Joystiq [Playstation]

US Air Force to purchase 2200 more PS3s

by Andrew Yoon { 34 minutes ago }

You may laugh at the "It Only Does Everything" ads but those of us with a cot in the Joystiq Bunker understand that they're a sign that the end is nigh. Why? Because the US military is looking to make a super computer made up of 2500 interconnected PS3 systems -- wait, isn't that how Skynet is made?

The US Air Force already has over 300 launch PS3s in its arsenal, but an upcoming purchase of 2200 additional systems will greatly expand the number-crunching capabilities of its networked supercomputer. According to Information Week, the US Air Force will use Sony's Cell-powered hardware for radar imagery, HD video processing and "neuromorphic computing" or, to those of us without a PhD in Armageddon-ology, "building computers with brain-like properties."

Yeah, we told you the end was coming.

EA Montreal shifting focus to 'big, blockbuster-type titles'

by David Hinkle { 1 hour ago }

According to comments made to Edge by EA Montreal general manager Alain Tascan, you can expect more big action titles like Army of Two: The 40th Day from the studio. While previous Wii games, including Skate It, Boogie Superstar and the recently released Need for Speed: Nitro, have enjoyed acceptable levels of success, Tascan believes that targeting HD consoles with "fewer and bigger things" might yield improved results. It's a prudent approach, no doubt stemming from the publisher's recent layoffs.

Tascan explains that the Wii market is "a little bit unpredictable these days," further encouraging a shift to additional "big, blockbuster-type titles." We probably don't need Tascan to point out that Army of Two is "the most successful original IP EA has had in the last few years," since it's the first to get a big, blockbuster sequel ahead of Dead Space and -- can we dream? -- Mirror's Edge.

Famitsu: Cody, Adon, and Guy join Super Street Fighter IV

by JC Fletcher { 1 hour ago }

We thought the Haggar billboard and Metro City license plate in the new car-smashing bonus stage would be the only Final Fight nods in Super Street Fighter IV. Scans from Famitsu show that Final Fight's two shirt-wearing protagonists, Cody and Guy, will appear as playable fighters in the game. The appearance of Adon, along with Cody's striped prison getup, means that the fighters are appearing in their Street Fighter Alpha incarnations. Well, those clues and the heading on the article saying that the three characters are from that series.

A sidebar in Famitsu shows Cody parrying a kunai, suggesting that Street Fighter III favorite Ibuki might be joining the fight as well. You remember Street Fighter III, right?

[Thanks, Richard 2.6!]

Ubisoft: Assassin's Creed II sold 1.6 million in first week

by Griffin McElroy { 2 hours ago }

A recent Ubisoft press release has revealed that the company is just so darn proud of its latest bundle of joy, Assassin's Creed II. According to the publisher's own internal estimates, the game has sold 1.6 million units worldwide in its first week of availability -- a 32 percent increase over the launch week sales of Assassin's Creed the First. The company also touted the game's impressive critical reception, highlighting the game's 94 percent user rating on Gamespot and an average critic's rating of 91 percent on GameRankings.com.

We're glad to hear Assassin's Creed II is doing so well despite being the follow-up to a fairly polarizing blockbuster. Also, here's a cool Digital Foundry time-lapse video showing off the game's day and night cycles. Yeah, we know that has nothing to do with what we were just talking about. Deal with it. We drop non sequiturs like Ezio Auditore drops corrupt, 15th century Italian noblemen.

Tesla guitarist reveals 'Modern Day Cowboy' headed for Guitar Hero 6

by Xav de Matos { 13 hours ago }

Rockers of the classic '80s band Tesla claim to be included in the yet-to-be announced (but you totally saw it coming) Guitar Hero 6. In an interview with Brave Words & Blood Knuckles, guitarist Dave Rude revealed "Modern Day Cowboy" -- from the band's 1986 debut album Mechanical Resonance -- will be included in the music title. Rude noted the song was one of three suggestions the band made to Activision when they were pursued to be included.

While some (completely talentless) acts have decried the popularity of music games such as Guitar Hero, Rude feels the genre is an important step for up-and-coming rockers. "I think it's a good thing," Rude said. "Even if people don't learn to play guitar, it's exposing them to all sorts of cool guitar-based music that they wouldn't have ever heard otherwise." You hear that Kroeger? Stop crying ... and writing the same song over and over and over again.

Rumor: Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep not releasing on PSN

by David Hinkle { 16 hours ago }

There's a rumor circulating around the wild wild web right now that says Square Enix may not be looking to offer Kingdom of Hearts: Birth by Sleep via digital distribution on PSN, possibly adding insult to injury for all PSP Go owners out there. The rumor originated from Twitter user Magunus, who apparently attended a recent PlayStation event in Japan (we can't figure out which event this is referring to, and there's no mention on the official Japanese blog) where a clerk confirmed it, citing "copyright issues."

This strikes us as odd not only because of the tenuous nature by which this has been reported, but because a lot of Disney Interactive's titles have been made available via digital distribution in the past. We've contacted both Square Enix and Disney Interactive about this and will be sure to let you know what we hear back.

[Via Sankaku Complex (site NSFW)]

Undead Labs creating zombie MMO for consoles

by Justin McElroy { 17 hours ago }

Poor zombies. By hungering for nothing so much as our brain matter, they've turned themselves into the most widely-slaughtered video game villains after Nazis and spiders. Now a start-up developer called Undead Labs is taking the zombie genre to the next logical step with a currently untitled zombie-based MMO made specifically for consoles.

In the announcement, company boss Jeff Strain said "Every time I see a good zombie movie with friends, we spend days debating our strategies for surviving the zombie apocalypse. The police station, or the supermarket? Garden rake, or staple gun? Bach, or the White Stripes? I'm a game developer, so I'd probably be useless for anything other than ghoul bait, but I'm excited to have the opportunity to build an MMOZ that lets us put those strategies to the test and find out for sure."

Strain, who helped found ArenaNet and was the executive producer for NCsoft's Guild Wars, certainly has the right pedigree for a project like this. But it's hard to say if this will be the ultimate zombie experience, or the title that finally (re)buries zombies for good. Here's hoping it's the former.

LittleBigPlanet Creator's Edition DLC delayed, producer apologizes

by Xav de Matos { 17 hours ago }

Budding LittleBigPlanet PSP level designers who invested in the game's Creator's Edition were promised exclusive DLC via a redemption code included in the package; however, technical issues have made the content unavailable, according to senior producer Mark Green. In a letter posted on the PlayStation UK blog, Green apologized for the "technical hurdles," promising the content would release in early December with additional bonuses, as an apology for the wait.

"We need to ensure that these issues are resolved properly so that you have the best possible experience with the game," Green wrote. The content is currently undergoing a "rigorous" quality assurance process and should be made available around December 7 -- unless other hurdles come up. So, just a few more weeks until Creator's Edition players are able to develop their exclusive (and probably phallic) levels.

BioShock cosplay recreates Rapture at the Aquarium

by David Hinkle { 18 hours ago }

Sometimes an idea is just so good, you can hardly believe you came up with it. That must be how Harrison Krix felt after creating the elaborate and awesome Big Daddy costume you see above -- not since BioShock released have we been so eager to heap praise on something. Well, Mr. Krix, we hope you suffocate on our affection, because taking your costume to the Georgia Aquarium for some underwater snapshots has to be the best idea ever.

If you're scratching your head, wondering just where you've seen these two before, let us help you: right here on our website. Krix's girlfriend (holding another of his creations in the pic above, the ADAM syringe) is quite the cosplayer, which initially got Krix into the game of making things from games. Take notes, gents! That's how you woo the ladies.

[Via Geekologie]

LittleBigPlanet PSP coming out on PSN tomorrow, patch available now

by Griffin McElroy { 18 hours ago }

This past week has been one long LittleBigDisappointment for early PSP Go adopters due to unforeseen technical snafus which prevented SCE Studio Cambridge's adorable platformer from jumping onto the PSN. Fortunately, the latest "Sack it to Me" news update brings word that the game will finally be available to download tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 24.

Perhaps even more newsworthy than that is the fact that the studio has already launched a patch for the title which "will improve the performance of some of the physics and tools in the Create mode." To download the game-specific update -- a fairly new feature on the handheld -- make sure you're connected to the internet, select the game's icon on the XMB, press Triangle, and select "Update." Now, sit back, and prepare to witness unthinkable technowizardry in the palm of your hand. Or hands, should you still be using the original double-wide PSP.

Get a free DivX movie with these 5 not-so-easy steps

by Andrew Yoon { 18 hours ago }

If you're willing to download a program for your computer, then register an account at DivX.com, and then find a product registration code from your PS3, and then download a file to a flash drive to copy onto your PS3, and then use said file to initiate an activation process ... you'll be able to download one of these movies for free: Ace Ventura: Pet Detective, Two Weeks Notice, The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants, Batman Begins and Green Lantern: First Flight.

Yeah that's a lot of hoops to jump through just to get to a collection of mostly outdated films. You might be better off saving your time by going to the PlayStation Store and renting something from there instead.

[Thanks, Davis F.! Via EL33TONLINE]

Marvel vs. Capcom 2 defeated HD Remix in sales battle

by JC Fletcher { 19 hours ago }

Capcom and Udon Entertainment spent years redrawing and re-balancing Super Street Fighter II Turbo for its HD Remix version. Later, Capcom announced and released a port of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 over the course of a few months, with filters on the original sprites. Guess which one sold better?

"We have three titles that have drastically over-performed our expectations," Capcom's VP of strategic planning and business development Christian Svensson told GamesIndustry.biz. "The most recent of which was Marvel vs Capcom 2, which we didn't expect to exceed Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo HD Remix's numbers, but it has."

One IP that hasn't quite exceeded Capcom's expectations in the west is Monster Hunter. The company is working to turn that around with events like Monster Hunter Tri University designed to familiarize press with the workings of the series. "We are strategically investing in the brand in the West," Svensson explained, "because we know that as a company we're going to continue to be creating Monster Hunter content, so it behooves us to do what it takes to make it stick here." In other words, Japanese sales ensure that Capcom is going to continue making the things, so Capcom might as well try to sell them outside of Japan as well.

Gallery: Marvel vs Capcom 2

Gobble up this LittleBigPlanet Turkey costume before it's gone

by Griffin McElroy { 19 hours ago }

Perhaps you've been playing an online session of LittleBigPlanet and seen a Sackboy (or Sackgirl) with his (or her) head stuck inside of a turkey. You're probably curious as to how this bold fashion statement came to pass. Were they searching for a lost meat thermometer? Had they been the victim of a cruel practical joke? Were they afflicted with the rare, but deadly Meleagris Oblongatus virus?

As it turns out, the real source of these turkeyheaded individuals isn't really that scintillating. Media Molecule handed them out free of charge last Thanksgiving -- and, according to a recent post on PlayStation.Blog, the offer stands this year as well. Hop onto LBP to get your fowl chapeau from the LittleBigStore, but act quick -- it'll only be available for "a limited time."

Rumor: Uncharted movie gets new writers

by Justin McElroy { 21 hours ago }

Last we heard about the movie version of Uncharted, it was in the hands of writer Kyle Ward, who most recently penned the big screen adaptation of Kane and Lynch. According to a rumor being reported by LatinoReview.com, Ward has been removed by Sony and producer Avi Arad, who didn't want to wait on the script while Ward finished his current project, Hitman 2.

Reportedly, Sony is considering filling his slot with Thomas Dean Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer, the duo that's currently writing a relaunch of Conan.

The bigger surprise, of course, is that movies based on video games have scripts. Who knew?

Join Joystiq's MAG army and get a free beta code

by Andrew Yoon { 21 hours ago }

MAG is a pretty ridiculous title, but it does perfectly sum up what the game is all about. Massive Action Game is the first console game to feature 128 vs. 128 online multiplayer matches, which you'll be able to try tomorrow with the debut of beta 4.5.

We want you to join the Joystiq army: a 128-person squad of loyal Joystiq readers ready to represent us online. The PlayStation Network will tremble, with the Joystiq team striking fear into all that dare to step into MAG. Together, world domination will be ours!*

But, you say you're not in the MAG beta? Well, we'll fix that right now! Become a Joystiq fan on Facebook and you'll be able to score yourself a code.