Gears of War Locust Drone Bust!!

Isn’t he cute??

TriForce just announced this puppy to coincide with today’s release of Gears of War 2. This monster (pun intended) bust is on a 1:1 scale at a height of 19″ and weighs 15 pounds!
While it does look a bit scary (isn’t that the point though?) you have to recognize the amazing level of detail on the sculpt which was created by Epic Games art director Chris Perna and painted by Jordu Schell.
Of course for such a high level of details (factor in the Gears hype factor as well) the bust fetches a hefty price of $549.99 (because I’m sure $550 crosses a psychological threshold).

Monday August 18, 2008

Hi Guys, sorry for the lack of updates this past Friday. I was away on a 3 day weekend for my wife’s birthday

Electronic Arts News Galore!

there are several stories involving EA today.
First is a deal signed with Epic Games on new unknown project for the Xbox 360, PS3 and PC. The game will be developed by People Can Fly (Painkiller and Gears of War PC).
Second, Suda 51 (No More Heroes) and Shinji Mikami (Devil May Cry, Viewtiful Joe), the duo behind the praised Killer 7, are working on a new completely unknown title that will be published by EA. The title is being developed by Grasshopper, Suda Goichi’s studio.
Finally, there is a new episode in the great Take-Two soap opera. The last deadline expires today and EA has announced there offer will expire tonight while Take-Two is beginning to warm up to the giant’s offer. They have stated they are going to let EA in on their confidential info, 3 year financial planning and future games. The most likely reason for Take-Two to start opening up is most likely because the price of their share has fallen since the release of GTA IV and is now $1.54 below EA’s offer which stands at $25.74.

The Godfather II Screens and Footage

Another EA news! They have released some screens for their sequel to The Godfather which came out in March 2006. While the screens are nice if you really want a good idea of what the game will feature you should definitely check out the last episode of Gametrailers TV which focuses on the game.

Spore Is Gold!

Not much more to say really, the game will be released on September 4.
Oh and this was another EA news by the way.

Force Unleashed Demo This Week

Now this should get you pumped!! First of all it’s not an EA news , second of all it has been announced that the demo for the game will be released August 21 for PSN and XBL.
The full game will be released about a month later on September 19 for the 360 and the PS3.

08-08-08 (Hey It’s a Once in a Lifetime Thing Right Here!)

Diablo III Art Director Quits Blizzard

It’s funny to think that a bit more than a month ago the game wasn’t even confirmed. Since then we’ve some very good, if not great, trailers in typical Blizzard fashion. Then some fans were up in arms against what they called a brighter version of the game which looked more like Warcraft III than Diablo (obviously these fans had neither played Warcraft III or been to Lut Golein in a while) and launched a petition for a “darker Diablo III”.
This all seemed at least to me like another wishful thinking endeavor until Blizzard issued a statement earlier this week basically saying “Thank you for your passion about this project but this is what we’re doing and if you don’t like it…tough luck”. And then today we learn the the Art Director on the game, Brian Morrisroe, has quit and is to be replaced.
It appears that the official story is that the two events aren’t related and that he left because he wants to start his own company and the art direction will stay on course as planned. Funny how sometimes things that seem naturally related occur so close to each other and yet there is no connection whatsoever (Gamespot Vs. Jeff Gerstmann anyone?)

More LEGO Games on the Way

Jon Burton, president of Traveller’s Tales, has said that his studio has signed a deal with Warner Bros. to make more adaptations of their franchises. Considering the catalog of the movie studio could we see Superman, Harry Potter or The Matrix in all its cubic splendor soon?

New Suikoden?

Konami seems to be trying to block the Suikoden Tierkreis which should mean that a new game is coming. Whether it is a full-blown sequel, a port of past games on the DS or the PSP, or a different game altogether, remains to be seen.

Gears of War 2 Special Edition with Life-Size Lancer!

Following in the footsteps of Halo 3‘s Legendary Edition which came bundled with a somewhat underwhelming Spartan helmet replica, Epic Games is set to release an edition for $139.99 which will come bundled with the GoW staple weapon. The replica designed by NECA will need 3 ‘C’ batteries and will vibrate, produce chainsaw noise and feature a removable clip as well as adjustable side handle. Geek heaven on the way?

Fable II Pub Games Next Week

Microsoft announced today that the special feature will be available on August 13 for 800 points (you can also get it for free if you preorder the game). The casino type game has an interesting feature which allows you to transfer your gains into the main game when it’ll be released on October 21. This should help people get money since the only ways to gain money in Fable II will be to work or gamble, eschewing the money drops on animals and other unrealistic mobs.

Wednesday August 6, 2008

RetroBeats Session 10 Out!

This week I’m taking care of the fans with a special request episode.
Special thanks to the amazing Youtube show The Music of Video Games which helped me a lot with this one.

Left 4 Dead on PS3?

The last issue of Official Playstation Magazine announced that the game would come out on the Sony console (the game is only scheduled for 360 and PC so far) but Doug Lombardi from Valve denied everything in heartbeat. With so much smoke there must be a fire no?

Gears of Wars 2 Light

In order to appease all the angry people who don’t understand that when a game is rated ‘M’ for mature it means it’s intended for mature audiences and not your 10 year old Epic Games has put an option in the game which will replace all the blood by sparks and remove all beheading and amputations.
A good initiative if there ever was one.

Valve Looking to Be Bought??

In the “Woah!” news of the week Gamasutra interviewed Doug Lombardi who said that while Valve was doing well he would be open to discuss acquisition from other companies.

Warhammer Online Dated and Priced

Mythic Entertainment has finally given an official release date for the game, September 18, which isn’t to far from the speculated date of September 23 that was revealed a few days ago.
The studio also released the price options for the game which are overall pretty standard giving players the option to subscribe for 1, 3 or 6 months for a price of E12.99, E35.97 or E65.94 respectively. there will also be 60 days prepaid cards available for E29.99.
On top of this all the standard version of the game will be available for pre-order for 5 euros starting August 28 and Mythic promised that all these pre-orders will have an early access key for the game. Fear of the Age of Conan backlash?