News & Blogs Archive

BlogWe finally have the public consultation open for an R18+ rating open in Australia. What does this mean? Probably not much at the end of the day. The ministers have discussed this many times and now they want public input before making a decision. This is reasonably pointless though since good old Michael Atkinson has said time and time again that he will never support this rating, which means he'd have to be voted out of his conservative seat in a state I don't even live in before we might see change. Read on

Vagrant Story is out on Friday December 22 on the PAL PlayStation store for a small €6. With no release date currently set for the United States, it's apparent that this is a small gesture of goodwill given the past "yeah we'll get to that at some point after the US" release date schedule for Japanese games in Europe.¹.

Notes

1. Kotaku ↩

BlogAs per my previous quote here Aliens VS Predator was refused classification in Australia effectively banning it (it is illegal to purchase/sell/hire/distribute etc any titles that have been refused classification or that do not have one). Read on

BlogSquare Enix have opened up a site for Final Fantasy XIV to apply for the upcoming beta test. The PC version will be tested first, followed by the Playstation 3 beta. Read on

I called him "Mr. Video". My plan was to use the same character in every video game I made... I thought the way Hitchcock cropped up in all the films he directed was really cool!

Anyone preordering Silent Hill: Shattered Memories through Gamestop will also grab a copy of the soundtrack. Presently I am not aware of any other legal means of obtaining the music. Hopefully there will be though, Yamaoka's latest haunting treatment of music is said to be very experimental.

Akira Yamaoka confirmed he has left Konami. No word yet on what he'll end up doing, and according to Square Enix Music Online it would be likely he'll end up a freelance composer like many before him (Norihiko Hibino, Yoko Shimomura and Yasunori Mitsuda to name a few). While this might be a loss for Konami, frankly Silent Hill hasn't been the same for a while. It will no doubt do him good to go freelance and get some different work. If he ceases game composition entirely however he will be sadly missed.¹

Notes

1. Square Enix Music Online ↩

The content of AVP is based on some of the most innovative and iconic horror movies, and as such we wanted to create a title that was true to the source material. It is for adults, and it is bloody and frightening, that was our intent. We will not be releasing a sanitised or cut down version for territories where adults are not considered by their governments to be able to make their own entertainment choices.

Notes

1. Kotaku ↩

Ever wondered what sublime chiptune jazz would sound like?

Someone, somewhere, had a stroke of genius and recreated the entire Delorean inside Crysis, including the 88 mph time jump, flames, and freezing car. You can download it at Crymod. A better quality video is available at Vimeo.

Resident Evil 5: Gold Edition, set for March, 2010, is the retail release that includes all of the upcoming DLC content. Read on

BlogI've had enough. I live in Australia, part of a modern country that like many others has free speech and all that jazz. Yet when it comes to video games we have no adults only rating; any game that is deemed too extreme for a 15+ restriction is banned or re-submitted edited to appease the rating board.

Can we blame the Classification Board? No of course not. They are bound by law; in 2006 Attorney-General Philip Ruddock that the Office of Film and Literature Classification would become part of his department. The law they are bound by comes under federal law which despite having an R18+ rating (restricting content for legal viewing only to those ages 18 or older) for films, there is no equivalent for games. Read on

Animal Crossing fanfiction at its very finest.

BlogSquare Enix have announced the release date for Final Fantasy XIII in a swanky video with a presenter. They also managed to plug Leona Lewis, who is getting one of her songs chosen as the theme for the game's Western release. Her album, Echo will be released on November 16 and November 17 in the UK and the US respectively. Read on

Final Fantasy XIII Official Site

March 9, 2010 for both PS3 and 360.

I had this idea for an FPS where the player's character grows in size, gets bigger and bigger as the game progresses. But as you get bigger some weapons are too small to use, so you have to improvise; maybe throw airplanes at the enemies. That sort of stuff.

Notes

1. develop-online.net ↩