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Valve: Left 4 Dead 2 multiplayer demo on its way, pre-order customers get 'advanced access'

by Xav de Matos { Jul 4th 2009 at 3:00PM }

Doug Lombardi has told Joystiq that a multiplayer demo for Valve's Left 4 Dead 2 is planned for both the Xbox 360 and PC. According to Valve's PR guru, users who pre-order the upcoming zombie survival title at "participating retailers or [via] Steam" will gain "advanced access to the demo," which will eventually land on both platforms for all users prior to the game's November 17 launch.

Speaking with OXM at a recent London preview event, Lombardi discussed the strength of Left 4 Dead's "word of mouth," which has presumably fueled the need for a demo to the sequel. With groups calling for a boycott of Left 4 Dead 2 due to lack of content support for the original title, a demo may be the best way for Valve to prove why it believes its sequel warrants a full price tag. Although, strong pre-order numbers tell us the game is already on pace to decimate sales charts like a zombie tank.

Gallery: Left 4 Dead 2

Three games to light up your 4th

by Randy Nelson { Jul 3rd 2009 at 8:00PM }

The founding of a nation is pretty significant and well worth getting excited about. The best way to display said excitement is, of course, with massive, colorful airborne explosions, a.k.a. fireworks. Tomorrow night, towns across the USA will be putting on fireworks displays, big and small -- but why should you have to wait for it to get dark? The games you'll find after the break will let you get all explode-y from the comfort of your living room, without the charred mess and frantic 911 call. So, put on your favorite patriotic tune (it's "The Stars & Stripes Forever" for us) and make with the clicking!

[Image]

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Rumor: Skate 3 in the works

by David Hinkle { Jul 3rd 2009 at 2:00PM }

Apparently EA is working on a sequel to Skate 2, if the Epicly Trife twitter is to be believed. Epicly Trife (NSFW) is a site dedicated to skating, and its twitter account said the following: "I just got told 'tonight we gotta celebrate,' one of the bro's got offered to be in SKATE 3." By no means a confirmation, we're still excited, as Skate 2 was not only a great sequel, but pretty much the best skating sim around. Plus, it's much easier to get up after falling down four flights of stairs in a video game, as gravity is a much more harsh mistress in real life.

We've put in word to EA for comment, but with almost everyone taking the day off today, don't hold your breath for a response. We sure aren't.

[Via Kotaku]

Tim Schafer walks us through Brutal Legend's beginning

by David Hinkle { Jul 2nd 2009 at 11:45PM }

Brütal Legend's Rocktober release is drawing closer, and the game's creator, Tim Schafer, has tossed us a bone in a pair of developer walkthroughs for the beginning sections of the game over at IGN. Be warned: The videos show off a great deal of content, so if you're trying to avoid spoilers, steer clear. For the rest of you, we suggest you don your spiked bracelet and sleeveless leather vest and peer past the break for some glorious metal action.

Source - Brütal Legend developer walkthrough (part one)
Source - Brütal Legend developer walkthrough (part two)

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FIFA 10 offers brief glimpse of footy-filled gameplay

by David Hinkle { Jul 2nd 2009 at 8:45PM }

EA Sports is ramping up the hype machine for its very crucial FIFA franchise, as it has issued out a new teaser trailer for the latest installment, FIFA 10. Thankfully, it's not your average teaser trailer, as though it is short, it does contain actual gameplay footage. It looks like the one big improvement for this year's version will be bullet time.

Battlefield 1943 cheevos airdropped onto web, running for your flag

by Ben Gilbert { Jul 2nd 2009 at 2:45PM }

After EA DICE loosed the official release date for Battlefield 1943 early today, we set to scouring the interweb for more information on the upcoming digitally distributed title. Wouldn't you know it, the first thing we found was the game's somewhat less-than-thrilling Achievements over on Inside MGC, detailing how many flag caps you'll need before hearing the glorious cheevo noise and snagging 10Gs for yourself, among other things. If you're one of those folks a bit more concerned than they should be with points (aren't we all?), check out the full list to see exactly how you'll be playing BF1943 when it hits next week.

Left 4 Dead DLC announcement by end of summer

by Alexander Sliwinski { Jul 2nd 2009 at 1:20PM }

Following up on earlier reports that Valve won't leave Left 4 Dead to die an early death, the company stated today that there should be an L4D DLC announcement before the end of summer. A company spokesperson also told CVG that about eight or nine months from now, when L4D2 has released and people see the continued support for L4D, they may finally understand the method to the madness.

We're all eagerly awaiting the epiphany.

Suda 51 plays Burnout Paradise (a lot) more than you

by Randy Nelson { Jul 1st 2009 at 9:00PM }

Grasshopper Manfacture boss Goichi "Suda 51" Suda likes to do everything to the extreme, whether it's the ultra-violence of No More Heroes or -- as we now know -- playing other developers' games, specifically Criterion's Burnout Paradise. The British dev's head honcho, Alex Ward, issued a tweet revealing that Suda had recently popped by his studio (likely after the recent Nordic Game Conference) and is a "hardcore Burnout fan."

"Hardcore" may be an understatement, as Ward disclosed that server logs show Suda has played more than 700 hours of Burnout Paradise. So, there it is: Even more proof that Suda 51 knows great games and takes everything to the extreme. It may also explain why we haven't heard anything more about the horror title he's working on for EA alongside Resident Evil creator Shinji Mikami.

[Via VG247]

Rumor: UFC to ban fighters that sign on for EA's MMA

by David Hinkle { Jul 1st 2009 at 8:00PM }

There's been a pretty crazy rumor floating around. originating from the mixedmartialarts.com forums. The rumor states that UFC will blacklist any fighter that chooses to be a part of EA's upcoming game, MMA. That means should any fighter sign up to be represented in EA's game, they won't ever be endorsed by the UFC or asked to join. Crazy, right?

It makes sense, though, considering how well UFC 2009 Undisputed sold. UFC has a bona fide franchise on its hands, and will likely begin prepping for a sequel soon (if not already), and doesn't want that threatened by EA's game. But, hey, can't we all just get along? This isn't football, after all.

We've put in word to UFC corporate about the rumor and will be sure to get back to you as soon as we hear something.

[Via BloodyElbow; Thanks, Ryan!]

Rumor: EA cancels Wii Brutal Legend that might not even have existed [update]

by JC Fletcher { Jul 1st 2009 at 9:30AM }

[Update: EA's response: "Brütal Legend was never announced for the Wii." That's ... true ...]

Remember the rumored Wii version of Brütal Legend? It was rumored that EA planned to release a Wii version of the game, developed by someone other than Double Fine. The very mention of the project made Tim Schafer uncomfortable.

According to Destructoid, that Wii release, which we don't even know was real to start with, has been canceled. "Word has it that quality assurance testers who moved from Electronic Arts to Double Fine were recently let go," Destructoid notes, "after the demise of the project left their services unnecessary."

Whether the game was real and canceled or never existed at all, the net effect would seem to be the same: no Brütal Legend game on Wii. If it really was so bad that EA decided to cancel the project, we can only feel grateful that the company didn't subject Wii fans to the kind of embarrassment we had to endure whenever a screenshot of the Wii Dead Rising came out.

Top brands of 2008 owned by Nintendo, EA, Activision, and not Sony

by JC Fletcher { Jun 30th 2009 at 9:00PM }

Wedbush Morgan Securities' 2009 industry report includes a list of the top thirty brands of 2008. The report notes that of the companies whose brands appear on the list, Nintendo, EA, and Activision were the only three with more than one brand to generate over $100 million at retail in the US last year.

And boy, did they. The top brand of the year, Guitar Hero -- perhaps you've heard of it -- was responsible for $992 million in US sales in 2008. The next two brands, Mario Bros. and Rock Band, generated $761 million and $662 million, respectively.

One company is notably absent from the top brands list: "Most strikingly," the report reads, "Sony had no top 30 brands for the third year in a row." Microsoft had two brands on the list (Gears of War and Fable) and Nintendo had four (Mario Bros., Wii Fit, Wii Play, and Pokémon). See the list of brands after the break.

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Michael Jackson honored in Battlefield Heroes, kind of [update: Costumes will be free]

by Griffin McElroy { Jun 30th 2009 at 6:10PM }

Update: Electronic Arts has contacted us to let us know that the outfits will be free. Multiplayer has updated its own story, noting that the prices mentioned were seen on the Battlefield Heroes test servers. Upon release to the actual public, they will be offered at the consumer-friendly price of no dollars. Original post is below.

In a touching display of respect for the recently deceased King of Pop, Electronic Arts has uploaded a pair of the music legend's iconic outfits to Battlefield Heroes -- one for each of the game's two factions. Members of the Royal Army can now drape themselves in the white suit worn by Michael Jackson in the "Smooth Criminal" music video, while National Army recruits can don the black leather apparel featured in "Bad." This is a really neat way for EA to show -- wait a sec, you have to pay for them?

You're telling us that EA is charging 420 Battlefunds (about $3) for these outfits? Well, surely, they're donating the money to sick kids or something, right? No? They're just ... keeping it? That's sorta messed up, guys.

Spielberg's LMNO project may have been renamed 'Eve'

by Justin McElroy { Jun 30th 2009 at 3:15PM }

You know, for a game that was supposed to be dead, Steven Spielberg's codenamed project "LMNO" sure has been generating a lot of heat lately. First, the aforementioned near cancellation and subsequent resurrection, and now we get word from superannuation that the game may have been renamed "Eve."

The title (apparently derived from the game's AI-controlled female lead) was spotted on the resume of Melissa Garza, who assisted with mo-cap on the game. Sure, it's probably just a working title, but we really want LMNO to be released, so we're doing what we can to keep the story alive.

Engadget gets in-depth with the Wii MotionPlus

by Justin McElroy { Jun 30th 2009 at 1:45PM }

Like trying to watch a foreign language film on a tiny TV, it seems that our buddies at Engadget can't figure out if they've got problems with the Wii MotionPlus technology, or just the way it's being used. The site recently did an exhaustive hands-on with Nintendo's new add-on, the fruits of which you can see here.

The best implementation/demonstration for the super-sensitive tech seems to be manipulating an e-frisbee in 3D space, which is almost too precious and appropriate for our brains to comprehend.

Skate 2's Maloof Money Cup DLC busting kickflips on July 9

by David Hinkle { Jun 30th 2009 at 11:45AM }

Based on the highest-pursed skating event in history, the Maloof Money Cup makes its way to Skate 2 on July 9 for $3.00 and 240

on PSN and Xbox Live, respectively. That's one day before the real-life event takes place, and the DLC will mimic the setup of that event pretty closely, through a collection of single-player and online events. These events consist of freeskate, vert, and street contests, and will also provide Xbox gamers with an additional 250 Achievement points to earn. Considering the game's last update was back in February, we're surprised EA even remembered it had a skateboarding game.