Warp Zoned Presents
Author: Mike Gutierrez
Miyamoto and Cuthbert taught each other Japanese and English, respectively
When Dylan Cuthbert first went to Japan to show off a 3D engine for the Game Boy, he was 18 and didn’t speak a word of Japanese. When he came back to work for Nintendo, he worked on his grasp of the language with none other than Miyamoto himself. The father of PixelJunk and the father of Mario engaged in a language exchange while developing Star Fox for the SNES.
This interesting fact came up in the latest “Iwata Asks,” celebrating the Star Fox series and the upcoming Star Fox 64 3D, of which Cuthbert is directing. The interview also touches on the unreleased Star Fox 2, and should be available soon with the other English translations in the 3DS developers section.
Posted in 3DS, News
Tagged Star Fox 2, Star Fox 64 3D
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North Collector’s Edition: longbow not included
The Lord of the Rings is a huge franchise, and as such, WB Games is preparing a $130 collector’s edition for The Lord of the Rings: War in the North.
The awesome quiver to your left contains the game, an art book, three songs from the soundtrack, and a behind-the-scenes DVD about the making of the game. The Xbox 360 version also comes with a Ranger XBL Avatar, while the PlayStation 3 version includes a Theme Pack. I got to check out War in the North at the last two PAXes, and I have to say, it does look pretty good. If you’re a Rings fan, this is one collector’s edition you may not become ashamed of.
The Lord of the Rings: War in the North releases on August 24 for PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged The Lord of the Rings: War in the North
IGDA to investigate Team Bondi working conditions on L.A. Noire
We just reported today on the various sources claiming Team Bondi developers suffered under harsh circumstances while working on L.A. Noire. Today, the International Game Developers Association is soliciting any and all information from developers and family members about the experience on the work, negative or positive.
“Certainly reports of 12-hour a day, lengthy crunch time, if true, are absolutely unacceptable and harmful to the individuals involved, the final product, and the industry as a whole,” said Brian Robbins, Chair of the IGDA’s Board of Directors.
You can send any information to qol@igda.org.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged L.A. Noire
BioShock Infinite wins big, Vita edges out Wii U in E3 Game Critics Awards
The results are in for the Game Critics Awards’ Best of E3 2011. BioShock Infinite came away the clear winner, with a victory in every category it was nominated for, for a total of four wins. This comes at the expense of Uncharted 3: Drake’s Deception, which tied with BioShock for most nominations, but came away with a big zero. Battlefield 3 and The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim managed to grab two awards a piece, and the PlayStation Vita knocks out the Nintendo’s Wii U to take best hardware.
Head over to the official site for a full list of winners and quick facts.
Posted in News, PC, PS3, Vita, Wii U, Xbox 360
Tagged Battlefield 3, BioShock Infinite, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, Uncharted 3: Drake's Deception
Vesperia Community Manager retracts statement that Microsoft “paid for exclusivity”
Despite having a PS3 version in Japan, many fans have wondered why Tales of Vesperia is still Xbox 360-only in Europe and North America. Namco Bandai Community Manager Charlotte Toci explained on her Facebook page back in April, “Microsoft paid for the exclusivity, the same way as Sony paid for having Heavy Rain only on PS3. It’s just one way the business works, sadly.” It would appear someone got upset about this, as Toci has issued the following apology:
A few months ago I replied to a fan who asked me why Tales of Vesperia wasn’t localized in Europe on my Facebook page. I replied that it was because of a Microsoft exclusivity, thinking that that was the reason why, even though I didn’t have any official information on that.
I was wrong to do so, and sadly my reply was relayed on many websites, thus sharing a false information to fans around the web.
I would like to send my sincere apologies to all the Tales Series fans I have wrongly informed, and Microsoft & Namco Bandai for any damage that might have been caused with this.
I know hindsight is 20/20, but it seems to me Namco Bandai could have saved a lot of trouble if they just released their games on the platforms they actually belong on in the first place.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Tales of Vesperia
NPD report shows Xbox 360 leading online gaming
A new NPD report looks at the many different trends in gaming, from motion control to 3D. One of the most interesting areas, however, is online-enabled games. In this category, the Xbox 360 is seen selling more than double the amount of online-enabled games as the PlayStation 3, and considerably more than that of the Wii, from 2006 to 2010. Microsoft’s newest console also garners most of the sales for online digital points cards, selling almost four times as many as the PS3 did in 2010.
For a full breakdown of the stats and more information on how motion control and 3D have done, head over to Gamasutra.
Crysis 2 Map Editor Pack coming Wednesday, Ultra Upgrade available now
If you’ve been dying to one-up Crytek at their own game by creating some of the best maps for Crysis 2 (or just Counter-Strike recreations), now’s your chance. Tomorrow, PC players can download the Map Editor Pack at My Crysis for free. This builds off of the Ultra Upgrade, available now, which brings DirectX 11 support, sporting “higher quality visuals and features including tessellation, water rendering improvements, high quality HDR motion blur, and many other special effects and higher quality texture formats with the optional high res texture pack.”
If you’re a PC fan looking to dive into this new content, you probably don’t want to read our review of the console version of Crysis 2.
Kenshi brings his telekinesis to Mortal Kombat
We knew Kenshi would be joining the Kombatants in the latest, and potentially greatest, iteration of Mortal Kombat, we just didn’t know how beast he would be. Despite not being in the original trilogy, Kenshi can still hang with the rest of them, as he does some pretty unpleasant things to Johnny Cage in the video above.
You can pick him up July 5 on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store for $4.99.
Posted in News, PS3, Xbox 360
Tagged Mortal Kombat