Opening its rationalization with the arguable statement that Infinity Ward’s Modern Warfare 2 has “something intelligent to say about contemporary military conflicts,” Time Magazine’s “Top 10 Games” of 2009 list recently declared the title its “Game of the Year.” MW2 was closely followed by Batman: Arkham Asylum and DJ Hero, while the recent Uncharted 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2 landed on the bottom of the list.
The seemingly annual Flash/iPhone game choice this year turned out to be Geo Defense Swarm, while Link’s latest adventure sat out the ubiquitous DS spot — a spot filled by Scribblenauts, it would seem. As always, Joystiq will have our own Game of the Year awards going live just after the new year, so be sure to keep it locked!
TIME declares Modern Warfare 2 top game of 2009 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 22:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Tags: 9th-2009, activision, batman-arkham-asylum, game-of-the-year-2009, geo-defense-swarm, infinity ward, Joystiq, joystiq-nintendo, joystiq-xbox, list, year
I’m a big fan of Silent Hill. I’ve played every game in the series and a few years ago you might even have caught me defending the Silent Hill movie. When I first heard that Climax was re-imagining the first game in the Silent Hill series, and putting it on the Wii, I was a bit nervous. When the company revealed the logo and announced that the rust laden, nightmarish Otherworld was being brushed aside for an ice world, I was downright scared. After gathering some more info and trying the game at E3, all fears were assuaged. This was to be the great white (black?) hope of the Silent Hill series.
Having spent two evenings with the game and completing the story for the first time, I’m conflicted. Was it good? Yes. I’m just not sure it’s Silent Hill.
Continue reading Review: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories
Review: Silent Hill: Shattered Memories originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 18:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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TT Games has been at it for some time now with its Lego-themed games, taking on everything from Star Wars to Rock Band, each entry coupling the same goofy, self-referential comedy with a family friendly low barrier to entry.
The new trailer for Lego Harry Potter: Years 1-4 takes these recurring tropes and adds them to the world of Hogwarts, Muggles, and He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named, sprinkling in iconic moments from the first four blockbuster books throughout. Without a release date for the game – and with the first half of the final Harry Potter film not hitting theaters until next November – we worry it might be awhile before we get our hands on this block-breaking version of Harry.
New Lego Harry Potter trailer has us rowling with laughter originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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[Flickr user Mr. Talion]
You know what? Driving around is boring. Luckily, some Germans are taking steps to amp up the experience by incorporating Doom graphics into billboard ads, effectively upping their cool factor exponentially. Check out this Flickr set and tell us these billboards are anything but completely awesome. We dare you!
Hopefully, this is the beginning of a trend that will cross the oceans of the world and spread throughout every major city, causing us to actually care about these outdoor advertising eyesores. In the spirit of international sharing, we’ve got a couple ideas of our own you can check out past the break.
[Via Animal New York and Nerdcore; thanks, Ryan]
Continue reading Street artists beef up billboards with Doom graphics
Street artists beef up billboards with Doom graphics originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 16:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Last month, the extremely certain pop-rock outfit No Doubt sued Activision for allowing their likenesses to be used in Band Hero, where players could perform the game’s entire catalog of songs as the Stefani-fronted group. According to the complaint, this feature turned the band’s appearance in the game into a “virtual karaoke circus act.” Earlier this week, The Hollywood Reporter dug up a countersuit filed against the band by Activision, who claimed No Doubt was in breach of a contract between the two parties, and had reaped unjust enrichment as a result.
Activision’s main response to No Doubt’s claim is that that the band requested their likenesses be limited to perform the band’s own songs in-game — however, it made this request “only after the Band Hero programming was finalized.” Activision seeks an unspecified amount of damages and interest from the band, as well as court and attorney fees, and a return of all payments dispersed to the band for their initial involvement. Jeez, Activision. Might as well go ahead and ask for the kitchen sink while you’re at it.
[Via GamePolitics]
Activision countersues No Doubt, which is likely not feeling ‘Hella Good’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 15:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Using GamerDNA results as a guideline, DFC Intelligence charted the popularity of 360 games last month, and there are some interesting revelations. For one: Every person alive or dead, including the author of this post, is playing Modern Warfare 2 as we speak. Okay, so that’s a slight exaggeration but it was very popular, with somewhere between 22 and 17 percent of GamerDNA’s Xbox 360-playing subjects playing the game throughout all of November.
Also somewhat surprising is just how well Borderlands – which, let’s be honest, didn’t have the biggest marketing push – did, handily holding on to second place until the release of Left 4 Dead 2 and Assassin’s Creed 2. Admittedly this list doesn’t reflect the time spent by those who aren’t online, but do you seriously care about those commoners anyway?
Modern Warfare 2 dominates November gameplay on 360 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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Apple’s iTunes store has listed the best-selling and top-rated apps for this third-to-last year of humanity’s existence. It appears the big boys of game publishing are doing quite well on the App Store, with the ten top grossing games making room for only one independent studio. Gamasutra states Firemint’s Flight Control, with its 99 cent price tag, sold 1.5 million copies and grabbed the number seven spot.
The top-rated titles have much more indie spirit, as Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, Real Racing and Zenonia wrap up the top three spots. Check out the lists for both categories after the break.
[Via Gamasutra]
Continue reading And the best-selling, top-rated iPhone games of 2009 are …
And the best-selling, top-rated iPhone games of 2009 are … originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 14:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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As noted by PS3Trophies.org, it appears that more Borderlands DLC is imminent. The five recently added Trophies point to three coliseums, called The Angelic Ruins, The Gully and Hell-Burbia, all of which appear to have “lesser” and “larger” challenges.
Eurogamer mentions that Borderlands Creative Director Mikey Neuman was all set to reveal something on Twitter, but it appears the marketing powers changed the announcement to a “later occasion.” Publisher Take-Two seems happy with the success of Borderlands and critical reception to the game’s first DLC pack, The Zombie Island of Doctor Ned. Reaching out to 2K Games about the DLC, we were informed, “No official announcements have been made regarding future Borderlands DLC at this time.”
[Via Eurogamer]
Rumor: New Borderlands DLC revealed by Trophy leak originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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The Guardian reports that the British government will likely reject the Games Tax Relief proposal. According to the paper, the video game industry “contributes more to the UK economy than the film industry,” yet doesn’t receive the same assistance from the government.
All of this is leading up to Tiga, the UK’s trade association for the video game industry, either owning the role of “The Boy Who Cried Wolf” or Cassandra of Greek mythology. The organization claims that 1,700 jobs will be lost without tax breaks and that competition from other countries, like the US, France, and especially Canada, is too strong. Dundee and Manchester are to receive a £10 million cash injection from the government, but that probably pales in comparison to government tax relief. It appears that Tiga is going to have to take a gamble on the Shadow Lords soon.
[Via Edge]
Report: UK government rejects gaming tax break proposal originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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click for bear-size505 Games just announced a new game from Wet developer Artificial Mind and Movement — and the protagonist is, well, artificial. Naughty Bear is pretty much exactly what we expected when we saw the trademark filed by A2M: a violent action game starring an animated, stuffed bear. Specifically, a stuffed bear who swears revenge on other jerk bears for failing to invite him to a party.
The goal in Naughty Bear is to scare, irritate, and, of course, hurt the other bears, racking up “Naughty Points” as you do and using weapons strewn about the game’s 30 stages. The game will dole out more Naughty Points in response to more “deviant and maniacal” tactics. From the description, it sounds like Manhunt with teddy bears. It’s going to be a polyester stuffing-bath.
505 Games unleashing a Naughty Bear on PS3 and Xbox 360 originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 09 Dec 2009 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.
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