Gamernode: Latest Industry News

E3? How about the C4 convention?

E3, E3, E3. Everybody is talking about E3. But there was another convention that occurred recently that should get some recognition as well: namely the C4 Expo.

We pause for the scratching of heads...

The 3rd annual C4 convention isn't about explosives, but about fans of the old school Commodore 64 computer. C4 stands for the Cincinnati Commodore Computer Club. The event was held during the last week in Mitchell, Kentucky.

The official website didn't go into details about what was going to happen at the convention, but we do know that the world's first Commodore 64 LAN party was held there. A new LAN game called NetRacer was unveiled and allowed an astonishing 8 players to play together over an Internet connection.

PSN and Xbox Live...hang your heads in shame.

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GamerNode is heading to E3!

From July 14-17 the E3 Expo will be underway in Los Angeles, and GamerNode is going to be there, ready to give you the latest up to date news on everything that will be going on.

With E3 being the biggest videogames convention of the year, expect to see tons of brand new content to whet your gaming appetite from many big name companies. What we want to know is which company do you want to hear the most news from? Which company are you most excited about and why? Check out and vote in the new poll and tell us why you picked your choice, and is there a particular game that you can't wait to hear more info about?

Make sure to come back and visit every day next week when we will be giving you exclusive GamerNode interviews, in-depth previews, impressions, live blogging and mini podcast episodes...

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Ken Levine of BioShock in contract talks with T2

Ken Levine, the creative force behind the Sci-Fi adventure game, Bioshock, is in talks with Take Two, the publisher of the title, for a new contract.

Inside sources indicate that the talks are in a "delicate" stage but that the deal, if taken by Levine, will allow him more creative control over his projects as well as allowing him to start new game lines.

Will the new contract mean big bucks for Levine? Most likely, but other sources say it won't be in the same pay stratosphere as the creators of Grand Theft Auto IV.

"Levine delivered a big hit for Take-Two and they want to give him a good deal going forward. But 'BioShock' isn't 'Grand Theft Auto.' It's not even in the same universe," said an unnamed source.

Keeping Levine on the Take Two team will not only assure the quality of the next Bio...

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Is that an NES...inside a cartridge?

If I was only allowed to use the word "awesome" once a month, then this story would definitely get the nod for July, even though we're still only four days in.

Benheck.com forum user darkeru has managed to take the guts of a Nintendo Entertainment System and stuff them all into the shell of a game cartride.

He even added a small LCD screen, and is running the entire unit on three n-cell batteries. As for games, this baby comes with 99 of them built in, including Super Mario Bros. (pictured below).

Unfortunately, the mod won't be distributed to stores, so the rest of us will have to be content to live vicariously through its creator.

[via benheck.com]

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Rock Band 2 partial list leaked?

So this bit of news, be it true or rumor, comes from ScoreHero forum-goers who might've accidentally slipped on the information.

Spotted on a preview from X-Play, we now have a list of some songs that could either be new songs for Rock Band 2, or future DLC for the original Rock Band. Either way, the list is pretty damn sweet, lets take a look.

* "Panic Attack" - Dream Theater (or Finger Eleven) * "Chop Suey" - System of a Down * "Give It Away" - Red Hot Chili Peppers * "Everlong" - Foo Fighters * "Kids in America" - Kim Wilde * "Ace of Spades" - Motorhead * "Hello There" - Cheap Trick * "Anyway You Want It" - Journey * "Pinball Wizard" - The Who

Oh man, am I going to have to buy Rock Band 2 now just so I can play Panic Attack? My inner DT feeling says, "YES! Why ...

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Megaman 9 announced for WiiWare

Capcom has announced that it is releasing Megaman 9 for WiiWare.

The news comes from leaked scans of the latest issue of Nintendo Power, which shows Megaman 9 coming to WiiWare and previous news from Nintendo.

Megaman 9 will be presented in classic 2D without any upgrades to its graphics or gameplay. So for that genuine old-school goodness, M9 may be just the game for platformer fans.

The Nintendo Power article says Inti Creates, a company comprised of former Capcom employees who worked on previous Megaman games, will be in charge of developing the game.

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Online survey reveals Rock Band 2 and Guitar Hero ...

As many people who partake in Internet money-making sites will know, there's an invitation-only survey site called u.talk.back which sprung up some time ago. Companies and sponsors of the site send surveys to user demographics (after they've invited them to register, of course) to get feedback on things they're working on or planning for the future, and the survey takers are rewarded with gift cards or certificates. Last month, hints of Rock Band 2 started leaking from people partaking in the surveys. This time, the surveys have offered a bit more possible info, as the subject was Rock Band 2 vs Guitar Hero World Tour, and which one the responder would rather purchase.

Thanks to forum member (and survey taker extraordinaire) Dan Xanadu, we have the full text of the survey below. Go ahead an...

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Cliffy B says "No" to the ways of MGS

Well, Kojima has certainly caused quite a stir with his subtle quip directed towards the 360 contained in MGS4.  First, the MGS series has taken fire from a Bad Company trailer.  Now, the series is taking fire from Cliffy B.

Cliff Bleszinski, the lead designer of Gears of War, was quoted as saying MGS is a type of game that Epic would not touch with a ten-foot pole.  "Metal Gear Solid is our example of the game we're not doing," he stated.  "Passive entertainment is on its way out."

Now, what does this mean?  As Cliffy B was very vague with his wording, it's impossible to decide what aspect of the franchise he was referring to, and what exactly "passive entertainment" is.  Maybe he was referring to stealth.  Perhaps he was making a reference to the ridiculously long cut scenes that are almos...

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3D Realms on track for DNF. Calls E3 "irrelevant"

In more related pre-E3 news, 3D Realms boss, Scott Miller, says that the progress of Duke Nukem Forever is going along smoothly.

DNF has been a highly anticipated game and a joke at the same time. For over a decade, the next in the Duke Nuke franchise has been promised to waiting fans, only to disappoint again and again.

In a year where publishers and developers are steadily retreating from E3, Miller has joined the ranks against going there and stated that he won't be displaying the game at the convention.

He stated, "It's just that we view E3 as irrelevant nowadays. In fact, I wasn't even aware it was coming up."

Ok, but could it also be that 3D Realms has nothing to show? After all, it has been over 10 years since DNF was started, after all.

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Amazon starting Nintendo gaming deals

It may be summer but Nintendo and Amazon are in the giving mood. Starting today and proceeding on well into Saturday a plethora of Nintendo mechanise is going to be available for purchase on Amazon at dirtcheap prices.

So far we know SSBB is going for the low price of $25 and from there the deals may keep getting better and better as the day marches on. These are the details Amazon has layed out:

"At 12:01 AM PST the first deal will be the Gold Box Deal of the Day. Its special discounted price will be available all day only on Friday, June 27 (or until we run out.)

Starting at 6:00 AM PST, the second deal will be featured as a Lightning Deal. This special price will be available for the following two hours.

Each of the eight remaining deals will also be Lightnin...

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Microsoft, Intel and other PC firms will avoid E3

E3 is fast approaching and the likes of PC proponents Intel and Microsoft will be conspicuously absent from the festivities because of the heavy emphasis on console games at the event.

Although Microsoft decided to opt out of the E3 event, they held their own PC games show in San Francisco this week in order to cut down the competition for face time at E3.

Kevin Unangst, senior global director of Games for Windows said, "As it has morphed, E3 has fundamentally become a console show. We didn't want to just squeeze out some time at a console show."

Rahul Sood, head of HP's Voodoo PC game division expressed similar feeling about how E3 has changed throughout the years. "E3 used to be the Mecca of gaming. I'm skipping it because it's not what it used to be. Now it's just an event called E3."

Unan...

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Ed Boon talks fatalities in Mortal Kombat vs. DC

It looks like the upcoming Mortal Kombat vs. DC Universe from Midway will be only semi-fatal. In a recent interview, Mortal Kombat co-creator Ed Boon describes how fatalities will work, and who will be able to use them in the mash-up fighting game.

According to Boon, all of the game's MK characters and all of the DC Supervillians will be capable of performing fatalities on their defeated and helpless opponents. When it comes to DC Superheroes, however, it is more of a toss-up. 

"All of the MK characters and all of the DC villains will have fatalities. The DC heroes who don't kill that often will have brutalities that will function just like fatalities but don't actually kill the opponent."

I guess that makes sense. With a Teen rating and content that Boon claims is already "pushing the T-rat...

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Three more Battlefield games in production

EA has been experimenting with the notion of downloadable content regarding the Battlefield series as of late. Players voiced their opinions loudly against weapons purchasing DLC for the latest installment in the series, Battlefield: Bad Company. On the flipside, Battlefield Heroes will be free for everyone to play and will be supported by in-game ad revenue. It appears however that there are indeed more Battlefield games being made at the moment.

According to reports from the GDC even in Paris, EA's DICE studio executive producer Ben Cousins said that they're currently at work on five games in the series in total, including Heroes and Bad Company. The team is also at work on three other games based on the series, including a traditional core game aimed at consoles, and a new collaboration ...

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Rick Moranis missing from Ghostbusters game

Looks like the Ghostbusters game will have all of the original film stars back to do the voiceovers with the exception of Sigourney Weaver and Rick Moranis.

As to why Rick Moranis is missing from the game, Ben Borth of Sierra said,

"He made so much money off of Honey I Shrunk The Kids that he retired. He just doesn't want to work anymore."

But in an interview with USA Today in October 2005, Moranis gives his reasons for leaving the entertainment industry.

"I pulled out of making movies in about '96 or '97. I'm a single parent (Moranis' wife died in 1991 of liver cancer), and I just found that it was too difficult to manage raising my kids and doing the traveling involved in making movies. So I took a little bit of a break. And the little bit of a break turned into a longer break, and then I f...

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It would have been a shame if BioShock failed for ...

Chris Kline, the lead designer on the game BioShock (perhaps you've heard of it), recently spoke in Paris at a game developers conference.  During his talk he told everyone that BioShock should have been a magnificent failure but wasn't. "It did fail a lot, over the course of time. A series of big mistakes and corrections and slipped ship dates, but all of these helped make it a good game."

What failures cropped up, you ask? Everything from the original concept being a remake of System Shock 2 to missed ship dates to their initial idea that the world should interact with itself and not the player.

And what did all those failures get you? Dozens of Game of the Year awards. "Some people think that constantly messing up, and pushing dates isn't a good way to make a game, but as far as I'm conc...

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Atari blasts website because of low review score

It sounds as if Atari is playing its own version of its classic game, Missile Command, by trying to blast a German gaming website for publishing an advanced review of Alone in the Dark.

The controversy surrounds 4Players. The site gave the game a dismal 68% in its review of the game.

How did Atari react? It immediately withdrew an advertising deal with the site and also accused the German website of piracy because it reviewed a pre-release copy of the game.

Atari lawyers told 4Players, "With this [review] you are breaking the law and violate the rights of our client [Atari]."

It seems that 4Players has an insider source that releases games ahead of time to the gaming website for review purposes. 4Player says it does this because of the "surprising lack of distribution channels" for the retai...

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Call of Duty: World at War trailer

With Call of Duty 4 leaving a sweet taste in all of our mouths, Activision will certainly be cranking out plenty of future Call of Duty titles. While Treyarch has handled most of the console exclusive Call of Duty titles over the years, Call of Duty: World at War will be heading to PC, PS3, Xbox 360, and Wii sometime this year. In addition, this game had a two-year development period, unlike Call of Duty 3.

World at War will feature new aspects like swimming and expanded aspects like more destructible environments and improved physics and lighting. Enjoy the debut trailer below.

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First Spider-Man: Web of Shadows combat footage

Where Spider-Man has dominated in the movie industry, he has done the same for videogames. Without a doubt, Spider-Man has enjoyed the most success when it comes to titles focused soley on a single superhero. The first Spider-Man game showed us a superhero game can be done correctly, while Spider-Man 2 gave us the first real iteration of an impressive web-slinging mechanic which dominated the majority of player's time.

While it's true Spider-Man 3 did not meet expectations, overall the quality of Spider-Man games have been higher than most. Now we are at the dawn of a new Spider-Man title known as Spider-Man: Web of Shadows. Not based on any of the movies (which to some severly handicapped the progression of the previous games), and bringing to life a new combat system, Web of Shadows may ...

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ESRB cracks down on game leaks

The ESRB website has always been a good place to spot upcoming games before they're officially announced. The two most recent examples I can think of are when the ESRB revealed the existence of Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia for the DS and when they told us that EarthBound would be coming to the American Virtual Console.

So it comes to pass that another good thing must end. When submitting a game to the ESRB for a rating, developers and publishers can now specify whether or not they would like to have an embargo placed. How this works is that when they submit a game's information, they simply list an embargo date and only when that date comes will the ESRB list the game on their website.

It's worth mentioning that companies have the option NOT to list an embargo date, so the leaks may still ...

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Thompson is pulled in by US Marshals

The Master of Disaster is at it again! It now seems as if the US government is counting Jack Thompson as a potential threat; with the US Marshals meeting with him after an extremely over-the-top sarcastic letter.

Yes, you read right. US Marshals were sent to the attorney's house by the US government! So why did the US government suddenly take interest in Thompson?

Well, it seems old Jackie, reacting to the "fact" that Al-Qaeda terrorists in Guantanamo Bay have more rights than he does, did the sensible thing and wrote to Chief Judge Federico Moreno.

He said, "I guess my 'mistake' was not killing 3000 people to make my point..." Yep, bringing up the notion of mass murder to a Chief Judge in a time of terrorist activity is totally cool, like saying that you should join the Westboro Baptis...

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