Gamernode: Latest Game and Console News

Saints Row 2 delayed till October; PC release?

Previously holding an August 26th release date, THQ and Volition, Inc. confirmed that its upcoming openworld action sequel Saints Row 2 has been delayed till October 14th for the Xbox 360 and PS3.

According to a THQ representative, reasons for the delay were attributed to "marketing and issues and products quality." The representative also confirmed that they're working with a PC SKU but didn't comment further.

In related news, this product page on THQ's website notes that a PC edition of Saints Row 2 will be released in October, perhaps on the same date with its console brethren? The original Saints Row was only released for the Xbox 360 back in 2006.

[Via mcvuk.com]

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CoD 4 Variety Map Pack hits PC on June 5th, free

The Call of Duty 4 Variety Map Pack that was released back in April for the Xbox 360 will hit PC this Thursday, June 5th. In a move that may cause some distress to 360 players, the map pack will be free, thanks to a sponsorship with NVIDIA; 360 players had to pay 800 Microsoft points.

The Variety Map Pack includes four new multiplayer maps: Broadcast, Chinatown, Killhouse and Creek.

In related news, the new 1.6 patch for Call of Duty 4 will also be released for PC this Thursday. Included within the patch notes are support for the new maps, fixes for some server crashes and other additional features.

For you folks who use NVIDIA hardware, we have you to thank for getting these free new multiplayer maps! I hugged my motherboard afterwards.

[Via Voodoo Extreme]

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Cole Train alludes to November 16 Gears 2 release ...

Mark this as just a rumor for now, but Lester "Mighty Rasta" Speight, better known as the voice of Gears of War's "Cole Train," may have just unofficially announced the release date of Epic Games' upcoming Gears of War 2.

The charismatic actor was recently on hand at the Wizard World convention in Philadelphia, where he spoke at the TriForce panel about the company's life-sized Gears of War replica weapons. Members of the press questioned the panel about the sequel's release date, and while TriForce representatives refused to comment, Speight volunteered that they might consider asking him again on November 16.

This comment was overheard by David Hinkle from DS and Wii Fanboy, and while it was by no means an official statement, the date sounds very believable. Lead designer Cliff Bleszinsk...

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Beyond Good and Evil 2 will be more 'accessible'

The gaming community has cried out for a sequel to the sleeper hit Beyond Good and Evil ever since its release way back in 2003. Finally, that muted yet persistent plea is going to pay off, because Ubisoft president Yves Guillemot has announced that a follow-up is indeed on its way. Judging from what he has said, however, Beyond Good & Evil 2 may not be the game everyone has been hoping for.

Speaking at the Ubidays 2008 media event in Paris, Guillemot had this to say:

"We saw with Beyond Good & Evil that so many customers were extremely happy with the game. We had a different audience at that time. We had more core gamers than casual gamers than we have today."

"We think the game was probably a little too difficult for the general gamers at that time. We're going to make [Beyond Good & Ev...

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Portable Portal homebrew on DS

If the cake is a lie, then what is a homebrew DS game that is based on that fallacious, yet delectable dessert?

Indie game developer T4ils has released a scaled-down adaptation of Valve's hit first-person puzzle game, Portal, for the Nintendo DS. The stylus-controlled game is entitled StillAliveDS, and it requires players to use the touch screen capabilities of the system to manipulate portals and navigate a number of two-dimensional stages on their way to the greatest reward of them all -- cake.

If the initial stages aren't enough for die-hard Portal fanatics, T4ils has developed a custom level editor for the game, which is available for download on the StillAliveDS website, as well. Using the editor, players can not only create and play their own levels, but also share them with other ca...

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Gears of War 2 will have flamethrowers

Yes, Gears of War 2 is on its way, and if CliffyB delivers on his promise it will be more badass than anything the original Gears threw at us. While the environments are going to be grander, the enemies meaner, and the story more epic than ever before, the biggest selling point for some gamers is the new arsenal Marcus and crew are going to wield. Just how will we take out the new Locust and our rivals online?

How does a flamethrower sound? While it took Halo close to three iterations of the franchise before gamers finally got the chance to burn away their enemies on consoles, Gears is only doing it in two. With the brutality Gears is known for, we can only imagine how the flamethrower will handle.

[Via Xbox360 Fanboy]

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Still no date for next Splinter Cell

It's been a while since we last saw the gruff yet stealthy agent Sam Fisher, and it seems like it is going to stay that way for some time. While Ubisoft recently held their Paris games showcase, Ubidays, fans were disappointed to see that Sam Fisher was absent. Even more odd is that Splinter Cell: Conviction was on display in 2007 at various events. Has Ubisoft gone back to the drawing board? All indications point to yes.

Realistically, this isn't such a bad outcome. The last Splinter Cell, even though it had amazing multiplayer, lacked the spark of Sam Fisher's previous games. Playing both sides of the coin was cool, but ultimately fumbled in its execution. Splinter Cell: Conviction was a step even further away from what made Splinter Cell a stealth genre contender.

With a release window no...

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Daily Q: What do you want from us?

Well we've made it a whole month Daily Qers. An entire month of questions that you have all answered to the best of your ability with a number 2 keyboard. Sure there were some hiccups but no one's perfect...except Brendon (he's the editor-in-chief). On the one month anniversary of this daily feature I want to mix it up. I want to hear your voices speaking out, not just speaking up.

What do you want from GamerNode?

I want to know what you think we can do better. We've been increasing our features if you haven't noticed. We've got Pro Tip, Lets Play, One Word Review, and Eddie's Column (where he does all things Eddie), and of course the Daily Q.

Do you think features are the right direction? Or can we somehow improve elsewhere? I want to know. We're doing this for you, dear readers, and ...

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OWR: Ninja Gaiden

Welcome to One Word Review, GamerNode's unique take on videogame critique. Every Sunday, we will present a single game, reviewed with but a single word from each of a handful of reviewers. You may not always find our words in your standard dictionary, but we have faith that you will catch our meaning, nonetheless. Videogames are so often rated, reviewed, and discussed to exhaustion, so while some may call OWR a creative way to be lazy, we call it succinct, sincere...and fun. We love reader input at GN, so be sure to throw your own OWRs in the comments section, too.

With Ninja Gaiden 2 right around the corner (Tuesday!), the GamerNode staff will be revisiting Ryu Hayabusa's first 3-D action trip for this week's OWR. Ninja Gaiden was released to tremendous critical acclaim back in 2004, to t...

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The sequel curve: Which entry is the best?

Videogame publishers thrive off of sequels, often relying on brand recognition and the 'household name' effect to drive sales further than they might see with wholly original intellectual properties. Consumers are more likely to purchase those games whose titles resonate in their memory than something that is, for all intents and purposes, foreign.

With all of the high-profile sequels we've seen in recent months/years, I can't help but have this subject on my mind, and today I'll be continuing my quasi-mini-series with an idea that I've been hypothesizing about for some time now -- something I call the sequel curve.

Click through to see just what I'm talking about.

The sequel curve

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New Resident Evil 5 trailer

If there's any game I'm looking forward to playing this console generation, it's Resident Evil 5. Utilizing the capabilities of the current generation of hardware, it is sure to build off of what was a nearly perfect gaming experience in Resedent Evil 4.

This newest trailer only augments my desire to play the game, although the overall brightness of the footage is somewhat disarming to a seasoned Residet Evil-er. It's almost more frightening to find yourself vulnerable in broad daylight. Anyway, that's enough out of me; take a look at this lengthy and revealing trailer:

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Daily Q: Will the world end this year?

Welcome to the late edition of the Daily Q. Today we're going with a simple question, but you may not understand the context from where this Q comes. It stems from long development cycles.

I remember seeing the very first trailer for Duke Nukem Forever. That was about 11 years ago. I had convinced myself that the Duke was dead. There's also Too Human -- a game that's been in development for 8 or 9 years now. I feel like I've been hearing about this game since the PSone days.

I had chalked both of these games and the newest Alone in the Dark up as vaporware, but it seems all three will be coming out this year.

Could this be the end? Is it possible that this triple shot of vaporware turned actual software is enough to end the world as we know it?

I would have said yes if we were seeing Kil...

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Microsoft confirms and details Gears re-issue

The buzz of a Gears of War re-issue has been floating around the interwebz for a few days now, but the speculation was confirmed yesterday when Microsoft issued an official press release detailing the package.

The new two-disc edition of Gears will arrive on June 4th for the Xbox 360 only, and will be priced at $39.99. It will include two multiplayer map packs, Gears of War and Gears of War 2 dashboard themes, and two collections of gamer pics, as well as a Gears 2 trailer. Unfortunately, the PC-exclusive Brumak level will NOT be coming to the 360, even with this special release.

Everyone put on your sad face.

"Gears of War" updated two-disc edition and price drop arrive in June

On June 4th, "Gears of War" will be offered at the new estimated retail price of $39.99 (Xbox 360) and $29.9...

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Exclusive: Gamestop responds to Wii price gouging

A GameStop store in Florida allegedly sold a used Wii game console for full retail price to a customer desperate for a Wii.

According to the story found on gamingconsolenetwork.com, the store employee who supposedly sold the unit told the customer that used Wiis had to be sold at the full retail price because it was in such high demand.

The "eyewitness" who overheard the conversation between the store clerk and customer said:

"The employees main excuse for it being the same price as a new system was 'The Wii is extremely hard to find, thats why its $250 used.' The customer stated that he had been looking everywhere for a Wii system, but could not find one. So after the Gamestop employee was done spewing his BS, he talked the guy into buying the "used" system for $249.99. So basically this ma...

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The fall of single-player games: Is it coming?

Can you believe we are coming to a point where people are starting to foresee the downfall of single-player gaming? Oh yeah, the vision of the future--a multi-player, multi-user world for games, at least that's what Atari head man Phil Harrison thinks.

"A relatively linear single-player game without online connectivity is going to be a challenge to green-light going forward," Harrison said. For him, a typical single-player game needs to be packaged with multiplayer features and multi-user functionality."Now, that doesn't mean that those games aren't relevant going forwards, but they will be enhanced by community features being embedded in them, or downloadable content becoming an inherent part of the experience, or some kind of user-generated content will be part of the experience. All of ...

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Surfing the Earth with the Wii Balance Board

If you're anything like me, when you first caught wind of Nintendo's newest Wii-controlling contraption, the Balance Board, you quickly conjured up images of videogames involving leg-powered exploration -- running, climbing, jumping, and the like -- thinking to yourself that we are inching ever closer to full immersion in the virtual realm. Or maybe you thought that it was just a silly novelty item. That's a perfectly valid position as well.

Regardless of anyone's initial expectations, the fact remains that all we've been able to do with the peripheral thus far is exercise, ski, or, *ahem*, cheer, and that's not enough. Thanks to the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence, however, we can add one more application to that list -- air surfing (dramatic pause) the WORLD.

The foll...

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Wii-exclusive Fatal Frame IV gets a release date

The next installment in the relatively creepy Fatal Frame series has finally been given a concrete release date -- in Japan, at least.

Nintendo of Japan has updated its release schedule, listing Fatal Frame IV, a Wii exclusive, with a July 31st street date.

The game will be published by Nintendo, and will be a collaborative effort between Fatal Frame director Shibata Makoto and Grasshopper Manufacture's charismatic and creative Goichi Suda (Killer7, No More Heroes). Judging by the track record of these two individuals and the teams they've worked with, I would be willing to wager that this could turn out to be one very interesting Wii title.

[via CVG]

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Namco-Bandai reviving Splatterhouse from the dead

The original Splatterhouse was released in 1990 for the TurboGrafx-16. While critically praised back in its era, most agree that time has not been kind to Splatterhouse.

Despite that however, Namco-Bandai decided to bring the Splatterhouse franchise into the 21st century as they announced today that a brand-new entry in the franchise will find its home on the Xbox 360 and PS3 sometime next year.

Unlike its predecessors, this new game will not be just another beat-'em-up. Namco has promised an exciting combat system that will give players a variety of different ways to destroy the opposition. Weapons include items you may find lying on the floor and you also have the ability to tear off the limbs of your enemies and use them as tools of destruction. Players can also resurrect defeated monste...

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Wario Land Shake shakes it on Wii

Yesterday, Nintendo announced several new entries in some of their established franchises including a new Rythm Tengoku game (an awesome music game released only in Japan).

Probably the best piece of news, however, was the announcement of a new Wario Land game for the Wii titled "Wario Land Shake" which is obviously a reference to the Wii's motion-sensing capabilities. No initial details were revealed, but a Babelfish translation of the text on Nintendo's website yielded some interesting results.

"As for the head title 7/24Wii "[wariorandoshieiku]"After a long time, seeing, touching, it was the pleasant [do] lively action game.It shakes remote control and/or it can tilt something occurs it is.And method of entering to the movement and the earth tube which [wario] seem made [niyari] unintent...

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Pro Tip: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness E...

This week I've been playing a lot of Penny Arcade Adventures: On the Rain Slick Precipice of Darkness Episode 1. Its title alone warrants downloading at least the demo.

I absolutely love this game. A sentence I did not think I was ever going to say or write in conjunction with PAA: OTRSPOD as I am not a fan of any turn-based genre. I have tried a few Japanese RPGs including Final Fantasy VII, and I just can't do it. I can't stand the combat. I don't like waiting my turn while someone smacks me in the face.Somehow Penny Arcade and the team at Hothead games have created some kind of mutant game. During the exploration it feels very much like a point and click adventure, and if you're playing it on the PC, Mac, or Linux, it actually is a point and click adventure (I'm playing it on my 36...

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