The Rundown: Jan. 23, 2009
So long New York! Today’s Rundown was written mostly on a train headed for upstate New York. The lady next to me got train sick and proceeded to cup her mouth for most of the trip. Not exatly the best way to end what was overall a wonderful trip to the Crispy offices, but hey we roll with the punches. On to the news after the break.
On Again: Battlefield Heroes Beta
Electronic Arts and its Swedish studio DICE have announced that beta testing for Battlefield Heroes has begun anew for 2009. The beta had been suspended in late 2008 to implement much of the feedback the developers received during the last test from players and tighten up the game’s backend technology. Battlefield Heroes is EA’s first stab at building a free-to-play model. Activision is doing something similar with Quake Live.
Interesting Oblivion Stats
Here’s an interesting set of statistics from Bethesda, delivered via its blog today. The data, culled from Bethesda’s Xbox Live reports, reveals what quest lines were played and completed the most in the company’s Xbox 360 RPG Oblivion. The top choice is the most obvious: the Arena. That is followed by the Dark Brotherhood, the main quest, Mages Guild, Fighters Guild, Thieves Guild, and Shivering Isles. On a personal note I have finished every quest line except Shivering Isles. My personal favorites? Thieves Guild and Dark Brotherhood.
City Interactive Gets Nintendo Approval
City Interactive has signed an agreement with Nintendo of America to develop and publish titles for the Nintendo DS and Wii. The company went on to say a bunch of nonsense about how great it is to be working on Nintendo’s platforms, but didn’t detail what games it plans to bring to those platforms. Expect to hear more in the future, I guess..
Savage Moon Soon
Sony Computer Entertainment America announced via its blog that Savage Moon will be coming out within the next couple of weeks. Savage Moon is a slick tower defense game for the PS3 (download only) that offers a heavy does of sci-fi strategy. The game will retail for right around $10.
Madden NFL 09 Predicts Steelers Super Bowl Victory
EA sports has run the “official Super Bowl XLIII simulation” finding the Arizona Cardinals lacking. Cardinals fans are probably not pleased. The simulation found predicts that the Pittsburgh Steelers will best the Arizona Cardinals by a final score of 28-24. Further, the simulation game predicts thst Super Bowl XLIII will become a defensive struggle, but Pittsburgh will put the first points up with a 10-yard touchdown reception to Santonio Holmes, with less than two minutes left in the first quarter. Yeah, we’ll be checking back to see just how accurate this prediction was. Super Bowl XLIII kicks off Sunday, February 1 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, Florida.
LotR: Conquest Demo Hits 1 Million Downloads
The demo for Pandemic and EA’s The Lord of the Rings: Conquest has been downloaded over one million times, according to data gleaned from both Xbox Live and PlayStation Network; presented by EA, naturally. The demo has also managed to knock Activision’s Call of Duty: World at War off the top of the Live charts after nine weeks on top - we’ll see how long that lasts. The game was released earlier this month to mixed reviews, but appears to be popular if you believe in what the average consumer is searching for (which I do, by the way).
Samsung Could Post First Loss in 14 Years
Samsung, who just so happens to be the brand of choice for the Crispy Game room and my living room, projects a first quarter loss for the first time in 14 years, becoming another victim of an economy in constant ebb and flow. Samsung said that it lost 20 billion won ($14.4 million) in the three months that ended Dec. 31, 2008 - down from 2.21 trillion won in net profit a year earlier. Samsung shares fell 4.1 percent to close at 442,000 won as of this writing.
Star Ocean: Evolution Released
Earlier this week Square Enix shipped Star Ocean: Evolution for the PSP. Players can get a portable crack at the second chapter in Tri-ACE’s space-themed action RPG. the game has apparently been remastered for the PSP, offering optimized graphics that work with the system a revamped battle system, and lots more. Look for it in stores for right around $40.
Air Violin
Okay, this one’s interesting.. Nintendo has teamed up with educators to use Wii Music to teach kids rhythm. During an annual gathering of MENC: The National Association for Music Education (during the North Central Division Conference, held Jan. 23-24 in Indianapolis). Attendees experienced a live demonstrations of Wii Music and learned how it could hypothetically inspire students of all ages to create and enjoy music while learning about rhythm, tempo and song structure. In January, Nintendo and the MENC announced a collaborative plan to help teachers integrate Wii Music in music curricula and classrooms across the nation. Of course, playing “air violin” doesn’t seem like the most productive way to learn anything real about music, but that’s just my take on it. Rock Band, anyone?
House of the Dead: Overkill Gold
House of the Dead: Overkill has gone gold and will land exclusively on the Nintendo Wii Feb. 10. If you enjoy the rail shooter game series that promises to take advantage of the Wii Remote in new and exciting ways, then you’ll want to set your sights on it February 10 wherever Wii games are sold.
