Santa Claus is coming to PlayStation Home

Santa has added a layover in PlayStation Home to an already-packed holiday itinerary. On December 10, Sony Computer Entertainment Europe is opening up a new PlayStation Home space that allows you to see Santa's workshop through the unique Home filter -- by which we mean it's now kind of eerie. The new Winter Wonderland space will allow you to interact with a vaguely Shatner-esque Santa Claus and elves like Robin Williams here, as you help the crew get all its preparations for Christmas done. Which means minigames!

There will be presents, of course, and a Photo Elf who will take festively decorated pictures of your Home avatar. You know, so you can always remember the time you saved Christmas.

Gallery: PlayStation Home Winter Wonderland (PS3)

Ubisoft planning 10 games for Natal, '4 to 5' for PlayStation Motion Controller

During the question and answer portion of an investor conference call this afternoon, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot clarified his company's commitment to developing games for both the Xbox 360's still-codenamed Project Natal and the PlayStation 3's hopefully-still-codenamed PlayStation Motion Controller. "We have about ten games that will come for Natal during the first six months of the launch of Natal, and we expect between four to five games for the new controller from Sony," Guillemot explained. "That's the picture at the moment, it can change in the next twelve months." (That "twelve months" reference doesn't bode well for Sony's purported "Spring 2010" third-party launch lineup for the motion controller.)

When asked if those games were all new properties, or motion-enhanced updates of existing franchises (like Prince of Persia), Guillemot responded, "I didn't count the games that in fact are supporting the new functions that those accessories will bring. I was more speaking about casual games that we are doing on those two machines; we can consider that on those games it's 70 percent new property." Or – if you consider Guillemot's suggestion of ten games for Natal and "four to five" for PlayStation Motion Controller – that's roughly ten new casual properties coming from Ubisoft.

Rumor: Gaming conventions to convene in Xbox Live

According to a recent survey conducted by market research company VGMarket, Microsoft may be working on an "interactive, online version" of your favorite gaming conventions -- from E3 to ComicCon and everything in between. As noted by a Destructoid reader who took the survey, the online questionnaire presented the aforementioned hypothetical situation, and then went into detail about how such a situation might play out.

"Sign onto Xbox Live and you can enter a virtual version of that convention ... this virtual version contains 20–60 virtual booths sponsored by larger publishers and developers presenting at the real world show," imagined the survey. The possibilities then reached outrageous levels as the idea of downloading "demos and/or betas" directly from the virtual convention floor and playing them that very moment as suggested. However, as VGMarket doesn't list Microsoft among its clients on the company's official website, and a representative could not be reached for comment, the veracity of this survey and its information is still very much in question.

Bioshock 2 coming to Japan, courtesy of D3 Publisher

Good news, Japan! D3 Publisher is localizing Bioshock 2 for you and, this time around, you won't have to wait that long to get your ADAM-soaked hands on it. Andriasang reports D3 Publisher will release the 2K Marin, et al.–developed sequel sometime in early 2010 -- presumably close to the February 9 US release date. We just hope the new Japanese ad campaign dials back the completely frightening a bit.

Screenshots of New Super Mario Bros. Wii in 720p

Being able to see Wii games displayed in 720p isn’t exactly a new idea thanks to the Dolphin emulator. Previously, we’ve shared screenshots of Resident Evil 4: Wii Edition and Dead Space Extraction in the different video resolution. Yet, even though Wii titles have been presented in 720p in the past, these shots of New Super Mario Bros. Wii look fantastic. You can check them out below.

Sony Boss Takes A Swing Or Two At The Wii

With sales of the PS3 on the rebound, Sony are starting to get a little of their old swagger back.

Speaking with GI.biz, Sony Computer Entertainment boss Andrew House has taken a couple of shots not at his company's arch-rival, the Xbox 360, but at the Wii, a console he says is experiencing quite the "downturn".

"I think at a time when we're seeing one of the major competitors somewhat losing a sense of momentum - at least in many of the markets I've looked at - it's gratifying to see a platform that's always had a very significant share of sales go to third party publishers capture that momentum again", he says.

"The knock-on effect can only be a positive one if publishers are making up 75 per cent of the sales on a particular platform, as opposed to a much smaller share elsewhere, then that's the platform I think it's in their interests to see succeed - and I think that's the dynamic we're seeing return right now."

Asked to clarify exactly which "competitor" he was talking about, House elaborates. "From data that we're starting to see, in some of the publicly-released figures, we're seeing a significant year-on-year downturn for the Wii. I think that's just a factor of this Holiday season."

Hey, it's been a rough few years for Sony. Let him have his fun.

Andrew House - Part Two [GI.biz]

Send an email to the author of this post at plunkett@kotaku.com.

Microsoft: Project Natal Can Replace The TV Remote

The Xbox 360's hands-free motion controller, due to hit sometime next year, could be more than just a new way to gyrate frantically or befriend boys in front of your television screen. It could also replace your TV remote.

Xbox Live GM Marc Whitten has designs on replacing the traditional TV remote with voice and gesture recognition, courtesy of Project Natal. According to a report from Yahoo! Tech, Whitten believes that Natal "will be the largest leap of TV experience since the remote control," providing better input options than the increasingly complex remote.

How? By recognizing common, button-less input via Natal.

"Laughter is an input," Whitten said at the Streaming Media West show last week. "Yelling at the TV when I know an answer on 'Jeopardy' is an input. Attention is an input. The number of people in the room at one time is an input." And, you know, that's a fairly interesting concept.

Microsoft Sees 'Natal' as Your Next TV Remote [Yahoo! Tech]

Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition's new enemy is all kinds of creepy

Capcom has updated its official Japanese Resident Evil 5 site, revealing the new enemy featured in the upcoming Gold Edition retail and (assorted) DLC release of the game. The new nemesis is an unnamed and extremely grotesque behemoth who carries a large key-like anchor, stalking the underground of Spencer's Mansion in the content's Lost in Nightmares episode. According to an English translation of the character card, players can hunt down the beast to obtain heavy weapons such as a sickle. If the design proves one thing, it's that Capcom continues to create characters with terrible skin afflictions. Someone get this guy an ointment.

[Via Andriasang]

LittleBigPlanet getting online create mode on Nov. 30

Since the game's launch, LittleBigPlanet fans have only been able to create new levels offline. Over a year after initially promising a patch, Media Molecule is finally ready to unveil its online Create mode. Coming in the 1.21 "Leerdammer" patch, online Create works exactly as expected: you'll be able to invite friends to your Pod and work collaboratively on new levels. The most important improvement over the offline Create mode is the camera: each player gets his or her own camera, allowing them to work on different parts of the level simultaneously. For veteran creators, this should speed up the process quite significantly.

In addition to the online Create mode, "Leerdammer" also rewrites LBP''s network code for improved performance and smarter matchmaking. The LBP save system has also been revamped, allowing players to store more community items than ever before. Finally, a slew of minor tweaks are also included in the patch, which you can read about after the break.

[Thanks, Pumapayam!]

Continued →

Mass Effect 2 vids profile Tali and Adept class

What is it about BioWare and its dismissive implementation of races starting with the letter Q? Think about it: Tali the Quarian from Mass Effect and Sten the Qunari from Dragon Age: Origins -- on average, did anybody really use either for extended periods of time? It's Qu-acism, we tells ya! Perhaps Tali, who returns in Mass Effect 2, will prove invaluable when the going geths tough.

Head past the break to see a video of the Adept class, which has been granted some flashy new tricks.

Gallery: Mass Effect 2 (11-06-09)

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Why 'Lords of Shadow' wasn't 'Castlevania: Lords of Shadow' at first

Being Dave Cox, head of European development for Konami, can't be an easy job. For one, he's not Hideo Kojima, so he's already got that going against him. Worse yet, he's had to tow the company line and let his upcoming Castlevania: Lords of Shadow languish out of the spotlight while Castlevania Judgment got all the attention. It seems Konami didn't even have the confidence to allow Lords of Shadow the Castlevania license -- nor did fans. "It was quite a radical departure from what had gone before with Castlevania, and there was a little bit of nervousness that perhaps it wouldn't be accepted as a Castlevania game," Cox told GameReactor.

Though he claims the project was approved originally as a Castlevania game and was built from the get-go with the vampire-hunting series in mind, the folks in charge at Konami had cold feet going into the big reveal at Games Convention 2008. "Senior management took the decision that we were going to announce it as Lords of Shadow, see what the reaction is, and if it's a good one then this would become a fully-fledged Castlevania." It was definitely a good one.

Gallery: Castlevania: Lords of Shadows

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[Via VG247]

GameStop's Black Friday bundles are delectable

First off, we just want to apologize in advance if this post is the catalyst that forces you to wake up at 3 a.m. on Friday morning. Sincerely, we're sorry. But we just thought you'd want to know that GameStop will be offering some mighty tasty console bundles from 6 a.m. to 11 a.m. on the day after Thanksgiving. For $300, you'll be able to pick up an Elite 360 with Pure, Lego Batman and your choice of Bakugan or Call of Duty 4, which is sort of like Sophie's Choice, if Sophie had to choose between eating delicious pie or a rusty folding chair. Those same three Benjamins will also net you a 120 GB PS3 Slim with LittleBigPlanet and the God of War collection.

Now, keep in mind that our friend Cheapy D says you'll probably be just as well served getting Black Friday deals from an online retailer like Amazon. We know, we normally don't trust bald people either, but you don't have to wake up before the paperboy this way. We think the choice is pretty clear.

Uncharted 2 gets DLC fort free on Friday, Nov. 27

Click to doughnut-size.

PS3 owners will want to stay home on Black Friday. Why? Naughty Dog is releasing the first downloadable content for Uncharted 2's multiplayer mode this Friday, November 27th. A title update will add "The Fort," a brand new multiplayer map supposedly based on the "Fortress" chapter of Drake's Fortune. According to the press release, "The Fort is a long rectangular map with wide open spaces and excellent flank routes." There's a shotgun in the center of the map and an RPG in the crypt (the inevitable resting place of people on the wrong end of that weapon). Best of all, this update will be free.

Once the patch goes live at 1PM EST, Naughty Dog will also initiate a Double Cash weekend. Teams will have special skins in competitive matches: Doughnut Drake for the Heroes (pictured above), and Doughnut Lazarevic for the Villains.

See a video after the break.

Gallery: Uncharted 2: Battle of the Doughnuts

Tags: dlc, fort, multiplayer, naughty-dog, uncharted, uncharted-2, uncharted-2-among-thieves

warzonegamer.com is over im done with this thanks for all the love bye for ever

Fight Night: Round 4 gets new fighters, modes, major update Dec. 3

Punch your way through to our gallery

Pugilists looking to beef up their stable of brawlers in Fight Night Round 4 will be able to do just that when EA offers up three new fighters in a DLC pack for 360 and PS3 on December 3. For the price of 160 ($2) and $1.99, respectively, you'll be able to add boxing greats Evander Holyfield, Sonny Liston and Bernard Hopkins to your virtual lineup of potential pulverizers. In addition to the new DLC, EA will also bring in the cut man to fix a few issues fighters are having with the game -- you can find the full list of fixes after the break -- and will add Old School Rules and Ring Rivalry mode. Here's the fight card:

Full bundle (Xbox 360/PS3) - 800 ($10) / $9.99

• Evander Holyfield, Sonny Liston and Bernard Hopkins
• Ring Rivalry game mode (allows players to choose from over 20 different match options recreating boxing's most famous matchups)
• Old School Rules game mode (simulates the common rules of boxing prior to the establishment of the Marquis of Queensbury Rules)

Three boxers (Holyfield, Liston and Hopkins) -- 160 ($2) / $1.99

Old School Rules mode -- 320 ($4) / $3.99

Ring Rivalry mode -- 160 ($2) / $1.99

Gallery: Fight Night Round 4 (DLC)

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Next 'Games Convention Online' set for July 8-11 in Leipzig

It appears that Games Convention Online has justified its existence for a second year, as the show will take place July 8-11, 2010, at the Leipziger Messe in Germany. The inaugural show last year drew in 43,000 attendees and organizers have added an extra day for more breathing room in the schedule to accommodate "business talks."

Games Convention Online was Leipzig's way of staying on the map after it lost the mega European games convention, which became GamesCom in Cologne. That show brought in an astounding 245,000 attendees its first year.

Rumor: OPM teases Dead Space reveal in December

Considering the artwork depicted on the "next month" page of November's Official PlayStation Magazine, it requires only the slightest of hops to reach the conclusion that a new Dead Space announcement is lurking just around the corner. Allegedly snapped by GOONL!NE (as in the connectivity instruction, not the lineup of criminals), the artwork features a grotesque, tentacled creature viewed through what appears to be the iconic toaster visor of Dead Space protagonist Isaac Clarke. The site confidently suggests that the creature itself is derived from the original game's concept art.

Now's the time to strategically remember several job listings, which mentioned a Dead Space follow-up, along with EA CEO John Riccitiello's recently expressed desire to have EA focus on more profitable, safer games. What could be safer than an isolated spaceship sending out a distress call?

The November issue of Official PlayStation Magazine is on sale behind youuuuu in the UK right now.

[Via CVG]