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All Articles: PS3
Ico novel, Castle of the Mist, finally coming to America
Ico fans rejoice: Miyuki Miyabe’s Ico novel, Castle of the Mist, is at last being translated into English and is coming to America July 19th, according to Anime News Network (although the publisher’s website actually says on or around August 16th). According to the blurb, “Based on the video game filmmaker Guillemo del Toro (Hellboy, Pan’s Labyrinth) called a ‘masterpiece,’ Japan’s leading fantasist Miyuki Miyabe has crafted a tale of magic, loss, and love that will never be forgotten.” Miyabe is known in America for her novel Brave Story, which was made into an animated film, manga series, and several video games.
Wow. Just. Seriously. I am nearly speechless. Two years ago I read – and re-read – and re-read again – the first two chapters of this novel. I found a fanslation somewhere on the Internet and inhaled it over and over, eager for more Ico. Like the game, it’s charming and haunting, and I can’t wait to read the rest of the story. For those of you who haven’t played the game yet, you’re in luck – the game will be re-released in HD and full 3D with Shadow of the Colossus on March 31. I’ve been having sweet dreams of sitting with Yorda on the couch, with that delightful music playing in the background. In the meantime, I’m still playing LittleBigPlanet 2 as Ico, and I’ve been listening to the soundtrack. I’m trying to be patient. Really.
Posted in Etcetera, News
Tagged Ico, LittleBigPlanet 2, PS2, PS3, Shadow of the Colossus
Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies Soundtrack available now
Say what you want about Call of Duty: Black Ops, but the game has a great soundtrack. So great that Activision has released a soundtrack of songs from the Zombies Mode on Amazon, iTunes,the Zune Marketplace and other digital retailers.
Titled Call of Duty: Black Ops – Zombies Soundtrack, the album includes 17 tracks of undead-themed tunes. Each track can be downloaded separately for 99 cents each with the whole album priced at $11.99.
Thirty-second samples of each track are available at Amazon.
Disney Interactive cuts jobs
Disney Interactive is currently downsizing, apparently in a pretty substantial way, as nearly half of its 700 member staff may be getting the boot. Disney calls the layoffs a “restructuring process” in its statement. Variety reports that many were anticipating the layoffs as many key players left the division last year, including Graham Hopper, who spent the last eight years building the studio into a formidable entity in the gaming industry. New talent is coming in to upper management, including John Pleasants, CEO of Playdom, which Disney acquired last year. Disney’s current CEO Bob Iger said Pleasants would “focus on turning those businesses into profitability” and “diversifying our presence in the business, so we’re not reliant on one platform that’s obviously facing challenges.”
While terms can have multiple connotations in the business context, he may be referring to last year’s Epic Mickey, which released exclusively for the Nintendo Wii, a console that is notoriously difficult for third party developers to find success on. Epic Mickey was panned critically, but is apparently the fastest selling game in Disney Interactive’s history, pushing 1.3 million copies last December.
Hulk Hogan runs wild on WWE All-Stars box
THQ has released the official boxart for WWE All-Stars and it features eight of the biggest wrestlers of yesterday and today.
Hulk Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior will be joined by “Macho Man” Randy Savage and The Rock on the legends side of the box while John Cena, Randy Orton, Rey Mysterio and Kofi Kingston represent the modern-day superstars.
The best part of this news is that THQ hadn’t announced Hogan and the Ultimate Warrior as part of the game’s roster, so this is a welcome surprise.
WWE All-Stars (and Hulkamania) will run wild on the PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PS2 and PSP this March.
Activision wants to close Bizarre Creations
Activision has spent the last three months looking for a buyer for British development team Bizarre Creations. Yesterday, with no buyer in sight, the publisher told Develop that they’ve recommended the studio for closure. And Bizarre has responded that they’ve accepted this decision.
The future of the Bizarre team is rather murky at this point, but Coddy Johnson, Activision Worldwide Studios’ chief operating officer said, “We’re offering the studio as many resources as possible, including counselling, external placement services and external career fairs.”
Bizarre released two games in 2010 that underperformed their rather lofty expectations. Blur was pitched as “Mario Kart for adults,” but most adults indicated that they’d rather play Mario Kart. And November’s James Bond 007: Blood Stone was overshadowed by last year’s other Bond game, a remake of GoldenEye 007.
Everyone here at Warp Zoned hopes the people at Bizarre land on their feet soon.
Red Dead Redemption, Enslaved, God of War III lead 2011 AIAS nominees
The Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) has announced the nominees for the 14th annual Interactive Achievement Awards (IAAs). As expected, Red Dead Redemption lead the way with nine nominations including Outstanding Innovation in Gaming, Outstanding Achievement in Sound Design and Game of the Year.
God of War III and Enslaved: Odyssey to the West (a title that is already being considered one of the best games you’ve never played) shared the second-most nominations with six apiece. Other games up for multiple awards include Call of Duty: Black Ops, Heavy Rain, Assassin’s Creed: Brotherhood and Mass Effect 2 (five nominations apiece) along with Dance Central, Limbo and Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty (four apiece).
The awards will be handed out by Jay Mohr at the 2011 D.I.C.E. (Design, Innovate, Communicate, Entertain) Summit on Thursday, February 10. The hour-long show will be broadcast on G4 two days later, February 12, at 4:00 PM (Eastern Time) with a webcast scheduled for 7:30 PM (Eastern Time) at G4tv.com/DICE.
A complete list of nominees can be on the AIAS website, but the “Game of the Year” will come from this list of five: Angry Birds HD, Call of Duty: Black Ops, God of War III, Mass Effect 2 and Red Dead Redemption.
Can you dig these WWE All-Stars trailers?
OOOOOOOHHHHH YYYEEEEAAAAAHHHHHH!
THQ is taking the WWE to the arcade this March (March 29 to be exact) with WWE All-Stars, a wildly over-the-top wrestling game that brings together two generations of the WWE’s finest.
Check out the game’s debut trailer above and hit the jump for a special message from “Macho Man” Randy Savage on why he’s the greatest superstar in the PS3, Wii, Xbox 360, PS2 and PSP game. At 58, the former Slim Jim spokesman is still more awesome than any wrestler working today. (more…)
Rumor: Square-Enix registers domain name for Final Fantasy XIII-2
Even though we know little about the other games in the so-called Fabula Nova Crystallis project, it seems Square-Enix is moving forward with yet another game in the series – a sequel to the polarizing Final Fantasy XIII. According to this tweet, Square’s usual domain registrar acquired “FinalFantasy13-2Game.com” in recent days, signaling that a sequel is potentially in the works.
Of course, this could be domain squatting to keep others from purchasing the domain – you know, just in case! – but given what’s been said about cut content, and a likely need to add some more Yen to the Square-Enix coffers (FFXIII was in development for ages as you might be aware), it’s not out of the question that a direct sequel is on its way.
Posted in News
Tagged Final Fantasy XIII-2, PS3, Xbox 360