via Computer and Video Games


Those devoid of Xbox Live win a small victory today, as Ubisoft reveals the Legacy Edition of Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2, which has all of the game's downloadable content to date bundled on a second disk.

The Xbox 360-only special edition ships with the following goodies:

• 32 additional maps, a combination of new maps and golden oldies
• New game modes and a large variety of exclusive missions
• Additional weapons that "enrich the tactical possibilities" in Single Player

It'll be in stores next month at "mid-price" says Ubisoft, which hopefully means you'll be able to snap it up for less than 30 quid. ...

via Eurogamer


The first details of Lost Planet Colonies have popped up in scans of a magazine article over on Kotaku.

Apparently you'll be able to play as a girl this time around. And if you're playing online, you'll be able to take the bugs' side and fight the humans. Expect more weapons, new enemies and monster eggs.

The game is said to be in development for PC and Xbox 360, with cross-platform online play promised. It's due out in Japan on May 29th.

Capcom UK has said the details are legit, at least as far as the Japanese version goes. The features of the European game are yet to be confirmed. A representative told Eurogamer, "We will be able to shed some official light on this tomorrow." ...

via Engadget


Just four days after Apple announced that the beta version of the iPhone SDK would be available to developers, some 100,000 downloads have taken place. 'Course, it's not like we're shocked by Cupertino's latest horn tooting, but we've all ideas that number pales in comparison to the amount of requests for unlocks.

Nevertheless, the real news from the Apple camp is that companies such as Namco and PopCap are apparently on board to bring titles such as Pac-man, Galaga, Bejeweled, Zuma and Peggle to the iPod touch / iPhone via App Store. Furthermore, Six Apart's CEO admitted that it's already developing a "native iPhone application for TypePad," and the VP of THQ Wireless implied that we'd be seeing some of its wares surface here as well. As for release dates? Your guess is as good as ours. ...

via Games Industry


In conjunction with the release of its financial reports for Q1 2008, Take-Two has announced that BioShock 2 is in development and planned for a Q4 2009 release.

The title is being developed by 2K Marin. The original - developed by 2K Boston/2K Australia - has sold over 2 million units.

During a conference call to investors, Take-Two's CEO Ben Feder was asked why development of the sequel was being handled by a different studio and if Ken Levine would be involved.

"Ken is a terrific asset in the company and he is a brilliant game developer," Feder said.

"He will be working on BioShock 2, and he will be working on a new IP. A lot of the work will be done at 2K Marin, but that's not to say that Ken will not be involved.

"Obviously, we think he is critical to BioShock and he is critical to new IP in the company."

In a statement, Feder said that the company was exicted about its product lineup, most of which is based on internally-owned and developed IP.

"With one of the strongest release schedules in the industry, Take-Two is clearly well positioned for the future," he said.

In addition to Grand Theft Auto IV, for the balance of fiscal 2008 Take-Two's releases will include Midnight Club: Los Angeles, Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution, Top Spin 3, and Don King Presents: Prizefighter.

Midnight Club, originally scheduled for a spring release, was moved to the fall. Take-Two has shipped over 1 million units of Carnival Games for the Wii, and announced that it is bringing the title to the DS as well as developing Carnival Games: Mini-Golf for the Wii this year.

For fiscal 2009, which begins in October of 2008, the company plans additional episodic content for Grand Theft Auto IV, Mafia II, Borderlands, BioShock 2, their regular sports lineup and additional Nick Jr. titles under the company's agreement with Nickelodeon.

Mafia II is currently being developed by 2K Czech, formerly known as Illusion Softworks, a studio which Take-Two acquired in January.

In a conference call to investors, the company also promised one as yet unnamed AAA title coming out of Rockstar in 2009. ...

via Computer and Video Games


The God of War II director, Cory Barlog, will be packing up his troubles in an old kit bag and smiling when he leaves Sony Computer Entertainment. He's gone and teamed up with Australian film writer and director George Miller (Babe, The Witches of Eastwick and Mad Max) to work on something 'videogame related'.

In an interview with Level Up, Barlog touched upon why he's leaving SCEA: "For me, the last straw was Eric Williams, who for all intents and purposes for me was always like an AD [assistant director]; like a second director almost. He's a very technical combat guy.

"Me and him basically built Kratos on God of War I. We established all the bosses; the way that the whole game felt; what God of War's gameplay from a navigation, combat and platforming perspective felt like. And having lost him on III, that was a defining moment for me to go."

About his upcoming collabneration with George Miller, Barlog said, "When I met with him, the interaction was like two storytellers getting together, in the way that both of us were able to relate to various subjects. He has a game knowledge. While he may not be a hardcore gamer, he has a game knowledge, and he comes from an angle that I'm very passionate about.

"I don't really want to make casual games or games with no sort of story backbone or character backbone. Our conversations, they kind of were all over the map, but they went to the heart of so many things as opposed to being kind of like, 'Hey, so what do you like?' and 'What do you like?' It was detailed conversations about character interactions and the way that each of our industries can kind of push things further."

Level Up will be revealed more on the project tomorrow. Hit the link above for the interview and stay tuned... ...

via IGN


Nintendo of America today made the surprising announcement that Mario Kart Wii is set for a stateside release this April. April 27 to be precise. Previously, NOA suggested that Kart Wii might arrive after the May debut of Wii Fit, but apparently that is not the case.

"Mario Kart for Wii transforms one of our most popular franchises into a race that every member of the family can enjoy," said Cammie Dunaway, NOA's executive vice president of sales and marketing. "Driving work the Wii Wheel could not be more natural, and this is one place where speeding is encouraged."

Mario Kart Wii comes packaged with the Wii Wheel. In addition to a wide selection of new tracks and vehicles, the title features a 12-player online component and compatibility with multiple different controller configurations.

We'll have more on the game soon. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Guilty Gear 2: Overture is set to arrive on 360 later this year. Here's the full feature set along with a bunch of new screens.

• Tactical melee action
• Over fifty servants at your disposal
• dual language
• Multiplayer deathmatch over Xbox Live
• Refined mechanics
• New items, skills, tweaks, and additional modes not seen in the original import

Hopefully they'll mean a little more to you than they do to us. But don't worry if they don't, as a picture tells a thousand words.


Screenshots ...

via Computer and Video Games


Rockstar isn't saying much about GTA IV's exclusive Xbox 360 DLC (rumoured to have cost MS upwards of $50m), but the first hints on what we might be able to expect from the downloadable 'episodes' have finally emerged, in the latest issue of Edge magazine.

Speaking to Edge in its massive behind the scenes GTA feature (we almost got our wages docked reading it), Rockstar boss Sam Houser hints that the 360 download content might take the form of random missions, thought it's all dependent on the reaction of fans, he says.

"In the game, you might be walking around and then someone will come up to you and say something like, 'Hey, I need your help', and you'll be like, 'What? This isn't a story mission', and he'll be like, 'You see that room up there? That's my wife and she's f***ing some bloke, and I need you to go and do...' and this little story will unfold from there just randomly," Houser told Egde.

"The opportunity for things like that [with DLC] I would say is enormous. Really, though, for the downloadable content in general, it's about seeing how people get turned on by the game, and then we will tailor the production."

It might not sound like exactly what we were expecting for Microsoft's (alleged) $50m tag, but Houser promises that even if it does come in the from of a mission pack, the 360 DLC will still be "substantial".

"I think the mission packs with the episodes are going to be pretty deep, offering another full-on adventure in this world," he told Edge. "I think we will be in a position to market them not a million miles away from the way the boxed game is marketed."

Assuming people like the game then Houser's sense is that they'll probably like the episodes too, he says.

"And if they like the episodes it will probably make sense to market them aggressively, and we want people to be there on that first day as much as is realistic. Our goal will be to fry those Xbox Live servers - we want to have as many people tune in at that moment as possible."

Don't worry though, the marketing budget isn't going to spawn from your Microsoft Points: "You'll get a lot of content for your money," says Houser. "There are too many stories at the moment of people having the feeling that they're not getting enough for their money in terms of downloadable content.

"I never want people feeling that we've duped them in any way, shape or form. That's something that we've been into from the beginning."

The full 16-page talk with Houser, in which he reveals the stories behind GTA III, Vice City, San Andreas and yes, GTA IV, is in Edge 187, on sale March 13. ...

via Eurogamer


SEGA Japan has urged Dreamcast owners not to supply their email addresses and console serial numbers to Dreamcast.com as the site is a phoney.

The publisher confirmed it did not own the the domain to Japanese site Mainichi (translated by Joystiq), claiming the logos displayed were being used illegally. Even the dreamcast.com domain registration was fraudulent, apparently.

SEGA Japan will be taking "appropriate measures".

News emerged at the weekend that the site was offering @user.dreamcast.com email accounts to anyone supplying a console serial number.

SEGA Europe avoided commenting on the issue yesterday, which suggested something fishy was going on.

Something Bass fishy, if you ask us. ...