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Lichborne: Pre-heroic Cataclysm gear for DPS death knights
Every week, WoW Insider brings you Lichborne for blood, frost, and unholy death knights. Join World of Warcraft's first hero class as we head into a new expansion and shed the new kid on the block label. Now that Cataclysm's been out for around a week, a lot of us have managed to hit level 85, with more dinging every day. Now that you're 85, though, what do you do? If this were Wrath, you'd grab a few reputation or BoE blues, hit the minimum ilevel for heroics, and start queueing. In theory, you could do that for Cataclysm -- but to be honest, you'd probably fail hard. Dungeons are tough, and you won't have dudes in tier gear to drag you through. Almost everyone's going to be just about the same for the next few months: complete newbies who are still trying to get raid groups together and still trying to learn new rotations and stat weights for level 85. With that in mind, there is one thing you can do to give yourself an edge in heroics: Gear up. This week, we're going to look at various dungeon, quest, and reputation drops to find the stuff that'll do the best job at getting you ready for heroic dungeon runs. I've put the better stuff near the top of the list, though sometimes the second or third choice may be better for you based on your stat needs or spec. I have mentioned justice point items in these lists with the understanding that a lot of us stockpiled 4,000 justice points at the end of Wrath, and you can earn justice points for normal dungeons in the random dungeon finder. That said, don't feel like you need to stay in normal dungeons until you grab all the justice point gear. Just pick up some of the second or third choices and get to heroics, where you'll earn those points a bit faster.
MotionPlus accessory adds hope to Red Steel 2
The Wii MotionPlus accessory is probably the best thing that could happen to Red Steel, and, luckily, Ubisoft has figured out this staggeringly obvious fact. The company has announced that they'll be using the new motion-tracking device in Red Steel 2, which is still yet to be officially announced itself. Although now that the game's producer is giving interviews about it, we can be pretty sure it's coming.Adding the new technology will no doubt add to the already lengthy development cycle of the sequel, and accordingly no release window is given for Red Steel 2. This is the first game other than Wii Sports Resort that has been revealed to use the MotionPlus peripheral, so it's at least ahead of the curve in aspects not related to actually being available in a store.
Todd Mitchell tells us how the Wii sucks for third-parties (again)
Just in case you didn't hear him the first time he said it, Kaufman Bros. analyst Todd Mitchell has reiterated his belief that the Wii only truly benefits Nintendo, and that third-party developers have only seen "isolated successes" on the console. Mitchell's argument may have been aired before, but it's also tricky to dismiss, especially as only two third-party titles have so far broken the one million sales barrier (launch twosome Red Steel and Rayman Raving Rabbids). Then again, when it comes to top-drawer, original Wii software, Nintendo has delivered on a fairly regular basis. With the odd exception or two, can the same really be said of other publishers? [Via Go Nintendo]
1UP talks turkey games
What better way to spend Thanksgiving than talking about turkeys? And by turkeys, of course, 1UP's referring to those massively-hyped titles that ultimately fizzled.We can't say we agree with all of the choices presented, though 1UP's criteria suggests that the games featured aren't necessarily "bad," but that all of them "fell short of expectations."Still, given the sheer number of games out there, there are bound to be bigger, badder turkeys hiding in the bushes. Any more main-course nominees?
Red Steel 2 listing probably getting us excited for no reason
We know that game retailers often just throw release dates about willy-nilly, like Jackson Pollock at his absolute drunkest. But does that stop us from getting excited when we see some sexy new release date, even though we have a gut feeling it's probably just made up? No, dear reader. Of course it doesn't.For the perfect example of our weakness, check out the image to the right. It's a list gleaned from GameStop in Europe of upcoming releases for the Wii. We spy WiiFit on there, snugly in February, which sounds about right, but what about a little lower on the list? Why, if it isn't our old friend Red Steel 2. One of the more elusive upcoming releases, the game has fluctuated between being alive and being dead more times than Nikki Sixx. Though Red Steel 2 has been bandied about before, we've never heard anything concrete on it. Now, after seeing this list ... we still haven't. But just the same, its inclusion here piques our interest, no matter what our guts are saying.[Via WFB]
Nintendo wins prestigious awards at G-phoria
In case your G-Phoria watch party got too loud for you to actually hear the winners, a GoNintendo reader wrote down all the Nintendo wins and sent them in. We had our G-Phoria Scorecards all ready for the big show, but at the last minute our traditional Adam Sessler-shaped G-Phoria cake fell apart, and we cancelled the gathering out of shame. We still had to pay for the auditorium, but we think we made the right decision.Here are the winners (good luck on your betting pool!): Best Sports Game: Wii SportsBest RPG: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight PrincessStride's Longest Lasting Game: The Legend of Zelda: Twilight PrincessGame Most Deserving of an Uwe Boll Movie: Red SteelOh, G4 and their hilarious comedy awards. Zelda's not an RPG!
Red Steel 2 confirmed and then denied
Allegedly this morning Red Steel 2 was confirmed at an event in Cannes and has since been denied by Ubisoft. Red Steel, a launch title for the Wii, was meant to show how the Wii could elevate the FPS genre -- that didn't happen. What Red Steel ended up being was a set of negative adjectives, but the belief (until about an hour ago) was that Ubisoft hoped to rectify that with the announcement of Red Steel 2. The game's rumored online mode had been confirmed and that's pretty much all the details we had about this title that doesn't exist ... officially.Although Ubisoft has already apologized for over-porting the Wii, we wish they'd have kept Red Steel in development for a bit longer (although it was clearly designed to make Wii launch). We're just going to have to wait until Metroid Prime to see what a fully designed Wii FPS will play like. If Metroid Prime falls on flat on Samus's helmet, we fear for the genre on the system.Read -- Confirmed [Via GoNintendo]Read -- Denied
Red Steel 2 'confirmed' and denied
We already know it's coming, but Ubisoft has officially denied any announcements about Red Steel 2. Inpact Virtuel originally reported that Ubisoft had confirmed the game at the Interactive & Digital Entertainment Expo in Cannes.However, following a call to Ubisoft, they have found that nothing has been announced. At the moment, we have a game that we know people are working on, but officially doesn't exist. Spooky! It's like a ghost-game.[Via GoNintendo]
Next America's Army exclusive to the 360
Yesterday, Ubisoft and Red Storm announced that upcoming sequel America's Army: True Soldier will in fact be exclusive to the Xbox 360. In an interview with Red Storm's creative director, Randy Greenback commented on why they chose to make the game exclusive to the 360 stating that, "First and foremost our experience level on the 360 is much higher, having gone through the development of GRAW and GRAW2 multiplayer. The second factor is that the installed base is much larger, which translates to a greater opportunity for a wider audience to experience the game". Awww, such kind words. The interview also touches on what new features True Soldier will include, how the team's experience on GRAW 2 has helped, and what fans can expect from the game. Make the jump for the latest dish on Xbox 360 exclusive America's Army: True Soldier.
Rumor: Red Steel sequel to go online
It seems everything we know about Red Steel 2 we know from job postings, including its very existence. The latest rumblings stem from a job opening on Gamasutra from developer Ubisoft seeking an online programmer specifically for Nintendo Wii. The position is for a studio in Paris, "where Red Steel and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter games have been developed." The listing also notes that "knowledge of Unreal" (presumably the engine) is a plus. Nothing has been confirmed; Ubisoft has committed to making a plethora of Wii games, meaning than any possible unveiling might be a ways off. The first Red Steel, a Wii launch title, received much press in the months before its release but ultimately did not meet the hype, as indicated by tepid reviews. [Via NeoGAF and Wii Fanboy]
Red Steel 2 online 'confirmed'
Ubisoft posted a job announcement looking for an online programmer for Wii projects. The listing states that the job is in their "Production Studio in Paris, where Red Steel and Ghost Recon Advanced Warfighter games have been developed."It seems kind of likely that this involves Red Steel 2, which was itself basically announced via job listing, but let's not get out our Jump to Conclusions Mats. Yes, slicing your friends up online would be pretty great. But Ubisoft works on a lot of games other than Red Steel, and there are a lot of things you can do online that aren't playing games, as Nintendo has ably demonstrated with every Wii channel.[Via NeoGAF]
Ubisoft fourth quarter sales pushed up by warfighters, turtles
Leading to the obvious conclusion: Ubisoft needs to somehow combine the gritty realism of the Tom Clancy franchise with the anthropomorphic antics of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. Politically charged yet irresistibly adorable properties like Tom Clancy's Splinter Shell and Tom Clancy's The War on Terrapins are sure to tap into hitherto untapped fountains of marketability and financial prosperity. Not that Ubisoft is currently in dire need of money, mind you. Gamasutra's detailing of L'Ubi's most recent financial report suggests that the publisher is already exceeding analyst expectations by exchanging one type of green for another.The company's fourth quarter sales saw an increase of 37% to $267.5 million, largely instigated by the one million unit success of Tom Clancy's Ghost Recon: Advanced Warfighter 2 on Xbox 360, as well as the TMNT film-based game which dragged in 1.1 million units in its eight platform-wide net. Sales for the full 2006/2007 fiscal year stand at $923.4 million following a jump of 24.4%, with earlier titles such as Red Steel, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Vegas and Petz being key contributors.Ubisoft expects profitability to increase further in the coming year by supporting new-gen consoles and expanding their presence in "the casual market on the Wii and Nintendo DS systems." Oh! We've yet to add casual games into our bubbling cauldron of cross-franchise success! So, that'll be Tom Clancy's Krang Age, then?
Wii ad 'too violent' for some in UK
Red Steel and Twilight Princess are reminiscent of terrorist videos ... at least to one individual in the UK. Apparently, this ad was a bit too "violent, offensive, and disturbing" for seventeen (yes, seventeen) television viewers in Britain, and they made their displeasure known. After a review by Britain's Advertising Standards Authority, however, the ads were deemed okay to go. "We also considered that viewers were unlikely to link the ad to recent events in Iraq. We concluded that the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence," the Authority said. Translation? Damn, y'all are sensitive.Obviously, we've now won the console war. Sony and Microsoft can just go home. Good game, guys. Good game.
Seventeen Brits complain about Wii ad violence
Nintendo's advertising efforts have apparently hurt the company's kid-friendly image with at least a few Britons. An adjudication statement from Britain's Advertising Standards Authority outlines seventeen distinct complaints over the animated violence in an ad for Twilight Princess and Red Steel. One complainant even thought the ad was "reminiscent of recent videos released by hostage-takers in Iraq." Yikes!Fear not, freedom-of-speech loving Brits; the Authority reviewed the content and determined that "the ad was unlikely to cause serious or widespread offence. [sic]" Surprisingly, we have yet to hear any similarly official complaints about Sony's excessively weird PS3 ad campaign. Apparently a creepy guy in a jock strap ranks below simulated sword violence on the British disturb-o-meter.[Via VNUNet]
Ubisale at Toys R Us
There have been a lot of sales to report lately! If you picked up a Wii at Toys R Us yesterday, you now have an opportunity to get some relatively good games for a decent price, from now until the 10th.Toys R Us is offering three Ubisoft-published Wii games for the price of two. Your choices are GT Pro Series, Open Season, Rayman: Raving Rabbids, Red Steel, and Monster 4x4: World Circuit. This offer is valid online, but we aren't sure about its status in TRU stores. If there are three games in that list you're interested in, or two games you're interested in and one you think you could get a decent price for on eBay, then you are in luck![Via QJ.net]
Wii can run back-ups without a mod chip?
var digg_url = 'http://digg.com/gaming_news/Wii_can_run_back_ups_without_a_mod_chip_apparently'; Apparently, all one needs to run back-ups on their Wii is nothing more than a little technical know-how and an inexpensive cable. At least, we found this out whilst browsing YouTube today and coming across user Textb00k's video, that is. As you can see, in the embedded video available past the post break, this individual has apparently done nothing more than soldering a parallel port cable to the Wii's drive board and jacked it into his PC. The reward for his efforts is a back-up disc of Red Steel running on the console.
Looks official at last: Red Steel sequel
While it certainly looked like things were headed in that direction, now it seems that a Red Steel sequel is pretty much confirmed. The only thing left is for an official press release to start making the rounds. The good ol' Dojo of Pain, the game's community website, recently featured the following telling quote: "...if any student think he anywhere near ready for Red Steel 2...Get Ready to Do My Laundry! [sic]"Late last year, Ubisoft posted a job listing announcing they were in need of a designer for more Red Steel action ... a designer with online experience. While Red Steel may not be the best game ever to hit consoles, the multiplayer is actually pretty fun, and taking the fun online could really make this a viable franchise. Well, that and actual cut scenes.
Paradox hacks Red Steel, releases the ISO into the wild
With Xbox 360 and PS3 games getting ISO-dumped right and left, it's about time the Wii got a little taste of hacker-dom. The famed "Paradox" group of hackers did the honors this time, and went so far as to upload the ISO of Red Steel for your DVD burning pleasure. Of course, you still can't actually play such burned discs on the Wii -- though Paradox seems to think such a hack is right around the corner -- and then there's always the whole illegal part of this equation, but if you already own a copy of the game and are just looking into modding your Wii for, erm, educational purposes, we don't really see what's stopping you. There is the fact that you'll probably need an in with these folks to get ahold of the torrent at the moment, but that shouldn't be too terribly hard to do.[Thanks, Bob T]
Reggie sez: Online in Q2
When the big man speaks, we listen. And yes, we're referring to the deity that is Reggie Fils-Aime, standing atop his mighty pedestal after supplanting Zeus for the title. He was recently on Spike TV's GameHead, speaking rather generically about the Wii. But, as you may have guessed, there was a diamond in the rough: the news that the first multiplayer online Wii games will be announced in Q1 2007 and start shipping in Q2. Finally!We're a little disappointed that online didn't come right out of the box; God knows some games really could have benefitted: Madden 07, Call of Duty 3, and Red Steel certainly could have used the boost. Still, at least a smidgeon of online functionality is coming quite soon, with the ability to trade custom levels in Elebits via the magic of the internet intertron. That's its new name. Thus have we spoken, and thus it is so.[We don't normally steal our sister site Joystiq's pictures, but this one was just too good.]
Red Steel 2 semi-confirmed
Sorta kinda maybe. Everyone's favorite overly-hyped-shooter-with-glitchy-aiming-mechanisms-and-unintuitive-combat seems to be gearing up for another go. Ubisoft's Paris division has posted a big digital "Help Wanted" ad on the internet, whose transcript shall be withheld to save the reader from silly BabelFish translation errors. In any case, it asks for a game designer for the "continuation of the Red Steel franchise". There is no direct confirmation that the sequel will be on the Wii, but come on. It's pretty damn obvious.One must wonder if the world really wants this. If they can iron out the bugs, improve level design, and add more realistic melee combat, maybe they'll have a winner. If not, we'll always have Super Smash Bros. Brawl to fall back on, right?
