We appreciate Bayonetta sound designer Daisuke Sakata’s position on the project. The man spends hours sifting through sound clips from an endless stream of animals to get the scream of the game’s giant crow just right. And wouldn’t you know it, after going through a gauntlet of bird cries, the best sound he settled on for the giant crow was derived from the cry of a … pig?

Seriously! “After listening to numerous different animal sounds, I would pick the ones that struck me as fitting, even if it was just a little … as a result, I used a pig’s cry as a base for this cry,” Sakata wrote on developer Platinum Games’ website. But don’t go thinking that crow’s going to sound like a porker, as Sakata heavily mixed the pig cry with a slurry of other sounds. To see the massive bird in action — and to hear its baritone stylings — hit the break.

Continue reading Madness: Bayonetta’s crow … is really a pig!

Madness: Bayonetta’s crow … is really a pig! originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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PlayStation Home is getting another themed space, this time promoting the recently PSN exclusive Burn Zombie Burn. According to doublesix senior games designer Ollie Barder, the BZB Home space will a feature a maze populated with brain-munching zombies and will be placed within a graveyard, so players can frolic with the undead. Bigger than that, BZB is getting a dose of DLC with two new levels taking place in space (it’s the final frontier, by the way). Release information or price for the DLC was not revealed. Check out a trailer of the new alien abduction-themed levels after the break.

Continue reading Burn Zombie Burn to get DLC, lights up Home with new space

Burn Zombie Burn to get DLC, lights up Home with new space originally appeared on Joystiq Playstation on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 12:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s common knowledge that those who pick up Modern Warfare 2’s Hardened Edition or Prestige Edition will receive Call of Duty: Classic, the game that started it all. Then there’s the option of making your own, but what if you’re one of the 14 people who just want Call of Duty: Classic? Well, according to Infinity Ward’s Robert Bowling (via IGN), you may have to wait a while.

“Prestige and Hardened Edition buyers will be getting access to Call of Duty: Classic first. It’ll eventually be coming out for both Xbox Live Arcade and PSN as a stand-alone arcade game,” he said. Bowling also confirmed that this is the full edition of the original game, including multiplayer. Activision has made no mention of what the classic will be priced at, though considering the $80 price of admission for the Hardened Edition, we’re assuming the game will run you around $20. Will it be more as a standalone?

Call of Duty: Classic coming to Xbox Live and PSN ‘eventually’ originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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When was the last time you paid for new levels in LittleBigPlanet? There are only three answers to that question — “never,” “when I originally bought the game” or “when I bought the Metal Gear Solid pack.” Despite almost weekly DLC packs since LittleBigPlanet’s October release, players continue to clamor for more levels.

With only one level pack having been released, it’s an understandable request — after all, in the same timeframe players have amassed over one million levels themselves. If a “purchased levels” section of the PSP version — discovered at a recent Sony event by Siliconera — is to be believed, we could be seeing plenty more level packs coming in the future. To the PSP version, at least. You wouldn’t have a dedicated section built in without some content to fill it with, right?

LittleBigPlanet PSP ‘purchased levels’ section spotted originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 15:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Jonathan Blow’s time-manipulating puzzle-platformer, Braid, is probably best associated with Xbox 360. According to a listing on Germany’s USK ratings board website (discovered by NeoGAF user Fortinbras), though, the game — which falls under the organization’s fancifully named “Jump ‘n Run” category — is finally headed to PlayStation 3.

Blow talked about the possibility of a PS3 version almost a year ago, saying that it could happen after a “limited exclusive” with Microsoft had ended. There’s no indication when our #5 game of 2008 will hit PSN, though it seems it will come via its PC publisher, Hothead Games. We’ve contacted Blow for more info; hopefully his answer comes running ‘n jumping back to us soon.

Germany’s USK: Braid jumping, running to PS3 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Bethesda’s new publishing arm is prepared to bring the Eliza Dushku-voiced, Artificial Mind and Movement-developed Wet to retail shelves in North America on September 15. Back at E3, we thought the game showed a lot of promise, yet the experience was kind of dampened by environmental inconsistencies. It’s tough to be a super badass and stylishly murder countless goons when you barely have elbow room, you know?

Wet to slash and shoot retail on September 15 originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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[Editor’s note: This review also features a video walkthrough.]

Continue reading Review: King of Fighters XII

Review: King of Fighters XII originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Though we could call the list of folks showing their faces in Tony Hawk Ride a whole mess of things, one we wouldn’t call it is “celebrity.” Rather than drop in famous folks like Steve-O or, umm, Wolverine, the list that Eurogamer nabbed features more actual skateboarders than anything else.

From Steve Nesser to Dustin Dollin to Mike “I beat up four dudes by myself” Vallely, the roster features little in the way of traditional Tony Hawk tomfoolery. Don’t let the halfway-there hoverboard fool you, dearest reader, this is clearly a more serious skateboarding entry in the Tony Hawk game franchise. Peep the entirety of the list after the jump.

Continue reading Activision details Tony Hawk Ride’s ‘celebrity’ roster

Activision details Tony Hawk Ride’s ‘celebrity’ roster originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sega Europe told VG247 that it has “no current plans” to localize Toshihiro Nagoshi’s open-world brawler/RPG. A Sega of America employee offered his opinion to The Examiner, saying that the sales of Yakuza 2 were insufficient to justify localization of the PS3 title. Officially, according to statements given to Siliconera by a Sega rep, there is “no confirmation” of any decision regarding Yakuza 3.

Maybe we should all go clear our local GameStop’s shelves of Yakuza 2.

Yakuza 3 localization looking unlikely originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 10:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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If statements made during a Sony international investor conference call are to be believed, the company has managed to cut PS3 manufacturing costs by “about 70%, roughly speaking.” Sony Corp CEO Nobuyuki Oneda stated that this was “on schedule.” Concrete numbers haven’t been revealed, but based on various reports since the PS3’s inception, estimates are that the console now costs around $240 (£146) per unit — way down from the original cost of $800 (£485).

The upshot of all this is that at the current price Sony is guaranteed to be profiting from each machine sold — and about time too! — but there’s also enough leeway for the company to announce that much-requested $100 price cut and still be profitable. Whether this will happen or not depends on how much Sony values consumer satisfaction and increased userbase over recouping some of those hefty losses the PS3 suffered in the early years.

[Via Edge-Online]

Rumor: PS3 now 70 percent cheaper to manufacture originally appeared on Joystiq on Fri, 31 Jul 2009 11:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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