Microsoft has been unsurprisingly cagey about nailing down a release date -- or even a release year -- for their vaunted entry into the motion gaming space, Project Natal. A leaked promotional interview with Robbie Bach, Microsoft's head of entertainment and devices, appears to have spoiled that surprise, however: Project Natal is coming sometime in 2010.
Okay, sure, no one is surprised, but it's something.
The leaked video has since been ripped down in anticipation of Microsoft's annual CES keynote. It's expected the video, and by extension Project Natal, will be part of the keynote tonight.
"I think [Natal] is going to revolutionize how people think about the gaming business and actually turn it into an interactive entertainment business," said Bach. "I think we're finally going to get there where people can break the mold of gaming and get to real entertainment."
We'll find out more later tonight. The keynote kicks off at 6:30 p.m. PST.
Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.
It's not Home, but it's a step in that direction. Microsoft's long-rumored environment for Avatars is first coming to fruition through the retro-themed Xbox Live "Game Room," a concept confirmed in a leaked (but now removed) video with Microsoft head of entertainment and devices Robbie Bach. It's assumed the video is tied to a CES 2010 announcement, as the event's mentioned in the clip.
The images above are expected (but not confirmed) to represent Game Room.
"Game Room is in some ways a retro approach and it's interesting," says Bach. "There's a generation of people -- my advanced, mature age -- who grew up with a set of games like Centipde that are favorites. They look almost like casual-fun games today. At the time, they were high-end, edgy games, so Game Room was the idea of bringing that back to the market and bringing that to a very broad audience and I think what we're going to find is when people can get 30 or more of these types of games, they're going to love it for the experience."
It's unclear what Game Room actually encompasses other than an virtual arcade stand for Centipede. Are these games free, a new addition to the Xbox Live Gold membership?
"It's sort of like, my daughter going to watch Journey," says Bach, discussing the potential for Game Room. "I'm like, 'that's a band that was playing when I was growing up' and she thinks it's a cool band and I like the music. I think you're going to have the same phenomenon with game room, where I'm gonna enjoy the games and they're gonna think it's cool.
We'll likely find out more tonight during Microsoft's keynote address at 6:30 p.m. PST.
Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.
It's the first full week of a new year, so everyone is looking forward and talking about what the next 12 months will bring. Adam Sessler is no exception, so it's fairly appropriate that this week's Soapbox is about just that; what he thinks will be happening in the world of gaming over the next year. Obviously the release schedule is already jam-packed with amazing titles we all want to play, but what about Sony and Microsoft's new motion control peripherals? How will they change the industry? Check out Adam's predictions and then let us know what you think.
So many moments in District 9 felt straight out a video game -- cough, Halo, cough -- that it's somewhat remarkable nobody decided to cash-in. District 9 director Neill Blompkamp recently spoke with the LA Times, telling the publication that while no District 9 video game is currently in development, he's not opposed to the idea, he just wants the game to, well, not suck.
"District 9 as a game would be fascinating," said Blomkamp. "And I don't want to see it happen for any sort of corporate reason or profit thing. I used to be involved in computer graphics and I love virtual environments. That's why I like video games, really. And I think a virtual environment of the slums of Soweto is an appealing idea to me. The weapons are cool, too. I photographed the film in a way that isn't that different than video-game perspective in some parts. So a game would be interesting to me. There's nothing happening with it though."
Blomkamp admitted he's being currently thinking about a sequel (or prequel) to District 9, but he's already moved onto his next film, one that's unrelated to District 9. If he decides to return to that universe later, however, hopefully he'll decide to bring video games along for the ride.
While Sony and/or Quantic Dream haven’t revealed when exactly their psychological thriller Heavy Rain will be hitting shelves (with its brand spanking new 15 rating in the UK), February has been the generally agreed upon release window up to this point.
Today though, we are a little bit closer to pinning down a firm release date thanks to anonymous sources who have told CVG that Heavy Rain will be released in the UK on Feb. 26.
According to one insider, "That’s the date we’ve got and as far as we’re concerned they’ve committed to it."
Sony hasn’t commented yet, but that, unlike the Spanish Inquisition, is to be expected. Currently, GameStop says the game is coming Feb. 16, while Amazon has a Dec. 31, 2011 release date. Well, at least that helps narrow it down a bit.
It seems that the rumors about a major halt in the production of Spider-Man 4 have been confirmed as true. According to Variety, an inside source from Sony has given the word that director, Sam Raimi's beleaguered sequel has indeed been put into an indefinite hiatus.
In reaction to the rumors last month, the initial PR merely claimed that the production had simply taken a Christmas break for a few weeks. However, for a film that is the center of some of the most outrageous rumors on the Internet, there were plenty of signs that this was not just another wacky rumor. Sam Raimi's struggles with his distate for the studio-approved script has been well documented. It had even reached a point where the original script by David Linsay-Abbaire had been re-written by scribes such as Jams Vanderbilt, Gary Ross, and recently back to Spider-Man's 2 & 3 writer, Alvin Sargeant. Either Raimi is being a ridiculous diva OR this script must really suck. (And if this script involves "The Vulturess," falling in love with a recently-widowered Spidey, I may have to believe the latter.)
I can't help but to think that Raimi is stuck in an untenable position. Even if you are of the mindset that he purposely sabotaged the Venom character as a huge middle finger to the studio for forcing him to work the character into the script, it seems that (as rumors have supported) the studio merely wants a specific version of this film, based on hard numbers based on comic sales. The question of "which characters sell books right now?," while a rational one, is certainly not what fans who left the theaters disappointed in Spider-Man 3 want to hear. However, coming off what many considered a stinker, I can also understand the studio's position in not wanting to get stuck with a script that's too "artsy-fartsy" for the general public.
Therein lies the dilemma. Go too far to the studio's side and you may get a two-and-a-half hour CGI toy commercial, devoid of plot or consistency. Go too far on Raimi's side, and you may get The Vulture reciting Shakespearean soliloquies, while "Emo Spidey" starts writing haiku requiems for Uncle Ben in webbing on the side of the Empire State Building. However, considering that he does acknowledge in interviews how bad the film turned out, I do think that Raimi genuinely does want to make things right after what happened with Spider-Man 3.
It's also pretty safe to speculate that the Spider-Man film series is nearing its finish line, as the studio (who hold the rights to Spidey in perpetuity,) are surely thinking about a reboot effort sometime in the future. Tobey Maguire surely cannot play the character forever, and a swap in lead actors would be silly for what would be over a decade-old franchise. (At least for a non-Bond franchise.)
While I would personally prefer to stop the current series right now and await the reboot a few years down-the-road, this film will get made and will be released. It's inevitable. Even the Variety write-up makes a comparison of this delay to the one Sony implemented for Angels and Demons in 2007. While it was in reaction to the impending Writer's Guild strike, it was a similar delay and still did not stop the film in any real way.
All of that said, could the clash of visions between Raimi and the studio have an underlying motivation in the overall approach to the way the story fits in the grand scheme? We may be looking at a story-centric, compelling wrap-up to the series with Raimi, versus a desire from Sony to cash-in their chips to generate what money is left to be made with more of a "marketing-centric" film before moving on to the new Spidey series. (Which we can presume would be years later, possibly the 2014-15 era.)
What do you think? Does Spider-Man 4 have any hope for salvation?
Unless you want to fall over laughing, you might want to be seated while watching today's ATN. We wouldn't want you to be injured like the track hoe water skiers, overly curious felines and gold digging harlots in today's videos.
Find the direct video links from Around the Net on Attack of the Show after the jump.
Mobile games developer Gameloft have made a name for themselves by consistently churning out high quality, high profile games, whether they are licensed titles such as James Cameron’s Avatar, Assassin’s Creed: Altair Chronicles and Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X., or "original" games such as N.O.V.A., Hero of Sparta, and Modern Combat: Sandstorm.
Given the kind of penetration that Gameloft has been able to achieve over the past year and half, it’s hardly surprising to hear that the company has managed to move over 10 million downloadable copies of its iPhone and iPod Touch games since Apple's App Store launched back in July 2008.
"We have had a remarkable year on the App Store," Gameloft chairman and CEO, Michel Guillemot, said in a statement. "Our success is defined not only by great production values, but a vested interest in bringing to market games that are commercially friendly and appeal to a mass consumer base. Taking into account that the App Store is only 18 months old, 10 million paid downloads is an achievement we are quite proud of."
This news follows Apple’s announcement yesterday that over 3 billion iPhone and iPod Touch apps have been downloaded worldwide since the App Store's launch.
I actually have a bunch of Gameloft games, and I love them all. I’m currently in the middle of their Halo clone, N.O.V.A., and it’s pretty solid. How many of the 10 million downloads are you responsible for? What are your favorites?
A new Open Source post from G4 President Neal Tiles is live... check it out here.
This month, Neal talks about G4's record 2009, and some of the things he's looking forward to as we slide into 2010, he also talks about the Comcast/NBC deal, and what that might mean for G4's future, as well as how we select clips for Around the Net and Web Soup. It's a whole lot of stuff coming at you, so read it and see what you think.
Remember to submit your questions to Neal because he'll be back for another round of Open Source very soon.
And, if you want to talk about Neal's answers, or just give your own commentary on what he's said, check out our Open Source forum, and let fly. We look forward to hearing from you.
Even as eyes turn towards the inevitable next Rock Band, Harmonix is still tweaking Rock Band 2. Over at PlayStation Blog, Rock Band 2 lead designer Dan Teasdale outlined a series of changes, tweaks and additions that are part of a Rock Band 2 patch for PlayStation 3 users.
The patch arrives this Thursday.
Most importantly, the patch introduces support for SingStar microphones, prepares Rock Band 2 to receive select songs created for Rock Band Network (only Xbox 360 owners will have access to all uploaded content for the time being) and the ability to sort by stars in Quick Play mode.
For a full list of changes, including how hammer-ons are changing, keep reading!
Courtesy of Harmonix, here's what the patch brings:
“Sort by Stars” in Quickplay. If you hit the “Sort” button on the Song Select screen, you’ll come to a brand new sort that orders songs by the star ratings that you’ve achieved on each song. Each star rating gets a category, as well as an “Unplayed” category for songs that don’t have a star rating recorded. Finally, you can record your progress towards gold starring every song in your library! Improved “Sort by Stars” fix: Players will not have to beat a previous high score to record a star rating for their songs.
Chord HOPO improvements: If you’ve played The Beatles: Rock Band, you’ll notice much more robust handling of chord hammer-ons and pull-offs. This patch implements those changes in Rock Band 2 to provide a more natural chord hammer-on/pull-off experience.
Velocity Sensitivity on Ion Drum Kits: Ion Drum kits now support velocity sensitivity in both drum fills and Drum Freestyle mode.
Rock Band Network Store Support: When the Rock Band Network goes live, select songs will be available for PlayStation 3 users through a new storefront available in game. Stay tuned for more information closer to the launch of RBN!
SingStar Wireless Microphone Support. Rock Band 2 now supports the SingStar Wireless Microphones currently available through Europe! Finally, you can now have a fully wireless Rock Band experience on your PlayStation 3!
Given that CES 2010 is going on this week, expect to hear plenty of "Holy crap! Did you see that insane gadget that does that all wacky stuff?!" kinds of news. And to kick things off, we have this little gem about a new iPhone game that lets you control an actual flying drone.
As Telegraph reports, AR Drone (or iDrone as it should have been called) is a fascinating project that takes augmented reality to the next level thanks to a four-bladed mini-helicopter of sorts, which is controlled via an iPhone/iPod Touch app (i.e. tilt the phone and the drone will tilt). The drone also comes equipped with two cameras that stream video wirelessly to your mobile device of choice. The app then maps a video game over the actual surroundings being filmed by the drone.
So for instance, when you look at the screen, you’ll not only see your living room, but virtual enemies as well that will react and maneuver according to the placement of the real world elements being filmed by the drone’s cameras. Um…awesome?
Right now, AR Drone’s creators, the French company, Parrot, have built three games for the drone, but they say that developers will be able to make their own when the final product is ready later this summer. AR Drone is expected to cost around $500. Start saving now.
The potentially revolutionary streaming technology OnLive has demonstrated video games through a PC, TV, iPhone and other output devices -- but not a car. At CES 2010, GameStreamer will make its debut, a new service designed to allow those in a vehicle (we're assuming the driver is exempt!) to download and play some of today's biggest games.
GameStreamer relies on the vehicle being equipped to a Long Term Evolution network (LTE), a wireless broadband network. On the GameStreamer website, the company alludes to users being able to play games like Assassin's Creed II, Batman: Arkham Asylum and others.
Does it actually work? We'll try to track it down at CES 2010 -- we'll be there this week!
Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Make sure to confirm what your partner's custom-skinned combat mask looks like in the upcoming Army of TWO: The 40th Day, asEA's latest trailer for the fist-bumping, co-op third-person shooter tours the game's multiplayer options. Judging by the trailer, you'll have plenty of scenarios to forget who's a friendly and who's a foe.
Usually, whenever we hear news about game ratings it usually involves a ratings board demanding ridiculous cuts to be made to a particular game, or some other kind of misunderstanding concerning a game’s content.
Fortunately, that’s not the case today, as it’s been announced that the British Board of Film Classification has given Quantic Dream's dark thriller Heavy Rain a rating of 15 for "strong language, violence and sex." And since the game passed with no cuts made, that means UK gamers will also be able to enjoy the game's nudity and kid killing in all its disturbing glory.
Speaking with INCGamers, a spokesperson for the BBFC explained the board’s decision, saying, "These are obviously not real people, or real people acting, and it all depends on the level of blood and violence. We use the same classification for games as we do for films, and this game is suitable for a 15 audience."
Considering the amount of time and effort Quantic Dream put into the casting and performance capture for the game, I wouldn’t be surprised if a few of the voice actors took offense to the "not real people acting" comment. Still, the board’s assessment is encouraging since it clearly demonstrates the board's willingness to extend the same artistic courtesy consistently extended to film. Also, between this, Mass Effect 2 and even Splinter Cell: Conviction, the BBFC is on a hot streak in terms of keeping a level head in terms of determining what content is or is not appropriate for the 15 and above crowd. Well done.
Too-good-to-be-true details about Fallout: New Vegas appearing in the next issue of Game Informer were eventually proven false, but the base of the rumor -- Fallout: New Vegas being unveiled in a magazine soon -- was true. Official Xbox Magazine has confirmed the spin-off in development at Obsidian Entertainment should be revealed in the pages of its next issue.
OXM used the term "should" because it's possible that might not happen. Magazines typically leave such a caveat about upcoming content in the event that a publisher changes their mind or something else compromises the game's ability to appear on the cover of the publication.
Still, OXM or not, we should know what's happening with Fallout: New Vegas soon, just a few months before Obsidian (hopefully) delivers their much-delayed spy-RPG for Sega, Alpha Protocol.
The Fallout: New Vegas issue of OXM goes on sale February 11.
Imagine a world run by vampires living off a dwindling human blood supply. Boo. But throw Ethan Hawke into the mix and then that future seems pretty darn exciting. The actor visits Olivia Munn on tonight's Attack of the Show to talk about his new bloodthirsty sci-fi movie, Daybreakers. Tune in at 7pm to hear his take on playing a vampire (complete with fangs), the true message behind Daybreakers and more.
Welcome to Morning Hangover -- an excellent way to start your day with the crew at TheFeed...no matter what you're recovering from. Every morning you'll hear musings from our editors and have the chance to share your thoughts on what's going on in the gaming world.
I’ve become rather unhealthily obsessed as of late with the iPhone version of Bejeweled 2, and truth be told, I actually have to be getting back to my current game, so I’m going to keep this simple and to the point. Fittingly enough, simple and to the point is exactly what I want to ask you about, specifically with regards to gaming.
What are some of your favorite quick fix (yet consistently challenging) games that you have sunk untold hours into over the years? Pong? Tetris? Solitaire? These games are classics because they do a limited number of things extraordinarily well, and sometimes, that’s all you want from a game.
So how about it? What are your favorite quick fixes?
Before E3, there was the Consumer Electronic Show. Video gamers were a growing entertainment force, but until someone said "hey, video games should have their own show," everyone propped up a booth at the more wide-ranging tech fair that was CES. It wasn't long until video games branched off into E3 -- the split actually began in 1995 -- but enough gamers had cameras back then to capture the madness, which have been subsequently slapped on YouTube for us to, of course, laugh at.
Let the insanity begin...
CES and E3 did overlap one year, however...
We've come a long way, readers.
Have something to share? Sitting on a news tip? E-mail me. You can also follow me on Twitter.
Nintendo appears to have made the first comment about a successor to their popular DS.
Speaking to Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata (as first translated by Siliconera, with clarification from Wired's Chris Kohler over Twitter) mentioned a follow-up to the DS would feature higher-resolution visuals (no surprise) and a motion sensor of some sort.
Iwata did not elaborate on what he meant by a motion sensor and whether that would simply be an extension of the touch screen (i.e. adding touch capabilities to both screens) or literally having a sensor that detected physical movement beyond what the camera on the DSi is capable of. Given the DS remains wildly popular and a consistent seller, the answer to that could be far off.
There was also some brief but important news about the upcoming The Legend of Zelda sequel for Wii. Nintendo leader Shigeru Miyamoto once declared his intentions for The Legend of Zelda to arrive in 2010 but wouldn't promise that'd actually happen. In the Asashi Shimbun piece, however, Iwata mentions the follow-up to Twilight Princess would be released before 2010 is up.
Does BlackBerry Bold 9700 satiate the email and web browsing needs of CrackBerry fans? Chris Hardwick and Olivia Munn take a look at its hi-res display, full keyboard, new track pad navigation and 3.2 mega pixel camera to see if this latest Bold can live up to its $100 (with contract) price tag.
Check out the full Attack of the Show review after the cut.
What You Need To Know
The Bold 9700 is thinner than the original and one of the smallest BlackBerries to date.
It's little over 0.5" thick and weighs only 4.3 ounces but still doesn't feel cheap.
The screen is a little smaller than the first Bold but still looks spectacular.
RIM decided to use the optical track pad rather than the trackball, which works just as well.
It feels more accurate when you're navigating around and selecting menu items.
You won't accidentally move it to the side when you press down on the pad (which occasionally happened with the trackball).
The keyboard feels just as comfortable as the BlackBerry Tour, but it's a little smaller than the original Bold's keyboard.
Overall, the keyboard works great.
The browser is a little faster but it's still way too hard to zoom in or see an entire page at a glance.
The camera takes a while to capture pictures but images look fantastic.
It's 3.2 mega pixels and has a flash.
The BlackBerry App World has several thousand apps, but still hasn't reached iPhone or Android status.
Multi-tasking is also available: just hold down the menu button to switch between running apps.
The phone comes with Wi-Fi and 3G connectivity, and you can pay for a $10/month service to make/receive calls over the wireless.
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