DailyGamesNews.com

Assassin's Creed II Sells 1.6 Million Units In First Week

2009-11-25T16:30:00.002Z

Ubisoft has announced record first week sales performance for Assassin’s Creed II with 1.6 million units sold through worldwide according to internal estimates, representing a 32% growth over the first week sales of Assassin’s Creed. Launched in November 2007, Assassin’s Creed remains the fastest selling new video game intellectual property ever in the U.S.

Source: Internal

Microsoft Patents Xbox 360 Super Guide

2009-11-25T16:00:00.003Z

Microsoft has filed a patent for something along the lines of a“Xbox 360 Super Guide” which will be an Xbox Live orientated guide and FAQ for gamers. The patent was filed by Microsoft director of games platform strategy, Andre Vrignaud and will no doubt be similar to the Nintendo Super Guide where players can pause a game for interactive help on a particular section.

Source: Siliconera

Activision Has Plans For Guitar Hero Subscription Model

2009-11-25T15:30:00.003Z

Red Octane co-founder Kai Huang has revealed that Activision may have plans for a subscription based model for the Guitar Hero franchise for downloadable content:

“That’s definitely one of the things we would love to do. There are a lot of issues around music licensing. Customers want it. I know I want it. We’re trying to make that happen.”

Source: SeattleTimes

BioWare Boasts Impressive Community Support

2009-11-25T15:00:00.002Z

BioWare has boasted its popularity amongst gamers with its social website, Social.Bioware.com seeing 5 million registered users become part of the site, 500,000 of which signed up in the last month or so.

Yesterday, BioWare is relaunched MassEffect.com with a new design and more connectivity to BioWare’s social networking community at Social.BioWare.com.

Source: Internal

Ruffian Launch Crackdown 2 Graffiti Competition

2009-11-25T14:30:00.003Z

Crackdown 2 developer, Ruffian Games has launched a competition for you to design your own Graffiti artwork and have it featured in the game when it releases. Check official website at the source for terms and conditions and further entry details.

Source: Official

Mass Effect 2 Team Moving Straight Onto DLC Work After Game Launch

2009-11-25T14:00:00.004Z

More promises of decent downloadable content as Mass Effect 2 project director, Casey Hudson has revealed the entire development team for the game will move onto downloadable content duties once the game is released:

“As part of trying to build the game, as ambitious as it was, one of the things we weren’t able to do technically was to have the support in the game itself for certain kinds of downloadable content. So, it had to be a huge pack or nothing essentially was the issue. Now we’ve gone through and made sure that its technically possible to do a whole range of different kinds of downloads."

“Once we’re done working on Mass Effect 2, pretty much the whole team switches into working on really cool downloadable content. That’s where we like to listen to what fan feedback is for ‘where do you want to go’ and ‘what kinds of things do you want to see.’”

Wicked. It's set to release on on Xbox 360 and PC in January next year.

Source: GTTV

New York To Use Xbox Live In Emergency Broadcast Signal

2009-11-25T13:30:00.003Z

New York has revealed plans to keep gamers informed of any national disasters by implementing the emergency signal through Xbox Live. State Deputy CIO Rico Singleton commented on how the plan makes sense considering the amount of time American youths spend playing videogames and confirmed its currently in testing stages.

Source: InformationWeek

Guerilla Celebrates 5 Years Of Killzone

2009-11-25T13:00:00.003Z

Guerilla Games has announced Killzone is almost 5 years old this week, and to celebrate is hosting a double XP weekend for Killzone 2 on PS3 between November 27th-30th. There's also cheap downloadable content to be had too. Flash & Thunder is now $2.99 and the Map Pack Bundle is down to $9.99 — until December 10th.

Source: USPB

EA Confirms Mercs Inc Title Is Still On The Way

2009-11-25T12:30:00.003Z

EA has confirmed that Mercs Inc is in development and was being worked on at Pandemic Studios and is now being worked on at EA LA. Nick Earl, Senior VP and Group General Manager at EA commented:

“We are very excited to announce a new instalment in the popular Mercenaries series because it demonstrates our continued commitment to Pandemic’s rich catalogue of intellectual properties. From the studio at EALA, a core creative team is forging new ground and conceptualizing new ideas for this exciting franchise.”

You can watch the leaked video trailer of it here.

Source: Internal

EA Montreal Focusing On Bigger And Better Titles

2009-11-25T12:00:00.002Z

Wow, in spite of losing money and closing studios, EA looks to be turning away from the easy money options of Wii game development as EA Montreal’s general manager, Alain Tascan reveals the studio is going for more attention to detail in bigger titles:

“The Wii market is a little bit unpredictable these days. We’re going to see how Christmas is going to do and while with the Wii we have had very successful titles, we are going to focus on big, blockbuster-type titles."

“It doesn’t mean that we are going to abandon the Wii, but as a studio we want to be ready for new challenges."

“I feel right now our label wants to focus on fewer and bigger things, and the market is going through this soft transition where people want these very high value productions on one side, which is our speciality within the games label, but also this casual, but high quality, product that they can play quickly, of which mobile is one part and Playfish is another. We’re just trying to adapt to the reality of today."

“I think the market is showing that if you don’t adapt fast enough then you’ll be in trouble.”

Source: Edge

Serious Sam HD Less Than A Tenner On GetGames

2009-11-25T11:30:00.002Z

Serious Sam HD: The First Encounter is now available and we told you last week Steam had it for cheap, well Eurogamer's digital download service, GetGames has it even cheaper, for £9.99 when you sign up for their service. Go grab it.

Source: GetGames

BBFC Reveals 'Unannounced' Resident Evil 5 Level (Most Likely)

2009-11-25T11:00:00.004Z

Bless the BBFC for it always brings us a treat, this time in the form of what could be Capcom's as yet unannounced level for Resident Evil 5: Alternative Edition. A listing has revealed a new level called 'Desperate Escape' alongside the already revealed 'Lost In Nightmares' level. Looks like it'll arrive in the retail 'Gold' Edition alongside downloadable content.

Source: BBFC

Sony Lists Discounted Titles On PlayStation Network

2009-11-25T10:30:00.003Z

Sony has listed a collection of titles on PlayStation Network for discounted prices until December 2nd, including:

Flower
Regular price: $9.99
Sale price: $4.99

The Last Guy
Regular price: $9.99
Sale price: $4.99

Comet Crash
Regular price: $9.99
Sale price: $4.99

Prince of Persia Classic
Regular price: $9.99
Sale price: $4.99

Bomberman Ultra
Regular price: $9.99
Sale price: $4.99

Smash Cars
Regular price: $14.99
Sale price: $7.49

Invincible Tiger: The Legend of Han Tao
Regular price: $14.99
Sale price: $7.49

Source: VG247

Downloadable Content Will Be Free For Tekken 6 If It Happens

2009-11-25T10:00:00.002Z

Tekken 6 producer Katsuhiro Harada has said the developer is contemplating downloadable content for the fighter, and if it materialises, it will be made available for free:

“There is a strong possibility we will [release DLC]. However, even if we were to do so, it would be free to the end user.”

Source: UKPB

Sony Compensating Users For Broken Assassin's Creed Bloodlines

2009-11-25T09:30:00.003Z

Sony has confirmed that users who received a borked copy of Assassin's Creed: Bloodlines on PSP when downloaded from the PlayStation Store will receive new codes to re-download a proper, working copy of the game. The company stated:

“Yes, there was an issue with the original download. It was pulled from the store and we are issuing replacement codes for those people who purchased the content before 12pm GMT on November 20th.”

Happy days. Would suck if they had a digital download only system that couldn't download games people bought...

Source: EG

Dragon Age: Origins On Sale At Direct2Drive

2009-11-25T09:00:00.003Z

Digital Download provider, Direct2Drive has Dragon Age: Origins on sale for PC at $39.95 instead of the normal $49.95 until November 30th for US and Canadian gamers. If you don't have it already you're missing out on the gay sex scene...

Source: Official

RTL Winter Sports 2010 Demo Available On Xbox Live

2009-11-25T08:30:00.003Z

The Major brings word that a demo for RTL Winter Sports 2010 is now available for Xbox 360 gamers. it's available everywhere and the game itself is due for release on Xbox 360 and PS3 later this month.

Source: MajorNelson

Saints Row 2 And Lego Indiana Jones Added To Xbox 360 Games On Demand

2009-11-25T08:00:00.002Z

Microsoft has added Saints Row 2 and Lego Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures to the Xbox 360 Games on Demand Service on Xbox Live. Usual wallet burning prices, or in this case, credit card melting prices...

Source: MajorNelson

GameStop Offering 3 For 2 On Preowned Titles

2009-11-24T23:30:00.000Z

US retailer GameStop has sent out an email flyer informing customers that for this weekend only, you'll be able to purchase two preowned titles and get a third one absolutely free. Not a bad deal if you're after three extra games for Christmas... or you wanna be nice and cater for three mates...

Source: GameStop

Atkinson Out To Get Austrlian Modern Warfare 2 Banned

2009-11-24T23:00:00.001Z

Australia's number one anti-mature games person, South Australian Attorney-General Michael Atkinson has confirmed he will appeal against the rating of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 as a 15 in Australia in an effort to have the game banned. Atkinson believes the game is 'wrong' and 'glorifies terrorism':

“This decision doesn’t surprise me. The Classification Board in Australia does everything to try and get games in under the radar.”

“I worry about any game that encourages gamers to perpetrate extreme violence and cruelty on screen, but this game [Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2] allows players to be virtual terrorists and gain points by massacring civilians. Expecting game designers to be responsible by not glorifying terrorism will always lead to disappointment."

Source: GameSpot

Check Out The Top 87 Breasts In Video Games

2009-11-24T22:30:00.001Z

German gamers have voted for the best 87 videogame boobs in history. Bit of an odd number, we're guessing they've totally exhausted all possible in-game breasts to make the list. Someone had a fun research assignment! Some of them are famous such as Lara Croft's whereas others are insider-tips like the ones from a "3D Sex Villa 2". Sorry...!

Source: PCAction.de

Just Cause 2 Releasing In March 2010

2009-11-24T22:00:00.004Z

Square Enix London Studios, has announced Just Cause 2 will release in-stores on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC on March 23rd, 2010, in North America and March 26th, 2010, in Europe, Middle East, and Australia.

Developed by Avalanche Studios and using the proprietary Avalanche 2.0 Engine, Just Cause 2 features over 1000Km² (400miles²) of South East Asian island paradise.

Source: Internal

Video - Leaked Mercenaries Inc Video From Pandemic Studios

2009-11-24T21:30:00.003Z

A leaked video has surfaced from the ashes of Pandemic Studios following the closure by EA which looks to be a Mercenaries MMO game that was in development at the studio, working under the title of Mercenaries Inc. Development has said to have been moved over to EA LA where some former Pandemic staff managed to settle.

Source: Internal

NCsoft Bans 16,000 Cheaters From Aion

2009-11-24T21:00:00.002Z

NCsoft has rebooted Aion servers and banned around 16,000 players caught cheating for using bots or committing real money offences. The developer stated:

“If your account was closed for the use of 3rd party software (botting) or participating in RMT (gold buying/selling) the evidence for the account closure was gathered over several weeks."

“It may be completely unrelated to what your character was doing right when your account was closed.”

Source: Official

President Obama Teams Up With Sony

2009-11-24T20:30:00.005Z

President Obama is once again in the gaming news with his initiative to use gaming consoles as learning tools. Teaming up with Sony, Obama has launched the ‘Game Changers’ initiative to which Sony will donate 1,000 PlayStation 3’s, each with a copy of Little Big Planet.

The consoles will be used in libraries all over America and with the accompanying game it is hoped the scheme will encourage kids to use the games creation tools involving maths, science and engineering to produce levels. In regards to the scheme Obama was quoted:

“The MacArthur Foundation and industry leaders like Sony are launching a nationwide challenge to design compelling, freely available science-related videogames.”

Education through games is nothing new however games designed with absolute entertainment in mind are rarely if ever used to educate. It will be interesting to see how well the initiative progresses.

Source: NG