While probably not as painful as last week's Crysis 2 leak on PC, Sony now has to deal with Killzone 3 being leaked on to the net a full week before its retail release. Early reviews of Killzone 3 have been quite positive, leading gamers and pirates alike to chomp at the bits to get their hands on the game. We will probably see much more of this sort of thing now that the PS3 has been hacked for "homebrew" purposes. It is unfortunate that every major release seems to get pirated before release nowadays. It's almost like your game doesn't matter if it isn't pirated before release. Most people that were going to buy Killzone 3 probably still are, but that doesn't make this right. Piracy is not fair to the hundreds of people that work day in and day out to bring you these games, so please think about that before you start trolling torrents. Expect many futile firmware updates from Sony as they scramble to fix this issue.
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Toys "R" Us may have simply made a mistake, listing Super Mario All-Stars Limited Edition on their website with a ship date of March 13th, but I am thinking that this is further confirmation of the rumored reprint. The collection has proved to be quite popular on eBay, going for nearly double its retail price. While Mario probably deserved a much better collection for his 25th birthday a reprint would mean that fans won't have to pay an arm and a leg to obtain this piece of history anymore. I am just glad that a younger generation of gamers will now have another opportunity to experience these classics. Even if the Limited Edition doesn't end up getting a reprint you can always download the games individually from the Wii's Virtual Console, but then you would be missing out on some cool packaging and a CD filled with some of Mario's greatest tunes. Look forward to a confirmation of this news in the coming days.
If you have not done so already (and really why haven't you?) make sure you download the Netflix Channel from the Wii Shop Channel. According to an e-mail Netflix sent out to subscribers the discs will no longer work after February 16th. Your Wii's disc drive will surely thank you. If you haven't experience the wonder that is Netflix, follow this link to start a one month free trial of the service. Yu Suzuki of Outrun, Virtua Fighter and Shenmue fame will be accepting the Pioneer Award at this year's Game Developers Conference in March. The award is given to those who develop breakthrough technology, game concept or gameplay design throughout video game history. Suzuki started at SEGA back in 1983 making arcade games like Hang On and Space Harrier. He now oversees the company's worldwide content strategy. I remember seeing Virtua Fighter for the first time in arcades and having to pick my jaw up off the floor. I am very happy for Mr. Suzuki and SEGA, this is one well deserved award. Remember that picture of Prinny dressed in Cave Story garb from the other day? That would be because NIS America is publishing a remake of Cave Story for the 3DS! The game is being developed by Nicalis, the same developer behind the excellent WiiWare and DSiWare ports. It will feature 2D gameplay with 3D visuals and depth of field effects. The visuals aren't all that's changing, Nicalis has said that they have included plenty of easter eggs and new areas to make even the most seasoned fans happy. To find out why this is such great news read my review of the WiiWare version of Cave Story.
Last night the internet was ablaze with news that Activision had axed their Guitar Hero franchise, but did you know that they won't be releasing any music games at all in 2011? This includes the DJ Hero franchise, which was scheduled to have a 3D rendition on Nintendo's 3DS. There will also be no Tony Hawk games released this year, allowing for a much needed break. Could gamer's lack of interest in these franchises be due to Activision's constant milking? Will the immensely popular Call of Duty franchise meet the same fate?
Not yet. Activision has announced that they have created a new studio named Beachhead is working around the clock to make the Call of Duty online experience even more comprehensive. Activision also touted huge numbers for Call of Duty: Black Ops' first DLC "First Strike", purchased 1.4 million times in its first 24 hours of availability on Xbox Live. Blizzard's World of Warcraft continues to be a strong contributor as well, helping the company reach 1.5 billion in digital sales alone. Despite raking in 4.45 billion dollars last quarter, $418 million of which was pure profit, the company is planning to let nearly 500 employees go, most of them related to the music game genre. They are reportedly closing 7 Studios, the team behind Scratch the Ultimate DJ, a developer they had only purchased last April. Idea Fabrik has announced the formation of new studio called Second Star Interactive, formed of ex EA, Bethesda and Sony Online Entertainment developers and executives. They are going to be developing an online game using their own Simutronics' HeroEngine technology, currently being used in Bioware's upcoming MMO Star Wars: The Old Republic. Zenimax Media, the parent company of Bethesda, is also reported to be working on a game using the same engine. Second Star Interactive's first game is due by the end of the year.
Source: Joystiq Rumor has it that the recently trademarked Gears of War: Exile is in fact a Kinect based rail shooter. The player will have no control over their character, only the aiming reticule and certain actions. The game is said to reuse a lot of assets and scenarios from Gears of War 2. I have yet to see enough precision from Kinect to make a rail shooter worth playing on it so I will be interested in seeing what Epic Games does to make this work. The best case scenario in my mind is that Marcus has a gun turret strapped to his burly man chest and the player holds out their Xbox controller to mimic. That way we can actually use the controller's triggers to fire instead of using some wonky nonsensical hand gesture. Is this really what hardcore gamers want out of Kinect?
Marvelous Entertainment revealed that they had canceled a multiplatform "epic RPG" intended for the Xbox 360 and PS3 last year. While no details have been released about the game, we can probably chalk it up as the original IP for new hardware they hinted at last year when they were complaining about Wii development. Marvelous lost $2.9 million dollars in the development of this canceled project but still reported an operating profit of $4.9 million. That's great news for a company that posted a $14.6 million loss.
Many RPG fans were pleased to hear that The Last Story sold near 115,000 in its opening week and was the best selling game in Japan. But Media Create has provided us with more details that make this feat even more impressive. The game managed to sell 114,722 copies in just three days, 19,448 of which were the fancy Wii hardware bundle. They also found that a good portion of those buying the game were females in their 20's. These numbers are fantastic for a new I.P., even if it is coming from Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of Final Fantasy. We can only hope that the game's popularity in Japan leads to a North American localization.
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