Crispy Gamer News

I may be a sinner, but at least I never made the Baby Jesus cry. 

- Fable 2 lead designer, Richard Ham, has left the Lionhead building, on the hunt for greener pastures at Splash Damage, according to Develop. There he will take on the role of creative director. Splash Damage is best known for creating Activision’s Enemy Territory: Quake Wars. Ham will begin work on an as-of-yet unannounced title for Splash Damage. If he was looking for a change of pace from working on such games as The Movies and Fable 2, he’s picked the right studio to join.

- NCsoft Entertainment is the latest publisher to step away from the Entertainment Software Association. In published reports the MMO maker and operator said that it was not leaving the trade group because of financial reasons and that it may return into the sheltering arms of the ESA at a later date.

- Two new titles will hit Xbox Live Arcade this Wednesday: Namco Bandai Games’ PowerUp Forever and Q Entertainment’s Meteos Wars (800 MS Points each). Powerup Forever is an action shooter with “endless levels that extend for infinity,” while Meteos Wars is a puzzler where players arrange colored blocks to ignite and demolish falling Meteos on 20 different planets. Clear your dance cards, kids.

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2K Games announced that the PS3 exclusive add-on game content for BioShock will be available for download worldwide on November 20 from the PlayStation Network. The DLC will consist of three Challenge Rooms that take place outside of the main storyline BioShock. Each of the three Challenge Room environments feature new locations, objectives and artwork not seen anywhere else in the game. Additionally, each of the new Challenge Rooms offers new Trophies. More details after the jump:

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2K Games has begun shipping BioShock for the PlayStation 3 across North America and is currently available internationally. Developed by multiple studios including 2K Boston, 2K Australia, 2K Marin and Digital Extremes, BioShock for the PS3 promises all-new content that augments and extends the experience in new ways including a new Survivor difficulty mode, Trophy support and the addition of all-new Add-On Game Content that will be available for download shortly after launch. A free demo is currently available for download from the PlayStation Network.

BioShock for PS3 will be available in North America starting October 21. The game is rated M for Mature by the ESRB.

Cryptic Studios’ new superheroic MMO is coming up faster than a speeding bullet, as the studio announced yesterday that players can now sign up for a chance to participate in the first closed beta for its upcoming Champions Online game. Slated for release in the Spring of next year on the Xbox 360 and PC, the PC specific beta will go live next month. Players looking for the opportunity to join in the beta can sign up by filling out an online application at: http://www.champions-online.com/preview_application.

“This closed beta is an exciting step in the evolution of Champions Online,” said Jack Emmert, chief creative officer for Cryptic Studios. “All of us here in the Cryptic offices have been playing the game for a while now, and we’re excited to invite others in to have as much fun with Champions Online as we’ve been having internally.”
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In a bit of a non-shocker, Take-Two Interactive Software announced today that it has completed its review of strategic alternatives for the company. Why a non-shocker, you ask? Because I never believed that Take-Two was being courted by any other company besides Electronic Arts. Now that EA has dropped its ambitious plans to take over the company, Take-Two is left to its own devices.

The company said that, “Following detailed discussions with various interested parties over the last five months, Take-Two’s Board of Directors has determined that it is in the best interests of stockholders to conclude its review of strategic alternatives and to continue operating and building Take-Two as an independent company.”

Again, let me inject my strong opinion - I don’t believe there were ever serious discussions by any other major publishers to buy Take-Two besides EA.

“Take-Two’s recent performance demonstrates our potential to create value for the long term, said Ben Feder, Chief Executive Officer of Take-Two. “We have delivered solid financial results and expanded our portfolio of leading titles, which includes the powerful Grand Theft Auto franchise, as well as 15 other wholly owned brands with sales of more than one million units each. Our strong cash position – with no debt and an undrawn $140 million credit facility – gives us the financial flexibility to continue to do what we do best: innovate and create the great games that our customers have come to expect.”

I’m sure EA wishes them well - oh and all those “other” companies that were quietly courting the makers of GTA. Yeah, right.

The return of Colonization has come to pass. 2K Games has released Sid Meier’s Civilization IV: Colonization, the latest game in the Civilization IV series and the first modern version in the popular Colonization series.

The game will be available in retail stores internationally beginning September 26. Created by 2K’s Firaxis Games development studio, Colonization is a standalone game that adds an entirely new scenario to the world of Civilization. In Colonization, players lead one of four European nations on a quest to colonize and thrive in the New World. Players will be challenged to guide their people from the oppressive motherland, discover the New World, and negotiate, trade and fight as they acquire power and battle for their freedom and independence.

Find out more at www.2kgames.com.

2K Games will be delivering the PS3 demo for Bioshock worldwide on October 2, If you want to see and feel and taste the differences between the PS3 version and other versions of the game, then you’ll want to download this demo. For you hardcore PS3 gamers who live on an island and did not try Bioshock - clear your calendar because this game is very, very awesome.