Joystiq older than one year ago

Razer, which just expanded into the luxury laptop market, is also trying its hand at arcade sticks. During TGS, it announced what is likely its most Japan-focused product: an Xbox 360 stick being designed with input from pro fighting gamers and other "community" members.

The concept is actually a "closed beta," launching at TGS, in which modders and fighting game enthusiasts will be given sticks and asked to provide feedback and improvements. The prototype of the stick shows that Razer's already on the right track -- it's hinged, and can be opened up easily for modding. Check out the prototype in the gallery below while we to try to go mess with the hardware in person at TGS.

And if you're skeptical about Razer being able to pull off an arcade stick, think about how you felt the first time you heard that Mad Catz was doing it.

It's been a long wait, but now you can finally get your hands on the Super Smash Bros. demake that caught our collective eye back in February. Super Smash Land is currently available for download over on PikiGeek.

A labor of love from Dan Fornace, Super Smash Land features eleven different stages and six brawlers (including Mega Man!), a classic Arcade mode, multiplayer for up to four people and a Polygon Team-style Endless Mode. Heck, there are even online leaderboards!

... What are you waiting for? This is the full game. Go play it!

Hope you brought a change of tights.

During the 3DS-centric press conference Nintendo is currently holding in Tokyo, Shigeru Miyamoto kicked things off with the decidedly unportable Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword. While showing off the game's features, Shiggy apparently said that the game would last between 50 and 100 hours. Lest your tan pants, green boots and stupid hat get a little ... musty, you may want to bring spares.

Also, we say "apparently" 50-100 hours because the presentation was entirely in Japanese and we can't technically speak the language. Technically speaking. But since Miyamoto added the game has been in development by a team of 100 for over five years, the exorbitant length would make a lot of sense.

At Joystiq, we're firm believers in the idea that every human being has an instrument to which they are naturally attuned, for self expression and emotional release. In most cases, a person's instrument is a literal instrument; Steve Vai and Regina Carter come to mind as ready examples. Sometimes, however, a person's instrument can be a little more abstract.

Shuey187, for instance, is a Tetris virtuoso. As a follow-up to the 90 minute magnum opus in which he used Tetris to create a Mario sprite, Shuey187 has utilized his unique gift for geometrically aligning blocks in order to craft Mario's brother and confidant. It's a truly amazing thing to watch, especially when you consider the fact that he used nothing more than a sprite pattern and raw talent to get the job done. Seeing as the video has no soundtrack, we suggest opening a second window and listening to one of the other two phenomena we mentioned.

Minecraft's massive Adventure Update 1.8 has been leaked -- by Mojang right-hand man, Jens Bergensten, or Jeb. Minecraft creator Markus Persson is content with the leak, as shown through his subtle use of a winking emoticon in this tweet, and the following message, which says, "(I am fine with you using it. Make sure you get it from the leaked url we are hosting, though)."

Jeb affirmed his part in the leak with yet another emoticon, in the long-eyed equals-sign style, on a Reddit post. Jeb had previously tweeted he would upload the jar file for "expert users," which is exactly what he did nine hours later. If you're an expert Minecrafter, download the file here and get your adventure started.

When a developer leaks its own game a few days early, we think that should just be called a release. But hey, what do we know?

We can't help but imagine the dinosaurs of Telltale's Jurassic Park: The Game with slightly ... different voice casting. We've got high hopes that one of you sound prodigies will interpret that as a challenge.

You may remember the story of Noah Solis, the 8-year-old Marvel Vs. Capcom 3 prodigy that captured the minds and hearts of the gaming community by placing in the top 48 at EVO 2011, destroying dozens of grown men in the process. Noah is more than a media darling, however, and his natural aptitude for shaming players with years of experience fighting games hasn't gone unnoticed by the pro set.

Pro-gaming sponsorship consortium/clothing line/hip-hop label The Travelling Circus has signed Noah on to contribute to two of those three ventures, sponsoring his future fighting endeavors as well as launching a clothing line designed by the prodigy himself. Who knows, if Noah's fashion sense is anything like his fighting style, this kid may end up more Gucci than Gouken. At the moment, no information is available as to when his clothing line will be available, or when his first sponsored match is set to take place, but we have a feeling we'll be hearing about Noah long before next year's EVO.

How long was Razer waiting to use that product name? Today, with its "PC Gaming Is Not Dead" countdown elapsed, the company unveiled its "Blade" laptop, billed as "the world's first true gaming laptop." What must Alienware think about that?

The "Blade" uses the UI from Razer's "Switchblade" concept -- a set of ten adaptive keys and an LCD touchscreen built into the keyboard, which can be used either as a touchpad or to display in-game information.

What it doesn't use from the Switchblade is the compact form factor. This laptop has a 17" LED-lit screen and weighs around 7 pounds. That's light for a gaming laptop, but heavy for a thing you're carrying around. It packs a 2.8GHz Intel Core i7 processor, 8GB of RAM and a 320GB hard drive.

All those big numbers bring another one: the Blade will retail for $2799.99 when it launches in North America in Q4 of this year.

Hero's Adventure is a new mini-RPG from developer Terry Cavanaugh, maker of the popular VVVVVV and the art game Don't Look Back. The game's only about three minutes long, but it'll make you rethink everything you know about RPGs from the old-school era. Just go play it - we won't ruin it for you ahead of time.

The game was created for Klik of the Month 50, a monthly game jam using the free Klik & Play game engine. The merciless genre deconstruction, however, is all Cavanaugh's own work.

The team behind 999: 9 Hours, 9 Persons, 9 Doors is reuniting for another "extreme escape" game. Andriasang reports, via information in Famitsu, that the new game for Vita and 3DS will be called Gyokugen Dasshutsu Adv: Zennin Shiboudes in Japanese -- Gyokugen Dasshutsu translates to "Extreme Escape." 999 was called Gyokugen Dasshutsu: Ku Jikan, Ku Nin, Kyu no Tobira in Japan, meaning the game may not be a direct sequel, but could take place in the 999 universe.

The new game will recruit 999's director and character designer to take on another sinister scenario. Initial details should be available shortly, but we'll have to wait a little longer before international plans blow out.

Coincidentally, 999 is on sale today through Amazon. It's a trap!

[Thanks, Aaron.]

GameStop has apparently sent another message out to its retail locations, this time asking all of its stores to pull any PC copies of Deus Ex: Human Revolution off of its shelves, and place them in the backroom, eventually to be returned to publisher Square Enix. This all after this morning's news that GameStop had directed its employees to pull coupons out of the boxes for the OnLive streaming service.

The latest email confirms that GameStop is indeed working on a competing service with its acquisition Spawn Labs, and that because of an "agreement" with Square Enix, all of the game's copies will be recalled back to the publisher. The one exception is reserved copies, which will still be honored for purchase.

GameStop has also pulled the PC version of the game from its website, though the console versions are still for sale. Joystiq has confirmed with local stores that the memo was received and copies were being pulled. We're also contacting GameStop corporate for an official statement on the matter.

Hey, remember the free Deus Ex: Human Revolution OnLive code that comes with the retail PC version? If you bought your copy at GameStop, chances are you didn't get the code. It turns out that the retailer decided not to participate in the promotion ... by force.

GameSpy is reporting that GameStop employees received notice yesterday that they were to open new PC copies of Deus Ex and remove the free OnLive token. To repeat: GameStop employees were told to open new copies and remove contents intended to be sold with the game.

A GameStop representative confirmed to GameSpy that the company is removing the tokens, saying, "Square Enix packed the competitor's coupon with our DXHR product without our prior knowledge and we did pull and discard these coupons." Indeed, some of our own commenters claiming to be GameStop employees said the same thing in our post revealing the OnLive promotion yesterday.

Joystiq is currently investigating the issue, including the possible legal implications of tampering with a product and selling it as new.

[Image: GameSpy]

It's officially a trend. One day after Sony introduced a cheaper, less functional PSP for Europe, Nintendo has announced a new budget Wii for the region. The new Wii, according to Nintendo UK, is designed to sit horizontally instead of vertically (although the original Wii can technically do both, so we aren't sure what the distinction is). The other major alteration is the loss of GameCube backward compatibility -- both games and accessories.

This new model will be released sometime before Christmas, in a bundle with a Wii Remote Plus, Nunchuk, Wii Party and Wii Sports. Other bundles will also be forthcoming. Eurogamer posted the above picture, and also got word from Nintendo that the company will "focus on the new Wii Bundle/s going forward," suggesting it won't coexist with the current model. Bye, GameCube!

Faced with drooping sales and waning retail interest in its platforms, Nintendo's been exercising its price-cutting muscle with some regularity. Before the unexpected 3DS price cut, there was the $50 Wii price cut that also included a bundled copy of Mario Kart Wii and the Wii Wheel accessory. At the same time, Nintendo introduced the budget-priced Nintendo Selects game lineup and, on August 28, it's dropping four more games to the $19.99 price point.

Super Paper Mario, Mario Strikers Charged, Punch-Out!!, and Super Mario Galaxy join The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, Animal Crossing: City Folk, Mario Super Sluggers, and Wii Sports in the bargain aisle. While it's hard to argue with the new, lower price, our secret, inner box-art snob wonders, "Is a measly $30 savings worth the shame of having that on the game shelf?" A look at the art from the first four Nintendo Selects selections after the break.

Thrifty fans of roguelikes should be delighted to hear the latest on The Binding of Isaac, the current project of Super Meat Boy developer Team Meat's more artistic half, Edmund McMillen. Today, via Twitter, McMillen revealed that the game will cost $5 and that the Steam app page is now live.

Oddly enough, the Steam app page contradicts previous statements that the game would launch in August, instead pegging it for September 2011. McMillen says that's "to be safe" -- the goal is still late August.

Dancing Pixel Studios has heard the call of people looking for traditional control input on touch-based devices. The studio has released a new app for Android devices called Sixaxis Controller -- guess what it does? Yup, it allows you to use your Sixaxis or DualShock 3 controller on Android phones and tablets. (Great guess!)

Of course, it's not that simple: The app only works on rooted Android devices and is largely incompatible with HTC and some newer Samsung hardware. Also, there are some other steps one must take prior to enjoying this tryst, like connecting the device to a Windows PC with a USB cable. But if you do get it up and running, you can connect up to four controllers to one device and custom configure your buttons.

You can purchase Sixaxis Controller from the Android marketplace right now for $1.67, but we'd suggest trying Dancing Pixel's other free app first, Sixaxis Compatibility Checker, to see if your hardware is up to snuff.

It all makes sense now -- North Korea's infamously deluded dictator, Kim Jong-il, wants to be king of the castle in NCsoft's MMO Lineage, completely explaining his fetishes for extravagance and naked discos. Kim has hired a team of hackers to farm Asian MMOs for in-game coin, which they sell online for cash IRL, according to South Korean officials. Kim's hackers hail from North and South Korea, and work with operatives in Northern China, four of which were arrested last week in Seoul for organizing a hacking squad of 30 people, authorities said.

In less than two years, the organizers made $6 million, 55 percent of which went to the hackers, and some of that to Kim's agents in Pyongyang, Seoul police said. Officials believe the hackers report to a mysterious Communist Party agency named Office 39, which earns money for Kim through drug trafficking, arms sales and other illegal activities. Kim's slush fund is worth billions, American and South Korean officials said, and he uses it, in part, to fund a nuclear weapons program. This is truly upsetting, because the only thing more depressing than a nuclear attack is a nuclear attack funded by MMOs.

Sony is adjusting its PlayStation Vita launch plans and rolling back to an earlier claim: that the new portable system would be out in "at least one territory" by the end of 2011. According to an AP report, Japan has been selected as 2011's sole recipient of the Vita.

Speaking to the press in Tokyo, SCEI Chairman Kaz Hirai clarified that the PlayStation Vita would miss the holidays in America and Europe, instead rolling out in those regions during early 2012. [Update: Previously, Sony said it would be available in the global market "starting" at the end of 2011.]

Hirai insisted that the launch would not be accompanied by a lowered price, despite Nintendo's hasty and reactionary price drop on the Nintendo 3DS.

"We packed so much into the device and made it very affordable," Hirai said. "There is no need to lower the price just because somebody else that happens to be in the video game business decided that they were going to lower their price."

The PlayStation Vita will start at $249, alongside a 3G-enabled version for $299.

Don't you look away. No, you look that adorable little robot straight in the eye. All Josef wants to do is find his robot girlfriend, and to help him you just have to buy Machinarium for two dollars and 50 crummy cents on Steam. You're gonna deny him? Fine, but you tell him. We don't have the heart.

The confusion regarding EA's plans for Battlefield 3's multiplayer access is palpable. GamerZines reports that Battlefield 3 Executive Producer Patrick Bach stated in an interview last week that the game would "probably" require a code for access to multiplayer. When pushed on whether EA would lock out second-hand players through use of an online pass, he replied, "I think we are." EA told the site it would pick up the conversation "another time."

The latest major iteration of the Battlefield franchise, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, implemented a "VIP Pass," granting access to extra content, but placed no initial limitations on multiplayer access. EA's online pass (i.e. Project Ten Dollar) -- now utilized by many publishers, with Ubisoft being the latest -- cuts off multiplayer to anyone who doesn't purchase a code, which comes bundled in new copies of games. Of course, with today's announcement of EA Sports Season Ticket (i.e. Project 25 Dollar), there's a whole new level of possibility.

"The whole idea is that we're paying for servers and if you create a new account there is a big process on how that is being handled in the back end," Bach said. "We would rather have you buy a new game than a used game because buying a used game is only a cost to us; we don't get a single dime from a used game, but we still need to create server space and everything for you."

We've reached out to EA for clarification.

Those freebie NES games you get from the 3DS "Ambassador Program" on September 1 will be bare-bones at first, but a future update will bring some extras. Nintendo told IGN that after the paid versions of those ten games show up on the eShop "later in the year," the free versions will be updated at no cost.

The upgrades will include "additional features such as multiplayer simultaneous play," which is kind of a big claim, since not even the Game Boy Virtual Console games sold now have multiplayer functionality. Nintendo didn't detail any other changes, except to say that 3D isn't one of them. The games won't be remade as 3D Classics.

The list of NES games announced includes Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Jr., Balloon Fight, Ice Climber, and The Legend of Zelda. These and five more unknown games will be included in the Ambassador Program. Ten Game Boy Advance games will follow later in 2011.

Dwarf Fortress is, apparently, an ASCII roguelike/city-building game for Windows, OSX, and Linux. We say "apparently" because until The New York Times wrote a six-page magnum-opus about the game and its creators, we had no idea it even existed.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword will feature an item upgrade system, as revealed in the above Gamespot interview with Nintendo of America's Bill Trinen at Comic-Con. After 13 minutes of discussing the game's art style and motion controls, Trinen drops the bomb about the shield, explaining that while Link begins with a traditional shield, he can craft different ones throughout the game by combining rupees with artifacts left behind by defeated enemies.

Trinen said upgrades will apply to Link's beetle, shield and "other items," which we guess would include his sword, bow, whip and slingshot, but probably won't be applicable to the game's graphics.

A couple of Street Fighter X Tekken trailers appear to have gotten out early -- something that's been happening a lot lately -- revealing a noteworthy addition to the roster. Poison, first seen as an enemy in Final Fight and later as Hugo's manager in Street Fighter 3, will be playable in Street Fighter X Tekken -- only her second playable appearance in a fighting game, after 1999's Final Fight: Revenge.

Another trailer, after the break, reveals Yoshimitsu. Surprise! Yoshimitsu's in a Tekken game! Also seen for the first time in these trailers are Dhalsim and the teased Steve Fox.

Remember that slow, meticulous character reveal we predicted for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3? Uh ... never mind. It appears that artwork of all twelve of the new characters has been revealed. The images were pulled by Joystiq from Capcom's own servers (example). Unless this is an elaborate hoax on Capcom's part, the characters would seem to be legit. The new roster includes:

Capcom

• Strider
• Firebrand
• Vergil
• Frank West
• Phoenix Wright
• Nemesis

Marvel:

• Ghost Rider
• Dr Strange
• Nova
• Rocket Raccoon
• Hawkeye
• Iron Fist

We know what you're thinking, because we're wondering the same thing: How is Capcom going to work these guys into Marvel vs. Capcom 3's intricate story? See images of each new character in the gallery below. You can also find trailers for the officially announced characters after the break.

One-man development house Eric Ruth Games has revealed its next project, Team Fortress Arcade, this time turning the first-person antics of Team Fortress 2 into an old-school, side-scrolling beat-em-up. Each character has weapons and abilities consistent with its class in Team Fortress 2. The Demoman, for example, can blast out sticky bombs that explode whenever he jumps, and the Engineer builds turrets that can be upgraded with a few quick whacks of the wrench.

Piki Geek landed a hands-on session with the game along with an interview with Ruth himself, which you can see in the video above. Team Fortress Arcade is planned to be released as a free download on the Eric Ruth Games website later this summer.

Activision filed a domain-name dispute with National Arbitration Forum on Friday over ModernWarfare3.com, a gag website attempting to convert Modern Warfare 3 fans to EA's Battlefield 3.

Activision argues that the person behind ModernWarfare3.com "has no right or legitimate interest in the Domain Name," a violation of the Uniform Domain Name Dispute Resolution Policy, and wants the site under its own control. Activision has provided the panel with a two-page list of Modern Warfare's accomplishments as evidence of its right to the domain, or perhaps because it wants to see its "Best Shooter" award from CNN.com in writing. Activision claims the site contains copyrighted material, including the style of its Modern Warfare 3 header, and that the owner "supports the game Battlefield," quoting that it "urges visitors to 'grow up and forgettabout Modern Warfare 3 (because it looks just like Modern Warfare 2) and buy Battlefield 3 instead.'"

ModernWarfare3.com was purchased on March 26, 2009, almost two years before Modern Warfare 3 was officially announced, and until recently the website redirected users to Battlefield3.com. Currently its front page reads, "Warning: this website is under seige," with the above clip from Monty Python's Life of Brian re-dubbed to bash Modern Warfare 3.

The PS3 has gradually shed features over its lifespan -- like PS2 backwards compatibility and OtherOS. That's happening again with the latest revision of the PS3 hardware, but it's not entirely Sony's fault this time.

Kotaku obtained an internal GameStop communication detailing the new "K" model of PS3 hardware, which states that an HDMI cable will now be required to display high-definition, and that component cables will no longer work. GameStop doesn't quite have all the details right, but part of that is true.

"The new CECH-3000 series PS3 requires HDMI only for BD movie output in HD, in compliance with AACS standards," Sony told Ars Technica. "PS3 continues to support component output for HD gaming and streaming content." The restriction is just on high-definition video from Blu-Ray discs. So this isn't a cost-cutting measure like the removal of PS2 hardware -- it's to conform to the Advanced Access Content System, a standard for DRM developed by a consortium of media companies including ... Sony. The standard requires that devices restrict analog outputs to 960 x 540 to prevent recording from analog capture devices.

The strange part, then, is that the PS3 ever supported HD Blu-ray playback through component. Digital Foundry speculates that the rule didn't kick in officially until the AACS Final Adopter Agreement in December 2010, and thus only affects PS3s produced after then. That would mean that Sony (and pretty much every other electronics company) skirted its own rule for as long as possible.

Christina Norman, lead gameplay designer for Mass Effect 2, announced on Twitter today that she has taken a new Lead Designer position at League of Legends developer Riot Games.

Last week, Norman announced that she was leaving BioWare and moving to Los Angeles, but didn't disclose the identity of her new employer until today. Preston Watamaniuk, Mass Effect series lead designer, will take Norman's place at BioWare.

"I'm looking forward to working with Riot on innovative new approaches to game design and game development in the rapidly-changing video game market," Norman told Gamasutra. League of Legends and Riot are emblematic of these changes, as a free-to-play, microtransaction-based game developed by a company recently acquired by China's Tencent.