Bad news, partners. Rockstar and Take-Two have just sent word via their Q1 financial results that the open-world, Wild West epic Red Dead Redemption has run across a small tumbleweed, sending the release off-course briefly.
Originally due on April 27th, the game has, for unknown reasons, been delayed until May 18th in North America. No explanation was given.
Redemption was the subject of severe development issue allegations in recent months, with the team at Rockstar San Diego being smack in the middle of a huge Rockstar work condition scandal.
Perhaps more intriguing, in light of recent events as other companies, is that Take-Two will also be sending staffers packing soon. Executives, to be exact. The publisher revealed that "a targeted restructuring of its corporate departments" that will save roughly $8 million in the fiscal year, is resulting in 15-percent of the corporate workforce being laid-off. Ouch.
[Update]: Some clarification on why Red Dead missed its date at last. "We at Rockstar have always prided ourselves on the uncompromising quality of our games - and will always opt to take a bit longer to polish and fine-tune a game to be as perfect as possible when we think it necessary. With Red Dead Redemption, we felt that these extra few weeks will make a big difference in helping us deliver you an experience beyond your expectations."
Ready to have your mind blown by the awesomeness of Halo: Reach multiplayer? Bungie delivered on their promise of a huge information bomb today, dropping a brand new in-game trailer featuring the online modes of Reach. Holy crap does this look amazing. And this is just the internal alpha build.
Take a minute to pore over the footage and let it sink in. Halo: Reach multiplayer will feature, among other things, jetpacks, personal shields, the new assassination moves, and even the ability to dive and roll. Also revealed are brand new gameplay modes including Invasion and Headhunter. Visually, and while it's still a work-in-progress, it looks like what you'd expect, I guess. Even from this video I can already spy a slight graphical leap over Halo 3 online, and that's saying something. Looks good. The video should be on LIVE soon.
We'll get to test out some of this hot new stuff when the Reach beta test goes live on May 3rd.
Get ready to continue re-living your childhood alongside popular licensed franchises through 2016. LEGO and WB/Traveller's Tales Games announced this morning a worldwide license agreement that extends over the next six years.
"The LEGO Group is a brilliant and trusted organization with an extremely loyal fan base," said Kevin Tsujihara, president, Warner Bros. Home Entertainment Group. "We are very fortunate to have the opportunity to continue the successful partnership between this legendary company and the talented TT Games, which will enable us to further expand our slate of widely recognized, family-friendly games."
"We look forward to carrying on our excellent collaboration with the LEGO Group in building extraordinary LEGO videogame franchises, with both Warner Bros. and third party IP, that continue to resonate with consumers," added Tom Stone, managing director of TT Games Publishing. "There is a tremendous future for LEGO games, and we are looking forward to working with all of our partners over the coming years."
Tokyo Vikings? Pfft, that's totally not a badass enough studio name to house Tomonobu Itagaki. It was announced today that the former Team Ninja boss and creator of Tecmo franchises like Dead or Alive and Ninja Gaiden has joined Valhalla Game Studios, and will serve as the CTO. The studio was formed by fellow ex-Tecmo employee, Satoru Kanematsu.
"Valhalla is about 50 people right now. That may expand a bit, but it's not going to be a 100-person company. Fifty people working for two years can produce something better than 100 people working for one year: 100 times one and 50 times two may produce the same number, but not in creative businesses like this one."
As for what type of game the crew are cooking up? We have no idea. Surely it'll have absurd breast physics and heaps of violence, though, no? Itagaki simply teases, "At this stage, I cannot say. However, I believe the game I'm making now will be a little bit like nothing anyone has ever seen. ... If you ask who I've been developing for, it's for Earthlings."
"The highest selling of the games I've made is Dead or Alive 3. It was 2 million. So, this time, I'd like to make a game that can be played by, at the very least, 4 million people. I mean, there are people who make games that sell 10 million units, so 4 million isn't that reckless a number. ... I think success in games comes when you satisfy all three pieces of the game business: the players, the developers, and the links between them - the retail and media people. I've been making games for nearly 20 years and I've done that maybe two or three times."
He went on to add, "At my previous company, I made the best fighting game in the world, Dead or Alive. Fighting games have once again reached a dead end, although to be honest, if there was no Dead or Alive, fighting games would have ended a long time ago." Oh snap. Itagaki starting up a fanboy war?
We should get a peek at, or start to hear whispers of, what he's working on by E3. Hopefully.
We knew it would arrive someday, what with copious amounts of concept art, design ideas and more being leaked over the last two years, and our patience has paid off. This morning Atari officially revealed Test Drive Unlimited's sequel, developed by Eden Games, and due out later this fall.
In-depth details are light at this stage, but we know that TDU2 will retain the innovative M.O.O.R. aspect (Massively Open Online Racing), "in a persistent online environment and revolutionizing multiplayer racing communities as players compete, team up, and share their achievements and creations online." Likewise, the player customization and acquiring of luxurious cars and properties will return.
The sequel will feature vehicle damage on its licensed cars, as well as the rumored dynamic weather, day/night cycles, and a brand new island for players to cruise. Atari says that TDU2 is "always live," and that it'll have "automatic updates and seamless online/offline integration," in addition to a "revamped single player narrative mode" that can be played solo, or online. We can also expect new race types, vehicle classes, and environmental challenges.
"After the highly successful Test Drive Unlimited which redefined the genre with massively open online racing, Test Drive Unlimited 2 will be an innovative evolution in racing games, expanding its unparalleled multiplayer experience and immersing players in a world full of new online content and lifestyle customization." said Jeff Lapin, CEO of Atari. "The game fits squarely into our strategy of moving online and generating new revenue streams while maintaining our current retail business."
Konami was all set to enter to tactical military shooter genre last year with Atomic Games' Six Days in Fallujah, a game that was as controversial as you could get at the time. Not long after announcing it, though, the publisher buckled to public reception, and decided to can the project, but it lived on at the developer, even amidst their eventual lay-offs and near-shutdown. A bunch of screens and concept material even leaked out towards the middle of 2009, showing a rather impressive looking shooter.
Fast-forward to today, and things are looking up for Fallujah, the game that almost never was.
"I can promise you that game is still coming out and it is finished," a source close to the matter tells IGN. Good news, I guess, if you were interested in seeing what all the hubbub was about. If not, well, that just happened.
Sadly, there is no word on a release date, or a possible publisher. Who is left out there that doesn't have a military shooter franchise?
Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami and his team at Platinum Games will next be tackling the sci-fi, third-person shooter genre with Vanquish. With a main hero that smacks of Master Chief and a setting rivaling Crysis 2, the teaser trailer from early this year didn't give us anything in the way of details on the first new IP from the company since Bayonetta, but it looks like Sega may have a winner here.
The newest issue of Famitsu features an interview with Mikami, wherein he talks about Vanquish and even offers up the first (small) in-game screenshots. According to the rough translations making their way around the web, Vanquish will be a multiplatform third-person shooter that focuses on speed and fast-paced action, with a balance between using cover and close-range attacks. The mech suit the player wears is includes a new boost mechanic that allows for quick transitions around the environment, and into enemies for up-close combat.
What you'll be be dispatching will be robots and not humans, while the setting revolves around a near-future war between the U.S. and Russia. Possibly the most interesting thing about Vanquish thus far is that Mikami says you won't be scavenging weapons and upgrading or swapping them out. Instead, the tools of death at your disposal are part of the mech suit, and can transform in real-time. The real question is: can the creator of Resident Evil give us modern-day walk-and-shoot controls? How ironic that would be.
According to the developer, Vanquish is about 80-percent finished right now and due this fall, with a demo planned beforehand.
Rock Band 3 announced, rocks out this fall 09 March 2010 17:48
It's official: Rock Band 3 is on the way from MTV Games and Harmonix. I bet you totally did not see that coming, right?
President and CEO of Viacom, Philippe Dauman, revealed the sequel today at...
