Is it possible? Will Spore actually be released September 7th worldwide, for the PC, Mac, DS, and mobile phones? According to EA and Maxis it will be. The man behind the game, Will Wright says “The wait is almost over. We’re in our final stages of testing and polish with Spore, and the team at Maxis can’t wait to see the cosmos of content created by the community later this year.”

Here is the official press release:

“Get ready for the next Big Bang this fall! Electronic Arts Inc. (NASDAQ: ERTS) and Maxis today announced that Spore™, the highly anticipated game from the creators of The Sims™, will be available at retailers worldwide the weekend of September 7. Spore will be available for the PC, Macintosh, Nintendo DS™, and mobile phones.

“The wait is almost over,” said Maxis Chief Designer Will Wright. “We’re in our final stages of testing and polish with Spore, and the team at Maxis can’t wait to see the cosmos of content created by the community later this year.”

Spore gives players their own personal universe in a box. Create and evolve life, establish tribes, build civilizations, sculpt entire worlds and explore a universe created by other gamers. Spore gives players a wealth of creative tools to customize nearly every aspect of their universe: creatures, vehicles, buildings, and even UFOs. Players can then seamlessly share their creations with the world or explore infinite new galaxies created by other gamers.

Consumers can visit www.spore.com to sign up for the Spore newsletter or check out all-new screenshots and video of the game. Members of the media can visit EA’s press site at www.info.ea.com for information about all of EA’s games.”

I love stuff like this.

As part of the Love is in the Air event in World of Warcraft, Weighted Companion Cubes from Portal (if you didn’t already know that I will incinerate you) have been seen in such locations as Stormwind and Undercity. It’s always good to see an old friend, especially after euthanizing them ^_^

I really need the plush to comfort me.
 
 
 
Thanks to WOW Insider

You know how when you’re really scared, like seeing what you thought was just a mannequin leave its post in Condemned, or wondering why you can’t back up in BioShock only to turn around and see a splicer blocking your path? And you either pause the game to take a breather and gather your bearings, or you beat the hell out of them in a frenzy of fear with your 2×4/wrench and then pause the game to gather your bearings? Well, in EA’s upcoming Dead Space, this technique to ease the tension and give us enough time to turn on the lights/change underwear may not be an option at all. To force players to deal with the scary situations the survival horror presents, EA may omit this luxury completely, a decision sure to stir up controversy.

It is important to note that there are no menus in this game that stop time like in a lot of titles. Being ravished to death by a tentacled monster and wanting to administer a health pack as your enemy is in freeze-frame is not possible. You’ll either have to escape or continue fighting, for your inventory is simply a hologram display in front of your face, with your monster friends lurking in real-time behind it.

Initially, this may sound like one of the cool new immersive ideas that developers are always trying to come up with to entice gamers into the purchase of their game, but there are those obvious negative aspects to this controversial design decision too. Receiving a phone call, the ringing of a doorbell, spilling your drink on the carpet, family member possibly dying etc. are all excellent reasons to pause one’s game. What if you’re fighting a boss and any one of these incidents occur? Do you let your character die? Continue fighting? Maybe answer the door while mashing buttons in hope of defeating the boss anyways (thank god for wireless)? All reasonable questions that can be avoided by enabling players to pause the game. Granted, you have the Guide button on the 360, but that doesn’t always work. What about the Home button on the PS3 controller? Who knows. What I do know is that if enough people bitch about this (I guarantee you many will) then it’ll be something EA stops considering. I personally think it could be cool, but there have been many times where some jerk calls me in the middle of a game’s cinematic/climatic moment, and being able to pause made me a very happy gamer.

I still think they should do it, even if it doesn’t work out for the best and it pisses a ton of people off.
 
 
 

Thanks to CVG

Aspyr Media announced today that they are publishing and developing PC and Mac versions of Guitar Hero III: Legends of Rock, set to be released this Fall. Might as well, since the game is coming out for everything else…

The game will feature over 70 songs, unlockable content, and a head-to-head multiplayer mode. You’ll also be able to play against other PC gamers online. It seems like a weird system to play the game on, but now it’ll definitely be easier to get your custom songs on there and play them. YouTube will be overflowed with even more custom rock videos now!

Publisher 2K Games has announced Mafia 2. With the original Mafia selling over 2 million copies worldwide, there has been plenty of fans out there wanting a sequel to the late 1940′s/early 50′s gangster title. Developed by Illusion Softworks once again, the game is set to be released on “next generation” consoles and Games for Windows. Christoph Hartmann, President of 2K Games said:

“As the original Mafia was a big success, we are excited to leverage the power of next generation console technology to create an all-new experience, while embracing the elements that resonated with the previous game’s fans. The ‘wow’ factor of Mafia 2 is definitely the benchmark-setting visual quality and action that you expect to see only in Hollywood movies.”

No other information is known on the game, but feel free to check out these five amazing screens from the PC version:

And no, I don’t mean other people period, I mean with their actual in-game friends, although that would be hilariously pathetic =D . The thought of a Tauren and Orc getting it on though is absolutely disgusting. Sure, I’ve gotten a lap dance in Goldshire before, but we were both human and she needed the gold for college or a mount or something…

Anyways, Nottingham Trent University has done a research study which reveals some interesting statistics in regards to online gamers. Almost 1,000 online gamers were researched around the world, revealing such tidbits like female gamers are more likely to feel attraction for another player and date them, or that 81% of online gamers play with friends or family. Read the official press release for more:
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