There's a console shortage again. Wiis and PS3s are in short supply, and it's nearly as hard to get either system as it was in 2007. Odds are this is all news to you, since the common perception is that nearly everyone who wants a Wii has it, and that most have already made the jump to PlayStation 3 once the Slim dropped, if they hadn't already. This isn't the case, and according to a recent Gamestop conference call, both systems will be in short supply for at least a few more months.
You wanted the best? You got the best. That's right. We're the OMG News Team, and we're the best there is at what we do. Take this week's show for instance. Jonathan Cooper hits up GDC in an effort to get to the bottom of the new Sony motion controller, and Dom Moschitti cuts to heart of the matter with the latest sports gaming news. We like to think of ourselves as your most trusted source for gaming parody news on the internet, and we dare you to find someone else who does it better. In fact, we double-dog dare you.
Developers love to sneak things by us, and the best possible way to do so is in trailers. Even in small teasers there can be countless hints towards possible gameplay mechanics, story reveals, and other subtleties. Often, to find them all, you need to go frame by frame, looking everywhere for everything. Its a bit of a pain, so we decided to take that strain off of you. That's the concept behind Frame by Frame.
I like Heavy Rain. I like it a lot, actually. When Quantic Dream said there was going to be DLC for the title, I was pretty excited. Then the first batch of content got delayed a bit, and my interest waned. Not that it had anything to do with not caring about the title anymore, but so many other games came out in the interim, I just kind of forgot about it. Thankfully, the PlayStation blog udpated with some great news today. On April 1st, the first DLC pack, "The Taxidermist," will be available for download.
Odds are you don't have a StarCraft II beta code. You want one, whether or not you know it or not, you just don't have one. Luckily, you likely have a friend that has one. He's been talking about how cool it is, telling you about Zerg and Protoss (and the hilarity that ensues when they meet), and promised that if he ever got another code, he'd totally give it to you. He's made this same promise to dozens of guys, though, and now he has to choose. Yesterday, Blizzard doubled the amount of people with beta codes by providing everyone who already has one with another. In other words, start begging your friends, it's time to call in favors.
No, Carrie Underwood isn't the only artist coming to Rock Band next week. The entire line-up is kind of a mixed bag with nothing for me; I've never heard of most of these bands. However, I have it on good authority that Carrie Underwood is really pretty, so writing this article gave me a chance to post a lovely image of the country singer at the top of the page. You're welcome. Let's move on to the DLC.
There's not a lot happening on the PlayStation Store Update this week, but there is one interesting thing worth noting: Sam & Max: The Devil's Playhouse is now available for pre-order. This is the first time the PSN has offered pre-ordered, and as an added bonus, paying now will lock in a price of $29.99 for all five episodes (down from $34.99). I will absolutely be doing this. The first two seasons of Sam & Max were fantastic, and I've played the series on the Wii and 360, so I guess it's time the PS3 got a turn. Not much else seems to be happening on the PSN this week, but I might jump on that Trine price drop, how about you?
This is... an odd one. Shacknews is reporting that Kyle Ward, the screenwriter for the upcoming film-adaptation of Kane & Lynch, has confirmed that a second name has been signed to the script alongside Bruce Willis'. Early rumors pointing Billy Bob Thorton to the role have apparently fallen through, and Jamie Foxx has officially signed on to play the medicated psychopath Lynch to Willis's Kane for the feature film.
Running out of space on your Xbox 360 hard drive? Wish you could take saved games from one system to another without carrying the HDD around? Well, you just may be in luck come spring. Joystiq has obtained documentation from Microsoft showing that USB support will become an option within the next few months. According to the docs, the reasoning comes from "increased market penetration of high-capacity, high throughput USB mass storage devices".
This week, EA shipped the expansion to Dragon Age: Origins, entitled Awakening, to stores in North America. Inside were inserts with a picture of a dragon made of blood and a date: February 1st, 2011. The blood dragon is the typical Dragon Age mascot, so we know they want us to make the connection, yet the date is a new one entirely. February 1st, 2011... now, what ever could that mean?
Console gaming fans of Lord of the Rings haven’t had much to be happy about. Of the three movie tie-ins, only the third was any good, and since then, the property has fallen victim to terrible JRPG, a half-decent RTS, and a seriously disappointing Star Wars: Battlefront clone. Aragorn’s Quest is on the way, but, to be honest, it looks like that game won’t improve the franchise’s quality level any. Luckily, Warner Bros. Interactive announced today that a new LotR game is on the way; Lord of the Rings: War in the North, and based on the studio handling it, there’s a good chance that this one won’t suck.
It didn't get the best review scores or sell incredibly well, but that doesn't mean that EA is ready to give up on Mirror's Edge. Both faults have good excuses, with the poor sales being tied to a misplaced release date, and the mediocre review scores easily being attributed to the game being the first attempt at creating an entirely new genre. Even those who didn't enjoy the original had to applaud DICE's attempt, and it feels that the developer might be able to do something wonderful with the franchise if given some more time and another chance at bat. While they haven't announced a true sequel just yet, an iPhone version is in the works, which means, if nothing else, that EA is committed to the franchise. At a recent Electronic Arts event we had a chance to sit down (or, rather, stand up) with the iPhone version of the game, which is due out within the next few months.
The build we saw wasn't finished, but it was unmistakably Mirror's Edge. Blue skies, white buildings, and red pipes lined the fully-rendered, 2D cityscape, and it looked like it was a scene taken right out of the opening levels of the console version. For an iPhone game, the visuals were awesome, reminiscent of the handheld Assassin's Creed games more than most titles to make it on the phone. Animations and particle effects in particular looked fantastic, pushing the iPhone to its visual limits.
Ah, so that's why the Battlefield: Bad Company 2 servers needed to be replaced.
Today, EA announced that DICE's newest, Battlefield: Bad Company 2, has already sold 2.3 million units worldwide. Even when put up against God of War III and Final Fantasy XIII, it's apparently already on track to be the best selling game of March of 2010. So far, actually, it's already the best-selling March release of all time, meaning good things for the future of the franchise.
“We are so thrilled with the success of Battlefield: Bad Company 2 sales and fan response. In the first 48 hours we had such a tremendous rush to multiplayer gameplay that our servers experienced overwhelming demand. This is a testament to the massive response players have had worldwide for the extraordinary action experienced in the Battlefield sandbox,” says Karl Magnus Troedsson, Executive Producer, Battlefield Franchise.
While it's technically possible that a game could beat Battlefield for the month, it doesn't look like it's going to happen. God of War and Final Fantasy both sell well over time, but it's hard to stand toe-to-toe with a good shooter, since the audience is so much bigger. The full press release is below, and we'd like to congratulate DICE on such successful sales. They've absolutely, positively earned it.
If you haven't checked out the demo for Eidos/Square's upcoming open world stunt-fest Just Cause 2, I have two things to say to you. 1. What the hell are you waiting for? Have you not seen the videos of Rico Rodriguez using his grappling hook to blow shit up on top of other shit? 2. You're apparently in a minority, as the developer has announced that since its release on March 4th, the demo has been downloaded over 2 million times.
The latest EA Sports MMA trailer has arrived, and while it's not exactly lengthy, there's definitely a few cool things going on. First and foremost is the spotlighting of the members of Strikeforce that are in the game. Nick Diaz, Bobby Lashley, and Brett Rogers are all pretty decent fighters that should make the roster of this game at least mildly interesting.
Sam Fisher is back, at least in playable demo form. That's right gang, Xbox Live has become the first place where you can check out the Third Echelon legend's latest misadventures as Ubisoft has delivered a brief taste of Splinter Cell: Conviction. At just under one GB of memory, there's not a whole lot required of you to test out what could arguably be called one of the year's most anticipated sequels.
