1P Start

I loved the original Wolfenstein. Forget Doom, Wolfenstein was the first game that really got me into first person shooters. The good times didn’t end their either, Return to Castle Wolfenstein was a pretty fun trip and as one of the first XBox Live enabled games for the original Xbox I have a ton of fun memories associated with it. Now the latest issue of Game Informer has the announcement that a new Wolfenstein game is in the works. Awesome.

This new Wolfenstein’s details appear to be very similar to previous releases, except that maybe this time the hero gets to use some supernatural powers along with the usual array of standard guns. For a few more details head on over to Gaming Today.

Metal Gear Solid 4 is now upon us, and it has been widely greeted as the best game ever to appear on any machine ever, which I think means it’s quite good. However, it is also relatively short, with many lucky PS3 owners having already finished it after clocking in 20 hours or so gameplay. While the more hardcore amongst you may be starting it all over again, many will now box up Hideo Kojima’s latest masterpiece and start looking to the future instead.

Luckily for those people, Metal Gear Solid 5 has already been mooted, although not officially announced by Kojima. Even though this fourth instalment is the last chapter in the Solid Snake story, it’s not the end of the franchise, or even the end of Big Boss.

In an interview with 1UP, MGS4 assistant producer Ryan Payton revealed some tidbits about the future of the franchise, and the possibility that the next game could well take the form of a prequel.

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It looks like all the terrible rumors are true. The Call of Duty series is going back to the World War II setting. Not much else is known about the game except that it will take place in the Pacific, so get ready for lots of claims of racism. Remember kids, it’s okay to kill lots of white people, it’s never okay to kill lots of people of another race.

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After the success of Rock Band it was almost a matter of time before serious talk of Rock Band 2 emerged and it has! Through a couple of online surveys we’ve been getting some hints at the creation of the new game. The first survey asked participants about a possible price point. The second survey was a little more interesting as it asked participants which of two possible box art samples was more appealing. Here’s the first:

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Over on Kotaku they ran a story about a one handed controller that is now for sale for the price of 129.99. The controller is designed for disabled people that either only have on hand or can only use one hand and this has got to be the greatest idea ever. I can’t imagine how terrible it would be if I lost a hand and was unable to get my games on anymore, I’d be beyond depressed.

And if you don’t miss the obvious, the one handed controller would be good for the two handed too. The U.S. needs some games where players can… have one free hand… for stuff. Hey, don’t look at me that way! Everyone does it! We need some super fun adult games released to help balance out the amount of horribly violent games out there. Boobs not war people, boobs not war!

Wii Fit has been out in the US for almost two weeks now, and has sold extremely well so far. In fact it has sold so well that the problem now facing potential fitness freaks is trying to find a copy of the game.

Online and offline retailers are already reporting shortages, and many people keen to get hold of a copy of the game to maybe kick-start a fitness regime are finding themselves out of luck. The incredible success the game enjoyed in both Japan and Europe has now definitely been repeated in the US.

The Nintendo Wii itself is still in short supply, even though it has now been out a year and half and you would think everyone who wanted one would have already got hold of one. But Wii Fit has increased the demand. The console may be cheap compared to it’s rivals the PS3 and Xbox 360, but the game is certainly anything but.

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The Metal Gear Solid games have always been shall we say a bit long-winded, with long cut scenes and FMV sequences which go on for ages with no interaction from the player, but it seems that Metal gear Solid 4 is ramping that up even more.

CVG is reporting that after playing through the review copy of the game they managed to lay their hands on, they found that some cut scenes lasted as long as 90 minutes. This outdoes the previous instalments by quite a margin, with the longest reported before this being a 45-minute long scene during Metal Gear Solid 2.

We all expected there to be long cut scenes included in the game as the series has a history of them and Hideo Kojima, the game’s creator is renowned for them, but is one lasting 90 minutes really necessary? I personally baulk at going to see a movie at the cinema if it goes far beyond that as I know I’d start to get bored and have a sore butt by the end of it, so I really don’t want my video games to start going that way as well.

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Wii Fit is due to be released in the USA this week, first in the Nintendo World Store on May 19th before being available everywhere on May 21st. The game, which is already available in Europe and Asia ships with a balance board peripheral which allows gamers to do exercises, and yoga, and even weight themselves using the software.

The game, or lifestyle device as some are more accurately calling it has already divided opinion. Hardcore gamers more in to their first person shooters and RPGs have written it off as not even a game, and the Wii itself as not a true player in this generation’s console war. While others thinks the Wii and games such as Wii Fit are bringing more people in to gaming, and opening up the hobby to a more diverse range of people.

Wal-Mart were even marketing the game as the perfect Mother’s Day gift by offering $10 gift card to anyone who pre-ordered the game by May 10th. A Teacher in Canada even tested the game out as a possible alternative to more traditional forms of exercise, with surprising results.

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Last week saw various media types getting themselves in a tizzy over the so-called clash between the release of Grand Theft Auto IV last Tuesday, and the long awaited Iron Man movie starring Robert Downey Jr. The argument was that the timing of the multi-format GTA 4 coming out was going to play havoc with the box office takings for the film, as millions of gamers would be too busy indoors playing the game to venture out to the cinema to see the film.

And surprise surprise, here we are the week after, and as well as GTA 4 selling in phenomenal numbers, the Iron Man movie did spectacularly well, taking $100 million in the States, and $200 million elsewhere in the world. The movie also ended up being the 10th largest opening movie ever, and the second biggest ever original (non-sequel) film, just behind the first Spider-Man movie.

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Grand Theft Auto 4 has now been out for 5 days, and with this being the first weekend since it’s release, I expect a lot of people will just be getting to grips with the game. So I thought we should take a look at what’s happened around the release, and how the game has been received in different quarters.

The sales bale began on Tuesday at Midnight, with many gamers queuing up at their local games retailer to be the first to get their hands on the game. 5 days later, and both Sony and Microsoft are already arguing over which console has seen the best return on the game. The only sales figures we actually have to go on at the point are from the UK, where the game sold 600,000 copies in 24 hours, making it the new one day record holder.

From the reviews of the game, it seems the PS3 version had a slight edge in the graphics department, looking sexier, and suffering from less frame-rate issues. Both versions have however shipped with bugs, with the PS3 reportedly suffering worse from Rockstar’s seeming inability to release a game without some sort of problem.

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As mentioned previously on 1pstart Mortal Kombat is it going to make it’s first leap onto “next gen” consoles and it’s going to feature heroes from the DC Comics universe. In addition to the announced characters of Scorpian and Sub-Zero making their way onto the next game, comic book nerds will get to play as Batman and Superman in the Mortal Kombat universe.

More details and ranting after the break:

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We already know that the next instalment of Grand Theft Auto is going to be the biggest, the most graphically impressive, and probably the most violent to date. But it also looks set to be the funniest, as British comedian, star and writer of The Office and Extras has revealed he’s got a part in the game.

He recently spoke to Shortlist magazine, and told them how he’ll appear in the game as himself, performing at a stand up comedy club in down town Liberty City.

“It’s a first - which always interests me. It was shot in New York, my favourite place in the world, and I got to wear a tight lycra suit as part of the digital process. No, hold on, that wasn’t so good.”

“Unfortunately they captured the whole horror, except I look slightly tougher. It’s seriously a big deal, though. Games have outsold Hollywood for the past few years so it’s nice to be a small part of that.”

Which sort of gives it away a little that the only reason Gervais said yes to what must have been an odd approach from Rockstar was because he realised how much impact games now have on popular culture, and wanted a piece of the action. Hell, he’s got himself on or in every other type of medium over the past few years, including a particularly unmemorable part on The Simpsons.

His stand up is brilliant though, so the chance to watch never seen before rants from Gervais is yet another reason to buy the game when it comes out on Playstation 3 and Xbox 360 next week.

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Wow, this is a game I never expected to see happen. Imagine all your favourite Mortal Kombat characters, my personal favourite was always Raiden, going up against all your favourite DC Comics characters, you can’t beat Batman for a dark superhero. Now put that all in a video game and watch the results… pretty awesome huh?

Well, it’s happening, and Mortal Kombat Vs. DC Comics will be coming to a Playstation 3 or Xbox 360 near you this Fall after Midway officially announced the game in Las Vegas this week. They also issued a press release, and some early preview game footage that you can see embedded below:

As excited as I am at the prospect of this game, and I am, honest, I’m also pretty disappointed by that footage, as it looks ropey at best. Superhero games are notoriously difficult to get right, and it doesn’t look like Midway are anywhere near achieving a good result at this point in time. Let’s hope the three months of development time they have left improves the feel of the game.

I’m also disappointed by the rumours circulating which indicate that there will be “no fatalities and little-to-no blood” in the game. That’s not me saying it, but rather a former Midway employee who decided to leak the info to Kotaku.

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I’ve heard some daft camping out stories in the past but this one really does take the proverbial biscuit.

A group of hardcore gamers are camping outside a games retailer in Sweden for a month just to be the first in line for a copy of Grand Theft Auto 4 when it’s released on 29th April.

Okay, so they won’t just be getting a copy of the game, but also a whole load of GTA IV prizes and stuff to go with it, after the store ingeniously promised the first ten through the door on that day a bumper selection of freebies for their efforts, but still!

Hardware I can sort of see the point. Who wouldn’t want to be first to proclaim that they have played on the latest Nintendo, Microsoft or Sony console? It’s something you can brag about for years to come, at least until the next generation of machines comes along and someone else beats you to it.

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As a gamer living in the UK I’m used to being treated as a second class citizen by games companies.

We in Europe tend to be the last to get consoles released, with the possible exception of Australia, and some games don’t even ever make it here. If they do, they tend to be priced extortionately higher than they are in Japan and America.

So it is with Rock Band. It’s taken six months to get here, it’s only initially being released on the Xbox 360, with PS2, PS3, and Wii owners having to wait until summer at the earliest, and it’s going to cost an absolute fortune.

Harmonix has made the ludicrous decision to up the retail price of the full package, that’s a copy of the game, a microphone, a guitar and drums, from the $169 it sold for in North America to £180. That’s the equivalent of $330, or double the price.

The company has spent the last few days trying to justify and explain the decision, but whatever excuses they may come out with, I just can’t see how such a differential in price can ever be justified.

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