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Hitman: Sniper Challenge now on PC, bonus with Absolution pre-orders
PC players who can't wait for a taste of Hitman: Absolution are finally being catered to – the standalone promotional game, "Sniper Challenge," is now available for folks who pre-order Absolution on PC. The game is free (insofar as making a pre-order is "free") from certain retailers across the globe. You'll find the full list here, but be sure to check with your retailer of choice before you place an order. Once ordered, you'll receive a code that can must be redeemed on the Sniper Challenge website.
Here's what E3 was like for the Hitman: Absolution staff
This behind the scenes video for Hitman: Absolution's E3 booth showcases some of the lesser known parts of the convention, such as private interview rooms for press, or the fact that no matter how tightly you frame a shot, it's impossible to not accidentally advertise someone else's game.
Hitman: Absolution's 'Saints' are apparently still a threat
Despite Agent 47 having dispatched the various gogo nuns from Hitman: Absolution's recent trailer, Vivica A. Fox's "head nun" character may have lived. Or they all did! What a twist! See if you can figure it out from the trailer above.
Hitman: Absolution's choose-your-own assassination
There's a man – not a very good man – standing in the center of a pagoda-topped gazebo in the middle of Chicago's Chinatown. He's hired police officers to guard him from all angles, but his armor's not without weak points: He likes to eat at a food stand half a block away, he gets drugs from a personal dealer in a nearby apartment, and he drives a luxury car, parked in a side alley.Kill him.
Hitman: Absolution has nuns to make Agent 47 run (spoiler: he doesn't)
Turns out yesterday's Hitman Absolution tease, which featured a bunch of Kasumi Goto silhouettes, was actually showing off the naughty nuns from the clip above. Using only a minuscule amount of his silent assassin repertoire, Agent 47 takes out an ICA (his former employer) hit squad, known as "The Saints," in brutal fashion.Those looking for something a little less up-close-and-personal can pre-order Hitman: Absolution now from GameStop and obtain the Hitman: Sniper Challenge as a bonus. Agent 47 runs (and kills) for his life once again on November 20.
'Hitman: Sniper Challenge' official, only available as GameStop pre-order
Confirming the leak from Tuesday, Square Enix has announced the Hitman: Sniper Challenge as a pre-order bonus for Hitman: Absolution. The challenge will be available beginning May 15 at GameStop for those who pre-order Absolution, which will take its shot at retail on November 20. A Steam version of the Sniper Challenge will be available August 1, with details on how to gain access coming later.The Sniper Challenge is a standalone experience, with Agent 47 tasked with taking out a mark and all his bodyguards from a rooftop. Efficiency is key and will grant score multipliers and unlock equipment upgrades (some which will transfer to Absolution). Progress of the best snipers will be tracked on a leaderboard and the best of the best snipers in North America will win a trip for two to Copenhagen, Denmark, where they will meet the Hitman development team....or they'll be drafted by the CIA into some La Femme Nikita situation.%Gallery-155141%
Hitman: Absolution sneaking up to retail on November 20
Agent 47 isn't doing a very good job with that whole sneaking around thing, as we found out pretty easily this morning that his next game, Hitman: Absolution, launches November 20.Publisher Square Enix announced the date this morning alongside news that pre-orders will get access to a ... whole other Hitman title. Not too shabby!
'Hitman: Sniper Challenge' spotted in magazine ad; spinoff game is Absolution pre-order bonus
A scan of a magazine ad reportedly from Game Informer reveals "Hitman: Sniper Challenge," a downloadable game featuring one "replayable sniper mission," with an emphasis on score. Those scores will likely tie into a contest, as the ad touts "Awesome Prize Packages for Top Snipers."The game is advertised as a pre-order bonus for Hitman: Absolution at GameStop, where it will be handed out when you pre-order. It comes with a sniper rifle item for Absolution as well, the code for which will be given out when you pick up the retail game.
Hitman: Absolution's Agent 47 reminds us of his O.G. status
The Hitman folks probably should've stuck the word "assassin" somewhere in their game title – that way they could avoid embarrassing marketing moments. Take, for instance, the trailer above's insistence that Agent 47 is the "original" assassin. Doesn't his blood-soaked legacy speak for itself?
Hitman: Absolution trailers draw a bead on its characters
The bald and bar-coded Agent 47 isn't the only character in Hitman: Absolution, you know. The latest trailers introduce us to Benjamin Travis and Jade – members of 47's employer, "The Agency" – and the actors who play them.
Hitman: Absolution gets a well-dressed 'Professional Edition' [update: EU and NA]
Don't get too excited – we thought the image above revealed some kind of replica gun in a cool briefcase as part of the Hitman: Absolution "Professional Edition," but it's actually bonus in-game DLC. Oh well, no toy guns for us! Said DLC, the "Agency Gun Pack," comprises a Jagd P22G pistol, a UMP SMG and an SPS 12 semi-automatic shotgun.The Professional Edition, announced for Europe today, also includes an art book, a making-of DVD, and a fancy clamshell box. We're due to get some kind of special edition in North America as well, but details haven't been announced yet.Update: the North American release will have the same "Professional Edition." In addition, Square Enix announced retail-exclusive bonuses for Amazon (the "Bartoli Custom Pistol"), Best Buy (the "Bronson 1928M SMG"), GameStop (the "Agency Kazo TRG" sniper rifle), and Walmart (the "Krugermeier 2-2 Pistol").%Gallery-152968%
Trademark filing suggests new Mini Ninjas game
It appears that Square Enix may be planning another game filled with tiny assassins. A European trademark filing suggests the publisher is developing a new Mini Ninjas game, titled Mini Ninjas: Hiro's Adventure. Adding to the evidence, Square has also registered a web domain under the same name.The original Mini Ninjas (pictured) was released in 2009, though it's also coming to Google's Chrome web browser soon. The web app is currently available in beta.
Hitman: Absolution clips cover Diana Burnwood, actress profiles
Diana Burnwood is the female lead of the Hitman series, despite us rarely seeing her face. As Agent 47's handler, she's gone to great lengths to protect the hitman, going so far as to bring him back from the dead in a climactic act of vengeance. Now, she's the target. That's gratitude for you.
PSN Tuesday: Twisted Metal demo, Puddle, Madden
This week on PSN, you can try out the latest entry in the Clown Car Combat genre, with the Twisted Metal multiplayer demo, or Corporate Combat in Syndicate. Or ... not really combat with Puddle.You can also download Madden NFL 12 -- just in time for the Super Bowl! Not that you'll be playing Madden while the game is on, of course. That release joins a trio of IO Interactive games newly available for download: both Kanes & Lynches and Mini Ninjas. Find everything available this week on the PlayStation Blog.
'Hitman Sniper Challenge' trademarked in Europe
Square Enix Europe continues its Hitman trademark spree with Hitman Sniper Challenge. Siliconera dug up the latest trademark, which comes a month after the site found a Hitman: Profession trademark lurking in the European database.What is Hitman Sniper Challenge? Much like Hitman: Profession, any guess is purely speculative. What we do know is that a new Hitman game is under production (with IO supervision) at the Square Enix studio in Montreal. IO is currently finishing up Hitman: Absolution for its 2012 launch.Square certainly has plenty of transmedia opportunities for Agent 47 that could cover angles beyond games.
Square Enix may not let Kane and Lynch's 'Sleeping Dogs' lie
Square Enix has trademarked the name "Sleeping Dogs," which could be a canine-based Final Fantasy title, Hitman with a Scooby-Doo-inspired sidekick, or, most likely, another Kane and Lynch game. Yes, most likely -- we never said most desirably.The previous Kane and Lynch title was Dog Days, and while it struggled to receive critical and commercial praise, Square Enix has hinted that the series may not be dead after all. Eidos "life president" Ian Livingstone said as much at the end of 2010 in an interview with Eurogamer: "We haven't made any announcements about Kane & Lynch going forward, but we all know that Kane and Lynch are two amazing characters who have a lot of brand equity," Livingstone hinted. "People like those guys, so they're not going to disappear."Also, developer IO Interactive put out a suspicious job listing for people to work on an unannounced, third-person, AAA action title in September 2011. Again, "Sleeping Dogs" could be Square's answer to Nintendogs, but for now the evidence is piling up like a stack of old laundry against Kane and Lynch.
Humanizing a killer with Hitman: Absolution
This time it's personal. It may be one of the worst taglines ever, but for Hitman: Absolution, it's an apt summary of a demo given to me in San Francisco last week. This time around, Agent 47 isn't accepting contract kills -- he's on his own mission. %Gallery-143976%
Hitman: Absolution to get obligatory special editions, pre-order bonuses
Following a demo of Hitman: Absolution in San Francisco last week, I talked to producer Hakan Abrak about this latest entry in the killer franchise. Abrak was tight-lipped on launch timing and the recent trademark that surfaced, but he did confirm to Joystiq that there would be pre-order incentives and special editions for Absolution. "Right now we're not ready to talk about the special editions, but definitely," he said. Pre-order items were briefly mentioned as well, though without further elaboration. (Different things spread across numerous retailers is a reasonable expectation, we suspect.)
Agent 47 saves the girl in Hitman: Absolution VGA 2011 trailer
Some guys will hold open a door for a lady, others might offer their jacket on a cold night. For Agent 47, he'll kill every dude in the world to ensure her safety. And they said chivalry is dead!
Mini Ninjas playable in Chrome soon
Google's "Native Client" isn't merely a technology used to play Bastion in a browser window. It will also allow you to try ... Square Enix and IO Interactive's 2009 game, Mini Ninjas. The publisher announced that Mini Ninjas for Chrome is going into open beta sometime this month. It's designed to run in the upcoming version 17 of the browser. Square Enix plans to make more games from its "group-wide lineup" playable in Chrome in 2012. Perhaps those will include some more memorable fare.
