Joystiq [Playstation]

European PSN releases for March 11

by Alexander Sliwinski { 3 days ago }

Mega Man 10 is here, do you need anything else? Yes? Well, click past the jump to see all of this week's offerings!

Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list:

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

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Bad Company 2 to offer free March 30 'mapathy' cure

by David Hinkle { 3 days ago }

Oh man, EA's pursuit of Modern Warfare 2 just got hot, as DICE has announced via the Battlefield Blog that on March 30 -- the same day the Stimulus Package DLC will boost Modern Warfare 2's map count -- Battlefield: Bad Company 2's VIP members will receive the free "VIP Map Pack 2," which adds a Conquest mode scenario to the Arica Harbor map and Rush mode to Laguna Presa.

Both maps aren't new to the game, however neither has been available for play in the "unlocked" game modes noted above. So, that kinda qualifies as a "map pack," right? Regardless, it's free, as DICE boldly proclaims in its jab at Activision and Infinity Ward: "How to avoid 'mapathy' without paying!"

[Thanks, Qwaint]

THQ developing downloadable games based on 'core' brands

by Xav de Matos { 3 days ago }

"Very aggressive" is the phrase THQ executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson used to describe his company's plans for downloadable titles across the Xbox Live Arcade, PlayStation Network and PC platforms during a GDC 2010 interview with Joystiq. With two studios dedicated to the downloadable space -- THQ Digital Studios Phoenix (formerly Rainbow Studios) and THQ Digital Studios UK (formerly Juice Games) -- Bilson told us THQ plans to release "up to six" downloadable titles within the next year, some based on the company's biggest brands.

"We're going to be building stuff on some of our core brands," Bilson said, noting the plan is to create downloadable titles within the same universe as THQ's major franchises in order to improve brand awareness. Surprisingly, Bilson's plans include "giving away" some of the upcoming downloadable games, although he did not specify how this idea would be executed.

Bilson's theory is that by getting players "involved" in its franchises via downloadable titles, THQ can help drive pre-orders and awareness for their big-budget (in relation) retail counterparts. While he would not specify which THQ franchises would get downloadable titles, we were told the plan is to roll out this strategy on "two or three" of THQ's biggest franchises (à la Square Enix's upcoming Lara Croft game from developer Crystal Dynamics).

But the plan doesn't end there: Similar to the approach taken by Microsoft's Fable II: Pub Games experiment, downloadable releases based on THQ's major brands will unlock content within the retail releases, teasing players with potential advantages to purchasing related retail titles; retail games will also unlock content in downloadable titles, to help drive players to explore more content within that franchise's universe. "You're going to see some of our core brands built out in different kinds of gameplay to get people involved in the brands and drive awareness towards a launch."

PlayStation Move: the everything you need to know post

by Kevin Kelly { 3 days ago }

Good morning, dear reader! You've got a lot to catch up on:

Gallery: PlayStation Move (Joystiq's Photos)

That's it, you ask? Oh, no -- wait till you see what we've lined up for you after the break!

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Green Day: Rock Band releases June 8 worldwide

by David Hinkle { 3 days ago }

That's right, folks -- Harmonix has just revealed that Green Day: Rock Band will be available for all come June 8 on Xbox 360, PS3 and Wii. Up to 6 players (3 mics; 3 instruments) will progress through the career of the trio, unlocking collectible images (more than 100, apparently) and some 40 minutes of "rare and unreleased" footage from interviews, outtakes and performances along the way.

As alluded to above, GD:RB will also sport the same vocal harmonizing feature that made The Beatles: Rock Band such a delight for mic hogs and comes loaded with 47 Green Day tracks, including "Brain Stew," "Jaded," "Hitchin' a Ride," "American Idiot," "Wake Me Up When September Ends" and "Boulevard of Broken Dreams."

Oh, and if you're looking to export these tunes, worry not: all 47 tracks are fully exportable to a console hard drive and playable in Rock Band, Rock Band 2 and the recently announced Rock Band 3. The export fee is $9.99 via Xbox Live or PSN. The export features is not available for the Wii system. Additionally, if you've picked up the six Green Day tunes already available as DLC, you can play them in the new game with added harmonies, "unique" visuals and more "exclusive archival material."

Green Day: Rock Band will be available as a standalone game for Xbox 360 and PS3 for $59.99, while Wii owners will get a bit of a price break at $49.99. A special edition Green Day: Rock Band Plus will also come to Xbox 360 and PS3 for $69.99 and includes fancy packaging, an "export" feature (we assume, a voucher to export the disc tracks to the hard drive) and the six previously released Green Day DLC tracks.

Update: The GameStop pre-order bonus for the standalone game is an export voucher (for Xbox 360 or PS3). Essentially, pre-order GD:RB from GameStop, and you can export all 47 tracks to your console hard drive for free.

Gallery: Green Day: Rock Band

Next Red Faction planned for March 2011, focus on franchise's roots

by Xav de Matos { 3 days ago }

In an interview with Joystiq during the 2010 Game Developer's Conference, THQ's executive VP of Core Games Danny Bilson let a few new details slip about the upcoming sequel to the critical-smash hit Red Faction: Guerrilla. "The new game takes [Red Faction] to a whole new place, it kind of goes back to the old Red Faction because about 80% of it is underground," Bilson said. According to Bilson, the as-yet-properly-named sequel -- which he describes as a "hybrid" between the first two titles in the Red Faction franchise and Guerrilla -- is planned for release in March 2011. (In February, THQ's annual investors conference call vaguely stated a Guerrilla sequel was planned for the company's "fiscal 2011" window.)

Bilson was tight-lipped on other details but did confirm the upcoming open-world third-person shooter would be far more "structured," akin to a "narrative" shooter. The sequel will still feature the destructibility Bilson says cost THQ "a fortune" to develop for Guerrilla, but will have a much greater impact on cities built closer together in the tight confines of the new underground world.

Although Guerrilla captivated most critics (netting a Metacritic average of 85 across three platforms) the third-person shooter failed to meet THQ's sales expectations. While Bilson said it would have been easy to scrap the characters and setting in the upcoming sequel and shift it into a new intellectual property -- effectively severing its connection to Guerrilla's poor retail showing -- he felt the quality in the previous entry was too great to abandon the Red Faction universe.

The strategy now, says Bilson, is to expose gamers to the series in order to prepare them for the future, citing the recent Red Faction: Guerrilla giveaway promotion as an example of giving the title the exposure it "deserved" at launch. "Giving away the stock now, on Red Faction, is getting more people exposed to the IP because we're going bigger on Red Faction next time," Bilson told us. "If the game wasn't so good, we wouldn't be giving it away at all."

Prison Break escaping March 30; new screens released

by Ben Gilbert { 3 days ago }

We have no doubt you've been counting the days (likely via tick marks on the wall), waiting for more information on Zootfly/Deep Silver's Prison Break, so you'll be glad to hear that the game finally got a solid release date (March 30) and a price ($49.99 on 360/PS3, $39.99 on PC) today from its publisher.

Along with the mess of new screens we've dropped below into a gallery, this is just about the most flush we've been with Prison Break info in the entire history of the game's development cycle -- and it's coming out in just under three weeks! As the game's coming from the developer of Mr. T: The Game, we're willing to give this one a shot just so we can support the company's upcoming adventure into madness.

Gallery: Prison Break (GDC 2010)

Impressions: Medal of Honor

by Andrew Yoon { 3 days ago }

It's impossible to avoid comparisons between EA's upcoming Medal of Honor reboot and Infinity Ward's Modern Warfare series ... so, I'll just get it out of the way: Medal of Honor unapologetically follows in the footsteps of Call of Duty. In fact, I'm willing to raise the possibility that Medal of Honor could be the "true" sequel to the Call of Duty 4 campaign many of us are still waiting for after suffering through Modern Warfare 2's increasingly preposterous storyline.

Recently, I got a peek at a new Medal of Honor trailer which lays it out like this: There are two sides to every war: the sledgehammer and the scalpel. What Call of Duty 4 did so well was to portray exactly how these two components work in tandem, as it featured scenarios in which large assaults aided small elite forces, and vice versa. Medal of Honor promises to recreate similar battlefield situations, with the "scalpel" represented by the Tier 1 Operators, an elite branch of SOCOM.

Gallery: Medal of Honor (GDC)

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Darksiders dev David Adams gushes about THQ

by Ben Gilbert { 3 days ago }

Unlike the less than wonderful relations some developers are currently having with their publishing partners, Vigil Games' general manager David Adams says things between his studio and THQ couldn't have been better during the development of Darksiders. "We were pretty lucky, just because our publisher had this weird, insane faith in us that I don't necessarily think any other publisher would have had ... our take was that if we just did really cool stuff, people would see that -- they'd want to jump on the bandwagon and support us, and THQ did," Adams tells GamesIndustry.biz in a recent interview.

Adams adds that his studio is constantly "trying to be more efficient, do stuff quicker, using less money," so that certainly can't hurt how THQ feels about Vigil, especially given the last year of "restructuring" the publisher underwent to become financially solvent once again. "THQ went through a lot of pain and restructuring -- they took a lot of bullets so we could continue to make our game, and that's a good indication of their faith in us, and their drive to make great-quality products." We'd like to point out that, in this situation, we're all winners because THQ has seemingly become a competitive publisher again, due to producing quality products that we get to play -- and hey, tons of people don't lose their jobs.

Monkey Island Home costumes allow for Dread Pirate Quincy

by Griffin McElroy { 3 days ago }

Does your dead-eyed Home avatar lack a bit of that buccaneering spirit? LucasArts has a sure-fire way to fix your lack of nautical flair: During its pirate-themed party at GDC, the company announced that Monkey Island costumes (pictured above) would soon make their way to PlayStation Home.

Now, we rarely get excited over virtual duds for our virtual manifestations -- but Stan's coat could really add a certain savoir-faire to our terrifying craft.

We touched it: PlayStation Move from every angle

by Randy Nelson { 3 days ago }

Click to MOVE into the gallery

Professionally taken publicity shots of new hardware are nice, sure, but nothing really compares to seeing what the thing actually looks like in the real world. It's with that in mind that we grabbed a PlayStation Move and snapped the photos you can browse in the gallery below. In them, you'll see such noteworthy features as the USB syncing / charging port; what appear to be notches for some addition doodad to lock onto at the bottom of the Move; and the select and start buttons tucked away on either side of the "wand" itself.

Gallery: PlayStation Move (Joystiq's Photos)

'Arc' lives on in PlayStation Move's logo

by Randy Nelson { 3 days ago }

Even the not-so-keen-eyed observer has probably noticed by now that the PlayStation Move's logo doesn't really look like a letter "M." That's because it's a letter "A," as in "Arc," the name which, according to multiple Sony sources who wished to remain anonymous, is what the peripheral was to be called at retail until the company was refused a trademark on the Arc name. In fact, we've been told that the change to "Move" was made quite recently, which further explains the incongruous logo.

If you think "Move" is an odd name for Sony's motion controller, these same sources assured us that we got lucky – many of the other proposed names following the trademark denial were ranged from silly to awful, they said. When we suggested that "PlayStation Boogie" was about as bad as we could imagine, we were told, "Actually, that's an improvement over a lot of them."

Keep an eye on the Move logo -- we wouldn't be surprised if Sony's marketing department adds a little extra blue ink before E3, making it a true (stylized) letter "M."

Hands-on: PlayStation Move's 'Move Party'

by Randy Nelson { 3 days ago }

Click to enlarge

The PlayStation Move-equivalent of the minigame compilations released for PS2's EyeToy, Move Party is an excuse to use Sony's motion controller to look like a fool in front of your family and friends. (As if holding a glowing wand and pantomiming playing a sport isn't already silly enough.)

Ludwig and I took turns looking utterly ridiculous while playing the title earlier today, trying to best one another in a series of minigames which ranged from swatting bugs with tennis rackets to painting shapes in the air – things that would have been entirely possible with Sony's older tech. We got a brief taste of the Move's potential when we needed to stab a spear at jellyfish floating up the screen – I really had to stab toward the screen pretty strongly to pop them. The precision possible with the Move was best demonstrated by the haircut minigame, where it was possible to finely cut along the scalp line to remove the comical characters' locks.

The most impressive element of Move Party, though, is by far the precision with which the various tools – paintbrushes, shears, rackets – that all mimicked how I was holding the controller exactly in the on-screen "augmented reality" video. It was ... kind of spooky. Though it wasn't announced as such, this has to be the software title Sony intends to pack in with the hardware. I can't imagine it debuting as a full-priced retail title. Maybe at $20, or, better yet, a PSN release.

Gallery: PlayStation Move: Move Party

Hands-on: PlayStation Move's Sports Champions

by Ludwig Kietzmann { 3 days ago }

Click for the gallery of Champions

You might think it derisive to call Sports Champions (working title) the Wii Sports of PlayStation Move, but it's really intended as a compliment. Although the collection of sports-themed games are relatively simple, they adequately highlight the Move's motion-sensing capabilities and, most importantly, how they're distinguished from those offered by the Wii (something that another Move game, The Shoot, did not do). Like Wii Sports, Sports Champions seems good at selling you on the hardware's abilities -- and what they might mean in more elaborate games.

The Gladiator Duel sub-game is a simple affair of blocking and attacking (your character moves towards the opponent automatically), but the Move will take into account the height of your swings and the positioning of your shield (generated by a second Move controller). It'll also sense distance -- if you don't hold your weapon arm back, it'll swing into your own shield to deleterious effect. Aside from swinging and blocking, you can also move both arms upwards to activate a jumping attack, or shuffle the controllers to the side in order to roll out of the way from an incoming strike. Basic stuff, but natural enough to not come across as a tacked-on gesture.

Table Tennis was more promising, and easily bested the Wii's equivalent. Your paddle's angle and area of exposure is almost instantly determined by how you're holding the controller. The Move's weight, coupled with the game's quick response and predictable physics, made every swing feel ... just right. It'll be a shame if a table tennis game turns out to be one of the best launch games for Move, but at least it'll stand out as one of the best of its ilk. That's a win, right?

Gallery: PlayStation Move: Sports Champions

Hands-on: PlayStation Move's 'The Shoot'

by Ludwig Kietzmann { 4 days ago }

"The Shoot" is a pretty fun title. The on-rails shooter propels you through a series of cheesy movie sets, populated by cardboard cut-out civilians, antiquated B-movie aliens and hulking robots. And then you shoot them ... on the shoot. See? What's more fun than a title with a double meaning?

Although the title is a riot, my time with the game left me feeling disappointed and annoyed. Lightgun shooters have a comfy home on Wii, and the point-and-shoot mechanics of games like House of the Dead: Overkill are a natural fit for the controller. The PlayStation Move is similarly well-suited, both in terms of aiming ability and comfortable weighting. But "The Shoot" felt like a second-rate shooting range, marked by a slow pace and obvious simplicity.

Those can't be trotted out as negatives for every gamer, but if you're a Joystiq reader, there's something you have to know: In order to activate a useful slow-motion effect in "The Shoot," you have to -- I'm not kidding -- spin around on the spot like a ballerina with an ice-cream cone in her hand. I imagine Sony would like to separate its motion controller from the Wii's stigma of vapid, gestural-overload games, so pulling an early-days Wii stunt like that makes for a bad impression.