Atari has announced that its upcoming Xbox 360 game, Test Drive Unlimited, will debut at $39.99. The standard price tag for a next-gen Xbox 360 game hits the $59.99 mark.
"Innovation should be available to everyone, not a privilege for those can afford high price tags," said Bruno Bonnell, Chairman, CEO and Chief Creative Officer of Atari. "Our GamersFirst program demonstrated the positive impact of flexibility in pricing. We believe it is our mission to deliver triple-A games that are accessible to the masses. As such, we are offering Test Drive Unlimited -- a game that is being positively touted and recognized by the media -- for $39.95, and furthermore, will continue users' experiences past launch by featuring new cars and free music for download."
Atari will be offering downloadable content on the Xbox Live Marketplace about six weeks after its release on September 5, 2006 which will include additional cars and music tracks (via radio stations). Read more about Test Drive Unlimited here
VOOM HD Networks will be bringing three gaming tournaments on its high definition gaming channel, GamePlay HD. The 24/7 HD network covers gaming news, reviews, previews and tournaments. GamePlay HD maintains the high level of detail present in next-gen HD games by keeping to HD resolution.
The three gaming tournaments to be broadcast include: World Series of Video Games, Microsoft’s PGR 3 Tourney and NC Soft’s Guild Wars Faction Competition.
WORLD SERIES OF VIDEO GAMES:
GAMEPLAY HD has sealed a deal with the World Series of Video Games (WSVG), a tournament series with events in the United States, Asia and Europe. An initiative of competition organizer Games Media Properties, WSVG is the first video-game competition circuit on multiple gaming platforms that culminates in final rounds to determine true world champions under standardized rules and procedures. Over the course of the tournament, $1 million will be distributed in cash and prizing.
The current agreement with GAMEPLAY HD includes coverage of the first three circuit events of the 2006 WSVG: the Lanwar competition in Louisville, KY (held June 16-19, 2006/air date September 13-15), DreamHack LAN party in Jonkoping, Sweden (held June 17-21, 2006 /air date September 28-29), the Intel Summer Championship in Dallas (held July 5-9, 2006/air date TBD).
MICROSOFT’S PGR 3 Online Tournament:
GAMEPLAY HD paired up with Microsoft® to create an unprecedented television event, with its coverage of the Project Gotham Racing 3 international online tournament. For the May 2006 online regionals, GAMEPLAY HD was allowed to tap into Xbox Live, Microsoft’s Xbox online game service, to create a virtual television studio, with eight simultaneous in-game cameras, feeds from live players, and a director calling the camera shots. The GAMEPLAY HD setup captured the full competitive fury and incredible graphics of Project Gotham Racing 3 in high definition and 5.1 Dolby Digital surround sound, as 192 players from Europe, Asia and North America (culled from an original 30,000 entrants) vied for survival. Then GAMEPLAY HD followed the finalists to Milan, Italy, where the concluding round was held at the Lamborghini factory.
The Project Gotham Racing 3 tournament show, which will include four hours of dramatic game highlights, analysis of the action, and interviews with players, will premiere August 16-19th.
NCsoft®’S GUILD WARS® WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
This month, GAMEPLAY HD has been airing all the drama of the first GUILD WARS WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS, taped in Taipei, Taiwan in February 2006. Now, NCsoft is teaming up with the channel once again for the next World Championship event, this time to be held in Germany on August 24th, with competitors vying for dominance in Guild Wars Factions™. The televised series is expected to reach air in October of 2006.
LucasArts, TT Games and developer Traveller's Tales have more LEGO Star Wars II screens to share, this time from Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back.
"You want to know how they handle Darth Vader saying 'I am your father' to Luke with LEGO characters that don't talk, don't you?" says David Perkinson, producer at LucasArts. "Well, I'm not going to ruin anything for you. But trust me, it'll have you laughing out loud."
There will be plenty of Star Wars moments with a LEGO twist, including the battle on Hoth, some karate action with Lando and Stormtroopers while on the way to Boba Fett, a visit to a LEGO littered Dagobah and the Carbon Freezing Chamber. LEGO Star Wars II: The Original Trilogy is scheduled for release on September 12, 2006 on all consoles. See screenshots of Episode V here. See previous screenshots here.
First Person Shooter (FPS) games have stuck to their formula over the years, with few major twists. With a new video demo (see below) of Valve's "Portal" captivating gamers and the recently released Prey (see portal demo here), looks like "portals" are all the rage. The teleportation holes in these First Person Portal Shooters (FPPS) break the confines of traditional FPS games and bring a new puzzle element to the genre. Prepare for some mind-bending, nauseau inducing run and gun action!
The once mascot of Sony is coming to Nintendo's Wii. Vivendi's Radical Entertainment will be bringing some form of Crash Bandicoot on the Wii in 2007.
From TVG: "Although Vivendi wouldn't discuss specifics, representatives did hint that the party mechanics of Crash Bang Boom would suit Nintendo's next system, but did confirm that the Crash Bandicoot franchise will definitely make an appearance on the Wii in some shape or form during 2007."
The developer of the dark atmospheric horror game, Sadness, has found a publisher. Nibris has been developing the dark, moody (aka Fun'iki-ge) Wii horror game, aimed at mature audiences and was in search of a publisher. The game deals with subjects such as narcolepsy, nyctophobia and paranoid schizophrenia. The publisher could not be disclosed at this time by Nibris because of a Non-Disclosure Agreement.
Clive Barker, master of supernatural horror, will be delivering an action horror game on next-gen consoles and PCs in 2007. "Clive Barker’s Jericho" will be coming from Codemasters.
Says Clive Barker, “It’s incredible when a company as admired as Codemasters embraces your vision the way they have embraced Jericho. This project is very close to my heart and I don’t believe there's ever been anything like it. It promises to be the most spectacular, creative, and unflinching realization of a Clive Barker nightmare that will drag players in kicking and screaming.”
Clive Barker’s Jericho deals with the mysterious reappearance of a lost city in a remote desert. When a form of evil that goes right back to the dawn of days resurfaces from there, a Special Forces squad, trained in both conventional warfare and the arcane arts, is sent in. Their mission: Hunt down and destroy the evil that lurks at the heart of the city before it destroys humanity.
“Players will constantly be given new challenges, new environments, and yes, new horrors and abominations to face every step of the way,” continues Barker. “However, unlike a conventional game in which the characters are attempting to escape at the end of their ride through Hell, our protagonists have a much more difficult task. The closer they come to the end of their trek into darkness, the nearer they get to the source of that darkness: Evil Incarnate, we'll call it for now…”
Clive Barker’s Jericho is now in development for next generation consoles and PC and is schedule to launch late in 2007. Read more at Codemaster's web site here.
A page that was accessible on Nintendo's Wii site revealed some information on the Wii WiFi (online). Here's the information from the page:
Be Connected
From your living room to the world, the built in Wi-Fi capabilities of Wii let you play games against friends and family around the world! If you have a wireless broadband connection, Wii is ready to connect right out of the box. And best of all, it's free to connect via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection and take on all comers!
How It Works
The ability to play games online is built into Wii. All you need is a broadband Internet connection and a wireless router. After you follow an intuitive setup process, you'll be ready to play games online in no time.
Free
Nintendo does not charge a fee for people to play via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, Nintendo's online service. Just put a game into the system and connect. Soon you'll play against your friends around the world!
Fun
Join the Nintendo worldwide community! Play the coolest titles around with gamers from around the world via Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection. Whether you're thrashing with your friends in Tony Hawk's Downhill Jam or hammering the competition in Smash Bros. Dojo, Wii opens up a world of fun through online play!
Safe
Nintendo has your online safety in mind. Thanks to our unique Friend Code system, you can control whom you play with online. Playing online is a great way to connect and reconnect people you want to play games with!
There was also a button to "Virtual Console" but the page was inaccessible. From the information on the page, looks like Super Smash Bros. and Tonk Hawk will be have some online play/connectivity, the Wii will use a similar setup to the DS's WiFi by using Friend-codes, will be free of charge and can connect to a wireless network without additional accessories.
The follow-up to the popular puzzle Sony PSP game, Lumines, will feature a pop-filled soundtrack and official music videos from recording artists. Lumines II, being published by Buena Vista Games, will feature the following music videos:
Beck – “Black Tambourine”
Black Eyed Peas – “Pump It”
Chemical Brothers – “Star Guitar”
Fatboy Slim – “Gangster Trippin’”
The Go! Team – “Bottle Rocket”
Gwen Stefani – “Hollaback Girl”
Hoobastank – “Born to Lead”
Junior Senior – “Take My Time”
Missy Elliott – “Lose Control”
New Order – TBD
Two additional songs will also appear on the game’s soundtrack:
Junkie XL – “Breezer”
Stigmato Inc – “Reality Check”
“In order to showcase my vision for ‘Lumines II,’ we needed to find music and videos with just the right tone, mix and energy to incorporate into the game,” said Tetsuya Mizuguchi, chief creative officer of Q ENTERTAINMENT. “I couldn’t be happier with the result and am excited to get the game into players’ hands.”
“Lumines II” also features music written exclusively for the game by Japanese artist Shinichi Osawa, also known as MONDO GROSSO, who provided the opening track for the original “Lumines.” Tracks from Ken Ishii (DJ/producer) and TECHRIDERS, both from Japan, are also in the game.
Lumines II will feature 60 stylish skins, wireless two-player ad hoc gameplay, all new battle modes, new 3D backgrounds, and all-new graphics and streaming video. Read more about Lumines II here.
DirecTV and IGN will be recording a two-day videogame comeptition on July 21-22, 2006. The program will air on DirecTV on August 25-27. The top Counter-strike and Battlefield 2 teams in the US and Scandinavia will be competing. The players and coaches include:
Amber Dalton - Leader of PMS Clan (All female gaming clan)
Matt "Zyos" Leto (2004 Halo Champion)
Emannuel Rodriguez (Top US Dead or Alive Player)
James Clifford (US Dead or Alive Champion)
