Author: Jeff Morgan (Page 230 of 260)

      Valve announces L4D2 pre-order bonuses

      October 3, 2009 /

      Left 4 Dead 2 squad.Pre-order bonuses have never thrilled me; developers usually package the good stuff with the collector’s editions. Valve’s Left 4 Dead sequel is no different. The company announced the pre-order bonuses this week, and they’re about what you would expect.

      Those of you pre-ordering Left 4 Dead 2 will get early demo access, which has become pretty standard with these deals. There’s also an in-game exclusive, the American baseball bat, which is one of 10 new melee weapons for crushing some zombie skull. Participating retailers (yup, Steam is doing it) will also be offering a 10% savings on retail price.

      You first chance at smacking the undead will come October 27th with the demo. Pre-order before then to make sure you’ll have access.

      Previews

      Game Crazy closing 200 locations this month

      October 2, 2009 /

      Game Crazy store.According to a recent post at Joystiq, used game retailer Game Crazy is looking to close 200 stores this month. The company only has 680 stores, so 200 is a massive chunk to shut down. I was especially surprised to read that the video rental locations attached to the game stores will remain open after the game locations shut down.

      The company issued this formal statement:

      Movie Gallery, Inc. is currently operating in an unprecedented consumer/retail environment. In order for us to continue to best serve our millions of customers across North America we’re addressing underperforming stores and ensuring that there is sufficient [return on investment] associated with each of these stores going forward. The vast majority of our stores will be unaffected by these efforts.

      Maybe Movie Gallery should take a look at recent stats for movie rentals. While that industry dies a slow and irritating death, the used game business continues to frustrate publishers with big sales numbers. Perhaps you should refocus your business model?

      News

      Wii piracy update bricking legit consoles

      October 1, 2009 /

      Nintendo Wii pulled apart.The Nintendo tech forums are abuzz with reports that Wii update 4.2 is bricking consoles. The update was meant to kill homebrew applications and pirated games on modded consoles, an effort that requires changes to the Wii’s bootloader. If something goes wrong during install you get a corrupt bootloader…and a dead Wii.

      The update was prefaced by the following warning:

      Because unauthorized modifications to save data or program files may impair game play or the Wii console, updating to Wii Menu version 4.2 will also check for and automatically remove such save data or program files.

      That’s a nice road marker for all the hackers out there, basically reminding them that to continue hacking they should avoid the update.

      A Nintendo rep stopped by the forums to offer free repairs to anyone with an unmodified console that dies after the update. It’s a nice offer, but it was delivered in a way that says, “We know you modified your console. This wouldn’t be happening if you didn’t. Stop lying.” And sending your Wii away for repairs because of a software update gone wrong. Well I can’t think of much that would be worse.

      News, Nintendo Wii

      Sony nazi ads are fake

      October 1, 2009 /

      Fail.Looking for a surefire way to lose your biggest client? All you have to do is leak ad mock-ups featuring company products reviving dead nazis. That should do the trick. As you’ve no doubt gathered, the PS3 ads that leaked the aren’t day aren’t real. Well, they’re real in the sense that they exist, and they were actually made by an advertising firm for Sony, but Sony never approved them.

      That’s good news for Sony, though I can’t imagine the company is particularly pleased, and really bad news for BBDO, the ad firm behind the offending material. Here’s a statement from the executive prez of BBDO Chile:

      This creative design did not involve and was never approved by Sony Computer Entertainment or Sony. This “mock campaign” was developed by BBDO Chile staff and was submitted to various creative competitions/festivals without prior notification or approval from SCE/Sony, and it is not representative of the views or advertising policies of SCE/Sony. BBDO Chile apologizes for using this creative concept without authorization or prior approval, and for its misrepresentation of the PlayStation brand and its values.

      Yeah, they should have seen that one coming. Submitting ads that racy with no prior approval is just stupid.

      Games in Media, PS3

      Assassin’s Creed 2 Rounds Third, Heads For Home

      September 30, 2009 /

      Ezio diving head first.Not to be outdone by Bioware, Ubisoft confirmed some carnal experiences for Assassin’s Creed 2. Bioware has long been champion of the cause for sex in video games, with sequences like those in Mass Effect and the upcoming Dragon Age: Origins.

      The Ubisoft announcement came in the form a response to a fan by Benoit Lambert, director for the sequel to everyone’s favorite medieval stabfest. He called Ezio a womanizer, but would say little else. “There’s a bit of sex. I can’t say more.” Sounds like we’ll get some sideboob and a “tastefully” cropped shot of some pixelated buttocks. In any case, I’m sure we’ll have the answers November 20th. The moment you say “we’ve got sex,” you’ve issued a challenge to the league of perverts who also happen to be gamers.

      Source: VG247

      Previews, PS3, Xbox 360

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