At some point in January, 50 Cent: Blood on the Sand will be on retail shelves. In our most recent coverage of the title we were shown a basic glimpse of the storyline and gameplay. This trailer (accessible after the break for those over 18) expands what is known about the title by debuting the “Counter-Kill,” a term coined by the game’s publisher THQ.

The Counter-Kill appears to be a counter that kills enemies. It is the direct opposite of the “Counter-Tickle,” which may or may not be in Blood on the Sand.

One comes away with an impression of the game’s brutality when viewing the video. Counter-Kills are fast and brutal. The flow of the move (minus the weird comic book thing) is a lot like the hand-to-hand stuff in the Bourne movies, except 50 doesn’t need rolled-up magazines to dispose of his future victims. He only needs a knee or a particularly sharp knife.

The Nintendo DS and Wii might have dominated sales charts all year, but budget-conscious consumers buying on eBay this Christmas have PSP at the top of their shopping list.

"PSP" is currently the most popular video game search term used by visitors to eBay Australia, and the sixth most common search term on the site overall (behind the likes of "iPod", "laptop" and "shoes").

The next most popular search terms are "PS2", "Xbox 360", "PS2 games" and "PS3".

Surprisingly, "Nintendo DS" is only the sixth most common search term, and "Wii" is ninth, trailing behind "Xbox" and "Xbox 360 console".

eBay Australia enjoyed over 5 million unique visitors in September 2008 according to Nielsen. Worldwide, over 7 million items are listed for sale on eBay every day.

Link

Apparently, Lionhead mentioned something or other about a patch for Fable II a while back, but it's been so long I can't even remember them promising anything concrete in the first place.

Regardless of my horrible short-term memory, the all-inclusive patch I'm referring to is still being worked on. According to the Lionhead dev blog, the update is in the final stages of testing and will be certified ... soon?

No tentative release date is given -- probably to prevent our hopes and dreams from being crushed -- so there's no telling when the update will go live. The tone used in the blog linked above makes it sound as if the wait won't be much longer, though.

If you have been affected by a bug in Fable II, make sure to hit the jump to see whether or not your specific issue is going to be addressed in the patch.

[Via videogaming247]

Apparently, Lionhead mentioned something or other about a patch for Fable II a while back, but it's been so long I can't even remember them promising anything concrete in the first place.

Regardless of my horrible short-term memory, the all-inclusive patch I'm referring to is still being worked on. According to the Lionhead dev blog, the update is in the final stages of testing and will be certified ... soon?

No tentative release date is given -- probably to prevent our hopes and dreams from being crushed -- so there's no telling when the update will go live. The tone used in the blog linked above makes it sound as if the wait won't be much longer, though.

If you have been affected by a bug in Fable II, make sure to hit the jump to see whether or not your specific issue is going to be addressed in the patch.

[Via videogaming247]

Continue reading Press-only Animal Crossing features N-word [Update]

Press-only Animal Crossing features N-word [Update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Wed, 03 Dec 2008 17:46:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Atari has joined the crowd of publishers intent on demonizing used games, claiming them to be "extremely painful," but also suggesting that it isn't too concerned in the long-term thanks to its focus on online content.

"Second hand game sales represent consumer choice and desire," states Atari CEO, David Gardner. "Obviously, it has economically been extremely painful for the industry... the publishers don't benefit.

"But as games change and they become more and more network centric, the disc in the box becomes only one part of the experience. As that experience grows then it becomes not such a problem."

I do love how he followed "consumer choice and desire" with "extremely painful." Something tells me that the idea of customers having any sort of choice must feel like needles being dragged along a penis head to some of these publishers. Phil Harrison at least offered one of the most sensible arguments I've seen from an industry spokesman concerning the issue:

"There's no doubt that second hand games sales has a macro-economic impact on the industry and a lot of people get miserable about it. But it's no coincidence that the most valuable games, the one's that have the most lifetime as a game experience, are the one's that don't get resold, that don't get traded."

It's fairly simple. Create a great game, and you'll find that consumers will consider them keepers. Make an Atari game, and you'll find that second-hand store shelves are full to the brim.

First on this revamped GameSetVideo Treasures, we have a double feature of mockumentaries made by (at that time) Microsoft Game Studios employee Fred Northup Jr., promoting two Microsoft games made a few years apart.

Northup himself worked from 2000 to 2005 on various video games made by Microsoft, in addition to making these two videos. As a creative writer, he contributed to the story and scripts of games like Midtown Madness 3, Forza Motorsport and Project Gotham Racing 2.

The first spoof-ish video, The Man Behind the Motion was for Midtown Madness 3, and goes a little something like this:

The actual mockumentary features Michael White (under his real name), Motion Capture "Artist" -- who is the defacto perfectionist of the motion capture biz.

It's a rather fun video, especially the retro look at motion capture (with Pong or Pitfall) by his father, Moe, where the term "Mo Cap" was coined from. The cast as a whole appears to be from the Seattle based Unexpected Productions group -- of which Fred was a member before he joined Microsoft.

Microsoft put out their own press release when it got made, noting a few of production details like it being filmed in 3 days, and winning an audience choice award, but it's obviously meant to be virally spread -- like now!

[You can also download it too (WMV, 32MB).]

Nex up, Conker: Celebrity Squirrel promotes Conker: Live and Reloaded, a remake made in 2005 of the Rare/Nintendo 64 classic Conker's Bad Fur Day:

This mockumentary details the disappearance and finding of Conker in the feature "Celebrity Squirrel". In here, there's some very random interviews and "facts" about his life, including a good look at his bad language - including his part in Halo 2 being recast due to it.

Conker also puts together a rap single, "No More Tediz", heard in the credits. There's some funny moments, but not quite as consistent as the Midtown Madness one, in my opinion.

This film goes with a broader cast, and adds some 'celebrity' cameos, including Shaun Alexander (Seattle Seahawks), Cam'ron (rap artist), and Ryan Stiles (comedian) with Mike James presenting. There's some video game people on the cast too, with Halo's audio guru Marty' O'Donnell, and Conker's voice is properly done by the brilliant Chris Seavor. It's all pretty goofy, but... hey, this is a genuine cultural artifact!

[You can download it here (WMV, 85MB).]

Oh, woe is Wii. Sure, Nintendo's latest console is printing money, but it has a little problem on - or, rather, in - its hands: the US Patent Office has suspended a request by the company to issue a trademark for the "Wii Remote."

GamePolitics reports the application was put on hold due to the fact that "remote" is such a widely-used term, but the USPTO is willing to compromise. As long as the word "remote" is always preceeded by the word "Wii" (in all marketing, manuals, etc.) and Nintendo admits it holds no trademark on the word "remote," the government will reconsider.

Why not just go with "Wiimote," something that we (not Wii) and, well, everyone else have been calling it from day one? GamePolitics points out that Nintendo did, in fact, try for that one - only to learn that a Florida company markets a TV remote for children under the name "Weemote." D'oh. Perhaps Nintendo could take this opportunity to re-brand the controller? Think of the possibilities: the "WaggleWand," the "GameBaton," the ... "Einhänder!" Oh, wait. Why don't you give it a shot? (And, as the Superintendent says, "Keep it clean!")

Wee bit of trouble: Nintendo can't trademark 'Wii Remote' originally appeared on Joystiq on Tue, 02 Dec 2008 22:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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