With the proliferation of video editing programs and YouTube as a means to display, fan parodies are getting more and more elaborate. Witness Modern War Gear Solid, a mash up parody of Modern Warfare 2 and Metal Gear Solid 4 with some sharp writing, good action and well done humor.
American McGee’s Alice was a cult hit renowned for its atmospheric setting. In the sequel, Alice: Madness Returns, things have become even more twisted, as this teaser trailer shows by using simple images to convey a dark message.
Many were skeptical about the remake of the Swedish horror film Let the Right One In titled Let Me In. However, director Matt Reeves showed off this trailer at Comic-Con and won over a lot of fans.
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Nielsen today released data that said that Google Android equipped phones outsold Apple iOS devices by 27 percent to 23 percent for the first half of 2010. This goes along with the recent data by the NPD, which said that Android outsold iPhone by 28 percent to 21 percent.
The iPhone 4 only did go on sale during the final week of the first half, so its launch isn’t fully reflected in the results. Still, the Android is available for more carriers at the moment, though that could be affected if the iPhone switches over to another carrier in the near future.
Activision Blizzard has announced that they have sold over 20 million map packs for the Call of Duty franchise. This comes after the release of the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Resurgence Pack, which released on June 2 for Xbox Live, July 6 for PSN and June 7 for PC.
“The Call of Duty franchise is unique in the world of entertainment and delivers one of the best multiplayer experiences ever,” said Bobby Kotick, CEO of Activision Blizzard. “We are thrilled to deliver to fans exciting and engaging content that has the intensity they have come to expect from the franchise.”
One of the largest changes made for Madden NFL 11 is something called GameFlow, designed to simulate a coordinator who will call plays from the playbook automatically. This is being done to shorten up the time it takes to play a game from over an hour to under a half hour.
This feature is being trotted out for the ad campaign for Madden NFL 11. Anthony Stevenson, senior product manager at EA Sports, says that it’s a delicate balancing act in conveying how the game isn’t being lobotomized for the sake of simplicity.
“People mistake simpler for dumbing down,” said Stevenson, mentioning the Wii and FarmVille as influences. “While sales were down last year, EA always expects some waxing and waning with sales of the product.”
Some viral stuff has already hit for the game, including Drew Brees taking on normal gamers in the game. The New Orleans Saints QB competed at one point on the JumboTron in New York s Times Square.
Source: AdWeek {link no longer active}
Microsoft and Lionhead Studios toady announced a unique bonus for fans who pre-order Fable III. Using a character creator tool called the Fable III Villager Maker, they will be able to make an in-game villager that will grant your hero a thrilling new quest and 1,000 gold.
After giving the villager personality traits, a backstory and physical attributes, the design can be saved as a wallpaper or loaded onto Facebook and Twitter. A redeemable code will be given to those who pre-order the game to upload it into Fable III.
To find out more about the Villager Maker and Fable III, visit www.xbox.com/fable3.
Fan made “retro” screen shots of modern games are pretty common, and even retro ports aren’t unheard of. However, Ed Fries has made one of the few semi-official retro ports in the world.
You see, Fries headed up Microsoft Game Studios when they originally published Halo: Combat Evolved for the Xbox. He recently debuted Halo 2600 at the Classic Game Expo in Las Vegas.
Check out the full game here and more details on the project here {link no longer active}.
As is likely indicative of its sales everywhere in the Western world and Korea, Starcraft II: Wings of Liberty topped the U.K. charts. GFK Chart-Track also indicates that the game is the first PC exclusive to hit the All Formats top spot this year.
The original game debuted at number 24 in the All Formats Chart back in 1998 and wasn’t even the highest selling PC game that week (Lucasarts Star Wars Supremacy was), notes Chart-Track. In fact the sequel has sold more this week than the original’s entire U.K. lifetime sales (only boxed product is accounted for).
Source: Chart-Track {link no longer active}
Nintendo has a large pressence and huge console marketshare in Japan, North America and most of Western Europe. However, there are numerous developing countries in Asia, South America and the Middle-East where they have barely any official presence, something CEO Satoru Iwata took some time to address to investors.
“It is true that not only those in Japan and the other developed countries in North America and Europe but also those in several countries with rapid economic development can afford more entertainment than before,” says Iwata. “And it is vital for our basic strategy of ‘gaming population expansion’ that more people in such countries as well as in Japan, North America and Europe, enjoy our video games and feel convinced to pay for them.”
“However, a large part of Nintendo’s reluctance to release products in certain regions is because of high piracy. Nintendo has traditionally been one of the staunchest gaming companies when it comes to defending its IP against pirates, so it’s sure to proceed cautiously into these regions.”
“Some in newly-emerging countries do not have an established custom of paying for software,” Iwata added. “We do wonder if the traditional business model of the video game industry will succeed in such regions. If we do totally different business there with cheaper services and software than developed countries, people in developed countries would have negative feelings toward us and say, ‘why do we have to pay much more than those playing video games elsewhere ‘ This could be one of the biggest problems for us that would need to be solved. Needless to say, popularizing our video games throughout newly-emerging countries is indispensable for Nintendo’s growth in the mid-and-long term. We will take enough time to work on it.”
Source: Nintendo.co.jp
