Borderlands' barren wasteland setting isn't the only aspect of the game that's following in Fallout 3's radiation-bathed footsteps; like Bethesda's game, it's also going to play host to a series of post-release, downloadable add-ons. Gearbox announced today that "The Zombie Island of Dr. Ned" will be the first of several planned DLC expansions for Borderlands.According to the press release, this Dr. Ned fellow was in charge of keeping the workers of Jakobs Cove alive. Through what sounds like some sort of well-intentioned mishap, said workers have apparently been twisted into a mindless horde of undead horrors -- leaving it up to players to help Ned fight off the zombies, discover a cure, and retake the Cove.This first add-on will go for $9.99 (800 Microsoft points) when it arrives on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and PC later this year. No word on what to expect from future Borderlands DLC as of yet, but we'll keep you updated.
Metal Gear Solid's getting plenty of time in the spotlight this generation, but what about Kojima Productions' other popular franchises? The official European PlayStation blog recorded a chat with Hideo Kojima at GamesCom back in August, where the celebrated game designer expressed a serious interest in revisiting Zone of the Enders."Actually, we do love [Zone of the Enders] as well," Kojima responded to a fan-submitted question about the PlayStation 2 mecha-combat series. "However, Kojima Productions has a long list of things that we want to bring out -- and of course Zone of the Enders is one of the [games] on the top of the list," he continued.As encouraging as that sounds, you probably shouldn't expect a Z.O.E. sequel on PlayStation 3 or Xbox 360 anytime in the near future. "...We have to manage with staffing, and we have to work around the projects, therefore it's not going to be out too soon. But we are really considering it," explained the Kojima Productions boss.
Bioware has long touted Dragon Age: Origins as a spiritual successor to their classic Baldur's Gate series -- going so far as to allow nostalgic players to reposition the in-game camera into the same overhead view that those games used 10 years ago. But according to Kotaku, that feature won't be making the cut on the console versions of Dragon Age.Kotaku's Stephen Totilo notes that, while PC users will still be able to pull back to a more strategic view with a scroll of the mouse wheel, the console games are apparently limited to a relatively close, behind-the-back camera angle. It's a strange omission, but some players might be interested in the minor differences between platforms.Will the restricted camera options affect your decision to play Dragon Age on PC or consoles?
Rumors have been circulating, and now Sony has confirmed that it is coming out with a 250 GB model of the PlayStation 3 Slim. The PlayStation Blog announced today that the new model will be coming on November 3, for $349.99. That's about $50 more than the current model, for more than double the hard drive space. We were surprised last month when Microsoft inserted itself as the priciest console with the limited edition Modern Warfare 2 bundle. With this move, Sony has the same amount of HDD space, but without the game. However, that also means that once the limited edition MW2 bundle is sold through, Sony will once again have multiple SKUs and be the most expensive console on the market. Of course, Microsoft may also be planning to offer its own 250 GB SKU without Modern Warfare 2 as well, so we'll have to wait and see if Microsoft and Sony end up with price parity.
The PSP Go is encouraging more developers to jump onto digital distribution for their portable games, and today Rockstar announced plans to do just that. Starting with today's PlayStation Store update, Rockstar making several Legacy titles available for download. These include Midnight Club 3: DUB Edition, Midnight Club: L.A. Remix, and Manhunt 2.The company also announced that on October 22, it will launch the Rockstar storefront. This will house the aforementioned Legacy titles, along with new games coming to the system. Rockstar lists the upcoming line-up, including Beaterator, GTA: Vice City Stories, GTA: Liberty City Stories, GTA: Chinatown Wars, and The Warriors. Most people agree that the future free of brick-and-mortar is coming, but popular developers like Rockstar throwing their weight behind it is certain to help it along.
The September NPD numbers are due later today, and we already have it on good authority that the PlayStation 3 will hit the top spot for console sales. Now we can add one more industry expert to the list of those who think Sony had a stellar month: Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg. In an interview with Game Informer, Greenberg stated that the company does believe Sony will finish on top this month, but that it doesn't really worry them. "I can tell you that when NPD releases September sales later today, we fully expect PlayStation 3 will come in as the console with the most units sold for the month," he said. "This is frankly not a real surprise to us ... as it is typical to see a short term bump following the introduction of new hardware and pricing into the marketplace. What I can tell you is we remain confident that Xbox 360 will not only outsell PS3 for the full calendar year, but for this entire generation." He goes on to compare it to a game of baseball in which winning just one inning isn't enough to win the game, which may sound vaguely familiar to those who remember Sony's various sports analogies over the last few years.From a business perspective, though, Greenberg raises points about the financial gain. "Sony has publicly noted that they lose money on every console they sell and with the price cut, they're now losing even more money ... you have to question if their business model is sustainable." And of course one area that Sony has been noted to need improvement on is software attach rates. Greenberg stresses this by predicting that Modern Warfare 2 will sell more on the Xbox 360, and stating that Xbox 360 "has sold more third-party games this year than the competition."Comments like this are common after the NPD numbers come in, but Microsoft got a head start this month, and in the process all-but-confirmed that the analysts were correct in predicting the PS3 selling in the top spot. We'll have full coverage of the NPD numbers when they're released later today.
I'm finally seeing a small segment of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2's single-player, courtesy of lead character designer Joel Emslie; the first thing I want to tell you about Modern Warfare 2's campaign is something I can't talk about. Recall that the original Modern Warfare had its share of surprises during the campaign; it was the game that executed you during the opening credits, that gave you a detached gunship operator's perspective on modern combat, and had you witness a nuclear detonation from the ground level. In short, MW had a whole lot of twists, and Infinity Ward is aiming to up the ante in terms of surprise for MW2. What Emslie shows off for single-player is a level seen only in glimpses: a skirmish in Rio titled "Takedown." This mission takes place at the end of Act One, after the first major curveball the story throws at you. Again, I can't really elaborate more, but the story context is that you (as Gary "Roach" Sanderson) and fellow Task Force 141 members are in pursuit of an arms dealer named Rojas. And even after I ask Emslie about the turn of events in the beginning of Act One, he slyly smiles and notes that that bigger stuff is yet to come.
If I were foolish enough to open this review with a reference to an impossibly endless debate between strongly passionate sides that could completely derail whatever I had to say about the game itself, I'd probably do it like this: Spore Hero is a pretty good argument in support of Intelligent Design. Well, at least in terms of game design, because if going from Spore to Spore Hero was entirely a process of evolution, it was one that went horribly, horribly backwards.Unlike the universe-spanning PC simulation it's spun off from, Spore Hero is a disappointingly generic third-person platformer with some very light "Metroidvania" influences. You start the game with a barely evolved creature that crash lands on an unfamiliar planet, and you then explore the different locations, help out the inhabitants in different ways to earn new creature parts, and evolve/unlock more complex -- and exploration-opening -- abilities.
