Stories for March 10, 2008

Sorry for the extended away time. I promise it won't happen again. Anyways, onward...

- The Konami/Mercury Steam game is quite surprising, and fairly exciting.. It is pretty different from what Mercury Steam has worked on so far.
- Speaking of exciting and mysterious games, Project RedLime will be unveiled very soon. It's awesome.
- A non-PSP version of Patapon is planned.
- Soulstorm does indeed conclude the Dawn of War series. Fret not, for THQ will unveil an all-new Warhammer game later this year.
- EA will bring a few of their major "usual suspect" perennial franchises to the iPhone, such as Need for Speed and some sports games. They have a few original projects in the works as well, aside from Spore, as well as some The Sims spin-offs, and some typical mobile phone titles. Other publishers with iPhone plans include THQ, Activision/Activision Blizzard, Atari, Gameloft, PopCap, Namco Bandai, Disney, and 2K Games. Super Monkey Ball is not Sega's only iPhone title. A well-known competitive FPS title will arrive with online options. Several publishers are preparing "brain training" titles, as well.

Notes for February 21, 2008

Yes, they will be unveiling GoldenEye tomorrow.

And yes, I'm trying to find out what Project RedLime is. I don't think it's Wing Commander...

That is all.

Notes for February 18, 2008: Temporarily Away

Sorry, readers, but I may be a little busy for the next few days. I have an important and exciting event to attend this week...in fact, I'm on my way directly there now.

In the meantime, don't hesitate to continue posting questions. If I do find time in the evenings to post and respond, I will.

Stories for February 16, 2008

- Expect to see a little of Warner Bros' Speed Racer game soon. Don't expect to be terribly impressed, though.

- I'm surprised that Midway hasn't shown the new Gauntlet yet.

- The amazing Mirror's Edge is also due for a proper unveiling before too terribly long.

- Plans have changed regarding The Lord of the Rings: The White Council, since I last mentioned it. It is dead now, replaced by Pandemic's LOTR project. The Hobbit is still coming, anyways.

- EA has plans for Battlefield Heroes-esque installments of quite a few of their properties, including Medal of Honor, Need for Speed, and some sports titles.

Stories for February 13, 2008:

- Red Alert 3 looks really awesome.
- Spore Creatures is also really terrific.
- Not long ago, there was some brainstorming at EA about bringing back Ultima (to match the new Wing Commander, perhaps), but that's all backburner'd for now.
- Codemasters' is working on a follow-up to DiRT. It will apparently feature a dedication to the late Colin McRae. On a related note, Race Driver: GRID and Operation Flashpoint 2 are both looking quite nice. 
- Activision/Neversoft really have no shame. The new Tony Hawk game is more than just a little inspired by skate. People call EA derivitive, but yeesh...
- I doubt that Blizzard will be using GDC to show off either Hydra or Diablo III. It is my understanding that the Diablo III unveil is currently pegged for E3, while Hydra's coming out date is still a mystery.

Stories for February 7, 2008

I'd like to address the uproar I've seen in a few different places over my comments regarding Kingdom Hearts III. This hasn't come up amongst my comments much, so this isn't so much directed there, as much as it is at a few forums where I've seen discussion about my statements.

Now certainly, I do not at all object to people questioning or disbelieving or even completely disregarding my statements. I don't expect to be believed unquestioningly by all because indeed, I am merely a humble blogger sharing info that I cannot rightly prove to be true. I rather encourage all of my readers to think for themselves, and to only believe me if they personally choose to do so. So, this not me being upset at people who don't believe my info. This is just a follow-up to and expansion of my original story, for those who want more info.

Let me begin by saying that what I was told about the plans for the game, I was told a number of months ago. Things may have changed since then, certainly. This game is a long ways off; it's only in the planning stages at the moment. Any and everything about it could change between now and the time it enters actual production. So could market conditions.

But I maintain that what I said is true. I was told, by an involved party, that the current target platform for Kingdom Hearts III (as in "III," and not a spin-off) is the Nintendo Wii. This is due to one thing, predominantly: demographics. Yes, Kingdom Hearts has most certainly attracted a considerable following of those who can't count their age on all of their digits combined. Yes, Disney and Square-Enix know this. But the fact is, this is still a franchise targeted most squarely at 9-to-14-year-olds. And at this moment, the Wii is far and away the top performer among this age group.

Disney (whose interest and investment in the property is at an all-time high) wants this game marketed to and targeted at the largest audience possible, while keeping it on one of the three new systems, and they've decided that the Wii is the system to do this on. Disney feels absolutely no loyalty whatsoever to Sony (or anyone else) or the PlayStation family. They know they've got a hot property here, and they are not letting anything stand in the way of taking it as far as possible. As of right now, they don't think that the PlayStation 3 is the platform that will facilitate this.

That so many found this such an outrageous idea really surprises me. This isn't about personal preference, or what system you personally think is the best, and most certainly, none of this story has anything at all to do with me or my feelings. This is about demographics and marketing, and what Disney feels will allow this series to go as far as it can. So, I repeat: I have been told that Disney wants Kingdom Hearts III on the Nintendo Wii.
 
Anyways, enough of this. We now return to our irregularly scheduled program...

- This all reminds me that plans for an animated Kingdom Hearts project are not necessarily permanently scrapped, just way on the back burner for now.

- For the few people out there who are wondering and looking for closure, it seems as though the long-dormant plans for a North American release of Nintendo's bit Generations series have completely disintegrated. Pity.

- Capcom does have plans for a North American release of Kabu Trader Shun; expect it to be branded as "Ace Stock Trader."

Stories for February 1, 2008

- Someone told me that the Wii-exclusive Metal Gear title is somehow related to the Game Boy Color's Metal Gear: Ghost Babel.

- Criterion's Black 2 will feature a full compliment of online multiplayer modes (with co-op a possibility), unlike it's predecessor.

- I don't know the current status of the game, but during Rockstar Vancouver's first brainstorming sessions for a follow-up to Bully, one of the ideas they came up with was a very similar title starring a female counterpart to Jimmy Hopkins. They (at least semi-seriously) referred to this game concept as, I kid you not, Tough Cookie.

Stories for January 29, 2008

- Luxoflux should be ready to show off their new game at E3 at the latest (it's not another True Crime, thankfully).

- On a related note, Vigilante 8 Arcade is still coming to XBLA later this year.

- PROPE will be unveiling their original Wii game "before TGS." Sega has optioned the publishing rights.

- Just Cause 2 looks much better than the first.

- Marvel Universe Online and Untitled Marvel Fighting Game may both be dead and buried in shallow graves, but Raven will still have Marvel: Even More Ultimater Alliance (tentative title) ready by next Spring.

Stories for January 27, 2008

- At the moment, it's a safe bet that you'll be able to play as both Star Wars characters in both versions of Soul Calibur IV (and that you'll have to pay a few extra bucks to do so via DLC; in fact, I almost expect Namco to pull an "EA," and have the data actually on the discs, which you then pay to unlock).

- An exclusive Metal Gear game on Wii? Totally. Note the lack of the word "Solid."

- Suda 51 and Hideo Kojima's Project 'S' will absolutely result in a new Snatcher game, but not until Suda and Kojima's current projects are done.

- A Cloverfield game? Nah...not right now anyways. Perhaps for the sequel.

Stories for January 14, 2008

- The identity of Factor 5's upcoming Wii game is...Turrican! Nothing from the Thornado era of the game's long development is being used here. Expect some essence of Metroid Prime, mixed with some massive scale, on the order of Shadow of the Colossus.

- Gran Turismo 4 Mobile is most definitely dead.

Stories for January 3, 2007

Happy new year.

- id Software has a release cycle worked out that they usually follow with little deviation. Wolfenstein, then Doom, then Quake. This pattern first played out from 1992-1999, again from 2001-2005, and you can expect it to repeat again in the same order from 2008 to 2013, only this time, Rage will join the mix in 2009.