MMO Clerks

Pac-Man’s 30th anniversary is only a year away, and Namco Bandai has revealed that a new game starring everyone’s favorite spectre-munching pizza-thing is on its way.

There isn’t much in the way of details yet, but Gamasutra reports that Hirokazu Yashuara, one of the co-creators of Sonic the Hedgehog, will be working on the project. Yasuhara has expressed “a strong desire to create a new
character action game,” citing a lack of such titles nowadays — could that mean the return of the Pac-platformer?

I never got a chance to play Pac-Man World, but anything that gets the old champ out of the mazes and back into the limelight has got to be a good thing. Besides, he’s getting a little too old to be popping so many pills.

Image courtesy waynesutton12 / flickr

Namco’s Iwai: Sonic Co-Creator Working On Pac-Man Comeback Game [Gamasutra]

See Also:

Castlevania, Pac-Man Films Granted $200 Million Financing
Video: Pac-Man, Space Invaders [...]

Original post by Nate Ralph

No plans this weekend? Steam has the answer: Valve’s digital distribution service will be offering Epic Games’ shooter Unreal Tournament III as a free download for anyone with a Steam account, reports Big Download.
Instead of simply offering a trial, the version on offer from Steam includes the new Titan Pack add-on, the vast collection of content released for the game so far and the recent 2.0 patch.
Epic hopes that players who enjoy the game this weekend will take advantage of the heavy discounts in place that make the game a $12 download until March 15.
Image courtesy Epic Games
Play Unreal Tournament III free this weekend on Steam [Big Download]
See Also:

Unreal Tournament III Expansion Adds Giant Monsters
Steam Achievements Coming with Major Unreal Tournament 3 Patch …
PlayStation 3 Unreal Tournament 3 Delayed To 2008

Original post by Earnest Cavalli

Publisher Ubisoft has shifted development of post-earthquake survival title I Am Alive from French studio Darkworks to Ubisoft Shanghai, the former studio has revealed.
“In order to respect the new launch date for this ambitious title,
and Darkworks having other obligations, we have mutually decided to
complete development of I Am Alive at Ubisoft Shanghai, as the two studios have collaborated on aspects of the title over the past year,” the official announcement reads.
“The team at Darkworks has respected its contractual obligations on
the project and will be a part of the success of the game when it
launches.”
Outside of the short announcement, no official reason for the shift has been given.
Image courtesy Ubisoft
Darkworks carried out its duty [Darkworks, via Edge]
See Also:

Video: I Am Alive Does Anything to Survive
Jade Raymond Does Survival Action at E3
Assassin’s Creed 2, Splinter Cell, Ghost Recon in Next Year

Original post by Earnest Cavalli

No plans this weekend? Steam has the answer: Valve’s digital distribution service will be offering Epic Games’ shooter Unreal Tournament III as a free download for anyone with a Steam account, reports Big Download.
Instead of simply offering a trial, the version on offer from Steam includes the new Titan Pack add-on, the vast collection of content released for the game so far and the recent 2.0 patch.
Epic hopes that players who enjoy the game this weekend will take advantage of the heavy discounts in place that make the game a $12 download until March 15.
Image courtesy Epic Games
Play Unreal Tournament III free this weekend on Steam [Big Download]
See Also:

Unreal Tournament III Expansion Adds Giant Monsters
Steam Achievements Coming with Major Unreal Tournament 3 Patch …
PlayStation 3 Unreal Tournament 3 Delayed To 2008

Original post by Earnest Cavalli

Not every religious leader wants to decry videogames. To wit, Rabbi Micah Kelber’s recent article in Jewish publication Forward praising Call of Duty: World at War’s unflinching portrayal of the reality of war.
“As a Jew, being involved in virtually ending World War II allows you to
experience the closest thing possible to killing the sense of
victimhood created by the Holocaust,” Rabbi Kelber writes.
“And you do it without actually hurting any real people. In fact, it’s
so satisfying that when you get to shoot down the golden eagle on the
Reichstag, while sniping headshots at flame-throwing Nazis, you simply
don’t want the war to end.”
“The realistic portrayal of violence in video games is often decried.
But those who would disparage these games for being too brutal would be
those who would condemn them for not showing the realities of war. It
is because of its violence that the game ushers in some of the feeling
of the intensity [...]

Original post by Earnest Cavalli

“I think people are looking too quickly to be able to jam that label onto it,” said Glenn Bowman, Senior Lecturer at the Department of Anthropology at the University of Kent when asked about the alleged racism in Resident Evil 5.
Videogamer.com recently sat down with Bowman and played through the first three levels of the game to ascertain his expert opinion on whether Capcom’s game exploits stereotypical racist images of African villagers.
“I don’t find this very racist,” Bowman says of the game. “I think what they’re trying to do is make a setting of terror, of anxiety.”
Bowman also tackles the claims of detractors who cite one particular scene as the basis for their argument:
We could go back to the mention of that one scene you claim that people
were using as a sign of racism, where supposedly a blonde white woman
is being dragged into a second floor house to be [...]

Original post by Earnest Cavalli

I hope you like Guitar Hero, because if a claim made by Eurogamer proves true we’ll be seeing eight new games in Activision’s flagship rhythm series before the end of 2009.
Alongside the handheld Guitar Hero: Modern Hits and a separate, unnamed Nintendo DS release, Eurogamer says the company plans to release “Hard Rock Van Halen (August), Guitar Hero 5 (presumably a working title
- September), DJ Hero (October), and Band Hero (November)” for the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, PS2 and Wii.
These are all in addition to Guitar Hero Metallica and Guitar Hero: Greatest Hits.
While Activision has yet to officially confirm this rumor, the company is notorious for wringing every last bit of profitability out of its lucrative series. Eight releases in one year does seem like a lot, but it’s not entirely unthinkable given the dire financial straits facing the gaming industry.
Image courtesy Activision
Van Halen, GH5, Band Hero for 2009 [...]

Original post by Earnest Cavalli

Though the recent trailer made Metal Gear Solid Touch look more like a weak light-gun game than a true Metal Gear Solid followup, I’m still excited for the iPhone release, thanks in large part to how pretty the game’s screenshots look.
Konami’s latest batch of 6 screenshots show off various scenes instantly recognizable to gamers who finished Metal Gear Solid. They look quite good for an iPhone release, but since everything seems to be pre-rendered, existing art I won’t call the game a huge technological achievement (unlike the PS3’s Metal Gear Solid 4).
Still, even with the focus seemingly shifted away from the series’ trademark sneaking in favor of tapping enemies on screen, the game should do quite well among fans — assuming Konami remembers to integrate the trademark nuances that have always made the games of Metal Gear Solid creator Hideo Kojima so enjoyable.

Images courtesy Konami
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Metal Gear Online ‘SCENE’ Expansion [...]

Original post by Earnest Cavalli

One more bit of WonderCon adventure: A photo gallery of things we could have, but did not, buy on the show floor.
For instance, we did not buy Mark Hamill’s autograph, which would have cost $100.
Also watch our WonderCon 2009 video.
WonderCon 2009: 10 Things We Would Have Bought [Wired]

Original post by Chris Kohler

Sumner Redstone and his daughter Shari have been subpoenaed for depositions in civil court after creditors for the firm alleged insider trading in the recent sale of the company to new owner Mark Thomas, reports GamePolitics.
Thomas’ Acquisitions Holding Subsidiary purchased a majority stake in the Mortal Kombat publisher last November for the bargain price of $100,000. Documents filed by attorneys for Midway’s creditors claim that Thomas stood to make a huge windfall after purchasing the publisher.
Both Redstone and his daughter have been ordered to provide e-mail, notes and financial documents relating to the sale when they appear later this month in New York City court.
Image courtesy Midway
Midway Insider Trade Claims a Likely Focus of Redstone Depositions [GamePolitics]
See Also:

Midway Stalls Collapse By Selling Key Properties
NYSE Dumps Mortal Kombat Publisher Midway
Midway Cuts Jobs, Cancels Games to Save Cash
Majority of Midway Games Sold for $100000

Original post by Earnest Cavalli