Space War Commander, an independent game that changes the face of Real Time Strategy.
Set in a universe that no longer needs humans, Space War Commander challenges you to trade cargo, hunt ships, and seize control of planets and asteroids. Bypassing repetitive base building common to other games, you must weave a strategy from simple threads like outwitting pirates, cutting off enemy supplies and hitting the enemy where they are weakest. Command a variety of ship types against vastly superior forces. Come out victorious from the hairiest space battles using creative tactics. Space War Commander pits your mind against the universe.
Dead Rising, Capcom's Xbox 360 exclusive take on the classic zombie flick Dawn of the Dead, may be making its way to the PlayStation 3 after all.
On a recent holiday post at the official SCEA blog, Capcom's overseer of downloadable titles John Diamonon mentioned a secret surprise heading to the PSN, to celebrate the great reception the Capcom store has received. When a comment was made asking about Dead Rising hitting the store, John Diamonon replied specifically to it, hinting "Who announced it? Me? I don't think so!".
Capcom's official standpoint on the franchise is that the original was only Xbox 360 exclusive because the PlayStation 3 wasn't out at that point.
They further went on to say that any sequels would inevitably be multiplatform. And with rumors of Dead Rising 2 being in development constantly popping up, this would be a great way to catch PlayStation 3 owners up to the franchise. Expect to hear more on this soon.
One of the most anticipated PlayStation 3 'exclusive' games White Knight Chronicles, even though the relatively low Famitsu review score knocked the hype level down a couple of levels.
Now, the latest rumor is that White Knight Chronicles has sold over 130,000 copies in its first week.
According to Kotaku, WKC did manage to sell this decent number after it first hit store shelves in Japan on December 25. This isn't quite the splash Sony and Level 5 were hoping it'd make, but considering that Famitsu analysis, they should probably be happy that a sub-30-scoring game didn't drive away most potential consumers.
In comparison, the biggest PS3 seller in Japan so far has been Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots with 476,000 copies sold, followed by Devil May Cry 4 with 212,000. However, those games came out in the first half of 2008 and WKC just released last week, so...if the number is indeed correct, 130,000 isn't bad. At some point, we do expect to hear a North American and European release date for this promising RPG, but we now have our reservations about its quality. Famitsu isn't the only source to issue some "meh" feedback for the game, so we may have to turn our focus to other titles in 2009 that absolutely guarantee greatness. It's a dog-eat-dog world in next-gen software land, and if you don't deliver...
For our part, we're hoping the game doesn't entirely flop in the other two major regions, just because it may discourage Level 5 from making another RPG. We know they're capable, and a little slip on WKC doesn't mean they should throw in the towel as far as we're concerned.
Fears that computer games are turning young people antisocial are being challenged by a new generation of "sociable" games which are played through the internet.
The rise of social networking websites such as Facebook has helped attract millions of people to games which they can play with their friends.
It could represent a major challenge to the makers of hugely popular video consoles such as the Nintendo Wii or the Xbox.
While the credit crisis has forced companies across the world to rein in spending, internet games developers have received a string of multi-million dollar investments in recent months allowing them to plan expansion at a time when other businesses are making cuts.
Playfish, a British company which provides mini-golf and bowling games among others on Facebook, has attracted 25 million registered users since it was set up a year ago.
Another game on the site, a social networking device called Kidnap!, attracted 2.5 million new players in the month of October alone.
While the rest of us have been socializing on Facebook, Webs.com has been building a very interesting business. It has been creating free games on Facebook that have garnered a huge number of page views. WarBook, a role-playing game with no animated graphics, and other Webs.com games have generated a billion page views since the first game launched 90 days ago in August. The games are generating ad revenue with just about every view…
“We launched it and it’s exploding,” said Pishevar. “WarBook is getting 15 million page views a day.”…
… Street Race is a new SGN game that has no graphics. You simply sign up, get $1,000 in play money, buy a car, then race. In the race, you click on another user. Then nothing happens. Nothing. The next screen that comes up tells you if you won or lost, how much money you earned or lost, and the skill points you earned. As your skill points grow, you win more races and get more money to spend souping up your car. The social part comes in where you can get more money by inviting 20 friends to join…
It’s simple and easy. That’s why the game has gotten more than a million page views on its first day. You can play a round in about one second…
“We’re leveraging the social graph,” Pishevar said. “It’s gaming on tap. You use it as you need it. We are building the first social gaming network on top of the Facebook social operating system.”
In the world of espionage, nothing is as it seems in Obsidian Entertainment’s blockbuster RPG thriller, Alpha Protocol. Players will assume the role of Michael Thorton, a highly skilled government operative trained to eliminate threats to national security. When a mission goes horribly wrong, Thorton is the only one with the information, skills, and audacity to stop an impending international catastrophe. To do so, he will utilize the very government directive that the enemy sought to use against him - Alpha Protocol.
Set in the modern day, Alpha Protocol gives players complete control not only of Thorton’s actions but his personality and attitude as well, all of which will determine the future of the world as we know it. Blending fast-paced modern combat, significant character advancement and innovative RPG features, Alpha Protocol brings a fresh new perspective to the genre. With a story rivaling the best spy-thriller novels and an immersive, ultra-realistic espionage world, Alpha Protocol will redefine the RPG genre for the next-gen gamer. Alpha Protocol is being developed by Obsidian Entertainment – creators of Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic II The Sith Lords and Neverwinter Nights 2.
Features:
Redefined RPG – Classless system gives players the ability to mold Thorton into the secret agent they want him to become with lethal close combat techniques, marksman skills, proficiency with gadgets and much more.
The International Spy – Players will travel around the world to international safe house locations to obtain information, mission objectives and conduct meetings with a growing list of contacts.
Dialogue Stance System – With an innovative real-time dialogue system, the characters in Alpha Protocol will react to Thorton’s each and every word. Caution and wit are needed as the stakes are high and the tensions mount in conversations that will have players on the edges of their seat.
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC Category: RPG Developer: Obsidian Entertainment Release: February 2009
Sony have so far lost the console war but won the HD DVD war but is this a big problem?
With each PS3 they make the Blu-Ray drive costs Sony over $100 of the $400 US price tag.
Now if Sony were to bring out a cut-down version for Internet use with download games and standard dual layer DVD drive they could reduce the cost and increase market share.
With cheap large hard drives they could provide pre-installed games. Plus Sony could take advantage of high speed broadband connects (especially in the far east) to download games using their PlayStation Network. An external Blu-Ray drive option could be possible (like HDD Xbox)
It's not all bad news for Sony their PlayStation 2 console has sold over 140 million units - more than all the Nintendo Wii and Microsoft Xbox 360 put together. New titles are still being released on PS2 frequently.
AQ Interactive canceled their role playing game Cry On on Christmas Day.
The Japanese developer said "current market environments and forecasts" help with their decision.
The game in development since 2005, by Mistwalker and Cavia was the 3rd by Hironobu Sakaguchi. The soundtrack was being created by legendary composer Nobuo Uematsu and character design was by Kimihiko Fujisaka.
Hironobu's previous two games were Blue Dragon and Lost Odyssey .