Following yesterday's news in USA Today, Rockstar has officially announced the first of two DLC episodes for the Xbox 360 version of Grand Theft Auto IV, titled "The Lost and Damned." The first high-res screens of the episode are out, along with a bare minimum of new details.
In addition to what yesterday's report contained – that players will control a new lead character, Johnny Klebitz, a biker with Liberty City motorcycle club The Lost – today's announcement confirms that the episode will contain "new missions that offer an entirely fresh way to explore Liberty City," along with new vehicles, weapons, multiplayer modes, and music.
The episode arrives via Xbox Live Marketplace on Feb. 17, and (obviously) requires the original GTA IV to play. We've been wondering if a Gold account will be required as well, but Rockstar's announcement merely mentions an Xbox Live account as a prerequisite for download. So ... let's hear your theories on the plot.
The best thing about Japan's Club Nintendo? The occasional very cool branded merchandise, but, mostly, the exclusive games. Now there's a glimmer of hope that one of the most popular of these may be offered as a loyalty prize by the new North American chapter of the Club.
We're talking about the Game & Watch Collection, which has only been available in Japan ... or for those willing to pay for it on eBay and various online retailers to the tune of $40 and up. But now the game has been rated by the ESRB (it got an "E" rating, not surprisingly) leading to the inevitable conclusion / wishful thinking that it will be available in the States for some amount of Club Nintendo points.
The collection brings together re-creations of three classic Nintendo Game & Watch LCD games: Donkey Kong, Oil Panic, and Green House. Watch them in action after the break.
Presenting Branching Dialogue, a weekly, wordy and often worryingly pedantic discussion of video game genres, trends and err ... stuff I didn't think to put in this introductory line.
In his thoughtful review of Mirror's Edge, Eurogamer's Christian Donlan calls it a game "that's easier to love than like." He's quite right. DICE's first-person parkour platformer doesn't hold up to objective scrutiny, often coming apart under a reviewer's bit-by-bit examination. The discordant ratings are testament to that, if not to the claim that Mirror's Edge exudes a boldness and brilliance that's hard to capture in words, let alone numbers.
You can certainly try lobbing several comparisons at the game's gestalt ("It's Sonic the Hedgehog meets Montezuma's Return!"), but its evocative nature really comes through when you have the controller -- and the life of a runner -- in your hands. For as much as Mirror's Edge is about relentlessly pushing you through an urban obstacle course, it's also about capturing a gripping, breathless exhilaration. It's an unfortunate consequence of the mechanical and very deliberate design of games: doing exciting things with an on-screen proxy rarely feels as exciting as it should.
Wow, we're all pretty much playing (or wishing we could play) Left 4 Dead this weekend. We knew it was going to be good, but the Smoker's tongue-grip it has on us is a little strong. If you're looking for some comrades in the zombie slaughtering/surviving festivities, be sure to check out Joystiq's official Left 4 Dead survivors über-list.
Alexander Sliwinski: Playing Left 4 Dead with teammates who hopefully know not to pull the shotgun trigger with the barrel facing me. Really want to finally beat the Mercy Hospital rooftop on Advanced. Might do some Horde or insane campaign co-op in Gears 2. Perhaps a nice trip to Northrend for relaxation.
Christopher Grant: I'm traveling (with my Xbox!) but since every hotel I manage to stay at has a television dating back to the Carter administration, I haven't cracked open this copy of Left 4 Dead that I snagged from a random GameCrazy in Texas.
Griffin McElroy: I'll probably be tackling the last two campaigns on Left 4 Dead, making futile efforts to sneak by witches as my fellow survivors either try to shoot them in the head or set them on fire.
Kevin Kelly: I'm heading out of town for Thanksgiving, so it'll be a gaming free week... if not for the fact that I finally decided to take the plunge into the World of Warcraft. I've installed the new WoW Battlechest, and Wrath of the Lich King, and I'm starting a character from zero! Whee ha! Also, I'll be board gaming it up this weekend at the Board Game Geek Convention in Dallas, hopefully playing some Power Grid or Agricola.
James Ransom-Wiley: Oh ... Hi Mom! I almost forgot you were visiting this weekend ... What's that? You'd like to go to the art museum? Sure, that sounds fun!
Jason Dobson: Currently driving over zombies in the road on his way back to Oklahoma.
Justin McElroy: I'm going to play some Left 4 Dead if I get the chance to play, which I won't.
Ludwig Kietzmann: When I'm not busy making the undead deader in Left 4 Dead, I'll be refining my time trials in Mirror's Edge. I mean, I'm pretty satisfied with them already, but I do enjoy making James work even harder to catch up. What a slowpoke!
Randy Nelson: I too will be attempting for the umpteenth time to escape from Mercy Hospital's rooftop in Left 4 Dead. Perhaps with my tactics and Alexander's combined we can finally pull it off on Advanced. When I'm not killing zombies, I'll be playing Prince of Persia. Wait – I will. Oh yes, I will.
Ross Miller: Waiting in some utility room for us to let him out. [Update! I emerge! All week I've been playing single-player Final Cut Pro into the wee hours, and tonight I'm hoping to get in a session of "Hey I'm flying to New York to celebrate my birthday!" Still haven't gotten Left 4 Dead, and I probably won't until sometime after Thanksgiving.]
We would tell you all about PlayStation Home version 1.0, but then we'd have to kill ... ourselves. (Wow, that was dark.) Fortunately, no harm will likely befall us, since you might just find out everything for yourself soon enough. Sony has announced that 100,000 more invites to the beta are now going out (although an impish email server may delay them for European readers).
Sony itself has officially revealed some features of the new client. Like the fact that the in-Home navigation tool is no longer a virtual PSP – it's been replaced by a PDA-like "Menu Pad." Oh, and it has added Clubs, which allow for up to 32 members to gather in a private Clubhouse space, complete with an editable bulletin board. Plans call for the open beta – the one everyone can get into – to feature "premium" for-pay Clubhouses. Perhaps they'll be specially themed? We'd put down a few for Kratos' throne room from God of War.
They found him! The Large Hadron Collider is now under the vigilant protection of the world's least communicative hero, Gordon Freeman. You have the folks at Reddit to thank for equipping him with an iconic weapon, originally intended as an ominous gift before the potentially apocalyptic Collider was fired up for the first time. We wish Gordon the best of luck as he trains in the fine art of bludgeoning parasitic creatures to a pulp.
He has until Spring 2009 (view his progress in this photo gallery) -- that's when the Collider is expected to stop being broken.
Amazon is at is again with its ker-azy pre-holiday "deal voting" promotion. Like last year, customers have the opportunity to choose from various items presented in three sets; the "winning" item is offered at an extreme discount, in extremely limited quantities, to those who voted for it – and are very, very quick with a browser.
This year, gamers will want to focus their efforts on the three PS3 bundles up for grabs, two of which will potentially be offered at $199. The "Blu-ray Family Bundle" (pictured) is currently in the lead with 57% of the vote, and includes an 80GB PS3, Blu-ray Remote, LittleBigPlanet, and the Pirates of the Caribbean movie trilogy on Blu-ray. Original price: $567.
The two other bundles both include 80GB systems with BD remotes; the "Blu-ray Sci-Fi Bundle" comes with Firefly: The Complete Series on BD and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, while the "Blu-ray Action Bundle" ($229) packs a Blu-ray James Bond movie six-pack and Far Cry 2. Get out the vote ... and good luck!
We kind of knew that Tabula Rasa's run wasn't going to end all that well. And it will end ... on Feb. 28, 2009. This comes after months of reports concerning the NCsoft MMO's poor performance and, most recently, the departure of creator Richard Garriot.
The news of Tabula Rasa's impending shuttering came today via the game's community site, with the team issuing a formal "Thank you and farewell" message to players. "The development team has worked hard to improve the game since launch, but the game never achieved the player population we hoped for," the statement reads. "So it is with regret that we must announce that Tabula Rasa will end live service on February 28, 2009."
Tabula Rasa will be free-to-play beginning Jan. 10, 2009, through the day its servers power down. Subscribers to the game will be given a parting gift from NCsoft to the tune of three free months of City of Heroes, Lineage II, and access to the Aion beta when it becomes available (plus a free month of Aion once it's released).
We've known for some time that Microsoft has been planning additional clothing and accessories to differentiate (and bizarre-ify) your New Xbox Experience Avatar. In fact, on Wednesday, MS announced that new Avatar content will be rolled out biweekly for six months. Today we know that, at least for now, it will be free.
Germany's Xbox product manager, Boris Schneider-Johne, told dreisechzig.net that the early offerings will be free of charge. After that? "What's going to happen as of spring is yet to be announced," he said. We do know that for-pay and sponsored Avatar goodies are definitely on Microsoft's mind, as evidenced in remarks made by Xbox Live chief John Schappert in August.
Curious about the New Xbox Experience? Check out our ridiculously informative nine-video feature, covering everything from Avatar creation, Netflix integration, and the 8-player party system to installing games to the hard drive, the new Marketplace, the Blade-like "Guide" interface, and more!
Ubisoft has revealed a new batch of downloadable content for its incredibly aggressive African safari, Far Cry 2. Due to be released "by the end of November," the Fortune's Pack bolsters the game's collection of weapons, multiplayer maps and, perhaps most importantly, fuel-guzzling transports. It's not quite the turret-equipped elephant we were hoping for, but a quad should do us fine. There's also a "unimog," which is either a big truck thing or an adorable Final Fantasy creature with a tertiary education. Probably the former.
Also added to both the single- and multiplayer components are three new weapons: the sawed-off shotgun; the silenced shotgun; and the crossbow. Be sure to use those on Fortune's four additional multiplayer maps, dubbed Cheap Labor, Last Resort, Lake Smear and Fort Fury.
The pack will be available on Xbox Live Marketplace and the PlayStation Store for $10 -- or two of the diamonds you found in a suspicious briefcase in the middle of nowhere.
Well, we're back, and in fine form if we do say so ourselves. First off, we've done away with Chris "Dead Weight" Grant, making room for rising star and Geekadelphia writer Ben Gilbert. And, we've got an hour-and-a-half of delightful conversating.
Is there a Brush? Of course. Is there a Tip of the Week? Try two. So yeah, it's pretty much more bacon than the pan can handle. Oh, and thanks to the JPAG's Trevor Clifford for the delightful pic.
Get the podcast: [iTunes] Subscribe to the Joystiq Podcast directly in iTunes (MP3) [RSS] Add the Joystiq Podcast feed to your RSS aggregator [Digg] Like the show? Digg it. [MP3] Download the MP3 directly
Why should Guitar Hero World Tour be the only one to get The Killers next week? As previously announced, The Killers will also be available in a three pack on Rock Band starting Nov. 25. Harmonix keeps the DLC flood going with another nine new tracks to sing, strum and drum to ... ok, more like flick than strum, but you get the drift.
All tracks are masters and will be available for download next Tuesday for Xbox 360 and PS3. PSN updates on Tuesday next week due to the Thanksgiving holiday.
That's right, the next one. As in the one after the flying cars, the toy cars and the not-actually-cars. Criterion just keeps on stuffing more content into its open-world racer, with the latest vehicular addition taking the form of the Carson Extreme Hotrod, a "stripped down, ultra low, overpowered straight line monster." You'll find it, along with another impossibly fast hunk of metal, in 2009's "Paradise Boost Specials Pack."
According to the developers, both vrooooooms are designed to "re-imagine Burnout Boost." And we doubt they're imagining it any slower. Here we come, walls!
7-Eleven, bastion of the 2AM munchies, has announced plans to expand its video game offerings. The company's current stratagem is to offer seven titles over the holiday season (like Wrath of the Lich King, Fallout 3, CoD:WaW, Gears 2) "while supplies last." Depending on how things go, Sleven plans to have more titles beyond the predicted "hot-selling" games.
Though we're all for 7-Eleven carrying games, we're even more for it continuing to break street dates on blockbuster titles like Gears of War 2 and Lich King*.
*Yes, we realize in the case of Lich King it didn't mean much because the servers weren't up, but it's avoiding the midnight lines that counts.
Update: Fitch caved in and signed the contract. Thanks to Scott for reading MMAJunkie.com.
Original Story: The Ultimate Fighting Championship has released welterweight crown contender Jon Fitch for refusing to sign his image rights away for a lifetime to UFC-based games being made by THQ. Fitch stated he thought it was "crazy" to sign "anything away for your lifetime." Fitch isn't the only one kicked out, as many of his teammates from the American Kickboxing Academy in San Jose have been dismissed for refusing to submit.
We'll take this to mean that Fitch won't be appearing in THQ's UFC 2009 Undisputed expected in May '09. We know, all 10 of you out there who were going to buy the game and cared are devastated.
/ $5.50)
