via Eurogamer


Nintendo Europe has distanced itself from strong "rumour and speculation" surrounding a new DSi Speak Channel.

It all started on the Nintendo customer support website, where GoNintendo spotted the following line:
The Wii Speak Channel uses the Wii Speak microphone peripheral to allow people to chat together and in separate rooms if they wish. Mii avatars attempt to mouth what you're saying. You can also leave audio clips on message boards and record audio captions for pictures.

It's that exciting. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Hideo Kojima of MGS fame has straight up promised to make a sequel for the revered PS2 series, Zone of the Enders.

This follows a statement from Kojima last week when he said a ZOE sequel was "top of the list" of games he wants to make. That gave us hope, but posting on his blog, Kojima promises ZOE 3 will definitely come, he just can't say when.

"We'd like to make an Anubis [Anubis is the Japanese name for ZOE2] sequel at some point," said Kojima. "Also, we feel that if we do it, we'd like to make Anubis succeed this time. I already have a game plan and method for sales in my head. However, we don't know if it will be green lighted. The production lines within Kojima Productions are currently full."

He goes on to add: "I cannot make a promise about time. However, I can promise a sequel," according to Andriasang's translations, which had better be accurate. We need that sequel in our lives. Why? The mad lasers in the above screenshot of ZOE2 is why. ...

via Kotaku


Japanese game magazine Famitsu has four separate critics score games on a scale of 1-10 with 10 being the best score. The four scores are then tallied, and 40 is perfecto.

Today, only eleven, well, now twelve games have been awarded the perfect score. The latest is multi-platform title Bayonetta. Multi-platform Bayonetta is the first game to appear on the Xbox 360 to receive this score.

To review, here are the previous 40/40 games:

1. The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (1998)
2. Soulcalibur (1999)
3. Vagrant Story (2000)
4. The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (2003)
5. Nintendogs (2005)
6. Final Fantasy XII (2006)
7. Super Smash Bros. Brawl (2008)
8. Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (2008)
9. 428 (2008)
10. Dragon Quest IX (2009)
11. Monster Hunter Tri (2009)

So no games in 2001, 2002, 2004 or 2007 got a 40/40, but three games in 2008 and three games in 2009 have? Either Famitsu thinks games are getting better or is giving out more perfect scores. Discuss!

And for those who care, Final Fantasy X was released in 2001, Resident Evil was released in 2002, Dragon Quest VIII and Gran Turismo 4 were released in 2004, and so on and so forth.

Once the actual scan of the score has hit online, we will add it to this post. ...

via Computer and Video Games


Third party peripheral firm Datel, who make a range of Max Memory storage units for Xbox 360, says it's "disappointed" with MS's decision to stop unofficial memory units working with the 360's upcoming dashboard update.

...

via Eurogamer


Sony has declined to comment on rumours that Killzone 3 is "deep in development" and will be released next year.

This is in response to Official PlayStation Magazine's "The Secret Games of 2010" article (via Destructoid), which claimed readers could "pencil in" Killzone 3 as well as Resistance 3 and a Call of Duty: World at War sequel.

Killzone 2 launched in February this year and earned 9/10 here on Eurogamer.

Resistance 2 was of similar calibre, and appeared a few months earlier that Killzone 2, in the autumn of 2008. Insomniac has just finished work on Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time, which Ellie is reviewing as I type.

Activision rotates Call of Duty duties between Treyarch and Infinity Ward. The latter will deliver Modern Warfare 2, so Treyarch presumably has something in the can for next autumn. ...

via Joystiq


Frontier Developments has used the WiiWare platform to deliver two small, but high-quality games: the LostWinds series. However, according to David Braben (and a quick look at the offerings on any console download service) not everyone has taken the same approach. "One of the things that really annoys me," Braben told Develop, "is when people see XBLA, PSN and WiiWare as a dumping ground, in terms of 'you don't need to put the same amount of effort in.'"

Instead of a place for shallow games, Braben described the download space as the "short story" of game design. "It's a way to try out a radical idea," he said, "It's a way to try out a radical idea, and quite often a lot of those do become novels later on. What I don't like is the idea that people can scratch one out at the bus stop, which I've overheard at conferences." More CUBELLO, less Frogger 2. Of course, the real takeaway from Braben's article is that you should look around at conferences to see if David Braben is nearby. ...

via IGN


Two big questions from the Tokyo Game Show Final Fantasy XIII trailer have at long last been answered courtesy of Shounen Jump. Want the name of that mysterious black-haired girl? Want the know what form Sazh's summon takes before it turns into that sweet hot rod? Then read on!

First up, mystery girl. Her name is Oerba Yun Fang. The description in Jump describes her as a strong lady with lots of mysteries.

Here are just two of the mysteries we've already come up with.

First, something we saw in the TGS trailer. Yun Fang is a l'Cie like Lightning, Snow and the rest of the good guys . But her comments in the TGS trailer suggest that she's on good conditions with the government that's trying to rid Pulse of her kind. Mysterious!

Second, something about her name. You might remember the name Oerba from Vanille's full name of Oerba Dia Vanille. Is it just a coincidence that the two have the word Oerba in their name? Mysterious!

While Yun Fang's tone in the TGS trailer suggested that she might be a villain, she's actually a playable character. It appears that she uses a sphere as her weapon. She's paired with one of the most recognizable summons of them all: Bahamut! Bahamut in FFXIII isn't as large as one might expect given his name, but he does have massive claws.

The talk of summons brings us to Sazh. The TGS trailer showed Sazh's summon transforming into a sports car, but we never got a good look at the summon in full bipedal form. At long last, Jump has revealed the summon to be Brynhildr, and not Ifreet as many had assumed given the fire-like visuals in the transformation sequence.

Brynhildr looks massive when standing next to Sazh. He wields a giant axe, but we're not sure how much we'll be using it! We like seeing Sazh in his hot rod, so we'll be switching Brynhildr to driving mode whenever possible. ...

via Eurogamer


Rumours are swirling that a sequel to PS3 exclusive InFamous is on the way.

It's all thanks to actor David Sullivan, who posted the following message on his Twitter page: "First voiceover / motion capture audition today for a videogame. Re-casting of Cole in the sequel of Infamous. 'I'll melt your face.' e.g."

At least, G4 says that's what he posted - the message has since mysteriously disappeared.

However, he has issued a response to a question about whether there is indeed a sequel on the way: "Not really sure. Would be very cool if there was and I was a part of it."

His latest post reads, "Thank you all for your interest and your support. I will continue to keep you updated on things I book which are, in no way, private." Whoopsie.

Sony has so far declined to comment on the whole thing, unshockingly. ...

via Eurogamer


Star Trek Online captain Craig Zinkievich has explained that the MMO is delayed on console because of "the business side of things". The game itself, he said, already runs on the machines.

"When it comes to the business, I'll be honest, the business part of bringing MMOs to consoles has been really sticky," Zinkievich told Eurogamer in an interview published today. "Trying to get Sony, trying to get Microsoft to really understand MMOs; really understand what needs to happen for MMOs, and then figure out all the business aspects of those games, has really been a difficulty for all of the MMO developers."

He said Final Fantasy XI - the sole MMO on 360 - was only possible because "so many exceptions were made" while Microsoft tried to establish market share. Getting the platform-holders to understand the technologies needed network-wise have been "the really big hangups".

"In terms of actually developing the game on the consoles?" asked Zinkievich. "I mean Champions runs on the console right now; Star Trek Online runs on the consoles right now; our engine - the Cryptic Engine - runs on the consoles."

"So I can guarantee that internally I can have Star Trek Online running on the consoles because I know I can, and we've done it. But it's that [business] side that I can't speak for.

"I can give you guarantees that if you really, really want, someone can come here and play it," he added.

Cryptic hasn't announced which consoles Star Trek Online will appear on, although you can probably rule out Wii.

The PC version of Star Trek Online is due out early next year. Check out our full interview with Craig Zinkievich to find out much more. ...