In totally awesome news, those who signed up to receive the God of War: Chains of Olympus demo earlier this year will be glad to know that the discs have been pressed and are now being dispatched throughout North America.
Cory Barlog, the dude behind the game, posted on the PlayStation blog: “As I type these words, legions of carrier Harpies are being dispatched to deliver the sweet UMD goodness that is God of War: Chains of Olympus ? Special edition: Battle of Attica Demo Disc…otherwise know as GOW: COO ?SE:BoADD. Good god…that is a freaking mouthful, even typing this abbreviated version makes me tired.”
The full game is due out on March 4, 2008.
Shacknews reports that from the remnants of Okami and Viewtiful Joe developer Clover Studio, Seeds, an independent studio, has been formed. It will be known as Platinum Games starting October 1, coming as a result of its merger with ODD, another Japanese comapny.
Seeds consists of talented developers such as Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami, Devil May Cry and Viewtiful Joe creator Hideki Kamiya and more. The studio is yet to unveil its first title.
(pictured to the right: Hideki Kamiya)
A little detective work by the guys over at Destructoid has resulted in a couple of more tracks being revealed for Rock Band, an upcoming attempt by Harmonix to emulate the excitement of a full band.
They managed to unearth the addition of R.E.M.’s “Orange Crush”, a classic single from the late ’80s. The lineup will also include an unlockable song “I’m So Sick” by Flyleaf, as well as music from Anarchy Club, Bang Camaro, Freezepop, Vagiant and The Acrobats.
In a dual announcement, Insomniac Games announced that Ratchet & Clank Future: Tools of Destruction has gone gold and has entered the manufacturing process today. However, the game will enter stores October 30, a week later than the October 23 release date that was known earlier.
It was also announced on the official PlayStation blog that a playable demo of the game will be released by October 11. The demo will be an optimized version of the E3 level.
Offering a sample to gamers, Codemasters has released a demo of Clive Barker’s Jericho, its upcoming horror-shooter that is banned in Germany.
The demo includes an introductory video and lets players go through one level from the game as three members of the Jericho squad. It’s a 1.1 GB download for PC gamers from Gamespot. The demo is also available on PS3 and Xbox 360.
In sad news, Rockstar developer Joseph Howell, 35, has died. Rest in peace.
No cause of death is mentioned anywhere, but this obituary in the NY Daily News hints that it may have been suicide. Howell was a successful games designer at the (in)famous studio, being credited for some of its high-profile titles including GTA: San Andreas, Manhunt, GTA 3, GTA Vice City, Midnight Club 2 and more.
Besides being a developer, he is described as being a “staunch defender of Civil Rights and Liberties especially for the underprivileged,” according to his obituary.
From the no-shit-Sherlock department comes word that entries in the Tomb Raider and Hitman are in the works. SCi Entertainment revealed this during its fiscal year-end results where they also mentioned that sequels to Just Cause and Battlestations: Midway are also in development.
However, the company itself does not have much good news. It has posted lower revenues than it had the year before. This is being attributed to steep price cuts on PS2 games, as well as the PS3.
Chinese gamers sure love World of Warcraft! After the delayed release of The Burning Crusade‘s launch in the country, the popular MMORPG has gotten even more popular, having regained its momentum. Its Chinese operator The9 has added nine new servers groups to handle the sudden influx of users. Estimates indicate that the peak concurrent users may have exceeded 800,000. Wow, indeed!
?People in my guild who I haven?t seen in ages are all coming back for the expansion pack?, says Zou Jun a WoW gamer from Nanjing.
Meanwhile, other MMO developers wonder how to make their games this popular.
Foll owing word that the USK, Germany’s ratings board, has denied to rate Clive Barker’s Jericho, effectively banning it in the country, Codemasters has officially told that they are standing by their game and not modifying any of its content to get USK’s classification.
“Following a review by the USK ratings board, which declined to give an official rating, Codemasters has decided not to change the artistic vision of the renowned author and filmmaker Clive Barker though cuts and extensive changes,” announced the publisher through a press note. “[We] respect Mr Barker?s creative ideas, despite the German distribution and marketing consequences for the title.”
The company will not be able to sell or advertise the game in the country for PS3 and Xbox 360. However, they will still be selling the unrated PC version starting October 26 when it’s released for “adult gamers and Clive Barker fans.”
It seems Jack Thompson wasn’t happy with sending his son out to buy Bioshock. GP reports that he recently sent his 15-year old son out to buy Halo 3 from Target.
Miami attorney and anti-violent video game activist today did a successful sting on Target Corporation. His fifteen-year-old son, on the first try, was able to buy the ?Mature-rated? Halo 3 without producing any age ID at the Dadeland Station Target.
Isn’t having his son buy these games defeating his purpose? His logic confuses me.
