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Titan Quest: Immortal Throne update
The holiday issue of PC Gamer has some exclusive details on Titan Quest: Immortal Throne, the first official expansion pack for Iron Lore's epic action-RPG. Due early next year, this new campaign serves as a continuation of the original game's storyline, and moves the action to an underworld environment inhabited by 20 new monster types. A ninth skill mastery will also be available, as well as 250 unique weapons and pieces of armor. No pricing has been announced, but Immortal Throne is expected to provide 10-15 hours of additional gameplay.If you already have the core campaign, don't forget to check out the growing list of mods available over at the Titan Quest Vault.See also: Metareview: Titan Quest
Disney forms Nintendo games studio
Disney is forming a new studio based in Salt Lake City called Fall Line (???) to make games exclusively for Nintendo featuring Disney characters. The new studio marks the fourth that Disney has bought or started up on their own in the past two years at a tune of more than $200 million dollars.While Nintendo puts the emphasis on fun in their games instead of next-gen processing power, Disney could be a great fit with them. Both Nintendo and Disney skew heavily towards younger audiences, and those aren't the kind of gamers who'll be concerned with how many polygons it takes to render Goofy's hat into a photorealistic prop. They have sequels in the immediate future: another Chicken Little game comes out around Wii-launch, and you can probably expect another Cars video game.It'll be interesting to see what Fall Line can produce on their own. Maybe they'll port Kingdom Hearts to the Wii. That would be worth a wait.[Thanks, Bored]
THQ profits up, gamers have cause to celebrate
THQ has recently released their second quarter results, and shareholders should be happy. THQ's quarterly sales have increased by more than 50% from $142.7 million to $240.2 million. The improvement in net income is something to celebrate as well; THQ pulled a $12.6 million profit this quarter compared to a $1.4 million loss last year. While this is nice for anyone holding THQ shares, what does this mean for gamers? THQ has specifically named Company of Heroes, Metacritic average of 94% and Saint's Row, Metacritic average of 81%, as the key reasons for the boost in income. Gamers should rejoice when a gaming company posts gains in profits on the backs of original software, as opposed to licensed title shovelware. Posting profits on original titles could push further development of new titles. Do you think THQ's profit boost on fresh ideas will convince other game companies to try the same? Or will THQ's success go ignored, continuing the long standing practice of selling formulaic games for quick profits? THQ did show strong sales with Cars, so until licensed games stop selling, publishers will still place their money in the safe investment. [Update 1: Big math mistake fixed]
Titan Quest expansion announced, modders interviewed
THQ has announced that a Titan Quest expansion pack will be released before the end of Q1, but there are other options for extending your mythical adventures beyond the game's core campaign. Aspiring developers have started showcasing their mods at the Titan Quest Vault, and have offered some insight into their creative process through a series of interviews. German modder Toh Klidan, for example, is the author of Andromeda's Sacrifice, a retelling of the classic tale of the Aethiopian princess and her savior Perseus (of Clash of the Titans fame). According to Klidan, the Titan Quest tools appear more confusing than they actually are, so we should be seeing more independent campaigns and maps in the near future. There are over 40 available now. Let us know if you've tried any of them.See also: Metareview - Titan Quest
Saints Row patched, finally
After two long months Saints Row has been patched -- just in time to go up against the holiday blockbusters. We suppose better late than never, but a number of the issues that the update addresses (e.g., spinning camera, missing store items, "rare" crash bugs, etc.) should have been ironed out during testing phases, or at least patched sooner. What's up with the lackadaisical effort, guys? THQ, Volition, we're lookin' at you. Sure we've had our moments in the Row, but this gang bangin' romp is gonna be a memory in another week or so. Too little, too late.
Smackdown wrestlers' intro videos
It only feels like yesterday when we were making fun of WWE Smackdown (it was, in fact, two days ago). So, maybe, we'll be a little bit nicer this time. A new year means the developers have a chance to get things right. Get rid of the load times. GamesRadar has been nice enough to grab all the wrestler intro videos from the upcoming Smackdown game, and convert it into iPod PSP format. Simply download their files, and dump it into your 2.80 PSP's VIDEO folder. The new year of Smackdown hits stores November 1st.
WWE SmackDown 2006 to frustrate even more players at new budget price
A press release from THQ today proudly proclaimed that their wrestling title, WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2006, is now available in the low-budget Greatest Hits lineup. According to the press release the game "includes updated fighting and stamina systems, impressive graphics, integrated motion capture technology and authentic SuperStar voiceovers, bringing game play to life with unprecedented levels of realism and strategy during matches." They forgot to mention that the game also features some of the worst load times... ever. Those of you with great patience may want to give this a shot, though. If you can ignore horrendous load times, you'll see that $20 will net you a pretty solid wrestling game. [Via PSP World]
Avatar: The Last Airbender bends its way onto the PSP
What would the PSP be without cartoon-based games like Spongebob and Dragon Ball Z? While many of these games don't appeal to older games like most of us here, they do bring in a very important demographic and help to usher in the next generation of gamers.Having said that, another one of these toon games is making its way onto the PSP in the form of THQ's Avatar: The Last Airbender on Oct. 10.In the game, players will take control of Aang, Katara, Haru and Sokka, and will have the ability to customize bending powers to master the four elements of Earth, Air, Water and Fire. From what it looks like so far, there may not be any multi-player function, which may lead to many young boy's shedding tears and getting beaten up at school.[Via FSC Publishing]
UK prefers zombies to gangstas
It seems that zombies -- not math or music -- are in fact the universal language. Transcending all cultural barriers, Dead Rising, in its first week of release in the UK, has topped the Euro charts, knocking Saints Row off of the coveted top spot. And Britain loves gangstas, too -- though we must admit that the pimped out thugs of Saints Row aren't the suave Layer Cake gangstas that the UK is used to. Still, tiny text and red lights be damned, Dead Rising cannot be ignored. Any UK readers care to comment on their experience with the game thus far?
PS3 delay leads to publisher stock dip
Wall street reacted to yesterday's big news about the PS3's European delay and component shortages by lowering the stocks of some big video game publishers. Shares of Electronic Arts, Activision, THQ and Take Two fluctuated down one to four percent yesterday as investors and analysts took into account the delay's effect on near-term overseas profits. Despite the one-day drop, analysts are predicting that the delay will not affect the medium to longer-term prospects for the companies as they move resources to the next-generation of systems.
Saints Row multiplayer troubles?
Ran across this comment on Major Nelson's blog:Major, please say something about the broken multiplayer experience in Saint's Row. Nothing is working properly. The invites, gangs, and party lobbies are all not working. THQ says the game uses no servers for the lobby functionality, so that just leaves the XBOX Live servers to blame. Anybody else having trouble? So far there aren't any complaints on various Saints Row fansites apart from the usual bitching about lag.
Wii black! ... and some THQ games
So, how 'bout that super sweet black Wii? White is nice and all, but you know what they say about -- actually, there's really nowhere that joke can go except to court, so we're just going to say hurray for choice! The clean, mean white Wii we've seen over the past months is sleek and beautiful, but it's nice to get some flipside images. How will we ever decide come release date?Oh, right, the rest of the story ... these images come courtesy of IGN, where their staffers got a chance to sit down with THQ for a Wii marathon with some of their launch games. Because our big daddy blog Joystiq knows what we really want (black Wii wins over Spongebob, y'all), they've compiled the best pictures for your drooling viewing pleasure. That's doubly nice, since the black Wii pics are now MIA at IGN. The IGN feature also includes some hands-on impressions of THQ's Wii-lease games: Avatar: The Last Airbender, Cars, the latest Spongebob title, and Barnyard, the game that offers us the chance at Wii darts we so crave. [Thanks, Marc!]
A smorgasbord of mini-rumors
A recent IGN Podcast has unveiled some interesting tidbits related to the Wii. Now, we all know IGN's information comes from the shadiest of places...scarred men whispering secrets in dank alleyways, unnatural seances with souls departed...but if they're willing to dive into hell's inferno to obtain some info, then we're certainly willing to take all the credit relate it to you, the faithful reader. So, without further ado: Nintendo may decide to move Super Paper Mario directly to the Wii, as the Gamecube is essentially dead in the water. This would not only make financial sense, but finally allow us at Wii Fanboy to cover this excellent looking game. We want to believe it. Metroid Prime 3: Corruption may not make the Wii launch after all. This is directly contradicting several months' worth of continuous confirmations by Nintendo and Retro Studios, and would take a lot of steam out of the superlative launch lineup. We doubt it. Dragon's Quest: Swords also may not make the launch window. We see no reason to disbelieve such a thing; Square-Enix loves their delays. Excite Truck has been confirmed as a launch title. Why not? LucasArts has indeed been developing a lightsaber game for the Wii. Yeah. We know. Publisher THQ has 6 to 8 titles in development for the Wii. Seeing as how they're handling the more lighthearted affairs (Cars, Spongebob), it seems plausible, but none too exciting. At the Leipzig Games Convention (coming soon!), Nintendo and third parties will reveal exactly how they intend to port more traditional game fare from the PS3 and Xbox 360 over to the Wii. Uhhh...sure. And, there you have it. As a special bonus gift from us at the Fanboy, here are some complimentary grains of salt.
SEC moves onto another publisher -- THQ
The Securities and Exchange Commission has launched a probe into THQ's option grants, requesting documents and info relating to THQ's option-granting practices. THQ is, of course, cooperating and have even said they had launched their own investigation predating the one by the SEC. THQ doesn't know, however, what the SEC (or their own investigation) is looking for, exactly. The stock option generally grants "insiders the right to buy their company's stock at a price equal to the market price of the stock on the day the options are granted." The main concern, it appears, is something called backdating. This is where companies assign a price to the stock for insiders equal to the market price at a known low in stock prices. Who's happy to learn a lesson about the business of Wall Street?It really seems the SEC is cracking the whip at the American game companies -- Activision and Take-Two were probed recently as well. If these companies, let alone THQ for the moment, are found guilty of questionable practices with their stocks, that could be very dangerous and a serious drop in the American video game development market. Nothing permanently damaging, but it would still hurt. Be careful, development community! The SEC may probe you next and it won't use fancy rubber gloves.
Spongebob for the Wii double feature
Two videos have surfaced recently on You Tube depicting gameplay and the use of the Wiimote for the upcoming Sponegbob Squarepants: Creature from the Krusty Krab. The odd thing is that the gameplay doesn't look all that bad. It looks to be something we could definitely see ourselves enjoying, although we'll try and keep it behind closed doors as to not look like a total fool per the guy in video number two. We can picture the same man playing Mario, ripping the controller high into the air, screaming at mustached plumber to jump higher. The pair of videos are embedded in the post after the link.
Saints Row soundtrack lays the beat down
I heard you got the fever for the flavor ... of THQ's licensed music. Here's the full list of the songs you'll do drive-bys to Saints Row, including such classics as Wagner's Twilight of the Gods and Seventeen by Winger. There's alot of obscure stuff here -- maybe too obscure -- and it lacks a cohesive theme like Vice City and San Andreas. However, I can tell you that the Black Sheep track that opens up the demo brought back some cherished white suburban wannabe rapper memories.
Saints Row demo joins the XBLM gang
If your world view is obstructed by the rock under which you live, you may not have noticed that a demo for Saints Row has hit Marketplace. Go get it and tell us what you think.On a side note, posts might be a little wonky for a while, as technical difficulties (my Evil Office Webfilter ®) prevent more timely posts. Please bear with us as we get back up to speed. Of course, if you don't live in America, the posts might actually be more timely.Anywho, grab the Saints Row demo and tell us how Krunk it is.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in]
Saint's Row demo carjacks Xbox Live Marketplace
The demo for Volition's inner-city sandbox GTA-simulator, Saint's Row, just up and carjacked Xbox Live Marketplace. Readers of dead tree demo dispersal mag, OXM, have been rocking this for some time now (and they won't shut up about it), but now the XBLM gods have seen fit to share with the rest of the class. The 900MB demo may convince you that Saint's Row is game enough to sate your appetite until the real deal drops late next year but, more importantly, it means Volition can get back to work on Freespace 3, right?Alright Volition, while you're doing that, we'll download your demo, we'll "join a gang," we'll even "roam the streets," but know this: we'd rather it be a gang called the Galactic Terran-Vasudan Alliance, and we'd rather those streets be in space. But this is a start.[Thanks, Nick]
Saints Row glitches un-Glocked
Here's your typical pair of 14-year-olds with toddlers in the room exposing some glitches in the demo for one of the year's most non-kid friendly titles, Saints Row.[Thanks Uly]
THQ on the Wiimote
It's expected that we'll be waving the Wiimote around on Nintendo's own games, but some have expressed concerns that third party developers may not be making full use of the unique new controller, especially when it comes to cross-platform titles. Fear not, fanboys and fangirls -- Siliconera took some time to investigate THQ and their upcoming games with regard to how they'll work with the Wii controls. The pieces focuses on three games: Cars, SpongeBob SquarePants: Creature from the Krusty Krab, and Avatar: The Last Airbender. Though these titles are each coming out on other systems as well as Wii, THQ has worked to ensure that the control scheme takes advantage of the Wiimote. How? Slashing melee attacks in Avatar, using the Wiimote as a steering wheel in Cars, and for SpongeBob, the controller serves as an aircraft control stick in one of the mini-games. Siliconera has the full story. Things are looking up when it comes to Wii ports. [Thanks to the folks at Siliconera!]
