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Bond games removed from Steam and Activision online stores
Faster than you can repeat a surname, the James Bond games have disappeared from Steam and Activision's own download store. In addition, the download versions of the games 007 Legends, Blood Stone and Quantum of Solace don't show up on Amazon, though of course the disc versions are still available there.The likely explanation would seem to be expiring rights to the 007 license, but the timing doesn't make sense on that, considering that 007 Legends was just released in October (and November on PC). We're investigating the matter, though not in the sexy, brutal James Bond method: we've just asked Activision about it.
Enslaved, 007: Blood Stone, Napoleon: Total War soundtracks nominated for Ivors
The Ivor Novello awards are back. Named for the Welsh composer, the British awards honor the best scores and original soundtracks for movies, television and video games. This year's nominations have been published -- but, as with last year, at least one-third of the composers nominated must be British or Irish, which might knock a lot of your favorite soundtracks out of contention. Still, congrats to Ninja Theory, Bizarre Creations and The Creative Assembly, whose Enslaved, James Bond 007: Blood Stone and Napoleon: Total War, respectively, have each been nominated for Best Original Video Game Score. The winners will be presented on May 19, so stay tuned then to see who walks away with the Ivor.
Castlevania: Lords of Shadow soundtrack nominated for 2 IFMCA awards
The elegiac score accompanying Gabriel Belmont's action-packed emprise in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow has impressed the International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA). Spanish composer Oscar Araujo is nominated for the "Breakout Composer of the Year" award -- notably alongside French duo Daft Punk, who pounded cinemagoers into Grid-grout during Tron: Legacy. The Lords of Shadow soundtrack is also one of five nominated in the "Best Original Score for a Video Game or Interactive Media" category. It's up against some stirring competition in the form of James Bond 007: Blood Stone (featuring Sega legend Richard Jacques) and Dark Void, which isn't usually written about unless it's in praise of Bear McCreary's distinguishing soundtrack. Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga'Hoole earns a nomination, thanks to Winifred Philips, as do the themes of Lego Universe, assembled by Brian Tyler. Though the majority of awards focus on film soundtracks, the IFMCA's sentiment seems just as applicable to video games. "The IFMCA strongly feels that a film score's strength lies in the combined impact of two important elements: the effectiveness, appropriateness and emotional impact of the score in the context of the film for which it was written; and the technical and intellectual merit of the composition when heard as a standalone listening experience." Winners will be announced on February 25, 2011.
Report: New Bond game moves ahead as film franchise is revived
Agent double-oh-seven is returning to the silver screen next year with Daniel Craig reprising his role as Her Majesty's most famous spy, and a report by Deadline claims that the film series' restart has led to a new James Bond game getting the ol' green light. The site makes no mention of who's developing -- or even if the game will tie into the film -- but we can count out Blood Stone dev Bizarre Creations, currently in the process of being shuttered by Activision, which holds the video game rights to all things 007. Wolfenstein and Singularity studio Raven Software was rumored as recently as last month to be working on a new, stealth-heavy Bond title (some supposed footage of which was later dug up). No matter who makes the game, we can only hope that it actually gets some, y'know, marketing -- unlike Blood Stone.
007: Blood Stone is 050 percent off on Amazon
Dotcom; Amazon dotcom. The online retailer has bled half the price off of Bizarre's non-movie-affiliated James Bond game, James Bond 007: Blood Stone. For today only, you can pick up the latest Daniel Craigventure for $29.99 on PS3 and Xbox 360. The PC and DS versions aren't part of the deal, selling for $44 and $24 respectively. Here's our insane theory: if enough people buy this today (like, eight million or so, depending on how many of these Amazon has in stock), then either Activision will reverse its decision to shutter Bizarre Creations, or some other company will become more eager to throw money at it.
Rumor: Raven's Bond game shows up in animator's reel
Rumors started circulating yesterday about the rebirth of a Raven-developed James Bond game. Today, a poster on NeoGAF has unearthed footage that could very well be from that project in the demo reel of Hanjin Song, an animator on Raven's recent sci-fi FPS, Singularity. While the gameplay bears a surface resemblance to Bizarre Creations' just-released James Bond 007: Blood Stone, the screencap above show's a different UI, a new environment and what appears to be a more detailed model of Bond star Daniel Craig. In Song's clip, we see the super spy engaging in some death-defying parkour, sneaking around behind cover and, of course, shooting incompetent minions. We haven't heard back from Activision nor Song -- so don't start pre-ordering just yet -- but if we're not looking at the rumored Raven project, we're having a tough time imagining what else it could be.
Rumor: Raven Software working on stealth-based Bond game, follow-up to Wolverine 'on the backburner'
When it's not busy working on Activision's "largest digital offering ever" or making games with superhuman Nazis, Raven Software is allegedly working on another James Bond title for Activision. Bond fansite MI6 claims that the recently approved bankruptcy plan at MGM has allowed the unannounced Bond title to be "taken off hiatus," and says it's back in production at Raven. Additionally, the report alleges that the Bond title was one of two games being worked on by Raven -- a sequel to 2009's X-Men Origins: Wolverine is said to also have been in production, though that game is reportedly "on the backburner" currently. Given the recent death sentence handed to James Bond 007: Blood Stone by Activision (did you know that game was released, because it totally was) and the tumultuous story of Bond's 23rd film (said to now be back on track) -- not to mention Raven's ties to the very, very lucrative Call of Duty franchise and a recent thinning of the studio's staff -- we're a bit wary that the supposed stealth Bond will ever see the light of day. Regardless, we are totally, 100 percent confident in our unabashed excitement for the reignited Bond 23 plans.
Activision closing Bizarre Creations [Update: Activision confirms, options include 'potential sale']
Well, this blows. Beginning with a NeoGAF thread and followed up by Giant Bomb and VG247, comes rumor that Activision is closing Bizarre Creations, the studio behind the just-released Bond title Bloodstone. It was responsible for Blur, The Club, the Project Gotham Racing series, and downloadable favorite Geometry Wars. The studio, founded in 1994, was acquired by Activision just over three years ago. Giant Bomb's source says that Bizzarre Creations will undergo a "90-day consultation period, statutory redundancy." That sounds ... bad. According to the VG247 report, the cuts would mean a loss of over 200 staffers. We'll let you know as soon as we hear anything official. Stay tuned. [Update: Getting some context for the above quote: Apparently Bizarre isn't closed yet; the 90-day period is required in the UK (where Bizarre is located) before shuttering a business. That 90-day period also serves as a 90-day notice to employees that their company is likely to be closed/sold/downsized/etc. – an official statement should be along shortly.] [Update 2 2:01pm: Activision's statement: "Over the past three years since our purchase of Bizarre Creations, the fundamentals of the racing genre have changed significantly. Although we made a substantial investment in creating a new IP, Blur, it did not find a commercial audience. Bizarre is a very talented team of developers, however, because of the broader economic factors impacting the market, we are exploring our options regarding the future of the studio, including a potential sale of the business."] [Update 3 5:55pm: Activision additionally confirmed the closure of Budcat Creations, as well as redundancies in its California-based quality assurance team.]
Black Friday: $170 Wii bundle and more at Best Buy
What's that? You want another Black Friday deal post? Well ... okay, but you'd better finish your vegetables first. All done? Great. Best Buy has some killer deals on console bundles, with the best probably being the Wii (black or white) bundled with Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort, a Wii Remote Plus and a Nunchuk, all for $180 ... while -- no doubt limited -- supplies last. If you're in the market for a PS3, Best Buy is bundling the 160GB model with LittleBigPlanet, ModNation Racers and a Cars Blu-ray for $300. Meanwhile, 4GB Xbox 360s will be packed with LEGO -- namely LEGO Star Wars: The Complete Saga, LEGO Batman and Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures -- all for $200. The store is also stocking the red and green DSi bundles first spotted in the Sears Black Friday ad for $150. Finally, several big titles will see impressive discounts. Check out some of the highlights after the break.
Football Manager 2011 debuts atop UK charts, Bond finds quantum of solace in teens
Fable 3 lost the UK sales chart crown last week to not one, but two, footie titles. The football revolution sent Lionhead's Albion simulator to third as FIFA 11 maintained its spot in second and ... oh my, the PC-exclusive Football Manager 2011 premiered at the premier spot. According to Chart-Track, it was only the second PC-exclusive title to reach the top spot this year, with the other being StarCraft 2. Ubisoft's Just Dance 2 maintained its fourth place. If the title has the stamina of its older sibling, 2010 might have a Just Dance representative in the top ten throughout the entire year. Professor Layton and The Lost Future rounded out the top five. Other high-profile premieres last week, Goldeneye 007 for Wii and 007: Blood Stone, had licenses to kill the #13 and #18 spots, respectively. Spy with your double-0 eye the UK top ten after the break.
James Bond: Blood Stone review: Sonic the James Bond
In a month where, after almost a two-year hiatus, we see two new Bond games thrown at us, PS3 and Xbox owners can't help but feel a little jaded when they see the re-vamped GoldenEye headed solely to the Wii. "They got the new GoldenEye with a fancy new controller and all we got was another rip-off 3rd person shooter!" the masses say, clutching their well-worn N64 controller, wracked with guilt over not playing Quantum of Solace in 2008 or, worse, having played GoldenEye: Rogue Agent in 2004. Allow me to squelch your rage with four simple words, angry mob: Blood Stone is fun. %Gallery-100384%
007: Blood Stone will infiltrate retail without a demo
Look, we're all curious what a Bizarre-crafted Bond game is going to look like -- but we're going to have to wait just a little longer than we expected to satisfy that curiosity. When asked during an interview with VG247 whether a 007: Blood Stone demo would arrive on PSN and Xbox Live before the game's release, director Jeff Lewis replied, "unfortunately not." Sure, it's kind of a bummer that we have to wait until the game's November 2 release date to try our hand at it, but we understand why Bizarre would want to keep a trial version of the game tabled. After all, it would be difficult for the demo to hide the major plot twist that Joss Stone is the Blood Stone, and is actually made of diamonds. Whoops!
Bond behind the wheel in new Blood Stone trailer
In the words of designer Sandy Lockie, Bizarre Creations has "a fantastic pedigree" when it comes to racing games -- "just such a good fit for a Bond game." Lockie himself also has a fantastic pedigree for rad hair. Scraggly chin beard? That too.
James Bond 007: Blood Stone trailer highlights henchmen woes
We've never actually met a "henchman" before, but we sure hope they get a good health plan. If this James Bond 007: Blood Stone trailer is any indication, they're going to need a good doctor ... and an even better dentist.
James Bond 007: Blood Stone dev diary shakes (not stirs) things up
It's an odd sensation for us to feel excited about a James Bond development these days, but it's hard for us not to get moderately pumped by this dev diary for Blood Stone. It's got shooting, punching and stunt driving? That's like a delicious salsa, only with awesome things instead of vegetables.
James Bond: Blood Stone preview: 20 percent driving, 80 percent combat
With veteran racing game developer Bizarre Creations at the helm of James Bond 007: Blood Stone, you might think there would be a heavy emphasis on driving in the next Bond adventure. Not so -- only about 20 percent of the game is played behind a steering wheel, Activision associate producer Michael O'Donnell told me during a recent preview event for the game. Most of Blood Stone is devoted to cover-based shooting and stealthy takedowns. "This is the Bond event, if you will, of the year," O'Donnell proclaimed, perhaps as a friendly challenge to his Activision colleagues developing the GoldenEye remake (also due out this year). O'Donnell's words were backed up by the highly polished build of the game on hand at the event. I wasn't permitted to play the first area of the demo -- a jungle infiltration mission where Bond must gain entry to a massive base on the side of a steep cliff -- but I was almost grateful because, damn, there was a lot to just see. %Gallery-101952%
Watch this James Bond 007: Blood Stone trailer by any means necessary
Your task isn't nearly as daunting as the one facing Bizarre's Bond in Blood Stone. The iconic spy is sent to Istanbul to intercept the sale of "mission-critical biotechnology," and is granted inevitably catastrophic permission to do so "by any means necessary." The only thing in Istanbul we don't feel sorry for is the drill on loan from Total Recall.
Watch the James Bond 007: Blood Stone opening credits
With Bond 23 canceled, Activision's James Bond 007: Blood Stone may be your only dose of Bond for some time. It's a good thing they're going all out with the production then, with Daniel Craig in the starring role (sorry, EastEnder) and siren Joss Stone stepping into the appropriately fancy shoes of Bond Girl. You can hear her pipes in the non-titular title song "I'll Take it All" in the trailer here, and see her doing her best Bond Girl impersonation in the gallery below. %Gallery-98001%
Preview: James Bond 007: Blood Stone
Bond is back in Bizarre Creations' James Bond 007: Blood Stone. I got a first look at the game's opening act during an Activision media event in San Diego yesterday, where I also spoke with designer Sandy Lockie about the development of this original Bond adventure. Primarily a third-person shooter, Blood Stone immediately drew comparisons to Bizarre's other shooter, The Club, when it was announced last week. Indeed, Lockie confirms that the new Bond game has its roots in the studio's previous effort. "It's basically the Club team," he tells me. "We rolled off on The Club and started working on this straight away." But while The Club was all about scoring points and more points, Bizarre is designing Blood Stone to be "a much deeper shooting experience." %Gallery-97612%
James Bond 007: Blood Stone trailer is for your eyes only
James Bond is a man of action. Mere screenshots can't do his daring justice. But a trailer? Now we're talking. See Bond run, gun and generally blow things up good in the first trailer for James Bond 007: Blood Stone, which you'll find after the break. It's the kind of stuff that will leave fans of Her Majesty's top super-spy shaken and stirred.
