BlackSite: Area 51: Xeno Featurette

Get an inside look at the aliens in the game in this new BlackSite: Area 51 Xeno Featurette from IGN.

[Via IGN]

IGN: Rock Band Song Selection Interview

IGN has just done an interview with Eric Brosius. They interviewed him to find out what went (and still goes) into the process of licensing songs for Rock Band, so they shot some questions at him. They start:

IGN: Firstly, what can you tell us about your day-to-day work on the game?

Eric Brosius: I'm the audio lead for RockBand and my team's (the audio dept) jobs include: song selection, managing the song licensing process, coordinating with the record labels & studios to get the actual audio tracks, prepping the audio tracks for the game (some editing, mixing & mastering), authoring the songs (which includes transcribing the parts and turning them into the notes you see in game, adding animation, camera & lighting cues, etc.), difficulty tuning and other audio-related stuff like sound fx, etc.

Read the full interview at the link below.

[Read: Rock Band Interview]

PLAYSTATION 3 Outsells Wii & Xbox 360 In Europe

Here are the hardware totals for the week ending 10/14/07. The PS3 outsold both the 360 and the Wii.

Weekly Total

• DS 158,975 17,282,952
• PS3 77,827 1,697,638
• Wii 75,033 3,523,800
• PSP 62,027 8,535,003
• PS2 53,843 43,151,763
• 360 42,244 3,754,596
• GBA 2,495 19,534,242

Hit the link to see the breakdown by region.

[Via VGChartz]

Assassin's Creed: Last Video by Jade Raymond

"Here of exclusiveness presentation in last the video of Assassin' S Creed by Raymond Jade, producer on the title of Ubisoft" - Babelfish English Translation.

[Via Jeux France]

Unreal Tournament III: Deathmatch Destruction & Killing Spree Demo Gameplay

Lock and load! The brutal combat of Unreal Tournament is here! Well, almost, but when it is, get ready to kick some ass.


Rack up the kills with a little help from your friends!

[Via GameTrailers]

Surfer Girl: Seven Exclusive Things

Surfer Girl is at it again, this time, she is posting seven exclusive things that we didn't know. And here they are:

1) Ready At Dawn is working on a PS3 title. (Daxter PSP & God of War PSP)
2) The forthcoming The Incredible Hulk game will the jolly green dude in environments that actually exist in the real world.
3) Gun 2 is currently on hold indefinitely and may likely have been canceled.
4) Darkwatch 2 is currently in development at High Moon Studios for Xbox 360 and PS3.
5) The Getaway (PS3) is due for release in Q4 2008.
6) Can you say NFL Head Coach 09 for Xbox 360 and PS3 without getting excited? I'm fairly sure you cannot.
7) Silicon Knights' game for Sega (previously known as The Box) is now going by the recently-trademarked name The Crucible: Evil Within (most popular choice from that survey from last December).

If these are true, then we can expect a great Ready at Dawn title, as both their PSP titles I know of are great and coming out great.

[Via Surfer Girl]

Tony Hawk's Proving Ground: Exclusive Locations Vignette

Brand new locations set the stage for the ultimate skating experience in Tony Hawk's Proving Ground. Enjoy.

[Via GameTrailers]

Quake Wars: GameStop TV Spot

A GDF soldier gets the drop on a Strogg with a little outside help in this new video for Enemy Territory: Quake Wars.

[Via GameTrailers]

PlayStation Schwag: Win It At The PlayStation Blog

Over at the official Playstation blog, SCEA is running a little trivia contest to giveaway and collection of Playstation schwag. The schwag seems to contain a PlayStation ballcap, a beanie, a notebook, a pen, a luggage tag, a jacket or shirt, a wallety looking thing and perhaps a huge gold belt buckle, or maybe I'm making that last one up.

The questions are:

1. What was the date of the launch of the first PlayStation in the U.S.?
2. What PlayStation launch title 'shot fireworks' into the industry?
3. On what date were plans for PlayStation 3 first shared?
4. Name one team that is playing in the NHL FaceOff section of the U R Not E commercial?
5. What was the name of the first PlayStation title from these developers?

a. Naughty Dog
b. Insomniac
c. Eidetic

6. What is the full name of the female member of Interpol in Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus?
7. What game is this character from?
8. How many power cells and precursor orbs were there to collect in Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy?
9. According to the famed PS9 commercial, PS9's electronic spores do what?
10. What is the weight difference between the original PSP and the recently announced PSP-2000?

Hop on over to their site to read the rules and how to enter.

[Via PS.Blog]

Brütal Legend: Debut Trailer

GameVideos.com is hosting the debut trailer of Tim Schafer's metal game, Brütal Legend. Enjoy.

PLAYSTATION Network: Rat Race Episodes Coming

Super-Ego Games are working on a series of episodic titles coming out for the PLAYSTATION Network about the beloved movie, Rat Race. Greg Easley writes:

Rat Race is a PS3-exclusive comedy/adventure game – yeah, another one of those! – that will be available as individual episodes on PSN beginning this winter. Rat Race has been written and voiced by some really funny people with credits on Late Night with Conan O’Brien, My Name Is Earl, Saturday Night Live, South Park, Flight of the Conchords, Sex and the City, Ugly Betty, Comedy Central, and so on. Our team includes some of the best stand-up comics in New York City, where half of our studio is based (the other half is in San Francisco).

Rat Race is set in an office - an extremely dysfunctional one. The company is called BiggCo, and the people who work there make the Enron guys look like Nobel Prize laureates. Your job is simply to make it through the day as bombs go off all around you. As the clock ticks toward quitting time, you’ll encounter a rogues gallery including: Joy Chung, an impossible, and impossibly hot, PR exec; Chip Bratsby III, a pompous jerk whose career focus is getting you fired; and Dr. Ron Durfman, a research scientist who may or may not be intimate with his lab monkey.

Our goal is to give you the feeling of “playing” inside an episode of your favorite TV show. Sometimes we describe Rat Race as an interactive sitcom, but that doesn’t do it justice. There’s more to the experience than funny dialogue. Along the way you’ll sneak, sprint, solve puzzles, eavesdrop, steal, and even “neutralize” that lab monkey.

Sounds good Greg, I will be sure to get the first episode upon it's release.

[Via PS.Blog]

Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus Now Gold, Dated for North America

Released last month in Japan, the English version of Kojima Productions' revamped Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops Plus (PSP) has gone gold and will makes its way to retail on November 13 in North America.

An update to last year's Metal Gear Solid: Portable Ops, the Plus version will include additional multiplayer maps like an updated Metal Gear REX hangar from the PlayStation original Metal Gear Solid and more playable characters like Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty's (PS2) Raiden or the older mustachioed Snake from Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots (PS3).

The single player mode will also receive expansions in the form of a Shooting Range, Training Mode, and Infinity Mission--requiring players to go through progressively more difficult challenges. Kojima Productions announced Portable Ops Plus this summer at Sony's PlayStation Premier 2007 event in Japan, but hadn't revealed specific plans for a North American release until now.

[Via ShackNews]

Play Magazine Reviews: The Eye of Judgment & More

The review scores for the latest issue of PLAY Magazine is in, and we have a few PLAYSTATION 3 & PSP reviews. View the scores below.

PLAYSTATION 3

• Bladestorm - 4.5
• Clive Barker's Jericho - 8
• Conan - 7.5
• Eye of Judgement - 9.5
• Guitar Hero III - 9
  
• Need For Speed ProStreet - 6
• Sega Rally Revo - 8.5
• The Simpsons Game - 7.5

PSP

• Final Fantasy Tactics: War of Lions - 9
• Silent Hill Origins - 8.5
• SWAT: Target Liberty - 6.5

[Via GT Forums]

Unreal Tournament III Beta Files Reveal Features

User HelloMe over at the GameTrailers forums was "bored" today and decided to open up some configuration files for the Unreal Tournament III beta. Here is what he found:

[DLC UTUIDataProvider_CommunityMenuItem]
;bRemoveOnPC=1
;bRemoveOn360=0
;bRemoveOnPS3=1

;[EpicContent UTUIDataProvider_CommunityMenuItem]
;bRemoveOnPC=0
;bRemoveOn360=1
;bRemoveOnPS3=0

;[MyContent UTUIDataProvider_CommunityMenuItem]
;bRemoveOnPC=0
;bRemoveOn360=1
;bRemoveOnPS3=0


[Friends UTUIDataProvider_CommunityMenuItem]
bRemoveOnPC=0
bRemoveOn360=0
bRemoveOnPS3=0

[Messages UTUIDataProvider_CommunityMenuItem]
bRemoveOnPC=0
bRemoveOn360=0
bRemoveOnPS3=0

[Leaderboards UTUIDataProvider_CommunityMenuItem]
bRemoveOnPC=0
bRemoveOn360=1
bRemoveOnPS3=1

[DemoPlayback UTUIDataProvider_CommunityMenuItem]
bRemoveOnPC=0
bRemoveOn360=1
bRemoveOnPS3=1

[Achievements UTUIDataProvider_CommunityMenuItem]
bRemoveOnPC=1
bRemoveOn360=0
bRemoveOnPS3=1

[InstallPS3 UTUIDataProvider_SettingsMenuItem]
bRemoveOnPC=1
bRemoveOn360=1
bRemoveOnPS3=0

;[SplitScreen_Common UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
;OptionSet=Common
;DataStoreMarkup=
;bRemoveOnPC=1
;bRemoveOn360=1

;[RecordDemo_Common UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
;OptionSet=Common
;DataStoreMarkup=
;bRemoveOn360=1
;OptionType=UTOT_CollectionCheckBox

;[SplitScreen_DM UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
;OptionSet=DM
;DataStoreMarkup=
;bRemoveOnPC=1
;bRemoveOn360=1

[ControllerVibration UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
OptionSet=Input
DataStoreMarkup=
bRemoveOnPS3=1
bRemoveOnPC=1

[MouseSmoothing UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
OptionSet=Input
+OptionSet=MidGameMenu
DataStoreMarkup=
bRemoveOn360=1
OptionType=UTOT_CollectionCheckBox
bKeyboardOrMouseOption=1

[MouseSensitivityGame UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
OptionSet=Input
+OptionSet=MidGameMenu
DataStoreMarkup=
OptionType=UTOT_Slider
RangeData=(MinValue=1.0,MaxValue=20.0,bIntRange=1,NudgeValue=1.0,CurrentValue=5.0)
bRemoveOn360=1
bKeyboardOrMouseOption=1

;[DodgeDoubleClickTime UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
;OptionSet=Input
;DataStoreMarkup=
;OptionType=UTOT_Slider
;RangeData=(MinValue=20,MaxValue=60,bIntRange=1,NudgeValue=5,CurrentValue=25)
;bRemoveOn360=1
;bRemoveOnPS3=1

[TiltSensing UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
OptionSet=Input
DataStoreMarkup=
bRemoveOnPC=1
bRemoveOn360=1

[ClanTag UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
OptionSet=Network
DataStoreMarkup=
OptionType=UTOT_EditBox
EditboxMaxLength=10
bRemoveOnPS3=1

;[SplitScreen_Client UTUIDataProvider_MenuOption]
;OptionSet=Client
;DataStoreMarkup=
;bRemoveOnPC=1
;bRemoveOn360=1

He broke it down into his own meaning from his code translation, which makes sense pretty much. The features for each system, not final of course:

Xbox 360 Version

• Downloadable Content
• Friends
• Messages
• Achievements
• Rumble Support
• Clan Tag?
  

PC Version

• "Epic Content"
• My Content
• Friends
• Messages
• Leaderboards
• Demo Playback
• Record Demo?
• Mouse Support
• Dodging
• Clan Tag
  

PLAYSTATION 3 Version:

• "Epic content"
• My content
• Friends
• Messages
• Install
• Splitscreen Instant Action
• Splitscreen Online
• Record Demo?
• Mouse support
• Tilt support

Like I said, there are probably features missing for every console as of now, so expect more than you see.

[Via GameTrailers Forums]

Capcom: Fortelling Their Plot

On the official Capcom BBS, Sven made yet another post telling of their announcing future:

"You saw one announcement today at Gamespot.

You will see another announcement at the countdown timer on Wednesday.

You'll see a slew of other announcements/updates after the media embargo lifts on Thursday/Friday or so."

So, tomorrow, we get to see another big announcement, and Thursday and Friday we get to see even more.

[Via Capcom BBS]

Assassin's Creed: PLAYSTATION 3 Skin

Starting November 1, 2007, GameStop is offering a new Assassin's Creed PLAYSTATION 3 skin for your console. You just put it on and you can say "I have Assassin's Creed on the PLAYSTATION 3". Sure, you don't own the game, but technically your sayings are true.

[Buy: Assassin's Creed PS3 Skin]

Assassin's Creed: Animations Interview HD

The Project Manager for the game's animation discusses bringing the world of Assassin's Creed to life.

[Via GameTrailers]

Need for Speed ProStreet: Customization Featurette HD

Learn all there is to know about customizing the ultimate racing machine of your dreams.

[Via GameTrailers]