While this could only be a temporary thing while all sources are confirmed previously the US packshots for Sony’s Resistance 2 game now include a small section in the corner with “Only on Playstation” labelled. It’s much a similar size to that of the Games for Windows branding on PC titles.

Early reports on the net now say that the PAL Resistance 2 cover does not include the Only On Playstation name which might indicate that either the packshots have not been updated recently or Sony are still deciding if the branding move is worth anything in PAL regions.

Since most European gamers don’t really pay attention when in a store to a logo about a titles exclusivity having it would only make the cover look more cluttered than all do by default with age ratings, PEGI or ESRB info, console type, hologram (in some cases) and finally the packshot. That’s just the front. Concrete information is still developing so we will be keeping an eye on this.

Another of Valve’s usual Team Fortress 2 auto updates has become active. While most of the little bug fixes are not really news worthy this version sorts out one issue and it’s a big one. It fixes a big that prevented accurate Arena mode user statistics from being uploaded.

If this means that user scores were not uploaded for future record and achievement unlockables then that is a serious issue worthy of note. Considering how many hours it takes or the fluke occurrences that happen to make an achievement and a weapon unlockable it could take months to regain what should already be yours.

It’s a good thing Valve run their own patching service via Steam as by normal means in almost any other game but MMO’s it could take months for enough glitch fixes to come around to make a standalone patch a worthwhile thing to publicise and update with on the companies end. For Team Fortress 2 users the next time you go onto Steam the download will begin automatically and take just a jiffy.

Electronic Arts have been criticized heavily by almost everyone for being the Microsoft of the gaming industry.The fact is though that EA have been the torch carriers for a number of key gaming issues that have been left in the dust by the new, upcoming developers and publishers.

One example of this is the long running idea of full motion video (aka cutscenes) in games. If you take a look at any of the big games from the last few years published by companies other than EA chances are you won’t find any FMV sequences as it’s all gone the way of CGI’d efforts. While CGI can display more and depending on the way it’s produced is cheaper there is a lot to be said in favor of the old style Command & Conquer efforts made famous by the game series. If you take the last few years of Need for Speed, all but Pro Street included FMV and while not to be taken seriously the games probably made sales just based in the inclusion of real actors over CGI efforts and voice-overs.

Electronic Arts is not the bad guy or the corporate monster it’s made out to be, it’s just a company that has been catering the most users without taking risks for decades. Some would consider that a bad thing but on occasion it’s nice to know that when you pick up a racing game it’s not going to have any hidden surprises. FMV should continue being used long into the future and if EA decide not to use it in C&C or NFS in the future a long running example of quality will no longer exist. Image from Need for Speed: Most Wanted.

While the news that more video footage of Sony’s videogame Afrika might be a happy thing for some it’s a snub at the Europeans. Why is because Sony has decided that Europe is not worth publishing this title in and we are unsure why to be honest.

In response European gamers have been posting on gaming news sites like VG247 that they just don’t care about the game since no real details apart from “it looks pretty” have come out. To their credit though Sony do have an incredible number of really good PS3 only exclusives coming out so one less odd game isn’t really going to effect the average user.

For those who are interested in seeing 8 minutes of footage from Afrika on PS3 Gamersyde has it:
http://www.gamersyde.com/stream_8450_fr.html

After EA’s witchhunt and banning of Spore Porn, you’d think Will Wright would think the same. Looks like he doesn’t. Will is not only unoffended by Spore Porn (as tastefully pictured above), but also appreciated how accurately the creators hit what they were aiming for (pun? Must investigate).

“When you give players creative control, you have to expect they’re going to do the unexpected,” says the Procedural Generation lord. Not surprising. I mean, you give an easy-to-use content creation application to Internet inhabitants: you’d have to be whacked not to expect porn.

“It’s amazingly explicit, especially when those creations are animated. We just have to make sure those people aren’t messing up the experience for others.” he says, confirming some things perverts had in mind. The game will have a system now that will allow you to ban certain species from your universe, apparently. Also expect EA to bring in the BANHAMMER whenever you upload an image or video of your porntastic creature.

Wright also hints at a sequel for Spore there, saying that he’s looking at Spore as a brand. He says, however, that it will only happen after they’ve analysed crowd reaction. And besides, it would be too early to start charting out a sequel to what already is a semi-experimental game.