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Hyperspace Beacon: Homage to we hope this never makes it into SWTOR, but knowing our luck, it probably will
One of the best compliments you can give a creator is to make an homage to his work. The title of one of the Hyperspace Beacons was an homage to TOROCast articles. It's a way to tell the creator, "You're doing a good job. Keep up the good work." Not to mention, homages are a lot of fun. In fact, my first published work was an homage to the work of Charles Dickens. I wrote a story about what happened to the Cratchit children. But what happens when an homage goes too far? Every once in a while, the Hyperspace Beacon takes a side track and asks about ideas that should end up on the cutting room floor. We all know games have concepts that just don't work. Star Wars: The Old Republic will be no exception. This little humorous segment is called We hope this never makes it into SWTOR, but knowing our luck, it probably will -- or WHTNMIISWTORBKOLIPW, for short. Follow me after the break to see what "homageneous" ideas should never make it into the release of SWTOR, but knowing our luck, they will anyway.
Fallout: New Vegas becomes dance central with animation mod
Wow. Obsidian overlooked a dynamite opportunity to integrate Kinect into Fallout: New Vegas. But! This dance mod for the PC version, courtesy of creator "umpa," gets us halfway there. Now, Kinect hackers, take us all the way!
Fallout: New Vegas 'Dead Money' DLC tours the Sierra Madre's most exclusive resort
Late next month, Obsidian will launch the first bit of DLC for Fallout: New Vegas. That DLC, according to issue five of the Bethesda newsletter, will take players to the Sierra Madre, "an opulent and extravagant resort that was supposed to be the greatest casino in the west -- except that it never opened." Turns out that whole apocalypse thing really put a damper on the festivities. Who woulda thunk a silly thing like atomic bombs could be such a buzzkill? The vaykay-spot-that-almost-was had a pretty bitching security system, thus locking the complex up tight following the nuclear holocaust that befell America. As time went on, the climate control and air conditioning system starting pushing toxins out into the nearby area, surrounding it with a mist of poison and making the adjoining city impossible to navigate. A small band of survivors, dubbed the Ghost People, have only managed to scrape by, seemingly resorting to capturing healthy people outside of the plume of pollution surrounding the Sierra Madre. You know, to eat them. And that's pretty much all we have to go on right now. You can download "Dead Money" for Fallout: New Vegas on December 21, exclusively on Xbox Live, for 800 MS Points ($10).
New Fallout Online newsletter sighted in the wild
Several of us here at Massively are avid fans of the Fallout franchise and have even been cheating on our MMOs with a bit of New Vegas action over the last few weeks. It should come as no surprise, then, that we keep a keen eye out for news of Interplay's upcoming Fallout Online MMO. The latest tidbit arrived in our inboxes today in the form of the third issue of The Armageddon Rag, a faux in-character newsletter that purports to inform the reader of various happenings from around the wasteland. Unlike previous issues, this one comes "electronically" in the form of a Pip Pad. The latest issue of Rag doesn't pay tribute to George R.R. Martin (as you might expect from the title) but instead features three news blurbs designed to give you a little post-apocalyptic flavor and perhaps drop a few hints to those in the know. It's also worth mentioning that you can sign up for the Fallout Online beta by registering for the newsletter on the official site. [Thanks Alex!]
Fallout: New Vegas 'Dead Money' DLC drops Dec. 21 on Xbox Live
Bethesda has dated the first Fallout: New Vegas add-on -- the one "exclusive" to Xbox 360 -- for December 21 on Xbox Live Marketplace. Dubbed "Dead Money," the 800 points-priced (that's $10) DLC will challenge players to retrieve the "legendary" treasure of the Sierra Madre ... Casino. Dead Money will feature "new terrain, foes and choices," according to Bethesda, as well as "three other captured wastelanders" (new Companions, perhaps). There are currently no announced plans to offer the add-on for the PS3 or PC version of the game -- though you'd be a fool to bet against it. [Pictured: The Treasure of the Sierra Madre (1948); source: IMDb]
October NPD: NBA 2K11 tops charts, Xbox 360 'best selling console in 2010'
Here is the second edition of the revised (and less informative) monthly NPD report. With the market research group no longer sharing specific hardware figures, it's noteworthy to point out that only Microsoft has (as of writing) released concrete sales numbers. Major Nelson tweeted that Microsoft sold 325K Xbox 360s in October. Although the figure represents a 32-percent drop from the previous month, it was enough to secure Microsoft's spot as best-selling console of the month. Major Nelson also added that the Xbox 360 "is the best selling console in 2010 [with] 3.5 million" sold so far. Sony's response doesn't offer console sales numbers, but Patrick Seybold commented on increased momentum for the company's PlayStation Move motion controller. "The PS3 Move Bundle had a 15-percent increase in sales since launch last month, and we're working hard to keep the inventory up across the country to meet strong consumer demand." In addition, Seybold reminded us of the impending launch of Sony's big holiday game: "With next week's launch of the industry's most anticipated title, Gran Turismo 5, we're sure to carry the momentum through the holidays." Nintendo, as of the time of publishing, had not offered comment. Software sales jumped 6 percent year-over-year for the month to $605 million. The multiplatform release of NBA 2K11 helped propel it to the top of the charts, undoubtedly aided by EA Sports' cancellation of NBA Elite 11. Fallout, Medal of Honor and Fable all made strong debuts -- but Rock Band 3's 15th-place position in sales has us concerned. NPD analyst Anita Frazier did make a special note in the report, assuring us that "this game has the potential to perform well over the holidays." The top-ten software breakdown is posted after the break.
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.
Music to kill by: The making of Rift's score
The musical score is often one of the little-appreciated aspects of MMOs, providing mood, tone and emotion for the player while hopefully refraining from being annoying or too repetitive. In a new dev diary, Trion Worlds showcases the audio talent behind Rift: Planes of Telara's score. Audio Director Yannis Brown and Composer Inon Zur (Dragon Age: Origins, Fallout: New Vegas) talk about how the music lends itself to character identity and the environment's atmosphere, while giving us an aural sneak peek of Rift's tunes. One of the cool concepts the audio team is the creation of multi-layered music tracks that provide the same theme in different degrees of intensity based on how big the rifts have grown. Hit the jump to watch the diary and hear for yourself whether this will be a game in which the default score stays on -- or gets quickly turned off in favor of personal playlists.
Fallout: New Vegas ships 5 million, more patches incoming
Bethesda has announced that the Fallout: New Vegas launch garnered "record sales" last month. While the company didn't disclose precisely what those sales were, it did note that 5 million units were shipped to retailers worldwide. Combined with "a heavy volume" of digital downloads, the game stands to generate over $300 million in sales. Meanwhile, war keeps changing as the Bethesda Blog has posted an update on the upcoming updates for Fallout: New Vegas. The company notes that it has "come up with solutions" for the Xbox 360 save issues (amongst other issues) and that "a comprehensive patch" for the PS3, Xbox and PC versions of the game is currently in the final testing and certification phase. Further details should arrive "in the coming weeks." Furthermore, a patch should be issued for the PC version within the next week. Said patch should correct some save corruption issues and problems with companions. It will also improve performance for users with NVIDIA graphics cards and clear up some (presumably chaotic) Havok problems.
Yes, you can beat Fallout: New Vegas without killing anyone
You can safely add Fallout: New Vegas to the list of open-world titles which completely endorse the doctrine of complete and total pacifism. NeoGAF user Water_Wendi recently posted a screenshot featuring some braggable statistics after completing the game's campaign and nearly all of its quests: zero people or creatures were killed during the proceedings. Well done, Water_Wendi! We can't imagine how hard it must have been to suppress the gamer's natural instinct to constantly murder. Now that you've completed this challenge, why not move onto one of these equally arduous goals? Beat the game without talking to anyone Beat the game without picking up any items at all Beat the game without moving Beat the game without encountering any bugs, glitches or crashes
The Queue: Veronica Day
Welcome back to The Queue, our daily Q&A column in which the WoW Insider team answers your questions about the World of Warcraft. Alex Ziebart will be your host today. Fallout: New Vegas has been my poison of choice for the last few days (in between playing World of Warcraft, obviously). Do you know how weird it is to be running around a post-apocalyptic wasteland for hours with an NPC voiced by someone you've met in person? I'll give you a hint: It's really weird. dawnseven asked: Now that we're practically on the eve of release, have there been any real changes to fishing in the Cataclysm beta? At last year's BlizzCon, Blizzard said it wanted to make it more interesting. Is there anything new besides new fish and new dailies? Is it still the same ol' boring thing?
Fable 3 crowns UK charts, Force Unleashed 2 and Rock Band 3 debut
Fable 3 took the throne last week in the UK as the top-selling title, moving 128,895 units and 6,000 more than Fable 2 did during its launch week. Fallout: New Vegas sales, which held the top spot the prior week, dropped 55 percent, moving 69,613 copies to wastelanders. FIFA 11 kicked it up and charged back into second place with 75,703 sales, while Just Dance 2 kept its momentum and slid into fourth, moving and shaking 58,375 units. Star Wars: The Force Unleashed 2 premiered in fifth place. FU2 unleashed 56,064 copies on the British public, with plenty of folks likely screaming that abbreviation after spending those hard-earned pounds on the disposable game. Meanwhile, the 7,386 owners of Rock Band 3, which debuted way down at #26, likely rocked the weekend away. You may have noticed we have actual unit sales this week, that's thanks to UKIE (formerly known as ELSPA). No idea how long this'll last, but it's interesting given the NPD's recent reluctance to share such data for the US. Check out the UK top ten after the break.
Stealing in Fallout: New Vegas -- the bucket method
Who wants to save up hundreds of thousands of bottlecaps for the right to buy all those tasty, expensive Energy Cells in Fallout: New Vegas? Sure, we could play Craps or Roulette, but wouldn't this handy dandy ghost bucket be, like, way easier? Sure would!
Fallout: New Vegas patched on consoles
Welcome to New New Vegas. It's like New Vegas, but without as many of the glitches that you might be familiar with from the old place. Bethesda announced on its forum that the Fallout: New Vegas patch released over Steam last week has now rolled out for the Xbox 360 and PS3 versions as well. There's no firm list of changes, but according to senior producer Jason Bergman, the update contains "over 200 fixes" related to quests and scripting. Unfortunately, players are still reporting glitches post-update, including freezing -- so it would seem there's more patching yet to do.
Fallout: New Vegas explodes on UK charts
Fallout: New Vegas hit it big on the High Street strip, taking the top spot on the UK Charts and besting Fallout 3's premiere week sales by 29 percent. Last week's top game, Medal of Honor, lost ground and dropped 48 percent in sales to second place, while FIFA 11 also slipped one position to the third spot. Nintendo DS title Professor Layton and the Lost Future (Unwound Future across the pond) debuted in fourth place, with -- no surprise! -- Just Dance 2 showing the stamina of its predecessor by rounding out the top 5. In case you're wondering, the original Just Dance doesn't look like it's coming back to the top ten this year, but it's still sitting comfortably in the teens at the 14 spot. Higher-profile premieres that didn't make the top ten include: Vanquish at #12, EA Sports MMA at #23 and DJ Hero 2 at #25. Discover the UK top ten for 10 picarats after the break.
What breaks in New Vegas gets patched in New Vegas
An automatic update has been released for the PC version of Fallout: New Vegas. Without offering any specifics, the Bethesda Blog states that the update "resolves quest and scripting issues." Of course, doing anything to fix the game's many technical problems has to be a positive step, right? Bethesda is working on releasing the update for the PS3 and Xbox 360 versions of New Vegas "as soon as possible." Apart from the patch, Bethesda has also released the G.E.C.K. Editor for the PC version of New Vegas, which allows players to create their own characters, locations, dialogue and game scenarios. You can grab it from the Fallout downloads page, and it should be available via Steam "shortly."
Fallout: New Vegas pre-order DLC errors explained
Due to the PlayStation Network's update schedule, folks who bought Fallout: New Vegas for the PS3 may have experienced "error 80023156" while attempting to download bonus DLC yesterday. If you lost your cool and emailed us about it, here's your answer. Bethesda's Pete Hines explains, "That is the error you get when you try to enter a code too many times (unsuccessfully). Most likely because they were entering the code yesterday before the packs were live on PSN. The user just needs to wait 24 hours and enter it again. Once you download the content it will work with any existing save game." The PSN needs to update on Tuesday before content becomes available. In the case of pre-order DLC bonuses for newly released games, it's best to wait until the update occurs on launch day and then try using the code you received. [Thanks, Arthur]
Metareview: Fallout: New Vegas
You've already had time to sup on our opinions on Fallout: New Vegas, but we imagine you must be hungry for more, like a lost courier in the Mojave who's been attacked and left for dead. Actually, you know what? That's, like, exactly how this game starts. Weird, huh? Anyway, let's satiate that appetite for words you've got going, shall we? Eurogamer (90/100): "Obsidian has created a totally compelling world and its frustrations pale into insignificance compared to the immersive, obsessive experience on offer. Just like the scorched scenery that provides its epic backdrop, New Vegas is huge and sprawling, sometimes gaudy, even downright ugly at times – but always effortlessly, shamelessly entertaining." GamePro (90/100): "This laundry list of complaints might seem like a game breaker, but that I could suffer through them repeatedly during my marathon New Vegas weekend and still walk away feeling not only satisfied but hungry for more says something about the power of the formula that Bethesda has crafted." IGN (85/100): "In New Vegas, the fun Fallout 3 formula is intact, with more polished combat, high-quality side missions, and the exciting setting of the Vegas strip. Unfortunately, the bugs also tagged along for the ride." Game Informer (85/100): "Gamers should expect more of the same from this follow-up. If Fallout 3 holds a place among your top 10 games of this generation like it does for me, another rewarding 200-plus hours of survival awaits you." PC Gamer (84/100): "More wasteland to wander. New Vegas is good, but the failure to move the series on makes it feel a tiny bit stale." Giant Bomb (80/100): "It's not a surprise that Fallout: New Vegas sticks closely to Fallout 3's structure and style. But if it weren't for the game's way-too-long list of technical issues, New Vegas would actually be better than its predecessor. Instead, it's a well-written game with so many issues that some of you might want to take a pass, at least until some of this nonsense gets fixed." %Gallery-87609%
Fallout: New Vegas review: War sometimes changes, a little
Days like this, I'm happy we review experiences rather than products here at Joystiq. How could I hope to evaluate the worth of Fallout: New Vegas, a full-price game that's practically identical, both graphically and mechanically, to another game that was released two years ago? How could I tell you whether or not it's an insult that you're being asked to pay $60 for a game that's so technically deficient that it scarcely feels past the beta stage? Luckily, we're talking about the experience, and that's easy enough. If you loved Fallout 3, you're going to love this. If you hated it or weren't interested enough to give it a shot, you're going to be more confused than ever what all the fuss is about. %Gallery-87609%
First Fallout: New Vegas DLC 'exclusive' to Xbox 360
Bethesda has confirmed that Fallout: New Vegas will -- obviously -- be supported by post-release DLC. As was the case with Fallout 3 add-ons, the first new content for New Vegas will be "exclusive" to Xbox Live when it's released this holiday. Though no plans to feature the same content on PSN (or PC, for that matter) have been announced, what happens to be exclusive to Xbox Live doesn't always stay exclusive to Xbox Live -- odds are New Vegas DLC will (eventually) be ported to PS3. "We're excited to continue the partnership between Bethesda and Microsoft, and build on the success of the game add-ons released for Fallout 3 on Xbox Live," said Bethesda mouthpiece Pete Hines in an announcement. "Fans will once again be able to continue their experience in the Fallout universe with the add-on packs planned for after the launch of the game." Bethesda will reveal more details about New Vegas DLC in "the coming weeks."
