There will soon be a new James Bond, but not in the movies. Instead, the next James Bond game will feature the voice talents of Adam Croasdell, who plays Dr. Al Jenkins in the EastEnders.
“Oddly enough I have just played James Bond in the new James Bond video game – how weird is that? I don’t know what the future holds, but I’m always into varying up what comes my way, trying new things,” Croasdell told BBC Asia (via The UK Press Association).
“I think video games and the making of that type of technology, being in a funny one-piece suit and being shot with 60 cameras, I think that’s sort of the future.”
The blurb on the back of Dragon Ball Z: Attack of the Saiyans‘ box says that it’s the “first ever Dragon Ball Z Role-Playing Adventure,” but long-time fans will likely remember differently. The franchise is mostly known for its fighting games, but it’s made more than a few forays into RPG territory, with the results running the gamut from the awful Legacy of Goku to the much-improved Legacy of Goku II. Attack of the Saiyans sits somewhere in between, once again rehashing the events of the anime and the manga, but doing so with entertaining, fast-paced battles.
As the name suggests, Attack of the Saiyans covers Dragon Ball Z’s first major story arc, known as the Vegeta Saga. Beginning with the end of the original Dragon Ball arc, the Vegeta Saga covers all of the points you’d expect — it breaks the events from the World Martial Arts tournament onward into short, easily digestible episodes. The Saiyan Arc has been told and retold over the course of dozens of games, so the story should be old-hat for hardcore fans, especially those who are familiar with the games. When it comes to its licensed properties, Namco Bandai rarely deviates from established lore.
In their latest effort to tempt former Age of Conan players into resubscribing, developer Funcom has announced that returning subscribers can play for free for two weeks during the month of November. On top of that, they’re doubling the amount of experience gained during that free period, and they’re also offering a series of tiered bonuses to those who decide to re-up their subscriptions.
What kind of goodies await resubscribers? Check out the full list below:
- Subscribing for one month gives seven days extra game time for no additional cost.
- Subscribing for three months also guarantees a spot in open beta for The Secret World.
- Subscribing for six months also gives a level 40 helmet with a 10 percent XP modifier.
- Subscribing for 12 months also gives a free copy of the Rise of the Godslayer expansion.
Each of the above incentives stack with one another, meaning that three-month subscribers, for example, will get both the seven days of added subscription time as well as access to The Secret World beta. So anyone who ponies up for a 12-month subscription will earn all of the available bonuses from the other tiers.
The Darkstalkers will soon be returning, but not as a video game. Instead, UDON Entertainment is launching a new comic book starring the popular characters, to be released early next year.
The three-issue limited series stars series mainstays like Morrigan and Demitri, with Q-Bee, Anakaris, Sasquatch and others also expected to make an appearance. It was conceived following the positive response to the Darkstalkers Tribute art book, which was released earlier this year.
Artist Alvin Lee will be handling the covers, with variant covers by Emily Warren. UDON’s Jon Vriens and Eric Vedder will handle the artwork in the book proper while Ken Siu-Chong writes the story.
Activision just shipped both DJ Hero and Band Hero, but could another Guitar Hero spin-off be on the way? Recent developments suggest that the publisher’s already planning their next move; Activision has filed a trademark for Drum Hero.
MTV Multiplayer spotted the application on the United States Patent and Trademark Office’s website. It describes “Toys, handheld games with liquid crystal displays, musical toys; action figures and accessories therefor; arcade games; coin-operated videogames; electric action toys; handheld unit for playing electronic videogames; electronic toy drums”
Of course, this trademark doesn’t necessarily guarantee that Drum Hero is officially in the works. After all, RedOctane previously filed a very similar application just a few years ago, and Activision registered trademarks on Guitar Villain and Drum Villain games around the same time — nothing ever came of those. But this does mean that the publisher is at least considering some form of drum-centric spin-off. Whether or not it’ll actually happen — and whether it’ll have a one-handed, Def Leppard Expert+ mode — remains to be seen.
So you’ve decided to take the plunge and purchase a World of WarCraft “vanity pet.” Well, if you were hoping to pick up a Pandaren Monk, you’re currently out of luck. It seems that they’re currently sold out (via WoW.com).
If you’re wondering how a virtual item could possibly be sold out, it appears that there’s some kind of systems error at work here. On the official forums, a Blizzard customer service representative said that they were “looking into it.”
Blizzard originally posted the pets last week, with the Pandaren Monk being joined by a miniaturized version of raid boss Kel’Thuzad. Both pets are priced at $10, with Blizzard donating half the proceeds to the Make-a-Wish foundation.
At this point, just about everyone expects Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 to be a sales behemoth, but we’re now getting a small peak at just how big the game will be. Eurogamer reports that the title sold 1.23 million copies on the first day in the U.K., doubling the previous record set by Grand Theft Auto IV (631,000). This news comes on the heels of word from MCV that Activision shipped 3 million units to the country to keep up with demand. Seeing as half of that stock sold out in the first 24 hours, they might want to consider sending some more.
It’s anyone’s guess what this means for U.S. numbers, but it’s probably safe to expect record-breaking sales here as well. By comparison, GTA4 sold 3.6 million units here in the first 24 hours, so if Modern Warfare 2 topples that number here it will be off to a nice running start. Reggie Fils-Aime recently made the brave prediction that New Super Mario Bros Wii would outsell Modern Warfare 2 for the whole of the holiday season. This assertion was backed up by the analyst firm EEDAR, which stated it expects Modern Warfare 2 to open big, but to ultimately be surpassed by NSMB Wii this holiday. We’re starting to get a better view of just how much Mario will have to sell to accomplish that, and it’s looking like quite the task.
The game still hasn’t even unlocked on Steam for those who opted to purchase it through there, and already we’re seeing what might be the very first hacks released for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The video above demonstrates some of the hacks that are purportedly available from a Call of Duty hacking website. Notice how all player positions — both friendly and enemy — are highlighted, the lack of recoil on the guns being fired, and the extremely accurate aiming (though this one might simply be the result of a really good player) going on in the video. So much for IWNet preventing players from cheating — and it’s not like there are any player admins with the option of kicking or banning any cheaters that might be present in a game.
We don’t actually know that these hacks are legitimate; the site hosting them is selling them rather than giving them away for free. The video might very well be an elaborate hoax and the download might be a virus for all we know, but the video does look to be authentic. Should that turn out to be the case and the anti-cheat measures in place are simply failing to pick up on this, that would be a major failure on Infinity Ward’s part after opting to take the power of kicking and banning out of players’ hands.
