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Christian Games + Wal-Mart + Texas = "X"

2009-11-05T20:00:00Z

...Where "X" is whatever image pops into your head at the thought of Texans going crazy at Wal-Mart for Christian-themed video games. Me? I go to my "happy place" and only see puppies. With chainsaws. Who want to kill me and keep me from finding a good man to marry.

But "happy place" or no, 100 Wal-Mart stores in Texas have participated in a "pilot release" experiment for Christian-themed game developer Left Behind Games, and sales have been unprecedented: in two weeks the company has sold 25% of its inventory in and around Houston and Dallas.

CEO Try Lyndon prophesied further success for the faith-based gaming industry:

At the rate Wal-Mart inventory is moving, they will be out of games before Christmas, unless they reorder. With seven weeks remaining, and accelerated sales expected as we near the holidays, we believe test results will be favorable leading to a broader national market for Christian based PC games.

The Left Behind games are based on the controversial convert or die books set at the End of Days, during which all remaining humans must choose to fight on the side of good or evil. In-game, evil includes secularists and rock music, both of which can tempt your Christian soldiers to the dark side if they don't pray hard enough. I'm not sure if gays crop up as villains in any of the games, but there's always hope for more sequels, right?

Left Behind: Eternal Forces was also sent to active-duty members of the US military by an official arm of the Defense Department.

Is the mothership here yet? I'm scared.

Not Many Christian Games Left Behind in Wal-Mart [GamePolitics]

Grenade Spam Or Not, MW2 Sets Pre-Order Record

2009-11-05T00:00:00Z

One thing's for certain, Infinity Ward's Fight Against Grenade Spam video may have hurt feelings, but it didn't hurt pre-order sales. GameStop executive Tony Bartel announced that Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 has broken the record for most copies pre-ordered at GameStop:

"By all indicators, we anticipate Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 will be the biggest entertainment launch of all time... As of today, the number of pre-order reservations we've taken for the game is the highest for any title we've ever sold in our 6,200 store network."

Activision's devoted campaign to sell the game also has 2,600 Walmart stores holding midnight launches, while the people at Amazon have been ordered to search for the most Call of Duty-est town in America and the $5,000 charity contribution which that title will earn the "lucky" town. (The list is a little scary.)

UK sales are also expected to break records, notably GTA IV's record of 926,000 copies sold in one week. With 500,000 UK preorders, the projected first week UK sales of 1.7 million copies doesn't seem too far-fetched.

For what it's worth, MW2 has been getting plenty of flack for non-gay-related controversies, like one scene that has an undercover CIA officer perform terrorist atrocities at an airport:

"The way that the plot is likely being handled comes across with a lot of the wrong messages, and shows a poor method of thinking when it comes to the sensitivity of the issue."

What does this mean? Sales trump sensitivity any day.

'Modern Warfare 2' invades Game Hunters [GameHunters]

Watch Out 1971, It's REO Speedwagon: The Videogame!

2009-11-04T20:00:00Z

This is the End of Days, friends.

REO Speedwagon (that's a band, kids) and developer Merscom are releasing... a hidden object adventure game... called Find Your Own Way Home... for the PC and Mac... starring a hip Hollywood reporter named Ruby... on assignment with the band... who has to locate the band's missing leader.

No, that isn't just a chill - that's the Dark One's own touch on your spine, and it heralds the end of the freaking world. In case the picture isn't speaking for itself:

In Find Your Own Way Home, the player takes the role of Ruby, a hip Hollywood reporter for the entertainment television program, Entertainment Now. For the past few weeks, Ruby has been on assignment with the legendary rock band, REO Speedwagon. On the day the game takes place, the band is releasing their new CD at a star-studded album release party. Ruby is on assignment for Entertainment Now, and as her busy day is unfolding, as she prepares for the nightly broadcast and launch party, Kevin Cronin, the band's leader, goes missing. The player has the chance to be the hero by tracking down clues to locate the missing star, and getting everyone to the party on time.

Just in case you were wondering, and I feel certain that you were, the game will use several instrumental tracks from the band's music, including previously unreleased recordings. No full songs though - can't have you distracted from finding that "Old Boot" by the chorus of a power ballad like "Can't Stop Loving You." A song the meaning of which, I can't help but prophecy, won't be a problem for this game.

New REO Speedwagon PC Game [VE3D]

Warhammer Removes Time Limit From Free Trial

2009-11-02T20:00:00Z

The latest newsletter from Mythic announces that commitment-phobic and/or thrifty gamers will be able to enjoy the 10 day free trial of Warhammer Online for more than ten days - indefinitely, in fact.

No, this doesn't mean you'll get to play the whole game for free, but you'll have unlimited free access to the starting areas, AKA Tier 1 areas, AKA the new streamlines "New User Journey" being introduced in the 1.3.2 Path of Conquest update.

The New User Journey places all new players in their respective Empire or Chaos starting area regardless of race, offers a new voiceover to explain the major gameplay concepts, and revises content and quest flow for the starting areas. New players will also be auto-guilded in "new player guilds," which should lubricate things socially.

Never enough of that, is there?

Canadian Judge Takes Boy's Wii Over Bail Money

2009-10-30T19:00:00Z

A 12-year old Canadian lad was ordered to give up his Wii as bail after repeated run-ins with the law and infractions that include smashing school windows, pool cue head-beatings and punching classmates.

So Judge Marvin Garfinkle allowed the kid to go free as long as he keeps his court appearances and adheres to other release conditions like living with his meemaw - but the judge claimed the boy's prized Wii as bail.

The lil rascal's lawyer, Serena Puranen, insists that her colicky client isn't a bad egg, he's just "repeatedly finds himself in the middle of sticky situations."

"I know it doesn't look good," Serena Puranen said. "I've never seen him enraged, I've never seen him upset. He's a 12-year-old who is generally quite scared."

Listen, if some funny-named Canadian judge took away a game system every time I found myself in the middle of a sticky situation, I'd be playing Gears of Coconuts with my bestie Wilson the volleyball. Then again, this could be a wake-up to Nintendo to further reduce the price of the Wii: when your system becomes collateral for nefarious criminals like the Winnipeg Bandit here, you've gotta rethink your value strategy.

Wii Bails Out Felonious Juvenile [GamePolitics]

Atlus: Demon's Souls Gets Even Harder For Halloween

2009-10-29T23:00:00Z

I've got to hand it to Atlus USA, they've been sending out some of the funniest press releases this side of Tinycorp's weekly "Reasons To Be Glad Your Loved One Is Dead" mailings.

Apparently, hella hard Demon's Souls is going to get hella harder on All Hallow's Eve, and Atlus is warning all you heroes of Boletaria that the Old One's power will grow that night:

"Early reports from the Kingdom of Boletaria indicate that the Old One's power grows," announced Aram Jabbari, Manager of PR and Sales for Atlus, shuffling awkwardly under the weight of his full set of fluted armor. "We've discovered that the nefarious Demon will seek to descend the land in pure blackness on All Hallow's Eve. His minions will be more powerful, but the rewards for those who seek to challenge them will be greater as well. We don't know how long this dark tendency will last, but we do advise those prone to controller-into-LCD syndrome to proceed carefully." Jabbari then cackled as he quickly put a Thief's ring on his finger and disappeared.

The quick and dirty of tweaking the world tendency is that you'll have lower health while your foes have more health and attack power - but the loot will be better.

So if you're like me and are intimidated by challenging gameplay, maybe play a little Flower this Halloween instead. Or if you're TOTALLY HARDCORE, you know, go do that.

Slideshow: Epic Mickey

2009-10-29T19:00:00Z

While it isn't exactly gameplay, and it certainly isn't annotated, this debut slideshow of Epic Mickey takes a baby step in the direction of curiosity-satisfaction. It does contain a few of the annotated screenshots - or similar ones - although it sheds no light on why the "Bunny Kids" look just like the Rabbids.

We do get a closer look at Mickey's, um, rival, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, immortalized in cartoon stained glass. I would totally be a bad guy if it meant sexy pictures of me in stained glass. Wouldn't you?

Happy Birthday, PS2!

2009-10-28T19:00:00Z

The PS2 celebrated its ninth birthday this week, counting from its October 26 launch way back in 2000. In that time nearly 10,000 titles from more than 485 developers have made their way to the system - which resides in one out of every three households in the US and is played by 140 million gamers worldwide.

The SOCOM series alone has logged over 530 million hours of online game time, equaling 60,000 years of online play. 60,000 years of Navy SEALs, people. And with its sub-$100 sticker price and devoted following, there's every chance the PS2 will be here to celebrate its "Bot" Mitzvah in a few years.

Brütal Legend DLC

2009-10-27T23:00:00Z

November shall see the first downloadable content for Brütal Legend, when Double Fine and EA release the Tears of the Hextadon map pack, on November 3 for the Xbox 360, priced at 400 MP, and two days later on November 5 for the PSN.

Attention! The PSN version will be free to download for the first two weeks - after November 19 it will cost $5 or £3.99.

Tears of the Hextadon adds two new maps to the Brütal mültiplayer experience - in the first, "Circle of Tears," vile waters have created challenging terrain that you'll need to overcome to destroy your opponent/friends. The second, "Death's Fjord," places players on an icy mountaintop overlooking a horde of fans waiting to be harvested by either side.

Downloading the map pack will also earn you a new axe, the Blade of Ormagöden. Check out the official site for more, or make the jump for the PR word.

]]> DOUBLE FINE AND EA GET ROCKING WITH FIRST DOWNLOADABLE CONTENT FOR BRÜTAL LEGEND
Tears Of The Hextadon Map Pack Unleashes Two New Multiplayer Maps In November

Guildford, UK - October 27, 2009 - Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ:ERTS) and Double Fine Productions Inc. will turn up the volume come November when the first downloadable content is released for the heavy metal, third person action game, Brütal Legend™. Tears of the Hextadon will be available on Xbox LIVE® on November 3 for 400 MS Points and on PlayStation Network® on November 5, where the two-map pack will be downloadable for free until November 19, then costing £3.99 after November 19.

The Brütal Legend Tears of the Hextadon map pack expands the Brütal Legend Stage Battle multiplayer experience with two new multiplayer maps. In the first map, Circle of Tears, vile waters have carved a rough-hewn circular battlefield into a forsaken land that players must circumvent to destroy their opponent. In the second map, Death's Fjord, players find themselves on an icy mountain pass with a dense cluster of fans that lie below, waiting to be harvested by those brave enough to capture them without cover from enemy attack. All players who download the new map pack will receive a free axe, the Blade of Ormagöden.

"I play Brütal Legend online every night," said Tim Schafer, President of Double Fine Productions. "And I need more maps! Circle of Tears is named after the crying of my vanquished foes on the battlefield, and Death's Fjord is obviously a tribute to my Nordic ancestors, and their love of fan geysers and... Well, actually I just thought the name was cool. See you online!"

Brütal Legend has received acclaim by critics worldwide, with PLAY Magazine scoring Brütal Legend a perfect 10 out of 10, calling it the, "greatest video game ever created". IGN also praised Brütal Legend, giving it 9 out of 10 and awarding it Editor's Choice, calling it, "one of the best games all year Brütal Legend is available for RRP £49.99 on the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system and PlayStation®3 computer entertainment system. Brütal Legend is rated 18+ by PEGI.

For more information on Brütal Legend and to sign up for the Brütal Legend newsletter, please visit www.brutallegend.com. To follow Brütal Legend on Twitter please visit http://twitter.com/brutallegend

Watch Folks Win Stuff In The International Dragon Age Competition

2009-10-26T23:00:00Z

BioWare is holding a 24 hour gaming event called "Wardens Quest" that will invite North American and European gamerkin to enjoin a contest and potentially win $12,500 in prize money. Starting on October 28 at 10pm GMT/3am PST, ten preselected teams of four players each will have 24 whole hours to complete their quest, with each member of the winning team winning $12,500.

Check out the video at WardensQuest.com - the teams will compete in London, England, and while you may not be among them, you'll be able to cheer on your national team, etc. Watch other people win money!

Elder Scrolls V Teaselet?

2009-10-26T19:00:00Z

As teases go, this is about as threadbare as can be: the book blurb for an upcoming Elder Scrolls novel supposedly contains the following teaser for an Oblivion sequel:

"A novel that takes places forty-five years after the Oblivion Crisis, which is the story of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion game and the expansion pack Shivering Isles. It partly bridges the gap for the next game, which is set 200 years after the Oblivion crisis."

This from Waterstone's The Elder Scrolls: Infernal City, available in paperback on November 27. The blurb has since been reblurbified not to ignite passion in the hearts of gamers, and is now just a blurb.

Having poured dozens and dozens of hours of my life into the Elder Scrolls' universe, the prospect of a (totally unsurprising but still exciting) new romp through Tamriel has me chomping at the bit, never mind that Bethesda's told us that TES5 won't be out any time soon, if ever.

Elder Scrolls V Tease? [VE3D]

Mass Effect 2 Coming Jan 26, Pre-Order Ordinance

2009-10-16T19:00:00Z

EA and Bioware have announced that Mass Effect 2 will continue the tale of Mr/Ms Commander Sheperd on January 26, 2010, and January 29 for the UK.

Of course, no triple-A title release would be complete without pre-order bonuses to tempt your early $5-down and fluff up the pre-sales numbers nicely. For Mass Effect 2 you'll score yourself the Terminus Armor - pictured - which boosts speed, shields, weapon damage and inventory space. That's more than a bonus, if you spent as much time as I did during the first game getting your shielding raped to pieces.

Also slightly more-than-bonusy is the M-90 Blackstorm Heavy Weapon, which pounds out a miniature gravity well. Nothing like having your opponents shredded into quantum spaghetti before your very eyes, is there?

The particularly rabid fan will enjoy refreshing the Mass Effect 2 Twitter feed at regular intervals throughout the day.

Mass Effect 2 Coming January 26 With Pre-Order Bonuses [GameLife]

Cobain Parody Video Yanked, Activision Shows Iota Of Decency, Sorta

2009-10-15T23:00:00Z

Ok, maybe not decency per se, but at least the good sense to know that the Guitar Hero 5/Kurt Cobain mess doesn't need any more embarrassing footage of the beloved grunge rocker being pimped eight ways from Sunday.

A fan-created montage of in-game footage showed Cobain whoring it out as Flavor Flav and Bon Jovi (as XBLA avatars and Cobain-clones joined in the fun) has been taken down from YouTube at the request of Activision, which cited a copyright claim.

But the damage was done well before the video was removed - Guitar Hero 5 has been lambasted by fans and crazy hookers alike for making Cobain a playable character with whom the player can perform songs by other artists - something anyone even distantly aware of the dead Nirvana front man could tell you was a horrible, terrible, soul-selling idea. The kind of soul-selling idea that - probably - influenced his suicide in the first place.

The YouTube user who posted the video has been banned, but video posts from his new account name, corporalgregg3, are all of Guitar Hero competitor Rock Band. Even in triumph, Activision loses face.

Kurt Cobain Parody Vid Taken Down on Activision's Request [Kotaku]

Publishers Sue R4 Makers En Masse

2009-10-15T19:00:00Z

Last year Nintendo won an injunction from a Tokyo court against distributors of the R4 flash cartridge for the Nintendo DS, which can be used to play pirated DS game files. But the injunction had little to no effect, so now Nintendo, Capcom, and 53 other game publishers have filed suit against four specific manufacturers of the R4.

Capcom issued a statement declaring its expectations for "the entire society":

We are expecting the entire society including users to recognize that our company and other software manufactures have extremely sustained damages from proliferation of illegal instruments, such as the Game Copying Devices, and the computer industries have sustained serious damages because of those vendors, and we expect to influence the society to eliminate such illegal instruments from the market.

I think that it's wonderful to have great expectations. Wanna know what I expect, as long as we're aiming high? I expect Nintendo to admit that the R4 makers have cracked its anticircumvention measures - the neat little technological trick that enables the whole DS software piracy movement in the first place. But since that would result in the kind of open culture that encourages new solutions rather than silently perpetuating old mistakes, I won't hold my breath.

And while the 55 software publishers in the suit, filed in Japan under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, have every right to stem the hemorrhaging shrinkage that comes from software piracy, I wouldn't hold my breath there either. Even a decisive win won't stop DS piracy - I'd like to hear what technological solutions, rather than legal, Nintendo is working on and why they weren't implemented in the newish DSi hardware.

Game Publishers File Suit Over DS Cartridges [GamePolitics]

Video: Dragon Age Origins Brood Mother

2009-10-14T19:00:00Z

I'm dying to play Dragon Age: Origins, but up until recently the previews for the game have focused on spectacularly unoriginal design elements like inter-character romances (and what one female character will think if you flirt with another female character - such gameplay!).

And while we do know that there will be some kind of hot man-on-man romance action in the game, pardon me for hoping that the main action of the game will be neat, too.

So it's nice to see something interesting in this Brood Mother trailer. I'm not quite sure what's going on, other than some kind of Grendel's Mother/Angrboda Oedipal nightmarishness. But really, that's all I need to feel comfortable that Dragon Age won't end up like a renfaire version of Sex & the City.