via Computer and Video Games


Voice actor Michael Hollick was paid $100,000 [£50,797] for his fifteen-month stint as Niko Bellic in Grand Theft Auto IV.

Hollick, who was an unknown quantity before the game's blockbuster success, has mixed opinions on whether or not he was given a reasonable amount for his role in the biggest entertainment product of all time.

"Obviously I'm incredibly thankful to Rockstar for the opportunity to be in this game when I was just a nobody, an unknown quantity," he said last week according to the New York Times.

"But it's tough, when you see Grand Theft Auto IV out there as the biggest thing going right now, when they're making hundreds of millions of dollars, and we don't see any of it.

"I don't blame Rockstar," he was quick to add. "I blame our union for not having the agreements in place to protect the creative people who drive the sales of these games. Yes, the technology is important, but it's the human performances within them that people really connect to, and I hope actors will get more respect for the work they do within those technologies."

In most other mediums, Hollick would have been paid royalties for his voice appearing in the product. He said that he "asked about residuals when we negotiated, but I was told that was not a possibility."

The issue is further clouded by the inclusion of his voice in other media outlets advertising the game, including television, film, radio and the internet.

Unsurprisingly, other voice-actors in the game earned significantly less than Hollick. Ryan Johnston, who played Patrick McReary, said that he was paid $1,050 [£533.39] a day.

It must be terrible to earn $1,000 [£507.96] a day. ...

via Eurogamer


Hollywood director James Cameron has revealed that Ubisoft already has a version of its Avatar movie tie-in game running in "stereoscopic" vision.

This means you can see a 3D image if you put on special glasses like the ones you might have worn at one a Disney theme park as a youngster. But a bit more futuristic.

Cameron made no mention of whether the game will require 3D glasses like his Avatar film will, but had plenty to say about the benefits of "stereo" vision.

"When you are viewing in stereo, which is what we do, more neurons are firing. More blood is pumping through the brain," said Cameron at the Microsoft Advanced '08 advertising conference (watched by News.com).

"Stereo production is the next big thing. We are born seeing in three dimensions. Most animals have two eyes and not one. There is a reason, I think."

The biggest area to benefit from this will be games, according to the Aliens, Terminator and Titanic creator.

"You are in the game. This is the ultimate immersive media," said Cameron.

Stereoscopic pictures needn't necessarily require 3D glasses, either; Cameron goes on to suggest that laptops, phones, Zunes, and even Windows should be capable enough of producing the three dimensional picture themselves.

Ubisoft was unavailable to comment, but will be pestered mercilessly at its UbiDays event in Paris next week.

Avatar takes place 200 years in the future, and is centred around an ex-marine thrust unwillingly into a colonisation project on an exotic planet. This new world is rich in things us greedy humans want, and will get - if our exploitation schemes go to plan.

But our hero soon finds himself with a conscience and ends up leading the aliens in a battle for survival. The same aliens that can apparently manifest themselves by possessing humans, hence the name Avatar.

Cameron has previously gone on record as saying he expects nothing but the best from Ubisoft with its virtual interpretation, and will certainly not settle for a typical movie tie-in affair.

The Avatar film is set to launch next year. There are no dates or platforms mentioned for the game just yet, but an Xbox 360 version is rather obviously in the works. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Nintendo has hit back at criticism from Greenpeace who claimed that the Wii tested positive for hazardous chemicals and materials.

As we reported yesterday, Greenpeace recently unveiled that Nintendo was bottom of the pile in its Guide to Greener Electronics, which ranks the top 18 manufacturers of PCs, mobile phones, TVs and consoles in terms of policies on tackling environmental waste.

But speaking this morning to TechRadar, Nintendo refuted the claims. "Nintendo has not been badly rated by Greenpeace," a Nintendo spokesman said. "Greenpeace chose to conduct a survey and produce a report, which graded companies upon the voluntary submission of information.


Dr. Kevin Brigden at the Greenpeace Science Unit at Exeter University has been contacted for further comment, so don't expect this to be the last of it. ...

via Computer and Video Games


The little hammerhead prince and his bonkers giant sticky ball rolling game will never come to Wii, according to major US retailer Wal-Mart.

The mental Katamari series, which started off on PS2 but more recently hit 360 with Beautiful Katamari, was slated for a Wii (and DS) release when the game's director Jun Morikawa mentioned it at the Tokyo Game Show.

Nothing has been officially said since, but Wal-Mart reckons it's been completely canned following a series of delays. "Maybe this game will be available at a future date", it says, but there's no option to pre-order the title with the retailer.

Namco's inbox has been hit. Here's hoping for a reply. ...

via Eurogamer


The first DS instalment in the Ninja Gaiden series has been given a definitive release date.

Ninja Gaiden: Dragon Sword sees you using the DS's stylus and directional buttons to run, jump, attack and cast ninpo. It's already out in the US and Japan, and a spokesperson for distributor Ubisoft this morning told us it's out on "June 27th, according to our release schedule."

According to Kristan it's "solid, polished and innovative", but without quite enough substance to surpass the 7/10 mark. Read his review for the full rundown. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Square-Enix has launched the official website for Valkyrie Profile: The Accused One and with it a bunch of screenshots from the game.

The third instalment in the franchise will be centred around a soldier named Wilfred who is offered a magica feather by the Queen of the Underworld. With this feather, Wilfred sets off to seek revenge against the Gods, as you do.

From the looks of the screenshots, the franchise has switched from its traditional side-on perspective to an isometric view. It's scheduled for this year in Japan, so we expect to see it land on European shores early next year.


Screenshots ...

via Computer and Video Games


Konami has temporarily ceased taking pre-orders on the Metal Gear Solid 4 hardware bundle, after a US deal launched on the official site yesterday went belly up.

Eager fans hoping to get hold of the limited-edition Gunmetal PS3 bundle, sold exclusively through the official online Konami Store, were greeted to "503 errors", according to Kotaku, who described the ordeal as "a cluster**** of massive proportions". Nice choice of words there.

The Store works at the moment. But it says the allocated pre-order stock for the day has been reached. It then asks you to "check back tomorrow (May 20, 2008), when we will make available more stock for pre-orders."

Not really one known for having solid internet servers, Konami really needs to prepare itself for the impact of another internet rush, so that it isn't hit with another disaster reminiscent of the Metal Gear Online beta fiasco. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Mistwalker's Lost Odyssey sees some decent download content; the 'Seeker of the Deep' Dungeon Pack is out on Xbox Live this weekend, May 23 for 400 Microsoft points (about three quid).

The pack was released in Japan last month, while we had to make do with the comparatively rubbish 'Triple Pack', which had you pay for three items that let you replay game scenes. Cheers for that.

Assuming the Dungeon Pack is the same as the Japanese version, you can expect a single rare item and a new boss encounter at the end.

To get to the dungeon, says Microsoft: "download the DLC pack. Then, once the Nautilus can fly, fly to the centre of the gulf on the right of the inland sea on the north of the Tower of Mirrors (near Saman, the City of Merchants), and dive into the water. When the game displays either "Examine" or "Enter" at the bottom right corner of the screen, press the A button, and delve into the Seeker of the Deep!" How can you miss that? ...

via Computer and Video Games


Nintendo Europe's senior marketing director Laurent Fischer has blamed the Smash Brothers delay on the sheer amount of titles Nintendo is currently producing for Europe.


Fischer said that Nintendo also had to record six different sets of voices for some characters, which added to the time needed. Good going considering most of the characters in Nintendo games are unintelligible anyway.

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