Website Game-tuts supposedly got an early look at the achievements for Halo 3: ODST and posted it online. I’ve posted it here and if you’re truly concerned with not spoiling the experience of the game I’d advise not watching it. It’s entirely possible that this is something simply ginned up by a savvy hoaxer since things like this abound, but there is the off chance that it’s genuine.

Ask someone what the Dynasty Warriors series is about and they’ll tell you it’s about richly stylized feudal Chinese warriors thrashing thousands of opponents over an endless series of battles. It’s one of those rare games where the things that some people love are the exact things that other people hate. If you’re like me and can’t get enough of bashing and slashing your way through hordes of enemies, you’ll soon be able to take that sort of fun on the road (or bus or train).

Koei has announced that they’re bringing a new version of the cult favorite to the PSP. It’s not the first title to be made portably in the series, but it’s certainly one of the most exciting since it’s being based off the PS2 version of Dynasty Warriors 6, the most recent title to be released. There’ll be twenty four battlefields and twenty-three generals with story modes to play through including Moukaku (Meng Huo to western gamers) who was included in the PS3 and Xbox 360-only Empires update.  As with other PSP titles there’ll be wireless co-op play included so you can team up with a friend. It’s set for release in Japan on September 3rd, with no word yet of a release date elsewhere.

There are only a few large independent game studios left; Valve, Epic, Id Software, no wait, Id Software just got acquired by the parent company of Fallout 3 developer/publisher Bethesda, ZeniMax. Darn!

ZeniMax has noted that they expect Id Software to continue operating independently, as before, which is always good, all things considered. Id Software are the developers of classics such as Doom, Wolfenstein and Quake. And the upcoming Rage.

The punchline on that headline is, better than its predecessor, but not by much.

I had to admit, after the sludgy wreck that was the original Transformers game, I wasn’t expecting much of anything out of its sequel.  It’s a general rule, at least in movie circles, that the sequel is almost never better than its predecessor.  In fact, a lot of games behave that way too–how many people played Resident Evil 2, for example, and were disappointed to discover that the house would have nothing to do with what they were playing?  I was, and I doubt I was alone.  Not that it wasn’t fun, it just wasn’t the same.

However, in the case of Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, the fact that it isn’t the same actually works in its favor.

This time, you’re once again put in the role of either the Autobots or the Decepticons (you’ll get to choose when you start a new game).  Megatron’s been long since blasted and the Allspark is just plain old out of the picture, but the Decepticons aren’t exactly curling up and dying since losing their leader.  In fact, if Michael Bay was actually paying attention for twenty seconds to the source material for a change he’d have realized that everybody’s favorite obsequious toady Air Commander Starscream was probably waiting for a moment like this with baited breath.  Anyway, old Megatron may not be as dead as everyone thought, and this is all badly timed for the Autobots, who now find themselves not only taking on the still very active Decepticons but also trying to protect Spike Witwicky and dealing with the arrival of a mysterious object from space that looks like it might tip the rather fragile balance of power squarely into the hands of the Decepticons.

So this time, you’ll be launching back into a full-on action title just like the last one, only this time you’ll also get RPG elements on the side.  You’ll run and jump and blast things and even occasionally fly, all in the name of pounding Decepticon chassis and protecting humanity.  When you do break open a Decepticon, you’ll collect actual Energon cubes that can be collected and used to buy options and expansions between stages.  Those would be the RPG elements, an interesting way to shake up otherwise predictible gameplay (do you add on to your maximum health first, or do you focus on your gunnery?) and a downright welcome addition.  Oh, and those rare times you’re allowed to fly?  Great fun.

This time around, however, there are some new problems.  For instance, battling in Singapore I found it rather difficult to keep track of where my enemies were at any given time.  They had a tendency to blend in with the many buildings, and, despite the radar, it was tough to tell if they were at ground level or running along rooftops. And if so, WHICH rooftops were they on?  Also, I definitely didn’t like the new transform mode, where now you hold down a button to remain in your vehicle form and release it to come out.  The problem is, the button you have to hold down is your throttle button.  Thus, in order to slow and go around corners you MUST use the brake.  There’s no other option.

So yes, it’s true–Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is a vastly better experience than its predecessor, with a deeper storyline and deeper gameplay and some really fun flight scenes.  However, it’s far from perfect, and thus should only be intended for those who really enjoy Transformer games or clearly action-based games.

In a perfect world there would be a direct correlation between a movies quality and its financial success. Poorly made films would founder and their directors would be run out of town at the end of pitchforks with torches following closely behind. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on your feelings) some films garner enough money out of sheer hope or curiousity. How many of us haven’t ever seen a trailer and thought “this looks so bad I just have to see it”. Such is often the case with video game movies. Fans go to see them to find out how much of a mess they made of our beloved plots and characters while others get dragged along or go looking for a good action/horror flick.

If there was that direct relationship between quality and profitability we’d never have seen a video game movie after Mario Bros., but they manage to get enough between tickets and DVD sales, so they struggle on. Despite the disdain of both critics and gamers alike for the Hitman movie it pulled in over $100 million at the box office, so it seems that Agent 47 will be gearing up for another shot at the silver screen. Fox has hired writer Kyle Ward to pen the screenplay for the movie. If you’ve never heard of him, that’s probably not a huge surprise since so far he’s only got one released film to his name, though he did write the screenplay for the upcoming Kane and Lynch film. This early there aren’t any other details, but regardless of whether or not Olyphant will be reprising his role, I doubt Olga Kurylenko will be back as sequels like this generally dump the previous love interest to introduce a new one, although many would be happier if they dumped the romantic subplot altogether as there never was one in the games.

The Wii is unique in that the control schemes for different titles goes far beyond which button does what- the game you’re playing determines which way you hold the controller. You can point like a lightgun, swing it like a tennis racket or tilt it side to side to steer around sharp turns. At the console’s launch some peripheral manufacturers put out some attachments for the Wiimote designed to look like tennis rackets, baseball bats and golf clubs, intended to make the Wii Sports experience feel more authentic.

I had plenty of good chuckles to myself every time I spied one of these sets in a store, but it seems not everyone was laughing- some were actually buying them. They must have been, because Nitho has announced they’re releasing a line of similar add-ons designed to fit with the Wii MotionPlus add-on. I can definitely understand the overall need for a lightgun, since it makes aiming for shooting games easier, but did we really need more fake sports equipment bits? They do offer a charging dock as well, but is it that difficult to pop the Wii MotionPlus off before you charge your battery packs?

A statement from the VP of sales and marketing in the US said that the company “focus{es} on innovation from the very beginning of the development cycle,” and that they “try to anticipate emerging market trends”. I’m not sure how well you’re doing claiming innovation at the same time you’re offering a ‘new’ product that’s essentially already been on the market for some time. The emerging trend they’re talking about? The fact that unsavvy parents and grandparents will buy some of these silly items for their children/grandchildren.

Team Fortress 2 update released
Ramis Glad He Turned Down Mario Directorship
Free FPS Alien Arena version 2009 released
Final Fantasy VII downloaded 100k times on PSN
Command & Conquer 4 In Development Suggests Survey
Mario Kart Wii Game Review–Time For Hyperbole
Disc Theft Deterrent Technology To Boost Sales Up To $6 Billion
Musicians Bash On Music Games
Tekken 6 gets its own wireless sticks
Activision shows off Guitar Hero 5 box art
Gearbox CEO wants innovation out of Bungie, Infinity Ward too

There have been some incredible pieces of film garbage created from video game properties over the years. Most of them were due to the bungling directing efforts of Uwe Boll, but long before the video game movie was a tragic cliche that fans wept to hear announced there was a major fiasco. I wouldn’t go so far as to claim that the Mario Bros. movie ruined the careers of everyone involved, but things haven’t been so rosy for John Leguizamo and Bob Hoskins since that film. Only Dennis Hopper had the power to overcome such an incredible bomb.

It seems that several people dodged a bullet with this one including Danny Devito and Kevin Costner, but one person who was asked to direct and says he’s glad he turned it down was none other than Harold Ramis, known mostly for his role as Egon Spengler in the Ghostbusters films. Ramis however has been an incredibly prolific writer and director far more than an actor and had been offered the reigns on the film because he was a huge fan of the game.

Alien Arena, the free FPS that has been out for a while, has been updated. The new version, called Alien Arena 2009, features significant updates to the engine and gameplay.

Alien Arena is an open source first person shooter, and is available for download for free on Windows and Linux, and is definitely worth checking out.

Sony has announced that Final Fantasy VII has been downloaded over 100,000 times on the PlayStation Network since its release during E3.

Final Fantasy VII, was released almost ten years ago, and is widely considered as the best Final Fantasy game to date.

Other classic PSOne titles are headed for the PlayStation Network as well, including Wild Arms 2, Mobile Light Force and Special Ops: Stealth Patrol. Sony also revealed that the PSN now has over 25 million registered users, who have downloaded over 500 million pieces of content.