Wii Gaming News

Like Halo 3 before it, it looks like Microsoft and Bungie are having an issue with keeping Halo 3: ODST out of the hands of eager players until its official release date. CVG reports that Microsoft is investigating what they call “a very small breach” in their distribution chain that resulted in a number of Halo 3: ODST copies leaking out in France nearly a month before its September 22 release.

“We are investigating a very small breach in our distribution process around the early delivery of ‘Halo 3: ODST’ units,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “We are also investigating Xbox Live accounts that show activity related to Halo 3: ODST and will take action against those we believe have procured copies of the game illegitimately.” Exactly what this “action” will be was not explained, although according to a Twitter post from Xbox Live head Stephen Toulouse, Microsoft “will not be banning legitimate customers from Xbox LIVE who play early.”

Microsoft wouldn’t elaborate on the nature of the breach or how many copies of the game were leaked, but it’s estimated to be a little over 100. As for all you law abiding Halo fans, don’t fret — there’s only a little less than month before you can snag your own copy, too.

With not even a week having passed since Microsoft confirmed an Xbox 360 price cut and their intention to phase down their 360 models to just the Arcade and Elite, could they already be planning to introduce a new 360 model with even more hard drive space? According to listings from Amazon Germany and South African retailer BT Games, that may be a yes.

As XboxGaming reports (via Kotaku), a sales sheet from BT Games shows what they call a “Super Elite” 360 bundle, which comes with a 250GB hard drive and two wireless controllers packed in, for R4199.95 ($646). XboxGaming further reports that they confirmed with “local 360 distributor” Comztek that this bundle is indeed coming, along with one that also includes Turn-10’s upcoming Forza Motorsport 3 as well.

All this comes only a day after Amazon Germany posted a listing for a new 360 bundle (again via Kotaku) that similarly comes with a 250GB hard drive, two controllers, and Forza 3.

It remains to be seen if Sony’s EyePet will be this year’s Furby, but we are pretty sure its monkey/child/mogwai hybrid probably has a little bit of Furby in it, too. And if you want to get your hands virtually interacting on one by way of your television screen, Sony has announced you’ll be able to do so on November 17.

EyePet was first revealed almost exactly one year ago, at GamesCom 2008. Using the PlayStation Eye camera, it creates a virtual creature for you to interact with on your television that appears to be wherever you have the camera pointed — like, say, on your desk or floor. You can even draw objects on paper, and the Eye will recognize it and convert it into virtual items for the EyePet to interact with.

For a better idea of how all this works, you can check out the above trailer from E3 earlier this year. EyePet will retail separately for $39.99, or bundled with a PlayStation Eye for $59.99.

Champions Online is ready to fulfill your superhero fantasies on September 1… but only if you’re playing it on a PC. Cryptic Studios hasn’t said much about the status of the Xbox 360 version, but now CCO Jack Emmert has told VG247 that although they’re “ready to go,” Microsoft’s issues with MMOs on the 360 are delaying its release.

“Microsoft’s a big company, and they have to work out all the various issues related to MMOs,” Emmert said. “It just takes time for the big beast known as Microsoft to get moving. I really have no explanation other than that, because it’s as baffling to developers as it is to everyone else.”

Although exactly what these issues are was not detailed, it appears as if Cryptic isn’t alone in facing them. During GamesCom last week, Square Enix producer Hiromichi Tanaka said that Microsoft’s MMO policies with Xbox Live were similarly holding up a 360 version of Final Fantasy XIV. “For FFXIV, because 360 has its own policy with Xbox Live that is different from [the] internet, that’s something we’re in discussions with Microsoft [about], to come to an agreement,” Tanaka said. “That’s one of the reasons it’s not going to be launched [simultaneously].”

Metroid Prime is finished, but Retro Studios may yet return to the franchise they translated to next-generation consoles. Speaking with IGN, CEO Michael Kelbaugh said that he thinks Retro will always be associated with Metroid.

“I think Retro will always be associated with the Metroid Prime franchise and who knows, maybe we?ll do another one someday,” he said.

Retro’s body of work was recently collected and updated for the Metroid Prime Trilogy, which was released August 24.

Bringing Dead Space to the Wii could go horribly wrong — developer Visceral Games could turn Dead Space:Extraction into a sterile, kid-friendly adventure complete with a comic sidekick and an endearing lesson at the end. But as Mike Nelson pointed out in his previous hands-on session with the game, Extraction doesn’t skimp on the mature themes for its trip to the Wii.

It’s no secret that Extraction eschews the original game’s third-person view in favor of on-rails shooting action, but the developer isn’t trying to turn the narrative-heavy Dead Space into a simple House of the Dead-style, “blast anything that moves” shooter either. Your ammo isn’t as limited as in the original Dead Space (you always possess one gun with unlimited bullets, in fact), but to be an effective alien slayer requires using all your ammunition (and abilities like Stasis — which temporarily freezes enemies) intelligently.

If you ever played Gears of War 2’s Horde mode, and wondered what it’d be like if you took that mode’s base concept and applied it to a real-time strategy game as opposed to a third-person shooter, well, you briefly had a Vulcan mind meld moment with a designer over at Relic. Today, THQ announced a free DLC pack scheduled for October, titled “The Last Stand,” for Warhammer 40,000: Dawn of War 2 where, in THQ’s words, players will, “team up with two other squad-mates in an attempt to hold out as long as possible against wave after wave of relentless attackers.” Sound a bit familiar?

I recently checked out The Last Stand for myself with two Relic employees, designer Chris Becker and producer Otto Ottosson. The concept is simple: players choose to be either a Space Marine Captain (who is essentially a renamed Apothecary), an Ork Mekboy, or an Eldar Farseer, and try to survive 20 waves of bad guys. The waves start out pretty simple — just throwing a few squads of Ork Shoota Boyz or maybe a Tyranid Hormagaunt Brood at first. But, as the players progress, the waves get more difficult due to either sheer numbers or types of enemies thrown in. Once you get into wave six or higher, you start seeing things like a screen full of Eldar Warp Spiders and Banshees, or Ork Stormboyz supported by multiple Stikkbommaz. Additionally, every fourth wave also throws in enemy Commanders at you — just getting to wave four results in a rude surprise of Imperial Guardsman accompanied by an enemy Space Marine Apothecary. The version I played didn’t have the full 20 waves, but I can already warn you about wave 16: you’re going to encounter enemy A.I. versions of your team. So think of the hurt you’ve been laying down being delivered right back at you.

BioWare has shown off the soldier and rogue class types, but today they unveiled what is sure to be one of the most popular classes in The Old Republic: the Sith Warrior. The page details some favorite Sith hobbies, such as channeling destructive feelings, wiping out the Jedi, and stamp collecting. One of those is a joke; see if you can spot which one.

It also mentions a “Dark Council” that may serve as structure for the Sith missions, and of course most conflicts will be against the Republic. Obviously the Sith don’t work particularly well with others, but the description does mention that they can ally with Sith, Bounty Hunters, “or others who embrace the darkness.”

Ari Pulkkinen, the Finnish composer behind the music in Trine, announced today that the game’s soundtrack is now available on his website. That’s 20 songs, totaling at over an hour of music, for 11.95 euros (roughly $17.00). If free samples are more your style, the game’s main theme can also be downloaded absolutely free of charge.

Sure, 17 bucks for a soundtrack isn’t exactly cheap, but then neither is Trine. Besides, it could be much worse; the soundtrack for Shatter actually costs more to download than the game itself.

Rock Band’s DLC update for next week includes tracks from Talking Heads — another one of the artists Harmonix promised were on the way earlier this month. Also coming are tracks by Judas Priest, Tom Petty, and more on the Wii version of the game, and the usual pair of back catalog downloads on the PSP.

Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 users will have access to the tracks that follow next Tuesday, September 1 and Thursday, September 3, respectively. The Talking Heads five-pack will be priced at $8.49 (680 Microsoft points), while the remainder of next week’s DLC will go for $1.99 (160 Microsoft points).

• “Bat Country” by Avenged Sevenfold
• “A Town Called Malice” by The Jam
• “Going Underground” by The Jam
• “Supersonic” (Live) by Oasis
• “Guerilla Radio” by Rage Against the Machine
• “And She Was” by Talking Heads
• “Crosseyed & Painless” by Talking Heads
• “Girlfriend is Better” by Talking Heads
• “Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads
• “Take Me to the River” by Talking Heads

Rock Band players on the Wii are also getting some cheap — if a bit untimely — holiday DLC, along with Judas Priest’s Screaming for Vengeance album and the downloads that appeared on the other consoles earlier this week. Scheduled for next Tuesday, the tracks marked with an asterisk are going to be priced at just $1.00 (100 Wii Points). Everything else will be at the standard $2.00 (200 Wii Points).