Kotaku

During the opening address of QuakeCon earlier today, John Carmack wasn't just happy he was wearing his best pair of on-stage shorts. He was also happy with this new Rage trailer, finally answering our months-long pondering as to what Motorstorm would look like if it had less driving, more shooting in a post-apocalyptic desert setting.

Devil May Cry 4 "Getting Pirated To Hell And Back"

When it comes to keeping PC gamers in the loop on their console games, Capcom have long been one of the good guys. And how do PC gamers repay the favour? Same way a lot of PC gamers always do: with mass acts of piracy. When quizzed about the state of Devil May Cry 4's PC sales on Capcom's forums, Christian Svensson replied:

I'm not sure about how Capcom in general feels but It's not doing as well as I would like in the US at retail. It's such a good version and it really deserves better sales. I know it's getting pirated to hell and back (it was up on torrents literally the day it shipped).

Leading Capcom to throw their hands up and complain about the state of piracy in the PC market, right? Nope! Svensson instead goes on in great detail about the company's big plans for future digital distribution on the platform, which is encouraging reading for the kind of people that think playing DMC4 on a PC is a good idea.

Are Capcom pleased with DMC4's PC sales? [Capcom]

Earlier, Devil May Cry creator Hideki Kamiya didn't exactly have kind words for Ninja Gaiden. They weren't mean per se, they just weren't kind. Kamiya said he's "not interested" in NG so perhaps you could say he is indifferent. In the same issue of EGM, former Team Ninja lead ninja Tomonobu Itagaki has this to say about Kamiya and his game Okami:

My daughter tried playing Okami, and she got sick of it pretty quickly-and I got pretty sick of it, too. And I'm not out to make this an Okami bashing session or anything — I'm just saying that it didn't feel like it had much of a spirit. It's unique, but it's not a powerful fighter plane... So I heard Kamiya said something about the action genre not moving forward in eight years. Can you tell me more about that?

Apparently, Kamiya said the action genre hasn't moved forward since the release of the first Devil May Cry. To which Itagaki replied:

Following yesterday's rumor on the return of Jet Grind Radio, said to be a Wii-bound release, we were tipped off to the work of Cory "Rey" Lewis who posted concept art from a "proposed" Jet Grind Radio title. While the post featuring the artwork — archived after the jump — was dated from March of 2008, Lewis lists the artwork for characters Beat, Gum, Tab and Professor K as dating back to 2006. He also lists the game's developer, making sense of a recent announcement.

Game Club Beyond Good & Evil: The Final Discussion

Jim Brown is mad. The former Browns RB and occasional movie star is suing both EA and Sony for "unspecified damages for trademark infringement, unauthorized use of his likeness, trademark dilution and unfair business practices and competition". Those are big claims! So what's his complaint? That the classic/vintage "All-Browns" team in Madden has a black RB with the number 32. Jim Brown, remembering he was also a black RB for the Browns who wore #32, is upset by this, and wants not only the aforementioned damages, but wants his "likeness" removed from the game as well. Never mind the Madden player is not called Jim Brown, nor does it look a thing like him, being a generic player model. Neither EA nor Sony are yet to respond to the lawsuit, presumably because they're too busy wondering how stupid Brown's lawyers really are.
Sony Sued by Hall-of-Famer Jim Brown Over Video Game [Bloomberg]

No Digital Distribution For Rage, Doom 4

The only way to get your hands on id Software's Rage and Doom 4 will be through traditional means, according to a report from Maximum PC. The id co-founder said at today's QuakeCon keynote that it would shy away from digital distribution with its next two id Tech 5-powered titles. An odd move, considering EA is publishing Rage and has its own digital distribution method, not to mention the availability of id's catalog through its official web store and Steam.

Maximum PC also reports that the Xbox 360 version of Rage may wind up shipping on up to three DVDs — or suffer some serious compression compared to the Blu-ray version — a move that could cost millions in per-disc royalty fees. And think of the paper sleeve costs!

QuakeCon 08: No Digital Distribution for Rage or Doom 4; Rage will be on Multiple DVDs for Xbox 360 [Maximum PC]

PlayStation brand hardware is down. Nintendo hardware is up. While Dragon Quest V didn't give the Nintendo DS much of a kick in the pants last week, more casual hardware buyers have come around this week, putting the DS within spitting distance of the PSP.

The upward trend of Xbox 360 sales continues on this week's Media Create hardware chart, with Microsoft's console up a good 15%. It didn't have much of a software showing this week, outside of Bully: Scholarship Edition, so we have to wonder what's going on over there. Is Japan... jumping in?

PSP - 67,452
Nintendo DS - 56,968
Wii - 41,024
PlayStation 3 - 10,692
PlayStation 2 - 9,291
Xbox 360 - 4,941

Tatsuya Suzuki and Jun Fujiki, lead developers on the PSP and PlayStation 3 puzzler echochrome, announced that a 2D version of the game is coming to PlayStation Home at an unspecified date. Instead of tapping into the PS3's 4D capabilities, the Japan Studios team is going in the other direction, presumably adhering to their gameplay credo of "getting people to play with rules and laws."

According to a report from Develop, the two had little else to say about the next version of echochrome (obviously not pictured), focusing on the development of the first, 3D title. Yup, that's all we got. How about those Cubs?

2D Echochrome on the way for PlayStation Home [Develop]

Doom 4 To Use 3X The Horsepower Of Rage, Run At 30 FPS

John Carmack revealed at the opening day of QuakeCon today that "the next Doom", which we'll just call Doom 4 for now, will surpass the already announced Rage, running on id Tech 5, in visual quality.

"The next DOOM game will look like it's built on another engine, as it uses three times the horsepower," Carmack said, according to a 1UP report.

That visual fidelity will come at a price though, as Carmack says that Doom 4 will run at 30 frames per second, compared to Rage's 60 frames per second. The only other details provided by Carmack on Doom 4 was that the game would feature "guns, blood, demons, and gibs." Should've sent a poet...

Quake Con Keynote — Live Blog [1UP]

Blizzard's Next Game Could Be More Successful Than WoW

Blizzard's team doesn't care for the term "killer app," used to describe a program or product — in this case, a certain MMO — that single-handedly shaped the market around its platform. In fact, when we asked about World of Warcraft's unshakable hold on the massively multiplayer biz, game director Jeffrey Kaplan was humble.

"I don't believe that WoW is untouchable," he said. "I completely believe that a game could come out and be more successful than WoW. I'm hoping that we're working on it right now."

Kirby's Back And Not As Pissed In Kirby Super Star Ultra's Box Art

One might think that HAL Laboratory's puffy pink protagonist Kirby has not a care in the world, that his disposition, due to his pinkness, would be beatific. Not so, according to virtually every video game box art appearance Kirby has made for the better part of the past decade. After Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, the spherical mascot went from tickled pink to pissed.

The transformations from pleased as punch to enraged were most noticeable in Kirby's journeys to America, going from happy go lucky to in a lather in games like Kirby Squeak Squad. Kirby Super Star Ultra changes all that, as Kirby's gay old times are back, with nary a furrowed brow to be seen.

If you'd like to fondly remember Kirby's more bitter box art outings, hit the jump.

Wolfenstein's QuakeCon Trailer Features Exploding Nazis (The Best Kind)

Here's your second look at the new Wolfenstein in motion. The QuakeCon trailer is similar to its E3 predecessor, but features new, chilling, German accented voiceover work, more exploding bodies and even more terrifying Nazi experiments with bluish-green lighting. It's also about twice as long, making it twice as awesome.

Wolfenstein QuakeCon Trailer HD [GameTrailers]

Art Apocalypse: Blizzard's Wilson Talks Diablo III Design Decisions

When I met Jay Wilson today, Blizzard's lead designer on Diablo III, I opened our conversation with two loaded little words:

Art direction.

I didn't need to say any more, of course, because Wilson already knew about the fan-fit I was referring to. "It's a complex issue," he said. "It's been a big issue online, but for the most part, the response we've gotten has been very positive. We've got petitions, a few people on forums [who are] very loud, but it's really more of the 'squeaky wheel' syndrome."

"Certainly, internally there's no doubt. I would tell people who don't like the art style that probably, getting the art style was the hardest thing."

But there's a careful method to all of it, Wilson explained:

PAX Here We Come... Next Month

To: Ash
From: Crecente
Re: Newspaper Man Offers Beer (Again!)

They used to sell a subscription for a penny, but than the newspaper auditors said it couldn't be counted toward official circulation numbers (which are what ad rates are based on) so now they don't really do anything. Also, they're in a JOA with the Denver Post so it's all strange now.

So I'll be going to Penny Arcade Expo this year. I decided to give the Leipzig Games Convention a pass and hit up the ever expanding PAX... with family in tow. In fact we're probably going to be making the drive there in our wondervan and I'm thinking of letting people know our route in case they'd like to caravan with us. Is that an incredibly bad idea?

Probably not, besides what could go wrong during a half-cross country drive through the Rockies and such.. such... such... such?

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Sonic Statue

First 4 Figures, kings of all things model, plan to drop a new line of video game-themed models this September. Their new collection will be based on Sonic the Hedgehog. First up? A foot tall Sonic by artist Lu Bin that will set you back about $100.

The base of the model was inspired by the original game's first level, Green Hill Zone, and includes a grass top and checker board base.

Second pic on the jump.

Sonic