Games for the week of 6/25! (shit load edition)

Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix

Ships 6/25

Discover the real Hogwarts.

Harry’s fifth year at Hogwarts is shaping up to be his most dangerous yet. Fearing that Hogwarts’ venerable Headmaster, Albus Dumbledore, is lying about the return of Voldemort in order to undermine his power, Minister for Magic Cornelius Fudge appoints a new Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher to keep watch over Dumbledore and the students. But Professor Dolores Umbridge’s ministry-approved course leaves the young wizards woefully unprepared, so Hermione, Ron and Harry form “Dumbledore’s Army” with the goal of preparing themselves and other courageous young wizards for the extraordinary battle that looms against Voldemort™ and his Death Eaters.

Hour of Victory

Ships 6/25

Hour of Victory allows you to play a key role in the pivotal and cinematic battles from the European and North African theaters of World War II, using the skills and gameplay style you choose. Sneak into enemy territory as a covert operative, storm the gates as a British Commando, or snipe from afar as an Army Ranger – each character’s unique attributes will be needed for the fulfillment of the overall objective. Only with all these skills working closely together will you be able to say that you helped define the Hour of Victory.

The Bigs

Ships 6/25

The Bigs elevates America's favorite pastime to new heights with the larger-than-life ballparks, heroic gameplay, and incredible player models. Setting this MLB experience aside from anything you've ever seen before are spectacular power-ups, stunning special effects, and a totally unique career mode. Featuring fantastic pitching, batting and fielding animations, The Bigs brings new meaning to the term highlight reel.

The Darkness

Ships 6/25

On his 21st birthday, the awesome and terrible powers of the Darkness awaken within Jackie Estacado, a mafia hitman for the Franchetti crime family. With his new powers, Jackie is able to wreak terrifying havoc on his enemies. Jackie must learn to fully command the Darkness so he can take back control of the Franchetti family, which is ruled by his uncle Paulie, a despicable man who is almost universally despised.

Transformers

Ships 6/25

Control the outcome in the battle for Earth this summer with Transformers, the official game of the upcoming blockbuster film from Producer Steven Spielberg and Director Michael Bay. Protect the earth as Autobots or destroy it as Decepticons as you lead the Transformers in the epic battle for control of planet Earth!

Overlord

Ships 6/26

Overlord is a groundbreaking, completely original action adventure, set in a seriously warped fantasy world. Controlling a mysterious figure that has inherited the legacy of the evil, long-dead Overlord, the player emerges, near death, from the ruins of the old Overlord’s Dark Tower. Only the player’s actions will determine if they will rise to become the new all-powerful Overlord; it’s all down to how much of a bad ass they want to be in order to succeed...evil or really evil! Played out with plenty of black humor and dark irony, the game will immerse players in twisted parodies of classic fantasy scenarios and characters.

Ratatouille

Ships 6/26

Ratatouille, the video game, features an acrobatic rat named Remy who must balance his love for cooking with loyalty to his family. Based on the next Disney/Pixar film directed by Academy Award winner Brad Bird (The Incredibles).

 

 

All dates are compiled from Ebgames.com and are subject to change.

Bioshock in action!

XBOX LIVE has been ripped off!

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you the biggest XBOX LIVE rip off and no it has nothing to do with Sony.

Click here to see for yourself!

Virtua Fighter 5 for the 360 supports a higher level of anti-aliasing!

Virtua Fighter 5 has been out for the PS3 for several months now and with the 360 version on the horizon, what improvements if any will be included in the 360 version? that's my question.

Gamepro.com sat down and got they're feet wet with the latest version of Sega's brawler and this is what they had to say in regards to any improvements.

The major changes include a higher level of anti-aliasing compared to the PS3 version, word that the Xbox 360 version will also see an official VF5 arcade joystick, and confirmation that the 360 version will see refined fighter A.I. and more options in the Dojo mode.

It should also be noted that Hori is producing a stick to coincide with the release of VF5.

Lost Planet multiplayer map pack #3 is now available!

There is a patch coming in July to take care of the connectivity issues that some people are experiencing.

Multiplayer map pack #3 for Lost Planet ™: Extreme Condition for Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system from Microsoft is now available for download on Xbox Live® Marketplace. The map pack costs 400 Microsoft Points™ and includes THREE new multiplayer levels: “Lost Technology,” a throw-back to the good ol’ days of pixelated 8-bit gaming; “Ruins,” ancient temples set amidst a lush jungle; and “Ice Drop,” a frigid glacier with lots of peaks, nooks and crannies.

Lost Planet is an epic gaming masterpiece combining a gripping single player campaign and intense multiplayer modes with support for up to 16 players on the Xbox Live® online game service. Taking full advantage of Xbox 360 system’s power , Lost Planet contains sophisticated visuals, with an unmatched level of detail as advanced light sourcing is used to ensure a realistic presentation that enhances every explosion, smoke and particle effect. Enormous world maps unfold as players battle hostile creatures in blistering weather conditions across vast snowfields and deserted cities either on foot or in armed, robotic Vital Suits.

Lost Planet, which carries a “T” rating for teen audiences by the ESRB (Entertainment Software Rating Board), can be found on retail shelves around the world. For more information on Lost Planet , please visit the official site at http://www.lostplanet-thegame.com or join the growing community of fans at http://www.lostplanetcommunity.com

Bungie interviews Todd McFarland

Last week it was announced that McFarland toys will be taking over the duties of producing the Halo action figures that was once done by Joyride.

Todd McFarland visited Bungie studios to get a "feel" for the Halo franchise and while in town he sat down for an interview.

In the wake of the McFarlane Toys and Bungie team-up to create a line of action figures for Halo 3, we chatted to Todd McFarlane, overlord of the eponymous McFarlane Toys empire about his recent trip to Bungie, some of what goes into making a good action figure and what lured McFarlane Toys to the Master Chief.

Q: You came to visit Bungie to get a feel for the game – what were your impressions?

Todd McFarlane: You know what, I’m an artist/CEO and I have to wear both of those hats from time to time. When I came back [from the visit] I was telling people “I’ve been in a lot of places, it was the coolest set up I’ve ever been in.” If I could make my office work like that, I would. I wish I could. It looked like a big hangar and you could see everything from the time you get in. From an artistic point of view, you could see that it is a big, giant collaborative effort. I described it as ‘walking into a NASA center.’ It looks like you guys are building a bunch of nuclear stuff and then you can see guys getting into trouble, throwing paper airplanes, and goofing around.

Q: What’s the most important thing about recreating a licensed character, such as the Master Chief?

TM: Really, the number one thing for recreating any license is the accuracy of it. If you’re not getting it right, then you’ve got to do a lot of things to compensate to get it right. It’s tough to get past that first hurdle.

From our understanding, the third game is trying to broaden the audience a little bit more, and be more than a mature shooter – that can become a bunch of old guys playing after awhile. Although we’ve done some sophisticated looking toys, the mindset is to make these as accessible and affordable as possible.  It’s easy to do $25 items and trick ‘em out, but you’re playing to a bit of an older demographic. But when you target a more diverse group of consumers, you have to make them more accessible in a number of ways.

Q: These figures are 4-6” tall, these are a bit smaller than Halo fans were used to with our previous toymaker. How did you guys select the sizes for the figures?

TM: Here’s what ends up happening: You’ve got two mainstreams that you can distribute toys through: Mass outlets and for lack of a better word, non-mass. The non-mass is easy; we’ve got that one locked down pretty well.

Over the last six to seven years, some companies that would’ve taken a decent amount of Halo product have changed and amalgamated, and the strong business of doing higher-end, specialty stuff isn’t there. Your next option is to try and sell a couple of those items at mass [market], but you’ll take a loss. So we, as toymakers have to find a balance.

We’ll end up making a wide variety of sizes and prices, but out of the chute we need to make it appeal to a 12-year-old newbie and 25-year-old player alike.

Q: What aspects of the Halo characters and universe appeal to you most?

TM: For me, I’m a big fan of fantasy, sci-fi and monsters, having badasses going to shoot some bad guys is pretty fun. And then in Halo they’re not shooting zombies or other humans, they are shooting these cool, alien creatures. I don’t think it’s by accident that movies like Aliens and Predator do well; you guys have the Brutes, Grunts and the Flood. Your universe allows us as toymakers to do all of the things we’re good at.

Q: Can you describe a little of the actual process that takes the figure from start to completion?

TM: Let’s walk through Halo, specifically:

• We decide on whether to pick up the license.
• Then our lawyers work out the details (once you get past the lawyers you get to the fun part).
• We grab all of the assets that we can to try and get the accuracy as tight as possible. If we can get those size and shapes from you and you guys have done a terrific job of giving us color callouts and sizing, we’re just boring into that.
• Once we get that information down, we make a list of characters, weapons and vehicles that we think should hit the marketplace and those get approved.
• Then we start going and building our own wireframes.
• Those go into a computer and get kicked out into a wax form.
• The wax form is a “finished” product, before it gets painted up to whatever packaging we need to get around it. It’s usually twice the size of what people will be able to buy in stores.
• The models are shrunk down and mass produced, but at the factory it’s not unlike people buying model kits. At the factory themselves they wire they put all of the toys together and wire the toys into the packaging. Then it’s just a matter of shipping, distributing and displaying product at retail.

Thanks, Todd. Look for McFarlane Toys’ Halo 3 figures in 2008.

Halo 3 achievements revealed!

With Halo 3 on the horizon everyone has began to ask what the achievements are going to be, well the wait is over folks. 

Thanks to the guys over at achieve360points.com you can now view all of the 49 achievements that will be available in Halo 3 but to make it easy I have decided to post them here as well.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

1. Landfall
Finish the first mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

20 points

2. Holdout
Finish the second mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

20 points

3. The Road
Finish the third mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

20 points

4. Assault
Finish the fourth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

30 points

5. Cleansing
Finish the fifth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

30 points

6. Refuge
Finish the sixth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

30 points

7. Last Stand
Finish the seventh mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

40 points

8. The Key
Finish the eighth mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

40 points

9. Return
Finish the final mission of the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary.

50 points

10. Campaign Complete: Normal
Finish the Campaign on Normal.

125 points

11. Campaign Complete: Heroic
Finish the Campaign on Heroic (unlocks achievement for Normal, if not earned).

125 points

12. Campaign Complete: Legendary
Finish the Campaign on Legendary (unlocks achievements for Normal and Heroic, if not earned).

125 points

13. Iron
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

14. Black Eye
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

15. Tough Luck
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

16. Catch
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

17. Fog
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

18. Famine
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

19. Thunderstorm
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

20. Tilt
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

21. Mythic
Finish the Campaign on Normal, Heroic, or Legendary, then find and claim this skull.

10 points

22. Spartan Program Recruit
Win your first game in matchmaking to sign up for the Spartan Program (Online).

10 points

23. UNSC Spartan
Earn your Sergeant rating to be recognized as a true Spartan (Online).

15 points

24. Spartan Officer
Advance to the Spartan Officer ranks (Online).

25 points

25. Two for One
Score a Double Kill with a single spartan laser shot in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

26. Too Close to the Sun
Destroy an enemy banshee with the spartan laser or missile pod in a ranked playlist or in campaign.

5 points

27. Triple Kill
Kill 3 enemies within 4 seconds of one another in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

28. Overkill
Kill 4 enemies within 4 seconds of one another in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

29. Lee R Wilson Memorial
Score 5 grenade sticks in any ranked free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

30. We’re in for some Chop
Destroy an enemy vehicle with equipment in a ranked playlist or in campaign.

5 points

31. Killing Frenzy
Kill 10 enemies without dying in any ranked free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

32. Steppin' Razor
Score a Triple Kill with the sword in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

33. Mongoose Mowdown
Splatter an enemy with the mongoose in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

34. Up Close and Personal
Kill 5 enemies by melee or assassination in a ranked free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

35. Fear the Pink Mist
Kill 5 enemies with the needler in a ranked free for all playlist or in campaign.

5 points

36. Headshot Honcho
Kill 10 enemies with headshots in a ranked free for all playlist or in campaign.

5 points

37. Used Car Salesman
Destroy a vehicle that has three enemies in it in a ranked playlist or in campaign.

5 points

38. Marathon Man
Locate and access all Terminals in the Campaign.

40 points

39. MVP
Earn the MVP in any ranked playlist (Online).

5 points

40. Maybe Next Time Buddy
Board the same vehicle within 10 seconds after being boarded in any free for all playlist (Online).

5 points

41. Demon
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the second mission.

10 points

42. Guerilla
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the first mission.

10 points

43. Cavalier
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the third mission.

10 points

44. Askar
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the fourth mission.

10 points

45. Exterminator
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the fifth mission.

10 points

46. Ranger
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the sixth mission.

10 points

47. Vanguard
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the seventh mission.

10 points

48. Orpheus
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on eighth mission.

10 points

49. Reclaimer
Score over points in the Campaign meta-game on the final mission.

10 points

XBOX 360 collectors edition for Stranglehold!

Midway has announced that the XBOX 360 will be receiving a collectors edition for Stranglehold.

The collector's edition will be available in limited quantity at select retailers for a suggested retail price in the U.S. of $69.95, available August 2007.

This limited edition includes a bonus disc jam-packed with extras, including:

• Poetry In Slow Motion - Behind-the-scenes documentary on Midway bringing the style of John Woo to video games.
• Extended Cinematic Sequences - Extended scenes which didn't make it into the final game.
• MTV Studio Visit - Follow MTV visit with the game team during crunch time.
• The Vision of Stranglehold - See the progression from concept art to final game.
• The Sound of Stranglehold - An insiders look at sounds design.

Call of Duty 4 in game footage!