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10 games added to PS3 Greatest Hits lineup, Sony confirms
Looks like the Walmart ad we posted yesterday actually undersold the number of PS3 games that Sony will soon add to the $30 Greatest Hits collection. The following 10 titles will be decked in red and reduced in price in the U.S. and Canada within the next few weeks: inFAMOUS (Sony Computer Entertainment) God of War Collection (Sony Computer Entertainment) Killzone 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment) LittleBigPlanet Game of the Year (Sony Computer Entertainment) Resistance 2 (Sony Computer Entertainment) Dead Space (Electronic Arts) Fight Night Round 4 (EA Sports) Resident Evil 5 (Capcom) Soulcalibur IV (Namco Bandai Games) UFC 2009 Undisputed (THQ) That's a pretty good assortment of quality titles -- assuming, of course, that this isn't some kind of horribly distasteful April Fools' Day joke.
Best of the Rest: Andrew's Picks of 2009
Flower This year had a number of terrific downloadable games (this list is a testament to that), however no game -- retail or digital -- connected with me like Flower. Jenova Chen's flOw was an interesting experiment, but Flower is an actual game. In fact, Flower is one of the few experiences I can think of that show the true potential of games as a unique storytelling medium. No other non-interactive art form will ever be able to replicate what thatgamecompany has managed to create.
Fight Night Round 4 DLC pulled due to freezing issues
Boxing fans who were hoping to enhance their sweet, sweet scientific exploits in Fight Night Round 4 for the Xbox 360 were recently stricken with disappointment -- the game's latest DLC, the "Champions Pack 2," hit the Xbox Live Marketplace with a fairly problematic issue which caused the system to freeze up while downloading the content. This is doubly troubling, because as we understand it, downloading is actually a pretty important step in the DLC process. EA Sports commented on the error on its official forums, stating that the DLC has been pulled from the Marketplace until a non-glitched version can be rolled out, hopefully "before the Christmas holidays." People who managed to download the DLC without freezing can still play the game, but won't be able to access the pack's locked content until the revised DLC is released. People who managed to download half of the DLC pack before freezing can play as Evander Holyfield's torso.
European PSN releases for December 3
The wait to try out Sega/Platinum Games' over-the-top, demon/angel-slaying action title Bayonetta is finally over. The demo for the title is the highlight of this week's European PSN update, joined by a whole bunch of DLC for Fight Night Round 4, an Ezio Auditore costume for LittleBigPlanet and roughly 17,000 Rock Band tracks. That's just a quick estimate, but we think it should be pretty accurate. Choose your platform to view the corresponding release list: (Note: Continue past the break to view both release lists.)
PSA: Futureshop slashing prices on Dragon Age, Left 4 Dead 2, NFS: Shift
Hey Canadians! Yeah, you guys and gals huddled together attempting to maintain sustainable body heat. Just a friendly reminder that big-box retailer Futureshop is currently slashing prices on a slew of new video game titles. Dragon Age: Origins, Left 4 Dead 2, Brutal Legend and Need for Speed: Shift are all on sale for $39.99. Wait, what's this? NHL 10? Oh, Canada. You're so adorably predictable! The online and in-store sale ends on December 3, so make sure to defrost your car, dust off your skates and hit the store ASAP. And before you ask: Yes, Rock Band 2's special edition is priced at $99 and does include a free mullet kit. We don't know what that is, but we know we want it. More Canadian deals can be found after the break.Update: Best Buy Canada is offering similar discounts.
Fight Night Round 4 gets 'Rivalries' DLC this week, you get a new trailer right now
For those of you wishing to recreate the ear-biting banality that is a boxing match between Mike Tyson (please don't hurt us!) and Evander Holyfield (the poor guy!), EA Sports is enabling just such a possibility with this week's DLC for Fight Night Round 4. Titled "Rivalries," it'll be adding three new fighters as well as some new game modes. The DLC's trailer (found after the break) details all the new additions, as well as giving us our first in-action look at the new fighters. We'll be re-imagining Holyfield's fateful fight with Tyson getting pummeled into the ground when the DLC arrives on December 3 – call it virtual retribution. %Gallery-78856%
Fight Night: Round 4 gets new fighters, modes, major update Dec. 3
Punch your way through to our gallery Pugilists looking to beef up their stable of brawlers in Fight Night Round 4 will be able to do just that when EA offers up three new fighters in a DLC pack for 360 and PS3 on December 3. For the price of 160 ($2) and $1.99, respectively, you'll be able to add boxing greats Evander Holyfield, Sonny Liston and Bernard Hopkins to your virtual lineup of potential pulverizers. In addition to the new DLC, EA will also bring in the cut man to fix a few issues fighters are having with the game -- you can find the full list of fixes after the break -- and will add Old School Rules and Ring Rivalry mode. Here's the fight card: Full bundle (Xbox 360/PS3) - 800 ($10) / $9.99 Evander Holyfield, Sonny Liston and Bernard Hopkins Ring Rivalry game mode (allows players to choose from over 20 different match options recreating boxing's most famous matchups) Old School Rules game mode (simulates the common rules of boxing prior to the establishment of the Marquis of Queensbury Rules) Three new boxers (Holyfield, Liston and Hopkins) -- 160 ($2) / $1.99 each Old School Rules mode -- 320 ($4) / $3.99 Ring Rivalry mode -- 160 ($2) / $1.99 %Gallery-78856%
EA releases Fight Night Round 4 DLC, dubious sales data
First thing's first: EA's official blog informs us that the new DLC we reported on a few weeks back is available for download, which adds a bunch of new faces to pummel. There's also a title update that flips the switch on the new button-based control scheme. Okay, now onto the juicy stuff.EA also sent us a press release about the new content in ad server Fight Night Round 4, but took care to point out that the game had "sold over a million units in its first month," according to NPD data. Our more observant readers may remember the game sold 471.1K on Xbox 360 and PS3 in June and 116K on Xbox 360 in July and, considering the PS3 version wasn't even on the July list, you can see it just doesn't add up. Even if we assume FNR4 on PS3 sold 96K -- lower than the last title on July's list -- it still doesn't add up. We're not mathologists (well, okay, one of us is), but Denmark is stinkin' something fierce right now.
New Fight Night and FEAR 2 demos land on Live
We know what you're thinking. "Hey, aren't there already Fight Night Round 4 and FEAR 2 demos?" The answer to that question is ... yes. However, these are new Fight Night Round 4 and FEAR 2 demos. The new Fight Night demo adds the ability to punch using the face buttons instead of the right stick, so it might be worth a look for those who were turned off before. It also features a "body spamming fix." We're not sure what that is, but it sounds gross. The FEAR 2 demo is actually pretty interesting, as it's a demo for the upcoming single-player DLC pack, "Reborn." It's not very common to see demos for an add-on, but it seems like a pretty good idea. If you're hankering to see what "Reborn" has in store, download the demo and give it a try. The DLC itself was originally scheduled to release this month, so it should be available any day now. Add the Fight Night Round 4 demo to your Xbox 360 download queue Add the FEAR 2 demo to your Xbox 360 download queue
Not in the box(ers): Fight Night 4 DLC, updates announced
EA Sports has announced the card for its first Fight Night Round 4 downloadable boxer pack, due later this month. A youthful Oscar De La Hoya gets top billing, joined by the Klitschko brothers, Wladimir and Vital, as well as alternate versions of James Toney and George Foreman (fingers crossed for a Foreman Grill getup!). The pack will hit the ring at 800 ($10) and $9.99 on Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Store, respectively. Around the same time the DLC hits, a free update for the game will be made available on both platforms, bringing with it new boxer gear and -- more notably -- a new, optional control scheme that ditches the analog stick in favor of punches assigned to the gamepad's face buttons. The new controls will also be available in a new demo for the title set for early September. EA hasn't mentioned why it felt compelled to introduce the new controller setup, but we think it probably has something to do with nondigitaphobia; the irrational fear of analog sticks. (It's more common than you'd think.)
UK chart get: Wii Sports Resort soars
Nintendo's latest flagship title continues to dominate the UK sales charts. According to Chart Track, Wii Sports Resort is the top-selling title for the second week in a row. After two weeks at fourth place, Wii Fit returns to second -- we guess people were just in a mood to buy things with Wii in the title last week. We suspect the top two will look much like this for a while -- Resort may just be starting an extended period of Wii Fit-like success.If they weren't buying games labeled Wii, they were buying things with the EA logo. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 is at the number three spot, followed by Harry Potter & The Half-Blood Prince and Fight Night Round 4.
UK chart get: Harry Potter and the EA Games of Popularity
EA has dominated the UK charts once again, as the publisher saw three of its titles grace the top five spots in the All Formats category last week. Chart-Track data shows that the one-two punch of a new Harry Potter movie in cinemas and a new game on store shelves was too potent a potion for UK customers to ignore, with Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince shooting to the top spot.Harry and his Gryffindor chums were joined by Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10, which dropped from the second spot all the way to third, and Fight Night Round 4, a previous top spotter that has plummeted to fifth place. Rounding out the remainder of the top five were Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which rested comfortably in second, and Wii Fit, which has dropped down to fourth.
Fight Night Round 4 coming to Home this week
We already knew the Buzz! Home space -- which features live MyBuzzQuiz gameplay -- would be arriving in Home this week, but we now know that it will be joined by another extension to EA Sports' Home presence. Specifically, a Fight Night Round 4 space will be available during the update this Thursday. In this space you'll be able to play one of two minigames -- though the PlayStation Blog post suggests more will be coming soon -- and you can check them both out in the video after the break.While robot-boxing makes sense for a Fight Night Home space, we're not sure what a rhythm-based turntables minigame has to do with anything. If neither of those take your fancy, EA will also have opened up the golf section of the Sports Complex, with a Home-wide competition coming soon.
Tiger Woods and Fight Night top UK charts again
Tiger Woods Pro Tour 10 and Fight Night Round 4 dominated UK sales charts for the second week in a row (albeit in a different order), taking first and second place, respectively. In total, Electronic Arts software accounted for four of the top 10 titles for the week ending July 11, according to Chart Track.Top 10 chart mainstay Wii Fit fell to number six, while Ubisoft's Western-themed Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood climbed ahead to number five. Activision Blizzard also scored big with Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen (#3), Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (#9) and Prototype (#10) in the platform-combined top 10 list. With Transformers sneaking into the third spot, we're content to find out that, for all the cred British people get for being classy, they still make as many terrible decisions as North Americans. Cool, innit?
Fight Night Round 4 getting free control scheme update, DLC
EA is really doing it: the company has announced that it will release DLC for Fight Night Round 4 "by early September," adding the face button control scheme from previous Fight Night games. However, we are happy to report that the company showed that it has some sense, and is releasing this update for free. And just like that, something that would have been a disgusting business practice becomes friendly fan service.Before that, "by early August," according to EA, a DLC pack will be released containing "a new training gym, new gameplay sliders, as well as a host of new equipment that can be used for outfitting boxers." An alternate, Pizza Hut-sponsored version of Sugar Ray Leonard will also be available in the Xbox game. All of this will also be free.[Thanks, Mr. Pants]
Fight Night Round 4 knocks out its UK chart competitors
So it turns out Fight Night Round 4 is a real hit over in the UK. A real hit. That's a joke. What isn't a joke is that the game is enjoying a second week at the number one spot, despite competition from Tiger Woods Pro Tour 10, which debuted at number 2. We say "competition," but no matter which one you buy the money's still going in EA's pocket -- something that doesn't happen when you buy Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which surged from number 6 to number 3 this week.The bundling of Wii MotionPlus with Tiger Woods doesn't seem to have impacted too much on sales, as it debuted at number 4 in the Wii charts. Grand Slam Tennis -- which is also bundled with MotionPlus -- swapped places with EA Sports Active, jumping from number 3 to number 2. None of which seem to be able to get close to that other Wii peripheral, Wii Fit, which sits comfortably at the top of the Wii chart, as usual.
UK chart get: Fight Night Round 4 pummels competition
The sweet science enjoys a fondness in the United Kingdom, as EA Sports' Fight Night Round 4 enjoyed quite a debut this past week by bobbing and weaving its way to the top, according to Chart Track data. In fact, what makes this even more impressive is that Fight Night Round 4 is the first boxing game ever to reach the top spot on the All Formats chart. We guess our mother was wrong; violence may not solve everything, but it will solve the problem of wondering what type of game will sell extremely well in the UK.
Fight Night Round 4 might get button mapping via DLC
Okay, we're going to have to step very lightly here to avoid inciting a full-on boycott/panic/riot. A subtle piece of information slipped under the radar during a mid-June IGN interview with Fight Night Round 4's producers. The tidbit came in response to a query which asked whether the game would allow face button punching controls (it doesn't) -- a query which producer Brian Hayes answered with, "there is no option for face button punching in the final version, but we are investigating providing the option via DLC."Now, we're somewhat confused as to why the button-mapping options featured in previous Fight Night titles aren't already present in the most recent iteration of the sweetly scientific sim -- not everyone appreciates the stick-based punching control scheme. More importantly, if the folks at EA Sports are thinking about charging for this option -- and we're not saying they definitely are -- then they are high on pot.We've contacted EA Sports to find out what the deal is.[Via Evil Avatar]
Fight Night Round 4 trailer struts all over the ring
Like any good sports star, the launch trailer for Fight Night Round 4 that just landed on us does a good bit of strutting around and letting us know who's the best. And who, you ask, is the best? Why clearly Fight Night Round 4 which dropped earlier this week -- albeit with some technical issues -- a full week earlier than we had originally expected. If you're looking for another dose of ridiculously detailed boxers throwing punch after punch at each other, look no further. If not, well, maybe you're smoking lettuce, ya lettuce smoker.
SIGGRAPH 2009 panel to focus on Fight Night Round 4, Gears of War 2 graphics
The organizer of SIGGRAPH, an annual gathering of digital visual artists, has already implied that gaming will have a larger presence at 2009's conference than in previous years; there's even going to be a keynote address by SimCity creator Will Wright. It's now been announced that a session focusing on real-time computer graphics will explore the creation of visuals for EA Sports' newly released Fight Night Round 4 and Epic Games' not-so-new (but still mightily pretty) Gears of War 2.Titled "Big, Fast, and Cool: Making the Art for Fight Night Round 4 & Gears of War 2" (that title is neither small, quick or cool, by the way), the session is being offered for CG artists because, as SIGGRAPH 2009 real-time rendering chair Evan Hirsch says, "So much of what makes today's videogames so great are the responsive graphics and the stories that unfold during game play." It's a shame about that "during game play" bit; otherwise the entire thing could be called "The cinematics of Metal Gear Solid 4: Watch and Learn." Next year, Kojima. Next year.
