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Jacqueline Natla is quite obviously the villain in Tomb Raider: Anniversary. In the 1996 original, the only initial clues to her evil nature resided in a somewhat condescending tone of voice and a far too serious haircut. The opening moments of the Crystal Dynamics remake, however, show a more conniving woman with flowing blond hair, almost alien facial features and suspiciously long fingers. Still a bit of a condescending hag, though.
"My company has recently turned its focus on the study of ancient artifacts, and I am lead to believe that with the right incentive, you are just the woman to find them for me," she says, addressing one of gaming's most iconic characters, Lara Croft. "I'm afraid you've been mistaken," comes the decorous reply. "I only play for sport." Ah, but Natla's done her research. "Which is precisely why I've come to you Miss Croft. This is a game you've played before..."
Though trusting the words of a noticeably vile video game character is generally not advised, they're true in this case. Tomb Raider: Anniversary is indeed a game you've played before, at least if you had the good sense to play Tomb Raider at some point in your fulfilling life (replace "fulfilling" with "miserable" if you haven't). The reworked puzzles, contemporized controls and modern presentation may set Anniversary apart from the groundbreaking effort by Core Design, but beneath those layers lies the same game with the same ideals. Either Tomb Raider was nearly eleven years ahead of its time, or the games we play just haven't changed all that much.
As is the case with all ancient evils, 80's rock music was never sealed away in a very permanent fashion. The horrors of big hair and even bigger shoulder pads may have been dulled by the passage of time, but the cheesy tunes that went with them are creeping back to life in the form of optical discs, half-forgotten memories and rhythmically rockingvideo games. Activision has announced that Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s has gone gold and will unleash its insidious compositions via your PlayStation 2 on July 24th.
The final eight songs from the 30-strong(ish) track list are presented below, with previouslyannouncedtracks found after the break.
Let's face it, most gamers outside of Great Britain couldn't pick the British Board of Film Classification out of a lineup before their recent, controversial decision to deny classification to Manhunt 2. IGN decided to help us non-Brits out with a nice, in-depth interview with BBFC Press Office Manager Susan Clark.
While the BBFC officially uses the same set of guidelines in evaluating both games and movies, Clark acknowledged that the board takes repetition and interactivity into account when making decisions about games. "We might say 'Okay, if that had been a film, it would be okay in a linear format but with the element of interactivity in games, with the ability to do it over and over again, we might bump the rating up to a higher category,'" Clark said. Clark also admitted that, by law, the board has to "bear in mind the fact that these games will be potentially accessed by younger viewers ... We know that games are very, very attractive to under-aged players, particularly the 18 rated games." What, and violent movies aren't?
Despite the double standards, there's a lot to be praised about the BBFC system. Unlike the ESRB, the BBFC actually plays every game they review for about five hours, and they are the only regulator in the world not controlled politically or by the industry, according to Clark. All in all, if there's going to be occasional censorship, we can't think of a better group of people to be doing it.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
The above ad for Burnout Dominator -- depicting a crashed vehicle and a burning tire -- was pulled from London subway stations after the UK's Advertising Standards Authority received 37 complaints that the ad appeared to encourage violence, dangerous driving, and vandalism. Though Electronic Arts argued that the focus was on the game since the advertisement (we're saying that the British way) did not show people, just the mangled wreckage of your virtual accomplishments, the ASA nevertheless called the ad "irresponsible." Poe-tay-toe, poe-tah-toe. Ad-ver-tize-ment, ad-ver-tis-ment.
Our memories of playing Xenosaga was that it was one-third video game and two-thirds cinematic movie -- we didn't mind the lengthy cutscenes, but they were quite noticeable compared to other titles. The philosophically-minded RPG was unsurprisingly turned into an anime in 2005, and now ADV Film has announced (via IGN) that it is finally bringing the twelve-episode series to the US later this year.
The series will be split into three DVDs, presumably four episodes apiece, with the first one coming out September 11. No special features or other information is available at the time. Xenosaga: The Animation was produced by Toei Animation (Dragon Ball series).Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Agent 47 is about to get all bundled up and enter the frigid climate of retail to make even more of a killing as his last three adventures get bundled into one compilation called Hitman Trilogy. The game will include Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts and Hitman: Blood Money. and will retail on PS2 and PC for the worthwhile price of $29.99, now if they'll allow the Blood Money control scheme to be used in the other two titles, that would be sweet. The game ships June 20 (today).
A bonus disc comes in the box which has a "preview" of Kane & Lynch: Dead Men, IO Interactive's latest title which features a mercenary and his lovable psychotic associate. IO Interactive is a company that really doesn't get the attention it deserves. The Hitman series has been a sleeper hit for the company and they were also the developers behind the excellent Freedom Fighters. As much as we like Agent 47, and wish all the best for Kane and Lynch, another chance at Freedom Fighters would be a nice surprise.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Industry fortune teller, Wedbush-Morgan's Michael Pachter, says Manhunt 2's freedom of expression will cost publisher Take-Two millions -- good thing Take-Two may have gotten that GTA IV advance money! Pachter believes the game would have generated $25 million in revenues this quarter, along with another $15 million in reorders. He sees three options for Take-Two at this point:
Ship the game the way it is.
Edit the game, bringing it in line with UK morals and the ESRB's M rating criteria.
Cancel the game.
Pachter believes canceling isn't a reasonable outcome. The other two options leave Take-Two with either lower sales because of the AO rating and the banning, or increased development costs due to the edit. Pachter guesses that either option costs the company half their potential revenue. He also goes on to say that this incident hurts the longevity of the franchise, which is funny for those who feel Manhunt 2 came out of left field anyway. Take-Two can probably cut their marketing budget by half, look at all this yummy free advertising. We already know FOX News has a story locked and loaded for public consumption closer to the Manhunt 2's July release.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
Jackass: The Gameinterests some of us idealistic gamers. Yes, we're the hopeful ones that think this could be an inventive, Stuntman-esque title, where you have to complete odd feats to progress. The cynical recognize Jackass as an easy cash-in; MTV Games didn't even spring for next-gen development costs and instead decided to sling it to PS2, PSP, and DS players.
Will the real joke be on the gamers who buy the title? We'll find out with the game's September 24 release. Until then, watch the trailer after the break.
We knew the Rock Band guitar was going to be based on the Fender Stratocaster and now, thanks to a GameStop newsletter, we get the clear internet-ready picture of what it'll actually look like. The ten button controller (you read that right, check out another pic after the break) has five frets at the top and another five frets of the same color below. Considering we haven't seen the in-game interface, we assume these are for the designated solo sections mentioned in the Game Informer info released last week. The button colors can not be seen from the front, but are viewable from the player's perspective when they're rocking out.
The GameStop blurb also says that the guitar will allow players to manipulate sound through "reverb, flange, wah, delay and more." This thing looks great, but there is still absolutely no word yet on official pricing. It's time to talk cheddar and unless EA/MTV/Harmonix got some insane deals in manufacturing, we're starting to be just a tad concerned about the matter. Let's hope we can put a price on this music soon.
It is the duty of the British Board of Film Classification (BBFC) to classify or rate any films or video games before they are released in the UK -- if they are indeed deemed fit for release. After spending some time strangling strangers and stabbing psychopaths in Rockstar's Manhunt 2, it seems the BBFC are none too pleased by the game's content, rejecting it for certification entirely. This means that Manhunt 2 may not be legally supplied anywhere in the UK.
MCV quotes the BBFC's director David Cooke as saying, "Rejecting a work is a very serious action and one which we do not take lightly. Where possible we try to consider cuts or, in the case of games, modifications which remove the material which contravenes the Board's published Guidelines." With the game already filled with all manner of cuts, slashes and eviscerations, the BBFC could simply not see a way around the game's "unremitting bleakness and callousness of tone" and its "sustained and cumulative casual sadism."
With Rockstar being no stranger to controversy, we half expect those quotes to show up on the back of the box. Then again, publisher Take-Two is unlikely to let an entire country of wallets just slip from its grasp, so there may yet be an appeal or a round of strict censorship. The Wii, PS2 and PSP game is still en route to America though and it shouldn't be long before we all learn whether UK gamers have been robbed... or rescued.
Admittedly, we think the two titles can coexist, at least for this year. Skate is a completely different control experience, while Tony Hawk is the latest in a solid franchise. We can see both games appealing to different -- or even the same -- gamers.
And we're glad Skate is here to keep Tony Hawk honest. Do we really expect a 1.0 game to dethrone Tony Hawk-we-stopped-counting-version-numbers? Maybe not, but competition should make them both stronger.
Sony executives are really loving their new blog. Even Sony America President and CEO Jack Tretton's ghost writer has written a post for the site about "a quick look back" and " a strong push forward" ... and we all know why the look back is quick.
Anyway, Tretton finally gets to craft a public message without pesky things like words and journalists getting in the way. The Sony blog is a place for Tretton to breath free and just talk to the consumer like an open and honest ... oh, what's that? Tretton says, "Everything communicated in any form these days has to be considered an 'on-the-record statement' so as much as I'd like to, I can't completely throw my corporate hat out the window." Ok, so maybe the information won't flow like the spice on Arrakis, but we're still listening Jack, so what's on your mind?
Activision has trickled out a handful of additionaltracks from the upcoming Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s but, before we share them with you, you should be warned. Singing along to any of these tracks -- especially "Hold On Loosely" -- may seriously jeopardize your good social standing and evergreen high school popularity, but that doesn't bother us one bit. Just hold on loosely, but don't let go-woah-woah ...
From the "It's About Time" department comes word that Sony has just launched the official PlayStation blog titled, unsurprisingly, PlayStation.Blog. To be clear, we're not talking about the "semi-official" ThreeSpeech (or Major Nelson for that matter); this is a straight-up "official" blog run directly off Sony's own servers. What can we expect from the site? Well, that's not clear yet. SCEA's Patrick Seybold writes, "At the moment, we're thinking about sharing all sorts of things here, ranging from product news and title announcements to developer updates and industry opinion posts - all of which will come straight from the people here inside SCEA who are working, thinking and playing with this stuff everyday."
Want to let them know what you want them to write about? They have comments enabled and, to help ensure those comments are productive, have a comment policy. As for us? We'd love to be able to check there for all of your PlayStation-related media alerts and press releases, that sorta thing. Oh, and the scoop on what exactly is included in those sometimes mysterious PS3 firmware updates. Oh, and maybe the ability to change that password (look who's talking, we know). That's it. For now. Welcome to the jungle, Sony! Let us know if you need a tour guide, we'd be glad to help out where we can.Read | Permalink | Email this | Comments
So, did you want to rock? Because the new, so-retro-it-should-be- covered-in-Lisa-Frank-stickers trailer for Guitar Hero Encore: Rocks the 80s most certainly does. It's not even up for debate. The rockitude is a foregone conclusion. So, what does this this trailer provide us besides a hankering for some Reaganomics, a slap bracelet and a kilo of white pony?
Well, not only do we get to see some of the retro versions of some favorite thrashers, we also get the announcement of a new song: "We Got the Beat" (presumably) in the style of the Go-Gos. Now are you ready to rock?Permalink | Email this | Comments
GameFly announced today that they'll be increasing their subscription fee by $1 across all plans. It was bound to happen, and after five years it isn't so bad. GameFly says the increase is due to the postal rate hike and higher cost of console games ... and we're sure the new distribution center had a little something to do with it.
A $1 hike isn't really something we can complain about, considering the service saves us, at least, $120 to $200 in game purchases per month. They've even updated the GameQ to more efficiently order your games -- and if you want to just buy, their store deals are the best. There's also a silver lining in the understandable, but still bad, news. GameFly is offering loyal customers the option to lock in discounted rates at 3, 6 and 12 month increments. That way, if you pay upfront, you can get a subscription for cheaper than what it costs now. A good deal if you know you're gonna stick with the service.
We've placed the new billing structure after the break.
Unfortunately, we can't attribute Michael Pachter's warning to Activision as a direct quote, as analysts are forbidden from saying "Hey" and are forced to substitute the informal greeting with "pardon me" or "pay attention to me, please." In commenting on Activision's glowing fiscal report and strong NPD presence to GameDaily BIZ, Pachter draws attention to several challenges Activision faces in the coming months. "All things are not perfect in Activision's world," he says.
Pachter predicts that the glaring imperfections (to put it mildly) highlighted by reviewers in the Spider-Man 3 games will curtail sales, and that Call of Duty 4's proposed Iraq setting may prove to leave an equally bad taste in the consumer's mouth. More interestingly, the analyst notes that if Harmonix's EA-published Rock Band is fully playable with just a guitar controller, it will "compete quite favorably with Activision's [Guitar Hero]." He suspects the instrument protagonist genre will remain kind to RedOctane's owner, but adds that "new entrants will impact future growth of the band." Or did he mean brand?
In a conference call with investors, Activision, who received Guitar Hero as part of their acquisition of Red Octane threw the first grenade against Harmonix's upcoming Rock Band saying that it "wasn't surprising that [Guitar Hero] has attracted imitators." Activision essentially saying that Harmonix was imitating Guitar Hero by creating Rock Band. The humor here being that Harmonix had actually created Guitar Hero for publisher Red Octane before the Activision buyout. If Activision wants to get technical, their Guitar Hero is an imitator of Konami's Guitar Freaks ... but that's getting nitpicky.
We can only imagine the Activision execs didn't take their modern gaming history, because without Harmonix they wouldn't be bathing in their Guitar Hero money in the first place. In the call to the investors the Activision execs say they do have a competitive advantage against Rock Band due to Guitar Hero's significant brand recognition. They also said they've done well in the downloadable sales department with 200,000 takers of the Guitar Hero II song packs on the Xbox 360's marketplace. And those song packs were from the original Guitar Hero, which was done by what company again? Oh, that's right -- Harmonix.Permalink | Email this | Comments
Next week sees the release of Tomb Raider: Anniversary, where Lady Croft goes to the salon and fixes her roots. The video above shows the transformation of the original Tomb Raider into Anniversary. Tomb Raider: Legend (now playable for free on GameTap) reawakened the joy for many in Tomb Raider and reinvigorated the franchise. We're hoping that Anniversary is a fitting tribute to the original but, and this was part of the design behind Anniversary, puts some modern concepts into the gameplay for gamers who are just joining the series post Legend.
We're definitely looking forward to E3 and seeing how far along the Tomb Raider: Legend sequel is. Although not half as painful of a cliffhanger as Halo 2, the ending to Legend (which came about 8 hours too early) was excellent and we were ready to put down the cash for the sequel right there. If Anniversary continues the solid gameplay trend of the new Lara Croft, the future looks bright again for the series.Permalink | Email this | Comments
Sega has just announced a Phantasy Star-branded Blue Orb Texter for sale through its online store. The gadget is plugged in between the controller and console -- available for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 -- and the player can use an analog stick to kind of jab in the text. (Note: Xbox 360 owners must have a wired controller to use this.)
Looking at the layout of the characters, pictured, gives us the impression that we wouldn't be so accurate with it. According to Sega's website, gadget can be used with any game that accepts a USB keyboard.
Someone will find this very convenient, to be sure, but considering the price -- $35 for PS2, $40 for Xbox 360 -- we have a hard time justifying this except for PSU enthusiasts who want the packaged "swag aplenty" and free t-shirt. We're eschewing the learning curve for this device and buying a USB keyboard and/or saving up for the Xbox 360 chatpad.
Let's face it, most gamers outside of Great Britain couldn't pick the British Board of Film Classification out of a lineup before their recent, controversial decision to deny classification to Manhunt 2. IGN decided to help us non-Brits out with a nice, in-depth interview with BBFC Press Office Manager Susan Clark.
Our memories of playing Xenosaga was that it was one-third video game and two-thirds cinematic movie -- we didn't mind the lengthy cutscenes, but they were quite noticeable compared to other titles. The philosophically-minded RPG was unsurprisingly turned into an anime in 2005, and now ADV Film has announced (via IGN) that it is finally bringing the twelve-episode series to the US later this year.
Agent 47 is about to get all bundled up and enter the frigid climate of retail to make even more of a killing as his last three adventures get bundled into one compilation called Hitman Trilogy. The game will include Hitman 2: Silent Assassin, Hitman: Contracts and Hitman: Blood Money. and will retail on PS2 and PC for the worthwhile price of $29.99, now if they'll allow the Blood Money control scheme to be used in the other two titles, that would be sweet. The game ships June 20 (today).
Industry fortune teller, Wedbush-Morgan's Michael Pachter, says Manhunt 2's freedom of expression will cost publisher Take-Two millions -- good thing Take-Two may have gotten that GTA IV advance money! Pachter believes the game would have generated $25 million in revenues this quarter, along with another $15 million in reorders. He sees three options for Take-Two at this point:
Jackass: The Game interests some of us idealistic gamers. Yes, we're the hopeful ones that think this could be an inventive, Stuntman-esque title, where you have to complete odd feats to progress. The cynical recognize Jackass as an easy cash-in; MTV Games didn't even spring for next-gen development costs and instead decided to sling it to PS2, PSP, and DS players.
We've played Skate, and we look forward to trying Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. Today's video picks compare the latest trailers for both games.
Sony executives are really loving their new blog. Even Sony America President and CEO Jack Tretton
GameFly announced today that they'll be increasing their subscription fee by $1 across all plans. It was bound to happen, and after five years it isn't so bad. GameFly says the increase is due to the postal rate hike and higher cost of console games ... and we're sure the new distribution center had a little something to do with it.
In a conference call with investors, Activision, who received Guitar Hero as part of their acquisition of Red Octane threw the first grenade against Harmonix's upcoming Rock Band saying that it "wasn't surprising that [Guitar Hero] has attracted imitators." Activision essentially saying that Harmonix was imitating Guitar Hero by creating Rock Band. The humor here being that Harmonix had actually created Guitar Hero for publisher Red Octane before the Activision buyout. If Activision wants to get technical, their Guitar Hero is an imitator of Konami's Guitar Freaks ... but that's getting nitpicky. 
Sega has just announced a Phantasy Star-branded Blue Orb Texter for sale through its online store. The gadget is plugged in between the controller and console -- available for PlayStation 2 and Xbox 360 -- and the player can use an analog stick to kind of jab in the text. (Note: Xbox 360 owners must have a wired controller to use this.)
