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Burnout Crash! collides with XBLA and PSN on September 20
During a recent preview session for Criterion's Burnout Crash!, creative director Richard Franke revealed that a launch date and price had finally been set. On September 20, Burnout Crash! will be available for download on Xbox Live Arcade for 800 MS Points ($10) and $9.99 on PSN. We've got a preview of the game's Kinect Party mode and new Autolog features coming later today, so keep an eye out for that.
Burnout Crash trailer hits the road, terrifies us
We were really enjoying the first trailer for Burnout Crash, until it occurred to us that, statistically speaking, there are almost certainly some babies in those cars. Maybe even a whole baby family, going to volunteer at a baby soup kitchen or donate blood or something. Oh, and they have one of those cute suction cup Garfields hanging on the window. ... No! It's a baby suction cup Garfield. And he's just finished a 10-year prison stint for a crime he didn't commit, and he was driving to meet his son, Baby Suction Cup Garfield Jr. that was born while he was in lock-up. Also? It's his birthday. ...You should totally watch the trailer though. It's cute. Just try not to think about the ... well, you know.
Burnout Crash hits home in August, was once a Wii game [update: now '2011']
Burnout Crash! will bring its top-down pileups, Kinect collisions and titular exclamation point to PSN and XBLA in August, according to an announcement on EA's UK news site. EA originally announced the downloadable auto pinball title as a "fall" release. Another revelation about Crash! was provided by Criterion creative director Alex Ward at EA's summer showcase. Ward told Giant Bomb that the project started on Wii before it became Crash!. "It was a user-created game where you drew a road with the wand, and we thought, if we made Crash Mode, you could make it all yourself." Criterion worked on that until discovering that it was "quite boring." Update: The announcement on EA's site has replaced all references to "August" (and the one out-of-place reference to "Winter") to just "2011."
Burnout Crash! preview: Pinball wizard
Ever since I was a young boy I've played the silver ball From Soho down to Brighton I must have played them all But I ain't seen nothing like him In any amusement hall That deaf, dumb and blind kid Sure plays a mean pinball Right about now, I imagine you're wondering what The Who's "Pinball Wizard" has to do with a downloadable title about crashing cars -- but with the Kinect functionality, it's those last two lines that really linger. Burnout Crash! in motion with Kinect is like some foreign ballet that my brain just doesn't have the faculties to understand. It's also apt because the team at Criterion working on this had two clear influences: pinball and game shows. Richard Franke, game director, explains that Criterion took the "depth, strategy and features" of pinball and combined them with the "lights and sounds that generate excitement" from game shows. If you close your eyes and just listen to the game in progress, it sounds like you're at the local arcade, pinball machines blaring. %Gallery-127936%
Burnout Crash! spins series off to XBLA, PSN, and into traffic this fall
We first heard about "Burnout Crash" this spring through ESRB and Australian ratings, but EA has kept mum about the downloadable racer -- until now. The publisher officially announced Burnout Crash! for PSN and XBLA, coming fall 2011. The downloadable top-down racer is based on previous Burnout games' Crash Mode, and offers rewards for "causing traffic chaos by crashing into cars, triggering explosions and destroying everything in sight." 18 different "crash junctions" will challenge players' ability to wreck stuff. And should you desire a new way in which to wreck stuff (like your living room), Burnout Crash! will include a Kinect mode on XBLA, in which "two teams use gestural controls to play on one television in a party battle!"%Gallery-127936%
Hulu Plus for PS3 updated, users still complaining about playback issues
Just a few weeks after hitting v1.01, the Hulu Plus app for PlayStation 3 was updated to v1.03 a few days ago, crediting user feedback as helpful in clearing up issues with skipping or stalling during playback. Unfortunately, in the comments many users are reporting they're still having issues, with many saying they only started in the last month or so. It's hard to determine the cause of each individual's issues from here, but if you're having any problems we'd suggest letting Hulu know so they can get straightened out. In happier Hulu news, the company released its Q1 stats at the beginning of the month, calling its projected growth to 1 million Hulu Plus subscribers this year the fastest launch it is aware of for any online subscription video service, and 90 percent revenue growth over last year. Criterion fans should also notice some new sorting options, along with supplemental videos which, if you'll recall, was a part of what lured the flicks away from Netflix in the first place. Feel free to check them out whenever the PlayStation Network comes back up again.
NFS: Hot Pursuit patch, Achievements hint at Porsche vs. Lamborghini DLC pack
A new DLC pack for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit will deal with the eternal struggle between Porsche and Lamborghini, it seems. The 1.2 patch for the game reportedly brings with it several new Achievements and Trophies, accidentally discovered by one of Eurogamer's readers -- since then, Xbox 360 Achievements has posted a full list of the new Achievements. It's pretty compelling evidence. The Achievements list cites specific events geared around the Porsche and Lamborghini. Also, this shouldn't be confused with EA's previous marketing stunt to give users DLC for the game which, it seems, is still ongoing. We've contacted EA for comment and will let you know what we find out.
Criterion Collection now streaming on Hulu Plus, maybe Sanjuro and Hanbei will settle differences (update: Netflix and Hulu won't)
Hulu Plus just got a whole lot more appealing for cinephiles. The streaming service just rolled out 150 properties from the Criterion Collection, perhaps the premiere pusher of amazing films, with that number expected to top 800 in "the coming months." It'll include the regulars, like plenty of offerings by Kurosawa, along with some films "so rare that they have never been seen in the U.S. in any medium." Indeed this deal is available only in America, so we'll send our apologies to our friendly neighbors to the north, but you're certainly welcome to come on down on movie night. Just bring some popcorn. Naturally the quality here won't match a Blu-ray and we're guessing the usually epic Criterion special features won't be streaming, but you can't have everything for $7.99 a month. Update: We got a note from Hulu indicating that, yes indeed, special features will be here too. Director commentary, deleted scenes, and lots of other bonus goodies will be coming to the mix. Maybe there'll be something in there explaining the deep, hidden meanings of Sans Soleil. Oh, and it's an exclusive deal, which is a bummer for Netflixers. Update 2: Netflix is losing out in more ways than one: "All of the films that are currently on Netflix streaming will be down by the end of the year," reads a somewhat bitter Criterion Collection post on Facebook. Criterion will continue to ship Netflix discs, but we all know that Netflix doesn't care about those so much anymore. [Thanks, Dan]
Taxi Driver comes to Blu-ray for its 35th Anniversary April 5th
Yet another classic flick finally has a Blu-ray release date now that Sony Pictures has announced Taxi Driver will be released April 5th. There's plenty of extras in store, with the inclusion of a commentary by the director Martin Scorsese and the writer Paul Schrader recorded in 1986 by the Criterion Collection for the Laserdisc, and an exclusive "Script to Screen" feature that scrolls the original script along with stage notes onscreen as the movie plays and points out the differences. Along with a 5.1 audio track, the picture has been remastered in 4K from the original and approved by both the cinematographer and director for this release. It's hard to find anything missing from this release of an iconic film starring Robert DeNiro and Jodie Foster, check the press release after the break for all the details.
Steam Holiday Sale discounts Left 4 Dead 2, GTA IV, NFS: Hot Pursuit
The Steam savings keep on coming as today's deals offer up another bevy of digital wares on the cheap. There are plenty to choose from, including Left 4 Dead 2 at a very reasonable $6.79, the GTA IV collection (which includes both The Lost and Damned and The Ballad of Gay Tony) for $10, and hefty discounts on Need For Speed: Hot Pursuit, Singularity and Transformers: War for Cybertron. Hit the jump for the full list.
From the VGAs Red Carpet: Criterion's Craig Sullivan
We just saw Criterion's creative director Craig Sullivan at the launch for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit a few weeks ago, and so when he showed up on this weekend's VGAs red carpet, we congratulated him on the game and its addictive Autolog feature. "It's been phenomenal," he agreed. "It does change the way people play. People are playing the same event ten, fifteen, fifty times, and you don't get that in racing games. It's a very big deal for us and we're really glad that people are embracing it and having fun." The social service doesn't do what most implementations have so far done and share stats out to Twitter or Facebook. Instead, it keeps the sharing inside the game, and Sullivan says that's the way Criterion designed it. "You get information about Need for Speed when you're playing Need for Speed," he says. "That was really key to us." Criterion is also seeing in-game comments used more than expected, though it "usually degenerates into a load of swearing." As for what's next, Sullivan says DLC is the current focus, though Criterion wouldn't mind making either another Need for Speed or Burnout title, or any other genre for that matter. "We made Black before, and everybody wants us to make Black 2. As long as it's fun and it suits the strengths of the studio, we're interested in making any kind of game. We always joke and say we'll make a game about jelly, or make a game about horses, or tennis or whatever it is. If it fun and it fits with what Criterion stands for, then we'll pretty much make anything."
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit PC patch to bring law-breaking bugs to a stop
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit's dev team has been combing the code of the game for some additional features and bugfixes, and both of those are set to peel out in the title in a patch next week. The patch should lay down an EMP on issues with multi-core CPUs, pop a spike strip on some runaway rain and snow effect issues, and set up a roadblock for a few other crashes and problems, stopping them in their tracks. One issue that won't get fixed: the obsession born from the game's Autolog feature as you tryto beat your friends' times by just a few more seconds. The developers have decided that it's a personal problem, so you'll have to patch yourself on that one.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit demo downloaded over two million times
In case the flood of promotional messages from your friends hasn't tipped you off yet, here's some news: a lot of people have checked out the Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit demo on Xbox Live and PSN. According to some stats from EA, "more than" two million consoles downloaded the demo within the span of two weeks, making it the most successful demo for the series yet. Throughout their time with the demo, players have raced across 54 million miles of road in Seacrest County, resulting in over 20 million busts by law enforcement. If you were looking to get in on either side of the conflict, we're afraid you can no longer download the demo. But! We've got the next best thing: our review of the game!. Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit launches on November 16 for the PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii and Windows PC.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit review: More than satisfies the need
It's been a good year to be a fan of arcade-style racing games, with Blur and Split/Second neck-and-neck in the race to be the year's best. Unfortunately for them, Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit from Burnout Paradise creator Criterion Games just took first place. For the reboot of this Need for Speed sub-series, which saw two installments across PS1 and PS2, Criterion has created a racer that not only lives up to expectations of thrilling speed and pristine visuals but blows past them with a cops-and-robbers career mode.%Gallery-107062%
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit trailer tours Seacrest County
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit wants you to believe Seacrest County is a "driver's paradise," but we feel this latest trailer ignores the best thing Seacrest has to offer: Señor Guapo's Bakery on Alameda boulevard. Seriously, don't visit just to drive around, go have the churro of your life.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit limited time demo coming Oct. 26
We've got a need -- a need for temporarily available demos of racing games that'll be available publicly in a few weeks, anyway. EA's bringin' it, with a Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit demo that will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace and PlayStation Network from tomorrow until November 9 (the demo goes live on PSN in Europe on the 27th). The publisher didn't explain the reason for the demo's temporary availability, instead focusing on the details of the forthcoming trial. Both "Dark Horse" and "Roadster's Reborn" game modes will be included. The former is the standard cops and robbers/cat and mouse scenario, while the latter offers ghost car time trials to compete against. The game's "autolog" social networking feature plays heavily into the second game mode, only unlocking after players add friends into their "Need for Speed friends list." We look forward to reevaluating our "friends" once it becomes impossible to beat some of their track times.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit trailer captured [update: demo on October 26]
The latest trailer for Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit provides lots of footage of implausibly fancy police cars chasing similarly precious private-owned vehicles, for what most be the most serious speeding citation the Seacrest County police can offer. If they have to get a helicopter on you for speeding, that's going to be a rather pricey ticket. This trailer also gives some attention to Hot Pursuit's "Autolog" feature, which helps connect players to one another, and displays a bunch of stats about your friends' performance. In case you thought you were doing well! Update: as noted in the video, a demo will be available October 26. We're following up with EA about the timing of the demo release for each platform.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit trail(er)s its Most Wanted
The Seacrest County Police only drop their spikes and break out the road block for the most wanted. But for all we know, this guy's just got one of those stuck accelerator pedals. Didn't you hear? It's spread to Porsches now.
Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit 'four times bigger than Burnout Paradise'
The EA blog had a chat with Criterion's Matt Webster the other day, and he says that Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit will be about 'four times bigger' than Criterion's last big racing hit, Burnout Paradise. There are a few reasons for that. First and foremost, Criterion wanted the cars going upwards of 250 miles per hour, so more speed means more room needed. There will also be more elevation in the levels, as well as more space to do things like hide your car in the bushes and find off-road shortcuts. Webster says there are over 100 miles of tarmac, and lots of other space to explore as well. He also talks about the game's "Autolog" system, which will allow for ghost competitions between players, and what he's calling the "Speed Wall," a set of leaderboards which shows how close you are to overtaking your friends, even if they're not online. And finally, Webster says that Criterion has been hard at work replicating real cars for the game -- they had to fine tune the wheels of a McLaren out 2 mm just to get it to hit the right top speed in-game. Sounds like the game is coming along well -- it's scheduled to hit the lights and punch it this November.
Criterion once pitched 'Need for Speed: Split Second,' worked on Skate or Die remake
In the latest issue of GamesTM, Criterion Games creative director Alex Ward dishes news on a Skate or Die remake that EA offered his studio back in 2002, which was eventually canned by Criterion. This, Ward says, soured relations between the developer and EA for some time, effectively killing Criterion's pitch on a Need for Speed title -- titled "Need for Speed: Split Second," if you can believe it. "We called a meeting with the EA guys, told them we were walking away [from Skate or Die] and they went mad," Ward said. "threatening to sue us, put us out of business ... there was a lot of anger and frustration. Then we got a call from the Need For Speed guys and they said 'we can't work with you guys any more; you just walked away and there's a shame on your company, so we can't talk to you.'" Though the pitch was killed, Criterion instead got to work on developing its Burnout series and is now developing another reboot for EA: Need for Speed: Hot Pursuit. It also appears that the direction in which Skate or Die's remake was going -- a more realistic, simulation-style skateboarding game -- eventually became EA's Skate franchise. "I wanted to explore what it was like to just go out for a skate and have that feeling of just doing whatever you want. There was that experience from when I went skating in real life that just wasn't captured in videogames. I wanted to be able to get off the board," says Criterion dev Craig Sullivan. There are said to be many more interesting tidbits in the issue, which hits newsstands on September 5.
