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Stargate Worlds level cap to increase every three months
Stargate Worlds France conducted a very substantial interview with Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/Firesky Studio Head Dan Elggren at the Games Convention in Leipzig. We say it's substantial because it includes a few new revelations about the game.The most notable of those revelations: CME/Firesky will be raising the game's level cap (50 at launch) by two levels every three months to coincide with new content updates and episodes. The second most interesting tidbit is about teams. Teams are a social unit smaller than commands (guilds); think of them as persistently existing and organized groups/parties. Anyway, the big news about teams is that players will be able to name their regular groups. Cool! Other topics included various Stargate inside jokes, Elggren plugging the gas-guzzling Hummer promotion, and some stuff about the Asgard, Archaeologist, Jaffa, and Go'auld classes that has already been floating around for a while. Watch the video for all that. Note that most of the video is in French with English subtitles, while the interview itself is in English with French subtitles.
Stargate Worlds beta invites coming in "early September/October"
In addition to a previously reported train station appearance, and in defiance of all common sense in the midst of a global gas crisis and panic about carbon emissions, Cheyenne Mountain Entertainment/FireSky promoted Stargate Worlds at the Games Convention in Leipzig by meeting the press in a constantly-moving caravan of pimped-out, gas-guzzling Hummers.In one of those Hummers, Ten Ton Hammer's John Hoskin recorded a video interview with Stargate Worlds studio head Dan Elggren. Hoskin asked Elggren about CME/FireSky's beta plans. Elggren said that the friends and family beta test has been going on for a while (it was when we visited the studio back in July, even) but that invites for "gameplay testing" will be going out to the public in "early September/October." Not quite the summer date we were promised, but we're still impressed at how quickly it's coming up.Hopefully that will cheer up Stargate fans who are depressed over the recent news of Stargate Atlantis' imminent cancellation. Yet another spin-off -- called Stargate Universe -- will premiere in 2009, though.
Activision thinking of charging subscription fee for Guitar Hero?
There's an interesting tidbit over at IGN. At the bottom of one of their articles on the Xbox 360 version of Guitar Hero: World Tour, you'll notice a little blurb with an asterisk. It reads: "*Online gameplay is only available for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, PlayStation 3 computer entertainment system and Wii and may require an additional subscription." Subscription? Part of us thinks this ties into the whole music-sharing thing that was revealed during GC 2008. Remember, there Activision commented on paying for the ability to upload more of your own custom tracks. So, is this something to do with that? Or, are Wii owners going to need to pay a bit extra? We're thinking it'll have something to do with the music creation, but until we hear definitive word, this one's going to be left open for debate.%Gallery-23491%[Thanks, Robert!]
Games Convention coming to North America
Following up a very successful year in Leipzig, Germany, it looks like those of us in North America can look forward to the Games Convention in the future. CEO Wolfgang Marzin has announced that they're now planning on bringing the show to North America, likely looking to pick up the slack left in the wake of E3 practically going the way of the dodo."The concept is flexible and the network of the global games industry permits us to be active at different locations," said Marzin. "After the Southeast Asian Games Convention, we are now focusing on the North American market." With a record 203,000 attendees this year, it seems like an easy decision to bring the show to one of the largest gaming markets in the world.
GC 2008: The mystery of the Force Unleashed
There are few things more fun than watching people try to figure out how to handle a new Wii game. With traditional controllers, unless you were staring directly at peoples' hands, it was hard to see their bibbles and bobbles as they worked out how to make things go, but with the Wii, you can see all the flails and foibles in full and fantastic motion. That's the real secret of Wii's success -- why do you think multiplayer is so popular with Wii owners? -- and even people at the Games Convention aren't immune, as this footage of some dude attempting to play Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, unequivocally proves. Luckily, it's a pretty long video, so he's got lots of time to get used to Vadering around.
Before and after images of Age of Conan's DirectX 10 support
Let's say you play Age of Conan, your computer runs on Windows Vista, and you have a fairly new video card (GeForce 8-series and better or the ATI equivalent). Honestly, we're not sure there are really that many of you that touch all those bases, but for those who are: congratulations! You can play games in DirectX 10 mode! Too bad there aren't really that many games that support DirectX 10!Thankfully, Age of Conan will soon be one of the elite few. It looks like the difference in visual quality will be significant. We make that observation based on a handful of before-and-after screenshots hosted at Ten Ton Hammer. Give them a look to find out what you're in for if you're one of the folks who have the hardware and software to experience it, or what you're missing out on if you're not.
GC 2008: Shaun White and company take a road trip
Straight out of Leipzig, a crazy mofo named Shaun White. The latest trailer for Ubisoft's Balance Board-compatible sports title, Shaun White Snowboarding shows off a lot of what you'd expect from a snowboarding game: lots of spinning and big jumps. We're not poking fun, because, to be honest, we think the game looks pretty polished. SSX it may not be, but a fun time it could very well become.%Gallery-29887%
GC 2008: EVE economist says players set the game's course
Speaking at the Games Convention in Leipzig, EVE Online economist Dr. Eyjolfur Gudmundsson suggested that the game's 245,000 players drive its development and innovation even more than the team at CCP does. That could be construed as populist pandering, for sure, but Gudmundsson -- who was addressing a room full of game developers -- dedicated most of his talk to the notion of "unleashing the power of players."He pointed to the Council of Stellar Management -- a democratically-elected group that represents the player-base in meetings with CCP -- and the player-driven open market that manages itself in accordance with real-world principles of economics as examples of the communal direction in action.This is a notably different mentality than that found in World of Warcraft and similar games which dispense carefully constructed experiences to the players from the developers at the top. EVE stirs an open ended pot of players to cook up gameplay experiences. Godmundsson is talking up the open approach, but both methods arguably have their own special strengths and pitfalls.
Kororinpa 2 uses balance board, boasts bad GC demo
As you probably noticed (from the title), there's good news and bad news concerning the sequel to the early Wii title Kororinpa. Luckily, the good outweighs the bad. The good, in fact, is great: Kororinpa 2 will feature ten stages that utilize the balance board. While it's not Wii MotionPlus, that'll still add a neat (and challenging, if Wii Fit's marble mini-game is any indication) element to the sequel. The bad? According to the folks at IGN, the game looks terrible on the floor in Leipzig. Don't start huffing and stamping your feet over quality control just yet, though; Kororinpa 2 isn't due until next year. There's still time to give it a fix.%Gallery-30046%
GC 2008: Left! Right! Chu! Chu! Ulala in Samba
Click for more Ulala goodness. A Sonic cameo in Samba de Amigo has long been old news, grandpa, but we've also been promised appearances from other Sega characters and venues. Here are the fruits of those promises: a cameo from the galaxy's funkiest news reporter, Ulala, and a special Space Channel 5 stage. Ulala's presence makes perfect sense really; as the protagonist of Sega's other awesome rhythm extravaganza, her inclusion was surely inevitable. Now all she needs is her own game. You listening, Sega?%Gallery-20601%[Via press release]
GC 2008: Finally, a pet game we can get behind
Click image for MORE MONKEYS. "Monkey Madness Wii targets kids ages 6 to 8 years," reads the opening line of the press release for Ubisoft's new monkey sim. "Like hell it does!" say we. Okay, so maybe it does, but we can't help being drawn to Ubisoft's newest pet game (and at least it's not Monkeyz). Fact: monkeys are adorable and awesome. Everybody thinks this, so no wonder Ubisoft settled on making a game about them. We've had it with labradors and kittens, frankly.In Monkey Madness Wii, kids we will be able to adopt a monkey and then befriend, train, feed, play with, and photograph our simian chum. There's a range of ridiculous outfits to dress George in (we've already settled on a name), and George's personality will be shaped by how you treat him -- he could be meek, courageous, loyal, indifferent, or something else. We can even cross-breed George with other species of monkeys to create "fantastical hybrids," which sounds a tad disturbing, but we plan on George being an amorous little bugger.We haven't even touched on the neatest feature of Monkey Madness Wii -- the ability to upload George to your Wii Remote (using the Wiimote's 6 kilobytes of on-board memory) and take him to a friend's house to play with the monkeys on their Wii. Clever! In fact, this is wasted on chil'n, and we'll say it now, readers: DO WANT. Now, can you resist a monkey gallery?%Gallery-30057%[Via press release]
GC 2008: Castlevania Judgment reserved for 2009, mysterious character appears
The latest Castlevania Judgment screens, fresh from the Leipzig showfloor, feature a new character not previously seen in the title. "Aeon" is probably one of the fighters produced by manga artist Takeshi Obata, who was drafted in by Konami to provide character designs. Alternatively, he could be from the DS's Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia. "Aeon" is not a name we're familiar with from previous instalments of the franchise, and neither Google or the Castlevania Wiki could shed any light on our confusion. Shanoa, the heroine of Order of Ecclesia, is already accessible in Judgment, so we wouldn't rule it out.Whoever Aeon is, you can see more of him here, here and here. In other news, Koji Igarashi confirmed to IGN that the title will now ship to the U.S. in 2009. Grab your stake, hit up our gallery for new shots, and then trek past the break for a new trailer.%Gallery-27187%
GC 2008: Konami rolls Kororinpa 2 our way
Along with Dewy's Adventure, Super Monkey Ball: Banana Blitz, and the massively under-rated Mercury Meltdown Revolution, Kororinpa proved that the Wii was the only place to be for enthusiasts of rolling. And now it's rolling back! Konami just announced a sequel to its vowel-heavy game at Leipzig, carefully tilting a trailer and 20 screens in our direction. Finally, another use for our Ball Bearing Maze Special Salver!Over 100 stages will feature in Kororinpa 2, as well as multiple difficulty levels (maybe even difficult levels of difficulty this time), a swish-looking course editor, multiplayer for you and three fellow rollers, and Mii integration (which is now as important and common as having graphics). So long as it also has a better camera, we're already on board. Oh, and boxart that is half as wonderful as that of the original PAL game. Like, seriously, how perfect is this? Expect it early next year.%Gallery-30046%[Via press release]
GC 2008: Miis to rock out in Guitar Hero: World Tour
The Wii version of upcoming Guitar Hero: World Tour just got a bit more unique. The title will apparently include Mii support, allowing those of you who don't want to go through the pain of modeling yourself in the custom character creator to still get your likeness into the game. No other details about the Mii implementation are available right now, sadly, but we're sure they'll shed some light on it soon enough.For those of you that don't get the joke in the image above, be sure to head past the break for a brief explanation.%Gallery-23491%
GC 2008: EA looking to start up tennis franchise on Wii
For those of you who're fans of tennis, rejoice. EA is poised to present their own tennis title. And, as if that wasn't enough, it will take advantage of Nintendo's new MotionPlus peripheral, joining Ubisoft in proclaiming it's totally awesome. EA also mentions that this will be the first tennis game to include the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which is where Wimbledon is played.So, how many of you are looking forward to seeing this one? A tennis game that takes advantage of MotionPlus? We're excited![Via Joystiq]
