Crispy Gamer News

THQ, already known for its hit WWE SmackDown vs. RAW series, apparently has enough stroke to even put the fighters of the Ultimate Fighting Championship down for the count. According to a Sports Illustrated report, UFC fighter Jon Fitch has been terminated from the franchise (along with many of his American Kickboxing Academy teammates) for refusing to sign away rights to his image for use in THQ’s upcoming UFC video game.

According to the report, the problem stems from UFC’s requests that fighters sign a merchandising deal giving the UFC rights to use fighters’ likenesses in various licensing deals for life. The issue with Fitch apparently finally came to a head when he was approached with the THQ deal.
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Hey. Someone got their Assassin’s Creed in my Prince of Persia. And yet, much like peanut butter and chocolate, this looks like it may be two great tastes that taste great together.

In a bit of a surprise announcement, Ubisoft clued gamers in on a new perk for linking their Ubisoft.com user accounts with either their Xbox LIVE or PlayStation Network accounts. By doing so, players who pick up Prince of Persia will gain access to a special character skin of Altair from Assassin’s Creed.
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Fans of the Dead Space comics - based on EA’s recently released horror survival game set in space - will be happy to hear that all of the comic books related to the game have been re-released in one single hardcover tome.

The Dead Space hardbook serves as a prequel story for the videogame that tells the tale of a deep space mining colony that unleashes a deadly alien life force from a dark rock. The Dead Space hardbook combines all 6 Dead Space comics written by Antony Johnson and illustrated by Ben Templesmith with exclusive cover art by Templesmith, an exclusive bonus art section, and a background section on the major characters.

Those interested in buying it can find links on the Dead Space Blog.

Capcom dodged a bullet recently when a federal judge threw out a lawsuit by MKR group, the producer of George A Romero’s Day of the Dead. The lawsuit alleged that Capcom’s popular game Dead Rising, infringed on Romero’s movie about survivors fending off zombies in an abandoned shopping mall. Judge Richard Seeborg disagreed with MKR, noting that the similarities beyond the setting and the zombies were minuscule. The judge said that the concepts used by both the game and the movie were too vague to be copyrighted.

In my opinion this is a good thing for the game industry because some concepts just cannot be copyrighted and the movie industry would do well to save its money and avoid these kinds of lawsuits altogether. Dead Rising isn’t really about survivors anyway - it’s about what the player does in the few hours he has in the mall. Romero wishes his films had that much thoughtfulness and focus..

Capcom will bring its Wii Dead Rising game to America in Q1 2009, but it doesn’t like like it will be as much fun as the original on which it is based..

Source: GI.biz

Midway announced today that Hollywood action star Vin Diesel will be peeling out to retail shelves early next year with the February 16th release of Wheelman on the Xbox 360, PC, and PS3. The upcoming open-world driving game is currently in development at Midway Studios - Newcastle Ltd., and is being co-produced by Vin Diesel and his Tigon Studios video game production studio. Midway and Diesel also plan for Wheelman to eventually hit the big screen, based off a script already in development.

“We’re designing Wheelman to play like a Hollywood blockbuster,” said Diesel. “Playing this game will be just like taking control of the greatest car chases from feature films, except this time you’re in the driver’s seat.”
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According to a USA Today report, that exclusive Grand Theft Auto IV DLC you’ve been aching for will be hitting Xbox Live Marketplace on Feb. 17, 2009. The DLC will be called “The Lost and the Damned” and will not feature protagonist Niko Belic. Niko is taking a holiday, apparently, to make room for a fresh face alluded to on the radio. Instead the DLC will focus on Johnny Klebitz, a member of Liberty City gang The Lost. The DLc promises to show Liberty City from a whole new angle.

“Johnny is a very different character than Niko, with a very different background,” says Rockstar co-founder Dan Houser. “I can’t go into too much detail on the story, because we try not to give away too much plot before the game is released. But I can say that the story will show you a different side of Liberty City.”

Sounds absolutely fabulous. Niko Belic will be making some sort of cameo in the DLC according to the report, for whatever that’s worth.

Source: USA Today

Are you excited about Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix? If the answer to that question is “maybe” or “yes” then Capcom has some great news for you: some additional downloadable content related to the Xbox 360 version of the game. The special initiative, dubbed “Season of Street Fighter,” will see the release of some specially themed content for several Xbox Live Arcade titles, as well as some other multimedia content to be made available on Xbox Live Marketplace.

Capcom kicked off the “Season of Street Fighter” with the release of the Super Street Fighter Pinball FX downloadable pack, which added a new Street Fighter pinball table to the popular downloadable game on Xbox LIVE Arcade. The Street Fighter UNO DLC pack is also on the way, offering new Street Fighter Command Cards with signature Street Fighter power moves, as well as backgrounds and music inspired by Street Fighter. Capcom will also have another “little” surprise coming to the PlayStation Network later in the holiday season.

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