Joystiq older than one year ago

You gotta give it up to Criterion Games. Throughout the lifespan of Burnout Paradise, the developers at Criterion worked their buns off to give us all kinds of juicy DLC, from a new island to explore, a new game mode, right down to motorcycles and many, many car packs. Now, the company has prepared a lengthy diatribe documenting some of the updates that never got off the ground. For one, did you know that Criterion initially planned to have motorcycles vs cars? Yep, sure was planned -- and did you know that Criterion wanted to create a whole series of islands, not just the one? The devs even wanted to give players the ability to go to the moon, complete with lunar challenges for Freeburn addicts. Also: the planes thing wasn't an April Fool's joke -- the dev actually wanted to add them (and other vehicles) into the game. Overall, it's a pretty great read, if only to show you just how committed the studio was to the game and raising the bar for DLC in general.

Looking for a ludological stocking stuffer for the RPG fan in your life? Amazon's Deal of the Day has you covered -- three of Square Enix's portable titles (Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII for PSP and The World Ends With You and Final Fantasy IV on DS) have had their prices rolled back to just $9.78 for today only. At those prices, you've got no reason not to buy one of these for your dearest friends and family. Especially family who writes for the same gaming news site as you, who let you borrow their copy of The World Ends With You in March, which you beat and then traded in, you thoughtless bastard. [Via CheapAssGamer]

North American Wii owners, the wait may soon be over. After years of patient, patient waiting -- and watching the game land on both the European and Japanese Virtual Console -- the original Smash Bros. should soon be winging its way to American Wiis. The evidence: The game has been rated for Wii by the ESRB, hopefully signifying that a release is imminent. In case you were wondering, the game received an E rating, ostensibly making it suitable for everyone. We'll just have to wait and see how Grandma takes it when she gets a SuperScope to the dome.

Not content with unleashing a full-blown zombie apocalypse, Valve has come up with the second most socially awkward event imaginable: inviting characters from the original Left 4 Dead to hang out in the sequel's first DLC campaign. Bill, Louis, Zoey and Francis will meet with the stars of Left 4 Dead 2 in "The Passing," which Valve VP of marketing Doug Lombardi calls "the most important campaign in the Left 4 Dead story, as all the Survivors are being called together in one campaign." It's targeted for release in early 2010 on Xbox 360 and PC. In addition to a co-op campaign (set in rural Georgia) and a new "co-operative challenge mode of play," The Passing will offer new content for Survival, Versus and Scavenge modes. Playing as the L4D2 cast, you can also expect to encounter a new melee weapon, firearm and "uncommon common" zombie. We can't wait to meet up with last year's survivors again ... oh, assuming they really are still survivors.

Get your weapons ready! The latest issue of Nintendo Power features some mega news -- specifically, the upcoming release of Mega Man 10 on WiiWare. The new installment, like the brilliant Mega Man 9, uses an NES-style aesthetic, and features wacky new bosses like Sheep Man. Sheep Man! Proto Man returns as a playable character, along with a third mystery character! The extra character's identity. just one of the details, like the release date or whether or not it's on other platforms, that we're just going to have to wait to find out. An image in the writeup also reveals an Easy Mode for the game, which we can imagine being welcome for a lot of people not accustomed to the uniquely painful experience of trying to complete an NES Mega Man title.

Since the game's launch, LittleBigPlanet fans have only been able to create new levels offline. Over a year after initially promising a patch, Media Molecule is finally ready to unveil its online Create mode. Coming in the 1.21 "Leerdammer" patch, online Create works exactly as expected: you'll be able to invite friends to your Pod and work collaboratively on new levels. The most important improvement over the offline Create mode is the camera: each player gets his or her own camera, allowing them to work on different parts of the level simultaneously. For veteran creators, this should speed up the process quite significantly.In addition to the online Create mode, "Leerdammer" also rewrites LBP''s network code for improved performance and smarter matchmaking. The LBP save system has also been revamped, allowing players to store more community items than ever before. Finally, a slew of minor tweaks are also included in the patch, which you can read about after the break.[Thanks, Pumapayam!]

Click to doughnut-size. PS3 owners will want to stay home on Black Friday. Why? Naughty Dog is releasing the first downloadable content for Uncharted 2's multiplayer mode this Friday, November 27th. A title update will add "The Fort," a brand new multiplayer map supposedly based on the "Fortress" chapter of Drake's Fortune. According to the press release, "The Fort is a long rectangular map with wide open spaces and excellent flank routes." There's a shotgun in the center of the map and an RPG in the crypt. Best of all, this update will be free.Once the patch goes live at 1PM EST, Naughty Dog will also initiate a Double Cash weekend. Teams will also have special skins in competitive matches: Doughnut Drake for the Heroes (pictured above), and Doughnut Lazarevic for the Villains.See a video after the break.

Professor Layton and the Devil's Flute is out in Japan tomorrow, so Level-5 decided it was an appropriate time to go ahead and announce the next DS game in the second Layton trilogy. At a Devil's Flute launch event, Level-5 president Akihiro Hino revealed the above artwork for Professor Layton and the Miracle Mask. This fifth game has Layton and Luke investigating the mystery of the title artifact in Casino City, which seems to have been created by the wish-granting mask. According to a Famitsu report that leaked before the official reveal, there could be major changes to the familiar gameplay system. Miracle Mask will be out in fall 2010, and may be followed by a second movie, Hino said. The company first has to solve the puzzle of how much money it will receive from the first one. [Via Famitsu, Andriasang]

[atomicshark] Thanks to Turkey Day this Thursday, the PSN update is going live a couple days early. Gobble up the savings as several PSN titles are priced perfectly for tryptophan overdose relaxation. Check out the full PSN update after the break to find more things to do while avoiding family obligations this weekend. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

We hope you've been putting off purchasing that that new fleece jacket you've had your eye on, because Old Navy will be running one hell of a video game deal this coming Black Friday. As suggested by a supposedly leaked circular earlier this month, anyone who spends $20 on the store's merchandise will receive Lego Rock Band for free on the platform of their choice. The rumored deal was recently confirmed by a television spot (which unfortunately has yet to find its way online). We contacted a handful of locations in Texas, Ohio and Illinois, all of which said the offer would be valid at their stores. However, both the advertisement and the store representatives we spoke to mentioned that copies of the game will be "extremely limited," so we suggest getting to your nearest store as close to its 3 a.m. opening time as your tryptophan-infused body will permit.

We're usually hesitant to spend real-life money on virtual clothing, but you can bet we'll spring at the chance to purchase the recently revealed Sonic the Hedgehog costume pack for LittleBigPlanet. See, if we dress ourselves up like the series' speedy, cerulean protagonist, then play one of the many, many Green Hill Zone stages crafted by the LBP community, we can pretend that we're playing a decent, current-gen Sonic platformer. We've contacted Media Molecule to try and find out the North American release date and price for this costume pack. We shouldn't let the developer hear us say this, but we'd pay anything for that beautiful illusion. [Via Siliconera]

Though yesterday's Sony investor's conference featured a concerning reference to the PSN's "new revenue stream from subscription," another slide from the presentation seems to indicate that the platform is already making money hand over fist. According to the slide (seen above), the company has set a lofty goal for the current fiscal year: It expects the PSN to bring in ¥50 billion (roughly $561 million) in revenue by the end of FY 2009. That's three times the amount of cash collected by the platform in the last fiscal year. Exactly how Sony plans to boost its revenues so drastically is outlined by other statistics on the slide. According to the company's calculations, the PSN currently has 33 million registered users, 1.4 million of which visit the PlayStation Store on a daily basis. We fall into the latter group -- but only because we can't stop window shopping for celebrities we can fling into oncoming traffic. We confess: It's one of our dirtiest, guiltiest pleasures. Source - "Media / Investor Conference - November 19th 2009" [PDF]

Thanks to Eric Ruth and his PixelForce NES "de-make" of Left 4 Dead, we now have an idea of what the zombie apocalypse simulator would have been like had it released in the '80s. Valve is apparently aware of the project and finds the concept "hilarious." Ruth reveals that he plans to release the full game as a free download in early January 2010 for PC. It features all the campaigns from the original game, including 8-bit incarnations of the special infected, for two players to play through -- it is a NES game after all, fancy four-player didn't exist. Check out a video of the game after the break. The only thing we'd wish this "de-make" had was a sprite flickering zombie rush, so all the youngins could experience the glory of NES flicker when there were too many things on the screen at once for the system's 2KB of RAM.

You can tell the recession is dramatically affecting folks all over the United States when stories about kidnappers forcing their detainee to buy them gaming consoles arise. That's exactly what Kyle Yarkosky is alleging that David Daniels and another unnamed suspect did to him, after forcing him at gunpoint into their vehicle, having him steal his stepfather's credit card, and then drive to the local Walmart where they made him buy them a PlayStation 3. Naples News reports that the suspected assailants entered the Pebblebrooke Lakes gated community in a white truck, with Yarkosky following behind on foot, said to be headed to "meet a friend." Instead, the truck allegedly stopped, with Daniels and "an Asian-looking man" exiting and ordering Yarkosky into their vehicle. The two suspects are said to have forced Yarkosky to steal his stepfather's credit card and drive to a local Walmart, where Daniels intended on having a gun purchased. When the gun counter was closed, he then requested Yarkosky purchase a PlayStation 3. According to reports, Daniels then told Yarkosky he was "free to go," thus ending the ordeal. (Thanks Kreyg!)

When Chris Herbert decided to pop the question to his girlfriend of three years, Belle Starenchak, he picked the most romantic place he could think of: Anime Weekend Atlanta, with both dressed as Pokemon. It ... kind of makes sense for them. Belle, or "PikaBelleChu," is featured in the Guinness Book of World Records: Gamer Edition for her massive Pikachu memorabilia collection, and Herbert met her by staging a Pokemon auction. So while we might be tempted to laugh, it would seem that the pursuit of 'em all is a major component of this couple's lives. And now that they've done this -- a proposal in Pikachu and Raichu outfits, all floppy fake mouse ears on their hats and yellow glove slipped off to try on the ring that came out of the Pokeball -- we believe that the world's quota for Pokemon-themed proposals has just been filled. By the way, it was super effective. See the moment after the break.

Final Fantasy XIII will launch in North America and Europe on March 9, 2010, just a few months after it debuts in Japan and nearly four years after it was originally announced. Since that time, Square Enix's flagship role-playing game has become a multiplatform project -- the English version will debut on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 simultaneously -- as well as the first part of the Fabula Nova Crystallis series. It's also no longer the highest-numbered Final Fantasy game."We know that our fans have been eagerly awaiting the next installation of the franchise -- FINAL FANTASY XIII will exceed all expectations," said John Yamamoto, president, chief executive officer and official title shouter of Square Enix, Inc. "Coming simultaneously to PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 for the first time, FINAL FANTASY XIII will be available to all players who are looking for the most immersive gaming experience of 2010." And you'll have to look -- we hear Q1 2010 is already swamped with immersive gaming experiences. That's not a complaint!

While it's unbelievably tempting to litter this piece with allusions to the various Mario and Luigi properties, we're instead going to bite our tongues and tell the story of some less-than-gentlemanly gents who beat and robbed a NYC cabbie at 4AM on November 1. According to police reports, the cabbie stopped his car at a gas station when one of the four patrons attempted to steal money out of his pocket. He asked the men to pay their fare and get out, which resulted in the attack.In the video found on the NY Daily News website, two men dressed as Mario and Luigi can be seen assaulting the cab driver while another person in their party stands about, presumably watching for interference. The men are still at large and police are asking those with information to contact Crime Stoppers at (800) 577-TIPS, log onto NYPD Crime Stoppers, or text 274637 then enter "TIP577." [Image credit: Bob Dob] [Via GamePolitics](Thanks, Adam)

"A Henchmen Inventor Tent Unto." Before reading on, why not try to solve that puzzle for yourself? It's an anagram, which means you can mess the letters about to spell a secret message. Here's a hint: It was posted by Square Enix as a tease for Final Fantasy XIII, meaning it probably has something to do with that game. What's that? "A Chevron Non-nineteenth Mutt?" We suppose that's a pretty good guess, but unfortunately, it's the wrongest thing ever. A Final Fan-site recently had better luck uncovering the message's true meaning: "Announcement Nov Thirteenth." The nature of this "announcement" is still up in the air, though our money's on an official North American release date for the super-anticipated RPG. Though, considering the speed at which the series is growing now, we wouldn't be surprised if Squeenix went ahead and dropped the Final Fantasy XV bomb on us.

Just as Veteran's Day comes to a close, it appears Infinity Ward has finally been able to get the online infrastructure stable for the PS3 version of Modern Warfare 2. It appears the third party-powered servers simply couldn't handle the overwhelming demand following the game's launch. Makes sense: it did sell close to a zillion copies. "We expect smooth skies ahead," IW's Robert Bowling stated in a recent tweet. That is, unless all of you rush to your PS3s again now that multiplayer is working yet again. Remember, though: this is simply a server-side fix that allows you to play multiplayer. The party system still won't work until a patch, planned for release on Friday.Like many Joystiq commenters have pointed out, we're hoping this closure means the end of Modern Warfare 2 stories for a while. Hopefully we can keep this tag closed for at least a few days, before people start murmuring about the inevitable DLC to come.[Thanks to everyone that sent this in!]

As a congratulatory message to their Microsoft peers, the Interactive Entertainment branch recently sent the Windows team the banner you see above shortly after the latter launched Windows 7. It's a cute little example of how these two companies okay enough with the crap. We need this Achievement. Do you understand us, Microsoft? We need it. Knowing "the big one" is out there, but that it will be eternally inaccessible to us? Do you know what that would do to our psyche? It would end us, Microsoft. We'll make you a deal -- we'll create our own Microsoft-branded operating system, and then you go ahead and pass one of those novelty-sized Achievements our way. How do you feel about "Doors XL?" No? How about "Glass-covered Portals 2010?" Or "Panes: Professional Edition?" Get back to us on this one, okay? We need it.

At the annual SEMA car show in Las Vegas this week, Gran Turismo 5 creative lead Kazunori Yamauchi was on-hand demoing his game for showgoers and talking to the press. Amidst a torrent of questions from Autoweek, Yamauchi roughly calculated the cost of creating Gran Turismo 5: a cool $60 million. That's what five years of development on a single game has cost Polyphony Digital thus far, an amount Yamauchi says was totally justified in order to "get it right." "We threw away the legacy code from GT4 and started from scratch ... It's been five years from [the release of] GT4, and that's the same amount of time it took to develop the first GT4." And rather than dodging the reasoning behind the lack of a solid GT5 release date anywhere outside of Japan, Yamauchi flatly offered, "That's more depending on SCEA marketing decisions." Allow us to venture a guess - first half of 2010, perhaps?[Via VGChartz]

It's huuuuge: Nintendo DSi LL (red) versus Nintendo DSi (white) Well, that didn't take long. Just two days after Japan's Nikkei newspaper reported that Nintendo was planning a new variant of the DSi sporting larger 4" screens (which it called "speculation"), the Big N has gone and announced it -- for Japan, at least. Called the Nintendo DSi LL, the hefty handheld will be released in Japan on November 21 for a price of ¥20,000 ($221).The device has so far been shown only in a burnt red finish and features a full pen-sized stylus. The whole kit's big -- just look at the above comparison image from Nintendo's site -- and really does appear well-suited for an older audience. We'll have more on the DSi LL soon.[Thanks, Dr. NOGAMES!]

So this is why Netflix's stock went soaring. After countless rumors, Netflix's streaming service is finally coming to the PlayStation 3. Even better: it'll be free for PlayStation Network members that have a Netflix account. According to the press release, "Netflix expects to begin streaming via the PS3 system next month at no additional cost to Netflix members in the United States who have a PS3 system."It looks like you'll also be able to manage your Netflix streaming queue directly from your PS3; no need to have access the site via computer first. It'll be interesting to see how Microsoft responds to the loss of its once-exclusive feature -- perhaps it will open up the service to free Xbox Live Silver accounts? And will Nintendo ever join the fray?

"Oh man, I can't wait for the New Pork map for Fat Princess. It'll probably cost money and not come out until next year." Well, fictional person made up for this blog post, you are wrong! New Pork, a brand new map revealed during PAX, will be available to all players this Thursday, 10/29, as part of the upcoming 1.03 patch. In addition to the new map, the patch tweaks a number of issues and even introduces two new control methods. "Two new control schemes have been implemented to allow players to use the R1 button to attack and to free the player's right hand for target switching. This is AWESOME," says the PlayStation Blog.Additionally, the no-blood mode now features candy confetti -- a delicious way to kill opponents and make your parents happy. If that's not reason enough to log back on, we don't know what is.

Our somewhat boring day took a turn for the legendary when we received an Aksys press release informing us that the beefcake-infused side-scrolling shooter, Cho Aniki Zero, would appear on the PSP as a PSN download (exclusively) next Spring. The legendary-ness arose not as a result of our excitement for the game (which is immeasurable in its own right), but due to the content of the press release itself. The entire release can be found after the jump, but we've culled our favorite phrases, forming the following poignant, beautiful found poem: Exaltation. Oiled up and ready to thrust. Epic struggle. Muscle-bounded forces. Manliness. Another dimension of sights and sounds. Heightened experiences of rhythmic action. Man-rageous. Brotherly love. Muscle-on-muscle madness. Man-tastic voyage. Man Protein. The greatest bromances of all time. (Snaps.)

Ratchet and Clank Future: A Crack in Time may be the titular duo's last adventure -- at least, for a while. Speaking with CNN, Insomniac's creative director for the game, Brian Allgeier, stated, "Never say never, but people need that closure. ... We hope to be wrapping things up with a bow."It seems unclear, from the comments Allgeier gave to CNN, whether he's referring to the franchise or just the storyline started in the Ratchet and Clank Future series. With 16 million copies of R&C games sold across seven installments since 2002, sales obviously have a lot to say when it comes to sequels. If A Crack in Time does well, we wouldn't be surprised to see the Lombax and his metal companion return within a couple years -- well rested and with some fresh ideas.Gallery: Ratchet & Clank Future: A Crack in Time

This is a just a warning to any zombies considering joining the New York City Halloween parade. Pictured above are some of the plants that PopCap will be sending to march in said parade. As you -- the zombies -- well know, these plants will most certainly assure your demise. Well, except the wall-nuts. They'll pretty much just stand there and let you eat them, but we love 'em anyway. They're just so damned cute. Dumb, but cute.

IGN revealed today that the leaked Tatsunoko vs. Capcom character roster update was almost 100% accurate in predicting the characters added to the North American version (and the upcoming Japanese re-release). Joe the Condor (yet another Gatchaman character) and Mega Man X's pal Zero have joined the lineup. Only Yatterman #2 is unaccounted for. This isn't Zero's first appearance in a fighter; he appeared in his Mega Man Zero style in SNK vs. Capcom: SvC Chaos and Onimusha Blade Warriors. This is, however, his first appearance in a good fighting game.Check out footage of both new characters in action after the break. Rather than being a simple palette swap of Mega Man Volnutt, Zero's attacks use his trademark energy sword. And Joe has a grappling hook/gun combo.

According to Bright Side of News' secret sauces sources, Nvidia is in talks with Nintendo about the hardware for the successor to the Nintendo DS. Nintendo is reportedly interested in Nvidia's Tegra line of chips for mobile devices, like the one in the Zune HD. Considering that the Zune HD can do things like play HD video, it sounds like a power boost over the existing DS hardware. The lower-end Tegra APX has a clock speed of 600 MHz, compared to the current DS cores, which run at 67MHz and 33MHz. However, BSN believes that the potential timing of the announcement (late next year) suggests that Nintendo could use the next generation of Tegra chips, which, the site says, use "GeForce 9 based hardware." And if they're cheap enough, Nintendo might consider it! The only question (well, the only other question, besides "is any of this true") is whether the capability to play ported console games is really a good thing for the DS. [Via Develop]