Inc Gamers

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Dated For February

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC

Square Enix has announced that Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles: The Crystal Bearers will hit European Wiis on February.Taking place a thousand years after the original Crystal Chronicles game, the Yuke Tribe has apparently been all but annihilated through a war with the Lilty Tribe and the world is now all about science. A "rare breed of powerful beings" called crystal bearers exist in this era, who have "seemingly magical abilities" that leads the public to fear and hate them.Players take control of crystal bearer Layle, hired to escort the passenger airship Alexis - the "pinnacle of Lilty technology" - which comes under attack from monsters, potentially led by a mysterious adversary who had supposedly vanished from the world. Presumably a Yuke, then.The Crystal Bearers has real-time combat and action based gameplay, but most interesting of all is its touted open-world style of play. We expect we'll find out more closer to its European Wii release on 5 February 2010.

Tom Petty Breaking Hearts On Rock Band Music Store

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC

EA has announced that Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers will hit the Rock Band Music Store next week.The following tracks will be available on Xbox 360 and Wii on 24 November, with the PlayStation 3 following on 26 November:Go-Go's - Our Lips Are Sealed*Kelly Clarkson - Miss Independent*P!nk - Who Knew*Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - A Thing About You (Live)*Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - American Girl (Live)Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Even The Losers (Live)Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Here Comes My Girl (Live)*Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Mary Jane's Last Dance (Live)Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers - Refugee (Live)*The asterisked songs will also be appearing on the Lego Rock Band Music Store for fans of family-friendly rhythm gaming.The songs are all available individually, but gamers on 360 and PS3 will be able to buy the Tom Petty songs together in the "Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers Live Anthology Pack 01" for £4.99 GBP / €7.99 EUR / $9.99 USD / 800 Microsoft Points.Individually, each song will cost £0.99 GBP / €1.49 EUR / $1.99 USD / 160 Microsoft Points / 200 Wii Points.No news of any Rock Band Unplugged DLC yet. We'll let you know when we something comes out.

Tom Petty Breaking Hearts On Rock Band Music Store

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC

Tom Petty Breaking Hearts On Rock Band Music Store

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC

Tom Petty Breaking Hearts On Rock Band Music Store

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC

No More Heroes 360/PS3 Screens

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 12:00:00 UTC

Screenshots of the 360/PS3 port of No More Heroes have been released.These screens, depicting the upscaled Travis Touchdown action that we first heard about two days ago, come via Kotaku.Graphically it looks fairly similar as it's heavily stylised, but it's a lot cleaner and sharper. See what you think.

Zelda Wii Won't Follow 'Traditional Flow'

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:00 UTC

Zelda series producer Eiji Aonuma has spilled some new details on the forthcoming Wii Zelda title.The news comes from an interview with IGN, in which Aonuma reconfirms what we already knew: that the game would focus heavily on Wii MotionPlus integration.The MotionPlus, as you doubtless know, allows the Wii to replicate the movements of the Wiimote perfectly - which, obviously, has some very cool applications in swordplay and archery, both of which have been confirmed by Aonuma."We're taking advantage of MotionPlus," said Aonuma. "It's become very natural - the movement of your arms is precisely reflected in the gameplay. Thanks to the technological advancements, we hope the gameplay can be more accessible to people."The most interesting news revealed in the forthcoming interview, though, is that the new Zelda will not follow the traditional gameplay layout."We're making efforts regarding the total flow of the Zelda game," explained Aonuma. "So far, the basic flow of the Zelda games is you're exploring a field, you go to a dungeon, you conquer it and return to the field. We're looking at altering that traditional flow. That's all I can share, and I can't say more until E3 next year."The new Zelda is expected sometime in 2010, though we're still not quite sure of the name. The teaser image we've seen - which you can see on this page - simply refers to the game as The Legend of Zelda, and shows no Master Sword, which has been pointed out by official sources. Reboot of the franchise, potentially with no Master Sword? Hmm.

Wii Video Streaming Likely In US

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:00:00 UTC

Following a successful six months of ad-supported video streaming on the Wii in Japan, Nintendo is expected to launch a similar service in the US.

The service in Japan is free due to advertising deals with companies such as Dentsu, and is doing well according to Nintendo. As spotted by Gamasutra, Analyst Colin Sebastian from Lazard Capital Market, who was present at a recent investor meeting, said "We expect Nintendo to continue experimenting with content delivery and eventually to launch a service in the U.S., establishing a family-oriented media hub in the living room, and providing a more competitive option to Xbox Live and PlayStation Home,"

Nintendo has not followed Sony and Microsoft by rushing to provide wider media and social features on the Wii and, according to Sebastian, its not going to focus too much on video delivery or more downloadable content services either, "In general, Nintendo views online game content as complementary to packaged-goods,".

Dave Grossman On Tales Of Monkey Island

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC

Telltale Games' design director talks Tales of Monkey Island as the series comes to a close.

Next Tale Of Monkey Island Dated

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 12:00:00 UTC

Telltale Games has announced a release date for the final instalment in the Tales of Monkey Island series. The Rise of the Pirate God is due for release on 8 December and will conclude the impressive episodic series, answering the “many vexing questions” which arose in the penultimate instalment. None more so than “how can you have another episode not that Guybrush is *gasp* dead?"He wanted what every young man wants - to loot, pillage, and sail the high seas in search of further looting and pillaging opportunities," said Dave Grossman, veteran Monkey Island game designer and writer."It's a great tragedy to see such a productive life seemingly cut off prematurely. And I'm not just saying that because he owes me money."Check out our review of the last episode, The Trial and Execution of Guybrush Threepwood here.

Modern Warfare 2 Is The Bomb

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:00:00 UTC

Infinity Ward's Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 crushes entertainment industry sales records.

Activision Blizzard announced today MW2 "continues to shatter theatrical box office and video game sales records for five-day worldwide sell through in dollars," grossing £327 million GBP ($550 mil USD). The game has already made massive first-day sales, and is topping the charts.

"In just five days of sell through Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has become the largest entertainment launch in history and a pop culture phenomenon, said Robert Kotick, pretty rich CEO of Activision Blizzard.

The ingenious PR people of ActiBlizz have checked Box Office Mojo and Guinness World Records for comparison to show the five-day opening runner-ups and the biggest one beaten by MW 2 is Grand Theft Auto IV at £297 mil GBP ($500 mil USD). Other massive releases beaten by MW2 on five-day openings include the Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince film (£234 mil GBP, $394 mil USD) and The Dark Knight movie (£121.2 mil GBP, $203.8 mil).

First-day sales also include beating the popular book by J. K. Rowling: Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows, meaning the release of MW 2 has beaten basically any type of entertainment sales figures.

Besides sales the game has been played a lot, beating the Xbox Live! one-day record of unique players online with 2.2 players simultaneously. 5.2 million hours were played the first day alone and 11 million achievements unlocked according to Microsoft.

An interesting aspect here is the fact video gaming truly has shown to be able to stand up to all other forms of modern entertainment. A far cry from the roots of the video gaming culture. Bobby Kotick said "the title's success redefines entertainment as millions of consumers have chosen to play Modern Warfare 2 at unprecedented levels rather than engage in other forms of media."

I believe congratulation to Bobby and ActiBlizz is in order! We'll see if all this money makes the massive company blind to player feedback or not.

Phoenix Wright Coming To WiiWare

Wed, 18 Nov 2009 10:00:00 UTC

The Phoenix Wright series will be coming to WiiWare next month according to reports from Japan.Japanese games mag Famitsu confirms (thanks Kotaku) Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney will arrive on WiiWare in Japan on 15 December and will cost 900 Wii Points.The second game in the series, Justice For All is due to arrive on 26 January with Trials and Tribulations set to follow on 23 February at a price of 1200 Wii Points each.The fifth case, which was only available in the DS version of Ace Attorney, will launch on 16 March for 300 Wii Points.

More Wii Music To Come?

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:00:00 UTC

Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto has revealed that we may not have heard the last of Wii Music.Despite a mauling from the critics and underwhelming sales, the game has potential according to Miyamoto."I think it sold lower than our expectations but on the other hand it was a really unique game, I have to say," Miyamoto told ONM."And also, even today, we are receiving several different offers from people in the field of music education, so as far as Wii Music is concerned, I think is still has great potential. And in the future there might be some developments."When asked whether we’d see a sequel, Miyamoto brought up Wii Fit Plus, the recently released enhanced version of Wii Fit.What did you think of Wii Music? Do you think there is scope for a sequel? Let us know in the comments section below.

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles Ships In US

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 17:00:00 UTC

Resident Evil: Darkside Chronicles for the Wii is now shipping to US retailers.The rail shooter follows series protagonists Leon Kennedy and Clare Redfield as they experience the events of Resident Evil 2 and Code Veronica from a new perspective. The game also supports two player co-operative gameplay.Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles is rated M for Mature by the ESRB and has a suggested retail price of $49.99 at all major retailers across North America.

New Nintendo Console "Far Into The Future"

Tue, 17 Nov 2009 10:00:00 UTC

Nintendo of America's president, Reggie Fils-Aime, has said that adding HD to the Wii isn't “the way Nintendo do things”.

While talking to Kotaku, Fils-Aime indicated that the current console is missing more than just HD capability, and that a new generation of console is more likely than an HD Wii.

“The way we at Nintendo do things is, you know, when we will move to a new generation, it's because there are some fundamental things the [current] console cannot do. What that says is that simply the addition of HD capability will not be the next step for us. There will be more to it. There will be additional capability. ” he stated.

He went on to say that this new machine, given the additional elements, will be far into the future.

Telltale Only Beginning To Tap Episodic 'Strengths'

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:00:00 UTC

Dave Grossman, design director at Telltale, believes that the company is only just starting to tap the "real strengths" of episodic content."We're only just now taking advantage of the real strengths of the form," Grossman - a veteran point-and-click designer - told IncGamers."[T]hat's partly because it took awhile to gain the trust of the audience that we weren't going to just sort of abandon things in the middle, or take forever to come out with episodes, as has happened sometimes in the past with episodic development," he explained. "[F]or that reason, some of our earlier series... the episodes are much more separate from each other, so that each one is kind of an individual little piece that you play.""But really, where the strength comes in is when you do kind of string them together in a mini-series way, sort of like a saga, and there's lots of stuff for you think about in the intervening time between episodes, and you really are sort of engaging the audience in one story over the course of about half a year, real time," said Grossman. "When you do that, it has the effect of making the thing feel really very epic."If these strengths are taken on board by the company and Telltale begins to really run with them, then it seems likely that future episodic series by the developer will weave one plot through all five episodes rather than having each episode as a separate game with a running theme. Big news for fans of point and click adventures, we think.Stay tuned for the full interview with Dave Grossman next week.

AFI Pack And The Bangles For Rock Band

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 UTC

Tracks by AFI, The Bangles and Them Crooked Vultures will be added to the Rock Band Store next week. American rockers AFI appear in a three track pack, featuring three tracks from the recently released Crash Love album –“Beautiful Thieves,” “End Transmission” and “Medicate – as well as “Love Like Winter,” from Decemberunderground, and “The Leaving Song, Pt II” from Sing the Sorrow.80s pop starlets The Bangles contribute “Walk Like an Egyptian” while Dave Grohl/Josh Homme collaboration Them Crooked Vultures add “New Fang.”The AFI pack is priced at £5.25 GBP or 680 MS Points while all tracks can be purchased individually for £0.99 GBP or 160 MS Points/200 Wii points.Tracks by The Bangles and Them Crooked Vultures will also be available in the family-friendly LEGO Rock Band store.

AFI Pack And The Bangles For Rock Band

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 UTC

AFI Pack And The Bangles For Rock Band

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 17:00:00 UTC

Sgt. Pepper Marching On Beatles: Rock Band Next Week

Fri, 13 Nov 2009 15:00:00 UTC

EA has announced that Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will hit The Beatles: Rock Band Music Store next week.The Beatles: Rock Band already includes the songs Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, With A Little Help From My Friends, Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds, Getting Better, and Good Morning Good Morning, so next week's DLC will add all of the missing tracks.Singly, the tracks will cost £0.99 GBP/160 Microsoft Points/200 Wii Points. The tracks will also be available on PS3 and 360 as the Complete The Album Pack, which will cost £7.49 GBP/1080 Microsoft Points.The full tracklisting, with songs available singly on all three consoles or as a pack on 360 and PS3, follows:Fixing A HoleShe's Leaving HomeBeing For The Benefit Of Mr. Kite!Within You Without YouWhen I'm Sixty-FourLovely RitaSgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Reprise)A Day In The LifePresumably, this version of Within You Without You will be the original rather than the version included on the game's disk, which is Within You Without You/Tomorrow Never Knows.The next load of DLC coming to The Beatles: Rock Band will be Rubber Soul, sometime in December. Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band will hit the Rock Band Music Store on Xbox 360 and Wii on 17 November, and on 19 November for PlayStation 3.