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The GRID PC Demo that was slated to be launched today has what looks like a serious multiplayer issue. A black screen, dead state has been seen about once an hour in online testing.

Due to this issue, Codemasters has asked FileFront to pull the demo and if you have already downloaded it we apologize for any inconvenience and will keep you updated with the latest news as soon as we have it.

Hopefully a fixed version will be released shortly, so check back often.

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“Pirates of the Caribbean” director Gore Verbinski is slated to direct the film adaptation of BioShock. According to Variety, the film will be developed by Universal Studios, which subsequently handed over a multimillion-dollar advance to Take-Two for the film rights.

Screenwriter John Logan (Gladiator, The Aviator) will be the scriptwriter and while Universal has not announced a release window, Verbinski said that pre-production will begin as when the script is finished and approved.

Strauss Zelnick, chairman for Take-Two and former President of Fox said the deal was structured to prevent any pre-production hang ups:

“The reason I structured it the way I did is to make sure it gets made. One of the things we decided early on is that we didn’t want to go through a producer. It’s terribly important to us to have a meaningful influence on how this project is produced.”

The Variety piece also mentions that BioShock creative director Ken Levine has been “regularly consulted” but having a formal role in the film’s process remains to be seen.

Let’s all keep our fingers crossed that it does not suck. Verbinski is a decent director, and even though the last Pirates film was awful in my opinion, you can’t totally blame him. He did the best he could with a shoddy script.

Via: Variety

EA confirmed through a press release this morning that the demo for Battlefield: Bad Company will be available on PSN and XBL on June 5. Players will land on the battlefield as part of the ‘B’ or Bad Company, a wayward band of soldiers more interested in the pursuit of gold and personal financial gain than following the rules. Gamers will get a sneak peek at how tactical destruction changes the way shooters are played, both offline and online in the single player and multiplayer demo.Players can also gain early access to the demo by pre-ordering the game through participating retailers in North America and Europe. More details on this special pre-order campaign can be found here.

Players who missed their opportunity to participate in the closed beta will get a second chance to experience the multiplayer Gold Rush mode on the Oasis map while the single player portion starts gamers at the beginning of their ‘B’ company career. The single player portion of the demo sets the stage for players as they’re introduced to the humorous and sometimes irreverent set of characters that make up the ‘B’ company. As gamers embark on their quest for gold, they’ll gain access to numerous vehicles, weapons and open maps as well as tactical destruction.

Battlefield: Bad Company is slated to hit stores on June 25th in North America and June 27th in Europe for the PS3 and Xbox 360. For more information, check out our previous posts.

Via: Press Release

A new television series aimed at gamers began airing in the UK this week on cable and satellite channel Bravo. “Playr” is a topical weekly magazine program which reviews new releases, reports from the major gaming events and previews the biggest games. The series will also have 2 spin offs, “Playr 2″ and “Playr Guide”.

Executive producer Richard Wilcox commented,“It’s a good time to be launching television series about games. We expect to reach around 100,000 gamers every week in the UK and many more than that on TV networks worldwide.”

Clips from the show will also be available to watch online each week at yahoo.co.uk and if you live in the UK, you can watch it on Saturdays at 2:30 PM on Bravo 2, and Sundays at 11:00 AM on Bravo.

For those of us in the States that have Bravo on Cable or Satellite you may want to check your local listings for times, because the UK is five hours ahead of us who use EST.

Via: Press Release

Codemasters has secured the exclusive video game rights to Formula One in a worldwide licensing agreement with Formula One Administration Ltd. In turn, the developer/publisher will create a new generation of the multi-million selling Formula One game franchise across multiple consoles, handhelds and PC.

Here are some “gushing” quotes pulled from the press release:

“FORMULA 1 is ambitious in expanding its reach with more circuits planned beyond recent additions in the Middle East and China. It is also ambitious in expanding its reach via technology. The digital communities that computer and video gaming creates will play a key role in further growing the FORMULA 1 audience and connecting them globally,” said Rod Cousens, chief executive officer, Codemasters.

“As a world-leading creator of driving games, this alliance with FORMULA 1 is the jewel in Codemasters’ racing crown and creates an undisputed segment champion. FORMULA 1 has gone with the best, the segment leader. It has gone to the home of the EGO Engine for quality; it has gone to the company that can host FORMULA 1 Online, to the company that is streaking away from the pack.”

“Codemasters’ success and recent innovations in the racing game space makes the company more than appropriately tuned for the challenge,” said Chris Deering, chairman, Codemasters.“The combination of FORMULA 1’s new momentum of expansion and Codemasters’ contemporary technology and past experience is the breaking of a new dawn for the sport, on the track and on the HD game screen.”

This deal will provide Codemasters with rights to feature all Grand Prix circuits, Formula One teams, cars, and driver likenesses. In addition, the FIA Formula One World Championship games will be developed using the evolution of the EGO Game Technology Engine, Codemasters’ cross-platform middleware technology. The EGO Engine is currently being deployed in the creation of Race Driver: GRID, the latest in Codemasters Studio’s international circuit-based racing series which will be released on May 30th.

The first FIA Formula One World Championship game is set to launch in 2009.

Via: Press Release

Activision has published results for the company’s 2008 financial year and the numbers are pretty impressive. Raking in over $2.9 billion in net earnings gave them a 92% increase in monetary gains over last year’s figures. Activision’s net income stands at $344.9 million, up from $85.8 million last year and kudos goes out to Guitar Hero III and CoD4 helping them out by bringing in one billion dollars each in sales.

Head honcho Robert Kotick stated during a conference call following the published figures:

“During the fiscal year, we were the number one US console and handheld publisher in dollars for the first time ever, according to The NPD Group, and we grew our worldwide share of the console, handheld and PC markets year over year.”

Also mentioned during the conference call was the confirmation of a fifth Call of Duty game, the reinvention of the Tony Hawk series, the announcement of a new Marvel: Ultimate Alliance title and discussions relating to Guitar Hero 4 and its holiday release date.

This means that Activison will be another contender for number one publisher next year, especially considering that they have merged with Blizzard. Just think of the money they will earn when Wrath of the Lich King is unleashed upon the world.

Via: Eurogamer

Turbine and Codemasters Online have announced the launch of “Swig and Toss”, the second mini-game for the Unlock the Mines of Moria website. Registered participants can challenge themselves and their friends to earn special deeds that unlock unique rewards including exclusive videos, images, and in-game items that will aid them on their journey when The Lord of the Rings Online: Mines of Moria launches this fall.Swig and Toss is an axe throwing competition with a bit of drinking and wagering to make things more interesting! In this 10-round game, players try to keep a steady aim while attempting to hit a target with their axe. Hit the mark and win, miss and hear the Dwarves around you scoff at your lack of skill. The more you drink, the more you can wager, but be warned - the more you drink, the blurrier things get and it is harder to see the target.

It is loads of fun, but I am afraid that I am not too good at drinking games so I will one of the few who do not get to unlock any special items when the expansion is released. Hopefully, these items will not be “bind on acquire” and I can purchase them at my Kin’s auction house.

Via: Press Release

Criterion Games announced this morning that the popular driving game Burnout Paradise is being rebuilt specifically for the PC. Burnout Paradise will be the first Burnout title ever made for the PC, customized with expanded multiplayer, enhanced online features, and community driven content.Originally released for the PS3 and Xbox 360, Burnout Paradise has won over 55 awards worldwide and delivers an open-world environment built for speed, excitement and exploration and boasts a nice transition from single-player offline to online gameplay. The PC version will combine all the open world racing, speed and action of the original game with additional new gameplay.

Want to know more? Then tune into a live webcast on the Criterion Games website at 8:00 AM PST on Friday, May 9th for more details on this announcement.

Hey buddy, want some WoWcrack? You know you do. Its cheap too, and when I say cheap, I mean free. Follow me into this dark alley and I will give you the goods - make sure no one sees you and that you are not followed or else the deal is off. You aren’t packing heat or wearing a wire are you? Ok cool, let’s do this then.

All of my stuff is premo and pure and it is a new strain of WoWcrack sure to please even the most discerning of tastes. It is called Wrath of the Lich King and I have nine different types.

• The first one is an interview with designer J. Kaplan & Producer J. Allen Brack about what World of Warcraft’s upcoming expansion has to offer.
• Next we have the first footage of air-to-air battles featuring vehicle combat.
• I also have an extended look at new zones (Northrend) and more vehicle combat
• Here I have the Howling Fjord which is one of Lich King’s two starter zones, including the Utgarde Keep instance and the new Tuskar race.
• Then I have this sweet bit of stuff that contains footage of the Borean Tundra which is the Lich King’s other starting zone, along with Howling Fjord. This clip shows both the Alliance and Horde towns, and the Nexus level 71-73 instance.
• Dragonblight is some really good stuff too where you can catch a glimpse of Wyrmrest Temple, the Nerubians, and Naxxramas.
• Like trolls? Then you will love Zul’Drak - the former troll empire has fallen on tough times. It’s not just for ice trolls any more.
• Sholazar Basin is the sister zone to Ungoro Crater. That crashed ship? Hemet Nessingwary’s. Good times to be had with this one
• Last but not least I have the Grizzly Hills where the Venture Co. has set up shop in Northrend, and so have the Furbogs (they live in the fallen, mini-world tree).

So what will it be then? You will take all of them? You are hardcore indeed my friend! Make sure you tell your friends about me, and as long as they are not narcs - I will do my best to supply them with more WoWcrack when it becomes available. In the meantime, if they need more information on my wares, they can check out previous posts on Wrath of the Lich King here. You can also get more of the goods after the break.

Enjoy my friend, but just be careful you don’t OD on all this WoW.

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Like many people, I’m still quite amazed that they’re actually making a new Street Fighter (particularly since I still have horrific flashbacks from the first one). But making it they are, and in fact JoBlo.com got a chance to sit down with the new film’s screenwriter, Justin Marks, to talk about what fans can expect from this new movie. According to Marks, the story for Street Fighter: The Legend of Chun-Li will stick to the Street Fighter mythos rather carefully, but will partly delve into Bison’s past and reveal just how he gained his status. Marks also made it clear that they’re not looking to make the same mistakes that other films have made in the past. Besides ignoring the old film completely, he’s taken some of his cues from other films on what not to do, as seen in his response to a question about a possible shower scene like in the vastly superior anime film:

No this is actually a good moment to mention something about Chun-Li’s depiction in the movie. Basically there are two factors at work. First, I’ve never seen a successful action movie (in my mind) that blatantly sexualized its female lead and succeeded for its audience. CATWOMAN, ELEKTRA, the list goes on and on, and I just get a lot of eye-rolling. Then I think back to THE TERMINATOR, or possibly my all-time favorite movie, ALIENS, and I think of how Ripley is depicted in that film. She’s a tough woman, but not because she came from a place of wearing tight pants and beating up men. She’s tough because she had this core emotional story about a life that could have been and never was. To me, that’s the way you write a woman in these kinds of movies.

The second factor is Kristin [Kreuk, who plays Chun-Li] herself. She’s really something special, a fantastic actress and very selective about what she will and won’t do, because she knows that lots of girls out there are really impressionable. So we’ve gone to great lengths to make sure Chun-Li is not just a sex object fantasy for people’s desktop backgrounds. That was something Kristin made very clear, and we’re honored that she’s willing to go that route, because it’s one of the factors that’s going to elevate this above adolescent video-game adaptation.

That said, did I mention Kristin is gorgeous? And there’s one very steamy night club scene where she does… awesome things… to get the information she needs.

Well…damn; I was really looking forward to that shower scene. On the plus side though, it sounds like Marks is taking this project very seriously. Throughout the interview he seemed to constantly reassure everyone that this isn’t another hastily thrown together video game movie. Guess we’ll have to wait and see for ourselves whenever the movie comes out. In the meantime, you canr ead the rest of the interview by clicking the link below.

Via JoBlo

Killzone 2 may have been pushed into 2009, but that’s not stopping Sony from revealing a new trailer for us to drool over. At their recent Gamers Day, they treated attendees to this trailer for the highly anticipated sequel. The video starts off kind of slow, but that last part of the trailer is just pure FPS action. If this is actual in-game footage, then we’re already looking at one of the must-have games for a PS3 owner.

Okay, I think it’s safe to say that a Kid Icarus game for the Wii is all but confirmed now. Not only is there at least one insider convinced that Nintendo is set to reveal the game at E3, but now some concept art for the proposed game has surfaced. These images don’t reflect the final stages of the project, but you can kind of get a sense of what they’re going for. Just based on a few of the sketches, it looks like the game could involve various weapon upgrades plus different elemental powers for Pit to use. More importantly though, it looks like Pit is all grown up, having ditched his childlike appearance in Smash Bros. Brawl. I have an odd feeling they’re taking some cues from Zelda on this one.

Via Kombo

Ever since Midway announced the next Mortal Kombat title with MK Vs. DC, new media for the game has been somewhat scrarce. Now though, we can at least get a peek at what Scorpion will look like in the upcoming game. As you can see, not too much has been changed about his basic appearance, though his costume has undergone a slight makeover. Of course, there’s not much Midway could do to the guy that wouldn’t result in him looking like a badass.

Via Kamidogu

Sony Computer Entertainment prez Kaz Hirai attended PlayStation Day in Europe earlier this week, and one of the matters he attended to was apologizing for the PlayStation 3’s first year, which he called a “difficult one.”

“It’s fair to say that the first year of PlayStation 3 was somewhat a difficult one,” offered Hirai. “There were some teething problems, success from our competitors, and our customers were a little underwhelmed by the range of titles that were available.”

“This was something that we were very much aware of, and something that we were confident we could over come,” he said.

Home, or more specifically, the constant delays, were another subject that Hirai felt the need to say sorry about. He said, “I realize this announcement was disappointing to many people, from TGS where we were aiming for a spring launch, so please accept my apologies for this delay.

“But as I said at Tokyo Game Show, I would not open up Home until I was completely happy with it, and I still stand by that statement.

“We’ve been testing Home for some time and I simply feel that as great as Home currently is, it needs a little bit more time before it’s ready for the wider public - something we firmly believe we can provide in the autumn,” he added.

While I don’t think any PlayStation 3 owner will be upset with his decision to apologize, but it’s going to take the release of Home, LittleBigPlanet, etc. for his apology to really mean something. (And it helps that he didn’t offer Ridge Racer as a way of making amends.)

via GamesIndustry.biz

No, I’m not ready to let go of Grand Theft Auto going-ons yet.

MTV Multiplayer compiled a list of eight glaring inaccuracies between GTA IV’s Liberty City and the real world New York City. As someone who is close but doesn’t frequent NYC, I really wouldn’t have had these things occur to me in the course of playing the game.

We are not a car town: No sensible New Yorker uses a car as their primary means of transportation in the city, unless — maybe — they commute from the suburbs. Car ownership doesn’t make much sense. There are never any parking spots. Parking garages are prohibitively expensive. And, most importantly, the subway is a faster, cheaper and more efficient means of transportation. We don’t drive here. Niko, to be a real New Yorker, should rely on the subway. But what would he be left to grandly thieve?

We have lots of two-story tour buses: GTA IV includes sports cars, sedans, taxis, limos, garbage trucks, police cruisers, buses, motorcycles and more. But where are the red double-decker tour buses? This a drastic oversight. Every major thoroughfare in Manhattan has a roofless double-decker bus from Big Apple Tours or some other company. These buses are used to show visitors the sights. A guide stands on the top level with a mic in hand, pointing stuff out. Hey, Rockstar, if there was one signature New York City vehicle I wanted to commandeer right off a short pier in Liberty City, this was it. You let me down.

We eat bagels: Have I missed something or is it not possible to eat a bagel in Grand Theft Auto IV’s Liberty City? Niko can eat burgers, hot dogs and go to diners. But bagels? The most famous New York City food? Never fear, visitors to our town, we have bagels that can be eaten and enjoyed, whether Liberty City acknowledges it or not. Burgers? Waste of time. You can eat them in any town.

Okay, he’s nitpicking, but it’s still fun to find out where Liberty City falls short of being a true virtual representation of NYC.

Over the past decade, THQ and Nickelodeon has been able take advantage (read: exploit) children’s love for Nickelodeon properties to the tune of more than $1 billion and more than 50 million units sold worldwide. This announcement comes alongside the companies’ announcement of their 2008 portfolio, which includes games based on shows I’ve never heard of such as Tak and the Power of Juju, Back at the Barnyard, and The Naked Brothers Band. (What the hell?)

THQ attributes much of the success to the popularity of both the Wii and DS. “With the enormous popularity of Wii and DS coupled with our exceptionally diverse portfolio of Nickelodeon-based games, THQ continues to lead in family entertainment,” said THQ’s Jim Huntley. “Featuring new forms of gameplay such as the music-based The Naked Brothers Band and the drawing-based Drawn to Life: SpongeBob SquarePants Edition, we expect our upcoming titles to offer completely new ways for families to play together.”

Nickelodeon continues to view gaming as an important activity to their audience, so don’t expect to see a lack of SpongeBob games anytime soon. “Gaming is one of the primary activities of our audience, whether it’s online or on the console,” said Nickelodeon’s Steve Youngwood. “THQ’s interactive video games based on our hit shows have continued to help Nickelodeon maintain its position as a leader in gaming entertainment for the family, and we look forward to the addition of these new releases to our library.”

That’s a crapton of money. But you know what’s scarier? The Hannah Montana franchise is expected to total around $1 billion in 2008 alone.

via 1UP

The unfortunate people who have had to send their Xbox 360 in for repairs have likely run into issues with DRM (digital rights management). If your DRM licenses weren’t moved, you’ll have to be logged into Live to access things like your Xbox Live Arcade games, downloaded TV shows, etc. There’s now a way to restore your licenses manually, so that anyone on the console can access the content — whether or not you’re signed into Live.

Prepare yourself, though, because it’s not going to be very easy.

To restore your licenses:

1. Attach your hard drive or memory unit.
2. Turn on the console.
3. Sign in to Xbox Live with the gamer profile that originally downloaded the content.
4. Go to Xbox Live Marketplace and select Account Management, Download History.
5. Select an item and then select Download Again.
6. Repeat step 5 for each item in your download history.

It’s straightforward, don’t get me wrong, but if you own a lot of content, you’re going to spend a LOT of time trying to re-download all of it. Fast internet or not, you’re still going to have to deal with keeping an eye on your downloads so you can queue up more. That’s not going to be pretty.

This is far from a perfect solution, but it is, at least, a solution.

via Gamerscore Blog

Both Microsoft and Game|Life have each compiled interesting lists focused on numbers surrounding the release of Grand Theft Auto IV. So if either numbers or GTA isn’t your thing, you should probably just move on.

According to Microsoft’s US team:

• Actual MS sales data from last week shows Xbox 360 console sales at retail went up 54% week-over-week as a result of GTA’s success
• According to retailers more than 60% of all GTA games sold in the first week were the Xbox 360 version
• Retailers are telling us that the game is attaching strongly to new console sales, with roughly 40% of new consoles selling with a copy of Grand Theft Auto IV

As for Xbox Live:

• In the first week, more than 2.3 million people played Grand Theft Auto IV on Xbox Live
• GTA IV is now the number one played game on Xbox Live
• Over the weekend, we saw the Xbox Live service reach 1 million concurrent users
• Gamers have unlocked more than 12 million achievements worth over 100 million gamerscore points in GTA
• Grand Theft Auto IV set a new record for time played, with the average gamer spending more than four hours playing the game on Live in the first week alone

And some of the random facts Game|Life has compiled:

• Damages sought by Take-Two after GTA IV ads were pulled from Chicago buses: $300,000
• Steps included in official fix for PlayStation 3 issues: 12
• Current Metacritic rating: 99
• Restraining orders filed against the game: 1

The numbers don’t really lie, so it’s fun to take a look at them and try to crunch some of these numbers. And to think, the game’s only been out for a little over a week.

The first Assault Heroes game featured some huge screen-filling bosses that could challenge even the more skilled player. From the looks of these new videos, the sequel will also contain its share of strange, gigantic bosses to destroy. Sierra has just unveiled two new videos for the game that reveal most of the bosses you can expect to try and take down when the game is released next week on the XBLA. You can watch the second video, which shows off even more bosses for the upcoming game, after the break.

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When Mortal Kombat Vs. DC was first announced, a lot of people went, “Whoa, that’s awesome!” Then they sat down, though about it for awhile, and went, “Wait…that’s ridiculous.” But what outraged people the most was when it was revealed the developers were aiming for a “T for Teen” rating, indicating that they would be abandoning the series’ signature “Fatalities” this time around. Recently, GameTap sat down to discuss these issues and more with Ed Boon, the creator of Mortal Kombat. At one point, Boon vaguely explained how Fatalities will still have a presence in the game:

“There was never any statement on our part that fatalities will be gone or that finishing moves will be gone. We did acknowledge that we won’t be able to do the same kinds of outrageous moves, like tearing someone’s head off and the spine being attached to it. But there are a lot of assumptions that there will be no blood in the game, that there are no fatalities in the game. It’s an assumption that, because the DC characters will be in there, those features will have to be dropped. My response is that, no, we’re modifying fatalities. But I have every intention to keep finishers. You know, to let gamers do a really cool secret button combination and follow with a really outrageous finishing move to end the match. The names of these moves, and the level of violence we use, are to be determined. But it’s certainly not a feature we plan on eliminating from the series.

…I certainly can’t speak with authority as to what DC will permit. There will certainly be some limitations. But my intention is that we want to push the envelope of a T-rated game as far as we can without being an M-rated game.”

He also went on to give some hints as to how they plan to make sense of these two universes colliding. Read the full article