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Age old Pirates vs. Ninjas question to be settled with dodgeball
Blazing Lizard has decided to table all other discussions for the moment, and answer one burning question. Gone are the questions like "Which came first, the chicken or the egg?" and "If a tree falls in the forest, and there is no one around to hear it, does it make a sound?" and "Do you want fries with that?" Instead they're heading back to the basics of stealthiness vs. swarthiness ... "Ninjas or pirates?" According to studio director Chris Stockton, "This is the ultimate in rivalries, and we aim to have them settle it with all out balls to the wall action." Nice! Although where will you be able to play this? No man, whether pirate or ninja, can say. The game "is poised to redefine consumer expectations of console downloadable games when it's released for a TBD platform in the first quarter of 2008." Very mysterious.In the meantime, check out the screenshots and concept art in the gallery below, and sharpen your peg legs and shurikens.%Gallery-5856%
Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End due on Blu-ray Dec. 4
Following up on the expected arrival of Cars on Blu-ray, VideoBusiness reports Disney has officially announced that Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End will hit DVD and Blu-ray simultaneously December 4th. The two disc Blu-ray (one dual-layer, one single-layer) set has an SRP of $35.99 -- only a dollar over the comparable DVD package -- and feature the numerous extras all re-mastered in HD, as well as a BD-J special interactive feature, Enter the Maelstrom. The company expects this set to follow up on the highly successful DVD releases of the first two movies in the series which also debuted in the first week of December.
Jenga CONFIRMED
We recently reported that Atari would show a Jenga game at E3. We wondered if it was going to be just Jenga or some kind of expanded game based on the concept of Jenga. It's just Jenga.What does the Wii bring to the table (so to speak) that the original game doesn't have? Well, the ability to play Jenga on top of a castle, or in front of a lighthouse, or in someone's living room-- and the ability to do so as an icon of a snowman.Where Wii Jenga fails and real Jenga exceeds, however, is in the graphics. The original Jenga's wood texture looks absolutely lifelike, while the texture is quite blurry and unrealistic on the Wii.
Counterfeiter ordered to pay 2.5 million
We imagine there is also another option, one that tasks the guilty party with working for a certain Tom Nook, delivering packages and performing other such menial tasks for the rest of their life. That's probably how long it would take to pay off such a debt as huge as this (wonder what the exchange rate on Bells are?).In all seriousness, though, those responsible should be paying out the nose, as the dummy corporations the defendants were responsible for sold tens of thousands of counterfeit Nintendo games. While the Uruguayan Civil Court has dispensed some justice, the Philippines still have a lot of trouble. Not to mention how bad it is in China and other areas.Nintendo 1, Piracy 472,143,886.
Guildwatch: King me!
I think it would be really fun if, once you downed a boss like High King Maulgar, your guild got to run the instance for the next group coming through. As in, you all took Maulgar's place, and when the next raid showed up, they had to fight your guild. Sounds like fun, right? No? Ok, well, it was just an idea.Meanwhile, click the link below to read this week's dose of drama, downing, and guild recruiting notices. My ideas might not be so great sometimes, but your stories of guild happenings around the world of Azeroth always are. Send your own to wowguildwatch@gmail.com to see them here next week!
Pirates of the Burning Sea dev details SOE publishing deal
Massively multiplayer swashbuckler Pirates of the Burning Sea was recently announced to be sailing under the flag of Sony Online Entertainment's Platform Publishing. While joining hands with a publisher is generally considered good news, some fans following the game throughout its development have expressed concern over SOE's involvement, citing its indelicate handling of Star Wars: Galaxies. Addressing these concerns is Russel Williams, CEO of developer Flying Lab Software, who updated the game's official website with a surprisingly straightforward explanation of what the publishing deal entails.Williams specifies the responsibilities carried by each party in the deal and is quick to point out that Flying Lab Software retains complete ownership of Pirates of the Burning Sea and remains independent. "Platform Publishing is a channel for independent developers to compete on the same level as a big publisher – without selling their soul," says Williams. He goes on to stress that the deal will ultimately allow Flying Lab to focus on development of the game and deliver it on time this Fall. "I've put my money where my mouth is. And I want more developers to do the same." Aye, Mr. Williams! Aye!
Toys "ARRRR" Us: Piracy in the Philippines
Pirated video games in the Philippines is certainly nothing new -- we remember seeing counterfeit Famicom carts being sold there back in the day -- but its ubiquity in the Southeast Asian country is startling. GameOPS' John Phillips Bengero sent us some pictures to illustrate just how dire the DS and GBA bootlegging situation is. Far from being confined to Manila's seedier markets, these shots were taken at a recently opened Toys "R" Us branch in TriNoma mall! Bring a pocket full of pesos past the post break for the photos.
Sid Meier loves his PS3 so much he's going to develop for it
The PlayStation 3 has been garnering some surprising defenders these days, and we can now add another developer the list. In an interview posted on PlayStation.com, legendary game designer Sid Meier exposed at length about his love for the PlayStation 3 and the PlayStation brand in general. According to the article, Meier owns a PlayStation 2, a PSP, and a PlayStation 3 and actively uses them all (with Resistance being one of his recent favorite titles). Most interestingly though is that he feels that with the arrival of the PlayStation 3, it's time for him and Firaxis (his development group) to move into console gaming. While Meier has dabbled in console gaming before, most famously with Pirates! and it's recent sequel, this appears to be a major paradigm shift for him. He explains his reasoning behind the shift a little more in-depth:"Computers no longer have the edge on set-top systems. The technology is there; the audience is ready for deeper and more gripping experiences; and the bar's formally been raised in terms of enthusiasts' expectations. I hate to use the word convergence, but I don't know how else to describe the situation... The timing couldn't be more perfect."Now, before people take to the streets and start screaming about how Civilization couldn't work with a controller, keep in mind that he has not specified at all what his next-gen projects are. Also keep in mind that the PlayStation 3 supports bluetooth keyboards/mice as well as the obvious USB support. So if Civilization did come out for the PS3, there's no reason to automatically assume he would 'dumb it down' for consoles. Still, it's much more likely that we'll see entirely new games released, though you can pretty much be guaranteed sure they'll carry at least a shred of the classic tactical style gameplay he's known for.
Sony vows legal action against hackers and pirates
SCEA has declared that they will "actively pursue" legal action against hackers that attempt to crack the PS3 anti-piracy software. This announcement arrives just after recent news that hackers were close to completely cracking the PS3 anti-piracy software found in firmware versions 1.10 and 1.11. Their progress on the crack would allow pirated PS3 games to boot, but they still were not playable. The homebrew community is also still waiting in the wings, as even this latest attempt still prevents any type of homebrew gaming on the PS3 console. Obviously, SCEA hopes to stalwart further progress and deter hackers from completely subverting the anti-piracy measures completely, because saying "please" just doesn't carry the same weight as legal action. Dave Karraker, SCEA spokesperson says, "the best we can do as a company, is to make our security that much stronger and aggressively pursue legal action against anyone caught trying to use an exploit in an illegal manner." The pirates who want to burn and run copied PS3 disks? Yeah, they're bad. Bad, bad. Spankings all around kind of bad. And if you're thinking of doing it, you shouldn't. Go find someone to deliver a spanking for even thinking such thoughts. On the homebrew front, we're kind of indifferent. Now, we're stepping out on a very thin limb here, but maybe, just maybe if Sony was a little bit more organized in lining up a steady stream of content for thirsting PS3 owners, we wouldn't have hackers so interested in cracking the PS3 for homebrew. What do you think?
Plundr: Dangerous Shores' location-based gaming weighs anchor on the Nintendo DS
The main idea behind location-based gaming is to transform the city around you into a new setting that can be interacted with and explored. In Plundr's case, you're the captain of a pirate ship looking to pillage and swashbuckle your way to the top of the buccaneer chain. Using WiFi positioning to track your movements and superimpose landmarks over your neighborhood map, Plundr builds islands that you can set sail for and investigate. Taking a walk to that coffee shop two blocks away will bring up a trading post where you can buy spices and deliver goods. If you head over to the nearby park, there's a few unsuspecting merchant ships to test your cannons on.Developer area/code originally designed the title with laptops in mind, but working with the R4DS homebrew platform, the Manhattan-based company was able to port the game to our scurvy handheld and show off the fruits of its efforts at O'Reilly's Where 2.0 Conference late last May. Though we're still waiting to hear more about the clever game, these first shots of Plundr: Dangerous Shores that we scoured up will tide us over for now. Yarr!%Gallery-3607%[Via slavin fpo]
The format war: Pirates vs The Matrix
In this latest chapter of the format war the BDA is once again patting themselves on the back because according to estimates by Home Media Magazine, the two Pirates movies outsold The Matrix box sets by a margin of over 3 to 1. While both of these titles got a lot of people excited and motivated people to buy, we're not impressed. For starters the box set includes 3 feature films, so 3-1 should be expected. The other important factor is cost, while the Pirates movies sold for $25 each, the box set was closer to $70 (depending on the version). Considering the differences here, we'd say they were pretty even, -- with the slightest edge to Pirates -- but when you consider that one of the Pirates titles was a day-and-date release, this really isn't news at all. What will be interesting is when The Matrix finally gets released on Blu-ray and we get compare title for title after all those new HD DVD players hit the market.
Geoffrey Rush fulfills obligation
The Google translation doesn't really help, but we've seen enough of these celebrity pressers to know what's going on. Pirates of the Caribbean costar Geoffrey Rush was presented with the Wii game based on his movie at a Japanese press event, and asked how he likes it. His badly mangled thoughts: "Present ......Don't you think? you do not play almost. The son who becomes 11 years old is in me, but it is as for my finger that way in order to be able to move quickly, because it is not developed, (laughing). As for I being able to play 'pack man' extent kana."We just wanted to share this in case you thought life would be amazing and glamorous if you had an Oscar. Right now, having never been asked to play the Pirates game, we're feeling pretty happy about our situation in comparison.
Avast! Here there be Pirates demos.
Ah, there's nothing better than surprise demos in the morning. Actually, come to think of it, there are lots of things better than surprise demos (at any time of day really). Still, let's not sully the moment and ruin the fun of a new Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End demo gracing Xbox Live Marketplace (though the demo has already made the voyage to other shores). We've been impressed by the game's visuals so far, and now we can sample the actual swashbuckling gameplay. Let's hope for a pleasant surprise, shall we?Anyone out there gotten a chance to play this yet?%Gallery-3339%
WRUP: Yo ho ho and a bottle of rum edition
With this week's solitary release being very much a pirate's affair, we're sure many of you have scurvy and booty on the brain. Oh, and the rum. How we love the rum. But, this all matters not, for the only thing we need to know is what are you playing this weekend? Will you be checking out the latest exploits of one Captain Jack Sparrow on the Wii or do you have something else in mind. Will you, dare we ask, not be playing anything this weekend?
UK inventor crafts remote controlled treasure hunting robot
Although John Corney's RC treasure hunter hasn't happened upon any $10 billion finds or unreleased iPhone knockoffs, the remote controlled truck has indeed scrounged up part of a Medieval Pilgrims badge which has now been donated to Warminster Library Museum. The off-roading machine is essentially a souped up metal detector on wheels (er, tracks) that has an on-board camera "to show its controller where it is going." The creator is already "qualified in remotely operated underwater vehicle (ROV) control," and has used his mountain climbing machine to land "hundreds" of old coins and medieval artifacts including a World War II medical badge. The project didn't come easy, however, as Mr. Corney has spent over seven years and £2,000 ($3,958) honing its skills, but apparently, he's hunting down VCs right now to help bring "Champion the Wonder Robot" to market.[Via Robot-Gossip]
Sorry sir, but you can't bring that dual-screened handheld in here
At a recent screening for the third Pirates of the Caribbean film, one critic was denied entry with his DS. Turns out, security made him take it back to his car because they mistook it for a recording device. Yup, the dual-screened handheld (unconfirmed if it was a Lite or not) was not allowed into the screening for fear that it was some sort of video capture device. Of course, a simple boot up of the machine clearly reveals it to be for video games (most people know to associate the name Nintendo with video games, wouldn't you say?), but security still wasn't having it.It's weird because cell phones lacking a camera attachment were allowed to enter the screening, so in hindsight the author says he should've just said it was one of those. [Thanks, Kevin; via Boing Boing]
Get an eye full of the Pirates booth section
Remember when we talked about those special download kiosks that were littered around Disneyland for the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End premiere? Well, it didn't take long before one fine reader, who is known on these vast internets as "Jesus," took a picture and sent it in. Honestly, we're unimpressed and were thinking these download spots would be more in-line with the theme, like swashbuckling us away lest we download their precious booty. Oh well, chalk that up to another instance where our imagination outclasses reality.
Shipping this week: Arrrrggghhh! edition
The thin gaming trickle of spring continues this week with yet another movie tie-in (last week we got Shrek the Third). This week we get the Depp-tastic Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End. We're generally leery of any movie tie-ins, especially those that launch simultaneously with the associated film (the third Pirates movie also opens this week), and this time is no different. While the screens and movies we've seen of the game show off decent character models and some very nice animation, they also show off what appears to be generally ho-hum gameplay. We'll just have to wait and see if the game, ahem, holds water.On a more positive note for lovers of Japanese games, the Ubisoft localization of Senko no Ronde, retitled WarTech: Senko no Ronde, also debuts this week. Apparently Marvel: Ultimate Alliance Gold failed to properly hit the shelves last week, as it is listed again this week. For an ultimate alliance, they sure have trouble getting their act together.%Gallery-3339%[Via Joystiq]
Disney offers special downloads for DS owners at theme parks
Disney has announced that owners of the latest Pirates of the Caribbean game on the DS will find something else to do at their theme parks as, beginning tomorrow, special download locations will allow gamers to unlock new costumes and cheats for the game. Hidden near special Pirates attractions, these "X-marks-the-spot" hotspots will be littered throughout the parks. "We are committed about giving our Disney park visitors an innovative, relevant and rewarding experience every time they visit," said Michael Mendenhall, executive vice president of global marketing for Walt Disney Parks and Resorts.If you happen to have access to one of these hotspots, send us a picture and we'll be sure to post it.[Via press release]
Wii releases for the week of May 21st
As with last week, this week's single release is a movie tie-in title, leaving those of you out there who could care less about that sort of game with nothing new to play (yet again). That's just fine though, because we can now say with certainty when we're getting the game we want! Let's all hold hands and sing!This week's release is: Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End Going to join Capt. Jack Sparrow in this latest adventure? Personally, we're fine with just seeing the movie ...
