Joystiq

Aliens vs. Predator multiplayer trailer watches your back, stabs it

by Ben Gilbert { (X) ago }

Something's always struck us as kind of ... off about the title Aliens vs. Predator. For one, there are "colonial marines" up in there, mixing it up. More confusing, though, is the fact that both "Aliens" and "Predators" are, in fact, aliens. [And aren't all of them predators? - Ed.] At least Sega is keeping our minds diverted from these recondite questions with the latest multiplayer footage (found after the break).

Aside from trotting out a handful of European game writers who all tell the same "This game is SO awesome" story, we're treated to a smattering of gameplay snippets from all three sides of the equation. We're only left wondering one thing after watching them – if you can play as a predator against eight colonial marines, who would ever choose the marines side?

Gallery: Aliens vs Predator

[Thanks, Ikarop]

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OFLC rating reveals Q-Games' Reflect Missile, Nintendo publishing

by Griffin McElroy { 1 hour ago }

Q-Games and Nintendo had a recent partnership in the release of Digidrive, but it doesn't seem like they're letting their relationship cool off any time soon. According to a new OFLC rating, Q-Games is developing -- and Nintendo is publishing -- a game called Reflect Missile. No platform was announced, but the safe money's on either a DSiWare or WiiWare release.

Now, let's get to determining exactly what a "Reflect Missile" is. Is is just, like, a really shiny missile, in which one might see themselves? Or is "Reflect Missile" a command in weird, broken English? For instance, "Captain Douglass, reflect [that] missile?" Or is the command being issued directly to the missile itself -- "Reflect, Missile!" The possibilities are as endless as they are nonsensical.

[Via GamerBytes]

Fun with math: Some Rock Band UK packs inconsistently priced on PSN

by Alexander Sliwinski { 2 hours ago }

It appears that, in some cases, the PSN Rock Band track packs in the UK are receiving a price hike in comparison to the individually purchased songs. An EU PlayStation forum user notes the discrepancy, which applies no discount to pack purchases, making it cheaper to purchase all of a pack's tracks individually. The issue had previously been contained to packs with over three songs, but next week's update appears to break that trend. However, reviewing previous weeks with track packs of three, it appears that the EU and UK pricing were accidentally reversed for next week, but we won't be able to confirm that until the update goes live.

We've confirmed the pricing anomaly for the UK PSN Store and we're following up with Harmonix to figure out what's going on. Check out examples of the pricing inconsistencies after the break.

[Thanks Si]

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Section 8 gets new maps on PC only

by Justin McElroy { 2 hours ago }

TimeGate has announced an expansion of its multiplayer-focused shooter, Section 8, with the "Seek and Destroy Map Pack," which adds three new maps and 10 new achievements for 560

($7). Though the game is available on Xbox 360 as well, the company is only making mention of PC availability for the content at the moment.

The industry has become so skewed towards a console focus as of late, it's kind of nice to see PC players getting some exclusive love. Now, let's all be real quiet and see if we can detect the exact moment their heads explode when they hear they have to pay for it.

[Via BigDownload]

Okamiden trailer is in desperate need of a cheek pinching

by Griffin McElroy { 3 hours ago }

Is it a good idea to pinch the cheeks of a rabid, killer God-wolf? Most definitely not -- however, after watching the latest trailer for Chibiterasu's handheld babysitting adventure, Okamiden, we don't think we'd be able to help ourselves if ever placed in the lupine protagonist's presence. Forget that. We'd cheek-pinch every single thing in this adorable video: the little kid who accompanies Chibi, the enemies the duo swiftly cut in half, even the barren trees they magically bring back to life.

And trees don't even have cheeks. How crazy is that?

Why 'Lords of Shadow' wasn't 'Castlevania: Lords of Shadow' at first

by Ben Gilbert { 3 hours ago }

Being Dave Cox, head of European development for Konami, can't be an easy job. For one, he's not Hideo Kojima, so he's already got that going against him. Worse yet, he's had to tow the company line and let his upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow languish out of the spotlight while Castlevania Judgment got all the attention. It seems Konami didn't even have the confidence to allow Lords of Shadow the Castlevania license -- nor did fans. "It was quite a radical departure from what had gone before with Castlevania, and there was a little bit of nervousness that perhaps it wouldn't be accepted as a Castlevania game," Cox told GameReactor.

Though he claims the project was approved originally as a Castlevania game and was built from the get-go with the vampire-hunting series in mind, the folks in charge at Konami had cold feet going into the big reveal at Games Convention 2008. "Senior management took the decision that we were going to announce it as Lords of Shadow, see what the reaction is, and if it's a good one then this would become a fully-fledged Castlevania." It was definitely a good one.

Gallery: Castlevania: Lords of Shadows

[Via VG247]

Desert Bus for Hope raises more than $132,000 for Child's Play

by Justin McElroy { 4 hours ago }

After five days and 16 hours of playing the world's most boring game, the Desert Bus for Hope crew has reached its final stop for the year, bringing in a staggering $132,392.94 to benefit the Child's Play charity. With the third iteration of its annual marathon play session of "Desert Bus" -- a mini-game from the unreleased Penn and Teller's Smoke and Mirrors -- comedy troupe LoadingReadyRun raised nearly $110,000 more than its first year. If you want to see just how brutal the experience was, you can try the game for yourself right here.

It's just the latest piece in a long line of evidence proving that a bunch of good-hearted gamers and Canadians with a brutal, masochistic streak can accomplish just about anything. Congrats, everybody.

Steam Deals Day Two: KOTOR, Dead Space, L4D2 discounted

by Griffin McElroy { 4 hours ago }

The second day of Steam's five-day-long "Early Holiday Sale" has arrived, bringing with it another batch of wallet-friendly prices on a few excellent titles. The highlight from today's offers is, of course, Left 4 Dead 2, which you can now purchase for just $37.49.

A few older titles have also undergone a bit of cost reduction surgery, including Dead Space, which is $14.99 for today only, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic, which is just $2.49. None of these float your boat? Swing back by tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. PST for the next round of cheapenings.

Check out Joystiq's Black Friday Game Deals Hub or jump to a retailer guide below:

For more Black Friday coverage, check out Black Friday Deals, Cyber Monday Sales,
And other Black Friday 2009 stories today from Walletpop.com

The9 posts 94 percent drop in Q3 revenues after losing WoW

by Griffin McElroy { 4 hours ago }

Mother of pearl! We thought it was safe to assume that Shanghai-based MMO operator The9 would lose a chunk of its revenue after handing the license for World of Warcraft over to competing company NetEase. By "a chunk" we, of course, meant "a fraction." Not "almost all revenue," which according to the company's Q3 2009 financial report, is how much it lost year-over-year after passing off the rights to run WoW.

To put it numerically, The9's revenues dropped 94 percent from the same quarter last year. A hit that big must have left a sizable dent in the ol' pocketbook -- however, we're guessing the company's board members take some small, spiteful satisfaction from the tribulations the game has brought to its new operators.

Lucidity update adds checkpoints to address difficulty concerns

by Justin McElroy { 5 hours ago }

Writing in a recent Workshop blog post, LucasArts responded to complaints that its XBLA and PC puzzle-platformer, Lucidity, can be "particularly punishing." A new update, which adds checkpoints in an effort , has been launched on PC and is set to via an update set to arrive on Xbox Live within the coming weeks. "We feel that there is so much great content in Lucidity that we want to open it up and make it more accessible for people to experience."

Listen, LucasArts, we respect what you're doing here, we do. But please, for all our sakes, be careful. Listening to the internet is a slippery slope, one that ends in everyone hurling dung and racial epithets at each other. And if you don't agree with that, you're a Nazi.

Mass Effect 2 vids profile Tali and Adept class

by Alexander Sliwinski { 5 hours ago }

What is it about BioWare and its dismissive implementation of races starting with the letter Q? Think about it: Tali the Quarian from Mass Effect and Sten the Qunari from Dragon Age: Origins -- on average, did anybody really use either for extended periods of time? It's Qu-acism, we tells ya! Perhaps Tali, who returns in Mass Effect 2, will prove invaluable when the going geths tough.

Head past the break to see a video of the Adept class, which has been granted some flashy new tricks.

Gallery: Mass Effect 2 (11-06-09)

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Philanthropic rockers playing 1,000 Rock Band songs for Child's Play

by Griffin McElroy { 6 hours ago }

We know you've probably already spent an irresponsible amount of dough this morning on hot Black Friday deals, but there's a unique gaming marathon for charity (a charithon?) taking place right now that could use some help meeting its $3,000 donation goal. Check out the web page of Clan of the Gray Wolf, where four gentlemen are attempting to play 1,000 Rock Band songs for approximately 80 hours, all the while collecting money for Penny Arcade's Child's Play Charity.

So, instead of buying that set of Growing Pains-themed salt shakers simply because they're 75 percent off, why not lend a helping hand to four guys who, in 80 hours, are going to have the worst blisters anyone's ever had, ever?

Call of Duty now a $3 billion franchise

by Justin McElroy { 6 hours ago }

Activision announced this morning that, according to data garnered from the NPD, ChartTrack, GfK and internal estimates, the Call of Duty franchise has accumulated $3 billion-with-a-b in sales over its lifetime. As all but the densest among you have likely deduced, CoD was put over the top by the release of Modern Warfare 2, which moved $550 million in its first five days on sale.

For a bit of perspective, $3 billion is pretty darn close to the gross domestic product of the Kingdom of Swaziland, a comparison that's especially appropriate when you realize that 54 percent of Swazis have a Gamerscore over 20,000. ... Oh, wait, this doesn't say "a Gamerscore over 20,000," it says "access to clean water." Sorry, smudge on the page.

LittleBigPlanet getting online create mode on Nov. 30

by Andrew Yoon { 7 hours ago }

Since the game's launch, LittleBigPlanet fans have only been able to create new levels offline. Over a year after initially promising a patch, Media Molecule is finally ready to unveil its online Create mode. Coming in the 1.21 "Leerdammer" patch, online Create works exactly as expected: you'll be able to invite friends to your Pod and work collaboratively on new levels. The most important improvement over the offline Create mode is the camera: each player gets his or her own camera, allowing them to work on different parts of the level simultaneously. For veteran creators, this should speed up the process quite significantly.

In addition to the online Create mode, "Leerdammer" also rewrites LBP''s network code for improved performance and smarter matchmaking. The LBP save system has also been revamped, allowing players to store more community items than ever before. Finally, a slew of minor tweaks are also included in the patch, which you can read about after the break.

[Thanks, Pumapayam!]

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Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition's new enemy is all kinds of creepy

by Xav de Matos { 19 hours ago }

Capcom has updated its official Japanese Resident Evil 5 site, revealing the new enemy featured in the upcoming Gold Edition retail and (assorted) DLC release of the game. The new nemesis is an unnamed and extremely grotesque behemoth who carries a large key-like anchor, stalking the underground of Spencer's Mansion in the content's Lost in Nightmares episode. According to an English translation of the character card, players can hunt down the beast to obtain heavy weapons such as a sickle. If the design proves one thing, it's that Capcom continues to create characters with terrible skin afflictions. Someone get this guy an ointment.

[Via Andriasang]