As Jonathan reported yesterday, no new Xbox Live Arcade games were released today, thanks to Grand Theft Auto IV’s release yesterday. The day after Halo 3 was released we also saw an XBLA release of Jack Squat, so today’s lack of any releases doesn’t come as much of a surprise. After a rocky start to the whole Xbox Live Arcade Wednesday campaign, we’ve had just four weeks (not including today) since August that didn’t bring any new games – and that was due to new games becoming Arcade Hits, Undertow being temporarily released for free, or Halo 3’s release. So I won’t go too hard on Microsoft.

What you can find new on the Xbox Live Marketplace today is a totally free Dr. Pepper theme! Please, hold your applause, because there’s more. A bunch of Turok themes have also been released (although they’ll run you the ridiculous standard price of 150 Microsoft Points each), a free F-16C -PJ Emblem- download for Ace Combat 6 owners, an Alone in the Dark trailer, and some sort of Raving Rabbids invasion of Chessmaster Live that will run you 150 points. I have no idea what it’s all about, but I’m jealous that Chessmaster gets it and not Spyglass Board Games.

You may now resume your regularly scheduled GTA session.

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As Jonathan reported earlier, the new (free!) map pack for Unreal Tournament 3 is now available for download from the PlayStation Store. You’ll get Facing Worlds and two other maps I couldn’t care less about because Facing Worlds is the greatest thing ever, courtesy of Epic Games and Midway. That sure is awfully nice of them, and it makes me wonder if we’ll get to see a similar pack for free on Xbox 360 once the game gets moved over to Microsoft’s box.

Turok also is getting the downloadable content treatment today, although it’s not free. $4.99 will net you five new maps (although that statement might not hold true if you don’t view changes in time of day as constituting a “new” map).

$8.99 is the asking price of the new flOw bundle, which simply includes the full game and its expansion pack. Nothing new about the actually content, but if you want to take the plunge with flOw, this is the way to do it.

For the next two weeks (until April 15) you’ll find Warhawk on sale for just $29.99, $10 cheaper than it normally costs. You can use that saved money to buy some of the downloadable content that’s been released for the game since last August, or maybe you can just change paces and pick up that flOw bundle.

Videos, themes, Rock Band tracks, and an update to High Stakes: Poker Edition are also new on the Store. Hit the break for the full list of content. Read the full article

Touchstone is pretty ecstatic that their latest addition to the Turok franchise has shipped a million units. They’re so happy in fact that they can’t wait for you to gobble up some DLC tomorrow. The “Velociraptor Pack” will be ready for download tomorrow and will feature five new multiplayer maps. Of course, when I say “new,” I really mean that two of them are just previous maps that are now set at night.

• Co-Op - A brand new Turok co-op map for 2-4 players. In this co-op map your Whiskey Company squad has been captured and is being held in a Mendel-Gruman facility designed for holding dinosaurs. You and your team have to break out and make it to the rescue chopper before the Wolf Pack troops decide to feed you to the captured raptors.
• Desolation - A brand new swamp-based map where simple structures are set up alongside a rock cliff to allow helicopters and transports into the area to bring in supplies. There are many hiding spots on this multi-level map which enables numerous quiet kill opportunities.
• Sentinel - Another new multiplayer map and one of the largest Turok maps to date. The setting takes place at the top of a mountain around one of Kane’s orbital defense arrays - the very base that shot down the Whiskey Company ship from orbit in the single-player campaign. Also, the presence of a few large dinosaurs on the map can make things very interesting during multiplayer combat.
• Inconclusive Tests - This time the Testing Grounds map takes place at night and offers a different view of the world that now contains more dark hiding spots. A word of caution — watch out for the raptors.
• A Rivalry Continues - As the name suggests, the struggle for the compound from A Heated Rivalry is not over and has extended into the eerie darkness of the night.

Well, at least the price seems right (400 MS points/$5). Touchstone also announced that the PC version of Turok should see release on April 22nd. Yes, that’s right, soon PC players will be able to enjoy Turok in all it’s derivative mediocrity as well. Via Press Release 

For the fourth month in a row, Call of Duty 4 on Xbox 360 has reigned supreme atop the sales charts once again. A mere thousand units sold separated it from the number two game, Devil May Cry 4 (also on 360). Wii Play has been a mainstay since it was released, it would seem, and it comes in at number three. The Wii and PS2 versions of Guitar Hero III also managed to stay in the top ten, leading Rock Band on 360 which came in at number ten.

Despite another month of strong sales for the PlayStation 3 (superior to the 360 for the second month in a row) only a single game, Devil May Cry 4, was in the top ten. Are people still not buying Ratchet and Uncharted, or are people simply buying the PS3 to use as a Blu-ray player?

Seeing lost Odyssey make the list was a pleasant surprise, and I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised by Turok making the list. I didn’t find it to be anything particularly special (and Yahtzee seemed to agree) but whether it was nostalgia or the promise of being able to shoot dinosaurs, it sold just under 200,000 copies.

So, will Call of Duty 4 finally be unseated in March? We’ll find out in under a month, but something tells me that Rainbow Six Vegas 2 will certainly play a role in the matter.

February 2008 Software Sales

1. Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (Xbox 360) — 296,200
2. Devil May Cry 4 (Xbox 360) — 295,200
3. Wii Play (Wii) — 289,700
4. Devil May Cry 4 (PlayStation 3) — 233,500
5. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (Wii) — 222,900
6. Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games (Nintendo DS) — 205,600
7. Lost Odyssey (Xbox 360) — 203,600
8. Turok (Xbox 360) — 197,700
9. Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock (PlayStation 2) — 183,800
10. Rock Band (Xbox 360) — 161,800

It’s that magical time again; time for another hilarious review from The Escapist’s Yahtzee Croshaw. This time however, he’s taking a slightly different route with his review of Turok. Rather than focusing on the game’s individual flaws, he’s holding it up as an example of what’s wrong with first-person shooters in general these days. And I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who’s tired of the whole “zooming into the back of a person’s head to enter FPS mode” gimmick.

For a more, um, focused take on Turok, be sure to check out Chris’s impressions.

Turok
Developer: Propaganda Games
Publisher: Touchstone
Price: $59.99
Platform: Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PC
Category: FPS
ESRB Rating: M for Mature (Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Language)
Release Date: February 5

Fighting dinosaurs might not be the most original concept anymore – it’s been a long time since the first Turok game saw the light of day. So it seems only fair to expect the surrounding game elements in Turok to compensate for that and help differentiate the game from the extremely bloated FPS market. And yet everything about the game screams, “Generic!” and manages to only surprise you with how it manages to be derivative in every fashion imaginable.

Perhaps its unoriginality could be forgiven if technical flaws didn’t further hinder the game, but the combination really manages to ruin any fun that might be had. And it’s really a shame, because there’s definitely a fun game under Turok’s skin.

Read the full article

Play Digital has a new video review out of the Turok Demo. For all of you PS3 and PC gamers that don’t own an Xbox 360, this is a good chance to get a look at game play. This latest incarnation of the Turok franchise has a long way to go to redeem the series after Turok: Evolution’s showing. However that game came out in 2002, so the developers should have had time to put out a higher quality game.

Turok is about to make its debut on next-generation consoles, and the demo has already landed on Xbox Live. I give it a whirl to see if it can recover the franchise from its last awful outing.

-Katharine

via Play Digital

As the release date for Turok approaches, gamers are being offered ever more crunchy bits to chew before launch. The latest offering is part 5 of the Making of Turok video series. Josh Holmes, vice president and general manager, Jason Owen lead sound designer along with other members of the Turok team offer glimpses of in-game footage from single and multi player mode as well as insight into sound design in game development.

Also, check out the latest screenshots on FileFront.

via FileFront

The single-player Turok demo that was released a few weeks ago is now on the Xbox Live Marketplace is now available in North America. Previously, it was only available in virtually every country that doesn’t comprise North America, but now that certain exclusivity arrangements have ended, we can all join in on the fun(?) and try the game out.

Turok is an epic, story-driven first-person shooter set on a dark, mysterious planet in the future. Players take on the role of Joseph Turok, a former black ops commando, now part of an elite special forces squad, known as Whiskey Company, which is on a mission to take down a war criminal – Turok’s former mentor, Roland Kane. While Whiskey Company is traveling to the genetically altered planet inhabited by Kane and his soldiers, Whiskey Company’s ship is shot down. Turok must use his elite military training to elude Kane’s well-trained army, known as Mendel-Gruman, and the ravenous, unpredictable dinosaurs, huge insects and other massive creatures that populate the dangerous environment. Turok’s mission? Survive at all costs.

It’s been so long since we had a Turok game, so I’d be very interested to hear what your impressions of the demo are. Feel free to share in the comments and let us know what you thought of the 1.17GB demo.

Nobody likes getting killed while playing an FPS. Being killed by your own teammate is perhaps even more infuriating and mindboggling (fun fact: the phrase “WTF” follows 97% of team kills), so it only makes sense to include an achievement in the Xbox 360 version of Turok for killing a creature, enemy, yourself and a teammate – all in one round!

Wait, what?

Stephany updated us in December that developer Propaganda Games was looking at removing the achievement “if it does become an issue when the game releases.” Game|Life has the scoop on the reworked achievement that will be patched into the game on launch day, which will remove the team killing aspect of the achievement.

Hooray for logic prevailing!

To be honest, when I first heard there was a new Turok game in the works, my initial was mostly, “meh.” Now that more media has come out for it though, I’m kind of intrigued with how this FPS with dinosaurs is coming to together. This newest video from the developers of the new Turok game explores the AI of both the humans and the dinosaurs. Since the dinosaurs are programmed to attack any threats almost blindly, they can be tricked into attacking your enemies or even each other. Besides that, the human opponents in the game possess all the weapons and tactics that you have, which they’ll use to try and take you down.

Those of you who own a PlayStation Eye (are there any of you out there?) will find two new Eye games on the PlayStation Store today, each for $1.99. Mesmerize: Trace and Tori-Emaki both support 1080p and offer rather bizarre gaming expereices – absorbing visual and aural effects? An interactive art experience? Don’t dare file these two under “hardcore games.”

Also new this week is the Blast Factor Bundle, which includes both the full game, multiplayer pack, and Advanced Research pack. The new MotorStorm track pack I posted about earlier is available, along with the weekly dosage of Rock Band tracks.

Demos of FIFA Street 3 and Turok can both be downloaded for free, along with a ton of videos and themes.

Check out the full list after the break.
Read the full article

Last week’s “Making of” video for Turok had the development team discussing how they first approached creating a brand new game for the franchise. This new video delves more into the details of the game, like story and the conceptual design. Apparently Turok is an outsider with his new squad and isn’t trusted by them initially, which might explain how he ends up doing a lot of solo missions throughout the game. The video also shows some of the initial concept designs that eventually became the game. Next week’s behind-the-scenes video is supposed to explore the AI in the game and the dinosaurs, which is really the main thing this game has going for it.

Out of the blue, a demo for the upcoming Turok game has been released on Xbox Live, but don’t go rushing to the marketplace just yet if you’re in North America. Like last week’s demo for The Club, this one’s only available in certain countries in Asia and Europe; though you can still get the same demo by pre-ordering the game at certain retailers. With two demos being released everywhere except North America, I’m starting to wonder if it’s connected to the Live outages at all. That or Microsoft is just deciding to show some love to the other continents for a change.

Via Major Nelson

Coinciding with the PlayStation Store’s release of Crash Bandicoot 2: Cortex Strikes Back, the PlayStation Store for PC has also released the PS one Classic for the standard fee of $5.99. Joining it is the downloadable game Ape Quest, which is comprised of three chapters – Blue, Gold, and Red. The Starter Pack is free, and then you have the option of either individually purchasing chapters for $9.99 each (with Red plus either Blue or Gold required to complete the story) or a bundle which includes all three chapters for $19.99.

A handful of trailers round off the week’s update, including:

• Syphon Filter: Combat Ops Trailer
• Pursuit Force Extreme Justice Trailer
• Uncharted Massive Trailer
• GT5 Prologue Japan Release Trailer
• GT5 Prologue Sizzle Trailer
• Turok Quiet Kills Video
• Timeshift Trailer
• Burnout Paradise Trailer

All in all, not a bad update. Crash fans will enjoy being able to take the classic game with them on the go, and Ape Quest is the first of what is certainly going to be a trend on the PS Store in episodic gaming.

Visit the PlayStation Store here.

It seems just about every studio these days is holding off on releasing simple trailers in favor of more in depth, behind-the-scenes videos. This new video for the upcoming Turok game has the developers discussing the initial planning of the game and how they wanted to approach a somewhat stagnant series. On the plus side, they seem to know that they’re dealing with a franchise that has a lot of fans, despite it’s last few sub-par installments. And being able to jam a knife into a velociraptor’s trachea might just be worth the price of admission.

The newest trailer for Turok shows off one of the main things the franchise is known for: taking out dinosaurs in the most brutal way possible. How brutal? Well, most of the clips in this shot show Turok scrambling his way onto a dino’s back to stab it in the head. And another has him reaching around to slit one’s throat. Basically, just shooting them is sooooo last decade.

The ability to stab dinosaurs in head and walk away unscathed sounds like a pretty cool maneuver and now you can do this by living vicariously through Turok in the latest trailer from Buena Vista and Propaganda Games. In the ‘Dino Mauling‘ trailer just released today, you may have to go through an age gate, but you can still imagine all the possibilities of dino-destruction available to you while wielding a huge Bowie knife or dual machine guns. You will get your chance to do all of this come February 8th when Turok becomes available for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360. Until then, you can find out more about the game by reading over our previous posts and watching the trailer.

Propaganda Games, the developer of the latest Turok game for the PC, PS3, and Xbox 360 will be working to remove an achievement called ‘Grab Bag’ . This achievement gives you 10 points if you “kill at least 1 creature, 1 enemy, 1 teammate, and yourself in the same round of a public match,” which basically encourages nimrods to go around killing teams just to get this achievement.

Josh Holmes, VP of Propaganda Games basically stated that the achievement started as kind of a joke. “What we found was that players playing their first match in Turok - almost every player - was (accidentally) killing himself, a team mate and an enemy with a grenade or a Stick Bomb gun and so we thought ‘hey, we should give them an achievement for that’, as kind of a joke.”

This may sound funny, but some gamers felt that this was another way for those dreaded “achievement whores” to mess up team style gameplay just to get another notch on their proverbial belts.

“We’ve read some of the concerns that were described online, and maybe we underestimated the length to which so-called ‘achievement whores’ will go to [in order to] get their achievements,” admitted Holmes. “We are currently looking at readying a patch or solution for it if it does become an issue when the game releases” he added.

Holmes also went on to discuss online multiplayer achievements, and you can get the full article by clicking on the link below.

Thanks: CVG

Unsure if you want to drop $60 when the new Turok game is released in February? Then just pre-order the game at participating retailers – Best Buy, GameStop, Walmart.com, and Game Crazy – and you’ll land yourself a nice demo disc with around 30 minutes of gameplay.

It’s not like you can’t just move your pre-order later. (At least at GameStop.)

You’ll want to run out and do this soon, since it seems likely that stores will only have so many copies of the demo disc. GameStop is currently running a promotion where you also get a Turok t-shirt, which means it’s probably the best Turok pre-order deal currently. Then again, you might not want a Turok t-shirt.

via 1UP