GamesBloggo - Your source on game news! January 2009

Chet Faliszek from Valve has confirmed during a video podcast for Kotaku that the developing team is working on downloadable contents for Left 4 Dead.

He confirmed that the team is working on additional contents that will be available for download, and that the developing is being done contemporarily for the XBox 360 and PC versions. Although there aren’t many details on how this expansion will present itself, Faliszek has declared that it will feature “new playable contents”.

We’ll be waiting on more information on the matter.

Pandemic has published on the official forums the PC version requirements for The Lord of the Rings: Conquest, the newest title based on J.R.R Tolkien’s series.

For those who are interested in purchasing the game, here’s the minimum configuration in order to play the title on a PC:

FOR WINDOWS XP SP2 or Windows Vista

• 2.4 GHz Core Duo processor or equivalent
• 1 GB RAM
• A 256 MB Video Card, with support for Pixel Shader 3.0 - nvidia 7800 or equivelent
• The latest version of DirectX 9.0c
• A DirectX 9.0c compatible sound card
• At least 6 GB of hard drive space for installation.

Although it’s not too far from normal standards, it still seems a little high for being the minimum requirements. It remains to be seen how much more superior the hardware will need to be in order to play the game with its full details.

The Lord of the Rings: Conquest will be launched on January 9th for PC, PS3, XBox 360 and Nintendo DS.

Reuters has published important numbers concering the Call of Duty franchise, that has sold more than 35 million copies in all its versions, in the several countries in which it is distributed. GTA IV has reached the 11 million copies, while Gears of War 2 has sold 3 million copies on its first commercial month.

In the war amongst the “rhythm” games, the Guitar Hero series remains untouched with its 23 million copies sold for all its versions. For Nintendo, Mario Kart Wii and Super Smash Bros. Brawl sold more than 4 million copies in the US, according to the updated data from November.

For Sony, of course, LittleBigPlanet has interesting numbers as well: it already features more than 100.000 levels created by users that have generated more than 20 million matches.

A new initiative from Eidos has made its appearance on the official Tomb Raider website. On the page dedicated to the serie’s soundtrack, it is now possible to download a good number of songs, extracted directly from the original soundtrack from many of the Tomb Raider chapters.

It’s possible to download mp3 file packs that are divided according to the chapter in which those appear, including the new Tomb Raider Underworld Deluxe Edition, that contains 71 mp3 tracks.

Everything is available for free too. Which is always a good thing.

The Volition staff has annouced the launch date for the PC version of Saints Row 2 on the game’s  official forum. The game will be finally available for PC on January 9th, 2009, bringing the wait of those players that do not have a console to an end.

In another post on the same forum, the moderator has also declared that a low-impact DRM system will be used. It should be based on Steam but mild enough not to cause any problems that have been found in other games.

The first F.E.A.R was somewhat “ruined” by the Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate expansions and their respective console conversions that were done by other Software Houses. At least according to Dave Matthews, from Monolith, in an interview to CVG.

“[TimeGate] took the story in a direction that we didn’t intend. We look at Extraction Point and Perseus Mandate as an alternate universe, a ‘what could have been’, and because of that it doesn’t necessarily diminish the story that we were trying to tell. F.E.A.R. was about Alma, F.E.A.R. 2 is about Alma, and we wanted to continue the story the way we originally intended”, says Matthews.

Besides criticizing the expansions, Matthews also shares some negative opinions about the technical quality for the console conversions made by Day 1 Studios, affirming that they never sold as well as the PC version.

Matthews reassures players, however, that the XBox 360 and PlayStation3  conversions of F.E.A.R 2: Project Origin will be a lot more faithful to the PC counterpart. F.E.A.R 2 will be launched on February 10, 2009 for PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

After the announcement about the usage of the HeroEngine and the first video that was published, a good number of new images from Star Wars: The Old Republic were made available, amongst those, many Concept Arts.

The new LucasArts/BioWare MMO seems to awaken some interest inside the fan community, also because it’s inspired in a world that seems to resist the effects of time. In the expectation to know more about the game and its launch date, here are some of the images.

Enjoy!

After revealing the system requirements and posting a new video about the game, it’s yet another time for The Sims 3 in our blog, thanks to other images that were distributed by the developers.

It’s worth reminding that the biggest new feature on the third chapter of the series will be the possibility of exploring the local neighborhood, visiting buildings such as stores, bars, libraries, gyms and even other houses, giving the possibility to spy other Sims.

The launch date for The Sims 3 is scheduled for February 2009. In the meantime, here are the new screenies. Enjoy.

Click on the thumbnail to see the full image.

The development team for F.E.A.R 2 has released a few screenshots for the new F.E.A.R sequel that will be launched next February 10th for PC, PlayStation 3 and XBox 360.

There’s not much more to say except: enjoy some of the screenshots below!

Click on the thumbnail to see the full image.

Slightly earlier than what was announced, NCSoft has already made Tabula Rasa free to play and download, instead of waiting until January 10th as it had been previously established.

Unless things change once more, the game will see its last day on February 28th, the day when NCSoft will close the official servers definitely. In order to play Tabula Rasa, even if for just a few days, players will need to download it from the official game site, then use the code obtained from PlayNC’s website upon creating an account. Even though everything’s now free, a credit card is still required in order to prove one’s identity.