Nintendo replaces Wii following house fire

A Wii owner whose house was involved in a fire and experienced his possessions go up in smoke including a Wii, had the bright idea to call Nintendo and see what they could do about it. Nintendo said they would reduce the repair costs to $82.50 and under $40 for 2 Wii remotes, 2 Nunchuks and the classic controller. However Nintendo went on to cover the cost of repairs to the system and accessories after re-considering the circumstances and even offered them a replacement for their chargrilled game.

Edge Awards Metroid Prime 3 a 7/10 - outrages Wii fans, but Lair gets a THREE

Reputable magazine EDGE (at least in the eyes of non Nintendo fans) has awarded Metroid Prime 3 to the dismay of many. Metroid Prime 3 has received high scores in excess of 90% from many high profile publications so this rating comes as something of a surprise. However, Halo 3 walked away with a perfect 10 and Lair for the PS3 scored a pathetic 3/10.

Gamer challenged to play Halo 3 for 72 hours straight to win 360 & Halo 3

A gamer has accepted the challenge of playing Halo 3 for 72 hours straight without taking a break for longer than 10 minutes in order to win an Xbox 360 and Halo 3. The site who are running the \’internet reality\’ contest will soon be holding a public vote as to how they can make things more interesting such as everytime his game character dies he needs to do 10 push-ups. Would you let yourself be abused in this manner to get your hands on Halo 3 and an Xbox 360? The guy surely is better off going to work for three days…

Bungie investigating Halo 3 game save bug

Bungie has confirmed that it is aware of an issue which prevents Halo 3 gamers transfrering campaign progress onto another Xbox 360 regardless of whether they use a memory unit or take your hard drive. A message churns out stating that it is \’unsafe to respawn\’ which then takes gamers back to the menu screen. Bungie are now investingating the cause of the problem and are trying to come up with a solution.

Team Fortress 2 Xbox 360 Hands-On

If you listen to the developer commentary in Team Fortress 2, the multiplayer action game that’s part of the upcoming Half-Life 2: The Orange Box package, there’s an introduction from Gabe Newell, the CEO and founder of developer Valve Software, that pokes a bit of fun at the game’s incredibly long gestation period. “Welcome to Team Fortress 2. After nine years in development, hopefully it will have been worth the wait,” Newell says. Judging from some time with the game, it certainly feels like Valve has put years of work into designing and balancing this class-based action game.

Just hold still–this won’t hurt a bit.

Of course, Valve didn’t spend all nine years working on the game, though TF2 has come a long way since the media got an initial glimpse of it way back in 1999. First, here is some Team Fortress history. The original Team Fortress was a user-made mod, or modification, for QuakeWorld and was one of the very first team-based multiplayer games that introduced the idea of having distinctly different character classes in the mix. Instead of having everyone run around with the same guns and abilities, Team Fortress made you select what role you wanted to play on the battlefield. For instance, you could be a sniper, or a medic, or a demolitions guy, and so on. Valve later hired the creators of Team Fortress and got them to work on Team Fortress 2, which was originally going to feature modern combat. Then the game got moved to the back burner to disappear until it was resurrected and revealed last year. Gone is the modern combat setting and in its place is a very animated, Pixar-inspired look.

At the heart of Team Fortress 2 is the idea of team-based battles with nine distinctly different and colorful classes causing all sorts of mayhem. The soldier is the most “conventional” class because he’s armed with a rocket launcher, shotgun, and spade (which is used as a melee weapon). The heavy is the “tank” of the game. He’s slow, can absorb a lot of punishment, and armed with a bullet-spewing chain gun that can mow players down. The demoman is the explosives character, capable of launching grenades or placing them all over the ground as traps. The pyro is equipped with a flamethrower, making him utterly deadly in close quarters. The sniper can kill you from across the map. The scout can zip around with great speed. The spy can turn invisible or disguise himself as a member of either team. The engineer can build sentry guns, health and ammo dispensers, or teleporters around the map. The medic can heal teammates, as well as temporarily make them invulnerable.

It’s the dynamic of all these characters working in tandem (or sometimes just running around) that makes the game a wild experience. That’s partly due to the game’s unique art style. Most games veer toward photorealism, but TF2 is decidedly artificial. It works because many tactics, such as “rocket jumping” (aim the rocket launcher at the ground, jump, and then fire, using the force of the explosion to hurl you skyward), seem silly in a “realistic” game but fit right into the cartoon visuals here. Each match starts with the characters all laughing and yelling, but it won’t take long before you pick out the different personalities in the game.

Team Fortress 2 will only support 16 players on the 360, as opposed to 24 on the PC.

Team Fortress 2 will ship with six maps, but it’s interesting that unlike in other games, different game modes cannot be played on each map. Instead, each TF2 map is associated with a specific game mode. For instance, the map 2 Fort is the only capture-the-flag map, where each team has “intelligence” located in their bases. The goal is to recover the other team’s intelligence and return it to your base while protecting your own. Meanwhile, the Dustbowl and Gravel Pit maps are attack/defend control point maps, where one team has to protect control points while the other tries to seize them. Granary and Well are control point maps, where there are five control points that must be captured. The kicker is that you’ve got to capture them in order of the chain they are in: You can’t sneak behind the enemies and capture their rearmost point if the one closest to it remains in enemy possession. And then there’s hydro, which is a territorial control map. Hydro basically closes off portions of the map that aren’t in play.

The Xbox 360 version of Team Fortress 2 is almost identical to the PC version in terms of content. The biggest difference is that while the PC game will support up to 24 players on a server, the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 games will only go up to 16. Our testing session at EA only had eight players at the most, so it’ll be interesting to see what 16 players can do on these levels. Still, Team Fortress 2 is easily one of the coolest multiplayer games that we’ve played in a long time. The Orange Box ships next month.

-If Its Games

Bee Movie Game Hands-On

Kid-focused, movie-licensed games get a bad rap, and usually that’s not by coincidence. But Activision’s upcoming game based on Jerry Seinfeld’s CG-animated comedy vehicle Bee Movie is looking pretty solid for a movie game aimed at the younger set. Like the movie, the game casts you as Barry B. Benson (voiced by Seinfeld in both movie and game), a worker bee who has tired of the drone’s life in the hive. He’s looking to get outdoors with the “pollen jocks,” the elite gatherers who provide the pollen that keeps the hive buzzing. As you’d expect, some wacky hijinks befall Barry, which serve as the basis for the game’s diverse array of action stages. We played the Xbox 360 version to see what those stages were like.

One level had us flying Barry down a rainy city street. Bees and rain don’t mix so well, so we had to help him dodge each gigantic raindrop as he flitted from one area of cover to the next. Luckily, you’ll have a couple of useful tools to assist in the task. There’s a thermal-vision-like effect that makes cover–such as awnings and covered trash cans–show up in bright colors, so you can easily figure out where you need to fly next. More importantly, you can use your, uh, super-fast bee reflexes to slow down time and dodge around the raindrops as they essentially hang motionless in midair. There will also be some wind currents scattered around these kinds of levels, and you can jump into one of these to be whisked quickly and safely to the next area (and grab some power-up items as you go).

The next level built on the mechanics in the rain level. It had us flying Barry around a sunny park setting, attempting to help pollinate some flowers by collecting pollen from other flowers that were already flush with the stuff. Again, the vision mode could be used here to quickly identify the target flowers. However, we had to contend with some aerial adversaries that looked like mosquitoes (or perhaps dragonflies) in this area; luckily, we could use the collected pollen as a projectile weapon against these guys. When the action called for evasive maneuvers, a barrel-roll move also helped out here.

Activision’s goal with the Bee Movie Game is variety, and to that end, there will be some kart-racing-style driving levels as well. We saw one of these set in “New Hive City,” where Barry lives. Normally you’ll use this area as a hub where you’ll pick up new missions, but in this case, the city map was converted into a racing course that we had to speed around in a little bee-car. The mechanics here were quite kart-esque, in that we could drive through little beehive-shaped power-up dispensers to get weapons, like an oil slick-style puddle of honey we could drop behind our car.

The last level we saw on the 360 featured gameplay similar to the button-press-driven cinematic action scenes in games like God of War. In this one, Barry was stuck to a tennis ball, and we had to hit either an analog stick direction or a button directly after each prompt to keep Barry’s position on the ball rotated away from the two eager players striking it with their racquets. There wasn’t much more to the interaction in this level, but the characters were animated in such an exaggerated and expressive way that it was pretty amusing to watch, anyway.

Finally, we got to try a simple mode called “Generation Hex Arcade” in the Wii version of the game. (Get it? Hex? Hexagonal honeycombs? Yeah.) This arcade will be available within the gameworld in all versions of the game, and will feature a number of simple minigames patterned after those classic old releases of yesteryear. There’s a Frogger clone called Beeway, a Space Invaders-style game called Hive Incursion, a side-scrolling shooter-style game, and a handful of others. You’ll have to unlock these games as you go, but hopefully they’ll add some variety to the game between all the missions.

Activision seems to have put some thought and care into Bee Movie’s video game incarnation, with its diverse lineup of gameplay types and the inclusion of Seinfeld, John Goodman, and Patrick Warburton on the voice cast. The game is due out right alongside the movie in November, so look for a review then.

-If Its Games

PSN MotorStorm-ed by Sigma add-ons

September began with a deluge of content being loaded onto Sony’s PlayStation Network. In addition to five demos, the first week of the month saw add-on packs for MotorStorm and Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Though understandably not as robust, Sony is ending September in much the same way, with add-ons for Ninja Gaiden redux part deux and Phil Harrison’s most favorite racer, as well as a pair of demos landing on the PlayStation Network this week.

Tecmo has released its second of three planned add-ons for Ninja Gaiden Sigma. Whereas the Weapon Master add-on tasked players with surviving using a limited set of weapons, the new Speed Master download puts players under a time and power-gauge limit in five survival modes. As with the first, the mode includes leaderboards and is available for $2.99. Fans of Sony Europe’s off-road racer now have the Castro Capitano racing truck to cake with mud. As with the four rides released earlier this month, the Castro Capitano costs $0.99 to download.

As reported earlier this week, a trial of Clive Barker’s supernatural spooker has been added to the PSN. In the demo, players will attempt to survive in the city of Al-Khali during the Crusades. As the spirit of deceased squad leader Cpt. Devin Ross, players are able to possess the bodies of heavy-weapons expert Sgt. Frank Delgado, telekinetic sniper Lt. Abigail Black, and enchantress and martial weapons specialist Sgt. Billie Church. Published by Codemasters, Clive Barker’s Jericho is rated M for Mature is slated to hit retail on October 23.

The latest in the NBA circuit to take the court, a sampler of 2K Sports’ NBA 2K8 is also now available. Players can check out 2K’s new moves in a four-minute exhibition match. NBA 2K8 officially squares off against EA Sports’ NBA Live 08 on October 2, a week after Sony’s own b-baller, NBA 08, got into the retail game.

Orange Box delivered to factory

In July 2006, Electronic Arts blindsided attendees to its summer showcase by announcing it was publishing The Orange Box for the PC, Xbox 360, and PlayStation 3. After bringing Gabe Newell on stage, the publisher outlined the contents of the compilation, which contains five Valve Software games–Portal, Team Fortress 2, Half-Life 2, and the two Half-Life 2 expansion packs.

At the time of the announcement, The Orange Box was set for a release in the fall of 2006. One year later, it is finally arriving in retail. Today, Valve confirmed to If Its Games that Xbox 360 and PC versions of the M-rated compilation have gone gold, and are set to go on sale October 10 for a respective $59.99 and $49.99. Those who pre-order the PC edition at GameStop or via Valve’s Steam download service will receive a $5 discount and an invitation to the ongoing Team Fortress 2 beta test. (GameStop is also offering $5 off the 360 version.)

Unfortunately, PS3 owners will have to wait a while before they can pick up Half-Life 2 hero Gordon Freeman’s iconic crowbar. Valve revealed earlier this month that development for the Sony console game is lagging behind its siblings, with the SKU currently bearing a mid-November release date.

PC gamers who’ve played through Half-Life 2 and its first expansion, Half-Life 2: Episode One, have another option. Valve is also offering Half-Life 2: Episode Two a la carte on Steam for $29.95 starting October 10.

Ubisoft apologizes over ‘lesbo’ word in DS scrabble but won’t issue recall

A resident of Northern Ireland was reportedly outraged when he found that Scrabble 2007 for the DS contained the word \’lesbo\’. Ultimately this was brought to the attention of Ubisoft who apologized to the man but stated that \’lesbo\’ is not a term considered offensive by the official dictionary. However the inclusion was slammed by a Northern Ireland Gay Rights Association spokesman who stated he is not surprised that the term \’lesbo\’ was used because young games designers are not taught that these terms can result in homophic bullying.

SCi reveals lower revs, new Hitman, Tomb Raider

With Tomb Raider enjoying a high-profile rebirth just last year and Hitman receiving a feature-film adaptation in November, it would seem foolish to pack those franchises away in the mothballs now. Little surprise, then, that Eidos parent company SCi Entertainment confirmed in its fiscal year-end results today that it has sequels in the works for both brands, as well as for other recent hits.

“We are looking forward with much anticipation to the sequels to Just Cause and
Battlestations: Midway, which are already in development, and new versions of
world-leading franchises Tomb Raider and Hitman,” chief executive Jane Cavanagh said in SCi’s year-end report.

That was the good news from the company’s fiscal-year recap. The bad news was that the company posted lower revenues than it had the year before, and

Ratcher & Clank goes gold, updated E3 demo coming to PSN

Greg Phillips a Line Producer from SCEA has confirmed that Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction has gone gold. The game is now finished and will be ready for purchase from stores from October 30th which is a week later than initially planned. A demo should also be made available on PSN from October 11th.

Rumor: Halo 3 runs natively at 640p

A gamer who claims to have tested sixty Xbox 360 games has stated that all are 720p except two 1080p in the form of VT3 and NBA Street, two in 600p in the form of PGR 3 and Tomb Raider and two are in 640p in the form of Perfect Dark and HALO 3.

Playlogic leaps to PS3

Last week, Playlogic announced that it had signed a publishing agreement with Sony Computer Entertainment America to self-publish its own games on the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation Portable in the US. However, oddly absent from that list was Sony’s latest console, the PlayStation 3. Today, though, Playlogic has revealed that it has reached an agreement with Sony to publish PS3 games worldwide.

Though Playlogic currently has no scheduled PS3 projects on the horizon, the Dutch publisher and developer does have 10 games in the works. These include Obscure: The Aftermath; Officers; Age of Pirates: Captain Blood; Evil Days of Luckless John; and Dragon Hunters. This year, the publisher has put out WorldForge’s Ancient Wars: Sparta and Metropolis’ Infernal for the PC.

Earlier this week, Playlogic also announced that it had partnered with Ignition Entertainment to distribute Obscure: The Aftermath (previously known as Obscure 2) for the PC, PS2, and Wii, as well as Xyanide Resurrection for the PS2 in North America. A release window for either game was not revealed.

As to why said games weren’t part of Playlogic’s deal with Sony, a representative of the company told If Its Games that the deal with Ignition had been signed before the application process with SCEA had wrapped up.

UT3 Won’t Feature Cross Play Capability

Next Generation is reporting on comments from Epic’s Mark Rein, who participated in an IRC chat with some members of the Unreal community recently. In the chat, Rein revealed that Unreal Tournament 3 will not feature the ability for PS3 and PC players to compete on the same servers. Said Rein, “We looked at how this would impact our ability to respond quickly to things happening at internet speed on the PC side of the equation and realized that this would not be in the best interests of our very loyal PC userbase because we would constantly be holding on to updates to wait until they passed cert on the console platform. Our PC fanbase is of ultimate importance to us. They are our bread and butter. We can’t let them down or compromise their experience in any way to accommodate cross platform play.”.

UK Xbox Boss says the Wii won’t last, there is a definite limit on expandibility

Microsoft\’s UK Xbox boss Neil Thompson has taken a swipe at the Nintendo Wii. Thompson commented that Nintendo are doing very well currently but there is a limit to what they can do with the Wii and there is limited potential in it. Thomspon also conceeded that Microsoft wasn\’t creative enough from the original Xbox and learned a lot from their previous experience.