Joystiq

With off-road racing suitably redefined, Pure dev Blackrock looks to be taking its show on the road. A new viral video seemingly for the studio's next project has pulled out onto the internet, teasing street racing, crashes and more than a passing resemblance to Burnout Paradise. In fact, assuming the video itself was posted by Blackrock, the fact that it is tagged with both 'burnout' and paradise' seems to indicate that the former Climax Racing studio is looking to Criterion's open-world racer as a template for its next sprint to the finish line.

Nothing else is known, though the brief glimpse concludes stating, "To Be Continued March 11, 2009," leaving us time to run to the concession stand for popcorn before finding out more.

[Thanks Chris]

Continued →

Has it really been over four years since Sony's helicopters swooped in, dropped a rope ladder and successfully extracted portable entertainment from the handheld gaming ghetto? Sony Computer Entertainment Europe reminds us that the PlayStation Portable was first launched in Japan in 2004 and has since spread across the globe, reaching a "sell-in" level of 50 million units (accompanied by 200 million software units). If you can't tout selling out, you might as well do the "in" thing and count the number of units you've shipped to shelves, stalls, online retailers and really fancy airport vending machines.

Still, it's an impressive (and very big!) number, one we'd relish shoving into the faces of our doubting, 2004 selves. Of course, we'd also irrevocably ruin the timeline by telling everyone to hold out for the fantastic PSP-2000 ... so let's just keep the celebration confined to the present day, shall we?

Last July, Konami filed a lawsuit against Viacom, parent company of Rock Band developer Harmonix, claiming the game infringed on patents it held for music titles utilizing guitar controllers. After six months of silence, Harmonix has decided to sue back, claiming Rock Band actually improved on Konami's patents -- and Rock Revolution is, in fact, infringing on Viacom patents. Confused yet?

The gist of Harmonix's counter-suit involves a claim Rock Revolution is actually more like Rock Band than Konami's GuitarFreak franchise, the design of which is likely the basis of the original suit. We naturally picture all of this unfolding Phoenix Wright style, but the reality is most likely far, far less interesting. We'll let you know if any sparks begin to fly.

[Via Shacknews]

The pre-order bonuses for Guitar Hero: Metallica run the gamut of usefulness when dealing with down payment freebies -- the first (and unquestionably most desirable) of these bonuses we already knew about: Dropping a paper Lincoln on the title at GameStop will net you an extra drum pedal with which to face the game's most punishing percussion solos. A bit further down on the Scale of Practicality is the pre-order bonus for Hollywood Video and GameCrazy: A pair of Guitar Hero: Metallica drumsticks. Not an amazing gift, but it sure beats a keychain.

On the complete opposite side of the aforementioned scale is the gift that Best Buy patrons will bring home: Tattoo sleeves. We can only imagine that they're talking about those fake slip-on things that make it look like you've swapped appendages with Tommy Lee, and not, you know, actual tattoos. We assume that particular consumer electronics retailer has some policy prohibiting in-store decorative body modification.

It seems that Dead Space has been around a lot longer than we'd have thought, originally taking form on the original Xbox. You can check out some early footage from the game in a video found after the break. There's not a whole lot to see really; it's very dark footage. What you can see looks very much like the Dead Space we know and love. Still, it's always interesting to see a game concept's humble beginnings. Plus, it might give us an indication as to what to expect from the Wii version.

[Via VG247]

Continued →

Unwilling to let the Dean of Video Game Journalism (Hon.) flit away to one of the many other cable networks covering games, Spike has locked Geoff Keighley (Jeff K., if you're nasty) into a new multi-year deal. How many years is multi? 2? 37? There's just no way to tell.

GK will continue with a full slate of activities, including producing the Video Game Awards and hosting "GameTrailers TV with Geoff Keighley," for which, considering the title, he seems to be the best candidate.

Each week Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:

Right on cue, after this week's previous LGJ, Jack Thompson's Utah bill finally made its public appearance. Surprisingly, the bill amounts to only 4 lines of text that will be edited into Utah's existing Truth in Advertising Act, a form of deceptive trade practice regulation. The entire relevant text of the statute is:


So what does this mean for the industry? I believe this bill has far more bark than bite, but it's more complex than a simple analogy. There are some potential consequences for electronic retailers based on this new potential regulation, but it also looks like this provision leaves a number of major loopholes that retailers can take advantage of. As the bill hasn't passed yet, this all may be moot if the Utah legislature opts against the regulation, but it's certainly worth analyzing in the interim.

Continued →

Viacom is content with the two million units sold of Rock Band 2 since launch, but expected more from the series. PaidContent reports that the media conglomerate sees the Rock Band franchise as a bright spot in what it otherwise expects to be a very difficult year, particularly with ad revenues getting "worse before it gets better."

Harmonix may not have a new Rock Band this year, but it's certainly continuing its streak of DLC content for the platform and will release the The Beatles game (for the benefit of Mr. Kite) later this year.

[Via Gamasutra]

Alright folks, we're going to be straight with you: We have no idea what this is. Sega of Japan has dropped an almost teaser/maybe ARG, definitely confusing and certainly ambiguous flash animation on its website under the moniker "Project RINGO" (its capitalization, not ours). Aside from the notably monochromatic 2D image in the animation, the text "What happens? ... next_2.24" appears at the end, and source code is provided for a Flash doodad you'll find after the break. We're guessing the "2.24" reference is a countdown to the 24th of February. Oh and that Flash doodad after the break? It's an equation ending with the numbers "247" -- as in 24/7.

We don't know much else, but we can speculate:

-Is Sega making an iPhone game? "Ringo" = "Apple" in Japanese. "Project Apple" could be a game for the iPhone we've ever heard of or seen. You'll presumably play it 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and undoubtedly be picking apples.

-Will "Project RINGO" finally unveil Sonic the Hedgehog creator Yuji Naka's platformer from Sega subsidiary (and Naka's company) Prope? Speaking with Gamasutra at last year's Tokyo Game Show, Naka said, "At Prope, we're actually actually planning on making a game like Sonic right now." That was four months ago.

-Is Sega making a game about NiGHTS and Sonic having a child who juggles apples and likes club music? Clearly the most likely choice.

Join in the speculation fun yourself in the comments!

[Via SegaOnline.nl]

Continued →

While news of Dragon Age: Origin's delay still has us holding back tears, developer BioWare has handed us a tissue in the form of new screenshots from its upcoming fantasy RPG. Light on action, these newest drops of delicious eye candy draw from of each of the game's six different origin stories. Think of it as a warning an early taste of the many hours you'll spend glued to the screen ignoring family and friends as you pour over BioWare's latest offspring in the back half of 2009.

According to a F.E.A.R. 2: Project Origin promo insert (Xbox 360 version pictured), a demo for Wanted: Weapons of Fate is set to hit the Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store on March 5.

Developed by GRIN (of Bionic Commando Rearmed fame), Wanted: Weapons of Fate takes place five hours after the events of the 2008 action flick based on the same comic book property. Like a list of games as long as our arm, Wanted will feature bullet-time and (more creatively) the ability to curve bullets around the environment. Basically, it's the most realistic game ever.

Check out Joystiq's hands-on feature with Wanted: Weapons of Fate.

BottleRocket, the now former developer of Namco's forthcoming Splatterhouse reboot, has officially commented on last week's unexpected parting of ways with the franchise. The move -- on Namco's part -- raised questions about the studio's fate, yet a statement we received today includes word of future plans.

"Namco canceled the development of Splatterhouse on February 6, 2009," the statement confirms, going on to say, "BottleRocket wishes Namco the best in completing their project." Thought not officially confirmed by Namco, it's believed that the internal studio responsible for Afro Samurai has taken on Splatterhouse.

Meanwhile, BottleRocket appears to be forging ahead, stating that, "[The] development team is looking forward to turning their attention to a new project soon to be announced." As long as it's not called Hockey Mask Gorefest, we think the team will do alright.

Flower is now available to download from the US PSN Store. What are you still doing here? Fine, there is some other stuff, but you should really look into fixing your priorities. Disgaea 3 gets even more DLC today, along with all the normal rhythm games. There's no LittleBigPlanet DLC, despite Europe getting some, but there is a new episode of Qore, which includes a free copy of PS1 classic Syphon Filter, playable on both PS3 and PSP.

Continued →