Joystiq

EA dragging Dragon's Lair to iPhone

by JC Fletcher { 1 day ago }

click to cross the drawbridge into Screenshots' LairFollowing the well-received (by us, anyway) iPhone version of Space Ace, another, better-known Bluth-animated FMV classic is headed to the platform -- a game that, unlike Heavy Rain, is Dragon's Lair. This time, EA Play is publishing the 1983 Cinematronics arcade game, with an expected December release date. We'll get to watch Dirk the Daring die over and over again in a convenient portable format!

Dragon's Lair features both an "arcade mode" with the game as originally presented, and a "home mode" with extra scenes not used in the coin-op version. Our gallery features some new screens of the iPhone version, which look exactly like the game looked in 1983. Which is kind of the point.

There's supposedly a DSiWare version on the way as well, though EA doesn't seem to be involved with that one.

Gallery: Dragon's Lair (iPhone)

Child's Play raises over $1 million so far

by Richard Mitchell { 1 day ago }

It was announced today that the Child's Play charity has raised over $1 million so far this year. The charity, created by Penny Arcade to aid children in hospitals all over the world, has already raised a total of $1,010,680.28. Said Child's Play project manager Kristin Lindsay, "With so may people out of work, we've been amazed at the huge response this year." The charity hopes to surpass $1.4 million by year's end, which would be on par with what it brought in during 2008.

Several events for Child's Play have been planned or have already taken place this year. Notably, the Desert Bus for Hope marathon pulled in over $130,000 in November, while Harmonix will be throwing the Ümloud Rock Band night fundraiser on December 9. Readers can find out more about Child's Play at the official website.

PSA: Halo Legends delivers third free episode, titled 'The Package'

by Ben Gilbert { 1 day ago }

Another Saturday has arrived, and with it another free episode of Halo Legends on the Xbox Live Marketplace. For 24 hours only (of course it won't be on the internet afterward!), you can catch an anime'd up Master Chief delivering "The Package" with four "specially selected Spartans."

Today's episode is the first half of a two-parter (concluding on December 12), so be sure to catch it or be left lonely and confused when next week arrives. Or you could always just wait until the whole shebang arrives on Blu-ray this February 9.

MMO Roundup: Massively's week in review

by Shawn Schuster { 1 day ago }

When it comes to MMO news and special features, Joystiq sister site Massively.com has you covered. Whether you're looking for info on the hottest new MMO, or you're just curious about an old favorite, you'll find it at Massively. Check out our biggest features of the week:

	Analyzing the newest Guild Wars 2 trailer ArenaNet has a very early, very wonderful holiday gift for Guild Wars fans this morning: a brand new Guild Wars 2 trailer. (Take a moment to cheer, then we'll move on.) The trailer is amazingly beautiful, something we've come to expect from ArenaNet and particularly Guild Wars 2.
	Massively's End-of-the-Year Reader's Choice Awards The end of 2009 is almost upon us, and Arthur C. Clarke's dreams are all about to come true in less than a month. It's been an interesting year for MMOs, including everything from Tabula Rasa's official closure to the launch of LotRO's second paid expansion. While it's inevitable that the Massively staff all have their own favorite games in several different categories, we figured it would be best to get the readers involved this year.
	Hands-on with Star Trek Online's space combat Space battles in Star Trek Online are going to be a big selling point for many a Trek fan. I recently got some hands-on time with the closed beta and found several interesting talking points to deliver like hot fresh delicious phasered pizza. I imagine some of you are quite up to snuff on the basics of combat in Star Trek Online, so if you find your interest waning I suggest skipping ahead into the analytical aspect of this feature.
	MMO developers speak on the state of betas Is beta testing something of a mystery to you? Do you wonder about the how and why of a developer's beta process? Well, you're in for a treat! We recently got in touch with several MMO developers to ask them each a series of questions about MMO beta testing. In this feature you'll find opinions from Cryptic Studios, Fallen Earth LLC, Mythic Entertainment, Turbine, Runic Games and Hi-Rez Studios.

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LGJ: IP Police, Arrest this man, He talks in torrents

by Mark Methenitis { 1 day ago }

Mark Methenitis contributes Law of the Game on Joystiq ("LGJ"), a column on legal issues as they relate to video games:

[Image Source]

I would imagine anyone reading this column has seen the coverage of the UK government's plan to create a "Pirate Finder General" and other new anti-piracy activities. The Pirate Finder General would have exceptionally broad powers to find and punish pirates with little supervision in an almost Judge Dredd-esque "I am the law!" kind of way. Of course, the whole matter is couched as a necessary measure to protect rights holders, ignoring what impact the ability to permanently revoke use of the internet might have on the average household. To me, this is just another sign of the times in the constantly tumultuous intellectual property ecosystem. While the situation could certainly turn out poorly for our friends in the UK, could something like this ever happen in the United States? The answer might not be as clear cut as you think.

We have been over intellectual property topics of all shapes and sizes in the history of LGJ, and the one universal truth is that intellectual property rights exist for one reason: to balance the rights needed by IP producers to be able to profit from their work with the rights needed by IP consumers to be able to enjoy those works. The concept of intellectual property has never been about granting unlimited power to rights holders, nor unrestricted access to consumers. However, since the advent of the Internet, we have been in the middle of a digital arms race between pirates and various parts of the entertainment industry, which we have seen to have substantial resources and connections given some of the legal changes like the UK law cited above or the infamous Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement. Both sides have, at times, taken unsustainable or unrealistic positions, be that utopian unrestricted access to all intellectual property or draconian restrictions to simple use, like the position that ripping a CD you purchased to your iPod is copyright infringement.

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Readers pick best webcomic: SkiFree

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

Long-running webcomic xkcd is at its best when it manages to combine humor, philosophy and references to old, old Windows games into a single strip. This much is clear when reading "SkiFree," the winner of last week's Webcomic Wrapup. Not only does it make its reader laugh while contemplating the harsh reality of death, but it also inspires them to find a copy of SkiFree on the internet, which they can spend the next five hours playing. (Oh, hey. There's one right now!)

Second and third place went Nerf Now's "Super Blue Toad Bros." and Penny Arcade's "Delicioso," respectively. If you've got a favorite gaming-related strip from this week you'd like to see in tomorrow's Wrapup, make sure you drop a link to it in the comments, or send in a tip!

FTC commends ESRB and gaming industry for self-regulation practices

by Griffin McElroy { 1 day ago }

The Federal Trade Commission recently published a report which should simultaneously flatter the video game industry and stymie adversaries of the medium's terribly corruptive properties. In the report, the FTC says the gaming industry "outpaces" all other channels of entertainment in regards to its self-regulatory policies on marketing and advertising products which feature mature content.

The report praises the ESRB's ratings system, stating that 80 percent of M-rated games sales to minors are prevented by retailers. In addition, the report found that no ads for mature games were being run before 10 p.m., adding that the Commission found little evidence of M-rated game advertisements being targeted towards minors. The only exception? That episode of Hannah Montana where Hannah traveled back in time to 15th century Italy to become a professional assassin. Admittedly, that was kind of ethically dubious.

Scivelation dev explains title, story motivations

by Ben Gilbert { 1 day ago }

Ever since we first picked up word about TopWare Interactive's upcoming shooter Scivelation, we've been puzzled on how to speak about the game. Sure, we didn't know a ton about Scivelation itself other than a scant few words on the game's premise and a vague release window of Q3 2010, but we were much more troubled by the fact that we couldn't actually pronounce the title. So we asked TopWare Interactive managing director James Seaman to clarify the title's pronunciation, as well as to tell us a bit more about the game itself.

"Scivelation (Sigh-vuh-ley-shun) is a contraction of two words; Science and Revelation. Thus, Scivelation deals with a Scientific Revelation within the universe that we've created," Seaman told Joystiq. And while the setting (a "post-Apocalyptic" world) has been done a few times recently, he promised us a different take on the backdrop with Scivelation, and even cited Phillip K. Dick and Robert Heinlein as inspiration. "Though Scivelation deals with issues of societal breakdown and the world in chaos, humanity has reached the pinnacle of technological advancements. This combination of science fiction and dystopian society comes from our great love of many classic literary works." It remains to be seen whether or not TopWare Interactive's upcoming game will impress us, but at least now we know how to say its name correctly. Read Seaman's whole explanation of Scivelation after the break.

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The Resident Evil chopper isn't as violent as it sounds

by JC Fletcher { 2 days ago }

You might hear the phrase "Resident Evil chopper" and think of some brutal weapon designed to make a zombie into two half-zombies, but it actually refers to the latest spinoff for the franchise -- and the first with the ability to literally spin off. Capcom has partnered with Savage Cycles to produce an officially licensed Resident Evil motorcycle, to be sold in "an extremely limited number." It'll have a bunch of fake weapons and health sprays and stuff attached, and the expected S.T.A.R.S. and Capcom logos. The shot above is of an in-progress model.

Capcom didn't mention a price for it, but we suspect that Resident Evil completists unable to let an official piece of merchandise pass are crying right now. Sure, $100 for a Japanese limited edition game or something is doable every now and then, but now you have to buy a vehicle. And if you drive it, it won't be mint condition anymore!

JBO: Joystiq Box Office, November 30 - December 4

by Kevin Kelly { 2 days ago }

We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week.

Recommendation of the Week:

Star Trek: The Original Series (Blu-ray, all three seasons, prices vary)
All three seasons of Star Trek: The Original Series will be available as of December 15, which is when Season Three comes out. Besides the awesome bloopers and flubs, it also has the entire unaired original Trek pilot in the set. Bizarrely, this was the original opening monologue: "Enterprise log, Captain James Kirk commanding. We are leaving that vast cloud of stars and planets which we call our galaxy. Behind us, Earth, Mars, Venus, even our sun are specks of dust. A question: What is out there in the black void beyond? Until now, our mission has been that of space law regulation, contact with Earth colonies and investigation of alien life. But now, a new task. A probe out into where no man has gone before." Seems like a good thing they changed it. "A probe out into" is a bit much. Trek has never, ever looked or sounded (there's a new 7.1 mix!) better, and you can pick this up in a box set, or get the individual seasons. Beam us up.

Read on for the rest of the recommendations, and as usual, we'll see you at the popcorn sta -- well, actually, we won't see you at all. But you catch our drift. Plus, be sure to tell us what you'll be watching, or what you've seen recently that bowled you over.

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WRUP: Medal of Honor name-a-thon edition

by Alexander Sliwinski { 2 days ago }

EA's modern warfare reboot of the Medal of Honor series features a special forces operative with a whole lot of beard on its cover. This rugged individual – with massive amounts of flavor saver and crumb storage – may be based on an actual soldier codenamed "Cowboy," but where's the fun in that? Our very own Ludwig Kietzmann wondered aloud on Twitter: what should the cover model's name be (hashtag: #needsmohrnames)? Some suggestions:

@LudwigK: Bike McGrisslename
@SlamVanderhuge: Nails McBeefballs
@Roblink: Shampoo "Bubbles" McBride
@jcfletcher: Sausage "Egg" McMuffin
@Gamerbrood: Toothbrush McLaughlin or Floss McKenzie

Drop some more name ideas in the comments and let us know what you're playing this weekend.

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Mike Capps answers 10 Questions from the Academy

by Joystiq Staff { 2 days ago }

And now, 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community.

Mike Capps is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences where he serves as one of its board directors. He is the President of North Carolina-based Epic Games, the developers behind the Unreal and Gears of War series, and the seemingly ubiquitous Unreal Engine.

AIAS: What's the biggest challenge you see facing the industry?
Mike Capps: Game development has grown so fast as a business, but not nearly so fast as a profession, and you see the growing pains regularly.

What's your favorite part of game development?
I love the people; so many fascinatingly cool people are in game development. I really enjoy playing a game, and then meeting the people behind the game, and understanding how they think. Shipping a game, developing a game engine, and running a company... they're all insanely complex maximization problems. What do you with your time and your money, every day, to make the best game, the most profitable company, the best technology? It's a blast.

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8 million played Modern Warfare 2 in its first week

by Richard Mitchell { 2 days ago }

There's not really much more to say, is there? Publisher Activision notes that the 8 million folks dabbled in Modern Warfare 2 during its first week of release, which outnumbers basically every major organized army on the planet, Activision gloats. Obviously, the publisher forgot to factor in Antarctica's Grand Army of the Penguins' Republic, currently numbering in the tens of millions but, in the interest of celebration, we're willing to overlook this oversight.

On a side note, this is good news for Electronic Arts, because there's obviously a market for these newfangled war games.

THQ already planning Homefront 2

by Justin McElroy { 2 days ago }

We have a hard enough time remembering which FPS Homefront is (it's the one that is basically Red Dawn, if you're curious) and THQ is apparently already thinking about the followup. According to Gamespot, THQ's core gaming chief Danny Bilson told the FBR Capital Markets 2009 Fall Investor Conference "It's the beginning of a story. We're going to tell this like a serial, with cliff-hangers. And then we intend to continue the story in [downloadable content], until we go to Homefront 2."

The question that will remain unanswered until Homefront ships is, of course, will we be willing to go with them?

Gallery: Homefront

Rumor: Assassin's Creed 2 glitch breaks the game

by David Hinkle { 2 days ago }

Now that Assassin's Creed II has been out amongst the crowds, slinking its way into millions of consoles, gamers are stumbling upon some of its secrets. While you may be stuck tracking down those last few feathers, others are discovering ancient beasts and, according to CVG, game-breaking glitches.

Some gamers apparently found themselves stuck controlling Desmond in the Hideout after DNA Sequence 11, a direct result of shutting off their system after the game autosaved. When they later booted the game back up, they were unable to return to the Animus and continue Ezio's 15th century adventure. CVG didn't comment on whether this was affecting Xbox 360 or PS3 gamers, or both.

We've contacted Ubisoft to see if this is the first it's heard of the issue and also urge you to contact us if you've encountered it.

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