Burnout PC Spins On To PCs

After a huge successful launch on the 360 and PS3, Criterion decided that not enough people had shared in the love that has been heaped on the title, so they have decided to bring the game to the PC market.  In doing this, it will not be a straight port, but it will be an “Enhanced Edition” of the game.  What does “Enhanced” mean?  Well, the game will support new online community modes as well as embrace the idea of custom content from the online community. 

Not much else was said in the way of a release date, but Criterion did let everyone know that the PC version of the game will not focus on the release schedule of new content for the console versions of the game.

It is nice to see developers bring more games to the PC.  They may be late, but at least they get there.  It is strange that they would pick this version of Burnout to come to the PC.  Maybe it will port over easier, considering it is on the 360.

via gamespot

Battlefield Heroes Trailer Goes Live

Battlefield Heroes was recently announced by DICE Studios as a new take on the Battlefield universe. The game is to be free of charge, with microtransactions for anyone that wants to customize their character’s look. This game is a standalone game that is separate from the Battlefield series. One thing to notice is that the look of the game has a strange Team Fortress 2 look to it. DICE developers have said that they had their engine in development for this game long before Team Fortress 2, but I have a hard time believing that considering that Team Fortress 2 has been in development since 1999.

The game is being designed to run on low end hardware as well. So for desk jockeys at work, this might be the next game that you will want to play on that underpowered work PC. Same thing goes for casual players that may not have a $500 video card to get the most out of their DirectX10 experience.

I like the idea of a game being for free, this game just does not seem to do it for me. I am happy that the game will not show ads in game, but only in lobbies and as the game is loading. But looking at the weak entry that Battlefield 2142 was, and the fact that the game looks like a red headed stepchild knock-off of Team Fortress 2, I am skeptical. But, free is a powerful thing, so I will at least dabble around in it to see if it is any good, and at least the trailer funny. After all, you won’t find the game on Bit Torrent.

Mass Effect Accelerates Into the PC Market in May

Bioware has finally announced the inevitable today, officially saying that Mass Effect is coming to the PC in May 2008. Bioware has always been good about bringing their RPGs to the PC after they have spent some time on the console. Bioware is adding several features to the game for PC players, including higher resolutions, assignable hotkeys for biotics and skills, a new decryption mini-game and optimized controls for PC players. The game will also be published by Electronic Arts instead of Microsoft Games Studio. It make one wonder if that is the beginning of a change in regards to Mass Effect being locked to one platform.

While it is not strange for a Bioware RPG to go from the console world to the PC, it seems like Mass Effect is coming to the PC a lot sooner than past Bioware efforts. Could it have to do with the mixed reaction that the game got from the media and gamers, or maybe due to the lack of staying power at the cash register over a long period of time? It may be nothing, but I felt that it was worth noting.

The Press Release follows the jump, via Yahoo Business

Read the rest of this entry »

Criterion Gives its Official Response to the Hard Drive Issue on the 360

Criterion Games has decided that it needed to put out an official response to the recent complaint over the fact that Burnout Paradise needs a hard drive attached to a 360 in order to play the game online. They worked with Microsoft to try and find a way to fit the online files needed for the game onto a 64MB memory card, but it just did not work as well as Criterion wanted. They do say that you will be able to play the most of the challege modes that compare your times to the online leaderboards, but there will be no online competition for the Core or Arcade systems anytime soon unless they get a hard drive.

I don’t think the problem is needing a hard drive for the game, but the fact that the game is not prominently labeled with this fact. A lot of people with the Core or Arcade system will come in and buy this and not realize they cannot play online, because there is no meaningful warning on the package to show this fact. Microsoft, start having game companies put HDD Required stickers on the boxes when necessary. At leaast it will let people know the entry items needed to play the game, instead of getting home and being disappointed.

Read the full statement

See Also:

No Hard Drive, No Burnout Online for You

EA Says “Maximum Platinum” for Crysis

When the NPD numbers came in last month for the PC, the numbers showed a decent showing for Crysis, but far less than what most people seemed to think in regards of sales for the highly touted PC exclusive shooter. Immediately people sprung to life proclaiming PC gaming dead and that Crysis was soon to be headed to the PS3.

Well, today, EA sang a different tune at their year end fianacial meeting for shareholders. At that meeting, it was announced that Crysis recently went platinum, meaning that one million units of the game have been sold at either retail or via digital download channels. This is a marked improvement from the 88,000 that were sold in the first week, when failure was all but annoucned for the game. The strong showing for the game most likely comes from the European market where PC gaming is still the strongest platform for game sales.

via Joystiq

See Also:

Unreal Tournament III for the PC Sinks, While Crysis Aims High

Let’s Extinguish the Never-ending Funeral Pyre for PC Gaming

Rock Band Confirmed for the Wii

News that should make all Wii owners happy is that Rock Band is now confirmed for the Nintendo Wii. EA let the details slip the other day during an earnings meeting with its partners. The funny part is that it was announced to happen by the beginning of fiscal year 2009. This means that the window of release for Wii Rock Band is anywhere between now and January 2009. Way to nail down a date guys.

One thing that has not been answered yet for Guitar Hero III and is sure to come up with Rock Band is the downloadable content. While Guitar Hero III has not become a huge furor as of yet, Rock Band hype has been built around the weekly downloadable content, to the point of 2.5 million downloads. With each song that I have downloaded taking about 15-25MB of space, the 512 MB cap could be hit in a hurry. And there is no way they can release this game without the option of downloadable content without alienating the audience.

via Gamespot

No Hard Drive, No Burnout Online for You

According to EA’s support site and random posts around the web, it seems that some people have come across issues trying to play Burnout Paradise online with their Core or Arcade systems. Checking into these rumors at EA’s website points out a support article that states the following:

Q: Can I play Burnout Paradise online with a memory card?
A: When playing online you must use the Hard Drive to play. You cannot use a memory card to play online.

Well that sucks for those that did not think to buy a Premium or the add on hard drive. Some will say “serves them right for buying a gimped system”, but I honestly do not remember seeing anything on the box that stated you had to have a hard drive for the game. Yes the single player supports a memory card, but if the online component does not support it, and multiplayer is tightly integrated into this game, it should be prominently stated on the box, via one of those HD required stickers we heard and wrote about several months ago.

It should be noted that it seems as if this will not be fixed, so hopefully you have a way to return this game if this affects you. Otherwise, take solice in knowing that Gamestop is offering $30 in trade in credit for the game.

Rock Band Review for 360

Rock Band, the new entry from Harmonix Studios, takes the guitar motif past 11, by adding drums and singing to give players the sense of a true band. On all merits, Rock Band takes the challenge from Guitar Hero 3 and dishes out a game that soundly beats the veteran at its own game.

In Rock Band, the game is about music and image. You start the game by creating a rocker. You can create all kinds of options to make sure that you end up with a unique character. Then you pick a style. Are you glam rock, or maybe goth is more your style. The choices again add to the image experience. Once you have created a rocker, you then move to the training stages or straight to Solo or Multiplayer modes.

Read the rest of this entry »

Rock Band DLC Announced

Since its big media launch at E3, Harmonix has been hyping the downloadable content that will be available for Rock Band shortly after launch. Today, it was finally announced what content will be available for users to download. Harmonix and EA have apparently looked at a lot of the complaints that Guitar Hero users made about the higher price for the downloadable song packs and has lowered the price a bit. Instead of 500 points, you will only have to pay 440($5.49) points for a three song pack, and they will have individual songs availalble for 80-240($0.99-2.99) points. They did say that the majority of the single songs will fall into a 160($1.99) point range.

Read the rest of this entry »

Hyperchild and Bioware Create a Mass Effect Statue Line

Hyperchild, which has made several statues for Marvel Comics, has partnered up with Bioware to bring game players statues of the main characters in the Mass Effect universe. The first statue that will be offered is of Commandar Sheppard of the SS Normandy. The statue, pictured to the left, stands 8″ tall, and will have a removable helmet. The statue will be limited to a 2500 unit release and will be available starting in Feburary.

While I think this is a pretty cool tie-in for Mass Effect, it seems that Bioware has become very commercial with Mass Effect in comparison to their previous efforts. While Knights of the Old Republic and Jade Empire were both successful games, you never really saw a lot of merchandise and the like pedaled about, in comparison to the huge push that Mass Effect is getting. Statues, books and most likely some sort of Burger King cross marketing deal (Bioware is owned by EA, king of Burger King marketing tie-ins). It just seems like I cannot turn my head without seeing another Mass Effect tie-in.

Click on the jump to see the full press release.

Read the rest of this entry »