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Resident Evil 6 listed in voice actor's résumé
Here's your first sign that production has actually started on a Resident Evil 6 -- besides, you know, all those Capcom producers saying it's going to be a long, long wait. Voice actor Joe Cappelletti (whose voice you might not know but have probably heard anyway) lists the unannounced game as one of his recent voice credits, as you can see on the page with the distracting background above. Cappelletti also has Combat Wings listed as a Capcom title, however, and there is currently no game that Capcom makes with that name. There is a Combat Wings: Battle of Britain by City Interactive, but nothing Capcom has announced. Maybe Cappelletti is just confused -- he also lists Steel Battalion on there, but presumably that is the Steel Battalion: Heavy Armor title coming to Kinect. Not that he wouldn't know what he worked on, but clearly he's been busy. At any rate, if Resident Evil 6 production is underway, that's good to know -- hopefully we've got one or two of the eight years it's expected to take out of the way already.
Sony announces bucketload of PlayStation Vita launch games, teases PSP downloads for UMD lovers
Wondering how many games the PlayStation Vita will be launched with on December 17th? 26 is the answer, with 100 games in total to be released. Launch titles include Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, Power Smash 4, Fish On, Project N.O.E.L.S and more in the photo above. These will be followed by Metal Gear Solid HD Edition, Rayman Origins, FIFA, etc. If new titles aren't enough to whet your appetite, Sony announced that as many as 500 to 600 PSP titles will be available for download via the PlayStation Network, given that you're willing to re-purchase your last-gen favorites. Don't toss out your UMDs just yet though -- Sony said they are working on a solution to bring your old games to your new handheld, mentioning "special download plans" that they will discuss at a future point. We wouldn't hold our breath, but hit the break for a splash image featuring the full list of launch games you will be able to get -- good luck with the Japanese.
Proof that GMs have a sense of humor discovered in WoW
We all know that in-game GMs work hard to process a heavy ticket load and often use standard scripts and cut-n-paste replies as a result. However, there are real people behind these names, and some of them even have a sense of humor. GameFront shared a story of a World of Warcraft player named Dougie who asked to be knighted with the "Fresh," title, a GM responded tongue-in-cheek by saying that another already held it: Sit well Dougie, and listen to this tale. This is a tale of events which hath inverted a young ones life, and led to his eventual appointment as heir to the throne of the Bel Air Township. Begat and reared in western Philadelphia spending many a day becoming frigid whilst filling baskets adjacent to the academy. Ruffians ran rampant through the village; a scuffle ensued prompting his fearful mother to change his domicile to that with over kin, in Bel Air. He summoned a cart, which appeared most gaudy, nonetheless he beseeched the driver to take him to Bel Air. Arriving barely after nightfall, he bid the knave goodbye, as he relished his arrival at his new place of residence, where he was awarded the title of 'The Fresh Prince.' So there you have it: Proof that GMs can and do have a sense of humor -- and also a comprehensive knowledge of 90s sitcoms.
Steve Jobs biography gets new title: 'Steve Jobs'
"iSteve: The Book of Jobs" was the title originally ascribed to the very first authorized biography of Apple's head honcho, written and put together by Walter Isaacson. But according to CNNMoney, the title has changed. While the book's Amazon page now lists the title as the much more tame, "Steve Jobs: A Biography," apparently it's even simpler than that. The book, which comes out next March, will just be called "Steve Jobs." Makes sense, but where's the verve and vim? It could be the publisher wanted something a little more official-sounding, especially since there's another popular biography that already uses the "i-" prefix in a witty way. Plus, they may have wanted a title that really plays on the "authorized" part; since this is the first book to cover Jobs with his approval, putting his name front and center will help do just that. Either way, at least you know what to look for when the book hits the shelves. It may seem a ways off, but the title is already sneaking into Amazon's best-seller lists, so it'll probably be plenty big.
TUAW's Daily App: Tiny Tower
I actually played Tiny Tower for the first time back at GDC this year -- the guys at NimbleBit kindly showed me an early version of it while they were in the middle of designing the game. The title itself is now out and finished on the App Store, and after having played it for about a week already (thanks to a press preview), I can say it's an amazing title that's made even better by the fact that it's completely free to install and play. It's very much like the old SimTower game in that you create and run a tower filled with little characters called Bitizens. You can build residential floors to move Bitizens into, and then you can put them to work on other floors that fill out certain categories, like retail floors and services and recreation areas. You can assign three Bitizens to work on a certain floor, and then you pay money to stock goods in those stores and sell them to various visitors. In addition to the time-based management side of the game, there are a few games to play, like getting Bitizens to the right floor in a working elevator or playing find-the-Bitizen. These games are more integrated into the overall game than, say, the pond was in NimbleBit's Pocket Frogs, but I'm still a little disappointed that they don't have too much of an effect. You can make a few bucks at a time, and there are VIPs that show up every once in a while, but the floors you deliver people to don't seem to really have a direct effect. Nevertheless, it's fun building up your tower, and while the push notifications (if you keep them on) threaten to get annoying after a while, the amount of detail and care put into the art and strategy is excellent. There are even little extras, like a "BitBook" social network page and a fun screen to compare your friends' towers via Game Center. Tiny Tower is yet another great title from NimbleBit. It's a freemium download (and like Pocket Frogs, you can buy "convenience currency" with an in-app purchase, but I haven't needed it yet) that's available right now.
The Daily Grind: What do you collect in-game?
Recently I was lamenting to my wife that I don't really have a good collection of anything. I think that really interesting people usually have some oddball collection that they work on over the years. For example, my friend Howard is a Pez fanatic, who has not only thousands of Pez dispensers but Pez t-shirts, belt buckles and a huge Pez tattoo down his arm. Howard knows the joy of a good collection. But then I realized that perhaps my urge to collect is being sated in MMOs. I usually always love to collect non-combat pets (if the game I'm playing has them), or goofy titles, or awesome outfits. There's something deeply satisfying about sitting on a well-stocked treasure-trove after a long period of working on it. So do you collect anything in MMOs? Do you store away statistically useless yet cosmetically perfect weapons just to have them? Is there a huge menagerie of animals parked in your garage, ready to transport you in style? If an MMO has a collection system, do you take full advantage of it? Every morning, the Massively bloggers probe the minds of their readers with deep, thought-provoking questions about that most serious of topics: massively online gaming. We crave your opinions, so grab your caffeinated beverage of choice and chime in on today's Daily Grind!
Breakfast Topic: We need a title for our titles
This Breakfast Topic has been brought to you by Seed, the AOL guest writer program that brings your words to WoW Insider's pages. Face it, we all love our titles. Some of us have a specific favorite that we just love to show off, a title that boldly displays our personality and our achievements at a glance. If you have Chef before your name, people will know you're a great cook. If you have Loremaster before your name, people will know you are passionate about lore (or quests). And then there are the few of us who are passionate about titles themselves. Just like avid collectors try and collect as many pets as they can (and get a nice pet once they reach a certain number, a pet that tells everyone that you enjoy collecting pets) and mount collectors acquire as many mounts as they can, there are a few of us who collect titles. For us, displaying one title -- no matter how prestigious it is (Death's Demise, anyone?) -- simply isn't enough. How are we title collectors suppose to display our love of titles? There in fact used to be a mod that would automatically cycle through whatever titles you told it to, but Blizzard killed it for some reason. I was hoping it was because they were adding the title collector titles, but alas ... You can probably tell where I'm going with this: I think Blizzard should put in a title for having X number of titles. Maybe something like "Lord / Lady [Name]." How about adding a new tier to certain titles? The Seeker title requries completion of 3,000 quests -- but with Cataclysm, there are far more quests than that. So maybe add another tier of it, say ... 5,000 quests. Make the title "Knowledge-Seeker [Name]." If you could create a title, what would it be, and how would one go about acquiring it?
The Road to Mordor: Fishing frenzy
Way back in the olden times of yore, henceforth referred to as "2008," Lord of the Rings Online released its first -- and to date, only -- hobby in the game: fishing. While we wait for a second hobby to make its way into the game (the popular rumor is golf), I thought it'd be interesting to take a look at this interesting side activity in LotRO. I'll admit that fishing bores me, both in real life and in virtual games. In both, it's a lot of waiting, a ton of non-interaction, and the occasional flashes of activity. The end result is edible and odd but nevertheless compelling to some folks. MMOs have a long history of incorporating fishing as a minigame or side activity, usually given to players as something to do when they're waiting on something else. I've noticed that roleplayers are big fans of the rod-and-reel, probably because it's defiantly against the grain. In a world of power-levelers, danger-seekers, and quest-undergoers, taking large chunks of time to stand in one spot and watch for a couple of pixels to bob shows that you walk a path less traveled. I get the impression that there are many people in the game who don't even know that fishing exists or perhaps who dabbled once and never gave it another thought. Even if fishing isn't typically your bag, Turbine's dangled a few tempting rewards from the hooks of fishermen's labors -- enough that it prompted me to take a closer look this week.
"The Exalted" title requirement change reverted
Tensions on the forums have been pretty high since Blizzard made a change to the achievement that awarded players the title The Exalted without announcing it beforehand. Bashiok hit the forums tonight to address said drama, saying that while the community managers were disappointed that the saga resulted in so many forum code of conduct violations, they did have a long talk with the designers, who agreed to change the achievement back to its original form. In other words, if you qualified for The Exalted before 4.0.6 (40 exalted reputations), you'll soon be awarded your title again. Right now, the devs are unsure as to whether the change can be applied with a hotfix, but they're going to attempt one and see if it sticks. If a patch is necessary, they'll let us know. There's some additional interesting information in the blue post, including the technical reasons why Blizzard couldn't grandfather the title to those who achieved it prior to 4.0.6. Full text is after the cut.
TUAW's Daily App: Winta
I first covered Winta (styled WINtA on the App Store) back at GDC Online in October, and found it an enjoyable music game from the creator of Parappa the Rapper, Masaya Matsuura. It's a simple title -- different shapes appear on screen, and the player is meant to tap them in order, which ends up going along with the rhythm of the song's vocals. There's one free track included with the app (which itself is free to download), and then a number of different songs are available via in-app purchase, each with their own themes and displays. Plus, the whole project is part of the OneBigGame initiative, so 10 percent of the profits on each track purchased will go to two charities, Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation, to support the lives of children around the world. OneBigGame has teamed up with both Matsuura and developers Triangle Studios to create the game, and Ngmoco has joined in to share the game (and some achievements) on its own Plus+ social network. It's definitely an interesting title -- I wouldn't say it has quite the appeal of a game like Parappa the Rapper, but it's an interesting multi-touch take on the music genre, and helping out OneBigGame and its cause is definitely an excellent idea. If nothing else, give Winta (short for "War is Not the Answer") a free download and see what you think.
The Road to Mordor: Entitled
A few days ago I asked the Massively community members what in-game titles they loved the most. Titles have been on my brain for the past week, as I've started to realize just how many -- how bogglingly, terrifyingly many -- exist in Lord of the Rings Online. I hadn't really given them a lot of thought before, because who really stops to read every small paragraph that magically floats above people's heads? "Frodo, Ring-bearer of the One Ring of Power, Fellowship of the Ring, Formerly of Bag End, The Shire." Yeah, we get it. You're Mr. Fancy Pants. But really, titles are kind of neat, if only for the player who puts one on like a fine three-piece suit before an evening on the town. A title tells the world not only of your great (or not-so-great) accomplishments, but also a little about your personality -- after all, you chose that particular title to wear above all the others. A title can tell me if a player is really proud of his crafting achievements, or if he's a raider, or if he has a decent sense of humor. While I'd say that -- like LotRO's hats -- a good bulk of the titles in the game are cosmetically useless, there exists quite a few that are worth procuring if you're into titular collection. Today we're going to look at some of my favorite titles in the game, as well as how to nab them. Please don't pee your pants in excitement.
Cataclysm Beta: New titles in build 13066
There's a new patch headed to the beta servers, and MMO-Champion has datamined the following title rewards for raid achievements in Cataclysm: Heroic: Nefarian -- Defeat Nefarian in Blackwing Descent on heroic difficulty. Title: Blackwing's Bane Heroic: Sinestra -- Defeat Sinestra in the Bastion of Twilight on heroic difficulty. Title: Dragonslayer Heroic: Al'Akir -- Defeat Al'Akir in the Throne of the Four Winds on heroic difficulty. Title: Of the Four Winds Defender of a Shattered World -- Complete the raids and heroic dungeons listed below. Title: Defender of a Shattered World Who else is pretty pumped to be a Dragonslayer? World of Warcraft: Cataclysm will destroy Azeroth as we know it; nothing will be the same! In WoW Insider's Guide to Cataclysm, you can find out everything you need to know about WoW's third expansion, from brand new races to revamped quests and zones. Visit our Cataclysm news category for the most recent posts having to do with the Cataclysm expansion.
The Daily Grind: What's your favorite title?
In real life, many of us lack a distinguished title. Oh sure, sometimes we get called "Sport" when someone forgets our name, or "Stupid Lady!" when we drive over a dog, but the "Reverends" and "Doctors" and "Honorables" and "Flag Admirals" tend to escape our grasp. What do you have to do to get one of these? Pay a hundred bucks at the DMV? Happily, MMOs are more than willing to dispense titles -- AKA "Name Bling" -- to any and all who show up and perhaps slaughter a town's worth of critters. Warhammer Online, Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online and many of the new MMOs boast a title system. And why not? After all, it's one of the easiest reward systems to throw into the game from the devs' side, and players just go nuts over them. So what title is your absolute favorite, and what did you have to do to earn it? I was always partial to WAR's "AHHHHHHH" title, which was earned by falling to your death 25 times. Because if you're that accident-prone, you might as well get compensated for it. What about you?
iPhone image metadata hints at more cameras on the next iPhone
Well, this is interesting. Our twitter follower @chenks points out that, hidden in the metadata of a picture taken with his OS 4.0-enabled iPhone, there is a title stating that the picture came from the phone's "Back Camera." Of course, if the phone currently has a back camera, there's a possibility that it could, in the future, have a "Side Camera," or more appropriately, a "Front Camera." We're being facetious, of course. This certainly seems like yet another hint that the next version of the iPhone (expected sometime next month) will have a front facing camera; that's not only a long-awaited feature for the iPhone faithful, but it was also seen on that lost iPhone prototype not long ago. So, at this point, it's more or less a terribly-kept secret that the next iPhone will finally have a front facing camera. The question is: will you use it? I'd rather not have my ugly mug going out across the wires every time someone calls me, but I suppose there are a few applications (possibly including an official iChat Mobile application) where it might come in handy.
TUAW's Daily App: Raging Thunder 2
Polarbit released Raging Thunder 2 a while back -- it's the sequel to their App Store launch title that's serving up solid racing on both the iPhone and the iPad. It's not the best pure racing game out there (Real Racing HD has gotten exposure, even in Apple stores, for that), but Raging Thunder has quite a bit of fun and depth added to it, allowing you to upgrade cars and even go for some Burnout and Mario Kart-style arcade action. And the latest update to the title, released about a week ago, adds online leader boards and touch controls for racing (in case you don't want to tilt your iPad or iPhone around as you play). Raging Thunder 2 is definitely a respectable racing title, especially good if you're an arcade racing fan, and the price is just as temptingl: US$2.99 on both the iPhone and the iPad. If you're in the mood for a little action with your racing, and a deeper experience than some of the pick-up-and-play racing titles, Raging Thunder 2 is worth checking out.
Chaos Rings and Sonic 2 out, Square Enix games on sale
Square Enix has released their Chaos Rings game that we heard about a while ago. At US$13.99, it's one of the most expensive iPhone (not iPad -- yet) games you'll find, but the reviews are terrific so far. The game appears to be a classic Square Enix title, complete with great graphics, a deep storyline and a tight battle system. I haven't gotten a chance to try it yet, but it definitely looks intriguing, and if the game matches up to the hype, we could have a new bar set on Apple's handheld platform. To celebrate, Square Enix is putting all of their other games on sale, including dropping Final Fantasy 1 and 2 down to $7 each. If you've been waiting to pick up one of their other titles, now's your chance, and maybe you can add the money you save into the price of the new game. And finally, Sonic the Hedgehog 2 is now out from Sega for the iPhone. Unfortunately, the game uses the same Sega emulator as all of their other games, so it's not exactly glitch-free or polished gameplay. Still, it's playable, and it's definitely the second Sonic game, recreated on the smaller screen. You can pick it up for $5.99.
Breakfast Topic: Titles
This Breakfast Topic is brought to you by WoW.com's guest blogger program. Want to participate in a future call for guest posts? Read up on how to contribute, and keep an eye on the site for program announcements. I'm a man who enjoys a good title reward. At 24 titles and counting, I have been forced to find creative ways to get the most out of them. Since I refuse to use a title rotator add-on, I've instead merged a few /settitle commands into some of my usual macros. Now when I lay down a Basic Campfire, I also become Chef Cutaia. When I'm forced to perform emergency first aid and bandage myself? Cutaia the Patient (you see what I did there). Each time I switch out my gearset, it comes with a new title, too. Crusader for ret, Loremaster for prot ... you get the idea. Now, I've heard the argument that all titles should be difficult to get so that they can retain a sense of distinction. However, I place myself firmly on the opposite side of that debate. Personally, I wish titles could be a bit more like the game's other collectables. Think of all the ways in which pets are obtained, for example. Some require a rare drop, while some come as achievement rewards. Some require hours of brain-melting bookshelf camping in Dalaran, and some are sold by vendors around Azeroth.
Flight Control HD live on the iPad
If there's a breakout game for the iPad already, it's probably Flight Control HD -- the game was announced a while ago (we talked about it with Firemint back at GDC), but the title has stayed in the top 10 pretty consistently since the iPad's App Store went live yesterday. Firemint has finally dropped the embargo on the title this morning, and you can see the game above -- it's basically the same game as the iPhone version, except bigger, clearer, and with a little more space for the plane-landing chaos. That allows for a few new gameplay variations, including co-op multiplayer on the same iPad, a split-screen versus mode, new bigger airfields (and a Snow airfield with variable wind direction), and one more interesting little feature: 3D. Yes, Flight Control HD has an anaglyphic image effect going on with one of the airfields. You'll have to procure your own red/cyan 3D glasses, but when you choose that map with glasses on, you'll be able to see planes flying around in full depth illusion. We haven't been able to play the mode yet, but Firemint did sent out some groovy glasses, so we can be ready when the iPad shows up. Flight Control HD is live in the App Store right now, and on everyone's iPad this weekend. As launch hits go, Apple's doing pretty well with Firemint's iPhone classic.
New Square Enix RPG coming to the iPhone this year
A job posting on a Japanese developer's site has hinted that Square Enix will be releasing a brand new RPG on the iPhone sometime later this year. Media.Vision has posted that they're seeking to fill a number of positions related to building an RPG on Apple's platform in conjunction with Square Enix. The Final Fantasy Ring fansite says that the game will be called Chaos Ring, and will by produced by the same team that made the popular Wild Arms console series. FFRing also says (via Japanese translation) that the game will be a 3D title, and it will feature a storyline concerning five pairs of warriors who fight to the death for the right to eternal youth. Each game stage will consist of a ring of battles with a boss in the center, and some choice in how the player takes on enemies -- more challenge for more risk. It sounds intriguing. Square Enix has been seeing some success with its older titles on the iPhone, and we know it's got a few original titles already in the pipeline for Apple's platforms. It'll be great to see what they can cook up for the App Store. [via TA]
The OverAchiever: Dungeon and raid titles, Part 2
After taking a two-week detour into guides covering the Love Is In the Air and Lunar Festival holidays, we're going to return to the list of titles available from dungeon and raid achievements. You can find part one here, covering everything from Argent Defender to Grand Crusader. This week, we'll pick up where we left off. Herald of the Titans (requires an Algalon-10 kill under special circumstances) or Starcaller (requires Observed -- 10 player) Herald of the Titans, much like its ToGC-10 counterpart Argent Defender, requires you to kill Algalon in Ulduar-10 without padding the difficulty with gear from higher-level raids. The result is arguably the coolest Algalon-related title apart from Celestial Defender, but it won't come without a ton of planning and a lot of skill. Starcaller is the same deal, minus the gear requirement.
