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Buy Crackdown, Get Halo 3 Beta Invite
I don't really know how Microsoft Game Studios and Real Time Worlds' Crackdown will turn out, as I haven't gotten to spend any pre-release time with it. One thing I do know a lot of people are going to buy it, regardless of how nicely it turns out.
That scan from the new Gamepro magazine comes from Cheap Ass Gamer mod Trakan. The Crackdown ad reads clear as day "Includes invitation to Halo 3 multiplayer beta." It also lets us know that the offer is for a limited time only so "look for specially marked boxes."
What do you think? Just one more reason on the giant hill of reasons to buy Crackdown? Or Zone of Enders-style cash-in for a potentially blah title?
Thanks to William and Robert for tipping us off.
Buy Crackdown in February and get an invitation to the Halo 3 beta [Cheap Ass Gamer]
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Rumor Smash: Capcom Doesn't Love The 360 THAT Much
Two Capcom-Xbox 360 rumors have been crawling around the internet for the past couple (slow news) days, so before we get too many more tips about these non-stories, let's smash 'em!
Rumor #1: Capcom Is Publishing SIX Xbox 360 games in 2007!
Source: This chart showing Capcom's Number of Titles Released, often incorrectly referred to as Capcom's latest investor relations report.
Unfortunately, that column featuring six Xbox 360 published games indicates they'll hit by March 2007, the end of Capcom's fiscal year. The column directly to the left shows two 360 games published in the first half of the fiscal year. What were those games? Dead Rising and Street Fighter II Hyper Fighting? Dead Rising for Japan and Dead Rising for... not Japan? It's unclear how Capcom is defining these games, if they're Capcom developed titles or games published by Capcom, but since this chart is from early November, don't expect to see six Capcom titles hit the 360 before the end of Q1 07.
READ MORE: capcom, clover, god hand, okami, rumor smashing, xbox 360
Contra 3 Headed To Wii VC Soon?
The ESRB has given Contra 3: The Alien Wars an E10+ rating for the Wii which may indicate that the Konami classic shooter is heading to the Virtual Console soon. The only announced titles due to hit the channel on New Year's Day are Urban Champion and Baseball, so there appears to be some room left in the line-up.
Keep in mind, though, that many ESRB rated titles are currently not yet available for the service, including Gradius, Pilotwings, Kid Icarus, Punch-Out!! and Pro Wrestling. But with two Nintendo published titles already planned, I suspect we'll see a handful of third party games slip out.
Bring on that SNES love!
READ MORE: contra 3 the alien wars, gradius, konami, nes, snes, virtual console, wii
Gears of War Nabs Another "GotY"
Gamespot called Gears of War their "Game of the Year." The New York Times gave it the distinction of "Best Job of Living Up to the Hype." Epic and Microsoft's over-the-shoulder shooter also snagged IGN's "Xbox 360 Game of the Year." It's a pretty safe bet that we'll see a box art update in the new year, chronicling the many kudos the bleak shooter netted from critics.
But Gamedaily? They just nod and casually mention Gears as the winner of their game of the year for 2006's NOD Awards. Sure they have their GOTY Edition quote in "Balls-out fun? Hell yes!" and also mention the two very capable runners up (The Legend of Zelda Twilight Princess and Guitar Hero II).
Check out the full round up below.
Gamedaily's Nod Awards 2006 [Gamedaily]
READ MORE: epic games, gears of war, goty, microsoft, xbox 360
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Happy International Tetris Quilt Day
Alice, fresh from her travels to Walt Disney World, declares today Tetris Quilt Day. Who am I to argue?
While I suspect the whole point of her declaring the day Tetris Quilt Day was to show off this cool quilt that is selling for $60, I'm not letting her off that easy.
I want Kotaku readers to help me create a list of activities for the official day, I'll also need at least one official mixed drink.
I'll start:
In honor of Tetris Quilt Day everyone should:
Visit the Church of Tetris
Figure out a way to work the word Pentamino into a sentence.
READ MORE: humor, oddities, tetris, tetris quilt day
Goldeneye Source Beta Live
After suffering a last minute delay, the beta version of Goldeneye Source has been released. A remake of the classic Nintendo 64 shooter built from the ground up to take advantage of Valve's Source engine, Goldeneye Source is available for download from the official site (or any of its many mirrors).
Keep in mind this is a beta release, one that was pushed to make a near-holiday live date, so expect some buggy behavior. I'm away from my gaming PC at the moment, but I'm going to give it a shot tomorrow when I return to LA.
READ MORE: fps, goldeneye, goldeneye source, mod, n64, remake, source, steam
Happy Holidays From The Godfather
EA is getting a jump on next year's Christmas shopping by giving Xbox Live subscribers the option to download (for a mere 150 Microsoft Points) the Godfather Happy Holiday Theme. They're really on the ball! I wish I could plan my holiday spending 363 days in advance.
The them pack is available now for Gold members, but you Silver-tier folks are going to have to wait until December 29th to tap into some of that holiday cheer. I don't know about you guys, but this Godfather Happy Holiday Theme has me pumped for Christmas!
But, I think the 48 hour wait will be worth it. You also get "a never before seen logo from The Godfather The Game." And who doesn't love unreleased logos?!
Theme: Godfather Happy Holiday Theme [Major Nelson]
READ MORE: downloads, ea, logos, major nelson, the godfather the game, themes, xbox live
FoxTrot Cuts Back to Weekly Reaffirms Love of WoW
FoxTrot cartoonist and World of Warcraft enthusiast Bill Amend recently announced that he would be cutting back from producing his excellent newspaper strip on a daily basis to a weekly one.
In his explanation he says he wants to get out of the house "and try some new things." OK, after checking out his latest comic I believe exactly half of that.
FoxTrot [Go Comics, thanks Shannon]
READ MORE: comics, foxtrot, humor, world of warcraft
Games Make You Drive Like an Idiot
Three teens in New Zealand died on Christmas Eve when they led the police on a high speed chase which ended with a crash into a pine tree and a roll down a gully. Now the New Zealand Herald reports that a national transport spokesperson is blaming bad teen driving on video games.
National's transport spokesman Maurice Williamson says today's young people think they are bullet-proof. He blames Playstations and X-boxes for making teens think they can drive stupidly and just push the reset button if anything goes wrong.
Not sure I buy his conclusion there. I thought scientists had conclusively proven that stupid teen driving is caused almost exclusively by being stupid and a teenager. I'm not even seeing any proof to indicate that these kids even owned video game systems. I mean hell, if they did they'd be home playing, not leading the police on a 190KPH chase through downtown Auckland. I suppose something has to be a scapegoat in situation like this. It's not PC to just call the kids retarded and be done with it.
Computer games blamed for teen road deaths [NZHerald.co.nz via Destructoid]
READ MORE: death, driving, games are bad, new zealand, scapegoats, stupidity
Rumor: XBLA Worms HD Hits Next Month
Rumor has it that Worms HD, a remake of the Team17 Software Lemmings take-off, is in the works for Xbox Live Arcade.
The game is said to be officially announced at CES next month, and hitting the Arcade shortly thereafter. The game will be a reworked, easier to play version of the original that will take up all 50MB of allowed space. The team, rumor has it, is already working on downloadable content for the game.
Worms to be released hot on the heels of CES? [XBLArcade]
Next-Gen Console Numbers: Wii Sells 3 Million
According to figures posted at VG Charts, Nintendo has managed to sell 3.19 million Wiis since the console was launched. That's a million in Japan, 1.32 million in the US, and an addition .86 million sold over the rest of the world. Considering the number of folks I saw at GameStop this past weekend begging for the funtabulous new console that number is growing in leaps and bounds with every new shipment that comes in.
To put this in perspective, the Xbox 360 has sold 7.74 million consoles in a year. In a little over a month, Nintendo has sold 40% of that number. Mind-boggling.
Meanwhile the PS3 has only sold 1.18 million, and with consoles sitting on the shelves as we speak I can't imagine that number growing too much until they get some big name games on the shelves. I doubt the number accounts for scalper returns either.
Next Gen Wars! [VGCharts.org via Evil Avatar]
READ MORE: ps3, sales figures, vg charts, wii, xbo 360
Clips: Columbine Super Massacre RPG Trailer
In preparation for its appearance as a finalist at Slamdance 2007, Danny Ledonne has put together an interesting trailer for his game Super Columbine Massacre RPG! The clip includes snippets from the game as well as sound clips from the many radio and TV interviews and discussions of the game and some quotes from the games' reviews.
Super Columbine Massacre RPG Trailer [Water Cooler Games]
READ MORE: clips, danny ledonne, super columbine massacre rpg trailer
Zipland Game Helps Kids Cope with Divorce
Zipland Interactive has released an interactive adventure game for the PC that helps children cope with the psychological issues that arise from having their parents divorce. It's a noble effort, and I am sure it will be quite effective under the right conditions. Unfortunately a posting on a gaming blog known for its humorous commentators isn't the right condition. Be gentle.
My parents divorced when I was 7 or 8, and all I can remember is getting toys every other weekend. If only I had had a video game moose to guide me. *sniffles*
What is Earthquake in Zipland? [Zipland.com]
READ MORE: children, coping, divorce", gaming goodness, moose, pc games, zipland
God of War 2 Goes Beta
I somehow missed this last week, while dealing with the approaching holiday and massive blizzard: God of War 2 is officially beta.
Cory Barlog reports on his blog that the game went beta on Dec. 22 and that they burned a bunch of discs to send home with the development team over their holiday break so they could play it.
Barlog goes on to dispel the rumor that the delay in the game was so they could add more levels:
As for the idea that we pushed back so why don't we add some levels...we pushed back to make sure everything we have now is as tight and clean and fun as it can be. We are using that extra time to make the game solid not to add more stuff to it and release a buggy game. So no luck on that....and for the special edition...I think it would take way more than a few weeks to do that so I don't see that happening right away.
The demo is still planned for January. I hope they decide to put in on the Playstation Store as well. I know this is a PS2 game, but tons of people will be playing it on their PS3s.
WE MADE BETA BITCHES!!!! [Cory Barlog]
READ MORE: beta, demo, god of war 2, ps2, top
Lead Civ Dev Praises Nintendo
Computer and Video Games has posted wan interview with Soren Johnson, the lead developer for Sid Meier's Civilization III & IV at Firaxis, in which he praises Nintendo for the innovation they've brought to the industry.
Obviously, there will always be a place for a traditional console like the 360 and the PS3, but people forget so often that videogames are capable of almost anything. No one's imagination is ever big enough to grasp all the new ways people can play electronically - and great rewards are waiting for companies that actively seek them out.
He goes on to call the release of Wii Sports a watershed moment, fulfilling the promise that Pong showed so many years ago, summing up neatly a feeling I couldn't quite quantify myself.
He also touches on some interesting points regarding PC games, including the fact that most major developers are console focused as of late, the potential of the Games for Windows label to make computer games more consumer friendly, and the importance of digital distribution for the future of PC gaming. It's an interesting peek at the gaming industry through the eyes of an accomplished insider.
State of play: Firaxis [Computer and Video Games via Blues News]
READ MORE: civilization, ds, firaxis, games for windows, innovation, nintendo, pc, soren johnson, wii
This Day in Gaming, December 27th
1999: Nintendo announces the DK Rap Attack contest to promote Donkey Kong 64. Gamers were invited to download music and lay down their own sweet lyrics...while making sure to roll videotape. Kotaku tip: whenever a contest requires you to set up self-video-portraiture, you are probably making an ass of yourself. Anyone out there have some DK rap lyrics for the group?
2001: Capcom releases Maximo: Ghosts to Glory for PS2 in the US. I can't believe I never played any of the Maximo titles, even after seeing them in bargain bins one thousand times. Literally. I counted. Yeah, I had a little notepad and everything.
Have gaming history, trivia, or famous birthdays you'd like to see in TDIG? Drop us a line at tdig@kotaku.com
READ MORE: history, original, tdig, this day in gaming, videogames
Japan PS3 Gets Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection
Playstation 3 owners in Japan today were surprised to find that they can now download Tekken 5: Dark Ressurrection from the Playstation Store.
The 830 megabyte downloadable game costs about $17 and is essentially a rework of Tekken 5 with some new characters and new modes of play running at 1080p. The game's modes include arcade battle, ghost battle, versus battle and a gallery for viewing and downloading images and movies.
Has anyone played this yet? I can't wait till it hits the U.S., I'm a huge Tekken fan.
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection [thanks Mark]
READ MORE: only in japan, ps3, tekken 5: dark resurrection, top
No Really, PS3 Demos Freeze on Purpose!
Nick Brutal over at Destructoid had a lovely conversation with a Sony rep this past Christmas Eve at a local EB Games. Seems the PS3 kiosk at the store had been locking up regularly since it arrived, and Mr. Brutal there decided to ask the rep why.
"So dude over there," I said pointing to the busy clerk, "says he keeps the kiosk off because it keeps freezing up.""Nope. No it doesn't."
"Well, actually, yeah. It does. I've seen it happen myself."
"No. It doesn't. We did that on purpose," he said.
"You make the entire console lock up on purpose because ... why?"
"We do that so that people won't play it all day long," he explained. "Specifically during Motorstorm, we made it freeze up a lot."
The only question I have is if the rep actually believes this bullshit, or if he is actively lying through his teeth. I called the GameStop I work at during the holidays and conducted a quick survey. Not one employee there, myself included, has ever seen the kiosk freeze up. We generally have to flip the switch on the fuse box on and off from the back room when people play too long. We'd better get on the phone with Sony ASAP and ask for a unit that freezes up as intended!
PlayStation 3 kiosks freezing up ... on purpose! [Destructoid via Slashdot]
READ MORE: bullshit, freezing, kiosks, locking, playstation 3, ps3, sony