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GameSpy updates: Halo CE to get official patch, Lost Planet 3 evacuating
GameSpy's imminent shutdown means some games are going to lose online functionality in the coming weeks, but Halo: Combat Evolved on PC isn't one of them. Last week we reported third party GameRanger was stepping in with support, but now it turns out an official patch is on the way, preserving the shooter's Internet Lobby and online multiplayer. The patch will relocate the Lobby to a server created by a small group of Halo fans. The group's efforts were backed by Bungie, and it's the developer who will host the new server and release the patch "soon," no doubt much to the appreciation of the Halo community. There's good news from Capcom too, with Lost Planet 3 migrating to a new service to retain its online multiplayer across all platforms. Similarly, Street Fighter 3: Third Strike Online Edition and Marvel vs. Capcom Origins have already migrated without issues. However, two of the studio's games will lose their online features when GameSpy's service shuts down on May 31, namely Age of Booty and Flock. The two games join a growing list of games affected by the closure, including 50 from EA alone. Going by a removed Microsoft support article, Games for Windows Live's service may follow GameSpy out the door soon after, taking another whole chunk of games with it. [Image: Bungie]
2014 Writers Guild Awards video game nominees announced
The Writers Guild of America announced the nominees for the 2014 Writers Guild Awards Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing today. The writing teams for five games were nominated for the annual award, as follows: Assassin's Creed 4: Black Flag Batman: Arkham Origins God of War: Ascension The Last of Us Lost Planet 3 Only games that launched between December 1, 2012 and November 30, 2013 were eligible for nomination. The 2014 Writers Guild Awards will be held on Saturday, February 1, 2014 in both Los Angeles and New York simultaneously. Past winners of the Outstanding Achievement in Videogame Writing award were the writers of the following games, who were also part of the guild in order to be considered: Assassin's Creed 3: Liberation (2013), Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception (2012), Assassin's Creed: Brotherhood (2011), Uncharted 2: Among Thieves (2010) and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed (2009).
Lost Planet 3 ships 300,000 units, Dead Rising 3 aims for 1.2 million
Capcom has put a number to the "below expectations" performance of Lost Planet 3, that of 300,000 units shipped worldwide as of the end of September. While that only represents its first month at retail, the shooter sequel developed by Californian studio Spark Unlimited failed to hit performance targets in Europe and North America. The Japanese company previously expressed disappointment in the "excessive" amount of projects outsourced overseas, which it believed led to a decrease in quality. Capcom previously deemed Lost Planet 2 an underperformer, but that game went on to ship 1.5 million units worldwide. That said, based on its first month figures Lost Planet 3 will have done very well if it matches that performance. It's not all doom and gloom for Capcom. For starters, the 1 million units shipped by console and PC ports of Resident Evil: Revelations were in line with projections. Also, expansion/follow-up Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen came in at 650,000 units, comparing favorably to the million-plus shipped by the original game. Then there's the small matter of Monster Hunter 4, with the 3DS juggernaut shipping 3 million units in its first month - and that's just in Japan. Looking ahead, Capcom's big name game in the second half of its fiscal year is Dead Rising 3. Given it's a launch game on Xbox One, there's pragmatism to the company's projections of 1.2 million units shipped by the end of March 2014. While Dead Rising 2 shipped 2.2 million units a few years ago, Capcom put that game out on Xbox 360, PS3, and PC. As it stands, the sequel is exclusive to the Xbox One.
Capcom net income up 20% in Q2, Lost Planet 3 sales below projection
Capcom's net income in Q2 2013 was up 20 percent year-over-year, to 4,950 million yen ($50.4 million). Its overall net sales, operating income and ordinary income also saw increases, while net sales from its digital games business was up 7.2 percent from the previous year, to 37,510 million yen ($382 million). Operating income from its digital business was down 6.9 percent, 5,380 million yen ($54.8 million). Capcom noted sluggish growth in the home gaming market overall, attributed to anticipation for the coming console generation. Sales of Lost Planet 3 were below Capcom's expectations, "due in part to intensifying competition in the European and US markets," its statement reads. Monster Hunter 4 and Dragon's Dogma: Dark Arisen sold well, while Resident Evil: Revelations and Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies "also basically achieved projected sales," Capcom says. Capcom's mobile games didn't achieve the sales it anticipated, attributed to a "lack of major titles and the fierce competitive environment." One potential bright spot Capcom called out is its coming selection of online games – all 14 of them.
Saints Row 4 marches on in UK charts, A Realm Reborn berths in third
Saints Row 4 maintains its reign in the UK plains for another week, seeing off a number of new releases including Square Enix phoenix (down) A Realm Reborn. The resurrection of MMO Final Fantasy 14 debuts in third, just behind Splinter Cell: Blacklist. Outside the top ten, Massive Shock: a Grasshopper game is struggling to sell! Games by the Japanese studio are rarely big sellers - Lollipop Chainsaw did ship 700,000 - but there'll surely be disappointment at Killer is Dead charting 28th in its first week. Maybe not as much as there'll be over at Capcom, though: Lost Planet 3 lands two places higher in 26. Murkier to judge is Rayman Legends in sixth. Topping the first week sales of predecessor Origins by 20 percent is all well and good, but Origins wasn't exactly a commercial hit. It only sold 50,000 copies across its first month in the US, after all. Still, Legends is the second highest new release this week, pipping Madden 25 which touches down in seventh.
Metareview: Lost Planet 3
We said Lost Planet 3 is a "game about attempting to get on with it and failing miserably." So, let's get on with it... Game Trailers (77/100): "It's true that a lot of the game feels standard issue; nothing's really broken but there's certainly a bit of awkwardness. In the end playing Lost Planet 3 is very much like taking a job on a remote ice planet: most of the work is pretty ordinary, but there are enough bright spots and interesting people to make it a job worth taking." IGN (62/100): "But the biggest frustration of Lost Planet 3's level design is its lack of consistency. Getting locked in the mech and auto-killed instead of ejected sucks. Can you grapple that ledge? Probably not, but you have to check. Can you fall off that cliff? Probably not, but just when you've gotten used to the idea that an invisible wall will stop you, you fall to your death." Game Informer (60/100): "I don't hate Lost Planet 3. There's still a base satisfaction to popping orange Akrid weak points and mopping up goo. I even made a point to track down most of the hidden collectibles. The first two games balanced out any unsavory elements with mega moments and straightforward fun. The third entry simply doesn't have enough thermal energy to overcome its many problems. " Eurogamer (40/100): "Level design is a problem in the exterior scenes: the game's world is so cramped and divided by loading screens I genuinely couldn't tell you which bits are the hubs and which are the spokes, and that hurts your sense of stomping freedom in the rig. But the interiors are just lazily strung together shooting galleries which pinball Peyton between objective markers on flimsy narrative pretexts."
Lost Planet 3 review: How I Met Your Mothra
An elderly Jim Peyton would like to get a few things off his chest before he dies – the secrets, the lies, the many battles of youthful days gone by. Also, the huge rocks that just fell on him. As his granddaughter scrambles to pry him out of a cave-in coffin, she's drawn into an epic flashback that beats a season of Dallas, both in terms of length and inopportune timing. We're not meant to take this as a vocal description of every granular detail of Lost Planet 3, of course, but it sure feels that way sometimes. "And then I waited for the mega crab monster to charge me ... again," Peyton sputters. "So, I rolled out of the way ... again ... and I shot it in the back and then ... wait, I think I reloaded my gun first and THEN I rolled." He expends another pained breath. "Have I mentioned how I shot the glowing weakpoint?" Geez, Gramps, just get on with it.
Lost Planet 3 Video Preview
As a prequel to Capcom's ice-cracking shooter series, Lost Planet 3 will disintegrate the mysteries that have dogged us since 2006's Lost Planet: Extreme Condition. Why do the snarling inhabitants of planet E.D.N. III insist on flaunting their weakpoints? Why don't astronomical objects stop and ask for directions? How did the condition get so ... extreme? We'd rather not spoil any of that, so instead we'll show you the game's warm protagonist, his big bipedal rig and the on-foot combat in our new video preview. Lost Planet 3, developed by Spark Unlimited, is due on August 27 for Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC.
Lost Planet 3 trailer is a survivor's monologue
Here we see another missed opportunity to use Destiny's Child's 2001 hit, "Survivor," in a video game trailer. When will those marketing departments ever learn?
Sony-sponsored 'EToo' event in London is an alternate to E3
Londoners not attending E3 this year have a video game-centric event of their own to attend called "EToo." EToo was announced as an alternative to E3 with both Sony and PlayJam's GameStick headlining the event as sponsors. The event's press release noted that over 30 developers will show off their latest games. Demos of Lost Planet 3 and DuckTales will be presented by Capcom and The Last of Us and Rain will be on display as well, to name a few. EToo will be held at the Loading Bar in Soho from Monday, June 10 through Thursday, June 13. The daily events will be free to the public but require registration in advance, while nightly livestream shows have a £6 entry fee. Hopeful attendees will have to act fast, as the June 10 evening show has already sold out.
Lost Planet 3 pre-order bonuses include Hunk, robo-accessories
Pre-ordering Lost Planet 3 at GameStop will grant five "unique" multiplayer characters, a squad which includes gas mask-wearing soldier "Hunk" from any number of Resident Evil games. The player also receives some Rig (read: giant robot) upgrades, specifically a "tungsten carbide drill" hand and a big ol' "pressurized claw" for squeezing space bugs and (we assume) other, less interesting applications.Lost Planet 3 arrives on PS3, Xbox 360 and PC on Tuesday, August 27.%Gallery-186786% %Gallery-186787%
Lost Planet 3 multiplayer trailer mechs its way online
Grappling hooks, glowing bugs, turrets, mechs and snow? Must be a Lost Planet 3 multiplayer trailer. The game launches this August.
Lost Planet 3 delayed until August 27 in NA, August 30 in EU
At the very end of a long press release detailing Capcom's lineup for the next few months, Capcom sneaked in news of a delay for Lost Planet 3. According to the announcement, Spark Unlimited's Akrid-drilling sequel is now due August 27 in North America, and August 30 in Europe, for PS3, Xbox, and PC.The last known release dates were June 25 and 28 for North America and Europe, respectively – following a delay out of the "early 2013" release window.
Lost Planet 3 orbits over NA June 25, EU June 28
Capcom tells us the release dates for Lost Planet 3 are June 25 in North America, and June 28 in Europe. The game was previously earmarked for early 2013, but early 2013 has all but come and gone, so a delay isn't too surprising. Spark Unlimited's third-person shooter is a prequel to the events of the first game, despite it being called Lost Planet 3.Check out all of the North American retailer-specific pre-order bonuses on the Capcom blog. %Gallery-180867%
Lost Planet 3 TGS demo transforms into video walkthrough
If reading the Lost Planet 3 preview from our Tokyo Game Show coverage isn't your thing, here's the demo in video form. Or, you could read along while watching the video. Right eye on the text, left eye on the video.
Drilling for a new core in Lost Planet 3
When I started playing Lost Planet 3, I felt it immediately. Intrinsically, I knew it was made by a different team than the first two games. Lost Planet 3 has a distinctly western feel to it, and its trappings should be comfortable to anyone that has played a third-person shooter made in the last few years. Left trigger to aim, right trigger to shoot – dodge, take cover, reload, repeat. Familiar, perhaps, but by no means is that a bad thing.Lost Planet has, in fact, changed hands, moving from Capcom itself to California developer Spark Unlimited. It's too early to tell if the change will give the franchise the shot in the arm it needs after Lost Planet 2, but what I experienced seems like a step in the right direction.%Gallery-162351%
EX Troopers isn't marching west anytime soon, Capcom says
EX Troopers isn't bringing its anime stylings to our shores anytime soon. The Lost Planet spin-off comes out in Japan later this year, but Capcom's senior vice-president Christian Svensson posted on the company's forums to say a Western release isn't currently planned.These things do change, of course, especially when Capcom has already filed a US trademark for the game. In any case, it's too early to write off a North American release for the PS3 and 3DS game just yet.
Monster Hunter 4 playable at TGS, Capcom and Sega unveil lineups
A playable version of Monster Hunter 4 is coming to this year's Tokyo Game Show, Capcom announced on its newly launched TGS portal.The company also unveiled its current lineup for the show, with Resident Evil 6, DmC, Lost Planet 3 and EX Troopers joining the 3DS Monster Hunter. Meanwhile, Sega also unveiled its current line-up, which features Yakuza 5, Yakuza 1 & 2 HD, and Phantasy Star Online 2. So, no surprises there – yet.The show runs through September 20-23, when lucky attendees can see for themselves if Monster Hunter 4 really does have a whiff of the Dragon's Dogma about it.
Capcom media megapost: Resident Evil 6, Lost Planet 3, Remember Me and more
Capcom just left a massive pile of trailers and screenshots on our doorstep, and rather than breaking them down into a bunch of tiny, annoying posts, we figured it'd be more convenient for you at home to bunch them all together into one big cornucopia of media consumables. Mediumables, if you will.Above and below, you'll find a gameplay trailer of Remember Me, as well as a corresponding gallery. Then, after the break, you'll find trailers and screenshots from pretty much everything else Capcom has going on for a while: Lost Planet 3, DmC: Devil May Cry, Resident Evil 6, Street Fighter X Tekken Vita, Okami HD and Jojo's Bizarre Adventure HD.%Gallery-162365%
Lost Planet 3 and the dichotomy of man and machine
There's an interesting clash of play styles I discovered during my preview session of Lost Planet 3. When within his rig – a giant biped mech armed with a huge drill and claw – protagonist Jim is nearly invincible, try as you might to get to the soft, fleshy core of this hulking mechanical giant.Yet Lost Planet 3 won't let you get away with cruising through the campaign from within the safety of Jim's rig – often he'll be forced to get out, navigating the cold tundras of E.D.N. III alone. It's at these times when I felt weak and without a safety net during my E3 demo. It's an interesting dichotomy not seen in many other games out there right now.The dangers of a blisteringly cold ice planet are obvious, and the segments where Jim is on foot are incredibly hazardous. Exploring a web of caves, I stumbled upon an akrid nest. Think: the next scene in Aliens. There were eggs everywhere, hatching and releasing akrid spawn. My assault rifle quickly became ineffective at crowd control. Good thing I found that shotgun, which had the just the right amount of oomph.It wasn't long before I found momma akrid, a large crab-like thing with pincers. It was a boss with an identity crisis, continually charging me like some bull who spotted a man in a puffy red parka. Shoot, roll to the side, and shoot some more.I felt vulnerable and completely outmatched – the perfect combination of terror and panic only well-crafted scenarios can produce. I didn't have massive wells of ammo to draw from. I had to be nimble and crafty. I had to be smart about when I shot and where. And because of this, the reward of finally bringing this thing down was ever so sweet. Taking on such a thing in my mech would've been a decidedly different gameplay experience, one I feel would've lost all of the characteristics I enjoyed in the tense encounter.These contrasts of feeling incredibly powerful and invincible within the rig, and feeling alone and desperate and vulnerable on foot, instilled a variety in Lost Planet 3 I haven't seen in many other games. If Spark Unlimited sustains that trend throughout the entirety of Lost Planet 3, I think they'll produce a fine game – and, dare I say, perhaps the best entry in the series yet.%Gallery-156930%
