Joystiq

Valve addresses Left 4 Dead 2 server lag on Xbox 360

What's the only thing worse than having two dead team members, an approaching wave of special infected, and a fresh sheen of Boomer puke on your person? Having to suffer all those things while also -- fighting -- server la -- tency issues. Fortunately, that experience has become less common, as Valve recently did a bit dusting around their network infrastructure, reducing lag during bouts of Left 4 Dead 2 on Xbox 360.

Of course, even without the lag, you're still going to die. But at least now you'll be able to see where it's coming from. (Hint: It's probably from those three oncoming tanks.)

Episode five of A LIfe Well Wasted explores 'Help'

by Ben Gilbert { 1 hour ago }

As we diligently promised so many months ago, we're writing another post with the intention of informing you that Robert Ashley's pseudo-monthly gaming podcast, A Life Well Wasted, has just released its fifth episode. Titled "Help," Ashley profiles a "successful" pinball maker, talks to a man who pledged to give up gaming of all types for one year (and how he lived to tell the tale), and discusses Desert Bus for Hope with the yearly charity event's creators.

We'd normally suggest you run over and grab an Olly Moss poster for the episode to support future productions, but it turns out that all 200 of them already got snatched up. If you've yet to check out the episode, head over to the website and have a listen.

Steam's Black Friday deals will probably put it out of business

by Griffin McElroy { 1 hour ago }

After reviewing Steam's Black Friday offerings, we can't help but find the post-Thanksgiving sales offered by other retailers kind of adorable. Aww, you're knocking $10 off the price of Red Faction: Guerrilla? That's cute. Steam is selling that game, and almost every other game by THQ in an enormous, $49.99 bundle. You've got a buy-one-get-one-free deal on LucasArts adventure games? How quaint. Steam is selling like, every LucasArts PC game ever in yet another $49.99 bundle.

On top of those two preposterous offers, Steam will be slashing prices on a handful of games every day for the next five days. Today's sales include Batman: Arkham Asylum for $24.99, Far Cry 2 Fortune's Edition for $9.99 and Dragon Age: Origins for $37.49. In short, you should spend as much time downloading things from Steam as you possibly can this weekend -- with prices like these, we're guessing they'll be filing for bankruptcy some time before Christmas.

'Imperial Edition' of Napoleon: Total War not short on goodies

by Alexander Sliwinski { 4 hours ago }

The "Imperial Edition" of Napoleon Total War includes DLC that may give it a boost over the standard edition. The special edition steps up the presentation with a wall chart displaying the history of the French general's conquests and includes codes for 10 exclusive units. It also comes with the five units found in the Elite Regiment bundle, but that's already included in the standard edition's box set.

Actually, thinking about it, the Imperial Edition can get off its high horse, it's not all that fantastic. Availability and pricing for the special edition in the States has yet to be announced.

[Via Big Download]

Gallery: Napoleon: Total War

Nintendo: 80 percent of female console gamers prefer Wii

by David Hinkle { 8 hours ago }

[Source: Kotaku]

Nintendo's resident name jotter-downer and kiester-kicker recently divulged to BMO Capital Markets attendees that the Wii is outperforming its rivals when it comes to female gamers. According to its estimates (via Kotaku), 80 percent of the female console gaming crowd prefers Wii over the alternatives. With an estimated 11.7 million female console gamers in the Americas -- it's important to note this data of Nintendo's doesn't take into account DS owners or PC users -- the figure comes out to roughly nine million ladies waggling their way into the fun zone.

Here come some new challengers in this Super Street Fighter IV trailer

by JC Fletcher { 10 hours ago }

The latest trailer for Super Street Fighter IV reveals the newly-announced characters in motion for the first time, leading to some surprising discoveries. For example, Adon sounds like Starscream. That actually kind of makes sense if you imagine Sagat as Megatron and Adon as his annoying sidekick.

In addition to the three new new guys, all the other new Super Street Fighter IV characters are featured as well, so you can hear all the terrible new voice acting so far! And you can also see that, at least upon cursory inspection, everyone plays like they used to. Cody still throws knives, T. Hawk still throws people, and Dee Jay is still annoying.

[Thanks, Kenoji!]

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Analyst: Metacritic scores don't drive success

by Richard Mitchell { 12 hours ago }

The idea that review scores don't matter is nothing new around Joystiq. We've seen the argument made by EEDAR's Jesse Divnich, specifically in reference to DS games. Michael Pachter and Peter Moore have leveled the same claim at Wii games as well. Now, Cowen Group's Doug Creutz tells Gamasutra that the score generated by aggregators like Metacritic is the least important factor in how well a game performs.

Creutz notes that scores can be "somewhat predictive" of a game's success, but are "unlikely in and of themselves to drive or undermine the success of a game." He then mentions the industry scuttlebutt that many publishers work very hard to jockey scores, saying that publishers' time would be better spent on development instead of "grade-grubbing."

The major factors in purchasing decisions, according to Creutz, are genre, whether a player liked the previous game in a series and, unsurprisingly, price. So there you have it publishers, to be successful, all you have to do is make a sequel to a popular game in a genre that a lot of people like. And make it cheap. If that's not possible, two out of three ain't bad.

Oh, my car! Capcom porting Final Fight and Magic Sword to XBLA and PSN

by JC Fletcher { 13 hours ago }

The return of Cody and Guy to Street Fighter isn't the only Final Fight news this week. Capcom has announced Final Fight Double Impact for Xbox Live Arcade and PlayStation Network, featuring not just the arcade version of the Metro City brawler, but Magic Sword as well!

Final Fight Double Impact, as the collection is titled, will feature optional graphical filters and a visual mode that makes the games appear as if they're being played on an arcade machine. Most importantly, both games will have drop-in online co-op. Capcom hasn't priced the collection yet, but there's no way the company will charge more than we've already put into Magic Sword machines over the years.

Analyst: Modern Warfare 2 DLC could make $140 million in 2010

by Richard Mitchell { 13 hours ago }

Now that Modern Warfare 2 has smashed launch records -- raking in serious cash in the process -- the way is paved for inevitable downloadable content. DLC will likely rake in serious cash of its own, according to Broadpoint AmTech analyst Ben Schachter, who tells IndustryGamers that DLC could bring in an additional $100-140 million in revenue next year. The figure is based on the DLC attach rate for the previous Call of Duty title, World at War, which sold 0.625 downloadable map packs per copy, according to Schachter. At $10 each, that means every copy of World at War generated an additional $6.25 after the initial retail purchase.

Assuming there are 14-16 million copies of Modern Warfare 2 in players homes by the time DLC launches, Schachter says the content could generate up to $140 million, minus the portion Activision has to pay to platform holders that host the DLC. Schachter also believes DLC will go beyond map packs, theorizing that Infinity Ward could offer in-game items, new game modes and new missions (more co-op sniping, please). Of course, expanded DLC content could result in higher prices this time around.

Only time will tell how well Modern Warfare 2 does post launch but, regardless of what kind of content is on offer, we imagine it will probably do okay.

WRUP: 'Precious' family moments edition

by Alexander Sliwinski { 14 hours ago }

My family is awesome, especially Uncle Jame! He's a really nice guy and makes my sister some of the best dresses we've ever seen, the guy should totally be on Project Runway. He's got this adorable dog, Precious, but she's a bit yappy and smells like mothballs -- she also has this weird thing about holes in the ground. Come to think of it, Uncle Jame is a little weird. He always tells us to rub more juices over the turkey so that it's easier to cut later, and at the dinner table he always wants more gravy or "else we'll get the hose again." I don't quite get it, but he's a little eccentric. Nice guy, though ... I think.

Have a happy Thanksgiving and safe travels from all of us here at Joystiq. What's everyone playing this long weekend?

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Snap Judgment: Serious Sam HD

by Justin McElroy { 14 hours ago }

In Serious Sam, you use an increasingly powerful and ridiculous set of weaponry to blast an increasingly horrifying array of demons back to the dimension they came from. To put it another way, Serious Sam is what your grandmother imagines every video game to be.

Serious Sam: The First Encounter has just been brought into the modern era by Majesco and Devolver Digital with Serious Sam HD, on Steam today with a $20 price tag. I stepped into the beefy hero's signature T-shirt for a couple of hours to see how well the experience had held up over the years.

Gallery: Serious Sam: The First Encounter HD

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Patent details Xbox 360 hint system

by David Hinkle { 15 hours ago }

Microsoft must like Nintendo's new Super Guide system, because a patent has recently popped up online detailing a similar system for the Xbox 360. The core difference between Microsoft's proposed system and Nintendo's comes from community input; the patent not only touches on a way for users to submit screens and brief guides for those especially tough spots in games, but also says users will be able to include brief audio commentary and add to their screens using a digital pen feature. The system also details functionality for devs and publishers, giving their insights and guides more weight than those from the community.

It's ambitious, to say the least, and even though we foresee millions of potential Halo 3 teabagging tutorials, we're all for anything that helps us game better.

[Via Siliconera]

GAME and Activision UK team up for Modern Warfare 2 charity event next weekend

by David Hinkle { 15 hours ago }

War Child International is a coalition of organizations that seeks to aid children affected by war. Activision UK and GAME have decided to pitch in and are joining up to host an online event next weekend in Modern Warfare 2, asking that UK citizens play a bit of the game on Xbox Live. The more people enlist for action online, the more Activision UK will donate to the charity.

If you're looking for more information on the event, there's a Facebook page and a Twitter account set up to help coordinate. If you've got a busy weekend ahead of you on December 4, try to make time for at least one online match. It's not every day you can make someone else's life better just by playing a video game.

12-year-old Make-A-Wisher designs GameStop's holiday gift card

by Ben Gilbert { 16 hours ago }

Rather than choosing something selfish like the opportunity to ride Donald Trump like a pony or a trip around the Moon with the original Apollo 11 astronauts, 12-year-old Make-A-Wish Foundation wish recipient Emily Adkins instead chose to give back to the foundation. In designing the Holiday 2009 GameStop gift card, Adkins secured $1 per card purchased (up to $100k) for the Make-A-Wish coffers.

Though the design will be featured amongst other gift cards this year, GameStop is offering the donation deal across all card designs. Any gift cards purchased from now until December 26 will go towards the donations, though none of the proceeds will bring Emily any closer to riding Donald Trump like a pony. Isn't that just a crime?

iPhone It In: bitFLIP

by Ben Gilbert { 16 hours ago }

I first heard about iPhone pseudo-puzzler bitFLIP from the game's developer, Metamoorephosis Games owner (and JPAG member) Josh Hernandez. I'd be remiss to not mention upfront the hesitation with which I approached reviewing said game for iPhone It In, given the development source being a Joystiq reader and podcast listener.

It was a convenient delight then when I first loaded the game up on my 3G and had a thoroughly enjoyable time playing it. Though a truly egregious boot time put me off from playing bitFLIP during my every free moment over the two or so weeks I spent with the game (that time was reserved for Canabalt), I was still anxious to play it when my free time was longer than a scant few moments. Mixing interesting puzzle mechanics, great music, a truly unique (and often beautiful) visual presentation, and a variety of gameplay options, I can confidently say that there's more than enough enjoyable gaming to be had here to warrant your two bucks.