Monday 22 December 2008

[News] And the Christmas Number One is...


Nope..I'm not talking about Christmas singles, nor is this in any reference towards reality TV programs. This folks, is about Gaming's Christmas Number One.

Call of Duty has held the number one spot for 3 weeks and it was the bookies favourite to stay there, however, with a possible thanks to last weeks Gamestation offer of the week, it is infact EA who get the last laugh.

Yep, its Fifa '09 thats pinched the top spot. With all the doom EA seem to be stuck with at the moment, maybe this is their chance to release their very own cover of 'Hallelujah'.

Other notable mentions go to the new IPs. Happy to see Professor Layton finishing in 8th, although I strongly believe it would have finished slighty higher if not for lack of stock. Same goes towards Wii Fit, which finishes off the top 10.

1. FIFA 09
2. Call of Duty: World at War
3. Mario Kart Wii
4. Need For Speed Undercover
5. Dr Kawashima's Brain Training
6. Wii Play
7. Quantum of Solace
8. Professor Layton and the Curious Village
9. Tomb Raider Underworld
10. Wii Fit

With thanks: MCV - UK CHARTS: FIFA 09 is 2008's Christmas No.1

[Anime] Cowboy Bebop, with added Neo


I've just spotted this over at Anime UK. Seems as though Keanu Reeves is helping to bring a live action Cowboy Bebop movie to our screens.

Can't help but be a tad skeptical, but I have a little more hope for this compared to DiCaprio's project (I don't want him ruining a perfectly good classic!)

With thanks: Anime UK News - Keanu Reeves working on live action Cowboy Bebop movie

Monday 15 December 2008

[News] EA Sharpens its Axe

EA, in my eyes, have had a good year. I’ve been impressed with the quality of alot of their titles this year, not to mention impressive new IPs (Dead Space and Mirrors Edge more so). However, quality comes at a cost, with EA reporting poor Quarter 4 results.

EA’s John Riccitiello had this to say to UK trade magazine MCV

While we saw significant improvement in the overall quality of our key products this year, we are disappointed that our holiday slate is not meeting our sales expectations

So, what does this all mean? Back in October, they already announced that 6% of its workforce was to be laid off in an effort to cut costs.

Now it seems some of their current IPs are facing a similar chop. Poor sales and reviews from the likes of the new Need for Speed Undercover suggest that we may not see a new Need for Speed game in the near future.

However, in a separate interview, again with John Riccitiello, he had this to say on the effort to reduce SKUs

We’re very pleased with a lot of our new franchises this year. Spore looks like an ongoing franchise, Dead Space looks like a long-term big winner for us, Warhammer will continue to perform very well, Mirror’s Edge was very strongly reviewed. We’ll be looking at some issues around the design to make sure that strong IP is married with strong business

Personally, I’d like to see a break from some of the current IPs. Games like Need for Speed need to be re-approached, and have more time dedicated to its design. It’ll be interesting to see where EA goes with this, and which titles will be shelved for the time being. But I think its safe to say, watch this space for new Dead Space, Mirrors Edge and Spore titles

And on a more personally note, this is infact my first blog post on Gamers Unite, and would like to thank Commander for having me as a blogger on there. I look forward to helping them to progress their site, and hearing their comments and views on all blog posts and message board topics.

With thanks: MCV - EA to reduce SKUs

Monday 20 October 2008

[Games] Vader, Yoda Cross Soul Calibur IV Versions On October 23


Like a disturbance in the force, you knew it was coming. With the official announcement popping out for the Japanese market last week, today we hear that Darth Vader and Yoda will be made available as downloadable characters for Soul Calibur IV in the US as well. Which means 360 owners can play as Vader, PS3 owners, as Yoda. Both will be available on October 23 - same day as Japan - and will cost 400 MS Points/USD$5.

Source: Kotaku

Sunday 19 October 2008

[Games] No Team Fortress Updates Till 2009

Valve's three down, six to go in fulfilling its promise to update all nine classes in Team Fortress 2, but the next one will not come this year, according to VP of Marketing Doug Lombardi. "We're going to keep evolving TF2," he told Shacknews. "Once Left 4 Dead wraps, you'll hear us clamoring more about [the next TF2 update]." Seems many a TF2 contributor also worked on Left 4 Dead, which is due out in mid-November.

Xbox TF2ers, Lombardi also restated Valve's commitment to bringing all the updates to the 360 version. He still didn't give a timeline though.

Source: Kotaku

Saturday 18 October 2008

[Films] Saw 5 this halloween

The next installment of this great series Saw 5 will be released this month on the 24th.



Saw has always catched my eye not just because of the style of the films but the way the camera work is executed and delivers a compelling atmosphere.

The soon to be released video game Dead Space took the handy work of the makers of Saw to help out on their TV trailer for this upcoming action horror game.

[Games] LittleBigPlanet gets a little delay


LittleBigPlanet due for release in Europe on November 24th for the PlayStation 3 has received a delay due to a sound track issue.

"During the review process prior to the release of LittleBigPlanet, it has been brought to our attention that one of the background music tracks licensed from a record label for use in the game contains two expressions that can be found in the Qur’an. We have taken immediate action to rectify this and we sincerely apologize for any offense that this may have caused."

Hopefully the delay wont be to long, we'll update once the date has been announced.

Source: Playstation.Blog

[Games] Cut Classes Return to WAAAGGHH!

Mythic Entertainment announced before Warhammer Online hit the shelves, that due to balancing issues/time restraint they were forced to cut a couple of classes, cities and other content in order for the game to be released on time.

The good news is, this Christmas, we'll see the return of 2 of the 4 cut classes...

I’m happy to announce that in December, the Black Guard and the Knight of the Blazing Sun will officially be part of WAR. We have very special plans around their appearance and in our next newsletter we will provide full details about that exciting and rather novel event.

Although not mentioned, I've got my money on the other 2 cut classes (the Dwarf Hammerer, and the Orc Chopppa) returning in the near future.

The WAR update of which that quote is taken from also goes on to point out some of the other slight changes we may see in the forthcoming patch later this year.

And to finish...

Fellow WARriors, we have a lot more big surprises coming your way that I will address in my next State of the Game message and it’s going to be a doozie.

What could it be?!?! I do hope it means I can roll a Dwarf Hammerer sooner rather than later.

Source: Warhammer Online Europe

Thursday 16 October 2008

[Games] Return to Rapture?

Hooray! At last! The first news posting on Gamepad. Sorry for the amount of time its taken, however the ball is finally rolling!

I've just spotted this over at Kotaku. Its what seems to be a video unlocked from someone who has their mits on the PS3 version of Bioshock. Bioshock was initially released on Xbox 360, before being ported to the PC. It was set in a underwater city called Rapture.



No concrete details as of yet, shall update post if/when a better quality video appears online

Source: Kotaku

Friday 10 October 2008

[News] Hello, Welcome, and all that Jazz...

Just when you thought their was enough internet blogs to keep you occupied, along comes another!

Welcome to GamePad, a UK-based blog primarily focused on gaming, although we shall be touching on music, films and general sort of nonsense

Myself and the team of GamePad authors shall search the net and post any interesting tidbits of information for you to go look at, although we will be looking at providing our own reports and features as time progresses, and as the site grows.

In the coming few days more folk shall be bought on as part of the GamePad team, and shall be posting their own welcomes.

I'll post my own more personalized welcome in a few days time

Any thoughts, opinions and comments are welcome