Apocalypso's Atomic Arcade: 9/27/09

2009/10/07

Direct2Drive 5 Year Anniversary Sale: Week 5

Well, it's the final week of the Direct2Drive sale where you can pick up a game for $5.

These are the games for sale this week:

Company of Heroes Gold

Supreme Commander Gold

World in Conflict Gold Edition

Battlestations: Pacific

Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War - Dark Crusade

Codename: Panzers - Cold War

Hearts Of Iron II Collection

Brothers In Arms: Road to Hill 30

Delta Force: Land Warrior

Delta Force: Task Force Dagger

D2D Turns 5

There are still other games available from the previous 4 weeks as well.

Today is the Anniversary of the... Barcode

I came across a forum topic on HubPages today while surfing, and I saw that today it the anniversary of the barcode. A barcode image also crops up when you use Google today, sometimes.

Who cares? Well, I dunno, I just thought that without the barcode we wouldn't have one of the most popular anti-heroes of all time:

Hitman's Agent 47.

Even More Hints of a Medal of Honor: Modern Combat

Speaking of Modern Warfare, It's been spotted on a Linkedin profile belonging to Micah Lapping-Carr, that work has all ready been commenced on a new Medal of Honor title- this time set in the present or future, instead of the past.

"Worked on a Medal of Honor modern combat title in various roles, including design and software engineering."

The Linkedin profile no longer exists, as is the usual response in these situations.

There have been other rumour suggesting that the game will take place in Afghanistan, possibly during Operation Anaconda.

Sources:

http://supererogatory.tumblr.com/post/204758255/production-intern-electronic-arts-los-angeles
http://www.linkedin.com/pub/micah-lapping-carr/8/992/b39

2009/10/06

New Modern Warfare 2 Trailer is Going to Make Someone Upset

And by someone, I mean probably Americans, seeing as the new Modern Warfare 2 trailer, called "Infamy", features combat on US soil, including inside the White House. I watched it early this morning.

It's also accompanied by a narrator going on about stuff. He sounds a bit like Christian Slater or someone:

"Cain was the first man ever to strike do ...
And when the lord came to him and said, what have you done?
Cain could not hide his crime
For the voice of his brothers blood, cried out from the very ground...."

"The world has been your battlefield. Everywhere you go the blood of brothers and sons screams out against you. Perhaps you can not yet hear it, because the soil is not your own. But you will... You will."

I think, despite the probable fallout that this will cause, that it will make for an interesting twist for a Call of Duty game, seeing as all of them in the past have taken place elsewhere in the world, in either Europe or Asia somewhere.

More Call of Duty news:

PlayStation 2 | 'Call of Duty' trademarked for films
Modern Warfare 2's 17 maps, Achievements uncovered
Call of Duty 3 on Games of Demand
MS: No Modern Warfare 2 beta

Modern Warfare 2 PC Version Pushed Back Two Weeks

First it was Stalker: Call of Pripyat, then Assassin's Creed 2, now the year's most anticipated title, Modern Warfare 2, has been pushed back from November 10th to November 24th- the PC version has anyway. The console editions (360, PS3) have naturally remained as they are... for now. The US may not be affected by the delay, but the rest of the world will. If they had been affected, then Infinity Ward's clever, original little advertising gimmick wouldn't have worked anymore.

I guess for the PC version they could come up with another clever, original gimmick:

Or is it too late (in more ways than one)? I think it's cool to note that Kiefer Sutherland actually did do some voice work for Call of Duty: World at War. Not sure if he'll make another appearance in the latest in the series. I doubt it.

Sources:

http://electronictheatre.co.uk/index.php/pc/pc-news/3220-call-of-duty-modern-warfare-2-delayed-on-pc
http://electronictheatre.co.uk/index.php/industry-news/3219-activision-blizzard-updated-release-schedule

2009/10/05

It’s Your Birthday: Clive Barker

Today is famous master of horror, Clive Barker’s birthday. He turns 57 today. He was born on October 5, 1952, in Liverpool, England.

Clive Barker is an English author, director and artist who dabbles in fantasy and horror fiction. Barker is responsible for the Hellraiser series, and the character known as Pinhead, based on his novel, The Hellbound Heart. A number of other films have been based on his novels and short stories, and he himself has written screenplays and gotten involved in other capacities in other projects. He’s involved in many different forms of media or multimedia.

Out of all his novels, I’ve read Imajica, and that was a few years ago. It was truly weird and yet I couldn’t put it down. I would sit there wading through this large novel in to the early hours of the morning, and I was still in high school. I probably didn’t get much sleep, and I had to wake up early to catch the bus to school.

Other than novels, he has also been involved in video games, having been the “creative director” as it were, of Clive Barker’s Undying, and Clive Barker’s Jericho. Undying has to be one of the scariest and creepiest games I’ve played to this day. It was not just frightening, but it made my skin crawl. He voiced the character known as Ambrose. Over the years, and I noticed this in Undying, his voice has become gravelly and coarse, and he claims it is due to polyps in his throat, not cancer.
I remember once going to the library, thinking that Undying was based on a novel, but after a while, I read an old preview/interview of the game where it was stated that the game wasn’t based on any written material by Clive. I even wrote several chapters of a fan-fiction piece that was based on Undying, although I’ve haven’t published it anywhere. I’ve still got it though.

Jericho was a squad based horror game which I must admit wasn’t what I expected, and it was bloody difficult. I never managed to finish that one. There was also a third game called Demonik, which I was looking forward to, but that ended up being cancelled, unfortunately.

2009/10/04

Video Games Coming Out in October 2009: 10/04- 10/10

Pick of the Week- Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising

Yes, it's the return of the Pick of the Week this week! After tow or three dry weeks with the usual releases, this week if all goes well, Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising should be out by the end of the week. I'll definitely be picking this up some time. I've seen a few trailers and things for it lately, and besides, it's been years since I've played an Operation Flashpoint title. By the way, it's not technically called "Operation Flashpoint 2" any more. And speaking of this, the title called Demon's Souls is in fact called "Demon's Souls", and not "Demon's Soul". It's not a typo. Just so you know...

The multi-platform release of the week and hogging all the space is Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes.

Also interesting to note that this week it seems as though The Biggest Loser (not you, the show), and Jillian Michael's Fitness Ultimatum 2010 are both out. I normally wouldn't care that much, but I watch the show, and besides, Jillian Michael is hot. Lots of fitness titles out, with Wii Fit Plus as well.

There are links to pretty much all the game detail pages at either Amazon, Direct2Drive, Steam, or Xbox Live Arcade, where you can pick up the games you want.

PC

Fatale (Digital Distribution)
Lucidity (D2D, Steam)
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

PlayStation 2

Disney Sing It: Pop Hits
NBA 2K10
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

PlayStation 3

Afrika
Demon's Souls
Demon's Souls Deluxe Edition
Disney Sing It: Pop Hits
Disney Sing It: Pop Hits Microphone Bundle
NBA 2K10
NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition
NBA Live 10
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Saw: The Video Game
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

Xbox 360

Black College Football: The Xperience - Doug Williams Edition
Lucidity (Xbox Live Arcade)
NBA 2K10
NBA 2K10: Anniversary Edition
NBA Live 10
Operation Flashpoint: Dragon Rising
Saw: The Video Game
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

Wii

Disney Sing It: Pop Hits
Disney Sing It: Pop Hits Microphone Bundle
Game Party 3
Jillian Michaels' Fitness Ultimatum 2010
Spore Hero
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
The Biggest Loser
Wii Fit Plus
Wii Fit Plus with Wii Balance Board
More Wii Fit Plus Accessories

Nintendo DS

A Witch's Tale
Imagine: Zookeeper
Spore Hero Arena
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes
The Biggest Loser

PSP

Naruto Shippuden Legends: Akatsuki Rising
NBA 10: The Inside
NBA 2K10
NBA Live 10
Star Wars The Clone Wars: Republic Heroes

Source:

Shacknews

Releases and Deals on Direct2Drive This Past Week: 09/27-10/03

Releases

Risen

Deals

Borderlands preorder- 10% off

Red Faction: Guerrilla- $5 Off

Tropico 3 pre-order- 10% off

The Machinarium pre-order- 25% off

D2D Turns 5 week 4- Games for $5 each

2009/10/03

Duke Nukem Forever Screens That I Haven't Seen

I don't know how old these shots are. I know the file names seem to indicate they are a few months old, but I haven't seen them anywhere else except on Tramell Isaac's blog, just recently.

Tramell Isaac's Wild Ride: Part III, and New DNF Screens

For those of you who don't know, Tramell Isaac was once the Art Director for the Duke Nukem Forever development team at 3D Realms, until this year when said team was let go.

It's been a long time, as Tramell himself says, but I came across a rare update from his blog, Talkin' Real At Ya', and it's called Wild Ride: Part III, continuing the story behind the scenes of one of the most delayed titles in history- DNF.

Note that even though the date on the blog says that the post was scheduled for June 10, I know that this is a new post seeing as the date for it in my feeds reads October 2nd. He's just arranged it that way so that WR I, II, and III appear in chronological order.

It's also interesting to note that at one stage, Tramell's blog was off limits to most of us, including me, but I was still able to receive updates seeing as I subscribed to his RSS feed. Now though, his blog is back to being viewable- at least for me, and it's nice to see that the DNF pics that many of the dev team took down after Take-Two threatened legal action against 3DR over are still there on the blog. In fact, there's even some new artwork!

Also see:

Wild Ride: Part I
Wild Ride: Part II

2009/10/02

New Resident Evil Film, Afterlife, Coming Next Year

*Groan*

There’s going to be another Resident Evil film coming next year, called Resident Evil: Afterlife. The movie has also been confirmed as 3D.

The cast is getting Wentworth Miller from Prison Break as well, to play Chris Redfield. Well, I suppose the movie needs eye candy for the ladies, since the guys have had Milla Jovovich to ogle for years now. Yes, she will reprise her role as Alice. There’s this TV critic and cynical witch locally, named Nikki Temkin, who couldn’t stop going on about how “beautiful” Wentworth is at one stage.

The Resident Evil movies are nothing that an artsy fartsy type would love, It’s just a mindless series about zombie killing that likely won’t ever match up to the games. I watch them, but only when they come on TV. I don’t bother going to the theatre or even hiring it on DVD.

Source:

ShockTillYouDrop

Monty Python Video Games Coming Sometime

Now I grew up watching Monty Python's Flying Circus (not the original run- I'm not that old!), and I am a big fan of John Cleese in particular, especially of his other films and series that came after, like Fawlty Towers.

Monty Python started back in 1969, and not only did it have seasons that went from 1969 until about 1974, but there were also a few movies too. Now it seems that the 40th Anniversary of this completely loony creation will be celebrated with some mini-games.

I don’t really see most of the Pythons coming in to do any voice work, although they might- the ones who are still alive anyway, which is pretty much all of them... except Graham Chapman. So I wonder if John Cleese, Terry Jones, Eric Idle, Micheal Palin, and Terry Gilliam might be involved? I guess we’ll find out eventually.

Some are convinced that the game(s) may just be a bunch of thrown together scenes and sounds from the series and movies. The nerve.

Source:

Monty Python licence up for grabs

Japanese Guys Have to Pay for Female Company

Before you think this another post about couch rugby, it’s not. This about the fact that there is a place in Japan that charges Japanese men for sessions with women- and it’s not a brothel either. In fact, no physical contact of that nature, like heavy petting, is allowed.

This place, The Cute Room, has a menu where people can choose what they want to partake in, whether it’s playing video games or watching movies with a girl.

It seems to me that the Japanese are just these lonely, shy, repressed people, and along comes this company to capitalize on that. Not only is it clever, but it’s disgusting. I shook my head and just laughed while reading about it on Kotaku.

Source:

Would You Prefer To Be Slapped Or Game With A Girl? [Maximum Risky]

(There were other sites where Kotaku got their info from, but they were in Japanese)

2009/10/01

Assassin’s Creed 2 Will Have Sex in it: Because Sex Sells!

It’s been revealed that the game I was most looking forward to before the PC version was delayed until next year, namely Assassin’s Creed 2, will contain a bit of rumpy pumpy. I suppose this was to be expected, seeing as the game is set in Italy, and Ezio is a womanizer, a ladies’ man, as was revealed by Patrice Desilets months ago, and by this other guy, Benoit Lambert, recently:

"Ezio is a womanizer. There’s a bit of sex. I can’t say more."

So I guess Ezio will naturally look and act more flamboyantly than his predecessor, Altair, who had a bit of a stick up his butt.

It’s not known yet whether people will be flying off the handle about this type of content in a game, but I bet they will. I mean, there’s an age restriction there for a reason, and in this case it’s not just because of the violence and stuff, but now because of some couch rugby too. GTA: San Andreas’ Hot Coffee fiasco went on for years until recently when Take-Two settled their lawsuit for $ 20 million.

Why should adults get upset over sex in a video game if the game is only meant for adults anyway, and not kids? They’re a bunch of prudes, that’s why.

I mean if anything, this news should help sell the game possibly. Some have claimed that it's all a marketing stunt to get even more people interested in the game. I mean, this is the game that's competing with Modern Warfare 2 next month.

But, I can also reveal that there is a secret message hidden within the game’s title that says it all; that we should have expected this all along. Check this out:

Assassin
Ass-ass-in

Disgusting.

Source:

Sex confirmed for Assassin's Creed II

Off Target: Sick and Tired

This week we’ve had people round fixing up the house. Tiles have been replaced in the bathroom, the flowerbox rebuilt, and the kitchen counter, sink and taps redone...and some doors planed so they close properly.

This has interfered not only with my sleep, but my ability to concentrate on just about anything. In the end I actually fell asleep while the knocking and hammering went on. I was just desperate for some rest.

At the moment, I’m working on a new review, and that is a review of Megadeth’s latest album, Endgame, which I’ve been listening to for about the last two or three weeks. I’ve enjoyed most of the tracks on it, and I would recommend that anybody considering getting it should do so. The review should be up this month.

As for tomorrow, I usually take Fridays off when it comes to writing of any sort.