In an effort to be more sensitive to their audience Sony has confirmed that Motorstorm Apocalypse will not be released in Japan. After the earthquakes on March 11 devastated many people in Japan, Sony felt it would be an unwise, and insensitive, decision to release a game featuring natural disasters and ruined cities. The game has already been released in other regions, but it will officially not be in Japan.
Lee Perry not Geared Up with Kinect…Yet
June 9th, 2011 
Joystick Awhile back we heard rumors that a new Gears of War was going to have Kinect support, but Lee Perry, lead designer with the Gears of War team, has denied any such rumor. They did state that the prospect of the idea was intriguing to them, but they haven’t started working on anything with motion support yet. I wouldn’t mind seeing what these guys could do with it myself. After seeing Ghost Recon using it and Mass Effect 3′s take on it as well I am definitely interested in what other developers can bring to the table.
The Devil May Cry if Uwe Boll Made This Movie
June 9th, 2011 Joystick It looks like Screen Gems, a Sony subsidiary, has bought the rights to the Devil May Cry movie from Capcom. With the success of Resident Evil, another Capcom franchise, they must figure that they have a good shot at making another smash hit. No ones knows if they will be trying to base the movie on the old Dante, or the new younger looking one, but I know many fans are hoping that its not the younger one. If it was Uwe Boll he’d probably try to make Dante some kind of hermaphrodite vampire with an insatiable desire for the blood of bad actors. Thank God it’s not Uwe Boll.
Ubisoft’s Rabbids go…Rabbid
June 9th, 2011 Joystick Ubisoft has unveiled a sci-fi FPS game that will be an exclusive for the WiiU, and it definitely looks like it could be awesome on the system. The game, called Killer Freaks from Outerspace, pits the main character against an army of creatures that look like some kind of cross between gremlins and Rabbids from other Ubisoft games. You aren’t just alone in the fun though. You will be able to play with friends in a rather inventive vs mode that makes full use of the tablet like controller. The person who uses the tablet will be able to place enemies strategically throughout the level using an rts style overhead interface, while the other character has to fight their way through the level. The idea that the system will have games like this is intriguing to say the least. I’m looking forward to seeing this one progress.
Sony Hackers may Never be Brought Into the Light
June 9th, 2011 Joystick It looks like the hackers who caused Sony to shut their servers down may get away without ever being caught. Kaz Hirai says that they aren’t even sure how much of the information on the 100 million compromised accounts was accessed. It could have been nothing more than just a first name, it could have been all the information. All we know for sure is that these guys were good at covering their tracks. Even if we never see these guys get caught the real question is: What happens now? The network is back up, but if these guys know they can get away with it they could try again, and this time they could take everything. I’m not saying we should condemn Sony for this, but we need to keep track of what information we are giving Sony, and how much of that information is stored on a network. I know that I now just buy Playstation Network card if I want something from them.
Nintendo Sees Red!
June 9th, 2011 Joystick It’s official!
Nintendo has responded to the consumer and has decided to expand the color selection for the Nintendo 3DS to include Red Flare! It should be arriving in Japan on July 14, but there’s no word as to when the rest of the world might get it, or if at all. Of course, we were told the limited Red Wii was only in Japan at first, but it came out in America too, so I’m hoping we see this one here as well.
id Software is Happy Not Licensing
June 9th, 2011 Joystick id Software is happy to be out of the engine licensing business.
Carmack never really wanted to be in the business of licensing engines in the first place, but people bugged them enough that they caved and started doing it. He always worried about changing stuff around because it would fuck over the little guys who licensed the engine too. He’s perfectly okay with making huge changes to the engine when it’s just him and his team because they know it’s worth it and no one else has to suffer through it.
Well, Carmack, that’s why we love you. Keep up the good work, and congratulations. Now you can focus on doing what you love, making the games we love to play.
Respawn Shooting for the Stars
June 9th, 2011 Joystick Jason West and Vince Zampella are back in the news, and this time it has nothing to do with Activision.
Electronic Arts has officially announced the new IP from Respawn Entertainment, formed by West and Zampella, is a sci-fi shooter. Unlike Medal of Honor and Battlefield, sci-fi shooters offer more leeway and will allow them to schedule the release for the game when it won’t be “cannibalistic to the core business.” My guess is he has a lot of faith in these guys to worry that their game might kill off some of their other titles if released at the wrong time.
I’m also interested to see how the new Modern Warfare comes out now that they are gone. Time will tell.
id Software Not Cozy with Wii U
June 9th, 2011 Joystick While many third-party developers seem to be happy to have Nintendo on the HD track and are willing to put out games for the system, there is one developer who has their reservations.
Rage studio’s creative director, Tim Willits, said id Software just doesn’t see enough of a hardcore FPS fan base coming from the new system. Of course, he’d love to get one going, but right now it just isn’t there. He wants to keep himself and his team where they know the territory best. He’s also in no hurry to see Microsoft and Sony put out new systems because stability in the system makes it easier to develop games on it. Of course, id Tech 5 is good enough to take to a next gen system if need be. But the way things are now, developers can focus on game design rather than learning the ins and outs of the system. All I can say is this, when id Software says something, we stand up and listen. If they can make RAGE so good that all my dreams come true, I’d be willing to let them build there own system. I wonder if we’ll see any of their games on the Wii U, or will Bethesda let them skip it altogether?
We’ll have to wait and see.
Wii U Pricing Not Set, but Over $250 Most Likely
June 9th, 2011 Joystick Nintendo hasn’t released any details on the pricing of the Wii U specifically, but Reggie Fils-Aime, president of Nintendo of America, has said it will definitely hold value for gamers. Saturo Iwata has said it will most likely cost more that $250, which doesn’t come as a surprise to me; but if they manage to keep the cost down to $299 or below, they have a chance in the market against the Xbox 360 and the PS3 whose prices remain in that range right now.
The Wii U will be able to play all the old Wii games as well as the new ones, and will have HD capability. AMD is on board with a new chip for it, and it will offer things that no other console does currently, so the price isn’t bad now. However, when you look at the fact that it won’t come out for another year, you have to wonder where Sony and Microsoft will be at the time too. I’m not pinning my hopes on any one company, but I’d be willing to shill out $250 for a new console. At least it isn’t $800. Anyone remember dropping that for a PS3?
