, and casts the player in the role of a girl named Scarlett, who just so happens to be Death's daughter. She has to save the world and her father from a powerful necromancer. Sounds like fun -- just be careful around Death, otherwise he might end up making you do his job for him.
#pc
Spooky. We were only lamenting the other day around the office water cooler about how there weren't enough good heist games these days, and what do we get? A new heist game, and an interesting one to boot. More »
Guerrilla Games has announced that the elaborate Helghast Edition of Killzone 3 will also be available in Europe, along with a Collector's Edition, which is one rung down on the shiny, electroplated ladder of special game editions. The Collector's Edition, encapsulated in Steelbook packaging, will offer a PlayStation Network download voucher for the Killzone 3 soundtrack, a dynamic XMB theme, and the Retro Map Pack (comprising two maps from Killzone 2).
The Helghast Edition comes with all of the above, plus a hardcover art book, a "Cloaking Marksman" action figure and several perk-granting pre-order bonus packs (also available if you pre-order the Collector's Edition). Oh, yes, and it comes with a helmet. You might not think it a macabre memento on your mantelpiece, but you haven't heard the full story. (Come closer.) Inside the helmet ... is the preserved head of the cloaked marksman, still surprised by his sudden encounter with a decapitator-turned-decorator.
#pc
The Old Republic, a new massively-multiplayer game set in the Star Wars universe, won't be out this year, obviously. But what about early next year? More »
