Joystiq

PSA: Second Halo Legends episode free, available today only

by Ben Gilbert { 10 minutes ago }

If you enjoyed the Cowboy Bebop-meets-Master Chief action presented in the first episode of Halo Legends (seriously, that main character looked just like Spike Spiegel!), then you may want to check out the second episode of the Spartan-themed anime premiering today on Halo Waypoint. For 24 hours starting at 12:00AM PST (about eight hours ago), Xbox Live Silver and Gold members will be able to access "The Duel" through the "all-things-Halo" hub.

Microsoft also notes that this will be the last week for Xbox Live Silver members to explore Waypoint, and in turn, enjoy the weekly free episodes of Halo Legends. If you're wondering what time the show will be available for you and you don't live in North America, a full list of showtimes is available on Xbox.com.

Readers pick best webcomic: Cold, Cold Mountain

by Griffin McElroy { 4 hours ago }

We don't ... we're not really ... alright, look. We've got to finish this post quick, because the above image is making us sad to look at. You guys picked 2P Start's "Cold, Cold Mountain" as your favorite webcomic from last week's Wrapup. Congrats, 2P Start. Now, we've got to move on before PETA finds us, and dumps buckets of fake penguin blood all over our laptops.

Second and third place went to Slackerz' "'ficcial Instructions" and Virtual Shackles "Approaching Infallibility," respectively. If you've got a favorite webcomic from this week that you'd like to see in today's Wrapup, drop a link to it in the comments, or send in a tip!

'Normal' Monopoly now on iPhone

by Alexander Sliwinski { 6 hours ago }

Although a version called Monopoly: Here & Now: The World (sweet mercy, that title!) was previously released on iPhone, there is also now a plain ol' version of Monopoly for $5 on the App Store. The game supports up to four players on the same network or through "pass 'n play." There's also the option of a two player game through Bluetooth multiplayer.

We had previously criticized the Xbox 360 take on the classic board game for costing $30, especially when the non-virtual version is under $20 at most retailers, so $5 doesn't seem like such a bad deal.

Gallery: Monopoly Classic (iPhone)

Try PSP Digital Comics with these free codes

by Andrew Yoon { 8 hours ago }

If you've downloaded firmware 6.20 for your PSP, you'll be able to access the Digital Comics service, featured under the new "Extras" section of the XMB. While the PlayStation Store won't offer comics until next month, Sony is offering fans an early sneak peek at the service by offering free codes through the official PlayStation Comics website. Americans will be able to get the first issue of Transformers: All Hail Megatron, while Europeans can download the first issue of Aleister Arcane.

Each issue will take about 40MB of space on your Memory Stick / PSP Go. To get your trial codes, visit the PlayStation Comics website.

[Thanks, Simon R.!]

Jay Cohen answers 10 Questions from the Academy

by Joystiq Staff { 10 hours ago }

Introducing 10 Questions from the Academy: A weekly feature from the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences wherein significant figures in the video game industry provide their input on past trends, current events, and future challenges and goals for the entertainment software community.

Jay Cohen is a member of the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences where he serves as chairman of its board directors. Cohen left Ubisoft earlier this year, after serving as the company's North American vice president of publishing, and now works for Jerry Bruckheimer Games.

AIAS: How do you measure success?
Jay Cohen: Review scores and unit sales!

What's your favorite part of game development?
Sitting around the table and seeing a spark of an idea ignite into creative wildfire that rallies the team to go the extra mile. Then, seeing that idea implemented into the game and having it actually work as imagined!

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BBC asks: What happened to Second Life?

by Justin McElroy { 11 hours ago }

You don't see nearly the amount of coverage of Second Life (or as we call it in these parts, PlayStation Home's creepy, aggressively pornographic uncle) these days as you used to, and BBC did a little digging to find out why. Their discovery? Well, not to put too fine a point on it, but Second Life sucks. It's overly complicated to control, it's full of some truly horrific human beings, there are many better social networking hubs and (perhaps most importantly) companies that sunk a bunch of money into it rarely got their investments back.

What the BBC seems to be implying is that Second Life was largely a media-created phenomenon, with journalists and public figures so smitten by the idea of a virtual world, no one stopped to notice that it was a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Besides, everybody knows that HiPiHi is where it's at.

Super Monkey Ball 2 goes bananas on iPhone this year

by JC Fletcher { 12 hours ago }

Sega is preparing a sequel to its App Store launch title, Super Monkey Ball, due out sometime before the end of the year. According to Touch Arcade, Super Monkey Ball 2 will add 115 new levels, multiplayer functions, and, perhaps most importantly, minigames. Monkey Bowling will be included in the download, with Monkey Golf and Monkey Target (also known as the greatest achievement in human history) to follow as free updates.

Okay, actually, while great, the minigames aren't the most important part of this sequel. That would be the improved controls, which may render this game playable. Check out Touch Arcade for gameplay footage!

Firmware 3.10 lets PS3 users report errors directly to Sony

by David Hinkle { 12 hours ago }

Sometimes we do crazy things -- in this case, it's something crazy for you, dear reader. You see, when PS3 Attitude reported users who had run into freezes or other bouts of unsatisfactory performance from their PS3 could report the issue to Sony thanks to firmware 3.10, directly through their console, we thought it was something we'd try to recreate on our own. After scratching our noggin for a few minutes, trying to come up with the best way to put our PS3 into danger, we figured a swift and hard power-down via the back toggle switch on the console would be the best bet to trigger this supposed new error report system. Lo and behold, we received the message you see above.

So that's new, right? After winning that battle in the war of trying to break our PS3, we then decided to pick up our console and shake it like some kind of crazed British nanny, but that did not get us the results we were looking for. As such, we contacted Sony and a spokesperson told us that, yes, firmware 3.10 does add a feature to the console where users can report issues following console freezes and the like. So, now you know!

Modders pump L4D1 maps into L4D2

by Richard Mitchell { 13 hours ago }

There's some good news for the PC players of Left 4 Dead 2. You no longer have to worry about whether Valve will be bringing the original Left 4 Dead campaigns into the sequel. You see, crafty modders over at l4dmods.com have already implemented the original maps into Left 4 Dead 2. Valve hasn't actually released an SDK for Left 4 Dead 2 yet, so making this mod work will require users to change some files in the original game (and yes, you do have to own both games to make it work). There are some known issues and bugs and, needless to say, it's not the most user-friendly mod out there, but it's probably a small price to pay for the dedicated users.

So, if you want to see a Spitter on the roof of Mercy Hospital (and we know you do), you can. Watch a video of the mod in action after the break.

[Via Kotaku]

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Whitten: Xbox Live banning 'a cat and mouse game'

by Richard Mitchell { 13 hours ago }

Speaking to VentureBeat, Xbox Live general manager Marc Whitten discussed the recent round of Xbox Live bans. According to Whitten, banning users from Xbox Live is "a cat and mouse game." Said Whitten, "These were people that were pirating software." He added that Microsoft looks at banning users "from a safety and anti-cheating perspective" and that the company looks out for its partners. Responding to the widely reported story that Microsoft banned over a million Xbox Live users, Whitten said that the figure is inaccurate. "I cannot explain to you why people would think it was a million people," said Whitten, then adding quite succinctly, "It wasn't a million people."

Whitten went on to state his belief that Microsoft does "a really good job" of monitoring the activity on Xbox Live, specifically in terms of piracy and online harassment. He concluded that the company is "committed to making [Xbox Live] better and better."

The interview also covers the recent integration of Facebook on Xbox, the effect Modern Warfare 2 had on Live activity (hint: a big one) and whether or not we'll be playing Facebook games on our consoles anytime soon. Don't expect a straight answer on that last one though, as the closes Whitten gets is, "In the future, they will move much closer together."

Stardock: Steam is top digital distribution earner, Impulse second

by David Hinkle { 14 hours ago }

Stardock isn't a publicly traded company, though it strives to be as open as possible about its business. This is where the annual Stardock Customer Report (PDF link) comes in, an annual assessment of the company's financial situation. Stardock, a publisher of games such as Sins of a Solar Empire, is also behind digital distribution service Impulse, which boss Brad Wardell says is the second only to Valve's Steam platform in terms of revenue generation.

"Our estimation is that Steam - as the current market leader - enjoys approximately 70 percent of the overall digital distribution market with Impulse at 10 percent and all others combined at 20 percent in terms of actual dollars generated per month," Wardell explains. As Wardell estimates, 25 percent of PC platform sales will come from digital distribution channels during 2009's calendar year, so we're talking billions of dollars here.

"Steam and Impulse both have the advantage of exclusive content (Left 4 Dead, Half-Life, Sins of a Solar Empire, Demigod, etc.)," he adds, but explains that Valve's strides in getting major publishers to sign on for Steamworks as a DRM solution (Dawn of War II, Modern Warfare 2) effectively nullifies those games' chances of appearing on Impulse. This is a big area where Impulse is missing out and even though it offers its own alternative -- Impulse Reactor -- the company already missed the boat on its share of the big, fat money-filled pie.

[Via Gamasutra]

Source - Stardock Customer Report 2009 (PDF)

JBO: Joystiq Box Office, November 16 - November 20

by Kevin Kelly { 14 hours ago }

We can't be gaming all the time, despite our best efforts, and from time to time we'll actually take advantage of the movie-playing abilities on our gaming systems. JBO features our top picks for XBL, PSN, Netflix's Watch Instantly and Blu-ray each week.

Recommendation of the Week:

North by Northwest: 50th Anniversary Edition (Blu-ray)
It's been 50 years since Alfred Hitchcock's classic North by Northwest first appeared in theaters, and Warner Bros. has put together an amazing package that includes a new one hour documentary about Hitchcock called "The Master's Touch: Hitchcock's Signature Style," and a new half-hour documentary about the film itself. It also carries over older extras like a documentary about Cary Grant, commentary and more. It's packaged in the Warner Blu-ray Book format that I loathed at first, but now love: No inserts or booklets to lose, and they look fantastic on a shelf. You've probably seen the iconic image of Cary Grant running in terror from a biplane, but never seen North by Northwest. For my money, it's his best film.

Read on for the rest of the recommendations, and as usual, we'll see you at the popcorn sta -- well, actually, we won't see you at all. But you catch our drift. Plus, be sure to tell us what you'll be watching, or what you've seen recently that bowled you over.

Continued →

WRUP: We game in peace. Always.

by Alexander Sliwinski { 14 hours ago }

"Thank you, to the people of Earth, for embracing our mission of cooperation and understanding. Furthering our efforts, we've decided that we will also share the interactive entertainment interface system of our home planet. Through the diplomatic initiatives employed on our world between what Earth knows as 'corporations,' we have but one entertainment product. The interface is placed on the back of the user's neck and connects directly to the brain through a harmless transfer of chemicals and electrical impulses. All users are connected around the world to each other using a proprietary network that can also translate language in real time. We wish to show you that our technology can not only assist humanity, but also entertain. The device will be available soon. Until then, we wish to know what you are all playing this weekend?

We are of peace. Always."
-- Anna

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Banned PSN player sues Nintendo and Microsoft

by Andrew Yoon { 15 hours ago }

After being banned from the PlayStation Network for hateful comments stated in Resistance's online community, Erik Estavillo launched not one, but two, lawsuits against Sony for infringing on his "first amendment rights" -- an argument that was shot down by Judge Ronald Whyte simply because "Sony is not part of the government."

However, what Estavillo lacks in civil online discourse, he makes up for with sheer determination and persistence. In addition to Sony, he now has both Microsoft and Nintendo in his sights. Estavillo is seeking $75,000 from Microsoft for the "undue stress" and "sadness" caused by his Xbox 360's RROD. "Microsoft should have to bear the burden that is now put on the shoulders of this disabled plaintiff," his claim states -- a burden that is equivalent to the sum of 375 Xbox 360 systems, apparently. Nintendo is being sued for interfering with Estavillo's "pursuit of happiness." And how exactly is Nintendo doing that? "Deleting, blocking or prohibiting the Homebrew Channel and Ocarina applications" via a system update.

We're hoping you can see the sheer brilliance of Estavillo's strategy. He's offering the perfect opportunity for PlayStation, Xbox and Nintendo fans to agree on something for once.

Xbox 360 release of No More Heroes may be censored in Japan

by JC Fletcher { 15 hours ago }

Japanese retailer Amiami includes a note on its listing for the Xbox 360 version of No More Heroes: Heroes' Paradise that suggests that because it is based on the North American version of the Wii original, it is likely to carry the CERO Z rating (think an ESRB M rating, but harsher) when it is released in February. Because it is the North American version (with "bloodshed" intact), the site says, it will hold a special appeal for game fans.

The same message doesn't appear on the PS3 version's listing, suggesting that it'll be the same censored game that was originally released in Japan. CERO Z-rated games often don't get displayed on shelves, so if this is accurate, it'll ensure that only the hardcore will even know about the Xbox 360 version of the game. That would limit sales severely, if sales weren't already limited severely by its status as an Xbox 360 game in Japan.