via Games Industry


Konami has delayed the launch of the US Metal Gear Online Beta, originally slated to start on April 21.

The group behind Metal Gear Solid 4 apologised for the delay and explained they would be unable to cope with the number of players at the moment, due to unexpected demand.

The announcement made no mention of when the beta would start but said that would be decided on soon.

"Due to extraordinary levels of traffic from all around the globe, we have been unable to run the service to the level we expected," Konami explained in a statement.

"We will be deferring the start of the US public beta test until we are able to stabilise our server."

Metal Gear Online, a PS3 exclusive, is the first online title in the series and will be included with Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots.

The tactical team game will be set in the same environment as MGS4 and feature the same control system but will have additional downloadable maps and characters. ...

via Eurogamer


Sony has declined to comment over suggestions that PlayTV will be out on 31st July and cost GBP 60.

It was responding to a listing on retailer Amazon.co.uk, which has since retracted both the date and price for the telly-recording PS3 peripheral.

"We have yet to announce a release date and price for PlayTV, and do not comment on rumour or speculation," a spokesperson for Sony told Eurogamer.

PlayTV was unveiled for PS3 at the Leipzig Games Convention last August. It lets you watch and record digital TV broadcasts independently of each other, storing content on your hard drive.

Earlier this year retailer HMV predicted the peripheral would cost GBP 99.99, and be out at the end of March. But Sony rubbished this, too.

The only official word is that PlayTV will be out sometime this year. ...

via Games Industry


The UK videogames industry has recorded an all time high for first quarter software sales, with retailers selling 17.89 million units and earning GBP 418.4 million.

The figures, provided by analysts ChartTrack, show an increase of nearly a third on the results from December 30 to March 29 last year, when 15.62 million units were sold and GBP 317 million earned.

"We are thrilled to see the industry continue to grow at such a rapid rate and videogame sales continuing to rise," said Paul Jackson, director general of ELSPA.

The figures also revealed that Nintendo benefitted the most from the sales by securing 37 per cent of all units sold. This was helped by Sega's DS and Wii title Mario & Sonic at the Olympics, which sold the most units over the period.

"This period has seen more innovative and family-friendly titles doing well and it is clear that consumers of all ages have been lining up to buy them," Jackson added.

ChartTrack's findings come after those of North America's NPD group, which show that Nintendo sold the most Wii consoles ever this March, outside of the holiday months of November and December, selling 720,000 units. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Nintendo's biggest non-traditional game yet Wii Fit is in UK shops next Friday, but creative mastermind Shigeru Miyamoto promises the company is still working on "the kinds of products we've always made" for the more traditional, analogue stick-twirling gamer (us!).


Miyamoto also settles the WiiFit debate, saying, "yes, in my mind, I would say it is a video game." There you are then. ...

via Computer and Video Games


It's being reported that Underground Developments (formerly known as Z-Axis) is to be shut down once all work on Quake Wars PS3 work is complete.

Things have been a little too quite on Enemy Territory: Quake Wars for console recently (apart from that May release date leaking out). So it's a shame that the latest story brings with it some bad news.

According to Develop magazine the studio's parent company Activision has yet to offer a comment on the rumour. But that hasn't stopped the publication suggesting the closure could be related to the looming merger of the Activision and Vivendi businesses.

Nothing official yet then. But it's not looking good. More soon. May 30 at the latest. ...

via IGN


Judas Priest will become the first band to make a full-length album available for download on Rock Band, Harmonix and MTV said today.

The metal pioneers' 1982 record Screaming For Vengeance will be released April 22 for Xbox 360 and April 24 for PlayStation 3. Priest's inclusion in Rock Band is welcome news for nostalgic headbangers, but it's not the announcement gamers were expecting.

In June of 2007, when Harmonix first said Rock Band would eventually include full-length downloadable albums, the company announced that The Who's Who's Next would kick off the service. Harmonix went so far as to provide a track list of the landmark 1971 Who record. Today's news release made no mention of Who's Next.

The Judas Priest album will cost $14.99 (1,200 MS points) or $1.99 per track (160 MS pts.). Here's a full track list (all master recordings):

"The Hellion"
"Electric Eye"
"Riding on the Wind"
"Bloodstone"
"(Take These) Chains"
"Pain and Pleasure"
"Screaming for Vengeance"
"You've Got Another Thing Comin'"
"Fever"
"Devil's Child" ...

via Computer and Video Games


Epic Games has finally opened up on the Xbox 360 version of Unreal Tournament III, which is set to ship with exclusive maps and characters that the PC and PS3 versions didn't get.

Although it still doesn't have a firm release date, Epic confirmed at Midway's Gamers Day that the 360 version will contain five exclusive maps, two new characters and it will also include a two player split-screen mode.

It looks like the PS3's user-generated content didn't make it over to 360 then (presumably due to Microsoft's strict closed network approach on Xbox Live), but IGN says all of the downloadable content made for PC and PS3 will also appear on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Look for the first screens and trailer later today when the embargo times out, and our man in Las Vegas stops throwing prostitute cards at the strobing McDonalds sign. ...

via IGN


Bethesda Softworks, a ZeniMax Media company, officially announced today that it will release a special Fallout 3 collector's edition worldwide for Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, Games for Windows, and PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system. The limited collector's edition is available for pre-order through participating retailers.

This premium Fallout 3 package, presented in a customized, metal Vault-Tec lunch box, includes the highly-anticipated game, a collectible 5" Vault-Tec Vault Boy Bobblehead, 'The Art of Fallout 3' hardcover book, featuring never-before-seen concept art and commentary from Bethesda Game Studios artists, and 'The Making of Fallout 3' DVD that includes an inside look at Bethesda Game Studios and the team behind the game.

"We're very excited about this collector's edition and believe it truly offers gamers an amazing mix of unique items from the Fallout universe, combined with a great behind-the-scenes look at what goes into developing such an immense title," said Vlatko Andonov, president of Bethesda Softworks.

Fallout 3 features one of the most realized game worlds ever created. Create any kind of character you want and explore the open wastes of post-apocalyptic Washington, D.C. Every minute is a fight for survival as you encounter Super Mutants, Ghouls, Raiders, and other dangers of the Wasteland.

Currently under development at Bethesda Game Studios - creators of award winning The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, the 2006 Game of the Year - Fallout 3 is one of the most anticipated games of 2008 and is slated for release this Fall on Xbox 360, Games for Windows, and PlayStation 3 system. ...

via Eurogamer


Microsoft XNA general manager Chris Satchell has rejected the suggestion that Xbox Live Arcade has lost the initiative when it comes to supporting independent games.

"I think we still get an amazing amount of interest. Normally we have way more interest than we kind of have publishing slots to put things in," Satchell told Eurogamer, when asked whether PS3 and Wii were starting to steal XBLA's thunder.

"And when you think about the community and what we're doing with distribution on XNA Game Studio, nobody is going to have that combo. I don't think anybody has got that level of innovation integrated the way we have."

Satchell added that he is "really confident" that Microsoft will provide the best platforms for content from the community, indies, and small professional studios, as well as major game releases.

"We've really got the right tools and distribution mechanisms for that range of content, so I feel really confident about all parts of the ecosystem and I'm going to keep working to make sure we support them correctly," he said.

Xbox Live Arcade now has over 100 games on it, but the ranks of PSN exclusives are also filling out and Nintendo's WiiWare service launches next month with games from the likes of David Braben's Frontier Developments. ...