Concerning news today for everyone looking forward to the Ghostbusters game which was supposed to be released at the end of this year. In details announced today regarding the merger of Activision, Blizzard and Vivendi/Sierra Universal studios, Ghostbusters along with a number of other forthcoming games did not make it onto the list of games to be published by the newly merged company. VG247, speaking to a source got this quote:
It’s basically being put out to tender. Considering where it is in development, hopefully someone else will pick it….I guess that if there are Sierra games that aren’t mentioned in the Activision press release, then they’re part and parcel of the stuff that’s going out to tender, but I don’t know for sure
Following the Sony E3 08 press conference Jack Tretton sat down for a one hour round table with a bunch of reporters. The final question of the session was “Do you ever get nervous when you say something and you see all the keyboards light up at the same time?” Here’s what he had to say:
I get nervous every time that I open my mouth. I’d love to tell you that I don’t read everything that gets written, and you know, I do, let them all eat cake. I bleed with every word that’s written. You can’t make everybody happy, not everyone is going to agree with you. I care about some unknown guy that responds to one of your blogs and trashes something I said. It’s tough to make everyone in your family love you let alone everyone in the world. It’s the price of admission but yeah it freaks me out.
(Source: Full audio recording of session obtained from destructoid)
Speaking at a round table discussion following the Sony E3 press conference Jack Tretton responded to a question about if they were aware of the content of Microsoft’s presentation before hand. Jack said:
Aware to the point that I felt like I knew everything before they even got up there, which is I think one of the challenges in this industry. You guys may have heard, you may not have heard but going through this 12 hours rehearsal and stressful as heck trying to get ready for it and somebody leans over to me and covers the mike and says, `everything we’re saying is getting posted on the internet within 15 minutes of us saying it, so security is going to lock down the building, clear the house`. We find some guy on the third balcony lying down taking notes and phoning it in to you know the (inaudible, server/service?). So that to me made me realise just the amount of attention that our industry gets.
(Source: Full audio recording of session obtained from destructoid)
Speaking at the European PlayStation event at E3 2008, Sony’s David Reeves has revealed Europe will be getting the Platinum games label as detailed in Sony’s press conference. Priced at £19.99/€29.99 the label will include at launch Resistance: Fall of Man, Heavenly Sword, MotorStorm, Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune, Ratchet & Clank 3, Virtua Tennis 3 and Assasins Creed.
Speaking about the announcement David said “If you’re a longstanding PS3 owner with gaps in your collection – or perhaps you’ve just joined the family – the PS3 Platinum range is your chance to pick up some of the very best games at a wallet-friendly price,”…”With great titles spanning a huge breadth of gaming experiences, this August is a great time to be a PS3 owner.”
Speaking at the European Sony event at E3 2008, Sony’s David Reeves has stated that the recently announced PlayStation 3 video store will make it to Europe, just not right now. He states that Sony are committed to releasing the service in all territories. Besides the fact that most of the worlds most popular films are made in the US, David says “For us…local content is key and that is exactly what we’re working on right now”.
In other news if you sign into an American PlayStation Network account the video store does no show up and so cannot be used. This is in line with the Xbox 360 film download service where the content on offer is far better quality in the US store than the European one but cannot be accessed from outside the US.
Speaking at the European Sony E3 2008 press event, Sony’s David Reeves has confirmed Europe will finally be getting the 80gb PlayStation 3. To be released on August 27Th throughout Europe at a price of £299/€399. The 40gb version is to be discontinued. In typical Sony Europe style though David had this to say about a price cut on the 40gb “The 40GB model will be replaced by 80GB. Don’t ask if we’re going to go down in price on 40GB – the answer is no”. So you got that? don’t buy a PlayStation 3 any time in the next six weeks or you will feel a little ripped off when the new version comes out for the same price.
We will have to wait for confirmation to see if Dual Shock 3’s weill be included or if we still get the left over Six Axis bundled with it instead. No site that attended the event appears to have asked the question and the press release Sony sent out doesn’t specify.
Eurogamer have posted a two page hands on with FIFA 09.They says the new game runs at a faster gameplay speed than last years FIFA 08 and slightly slower than the recent Euro 2008 version. FIFA 09 is set to include a 10 v 10 online mode for the very first time. Expected to be released sometime in the Autumn.
A tad slower than Euro 2008 and a smidgeon quicker than its predecessor (there’s an option to set the speed to match either of these two games if you desire), FIFA 09 retains much of the realism that made its prequel such a triumph. However, while realism has clearly remained high on the agenda, this year’s offering feels somewhat more accessible, with a learning curve that’s likely to leave you mildly panting rather than rasping like an asthmatic climbing Everest, thanks in no small part to the new responsiveness and physicality systems that make for more free-flowing matches.
Another tweaked area was dribbling, with players taking fewer touches for added realism and reacting in a far more lifelike manner when tackled, often stumbling and recovering rather than tumbling at the merest contact. Most satisfying of all was how responsive the players felt, especially in and around the penalty area, with strikers far more alert when following in after shots.
Screwattack review the Sony press conference. They rate it as the best of the three, highlighting Resistance 2, Little Big Planet, God of War 3 and MAG. Watch the video below.
The highlight of today’s E3 2008 live coverage over at Gamespot was easily the 14 minute demo of Mercenaries 2. A fully destructible environment, numerous vehicles, 20 helicopters and many many weapons including a tactical nuke. Released on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 at the end of August in the US, first week of September in Europe. The tactical nuke at around 13 minutes in is a must see.
Little Big Planet got given a ten minute outing on Gamespots live E3 2008 stage show. take a look below as various elements of the game are shown including some public beta tester created levels.
Concerning news today for everyone looking forward to the Ghostbusters game which was supposed to be released at the end of this year. In details announced today regarding the merger of Activision, Blizzard and Vivendi/Sierra Universal studios, Ghostbusters along with a number of other forthcoming games did not make it onto the list of games to be published by the newly merged company. VG247, speaking to a source got this quote:
