Joystiq [Playstation]

Over 8,000 updates and bug fixes in latest MAG beta update

by Griffin McElroy { 16 days ago }

Looks like a certain beta testing community hasn't neglected its duties as a stalwart lookout for bugs, errors and other unsavory in-game snafus. This morning, Zipper Interactive launched a patch for the MAG beta client which includes over 8,000 updates and bug fixes. The patch will be automatically downloaded and installed next time you hop into the Shadow War.

A brief synopsis of the important changes can be found after the jump. We elected to not include the full list of 8,000 updates, as it would have delayed this post until mid-April, at which point it would have been fairly useless to you.

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Resonance of Fate destined for Japan on January 28

by JC Fletcher { 16 days ago }

Resonance of Fate was given a North American release window of spring 2010 way back in May, leaving the question of its Japanese release (as End of Eternity) unanswered -- until just now. Sega previously launched a cute "count-up" site to reveal the date, which has finally arrived at January 28, 2010*. The official game site now shows this information, as well.

Earlier this month, producer Mitsuhiro ShimanoIn told Joystiq that, with Resonance of Fate development on schedule, Sega had the freedom to set the Japanese release date "when it's going to be the best time to fully reach the potential." Apparently, the best time is ... a month after Final Fantasy XIII?

*Note: At the time of this posting, our browser still shows that several hours remain, suggesting that the counter is based on one's local time zone.

[Via Andriasang]

Rumor: Best Buy beginning 'buy 2, get 3rd game free' sale Sunday, Oct. 25

by Christopher Grant { 16 days ago }

If you missed out on last week's Toys "R" Us or Amazon "buy two, get one" sales, a purported scan of this weekend's Best Buy circular promises a third chance. Specifically, it promises the following: "Buy 2, get the 3rd game free -- on any PS3, X360 or Wii games -- mix or match platforms, valid on any game $59.99 or less."

Snagged by NeoGAFfer Wario64, the full-page reveals tasty treats like Borderlands, Batman: Arkham Asylum, Tekken 6, and Forza 3 -- in other words, this isn't limited to a handful of games like Amazon's sale was and, we imagine, Best Buy's stock won't be as easily decimated as that of your local Toys "R" Us. You've got from this Sunday, October 25, until Halloween, the following Saturday, to take Best Buy up on its offer ... That is, if the circular is real. If not ... uh, trick or treat?

[Via Hot Blooded Gaming]

European PSN releases for October 22

by Griffin McElroy { 16 days ago }

Yeesh. To say the European PSN update hit a dry spell this week would be offensive to dry spells. Let's see, we got ... some DLC for EyePet, those ten Queen songs for Rock Band, and ... some DLC for Hannah Montana: Rock Out The Show. One piece of this downloadable content is something called a "Hannah Montana Fashion Add-on," causing us to wonder what type of fashion is present in the game without this content in place. We may never know.

Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list:

(Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)

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Dragon Age: Journeys bonus items transfer to Origins

by Griffin McElroy { 16 days ago }

You may have scoffed at the prospect of a flash-based, 2D version of BioWare's upcoming RPG epic, Dragon Age: Origins. "A browser game meant to simulate the deep, immersive emotions that arise when one plays roles," you may have said, mid-scoff. "Who would play something like that?" As it turns out, if you're looking forward to the full, three-dimensional version of Dragon Age, the answer to your query is simply: You.

A short Q&A on the Dragon Age: Journeys developers' blog cultivated an enticing bit of info about the browser adventure: if you play through it while logged into your EA account, you can gain access to three items that will transfer over to your Dragon Age: Origins save file on Xbox 360, PS3 or PC. No details were given about the items in question, but we're imagining they'll either be used to help you slay dragons, or to help you become a more profound lover.

Splitfish brings the Fragchuck back just in time for Modern Warfare

by JC Fletcher { 16 days ago }

Despite having released a product called the "fragchuck" once, and (if there's any justice) being roundly humiliated for it, gimmicky peripheral maker SplitFish is releasing a new version of its PlayStation 3 FragFX controller, called the Dual SFX Frag Pro. In addition to the ... fragchuck ... it features a 2000 dpi mouse, and loses the wire between the two halves. It'll be out at a cost of $90 on November 10, which, coincidentally, is also when Modern Warfare 2 comes out. If you like the Fragchuck but don't care for the mouse part, there's also this thing.

The good news: the more people see the word "fragchuck," the worse they'll feel about using the outmoded, kind-of gross word "frag" in general.

[Via Engadget]

Tekken 6 launch tournament promises to 'be hype'

by Griffin McElroy { 17 days ago }

If you're a fighting game enthusiast living in Southern California -- or a really big fighting game enthusiast living in Northern California -- you might want to check out the Tekken 6 launch party that's being hosted by a number of local fighting game community sites in Hawthorne, CA. Attendees who shell out for the $10 entry fee will have the chance to play the brawler on comically large screens, win some swag (such as the drool-inducing wireless fightstick bundle) and schmooze with some Namco Bandai developers.

You can be sure that we'll be in attendance -- we're going with the hopes of being able to shake the hand of the person responsible for the panda-booting screenshot above. That thing has brought so much joy into our lives, and we'd like to personally thank its progenitor.

Gallery: Tekken 6 (6/22/09)

Operation Flashpoint patch coming alongside first DLC

by Xav de Matos { 17 days ago }

Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising is set to receive a network optimization patch alongside the game's first DLC at the end of October, according to executive producer Sion Lenton. In an interview with Eurogamer, Lenton said the team at Codemasters has planned for more downloadable content, but has yet to decide what the new content will be.

"It's not a lot of fuss for us to make new content - it's actually quite easy for us to get it out there, with regards to things like levels, game modes, etc," Lenton said. What is being fussed about are the bevy of balance issues players of the military shooter have vocalized on the game's official forum. According to Lenton, the upcoming patch is set to make the game "flow a bit better." The patch comes at a good time, hoping to catch players before they "flow" directly into that other military shooter launching in November.

Gallery: Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Trivium to rock God of War III with exclusive tune

by David Hinkle { 17 days ago }

We can all admit the God of War series is pretty metal -- it's about a dude killing gods and tearing apart most of the Greek mythos' bestiary with his bare hands! And even though all of the orchestral tunes playing Kratos along his rampages have certainly been nice so far, Sony has seen fit to spice it up a bit and tap metal band Trivium for an exclusive track for God of War III.

The news was revealed by Trivium guitarist/vocalist, Matt Heafy, during an interview with Baltimore rock station 98Rock's Kid Christoff. It's definitely an "original song," Heafy said -- don't expect a tune lifted from one of the band's previous albums. If you're looking for a sneak preview, we suggest you crank this and watch this.

[Via G4]

Marvel.com spotlights upcoming Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2 sim missions, Psylocke

by Xav de Matos { 17 days ago }

In a recent blog post, Marvel.com spotlights upcoming downloadable content for the superhero action title Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2, which will add simulation missions and the previously Wii- and PS2-exclusive character Psylocke to the game. According to Marvel Games Intern Randy Ma, the katana-wielding "ninja babe" -- his awkward words, not ours -- is a welcome addition to the HD version of the game, giving Jean Grey's mind powers "a run for her money."

In the spotlight, Marvel also reveals tidbits of information for two of the game's upcoming simulation missions. Insidious Alliance pits players against some of the universe's toughest bosses in an arena-style match and adds an achievement/trophy for defeating the mission without using any health canisters, perfect for gaming masochists. According to scenario designer Mark Webster, the mission Balance is an homage to classic 2.5D brawlers like (get this!) the original X-Men arcade titles. More DLC news is expected in the coming weeks.

[Update: Corrected quote attribution]

Gallery: Psylocke in Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2

Gearbox admits Borderlands PS3 friends list glitch, fix coming 'as quickly as possible' [update]

by Randy Nelson { 17 days ago }

Update: That was quick! Gearbox's Steve Gibson sends along word that the dev has already fixed the problem: "We are very pleased to report that using PSN friends lists with the game should now work properly for all PS3 customers. The fix has been released invisibly and should work automatically for all PSN users on the PS3 platform. No special action is required by PS3 customers to apply the fix - just play the game and you'll find that everything works fine now. We thank you all for your patience and for making us aware of the issue!"

Original: There's been a bit of a kerfuffle on the official Borderlands message boards over the PS3 version of the freshly released "RPS" not displaying players' online friends properly. In fact, it's reportedly keeping a lot of folks from being able to buddy up altogether. Fortunately for them, Gearbox dev staff have taken notice of the S.O.S. thread and are working on a solution.

"We've identified the problem and are working on a fix," Gearbox software engineer Scott Velasquez wrote in response to nearly 200 posts detailing the issue. Velasquez also noted that "the friends feature was heavily tested by Gearbox and 2K. However, this particular issue we found could have never manifested itself in our or 2K's test environments."

Gearbox is hoping to fix the problem before the game launches in other territories -- which, in Europe's case, is tomorrow -- with Velasquez promising that "We are doing everything we can to get this problem addressed as quickly as possible."

Prison Break game screens unfold blueprint for escapism

by James Ransom-Wiley { 17 days ago }

Click to see how he did it!

Remember that show Prison Break? Yeah, from like the mid-Aughts or whatever. Anyway, Zootfly is making it into a video game. Today, the game's publisher, Deep Silver, released a batch of screenshots and reiterated the plot as follows:

"The protagonist of the Prison Break game is Company agent Tom Paxton. He is sent to the Fox River State Penitentiary to find out why Michael Scofield (the hero of the TV series), a man without a previous criminal record, became a bank robber. The storyline runs parallel to the first season of Prison Break: Paxton encounters several characters from the series and experiences key events from his own perspective."

But you see, we believe the screens are hinting at a far different plot -- a plot that has to be exposed. Follow along as we guide you through the (totally unofficial -- like, we made it up) blueprint for a Prison Break game ...

PRISON BREAK: The Unofficial Game Guide >>

Rumor: PAIN developer Idol Minds lays off more than half of staff

by Andrew Yoon { 17 days ago }

Idol Minds, known best for the PS3 downloadable game PAIN, has laid off more than half of its staff, according to a report by Kotaku. The original team of 46 has been reduced to a mere 20 through a series of layoffs, the latest of which affected seventeen developers.

Kotaku's sources point to budget cuts from long-time publishing partner Sony Computer Entertainment. However, it's hard to ignore the irony of the team's namesake: other than a few expansion packs to PAIN, no major releases or game announcements have come out of the studio since 2007. What this means for the future of the PAIN franchise is unclear for now. Calls to both Idol Minds and SCEA were not returned.

London's Leicester Square to host Modern Warfare 2 midnight bash

by Ludwig Kietzmann { 17 days ago }

Late-night revelers and iron-sight junkies situated near London should note that Activision plans a proper launch for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 at Leicester Square, on the night before the game's November 10 launch on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC. Hip square visitors to-be can gape at the shooter's action on the nearby ODEON's cinema screen, purchase it from the HMV Trocadero at the stroke of midnight, and then give Tom Cruise a solid high five on the way home.

There's also talk of a secret VIP party in an underground bunker, set to feature "one of the UK's biggest male artists of 2009." Don't tell anyone, but we heard they'll also have dedicated servers there. They'll bring you whatever drink you want.

Report: Average CoD World at War player has spent $9 on DLC [update]

by Ben Gilbert { 17 days ago }

If there were any doubt left in your mind that Call of Duty is a popular franchise, a recent report from Gamasutra should firmly cement the fact in your mind. According to the piece, Call of Duty: World at War's three DLC packs digitally pushed 6.5 million units between March and mid-August of 2009 across the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.

As you might imagine, those kind of numbers add up to a lot of extra revenue for the mega-publisher – the piece approximates a cool $45 million. Taking that one step further, the average cost of each box of CoD: WaW sold at retail becomes $65. We're not sure if that number accounts for the chunk taken out by Microsoft and Sony respectively for distribution, but even cut in half that's still a nice chunk of change.

So today, we'd like to officially announce that we're changing the site's name to Call of Duty: Joystiq. Call it a strategic business move – it's all about brand recognition, people!

Update: To be clear, the $45 million number is an approximation by Gamasutra, put together with information from NPD, EEDAR, and Activision PR. It was apparently calculated by taking 65% of 7 million units at $10 a piece, without accounting for giveaways or bundles.

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