City of Heroes developer confirms Power Customization in I16
Finally. After years of people complaining “Why can’t my fire be green?!?” throughout the streets of Paragon City and the Rogue Isles, there is much rejoicing as Paragon Studios developer Matt Miller a.k.a. “Positron” has confirmed that Power Customization will be in “Issue 16″ the game’s version of free expansions/patches/publishes that have come steadily a few times a year.
Positron stated on the main City of Heroes boards today: “So there has been some speculation on the boards about the content of Issue 16, and its relationship to the Going Rogue expansion. Due to some poor link naming in the initial Going Rogue email, many of you are under the mistaken impression that Issue 16 will be Going Rogue. I am here to set the record straight. Issue 16 is NOT Going Rogue. But I can give you guys a hint at what Issue 16 WILL be all about:”
Purple Fire Controller
Blue Fire Dominator
Positron finished his post with “More info on Issue 16 will be coming in July!”, so we will hear more in just a few weeks.
The post can be found on the main coh community boards here: http://boards.cityofheroes.com/showflat.php?Cat=&Board=Dev&Number=13647533&bodyprev=#Post13647533
Little Big Planet – Solstice Costume Pack
Media Molecule has posted a new Sackboy costume pack, celebrating the coming of the Summer Soltice. Here are the details.
I don’t know if it’s the same where you are, but over here in England, it’s been getting hotter and hotter recently (well, in between the torrential downpours and hail) and that can mean only one of several things – Global Warming has reached a horrible peak and Armageddon is close, the air conditioning is on the fritz, or it’s summer time again.
I’m inclined to think that the latter is true, it is June after all, and it is the summer solstice this weekend, when the tilt of the earth’s axis will mean the northern hemisphere is the closest to the sun that it will get all year, making it hotter! Yup, that’s how summer works folks.
In ancient times, Druids regarded the Sun to be at its maximum power at midday during the summer solstice, when the days are longest. They marked these events by gathering together in vast stone circles and performing mystical rituals, that probably involved chanting, and maybe even sacrifices, or stand up comedy… who knows? Not me that’s for sure.
To celebrate the Solstice, we gathered to perform the ancient ritual of costume creation, and put together this beardy druid fellow costume to give away to all our friends on the LittleBigPlanet. So this Thursday, 18th June, head on over to the PSN Store, and pick up your free Druid costume! Unless that is you are in North America, where he will be available the following week: just after Midsummer’s Day, on the 25th.
Remember that he’s a time limited costume, and will only be available to download for a week from the time he goes live, so don’t miss out!
New Persona Game – Ad Revealed!
In this month’s Famitsu magazine, Atlus has put a rather cryptic ad page in, teasing at a new Persona game.
As reported here previously, Persona 5 is in the works, and will be on The PS3 and possibly also the XBox 360. As soon as I hear more information, I’ll post it, but for now, just the ad.
Note the main characters from Persona 3 and Persona 4 are in the ad. Will these two characters be involved in the next game? LET THE SPECULATION BEGIN!
CORRECTION: The ad in Famitsu is NOT for a new game afterall, but for a “Persona Music Live” concert (which would have been damn cool to attend)… Details here: http://www.aniplex.co.jp/persona-live
For those of you who do not understand Japanese, Google translates as:
◆ Venue: Akasaka BLITZ (Chiyoda Line “Akasaka” Station 3 minutes walk)
◆ Access: http://www.tbs.co.jp/blitz/a_map.html
◆ Date: 2008 August 22 (Friday) OPEN 18:00 START 19:00
※ ◆物販scheduled to start 16:00 advance tickets: \ 4.500 (tax included)
Artists ◆ Cast:
Kawamura Yumi “Persona 3″, “Persona 3 Fes,” “Persona ~ Trinity Seoul”
Lotus Juice “Persona 3″, “Persona 3 Fes,” “Persona ~ Trinity Seoul”
Kita Syuuhei “Persona ~ Trinity Seoul”
Kitade菜奈”Persona ~ Trinity Seoul”
Hirata Shiho child “Persona 4″
Meguro Masashi (ATLUS) “Persona 3″, “Persona 3 Fes,” “Persona 4″
Well… At least we know Persona 5 is in the works, eh? The real question is… WHY DID THIS MONTH’S FAMITSU HAVE AN AD FOR A CONCERT THAT WAS HELD LAST YEAR?
UPDATE!
The ad now makes perfect sense as we see the rest of the page. It’s an ad for the DVD Release of Persona Music Live, which will be out on September 16th.
So, that’s something for Persona to look forward to aside from the PSP Remake of the original Persona on September 22.
Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3D Screenshot
WOW! Vicarious Visions has released a couple of 3D Screenshots of the upcoming title Marvel Ultimate Alliance 2. The first of Deadpool doing his thing, and then another one of a Fire Tornado. The game LOOKS incredible already at this stage, and if it plays anything like the first one it very well may surpass it in awesomeness.
This is definitely one title on my must-have list for the coming year. You can see the above pictures in full-screen mode here: http://marvelultimatealliance.marvel.com/#/Media/3DScreenshots/
Dan Aykroyd calls Gamestop preorders
The Ghostbusters game is due out today on every platform in existence, well, except in Europe where Sony owns exclusivity rights until November… Anyway, it appears GameStop has asked Dan Aykroyd, “Who you gonna call?”, as the legendary film star is calling people who have pre-ordered the game from the store.
Greetings fellow paranormal enthusiasts. This is Dan Aykroyd, speaking to you through the miracle of 16-bit voice recording to remind you that your copy of Ghostbusters will be at your local GameStop by tomorrow. Don’t forget to bring in your used games because you’ll receive an extra 30 percent credit for games you trade toward Ghostbusters. Thank you, and see you on the other side.
Very nice play by GameStop changing up from the normal mundane “Hi this is Ashley at Gamestop calling you to say <insert game here> will be out on <insert date here> and to call <your local gamestop number> for questions.”
Ghostbusters: Buy it on the XBox 360.
This is somewhat disappointing news for those of us who do not own an XBox 360.
Remember when Terminal Reality, the developers behind the upcoming Ghostbusters game, stated “I want to show off our PS3 technology… We’re one of the few developers who love the PS3 and have a great time with it. We have great technology for the PS3 and we want to show it off.” last year?
Well, they dropped the ball. According to the Lens of Truth who did a side-by-side comparison of the PS3 and XBox 360 versions, the PS3 version looks abysmal. It is NOT in HD, it runs 960 by 540, where the XBox 360 version runs 1280 by 720, almost twice the number of pixels, and it clearly shows.
Another Terminal Reality quote: “The PlayStation 3 has seven processors and the 360 only has three, so seven versus three means you can do a lot more on the PS3. We’re keeping the game the same over both platforms so we don’t want to take out any features.” Yeah? Then why does the PS3 version have SO much less clarity?
Images can be found in the Lens of Truth article: http://www.lensoftruth.com/?p=10974
PSPgo Q&A
Sony Europe has posted a Q&A segment on the PlayStation blog on the PSPgo, here are some more details on the new handheld due out on October 1st. Here are the results of the Q&A session.
Are there any technological improvements over the PSP-3000? Like, the screen, or hardware-wise…
The 2 biggest differences are the removal of the UMD drive and the new design. PSPgo replaces the UMD drive with 16GB of flash memory and the stylish slide open design has made the PSPgo smaller and lighter than ever making it truly pocket-size.
We have also added 3 new features:
- Game sleep function: You will be able to operate the XMB™ (XrossMediaBar) while suspending the gameplay temporarily.
- Bluetooth function: This is going to let you use your favourite wireless head phones to listen to music, play games and watch videos….
- Clock and calendar application: We have included a clock and calendar application which can be viewed both when the sliding panel is open and closed.
Will the PSPgo be delivered with a USB cable?
I am happy to say that the answer is yes. PSPgo will come bundled with everything you need for you to start enjoying all it has to offer. Included in the box along with the PSPgo will be a USB cable, AC adaptor and Media Go software.
PSPgo comes bundled with Media Go, which is an easy to use PC application that makes it simple for you to browse PlayStation Store, as well as organise and store all your favourite downloaded games, demos, music, movies and photos.
We know that being able to effectively store, organise and access your content is key so we have created a video to help explain how you can make the most of PSPgo. Check it out.
What is the battery life like?
We have adopted an embedded battery to realise a smaller and lighter PSP system. The battery life is equivalent with the current models meaning approximately 3 to 6 hours for gameplays and approximately 3 to 5 hours for playing back videos.
Peripherals:
The peripherals on offer at launch for PSPgo are USB cable, AC adaptor, Video-out cables (AV cable and component AV cable) and a Cradle. We are currently considering introducing other peripherals for PSPgo but can not provide details at this point.
Another big question was if the current peripherals can be used with PSPgo. We have reduced the size of the USB connector and introduced multi-function features which has allowed us to obtain a smaller and lighter PSP. As such the peripherals for the current PSP models do not currently work on PSPgo however we are considering introducing a special attachment that can connect current peripherals to PSPgo.
Can I download games on to a memory stick?
PSPgo is disc free with a 16GB of built-in memory for storing all your essential games, videos, photos and music. However if you do fill this up there are a couple of options to store and manage your games, music, videos and photos. You will be able to back up to a PC via Media Go or to the M2 Memory Stick to store more content for PSPgo.
Why have you changed the format of the removable memory?
The above question is a good one. PSPgo uses M2 memory sticks which are smaller and take up less room on the device. This meant that we saved space and could make the PSPgo pocket-sized. However, you will be able to transfer the data from your Memory Stick Duo to your PC via Media Go and then transfer it to the PSPgo or M2.
Will it be possible to transfer my UMD games to the new PSPgo?
We know that there are many of you excited about PSPgo but are hesitant at leaving your UMD games collection behind. We recognize this and as such we are planning a goodwill programme and will unveil more details soon.
We also know that there are many already released UMD games that you may not own but want to play in the future on your PSPgo. To make this happen we are considering every possibility to bring downloadable versions for the majority of past titles available only in UMD to the PlayStation Store along with all new releases. We will announce further details on this.
Courtesy of: http://blog.eu.playstation.com/2009/06/12/pspgo-your-questions-answered/
Max Payne won’t wound like Max Payne anymore
As detailed in the Game Informer first-look feature on Max Payne 3, Rockstar Vancouver will NOT be using James McCaffrey who was the voice of Max Payne in the first two games.
According to the article, Rockstar believes someone older should take the voice as Max has aged, and thankfully they do not intend to replace McCaffrey with an established star which means a legitimate voice actor will get the nod. Jeronimo Barrera, VP of development points out “We’re good at casting.”
Fear not, however, as the voice of Max may be the only thing that’s changed about Max, as the game will retain much of the series’ original feeling despite being the first Max Payne game developed in-house at Rockstar and switch of game setting to Brazil.
“All the Max Payne themes will remain intact – manipulation, betrayal, and the stuff that really made Max Payne,” states art director Rob Nelson. Max’s internal monologue will also be there.
“Will there be night-time levels in the rain? Probably, but level after level of that stuff would get old, so we thought it would be interesting to put him in this environment. You have the very rich living next to the very poor, and that creates a lot of tension,” added Nelson.
Max will be able to take human shields, and will be able to recover from near-death with a last-minute bullet to his murderer restoring some adrenaline.
The above aside, there’s not a lot of details available on the game yet. I’m sure you’ll be able to expect more Bullet Time. Oh, right, Max is bald and addicted to medication. That’s a bit of a change.
