EnGames

May 15, 2009

Jerry Bruckheimer Games explodes onto scene Halo 3

MTV and Hollywood movie baron Jerry Bruckheimer made their union official this morning, lifting the 17-month shroud of secrecy off their joint venture, oh-so-creatively dubbed Jerry Bruckheimer Games. The new studio will be steered by former Microsoft exec and Halo 3 executive producer, Jim Veevaert, as the company's president of production. Veevaert will share the wheel with Jay Cohen, who joined the studio in March, his role now revealed as the company's president of development.

What Cohen and company will be developing exactly, however, remains a mystery, with the studio saying only that it will create original IPs that "convey and reflect the high standards of entertainment value set by Jerry Bruckheimer." For fans of shaky cams and explosions, one thing's for certain -- finally there's a studio out there with your best interests at heart.

May 14, 2009

'Call of Duty 7' revealed

Duty is a hell of a thing. It's always calling you to it, and it would appear that Activision is already in production of the Treyarch follow-up to Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare 2, as is the company's pattern. And that's where David Kim's LinkedIn profile comes into play (check out his personal site here), which mentions that he's currently working as senior animator on Call of Duty 7.

With Modern Warfare 2 expected to deploy this holiday season, though, we likely won't hear anything substantial on this new Call of Duty for some time. But, considering how Activision likes to pump out the sequels to its key franchises, it's probably a safe bet to expect Call of Duty 7 sometime in 2010. We actually knew that before this listing popped up.

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Sep 26, 2008

Lego Batman PS2 bundle available now for $150

The PS2 Lego Batman bundle is now available, which was originally announced at E3 2008. The package will retail for $150 and includes the slim PS2 console with Lego Batman and Justice League: The New Frontier DVD.

Next bundle we'd like to see from Sony: PS3 bundled with PS2. Or the return of backwards compatibility ... just sayin'.

Sep 25, 2008

Metareview - Pure

We're been excited for Pure since E3, when we first got our hands on the ATV racer. Built by Blackrock Studios (formerly known as Climax Racing) Pure is gorgeous, with a Burnout-esque structure and a "why has no one thought of this" boosting risk/reward system that's just brilliant. Here's what the rest of the internet thought:

GameDaily (90/100): "When it comes right down to it, though, Pure has some of the best racing action we've seen all year. The throttling gameplay, gorgeous presentation and sweet multiplayer options make it a ride you cannot miss."
IGN (86/100): "Pure delivers an outrageous, arcadey off-road racing experience with style and slickness. The controls are intuitive, the tracks are pure eye candy and the tricks are so crazy and over-the-top that you'll find yourself gasping with glee when you land your first Lazy Girl."
1UP (83/100): "Thrilling on the ground, downright heart-stopping in the air, and beautiful throughout, Pure's a blast from start to finish. A career mode would've gone further than the game's 'World Tour' in fully eliminating repetitiveness, but Black Rock has otherwise built a real winner here."
Gameplanet (85/100): "This is a great example of what can be achieved if fun is the primary aim. Massive tricks, amazing scenery, hugely modifiable bikes - what more do you want?"

Sep 17, 2008

Travelling Without Moving wants your videogame photos

It seems that, these days, the video game industry doesn't place much of a premium on exploration for exploration's sake. Oh sure, you can get an achievement or trophy for uncovering enough of a map, but it seems that's detracted from the simpler joy of just finding what you can find.

A new web project, "Traveling Without Moving," doesn't see things that way. It's looking for pictures by gamers from games, a collaborative travelogue of images from every corner of the virtual world. If you need examples, the project's creator has begun documenting his own travels here.

Yes, it's in its infancy and yes, it may be that some of you can't make the distinction between meaningful photo and screenshot. But if Traveling Without Moving works the way it's intended, you might find yourself once again combing the digital hillsides for little more than the satisfaction of having been there.

Harmonix: 'No immediate plans' to put Jukebox Mode back into Rock Band 2

We were admittedly pretty bummed when our copy of Rock Band 2 was lacking a Jukebox mode, which would let our game go on autopilot while our virtual avatars rock out and we have some jamming party tunes and some fun visuals. The official word from Harmonix via a forum post is that the mode "was removed ... in the final stages of development. We have no immediate plans to bring this feature back to the platform in the future." The posting also reaffirmed that the 20 free DLC songs are still coming later this fall.

Sep 10, 2008

Ubisoft Announces Far Cry 2 Preorder Edition

Want more variety in your AAA-game special editions? Of course you do. In a press release today, Ubisoft announced a new Limited Preorder Edition of Far Cry 2 exclusive to GameStop stores. This isn't the Limited Edition we reported on Friday; instead it's regularly priced and only available for pre-ordering at GameStop. The Preorder Edition comes packed with six bonus missions promising about three extra hours of gameplay, a fold-out map, and exclusive packaging. We have no word on whether this new packaging is the same wooden box promised with the other LE set.

In the same press release, the company reconfirmed the game's previously reported October 21 release date, so you'll know when to order by. So which is more important to you: a t-shirt, art book, and DVD, or three hours of bonus missions? Or if you preorder the Limited Edition, do you get both the Limited Edition and Preorder Edition contents? What's the end result of all of this special edition mixing and matching? Our heads just exploded.

PS3 Rock Band Also Getting Export Feature

Do you remember the song export feature we reported on last week that will allow Rock Band songs to be played on Rock Band 2? Do you remember how it was only available for the Xbox 360? Well, that's changing this week.

According to the official Rock Band forums, PlayStation 3 users will be able to download a patch this Thursday that will include the song export feature and finally make the Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock Les Paul controller compatible with Rock Band.

Harmonix hasn't indicated whether or not PlayStation 3 users will have to pay the additional $5 in licensing fees to export the songs to the sequel, but since the sequel is not coming out on that system for an extra month, we have some time to find out. We're guessing yes.

Sep 4, 2008

MMO features that haven't made it into Warhammer Online

Among the legions of fortunate Warhammer Online fans that have played through beta and the preview weekend is Syp from the Waaagh! blog. He's always entertaining and it's clear he's passionate about Warhammer Online. So when he writes about features in other MMOs that he'd like to see in WAR, you know he's not bashing a game that's not even out of the gate yet. Rather, he's genuinely looking at ways the game could be better.

Syp puts forth his ideal WAR feature set, which includes capturable and trainable pets similar to World of Warcraft's system and the player-created content and sidekicks of City of Heroes. Syp would also like to see WAR include an in-game music player like EVE Online, and other features drawn from Everquest 2 and Lord of the Rings Online. Have a look at the Waaagh! "10 features" post and see if you agree with him on what could make Warhammer Online a better title.

The Daily Grind: From MMO to TV Show?

So we've talked before about TV shows that you'd like to see as MMOs, and numerous times in our ongoing dialogue the connection between television and MMOs have been made. Just yesterday a new IP MMO was announced, bringing Buffy Summers to the world of XP and zoning. What we'd like to ask you about today is just the opposite. Though it sounds like Sci-Fi Channel is attempting to hybridize the two mediums, we know we'd love to see some TV shows based on our favorite MMOs. We'll throw out the gimme: wouldn't a World of Warcraft animated series be fantastic?

What would you like to see? An EQ-based comedy/drama? Maybe a Tabula Rasa war epic? Throw out your ideas for a TV show based on an MMO in the comments!