Visceral Teasing Dead Space 2?

A strange inkblot has appeared on the Dead Space Twitter account (which only has one tweet, so make of that what you will), which seems to be out first teaser of Dead Space 2.

You can certainly make out what appear to be ‘Necromorphs’ – the creatures from the game – and there is also a theory that the ‘marker’ is present in the centre of the inkblot. As for the “Unitology symbols” at the bottom someone has taken the time to translate it; and it turns out that it allegedly says “the nightmare is over but it will not end!”. Click here for the full picture and see if you can make out anything else from the ‘teaser’.

Of course, we already knew Dead Space 2 was coming so something like this is no surprise. Personally I’m looking forward to shredding more ‘Necromorphs’ while manically laughing out of sheer fear.

Mirror’s Edge Arriving on iPhone and iPod Touch

EA has revealed that it is working on an iPhone/iPod touch version of their 2008 action adventure game Mirror’s Edge, due for release in January.

The view shifts from first to third person for this instalment, but apparently still retains the fluid roof hopping acrobatic movements of protagonist Faith. EA hopes you’ll be burning through 14 levels of the “fastest most fluid action imaginable”, and since there’s little else to go on I guess we’ll just have to take their word for it.

Of course, it’s not the first time we’ve seen a different version of the game. A 2D side scrolling Flash game was released alongside the main game and can be played at MirrorsEdge2d.com. However, unlike the Flash version this iteration will feature 3D graphics and “Dynamic camera angles”. I just hope that it’s easy to play on the bus to work.

The full blurb is below, along with a bunch of screenshots.

• EXPERIENCE THE WORLD OF MIRROR’S EDGE – A place where information is heavily monitored and law is brutally enforced in an effort to create the ‘perfect’ society.
• YOUR MISSION -Take control of Faith Connors, a member of an underground messenger group known as Runners, as she races to stop a deadly threat that has grown from within their own ranks.
• SURVIVAL OF THE FITTEST… AND FASTEST – Use Faith’s incredible acrobatic moves to outmaneuver the enemy –run on walls, slide down precarious ramps, ride ziplines, and leap between rooftops. Leave the enemy in your dust.
• EDGE-OF-YOUR-SEAT EXCITEMENT – Burn through 14 levels of the fastest, most fluid action imaginable. Dynamic camera angles capture the intense action of this unique game.
• HEIGHTEN YOUR SENSES- Immerse yourself in a stylish, graphically rich 3D environment flooded with realistic sound effects and phenomenal music.

New Medal of Honour Announced; Box-Art Revealed

EA announced their latest Medal of Honour game today (I know it says Honor, but that is the American spelling) by releasing the box art.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out that it is set in the modern day, and is likely to be EA’s answer to the overwhelming success of Modern Warfare 2.

Imaginatively titled “Medal of Honor” (just for you Americans), it centres around the  ‘Tier 1 Operators’, which we assume to be similar to the Task Force 141 in Modern Warfare 2. I’m sure more details will be released in due course.

See the box art here: Medal of Honour Box Art

EA shutters Pandemic Studios

The rumour posted here yesterday turns out to have been true, unfortunately for staff at Pandemic Studios. An EA spokesman confirmed it:

“The Pandemic brand and franchises will continue to live on. A core team of Pandemic developers will move to EALA and continue development on Pandemic games with a focus on quality, cost management and schedule integrity.”

Other teams expected to be hard-hit by EA “restructuring” include the Command & Conquer team at EALA, Spore creators Maxis, social network developer Rupture Studios, EA Tiburon, MMO developer Mythic Entertainment and EA Black Box.

The latest move continues an EA trend of shutting studios after buying them, Pandemic Studios joining Origin Systems, Bullfrog and Westwood Studios.

EA plans massive layoffs

After EA’s September financial report showed a loss of $391 million, it was clear they’d have to take some action. The layoffs announced recently will involve around 1500 employees, 900 from game development. EA head John Riccitiello also confirmed the cancellation of 12 games, all previously unannounced. The cuts will save an estimated $100 million a year.

“Laying off employees and closing facilities is never pleasant,” John Riccitiello said. “We have a lot of compassion for those impacted but these cuts are essential for transforming our company. Electronic Arts has a core slate of games label and sports franchises that we will iterate on a either annual or bi-annual basis. And I think you know what those major titles are – all of them are selling or have sold in their most recent edition 2 million units or more. After that, we’ve got The Sims and Hasbro, and frankly anything that doesn’t measure up to looking like it can pencil out to be in very high profit contributor and high unit seller got cut from our title slate from this point going forward.”

Pearl Jam DLC set for 20th September release

Harmonix have announced that the entirety of Pearl Jam’s new album, ‘Backspacer’, will be added as part of the illustrious Rock Band downloadable content. Backspacer is realeased on the 20^th September, and will be released for the 360 the very same day, with versions for the PS3 and Wii coming out a few days later.

The album will include 11 tracks:

‘Gonna See My Friend’

‘Got Some’

‘The Fixer’

‘Johnny Guitar’

‘Just Breathe’

‘Amongst the Waves’

‘Unthought Known’

‘Supersonic’

‘Speed of Sound’

‘Force of Nature’

‘The End’

With all the tracks being master recordings, you can buy the full album for 1440 MS points, or an individual track for 160 points.

This is the second full Pearl Jam album to be released for Rock Band, after ‘Ten’ was released earlier this year.

EA announce SKATE 3 for next year

EA have announced that SKATE 3 will be landing on the Xbox 360 and PS3 for a May release next year.

The new skater will be totally different from its predecessors, as you can now team up with friends, online or offline, to build the ultimate skate crew in the best skateboarding co-op experience yet. In the game, players can take part in team-based challenges (or by themselves), compete against rival crews and many other brand new features.

All the best bits from SKATE 2 are back, such as the fantastic creative side of the game where you create your own graphics, videos, and skate parks.

FIFA 10 new features announced

EA SPORTS today announced that the Live Season premium service introduced in FIFA 09 has been expanded into a new game mode for FIFA 10, this time around featuring weekly updates of player form, transfers, injuries, suspensions, fixtures, results and league standings. Barclay’s Premier League, La Liga BBVA, Ligue 1, Bundesliga, Serie A and Mexican Primera Division will be supported and the game mode enables you to visually track your results against real life as you progress.

“Every Wednesday is Live Season day where dynamic real-world data and analytics will be updated in FIFA 10 to match the weekly rhythm of real-world football and subscribers will have the chance to rewrite their clubs’ history,” said David Rutter, producer of FIFA 10.

My Live Season is available for the PLAYSTATION 3 and Xbox 360. The service is valued at a recommended retail price of £3.99 for the ongoing season on PlayStation Network and 400 points on Xbox Live Marketplace for each individual league. A package of all leagues will be available for the recommended retail price £7.99 for the ongoing season on PlayStation Network and 800 points on Xbox Live Marketplace.

In addition to this the EA Sports Football World website has re-launched, including the ability to upload and edit your GAMEFACE for use on the website and also ingame as your Virtual Pro in any offline or online game mode.

FIFA 10 is released on October 2 on multiple formats

The other 9.9.99 – Peter Moore on the Sega Dreamcast

On the day that the media focuses on The Beatles, be it back catalogue, Rock Band or the ongoing will they won’t they iTunes speculation, current EA Sports head Peter Moore has spoken on his blog about the launch of the Sega Dreamcast ten years ago to the day in the US.

Despite the spectacularly fast fall from grace that the console suffered when Sega swiftly pulled the plug and ran away from hardware production, the machine had a fantastic range of quality titles that are still praised in gaming circles today (Shenmue/Shenmue 2, Sega Sports’ 2K series (after EA Sports famously refused to support the console), Soul Calibur, Jet Set Radio & Virtua Tennis)

Also and of course most importantly for today’s internet connected generation of consoles the Sega Dreamcast was the first console to include internet functionality. On this Mr Moore says,

Isao Okawa, the Chairman of Sega Enterprises and the driving force behind the Dreamcast…had a vision that a game console, combined with the power of the internet, could bring people together in ways that were previously unimaginable. He didn’t live to see that vision come to fruition, and his beloved Dreamcast couldn’t survive to play a role in the powerful world of connected gaming we all enjoy today, but it certainly lit the spark, and that we should never forget…

This is certainly the case and you have to feel that the success enjoyed today by Xbox Live, PSN and Wii owe a debt of gratitude to this great but never forgotten console

New Mass Effect 2 Screenshots Fresh Out of PAX

Thousands of people have been attending the Penny Arcade Expo in Seattle, Washington, USA where many game developers like to show off their new games.

One such game is BioWare and EA’s Mass Effect 2, the sequel to the award winning original which is set for a 2010 release. Four new screenshots have come out of PAX for ME 2, and while they don’t show anything particularly controversial, they do showcase the fantastic visuals of the game as well as showing Shephard and two new characters (Thane and Grunt) in action… kind of.

View those screenshots as well as more Mass Effect 2 ones here

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