Here's a quick update for Team Fortress 2 (X360, PS3, PC): The guys over at Valve posted a rather short message over at the game's official site. Nothing new really, just a post-it note reminding everyone that TF2 is doing okay and is still on schedule. Maybe Valve remembers how everyone reacted after it announced that the game is pushed back to Summer 2007.

Anyway, here's the message Valve left for every awaiting fans:

Team Fortress 2 is really moving along in development. In fact, things have reached a point where people start getting pretty antsy around the office as we get closer and closer to the 6:00 p.m. play test session. We will be sharing more information about TF2 over the next couple of months, and we'll make sure to point that out to people here.
TF2 will be released as part of Half Life 2's Episode 2 (X360, PS3) package together with another game: Portal. And by the way, the image above is currently being used by the devs as the start-up scree...

What does Dragon Quest IX, or the Dragon Quest series for that matter, have to do with the PlayStation 3? Apparently none for now, as Dragon Quest IX is a Nintendo DS title. But that will not be the case in the future or so it seems, based from a recent interview with Square Enix President Yoichi Wada.

The executive said that Square Enix believes the PS3's time hasn't arrived yet. He thinks that Sony's new console will begin to pick up speed sometime around 2008 when HDTV finally becomes more common in people's households.

In relation to the game series and PS3, Wada said:

Aside from the Dragon Quest titles that have been announced, nothing has been decided. We're not thinking about fixing the series on the DS. We have expectations from the PS3. However, it's still early. For us to do business on the platform, it will take a bit more time.
Dragon Quest is Square Enix's most successful series next to Final Fantasy. As of last year, the whole series, whic...

This brings the term "awkward silence" to new highs and yet another reason why gaming magazines deserve to live: there are some things you just can't believe till it's on print.

An interview in the latest issue of EGM features Jack Tretton defending Sony's new console. It seemed, however, that the heat of the moment got to him, as there's a decidedly show-stopping quote from him that's already getting picked up by blogs everywhere.

Talking about lackluster sales and PS3 scalpers with EGM, Tretton drops a bomb on readers, saying:

If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it. I can get any retail buyer on the phone with you and get them to verify that there's not a single retail location in America where there's a PlayStation 3 on the shelf for sale. They've all been sold in a matter of minutes.

Now, before you start sending him pictures of unsold consoles and repo...

Their MotorStorm game isn't even out yet and they're already talking about sequels and the next game on their list. Always with the enthusiasm, but never with the release dates.

Game Zone recently had a forum chat with some of the key members of Evolution's MotorStorm, and aside from confirming some of the things we already knew, they also brought out some hints of wanting to make a sequel, or at least a new game.

In addition to confirming the 720p business behind MotorStorm's resolution and some clarifications regarding online play, they also expressed hopes of making a sequel. It seems they're expecting their game to do well, enough to help fund a new game which they hope will use up even more of the PS3's power. When asked about how much of the PS3's memory they're already using, they replied,

We are using all of the SPU processors and all of the memory. We also use most of the Blu-Ray disk (thank God it s not a DVD)! We are confident, however, that w...

Everyone has that dream of becoming the next big thing. Whether it be in the music or sports industry, or heck, some may even dream to be the next biggest basket-weaver or something. But unfortunately, very few people are able to push through with their dreams - sometimes dreams remain as... dreams. (And unfortunately for you, you had to sit through that whole cheesy intro. Harhar!)

Cheesy mush aside, Rip Hamilton can be considered as one of those success stories of sorts. And because he is one of the featured ballers in NBA Street Homecourt (PS3, Xbox360), he has his own game trailer to talk about his vision: his dreams of being a baller and how he was able to pursue that dream. Anyway, NBA Street is set to hit the streets real soon (February 19th, to be exact), but while we wait for that date to come, listen in on Rip as he talks about the baller life. Enjoy!

With only a little over a week to go before Sega's versus fighting title for the PS3, Virtua Fighter 5, gets shipped to North American shores, it is but fitting for us to have a look at how they will be enticing the audience to get this game. That's why today, we have here for you the North American ad for VF5.

Typical of any game ad, this one portrays some certain highlights, so to speak, from the game. It gives you a glimpse of the different characters that you will meet and fight as or against, and the varying levels that will necessarily be the gauge of your expertise.

Having already been released in Japan only yesterday, we're sure North American fans are definitely excited to get this on their PS3s. And get it they will, come the 20th of this month. As for European gamers, they'd have to wait a bit longer for its March release.

Enjoy the vid. Just press Play.

 
As announced earlier, Ubisoft is opening up a CGI  movie-animation studio in Ubisoft Montreal. When we posted about it, a couple of you were quick on expressing your sentiments (as the real mii says: "RABBIDS MOVIE!!!"). True. However, for those with a keen eye (and a listening ear) like hush404, who've heard about the Assassin's Creed movie rumor circling around, it's time for some confirmation.

While the game is set to come out on the PS3, 360, and PC, you'll be glad to find out that the very first project of the new animation studio division of Ubisoft is an 8-minute short film based on AC. As far as the story of the short goes, nothing has been revealed. We don't even know yet if Altair will be the main character for the short film - it could be someone else, for all we know. More than this, could it even explain more about that certain sci-fi twist/spoiler mentioned by Kristen Bell last December?

It's anyone's guess. But if this is any indication,...

VP of Public Relations and Marketing Pete Hines finally sets the record straight regarding rumors that have been floating around the web with regards to the PS3 version of Bethesda Softwork's Oblivion.

Technical limitations of the PS3? One of the most rampant issues that has been reported in the past was the port's lack of downloadable content, as well as the exclusion of certain missions and features. These deficiencies were rumored to have been caused by "technical limitations" of the PS3. However, Hines insists this isn't so.

According to Hines, certain features were deliberately left out because of concerns with maintaining balance within the game, as well as the dev team's lack of experience with the Playstation Network Store.

To illustrate his point, he notes that items such as the Orrery and Mehrunes's Razor were not included as these would require a player to immediately have access to a wizard's tower and a thieves' den, respectively. Hines goes on t...

Filed under: Gaming
Electronic Gaming Monthly, in an interview with Sony's Jack Tretton in early January, mentioned the recent availability of his company's console: "...it seemed like about 50 percent of the people in line were there to make a quick buck on eBay. And now we're seeing a lot more units on store shelves." Jack seemed a tad surprised by this, but he put his money where his mouth is: "If you can find a PS3 anywhere in North America that's been on shelves for more than five minutes, I'll give you 1,200 bucks for it. I can get any retail buyer on the phone with you and get them to verify that there's not a single retail location in America where there's a PlayStation 3 on the shelf for sale. They've all been sold in a matter of minutes." After EGM let Tretton know they had indeed phoned 18 stores and found half of them had PS3s in stock, some stores with as many as 20 consoles, Jack held firm "if only nine of the 18 stores you contacted had supplies, that seems to be a c...

Looks like that pre-launch meeting between Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) and retailers have sorted itself out with regards to launch allocations and preorders. We've had snippets of various PS3 preorders in Europe - a couple of which tosses in a PSP in exchange for priority position in the line - but never the complete (as of now) list.

Three Speech, with the help of one of their readers, was able to compile a list of UK online outlets including those with active preorders and those that are registering names for preorder notification (a.k.a. "sit tight, we'll tell you when").

It's a bit of old news for some (hey, it's a compiled list, remember), but it's nice to have the info all in one place. Won't be as nice to visit the stores on the list only to find pre-order lines already in place, but at least it's nicer than lining up late on Launch Day.

Places taking pre-orders NOW: Play.com - Bundle with 3 games @ 549.99Gamestation - 424.99 Pleas...