Joystiq

Nathan Fillion, the second voice actor revealed for Bungie's Halo 3: ODST, recently spoke about his role in the game to MSNBC. Fillion needs no introduction and has many fans the world over (we loved Two Guys, a Girl, and a Pizza Place, too!), so it's great to see him involved with the game.

Fillion will be taking up the role of Sgt. Buck, a man he describes as "a bit hardened" and "a bit cranky." While Fillion's comments pertaining to his own personal interest in the franchise are nice to hear, the best parts of the interview are the sections where Fillion talks about the game's plot. We now know that his character will have a love interest, one that has come back into his life during the game's mission. Oh, and the gameplay footage is kind of nice, too.

We just hope he gets to say his famous phrase in the game: "I seek to behave according to societal standards." That's the line from that Ladybug show, right guys?

Continued →

We weren't fans of the last episode of Brutal Thoughts, Jack Black's bi-weekly video series promoting Brutal Legend. But boy, does this make up for it. Black wields a rather impressive battle axe, and uses it to great effect! It's obvious the actor is having a lot of fun with his role; it suits him rather perfectly, no? Just make sure you watch all the way to the end -- things will be broken.

See also:

• Tim Schafer electrocutes Jack Black on video
• Jack Black pumped for 'that Brutal Legend movie'
• Jack Black's latest 'Brutal Thoughts' missing Schafer, humor

The introduction of the iPhone 3GS is huge for a variety of reasons, but most important to gamers is how the new phone improves gaming. And that's why IndustryGamers pinged a few iPhone devs to get their thoughts on the new device, how it'll make their games even better, and whether they should be developing for the larger install base of 3G users or specifically for the improved 3GS model.

The first developer to speak on the matter is EA Mobile, who says it'll actually be developing for both versions. "To take full advantage of the new capabilities of the 3GS, our development teams will create an additional version specifically for it, so that our products will be available and enjoyable no matter which iPhone or iPod touch a consumer has." Trip Hawkins, CEO of Digital Chocolate, thinks otherwise, and says that the new phone's capabilities will make existing products better, making it unnecessary to explicitly develop for the more powerful platform. Paxton LaZar, director of digital content at Sega of America, is more in line with EA Mobile, however, and says Sega will offer products tailored specifically for each phone, although only on select titles. "Sega will continue to develop games for the 3G iPhones and for appropriate games we will also deliver versions with added and/or improved features/content to take full advantage of the extra power afforded by the new 3GS model," LaZar said. LaZar further compared it to games that are offered across multiple platforms, and says this is basically no different.

While we wait for developers to figure out how they're going to tackle the 3G vs 3GS conundrum, we suggest you see for yourself just how much the 3GS brings to the table in this video for Firemint Real Racing. It just might blow you away.

Before teaming up with Sega recently for a new iteration of Aliens vs Predator, UK development house Rebellion made a handful of classic PC titles (yes, we know, including the original Aliens vs Predator). Starting today and continuing over the course of the next few weeks, GOG.com will be offering the company's titles through its site (DRM-free, XP and Vista compatible game, priced to move), starting with Ground Control (Dark Conspiracy expansion included) and Evil Genius. Lords of Magic, Empire Earth, "and more" are in the pipeline for the next few weeks.

To celebrate the release, the fine folks at Good Old Games were nice enough to hand us a few codes -- seven in all, just to keep you on your toes -- for not just the games released today but, well, anything on the site you'd like. That's right, folks, you can use the codes on anything from Rebellion's Evil Genius to Ubisoft's Beyond Good & Evil to Epic's Unreal Tournament (and everything in between, in case you were wondering). All you have to do is keep your eye on the Joystiq Twitter page over the course of the day to try and win one of them. Hit the break for an exhilarating explanation of how to redeem a code.

Continued →

It's a rarity, but we'll admit it when it occurs: We might have judged a game too quickly -- specifically, Lego Rock Band. While we assumed it would just be a brickalyzed version of the game we all know, love and are the tiniest bit sick of, a recent interview has us questioning that.

TT Games boss Jonathan Smith told VG247, "The Lego character customizer means that pirates, knights and skeletons can be rock stars too, in amazing new locations. Battle sea-monsters, smash up an entire building, or take a trip into space, all with the power of rock!"

Publishers, if you're curious about how to get our attention, skeleton rock stars destroying buildings with rock power before traveling into space is a great way to start.

It appears that Amazon is slashing and absorbing the extra cost of Prototype, as the action-packed, vertical sandbox gorefest has been reduced by $20 on Xbox 360, PS3 and PC for today only.

The game was certainly well-received, so nobody is going to spit on you for deciding to take Amazon's offer. Well, inFamous' Cole might spit on you, which would be shocking. But not as shocking as these photos of him and Alex Mercer when they aren't saving/destroying the world!

[Thanks, Lesek]

One of the more profitable items in the late King of Pop's idiosyncratic collection of odds and ends was his ownership of ATV, a music publisher that owned the rights to over 200 songs from the Beatles' repertoire. Years after this acquisition, Jackson agreed to a merger with Sony, forming Sony/ATV Music Publishing. Jackson retained 50 percent of the publishing rights to the Beatles tracks until his recent untimely death -- despite rumors to the contrary, he never sold his stake in the merged company.

Why is this news relevant to you, dear reader? Well, many faux-rockers have been worried that Jackson's passing would affect the final set list for The Beatles: Rock Band. Fortunately, Harmonix recently confirmed to IGN that the game's tracks won't be compromised by MJ's death, or the dispersal of his assets -- including the Sony/ATV stake -- that will take place in the coming weeks. However, we expect that Elephant Man Bone Collector 3 will miss its fall launch window by a sizable margin.

Microsoft's Major Nelson has revealed the full details of this year's "Summer of Arcade" ... and it's going to be mighty expensive if you're interested in the whole kaboodle.

• July 22: TMNT: Turtles in Time Re-shelled 1200 ($15)
• July 29: Marvel vs. Capcom 2 1200 ($15)
• August 5: 'Splosion Man 800 ($10)
• August 12: Trials HD 1200 ($15)
• August 19: Shadow Complex 1200 ($15)

The only difference from this list and the previously announced lineup is the absence of Monkey Island Special Edition, which is scheduled for release next week on July 15.

There's no doubt that Apple's iPhone has put a significant dent into the mobile game landscape, especially for non-future phone game developers and publishers. Such is the case for Glu Mobile, a company that -- while recently inking a deal to develop and distribute Activision titles on mobile devices -- seems to be going through some not so fantastic times. IndustryGamers.com reports that the company's CEO, Greg Ballard, is stepping down after six years on the job, citing the need to generate "positive cash."

"This is a good time to bring in new leadership for the company, as we focus on returning to generating positive cash and begin even greater investment in next-generation mobile platforms," Ballard notes in the company's release. It's not clear at this time who will be taking the reins of the mobile developer, but we're hoping it's not these guys.

Listen, Ubisoft. You're taking your flagship stealth franchise in a decidedly un-stealthy direction -- we get that. We got it at E3 when you showed us the game's high-octane gunfights during the Microsoft press conference, and we certainly got it when you showed us hobo-Sam blowing up hot dog carts in a crowded park. Don't you think you're pushing the message a tad hard by making the pre-order bonus for Splinter Cell: Conviction an in-game semi-automatic shotgun? That's like, the least stealthy weapon in the world.

From the gameplay we've seen, it looks like players will be able to choose between stealth and brute force -- why not throw a free sneaky-themed weapon in there as well? Maybe a prison shank? A garrote? Or perhaps love -- the sneakiest weapon of them all. Yeah, man. That's deep.

[Via Destructoid]

Developer Team 17 loves its Facebook page. This morning the company announced a "retro modern remake" of Alien Breed, one of its games from way back in 1991. Alien Breed Evolution is an Unreal Engine 3-powered shooter, which can be played solo or co-op later this year. A representative for Team 17 tells us that a video of the game should be released in two to three weeks.

Team 17 also teased that iPhone Worms "looms... not long now." There is currently a tentative date, but the developer is awaiting the go from Apple. Like a good Worm, though, Team 17 has everything locked, loaded and ready to fire when ready.

That press release EA linked to yesterday? It's up now, which makes Command & Conquer 4 that little bit more real. Not only that, but everything mentioned in that online survey was also real. This will be the final chapter of the Tiberium series and will feature "persistent player progression and [an] all-in-one mobile base" when it launches in 2010 for PC.

Command & Conquer 4 will also feature a co-op mode for the two campaigns, as well as a 5-vs-5 objective-based multiplayer mode, allowing for a new "social real time strategy experience." Aren't those called LAN parties? A new episode of Battlecast PrimeTime, which will be available on July 24, will give more information on the game, and the exclusive reveal of the first cinematic trailer will be shown on GameTrailers TV on July 23.

The Capcom Unity twitter account revealed something interesting this morning: Marvel vs Capcom 2 will be gracing Xbox Live on July 29 -- and Capcom PR separately confirmed a 1200 ($15) price. For those of you wondering about its arrival on PSN, Capcom promises an announcement "soon." Sharpen those claws (and those Hadoukens), because it's about to be on.

Teased earlier this week, a new MechWarrior is currently being forged by Smith and Tinker (founded by FASA co-founder Jordan Weisman) and Piranha Games. IGN was informed that this is not being considered MechWarrior 5, but a reboot of the series. The title will release on PC and Xbox 360, and should include a full single-player campaign, "as well as support for four-player co-op campaign" and multiplayer.

There is currently no release window scheduled for the game, nor is there a publisher -- those two things are typically co-dependent. Check out the MechWarrior reveal trailer after the break.

Continued →

As fun as Battlefield 1943 is, EA severely underestimated the amount of individuals who would enlist for battle in the Pacific yesterday on XBLA. If you tried to play, you likely spent a great deal of time staring at menus and found it a real pain to hook up and play with friends. According to a post made by Gordon Van Dyke on the official EA forums, developer DICE is doing all it can to increase the server count for both Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions.

In the latest update, Van Dyke writes, "We have full support of EA to add as many servers as takes and then some so that everyone can play. This work has already started and servers will be added around the clock with teams working to cover this 24 hours a day so not a moment is wasted. You will be able to play this game and play it lag free!"

While the prospect of a lag-free experience is something we can support, our problem was more with our inability to find matches and join our friends' games yesterday, even when multiple slots were open. But hey, at least the price was fixed! [It appears that the 90000 pricing "glitch" was a temporary workaround to dissuade Xbox Live Silver users from purchasing the online multiplayer–only game. Currently, the game is blocked from Silver account purchasing altogether and has been designated a "Gold Exclusive."]

[Via Edge; thanks to VIP0R, Roger, Ian & Alan for pricing glitch pics!]