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Comic-Con 2009: Left 4 Dead 2 Swamp Fever hands-on
Electronic Arts hosted a studio showcase in San Diego yesterday, just before the start of Comic-Con. Inside the Onyx Lounge were bright cheerful lights, colorful pastel colors, fresh-baked cookies and ... The Littlest Pet Shop. However, if you headed downstairs to the basement, it was very dark, mysterious and crammed with things like Brütal Legend and Left 4 Dead 2. We couldn't resist the siren call of more zombie slaying, so we plunged straight into the new Swamp Fever level being shown off.Head on beyond the break for our writeup. Later, look for our interview with Chet Faliszek, writer for L4D2 at Valve, where, according to him, "everyone is a designer!" But for now, it's time to find out why you'll want to catch "Swamp Fever."%Gallery-68553%
Comic-Con 2009: Scribblenauts towers over everything
Just back in June at E3, we barely noticed Scribblenauts, tucked away in the far reaches of WB's space, tucked behind potted plants and up against the back walls of the convention center. Thankfully we did notice it -- everyone at Joystiq now has an extreme case of Scribblenauts fever. It seems like WB got the hint as well. In the middle of the main Comic-Con floor hall, WB has a towering booth touting every film, tv, and video game it has coming out. Of course, prominently featured is Batman: Arkham Asylum, with trailers playing on a ginormous WB water tower surrounded by video screens. However, also showing on that same screen is a Scribblenauts teaser urging players to "Write anything. Solve everything."MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!
Bungie says Halo: Reach is its last Halo game, working on new IP with new publisher
Let's face it, folks -- ten years is a long time to be working on a single franchise. That ten years could feel like a lot more when you're rarely on break, back in the development seat for another new Halo nearly every two years. Such is the tale for ex-Microsoft developer Bungie Studios, who told IGN UK at this week's San Diego Comic-Con, "After Reach that's it for us." Meaning that after next year's Halo: Reach ships to stores, Bungie is out of the alien killin', FPS genre -- at least those starring members of the UNSC, that is.Though Bungie's Lars Bakken doesn't go into tons of detail about the studio's next game, he does say, "We're already working on a new IP that we can't talk about yet ... we've done a lot of different styles - first person to third person to RTS - so it could be anything." Eurogamer found out earlier in the day from Bakken that the upcoming game has yet to find a publisher, though Bungie is currently in talks with various companies and he says, "those talks are, I guess, close." Future Halo titles (you thought Reach was the last?) will be handled by 343 Industries, the recently trademarked, Microsoft-owned studio.We contacted Bungie for comment on Mr. Bakken's comments and were told, "While it's great to see so much public interest over what the future holds for Bungie, we're not ready to talk about any plans or games beyond Halo 3: ODST or Halo: Reach. It's no secret that we've had multiple projects in development nor that we've also been working on original IP in tandem to our Halo titles but our focus right now is on our two upcoming releases. We'll have more to say when the time is right."Source 1 - IGN UKSource 2 - Eurogamer
Comic-Con 2009: The Tim Schafer chat
With only three short months until the October Rocktober 13 release of upcoming Double Fine game Brütal Legend, Tim Schafer and co. are out at the San Diego Comic Con in full force this week promoting their game. Lucky for us (and you!), he took time out of his busy schedule to talk with us about not just his upcoming game, but how he feels about the re-release of various LucasArts adventure titles, how much of a role he plays in the current lawsuit with Activision (spoilers: almost none), and even Gwar! Check out the whole thing after the break.
Peter Jackson tells Joystiq about the Halo movie, video game project
We caught up with Peter Jackson himself last night, after a screening of District 9 – the feature-length debut of director Neill Blomkamp who had previously been attached to helm the Halo movie that fizzled out. Jackson explained that they felt like they had an amazing director in Blomkamp and they didn't want to lose the opportunity to work with him so, instead of bringing Halo to the big screen, they created an entire film based on his Alive in Joburg short. (See the rest of Blomkamp's work here, in our roundup). District 9 – which Jackson produced and is coming to theaters on August 14 – is seriously amazing. There's a wide array of alien weapons that would make Ratchet & Clank jealous, CGI aliens that look better than Avatar, walking mech suits, and a really amazing performance from lead actor Sharlto Copley. Clear your calendars and make plans to see this one. But back to the Halo movie that never was: After the screening, we got to sit down with Jackson to ask him about just that. Read on to find out where the Halo movies stands, and if we'll ever see the long-rumored Halo Chronicles video game project.
The Guild comic book, and other news from the SDCC panel
The Guild's Twitter account is tweeting up a storm from the panel about our favorite Internet series at Comic-Con, and there's a whole downpour of news already. Probably biggest is the news that Dark Horse Comics will be publishing a comic book featuring characters from Felicia Day's show, penned by none other than Ms. Day herself. Details are still hard to find (there's no mention of the book yet on DHC's site), but we presume it'll be about the real-life personas of The Guild folks, rather than a story about their characters. That'll be interesting to see.Other news from the panel is that Season 3 is coming soon, and it'll feature a special guest: Mr. Wil Wheaton, former Star Trek annoyance (sorry, I didn't like him at all), and current geek icon. Apparently they showed a sneak peek at the panel and a Jed Whedon-directed music video (featuring Vork spanking Codex and Tink dancing?), so as soon as we see either of those, we'll be posting them here.And finally, apparently Jeff Lewis (a.k.a. Vork) has announced that he'll be marrying his wife in the game, though we have no idea if that's a joke or not. With these Guild guys, you can never tell. Lots more news about season 3 to come, we're sure, and of course we'll see all of these folks at BlizzCon -- here's the interview we did with them last year. We've got at least one contact on the ground at Comic-Con this week, so stay tuned for more news from San Diego, too. Like The Guild? We do, too! We've got all the episodes of the first season: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 and 9, as well as links to all of the season two shows, We recently talked with Michele Boyd at E3, and we'll definitely be seeing all of the cast and crew at BlizzCon again later this year.
Blackjack game may decide producer of Resident Evil 6
Curious about the direction the next entry in the Resident Evil will follow? By the sound of things, so are the franchise's tried-and-true creators. During Capcom's San Diego Comic Con panel, Resident Evil 5 producer Jun Takeuchi responded to a fan's query about the possibility of a series reboot with a startling answer -- he's apparently playing a long-running game of Blackjack with fellow RE5 producer Masachika Kawata to see who will be in charge of the next Resident Evil title. Seriously.We're not sure if Takeuchi's response was sincere -- after all, he later explained that "it doesn't appear as though either of us is going to be in charge." Still, we wouldn't be surprised if he was telling the truth. There's certainly precedent for this kind of thing. Remember when Satoru Iwata won the presidency of Nintendo from Hiroshi Yamauchi in a high-stakes Cribbage game?
Comic-Con 2009: Microsoft's Frankie talks Halo Waypoint
Pictured: enthusiasts living the Halo lifestyle And by "talks," we mean "briefly mentions." Yesterday during the Halo Comic-Con panel, which was almost entirely focused on the upcoming anime series, Halo Legends, consummate Halo shepherd Frank O'Connor spoke about Waypoint and what it means. "Halo Waypoint is something you can experience on your couch, then early next year, on DVD and digital formats. It will be the digital hub for all things Halo, [to] look at your Halo career, and enjoy your Halo lifestyle."Halo lifestyle? What does that even mean? An Xbox Live version of Home, where you're outfitting your own Master Chief's digital den with photos and Covenant couches? We'll have to wait and see.
Comic-Con 2009: Gordon Freeman and Ezio cosplay
During Preview Night at Comic-Con, we spotted two of the best video game costumes so far: Half-Life's Gordon Freeman, complete with Gravity Gun, and Ezio from Assassin's Creed 2. For a minute we thought we'd miraculously spotted former Joystiq blogger (and amateur Gordon Freeman lookalike) Ross Miller, and were set to pounce on him, but thankfully we noticed at the last minute and averted disaster. Click Gordon for a larger version, which includes his employee ID, and head beyond the break for Ezio. There's more cosplay going on here than at a LARP convention, and we'll be bringing you a lot more. Click through for Ezio and his blades, and stay tuned. %Gallery-68588%
Comic-Con 2009: Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles videos shamble forth
Capcom has come out in full force for Comic-Con 2009 and brought along with it several new juicy tidbits to savor for each of its upcoming games. In this post, we're highlighting a pair of new gameplay trailers for upcoming Wii sequel Resident Evil: The Darkside Chronicles. The first bit of footage above focuses on Leon and Claire's time in the Raccoon City police station as they gun down everything in sight, while the second video (after the break) showcases Claire and her young companion, Steve, navigating the dark halls and disgusting enemies of Rockfort Island. Enjoy!%Gallery-47570%
Comic-Con 2009: South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! in action
Update: Above, we've added our own footage form the Comic-Con show floor!Whatever you've been doing for the past 15 minutes, we promise you it's been more productive than us. See, we've been trying to make heads or tails of UGO's gameplay footage for South Park Let's Go Tower Defense Play! you'll find after the break.It looks sort of like a typical tower defense game, except the kids seem to be building the towers themselves. Also, they're sort of like mobile towers of their own, and it seems that several people are playing cooperatively. It's all very puzzling, but at least it can't be worse than Chef's Luv Shack.
Comic-Con 2009: Thar's 'Gold Rush' in that thar Uncharted 2 video
Much to our relief, the great Gold Rush of Aught-Nine will not be spent sifting through a day's worth of meager mine pickings and cursing the celebratory eruptions echoing from upstream. (Darned Jarvis, ye lucky ol' snaggletooth.) No, we'll be hiking up our trousers for a much more rousing mission, hauling tail from a hail of bullets as we simultaneously pillage the old world of yummy treasure with our friends. Oh, and murder lots of pirates Serbian militia dudes ... with our friends.Above, Uncharted 2's "Gold Rush" co-op mode is revealed. Watch as Naughty Dog's Arne Meyer narrates the action -- and his own grisly demise -- from the Comic-Con show floor. Additionally, we've contacted Arne to verify whether or not Gold Rush will make it into the upcoming multiplayer demo. We'll let you know just as soon as he respawns.
See stills from Assassin's Creed 2: Lineage short film
We kinda lied to you in that headline -- how do you feel about just one still from the three, upcoming live-action Assasin's Creed short films? The LA Times got a shot from the in-production Assassin's Creed II: Lineage just before some of the developers working on AC2 (the game) sat down for a panel at this week's San Diego Comic-Con. Ubisoft said in the past that the upcoming PSP Assassin's Creed iteration, titled Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines, would be the only "game" to tie together the story from the first one to its sequel. Clearly those words were chosen carefully, as these films are intended to "focus on the story of Ezio's father, Giovanni Auditore da Firenze" and delve into the history of "the Assassin's Creed 2 storyline and characters" when they release this winter. Us? We're just hoping someone will explain all that crazy writing on the walls from the first game. [Via Big Download]
Comic-Con 2009: New Lost Planet 2 screens are educational
The best screenshots don't just show off a game, they teach you something. For instance, from these new Lost Planet 2 screens that Capcom just dropped at ComiC-Con, we learned that we don't really have any Lost Planet experts on staff.So you'll have to bear with us if we don't know exactly what it is we're showing you. There's definitely a robot suit or two and ... are those trains in that one? Really hard-ass trains? It's anyone's guess. %Gallery-68608%
Splinter Cell: Conviction Comic-Con trailer is packed with action, accolades
Now this is how you cut a trailer for a video game starring a spy out for revenge. Sure, it might not be bursting with new footage, but wow if it doesn't convey the spirit and -- from what we've seen first-hand -- the impact of Splinter Cell: Conviction. "Badass: The Game," indeed. We'd also like to consider the above video a public service announcement ... one with the message of, "Don't piss off Sam Fisher. No, really. Don't."
Comic-Con 2009: Tatsunoko vs. Capcom arcade stick mockups from Mad Catz
Don't get too excited: the lovely Mad Catz Tatsunoko vs. Capcom Standard Edition FightStick above isn't real. It's a "non-playable mockup" that Mad Catz is showing off at Comic-Con. Capcom-Unity reports that Mad Catz is soliciting feedback about the stick -- presumably not only about the design, but about the level of interest among Wii owners for a high-end arcade stick. Yes, please!We were wondering if Mad Catz would step up to support Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Currently, our only arcade stick option in the US is the Hori Fighting Stick Wii, and that's getting hard to find. We'd love to be able to, like, go to a store and buy a nice arcade stick.
Comic-Con 2009: James Wan whipping up Castlevania film
James Wan would like to play a game -- and then convert it into a film. Bloody Disgusting reports that the writer and director – who helped construct the "Saw" horror movie factory – will bring Konami's storied Castlevania series to the big screen for producer Paul W.S. Anderson. "I'll be working on the script with a writer to give it a new spin, different to the previous versions," said Wan. "This will have my stamp on it which Konami is very excited about." Though we worry that Wan's stamp will be so large as to obscure all the cool action in the movie, he at least exhibits some familiarity with the franchise's androgynous protagonists. "For once, the human hero is as sexy and dangerous as the vampire villain, and his weapon of choice was what attracted me to the project in the first place – The Vampire Killer Whip." Oh yes, the whip, that's important. No matter how the project turns out (if it even turns up), we at least hope to be in the cinema when it's revealed to general audiences that "Alucard" is really "Dracula" backwards. What a twist! [Image: Bloody Disgusting]
Comic-Con 2009: Left 4 Dead 2 'Swamp Fever' footage
Attendees of the ongoing San Diego Comic-Con likely already know Valve is showing off a new campaign from Left 4 Dead 2. Instead of checking out boring old stills, we're happy to report that 1UP has uploaded some footage direct from Comic-Con showing off the new campaign. It's shaky cam footage, which can be creepy (in this case, just mildly dizzying), but we do get to see the cricket bat in action, among other things, so it's definitely worth a watch.Head past the break for the videos.
Comic-Con 2009: New details on The Behemoth's third game
We'll give it to you straight: we're still not entirely sure what The Behemoth's next game is. It's sort of a platformer, it's sort of a multiplayer brawler, but what is it really? We're one step closer to understanding today, as GameSpot got a chance to preview the game this week at the San Diego Comic-Con, and says the game "falls beneath the umbrella of the platformer genre." Of what they played, only mutliplayer was available and it featured a handful of game types -- coin collection, territories and kill the carrier, in so many words. Players choose a single weapon before each game (from fireballs to portable fans) and employ it liberally to their enemies, all the while avoiding environmental pitfalls (water, radioactive ooze, etc.) and trying to win the game mode. Do yourself a favor and check out the videos embedded after the break for a better idea of what The Behemoth's third game will look like when it's released sometime in 2010.
Ace Attorney Investigation: Miles Edgeworth coming stateside February 16
Capcom's in a fairly generous mood this morning! Its spirits are seemingly bolstered by the opening of the San Diego Comic-Con -- in tandem with the convention's kickoff, they sent a press release full of announcements. The most exciting of which is, of course, the revelation of the February 16 release date for Ace Attorney Investigation: Miles Edgeworth. You may object to the amount of time now standing between you and the highly animated Law & Order sim -- but if you happen to be attending the Con this year, you can get an early look at the game at Capcom's booth, you lucky, lucky so-and-so. %Gallery-68609%
