Shadow Complex becomes fastest selling single player XBLA title

Shadow Complex is the fastest selling single player title in XBLA history, reports Industry Gamers. After receiving loads of critical praise, the game released to eager gamers who gobbled up more than 200,000 copies in one week – impressive stuff, to be sure.

It’s important to note that the article is in regards to single player games, not games as a whole. I imagine Battlefield 1943 bested it, though that takes nothing away from Shadow Complex; a new IP (sort of) without an established name.

“We’re really flattered by all the great things fans and critics have said about Shadow Complex,” Michael Capps, president of Epic Games, said. “Chair’s goal was to make a gorgeous game with tons of action, addictive challenges, and a great sense of exploration – and they knocked it out of the park.  We’re so proud to have Shadow Complex join the Epic portfolio. If you haven’t already downloaded it on Xbox LIVE, give the demo a try.” READ MORE

GTA: Chinatown Wars coming to iPhone

We’ve previously covered the relatively weak sales of ChinaTown Wars on the DS and shared Rockstar’s announcement that it will be porting the game to the PSP, likely in an effort to push for the desired “mature audience.”  Today, Rockstar pushed a little further with an announcement that ChinaTown Wars will also be made available on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

No specific details have been revealed except for comments from Rockstar’s Sam Houser that ChinaTown Wars is “a perfect match for the iPhone and iPod touch.”  It’s unknown how the game will play without buttons, but I’d wager tilting will be used for car steering.

This is a move that’s sure to make Nintendo nervous, as the gaming giant has already expressed concern that the iPhone is starting to pressure the DS in the handheld market.  Now the two will be competing directly in software.  If the iPhone version of ChinaTown Wars outsells the DS version, it will cement Apple’s position as a legitimate handheld contender.

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First Sakura Note Trailer

The first trailer for Sakura Note for the DS is up, and looking nostalgically awesome. There are many reasons why I love the DS, one of which has to do with it being the home for 2D gaming in a world dominated by 3D.

Sakura Note boasts some extremely impressive 2D sprite work. It’s another Marvelous Entertainment title, this time with some big names tied to the project, including Akira Ueda (Contact), Nobuo Uematsu (Final Fantasy), Hideo Minaba (Final Fantasy) and Kazushige Nojima (Kingdom Hearts).

Fact: I’m bad with names, so there’s truly only one thing I care about and that’s the end result. It’s clear these guys have a rich background in game development and it appears to be coming together, so I’m certainly happy to see that.

Sakura Note is set to be story-heavy, 1UP reports. It’s an overhead adventure that focuses on two towns where a new resident, Nanami Yoshida, is being targeted by ghosts and ghouls. You play the role of a boy trying to solve the mystery.

All I’m saying is, bring it stateside, Marvelous.

Twice the Kratos, only one box

Are collections like Super Mario All-Stars going to make a comeback this generation? One can only hope. We’re hot off the heels of the Metroid Prime Trilogy, The Orange Box released not too long ago, and now Sony’s getting involved with God of War.

Called God of War Collection, the two PS2 titles (GoW, GoW II) are getting lumped on one disc for the PS3. Sony says they are remastering the titles, upping the resolution to a lovely 720p and adding Trophy support. No word on release date (suggestions point to November), but it’s only set to cost $40.

As a God of War fan, I’m certainly drawn to this but it does seem a little weird for a “collection” to only consist of two games – perhaps pack would have been more fitting. It’s a shame Sony didn’t find a way to doll up Chains of Olympus and get it ready for the big screen, it would’ve made this collection more complete. And more importantly, Chains of Olympus is a damn good game that many God of War fans have likely never played.

It’s no Metroid Prime Trilogy or The Orange Box, but the God of War Collection is worth looking into, especially for those who’ve never experienced the series before.

Now the question is, how will Microsoft get involved? Halo Chronicles, coming soon to a 360 near you.

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3D Dot Game Heroes borrows Link’s boomerang, bombs

It seems that 3D Dot Game Heroes is getting all sorts of attention from the gaming media, and From Software isn’t having to do much on their end to get hype flowing. See Activision, sometimes taking chances does pay off.

The game is obviously a throwback to classic adventures and makes no bones about it. Better to embrace direct influences than to act as if they don’t exist.

Even more media has hit and details are starting to filter out. There are two main characters, Hero and Prince. Hero is the original character revealed, you know, the Dragon Warrior-looking guy. The other, Prince, has a color scheme and looks comparable to Pit of Kid Icarus fame. READ MORE

The only versus Square’s bringing to TGS is Dissidia

The current PS3 exclusive but multiplatform-before-release (you know it’s true) Final Fantasy Versus XIII will not be shown in any capacity at the upcoming Tokyo Game Show. Square Enix is instead highlighting games to be released within a reasonable timeframe, including Final Fantasy XIII, Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep and Dissidia: Universal Training.

It’s hard to fault Square for this one. If the game isn’t coming out anytime soon, I see no compelling reason to create anymore hype for the game than there already is – wouldn’t want them to pull another Final Fantasy XIII and start hyping things too soon, after all.

Return to the land of the lost

LostWinds, a WiiWare launch title and still one of the best games on the service to date, set the bar high, which may have been a bad thing. The creative little side scrolling platformer proved to be better than 99 percent of WiiWare releases for a long time, and is still one of the top games on the service, perhaps only bested by World of Goo.

So yeah, I got excited when a LostWinds sequel was announced so long ago. Then nothing. Developer Frontier Developments went silent on the game, which had me fearing something bad had happened; worst case scenario the project was canceled.

It’s not always doom and gloom, however. Clearly Frontier has been ramping up for a big unveiling, as Edge’s cover hypes a blowout for LostWinds: Winter of Melodias.

A few details have been unearthed. Frontier understands the original is too short and looks to lengthen it up a bit; and NPCs will be a bit more lively and talkative. Winter of Melodias takes place “almost immediately” after the original (some story elements listed at Nintendo Everything).

Frontier says sales of the original were spot on with expectations, and development of the upcoming LostWinds sequel is nearly complete.

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Sony’s Richard Marks discusses the PS3 motion controller

The PlayStation Blog has a video interview up where they pick the brain of Richard Marks, one of the lead guys behind Sony’s upcoming motion controller. Not surprisingly, user comments are filled with unwarranted Natal bashing and the general glorifying of Sony proving how completely rational and unbiased fanboys are.

On the subject that actually matters, Sony’s magic wand looks to be progressing pretty nicely. Given its spring 2010 projected launch, I suppose that’s a necessity. The controller is fit with buttons, and even an analog trigger allowing a user to squeeze as hard as they’d like for increased gaming immersion. READ MORE

Square brings Modern Warfare 2 to Japan

With news dry and my brain running on E, today is proving to be quite dull. But hey, what’s that? Square Enix is publishing Modern Warfare 2 in Japan? Neat! Or not.

If anything, it’s a little weird. Square Enix does seem to have a fixation on publishing western games these days, so I suppose it isn’t all that strange. News comes via a teaser site that’s blatantly referencing Modern Warfare 2, even crediting Activision at the bottom of the screen.

News, that’s what this is.

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Sneaky spy records Modern Warfare 2 gameplay footage

Some sneaky trickster at a Game Crazy convention recorded them a little private screening of some Modern Warfare 2 gameplay footage. Given that it’s getting so much exposure, I’m not entirely convinced he won’t soon be discovered, interrogated and silenced.

Nevertheless, we’ll reward his courage by posting the video far and wide.

Before you read on or even watch the video, take a guess at how the game plays. If you’ve ever played Call of Duty Modern Warfare before, you know what to expect. Basically, there are guys running and flailing about with dudes screaming various war chants and everything on screen is hectic. Bullets are flying and you’re rolling with a large amount of allies taking on a large amount of bad guys.

It’s the Call of Duty way, sure, but it does strike up a certain feeling of fatigue for me. I’m actually not so sure if my recent run through of the original Modern Warfare is a good or a bad thing. Being so fresh off it, I’m not convinced that I want to hop back in just yet.

Update: Apparently the host got scared and pulled the video. Sorry guy, but the video has leaked and is all over the place.